SEVENTH-DAY ABSURDITIES

ELLEN WHITE's HEAVENLY JERUSALEMLANDS on THIS EARTH

Her Anachronistic, Unbiblical Scenario Refuted

Ellen White, The Great Controversy, 1911 version. pp. 662, 663.

At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth …

Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet: “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.”

“And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, ... and there shall be a very great valley.”

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.”

As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the holy city.

Ellen White, The Great Controversy, 1911. pp. 673,674.

Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up. The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up. The earth's surface seems one molten mass,—a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men,—“the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.”

The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. They “shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.” Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch, — Satan the root, his followers the branches ...

… While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the holy city. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield.

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.”

The pinnacle of God's Creation will be revealed when He transforms His people into immortal spiritual bodies, and when God Himself descends from heaven to dwell amongst the redeemed, in the heavenly Jerusalem. This has always been His plan. Our sojourn on this fallen world seems endless, but apparently is just a hiccup of about 7,000 years in eternity. Despite the evolutionists' pretence that for example, the Australian Aboriginals have dwelt in that continent for 60,000 years, there is no historical evidence of any human civilisation prior to about 4,000 BC. The Bible reveals to us the beginning of man's journey, and unlike other fabled accounts of man's existence, it also describes our ultimate destination.

After Satan has been finally dealt with, and sinners consigned to the Lake of Fire, there will be a new creation untarnished by the stain of man's Fall and God's subsequent Curse. This involves much more than window dressing and a re-modelling of the old materials of this earth or indeed, of the universe. This new universe has been foretold for nearly 3,000 years, since the LORD first revealed it to His prophet Isaiah.

Isa 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”

Isa 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.”

2Pe 3:12 ... waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 2Pe 3:13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them,

and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

According to the Bible, this groaning old earth will not be renovated to become God's eternal home among redeemed mankind, but it will be abandoned and replaced by a totally new creation. After the 1,000 years, after Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire, before the resurrected wicked are judged, this old earth and the entire universe will be forever cast away from the presence of God.

Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

Therefore, since this earth will have already “fled away,” it is not possible for the Heavenly Jerusalem to “land on it.” In fact, the Bible does not ever suggest that this city “lands” anywhere! Does a heavenly city with streets of transparent gold, need an earthly foundation to rest on?

The True Bible Chronology Ellen White's False Chronology

All the nations of the world conspire to attack Jerusalem, the “heavy stone.” (Zech 12:2,3). This is the final battle of Armageddon. (Rev 16:13-16).

All the nations of the world conspire to pass a Sunday Worship Law which is designed to identify and destroy the Seventh-day Adventists.

Jesus returns in glory to redeem His earthly people Israel. (Mat 24:30,31).

Jesus returns to destroy the wicked and take only the SDAs to heaven for 1,000 years.

Jesus returns and stands on the Mount of Olives in Israel, before the 1,000 years. (Zech 14:4).

EGW places this AFTER the 1,000 years. However by this time the earth is an utter desolation, so Mt Olivet would be unrecognisable.

Jesus destroys all the wicked on earth (Rev 19:17-19) but he “does not make a full end.” (Jer 4:27).

Jesus destroys every single person on the face of the earth.

There will be survivors, a remnant, from Israel, during the 1,000 years. (Is 4:2-6; Is 10:20-22; Is 37:31,32; Joel 2:32; Zep 2:9).

God finished with Israel forever in 34 AD. The “remnant” is exclusively the SDA church.

There will be survivors from all the nations, who have supported God's people Israel through the great Tribulation. (Is 45:20; Is 66:19; Dan 7:12-14).

There is not a single survivor on earth from either Israel or the nations, after the Seventh-day Adventists are all taken to heaven.

The Beast and False Prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire BEFORE the 1,000 years, to be tormented forever. (Rev 19:20).

As the “Lake of Fire” to EGW is the surface of this earth, only AFTER the 1,000 years, she makes no reference to this conundrum.

Satan is bound with a great chain and thrown down into the Bottomless Pit, which is shut and sealed over him for 1,000 years, to prevent him deceiving the nations who live on the earth in that time. (Rev 20:1-3).

Satan is bound “by a chain of circumstances.” He is left to roam free on the surface of the earth for 1,000 years.There are no nations living on earth for Satan to tempt.

The True Bible Chronology Ellen White's False Chronology

Jesus Christ bore all our sins in His body on the tree, thus fulfilling the type of the Scapegoat on the Day of Atonement. He removed all our sins far from us on that day.(1 Pet 2:24).

