4th Angels Message of

REVELATION 18

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 Contents
To the reader ......................................................................3
The fourth Angels Message .................................................4
History of IMS .....................................................................4
Inconsistences in Reformation Study course ..................... 45
Victor Houteff ................................................................... 50
4th Angels message ............................................................ 60
Two pipes of Zechariah 4 ................................................... 70
Errors in the writings of Victor Houteff .............................. 80

This manual is brought to you by

the Right arm of the gospel work
in partnership with Streams of
light Ministry. It was compiled by
Brother Yohane Tembo. Contact:
+265 881843317,
[email protected]

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 To the reader
There are many threats to the truth, the greatest emerging threat is this idea that a group has
already arisen and claims to be the 4th angel of Revelation 18, this may seem somewhat up
surd but there is growing concern as there are groups out rightly calling SDA Babylon and
asking others to come out of the church, this is the worst and most blatant error that the
people of God has ever had to face.
In this document we analyse the real issues and begin to go through two movements one the
IMS and the other Davidian Movement. God bless you as you read, this is a follow-up manual
to stay in the boat, but it needs information from redemption and relief work for it to make
sense.
As we approach the last crisis, it is of vital moment that harmony and unity exist among
the Lord's instrumentalities. The world is filled with storm and war and variance. Yet under
one head--the papal power--the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His
witnesses. This union is cemented by the great apostate. While he seeks to unite his
agents in warring against the truth he will work to divide and scatter its advocates.
Jealousy, evil surmising, evilspeaking, are instigated by him to produce discord and
dissension. The members of Christ's church have the power to thwart the purpose of the
adversary of souls. At such a time as this let them not be found at variance with one
another or with any of the Lord's workers. Amidst the general discord let there be one
place where harmony and unity exists because the Bible is made the guide of life. Let the
people of God feel that a responsibility rests upon them to build up His instrumentalities.
{PM 114.4}

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 The fourth Angels Message

Many movements have arisen claiming to be the fulfilment of the 4 th angels message in
revelation 18. Since this topic has been dealt with in depth in the manual 4th angels message
of revelation 18 and the 1st and 2nd and 3rd angels message was covered in depth in the 11th
Hour labourer’s manual. in this section I wish to not cause a redundancy but try to piece
together all the information. There are the IMS international Missionary Society Seventh Day
Adventist, and also Davidians Seventh day Adventists both claim to be the 4 th Angles
message of Revelation 18. I shall post the History of V. T. Houteff below as well as the history
of IMS.
Below is a description of the History of the IMS, this is an offshoot movement, and it sprang
forth from SDA and it has a separate general conference and is an organised movement. The
Source below is taken from an IMS website, so the information is accurate and bears no bias
against the IMS.

History of IMS
Origins of IMS
This chapter was written by Vance Farrell in his book The truth about Adventist Reform
Church.
Learning that I was preparing this book, a friend walked in the door this week and told me
his story.
“I was an Adventist medical missionary in Honduras. I preached in the churches, gave Bible
studies, and did dental work. My work also included giving natural treatments.
“Down there, word of what is happening travels faster than up here in the States. And I was
traveling a lot, working in the churches, raising up new ones.
“When a Reformista arrived, it always went the same way. He would preach “meat, meat,
meat” to the members of the local Adventist church, meaning that they must stop eating
meat. Then he would split the church and carry off perhaps half with him. He would take
them down to the other side of town and they would build a grass hut or something like it,
and start a Reformista church.
“Then he would go off and leave them. There they were impoverished, trying to do the best
they could, and now they had no preacher on Sabbaths, nothing. For he had already gone to
do more ‘soulwinning’ in the next town.
“Pretty soon the new Reformista church would fall to pieces, as the people would drift away.
They had nothing to keep them together. Most of them would go out in the world; but few
returned to the local Adventist church.
“That’s the way the Reform Church operates in the countryside of Central and much of South
America. The Reform Church leaders have brought a lot of grief to the people of God.”

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 Officially known as the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement or the Adventist Reform
Church, this organization would appear to be the largest splinter offshoot of the Seventh-
day Adventist denomination.
Yet, in reality, over the years it has undergone a remarkable number of split-offs within itself.
The largest started in 1948 and climaxed in 1951, when the main body split right down the
middle.
Many people refer to it by the name, the German Reform Church, because it largely began
in Germany and many of its top leaders down through the years have been of German
extraction.
Its members call themselves “reformers,” and they refer to the General Conference-based
denomination (the one headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland) as the “apostate church.”
To avoid confusion, throughout this study, “Adventist Church” will refer to the large
denomination; “Reform Church” will refer to either or both branches of the Seventh-day
Adventist Reform Movement. Both branches teach and practice essentially the same things.
Two other terms which will be used, “Adventists” and “Reformers,” are self-explanatory.
The first section in this study details my own experiences with the Reform Church, an
organization which I never united with. Most of the following sections were prepared by
three former leaders in the Reform Church, all of which were highly placed in one or the
other of its two main branches.
One of these two branches is the Nicolici branch. From 1951 onward, its world headquarters
was in Sacramento, then in Los Angeles, then in New Jersey, and today in Virginia. It calls
itself the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement. Its quarterly publication is the
“Reformation Herald.” Its pioneering leader was D. Nicolici.
The original of the two main branches, commonly referred to as the ‘International
Missionary Society’ (IMS)branch, is headquartered in Speele, Germany (pronounced “Speel-
eh”). Its U.S. branch was located in Sacramento for a time; but, while leaving behind a large
congregation in Sacramento in the mid-1950s, it was moved to Colorado, where it is still
located. Also calling itself the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement, it took the official
name, International Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists, Reformation Movement.
Two of its U.S.
leaders were Oscar Kramer, and Arthur Doerschlor.
Both of Oscar’s sons pled for reform, without effect; then they left the church, researched
into its history, and prepared analyses. One is printed in this present book. The other (The
Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement) was published in 1988 by the Biblical Research
Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland.
In this book, we discuss the origins, history, activities, and teachings of the Reform Church.
However, someone might say:
“Yes, the past may have been a problem. The origins were not as claimed; the history has
indeed been sordid; the activities have been rife with over control, mutual animosities, and
sheep stealing; and the teachings were riddled with error;—yet everything is different
today!

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 “The Reform Church today—that is, the branch I am in (not the other one)—is different than
back then. It has none of those problems.”
I was told that a couple days ago by a prominent Advent believer who recently joined one of
the two main branches of the Reform Church.
So I immediately contacted a former headquarters leader of the Reform Church, and asked
him what the condition of the two branches of the Reform Church are right now—at the end
of 1997. This is an individual who has maintained very close contact with both for nearly half
a century.
I asked him, “What about the erroneous teachings? Have they been corrected?”
His reply: “The doctrines of the Reform Church have not changed one whit. The church still
makes the same claims it did years ago.”
I asked him, “Well, what about the hype rmanagement tactics and the dwarfing effects they
have on the members?”
He answered, “The organizational over control of church members is the same as it has
always been. And the members are stagnant as a result. They do little more than attend
meetings.”
“Well, then,” I inquired, “what about the activities, the rivalries, mismanagement, and the
sole focus on proselytization of Advent believers which used to take place?”
“The methods are exactly what they were before. The sheep stealing, by each branch, from
the other and from the Adventist denomination continues apace, with no efforts to bring
nonAdventists to the truth.”
“But what about the schools? Surely, they must have their own schools by now!”
“We are nearly to the end of the century, and they still have not established their own
schools! They have one school in Brazil; in the U.S., they have seminars for Bible workers,—
and that is about it. No church schools, other than an occasional one. They still send their
children to public schools. The leaders, who are always wealthier, sometimes send their
children to Adventist schools, **all the while denouncing the Adventist Church as apostate
and warning their members to have nothing to do with it.”
**Former IMS leader H. Kramer says he saw almost nothing of this.
“And what about the military?”
“Throughout the world, the Reform Church is doing today just as it did in World War II in
Europe: They officially declare that their men do not take part in war—are not drafted, do
not carry arms, nor fight and kill. While, unofficially, the Reform ministers are taught to
watch for their young men who are nearing draft age. Then they tell them not to be baptized
until after they have served their time in the army. When they get out— if they come back
to the church,—they are baptized. In other words, their young men serve in the military just
as does everyone else in the country; except that the Reform Church does not baptize them
until they come out.

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 “Both in their camp meetings and publications, the Reform Church presents itself as
something it is not. This is unfortunate; for, entering it, Advent believers find it is far from
what they expected.”
Part 1 My Contacts with the Refrom church
In this chapter, the author discusses his own contacts with the movement, which neither he
nor any members of his family ever joined.
Much of the remainder of the book will consist of articles by former Reform Church leaders.
In 1960, I moved with my family to Sacramento, California, in order to start a health, natural
healing, and evangelistic work in that large metropolis.
While there, we held evangelistic meetings, conducted cooking schools, held medical
missionary training classes, worked with people with physical needs, and I compiled the
Medical Missionary Manual (the only Spirit of Prophecy compilation ever made of how to
carry on the various facets of medical missionary work. It is currently available from us).
Because the Northern California Conference president did not like “independent” work of
any kind, I was blacklisted among the nine area Adventist churches. That is unfortunate, but
this happens at times.
(This was nothing new. The conference president had earlier blacklisted a prominent
Sacramento Church member because she was gathering funds to place Desire of Ages in
motels throughout the conference. Other missionary projects, such as a children’s cooking
magazine and a local radio broadcast had also been crushed.)
Rather quickly we discovered that there were two nests of German Reformers in the
Sacramento area. At the time, it was home to large groups of both main branches of the
Adventist Reform Movement.
D. Nicolici (pronounced “Nick-o-litch) was head of one branch—which had its worldwide
headquarters in Sacramento at that time. (Their headquarters is now in Virginia.)
Throughout this entire study, we will refer to this group as the Nicolici branch.
Oscar Kramer was head of the North American Union of the other main branch—which had
its headquarters in Sacramento about eight years earlier; so a large congregation was still in
Sacramento when we were there. (Their North American Union headquarters is now in
Colorado, and their world headquarters is in Speele, Germany.) Throughout this study, we
will refer to this group as the IMS branch.
It was extremely providential that I moved my family to Sacramento. If I had moved to some
other large city, I never would have learned about the inside workings of the Adventist
Reform Church, nor made important contacts which in later years provided me with
additional information about that splintered denomination.
The overall impression I received from my contacts with “reformers” was of a saddened
people who had been cut off from Adventism. Many of them knew little of the real reason
why the original split from the Adventist denomination took place, the inadequate doctrinal
reasons for its existence, or the highly unethical procedures which have regularly taken place
within its leadership.

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 Because my family was carrying on missionary work without having received church
approval to do so, the “reformers” sought us out and made friends with us.
We were not exclusive; and so we became friends with many folk, both in the main church
and among the reformers. A number of dedicated members of the main church befriended
us in

our work, and a number of German Reform folk would like to have done so also, but they
feared reprisals from their leaders if they had done so.
We never joined the Adventist Reform Movement; but, because of our lengthy two-year
association with many of their members, we learned a lot.
In this present study, I will explain why I did not, and will not, join the Adventist Reform
Movement.
The following comments apply to either or both branches of that denomination; although,
for purposes of simplification, I will refer to it in the singular. Yet, in reality, there are two
primary branches of the Reform Church (and dozens of smaller splinters).
(At this juncture, you might wonder why they both have the same name. The answer is
simple enough: Following the large split over 45 years ago, both branches continued to call
themselves by the same name—even though they are two separate, legal, bodies!)
Fortunately, I have three close friends who once were high up in the leadership ranks of the
Reform Church—two in the Nicolici branch and one in the IMS branch. Having conversed
with them at length over the years, I am prepared to add their discoveries about that body
to my own, in the information I here provide you with.
• There are faithful Advent believers in the main body, as well as in the Adventist Reform
Movement. But those in the main body are not afraid to stand for the right, when it comes
to taking a position that leadership disapproves. Those in the Reform are much more fearful
to do so.
There are several reasons for this, of which two are particularly significant:
1 - Theirs is a much more closely knit organization. The elders watch the people much more
closely, lest they get out of line. In the years since then, we have at times lived near the
Amish and old-order Mennonites—and found their structure and mind control reminds us
of the Adventist Reform Movement.
2 - Also, like the Amish and Mennonites, theReform Church is very concerned over certain
rules and regulations. This lends a controlling atmosphere to the situation. Church members
dare not get out of line. More on this in the next item.
• There is an over-emphasis on regulations, and an under-emphasis on the weightier matters
of God’s Word.
The Reform women told my wife that they had regular headaches on the back of their heads.
These occipital pains were caused by the large buns they had to wear. The Reform women
do not dare cut their hair, lest they shame their family and be declared to be in apostasy.

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 They also told my wife that they could not get their work done with hair that hangs down to
their waist, so they keep it rolled up into a knot on the back of their head. The result is the
appearance of very short hair—and those headaches. They also said that the overly long
hair, if not kept rolled up, tends to fall out.
Now, if some of the ladies wish to do this, that is fine; but it should not be mandatory. Paul’s
counsel about long hair was penned to the Corinthian believers who lived in a city whose
“vestal virgins” were notorious throughout the Roman Empire as the temple whores,
entertaining the worshipers who came from afar bringing their gifts to the Temple at
Corinth.
Just south of the city was a mountain, the Acrocorinthus, about 1,800 feet high, rising steeply
from the lowland. On its summit was the Temple of Aphrodite.
According to Strabo, there were about a thousand girls as temple prostitutes in the sanctuary
of Aphrodite. These “vestal virgins” were easily identified by those who wanted to lay with
them: They wore very short, close-cropped, hair as a sign of their trade.
All the other women in town wore mediumlength hair, as women normally did (to the
shoulders or below).
The excessively long-hair problem caused considerable difficulty among the Reform women;
but, as we will learn later in this study, it was cited by leaders as a prominent point of
doctrine, in which the Reform Church differed from other “impure” religious bodies.
• I said there was an under-emphasis on the weightier matters of God’s Word. We have
been told that, when possible, we should organize our own church schools. Yet the Reform
Church does not bother to do this. They may have large city churches, yet will only rarely
build, fund, or maintain their own church schools. They send their children to the public
schools. In this way, more money flows to the hierarchy. Only rarely do they maintain a
church school for their own children.
That may sound like a harsh criticism, but I consistently noted that the pattern was to not
spend money on valid Spirit of Prophecy-endorsed projects, because it siphoned funds from
the treasury which was in the hands of leadership.
• Another money-saving device is their evan-gelistic work. About 1985, I received a phone
call from a friend in southern California. Since retired, he was at that time pastoring one of
the main church congregations in the Southern California Conference.
He said he had recently been conducting an evangelistic series and noticed that, following
each evening service, a man was hanging around in the back trying to talk to the Bible study
interests.
Checking on this, he discovered the man was a salaried Reform Church minister.
So he walked up to him and asked, “We spend thousands of dollars to hold evangelistic
meetings to bring people into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Why don’t you people do
it too? Is this sporting, coming around, trying to steal our interests?”
But that is the way they work. Too stingy to hold their own evangelistic efforts or go from
door to door looking for Bible study interests, they raid main-church evangelistic efforts.

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 When they are not doing that, they are calling on Adventist Church members or stealing
sheep from the other Reform branch.
Reform leaders tend to live in a different world. They are not concerned about bringing the
Three Angels’ Message or the Spirit of Prophecy writings to the world. The conversion of non
Adventists is not a matter of concern.
The responsibility for this unbalanced pattern lies at the door of the Reform leaders. Yet they
spend their Sabbath mornings preaching to their members, that they are the only pure
Seventh-day Adventists in the world—the only ones who will be saved. They tell them they
are the Loud Cry Angel. (More on Reform Church doctrines later in this study.)
• While we were in Sacramento, we met a godly man and wife who traveled from place to
place on the West Coast. He would sell juicers to support the family; and, on the side, he
would give back adjustments, as well as teach and practice natural remedies and nutrition.
He was a one-man medical missionary, evangelistic, team!
Yet he found that local Adventist pastors were often negative about his work. Discouraged,
he joined the Reform Movement.
Shortly afterward, he and his wife stopped by to convert us. We were just as friendly as ever,
for we knew the whole-hearted sincerity of him and his wife. A few months later, he
returned and said, “I was in it just long enough to learn what it was like, and then I got out
of it.”
I said, “I knew you would.”
“And throughout the whole experience,” he added, “you were the only two who remained
our friends before, during, and after our time in the Reform.”
Then he told me his story, and it was confirmed later by another friend who had held a high
position in Reform Church leadership before he also quit.
The pattern goes like this: The Reform Church recruiter will tell you that the organization
obeys all the Spirit of Prophecy. Yet, in reality, they do no more than they have to. As for
health reform instruction and medical missionary work, they only do it when some eager-
beaver convert from the main church comes in. Then, with the passing of months, as nothing
gets done and everything falls apart, the new convert gradually realizes how things operate
in the church. They may lapse into passivity, but more frequently leave. It is an intriguing
fact that it is the new converts which are most likely to leave. This is because they can more
clearly see the difference between the hollow pretensions of the Reform leaders and the
freedom to think and obey God’s Word outside the Reform.
• In sharp contrast, I have worked with faith-ful Adventists in the main church or those
ejected from it who have freedom to think, to plan, and to do. They read God’s Word and
obey it, without waiting for church leaders to grant approval.
Do not place yourself where you cannot obey God’s Word, without first having to get some
man’s permission to do so!
• Talking at length with active and former Adventist Reform Church members in
Sacramento over a two-year period, I came to the conclusion that there is far more politics
and mind control in the Reform Church than there has ever been in the main church.

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 And do not imagine I am prejudiced, in favor of the main SDA church. Anyone reading my
tracts knows I am not a policy man and certainly not a conference yes man.
• People who join the Reform Church have a way of disappearing. They tend to no longer
order missionary books. They do not visit from house to house. They do not attend
unapproved (non-Reform) independent meetings. They are advised to stay away from their
former Advent friends. Everything is polluted, defiled, untouchable, unless Reform
leadership approves of it.
This rule is imposed because leadership fears that they may lose their members if they learn
of the unshackled freedom to study and obey which other Advent believers have. It is
pleasant not to have a little pope keeping tabs on you all the time.
I agree that some souls need the Reform Church. They have the type of personalities that
need someone to manage them. I do not. I prefer to go directly to God through Jesus Christ.
I do not need an intercessory priest to interpret the Word of God and to what extent I am to
obey it.
• What about the Adventist Reform members themselves? They are fine people, fine
people. It is unfortunate that they are locked into such a narrowed religious system that they
cannot carry on missionary work as freely as they earlier were able to do.
• While we were living in Sacramento, we met Anna. That is not her real name, for we wish
to protect her. Through the grapevine of the independents in the area, who carried on health
and healing work without the approval of the conference health department, she heard
about our work and attended our natural remedies training meetings.
Since Anna was so utterly lonely, she frequently came to our home on Sabbath afternoons.
At that time, she had one child (a boy about 10 years old) and we had one child (a girl about
a year old). The five of us would sing together and read mission stories.
Then Anna told us her story, and we learned why she was so lonely. In later years, we spoke
with former Reform Church members and leaders who told us her story was typical of the
methods used.
Anna deeply loved the Adventist message and practiced it, but felt cut off from the
denomination that had brought it to her.
Years earlier, she had become a Seventh-day Adventist and was very happy in her faith. A
quiet soul, she faithfully attended church. But problems developed in the home and her
husband left for another woman. We never asked for details.
Then a representative of the Reform Church called on her and explained that the Adventist
Church was an apostate organization and that the only true church in the world was the one
he belonged to. He did not mention that there were twin branches of the Reform Church,
both with essentially the same beliefs and errors.
Anna was then read the “separation texts.” A former Reform Church leader later told me
that it was regularly done: When the recruits came in, they were read passages in the Spirit
of Prophecy about the urgency of separating from evil and error.

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 Later, when they found out what they had gotten themselves into, they were read the “unity
and church texts”; passages from the Spirit of Prophecy which indicated that they must stay
by the church!
Attending their meetings, Anna was eventually induced to join their organization. But then
a devilish technique was used to cut her off from her former brethren: She was told that she
must write a strong letter denouncing the Adventist denomination, demanding that they
drop her from membership, and then mail it to her former congregation. Before it was
mailed, of course, Reform leaders needed to look it over. They added a few barbs to make
the separation more pointed and decisive.
And I was later told, by a former Reform leader, that this was exactly their primary
objective—to cut off, as far as possible, the likelihood that the new convert might ever
withdraw from the Reform and return to the Adventist Church. Blacken their reputation with
the church! It also helped engender more strife, hard feelings, and sadness in many hearts.
Devilish? Yes, and it worked. Anna was later too humilated to feel she could ever return to
the Adventist denomination.
Feeling that she had totally burned her bridges back to Adventism, as intended, Anna felt
more subservient to the Reform leaders.
Anna was extremely easy to get along with; and her cutting, slashing, letter to her former
congregation was totally out of character for her. Her gentle manner was such that she
should have had little trouble in her new home.
But the oppressive regulations, discoveries about church politics, rejection of needed
reforms, and avoidance of Spirit of Prophecy principles gradually awakened her to what she
had gotten herself into.
Please understand that, because she was attending the headquarters’ church, all this
became apparent to her much more quickly than it would have to an isolated Reform Church
family living in a rural area, whose contacts with leadership were less frequent, except when
an itinerant Reform minister stopped by to collect their tithes and offerings.
For the same reason—because we were living in the Sacramento area which was at that time
home to two large Reform branch memberships—we learned in two years of mixing with
their members (plus later conversations with former Reform leaders) far more than a
Reform Church member in a distant area might learn in a decade.
Reform Church leaders are determined that everyone remain in line and in subservience, or
out they go. This is partly due to the German origin of the movement.
By nature, Germans make excellent leaders/ followers. That is why they command such
brilliant armies. Church members are also carefully marshaled like soldiers in the ranks. No
one must get out of line. Perhaps that is partly why my later contacts with Amish and old-
order Mennonites reminds me so much of them; they all tend to have Gothic origins.
In the case of Anna, she had gone across the line from one large Reform Church congregation
to the other. She tried them both out, and finding the principles and policies the same in
both, finally left.

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 That was not easy, for Anna had nowhere to go. Church conditions must have been pretty
bad, if she had to leave all she had and go out to nothing at all! Aside from her son, she had
utter loneliness.
But, before she left, she was read the “unity and church texts” about how we must stay with
the church. Years earlier, Reform workers told her she must separate from the church or be
lost, and now they were telling her if she separated from the church, she would be
irretrievably lost. So it goes.
Then she met us, and told us her story. You can know that her life was very saddened when
we later left the area to start Great Controversy broadcasts in the midwest, which were later
beamed into several states including southern California.
But Anna did not return to the Adventist Church. Reform leaders had done their work well.
They had helped her write such a terrible letter of denunciation, that she felt she could never
return. When we left in May 1962, she was alone in a city of nine Adventist churches and
two Reform churches.
• A variant method is used when the person brought into the church is from Adventism and
somewhat prominent.
Although such instances occur more rarely, Reform Church leaders see in each one an
opportunity to gain additional converts. Instead of an angry letter, a positive one which
actually gives little information about the Reform Church is sent out, over the signature of
the proselyte. Instead of factual information about the Reform Church (because there really
is not much good news to tell), it is stuffed with sentences and brief paragraphs from the
Spirit of Prophecy, sometimes totally out of context, interspersed with comments on how
glorious it is to have united with a pure church body.
Reform Church leaders are quite willing to carry out these tactics in order to achieve their
objectives, even though such letters may produce such friction as to break up homes and
cause divorces. Church lists may be stolen, but the end is said to justify the means. “We are
a purified church, that is why it is safe to take that mailing list and give it to us.”
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup
and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess . . Ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity . . Ye build the tombs of
the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous . .
“Ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers . . For ye compass sea and
land to make one proselyte.”—Matthew 23:25, 28, 29, 14, 15.
• Then there is the deceit. While we were in Sacramento, Robert Brinsmead came through
on his first tour of America. (I have earlier published studies on Brinsmead’s pre- and post-
1971 errors.) When he arrived in the Loma Linda area, he was invited by the Mentone
Reform Church to speak.
In the 1940s, Brinsmead’s parents had stud-
ied their way into the Reform Church, and then studied their way out of it. They were highly
intelligent and uncovered a number of its doctrinal and procedural errors.

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 With such a background, young Brinsmead spoke to this southern California Reform
Church— and took the whole church out, every one of them!
He showed them the errors in the system and truths in the Spirit of Prophecy which it had
rejected.
The pastor of that Mentone Church had earlier been a Reform leader, high up in the
organization in Sacramento; and he returned for a time to that city, where we met him.
(Since he was out of work, I hired him for a time to type the memeograph stencils for my
book, Medical Missionary Manual, which we now have back in print.)
He told us a number of deceitful practices about Reform Church leaders and their methods.
Here is one of them:
Several years earlier, leaders of the Reform Church in Sacramento laid careful plans, and
then waited. Then, just a few weeks before Ingathering started, they went to Woodland and
portions of Sacramento—and ingathered a large area in the name of the “Seventh-day
Adventist Church.”
How is that for deceit? When the local churches in the Northern California Conference
arrived soon after, the territory had already been covered and the money—thousands and
thousands of dollars—had been collected.
This former Reform leader told me how the leaders laughed over this afterward. They had
really pulled a fast one.
• Then there is the story of how the Adventist Reform Movement got its start in America. A
former Reform Church leader told me this:
C.A. Anderson lived in Washington State. Dissatisfied with the Adventist Church, he began
writing and sending out newsletters in the 1940s. Eventually he amassed a sizeable number
of names.
D. Nicolici, a Reform Church leader (and the D. Nicolici who later became the leader of one
of the two headquarters), made contact with him by mail and expressed great friendship in
correspondence that continued for several months.
Accompanied by his wife Nicolici departed Germany and, arriving in America, went directly
to Anderson’s home in the Northwest. Since Anderson had some extra time on his hands,
the two would pleasantly visit during a part of the day. Then the two couples would retire
for the night; Anderson and his wife in their bedroom downstairs, and Nicolici and his wife
in an upstairs guest room.
Several hours later, Nicolici and his wife would quietly arise, go into Anderson’s office just
down the hall, and very quietly copy his mailing list. Their nightly work was stealing names.
This continued for a portion of several nights, until the entire list had been copied.
Then they parted good friends (I was told that C.A. Anderson apparently never discovered
the ruse), and Nicolici began “evangelizing America” Reform Church style—which amounts
to proselytizing Seventh-day Adventist members.
In the mid-1980s, upon learning that a family friend of ours was C.A. Anderson’s daughter,
now living in the central states, I told her the story. She replied that, yes, Nicolici and his wife

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 had been there for a couple weeks and they had wondered about this after they left. Her
father had sensed that something was wrong, but did not know what it was.
• On one occasion, we were invited to a wed-ding at Nicolici church headquarters in Oak
Park, a suburb of Sacramento. The bride-to-be had invited us. Following the service, the
church members gathered into a large backyard, behind the headquarters. The happiness
one would expect at such a gathering seemed missing. Everyone was very careful and spoke
in hushed tones.
There was a reason: Overlooking the group were the three top headquarters leaders of that
branch of the Reform. I will never, never, forget their appearance. At the time, Kruschev was
premier of Russia and regularly uttering dark threats about how the Soviet Union was going
to “bury” America.
Yet these three high spiritual leaders of the church looked exactly like him! The appearance,
the faces, the scowl lines, the stony expressions— all were the same! To this day I cannot
forget it.
If this is the Adventist Reform Movement, I want no part of it. No wonder the guests at the
wedding hardly dared speak. The three leaders were standing there as wardens, impassively
staring at them.
• “Out of the cities” is the message to thosewho would come up to the high standards in
the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. Yet the Reform leaders always locate their headquarters in
the cities. That is where they prefer to live.
• As we neared the time when we were todepart for the midwest, we looked in the
classified ads for a better used car to take us where we needed to go.
One ad was for a Ford. The man said he would be waiting for us. (Why we drove to his home,
I still do not know. All I needed to do was ask the price over the phone, and we never would
have gone.)
Arriving there, we found ourselves in an exclusive district. By current building costs now, it
was a $250,000 home. The “Ford” turned out to be such in name only. It was top of the line
with every possible extra, yet carrying the “Ford” label (instead of Lincoln) only because
certain buyers might want to hide the wealth of their vehicles.
The automobile was only a couple years old; yet the man wanted to privately sell it, so he
could purchase a new replacement. Obviously, we had erred in checking on this ad.
Before leaving, we offered him some missionary literature—and he told us he was the son
of one of the ancillary leaders of the Adventist Reform Church. He was quite friendly; and,
in view of the home and the motor car, he was used to wealth.
Yet there were no church schools for the children, no evangelistic efforts, no medical
missionary/health work, no welfare work, no door-to-door visitation in his church. Just
control of the people.
• One of the two former Nicolici branch head-quarters leaders, whom I later conversed
with at length, told me that D. Nicolici would keep his eye on anyone who was writing a
book. Then, when it was ready for typesetting, he would tell the author that the book would

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 carry more weight if it bore “D. Nicolici” as the author. I was shown several such books, some
of them in the health field; and I was told the names of some of the real authors.
• As a sop to the most dedicated of the fol-lowers, the leaders had earlier purchased some
land in the barren hills above Sacramento, and announced that anyone who wished could
move there. But they would have to provide their own trailers and other facilities.
One afternoon, while driving up the Jackson Road into the back country, we saw the “Moriah
Heights” sign; and knowing that was the place, we turned in to see what was there. It was
pitiful. While the leaders basked in their wealthy homes in the city, the most faithful of the
faithful were living in squallor in the hills. There were no added facilities of any kind, other
than a few outbuildings and a poorly constructed barn-like structure, used as a meeting
house and church.
• Church leaders will probably deny muchof what I am telling you. In the mid-1980s, I
mentioned Anna in a statement about the Reform Church. I was told by a friend that, in
response, church leaders mailed out a letter saying that no such person had ever existed,
and that I was lying. Well, that tells me still more about those church leaders.
We knew her as a close friend for the better part of two years, prayed with her, and shared
in her sufferings. Do not think that she was quick to talk about the treatment she had
suffered at the hands of the Reform leaders. But she did talk, and the details were graphic.
The leaders also said that other facts which I gave were untrue, such as the Ingathering theft.
They are welcome to do so, but one of the three branch leaders who instigated and carried
out the theft personally told me the story. I verified it with another person who had earlier
been highly placed in the Reform Church.
You may be told that these are all lies. But we were there.
• Someone may say, “Well, you were at churchheadquarters.” What about the Adventist
headquarters? At other times in my life (totaling two and a half years), I lived in Takoma
Park, Maryland. That was the other church headquarters. At no time did I see there the
intensity of people control, great profession amid secret wealth, and stony-faced leadership
hypocrisy that I saw in the Reform Church in Sacramento.
• In the mid-1980s, while conversing with aformer Reform leader, I asked him what the
leaders did with all the tithes and offerings that poured in. They did not support mission
stations. He told me that the primary church expenditure was traveling around the
countryside in order to maintain control over the church members. Holding regional
meetings was part of this pattern. Aside from that, he said, the funds could be skimmed off
the top and quietly allocated to church leaders.
• The key to the control of Rome over thesoul is the teaching that there is no salvation
outside the church. You are either in the church or you are lost! That is the error of Rome. It
is a worship of man. The Reform Church leaders are able to use this teaching to enforce a
high degree of mind control over the members.
This Romish doctrine keeps the members frightened. They must please the leaders in their
choice of reading matter, activities, and other pursuits, or be castaways from God.

