This booklet appeals to fellow Seventh-day Adventists to repent of the greater abominations done among us. At the same time it affirms that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is still the only true Church. It calls us to recognise the application of Ezekiel chapters eight and nine to the church at the present time. A seal of God is being placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations. But to sigh and cry for the abominations, we must know and understand them.
Revelation 7:1-3: 1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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, 3 Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The implication is that as soon as the sealing is finished, the angels are to release those winds that they are holding back, and there will be trouble and strife and commotion on the earth. It will be the close of probation once the sealing is done. So important is this sealing that it is found both in the New Testament and in the Old Testament. The parallel passage is found in Ezekiel chapter nine. Ezekiel is talking of the same sealing as in Revelation but described differently.
Ezekiel 9:4-6: 4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst o Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads [same thing] of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 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: 6 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.
“What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels, but not human eye, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption” {4BC 1161.4} “The angel with the writer’s ink horn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel follows this angel” {4BC 1161.5} “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, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming” {4BC 1161.6}
There are qualifications and requirements for us before we can receive the seal. The seal is placed upon only those who sigh and cry for the abominations that are done in the midst. You cannot be sealed unless you sigh and cry for the abominations done in the church, but you cannot sigh and cry unless you know and understand what the abominations are.
“Study the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. These words will be literally fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will the Lord bear with the people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is short. God is calling. Will you hear? Will you receive His message? Will you be converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided for eternity” {18MR 236.2}
In order to understand Ezekiel 9, as the prophecy begins in chapter 8, we need to understand chapter 8. It reveals the implications of disregarding the three angels messages; the First Angel says, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him” (Revelation 14:7), but we cannot worship the true God in error.
Ezekiel 8:1: And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
Ezekiel here is speaking while in exile; he is in Babylon. And he is sitting there and the people of the Lord, the elders of Judah, are before him. This is not what happened back in the Old Testament, but a vision of what was yet to happen, and now happening in our time. It is happening in the church at the time period when probation is about to close.
Ezekiel 8:2: Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
The description of the person that Ezekiel sees is Christ. It is a very similar description to what John saw in Revelation 1:12-18. Here Ezekiel goes into vision and Christ appears to Ezekiel. Something of significance is being revealed here.
Ezekiel 8:3: And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
Ezekiel first saw Christ. And then Christ “put forth the form of an hand.” And Christ in vision takes Ezekiel by a lock of his hair, and then Ezekiel tells us, “the spirit lifted me up;” and this Spirit is Christ. The Holy Spirit who comes to us is Christ, and not a third Being as the trinity teaches. Paul confirms that Christ, our Lord is the Spirit. “Now the Lord is that Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17). And Christ is the Spirit that is inspiring Ezekiel here, Ezekiel is in vision, and he is carried all the way to Jerusalem, and he is brought particularly to the temple, and in this vision he comes to the North gate.
There at the North, he sees the image of jealousy, and it provokes to jealousy. What provokes God to jealousy? He said that very plainly in Exodus 34:14 “For thou shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” He says also in Deuteronomy 32:21 “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not of God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” The worship of false gods provokes God to jealousy. Ezekiel sees this image of jealousy that provokes to jealousy, this false god.
Ezekiel 8:4-5: 4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. 5 Then Said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
The image of jealousy is mentioned again; Christ wanted to make sure that Ezekiel pays careful attention to what is happening. And Ezekiel says, he lifts up his eyes and he beholds there at the gate of the altar, this image of jealousy.
In the very area where there is the true worship of God, at the alter, at the symbol that signify the Lamb of God, where the priest has jurisdiction, in that very place is set up this image that provokes to jealousy. And it says this is right there in the entry; just as people are coming in to worship the true God they are met with this false god. As people seek membership into the church, they are confronted with worship of false gods. The alter signify jurisdiction of priests, which means the spiritual leaders have a responsibility in this false worship. This is a vision of the church just before the close of probation, it is not history, it is something that is happening now, and Christ is revealing that to Ezekiel for us.