Satan bears all the sins of the redeemed on himself, as the antitype of the Scapegoat over which all sins were confessed, then sent out into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement.

Jesus reigns in Jerusalem over the earthly survivors of the nations, for 1,000 years, on the earth, restored to Paradise conditions. The resurrected saints also reign over the nations living on earth, under Jesus the King. (Isaiah 2:2-4. Zech 14:9. Rev 20:6).

Jesus and the saints live in heaven for 1,000 years. The resurrected Seventh-day Adventists all live in heaven for the 1,000 years.

King Jesus judges between the nations who live in peace on earth during the 1,000 years. (Micah 4:3,4).

In heaven, the saints will “judge all the cases” of the wicked dead and the demons.

At the end of 1,000 years, Satan is released from the Bottomless Pit for a short time. (Rev 20:3;7).

Since Satan was never bound with a chain or thrown down into a bottomless pit, there is no need to “release” him.

Satan deceives some of the natural people still dwelling on the earth, who had never been influenced by him during the past 1,000 years. (Rev 20:7-9).

EGW says no people live on earth during the 1,000 years, but that Satan deceives the RESURRECTED dead.This is impossible, as Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire BEFORE this Resurrection.

They attack the earthly city Jerusalem. (Rev 20:7-9).

EGW says Satan and the resurrected wicked attack HEAVENLY Jerusalem.

This is BEFORE the heavenly city appears, which only happens AFTER this old earth “flees away.” (Rev 20:11; Rev 21:1).

EGW says this is AFTER the heavenly city comes down out of heaven and “lands on this earth.”

Fire comes down out of heaven and consumes these natural people, BEFORE the Second Resurrection. (Rev 20:9).

EGW says this fire from heaven constitutes the LAKE OF FIRE, that is, HELL. Thus she places it AFTER the Second Resurrection.

Satan is thrown into the same Lake of Fire where the 2 Beasts who were thrown in 1,000 years previously, are still being punished. This is BEFORE the Second Resurrection. They will all be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Rev 20:10).

EGW says the Lake of Fire is the surface of the earth where Satan and all sinners are annihilated, AFTER the 2nd resurrection. Therefore it cannot have existed BEFORE the 1,000 years. So the 2 Beasts are not tormented in it forever and ever.

The Lake of Fire was prepared for Satan and his angels long ago. (Deut 32:22; Isaiah 30:33; Matt 25:41).

EGW says, since the Lake of Fire is this earth, it does not exist until AFTER the Second Resurrection.

After Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire where the 2 Beasts have been for 1,000 years already (Rev 20:10), the old earth and sky flee away from the presence of God, and “no place was found for them.” (Rev 20:11).The old earth and sky “passed away.” (Rev 21:1).

EGW says this old fallen cursed earth will be transformed into: (1) The Bottomless Pit ruled by Abaddon; (2) The desolated home of Satan and all the demons for 1,000 years;(3) HELL where all the wicked are

The True Bible Chronology Ellen White's False Chronology

A NEW heaven and earth will replace the old, which are never remembered again. (Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; Rev 20:11 ).

burned; (4) God's eternal dwelling place among His saints.

AFTER Satan is destroyed, AFTER this old earth flees away, THEN the New Jerusalem appears;THEN comes the Second Resurrection and JUDGEMENT of the wicked, as they stand before the Great White Throne. (Rev 20:11,12).

EGW has the Second Resurrection BEFORE Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire. She puts the judgement of the wicked while they are dead, DURING the 1,000 years. She has the New Jerusalem land on this earth BEFORE the wicked are resurrected.She says she & SDA's will stand before the Great White Throne to be judged.

The resurrected wicked are all thrown into the Lake of Fire to be tormented with no rest, day or night, forever and ever. (Rev 14:11; Rev 20:13-15).

EGW denies the Bible fact that “the second death” is eternal torment; unceasing punishment of conscious souls which lasts FOREVER and EVER. “Death” is never unconsciousness nor non-existence.

The wicked are outside the gates of the New Jerusalem. (Rev 22:15). Therefore although they continue to exist for eternity, they will never be permitted to enter the City of God.

EGW says the wicked are burned up and turned to ash – that they become “as though they had never been.” She denies the awful truth of the eternal existence of sinners in a perpetual Lake of Fire.

The old heaven and earth have passed away, and God creates a new heaven and earth. (Rev 21:1).

EGW says this old earth and heavens do NOT flee away, but exist eternally.

The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God, after the Great White Throne judgement. (Rev 21:2).

EGW has the New Jerusalem come down from heaven BEFORE the Sec0nd Resurrection.