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 Prior to about 1950, there was essentially a single Adventist Reform Church. Following
internecine rivalries reaching back into the late 1930s, major power grabs caused the whole
denomination to split right down the middle.
Yet, in spite of the fact that both branches teach and practice the same things, so great is
the control of church leaders, that the members are told they must not subscribe to papers
published by the other of the two split-offs!
In strong contrast with all this, let us state the truth found repeatedly in the Word of God:
Outside of Christ there is no salvation! If you are in submission to Christ and His Word, you
are safe. We are not saved by church connection. We are saved by Jesus Christ.
If we are able to fellowship with others in church relationship, that is good, very good. Yet it
is Christ that saves us, not the church nor connection with the church.
Church books will not be saved, only the followers of Christ will taken to heaven.
Now I believe you can better understand why I have not and will not join the Seventh-day
Adventist Reform Movement.
PART two
Statement by a former
reform church leader
The following statement was prepared by a former Reform Church leader who has kept in
close contact with both branches of the Reform Church down through the years—to the
present time. He served as a pastor and Sacramento headquarters leader for over a decade
and has been closely associated with its members for over fifty-five years. He says the inner
corruption has only deepened in recent years.
Here is his statement:
The Reform Church is more pharisaical than the Adventist Church. They stress works—dress,
length of hair, diet—and they do it to the extreme. They are also very rigid in their theology.
Examples of this would be their interpretation of Daniel 11, the 144,000, etc. If you disagree
with their views, you are classed as a heretic—and out you go. They will hold a church
meeting and have you disfellowshipped. Both in lifestyle and in theology they are very rigid.
In regard to their church organization, they are remarkable for their excessive overcontrol
of their members. People move from the Adventist Church to the Reform Church, thinking
they are entering the earlier purity of Adventism. But, in reality, they have entered
something that, because of the intense people control, is further from it. At the heart of all
this, is the problem of the lack of leniency, the excessive intolerance and the continual hair-
splitting they engage in. On one of the many occasions in which I spoke with their leaders,
they personally admitted to me that they were more extreme than the Adventists.
They claim that they are following the Spirit of Prophecy more closely than the Adventist
denomination does. —But if this were true, then why do they not have church schools? Ellen
White has written so much on the importance of having our own church schools. Why do
they not have even one sanitarium or hospital? Why do they not have even one health
retreat, one health restaurant, or one treatment room? Medical missionary evangelism was

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 rated high in the Spirit of Prophecy as an important missionary work of our people to the
world. Yet the Reform Church is doing a poorer job of following the Spirit of Prophecy than
the Adventist Church does.
They lose most of their young people. I know; for I have observed them for years and am
well acquainted with many in the Reform Church and many who have left it. They lose their
young people because they send them to public schools, as Ellen White said not to do. (In a
few instances, they send them to Adventist Church schools; but, only rarely will you find
them starting their own church schools.)
If Adventists are apostate, then why do the leaders of the Reform Church send their own
children to be taught in the Adventist school system? This is hypocrisy. The Reform Church
has no future to offer its young people but that of sheep stealing. This is because absolutely
no missionary work of any kind is to be found within it. The young people might as well leave
it; for it is only an empty shell feeding on itself, judging hair length, how much tithe you give,
and whether you have been attending all the meetings.
At one time they had a health work, but it all died off. And the leaders resist any effort to
get it started again. Every so often someone new will be lured into their church by the offer
of letting him ‘take over the medical missionary program of the church’ in that particular
area. But soon it all comes to nothing.
With the rigid control by the leaders and the works program by the members, I don’t see
how they keep in business. There are people there in the church who have been there for
years and don’t know anything better. But the new people in do not last. They go in and
come out like a revolving door. The stifling rigidity, the heavyhanded control, is like a
hammer on their minds. They just never stay very long.
They won’t follow the Spirit of Prophecy in training their young people. The truth is that they
have tried church schools of their own; but, because of their very rigid intolerance, they can’t
get along with each other and the school closes down. This has happened over and over
again. Now they don’t even try anymore. They just send them to the public schools where
they will learn evolution and humanism and discover the local trade in hard drugs.
In regard to their teaching on the 144,000, it is this: Their position is that the entire number
of people that will be saved after 1844 will be 144,000 literal people, no more and no less.
And they preach that when this number is reached, Christ will return the second time. All
that matters is achieving that number. Yet such a teaching is foreign both to the Bible and
the Spirit of Prophecy. It cannot be found in either. [More on this later in this study.]
Living to themselves, warning no one out in the world, waiting for the coming of Christ while
doing little or nothing. —This is not what I want for myself, my wife, or my children.
That concludes a statement by a former headquarters Reform leader. At this juncture, let us
turn our attention to the history of the Adventist Reform Church.
PART three introduction to reform church history
The branches of the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Church call themselves the Seventhday
Adventist Reform Movement. We will now present two historical surveys of this movement,
each written by a former headquarters leader.

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 At the time that we were living in Sacramento, unknown to us, two high-placed leaders of
the Reform Church branches were beginning to question the validity of their church. Frankly,
they knew too much. Through contacts, in later years, I learned that each of them had
something to tell.
So, in the mid-1980s, I conversed at length with each of them. Both had left the Reform
Church while remaining sincere Advent believers. It was obvious that each had chosen the
difficult path of carefully investigating and then standing by his convictions and leaving the
church. Each could have chosen to enter into the corruption, and thereafter assured
themselves of high-paid positions for the remainder of their lives.* [Some reform leaders
are not highly paid] One was highly placed in the Nicolici branch. The other, the son of the
top leader, at that time, had been a local church elder in the IMS branch.
Each is now going to tell you his story. Keep in mind that these branches are, by far, the two
largest segments of the Reform Church.
You will note below that there are no essential differences between these two large
segments in either doctrine or practice. Both call their top men the “General Conference”
and declare that they and their “General Conference Sessions” are the only “Voice of God”
in the world! Not to obey them (the particular “Voice of God” segment you are a member
of) is to be lost. This calls to mind the schism of the Roman Church in the Dark Ages, when
there were two popes, each with his counselors who denounced the other as antichrist
(Great Controversy, 86-87, 103-104).
There is something remarkably foolish about the efforts of men to make themselves appear
infallible.
Both branches call themselves the “Seventhday Adventist Reform Movement,” and each
instructs its members that only in their splinter group can the members be saved.
Unofficially, the IMS group call themselves the “Reformed Church,” while the Nicolici group
call themselves the “Reform Church.” In this present study, when we speak of “Reform
Church,” we refer to each and both of them.
It should be understood that leaders change; Nicolici is no longer the head of the Nicolici
branch and Kramer was, at that time, only the North American head of what we here refer
to as the “IMS group.”
In the following historical reviews, the “original split” refers to the 1914-1925 split by which
many believers in Europe left the Adventist denomination and formed a separate church. By
the “big split” is meant the 1948-1951 split which resulted in a cleft right down the middle
of the Reform Church.
The next two chapters consist of two analyses. Remember that each of these two men could
have had lifetime, good paying, soft jobs—if they had been willing to be party to the
corruption in their own branch.
PART four
The reform church as viewed by a former leader in the Nicolici branch

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 The first historical overview is presented by a very high-placed leader in the Nicolici branch
in the 1960s. The worldwide headquarters of that branch was, at that time, in Oak Park,
Sacramento. Today it is in Virginia.
The Reform Church is often referred to as the “German Reform” or “German Reform
Church.” But this is not accurate. Historically, it started in several different European
countries all at the same time, though the initial impact was especially felt in Germany.
EARLY HISTORY
In 1914 the split off from the Seventh-day Adventist Church actually began with the outbreak
of the First World War in Europe. Later its organization was completed at a 1925 meeting in
Gotha, Germany. At that time it finalized on organizational details for a separate church,
separate officers, separate General Conference, etc. Aside from many little splinter groups
which broke away from it in various countries, most of it remained one large organization
until the big split began in 1948.
At that time it was voted to move the world headquarters from Europe to Sacramento,
California. This was then done, in spite of heavy protests from many European believers.
One important German leader refused to recognize Sacramento as the new headquarters,
and so he reestablished offices in Speele, Germany. Another faction recognized Sacramento
as the worldwide center.
In 1951, D. Nicolici was voted Secretary of the General Conference. Nicolici was originally
from Romania, and was one of the very first Adventists in that country.
At this 1951 General Conference Session, the main body of the Reform Church split in two.
The two leaders after the split were D. Nicolici and Carlos Kozel. Immediately, up and down
the line, splits occurred in various countries as the believers decided whether they would
follow IMS or Nicolici. For example, in Canada after 1951, the Reform Church split all across
the land. In the United States, the people were divided over the issue; some went with IMS
and others with Nicolici.
At first, both headquarters were in Sacramento, California. But, shortly afterward, IMS
headquarters moved to Colorado, leaving behind a large IMS congregation in Sacramento.
It was not till many years later—in the early 1970s—that the Nicolici group moved out of
Sacramento.
(Oscar Kramer had been a European convert to Adventism through a Literature Evangelist.
Later he emigrated to the United States and began missionary work here, recruiting
Adventists for the Reform Church. Later still, he was ordained and eventually became a
highplaced leader in the work.)
OBJECTIVES, AUTHORITY, ACTIVITY
Following the big split, the pattern of Reform Church activity went something like this: Each
General Conference would send out delegates to steal members from the other major
Reform Church. Part of this intense antagonism arose from the flurry of lawsuits and court
cases that occurred in various nations of the world.

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 As soon as the 1951 split took place, both sides immediately tried, through court lawsuits,
to obtain the church buildings and property in every country in which they located. Down
through the years the two branches have continued to be very argumentative and
antagonistic toward one another. This is to be seen both in their sermons and in written
publications. They continually take snipes at one another. No love is lost, for they have none
for one another.
And each group claims, for itself, to be the “Voice of God.” Something of an infallibility
complex. Every little committee meeting of the top leaders is a “Voice of God” decision,
which the faithful must strictly obey. And, of course, the other branch is considered to be
the voice of the devil.
Based on these seemingly infallible pronouncements, each branch sends out agents
throughout the world field to convert members over from each other. This is the primary
way their tithe is spent—supporting the leaders, stealing sheep from one another, and
paying leaders to travel around keeping everything running—in a control far worse than
anything existing in the Adventist Church.
Year after year, the predominate “missionary project” was moving members back and forth
from one branch to the other. When not occupied with that, they have concerned
themselves with taking members from the Adventist Church.
As I worked up in the ranks, I was repeatedly puzzled as to why the Reform Church, in its
various segments, was patterned so closely to the Adventist political system.
We called ourselves a “purified” church that was the “only true remnant,” yet we would
clash in committees, and our nominating committee sessions were terrible to behold. So
much hatred was manifested.
From what I understand (and I have learned a lot in the years since), there is nothing in
Adventism to compare with the fights that we carried on in our top-brass Reform Church
nominating committee sessions.
The General Conference leadership of each branch—composed of relatively few men—is
considered to be the highest authority in the Church. By its own decision, it has empowered
itself to sit on any committee or board of any conference or church anywhere in the world—
and it very often does.
They tell us that no correct or wise decisions can be made without their being present at
each important meeting, big or little.
Because the General Conference officers are the “Voice of God,” their authority and power
throughout the world field is awesome.
One interesting occurrence took place a few years back. The small group, called “the General
Conference,” decided to substantially increase their personal income. So they voted to
transfer all of the California congregations to direct General Conference control. This would
bring large amounts of money directly to them.
But, after the vote was taken—and the transfer had been made—the members in a special
meeting outvoted their “Voice of God” leadership and transferred the property back to the
people.

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 The difficulties, financial costs, and intense wrangling that took place in transferring all this
property over to the General Conference—and then back again—was fantastic. It surely was
agonizing. I know. It was a battle all the way through. This clearly was not God’s way of
“finishing the work.”
One group of Reformers were living at Moriah Heights. This is a rural property southeast of
Sacramento. The folk there were not living in the city as were the General Conference
leaders and so many of the members, so they urged the leaders for needed Spirit of
Prophecy reforms.
But these pleas were always resisted and ignored. Finally, to squash them and stop this
source of continual embarrassment, the General Conference transferred in a number of
Brazilian Reform Church members into America and relocated them to the Moriah Heights
property. The objective was a General Conference takeover, and it worked. The appeals for
reform were effectively squelched.
NO REAL DIFFERENCE
It is important that you understand the way the Reform Church started is not how it is today.
At first, during, and immediately following World War I, it was very spiritual. But this initial
experience soured when leadership control began. The members will tell you, themselves,
that what they were when they started, they are not today.
There is a lot of talk about the Reform Church being different—and a lot better—than the
Adventist Church. But, after you have been in the Reform Church awhile, you discover this
is not so.
Marriage, divorce, and remarriage—the same problems exist in both the Adventist and
Reform Churches. Dress standards and military service— again, the same problems. Sabbath
work problems and tithe paying—again, the same.
And Education! Even worse in the Reform Church! There is no system of eduction
whatsoever anywhere in the Reform Church! Ninety-nine percent of the children of both
Reform Churches go to public schools. The irony is that, in Sacramento, some of the leaders
send their children to Adventist schools instead of to regular public schools,—and then, in
the pulpits, they regularly denounce Adventism!
They have done nothing in the important field of religious liberty. And in Health Reform and
True Medical Missionary Work, without drugs or surgery, they have much big talk, but they
have done nothing.
The only time something gets started in this area is when a newcomer arrives with great
ideas. They promise to let him lead out; but, no matter how creative or skilled he may be,
soon it all peters out because of leadership apathy. This kind of thing has gone on for years.
As I said before, the primary objective is to steal sheep—from the other Reform branch or
from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is only because of their rivalries and sheep
stealing from one another that they let the Adventist Church alone as much as they do.
They are a plague in sheep’s clothing when they come knocking at your door. The solution is
becoming like Christ, putting away the politics, and giving the Third Angel’s Message to the
world. But the leaders do not want that.

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 People become dissatisfied with Adventist lukewarmness, and so they leave it at the urging
of the Reform Church agents. But then they enter the Reform Church—and find that it
duplicates the Adventist Laodicean condition.
Both the Reform and the Adventist Church members need to be taught right living, how to
get ready for heaven, and how to share the Final Message given us in the Bible and Spirit of
prophecy with all the world.
We need to give the True Message—and let separation come if it will. But we should not
preach separation as the message! Preach the message, not separation!
OTHER DOCTRINAL ASPECTS
The original concept of the founders of the Reform Church was that, by calling people out
from Adventism into a new church, they would bring in the Loud Cry. And they called
themselves the “Loud Cry Angel” of Revelation 18. Maybe God could have done something
if they had not tried to start a separate church, but had remained independent ministries.
From 1914 to 1925, they had a higher spiritual level. They had undergone many sufferings
and loved God and one another. From 1925 to the present time, there has been nothing but
a series of power struggles, and it has brought lowered spirituality. When you ask them
about all this, the power struggles and the lowered spirituality, they reply, “God is purging
out the Laodiceans.” But when you ask them about the Laodicean Church of Revelation 3,
they will tell you that the term applies to Adventism and not to them.
They are constantly trying to figure out neat little explanations of Revelation 18, whose
angel they claim to be. It is quite obvious that they are not the Loud Cry, and have never
been the Loud Cry; so they devise little stages. “We are in the swelling stage; soon it will
swell to a Loud Cry,” they will tell perplexed members. To this we reply, “I know you’re
swelling, but which way?”
The truth is that when the Revelation 18 Angel comes, he will lighten all the earth with his
glory. The Reform Church surely is not doing this in any way. You can talk to the individual
members and they will laugh and tell you, “We’re not Revelation 18!”
I have told them that, if the Reform Church is already purified of Laodiceanism and
worldliness, there is no reason for the Investigative Judgment! According to their published
literature, their people and organization are already as pure as the driven snow.
One of the excuses given for the 1951 split was that a leader in the church had a wife, in the
Western Zone of Germany, and another in the Eastern Zone. Therefore it was necessary to
split the whole church. But why should it be necessary to split an entire church organization
over one man and his wives? There are better ways to solve problems than that. The truth
is that there had already been wrangling for several years before then, and the two sides
came to the meeting prepared for a fight to the finish. It was a power struggle between
leaders, not an earlier adultery, which produced the split.
People become frustrated with the problems in the Adventist Church and think that, if they
move to the Reform Church, they will solve their problem. —But, when they get there, they
find that they now have leaders who do all their thinking for them. Soon they find they are
in a worse mess than when they started.

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 An excellent example of the hypocrisy in the Reform Church, and how it is no better than
the Adventist Church, is the manner in which they both face their educational problem in
Europe:
Over there, the children have to go to school on Saturday or they can never obtain a full
education for high-paid employment.
The Adventist Church says to its members: “Go ahead and attend school. We’ll baptize you;
and, while we are looking the other way, you just keep breaking the Sabbath and attending
school.”
The Reform Church is more righteous. They tell their youth: “Go to school and break the
Sabbath. When you have finished your education, come back and we’ll baptize you.”
Another remarkable parallel is to be found in European military service. The Adventist
Church lets its youth go into the military and bear arms. —And so does the Reform Church!
They have been doing it for decades! The Reform Church leaders and pastors “unofficially”
counsel their youth: “Go ahead and do it. If you don’t, they’ll imprison you and they may
shoot you. Then, after you get back out of the military, come see us and we’ll baptize you.”
—And yet this is the very issue—the very reason for the separation of the Reform Church
from the Adventist denomination in the first place! This is why the Reform Church calls itself
the “Loud Cry Angel”—because it has nothing to do with “bearing arms.”
But the fact is that, whether you are baptized or not, you ought to obey God’s Law and abide
by Bible principles. The Reform Church is teaching the young to disobey God! Whether at
school or in the military, it says to them, “Go ahead and disobey Him; later on we’ll forgive
you.”
The Reform Church started in Europe because Conradi, in Germany [L.R. Conradi (18561939),
president of the European Division at the time], had his men disfellowship faithful
Adventists, in fifteen European countries, because they would not go into the army and bear
arms. After the First World War, the [Takoma Park] General Conference apologized and even
Conradi agreed that he had done wrong. But the leaders of the new breakaway group—the
disfellowshipped members—would not come back. Instead, they formed the Reform Church
in 1925.
And now it has grown to the point that the leaders of the Reform Church feel they are the
“Voice of God” and can do no wrong. When they tell me they are the “Voice of God,” I reply,
“Which ‘Voice’ ” is a person supposed to listen to? —the Nicolici group or the IMS group?
Each one hates and castigates the other. Therefore since both claim to be the “Voice of God,”
one has to be of the devil. Maybe they are both of the devil. Which mortals do you know
that are infallible? The pope pretends he must make all your important decisions for you.
According to the Spirit of Prophecy, no small group of men are the “Voice of God.” [Near the
close of this present study, we will discuss this error in more detail.]
A few men control everything. For example, one man in the Nicolici group has the following
offices: Chairman, Sacramento Church; Minister, Sacramento Church; Chairman, Church
board, Sacramento Church; Minister, Field Conference; President, Field Conference;

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 Chairman, Field Conference Executive Committee; Chairman, Field Council; Vice President,
General Conference; President, Field Council; Member, General Conference Council.
I was told, “If you don’t feel I am doing right, you can appeal, you know.” “Appeal!” I answer,
“Appeal to what?”
Nearly everything I told you, so far, pretty much applies to both the Nicolici and the IMS
groups. Here are a few additional facts which apply only to the Nicolici group:
Devai was President of the General Conference for over twelve years. He is Brazilian. The
present Secretary of the General Conference is also Brazilian. The reason for this is that,
when the Nicolici group spread into other countries, it did the best in South America—
especially Brazil.
The largest block of delegates to the Nicolici group General Conference Sessions come from
Brazil. Since they are nearly half of the entire delegation in attendance, they can do pretty
much as they wish. Because they so vote it, almost every Session is held in Brazil. Brazilians
are fine people, yet it is to be noted that the balance of power in the Nicolici group is now
in their hands.
Another interesting point is the location of the headquarters. Although the General
Conference was moved to Sacramento (following that vote in 1948), later the leadership
decided to move it to Los Angeles so they could enjoy the climate there. This decision was
so strongly opposed by the constituency that it was later voted to move their headquarters
to New Jersey (now in Virginia).
But church leaders, since they are part of the “Voice of God,” can live like princes—
regardless of where the headquarters is transferred to. The President is a German and says
he wants to live in Germany, so he does. The Secretary refused to move from sunny
California back to New Jersey, so he is now in Sacramento.
This is where the tithes and offerings of the members go: to pay for all those jet flights. This
is why they cannot afford to operate schools, and why they are so anxious to close down
every missionary project that the laymen try to start. The leaders feel they must keep flying
around, micromanaging every little board meeting, lest a new splinter group rise up.
The same problem exists with the IMS group. From what I understand, the IMS group is even
more stringent in their efforts to keep control over their laity. Of the two, the IMS group is
the stronger in South America, also.
New members coming into either group generally have no idea that there is more than one
“Adventist Reform Church.” They don’t know it is split into two, and in some countries into
still more.
That concludes the first historical survey. The one who wrote it (like the one who wrote the
next article), if he had chosen the path of accommodation with intrigue, self-
aggrandizement, and misuse of funds, could have been a member of the small committee
“Voice of God,” to instruct thousands of people how they are to live.
The above individual never reunited with either the Reform Church nor the Adventist
Church. He remained independent and very happy.

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 The individual who wrote the next chapter, followed a different path: He tried out the
Adventist Church, and found it was different than what he had been taught all his life.
PART five
The reform church as viewed by a former leader in the kramer branch
The second historical overview is presented by the son of the leader of the North American
headquarters of the IMS branch in the 1960s. His separation was accompanied by scholarly
research which unearthed falsehoods in key teachings of the Reform Church. The IMS branch
was then, as now, headquartered in Speele, Germany, with its North American headquarters
in Sacramento until about 1952, when it was moved to Colorado.
Why did I leave the Reform Church? I left because I did a lot of studying and because the
Reform Church is not doing the Gospel Commission; instead, it’s doing things which are
counterproductive to it.
I was born and raised in the Reform Church, and was frequently told that the work on earth
would be finished by the outpouring of the Latter Rain. But I have now decided neither the
Early nor the Latter Rain can be received by the Reform Church as long as it continues doing
the things it is doing.
RECONCILIATION MEETINGS
In 1972, I proposed that the IMS and Nicolici groups meet together for a series of meetings,
for the express purpose of reuniting them into one harmonious church body. I saw this as
the only hope for the Reform Church. Without such a peaceful settlement of its various
conflicts, strife, name-calling, and sheep stealing, the blessing and power of God could never
rest upon the Reform Movement. I envisioned gatherings in which, in meekness and humility
of spirit, we would sit down and sing, pray, and study together.
Since I was living in Sacramento, it was not difficult to bring this burden before the General
Conference of both main branches. I also spoke with many members in both of them and
urged the importance of this reunification.
Some of the people were very willing to have such meetings. Others disliked the other
branch too much. A large number were fearful of doing anything not approved by their
leaders, lest they bring trouble upon themselves. Eventually the meetings were held, and
continued for five months. All this took place in 1972.
But the leaders on both sides refused to have a part. And the animosity and opposition was
so strong that the meetings could not be held in the churches of either branch. We held
them in the Rancho Cordova Presbyterian Church on Sabbath afternoons. For five glorious
months we sang and prayed and studied together. The happiness in our hearts was sweet.
But, all the while, the Reform leaders on both sides were deeply frightened about our
intentions and a possible loss of prestige and position to themselves if unity were to occur.
It was not our purpose to bolt the two branches and start a third one. But, with the intense
opposition by the leaders, our fellowship meetings were doomed to failure. Recognizing this,
we finally brought them to a close. Friction and strife was being stirred up back in our home
churches, and we had to encounter it during our regular worship services. Word was
spreading that we were becoming “apostates.”

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 Our leaders clearly preferred to be top men of small church bodies rather than to see their
people united into a single church.
I BEGAN RESEARCHING THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY
At about this time, I took the Reformation Study Course, a Kramer group publication, and
began comparing it with the Testimonies. I was surprised to find that quotations from the
Spirit of Prophecy, included in this study course, were distorted. Sentences and phrases
would be taken out of context and twisted, so that a meaning would be applied to them that
did not exist in the original. They would tell you that Sister White said this, and then quote
something. But she had not really said this. They were interpreting things incorrectly.
In 1972, I was a delegate to the American Reform Church Conference [the Kramer group
equivalent of the North American Division in the Seventh-day Adventist Church]. At that
time, I urged that the Reformation Study Course be cleaned up. I explained to the delegates
that garbled quotations were to be found within it. A few phrases and excerpts would be
used in an attempt to prove what was not taught by the Spirit of Prophecy.
I prayed and worked toward unity on both sides in this matter. But ultimately the whole idea
was rejected. Those leading out said that it was not important—and didn’t need to even be
discussed on the floor by the delegates, or even be voted on.
After this, I spoke personally with our General Conference president, and told him that as a
people we needed to work together—the Kramer group with the Nicolici group—and unite
into one, for the sake of Christ and His truth. Unless we did this, we can not begin to give
God’s final message to all the world. We surely are not doing it now. “It is better if we work
together instead of fighting,” I told him.
I BEGAN ATTENDING THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
After further prayer, one Sabbath morning I attended, with my family, one of the many
Seventh-day Adventist churches in Sacramento. This was the first time in my life that I had
ever been inside one of them. We went to the Central Church.
I had always been told that Adventists didn’t believe in the Spirit of Prophecy. But I found
that morning that those writings were liberally quoted from. I had always been told that
Adventists didn’t believe in vegetarianism, but I discovered that the Central Church was in
the midst of vegetarian cooking school classes. I had been misinformed on these matters;
perhaps I had been misinformed on still others.
So I visited another and still another Adventist church in the area. At the Carmichael Church,
my wife and I almost stumbled. We found that some there were wearing jewelry. We almost
stopped attending Adventist churches entirely. But we went back and discovered that the
ones with the jewelry were non-Adventist visitors. They were seeking after truth and did not
yet know our principles.
All these discoveries were entirely new to me. Throughout a lifetime in the Reform Church,
we did not have non-Adventist visitors, only Reformers and proselytes from Adventism.
We continued attending the Adventist Church.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH INTENSIFIED

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 I now began even more intensive research into these matters. I went to the draft board and
to the State Department of Public Aid. I went to various state and government agencies. I
read entire historical works on early Adventist history. I researched into U.S. and world news
back in the early part of the twentieth century and the background of the Seventh-day
Adventist belief and practice in a number of lines. I discovered that the Reform Church had
not told me the truth.
Here are some of the things I learned:
THE CIVIL WAR
When the Reform Church first began in 1914, it said that because of 1 Testimonies 361, and
thereabouts, we could only be conscientious objectors in time of war. This position was
taken because Ellen White said, on page 361, that we couldn’t take part in this war; we could
only be conscientious objectors (today known as the 10 classification) and not
noncombatant medical personnel (1-A-0 classification).
But I discovered that this historical background greatly helped to explain the true situation:
During the Civil War, the United States Government provided three options: (1) Payment of
a $300 fee (“commutation fee”) to the government in place of being individually drafted into
the Union army. (2) Noncombatancy work in hospitals. (3) Caring for the freedmen (the
slaves that had already been freed).
In July of 1864, the Executive Committee of the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists wrote an official letter to the United States Government, in which they said, “We
have paid the commutation fee.” —Based on this letter, the Reform Church leaders assumed
that, in Ellen White’s time, the Adventist Church was saying that it would only pay the
commutation fee, and would have no part in the other two options.
But I discovered these facts: War broke out in 1862. When it did, the Adventist Church was
faced with a real problem. There was no commutation fee at that time. (The possibility was
not made available until the following year.) What should we do?
Some Adventists thought we should fight in that war, to free the slaves. (And, of course, we
all felt then, as now, that they should be freed.) Others felt that we could not participate
because of the Ten Commandments. It should be understood that, when war broke out,
there was no provision for noncombatants.
If you will look through the old Reviews, of July to December, 1862, you will find very strong
statements by the brethren that favored different views. Then, in January, 1863, Ellen White
had a vision in which she was told that we were not to be combatants. This vision is found
in the well-known 1 Testimonies Civil War passage [1 Testimonies, 355-368]. She said that
we should pray that the Lord will send relief in some other way.
Then, in March 1863, a bill was passed by Congress that permitted the commutation fee.
This was a with-or-without religious preference fee. It did not matter what church you
belonged to, and anyone could help you pay it.
But the public did not like that enactment. They called it “the rich man’s bill.” In the summer
of 1863, there was rioting in New York City against that provision. Finally, the government
sent the army in, and over a thousand rioters were killed before it was over with.

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 Then, in March 1864, a new law was enacted which superseded the earlier one.
This one provided that anyone who was a member of a church recognized by the United
States Government as holding official provisions against combatancy could avoid being
drafted into combatant service by one of three options: (1) Becoming a medic in a hospital.
(2) Joining the army as a noncombatant to guard the freed slaves. (3) Paying a $300
exemption fee, which would be used for the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers.
By this new law the commutation fee was replaced by an exemption fee,—and the three
options were now only available to members of churches recognized by the government as
officially being noncombatant.
Thus, in July 1864, the Executive Committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church sent the
official communication to the Government, that it HAD been paying the fee.
The Reform leaders assumed that they meant that the Adventist Church was saying that it
only wanted the fee option. —But if you read the entire letter, you will find that, in it, the
Church was asking the Government for permission to be recognized as a noncombatant
church. In order to provide historical background to this request, they said, “We have been
paying the commutation fee.” That is, we have been noncombatant in our views all along;
now please accept this as our official position and recognize us as such.
On September 13, 1864, the United States Government, in a letter to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church, officially granted this. They officially recognized the Adventist Church as a
noncombatant church. Hereafter, the Adventist Church could avail itself of this right. From
then on, throughout the remainder of the war, its men could take advantage of any of the
three options. And back in those days, raising $300 per man was a very difficult task for our
people. There is no record anywhere that we did not take advantage of all three options.
J.N. Andrews was then assigned the task of making sure that our men received the
governmental rights granted to them.
There is an interesting sidelight to this matter. The Reform Church teaches that, if one of its
young men goes into military service—either by his own choice or not—the church should
disfellowship him.
But in 2 Selected Messages, 335 [written September 2, 1886], we are told that in her time,
young Adventist men were being drafted, and we were not to disfellowship them on this
account.
Instead we were to pray for them.
THE 1914-1917 CRISIS
In my research I learned still more: Going through historical archives all over the West Coast,
I learned that the Adventist General Conference never did endorse the wrong position
during the First World War!
This wrong position, urged by L.R. Conradi, was that our young men should go into the army
and bear arms. Because of L.R. Conradi’s influence, it was upheld during World War I by the
German Adventist leadership. He even disfellowshipped faithful Adventist young men who
refused to be inducted and bear arms.