Psalm 81:9 tells us plainly, “There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.” This instruction is violated right here in this vision that we see Ezekiel is beholding. Christ saw that there was great danger for His church in the last days, that He has made sure that Ezekiel records this for us today. The vision in Ezekiel is written for God’s people who are preparing for the sealing.
The Lord asks a question in Jeremiah 2:11 “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” It is a very sad verse. It is like God is saying, “look at the Babylonians, have they changed their gods? The Babylonians, who are worshipping a false god are consistent. They always worship their gods. Look at the Assyrians, have they changed their gods? Look at the Philistines, they do not change their gods. All these are worshipping false gods. But my people who are worshipping the true God, unfortunately, they have changed, and they have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” Of course when it says here, their glory, God is the glory of His people; Ezekiel is seeing God’s people in idolatry, in the vision that Christ is revealing to us.
Ezekiel 8:6: He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shall see greater abominations.
Christ wants to make sure Ezekiel did not miss anything. Christ calls what is happening, Greater Abominations. To sigh and to cry for the abominations is a qualification if you want to be sealed. The purpose of these abominations is to drive Christ from His sanctuary. The church has this false worship that drives Christ away from His sanctuary. Christ is also eventually driven away from the sanctuary of the heart.
Ezekiel 8: 7: And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
Ezekiel is brought to the door of the court. When God instructed Moses to build the temple, there was only one entrance into the court. In the wilderness sanctuary, you could only access the court from one door. There was no other way, and there were no holes in the wall. But Ezekiel, as he came to the door, he looked and saw a hole in the wall.
The door represents Christ, for John 10:9 says, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” But besides the door, Ezekiel notices there is actually another, a hole. As the door represents Christ, the hole must also represent something.
Ezekiel 8:8: Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the Wall: and when I had digged in the Wall, behold a door.
Ezekiel sees this hole, Christ tells him, “Start digging.” He starts digging in the hole, the hole gets bigger, and suddenly in front of him he sees this other door. An alternative door that is secret, that needs to be uncovered. The question is do we go through the true door, Jesus, or the mystery door?
Ezekiel 8:9-10: 9 And he said unto me, Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. 10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
Ezekiel finds the secret door and behind the secret door he sees this idol worship and every creeping thing that is portrayed on the walls inside this secret door that you have to uncover. Here we have false worship that is not easily seen and needs to be uncovered. And this false secret worship takes place behind this alternative door, an alternative mediator. The true door is Christ; He is the only Mediator.
Remember that idolatry begins in the heart. Ezekiel says so in Ezekiel 14:3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?” What Ezekiel sees here is a picture of the church and also is a picture of what is happening in the minds of church members, that there is confusion over worship in the church, and in the mind of church members, just before the close of probation. Idolatry begins in the heart, begins in the mind, and a false understanding or conception of God is idolatry.
“Are we worshippers of Jehovah, or of Baal? Of the living God, or of idols?” {5T 173.3} “No outward shrines may be visible; there may be no image for the eye to rest upon, yet we may be practicing idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false conception of God and his attributes. They are as verily serving a false god as were the servants of Baal. Are we worshipping the true God as He is revealed in His word, in Christ, in nature, or are we adoring some philosophical idol enshrined in His place?” {5T 173.4}
The true God is the Father (John 17:3), and we see it here very clearly that it is the Father who is revealed in His word, in Christ, and in nature. Are we worshipping mysterious gods that we cannot find in the Bible or do we hold beliefs in false conception of God or are we worshipping something else, which she called a philosophical idol enshrined in His place. This philosophical idol is the inexplicable trinity concept that was after the death of our leading pioneers enshrined in our Fundamental Beliefs. This is what Ezekiel is seeing in vision.
Ezekiel 8:11: And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the Son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
The ancient men here are the spiritual leaders of the church. And Ezekiel sees them offering up a thick cloud of incense. Incense represents prayers. The spiritual leaders of God’s people are seen in the secret worship and prayer to these false gods. All this is taking place in the dark, behind a secret door that Ezekiel had to dig, that he had to uncover.