This New Jerusalem does not “LAND” anywhere. It has streets of transparent gold (Rev 21:21), through which the light of God illuminates the nations of the New Earth. (Rev 21:24; 22:5).

EGW has the New Jerusalem LAND on the old earth, where it protects Jesus and the saints in safety during the nuclear conflagration of HELL all around it.

God will dwell with His people forever, in the New Heavens and New Earth which He will create. (Rev 21:3).

EGW has God dwelling on this old earth which He cursed, which became HELL, with His saints, forever.

This heavenly Jerusalem measures 1,500 miles in width, breadth and height. (Rev 21:16).

EGW had no conception of the relative sizes of this earth and New Jerusalem, nor how it is impossible for the city to “LAND” on earth.

There is no longer any need for sun or moon. (Rev 21:23).There is no frost or night. (Zech 14:6,7).There is no day-night cycle. (Rev 22:5).Therefore there can be no “days,” “weeks,” “months” or “Sabbaths” to keep.

EGW said Sabbathkeeping will continue into eternity. So this old earth must continue orbiting the finite Sun, rotating once every 24 hours, for eternity.

Ellen White denied a multitude of clear Bible statements. Her chronology is biblically anachronistic, her scenario is scientifically impossible, and her doctrines are worlds away from God's revelation.

Effectively, SDA doctrine teaches that this very earth which was cursed by God at the Fall of man, which became the kingdom of the Devil, is not only the BOTTOMLESS PIT ruled over by Abaddon the king of all the demons, which is the prison of Satan and his evil angels for 1,000 years, and which also becomes the LAKE of FIRE or HELL where Satan, all the demons, the 2 Beasts and all the wicked are annihilated – but this same earth is also the eternal dwelling-place of God, Jesus, and all the redeemed, for all eternity.

Only Satan could dream up such a fiendish heresy, as to suggest that God and the saints will dwell on HELL for eternity.

HOW DID SUCH AN ABERRANT DOCTRINE EVOLVE?

Here is Ellen White's early description of the New Jerusalem. She places this after the resurrected saints have spent 1,000 years in heaven, which she refers to as “the judgement of the wicked dead.” According to Ellen, when Jesus first returns to the earth, the great mountain He lands on (which she believed is the Mount of Olives) will turn into a mighty plain, and then the heavenly Jerusalem will come down and land upon this plain.

After the judgment of the wicked dead was finished, at the end of the one thousand years, Jesus left the City, and a train of the angelic host followed him. The saints also went with him. Jesus descended upon a great and mighty mountain, which, as soon as his feet touched it, parted asunder, and became a mighty plain. Then we looked up and saw the great and beautiful City, with twelve foundations, twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate. We cried out, The City! The great City! It is coming down from God out of heaven! And it came down in all its splendor, and dazzling glory, and settled in the mighty plain which Jesus had prepared for it. Ellen White, Chapter 39, The Great Controversy, 1858 version.

WHERE DID ELLEN GET HER IDEAS ABOUT NEW JERUSALEM?

Ellen White did not originate any of the ideas which fill her many books and articles. She purloined them all from every source imaginable. In 1848, she was heavily influenced by Joseph Bates, with whom the Whites were to organise the Seventh-day Adventist church 5 years later. Bates, a keen amateur astronomer, had already published his theory about the New Jerusalem landing on this earth, in several papers and books. His theology is clumsy, his narrative clunky, his grammar uneducated, his arguments confused and unconvincing. It is certain that, had they not been reworked by the copying girl prophet, his theories would long since have sunk into the slough of forgetfulness where they belong. Although many foundational SDA doctrines were originated by Joseph Bates, there would never have been a Seventh-day Adventist church at any time.

Joseph Bates wrote,

“The Heavenly Jerusalem. The City lies 1500 miles square … This then is the

capacious and glorious ‘golden city’; ‘the new Jerusalem’; ‘The heavenly Sanctuary’ ... the Capital of our coming Lord’s everlasting kingdom, which is now about to descend from the ‘third heaven’ by way of the open door, down by the ‘flaming sword’ of Orion!”Joseph Bates, The Opening Heavens, May 1846.

“Then when he comes as king he brings that "glory" the "mother" of the children with him, and when it is located here, and the children with the "mother," the vision of Daniel will be realized in full. “The saints of the Most High possessing the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven." Having become perfectly and forever united with the city that has come down from heaven. This is what we have called Paradise lost, but now restored forever … “He received, or as we best understand it, was inaugurated as king into his throne, the Holy City, which is the capital of his kingdom, that he will bring with him and establish here, and it will ever be the capital of all his dominions under the whole heaven.”Joseph Bates, Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps, 1847.

