Introduction

The Seventh-day Adventist movement emerged from the Millerite disappointment that, with profoundly messianic characteristics, announced a spectacular eschatological fulfillment for 1843-1844: Jesus would return to the Earth. Despite being wrong about the eschatological event predicted in Daniel 8:14, William Miller and his followers were inheriting a treasure of gradually elaborated prophetic studies from the time of the early church.¹

Today we have the biblical understanding that the Seventh-day Adventist Church emerged as an eschatological movement not only at the right time, but with the proper name and the appropriate prophetic message, which is proclaimed in our days (Rev. 10.11; 12.17, 14.6-12).² As part of the remnant of God, this movement is identified by its historical performance in the period of the last of the churches described in Revelation (3.14-22). In addition, we are witnesses of the prophetic manifestation granted to the church by Ellen G. White.³

Thus, by virtue of this peculiar understanding of the prophetic reality, it is not surprising that we venture to say that we have a fairly well defined eschatology, unlike any other Christian traditions that do not have the same perception of the "signs of the times".

Now, there has been a constant and correct concern, on the part of the leadership and members of the church, with the eschatological theme, in the attempt to find a balance between the sense of urgency, the need for preparation and the reality of the delay of the parousía.⁴ Much more time has been devoted in Adventist literature to studies of the end times, than to any other theological subject. The sequences of biblical studies and series of evangelizations efforts have been elaborated under this eschatological perspective. Speaking, singing and hearing about the "end of the world" and the soon return of Jesus always causes an exciting and positive fascination in our churches. Without fear of being wrong, eschatology is an important identifying mark of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.⁵

Unfortunately, in the desire for a more defined understanding of the truth and even in the sincerity and spontaneity of the individual search, there have been some slips, distractions and even deviations from the eschatological focus proposed by the Bible, which have generated polarizations and radicalisms. We even have to consider the uncertain nature of the future, which prevents a categorical denial of certain eschatological proposals; We cannot prove that something will not happen.⁶

Next, we will describe some "drifts" of which we could be susceptible.

Exaggerated emphasis and extreme attitudes

There is nothing wrong in worrying about knowing the details of how the final events of this divine plan will occur, especially for those of us who are living at the end of the end time (see Acts 2.17, 1 Pet 1.20, 2 Pet 3.7-13, 1 Co 10.11, He 10.37). However, due to the conditionality of our existence and the possibility of unexpected loss of life, we should be attentive to the fact that the determination of the return of Christ, for those facing the sleep of death, may occur long before the historical outcome of life. Therefore, the awareness of an individual preparation should be maintained in a constant dialectical tension with the search for an understanding of eschatology. This balance becomes exponentially more evident to the extent that the end of the world, as we know, is really approaching, and when Jesus will surprise us (Mt 24.43-44, 1 Tess 5.2). It is perceived, however, here and there, in articles, books and sermons, an irresponsible neglect to present eschatology in harmonious proportions.

On the other hand, because of the outstanding eschatological content present in the Adventist message, we can be led to consider ourselves superior, precisely because we "know the future better than anyone else". It is something like some, in the Pentecostal church, who judge themselves superior because they believe that they can control the "actions of the Holy Spirit".⁷ Adventists are not immune to the thought that, as connoisseurs of the truth for the present time, they are at a higher level. We have to admit that the prophetic knowledge of the future can lead us to spiritual elitism. That brother or sister who thinks to understand more about "the end", and who always has the "latest information", could be prone to consider himself superior, more holy, becoming the exclusive and unquestionable interpreter of the truth, and that, when questioned about his postures of extravagant and even heretical nature, tends to become the victim, in a psychological escape of self-defense. Unfortunately, as psychologists argue, people will instinctively support whoever shows up as a victim.⁸ And in that way, before the possible followers, the "illuminated futurist" becomes the one executed by the “system”.