Ezekiel 8:12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
There is anguish here in the words of Christ. This anguish in His voice, in His heart is anguish over His people today.
Ezekiel 8:13-14: 13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
It is getting worse. Ezekiel now sees women weeping for Tammuz. These women were actually weeping in a lewd and idolatrous manner. Women represent the church. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Ezekiel sees the people of the church, the members, are now also involved in this idolatrous, adulterous worship.
This weeping in a lewd manner is spiritual adultery. In Judges 2:17 we are told, “And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.” That is what spiritual adultery is, and it provokes God to jealousy.
The ancient men, the leaders started this false worship, then the laity got involved in what the Bible calls “a whoring after other gods,” just before the close of probation. Unless we understand the abominations, and sigh and cry for them, we will not receive the seal that is placed upon the forehead.
All this false worship, all this idolatry is taking place in the temple, at the north gate. Satan is interested in setting his throne at the north gate. His motive is to deceive God’s people and he causes this whole deception to occur and he sets up this situation at the north gate. Why the north? In Isaiah 14, Satan wanted to put his throne to the North side.
Isaiah 14:12-14: 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Satan has had his eyes on the north side, because that is where God has His throne, and that is where Satan desires to be. When God told Moses to build the sanctuary, He told him to build it after a specific pattern, and in that sanctuary we find something interesting on the north side, and that is of significance for us, because it helps us understand the situation a little better. In Exodus 26:35, Moses is told, “And thou shalt set the table without the veil, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.”
Here the reference is of course to the table of shewbread. In the sanctuary, in the holy place, the location of the items was of significance. Moses was instructed to put the table of shewbread to the north. The table of shewbread represents what is on the north side, and this is where Satan wanted to sit. Let us see what else Moses is told in Exodus 25:23-25.
Exodus 25:23-25: 23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.
This table of shewbread had around it a double crown (verses 24 and 25). A crown represents a king. A king wears a crown, and this table of shewbread has not one crown, but two, a double crown. That is of significance. On the table of shewbread, of course, they put the shewbread, that is what the table was for. Notice the instruction given in Leviticus.
Leviticus 24:5-6: 5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.
On this table of shewbread, which was on the North side, which had a double crown, they were to put twelve loafs of bread and they were to stack them in two piles. So the two piles would have 6 loaves each. The bread represents Jesus. John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.” And Jesus also said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). The table of shewbread signified the throne where God and His Son sat. Jesus sits on the throne with His Father; He says in Revelation 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.”
On the table of shewbread there were only two piles of bread. It signifies that only two individuals, not three, occupy the throne in heaven. The third one who failed to occupy it was the one that said, “I will be like the Most High, and I want to put my throne on the sides of the north as well.” Because there are two divine Beings on the throne, there was a double crown around the table, and this was on the north side. So the Devil has this attraction to the north. He has a problem with the north; He wants to sit on the sides of the north.
That there are two occupants to the throne, we are told, “The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both” {PP 36.2} This is the meeting where God had all the angels come and He sat His Son and He told them about the true position of the Son. This was before Satan was cast out of heaven. The Father and the Son are the only two occupants to the throne.
It is alarming what Satan wanted to do, if we were to illustrate it, on the table of shewbread, with these two piles of six loaves each, and the Bible tells us that Satan said, “I want to sit, I want to put my throne also on the sides of the north,” so if we were to add Satan’s throne theoretically, because we cannot accomplish that, we would have now three piles of six loaves each. Now all of a sudden that number translates into a false worship recorded in Revelation 13. Satan attempted to do this physically in heaven, but he failed, and through the trinity he is making his throne in the minds of God’s people.