Apparently Ellen's description of the great mountain becoming a plain, and the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to settle on this plain, was hybridised from the theorising of various Adventist preachers and several Bible passages, even from John Milton's poem “Paradise Lost” to which Bates referred. Bates was aware that the City is 1,500 miles square – but he missed that it is also 1,500 miles high.

Isaiah prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. Both Jesus' first and second comings are combined here.

Isa 40:3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

This will apparently be literally fulfilled when Jesus comes again; however, its first partial fulfilment was when John the Baptist prepared the rocky hearts of the people for Jesus' first appearance:

Mat 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Mat 3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

It seems Ellen has also used God's words to Zechariah, when He gave instructions about Zerubbabel rebuilding the Temple in about 500 BC. This is clearly unrelated to the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God and “landing” on a “plain” created from a

“great mountain,” but is symbolic of the troubles to be encountered in their building project.

Zec 4:7 "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'"

Ellen has confused this verse with a later prophecy of Zechariah, about the final battle on earth before the Messiah returns, when a mighty earthquake will split the Mount of Olives and terrify the people. This of course is before the 1,000 years, which again has nothing to do with the descent of the New Jerusalem:

Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. Zec 14:4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. Zec 14:5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquakein the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Ezekiel also prophesied about the mountains falling when Jesus appears in glory to defeat the nations which assemble against His people Israel:

Eze 38:18 “But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger. Eze 38:19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare,On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. Eze 38:20 The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall,and every wall shall tumble to the ground."

John prophesied about this same great earthquake which will level the mountains before Jesus' triumphant coming:

Rev 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, Rev 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. Rev 6:14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Rev 11:13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Rev 11:14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

Rev 16:16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Rev 16:17 The 7th angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Rev 16:18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. Rev 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.

If John's 3 references all pertain to the same great earthquake, then this teaches us that the Sixth Seal, the Second Woe, and the Seventh Bowl all describe the same event immediately before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Again, the Bible clearly states that the mountains are levelled before the 1,000 years, not after, as Ellen White supposed.

Zechariah does tell us the extent of the area that will become a plain when Jesus returns, before the 1,000 years.

Zec 14:9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. Zec 14:10 The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. Zec 14:11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

GEBA was about 5 miles north of Jerusalem, and RIMMON was about 35 miles south-west of Jerusalem. This plain apparently extends for only about 40 miles, but the New Jerusalem is 1,500 miles square. Even if we do as modern Seventh-day Adventists and divide the 1,500 miles by four sides of a city with a perimeter of 1,500 miles, we still have about 335 miles of city hanging off two sides of this plain. Obviously, Zechariah was not talking about the heavenly Jerusalem landing on earth here!

Ellen White has the New Jerusalem landing on a plain which is to be created out of the Mount of Olives, on top of Old Jerusalem, and she has this happen only after the 1,000 years.

God says that Jerusalem will be inhabited after the Lord Jesus comes to reign, that is, during the 1,000 years.

• Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, and all nations will worship God there at the Appointed Feasts every year. (Ezekiel 45:21-25. Zechariah 14:16-21).

• The daily lamb sacrifices will again be offered at the new Temple. (Ezekiel 46:13-15).

• This is the time when the glory of the LORD God dwells within His Temple in Jerusalem on earth “forever;” that is, for the full duration of the 1,000 years (Ezekiel 43:1-7) and the living waters flow out from below the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47:1; Zechariah 14:8).

• At this time, the Prince reigns over Jerusalem (Ezekiel chapters 43 – 48; Zechariah 14:17).

• Jesus told His disciples that He will again eat the Passover Lamb when He comes in His glory to establish the kingdom of God (Luke 22:15,16).

• Zechariah tells us that the Feast of Tabernacles will again be celebrated every year in Jerusalem. If any of the nation sof the earth do not attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem in those, days, God will withhold rain from their lands. (Zechariah 14:16-19)

• Ezekiel tells us that New Moons, Sabbaths, Passovers, and all the Appointed Feasts will be celebrated in the Temple at Jerusalem, with all the required sacrifices of lambs, goats, rams and bulls (Ezekiel 44:24; 45:17,21,25; 46:1,4,9,11).

All this evidence points to the reign of Jesus as King of the earth from His throne in millennial Jerusalem, over the natural survivors of Armageddon, with a new and glorious Temple being the centre of worship for the whole earth. It shows that the Mosaic Covenant will then be reinstituted for all the nations.

