Lesson 9: “In the Psalms: Part 2”
COLLEEN TINKER | Editor, Proclamation! Magazine
Central problem with this lesson:
The author uses the Psalms to bolster the great controversy worldview, as Thursday’s lesson demonstrates by appropriating Psalm 67 to describe Adventists preaching the Three Angels’ Messages of Revelation 14.
When we left Adventism, I had to learn how to read the Bible properly. I had never understood what it meant to read books of Scripture in context, but learning to study inductively, using the normal rules of context, grammar, and vocabulary, changed the way I understand reality.
Adventism taught us to make intellectual leaps of logic and word associations to support our Adventist worldview, and the resulting mirage in which Adventists live blinds them to actual reality. In this week’s lesson, Thursday’s study most clearly exposes this illegitimate appropriation of texts to support the false doctrines of a false prophet. Ellen White, whether individual Adventists admit it or not, supplies the framework, the grid through which Adventists understand Scripture. Her great controversy paradigm which includes pre-history and details about Satan and his supposed fight with Jesus is nowhere found in the Bible. Further, the investigative judgment and all it implies regarding Jesus’ two-phased atonement, the perpetuity of the law, the physical nature of man, Jesus our exemplar, the thri-theistic godhead, the eternal mandate to honor the seventh day, and Satan as the scapegoat who finally bears the sins of the saved into the lake of fire where he is punished for them—all of these heretical ideas flow from Adventism’s prophetic guide: Ellen White.
All Adventists share this great controversy worldview. They all believe that man has no immaterial spirit that survives the death of the body. They all believe that the law is eternal and is the transcript of God’s character. They all believe that the Sabbath is eternal, that God Himself honors it, and they all believe that Satan is the scapegoat who will finally be punished for the sins of the saved. Over all of these existential beliefs, Adventists all hold Ellen White to be important at some level. Some believe she is their prophet, others believe she was an inspired devotional writer who points them to Jesus, but all of them believe she was sent by God for their encouragement and for biblical insight.
Because this worldview is assumed when Adventists write internally to Adventists, it is often hard to show how wrong their statements and assumptions are. This week, though the juxtaposition of Psalm 67 with Revelation 14:6–12 provides an excellent window into the Adventist worldview and its illegitimate claims.
Nanotube technology and the cross
The opening question on Thursday’s lesson reveals the skew that anchors Adventists to their heretical beliefs. Here is the question:
Read Psalm 67. How does this hymn of praise inform your understanding of the role of God’s people in Revelation 14:6–12?
Psalm 67 has nothing at all to do with Revelation 14, as we shall see. Yet even before we deal with this question, we must look at the way the lesson opens following this confusing question. We shall see that the author leads with a reference to a phenomenon of physics and then, without explaining how it relates or exactly what he means, he moves to apply this phenomenon of physics to Christ and the cross. Here are the opening two paragraphs:
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a new black coating that renders objects painted with it nearly invisible. Created from nanotubes, it is many times darker than any black material previously created. This new material can absorb 99.995 percent of all visible light. Even the brightest light fails to make objects covered in this coating visible.
Psalm 67 begins with an appeal for God to “cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth” (Ps. 67:1, 2, NKJV). In the plan of salvation, God has provided a way for sinners to be readmitted to His immediate, glorious presence without being destroyed by His glory; and even now, in this life, the cross of Christ makes it possible for God’s face to shine on us.
From my perspective as a writer and editor, these two paragraphs are confusing and unrelated. If I received a manuscript written like this, I would have to rewrite it to make sense. How do the physics of nanotubes absorbing light relate to sinners being shut out from God’s “glorious presence”? How is this light absorption related to God’s face shining and making His way known on earth? And, perhaps most importantly, how does the cross of Christ make “it possible for God’s face to shine one us”?
From an Adventist perspective, the cross is not the place where atonement was completed and all heaven and earth were reconciled to God in Christ. From an Adventist perspective, the cross demonstrates God’s love in that He was willing to go to such horrendous lengths to show us He loved us. He was willing to send His Son to die without complaint, never lashing out or protecting Himself but allowing evil to work its worst on Him. Somehow, this extreme self-abnegation and suffering allows God to shine through to the world.