Ezekiel is looking at this and Jesus is telling him, “Ezekiel, are you seeing what is happening among my people? Make sure you take note of that.” In regard to the occupancy of the throne, we are told the following in the book Early Writings:
“I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, ‘If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist’” {EW 54.2}
Clearly, on the throne there are two occupants, not three, and on that throne sat the Father and the Son. Now we note the rest of the narrative in Early Writings, we find something described, in vision, Ellen White is shown people praying, and Christ gets up and moves into the Most Holy Place. The Father goes in first and then Christ gets up to follow and then the people pray to God and it tells us here what they pray:
“My Father, give us Thy Spirit. Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy and peace” {EW 55.1}
“I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared, to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us Thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy and peace. Satan's object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and deceive God’s children” {EW 56.1}
It is always Satan’s purpose to try and occupy the place of Christ. And when people do not realise that, they will come to a place where they will pray to God, and Satan will answer their prayers. If you notice the two prayers, it is shocking! The first group pray and they say, “Father gives us Thy spirit,” and Jesus answered. The second group pray and they say, “Father give us Thy Spirit,” and Satan answered. It is exactly the same prayer. It is shocking that you can pray the right words, and have Satan answer your prayer!
Ezekiel saw women weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was the son of Nimrod and Semiramis, so did Semiramis wanted people to believe, because when Nimrod died she said he went up to the sun and she became pregnant and it obviously was not Nimrod’s so she came up with a story that a ray of the sun came into her belly, and this child is really Nimrod’s returned, or a reincarnation of the sun god or the son of god, and that is really who Tammuz was; born on 25th December.
Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz were worshipped as the first trinity gods. It is from Babylon that the concept of three gods, as the sun god, travelled everywhere. In Egypt there was Osiris, Horus, and Isis or Ra; in Greece there was Zeus, Apollo, and Athena; in India was Braham, Vishnu and Shiva; in Rome was Jupiter, Mars and Venus. “In the unity of that one god of the Babylonians, there were three persons, and to symbolise that doctrine of the Trinity, they employed the equilateral triangle, just as it is well known the Romish Church does at this day” (The Two Babylons, 1858, p 10).
Ezekiel saw that women, church members were involved in the worship that had to do with Tammuz, and Tammuz has to do with the trinity gods in the church, just before the close of probation. Jesus is showing to Ezekiel what is taking place; but it is sad when people say, “you know what, this talking about this trinity business, it is a side issue.” Ezekiel says, only those who recognise these abominations and sigh and cry, are they that will receive the mark or seal of God.
Ezekiel 8:15-16: (15) Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? [Jesus does not want Ezekiel to miss anything. He keeps asking him that question] turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that these. (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, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Ezekiel sees the members of the church involved in this false worship that has to do with the trinity; it has to do with Tammuz. It gets worse that the ancient men, the leaders, are now between the porch and the altar, no longer behind a secret door, out in the courtyard, and have turned their backs to the temple of God, and are worshipping the sun toward the east. That means that these leaders at one point knew and understood the true God, but now they are making a choice to turn their backs to Him and worship the sun. Ezekiel is seeing that there is going to be sun worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, just before the close of probation.
In the Old Testament, the gate of the temple was always on the east side, so that when you were coming into the temple you had your back to the sun, and you worship God towards the west. The pagans worshipped towards the east because they worshipped the sun, they were sun worshippers. These leaders, Ezekiel saw them right there in the court, they turned their backs to God and they worshipped the sun toward the east, toward the sun rising. They have worshipped a sun god, trinity; they now worship on a sun day.
Christ takes Ezekiel on this progressive abomination that is getting worse and worse. First, he is at the gate and does not see anyone there. Second, he sees the secret trinity worship brought in by the leaders that he had to uncover. Third, that secret worship gets bad enough that it spills over and it affects the laity. Fourth, it gets to such a bad point that the leaders can now publicly come out before the people and openly, worship the sun towards the east, from trinity to Sunday worship. Sunday Law will reveal these men as tares.
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way” (Matthew 13:25). And, “While the Lord brings into the church those who are truly converted, Satan at the same time brings persons who are not converted into its fellowship. While Christ is sowing the good seed, Satan is sowing the tares” (TM 46.1). While we do not uproot tares, we must not follow their sun god worship.