The details of this era – when there will be animal sacrifices restored in a rebuilt Temple; when priests will serve in that Temple, who are required to make atonement for their own sins and the sins of the people; when people still are born, marry, sin and die – when God can send drought upon a nation for disobedience – absolutely preclude this from being a description of eternal life after the millennium. It speaks of natural people, dwelling on this earth, under the reign of Jesus the King of the Jews, in Jerusalem. This scriptural portrayal of the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah on earth, contradicts everything Ellen White ever wrote about the millennium.

Ellen White denied all this scriptural evidence; perhaps she never even read any of it. She said that the earth will be desolate and empty during the 1,000 years, except for Satan and all his demons. She said that the Mosaic sacrifices were finished forever in 31 AD, and that God finished with the Jews forever in 34 AD. She said that nobody who eats flesh meats will be fit for the Kingdom of God – even though Jesus Himself said that He will eat the Passover lamb when He comes again in His kingdom!

WHOM SHOULD WE BELIEVE? ELLEN WHITE? OR GOD'S WORD?

God says the landscape will be turned into a plain (from Geba to Rimmon) when Jesus returns before the 1,000 years to reign over Old Jerusalem, and that this earthly city will remain aloft on its site, and be inhabited, and dwell in security. Clearly, this could not happen if a 1,500-mile cube landed on top of it.

We know that Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, and the angel told His

disciples that He will return “in the same way” as He left. This of course will be the occasion Zechariah spoke of, when the Messiah stands on the Mount of Olives before the 1,000 years.

Act 1:11 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Act 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

HOW DID ELLEN WHITE GET HER CHRONOLOGY SO HOPELESSLY CONFUSED?

She simply followed a string of other confused amateurs who cobbled isolated Bible texts together into fantastic theories. None of them read the Bible as a chronological narrative, nor did they collate all mentions of each event to arrive at the truth. They twisted verses to support their own imaginations.

ELLEN WHITE'S NEW JERUSALEM LANDS ON THIS EARTH AFTER THE 1,000 YEARS.

Ellen copied Bates' theory that the heavenly city will physically land on earth.

How practical would this be? Can anything of heaven be transferred to this earth? That city has walls and streets of transparent glassy gold. Its foundations are precious stones, its walls are crystal-clear diamond, and its gates are pearl. This earth is made of dirt and rock. Heavenly realities far transcend anything on this humble earth, which is a concept outside Ellen White’s understanding.

She never understood the difference between the spiritual and the physical, the heavenly and the earthly. All heaven was composed of physical matter, to her. Outer space was full of breathable oxygen at room temperature and pressure, according to Ellen, with an atmosphere that could be flown through with a pair of wings that was conveniently “given her” in vision. The outermost frozen gas planets of our solar system were to her, earth-like paradises where majestic lovely unfallen races live and keep the 24-hour Sabbath that applies only to the daily rotation of this earth. The daily rotations of Jupiter and Saturn, for instance, are about 10 earth hours, while that of Venus is 243 earth days. So “Sabbath” on Venus would consist of a dark frigid night lasting 121 earth days, followed by one daytime of 121 earth days, coming only once every 1,701 earth days (over 4 ½ years). On Saturn, which takes about 30 years to circle the sun, there would be about 3,750 Sabbaths per year. Uranus' temperature is hundreds of degrees colder than earth's, while Mercury's is hundreds of degrees hotter. Yet Elen claimed that the saints will be given wings so that they can explore the “unfallen worlds” living on these planets. Such are the ravings of a discreditable false prophet. Should we take her word about the heavenly Jerusalem?

Human beings according to Ellen, have no spiritual component, but are simply animated matter which ceases to exist when they cease breathing. Man's “spirit” is nothing but his “breath” according to Ellen's carnal understanding.

In Ellen's opinion, the gold-plated wooden Ark of the Covenant built by Moses could be transferred into God's Holy of Holies in heaven, containing the earth rocks on which the

Ten Commandments were written. The very Garden of Eden (complete with earth's dirt, rocks, plants, worms, bees, soil microbes and micro-flora etc, one must assume), was taken to heaven for several thousand years until it can be replaced on this earth. What a puerile and worldly imagination she had.

Let us consider some more logical non sequiturs.

HOW BIG IS THE HEAVENLY CITY?

See TABLE 1 at the end of this paper for diagrammatic comparisons of the following scenarios.

