Introduction: Today we study a prophecy found in Revelation 10. In this prophecy God describes how He would “generate” His final movement to warn the world and to prepare a people for Christ’s second coming, which is described in the next chapter.
1. What did the mighty angel of Revelation 10 have in His hand? Rev. 10:1, 2 [The Further-study verse is Rev. 4:3.]
2. What little book of the Bible had been closed until the “time of the end”? Dan. 12:4 [Note: Daniel is the only Bible book that had been closed and was thus to be opened in the last days. Dan. 12:9]
3. What message did the angel proclaim from the book of Daniel after it was opened? Rev. 10:5-7 [Note: The KJV translates verse 6 literally and correctly as, “time (‘chronos’) no longer.” Dan. 2:44; 7:9, 10, 26, 27; 8:14]
4. This prophecy foretells the rise of a people to whom God would speak by opening up the meaning of the prophecies of Daniel. These people believed Jesus was coming soon, at a time revealed in the book of Daniel. Thus there would be “time no longer.” As they received (or ate) the message, how did it taste? Rev. 10:8, 9 [Ps. 119:103]
5. Though the prophecies of Jesus’ coming, in the book of Daniel, were sweet to contemplate, they were not fully understood. When time did not end the way the people expected it to with Jesus’ second coming, how did those who had received the message of Daniel feel? Rev. 10:10 [Note: This was fulfilled in the Advent Movement headed by William Miller, who, in 1831, began a great revival by preaching Daniel’s message about the cleansing of the sanctuary, which he expected to take place around 1844. Eventually he settled on October 22, 1844 as the exact date. This was the correct date that foretold the beginning of the judgment in the heavenly sanctuary (See Lesson 19). God permitted them to misunderstand the word “sanctuary” to mean the earth, instead of the real sanctuary in heaven where the judgment must take place and Christ receive His kingdom before He returns. Thus, when the judgment hour arrived, they were expecting Jesus to come, and they were bitterly disappointed. Rev. 19:6-9; Luke 12:36 (This wedding is the judgment, not the second coming, for we are to WAIT until “He will return FROM the wedding.”)]
6. After October 22, 1844, there was “[prophetic] time no longer”– Jesus could now come as soon as His final movement finished work–but the Adventists joyfully thought there would be “[literal] time no longer.” Why were they “bitterly” disappointed? Rev. 10:11 [Note: The KJV says, “Thou must prophesy (i. e., teach the prophecies) again before many peoples.” Their work was not yet finished as they had hoped. Matt. 24:14]
7. Who else had been bitterly disappointed because they had misunderstood the prophecies, and had expected Jesus to set up His earthly kingdom? Luke 24:17-21 [Luke 19:35-40]
8. The disciples had the right time but misunderstood what was to happen and were scoffed at; but did either the scoffing or their misunderstanding prove the prophecy wrong? 1 Cor. 1:18, 23, 24 [Rom. 1:16]
9. To help generate and establish His final, Advent Movement, Jesus promised to give certain signs that would immediately follow the tribulation period. What were they? Matt. 24:29, 30 [Note: The tribulation of prophecy is that period of persecution that existed during the 1260 years of Papal dominion (See Dan. 7:25, Rev. 6:9-13, and Lesson 15). Toward the end of this period, just after persecution ceased, came the historic “Dark Day” on May 19, 1780. Next came the greatest star (or meteorite) shower of history on November 13, 1833, just two years after Miller began preaching. Many, at the time, recognized these signs as fulfilling Christ’s prophecy, and it gave great impetus to the Advent Movement. Rev. 6:9-14; Joel 2:31; Luke 21:25-33]
10. The Greek word for “generation” (genea) “literally [means] those descended from a common ancestor” (Anedt and Gingrich’s Lexicon, but it may mean the lifetime of a person, movement, or nation. It is the generation of God’s final movement, or church, that concerns prophecy. How long would “this” generation that God began at the time of these heavenly signs, last? Matt. 24:32-34 [Ps. 22:30, 31 KJV]
11. Was this a conditional prophecy? Matt. 24:35 [Note: Some prophecies are conditional–i.e., “If you do this, this will happen….” Others, as this one, are unconditional. Jer. 18:7-10; Jonah 3:10; Gen. 41:32; Dan. 2:45]
Commitment: The Advent Movement of Revelation 10, which proclaimed the special messages of Daniel and Revelation, became the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is God’s final generation that will not pass away until Jesus comes. Would you like to become a part of this, God’s final movement, that is preparing for Jesus’ second coming?
STEP 3 (Lessons 21-30): Becoming Part of Christ’s Remnant People