Sun god worship is really trinity worship. Babylonian sun god worship was the worship of the three-in-one and one-in-three god, because they thought these three phases would be very fit symbols for Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz. It is all one sun with three stages, three-in-one and one-in-three, that is the history of the three-in-one god; it is the trinity gods.
God is not happy about this particular kind of worship in any way shape or form. Numbers 33:52 says, “Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places.”
Today we have the same pictures still alive and well. It is all rooted in sun worship and the sun god represented by Sunday worship. Do you ever wonder why Rome keeps Sunday? Here is one reason, because: “It is a day dedicated by the apostles to the honor of the most Holy Trinity” (Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, April 4, 1854).
Remember, the trinity is which god? It is the sun god. Rome claims Sunday worship was dedicated by the apostles. But the apostles had nothing to do with any trinity. In effect, they say, “we keep Sunday because it has to do with the trinity. We keep Sunday because that was the day that we worshipped the sun god.” And the sun god is the trinity god.
This sun god, the trinity god, provokes jealousy to the true God, the God who created the sun. Ezekiel saw this in God’s own Church. And it has to do with what we believe in our hearts, in our minds, having “false conception of God and his attributes.” The trinity doctrine only came into our Church after the death of our leading Adventist pioneers.
Lest we forget, we do well to remember our church history, that our pioneers rejected the trinity and did not include the trinity in our historical Fundamental Principles (last stated in Review and Herald, 22 August 1912, Par 4), and our trinity Fundamental Belief is a result of accounting as error our historical Fundamental Principles in fulfilment of the prophecy that our church would apostatise: “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith... Were this reformation to take place, what would result? ... The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error” (Selected Messages, Volume 1, p. 204 (1904)). This image of jealousy is at the very entry of the Church, in the Fundamental Beliefs, and people seeking membership are confronted with this image of jealousy that Ezekiel saw right there at the entry.
There is a trinity book published by our church, authored by Woodrow Wilson Whidden, Jerry Moon, and John W Reeve, The Trinity: Understanding God’s Love, His Plan of Salvation, and Christian relationships (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2002). In that Trinity book, it says,
“The oneness in nature and character of the three persons of the Godhead, raises the very useful question of prayer, praise and worship…. [That is the issue today; And then it asks the question:] But what about direct prayer to the Holy Spirit? [Good question; Here is the answer:] While we have no clear example of or direct command to pray to the Spirit in Scripture, doing so does have, in principle, some implicit Biblical support… it only seems logical that God’s people can pray directly to and worship the Holy Spirit” (pp. 272-273).
Ezekiel saw these ancient men, leaders or theologians, worshipping the image of jealousy. And these leaders’ understanding of the Holy Spirit here is that it is a different individual than the Father and the Son. It is a third one who has his own mystery throne. This is what is recommended by the theologians and the leaders to God’s people. They are saying, we feel that it is logical and sensible and biblical to worship and to pray to the Holy Spirit. They just told you there, “we do not have an example in Scripture and we do not have an instruction in the Scripture, but we think it is biblical.” That is a contradiction. That is adding to Scripture.
These ancient men are saying, “while we have no example, and we have no instruction to do that in the Bible, but we think that doing that is biblical.” That does not make sense. You have to be a theologian to reason this way, to say that “this is not in the Bible, but we think it is biblical.” This is the tragedy that we have among us today, a result of believing in the trinity. And this is recommended to God’s people, and this is actually obeyed by many of God’s people. Who else prays to the Holy Spirit? We read what Rome says:
“Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of Father is one, the Son’s is another, the Holy Spirit is another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal” (Athanasian Creed: DS 75, ND 16, Traditional Catechism of the Catholic Church 2013, p 81).
But we already found in the Bible earlier that the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ Himself (2 Cor 3:17). It is not another. But Rome says they worship three in one and one in three, and the spirit is another. This is the same doctrine, image of jealous, creating another god out of the Spirit of God, which our theologians, the ancient men, have brought in our church.