In the Adventist context, talking about the future always attracts, fills audiences and, above all, "sells". Do you want to be successful in a week of prayer, vigil or talk? Presents an eschatological theme. However, if the content given by the preacher is found as traditionally presented by the official literature of the church, it might not cause much impact; most likely it does not contain the "most recent news". On the other hand, if the preacher talks about "hot" topics, with secret information obtained from some “YouTube” informant that indicates you see it before they remove the video, then it will have an impact. Incredibly the church can be filled with attentive listeners and the cameras would be focused on the preacher. This amazing psychological element that attracts and seduces by the "latest news", is real in Adventism. Some will fall in the temptation to seek the extraordinary, the spectacular, the fantasy or even the speculative, to feel themselves under the light of the reflectors.

Originality or "new light"

The faithful researcher of the Bible must always be looking for new light.⁹ But the progression in the knowledge of the truth will not deny previously defined truths. There would only be an extension of the original truth and not the substitution of one for another. However, some students of the prophecies insist on slipping radically from traditionally defined patterns. It is not that we are defending here the absence of misunderstandings in the prophetic interpretations of traditional writers as far as issues considered peripheral are concerned. But what is observed is not only a race in the understanding of details, but the reinterpretation of prophetic paradigms.

For example, today the role of the papacy, the prophetic condition of the United States of America and even plagues, have gained completely strange definitions to the traditional eschatological thinking of the church. With this, the prophetic coherence of the Bible and the inspiration of Ellen White are questioned, or put under the prism of positions that escape what would be considered hermeneutically reasonable.

Traditional prophetic definitions are replaced by fanciful ideas and conspiracy theories. Like revealing secrets in a religion of mystery, where the truth is known only by an initiated group that keeps it deliberately hidden. For examples, that the Ark of the Covenant has been recently found, but that it is kept under seven keys to defend the interests of a group. There is speculation about secret meetings between the president of the General Conference and the pope, and that the Sunday law has been signed, and so on. Certain fiction records are also used, which attract the attention of the unwary. So the articulating role of Babylon, traditionally identified with the papacy, is attributed to the Illuminati group, and it is claimed that the throne of Satan is found in the depths of the Atlantic, in the famous Bermuda Triangle.

Some of these eschatological assumptions lead their authors to an irreducible, irrevocable position, which could be defined as syndrome or paranoia.¹⁰ They can hardly be convinced to a change of mind. This situation can be exemplified in extremes such as what happened with the former leader of the Davidian Movement in Waco, Texas, in the United States, "David Koresh." He was the sole possessor of the truths of the seven apocalyptic seals, and he led a significant group of believers into an unhealthy eschatological expectation, which culminated in the death of most of them in the ranch fire. The worst thing is that the eschatological speculation, the unbridled search for novelties, can lead to a kind of vice, something like an "addict" who demands drugs.¹¹

There is always an incalculable risk when mere eschatological assumptions are brought before our churches as a "so says the Lord." It is not unusual to hear that some of these "truths" have induce whole congregations to experience a false revival: the properties are sold, families cracked, jobs abandoned ... Then comes the disappointment, the wound in the church and insensitization of the correct detection of the eschatological moment.¹²

Lack of careful study of truths already defined

The anxiety to present something new, to be the spokesman of the latest news has led students of Adventist eschatology to distance themselves or avoid what is clearly, both in the Bible and in the writings of Ellen G. White. An example of this may be seen in relation to the little importance that in the context of the end, is being given to spiritualism, to the meaning of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, to Sunday's defense of apostate Christianity, to the ecumenical factor decisive in the outcome of the great conflict.¹³

It is preferred, however, to explain how and what will be the action of Russia, of China, or Israel, in the mold of dispensationalist pre-millennialism. It is defined with fanatic intransigence how the King of the North will finally manifest himself. Those are for them the great battles on the strategic board of the end. Why then do we not objectively explore the vast revealed material we already possess through the prophetic gift?