As I read these paragraphs I found myself confused as to what the author actually was saying. I read them to my husband who articulated to me the illegitimate equation of nanotube technology with the cross of Christ.
What did shut us out from God’s glory? What did the cross do? And what do those nanotubes really represent?
There is no explanation of these mixed metaphors.
There is a reason, though, that Adventism cannot explain the problem of our being separated from God. The great controversy worldview denies that we have immaterial spirits that are born dead in sin, separated from the life of God.
Spiritual death separates us from God
If Scripture were actually believed and taught, it would be clear that human sin is the result of Adam’s unbelief and of our collective spiritual death in Adam. We cannot be restored to God’s presence apart from our sin being fully atoned—and atonement requires sinless human blood being shed for us.
We cannot work to be restored to God; we have to be rescued! We have to be made new, given new spirits, new life—and we have to have a new head of our race. Adam has bequeathed death to us; we need Jesus to be our new head—the new Adam who gives life and a new identity to those of us who are made new through faith in Him!
Look at how Paul describes the Lord Jesus bringing about this transformation in us:
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be appointed righteous.—Romans 5:17–19 LSB
And look also at this passage:
He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.—2 Corinthians 5:21 LSB
We see just from these two brief Bible passages that what separated us from God was our sin. We were condemned in Adam; we were dead spiritually. Without the life of God in us, we are unable to be in relationship with Him. We had to have a way for our sin to be removed from us permanently and justly in order to be brought into relationship with Him.
Furthermore, being in relationship with Him is not just our determination to pray and read the Bible and obey the law. Relationship with God requires our sin being permanently REMOVED and our dead spirits being brought to life.
The Lord Jesus became sin for us and took God’s full wrath for sin in Himself in order to justly pay for our sin and to remove it from us. When we believe and trust His full atonement for sin on the cross, He literally imputes to us His own personal righteousness.
When we believe, we experience the “great exchange”. The Lord Jesus became sin for us, took God’s wrath for us, died our death—and then He broke our curse of death on the third day. When we believe, He imputes to us His own righteousness!
What about Psalm 67 and Revelation 14?
Thursday’s lesson goes on to show even more fully Adventism’s lack of understanding our spiritual death and what that means.
The author attempts to transition from nanotubes and the cross of Christ making “it possible for God’s face to shine on us” by commenting that Israel was supposed to reflect God’s light to the world. The temple, the author says, was supposed to be “a house of prayer for all nations”, citing Isaiah 56:7. Then he refers again to Psalm 67 and says this:
In this psalm, David reminds us that God wants His “way [to] be known on earth, [His] salvation among all nations” (Ps. 67:2, NKJV). Tragically, God’s people have often failed in this task. Israel’s record in the Old Testament contains some dark chapters, as does the record of the Christian church during the past two millennia. It is as if we have painted our hearts with an ultra-dark substance, content to absorb God’s light without reflecting it.
In this paragraph we see that author Shawn Boonstra—representing the Adventist worldview—has no concept of the true nature of the natural darkness of the human heart. First we must note that he assumes that Adventists represent the Christian church and also in some way reflect Israel’s “record in the Old Testament”. Yet, as we have previously explained, Adventism is not Christian. It does not teach that the Lord Jesus literally became, by imputation, our sin, that He took God’s full wrath for sin, nor that the atonement was fully completed at the cross.
Adventism teaches that the atonement continues in the investigative judgment supposedly going on in heaven now. There Jesus supposedly continues to apply His blood to the sins of professed believers when they remember to confess them. He’s waiting for His people to perfectly reflect His character as He evaluates every sin, pardoning only those people who remember to confess. The cross, in the Adventist worldview, is only a down-payment, a gateway to the possibility of being saved. It was not a complete atonement for sin.
Adventism simply has no concept of what Jesus actually did or accomplished on the cross!