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 However, many of our leaders in Europe opposed this wrong position. This included Elder
Raft, president of the Scandinavian Union; Elder Campbell, president of the British Union;
and Elder Tieche, president of the Latin Union. (The disfellowshippings primarily took place
in Germany and Eastern European countries because of Conradi’s executive decisions.)
Conradi was president of the European Division, at that time, and a dictator. He issued this
wrong position on his own, and rammed it through. Conradi did it without consulting the
other members of the Division Committee.
[L.R. Conradi had been a hard worker, earnest evangelist, and a strong organizer. But, when
he attained a position of leadership, he expressed disapproval of the Spirit of Prophecy and
General Conference leadership. He became a dictator to the workers beneath him, and
refused to accept guidance from church leaders in America. In later years, he left the church
en-
tirely.]
The crisis really hit in 1915; for, in that year, Conradi attended the Fall Council (which was
held in Loma Linda). At that conference he tried to convince our worldwide leaders that his
decision (that Adventist members who refused to enter the army and bear arms should be
disfellowshipped) was the correct one. But church leaders decidedly opposed him. No one
stood with him. His suggestion was rejected by the Fall Council and also by the 1918 General
Conference Session.
But Conradi, with his rule or ruin spirit, returned to Division headquarters in Germany and
published in the official Division paper that the Fall Council and General Conference had
supported his position!
This false claim immediately aroused the sincere Adventist believers in those countries
where they had met with severe reprisals from their governments for not bearing arms.
Many of them concluded that, surely, the Adventist Church must be Babylon.
L.R. CONRADI
Louis Richard Conradi was a remarkable man. With a powerful brain and seemingly
inexhaustible energy, he only needed four hours of rest in every twenty-four.
Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, March 10, 1856, he attended a Catholic school, and then
journeyed to America. Becoming an Adventist in 1878, he attended Battle Creek College,
completing a four-year course in 18 months while supporting himself as a typesetter.
In 1882 he was ordained to the ministry, married, and four years later was sent to Europe as
a missionary. Traveling throughout Germany and Western Russia, he was imprisoned for 40
days. Released, he continued preaching in Russia and Holland.
In 1889, Conradi established the Hamburg mission, church, and printing house. By 1891, he
was head of Adventist work in Germany and Russia. He worked throughout eastern Europe,
the Middle East, and Egypt. He preached to 63 different language groups.
In 1915, Conradi decided that Adventist men should fight in the war or be disfellowshipped.
At the 1915 Fall Council, his idea was totally rejected by all in attendance. But he went back
to Germany and said they had okayed it. This caused a great outcry among the members.
The General Conference dissolved his newly formed European Division in 1918. A.G. Daniels

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 and other leaders deeply apologized in 1920, but Reform leaders rejected their appeals.
They were determined to lead an organization.
Conradi was removed from office in 1922. In 1932, disgruntled, he turned in his credentials,
joined the Seventh Day Baptists as a minister, and died in 1939.
A paper was printed with this message in 1917, and called on believers to leave the Adventist
Church and unite with the group which had released the publication.
The theory was that, if all the faithful and true Adventists would separate from Adventist
Babylon and unite with them, the Latter Rain would fall on this “purified church” and Christ
would return to earth for His people.
THE FRIEDENSAU CONFERENCE
Finally the Great War mercifully ended. Many Adventists had suffered because they would
not bear arms. Many were beaten and jailed; some were killed. It was obvious that Conradi’s
published position had not helped the matter. Men taken into the army had violated the
Sabbath and killed their fellow men. Two of the Ten Commandments had thus been broken.
And Conradi not only said this was good to do, but—worse— that those men who did not
break the commandments should be disfellowshipped.
In reaction, thousands of Adventists all over Europe began uniting in opposition to the
denomination.
In 1920, at Friedensau [Free-din-saw], Germany, a conference was held that was to prove as
fateful as Jereboam’s meeting with Rehoboam [1 Kings 12]. Elder A.G. Daniels, president of
the General Conference, came with 16 other delegates to this gathering, for the express
purpose of resolving differences. The Reform group also brought 16 delegates to the
meeting.
I had always been told by Reform leaders and in their literature that, at this meeting, the
General Conference refused to budge an inch from its “bear arms or be disfellowshipped”
position. But the truth is that the General Conference never held that position to begin with.
And neither did the Fall Council, nor several European unions. The whole idea was Conradi’s.
In addition, at this gathering, the very Adventist officers who had led out in doing wrong—
Conradi, Shubert, and Drinhause—admitted that they had been in the wrong.
At this juncture, the General Conference, under Daniel’s leadership, pled for forgiveness and
asked the persecuted brethren to return to the church.
What would you have done if you had been there? You would have seen the truth of what
had happened and reunited with the Adventist Church.
Unfortunately, only Reform leaders who were in attendance determined to carry thousands
with them into an offshoot.
The Reform leaders would not consider it. The beginnings of what would become a
denomination were already in operation, and these men had tasted the power of leadership
and liked it.

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 The Reform Church says its mission is to bring people together. But I spent a lifetime in that
church and found that it exists only to divide people—people in the Reform and people in
Adventism.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE REFORM CHURCH
In 1915 the Reform Church was initially organized. In 1918 the first split-off from the Reform
Church took place. Those responsible for it called themselves “the third part,” as mentioned
somewhere in Ezekiel [Ezekiel 5:2, 12; supposedly predicting 1 - the Adventist Church, 2 -
the Reform Church, 3 - the third part].
Two early prominent leaders in the Reform Church were Edmund Doerschler and Henry
Spanknodel. Doerschler left the Reform Church in 1923 and formed his own splinter group
in Holland that year, under the name, Dutch Reformed Church.
Spanknodel caused much strife and division within the Reform Church and then left—and
united with the German Nazi Party. Later he immigrated to America and became a leader of
the Nazi Party in America.
By 1937, the Reform Church had been divided into 25 splinter groups in Europe alone. Most
of these were small. Probably no one in the world knows how many splinter groups it has
been divided into by the present time!
Yet few converts to the Reform Church ever learn of this. They think that the “Reform
Church” is one church, and that there is only one “Seventh-day Adventist Reform
Movement” all over the world.
THE 1934 RIFT
Beginning in 1925 at the Gotha, Germany, meeting when the organization was finalized, Otto
Welt was elected as first president of the Reform Church.
At the 1934 General Conference Session, Elder Welt was replaced by Elder Maas. But there
was much opposition to this action. Welt had been newly elected the General Conference
treasurer and Maas its president; yet the two were strongly opposed to one another.
Elder Welt’s son and son-in-law openly urged their father to oppose Elder Maas. All three
accused Maas of adultery. But the General Conference Executive Committee rejected the
idea as being based on “insufficient evidence.” However, later before his death, Maas
confessed that the charge was true.
The whole affair probably would have split the Reform Church right then; but, just at that
time, in Europe, the Second World War was boiling into action. It soon broke out in warfare
all across the continent. The split was postponed while people nursed their grudges.
THE 1948 SPLIT
It was not until 1948 that, following the War, the first General Conference Session was held.
Meeting in Holland, trouble quickly developed.
The General Conference leaders wanted to transfer their headquarters to the United States.
But the leaders of the American Union, already having trouble with the General Conference
leaders, did not want them to move to the U.S.

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 D. Nicolici did not come to America until after the 1948 Session.
Now there happened to be a strong personal rivalry between D. Nicolici and Arthur
Doerschler, the General Conference president (brother of Edmund Doerschler who had
earlier pulled away and formed the Dutch Reformed Church).
So when it was learned that the American Union had sent no delegates to the 1948 Session,
the European leaders interpreted this as rebellion.
So it was voted to send D. Nicolici to America, to straighten out the whole problem. Arriving
here, he fought against the American leaders in their rebellion and on his own authority,
disfellowshipped them. This was the origin of the full-scale split—that ran right down the
middle of the Reform Church all over the world field. It was not the leadership adultery
which was the cause (as later said). It was the intense leadership rivalries and desperation
to grasp for more power.
Here is how it happened:
THE 1951 COMPLETION OF THE SPLIT
Following the 1948 Session, the effects of the growing split were disturbing many members.
A number gave up on the whole mess and went back into the Adventist Church. Between
1948 and 1951, the worldwide membership of the Reform Church decreased from 12,200
to 10,762. Because 6,200 were behind the newly erected Iron Curtain, this left only 4,562
reform members in the West.
As of the beginning of 1951, the two large segments of the Reform Church were the
American Union, under the leadership of Oscar Kramer, and the General Conference in
Europe. (This, of course, in addition to the dozens of small splinter groups scattered in
various places throughout the world.)
The 1951 Session was held in Holland. At this crucial Session, the fight was between D.
Nicolici (a German) and Carlos Kozel (a Brazilian) for the presidency of the General
Conference.
The General Conference delegates had not approved proxy voting, but Nicolici slipped it into
the new charter without the other leader’s knowledge. This procedure permitted a delegate
to come with proxy votes from others who could not attend. This procedure avoided the
cost of sending so many delegates, but meant that votes were cast for delegates not present
and not understanding the issues. They were giving their vote to another to think and vote
for them.
Kozel came to the Session with 14 delegates, who were pledged to him. Nicolici came with
11 regular delegates. But, in addition, Nicolici also brought with him proxies for 26 delegates,
not attending, who were living in Communist countries. Without the proxies, Kozel would
win; with them, Nicolici would win.
Kozel said the proxies did not count, but Nicolici said the earlier ruling could not now be
changed; indeed, if the missing delegates had known their votes might have been excluded,
some might have attended. So went the discussion.
A majority of the delegates voted to set aside the proxy votes and not count them. So when
Kozel was elected, Nicolici immediately left the Session with his men and set to work to start

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 his own worldwide Reform Church. Thus the split, initiated in 1948, came to full fruition in
1951.
Attempting to counter this, Kozel’s group appealed to the leadership of the American Union
to reunite with it. Oscar Kramer, head of the American Union (headquartered in
Sacramento), said they would do this if Kozel would resign from the presidency. Kozel
stepped down and Stark took his place, and the American Union and European General
Conference were reunited.
(As a sidelight, Elder Stark, president from 1939 to 1948 and again for a short time after
1951, later left the Reform Church and returned to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.)
So, following this latest reshuffling, it was D. Nicolici, on one side, and Oscar Kramer and the
European General Conference on the other side.
But do not think this left Nicolici with a smaller segment. Although both sides immediately
sent out agents (“missionary workers”) throughout the world field to recruit Reformers from
the other side, Nicolici’s recruiters were the most successful. In addition, through civil court
lawsuits in nations all over the world, he obtained custody of many local church properties.
At the same time, of course, the European General Conference [which we will here refer to
as the “Kramer group”] was busily doing the same thing. The lawsuits continued on for years,
draining funds and increasing the animosities and turmoil. The rancor and squabbling
continues today.
THE 1967 BRAZIL MEETING
In 1967, an important Session of the Nicolici faction took place in Brazil. Gutknecht, president
of the European General Conference, was invited to be present. It was agreed that both
groups had the same beliefs and practices, but unity was impossible. To do so would mean
that some leaders would have to step down, and no one wanted that to happen.
CONCLUSION
Down to the present day, this massive split in the Reform Church still exists, with all the
animosity, strife, and feuding that came with it. More time is spent on opposing and stealing
members from one another than for any other purpose.
Most of the money—including the tithe—is spent on three things: (1) Travel expenses to
keep control over the local churches and unions, so that further splits won’t occur. (2)
Sending out “missionaries” to proselyte opposing Reform Church segments and Adventist
members.
The whole business is a package all wrapped up in itself. And God stamps “selfishness” on
the wrapper, for that is what it is all about.
Many of the local Reform Church members, living by themselves in quiet rural areas, only
receive Reform Church Sabbath School Quarterlies and other papers by mail, plus occasional
visits from “field representatives” to pray with them, speak kind words, and collect their
tithes and offerings. These good folk learn but little of the true facts about what the leaders
are doing and how the money is spent.

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 The twisting of the Testimonies, by the leaders, in order to support their existence is
notorious.
One example is their attempt to prove that the Reform Church had a prophetic place in
Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy. But such proof is nonexistent. Often quoted is
Testimonies to Ministers, pages 514 and 515. They take this passage and quote bits of it—
and then quote the bits backward—in an attempt to prove that the Reform Church is the
final, last-day, church.
Another example is a sentence on page 251 of Volume 8 of the Testimonies: “The time has
come for a thorough reformation to take place.”
They claim that the sentence proves that they have a reason for existence. Yet they omit the
remainder of the paragraph which tells that, when that time comes, it will be characterized
by prayer, unity, cessation of church strife, a warm pleading for forgiveness, a thorough
drawing together, and working together. Read the passage; it speaks about exactly the
opposite of the confusion, mutual arguing, and belligerence to be found within the Reform
Church. The passage also speaks about personal heart reformation, not the starting of a new
church organization.
Two ever-present issues are (1) the political concern for position, authority, and power, and
(2) the decades-old misunderstanding, taught by the church leaders, that the Adventist
Church upholds the belief that the Ten Commandments do not apply in a time of war.
I had to research both issues very thoroughly before I came to my present conclusions. My
research and conclusions I have presented in what I have here set before you.
That concludes the second historical analysis of the history of the Reform Church. It was
written by the son of Oscar Kramer.
Let us now turn our attention to the special doctrines of the Reform Church. These are the
ones which they emphasize:
PART six
The special teachings of the reform church
Throughout this study, we have learned that there are definite problems in the politics,
warfare, petty regulations, and mind control over the church members.
But what about the teachings? In view of all the problems which confront one who decides
to join the Reform Church, what distinctive doctrinal gain is there in uniting with them?
In the mid-1980s, I spoke by phone with a very knowledgeable woman whose husband,
about two decades earlier, had been the Field Secretary of the General Conference in one
of the two branches of the Reform Church.
I asked her this question:
“Your husband was a leader in the Reform Church for a number of years, and you worked by
his side. What were the distinctive doctrines of the Reform Church? What were the cardinal
beliefs that they specially made a point of in their
church sermons?”

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 Her reply was startling.
“Anti-war; vegetarianism; a literal 144,000; they alone are the remnant; long hair—women
aren’t to cut it; the Laodicean church will be spewed out; they are the Revelation 18 Angel.
And that’s about it. I can recall little else that was particularly an issue. I had faithfully
attended their least important and most important gatherings for years, and knew
Reformers all over the U.S. and Canada, and some overseas as well.”
—Well, there it is. The unique doctrinal concerns of the Reform Church amount to a tempest
in a teacup. Yet the Reform leaders keep hammering on them.
These are the special teachings which, in their eyes, makes them the special people of God.
The following statement was prepared, at my request, by a friend who, for many years, was
a high-placed headquarters leader in the Reform Church.
THE 144,000
This is a crucial topic of great importance to Reform Church leaders. Let us carefully consider
it:
First, the Spirit of Prophecy distinctly teaches that we should not make a great issue of the
matter. As you study into the matter, keep in mind that 1 Selected Messages, 174-175, and
Life Sketches, 110-111, are clear that we should not make the nature and number of the
144,000 a key teaching, as the Reform leaders do.
Second, Reform leaders maintain that it is a literal number and includes everyone who has
died in the Third Angel’s Message since 1844. But the Spirit of Prophecy does not teach that
the 144,000 will include all the faithful who died since 1844.
Third, is the 144,000 a literal or symbolic number? The passage in Early Writings, 15,
indicates that it may be literal. Let each study all the quotations and decide in his own mind
(2 Index 1917). Whether or not it is a literal number has no bearing in determining whether
one should join the Reform Church.
Fourth, we are given a definitive statement on exactly who is included in that group in Great
Controversy, 648:3-649:0. That statement reveals that it will include those who live through
the Final Crisis and beyond the close of human probation. Therefore it cannot include all
those who died since 1844.
THE SEALING
The Reform Church’s view on the sealing is related to their concept of the 144,000. As noted
above, they teach that everyone saved under the Third Angel’s Message from 1844 onward,
all the way down to those raised in the Special Resurrection just before Jesus returns—are
included in the literal 144,000 and are the ones who receive the final Seal.
First, this concept is contrary to Great Controversy, 648:3-649:0, which teaches that the
144,000 will only include those who have gone through the Final Crisis, close of probation,
and Jacob’s Trouble.
Second, The Bible reveals that it is the 144,000 who will receive the Seal of the Living God
(Rev. 7:1-4; compare 14:1-5). The Spirit of Prophecy explains that those who are sealed must
undergo the test of the National Sunday Law.

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 “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation
closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will
be decided . . [Rev. 13:11-17, quoted] . . This is the test that the people of God must have
before they are sealed.”—Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 976 (compare 5 Testimonies, 216).
[For much more on the sealing time, see our in-depth 62-page Spirit of Prophecy
compilation, The Seal and the Mark ($3.95, plus postage), which repeatedly shows that the
Seal and the Mark of the Beast begin to be applied at the same time—as soon as the National
Sunday Law is enacted.]
THE GREAT PREDICTED REFORMATION
There are several passages in the Spirit of Prophecy which predict a great reformation among
us at some future time. The Reform Church leaders teach that they and their organization
are this predicted reformation. However, when we read the Inspired descriptions and
compare them with the Reform Church, we find that the two do not match.
But we do see a remarkable match when we compare the descriptions of the coming
reformation with her descriptions of the Final Crisis—when the National Sunday Law occurs
and the Latter Rain falls on those willing to stand for God’s Law in spite of imprisonment and
death threats, and they go out and proclaim the truth with a Loud Cry.
Here are a couple sample passages:
“We are living in a special period of this earth’s history. A great work must be done in a very
short time . . In visions of the night, representations passed before me of a great reformatory
movement among God’s people. Many were praising God. The sick were healed, and other
miracles were wrought. A spirit of intercession was seen, even as was manifested before the
great Day of Pentecost. Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families and opening
before them the Word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a
spirit of genuine conversion was manifest. On every side doors were thrown open to the
proclamation of the truth. The world seemed to be lighted with the heavenly influence.
Great blessings were received by the true and humble people of God. I heard voices of
thanksgiving and praise, and there seemed to be a reformation such as we witnessed in 1844
..
“The judgments of God are in the earth, and, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we must
give the message of warning that He has entrusted to us. We must give this message quickly,
line upon line, precept upon precept. Men will soon be forced to great decisions, and it is
our duty to see that they are given an opportunity to understand the truth, that they may
take their stand intelligently on the right side. The Lord calls upon His people to labor—labor
earnestly and wisely—while probation lingers.”—9 Testimonies, 125-127.
“Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true followers of
Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth, there
will be, among the people of the Lord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been
witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His
children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love
of this world has supplanted love for God and His Word . . The enemy of souls desires to
hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to

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 prevent it, by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his
deceptive power, he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there be
will manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is
working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious
guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.”—Great Controversy,
464 [also read 8 Testimonies, 250251].
[For an in-depth analysis of this false revival, which will occur just before the true one does,
see our 28-page Spirit of Prophecy Compilation, Counterfeit Revival and the Threefold Union
($3.95, plus postage).]
If the Reform Church is here to solve the Adventist problem, as they claim, why are they, the
Reformers, now also in the Laodicean condition? Ask the members, and they will freely
admit that they are.
NO REMARRIAGE POSSIBLE
One rather remarkable error of the Reform Church concerns divorce and remarriage. Their
leaders teach that there are absolutely no Biblical grounds for remarriage for anyone who
has been divorced—for any reason.
First, this is in direct violation of the counsel given in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9:
“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife [for any reason], let him give her a
writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving
for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery. And whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced committeth adultery.”—Matthew 5:3132.
“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and
shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth
commit adultery.”—Matthew 19:9.
To defend their position, Reform Church leaders teach that the phrase, “saving for the cause
of formication,” in Matthew 5:32 is not in the original Greek, but was added by later
translators. But consider this:
Second, here is more information on these two Bible passages:
1 - Even if the phrase in Matthew 5:32 wereomitted from the original Greek manuscripts,
it is still in Matthew 19:9.
2 - Checking the Greek texts on Matthew5:32, I find this:
(1) “Whosoever shall put away” has a variantin certain lesser manuscripts: “each one who
dismisses,” or something similar.
(2) “To commit adultery” has a similar grammatical variation in some manuscripts, with no
change in the thought.
(3) “And the one which marries the dismissed[woman],” has “which shall marry” etc., for a
variant.
(4) The phrase, “saving for the cause of fornication,” has NO variations whatsoever. Yet that
is the phrase said by Reform leaders to not be in the Greek. In the original it reads: “parektos

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 logou porneias,” which means” except for a matter [word, evidence] of fornication.” 3 - A
similar study of the Greek of Matthew 19:9 yields similar results:
(1) “Except it be for fornication” (“me epi porneia”) has a variant in some manuscripts:
“parektos logou parneias,” which is the identical phrase used in Matthew 5:32.
Third, the Spirit of Prophecy clearly disagrees with the Reform Church’s position on this
matter:
“A woman may be legally divorced from her husband by the laws of the land and yet not be
divorced in the sight of God and according to the higher law. There is only one sin, which is
adultery, which can place the husband or wife in a position where they can be free from the
marriage vow in the sight of God. Although the laws of the land may grant a divorce, yet
they are husband and wife still in the Bible light, according to the laws of God.”—Letter 4a,
1863 [Adventist Home, 344; italics ours].
“J did not put his wife away. She left him, and put him away, and married another man. I see
nothing in the Scripture that forbids him to marry again in the Lord. He has a right to the
affections of a woman . . I cannot see that this new union should be disturbed. It is a serious
matter to part a man and his wife. There is no Scriptural ground upon which to take such a
step in this case . . It was not until K had married another man that J married again.”—Letter
50, 1895 [2 Selected Messages, 340].
Why would the Reform Church teach this false doctrine? It would appear that the leaders
are trying to make regular Adventists more sinful than they are, because they permit an
individual whose spouse has committed adultery to remarry—and this is supposed to be
wicked.
EXCESSIVELY LONG HAIR
The Reform Church leaders command—demand—that women church members wear very
long hair. The implication is that it should not be cut at all.
First, there is nothing in the Spirit of Prophecy about wearing long hair. 1 Corinthians 11:1415
recommends that the hair of women should be longer than the hair of men. That is all we
are told. How long is that? We are not told.
Second, we are nowhere told in Scripture that the hair of women should never be cut or
trimmed. This position is unsupported by God’s Word. Must it keep growing forever? (In the
privacy of their own homes, their women secretly clip it at about waist length, so it will not
get longer.)
In view of all the major issues in life, in the Bible, and in the Spirit of Prophecy, here we have
a church which harps on hair length.
NATURE OF THE SHAKING AND SIFTING
The leaders of the Reform Church declare that God called their movement into existence for
the purpose of giving the Laodicean Message (Rev. 3:14-22) to the Adventist Church. In
support of this concept, they quote the following passage:
“I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by
the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans.

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 This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard
and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this testimony. They will rise up against
it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people.”— Early Writings, 270.
It is claimed that this proves that those who accept the message to the Laodiceans will come
out from Adventism and will unite with the Reform Church.
First, the Early Writings passage does not say that. Reading the entire brief chapter (EW 269-
273) provides a much clearer view of the matter.
Second, the shaking results from a renewed heart obedience to God,—and it results in the
Latter Rain. The shaking among God’s people does not result in the Reform Church that
broke away in 1914; it results in the Latter Rain and the Loud Cry (EW 271, bottom).
[See our in-depth 32-page Spirit of Prophecy compilation, The Shaking and Sifting ($3.95,
plus postage) for much more on this.]
Third, it can be questioned whether the Reform Church leaders have ever known what the
“straight testimony” really is, or, for that matter, the Laodicean Message. Their position is
that both simply teach: “Separate from Adventism and join with us.”
“You will take passages in the Testimonies that speak of the close of probation, of a shaking
among God’s people, and you will talk of a coming out from this people of a purer, holier
people that will arise. Now all this pleases the enemy.”—Letter 15a, 1890 [1 Selected
Messages, 179].
What we need to do is emphasize submission to Christ, purity of heart and life, and
obedience to His Written Word. If that is done, God’s people will know what to do regarding
other matters, such as church relationship.
Fourth, a purification is indeed coming for the Advent people of God, but it will come in
connection with the National Sunday Law crisis:
“The days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure
and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the
strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His
fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor [of the chaff].
“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan,
clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and
lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing.”— 5 Testimonies, 80.
“Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not be entrusted with the flock. In the
last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of
God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing
time will be disclosed to view . . The time is not far distant when the test will come to every
soul. The Mark of the Beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to
worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to
the powers that be rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened
imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the
commandments of men.

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 “In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be
clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired
for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the
wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat . . Those who have been timid
and selfdistrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak
and hesitating in the church will be as David—willing to do and dare. The deeper the night
for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but, in the
name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ
appear ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ ”—5
Testimonies, 80-82.
Thus we see that the shaking, or separation within the church, will take place at the time
that the crisis of the Mark of the Beast occurs. And this takes place at the time that the
Sunday Law is enacted and urged upon all men (see 7BC 976; compare GC 449, 604-605, and
Ev 234).
Even though a majority of God’s people refuse to obey Him when faced with threatened
imprisonment and death (GC 608; 5T 80-81, 136, 463), yet there will be a final remnant that
will stand true to God in this Final Crisis. They will be empowered by God, will take orders
directly from Him (TM 300), and will give the Revelation 14 message—at that time, having
swelled to a Loud Cry, to all the world. Probation will close and the end will come.
THE VOICE OF GOD
It is the teaching of the Reform Church that the “Voice of God” is heard in the actions of their
General Conference Sessions, as well as in the decisions of their General Conference
Committee leaders in small committee meetings.
This doctrine is based on a quotation in 9 Testimonies, 260-261, that the General Conference
in Session could at times possibly be respected as the Voice of God.
The Silver Spring, Maryland, church leadership has a similar misconception. Let me explain:
That particular quotation was speaking about the large Session in which duly appointed (not
elected) men are gathered together from the entire church throughout the world field. In
this passage, we are specifically told that a few men are not to be regarded as the Voice of
God, nor that even the General Conference officers could be regarded as such since they are
elected, not appointed. It is only the delegates from the world field, in attendance at the
General Conference Session, which should receive the highest level of respect.
Unfortunately, when a clique of key leaders controls a Session—because nearly all the other
delegates are their employees (!)—one cannot expect the result to be the Voice of God. Yet
that is what our own Sessions have become (see Captive Sessions [WM–114-116]). One of
our typical General Conference Sessions, with about 2,000 delegates in attendance, will have
no more than 7-9 percent laymen. All the others are church employees on various levels.
Since the delegates are required to sit in certain blocks on the main floor of the assembly, if
anyone votes out of line, it can easily be noted.
It is also a mistake to suppose that the officers working in the General Conference or the
General Conference Committee (which meet in the Spring and Annual Councils) constitutes

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 the Voice of God. First, neither one is a full General Conference Session. Second, they are
entirely composed of top leaders and their hired underlings.
“At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general management of the work
have, in the name of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise plans and to restrict
God’s work, I have said that I could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference,
represented by these few men, as the Voice of God. But this is not saying that the decisions
of a General Conference [Session], composed of an assembly of duly appointed,
representative men from all parts of the field should not be respected.”—9 Testimonies,
260-261.
If you will carefully read 9T 260-261, you will find that nowhere in that passage are any
human group of men ever called the “Voice of God.” A large gathering of God’s people
should be respected, but it is not infallible.
We are told that man’s will and voice is not to be regarded as the Voice of God (CT 528; FE
308) because he is so erring. The truth is that the men represented at a General Conference
Session must be so closely connected to God that they are worthy of speaking on His behalf.
And it cannot always be said that such is the case.
The following quotation is taken from a manuscript which is speaking about an entire
General Conference Session, not merely a small committee of leaders. It is obvious that a
General Conference Session is not necessarily the Voice of God.
“The People Have Lost Confidence—It [the April 1901 General Conference in Session] is
working upon wrong principles that have brought the cause of God into its present
embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the
work. Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is the Voice of God. Every time I have
heard this, I thought it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the Conference [speaking of the
General Conference in Session] ought to be the Voice of God, but it is not, because some in
connection with it are not men of faith and prayer; they are not men of elevated principle.
There is not a seeking of God with the whole heart; there is not a realization of the terrible
responsibility that rests upon those in this institution to mold and fashion minds after the
divine similitude.”—Manuscript 37, 1901, 8 [Manuscript Release, No. 365].
We listen to the Voice of God when we study the Scriptures (Ed 127), and the Scriptures
should be studied as the Voice of God to the soul (FE 444). The Voice of God that spoke to
Christ speaks to every believing soul (DA 113), and it warns men to separate themselves
from the prevailing iniquity (PP 166-167). When in silence we submit ourselves to Him, His
voice is heard more distinctly (FE 441; MH 58). His voice comes through the Testimonies
(1SM 41). The Decalogue is an echo of it (Ev 598), and the voice of conscience is the Voice of
God (5T 120). We must learn to distinguish it from other voices (5T 69; 2SM 16). Impulse is
not the Voice of God (GC 191). Man’s will and voice are not to be interpreted as the Voice
of God (CT 528; FE 308). A few men are not to be regarded as the voice of the General
Conference [Session] nor as the Voice of God (9T 260-261). The idea that a given Session
must be the Voice of God is blasphemy (Manuscript 37, 1901, quoted above).
THE REVELATION 18 ANGEL

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 The Reform Church teaches that it is the angel of Revelation 18:1-3; and that verse 4,
speaking about the Loud Cry, is yet future. Thus they split verses 1-3 from verse 4.
“Resolved. 1. That we reaffirm our position on this important point—that Revelation 18:1-3
has a definite application to the work of revival and reformation going forward among God’s
people at the present time. 2. That the ‘Loud Cry’ is yet future.”—Statement of Belief,
published in the General Conference issue of the Reformation Herald, April-May, 1960.
It is quite common for Adventist splinter groups to call themselves the Revelation 18 angel.
Such statements are made in an effort to vindicate their organizational existence as a
fulfillment of Bible prophecy. But the truth is that the Spirit of Prophecy descriptions of the
work of the Revelation 18 angel disproves these various claims, and clearly reveals the true
mission and work of this angel.
The Reform Church leaders declare that their organization has been the Revelation 18 Angel
since 1921.
Yet, if the Reform Church is the Revelation 18 Angel as claimed, how could it have split in
1951?
Here are some facts to keep in mind:
Great Controversy, 389-390, reveals that the work of this angel is yet future. It will take place
in the Final Crisis as the National Sunday Law is enacted and enforced. Read Great
Controversy, 603-607, and onward.
“Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice
with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were
imparted to the angel, and as he ascended, the earth was lightened with his glory . . The
work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel’s
message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are thus prepared to stand in the
hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a great light resting upon them, and
they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel’s message.”— Early Writings, 277.
“The last great conflict is before us; but help is to come to all who love God and obey His
law, and the earth, the whole earth, is to be lighted with the glory of God. ‘Another angel’ is
to come down from heaven. This angel represents the giving of the loud cry, which is to
come from those who are preparing to cry mightily, with a strong voice, ‘Babylon the great
is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ ”—Review, April 19, 1906.
“The latter rain is to fall upon the people of God. A mighty angel is to come down from
heaven, and the whole earth is to be lighted with His glory. Are we ready to take part in the
glorious work of the third angel? Are our vessels ready to receive the heavenly dew? Have
we defilement and sin in the heart? If so, let us cleanse the soul temple, and prepare for the
showers of the latter rain.”—Review, April 21, 1891.
[For many, many, more quotations on the third and fourth angels, their messages, and when
they do their work, see our 45-page booklet, The Loud Cry ($3.95, plus postage), in our 18-
part End Time Series, the most complete classified collection of Spirit of Prophecy
statements on last-day events ever compiled.]