Prophetic definitions from contemporary events

We have to admit that a Christian should always be attentive to the "signs of the times". However, it is necessary to be very careful not to interpret current events as conclusive eschatological realities. A newspaper title can be used, which is usually not an absolutely reliable source, but from there it is determined: this fulfills "such" prophecy. There are famous victims within Adventism who have fallen into this trap, for example, the most illustrious prophetic commentator of the church in the nineteenth century, Uriah Smith. He let himself be influenced by the action of the Ottoman Empire, giving decisive meaning to his understanding of Armageddon as a physical battle.¹⁴

Current events can and certainly offer eschatological clues, which must, nevertheless, be analyzed with great caution. They are like pieces of a puzzle that fit together. They are like bricks in a construction. It is obvious that the approach of the Roman Catholic Church to the Orthodox churches is important as an eschatological fact, but it should not be interpreted as decisive. Is it not, perhaps, that apostate Protestantism was the one that extended its arms to Catholicism?¹⁵

Another example that can be given is the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," signed by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. This document is shown only as an affirmation of their distinctions and not as union of their beliefs. It was a scene destined to have an impact on the media. However, take as a reference a news item from the newspaper or from an internet site about the globalization of the economy, about common markets, about a certain closed-door meeting in the Vatican, making elaborate calculations of the Jubilee years, counting the popes since 1929. These could confirm Revelation 17 and the fulfillment of the prophecy, it seems quite conjectural, not to say speculative.

The determination of dates

As we stated at the beginning, the Seventh-day Adventist movement itself arises from the prophetic millerite ambiguity that finally established the date of October 22, 1844 as the day of Christ's return to Earth. Although the Disappointment finds a prophetic explanation in Revelation 10, more often than we think, and since 1845 there has been serious attempts to determine the "when" of Jesus' return. Here are some examples:

1. James White, still single and under the impact of the disappointment of 1844, writes in a letter addressed to Enoch Jacobs and published in the post-Millerite newspaper The Day Star (September 20, 1845), affirming that Jesus would still return that year. In developing a complex calculation of the year of the prophetic jubilee, he believes that the return of Christ would be the first day of the 7th month (October) of 1845. Biblical arguments that Christ would not return until midnight (Mt 25.6), led many to wait anxiously for the Day of Atonement of 1845. Shortly before the appointed time, Ellen White (still Ellen Harmon) had a vision that Christ would not return before the plagues began to fall and that these had not started. In fact, it was a "new light," because the Millerites understood that the plagues had begun to fall with the fall of papal Babylon during the Reformation.¹⁶

2. Joseph Bates, who had already been seduced by the idea that the Day of Atonement could be, in fact, "a year of atonement" and that Jesus would return in 1845, continued to worry about the date. Moved by the symbolism of Leviticus 16 about the Day of Atonement and the blood of the goat sprinkled seven times in the Holy of Holies, Bates concluded that each sprinkling (Dn 4.25) would mean a year. Thus, Christ would return in 1851. He kept this idea until, sometime that year, Ellen and James White discouraged him while they were waiting for a train on a railway station platform.¹⁷

3. Some among the early Adventists looked themselves like Israel, involved in an exodus to the New Earth. They perceived many similarities between the experience of Israel and that of the remnant. Among them, the establishment of the Law of God and the custody of the Sabbath. They calculated then, from 1844, that Jesus would return after forty years: this would be in 1884. However, that same year, with the launching of the first edition of the book The Great Controversy, spirits quieted down.¹⁸ The young minister Arthur Daniells, who would later become president of the GC for several years at the beginning of the 20th century, came to defend, with mathematical precision, the return of Jesus in October 1884. He understood his mistake and changed his position afterwards to be corrected by Ellen G. White.¹⁹

4. On the other hand, after Minneapolis experience in 1888, the preachers of justification by faith, Ellet J. Wagoner, Alonzo T. Jones, and Ellen G. White, engaged in an extensive program of revival. Everything indicated, to some, that the latter rain was beginning. Unintentionally, the United States Congress was about to vote on a Sunday law presented by Senator Blair. Would they be living, finally, the period before the closing of the door of grace? Faced with this situation, in September 1891, Ellen G. White wrote: "We must not live in excitement about time. We should not be absorbed with speculations about the times and seasons that God has not revealed ... You will not be able to say that He [Jesus] will come in one, two, or five years, nor should you delay His coming, declaring that it will be in ten or twenty years."²⁰