The New Jerusalem measures 12,000 stadia (Roman furlongs) in every direction. That is, about 1,500 miles long x 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. That means – the city is either

• a cube of 1,500 miles;• a pyramid of 1500 miles square and 1,500 miles tall; or• a square of 1,500 miles, situated 1,500 miles above the New Earth.

Bates acknowledged that the city was 1,500 miles square, but even with his knowledge of astronomy, he failed to comprehend the ramifications of such a structure landing on this earth. Below is a pictorial representation of the 1,500-mile square city centred upon Jerusalem.

Ellen White was poorly educated, and certainly did not understand the mathematical and physical implications for attaching a structure of those dimensions, to this earth.

The earth has a diameter of about 8,000 miles. The New Jerusalem appears from the biblical description, to be a cube of 1,500 miles, if it be accepted that it “lands on this earth.”

The SDA pastor who explained this theory to me, tried to ameliorate the effect by dividing the measurement of 1,500 miles by the 3 dimensions given, so that each side only measured 500 miles; however, this is no meaningful solution to the problem. A 500-mile cube planted on the side of this finely-tuned spinning earth of 8,000 miles diameter, is still going to send it reeling eccentrically off into outer space.

Other Seventh-day Adventists merely ignore the height component; and divide the 1,500 miles by the 4 sides of the square, giving a city about 375 miles square. Again, this does not begin to address the problems.

Draw a circle of 8 inches diameter. On one side of this circle, attach a square of 1 ½ inches. This represents the physical dimensions of the New Jerusalem “landed on this earth.”

Now, draw Mount Everest on the circle, the highest point on this earth. To draw this correctly to scale, you will need to very accurately measure almost 9/1,000 of an inch. Mt Everest is less than 9 miles tall. Its climate at the summit is bitterly cold and inhospitable to life, with insufficient oxygen to support human existence. Yet the New Jerusalem, says the Bible, is 1,500 miles high! And Ellen White says that it will land on the earth! This is 167 times higher than Mt Everest.

• The Troposphere extends from sea level to 9 miles high, and contains all earth's breathable air, water vapour, most clouds and all our weather.

• The Stratosphere extends from 9 miles – 31 miles high. Here lies the ozone layer.• The Mesosphere extends from 31 miles to 53 miles. Here temperatures drop to

-173o F.• The Thermosphere and Exosphere extend to 560 miles high, containing almost

no gases.• The Magnetosphere is an airless protective envelope created by the earth's

magnetic field. This extends from 560 miles high.• 1,500 miles high is outer space.

Bates knew nothing of all this. He knew only what he could see through a primitive telescope. Ellen White knew even less, and his absurd idea of the Heavenly City landing on the Mount of Olives made perfect sense to her uneducated mind.

Consider the effect of a 1,500-mile cube sitting on the side of this earth as it spins on its axis and rotates around the sun. The phenomenal centripetal and centrifugal forces generated would send the earth reeling uncontrollably out of its orbit.

Our Moon is 2,160 miles in diameter. The volume of the Moon is almost identical to a cube of 1,500 miles. Although the Moon is almost 300,000 miles away from Earth, it has a powerful gravitational effect on us. The lunar orbit causes earth's ocean tides to rise and fall twice every day. A cube of 1,500 miles attached to this planet would have massive gravitational effects upon it. It would disturb the magnetic field of the earth. It would interfere with the weather systems as they swirled against the base of this massive

structure. It would cause cataclysmic tidal waves as the earth's oceans were sloshed about like bath water from the gravitational forces as well as the wildly eccentric orbital chaos.

Consider the weight of such a cube landing on the earth. A skyscraper requires strongly reinforced foundations several storeys deep, to support its massive weight. The tallest skyscraper is only about 1 mile high. But the New Jerusalem is 1,500 times as high!! An object of that dimension would sink deep into the crust of the earth. The crust is only a few miles thick in places, above a molten lava core. A cube of 1,500 miles landing on this earth would fracture the crust and displace the plastic superheated molten rock beneath it, sideways. It is impossible to calculate the effects of such a ludicrous proposition.

Consider Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem is built. Ellen White imagined that this is the “great mountain” to which John was taken as he watched the heavenly Jerusalem descend. Is this correct? How could this be? She also believed that this mountain would become a plain, on which the New Jerusalem will land. Yet God says that Mount Zion will be the HIGHEST of all the mountains. Does this mean it will be higher than Mount Everest? Surely not. It would be no use to anybody. Perhaps it will be higher than all the other mountains in Israel. All of Israel's mountains are very low. Perhaps it is a metaphorical comparison.