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 Thus we can see, from the above and other Spirit of Prophecy statements, that (1) the
message and work of the Revelation 18 Angel is yet future. (2) The latter rain/loud cry
experience that he will bring is yet future. (3) The message of this angel is one message, and
it is wrong to try to split it up as the Reform leaders do. (4) When this angel descends to the
earth, he will lighten the whole earth with his glory. (5) The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in
a latter rain, cannot be separated from the descent of this angel, and the latter rain is yet
future. (6) We are told that this angel does not come down to strengthen the waiting people
of God until all nations have drunk of the wine of Babylon. That is a future event also. Read
Great Controversy, 389-390, for more on this.
NON-DOCTRINAL ISSUES
Other matters could be mentioned, such as the Reform leaders’ position on Gospel order,
church organization, unity, and submission. These are heralded by the leaders as of the
highest importance. But it all boils down to mind control.
“Gospel order” means that no new ideas are to be considered without first having submitted
them to the leaders.
“Church organization” means that a very few men run the entire operation. With the
exception of local church finances, they have almost total say over how the money in the
church is spent.
The “missionary work of the church” often equates with unnecessary property purchases
and expensive trips, to maintain leadership control over the local fields.
“Unity and submission” means that those who do not submit to the errors and policies of
the leaders are disfellowshiped.
You may have friends who are thinking of joining the Reform. They need this information. Share it with
them. Help them avoid a detour which they may later regret.

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 Inconsistences in Reformation Study course
the writer of this manual as well as bro E kunselema
took turns to read this publication of the IMS, it goes
into the history of the Adventist church and moves
into the first and second world war.
It was an amazing account, but what was most
startling were the answers to objections that make
one wonder to say is this really the might movement
of revelation 18?

These objections come at the end of the reformation

study course and they come with their own answers.

OBJECTION NO. 1
Did not Sister White remain in the large Seventh-day Adventist Church until her death?
ANSWER: Yes! But at the time of her death on Friday, July 16, 1915, America had not yet
entered the war. The United States joined in the war effort in 1917, two years after Sister
White died. So the test concerning the war question had not even developed in America,
for which reason Sister White had no occasion to make any special comment or decision
beside her printed testimony. When someone inquired about the European situation and
what to do, she is supposed to have said, “I think the brethren should do their duty,” which
can be interpreted in any way.
Notice here how the IMS begin to entangle themselves “Sister White had no occasion to
make any special comment or decision beside her printed testimony” notice the world war
had began when Ellen white was Alive and according to the IMS the war had to reach USA
then Ellen white would have said something, meaning because those in Germany were the
only ones being affected at this point in time she was silent?
Yet here the IMS admit that Ellen White did not say anything, Yet somehow they use her
writings in attempt to prove that which they themselves have admitted she did not say, this
is such a marvel.
OBJECTION NO. 4
The Reform Movement is not fulfilling the description of Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9,
p. 126: “The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought…. Hundreds and thousands
were seen visiting families…” etc. Therefore, it cannot be the right Reformation.
ANSWER: We must say, again, “It is written,” by quoting from Medical Ministry, p. 16:
“There must be a reformation throughout our ranks; the people must reach a higher
standard before we can expect the power of God to be manifested in a marked manner for
the healing of the sick….” (Emphases ours.)

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 It is therefore obvious that Sister White sees this Reformation in the statement from
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9 as it will be in its ultimate triumph during the latter rain.
This coincides with other descriptions of the latter rain experience in which the sick will be
healed and signs and wonders will follow the believers. But let us remember that the church
militant is not the church triumphant. In the second statement quoted above, it is shown
that a reformation is needed now to prepare God's people for the final triumphant work.
When the shaking is finished, then the latter rain will finish the work begun through the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Notice above the IMS say SDA is dead and it is Babylon Yet when they are asked why aren’t
miracles being done in their midst why isn’t there marvellous display of the power of God,
they claim they are still reforming?
Notice the IMS in the answers given show clearly they are not the fourth Angel. Notice if you
read Revelation 18:1-5 it speaks of the fourth Angel. Adventist believe this condition will be
reached at when God’s people overcome sin and at the Sunday law the last shaking will
happen. But IMS already believe they are this Angel, yet when cornered on the issue of
miracles they don’t describe their condition as that of Revelation 18, they describe a
Laodicea condition. Saying church militant is not church triumphant. Notice those giving the
fourth angels message are not in sin, for they give the call come out of her my people. Now
if IMS claim they are 4th angels message how can they then turn around and say they are
church militant this is rather strange.
IMS claim they are SDA reform movement they came out of SDA what else is there to
reform?
And notice they claim they are fourth angel and then also claim the latter rain is still future
this is too much, why so many disagreements in one sentence.
At that time the "latter rain," or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give
power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period
when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.--EW 86 (1854). {LDE 186.4}
I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect.
. . . I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, "It is the latter rain, the
refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel."--EW 271 (1858).
{LDE 186.5}
The latter rain produces the loud cry, in which is symbolised by revelation 18 of which IMS
claims to be, how can they then say they are waiting for a future outpouring?
OBJECTION NO. 5
You have no schools, hospitals, or other large institutions. How can you finish the work?
ANSWER: Speaking of the Loud Cry message, God’s servant
said:
“The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of
literary institutions.” –The Great Controversy, p. 606.

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 “He will raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of His Spirit
than by the outward training of scientific institutions.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5,
p. 82.
Martin Luther is quoted as saying:
“‘God never selected as a prophet either the high priest or any other great personage; but
ordinarily He chose low and despised men, once even the shepherd Amos.’” –The Great
Controversy, pp. 142, 143.
“There is constant danger among our people that those who engage in labor in our schools
and sanitariums will entertain the idea that they must get in line with the world,… This is
one of the greatest mistakes that could be made….
“Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly, are gradually led further
and further from the principles of truth until they become educated worldlings.” –
Fundamentals of Christian Education, pp. 534-536.
We believe in establishing church schools whenever it is possible to have them in accordance
with the divine directions.
As to the objection that we have no hospitals, we believe that “… drugging should be forever
abandoned;…” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 311.
“More deaths have been caused by drug-taking than from all other causes combined. If there
was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature
mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have
cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens of thousands to
untimely graves.” –Selected Messages, book 2, p. 450.
“As to drugs being used in our institutions, it is contrary to the light which the Lord has been
pleased to give. The drugging business has done more harm to our world and killed more
than it has helped or cured. The light was first given to me why our institutions should be
established, that is, sanatoriums were to reform the practices of physicians.” –Medical
Ministry, p. 27. (Emphases ours.)
Was this warning heeded? Just the opposite happened! Adventist sanitariums were changed
into worldly hospitals under the pressure of the American Medical Association. Drug
therapy is practiced universally today in all Seventh-day Adventist medical institutions, the
same as in all worldly hospitals. If this is not an outright apostasy from the divine blueprint,
then what is apostasy? A divine reformation is called for in this area also. The Reform
Movement strongly protests having hospitals of such a nature and has established successful
sanitariums and health centers in several locations. Here all treatments are based on
physiotherapy and other natural treatments.
Notice how the IMS doges the question completely. The question is why doesn’t the IMS
have institutions as Ellen White said.
God's purpose in giving the third angel's message to the world is to prepare a people to
stand true to Him during the investigative judgment. This is the purpose for which we
establish and maintain our publishing houses, our schools, our sanitariums, hygienic

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 restaurants, treatment rooms, and food factories. This is our purpose in carrying forward
every line of work in the cause. Ms 154, 1902, p. 4. ("Instruction to Men in Positions of
Responsibility," October 24, 1902.) {1MR 228.2}
The sanitariums that shall be established are to be God's memorials, agencies in the
conversion of many souls. Ms 33, 1901, p. 2. ("Diary," April 19, 1901.) {1MR 228.3}
IMS calls itself the 4th angle yet it doges the question completely saying its workers need no
larger institutions and that they will be trained by the Holy Spirit. Notice those quotes only
make sense if you are a seventh day Adventist.
Currently in SDA the lay members are the ones doing the majority of the work and the
leadership is lagging behind them, and thus the lay members are imbued with the spirit of
God to by learning institutions. But why IMS the fourth angel, why not build schools? Why
not build sanitariums like Ellen White said. It is a sad fact that IMS is not the fourth angel
otherwise they would better understand why God gave us an educational blue print.
True education is the preparation of the physical, mental, and moral powers for the
performance of every duty; it is the training of body, mind, and soul for divine service. This
is the education that will endure unto eternal life.--Christ's Object Lessons, p. 330. {ChS
225.5
Notice I shall paste Point number 6 and number 7 they contradict each other it is actually
shocking.
OBJECTION NO. 6
Are we not warned against calling the Remnant Church Babylon?
ANSWER: Yes, indeed! In fact the Remnant Church could not possibly be Babylon. It would
be a lying accusation. In such a case God would have no church left on earth to vindicate
His honor by keeping His law. But let us think a little further about the question: Considering
everything, who is the Remnant Church today? Take, for instance, the European situation
we have just studied. When 98% of the Seventh-day Adventist Church fell into apostasy by
trampling upon God's holy law, were they still the Remnant Church that keeps His law
(Revelation 12:17)? We think you will admit that they were not. Then who made up the
remnant? The 2% who stood firmly on the platform of truth in the face of death–the Reform
Movement.
They were the Remnant Church. They are the remnant of her seed–the woman represents
the Christian churches; her seed, the Advent believers; and the remnant of her seed, the
Reform Movement.
False teachers have arisen in great numbers throughout the years to denounce the Adventist
Church as Babylon. According to Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 32-62,
these men were (1) setting time, (2) against organization, (3) opposed to tithe paying, etc.–
things which the Reform Movement has never advocated.
Yet, there is one outstanding factor to be considered: “Regarding the testimonies, nothing
is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered.” –Selected
Messages, book 1, p. 57 (emphasis ours).

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 If we observe this divine measuring stick, we notice that this testimony was written in 1893.
With great wisdom, Sister White wrote at that time:
“There is but one church in the world who are at the present time [1893], standing in the
breach, and making up the hedge,…” –Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p.
50 (emphasis ours).
The four words injected here, “at the present time,” are significant. At that time, the
Seventh-day Adventist Church was the one true church. But when the Reform Movement
proved itself faithful in the face of great apostasy, it became the only church answering the
description of the Remnant Church.
As to the question whether we believe the large Seventhday Adventist Church is Babylon,
we need not teach this; but we believe the statement in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8,
p. 250, is true. It reads in part:
“Then He (Christ) said to me: ‘Can you not see how they have pretentiously covered up their
defilement and rottenness of character? “How is the faithful city become an harlot!” My
father's house is made a house of merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and
glory have departed!’”
This statement was written in 1903, or ten years after the chapter, “Remnant not Babylon,”
was penned. It depicts the church as a “harlot.” Nowhere have we found any statement
written later to the effect that the church was no longer in this stated sinful condition.
You see, one’s acceptance of truth depends on the point of observation from which he looks
at certain matters. Everything falls beautifully into place when applied according to the
written word and the Testimonies.
Now notice the following point.
OBJECTION NO. 7
There are only seven churches outlined in Revelation 2 and 3. Are you not setting up an
eighth church?
ANSWER: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant
shall be saved.” Romans 9:27.
None of the seven churches of Revelation was saved as a body. In fact, at the end of every
letter the few faithful souls are addressed–“He that overcometh….”
Laodicea, the seventh church period, means “a people adjudged,” or in a special sense the
people of God living during the investigative judgment which began in 1844. Of this last
church the prophet Zephaniah said, “I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn
assembly, who are of thee,… and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise
and fame….” Zephaniah 3:18, 19.
The Reform Movement is a part of the seventh, or Advent Movement, period–just as the
Joshua/Caleb movement was a part of old Israel that came out of Egypt, though they were
under a new leadership. The Reform Movement members are orthodox Seventh-day
Adventists, certainly not on the Adventist Church’s records but more importantly in the spirit

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 and truth of the three angels’ messages. They are the true Adventists and the Remnant
Church of Revelation 12:17. They heed the testimony of the True Witness, are going through
the shaking, and are preparing for the latter rain. They are separate from the nominal
Adventists in organization but do not form an eighth church.
Notice the deceit here in the other point they claimed that SDA is Babylon, and in order to
run away from the fact that they are an 8th church they claim that they are technically part
of the seventh day Adventist day, okay so if you claim seventh day Adventist movement is
Babylon and you are part of it, does that mean IMS is partly Babylon too?
Thus with these inconsistencies IMS disqualifies itself to be the 4 th angels message, a
movement that only establishes schools when there is need? This is unheard of.
You may have friends who are thinking of joining the Reform. They need this information.
Share it with them. Help them avoid a detour which they may later regret.
Below is a brief history of the Davidians it is taken Vance Farrell book Davidians of Waco.

Victor Houteff
THE HOUTEFF YEARS - 1 THE ROD IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1929 - 1942
For decades, the "Shepherd's Rod" was the commonly used term for the "Davidian Seventh-
day Advent-ist Church," a religious offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Its
own members called it "the Rod"—until the splintering of 1959, when they gradually began
referring to themselves as "Davidians," a name officially adopted in 1942. Under Benjamin
Roden, in the 1960s, the Waco segment began calling itself "the Branch," to differentiate it
from other Davidians.
This splinter organization was started in 1929 by Victor Houteff, and its unusual name, "The
Shepherd's Rod," was the title of his first publication, as well as his chosen name for the
organization until 1942. (One of his associates, with him from 1935 to 1941, told the present
writer that the pronunciation of his name is HOW-tif.)
This entire story divides itself into the Houteff years, when either Victor Houteff or his wife
Florence ruled; the Roden years, when Benjamin Roden, and later his wife, Lois, and then
their son, George, were in charge; and, finally, the
Howell/Koresh years, when Vernon Howell (who later- changed his name to David Koresh)
controlled this strange sect.
HOUTEFF STARTS THE ROD
Victor T. Houteff was born in Raikovo, Bulgaria, on March 2, 1885. (He would later die at
Waco, Texas, on February 5, 1955, at the age of 69.)
He grew up as a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church, but disassociated himself from
that denomination after a disagreement with church leaders. Apparently, he was enough of
a problem that the Orthodox Church requested the Bulgarian Government to expel him from
the country; which they did. Houteff would be a problem wherever he went.
Immigrating to the United States in 1907 at the age of 22, he moved to Illinois in 1919, where
he operated a small hotel for a time. In 1918 he attended a tent meeting, and that year, at
the age of 38, he was baptized into the Rockford Seventh-day Adventist Church. By 1923, he

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 had moved to southern California, where, two years later, he had his membership
transferred to the Olympic Exposition Park Church in Los Angeles.
It is frequently said that Houteff was a "church leader." But the highest position he ever
attained in the Adventist Church was the position of Sabbath School superintendant at a
local church. But then he began teaching his peculiar theories about how his enemies would
soon be destroyed so he could rule the world.
All this was a tragedy, since such teachings are so different from the mild, peaceful teachings
of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
Soon complaints came from Sabbath School class members that Houteff was teaching
strange ideas in his Sabbath School class and at private Sabbath afternoon meetings with
some of the members. A representative group of church workers, Bible teachers, and leaders
met with him to consider his views on November 14, 1929. But nothing came of it.
The next spring, Houteff hectographed copies of a study that he entitled The Shepherd's
Rod, and distributed it to a number of the leaders attending the 1930 General Conference
Session, which was held in San Francisco from May 29 to June 12. One of those who received
it—and had time to carefully examine it—was the well-known F.C. Gilbert. A highly
educated, converted Jew, Gilbert was quite solid in the faith and knew Adventist teachings
well. On June 26, Elder Gilbert wrote a letter to Houteff, pointed out a number of errors in
his publication, and recommended that he give them up. Gilbert also wrote to church leaders
in southern California and recommended that careful study should be given to this problem
before the situation worsened.
THE MEETINGS BEGIN
On July 23, the Exposition Park Church board met with Houteff to consider the problem, but
nothing was accomplished. Houteff had a grumpy personality and was adamant in his views.
A second board meeting was held on August 14, at which time the following motion was
voted: "It was moved and supported that Brother Houteff be asked to retract his statement
that Elder Spicer is not a Sab-bathkeeper and to apologize for the disturbance in the church
on Sabbath, November 30,1929. Since Brother Houteff did not make these apologies, the
motion was amended as follows, [that] the church wished to express its disapproval of
Brother Houteff's action in this matter."
Shortly after this, on October 16, the union president, conference president, and local paster
met with Houteff, at which time the action taken was that:
" 'The Shepherd's Rod' is neither true to simple facts, nor true to the word of God, and it is
condemned by the very 'Testimonies' it quotes from. We warn our dear brethren against the
false conclusions this poor man has come to."
In November of the same year, Houteff contracted to have the full 255-page book, The
Shepherd's Rod, printed. It came off the press a month later. In the meantime, on November
20,1930, a special church board meeting was held, at which time Houteff was finally dropped
from church membership. At each of those six meetings, Houteff was patiently worked with;
his errors were listened to and then pointed out; he was asked to retract them. On and on
it went for a full year, from November 14,1929, to November 20,1930. Later, in 1932,
Houteff wrote:

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 "From the very time I tried to get either a private hearing, or else some of the leading men
to come and see what it was all about, pleading with them that it was their duty to correct
us if we were in error, or if we had any truth that they should know about it. While they
refused to give us any kind of hearing, they did everything possible to close our place of
meeting, and some of those who attended these studies were frightened for fear of losing
their church membership."—Letter dated April 22, 1932, published in Symbolic Code, Vol.
10, no. 7 (May 1955), pp. 4-5.
Houteff kept churning out more written materials. Volume Two of Houteff's book, The
Shepherd's Rod, was printed in September 1932. Additional tracts were issued the next year,
which Houteff said represented Volume Three of his book.
Because Houteff insisted that church leaders refused to give him a hearing, two more were
given him, the first on November 11, 1932, and the second in 1934.
This second one in 1934 was an unusually large gathering, and was planned for a full week.
An abundance of time was to be given for Victor Houteff to present his views, with
opportunity for discussion of each point he presented. In addition to Houteff and several of
his workers, a stellar group of church workers were to attend that gathering. Here they are:
A.G. Daniells, General Conference field secretary (formerly the G.C. president); Glen A.
Calkins, Pacific Union Conference president; G.A. Roberts, Southern California Conference
president; Chester S. Prout, Southeastern Cal-
ifornia Conference President; W.G. Wirth, College of Medical Evangelists (LLU now) Bible
teacher; H.M.S. Richards, southern California evangelist; CM. Sorenson, Southern California
Junior College (now La Sierra College, the undergraduate division of LLU) Bible teacher; J.A.
Burden, Paradise Valley Sanitarium manager (who helped found the College of Medical
Evangelists, now Loma Linda University); J.C. Stevens, Glendale Church pastor; W.M. Adams,
Pacific Union
Conference religious liberty secretary: J.E. Fulton, Northern California Conference field
secretary (a converted Jew who had written many books for the church). When the meeting
was convened on the morning of February 19, 1933, two stenographers were present to
take notes. Since Fulton was not able to be present, O.J. Graf, former president of Emmanuel
Missionary College attended in his place. The group agreed to hear Mr. Houteff, without
interruption by anyone, until he was finished. It was also agreed to give him a full week for
his presentation, if necessary, and that the stenograpic report be transcribed so that all
would have copies of it for careful study in reviewing the points that he had presented. It
was also agreed that a copy would be submitted to him on which he could indicate
correction and then return to them for retyping.
Victor Houteff immediately launched into a study on his teaching of "the harvest." H.M.S.
Richards, who later became founder and director of the Voice of Prophecy, took careful
notes which tell us that, at 12:30 p.m., Houteff refused to go further until the committee
had decided on his view of "the harvest." They repeatedly asked him to continue, but he
refused to do so. Here are Richard's notes on this impasse:
"When he [Houteff] got through at one o'clock, Elder Da-niells suggested we go and get
something to eat and come back and take up where he [Houteff] left off. He said, No, he

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 would not go any further, it was useless for him to go further, that our decision upon this
one subject, The Harvest, would be our decision upon the whole of his doctrinal program,
as that was the key to it. Elder Daniels urged him to go forward. He said, 'We have brought
these men here from far away. They are ready to stay two days, three days, a week or two
weeks, however long it is necessary for us to get the full picture in our minds. To us it is a
serious thing. If you are right, we want to know it. If you are wrong, you ought to know it.
We have spent a good deal of money to come here in a serious, honest attempt by the
denomination to give you a hearing. Therefore let us go ahead.' "
But Houteff repeatedly refused to continue, so the meeting ended at that point. A copy of
the written stenographic report was given him to correct. When he finally sent it back, it was
carefully considered by a special session of the full committee. W.H. Branson, North
American Division president (he would later become General Conference president) and J.L.
Shaw, General Conference treasurer, were assigned the task of specially preparing the
committee report, which was read to Houteff and a dozen of his followers on Sunday, March
18,1934, at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The conclusion of their report was simple
enough:
"Since error is found in the Shepherd's Rod, and it is in open disagreement with the Bible
and the Spirit of Prophecy, the only safe course is to reject its teachings and to discontinue
its study."
On March 12 of that same year, Houteff met with a number of his followers and officially
began their new church organization under the name, The Shepherd's Rod. The General
Conference soon began issuing small booklets refuting errors in the teachings of the Rod.
That was not a difficult matter to do, since Rod teachings have always been a confusing mass
of contradictions, centered around the teaching that Houteff and his followers could not die
before the end of time. But his theories were entirely foreign to Seventh-day Adventism or
any other mainline church in Christendom!
THE HOUTEFF YEARS - 2 THE ROD IN WACO, TEXAS 1935 - 1955
Early in 1935 Houteff journeyed with friends to Texas, with the idea of establishing a
permanent headquarters for their separate organization. They located 189 acres of land
near Waco and purchased it. In May, he and eleven followers moved there. The new
headquarters was named "Mount Carmel Center," and was announced amid the kind of
cryptic prophecy that kept Houteff before the eye of the people:
"True, we are establishing our headquarters on this mount that is found in prophecy, but
our stay here shall be very, very short."— V.T. Houteff, The Symbolic Code, vol. 1, no. 14
(August 1935), p. 5.
The place where they settled, which was supposed to have been "found in prophecy," could
just as well have been called "Emmigration Gap. "Actually, the center was intended only as
a temporary stopover on their way to old Jerusalem. As Houteff explained it, God had
revealed to him that the 144,000 were to be gathered into the Rod, move to the Waco,
Texas, headquarters as an assembling point—and then, from there, all would go together to
Palestine where the Kingdom of David was to be re-established under the leadership of
Victor Houteff. Divine Providence was to open the way so that governmental authorities

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 controlling Palestine (from 1918 to 1948, Palestine was under British mandate) would permit
them to start their theocratic kingdom which, they expected, would soon be the amazement
of the whole world.
From its world headquarters in old Jerusalem, the Davidians were, according to Houteff's
prophetic interpretations, to see the Adventist rejectors of their message slain, then
evangelize the rest of the world, and then Jesus would return invisibly so Houteff could be
the visible monarch, the King David to rule the entire earth.
Houteff's original 189-acre Waco headquarters was located near what is now the Mount
Carmel Water Treatment Plant, on the outskirts of the present city of Waco, Texas. In Waco,
more followers joined Houteff's organization, and his holdings grew. By 1940, the group had
64 residents and the acreage had gone from 189 to 377 acres.
But progress was still slow. Yes, Mount Carmel was the center of a proud dream; but also a
miserable reality. The eleven followers (including children) that initially migrated with
Houteff from California had a difficult time providing for their needs. And to make matters
worse, the 144,000, that were to go with them to Jerusalem, were slow in arriving. Twenty
years later, the Waco, Texas, Tribune-Herald summarized the situation at the Mount Carmel
Center:
"The church has about 90 people, a third of them children, living at the center, [and] has had
as many as 125 there. Most are workers, about 12 are indigents in the rest home."—The
Waco Tribune-Herald, February 27, 1955.
Keep in mind that, when Houteff originally started the Waco center, he predicted that the
Second Coming of Christ would occur within one year. Yet, amazingly, people continued to
accept Houteff's theories and sending him money so he could keep mailing out his theories.
Another problem was the church school at the Waco center. The believers were sure they
must not send their children to the public school in Waco, yet they had a special problem on
their hands: Houteff kept seducing the children of the believers! Apparently hypnotized by
this man that was ruining the moral of their young, they chose not to leave, but instead
decided to close down the church school and send their children to the public school in
Waco.
The Rod in Waco, Texas 1935 - 7955 9
Marriage was another problem. Marriage to a non-believer was strictly forbidden by
Houteff, so he required many of his followers to immediately divorce their mates. So they
refused to come live at Houteff's Waco center.
Although, as mentioned earlier, their church organization actually began on March 12,1934,
yet no church offices or names of leaders were mentioned at that time. Later, in 1937, just
after his marriage to a 17-year-old girl (Florence; Houteff was 51 at the time), this lack was
supplied—with the leading positions going to Houteff and his close blood relatives. At the
top was Victor Houteff, president; Mrs. Florence Houteff (his wife), secretary; and Mrs. S.
Hermanson (his mother-in-law), treasurer.
(Houteff was to hold the position of president until the day of his death in 1955, at which
time the Executive Council of the Davidians elected his wife to the office of vice president,

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 her brother T.O. Hermanson to the Executive Board. (T.O. Hermanson was also son of the
Treasure, Mrs. S. Hermanson.) But, oddly enough, no one was selected to fill the vacancy of
president,—simply because Houteff had originally written into the constitution and bylaws
that the executive council did not have the authority to elect a president!)
On February 15, 1935, Houteff wrote in The Symbolic Code, his monthly publication for his
followers, that they should stay in their local churches and not separate, for "if we separate
ourselves from the organization, then in the fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, when those who have
not the mark are taken away, we shall have no right to claim possession of the
denomination." His point was that when, in fulfillment of his predictions, the wicked
Adventists were suddenly slain for not having accepted the Shepherd's Rod teaching, then
the only ones still alive in the church would be the Rodites! They could then take over the
entire denominational treasury and its properties,—at least that was Victor's hopeful wish.
CHANGING THE NAME TO DAVIDIAN
It was not until 1942 that Houteff finally relented and gave his organization an official church
name. The problem was that unless they formally organized themselves as a church, their
members would not be able to avoid the draft during the Second World War. They
immediately made arrangements for this, setting aside their former name, "The Shepherd's
Rod," and now calling themselves "The David-ian Seventh-day Adventist Church." At last,
they were publicly an offshoot, something that Houteff had not previously wanted to admit.
In spite of the name change, throughout the 1940s and 1950s, members of the group
continued to refer to themselves as members of "the Rod." It would not be until the multiple
splinterings that occurred between 1955 and 1962 that the various segments fully switched
over to variations of the term "Davidians."
In 1950, Houteff referred to the fact that the Rod was but an offshoot. He spoke of "an ever-
increasing family of offshoots, the most prominent of them and most tormenting of which
is the Shepherd's Rod." (V.T. Houteff, in his "1950 General Conference Special," p. 3.) And,
from the very beginning, this offshoot began offshooting on its own. The following
statement was made as early as 1934:
"The disintegrating and dividing effect of erroneous teachings has already appeared in the
ranks of the Shepherd's Rod. A substantial number of them, some of them former leaders,
have because of errors they found in The Shepherd's Rod'
[publication], left the former leadership of V.T. Houteff and are meeting by themselves as a
separate company. This runs true to form, and is in line with the history of preceding
offshoots who have left us."—Pacific Union Conference statement, 1934.
Throughout its entire history, Houteff was his organization's biggest weakness. The doctrinal
views that he invented at its inception contained the seeds of its later destruction. The
concepts he later built on those original con-
The Rod in Waco, Texas 1935 - 1955 11
jectures only added to the confusion. The underlying problem was that the poor man was
obsessed with the idea that he was infallible in thought and word. His imaginings about

55 | P a g e
 Scripture were thought by him as the mind of God. His followers shared this delusion,
thinking that he had the gift of prophecy. As Houteff himself said:
"We must conclude that the 'Rod' contains all truth, or there is no truth in it save the
quotations of truth. Therefore, if we admit one truth revealed by the 'Rod,' then we must
accept it all as truth . . Therefore we take the position that the message in the 'Rod' is free
from error in so far as the idea put forth is concerned."—V.T. Houteff, circular letter dated
August 31, 1931 [Italics his].
Here was a man who claimed infallibility without limit! He asserted that, if even one of his
ideas was correct, they all had to be correct! Four years later he repeated this astounding
claim (in The Symbolic code, vol. 1, no. 8, August 15, 1935), and again in the late 1940s
(Timely Greetings, vol. 1, no. 18, p. 10, quoting an address of his given on December 7, 1947).
That one statement, alone, by Victor Houteff—repeated in print at least three times—should
have been enough to warn any seeker after truth from following such an eccentric individual.
Only God and His Inspired Scriptures are safe. The words of no one else can be as reliable.
THE FLORENCE HOUTEFF YEARS THE ROD IN WACO, TEXAS 1955 - 1962
Among other concepts, Victor Houteff taught that he would not die, but would lead his
people to old Jerusalem and thence to the heavenly Canaan. Thus it came as quite a shock
to his followers when, on February 5, 1955, he passed to his rest at the age of 69. "It just
could not be; it just could not be: Houteff is dead and Jesus hasn t come back yet" they
thought, and yet it had happened: Houteff was dead.
Victor Houteff had consistently taught that he would not die. He also taught that none of his
followers would die either!
"Keep your knees in motion and let not opportunities be neglected, for the final movement
shall be rapid ones. Thus shall you with God as Enoch of old, and as he was translated without
tasting death, so shall you be."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Oct 15, 1934), p. 4.
"Moreover, as the Shepherd's Rod is the Elijah message, it is impossible for anyone who
accepts it and lives it to die, for the type demands translation. Thus it is that Elijah stands as
a type of the 144,000."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 9, No. 9 (March 15, 1935), p. 9.
"There is nothing that can take the life of the 144,000."— The Symbolic Code, Vol. 2, Nos. 7-
8 (July-August, 1936), p. 11.
"Those who believe Present Truth, yet continue to find fault with Brother Houteff's marriage,
prove to us one of two things: either that they are shallow thinkers, or that they have no
faith in what they believe, for the message teaches that we, as a part of the 144,000, shall
never die."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 3, Nos.
5-6 (May-June, 1937), p. 8.
The Rod in Waco, Texas 1955 - 7962 13
But then, in the early spring of 1955, this notice was sent out by the Waco headquarters to
all the faithful:

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 "Victor Tasho Houteff was born in Raicovo, Bulgaria, March 2, 1885, and died February 5,
1955, at the Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, Texas."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 10, Nos. 3-4
(January-February, 1955), p. 9.
As you might imagine, the news totally shook his followers. They had believed every word
he spoke as unerring.
Although Houteff had appointed his wife to lead his flock until the Lord should choose
another prophet to take charge of it, his entire church organization began crumbling
immediately after his death.
Splinter groups began forming here and there. Some were dissatisfied with the fact of
Houteff's death; others with the fact that the organization continued to be strongly
controlled by his immediate family. Because of events which occurred between 1955 and
1962, the entire Rod crumbled during that time. Out of its ashes, in the early 1960s, a
number of diehard groups were to arise, which gathered together fresh, new converts.
But, as the months passed after Houteff's death in 1955, something was needed to
strengthen the flagging interests of the brethren, so the leadership at Waco publicly
announced in print the startling news that the 1260 days of Bible prophecy would end on
April 22,1959! Many of the followers took heart: Prophetic messages were again coming
from Waco! The faithful could now make it through to the end in full assurance of additional
thrilling events, predicted for them by their unique church that was so full of fascinating
teachings. Everyone looked forward to that date.
But, before we come to April 22, 1959, let us first review the events before and after the
announcement that predicted it:
The first intimation came only nine months after Victor Houteff's death. In their official
organ, The Symbolic Code, of November 1955, the Rod leaders at Waco announced that
"during the last months of his life" V.T. Houteff had privately expressed certain views which
his successors were now in a position to amplify.
"He expressed the definite conviction that the time prophecy of Revelation 11:2-12 and
Daniel 12:6, 7 could have met their fulfillment only in type from 538 A.D. to 1798 A.D. and
that they have a latter-day fulfillment."—The Symbolic Code, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 3 [italics
theirs].
THE 1955 TIME PROPHECY
With that sketchy thought in mind, the leaders of the Rod were fueling up for what was to
ultimately become their determination of a major time prophecy that would signalize the
end of time.
"We have already entered the period of forty-two months."—The Symbolic Code, vol. 11,
no. 1, p. 13.
"The fulfillment of the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is immediately preceded by the forty-two
months (Rev. 11:2) or 1260 days (Rev. 11:3) or 'time, times and an half (Dan. 12:7)."— Op.
cit., p. 12.
"This period terminates with the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 (an act of God), war brought by
Christendom against the two witnesses (an act of man), and a 3 1/2 -day period when the

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 two witnesses are dead after which they rise in great exaltation by divine interposition."—
Op. cit., p. 13.
Some people just love time prophecies. Time setting seems so exciting. But the let-down
afterward is utterly depressing. The leaders pondered the immensity of what they had done.
For, you see, they had already told the people that "forty-two months" had already started!
Time passed, and yet they hesitated to say more. Finally, after a three-year wait—and a great
deal of pressure from the field to come forth with a definite date—the major announcement
came on February 17, 1959. Over the signatures of nine members of the Executive Council
of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, headquartered in Waco, an open letter was
addressed to the Executive Committee of the General Conference of Seventhday Adventists
in Takoma Park.
"In November of 1955, this association in its official organ, The Symbolic Code, issued its
stand on the prophecy of Revelation 11:1-13, which concerns the 42 months that the
Gentiles tread the Holy City, and the 1260 days the two witnesses prophesy with power
(authority) in sackcloth .. In the November 1955, Symbolic Code, we published our stand
that we were then living in this time period. Today we believe we are approaching the end
of it. In fact, we believe it will end sometime this spring."
The Rod in Waco, Texas 1955 - 1962 15
The sensational announcement had been sent to the General Conference, and was
immediately printed in a special edition of The Symbolic Code, which was issued early in
1959 (vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 5-6).
It was predicted that, on April 22,1959, God would intervene in a remarkable manner in
Palestine and rid the country of both Jews and Arabs. Then He would remove mountains of
difficulty and perform miracles of guidance so that the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists
might enter the land and take possession of it in the name of the Lord. The "Davidic
Kingdom" would be set up; and, from their headquarters in Jerusalem, the rapidly forming
144,000 would evangelize the entire world, and then Jesus would return.
But just before that date, according to Houteff's theories, the men of Ezekiel 9 with their
slaughtering weapons would cut down the apostates in Takoma Park (the headquarters of
the Seventh-day Adventist denomination) and all other apostate Adventists throughout the
world. All in the Adventist denomination who had refused to accept Houteff's fables were
to be summarily dealt with. They would die a most miserable death.
The three-and-a-half year prophecy would end in early 1959. At that time the earthly
kingdom would be set up, with the Davidians to be its kings and queens. The promise was
also given that Victor Houteff would be brought back to life to reign over them all.
Solemnized with the thought of the magnitude of the events rapidly to follow, the faithful
looked forward to April 1959.
Yet for the leaders at Waco, it surely must have been a time of heart-searching. Could they
somehow be wrong?