5. One of the most difficult tasks that Ellen G. White said she had faced, was correcting a retired pastor on the deathbed, considered by some to be inspired by God, who through graphics, maps and arguments insisted that Jesus would return in a certain date of 1894. "But," Ellen White pointed out to him, questioning him: "What was the source of your inspiration? It was the morphine that was given to you to relieve the pain."²¹ As many had accepted such ideas, at a field meeting in Lansing, Michigan, she had to speak frankly: "The wonderful light, which she presented was an exhibition of truth as a result of an application of Scripture. The work of the Lord was not to end in 1894."²²

6. When Pastor Stephen N. Haskell, one of the church leaders returned from Australia to the United States in 1899, he said he was stunned as countless of our brothers preached the need for Adventist families to have as many adoptive children as possible. The argument for that "counsel" was based on the idea that only Adventists alive on the occasion of Jesus' return would literally complete the number of 144,000. This would hasten the coming of Jesus, since there were only 75,000 Adventists. Every effort would have to be made to quickly achieve that goal. In response, Ellen White exhorted that there should be no discussion about the 144,000.²³

7. During World War I (1914-1918), one of the issues that aroused interest internally was Armageddon. Many of our evangelists put their hope in a possible battle in Palestine between the allied forces and the Turkish army. When General Allenby's English troops camped in the Valley of Megiddo in 1918, the fulfillment of Daniel 11.45 appeared to be at the doorstep. However, with the end of the war, the mood settled: the Ottomans still controlled Turkey.²⁴

8. Shortly before 1928, the idea of the forty years of pilgrimage resurfaced, but now counted from the Kadesh-Barnea of Minneapolis; the church would be arriving in the promised land in 1928. This was the theme presented by one of the leaders of the General Conference, Meade MacGuire, in a week of spiritual emphasis at Emmanuel Missionary College, today Andrews University.²⁵

9. At the beginning of the 1850s, before a small congregation, Ellen White had a vision indicating that, of those who were present there, some would serve as "food for the worms" and others would be alive when Jesus returned. Three days later, Clarissa Bonfoey, one of those present at the meeting, died of fulminant cancer. This became for many evidence of the nearness of the return of Christ, and that the plagues would begin to fall. But when others present in the vision story, in time also died, the eschatological enthusiasm cooled. However, in the 1930s, the theme of this vision gained new impetus when a newborn who had been in that congregation died. He was the last survivor. Would Jesus be at the doors?²⁶

10. At the same time, some of our churches expected the end in the 1930s, when they considered the text of Matthew 24:34, where Jesus affirms that "this generation will not pass away without all this happening", this added to the knowledge that there were a few still alive, in Yugoslavia and in the United States (the hunzas), who had watched the meteor shower of 1833. The most daring concluded that Christ would certainly return before they all died.²⁷

11. Since the Japanese flag contains a large red circle (the rising sun), during the last years of World War II some came to identify this nation with the kingdom of the East from Revelation 16:12. For them, that was the proof that Armageddon was at the doors.²⁸

12. At the beginning of 1945, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published a cover with a photo with the pointers of a clock indicating a few minutes to midnight. It was the beginning of the nuclear race and the Cold War that could lead to World War III or even the extinction of the human race. This illustration became widely used in our literature as a mark of the nearness of the end. Whom of us did not see it? In some more alarmist circles, the Cold War and the atomic arsenals caused great eschatological expectation.

13. The great interest in many of our churches cannot be overlooked with the approach of the year 1964. Just as Noah had preached for one hundred twenty years and then the flood came, so the church had been proclaiming the angelic messages since 1844. Then, early in 1983, references were made to the fact that 120 years had passed since the organization of the General Conference in May 1863.

14. At the end of the 1960s and with the tireless challenge of the American space program, some claimed that Jesus would return before the human being could set his feet on the Moon; but it happened in 1969.

15. Another "eschatomania"²⁹ which is very frequent in recent years is to "recycle" biblical prophecies related to the long periods of Daniel 12 (1260, 1290, 1335).³⁰ By means of "recalculations", for example making literal the "days" of Daniel 12, it was suggested that the end would come in October 1987, 1991, 1994, 1996 or 1998.