Consider the area of the New Jerusalem. The SDA theory is that the mountains around Jerusalem in Israel will all be levelled, forming a large plain for the heavenly city to “land on.” How realistic is this? Not in the least. Israel is one of the tiniest nations. At its maximum, the whole country is only about 80 miles wide, and 250 miles long.

If New Jerusalem landed on the earth, centred on Jerusalem, here is the geographical area that would be obliterated:

ALL of IsraelALL of LebanonALL of CyprusALL of SyriaALL of JordanALL of EgyptHALF of Saudi ArabiaHALF of GreeceALL of TurkeyALL of IraqPart of IranPart of SudanPart of Libya1/3 of the Mediterranean Sea1/3 of the Red Sea1/3 of the Black SeaPart of the Caspian Sea

Of course this matters not to Seventh-day Adventists, as they have already annihilated all the nations in a global conflagration before the 1,000 years, and left the earth a desolate wilderness for 1,000 years, before they turn the entire globe into a seething cauldron of nuclear meltdown after the 1,000 years.

However, the scale of the New Jerusalem compared to these countries and seas, needs to be envisaged in order to understand how nonsensical their theory is.

Consider the latitude covered by the New Jerusalem landing on the site of the current Jerusalem. It would be centred between about 20o and 42o latitude. If it were possible to “land” such a structure on the earth, the effects on earth's orbit would be least disruptive at the Equator, though still incalculable. However the eccentric forces generated by it being situated at this latitude would be amplified exponentially.

Where does the Bible say that New Jerusalem “lands on this earth”? It does not!

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, Rev 21:11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. Rev 21:12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed – Rev 21:13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Rev 21:15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. Rev 21:16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. Rev 21:17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. Rev 21:18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. Rev 21:19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, Rev 21:20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. Rev 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Rev 21:24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, Rev 21:25 and its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there. Rev 21:26 They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.

Rev 21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Consider the area of earth's surface which would be lit up if the New Jerusalem was a cube of 1,500 miles which landed on one side. The Bible says that ALL the nations will walk in the light of God's heavenly city, without need of sun or moon.

However, the rays of light from the top of this city would extend only for about 2,600 miles at the most where they became tangential to the curve of the earth's surface. There would be an area of light covering a circle of about 7,000 miles. The earth's circumference is about 25,000 miles. Therefore without the sun to shine on it, the rest of the earth's surface – about 18,000 miles in circumference – would be in constant darkness, frozen and dead.

It is clear that Ellen White's fond belief that the New Jerusalem will “land on this earth” is nothing but childish foolishness. Her interpretation is unbiblical, anachronistic, naïve, unscientific, and ludicrous.

Very little has been told us in scripture about the structure of the new heavens and the new earth to come. People are so accustomed to hearing about how the universe has existed for billions of years, that they cannot envisage this system ever coming to an end. We know about the speed of light and the incomprehensibly vast distances separating the outermost stars whose light we now see from earth, which apparently proves that if a certain star's light took thousands of light years to reach earth, then that star must have existed XYZ thousand years x the distance light travels in a year, that is, billions of years ago.

It now seems impossible that the heavens should “roll up like a scroll” and “rot away” before our eyes as the Bible says. (Isaiah 34:4). But what we do not comprehend, the Creator of the universe can certainly accomplish. Of things to come in eternity, we cannot imagine. We only need to know that we will dwell with God forever and ever, in a universe untainted by sin or even the remembrance of it.

As for the New Jerusalem – it is clear that it does not “land on” the new earth. The dimensions given us only appear to describe a “cube” of 1,500 miles.

Rev 21:16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.

The Greek word translated “height” is hupsos, meaning “elevation, altitude; the sky; be exalted; height; on high.” It is derived from the Greek word huper, meaning “placed over; above; beyond; across” etc.

From this, it appears that the heavenly city is a square of 1,500 miles, which will be elevated 1,500 miles above the new earth. Its light will radiate through its crystal walls and golden glassy streets, onto an earth whose structure apparently will not be a globe as we now understand it, for otherwise 75% of earth's surface would be in icy darkness, whereas the Bible tells us that there will be no day-night sequence, and no cold.

Zec 14:6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. Zec 14:7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD,

neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

Rev 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Rev 21:24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, Rev 21:25 and its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there.

What we can be certain of is, that the Lord God has it all in hand, and it will make perfect sense to us all at that time.

In the meantime, we can also be certain that Ellen White never saw a vision of the New Jerusalem landing on the earth. She claimed that she saw this in her very first vision in 1844, and she maintained the same detestable, false fable throughout her life.