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 At this juncture, you might be interested in knowing exactly how they arrived at this date of
April 22, 1959. Leaders at Mount Carmel later told representatives of the General
Conference that they calculated the date in this manner: The
1260 days of Revelation 11:3-6, in literal time, would be 1260 24-hour days. Since they
commenced on November 9,1955, they would end on April 22, 1959. The events of verses
7-13 were, according to the Rod, to be fulfilled after April 22. But HOW did they arrive at
that date, November 9, 1955? The astonishing fact is that they just selected it, almost at
random, as being the date on which the "light" on the subject was first proclaimed among
them at Mount Carmel! What a haphazard way to figure when the end of the world was
supposed to happen!
But, haphazard or not, they were determined that this would be the great test that would
make or break their entire offshoot organization. They hung everything on their
guesstimate. In their open letter to the General Conference they included this paragraph:
"By this letter we make it known to you that we are now leaving this entire matter with the
Lord to demonstrate whether He is leading in the work at Mt. Carmel, or whether he is
leading you to stop your ears to the message which Mt. Carmel has put forth in her official
publications . . If the message and the work of the Shepherd's Rod is God's truth as we
believe it to be, the 1260 days of Revelation 11 as The Symbolic Codes have explained, will
end sometime this spring. Then will follow the war that will kill the two witnesses. Those
whom the witnesses have tormented will gloat over this. But after 3 1/2 days the two
witnesses will be exalted. At the same time will come the earthquake (shaking) in which will
be slain all the hypocrites in God's part of Christendom— the Adventist Church." The
Symbolic Code, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 89.
Leaders in the Rod seemed always to have a fixation on when their enemies would be killed
so they could rule the world. This morbid wish would later culminate in David Koresh. The
following clear-cut statement was written in January 1959. The same issuer of The Symbolic
Code also made this important statement:
"If the message and the work of the Shepherd's Rod is God's truth .. the 1260 days.. will end
sometime this spring. "Mt.
Carmel hereby serves notice that it now leaves the prophecy of Revelation 11 as the Code
has explained it, as The Rod in Waco, Texas 1955 - 1962 17
the test by which the Lord will demonstrate whom He is leading."—The Symbolic Code, vol.
14, no. 6, p. 29.
THE 1959 GATHERING
Thus the die was cast. If all these major events did not occur in the spring of 1959 as
predicted, the Rod and its teachings would be an obvious fake. So said its leaders as the
deadline drew near. It is astounding that, in the years since then, many forgot about what
happened in the late 1950s,— and continued to be lured into the ranks of Rod splinter
groups.
Responding to an official call to assemble at their Waco headquarters by April 16,1959, in
expectation of a hurried move to Palestine "as soon as Divine Providence should indicate,"

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 several hundred followers gathered at the Mount Carmel Center to await the beginning of
final events. (See The Symbolic Code, vol. 14, no. 9, third special edition issued early in 1959,
pp. 2-3.)
Both eye-witnesses and published reports indicate that between 800 and 1,000 persons
were gathered at the Shepherd's Rod tabernacle at Mount Carmel Center, near Waco, Texas,
during the period from April 16 to 22, 1959. This number included leaders, followers,
children, news reporters, and a few curiosity-seekers.
On the morning when they were supposed to do so, a delegation of several Rodites managed
to enter the Takoma Park office of Reuben R. Figuhr, president of the General Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists, and solemnly began to tell him of the doom that was coming to
Adventism that day. Always in command of every situation that he dealt with, Figuhr ordered
them out before they could complete their presentation.
April 22 arrived. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. It was, at the very least, a prophetic
disaster. The largest shakeup in the history of the Rod was about to take place. Hundreds of
members would drift back into the Adventist Church or out into the world. Those remaining
would splinter into splintery splits.
One of the largest of these split-offs, which appropriately enough called itself "The Branch,"
would later send a few colonizers to the nation of Israel in a settlement project which soon
withered away.

4th Angels message

At this point there is much controversy, the first controversy is how both groups sprang up
from within the Main Stream Seventh day Adventist church, both groups claim they were
mishandled and mistreated, and truly one can sympathise with the conditions then. In this
article I am not much concerned about the events that transpired for both groups to spring
up, I am concerned much with this “Idea” where both groups claim they are the third Elijah
and thus they are the fulfilment of Revelation 18. In 2017 the present writer was with the
IMS group meeting with them and fellowshipping with them for some time, having gone
through their message and doctrine was convinced they are not the fulfilment. And this
same year 2019, the present writer was commissioned to write the manuals by a Malawian
group that came together to conduct free medical missionary trainings, so this present
writer set out to write both spiritual and science manuals adding to them the Malawian
setting. So it was then the present writer wrote 11th Hour labourers and after the writing of
the 11th Hour labourers manual the present writer came across some books by Houteff. The
impressions of the present writer of Houteff was he was a good bible student quoting Bible
and Spirit of prophecy to back up his claims, but one thing the present writer quickly noted
was the level of spiritual pride brother Houteff showed was very alarming. So since both
groups claim to be the 4th angels message let us define what or who constitutes the 4th
Angels message.
We shall go over the three angels messages as seen in the bible and writings of Ellen G White:
A Great religious awakening under the proclamation of Christ's soon coming is foretold in
the prophecy of the first angel's message of Revelation 14. An angel is seen flying "in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." "With a loud voice" he proclaims

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 the message: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and
worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Verses
6, 7. {GC 355.1}
Notice the first angels message got its fulfilment in the great awakening during the millerite
movement as they preached the judgement hour message all the way to Oct 22nd 1844 (refer
to 11th Hour Labourers manual). the above account can be searched out in the Great
controvery chapter 20 The great religious awakening.
Chapter 21 warning rejected.
The first angel's message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God's judgment and
calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people
of God from the corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see their true
condition of worldliness and backsliding. In this message, God has sent to the church a
warning, which, had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting
them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven, humbling their hearts
before the Lord and seeking in sincerity a preparation to stand in His presence, the Spirit and
power of God would have been manifested among them. The church would again have
reached that blessed state of unity, faith, and love which existed in apostolic days, when the
believers "were of one heart and of one soul," and "spake the word of God with boldness,"
when "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47. {GC
379.1}
In Revelation 14 the first angel is followed by a second proclaiming: "Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication." Revelation 14:8. The term "Babylon" is derived from "Babel," and signifies
confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate
religion. In Revelation 17 Babylon is represented as a woman --a figure which is used in the
Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman
an apostate church. {GC 381.1}
In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists between Christ
and His church is represented by the union of marriage. The Lord has joined His people to
Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising to be their God, and they pledging themselves
to be His and His alone. He declares: "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth
thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies."
Hosea 2:19. And, again: "I am married unto you." Jeremiah 3:14. And Paul employs the same
figure in the New Testament when he says: "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:2. {GC 381.2}
The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence and affection to
be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly things to occupy the soul, is likened to
the violation of the marriage vow. The sin of Israel in departing from the Lord is presented
under this figure; and the wonderful love of God which they thus despised is touchingly
portrayed: "I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God,
and thou becamest Mine." "And thou wast exceeding beautiful and thou didst prosper into
a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect
through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee. . . . But thou didst trust in thine own

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 beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown." "As a wife treacherously departeth
from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;"
"as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!" Ezekiel
16:8, 13-15, 32; Jeremiah 3:20. {GC 381.3}
In the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to professed Christians who
seek the friendship of the world above the favor of God. Says the apostle James: "Ye
adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with
God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." {GC 382.1}
The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is described as "arrayed in purple and scarlet color,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full
of abominations and filthiness:...and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery,
Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots." Says the prophet: "I saw the woman drunk with
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Babylon is further
declared to be "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:4-
6, 18. The power that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs
of Christendom is Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and
pearls, vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty
see of Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared "drunken with the blood of the
saints" as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is also
charged with the sin of unlawful connection with "the kings of the earth." It was by
departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a
harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly
powers, receives a like condemnation. {GC 382.2}
Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her daughters must be symbolized
churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the
truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The
message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that
were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the
judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church
alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the
eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called upon to come out of
Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in
what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found?
Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their
rise these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them.
Even the unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge the beneficent results that
followed an acceptance of the principles of the gospel. In the words of the prophet to Israel:
"Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My
comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God." But they fell by the same desire
which was the curse and ruin of Israel--the desire of imitating the practices and courting the
friendship of the ungodly. "Thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot
because of thy renown." Ezekiel 16:14, 15. {GC 382.3}
From the above account we see that Babylon is described as the fallen Roman catholic
church, but because the protestants rejected the 1st Angels message then the protestant

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 churches became part of Babylon, thus the Second Angel joined the first Angel, and this
message was proclaimed in the years just proceeding 1844.
Chapter 24 in the Holy of Holies
The passing of the time in 1844 was followed by a period of great trial to those who still
held the advent faith. Their only relief, so far as ascertaining their true position was
concerned, was the light which directed their minds to the sanctuary above. Some
renounced their faith in their former reckoning of the prophetic periods and ascribed to
human or satanic agencies the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit which had attended the
advent movement. Another class firmly held that the Lord had led them in their past
experience; and as they waited and watched and prayed to know the will of God they saw
that their great High Priest had entered upon another work of ministration, and, following
Him by faith, they were led to see also the closing work of the church. They had a clearer
understanding of the first and second angels' messages, and were prepared to receive and
give to the world the solemn warning of the third angel of Revelation 14. {GC 431.3}
So we see after 1844 those who were not shaken by the great disappointment, remained
and were the ones who were prepared to preach the third angels message.
From the above we see a steady build-up of the messages, and how they were fulfilled in the
past. These are found in the bible.
Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and
tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour
of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and
the fountains of waters. 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication. 9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The
same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into
the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast
and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12 Here is the patience of
the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
So we see the above passages in their reference to historic Adventism and their fulfilment.
Another interesting fact we see is pictured below.
The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 also illustrates the experience of the Adventist
people. In Matthew 24, in answer to the question of His disciples concerning the sign of His
coming and of the end of the world, Christ had pointed out some of the most important
events in the history of the world and of the church from His first to His second advent;
namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the great tribulation of the church under the pagan
and papal persecutions, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars. After
this He spoke of His coming in His kingdom, and related the parable describing the two
classes of servants who look for His appearing. Chapter 25 opens with the words: "Then shall

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 the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins." Here is brought to view the church living
in the last days, the same that is pointed out in the close of chapter 24. In this parable their
experience is illustrated by the incidents of an Eastern marriage.{GC 393.2}
The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel's message, was understood to be
represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation under the
proclamation of His soon coming, answered to the going forth of the virgins. In this parable,
as in that of Matthew 24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps, the Bible,
and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bridegroom. But while "they that were foolish
took their lamps, and took no oil with them," "the wise took oil in their vessels with their
lamps." The latter class had received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power
of the Holy Spirit, which renders His word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. In the
fear of God they had studied the Scriptures to learn the truth, and had earnestly sought for
purity of heart and life. These had a personal experience, a faith in God and in His word,
which could not be overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others "took their lamps, and
took no oil with them." They had moved from impulse. Their fears had been excited by the
solemn message, but they had depended upon the faith of their brethren, satisfied with the
flickering light of good emotions, without a thorough understanding of the truth or a genuine
work of grace in the heart. These had gone forth to meet the Lord, full of hope in the
prospect of immediate reward; but they were not prepared for delay and disappointment.
When trials came, their faith failed, and their lights burned dim.{GC 393.4}
"While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." By the tarrying of the
bridegroom is represented the passing of the time when the Lord was expected, the
disappointment, and the seeming delay. In this time of uncertainty, the interest of the
superficial and halfhearted soon began to waver, and their efforts to relax; but those whose
faith was based on a personal knowledge of the Bible had a rock beneath their feet, which
the waves of disappointment could not wash away. "They all slumbered and slept;" one class
in unconcern and abandonment of their faith, the other class patiently waiting till clearer
light should be given. Yet in the night of trial the latter seemed to lose, to some extent, their
zeal and devotion. The halfhearted and superficial could no longer lean upon the faith of
their brethren. Each must stand or fall for himself.{GC 394.1}
So we see the historical application of the 10 virgins of Mathew 25 and the great
disappointment. Now let us see something else…
In the parable, all the ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom. All had lamps and vessels
for oil. For a time there was seen no difference between them. So with the church that lives
just before Christ's second coming. All have a knowledge of the Scriptures. All have heard
the message of Christ's near approach, and confidently expect His appearing. But as in the
parable, so it is now. A time of waiting intervenes, faith is tried; and when the cry is heard,
"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him," many are unready. They have no
oil in their vessels with their lamps. They are destitute of the Holy Spirit. {COL 408.2}
Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail. The theory of truth,
unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken the soul or sanctify the heart. One may
be familiar with the commands and promises of the Bible; but unless the Spirit of God sets
the truth home, the character will not be transformed. Without the enlightenment of the

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 Spirit, men will not be able to distinguish truth from error, and they will fall under the
masterful temptations of Satan. {COL 408.3}
It is in a crisis that character is revealed. When the earnest voice proclaimed at midnight,
"Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him," and the sleeping virgins were
roused from their slumbers, it was seen who had made preparation for the event. Both
parties were taken unawares; but one was prepared for the emergency, and the other was
found without preparation. So now, a sudden and unlooked-for calamity, something that
brings the soul face to face with death, will show whether there is any real faith in the
promises of God. It will show whether the soul is sustained by grace. The great final test
comes at the close of human probation, when it will be too late for the soul's need to be
supplied. {COL 412.1}
The ten virgins are watching in the evening of this earth's history. All claim to be
Christians. All have a call, a name, a lamp, and all profess to be doing God's service. All
apparently wait for Christ's appearing. But five are unready. Five will be found surprised,
dismayed, outside the banquet hall. {COL 412.2}
So here we see the application of the 10 virgins is also applied to be future. So we see
something startling that history will have to be repeated once again in the sense that the
three angels messages will have to be proclaimed once again to the world but this time they
are to be proclaimed with such power and Majesty and this fulfilment is what we see in
Revelation 18.
Let’s underline a few things about Revelation 18? In what context is Revelation 18 portrayed.
Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven,
having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily
with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings
of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are
waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that
ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities.
We shall analyse each verse in turn to understand the context of revelation 18
We need to understand what light signifies.
1Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Here is seen that the life that Jesus lived was a life of victory over sin and all Christians are
being called to follow this example.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without

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 him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of
men. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
So we see it is clear Jesus lead a life of victory over sin, and it is this life that was the light of
men.
Mathew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth
light unto all that are in the house.
So we see here above that the life that Jesus lived was the light of the world, and we see
again that Jesus says we are the light of the world, meaning Jesus in us, is the Hope of glory,
it is Jesus who lights our lamp so that it burns bright. So here is a definition of light, to have
the same life that Jesus lived to live a life of victory over sin.
How are we to have the same life that was in Jesus?
2Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise
in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
So here we see prophecy is a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the day
star arises in our hearts, so for us to be prepared for the second coming of Jesus. We need
to study prophecy for it shall tell us what to do and open to us the coming events which are
darkness or unclear, but it does not help just to know what is coming we must study deeper
than that.
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Here we see the bright and morning star is Jesus, so as we study prophecy we need to study
it and prepare our hearts in prayer and supplication until Jesus arises in our hearts. And here
is the secret to a life of victory over sin, Once Jesus takes control of the heart, then the earth
can be lightened with the glory of the God. For in all history only the life of Jesus was the
light, and for us to be a light we need the life of Jesus in us.
Job 10:21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow
of death; 22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any
order, and where the light is as darkness.
So here we see it is very important to study prophecy and have a definite order of events,
for if we don’t know the order of events then we are in darkness and prophecy loses its
meaning.
John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

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 Speaking of Jesus, he was the light of the world, notice those that receive Jesus are given
power to become the sons of God, they can become the children of the lord.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Here it is plain that the preaching of the gospel of Christ is the power of God. What power
was given at the cross?
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would
even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us
Here we see something powerful, while we were yet without strength, whilst we were yet
sinners Jesus died for us, the strength here is the power to overcome sin, this is the power
that is given to us to become the sons of God.
Luke 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of
Adam, which was the son of God.
Adam was the son of God, when he was created he had no sin, when we come to God he
wishes to recreate in us the image of Jesus, and this is represented as us being given power
to become the sons of God, to come to a place where we can no longer sin.
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Here we see that we can become sons and daughters of God, and God will be to us a father,
if we touch not the unclean thing.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Here we see that the cross not only brought salvation which is the forgiveness of sins, but it
also brought strength, the strength to overcome sin, this is the power granted to all fallen
sons of Adam so they may overcome and be called the Sons and Daughters of God.
With the above understanding we can read Revelation chapter 18:1
Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven,
having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
So here is pictured a movement where the prophet saw the angel come down from heaven
having great power and the earth was lightened with his glory. This is to be fulfilled when
we as a people overcome sin and come to a place where the character or Image of Jesus is
reflected in us more fully, and the whole earth will be lightened with his glory.
Notice this angel is seen to have great power, meaning the message has had effect the
people bearing the message have overcome sin, and it is the image of Jesus seen in them
the lightens the whole world.

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 As I saw what we must be in order to inherit glory, and then saw how much Jesus had
suffered to obtain for us so rich an inheritance, I prayed that we might be baptized into
Christ's sufferings, that we might not shrink at trials, but bear them with patience and joy,
knowing what Jesus had suffered that we through His poverty and sufferings might be made
rich. Said the angel, "Deny self; ye must step fast." Some of us have had time to get the truth
and to advance step by step, and every step we have taken has given us strength to take the
next. But now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have
to learn in a few months. They will also have much to unlearn and much to learn again. Those
who would not receive the mark of the beast and his image when the decree goes forth,
must have decision now to say, Nay, we will not regard the institution of the beast. {EW 67.2}
Verse 2 tells us when the 4th angels message will come on the scene
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of
every unclean and hateful bird.
Notice the word strong voice the stronger the voice the louder it is, so this 4th Angel of
Revelation 18 is the loud cry, and when is the loud cry and what is the loud cry. Notice the
loud cry shall be that Babylon is fallen. Recall we saw the rise of the three angels messages
and also saw the fulfilment of Mathew 25 the 10 virgins and we also saw that their fulfilment
also has a future parallel fulfilment.
Here we see that the 4th angels message is giving power to the 2nd angles message
proclaiming that Babylon has indeed fallen.
The book last day events makes it plain beyond a shadow of a doubt when the loud cry will
be given.
"She made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Revelation 14:6-
8). How is this done? By forcing men to accept a spurious sabbath.--8T 94 (1904). {LDE 198.2}
Not yet, however, can it be said that . . . "she made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication." She has not yet made all nations do this. . . . {LDE 198.3}
Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall
be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The
change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.--GC
389, 390 (1911). {LDE 198.4}
When do her sins reach unto heaven [Revelation 18:2-5]? When the law of God is finally
made void by legislation.--ST June 12, 1893. {LDE 198.5}
The laws of the land will make void the laws of God at the passing of the National Sunday
law, this has been made abundantly clear again and again. Refer to sanctuary manual. only
those that overcome sin will receive the seal of God, and only those who receive the seal of
God will receive the refreshing called the latter rain, and only those who receive the latter
rain will give the loud cry. And we know that a seal is not given unless the people of God are
tested and the final test will be the national Sunday law test. So by this is unanimously clear
that the 4th angel does not come on the scene until after the National Sunday law is passed.

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 God has given the messages of Revelation 14 their place in the line of prophecy and their
work is not to cease till the close of this earth's history.--EGW'88 804 (1890). {LDE 198.6}
Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning
of Revelation 14:6-12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the
second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from
her communion. This message is the last that will ever be given to the world.--GC 390
(1911). {LDE 199.1}
[Revelation 18:1, 2, 4, quoted.] This scripture points forward to a time when the
announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14 (verse
8), is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been
entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first
given, in the summer of 1844. . . . These announcements, uniting with the third angel's
message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth. . . . {LDE
199.2}
The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of
the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of
the papal power--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred.
Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these.--GC 603, 604,
606 (1911). {LDE 199.3}
So we see it is clear that the loud cry will be given when the laws of the land make void the
law of God, more especially the Sabbath. So today no movement can claim they are the
fulfilment of the 4th angel, for the fourth angel is to lighten the whole earth, not just in word
but the majority of the message will be in deeds.
Revelation 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and
the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth
are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that
ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities.
From the above we see that at the time all nations will drink of Babylon’s wine, it is then the
voice is heart come out of her my people. The call out of Babylon, will be made so that God’s
people who are still in the churches worshiping on Sunday should come out.

When shall the Lord arise to shake terribly the earth?

"Now comes the word that I have declared that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave.
This I have never said. I have said, as I looked at the great buildings going up there, story after
story: 'What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth!
Then the words of Revelation 18:1-3 will be fulfilled.' The whole of the eighteenth chapter of
Revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard
to what is coming on New York, only I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown
down by the turning and overturning of God's power. From the light given me, I know that
destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of His mighty power, and these
massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place the fearfulness of which we cannot imagine."
{LS 411.5}

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Never did this message apply with greater force than it applies today. More and more the world
is setting at nought the claims of God. Men have become bold in transgression. The wickedness
of the inhabitants of the world has almost filled up the measure of their iniquity. This earth has
almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his will upon it. The
substitution of the laws of men for the law of God, the exaltation, by merely human authority,
of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath, is the last act in the drama. When this substitution
becomes universal, God will reveal Himself. He will arise in His majesty to shake terribly the
earth. He will come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and
the earth shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain. {7T 141.1}

We see that the lord will arise to shake the earth terribly not when the twin towers fell in
2001! But rather it is when the National Sunday Law is passed, it is here the limit is reached
and God will arise to shake terribly the earth, and the words of Revelation 18:1-3 will be
fulfilled, the latter rain which produces the Loud cry. Thus it is abundantly clear that the
latter rain message of revelation 18 did find its fulfilment in IMS nor Davidian movement.

Two pipes of Zechariah 4

What about the claim that V. T. Houteff is the golden pipe of Zechariah 4, let’s examine the
texts of scripture and Spirit of prophecy in regard to this.

Zec 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is
wakened out of his sleep, Zec 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have
looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven
lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And
two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side
thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these,
my lord?5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou
not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying,
This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by
my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel
thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9 The
hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and
thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10 For who hath despised
the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through
the whole earth. 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees
upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered
again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden
pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed
ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

From the above passage let’s begin to compare scripture with scripture and see what the
lord says.

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 We recall in 11th Hour Labourers manual, Zerubbabel was the governor of Israelites that had
returned to rebuild the temple, so the word of the Lord was sent via Zechariah and Haggai
to encourage him.

5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what
these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is
the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,
saith the LORD of hosts.

From the above we see that the vision is talking about the word of God, the meaning of the
vision in essence is talking about the word of God.

Below are the symbols mentioned in the vision, we will look at each in turn.
1) Candlestick all of gold
2) Two olive trees
3) Golden oil
4) Two golden pipes
5) The bowl upon the top of the
candlestick
6) Seven pipes going to the seven
lamps
7) Seven lamps of the candlestick

“The candlestick all of gold”

Rev. 1:20 – The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Thus the church of God running from Jesus time all the way to the end of time was
represented as one of the 7 candlesticks.
“all of gold”
Mal. 3:3 – But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he
appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit [as] a
refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold
and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will
be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed
to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than
subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is
between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold
will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished
from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will
then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places
where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but

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 are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness.
{5T 81.1}

“The two olive trees”

Zech. 4:11, 14 – Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon
the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? . . . Then said he, These are
the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares further: "These are the two olive
trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." "Thy word," said the
psalmist, "is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Revelation 11:4; Psalm 119:105.
The two witnesses represent the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. Both are
important testimonies to the origin and perpetuity of the law of God. Both are witnesses
also to the plan of salvation. The types, sacrifices, and prophecies of the Old Testament point
forward to a Saviour to come. The Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament tell of a
Saviour who has come in the exact manner foretold by type and prophecy. {GC 267.1}

“The golden oil”

The two classes of watchers represent the two classes who profess to be waiting for their
Lord. They are called virgins because they profess a pure faith. By the lamps is represented
the word of God. The psalmist says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto may
path." Psalm 119:105. The oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Spirit is represented
in the prophecy of Zechariah. "The angel that talked with me came again," he says, "and
waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou?
And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it,
and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top
thereof; and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon
the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What
are these, my lord? . . . Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the
Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts. . . . And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches
which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? . . . Then said
he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah
4:1-14. {COL 406.3}

From the two olive trees the golden oil was emptied through the golden pipes into the
bowl of the candlestick, and thence into the golden lamps that gave light to the sanctuary.
So from the holy ones that stand in God's presence His Spirit is imparted to the human
instrumentalities who are consecrated to His service. The mission of the two anointed ones
is to communicate to God's people that heavenly grace which alone can make His word a
lamp to the feet and a light to the path. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6. {COL 408.1}

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
shew you things to come.

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 “The two golden pipes”

The two olive trees empty the golden oil out of themselves through the golden pipes into
the golden bowl from which the lamps of the sanctuary are fed.

So we see here that the people of God, worship him in the Sanctuary, and that the two pipes
are vital for the word of God to be extracted from the old and new testament, to go into he
bowl and then fed into the 7 handle lamp which is in the sanctuary.

“The seven pipes going to the seven lamps”

Will our brethren bear in mind that we are living amid the perils of the last days? Read
Revelation in connection with Daniel. Teach these things. Let discourses be short, spiritual,
elevated. Let the preacher be full of the word of the Lord. Let every man who enters the
pulpit know that he has angels from heaven in his audience. And when these angels empty
from themselves the golden oil of truth into the heart of him who is teaching the word,
then the application of the truth will be a solemn, serious matter. The angel messengers
will expel sin from the heart, unless the door of the heart is padlocked and Christ is refused
admission. Christ will withdraw Himself from those who persist in refusing the heavenly
blessings that are so freely offered them. {TM 337.2}

So it is clear in this context that it is the heavenly angels that pour out truth from the golden
bowl into the church, of which the last church is Laodicea, this is represented by ministers
who stand to preach the word, they are the instrument God uses to pour out the truth into
the sanctuary the church.

Notice the how the Spirit of Prophecy expounds on the issue of the two golden pipes. Since
the two olive trees are the Old and New Testament, it can only follow that the two pipes
must both stem from the Old and New Testament, since they are connected with the olive
trees.

Thus Daniel from the Old testament will be used to extract the word of God as contained in
the Old Testament, and the book of Revelation will be used to extract the truth of God as
contained in the New Testament, and once this truth is extracted into the golden bowl as oil
this must be done via the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the angel will pour it forth into the
living minister the truths that the Holy Spirit has extracted so that the Church can have meat
in due season. Here is the true explanation.

But Davidians try to play on words which have no immediate application, they claim the first
golden pipe is the Spirit of prophecy as written by Ellen G White therefore it only follows
that V. T. Houteff has to be the other pipe. This seems clear and straight until you study and
see that the two golden pipes are connected with the Old and New testament! The question
would be if the first pipe is the Ellen G White and the other Houteff, does that mean one of
them interprets for us the New testament and the other the old, this creates a lot of
confusion, but from the clear harmonious view as presented by Ellen G White herself.

“Read Revelation in connection with Daniel. Teach these things. Let discourses be short,
spiritual, elevated. Let the preacher be full of the word of the Lord.”

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 Remember the Oil is the word of God: the word of truth, inspired by the Holy Spirit. So for a
preacher to be full of this oil or word, there is one method God has given, the preacher must
study the books of Daniel and Revelation. One thing is clear from the book 11 th Hour
Labourers where the present writer was writing with heavy emphasis on the book of Daniel
there was need of much study of the books of the old testament, for Daniel to make sense
there is heavy reliance on the other books of prophecy, thus the book of Daniel becomes
the pipe which the Holy Spirit uses to extract truth from the Old Testament.

Thus in this current manual for one to understand the book of Revelation and its themes of
Marriage and the Sanctuary there is heavy reliance on the other books in the New
Testament. You cannot understand the New Testament if the book of Revelation is
discarded, so to the searcher of truth God has a golden pipe and that is the book of
Revelation which is connected with the New Testament which the Holy Spirit uses to extract
the oil from the other olive tree.

God designed that the BIBLE the Old and New Testament be the guide and rule of life. The
role of the Spirit of prophecy was not to interpret the bible, but rather to point people back
to the bible. The Davidians claim the Spirit of prophecy is the book by which we interpret
scripture but this claim is a false premise all together.