16. These last dates of the decade in the '90s were also mentioned, based on the speculative interpretation of the "six thousand years of sin", to which Ellen G. White had referred to, plus the fact that the final period it would be shortened.³¹

17. Some years ago, Cristian Silva proposed that Yeshúa ha Meshiaj, according to calculations in relation to the Jewish holidays, would return on October 15, 2011, or on October 22... or the 28th.³²

18. And a self-proclaimed Puerto Rican prophetess, saw in dreams the final destruction, the end of the world for May 16, 2016³³ … both turned out to be false prophets.

19. After rethinking the "six thousand years," but counted now from the cross of Christ, we get today the next date: 2030 or 2031.³⁴

We must make it clear, however, that the Seventh-day Adventist Church officially never endorsed the setting of any date for the return of Christ.

Who says that the parousía is closer?

It might seems strange, but there are faithful Christians who are competing with others to be the one who affirms how much sooner we await the return of Jesus. "As if those who believe that He could come in a year will enjoy greater grace than those who suspect that it is more reasonable to think in ten years."³⁵ In addition to the danger of being considered more "holy", those who live under the naive preoccupation of the brevity of the coming of Christ may be more susceptible to the great deception of Satan, who will operate a dramatic and seductive appearance, claiming to be Jesus himself.³⁶

When the tone of an eschatological prediction becomes alarmist, the listeners end up accepting the message by an emotional reflex, or by fear, as happened with the American preacher Jonathan Edwards (1758) and his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". Many "surrendered" to Christ simply by the fear of the terrifying prospect of hell. Could it be that today there are "eschatomaniacs" spreading terror instead of the joy that will be the return of Jesus for the saints?

Each one of us could give examples of talks recorded on audio or video tapes, brochures and internet sites where there is an extreme concentration in the analysis of the signs that shows the imminent return of Jesus. The concern for the fulfillment of these signs tends to become the center of Christian hope. How different our attitude should be! We should focus our faith on redemption and whether or not we are ready to meet the Redeemer. After all, are the signs or Christ the object of our hope?³⁷ Focused only on the signs, spiritual revivals do not lead to reform, the real transformation of lives. The priority is forgotten: the certainty, today, of salvation in Christ. Salvation becomes something exclusively future and the joys of living with Jesus on a daily basis are forgotten or overlooked.

There is no doubt that to know the "signs of the times" has its importance. It is obvious that the concern for the "when" and the "how" of the latest events, is an authentic Christian need (Mt 24.3). However, we should never lose the sense of why we ask, what these signs mean.

The necessary balance between signs and preparation

If there is no balance between the reality of the signs and the reflexive lucidity of their meaning, it ends up annulling and obscuring the central objective of biblical eschatology. In the eschatological sermon of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25 there is evidence of the need for balance in the exposition of biblical eschatology. There should be harmony in the emphasis between the signs of the times and the emphasis on the proper preparation for the parousía. The purpose of the signs indicated by Christ, was not merely to satisfy the curiosity of the disciples regarding the future, but to show how the faithful should live while awaiting the Second Coming. So there is an unavoidable conclusion here: the essential attitude that the Christians must constantly maintain: both preparation and monitoring.

To answer the double question, “When will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the century?,” Jesus presents it in an inverted way: first signs (24.4-44), and then parables (24.45-25.46). Proportionally, the textual space of those parables (52 verses) is greater than the space occupied by the signs of the coming (40 verses). This would reveal that what is illustrated by the parables, in general the preparation has a greater weight of meaning in relation to the signs. Unfortunately, much is said about the events related to the signs and little emphasis is placed on the eschatological parables. These parables indicate that such preparation is not in the future, but today.³⁸

In the first parable, the good and the bad servant (24.45-51), Christ testifies that the delay of the Lord's coming affects the way we relate to each other and the way we treat each other. In the second, the parable of the ten virgins (25.1-13), vigilance means developing and maintaining a kind of relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit, even if His return is not as soon as expected.³⁹

In the third, the parable of the talents (25.14-30), vigilance has a vital connection with the use and development of all the abilities given by God, while waiting for the end. In the last parable, the great judgment (25.31-46), the preparation is verified by treating everyone as if they were Christ himself.

The right interpretation of the signs of the times and the constant careful preparation are the imperatives to regaining focus in Adventist eschatology, and to live expectantly in these last days. "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22.20).