“We all descended from this place down into the city, and with Jesus at our head we all descended from the city down to this earth, on a great and mighty mountain, which could not bear Jesus up, and it parted asunder, and there was a mighty plain.

“Then we looked up and saw the great city with twelve foundations, twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate, and all cried out the city, the great city, it’s coming, it’s coming down from God, out of heaven, and it came and settled on the place where we stood.”Ellen Harmon, “My First Vision,” 22 December 1844.

A true prophet would never be given a vision from God of something that contradicts the Bible and all logic and true science. Therefore this was a lying vision. Her first vision was copied shamelessly from the preaching of various false teachers, from the visions of several false prophets, and from the pens of uninspired authors. The truth is that the girl prophet never “saw” anything which was not already printed between the pages of some other author's book, and she never “heard” anything except what some false teacher had told her.

Ellen White herself, in an uncharacteristic nugget of truth concerning the scriptural identification of false prophets, wrote this:

“Prophesyings which contradict the plain and positive declarations of the Word, are to be rejected.” Ellen White, Early Writings, p. 139.

Tragically, there are many Seventh-day Adventists who have become disillusioned with certain aspects of Ellen White's ministry or her writings or her pretended visions, but who choose to remain within the SDA church, and they make excuses for her. They try to “see the good” in Ellen White, and to “steer the SDA church towards orthodoxy.”

This is not God's way. God hates the mixture. God demands that we be either for Him or against Him. God’s instant remedy for false prophets was a deadly hail of rocks. Those rocks were to be cast by every member of the congregation. Symbolically, the entire assembly was responsible for the purging of the evil in their midst. There was no prophet's

learning curve, no apprenticeship in the school of prophecy, no second chances to get it right, no forgiveness offered to failed prophets, no future career for any prophet who even once gave a false prophecy or saw a lying vision. They were to be summarily CONDEMNED and PUT TO DEATH by the entire congregation, with no pity wasted on them.

If this divine instruction had been obeyed by the Millerites in 1844, then we never would have heard of 17-year-old Ellen Harmon. She would have been utterly disgraced and rebuked. Her false prophecy and her lying first vision would have been exposed as the cobbled-together patchwork of other false prophets' influences that it is.

However, that handful of Millerites who believed in Ellen Harmon in 1844/5 (there were only about 50 of them) had already demonstrated their tendency to be deceived, by their undiscerning acceptance of the false prophets who had gone before – most notably William Miller and Samuel S. Snow. Those Millerites were not good judges of character, they were poorly educated, they were the products of a fanatical environment, and they did not possess the biblical knowledge or spiritual discernment to see the evil in Ellen's first vision. So the legends evolved around Ellen Harmon's professed visions of God, and people placed themselves under her authority, rather than obeying God by testing the prophets, and then routing out the evil in their midst.

This is a rotten tree growing on rotten roots which can only produce rotten fruit, and it must be hewn down mercilessly. It has already had more than enough dung applied to it (Luke 13:6-9), and it has not come right. There must be no compromise with a false prophet, no acceptance of lying visions.

Eze 13:1 The word of the LORD came to me: Eze 13:2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts:'Hear the word of the LORD!' Eze 13:3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Eze 13:6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'Declares the LORD,' when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. Eze 13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, 'Declares the LORD,' although I have not spoken?" Eze 13:8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions,therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. Eze 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visionsand who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel,nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD."

Eze 13:17 "And you, son of man,set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds. Prophesy against them .”

All Scripture references from the English Standard Version.

TABLE 1.

1,500 miles high

The size of the New Jerusalem relative to the Earth if it “landed on the Mount of Olives” as so many people assume –

Left: according to the Seventh-day Adventists, 500 miles cubed;

EARTHDiameter 8,000 miles

Biblical dimensions1,500 miles

cubedSDA

Satellite City

Pyramid

Right: a cube of 1,500 miles, according to Revelation 21:6.

Lower right: a pyramid of 1,500 miles square and high.

Mount Everest is less than 9 miles high, about 1/170th of the height of the large cube.

The alternative is also suggested, as the Bible says the height is the same as the length and breadth – a satellite city of 1,500 miles square, and 1,500 miles above the earth. (This is relative to the size of our present earth – acknowledging that we do not yet know the size or even the shape of the New Earth to come.)

This would explain all the verses which speak of God's dwelling with men as being a tabernacle; a canopy; a shelter from the sun. With His glory shining through the clear gold pavement onto the earth below, we can imagine how God and the Lamb replace the need for sunlight on the New Earth – Revelation 21:4.