That the Testimonies were not given to take the place of the Bible, the following extract
from a testimony published in 1876 will show: {5T 663.1}

"Brother J would confuse the mind by seeking to make it appear that the light God has
given through the Testimonies is an addition to the word of God, but in this he presents the
matter in a false light. God has seen fit in this manner to bring the minds of His people to His
word, to give them a clearer understanding of it." [VOL. 4, P. 246 (1876).] The word of God
is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind and may be understood by those who
have any desire to understand it. But notwithstanding all this, some who profess to make
the word of God their study are found living in direct opposition to its plainest teachings.
Then, to leave men and women without excuse, God gives plain and pointed testimonies,
bringing them back to the word that they have neglected to follow." [VOL. 2, P. 455 (1870).]
The word of God abounds in general principles for the formation of correct habits of living,
and the testimonies, general and personal, have been calculated to call their attention more
especially to these principles." [VOL. 4, P. 323 (1879).] {5T 663.2}

So to make a false premise leads to another error where if the Spirit of prophecy was given
to interpret the bible, it logically follows that Houteff is the one who is also “inspired” to
interpret the bible. This is somewhat a false premise.

The Greater and Lesser Lights.--Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a
lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light.-- Colporteur Evangelist, p. 37. (1902)
{Ev 257.1}

Sell Books That Give Light.--The Lord has sent His people much instruction, line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. Little heed is given to the Bible, and
the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light. Oh, how much
good would be accomplished if the books containing this light were read with a

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 determination to carry out the principles they contain! There would be a thousandfold
greater vigilance, a thousandfold more self-denial and resolute effort. And many more
would now be rejoicing in the light of present truth. {CM 125.2}

My brethren and sisters, work earnestly to circulate these books. Put your hearts into this
work, and the blessing of God will be with you. Go forth in faith, praying that God will
prepare hearts to receive the light. Be pleasant and courteous. Show by a consistent course
that you are true Christians. Walk and work in the light of heaven, and your path will be as
the path of the just, shining more and more unto the perfect day.-- Review and Herald, Jan.
20, 1903. {CM 126.1}

From the above we see the Spirit of prophecy is the lesser light that is meant to draw us back
to the true meaning of the bible. Notice the Spirit of prophecy always points us back to the
bible. In all the manuals written it was always Bible and then after a clear harmonious
understanding some quotations of the Spirit of prophecy.

Read and study the fourth chapter of Zechariah. The two olive trees empty the golden oil
out of themselves through the golden pipes into the golden bowl from which the lamps of
the sanctuary are fed. The golden oil represents the Holy Spirit. With this oil God's
ministers are to be constantly supplied, that they, in turn, may impart it to church. "Not by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." God's servants can obtain
victories only by inward purity, by cleanness of heart, by holiness. It is of the utmost
importance that ministers set a right example. If they follow lax, loose principles, their
example is quoted by those who are doing wrong as a vindication of their course. The whole
synagogue of Satan is watching for defects in the lives of God's representatives, and the
most is made of every defect.-- Review and Herald, December 22, 1904. {TM 188.2}

Thus we see the whole picture. The two olive tree the old and new testament. The truth
from them is extracted especially if we study the books of prophecy Daniel and Revelation,
recall it was Michael and his angel Gabriel that came to Daniel in his visions and it was Jesus
that came to John in the visions, a careful study shows us Michael and Jesus are one and the
same person, thus it follows that those two books are the golden pipes God designed to be
used to extract the oil of truth from the Old and New Testament, and this oil of truth
Symbolic of the Holy Spirit, is poured out by the angels onto the living minister who is
studying the word of God and by this the Ministers are constantly supplied by the presence
of the Holy Spirit. It is these same prophetic books as we read Revelation 19 and Daniel 10
that the Angel was the one who would open the mind of the prophet to understand or grasp
new things and Paul comments below.

1 Peter 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching 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. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that
not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

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 So we see here that Peter agrees with Ellen G White, all the prophets as they were
prophesying searched what manner of times the Holy Spirit was in them did signify.

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which
was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel
understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of
Jerusalem.

Daniel searched diligently the truths, he searched the book of Jeremiah and then began to
pray and the Angel of the Lord came and gave him understanding of the truths. The Spirit of
God was upon Daniel. And Paul speaking says the prophets inquired of the salvation, they
searched what the Spirit of God did signify in them.

A careful analysis of the life of Jesus showed that Jesus relied heavily on the book of Daniel
to explain the truths to the people, this is because the book of Daniel is the golden pipe the
link to the old testament it is the apex of the truths found in the Old testament
Mathew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
When Jesus was explaining the truths of his coming, he explained the book of Daniel.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye,
and believe the gospel.
Jesus when referring to the time that was fulfilled was referring to the 1 week prophecy, the
book of Daniel and all the other prophecies in the Old testament about sacrifices and
oblations were to find their fulfilment in Him. The old testament was tied into the book of
Daniel.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate.
Thus the death on the cross was to cause the sacrifices to cease, and in the 1-week prophecy,
a day equals a literal year. We see that in the middle of the week that being three and half
years Jesus was to be crucified and Jesus knew this. Whenever he was met with death he
knew his time was not come, thus he knew for him to die and be the lamb he had 3 and half
years, thus all the prophecies of the Old testament and that was extracted via Daniel the
golden pipe.
Thus for us to understand the New Testament on a deeper level we need to read the
prophecies and compare them with the New Testament books. For example, Revelation 7
speaks of Israel, Paul writing to the Romans which were gentile converts says not all are
Israel but rather those who are converted, thus we see from his books that Israel are those
converted after God and willing to do his commandments, thus those 144,000 are not literal
Israelites, thus Revelation the golden pipe extracts all the truth from the New Testament
and the Holy Spirit concentrates that truth and puts it into the living minister.

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 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:4. {CTr 335.1}
There is need of a much closer study of the Word of God; especially should Daniel and the
Revelation have attention as never before in the history of our work. We may have less to
say in some lines, in regard to the Roman power and the papacy, but we should call attention
to what the prophets and apostles have written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. .
. . {CTr 335.2}
Read the book of Daniel. Call up, point by point, the history of the kingdoms there
represented. Behold statesmen, councils, powerful armies, and see how God wrought to
abase pride and lay human glory in the dust. God alone is represented as great. In the vision
of the prophet He is seen casting down one mighty ruler and setting up another. He is
revealed as the monarch of the universe, about to set up His everlasting kingdom—the
Ancient of days, the living God, the Source of all wisdom, the Ruler of the present, the
Revealer of the future. Read and understand how poor, how frail, how short-lived, how
erring, how guilty, are mortals. . . . {CTr 335.3}
The light that Daniel received direct from God was given especially for these last days. The
visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai and the Hiddekel, the great rivers of Shinar, are now
in process of fulfillment, and all the events foretold will soon have come to pass. {CTr 335.4}
Consider the circumstances of the Jewish nation when the prophecies of Daniel were given.
The Israelites were in captivity, their temple had been destroyed, their temple services
suspended. Their religion had centered in the ceremonies of the sacrificial system. They had
made the outward forms all-important, while they had lost the spirit of true worship. . . . The
Lord wrought to bring the people into captivity, and to suspend the services of the temple,
in order that the outward ceremonies might not become the sum total of their religion. . . .
The outward glory was removed, that the spiritual might be revealed. . . . {CTr 335.5}
Young Men Study How to Present Symbolic Truth. --The Lord has been working with Elder S,
teaching him how to give to the people this last warning message. His method of making the
words of the Bible prove the truth for this time, and his use of the symbols presented in
Revelation and Daniel, are effective. Let the young men learn as for their lives what is truth
and how it should be presented. We are living in the last days of the great conflict; the truth
alone will hold us securely in this time of trouble. The way should be prepared for Elder S to
give the message, and our young men should attend his evening meetings. --Letter 349,
1906. {Ev 205.4}
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. Revelation 1:3. {FLB 345.1}
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the books of Daniel and the Revelation,
we need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its
power and magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld--power and
magnificence which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring--how
completely has it passed away! As "the flower of the grass," it has perished. So perished the
Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of Grecia and Rome. And so perishes all that has
not God for its foundation. Only that which is bound up with His purpose, and expresses His

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 character, can endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows. {FLB
345.2}
When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an
entirely different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the open gates
of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop
in order to realize the blessedness which is to be the reward of the pure in heart. The Lord
will bless all who will seek humbly and meekly to understand that which is revealed in the
Revelation. This book contains so much that is large with immortality and full of glory that
all who read and search it earnestly receive the blessing to those "that hear the words of
this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." One thing will certainly be
understood from the study of Revelation--that the connection between God and His people
is close and decided. {FLB 345.3}
Let us give more time to the study of the Bible. We do not understand the Word as we
should. The book of Revelation opens with an injunction to us to understand the
instruction that it contains. . . . When we . . . understand what this book means to us, there
will be seen among us a great revival. {FLB 345.4}
From the above I believe it is becoming extra clear that the of the books of Daniel and
Revelation as paramount. Notice in the book Faith I live by, page 345 paragraph 3 opens with
a call to study the books of Daniel and Revelation, then paragraph 4 says we should give
more heed to study the Bible and we do not understand the word of God as we should and
ends with saying when we understand what this book means to us there will be a revival.
There can only be one meaning to all of this, in reference to studying the Bible, the Bible
must be studied in reference to Daniel and Revelation and from these two golden pipes
people are to be filled with the truth that sanctifies, the Spirit of truth.
John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
The above is such a clear account of the truth of the matter.
In view of the testimony of Inspiration, how dare men teach that the Revelation is a
mystery beyond the reach of human understanding? It is a mystery revealed, a book opened.
The study of the Revelation directs the mind to the prophecies of Daniel, and both present
most important instruction, given of God to men, concerning events to take place at the
close of this world's history. {GC 341.3}
The perils of the last days are upon us, and in our work we are to warn the people of the
danger they are in. Let not the solemn scenes which prophecy has revealed be left
untouched. If our people were half awake, if they realized the nearness of the events
portrayed in the Revelation, a reformation would be wrought in our churches, and many
more would believe the message. We have no time to lose; God calls upon us to watch for
souls as they that must give an account. Advance new principles, and crowd in the clear-cut
truth. It will be as a sword cutting both ways. But be not too ready to take a controversial
attitude. There will be times when we must stand still and see the salvation of God. Let
Daniel speak, let the Revelation speak, and tell what is truth. But whatever phase of the

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 subject is presented, uplift Jesus as the center of all hope, "the Root and the Offspring of
David, and the bright and morning Star." {TM 118.1}
Notice the Bible contains truth and it is the books of Daniel and Revelation which tell us what
the truth is, and these two books are the two golden Pipes.
It is not alone those who openly reject the Testimonies, or who cherish doubt concerning
them, that are on dangerous ground. To disregard light is to reject it. {CCh 94.2}
If you lose confidence in the Testimonies you will drift away from Bible truth. I have been
fearful that many would take a questioning, doubting position, and in my distress for your
souls I would warn you. How many will heed the warning? 121 {CCh 94.3}
Thus it is increasingly clear that the two pipes are the books of Daniel and Revelation. The
bible is the Greater light the word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy is the lesser light that
points us back to the bible. To reject the Testimonies would be to reject the light of God, and
those who reject the testimonies soon find themselves rejecting the bible truths.
V. Houteff the man
Below are some of the startling quotations. These were picked up by Vance Farrell in his pdf
Davidians of Waco: The underlying problem was that the poor man was obsessed with the
idea that he was infallible in thought and word. His imaginings about Scripture were thought
by him as the mind of God. His followers shared this delusion, thinking that he had the gift
of prophecy. As Houteff himself said:
"We must conclude that the 'Rod' contains all truth, or there is no truth in it save the
quotations of truth. Therefore, if we admit one truth revealed by the 'Rod,' then we must
accept it all as truth . . Therefore we take the position that the message in the 'Rod' is free
from error in so far as the idea put forth is concerned."—V.T. Houteff, circular letter dated
August 31, 1931 [Italics his].
Here was a man who claimed infallibility without limit! He asserted that, if even one of his
ideas was correct, they all had to be correct! Four years later he repeated this astounding
claim (in The Symbolic code, vol. 1, no. 8, August 15, 1935), and again in the late 1940s
(Timely Greetings, vol. 1, no. 18, p. 10, quoting an address of his given on December 7, 1947).
That one statement, alone, by Victor Houteff—repeated in print at least three times—should
have been enough to warn any seeker after truth from following such an eccentric individual.
Only God and His Inspired Scriptures are safe. The words of no one else can be as reliable.
Victor Houteff had consistently taught that he would not die. He also taught that none of his
followers would die either!
"Keep your knees in motion and let not opportunities be neglected, for the final movement
shall be rapid ones. Thus shall you with God as Enoch of old, and as he was translated without
tasting death, so shall you be."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Oct 15, 1934), p. 4.
"Moreover, as the Shepherd's Rod is the Elijah message, it is impossible for anyone who
accepts it and lives it to die, for the type demands translation. Thus it is that Elijah stands as
a type of the 144,000."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 9, No. 9 (March 15, 1935), p. 9.

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 "There is nothing that can take the life of the 144,000."— The Symbolic Code, Vol. 2, Nos. 7-
8 (July-August, 1936), p. 11.
"Those who believe Present Truth, yet continue to find fault with Brother Houteff's marriage,
prove to us one of two things:
either that they are shallow thinkers, or that they have no faith in what they believe, for the
message teaches that we, as a part of the 144,000, shall never die."—The Symbolic Code,
Vol. 3, Nos. 5-6 (May-June, 1937), p. 8.
The Rod in Waco, Texas 1955 - 7962 13 But then, in the early spring of 1955, this notice was
sent out by the Waco headquarters to all the faithful:
"Victor Tasho Houteff was born in Raicovo, Bulgaria, March 2, 1885, and died February 5,
1955, at the Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, Texas."—The Symbolic Code, Vol. 10, Nos. 3-4
(January-February, 1955), p. 9.
As you might imagine, the news totally shook his followers. They had believed every word
he spoke as unerring.
Other errors concerning the writings of V.T. Houteff are highlighted below.
1Thesalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings. 21 Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
We have to not despise prophesying or teachings but rather we have to prove all things so
let us prove the writings of Houteff. Just as there is an Ellen G White estate folio where all
her books are found, I also acquired a V.T. Houteff where are his writings are found and
areas were hot areas which seemed not to square up with the bible and contradicted the
truths as revealed to us the Adventist people.
The errors highlighted from this portion of the Manual were brought forth by brother E.
Kunselama who had gone through the aforementioned books. So this was a collaborative
effort and we thank the heavens for the light.

Errors in the writings of Victor Houteff

Error 1
In the book Volume 2, Timely greetings: Nos 13, 14 there is the description below, not only
does brother Houteff go through the trouble of pointing of how SDA leadership is at fault in
its presentations of prophecy, but his analysis below leaves more to be desired
“To find where the Seals begin, we shall carefully note that History records only one period
of martyrdom such as is described in the fourth and fifth seals -- the martyrdom that began
with John the Baptist and, with but little interruption, continued on to about the middle of
the eighteenth century. {2TG13: 5.1}
Obviously, then, the fourth seal opened with the closing of the Old Testament time and
the beginning of the New. Since this is so, and since the Seals are consecutive, the first three
seals find their fulfillment, not in the New Testament period, but in the Old Testament
period. {2TG13: 5.2}

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 Now let us see when the second seal began. We are told that the rider of the second seal
was "to take peace from the earth," implying that there had been peace before. To learn
the time of the second seal, therefore, we need to answer the question: When was peace
taken away from the earth?-- {2TG13: 5.3}
We all know that there were no wars before the flood, that wars began after the confusion
of tongues at the tower of Babel, after the human family had been divided into numerous
tongues, nations, and races. The first war recorded in sacred history, was fought in the days
of Abraham, and wars have stayed with us ever since. Before that day there was peace.
Where else, then, could the second seal apply but after the flood, the time peace was taken
away from the earth? Finally, the history of the first seal must be sought in the period before
the flood. The color (white) of the horse itself speaks of peace, and so obviously the seals
begin with creation. {2TG13: 5.4}
What could the horses, driven by men, symbolize? -- They can symbolize only something
over which man rules, for a rider always rules that which he rides. The horsemen, then,
must be symbolical of man's rule over the creation of God. {2TG13: 6.1}
The colors of the horses and the professions of their riders show progress in greed and
crime. It is evident from the symbolism that man's ruling the world has not wrought
improvement. {2TG13: 6.2}
The white horse denotes peace and purity which existed only at the beginning of the creation
of God. By the rider of the white horse is seen man's great aim to subdue and to replenish
the earth. And by the red horse and his rider we see blood-shed and wars. This brutality led
the way for the black horse to come on the scene. The color black is significant of enslaving
nations, and the balances are expressive of inventing commercial schemes to obtain wealth.
The fourth horse, the pale, portrays a system of indefinable character -- difficult to
distinguish whether Christian or Pagan -- hypocrisy. The fifth seal shows that the
persecution of the saints continued to the opening of the sixth seal. Are not these the
headlines of history? The Seals, therefore, begin with the commencement of these things.
{2TG13: 6.3}”
for anyone who has studied the 4 horses of Revelation, these are symbolic of the church
periods that the church went through, and the above explanation by V. T. Houteff leaves a
lot to be desired. Below is an explanation of the 4 horses from the book Daniel and
Revelation by Vance Farrell: this is the reflection of Adventist exposition of Revelation
chapter 6.
The Seven Seals
“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of
thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse:
and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:1, 2.
In our last chapter we saw a book ‘sealed with seven seals’ and no one could open it until
Jesus appeared as a ‘Lamb, as it had been slain’. Now we’re going to look at this book. It is
not like our books; back then their books were scrolls. These were long strips of paper or

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 fine leather, rolled around two sticks so that as you read them you would unroll from one
side and roll up on the other side.
That is why the book could have seven seals, and as each seal was opened, you could see
part of the story of the book. This ‘book’ that only Jesus was worthy to open up and show to
us, shows a prophetic history of His church, His congregation of believers.
Just as the messages to the seven churches represented different periods of time in the
progress of the true church, so now the seals on this book go over the same history, but it
shows us the Great Apostasy, which allowed Papal Rome to develop out of what was once a
pure church.
The messages to the churches followed the history of the true believers, but the seals show
the apostate ones that did not heed the messages. All through both Daniel and Revelation,
you will find the history of the world, from the time of Christ to the Second Coming, told
over and over again. But each time it is told, it is showing us additional information.
As the first seal is opened, we see a white horse galloping out over the earth; this represents
the early church in its purity, carrying the gospel message to the world. It is the same as the
‘Ephesus’ church. Notice it was the first ‘beast’ that shows it; the Lion, representing Jesus
and the Law, this beast is the spirit of this pure church. The Crown (Greek=Stephanos, a
wreath of Victory) showed how this church would conquer as the truth of the Gospel of Jesus
went throughout the world.
“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red; and power was given to him that sat thereon
to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given
unto him a great sword.” Revelation 6:3, 4.
Now the second beast, the calf or ox presents the second horse. In this period as the church
was turning more to the world, the true people of God suffered, and had to make great
sacrifices to stay loyal to God’s Word. The calf or ox was an animal slain on the altars. This
horse is no longer white and pure, it is red, the color of sin and blood. The church began to
be corrupted. The ‘mystery of iniquity’ was at work in Paul’s day. Errors began to arise, and
the love of the world came in at an early date. This happened as it became more popular to
be a Christian and some influential pagan leaders joined the church. Instead of throwing
away their heathen ideas and following the Bible only, they began to try and mix their pagan
ideas with the Bible.
They thought they could do this, and make the Christian religion even better, and more
acceptable to the people, but if you put muddy water in clean water, you have all muddy
water. They didn’t want to give up their ‘Great Learning’ and prestige from heathenism, but
as they tried to bring their pagan ideas into the Bible and the church, they did not make the
church better; they lost the pure truth of the Gospel and followed worldly ways.
It was at this time that many of the errors and wrong ideas that are found in the modern
versions of the Bible first happened. The former heathen leaders, now Christian in name
only, mixed their ideas into the Bible, and when Emperor Constantine ordered fifty copies
of a new Bible to be written, these ideas were put into them. Some of those old manuscripts
are still around today, but the true church of

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 Jesus never accepted them. The Roman church used them. They are what the writers of the
new modern translations largely use today, and their influence is to confuse the true children
of Jesus.
This horse goes up to the time of Constantine, A. D. 323, where the church began to ask for
help from the government, and to flatter and try to please the Emperor, instead of serving
God.
When we do not follow the Word of God faithfully and we begin to do things like the world,
and want the power and pride of the world, then we loose our peace with Jesus. In this
period, ‘There was continual war and trouble.’ Only Jesus can give us real Peace, and He tells
us this does not ever come from the world. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you”. John 14:27
The Bible shows us another group who have no peace (rest), it is those who ‘worship the
beast’. Revelation 14:11
“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I
beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And
I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6:5,
6
The third beast, the man-face, shows us another horse. This time it is black. It is the opposite
of the first one. It is totally false. It is totally following the ‘wisdom’ of man and has rejected
the Gospel of Jesus. This is the time of the full setting up of the Roman Papacy. Now the idea
of selling the gospel to the people for money, had come to be the big thing. The ‘wheat and
the barley’, God’s Word, the ‘bread of life’, was to be sold to the people for money. The rich
had spiritual advantages that the poor had no access to. This horse goes from Constantine’s
time to 538 when the Papal See came into full power.
The voice that said, “Hurt not the oil and the wine,” is not spoken by any one on earth, but
comes from the midst of the four living creatures; a voice from heaven. This shows that
even though men may not care for Jesus’ true sheep, yet the Lord was watching over them
in this period of horrible darkness.
Jesus makes sure that the true spirit of Christianity is kept alive somewhere, and not entirely
lost. In this darkness, some true believers began to flee into wilderness areas where they
could keep the true gospel and read and obey the true Bible.
Jesus is the True Shepherd and He never leaves His true sheep to be destroyed by false
ministers. He teaches them Himself with His Holy Spirit from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy
writings.
“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come
and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the
earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”
Revelation 6:7, 8

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 Now, the eagle-face shows us a horrible horse. Our Bible calls it ‘pale’, but the Greek word
used means ‘ghastly’, like something dead and moldy; ‘pale of yellowish color’ that is seen
in blighted or sickly plants. No horse is ever really this color, and no true church is ever like
what this papal monster had become.
The eagle in the Bible is an unclean bird that savagely kills and eats other animals and birds.
Now from 538 to the time of the reformation in the 1500s, (most of the 1260-year time
when the Papacy was to rule the world), this corrupt church made it her business to kill and
destroy all others who dared to disagree with her.
The ‘sickly-plant’ color was good to describe this time, as the ‘light’ from the Bible was taken
from the people, and if you keep the light from a plant, it turns this sickly, pale color.
Just as Satan was allowed time to clearly show to the universe what his evil ideas would lead
to, so this beastpower church was allowed to rule for a set time and show what it stood for.
Millions and millions of faithful Christians died for their faith and millions more perished
from hardship as they fled this cruel power. Only God really knows how many this savage
power killed.
Someday we will meet these dear souls in heaven, who loved Jesus enough to die for His
truth.
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud
voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:9, 10
No more beasts or horses now; this seal shows us the symbol of the blood of the slain,
faithful ones crying out to God. This is just the same as when God said that Abel’s blood cried
out to Him. It does not mean that all these martyrs are somewhere in a little box under the
altar, crying. All those who died in that terrible persecution are asleep in their graves,
waiting for Jesus to wake them up when He returns.
What does ‘under the altar’ mean? This world is what the ‘courtyard’ of the earthly sanctuary
represents. The altar of burnt offerings, where the lambs were killed and burned, was in the
courtyard. It was on this earth that the Lamb of God was slain. So the idea of being ‘under
the altar’ shows them asleep in their graves on this earth.
“And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they
should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that
should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Revelation 6:11.
White robes were given to every one of them. They had been accused by the Papacy as vile
heretics, and executed as criminals; their character had been robed in darkness. But the
Reformation exposed the cruel crimes of the Papacy, and showed the truth about the holy
martyrs of Jesus, and clothed them with white robes. Hence, the sermons, the prayers, and
songs of praise of the Christian church, have held these millions of the slain for Jesus’ name,
up to the world in spotless purity.

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 The time of this seal is the reformation which began to bring to the end, the Papal rule of
the 1260 years. But it wasn’t over yet, others were yet to witness for their faith as martyrs,
“their brethren, that should be killed as they were.”
It was at this time that a man named Fox, and others, began to collect up the stories of the
martyrs that died for their faith and put them into books. God wanted their bravery and faith
recorded and not forgotten. We can read the stories today and be encouraged, that the
same Jesus who gave them strength and courage to be faithful to Him, will do the same for
us.
Some people don’t like to read the stories of the martyrs ,as they imagine it makes them
afraid, but when you think about how Jesus helped them, we can get courage, not fear, as
we learn of their true faith.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken
of a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:12, 13
Now we come to the end of the 1260 year period that ended in 1798. And we see some
amazing things. We live in the times of this seal.
First; ‘a Great Earthquake’.
This earthquake was real and hit Europe on the 1st of November, 1755. Its center was in
Lisbon, Portugal, where the headquarters of the terrible inquisition had been. It hit on a
‘Holy day’ and all the churches were destroyed and thousands were killed. They ran
screaming, carrying their images of saints and crucifixes and clung to the altars in the
churches, but all in vain. People and priests perished together. The earthquake affected at
least four million square miles of the earth’s surface.
Next; the Sun was Darkened May 19, 1780.
Candles were lighted in many houses. Birds were silent
and disappeared. Fowls retired to roost. It was the general opinion that the Day of Judgment
was at hand.
It was midnight darkness at noonday. . . .Thousands of people, who could not account for it
from natural causes, were greatly terrified; and indeed, it cast a universal gloom on the
earth. The frogs and night-hawks began their notes.
(See Great Controversy, 1888, p. 307)
The Moon as Blood.
The moon refused to give her light that night; and when it did appear, it bore the appearance
of blood as described in this prophecy.
The Stars Fell.
The stars of heaven fell Nov. 13, 1833. Other meteor showers have been seen at different
times, but this was the most remarkable and extensive.

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 This amazing seal goes from verse 6:12 all the way to the end of chapter 7. We are right now
living between verse 13 and 14. The things that are going to happen in verses 14-17 are
when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven.
People who have a lot of power, think they can get away with whatever they want to do, but
someday soon, things will change.
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of
half an hour.” Revelation 8:1
Now we momentarily skip chapter 7 that gives us more information about God’s people
getting ready on earth for Jesus’ coming.
In chapter 8:1 we see silence for half an hour. In prophetic time, half an hour would be one
week of real time; however, we also are told in Revelation 10:6, that “time, that is prophetic
time, is no more”. The last time prophecy ended in 1844 and although there are many
prophetic events that takes place after that, none are ‘time prophecies’. So, while we can
have some thoughts about what this ‘silence’ possibly means, it is not a hard and fast
prophetic fact. Here is one thought.
The sixth seal ends with the wicked aware that Jesus
is returning to earth to rescue His people, and crying for the rocks and mountains to fall on
them. They, who have fought against God’s truth, would rather be buried alive than to see
the face of the One who died to save them. The One who they refused to obey and whose
followers they killed and tormented.
Now if you go to a house and nobody is home, it is silent, isn’t it? Well, if all the angels, and
Jesus and all the beings in heaven are away, as they come to earth to gather the faithful ones
and bring them home to the New Jerusalem, heaven would be silent, wouldn’t it?
Some have said that when the redeemed children of God are taken into the cloud, to travel
back to heaven with Jesus, it will take seven days. Heaven will be silent as all the holy beings
travel with the rescued ones from earth to the Holy City. But oh what a lot of rejoicing and
happy songs will fill it after they arrive. We can’t even imagine.
I hope each one of you will be there that happy day.
There is also a second thought about these words; when Jesus announces the close of
probation and mercy no longer pleads for unrepentant sinners; there will be a solemn time
of awful silence. Every time something takes place that has great importance in the great
controversy, there is no holy created being that is going to do anything else but be silent and
observe what takes place.
“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and
the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every
free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be
able to stand?” Revelation 6:14-17

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 The word-picture in these verses takes place as the people see Jesus coming in the clouds.
What a sad situation! Jesus loves us all so much that He came and died for us, to make a way
for us to be saved. Heaven has done everything possible to help people get ready to go home
with Jesus, but most people won’t be ready.
Why? Because they wanted their own way and continued in their own sinful habits and
pleasures and refused to obey God’s law. Now as they see He is really coming, and He is
going to put a stop to all their cruel, selfish deeds, they want to be buried alive rather than
see the face of the One who loved them so much.
Here just a short while before, these rulers and dictators were getting ready to kill all of
God’s true people that were left. Then they were proud and boasting, making fun of those
dear people who refused to disobey God, telling them how they were going to all be killed.
Now these bullies are seen screaming to be buried alive; what a change.
2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Comparing the two expositions of prophecy, it begins to dawn that Houteff inclined much
on private interpretation. Here was a man who had written dozens of wonderful books on
health and other topics, and since the readers have confidence in him, many drop their guard
and take everything at face value, but there is much error in his exposition of the 4 horses.
Error 2
In the book volume 1, Timely greetings Nos 13, 14. There is an erroneous exposition of
Haggai chapter 2
Hag. 2:6-8 -- "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the
desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts."
That the prophecy in these verses is yet to be fulfilled, is very obvious, for in the day this
temple is built God is to shake the heavens, the earth, and the nations; that their expectation
is then to come and that the temple is to be filled with glory; that the builders are not to
worry about finances. {1TG13: 4.2}
It is true that men control and use the silver and the gold, but it must not be forgotten that
it all belongs to God, and that if He has need of it, He is well able to take it and do what He
will with it, that the builders need not fear a shortage of it if they use it as God would have
them use it. {1TG13: 4.3}
Since it is plain that the ancient temple was typical of a temple to be built in the day God
shakes the heavens, the earth, and the nations, the subject becomes absolutely clear that
Inspiration is here speaking of an antitypical temple. {1TG13: 5.1}
Hag. 2:9 -- "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord
of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."
The promise is that the glory which attended Solomon's temple, shall be far exceeded by
the antitypical one, which is to be built by the church purified, the church during the harvest

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 time, the time in which God shakes the heaven, the earth, and the nations -- during the great
and dreadful day of the Lord. {1TG13: 5.2}
Since these promises were not fulfilled in the day of Zerubbabel's temple, the subject
becomes crystal clear: that they are now to be fulfilled, and since these latter day truths
are now revealed to us, we must be the builders of it, the glory of which is to exceed all
the glory of the past. Moreover, the place where this antitypical temple is to be situated
is to have peace, and the way that peace is completely to be achieved is told in-- {1TG13:
5.3}
Notice a false premise is made here. (refer to the 11th Hour Labourers manual).
When the first temple was erected by Moses, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
Signifying that God was among them.
Exodus 40:33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set
up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then a cloud covered the
tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was
not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and
the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
When the second temple was erected under Solomon’s reign the glory of the Lord also filled
the temple.
2 Chronicles 5:12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman,
of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals
and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and
twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and
singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and
when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick,
and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the
house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not
stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of
God.
Solomon’s temple was later destroyed, and under direction of Zerubbabel the temple was
erected but the glory of the temple did not fill the temple.
Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the
priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to
praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang together by
course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy
endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they
praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many
of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the
first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud
voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of
the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a
loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

