“In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:7-11).

The prophecy continues in highly symbolic language. John is divinely instructed to take the little book from the hand of the angel (or messenger) which here represents the church. The little book is opened, and the angel tells him to take it and eat it up. This figurative expression means to search it thoroughly and absorb it as when we speak of eating and digesting a book or other publication. It would be as honey to his taste but later would become bitter.

In seeking to understand this prophecy and its fulfillment, we recall that unprecedented time in history when the attention of God’s people was clearly directed to the book of Daniel. Many Bible scholars of those days concluded that the Lord’s coming was near. Their attention was particularly focused on the prophecies found in the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel. They understood from these chapters that the long prophetic period of 2300 days (years) would expire in 1844. Essentially, they were right. The expiration of this period would be marked by the appearing of our Lord in the clouds of heaven. In this part of their conclusion, of course, they were wrong. But at the same time their faith and convictions were strong. They proclaimed their message with burning zeal. Their new-found knowledge from the book of Daniel was sweeter than honey and was dearer to them than life itself. Their expectation and hope was precious. How soon would their Saviour come to take them from this world of sin and darkness?

The appointed day came but the Saviour did not come. The believers, with distress within and scorn from without, realized that if not in the time, at least in the event they had erred. Many gave up their faith and joined with a multitude that spoke disdainfully of their former brethren. But others pressed on with fresh hope, undaunted. However bitter the experience which had once seemed so sweet, they were sure that their heavenly Father would not desert them in the end. They exercised their confidence with more earnest prayer and more constant faith.

To this small but faithful remnant came the message, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” They had thought their work was finished, that the world had been warned, and that nothing remained but to await the trump of the Archangel. But God had yet a message for the world. The message was that, though no time had been revealed for the second coming of the Lord, His advent was indeed near and the work of judgment was already proceeding in the courts of heaven. With this message the believers went out to face a mocking world. They knew now that no time could be set for the Lord’s appearing. But they also knew that the signs which showed that He was near, even at the door, were fast fulfilling. They realized that however great the bitterness of their disappointment, the Lord had a work for them to do - and that work was to warn the world.

In the years that have passed since then, their message has extended farther and farther. It has climbed to the high plateau of the Andes, and far into the secluded valleys of the Himalayas. It is taught in jungle huts of the African forests, as well as in the islands of the Pacific “before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” This last gospel of warning and consolation has been preached and has not been in vain. Many thousands have heard, believed, and repented; and in heart and life by God’s grace they have prepared themselves for His kingdom soon to come.

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Revelation 11:1, 2). In the times when the Bible was written, there were neither verse nor chapter divisions. Hence we are doing no violence to the principles of correct interpretation when we point out that the first two verses of this chapter rightly belong with the preceding chapter, while the eleventh chapter, whose theme is really the history of the two witnesses, first brought to view in the third verse, should rightly begin with that verse.

The tenth chapter, in our present versions, closes with an angel saying to John, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:11). The first two verses of the eleventh chapter furnish additional details as to how that work of prophecy and warning is to be fulfilled. “Rise,” the angel continues, “and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein” (Revelation 11:1). That is to say, at the very time when the people of Christ, disappointed in their expectation that He would return in 1844, were commanded to continue their work of warning the world of the nearness of His coming (though admitting that they could fix no date of that event), their attention was drawn to the temple of God and to the heavenly altar before which Christ ministers as our great high priest.

We have seen, in our study of the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel, that the cleansing of the sanctuary did not refer to the cleansing of the world by fire at the second coming of Christ, but rather to the work of judgment which would immediately precede that coming. As the attention of God’s people was called to the temple or sanctuary in heaven, they began to see this more clearly.

Paul says, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount” (Hebrews 8:1-5).

“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:11, 12).

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Verses 23-28).

That is to say, Christ as our high priest now ministers for us not in an earthly sanctuary or temple, as the Jewish priests ministered of old. Instead, His ministry is conducted in the temple which is above, in a sanctuary not made with hands, by a service not based upon the sacrificial blood of goats and bullocks, but upon His own blood poured out for us on Calvary. And the cleansing of that sanctuary, as we have already seen, is not the end of the world, but rather the time corresponding to the Day of Atonement in the earthly sanctuary, when the cases of all are to be finally decided. Thus as the Advent believers considered Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, and that more perfect altar from which He had passed into the holy of holies, they were led to see their error. They were strengthened and encouraged to go forth again to a world sunken in sin and folly with God’s message of warning that His coming was indeed near, even at the door.

It was not only the temple and the altar that were to be measured. The angel added, “and them that worship therein.” Obviously, measuring the physical stature of the worshipers would have no meaning or significance. They could, however, be measured as worshipers - that is, they could be measured as to the moral and spiritual quality of their worship. How? The great truths of the sanctuary, of Christ our Advocate there interceding for us, and the Ten Commandments as the divine standard by which all lives are measured - these doctrines form the great message which the Advent believers are carrying to the world. It forms a measuring rod that the church is commissioned to bring before, and apply to, the world.

“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (Revelation 11:2). That is to say, the attention of the church is now to be centered on the inner temple, where the Saviour is now completing His final work of ministry for humanity. The court of the temple refers to this earth, which is to remain in the power of the Gentiles until the return of our Lord. The Gentiles were to tread down and afflict God’s people for forty-two months. With certain events connected with this long domination over the people of God, John is now ready to reveal, in a new series of prophecies, the predictions concerning the two witnesses clothed in sackcloth.

Concluding food for thought

From 1844 until now, scoffers have mocked Seventh-day Adventism over the “mistake” of 1844, presuming that the Great Disappointment negates our entire faith and doctrine. Some even criticize by trying to label the sanctuary truth as merely something concocted after the fact by Ellen White and others just to save embarrassment. But such deluded scoffers are clearly not familiar with Revelation 10 and 11! To their folly, just as the early disciples faced disappointment at the crucifixion of Christ, the Lord Himself foretold this very disappointment and explained how Scripture had prophesied it together with its glorious outcome. Remember His tender words on the walk to Emmaus: “He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

Dear brethren and sisters, as we see the exact same care of the exact same Lord for disappointed Advent believers till the close of time, how thankful we should be for the Scriptures! How earnest should be our longing for the return of our precious Saviour in the clouds of Heaven! And as the temple and worshipers are still being measured, let us keep in mind “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11).