EZEKIEL 9 is referred to in The Great Controversy, p. 656-657, and those paragraphs are quoted in the book, The Seven Angels, chapter 22, as applying during the sixth plague angel.
The mark put on those who “sigh and cry for all the abominations” (Ezekiel 9:4) is apparently the same as the sealing, or at least happens at the same time. The slaying of “old and young, both maids, and little children, and women” (Ezekiel 9:6) takes place after the darkness of the fifth plague, and so represents the destruction of the wicked just prior to Christ’s appearing in the clouds of heaven.
I couldn’t find any reference in the writings of Waggoner and Jones to Ezekiel chapter 9.
In the booklet Cutting Reproof, James White considers the seal of Revelation 7 to be the same as the mark of Ezekiel 9.
The message of the third angel is the last to the little flock, to prepare them for the time of trouble. When this message is finished, the four winds will be loosed. This angel is the same as the one in Revelation 7, “…having the seal [or mark, as it is called in Ezekiel 9:4-6] of the living God.” (verse 2)
His work is to seal (or mark) the servants of God in their foreheads. Seal, mark and forehead are figurative language in these texts (see Revelation 17:5; Ezekiel 3:8-9). All must see that forehead in these texts refers to a prominent development of character, and that the mark in the forehead means the most prominent characteristic mark in the lives, profession, or conduct of those referred to.
Robert Brinsmead (forerunner of F. T. Wright) relates the two like this, in his article, The Angel of Revelation 18:
Revelation 7
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying,
3 Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.That this seal is the glory that will lighten the earth is also made plain by the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 43
1 Afterward He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east:
2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and His voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with His glory.
3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city [this refers to the sealing chapter, Ezekiel 9]: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.Notice how this prophecy links together the glory from the east—which is the sealing angel of Revelation 7—and the earth shining with glory—which is the angel of Revelation 18.
In the booklet, Like Unto His Brethren, he makes a few more comments:
Ellen G. White saw that God had three steps to the platform of truth (Early Writings, p. 258). Satan has three steps down from the platform.
- The first step is the teaching that Christ look the human nature of man as it was before the fall.
- This leads to the second step—to the teaching that man cannot find the grace to perfectly obey the law of God in this life.
- This will inevitably lead to the third step—giving up the Sabbath.
This last step must logically follow the original premise, for if it be conceded that we cannot obey all the law all the time, then there is no point in the Sabbath being a test question. The great argument for the Sabbath is found in:
James 2
10 Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.But the “new-view” of the Incarnation leads to the conclusion that we cannot really “keep the whole law.” Led by certain prominent theologians, many in our ranks have already taken steps numbers one and two down from the third angel’s message.
Ezekiel 8
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord [rejecting the great sanctuary message], and their faces toward the east: and they worshiped the sun toward the east.Thus the foundation is already laid for a great landslide into the camp of the Sunday-keepers. This is an indication that the final test on the law of God is right upon the church. Soon the…
Ezekiel 9
4 …man with the writer’s inkhorn [must] 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.Selected Messages, book 2, p. 380:
“Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His.” (2 Timothy 2:19) The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat.
In A Word to the Little Flock, James White writes this:
The plagues were poured out on Egypt just before, and at the deliverance of Israel; so we may expect the last plagues on the wicked, just before and at the deliverance of the saints. We may see by the 91st Psalm, that many of the wicked are to be cut off, while the saints are on the earth, in their mortal state; for they are to fall by thousands all around them. The saints are exhorted not to fear the plagues at that time, for God will give His angels charge over them, so that no plague shall come nigh their dwellings; but such an exhortation would be useless, if the saints are immortal before the plagues are poured out.
The men with slaughter-weapons in their hands have this charge, “…come not near any man upon whom is the mark;” (Ezekiel 9:6) which shows that the marked saints are in their mortal state, at the slaying time. But the humble followers of the Lamb, have nothing to fear from the terrors of the day of His wrath; for they will be sealed before the plagues are poured out. The man “clothed with linen” (Ezekiel 9:3), marks the saints before the slaying commences.
The “four angels” are not to hurt the “earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,” till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads (Revelation 7:1-3). The marking or sealing of the saints, seems to be shadowed forth by the marking of the side posts and upper door posts of the houses of all Israel, before the Lord passed through Egypt, to slay the first-born of the Egyptians. Israel was safe; for God was their protector in that perilous night. The true Israel of God will be safely protected, when Christ rules the nations with a “rod of iron,” and dashes them “in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:9); for He has promised to give His angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways.