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 From the above we see the Old heads cried as their faith in the work God was leading lacked.
They could not see that prophecy had to be fulfilled the temple had to be rebuilt, and truly
due to unbelief the work was halted.
Ezra 4:23 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and
Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the
Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. 24 Then ceased the work of the house
of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king
of Persia.
It is then God sent forth His prophets to encourage them to keep on building the temple,
there would not be a visible manifestation of the glory of God, for Jesus the glory of God
would inhabit the temple and this latter temple would be more glorious than the latter. Yet
Houteff claims this prophecy was not fulfilled this is an error.
Ezra 5:1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied
unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto
them.
Haggai 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill
this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith
the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith
the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
Let us see if this was fulfilled.
Luke 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son,
why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my
Father's business?
Jesus called the temple his father business. Truly the Glory of the Lord did inhabit the temple.
Luke 4:16 says the custom of Jesus was to go up into the temple every Sabbath, truly Jesus
did fulfil the Haggai prophecy.
"But," you may ask, "is this idea not contrary to our former belief?" -- I admit that it is. But
are we to go on by what we have believed? or by what the Word of the Lord says? And for
what purpose are those prophecies if we are not to give heed to them? And why are they
now unsealed and brought to our attention if this is not the time in which God is to manifest
His power and accomplish all these things? It should be remembered that we are not the
first and the only people who have had to change our way of thinking; we are not the first
and only people to discover that God's plans are the opposite of our plans. Moses, too,
found that his plan for delivering the children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage was not
God's plan. Likewise God's plan for the route they were to take in their journey to the
promised land was not their plan. The apostles positively believed that Christ was to set up
His kingdom at His first advent, but they, too, had to change their belief. Moreover, since
the Hebrews, whom out of slaves God had made kings, had been promised that their
kingdom was to stand forever, they were indeed astounded when it went down. And there
have been other surprises all along from the dawn of history. {1TG13: 6.3}

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 Notice just below his exposition of Haggai 2 Houteff even acknowledges that what he is
saying is different from the Adventist exposition of Haggai 2, yet he goes on to justify it, he
even claims that he and his followers “we” are the ones who is fulfilling Haggai 2.
Mathew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the
house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Here Jesus the glory of God did truly call the temple his father’s house, so truly Houteff was
in error to claim that the glory of God did not fill the temple, and to claim that the “truth”
has been revealed to he and his followers “us” , he is and his followers are rebuilding the
spiritual temple and the glory of God must fill it. This is the most blatant twisting of scriptures
and this is an error. But to those who accepted that he is the second pipe, the truly this
becomes the truth for Houteff is also an expositor of the biblical prophecies. To find out how
this was fulfilled please read 11th Hour labourers manual.
Houteff again makes the same bold claim that his publications are the fulfilment of the latter
rain.
Zech. 10:1 -- "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make
bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field."
These figures of speech, you know, are not used by Inspiration promiscuously, the term
"latter rain" must have its special and accurate significance. Inspiration chose to use the
term "rain", because rain makes things grow and brings abundant harvest. The term "latter"
denotes the last rain before the harvest, the rain that completes maturity and that ripens
the grain. {1TG17: 3.2}
The latter rain of Truth, therefore, is the very last, the one that is to develop the people of
God for the harvest, for the time in which God separates the wheat from the tares (Matt.
13:30), the wise virgins from the foolish ones (Matt. 25:1-12), the good fish from the bad
(Matt. 13:47, 48), and the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32, 33). In short, the harvest is
the day of cleansing, the day of Judgment, the antitypical Day of Atonement, the day in
which the sinners are cut off. This spiritual latter rain is, therefore, to do to the church just
what the natural latter rain does to the field. Without this latter rain the saints could not
develop for the heavenly garner, neither could the tares for the fire. By the "latter rain,"
therefore, is illustrated the last shower of Truth. And, too, this last portion of Truth must
come as freely to every member of the church who lives just prior to the harvest time as
does the rain come to every grass in the field. Just as soon as this final touch of development
is accomplished, the sickle is to be put to the precious golden grain. But let us remember
that it is not left in the field to rot, it is put into the "barn," (Kingdom) while the tares are
burned, so says the Lord (Matt. 13:30). What is symbolized by the "latter rain? Is it miracle-
working Truth, or is it miracle-working power? -- The prophet Joel explains that the miracle-
working power comes after both the "former and the latter rain." Says he: {1TG17: 3.3}
"And it shall come to pass afterward [after the former and the latter rain -- Joel 2:23], that
I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the

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 servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit." Joel 2:28, 29.
{1TG17: 4.1}
Plainly, then, the "latter rain" is miracle-working Truth that causes the saints to mature for
the harvest of which the 144,000 are the first fruits (Rev. 14:4). Then, in order to quickly
gather the second fruits, God pours His Spirit upon every first fruit saint, (upon "every one
grass") old or young, boy or girl -- not upon one here and upon another there. {1TG17: 4.2}
Obviously "bright clouds" represent agencies conveying Truth which they scatter
everywhere in the Lord's vineyard -- over every church member -- "every one grass," wheat
or tare. {1TG17: 4.3}
Literally speaking, dark clouds suggest a very heavy and damaging rain that frightens the
beholders. Conversely, bright clouds suggest a gentle rain, the kind that descends in such a
way so that the ground can absorb all of it. It does not waste itself. {1TG17: 5.1}
Spiritually speaking, dark clouds would, therefore, represent a source of dangerous reading
matter and too voluminous for one to welcome or to comprehend. But bright clouds stand
for a source of small, easily comprehended Truth-laden publications packed with "meat in
due season," Truth that comes in portions easy to take in, easy to assimilate all of It, and
thus to develop the recipient of It for the "master's" use and for His service. {1TG17: 5.2}
Then, too, spiritual "latter rain" must fall as freely and without cost to the recipients as
does literal rain. Thus it is that never before has the world witnessed so much absolutely
free literature scattered away as this literature is. Millions! So it is that these small
comprehensive publications, the bright clouds, laden with present Truth, are now being
scattered as leaves of autumn throughout Laodicea to every church member, "to every one
grass" in the vineyard of the Lord. The final results? "More than one thousand," attests
Inspiration, "will soon be converted in one day, most of whom will trace their first
convictions to the reading of our publications." -- "Review and Herald," Nov. 10, 1885.
Accordingly, along with the world's dark clouds that now hover over those who are
pessimistic about the promises of God, there are these bright clouds that hover over the
faithful believing and trusting children of God. {1TG17: 5.3}
Comparing other errors found in his books one can only imagine what lead the man Houteff
to proclaim that he was the fulfilment of the latter rain.
Error 3
This error is somewhat surprising, and the writer of this manual found it very surprising as
to why a student of the Spirit of Prophecy and the bible would seek to incorporate the nation
of Israel into biblical prophecy when the probation of the Jews ended in AD 34, when
Stephen was rejected, the Jews sealed their probation and rejected the covenant and thus
were no longer to be the chosen people of God. This truth is repeated in the manual 11 th
Hour labourers as well as this manual chapters 9 and 10.
Hos. 1:10 -- "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of
the living God."

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 "Yet," that is, in spite of the fact that the children of Israel were to be scattered
throughout the nations, and rejected, be no longer God's people, yet in spite of all these,
both the descendants of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah (all the children of
Jacob) were to be multiplied as the sand of the sea by the time they are reaccepted and
thus become the sons of the living God through the Saviour, Jesus Christ. {2TG21: 6.1}
From this scripture you note that this multitude of sons of Jacob are not the identified
Jews of today, but rather the lost descendants of Judah and Israel, of those who were
assimilated by the Gentile nations and by the early Christian church by taking upon
themselves the title "Christians," of those who thus lost their racial and national identity.
From all these, after having been scattered throughout the Gentile nations, and after having
lost their identity, are to come the sons of God that are projected in this allegorical
prophecy. Thus many of us who suppose to be of the Gentile nations may at long last
discover that we are of the lost tribes of Judah and Israel, and of the apostolic Christian
Jews. Though none of us really know our genealogy very far back, yet God Who knows even
the number of hairs on one's head has kept an accurate genealogical record of each of us.
So He says: "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know Me: behold
Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This
and that man was born in her: and the highest Himself shall establish her. The Lord shall
count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah." Psa. 87:4-6.
{2TG21: 6.2}
Hos. 1:11 -- "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together,
and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be
the day of Jezreel."
Here we are definitely told that in the latter days, God's saints, without a sinner among
them, are to be gathered together from the four corners of the earth, and be organized into
a Theocratic government, of which antitypical David is to be the king. Thus it is that "...in
the days of these kings [not after their days] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which
shall never be destroyed: and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but It shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and It shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces
the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the
king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure." Dan. 2:44, 45. {2TG21: 7.1}
In another allegorical prophecy, in connection with this one, we are again told: {2TG21:
7.2}
Hos. 3:4, 5 -- "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a
prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without
teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and
David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days."
Here again the promises are as plain as words can make them that after the dispersion and
captivity, the "many days," God's scattered people are then to return to their homeland, and
are then to seek the Lord their God, and David their king. Hence, these sons of God are not

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 the identified and unbelieving Jews of today who are trying to make a permanent national
home in the Promised Land. {2TG21: 8.1}
Christians have for centuries preached the Kingdom of God, but it is not as yet clear to
most of them whether It is to be as tangible as the earth itself, or whether It is to be
something foamy, something floating in space, or what? Inspiration, however, clearly
declares that the Kingdom of Christ (the church purified -- cleansed, Dan. 8:14) is to be as
real as any of the kingdoms of earth. {2TG21: 8.2}
The error above is in Houteff believing as do the preterits, that the promises to Israel were
unconditional to their faithfulness and thus at a later time, they are yet to be fulfilled in
the future. This error appears again and again in his writings and his followers eat it up like
candy.
The same errors are continued in Volume 2 Timely greetings Nos 43, 44
The deception in trying to equate old testament prophecies to the Jews, still applicable
today, is what sets apart Houteff with seventh day Adventist, he claims the Jews closed their
probation in 34 AD but the Jews scattered among the gentiles, or those who intermarried
with Gentiles will be gathered again. This is the worst error and the worst twisting of
scripture one can come across.
Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which
is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of
the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The text above was written by Paul to the gentiles, and it is evident that the gentiles were
to be grafted in and also become Israel or overcomers, by their faith in God, apparently
Houteff ignores all this and proves once again by private interpretation how the Jews are
still the people of God somehow!
Are The Davidians, Their Message, And Their Success In Prophecy?
Now to this question, I say that they must be if God is responsible for their coming into
being. Please turn with me to-- {2TG43: 15.3}
Hos. 1:10 -- "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of
the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered
together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land for great
shall be the day of Jezreel."
Here you see that the Jews were to be rejected from being God's people, and you well
know that this came to pass when the Lord said unto them: "Behold your house is left unto
you desolate." Matt. 23:38. {2TG43: 16.1}
The prophecy nevertheless continues and projects to the gathering time, the time God's
penitent people appoint to themselves one head, a king. These, of course, are not the
unconverted Jews of today, but they are the descendants from among those who have been
assimilated by the nations and by the Christian church, from those who have lost their
identity and who are now "as the sands of the sea" in number, but who now as Gentiles

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 (gentiles to their own and to the world's short-sighted knowledge) have accepted Christ.
(You who have missed my past studies on the subject, may read Timely Greetings, Vol. 1,
No. 29 and Tract No. 8, Mt Sion at the 11th Hour, pp. 7-17.) {2TG43: 16.2}
Who is the earthly head, king, whom the Scriptures say the people "appoint" at the
gathering time? -- Let us read, {2TG43: 16.3}
Hos. 3:4, 5 -- "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a
prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without
teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and
David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days."
In this part of the prophecy, you see, we are told that after they have sojourned among
the Gentiles for "many days" without a king, and without any sign of identification (having
been entirely lost sight of as a nation and as a people), they shall finally have antitypical
David rule over them. This would not be ancient David as he was already dead when this
prophecy was made. Neither could this promised David be Christ Himself, for Christ is the
son of David (Matt. 22:42), not David himself; and if He shall, moreover, sit on the throne of
David (Lu. 1:32), then David must have a throne for Him to sit on. {2TG43: 17.1}
Furthermore, you will note that Hosea 1:11 promises that great shall be the day of Jezreel.
And who is Jezreel? -- Well, in this chapter you find that he is Hosea's first-born son in the
allegory. In that part of the allegory which belongs to the Judean dispensation, and which is
found in the first chapter of Hosea, the names of the two younger children are prefixed with
"Lo." But in the part of the allegory which applies to the Christian dispensation, to the
gathering time, as seen in chapter 2, the letters "Lo" are dropped out, just as the title "Jews"
we find dropped out by the New Testament church and the title "Christians" taken instead.
(You will find a detailed study of these chapters in Tract No. 4, The Latest News for
"Mother.") The second chapter of Hosea begins with the command: {2TG43: 17.2}
Hos. 2:1-5 -- "Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. Plead with
your mother, plead: for she is not My wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put
away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I
strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness,
and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy upon her
children; for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother hath played the harlot:
she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink."
Obvious it is that God is commanding Jezreel, the first-born of the three children, to speak
to his brother Ammi and to his sister Ruhamah, who in the allegory are symbolical of the
laity, both male and female. The mother whom they are commanded to reform is, of course,
symbolical of the ministry, of those who bring forth converts into the church family. The
one to whom God speaks (Jezreel), therefore, is symbolical of a prophet. Here you plainly
see that the "revival and reformation" does not come through the ministry (the mother) but
through the laity, the children, and that the ministry (the mother) is in even greater need of
reformation than the laity, for the mother is being accused of disloyalty and is by the children
advised to reform. This is indeed a laity-movement directed by the Spirit of Prophecy, by
Jezreel's heaven-inspired effort and message. {2TG43: 18.1}

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 The fact that the day of Jezreel is to be great, together with the fact that he is a symbol of
a prophet, prove that not only the Davidian message itself is in prophecy, but that so also
are its success and the need of reformation therein recorded. Here you see that the Enemy's
wicked effort to squelch the message and to make Jezreel's work of none effect will come
to naught, for "great shall be the day of Jezreel," says the almighty One, while He brings all
His people out of the land (Hos. 1:11). {2TG43: 18.2}
The message to the Laodiceans, too, is directed to the ministry, for says the Lord: {2TG43:
19.1}
Rev. 3:14-16 -- "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;... I know thy works,
that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth."
Here, too, the angel (the ministry), who has charge of the church, is again reproved and
plainly requested to reform. {2TG43: 19.2}
Ezekiel also is a witness of this "startling revelation," for he declares that the cleansing
begins "at the ancient men which were before the house" (Ezek. 9:6). Let us turn to Ezekiel's
prophecy: {2TG43: 19.3}
Ezekiel 9:1-10 -- "He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have
charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north,
and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with
linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the
threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's
inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through
the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry
for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
"And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let
not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little
children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My
sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
"And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth.
And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them,
and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt Thou destroy
all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem?
"Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great,
and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath
forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head."
Not in the world, but in Judah and Israel, in the church, the iniquity is great, and there the
slaughter takes place. Moreover, the multitude that is brewing and fostering the
abominations are unconscious that they are acting as if the Lord had forsaken the earth, as
if He has left it for them to run it and to do with His people as they please. {2TG43: 20.1}

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 Here you see what it means to hear the Rod, and what it means to close your ears to it.
{2TG43: 21.1}
The purification of the Church (the judgment of the living) is, through the prophet Daniel
in chapter 7, verse 10, called the judgment, and in chapter 8, verse 14, is called the cleansing
of the Sanctuary. Christ, though, in one of His parables likens the cleansing to a harvest in
which the tares (sinners) are burned, and the wheat (the saints) are put into the barn (into
the purified Church-Kingdom). Next He likens it to a net from which, after being drawn to
shore, the bad fish (sinners) are cast out, and the good fish (saints) are put into vessels.
{2TG43: 21.2}
When those who do not receive the mark, and thus not the seal, are put away, then the
church will appear "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners"
(Prophets and Kings, pg. 725), and "only those who have withstood temptation in the
strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [The Third Angel's
Message] when it shall have swelled into the loud cry." -- Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1908.
{2TG43: 21.3}
Let us now see what takes place after the abomination-loving multitude fall under the
slaughter weapons of the angels; let us see what is done for those who are left. To see this
we again go to Ezekiel's prophecy: {2TG43: 22.1}
Ezek. 37:16-28 -- "Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For
Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon
it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:
"And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us
what thou meanest by these?
"Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in
the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even
with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.
"And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from
among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring
them into their own land:
"And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king
shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided
into two kingdoms any more at all.
"Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable
things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their
dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people,
and I will be their God.
"And David My servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they
shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them.

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 "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your
fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their
children's children for ever: and My servant David shall be their prince for ever.
"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant
with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst
of them for evermore.
"My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My
people.
"And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be
in the midst of them for evermore."
Here you see that not only will God cleanse His church (Judah and Israel) by taking away
all those who pollute His house of prayer, but that afterwards He will gather into His purified
church all the dispersed who have descended from both the Kingdom of Israel (the ten
tribes) and of the Kingdom of Judah (the two tribes) -- all who are now out among the
nations, not in the church of the Laodiceans. He will make them one nation, over which,
prior to the Millennium, shall rule antitypical David, their king. No more shall they be
annoyed by the heathen; no more shall they be among the sinners; no more shall they be
fed by a multitude of shepherds, but only by one -- by God's appointed shepherd. Great,
indeed, shall be the day of Jezreel! His efforts and the efforts of his co-workers, the laity,
shall succeed whether the mother (the ministry) hears or forbears. {2TG43: 24.1}
Plainly, you see, the Davidians, their message, and their success are in prophecy. {2TG43:
24.2}
Thus from the exposition of prophecy, Jezreel Is a fulfilment of the Davidians, there is so
much prophecies mis-matched into making the whole thing work, and yet again the same
error is brought in about literal descendants of Israel.
The same exposition of scripture is carried out in His book Volume 1 Timely greetings Nos
15, 16
The 144,000 descendants of Jacob, whose fathers were assimilated by the Gentile nations
and who thus down through the centuries lost their racial identity, are the first fruits, the
first to be gathered unto Judah. They are those who stand on "Mount Zion with the Lamb."
Rev. 14:1. The faithful descendants of the Jews who composed the early Christian church,
and who also lost their national identity by naming themselves Christians (Acts 11:26), are
also to be gathered from everywhere and brought unto Judah. {1TG15: 10.1}
Error 3.
Houteff in the exposition of Revelation 17 uses much personal interpretation of the 7 heads.
Which the writer of this manual has also expounded on in the first chapters of the manual
redemption and relief work. In the book Volume 2 timely greetings Nos 17, 18
To summarize, having lived before the Millennium, and also after the Millennium, and
being dead during the Millennium, the beast is seen in three phases, in three periods: the
pre-millennial in which he "was," the millennial in which "he is not" and post-millennial, in
which he "is." {2TG18: 21.1}

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 The statement, "and there are seven kings," shows that these kings are not in the symbolism;
that is, they are not the horns, nor are they the heads. All the horns and the heads are
present on the beast, whereas the "seven kings" are not there symbolized -- five are fallen,
one is, and the other is yet to come. {2TG18: 21.4}
We must fully realize that God through this symbolism summarizes the history of the entire
world, for the beast, as I said before, is symbolical not only of the pre-millennial world but
also of the post-millennial wicked world. The seven kings of kingdoms "from the foundation
of the world before the flood; (1) The ancient world before the flood; (2) The ancient
Babylonian Empire; (3) The Medo-Persian Empire; (4) the Grecian Empire; (5) The Roman
Empire. These are fallen. (6) The one that is, is the world to which the present distress of
nations is to give birth (the pre-millennial), and of which the beast itself, in his first phase, is
the symbol. And (7) the one that is to come, is the world after the 1000 years, of which the
beast itself, in its third phase, is also a symbol. {2TG18: 21.5}
Thus along with this symbolism the world of sin is represented from its beginning to its
very end. This beast, therefore, is the symbolical summary of the whole world. {2TG18: 22.1}
From the above we see that there is so much private interpretation there is not even
substantial evidence from the bible, but what brother Houteff says is true and since it is
claimed he is the 4th angel well why not believe in him. when the Bible is very clear in the
book of Revelation that John was carried into the wilderness where he saw the woman, thus
the woman was riding the beast in the wilderness.
Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten
horns.
Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ,
so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.31 For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the
earth,21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Here we see how a woman represents the church. John sees the vision in the wilderness,
there he sees a woman riding a beast. The woman symbolic of the church, the beast the civil
powers. Thus John sees this union still going on but it is happening in the wilderness.
Revelation 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication.
Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might
fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half
a time, from the face of the serpent

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 Fornication is a sin people always want to do in secret, thus John sees the vision whilst the
papacy is in the wilderness, there are only secret societies and organisations where the
papacy is still in communion with the kings of the earth. Just as the church of God went into
the wilderness during the 1260 year period of 538-1798, the same here is seen, the papacy
has been given a deadly wound and it is in the wilderness. Thus from the bible we find the
kingdoms depicted. From John’s vision 5 beast had fallen.

 Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, and Papal Rome

Yet Houteff goes on and on about the flood and pre millennium issues, all this is clearly a
good example of private interpretations of scriptures. This exposition of scripture was
already covered in earlier chapters of the manual redemption and relief work please go
through them.
Houteff goes on to make other errors, for if prophecy is privately interpreted then all other
conclusions move off track.
Now the Dragon being fortified with seven heads and ten horns, denotes that he controlled
all the civil and religious powers in that day (for the symbolical number "ten" denotes
universality, just as do the ten toes of Daniel 2, the ten horns of the other Bible beasts, and
the ten virgins of Matthew 25). {2TG16: 19.1}
The horns represent all the civil powers, while the heads represent all the religious
powers, for the Biblical number "seven" denotes completeness. Moreover, the fact that the
Church (the Jews), the only agency through which God worked up to that time, crucified the
Lord, is in itself sufficient proof that the Church had apostatized, that she had become the
Dragon's seventh head, and that thus was the Dragon armed with ten horns and seven
heads, -- with all the civil and religious powers. And, so, you see, the Dragon with his horns
and heads represents the world captured by the Devil. {2TG16: 19.2}
Thus it is that the world was lost in that day, and thus it was that Christ came to redeem it.
To do all this He started a new church organization. In this light we see Christ, the world's
Redeemer, and His mission even more important than we have ever seen it before. {2TG16:
19.3}
From the above we see that Houteff uses much private interpretation, when he was
expounding on Revelation 17 the heads meant something else, in Revelation 12 the heads
mean something else as well.
If we study the issue of heads in prophecy, we begin to see that the heads represent a
kingdom. Just as the image in Daniel chapter 2 was made of different metals, and each metal
represented a different type of kingdom that was to follow it also had a head. Same thing
with Daniel 7 there was a leopard with four heads.
Daniel 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls
of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou
art this head of gold.39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth
kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all
things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas
thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be

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 divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay.
Here we see that the head of Gold represents the Kingdom of Babylon, he told the king that
he was the head of Babylon, not only this but we know that later Belshazzar came and did
rule Babylon so a head represents a kingdom. But notice the head was attached to the
image. Thus the head was a kingdom on its own: The different organs of the image, the arms,
thighs and feet all represented different portions of the kingdoms to follow though they
were all attached to one image.
Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it
four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Here we see that the Leopard beast represents the Kingdom of Greece of alexander, the four
heads represent the four divisions of Greece as after the death of Alexander: his kingdom
was initially divided among the 4 generals:
Thus the four heads
 1.Lysimichas took the north -- Asian minor
 2. Cassander took the west -- Greece
 3.Seleucus took the east – Syrian
 4. Ptolemy took the south – Egypt

Cassander (Macedon and Greece), Lysimachus (Thrace Bithynia, and some other of the
provinces beyond the Hellespont and the Bosphorus), and Ptolemy (Egypt, Libya, Arabia,
Coele-Syria, and Palestine), Seleucus (the rest).
From the above we see a similar application. The Image of Daniel 2 had Babylon as the Head.
So here we see the leopard of Daniel 7 represents the Kingdom of Greece, and on it has 4
heads. The Kingdom of Greece after the death of Alexander was divided into 4 divisions each
division representing a different kingdom.
Thus the woman riding the beast at the very end of time is seen in the wilderness. At which
time is it seen that the woman is riding the beast, it is at the time the beast is seen in the
wilderness. Thus the visions is seen after 1798. Of which the 5 heads are fallen.
Revelation 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and
one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth
into perdition.
Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of
the earth.
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall
tread it down, and break it in pieces.
The 7 kings, are the 7 heads and thus the 7 mountains. We have already established the 5
who were fallen by the time John was seeing the vision.

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 Study chapter 4 of the manual redemption and relief work, the beast the gave the deadly
wound, that caused the papacy to go into the wilderness, the words say he that leaded into
captivity must also go into captivity, this beast is the beast out of the bottomless pit, and
this beast is the sixth head, if the papacy was in the wilderness according to Johns vision, the
head that was the “one is” has to be the beast out of the bottomless pit.
By 1798 the beast or head which had not yet come was the 7th Head and that is USA, this
Head would be the one to health the deadly wound of the beast, so that the Papacy can rise
again as the 8th Head.
Thus the papacy

 Was 538-1798
 is not (fornication) 1798- National Sunday law
 Yet is National Sunday law- Second coming of Christ.

The above is how John saw the things in vision.

Some similarities in Daniel 2 and 7
There is the head, arms, belly and thigh, feet and toes, these are the different body parts of
the great image.
Revelation 17 There are 7 heads in Revelation 17, the heads are the different body parts of
the beast the woman is riding.
Daniel 2 the body parts are connected one to another and represent different kingdoms all
the way to the end (clay/iron) the last being the amalgamation of church craft and state
craft.
Revelation 17 There are 7 heads, and it is seen that the last head is the 8th which is also part
of the 7, the 7 heads follow one another in the stream of time just as Daniels metal in chapter
2.
Thus we see that in Revelation 12 the head that was ruling was the 4 th Head, which was
Pagan Rome, whilst Revelation 13 we see the same beast but now the 4th Head had been
phased off we see that the dragon working through pagan Rome gave the power and seat
to the beast, thus we see the 5th head was ruling in Revelation 13 and it is this head that is
given a deadly wound, that in Revelation 17 John sees the woman now riding the beast in
the wilderness.
Error 4
The fourth angel being the message carried by Victor Houteff, this error is by far the most
blatant triumph of pride. The prophets of old even Ellen G White always showed great
humility for the office they carried. Houteff claims to be the 4th Angels message, we have
already seen what the 4th angels is, at the beginning of this chapter and when it is to be
carried out.
In 1844, as all Seventh-day Adventists know, Sister White was given a vision of the 144,000
signalizing the sealing angel's starting his ascent from the east (Rev. 7:2-4). From then on
he was ascending, and the saints were awaiting his arrival. Finally, in 1929, through the
Sabbath School Lessons the Lord announced throughout the Seventh-day Adventist

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 Denomination that the angel had arrived. Then the scroll began to unroll and the angel's
presence to be felt by many of those who were agonizing for truth and righteousness.
{SR1P: 10..2}
Volume 5, pages 211-12: "They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles
and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed.
These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say, The Lord will not do good, neither will
He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus peace and safety is the
cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people
their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark
are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little
children all perish together. The abominations for which the faithful ones were sighing and
crying were all that could be discerned by finite eyes, but by far the worst sins, those which
provoked the jealousy of the pure and holy God, were unrevealed....Our own course of
action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God, or be cut down by
the destroying weapons." If we were to mark out the exact time of the beginning of this
sealing, we would say it began sometime during 1929. Space will not Permit us here to give
our reasons for believing thus, but in another study this will be taken up. {SR1: 32.1}
Houteff claims the sealing had begun in 1929, this is another error. Notice below quotes
from the spirit of prophecy.
There can be only two classes. Each party is distinctly stamped, either with the seal of the
living God, or with the mark of the beast or his image.--RH Jan. 30, 1900. {LDE 215.1}
In the great conflict between faith and unbelief the whole Christian world will be involved.
All will take sides. Some apparently may not engage in the conflict on either side. They may
not appear to take sides against the truth, but they will not come out boldly for Christ
through fear of losing property or suffering reproach. All such are numbered with the
enemies of Christ.--RH Feb. 7, 1893. {LDE 215.2}
The fourth commandment alone of all the ten contains the seal of the great Lawgiver, the
Creator of the heavens and the earth.--6T 350 (1900). {LDE 220.4}
The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in
character.--7BC 970 (1895). {LDE 221.1}
The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the
Lord's memorial of creation. . . . The mark of the beast is the opposite of this--the observance
of the first day of the week.--8T 117 (1904). {LDE 224.3}
Just before we entered it [the time of trouble], we all received the seal of the living God.
Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and
sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion.--7BC 968 (1846).
{LDE 228.4}
I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side
returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were
numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing
the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice
said, "It is done."--EW 279 (1858). {LDE 229.1}

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 Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while already nation is rising against
nation and kingdom against kingdom, there is not now a general engagement. As yet the
four winds are held until the servants of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the
powers of earth will marshal their forces for the last great battle.--6T 14 (1900). {LDE 229.2}
An angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been
brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts
have received "the seal of the living God." Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary
above. He lifts His hands, and with a loud voice says, "It is done."--GC 613 (1911). {LDE 229.3}
"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children
of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a
nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that
shall be found written in the book" [Daniel 12:1]. When this time of trouble comes, every
case is decided; there is no longer probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal
of the living God is upon His people. {LDE 259.2}
If we understand what the seal of God is.
Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads--it is not any seal or mark
that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they
cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it
will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, . . .
that we may know what is coming. {FLB 287.7}
From the above we can make one conclusion, we need a special preparation to meet this
time for the sealing time is a time of soul searching, we are to have the character of God, it
is now we are to settle into the truth, not in word alone, but also in our prayer life we are to
agonise and pray to God (refer to the sanctuary manual the shaking). When the Sunday law
is passed it is then that the sealing will be carried out, where those who overcame sin will
receive the seal of the experience they had the seal of God. Those who never overcame God
receive a mark of the experience the mark of the beast.
But here we see Houteff claim the sealing began in 1929, a critical reading shows that those
who receive his message are the ones who shall be sealed since he is the 4 th angel of
revelation 18. This is the most boastful claim the writer of this manual ever came across.
Error 5
Claims that the Prophet Mohammed and Buddha represented righteousness by faith. This is
by far the most radical teaching which the writer of this manual come across in all of Houteffs
writings.
Below is Houteffs interpretation of Revelation 9
Rev. 9:1-4 -- "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a Star fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to Him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And He opened the bottomless pit; and
there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air
were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts
upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any

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 green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their
foreheads."
To the Star which came down from heaven is applied the masculine pronoun "He". To Him
the key of the bottomless pit was given. Whom could the Star symbolize? -- Let us turn to
Revelation 20:1-- {2TG13: 10.1}
Rev. 20:1 -- "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain in His hand."
Here we are told that this mighty angel, Satan's enemy, has the "key of the bottomless pit."
If He has it, then to Him the key must have been "given." The Star that received the key,
therefore, is symbolical of this angel. {2TG13: 10.2}
Moreover, let us notice that as the key opened the bottomless pit, the locusts were
released. Finally, the fact that the locusts are enemies to those who have not the seal of
God in their foreheads, then the "Star" (angel) that came from heaven and opened the pit
to release the locusts is a friend to them and a mighty enemy to Satan. There is therefore
no escaping this conclusion: The heavenly Star represents a heaven-sent Being, the same
"angel," of Whom we again read in chapter 20:1, and the locusts are Heaven's rescued
multitude. Who else, then, can the "Star" and the locusts represent but Christ and the
Christians? Satan had shut up into the bottomless pit the entire Jewish nation, -- the only
nation that had previously been out of the pit. Christ therefore came to open the pit and to
let the captives go free. To such a world was the Lord of Heaven sent, and when He came
He immediately declared: {2TG13: 10.3}
Luke 4:18, 19 -- "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
Here you have it in Inspiration's own code of mysticism, freshly unveiled that Jesus Christ
is indeed a heaven-sent Being, the Saviour of the world. {2TG13: 11.1}
Now the plain fact that the Christian era began with the sounding of the fifth Trumpet, the
truth of the first four Trumpets must be sought in the Old Testament era. {2TG13: 11.2}
Below is an exposition of Revelation chapter 8 and 9 by Vance Farrell.
The Seven Trumpets
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of
half an hour.” Revelation 8:1
This verse is the final one about the seven seals and we covered it in Chapter 6.
The sixth seal ends with the wicked aware that Jesus is returning to earth to rescue His
people, and crying for the rocks and mountains to fall on them. They, who have fought
against God’s truth, would rather be buried alive than to see the face of the One who died
to save them, the One who they refused to obey and whose followers they killed and
tormented.