Remember we read earlier that some people prayed to God and Satan answered. What we read in Ezekiel is what Satan wants to do through that system of praying to this third individual. And that is what has been recommended to God’s people to do; to pray to the Holy Spirit as someone else. Actually, in the book they are saying, if you want forgiveness you go and pray to Jesus; if you want the gifts of the spirit and power to overcome you go pray to the Holy Spirit; and if you want comfort they are saying, go and pray to the Father.
That is how it works if you believe in the trinity. These theologians and the church believe so because they are enslaved to this idea that they have accepted as truth, the idea that the god they worship is one-in-three and three-in-one. Sunday Law is coming soon, as surely prophesy says, but before Sunday Law comes, the sun god is already here, and we do not have to wait for Sunday Law in order for it to be an abomination, it is already here. This is why we are told the following in Review and Herald, March 18, 1884:
“The Lord has a controversy with his professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in responsible positions will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. They will not only ignore and despised the Sabbath themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying beneath the rubbish of custom and tradition. In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week.” Apostate ministers will urge for Sunday worship!
As they are already worshipping the sun god it is only logical to worship on the sun day. If you wait to see open sun day worship to wake up, you will not be sealed, for only those who now sigh and cry for abominations in church are sealed.
Ezekiel 8:17: Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
This proverbial expression refers to an insolent, who will not be corrected, who continue to worship his trinity gods until God says, he “is joined to idols: let him alone” (Hosea 4:17).
Ezekiel 8:18: Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Christ normally says, “Ask, and it will be given you” (Matthew 7:7), but here He says, “Ezekiel, listen, this situation will drive me from my sanctuary to the point that when they cry in my ear with a loud voice, I will no longer hear.” This is because the worship has been so perverted that people have a false conception of God, and their prayers are actually going somewhere else. We have no excuse when Christ through Ezekiel has revealed this idolatry to us. The fact that this is written here signifies that we need to take note of that.
That ends Ezekiel chapter eight, we have the background; chapter nine will make perfect sense now that we understood what is happening. We are reminded in 1 Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” The professed house of God today is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Ezekiel 9:1: He cried also in my 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.
The last thing that we see happening corporately in the church is open public sun worship. The next thing that we see is destruction. There are individuals who can sigh and cry and receive the seal, but the structure does not recover.
Ezekiel 9:2-6: 2 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 he went in and stood beside the brazen altar. 3 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; 4 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. 5 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: 6 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.
The north is where the deception is, and the north is where the destruction comes from. Note and understand: only those who sigh and cry for the abominations are spared.
Ezekiel 9:7-8: 7 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. 8 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?
To Ezekiel, the picture was so grim that he collapsed, and he said, Lord, there is no one left Lord, are you going to destroy everyone? Those who were sealed were so few, that it seemed to Ezekiel that everyone would be destroyed. It is the abominations, the image of jealousy, trinity gods, that provokes the jealousy of the true God, that cause destruction.
Ezekiel 9:9-10: 9 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. 10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
It is a serious thing to know the true God and then turn to the worship of the sun. The trinity worship drives Christ from His sanctuary, from the heart. Christ cannot live in us while we have a false conception of God, thinking He is a trinity. The theology that says Christ is up there in heaven, and He has sent someone else, the third individual of the trinity gods, that theology comes from the sun worship of Babylon.
Ezekiel 9:11: And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
There was only one person to do the sealing, and there were five there destroying, but the man who had the inkhorn, he came back really quick and he said, “I have done the job.” It is the close of probation, and not many were sealed. There were not too many in the days of Christ who accepted Christ.
Most people reading this message will probably walk away, because it sounds unbelievable, but prophecy cannot be broken, Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus showed it to Ezekiel, and this is not yet to happen, this has happened. The next thing is the close of probation. Let us share the appeal in this booklet with fellow Seventh-day Adventists so that whoever repents may be among those who sigh and cry for the abominations, if by any means some might be saved.