Those who keep the word of Christ’s “patience” in this time of waiting, and trial, will then be kept…
Revelation 3
10 From the hour of temptation, (or trial) which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Many nominal Adventists will have difficulty understanding these prophecies correctly because they do not distinguish between the first and second shaking. You can refresh your understanding of that topic by reading the book, Last Day Events, chapter 13, “Two Entirely Different Separations.” Some Adventists, who confuse the two shakings, use their misunderstanding to justify staying with the old church, arguing that the shaking at the end of the loud cry is the only one. And so they apply every passage that mentions a “shaking” to that final one. But this is not the case.
One shaking is caused by the presentation of the gospel, which separates those who hear the gospel, from those who will not hear it. This is illustrated in the parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-48).
- First the fish (good and bad) are taken out of the ocean (or separated from the rest of the fish). That is the first “shaking” or “separation.”
- Then the fish are taken to shore and the good are separated from the bad. That is the second “shaking” or “separation.”
The final (or second) shaking separates those who were superficial in their acceptance of the gospel, from those who allowed the gospel to work in their lives unto its completeness. Now let’s look at one statement about the shaking:
Early Writings, p. 270:
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.
Is she talking about the first shaking or the second shaking? Obviously the first one. All who receive the Laodicean message (which was the Gospel message God sent through Waggoner and Jones to heal the church), are separated from their sin, and speak the truth in love, which causes opposition in the church from those who will not receive the healing message. Eventually, this leads to a separation.
We further understand from Matthew 22, that there are two calls to the wedding, which means two separate presentations of the Laodicean message:
- The first in 1888 and for about 15 years after that;
- The second from about 1955-1965.
When both of these calls have been given, a shaking takes place, accomplished by the gospel message, which separates those who accept that message from those who refuse it. This is the first shaking, and purifies the church so they can receive further instruction from God.
There was no reason to separate from the Seventh-day Adventist church until the second presentation of the Laodicean message was given. So, any message calling the Seventh-day Adventist church “Babylon,” or calling us to separate from her, before the second presentation of the Gospel message in the 1950’s and 1960’s, was a false message. But after the second presentation was given, to remain in the church body that rejects the Laodicean message, and persecutes those who hold it, is to be in the wrong place, where you will not hear the further messages God gives to prepare His people to stand in the final conflict.
We must receive the Gospel message, and if we live after 1965 (or thereabouts), we must also experience the first shaking. It separates us from fallen churches (or from the world, if we come into the truth without being in a church). This allows us to receive further messages that prepare us for the Loud Cry.
Now, what about the second shaking? The second shaking takes place at the end of the Loud Cry, after the struggle over the Sunday Law results in the death decree. Those who remain faithful after the death decree will have made it through the second shaking, and will receive the mark or seal, and will not be hurt of the plagues. This is the time period to which the prophecy Ezekiel 9 applies.
Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 122-123:
When the mission of the gospel is completed, the Judgment will accomplish the work of separation. . . . When the work of the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil and the destiny of each class is forever fixed.
Ellen White says that many will fall away:
The Great Controversy, p. 608:
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
After this final shaking, the living saints will be sealed, represented by the “mark” in Ezekiel 9:4, and the slaughtering of the wicked will begin in the seven last plagues.
If any Adventist today thinks that the 144,000 will be formed out of the old Seventh-day Adventist church, then they don’t understand the role of the first shaking, nor do they really appreciate and understand that precious message of the gospel as taught by Waggoner and Jones, and presented even more clearly through the ministry of F. T. Wright.
If a professed Adventist today does not understand the need for the death (removal) of the old man of sin, if they don’t understand that sin is not just an action, but a power, which needs not just forgiveness for the deeds done, but cleansing from the corrupted life within, then they are still in their sins, and are not at all ready for the latter rain, and definitely not for the final test of the death decree. They cannot understand the kingdom of God, as Jesus said to Nicodemus,
John 3
3 Except a man be born again, he cannot see [understand] the kingdom of God.
Sin is a corrupted power, which is taken into the sanctuary when we confess our sins. The cleansing of the sanctuary is the cleansing, not just of the records of sin, but of the actual sins (the corrupted life). If you don’t get the gospel right, then you cannot possibly understand clearly God’s purposes in prophecy, because prophecy foretells the triumph of the gospel, first in His saints, and after, through His saints. How can the carnal mind understand God? Impossible.
For a deeper explanation of the first and second shaking, it is recommended to read chapter 13 in the book, Last Day Events.
Other articles by Frank Zimmerman:
- Psalm 75 and God’s Character
- Criticizing a Messenger
- Perfection Is Freedom
- My Early Experience
- Thoughts on God’s Rulership
- Foreknowledge and Election
- Man’s Pride – Tall Buildings
- This Generation Shall Not Pass
- School Shootings
- Drinking of the Cup
- Stoning the Rebellious Son
- Good and Bad Marriages
- The Sabbath as a Sign
- The Lord Sent a Pestilence
- The Boy Who Went to Heaven