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 “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven
trumpets.” Revelation 8:2
Now John sees another word-picture; again this does not happen after the one we just read,
but it is a separate view. Here we are briefly introduced to the seven angels with the seven
trumpets; but then it quickly moves to another part of the story.
“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given
unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden
altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” Revelation 8:3, 4
We are about to start hearing about the Seven Trumpets, which is another set of word-
pictures showing the events of history from another angle; this time from the main wars and
battles that had some effect on God’s people. It seems also that these seven trumpets all
talk about forces that attacked Rome; the first four; Pagan Rome, as it was breaking up, and
the last three; Papal Rome, especially as it persecuted God’s people.
But first we are shown something from near the end of the sixth seal. It is put in here to give
encouragement to God’s dear children. Incense is special herbs or spices, that when burned
make a sweet smelling perfume in the smoke. This ‘angel’ here, shown offering sweet
incense with the prayers before God, is actually Jesus, our Saviour, and He is pleading the
sweetness of His perfect life and His spilt blood before His Father.
This is the ‘incense’ that makes our prayers able to be heard and answered by our Heavenly
Father. It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice that we can even ask for forgiveness or help. We
are told this so we can have courage that Jesus is there pleading for us and offering the
precious incense. As we confess our sins and plead the virtues of Christ’s atoning blood, our
prayers ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour’s character.
Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are to remember that there is One who can take
away sin, and who is willing and anxious to save the sinner. With His own blood He paid the
penalty for all wrongdoers. Every sin confessed before God with a contrite heart, He will
remove.
We are shown this scene from the sixth seal as encouragement, because the Seven Trumpets
about to start are going to show terrible scenes of war and strife. God wants us to know that
our Redeemer is on the job, and we can have our prayers offered up by Him and receive
help.
Remember though, that the incense is only offered with our prayers, if we don’t ask for what
we need and want, we will not receive it. We need to take all our needs and problems to the
Father, through Jesus. Especially should we pray about the sin problems that we see in our
lives.
God does not come and snatch bad habits or sins out of our lives without our permission,
but the Holy Spirit will work with us to get rid of all the sin and selfishness from our lives if
we pray to the Heavenly Father, claiming only the sacrifice of Jesus for us, and ask for the
Holy Spirit and the Holy angels to do this work in our lives.
It is a partnership; we choose and ask, the Heavenly Powers enable us to make it happen.
There is Power for each one of us to overcome all bad habits and sins in our lives. Not only

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 to forgive them when they happen, but to change our hearts and supply the victory, so they
stop happening. “Ask; and ye shall receive.” John 16:24
“And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth:
and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” Revelation 8:5
This is a very important glimpse of an event yet future but which gets closer every day. Soon,
no one knows how soon, the intercessory ministry of our High Priest in heaven, Jesus Christ,
will come to its close. There is a time pointed out in various parts of the Bible when His work
is finished. He has done all that can be done to ransom the lost race. This is when He makes
His solemn announcement; “He that is righteous; let him be righteous still and he that is
unjust, let him be unjust still.” (Revelation 22:11)
Just before this time there will be a lot happening on earth; the ‘voices, thunderings, and
earthquakes’ mentioned here indicate messages being sounded; upheavals and wars;
terrible troubles; as mankind make their final decisions. The faithful will be still under the
care of Jesus and the heavenly angels, and although they will experience distress, they will
not be left to the rule of the powers of darkness.
Now the scene turns to the first of the seven trumpets.
“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The
first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast
upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”
Revelation 8:6, 7
This begins the word pictures Jesus uses to describe certain wars and events that happen
from John’s time to the coming of Jesus. It is important to remember that these things are
symbols, and so they mean something more than what they seem to say. A trumpet is a
symbol of warning and war.
These Seven Trumpets all talk about forces that affected the Roman Empire, first Pagan
Rome and then Papal Rome. This is the third set of ‘seven’ in the book of Revelation. The
letters showed events of God’s people; the seals showed God’s professed people interacting
with the world; these trumpets show events of the world as they affect God’s people.
The time covered by this first prophecy is from 395 to 419 A. D. It is the time when the
Barbarians began to come from the north and attack areas of the Roman Empire. ‘Hail’ in
this prophecy represents that they came from the cold lands of the north. Just as hail
destroys the gardens, so these warriors destroyed everything in their path.
You will notice that these word-pictures keep saying one-third of this and that; this is
because there were three main parts to the Roman Empire after Constantine left his throne
divided among his three sons.
The Goths, under their leader Alaric, who called himself “the scourge of God,” attacked the
failing pagan Roman Empire in the west. The ‘fire and blood’ talked about here refers to the
terrible slaughter that these savage hordes brought upon the areas they ravaged. They
burned whole towns and destroyed good farming areas and left them desolate. Finally Alaric
was conquered in 403.

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 But more hordes of barbarians poured down from the north to attack the Roman empire
under the haughty Rhodogast, who came with his armies almost to the gates of the city of
Rome itself. After this, Alaric again returned, invaded Italy in 408, and in 410 he besieged,
took, and sacked Rome, and died the same year. In 412 the Goths voluntarily left Italy. The
angel’s trumpet message was a very clear picture of what happened.
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast
into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures
which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
Revelation 8:8-9
We see here more attacks on a ‘third-part’ of the Roman Empire. The period covered by this
trumpet is from 428 to
476; and the prophecy was fulfilled in the terrible Genseric, King of the Vandals, and
“Monarch of the Sea;” whose ravages gave us in human language the term “Vandalism;”
meaning willful, wanton, and ignorant destruction.
This time the force came from the south; from Africa, and so the prophecy says a ‘burning
mountain’ cast into the sea. He formed a great navy with many war-ships and raided and
took away slaves and treasure from the areas of the Roman Empire.
In 455, just at the time the people of Rome had risen against the Emperor Maximus, and
stoned him and thrown his body into the river, Genseric arrived with his warships. He came
into the city and ravaged it, taking away all the wealth he could find, including the things
from the Temple at Jerusalem that had been brought there by Titus when Jerusalem was
destroyed in AD 70.
Finally the emperor of Rome decided to make himself a large navy to try and defeat
Genseric’s war ships. Money was gathered with difficulty, and a huge navy was built. They
sailed down to Carthage, where Genseric’s fleet was located, and could have conquered it,
but the clever Genseric said he would surrender, and asked for five days to ‘make terms’.
All he did was gather his forces and attack the Emperor’s fleet. During the battle, Genseric
would take large barges full of burnable material and towing them close to the Roman ships,
would set them on fire and let them sail into the other ships, setting them on fire also. How
true the idea of a ‘mountain of fire being thrown into the sea’ really was. Genseric destroyed
the Roman fleet and before his death saw the western part of the Roman Empire totally
ruined.
When you study history in the light of Bible prophecy, you see that those who do wicked,
cruel actions, have wicked, cruel happenings come back on them sooner or later.
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a
lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the
name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood;
and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” Revelation 8:10-11
Now another terrible force is seen coming against the dying Empire of Rome. Some people
get confused as this says the ‘star’ came from heaven, but we have to remember that these
word-pictures are all symbols to describe the forces who attacked Rome and brought about

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 the prophecy that it would be divided, and made place for the strange ‘Little Horn’ kingdom,
the papacy, to be set up. The prophecy points out that this ‘scourge’ would be brief but
dramatic, like a blazing meteorite in the sky, it soon vanishes. The period covered by this
trumpet was as brief as a burning star, 451-453.
By this prophecy we are directed to that dreadful scourge, the haughty Attila with his
frightful Huns, who, during his reign, became the “terror of the world.” Attila actually called
himself the “Scourge of God;” “Grandson of Nimrod, nurtured in Engedi, by the grace of God,
King of the Huns, Goths, Danes, and Medes, the terror of the world.” And “It is a saying
worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot where his horse
had trod.” He “alternately insulted and invaded the East and the West, and urged the rapid
downfall of the Roman Empire.” The ‘fountains of waters’ refers to the area that he mostly
attacked, which was where most of the rivers started, in the regions of the Alps, and on the
portions of the empire where the rivers flow to most of Europe in all directions. It was really
the area of the “fountains of waters.” Wormwood is a very bitter tasting herb; Attila was
horribly cruel.
Finally he demanded Honoria, the daughter of the Emperor, to be his bride. At first this was
refused, but finally as his ferocious attacks came again, she was given to him. There was a
huge drunken feast at the wedding, and the next day when Attila did not appear from his
room, his men left him alone for a while, thinking he didn’t want to be disturbed. Finally
when he did not answer their loud cries, they went to see what was wrong. He was found
dead, as the result of an artery in his throat having burst, drowning him in his own blood.
This is what alcohol can do. Remember the other conqueror that died as a result of a drunken
feast? It was Alexander the Great.
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part
of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and
the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” Revelation 8:12
This trumpet shows the blotting out of the Pagan Roman government. Sun, moon, and stars
are here used as symbols of the ruling powers in the government; its emperor, consuls, and
senators. A. D. 476 or 479. The ‘sun’ is a good symbol for the Roman Emperor as some of
them had claimed to represent the sun god on earth.
The Emperorship was gone from Rome and an Ostrogoth king, ruled there, but some power
remained in the Eastern part, Constantinople, where the imperial symbols had been taken
and an Emperor still reigned.
The imperial Roman power, of which either Rome or Constantinople had been the seat,
whether in the West or the East, was no longer recognized in Italy, and the third part of the
sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The power of the Caesars was
unknown in Italy, and a Gothic king reigned over Rome.
But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the Roman imperial power was at an
end in the city of the Caesars, yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a
little longer in the western part. The consulship and the senate [‘the moon and the stars’]
were not abolished by king Theodoric.

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 Then the general of the emperor of the East, Belisarius attacked and defeated the Goths (AD
552). In the order given in the prophecy, the consulate ended and finally the senate was no
more.
Justinian transferred the power in Rome to the Bishop of Rome, and worked to promote the
growing power of the Papacy. This fulfilled a prophecy we will study later; “and the Dragon
(here meaning Pagan Rome) gave him (the Papacy) his power, and his seat (city of Rome)
and great authority.” Revelation 13:2
It is amazing how long and complicated historic events are told in a few words in the
prophecies.
“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise
after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” Daniel
7:24
Just a quick look at how Daniel fits in with Revelation; they are really one prophetic whole,
although they are written centuries apart.
The prophecy said that Rome would be divided into ten parts. It was not going to be
conquered by another world kingdom, and that is just what happened. But at first when the
Roman Empire began to collapse, there were more than ten ‘kings’ attacking it. There were
eighteen. But during the time of the first three Trumpets, some disappeared, moved away,
joined with other nations, or were wiped out, until only ten remained.
From the northern to the southern limits of the Western Empire, these ten, as they stood in
476 at the extinction of the Empire, were as follows:
1. The Angles and Saxons in Britain.
2. The Franks in all Gaul (France).
3. The Alemanni in North Switzerland.
4. The Burgundians in west Switzerland and southeast Gaul.
5. The Visigoths in southwest Gaul and Spain.
6. The Suevi in that part of Spain which is now Portugal.
7. The Ostrogoths in what is now Austria.
8. The Lombards in Noricum
9. The Heruli in Italy.
10. The Vandals in North Africa, with capital at Carthage.
Now before Papal Rome could fully get its power, three of these nations had to be ‘plucked
up by the roots’. The three that were removed were the Vandals, the Ostrogoths and the
Heruli. They were destroyed by 538 AD and the Papacy then ruled where the Caesars had
ruled before.
Bible prophecy always comes true, exactly.

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 “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud
voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the
trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.”
Revelation 8:13
This is letting us know that however bad the first four trumpet-scourges were, the last three
were to be much worse.
REVELATION 9: The Seven Trumpets 2: The ‘Woes’
The last three trumpets are also called the ‘three woes’. Why? Because they were even more
terrible than the four before them, and also, they were different because a new religion is
here introduced into the world, a religion of darkness, almost the exact opposite to the
teachings of Jesus. The ravages of these warriors of Islam were to be seen in the ‘woes’, of
the last three trumpets.
The western part of the former Roman Empire has been brought down in the first four
trumpets. There is no emperor on the throne in the city of Rome any more. Instead the
Bishop of Rome sits on the throne and rules over both the church and the government. So
now the 5th and 6th trumpets bring attacks on the eastern part, where there still is a Roman
Emperor ruling. By the end of the 6th trumpet, the eastern Roman Empire is destroyed
completely also.
The word ‘woe’ or ‘wo’ here, is a cry of sorrow. The evil ways of men bring suffering and
misery on themselves and others. Only in loving and obeying Jesus is real joy to be found.
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him
was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose
a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” Revelation 9:1, 2
If you look back at the first chapter of Revelation, you will see there that Jesus had seven
‘stars’ in His hand and we learned that these were messengers to the churches. Here we see
a fallen star; a religious messenger, but a fallen or false one. He has a key to turn something
loose on the earth. This is a key of circumstances; long wars in other areas of the world
allowed the development of this dark power.
Here we see him open up a pit, and smoke comes out so thick that the sun and air is made
dark. Now remember these are all symbols, so what does it mean? This is telling us about
when the religion of Mohammedanism was invented by the man that claimed to be a
prophet. His name was Mohammed, and though he could not write, his teachings were
remembered and written down by others, and later, after he died, these bits and pieces
were gathered together into a new ‘bible’ called the Koran.
The ‘Bottomless Pit’ here can mean the dark and evil elements of the world, or any wild and
desolate area. Mohammedanism poured upon the world from the desert lands of North
Africa. Just as the gospel of Jesus is well described as light to the world, this religion is well
described as darkness. Jesus taught us to seek peace, and love our enemies; this darkness
teaches men that war and killing their enemies is the highest and best thing they can do for
their god.

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 Christianity was never to be forced on people; God can only accept willing service; but
Mohammed taught that all should be forced to obey his religion or they should be killed.
These people were taught that to die in battle while forcing people to worship Mohammed
or ‘Allah’ as they called their god, was the best thing they could ever do.
They were told that they then go straight to a wonderful place where, they would have all
kinds of beautiful women, wine to drink, and fancy food to eat forever. So they were happy
to make war and didn’t mind getting killed fighting for their ‘faith’. This ‘smoke’ made it
almost impossible for people taught like this to see the light of Jesus’ Gospel or breath the
pure air of Bible truth. Jesus longs to have these people who are blinded by the ‘smoke’ to
come to Him and be saved.
“And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power,
as the scorpions of the earth have power.” Revelation 9:3
Here we see two more symbols that make us think of the desert; the locusts that would
come out of the deserts at certain times and eat up all the crops; and the scorpion, a nasty,
poisonous creature like a long-tailed spider with a sting, that would strike with the sting in
his tail and it would really hurt.
“And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any
green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their
foreheads.” Revelation 9:4
‘Green things’ here means God’s true people, who were not attacked by this power; but
‘those that had not God’s seal’ referred to Papal Rome. Remember, by now they no longer
had God’s ‘seal’, His true Sabbath. They had set up, and were enforcing a false sabbath.
“And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented
five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and
death shall flee from them.” Revelation 9:5, 6
This power tormented the Eastern Roman empire but did not manage to destroy it
completely, so the verse says ‘they should not kill them’.
Notice the five months; this is prophetic time, so a day equals a real year. This means for 150
years this force would be coming out of the deserts and striking the eastern part of the
former Roman Empire. This time started in July 27th, 1299, so the one hundred and fifty
years reach to 1449. Mohammedans of course, started long before that but this five months
was when they had ‘a king over them.’
The tormenting power of these raiders made life a burden for the eastern empire, who were
getting attacked by them; they would rather have been conquered by them and thus stop
the torment.
“And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their
heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they
had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had
breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound
of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and

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 there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.” Revelation
9:7-10
Here we have a description of what these desert warriors were like. It talks about their battle
horses. The Arabian desert horses were amazing animals. They were raised by their owners
in the tents right along with the family and were treated with gentleness, so they were very
highly trained. At a word or touch from their master they would run like the wind into battle,
or flee away across the sand.
The ‘Crowns of Gold’ were the yellow turbans these men wore. They had long hair, either
braided up, or loose, and the ‘teeth of lions’ meant their fierceness in battle.
Again it talks about ‘many horses running to battle’. The Arab warriors did not march in rows
or ranks like Greek or Roman soldiers; they swarmed down onto their enemies on their swift
horses, almost as quickly as if they were flying. Before the blood soaked into the ground they
were gone again, galloping like the wind.
What was this about their ‘tails’? Isaiah 9:15 “The ancient and honourable, he is the head;
and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.” The teachings of their prophets indeed
had a sting in them!
“And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”
Revelation 8:11
The rise of Mohammed was in 606 AD and for a long time after his death, there was no
central king over them. Proverbs 30:27 “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of
them by bands.” Each tribe had its own ruler; but in July 27th, 1299, Othman became king
over them, and what we call the ‘Ottoman Empire’ was set up. We know that the five months
begins at this time because the prophecy says ‘they have a king’. The ‘names’ given here are
symbolic as both of them mean ‘destroyer’, and signify the destructive attacks of this power.
This ‘woe’ ends in 1449 and the second ‘woe’ starts.
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels
which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I
heard the number of them.” Revelation 9:13-16
Now we see this same dark, fanatical, religious power but this time coming from the ‘river
Euphrates’, which referred to the area of the country of Turkey. The ‘four angels’ refer to
the four great sultanies, Bagdad, Damascus, Iconium, and Aleppo, of which at that time the
Mohammedan power was composed.
Notice this amazing time period; an hour, a day, a month, and a year, and when it is all added
together in that order, it reaches from the end of the Fifth Trumpet, July 27, 1449; all the
way to August 11, 1840. Then this period of an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year,
would end. For this length of time, and to this date, the power of the Ottoman Empire was
to continue. Did this empire loose its power at that time? Yes, it did.

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 On the 11th of August 1840, on board a British ship, the Turkish leader signed a paper that
took away the independence and power of the Turkish Sultan forever. Where was Turkish
supremacy after August 11, 1840? It was gone. Who now held that power? It was the four
great nations of Europe.
Up until that time, they had continued to attack the eastern part of the Roman Empire, until
the last remains of it were gone, and the modern nations ruled.
This amazing prophecy was pointed out and written up in the newspapers by Josiah Litch
before August 11,1840, and when it really happened right on time, many people, even
former atheists and skeptics, believed that God’s Word was true and that prophecy could
be interpreted correctly by using the rule that a prophetic day equaled a literal year.
In the year 1840, another remarkable fulfilment of prophecy excited widespread interest.
Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent,
published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman empire. According
to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown "in A.D. 1840, sometime in the month
of August;" and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: "Allowing the first
period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by
permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the
first period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in
Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the
case."--Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840. {Mar
152.4}
At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of
the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations.
The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. . . . A wonderful impetus was given to the advent
movement. {Mar 152.5}
“And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of
fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions;
and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third
part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of
their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like
unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.” Revelation 9:17-19 What is this?
Fire-breathing horses? That’s silly.
Oh, no it isn’t; at this time gunpowder and guns were used for the first time against the
people in Eastern Europe. When the pistols were held close to the horses as they rode to
the attack, it looked like fire and brimstone came from the mouths of the horses. This is also
the time that knights in armor weren’t much use any more, as the armor would not stop the
bullets.
Notice here that it now says the third part of men were killed, where before they were only
tormented. This power brought the Eastern Roman Empire finally to its political end. In this
woe we see the forces of Islam again attacking, suddenly, without warning, but now with
explosives.

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 “Having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone.” These three colors, red, yellow
and blue, were the ones the Turkish warriors wore. Again we also see the amazing war-
horses of these desert people; even their horses were trained to attack and be fierce.
They also made great cannons, and using their power, managed to overthrow
Constantinople, where the eastern Roman Emperor had for so long had his throne.
And what was all this about their ‘mouths’ and their ‘tails’? Again the Bible can be used to
interpret itself: Isaiah 9:15 “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet
that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”
This is talking about the religious leaders, and the men who claim to be the teachers and
prophets in their mosques. These are the ones who direct the battles, and give violent
instructions to the warriors to carry out.
“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the
works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and
brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented
they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
Revelation 9:20-21
Sadly, the Roman ecclesiastic power did not learn its lesson from these woes. If we have
hard times, or when trouble comes into our lives, it is good to consider whether there are
some lessons that God wants us to learn.
From the above two prophetic renditions of Revelation 9, one would be wonder why would
Houteff have such a different and opposite view of Revelation 9.
The writer of this manual is flabbergasted upon reading such claims Houteff had on
Buddha. Check below:
And who was Buddha? What kind of a man was he -- good or bad? Was he a deceiver or
was he a teacher of righteousness? {2TG26: 14.2}
To find the answer, let us first take into consideration the kind of people he was in contact
with. He was not in touch with the Hebrews, nor with the Christians, but only with degraded
people of the Orient. And those who did not come in contact with Buddha's teachings, --
those of the south sea islands in particular -- are to a large extent still cannibals. {2TG26:
14.3}
Taking these facts into consideration before passing judgment we may ask, What did
Buddha deceive his followers from? -- From nothing is the overall answer. And what did he
lead them to? History gives this answer; "What he taught the people was that they should
seek salvation not through the observance of religious rites and ceremonies, but through
honesty and purity of heart, through charity and tenderness and compassion toward all
creatures that have life." -- "General History," p. 66. {2TG26: 14.4}
Since Buddha's kind of teaching certainly does not come from the Devil, and since he led
his followers from bad to better, he could not have been a deceiver. Buddha, moreover, not
only taught good morals, but, if history is reliable, he himself lived up to what he taught.
Finally, in keeping with his great influence he could have been a rich man, but he died poor.
And if standards of living have any virtues at all, Buddha's standards, if lived up to, could

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 have lifted the people of the Orient higher than the level of many so-called Christians in our
day. {2TG26: 15.1}
Buddha therefore appears to have been a preacher of righteousness in his day, for his
standard of behaviour was practically the standard of the ten commandments, the standards
of the Bible. Where did he get such a standard? Certainly not from the Devil. We may now
ask the question, Was God in Buddha's day interested only in the Hebrew nation? Did He
entirely neglect the rest of the world? And did He deliberately permit a third of the earth's
inhabitants to be led by Buddha from bad to worse? or did He see that they be led from bad
to better? {2TG26: 15.2}
There is but one answer that we can honestly and wisely give: That God through Buddha
did for the heathen that which could not have been done through Moses or through any of
the Hebrew prophets. {2TG26: 15.3}
Comparatively speaking, God through Buddha raised the heathen from the pit in which
they were as many inches up, as Moses raised the Hebrew's from the pit in which they were.
The Hebrews, of course, rose much closer to God than the followers of Buddha because the
pit in which Buddha found the heathen was much deeper than the pit in which Moses found
the Hebrew nation. {2TG26: 15.4}
In view of the fact that Mohammed led his people closer to the religion of the Bible than
they had been before, could he truly be called a deceiver? If so, tell me what did he deceive
them from? {2TG26: 19.1}
Since Mohammed was so near to believing the Christian religion, we may ask, Why did he
not become a Christian? -- Let us consider the possibilities that could have prevented him
from so doing: {2TG26: 19.2}
Mohammed lived in the seventh century of the Christian era, in the midst of the Dark Ages
of religion, when the Christian church was deepest in idol worship, graft and immorality,
practices that are prohibited by the Scriptures. If nothing else could have kept him from
joining the Christian church, then idol worship along with the prevalent use of swine's flesh,
practice that is against all Bible religion, was enough to turn Mohammed from Christianity.
{2TG26: 19.3}
Mohammed, I believe, did the very best he could, considering that in his time the so-called
Christian church was at a very low ebb, and that his morals and behaviour were much higher
than were the morals and behaviour of the Christianized pagans. In view of all this, who can
say that Mohammed was a bad man, that he was a deceiver? {2TG26: 19.4}
Are we still inquiring why God permitted Mohammed to teach his religion to millions of
the earth's inhabitants? And do we still wonder why he did not become a Christian? -- If so,
here is a second answer: God permitted him because Mohammed was making the people
better than they were, and because Mohammedanism in that day brought one closer to the
religion of the Bible than could have paganized Christianity. But why are the Mohammedans
still Mohammedans? -- Mohammedans are still Mohammedans, for the same reason that
Buddhists are still Buddhists; that is, because after Mohammed died, they did just what the
Buddhists did: In the progress of religion the Mohammedans stopped where Mohammed
stopped -- at his tomb. They stopped there to make sure that their followers would never

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 join another sect. They taught the people that there was to be no other prophet, that
Mohammed was the last, that there was no need for another, that they had all the Truth to
lead them to the pearly gates. Thus corrupt Mohammedanism drilled this false idea into the
minds of the common people then, and still more corrupted Mohammedanism of today, like
all other sects, including corrupt Adventism, still does the same. Thus it is that no sect as a
people, but only as individuals, has ever accepted an additional message and this is the
reason for the multi-sectarian world. {2TG26: 20.1}
So to ask why Mohammedans and Buddhists are still Mohammedans and Buddhists -- why
have they not advanced since Mohammed and Buddha died, is like asking why Catholics
have not yet become Lutherans, why Lutherans have not yet become Presbyterians, why
Presbyterians have not yet become Methodists, why Methodists have not yet become
Baptists, why Baptists have not yet become Seventh-day Adventists, and why Seventh-day
Adventists have not yet become Davidian Seventh-day Adventists? The overall answer is
that each successive denomination has failed to keep pace with the progress of Truth
because each has failed to climb higher than the height of the founder of each respective
denomination could possibly have led them in his life time. {2TG26: 20.2}
From the above reading one can only conclude if it is the Spirit of Christ leading Houteff or
is it another Spirit. Not to condemn the man, but he does speak more like the agents of
Rome. And this is why he defends Islam in Revelation chapter 9. But reading the conclusions
he draws of Buddha leaves a lot to be desired.
Throughout Christendom, Protestantism was menaced by formidable foes. The first
triumphs of the Reformation past, Rome summoned new forces, hoping to accomplish its
destruction. At this time the order of the Jesuits was created, the most cruel, unscrupulous,
and powerful of all the champions of popery. Cut off from earthly ties and human interests,
dead to the claims of natural affection, reason and conscience wholly silenced, they knew
no rule, no tie, but that of their order, and no duty but to extend its power. (See Appendix.)
The gospel of Christ had enabled its adherents to meet danger and endure suffering,
undismayed by cold, hunger, toil, and poverty, to uphold the banner of truth in face of the
rack, the dungeon, and the stake. To combat these forces, Jesuitism inspired its followers
with a fanaticism that enabled them to endure like dangers, and to oppose to the power of
truth all the weapons of deception. There was no crime too great for them to commit, no
deception too base for them to practice, no disguise too difficult for them to assume. Vowed
to perpetual poverty and humility, it was their studied aim to secure wealth and power, to
be devoted to the overthrow of Protestantism, and the re-establishment of the papal
supremacy. {GC 234.2}
When appearing as members of their order, they wore a garb of sanctity, visiting prisons
and hospitals, ministering to the sick and the poor, professing to have renounced the world,
and bearing the sacred name of Jesus, who went about doing good. But under this blameless
exterior the most criminal and deadly purposes were often concealed. It was a fundamental
principle of the order that the end justifies the means. By this code, lying, theft, perjury,
assassination, were not only pardonable but commendable, when they served the interests
of the church. Under various disguises the Jesuits worked their way into offices of state,
climbing up to be the counselors of kings, and shaping the policy of nations. They became
servants to act as spies upon their masters. They established colleges for the sons of princes

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 and nobles, and schools for the common people; and the children of Protestant parents were
drawn into an observance of popish rites. All the outward pomp and display of the Romish
worship was brought to bear to confuse the mind and dazzle and captivate the imagination,
and thus the liberty for which the fathers had toiled and bled was betrayed by the sons. The
Jesuits rapidly spread themselves over Europe, and wherever they went, there followed a
revival of popery. {GC 235.1}
Houteff speaks many of the same truths that Adventist believe, but there is so much poison
in his work one could wonder if at all he was directed of the Spirit of God, but this one thing
is clear he was a man of many errors. You may wonder why Houteff takes such an ecumenical
view of both Hinduism and Islam why does he defend these religions to the point of calling
their ordained prophets, preachers of righteousness by faith.
Error 6
The dispute brought to view in this verse, occurring between the kings, is not before the
time of end, or in the time of the end, but "at the time of the end." The king of the south
you note, is the one to push at the king of the north, and the king of the north is the one to
win the war, and to take from the king of the south the glorious land (Palestine) and Egypt
besides the countries that are not mentioned by name. These points as we shall now see
are sufficient to perfectly identify both kings, the war, and the time it is fought. As the war
is to begin at the time of the end, and as the king of the south is the
loser of the war, the countries that are conquered must therefore be ruled by the king of the
north during the time of the end. (For detailed study of Daniel eleven, read Tract No. 12,
The World Yesterday, Tomorrow, pp. 57-91. {1TG4: 21.2}
Since those who asked the questions agree with us that we are now living in the "time of
the end," we need not say more concerning that phase of the subject, but we do need to
have them tell us which power at this particular time, in the time of the end, has added "the
glorious land" (Palestine), Egypt, and other countries to his empire. The answer that anyone
can give is that Great Britain took these from Turkey and has virtually ruled them ever since.
Plainly then, during the time of the end Great Britain is the king of the north and Turkey is
the king of the south. Rightfully so, too, for Mohammedanism originally arose from the
south of the Mediterranean and in undated the lands of the north and ruled them to the
time of the end. Then the tables turned and the Turkish empire began to shrink while the
British began to expand. {1TG4: 22.1}
Since there is no way of any one dodging the truth of the subject, there is no need of further
discussion of it. For detailed study on Daniel eleven read the last part of Tract No. 12.
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. {1TG4: 22.2}
Do not expect too much of the Laodiceans, though, for you know that it is just as hard for
them to accept Truth as it was for most of us when we were in their place. Why? -- Because
for most human beings it is hard to say, "we are wrong." Only a few can shun pride of
opinion and admit their errors. It is for this very reason that newly revealed Truth is never
popular. When the Truth for today came to us, we believed It not because others did, but
because we ourselves clearly saw it. Let us thus continue, but let us be patient, tolerant,
and charitable with all. {1TG4: 22.3}

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 For one to see how King of the North is not the Nation of Great Britain. Study the chapters 9
and 10 of this manual it shall be overwhelmingly clear that the King of the North is not Great
Britain but rather the Papacy.

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