Further, the quote above shows that Adventism has no idea that our natural spiritual death—our being “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) places us outside of God’s presence. We have not spread our hearts with sin nor any “ultra-dark substance” that absorbs the light of God without reflecting it.
No! When we are in our natural state, spiritually dead, we are not receiving God’s spiritual gifts. We are not a “black hole” into which God pours His blessings but we refuse to share them. In truth, we are unable to participate in God’s salvational blessings. We do receive His general grace—the general gifts of living bodies, food, rain, and sunshine, but we are literally unable to access His salvation or His spiritual blessings.
We have to be literally found and drawn by the Father to the Lord Jesus. It is DEATH in our spirits that must corrected, not a black, absorbent selfishness that refuses to share! We have to be made alive and able to receive and experience God’s salvation and His blessings!
Now we move to the egregious juxtaposition of Psalm 67 to Revelation 14! The final paragraph in Thursday’s lesson says this:
Sometimes, we treat God’s last-day movement as a kind of privileged departure lounge reserved for spiritual frequent flyers, and we seem quite content that the rest of the world must sit in the noisy, uncomfortable gate lounge, unprepared for the journey ahead. The remnant church of Revelation 14, however, is not content just to stand on Zion with Christ, basking in His presence. Instead, they fly across the face of the earth, urging the world to join them on God’s holy mountain.
The opening question asked how the praise in Psalm 67 informed one’s understanding of the role of God’s people in Revelation 14:6–12. The most obvious answer is this: there is no relationship; God’s people are not even mentioned in Revelation 14:6–12! Yet this passage from Revelation is claimed by Adventism as their central “Three Angels’ Messages”, what Ellen White called their “gospel in verity”! Here is Revelation 14:6–12:
Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “FALLEN, FALLEN IS BABYLON THE GREAT, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.—Revelation 14:6–12 LSB
This passage, in context, occurs during the tribulation which is to come upon the earth. Read in context, there is NO HINT in this passage that the angels are symbolic of people! John literally saw these angels flying in heaven during the dreadful days of tribulation, and these angels literally call the earth to remember the one true God! They call the earth to worship God and to come out of Babylon which is about to fall and be destroyed. They call people everywhere to worship God and to avoid receiving the mark of the beast—a mark which is NEVER identified but which is clearly placed only on those who refuse to worship and honor the one true God.
Yet Adventists say these three angels represent THEM. They are the last-day messengers to the world commissioned (through the visions of Ellen White) to teach seventh-day Sabbatarianism, to teach that the investigative judgment has begun, and to call Christians everywhere OUT of Christian churches that worship on Sunday. Moreover, they claim they are commissioned to tell the world that, when the Lord Jesus finally returns, those worshiping on Sunday will receive the “mark of the beast”: their actual Sunday-keeping will be their dreaded mark!
Remnant is not basking in His presence
Even more, the lesson paragraph quoted above calls Adventists not to be contented with sitting comfortably in their “truth”. They are to feel driven to get out of their cushy waiting room, happily keeping their Sabbath which they know is the mark that separates them from the lost, and instead, they are to go out into the earth, “urging the world to join them on God’s holy mountain”!
Adventism is NOT on God’s holy mountain. Adventism does not teach the biblical gospel of the complete and finished atonement of the Lord Jesus on His cross. It does not teach humanity’s natural spiritual death nor their condition as condemned by nature. Adventism has no gospel to share with the world!
What Adventism does share with the world is a deception. It is an attractive lifestyle with weekly “days off”, a health message that promises an extra seven years if one avoids meat—a claim which, importantly, is to scientifically untrue. Adventism shares a message that binds adherents to guilt and legalisms which, over time, they realize they cannot observe consistently. The anxiety and shame that drives Adventists is an increasingly harsh taskmaster, and many Adventists ultimately spiral into mental health issues or spin into agnosticism or outright atheism.
Adventism does not mirror the joy and praise reflected in Psalm 67. Yet this lesson falsely appropriates the joy and worship reflected in this psalm and applies it to the proper attitude of the Adventists who equate themselves with the work of the angels of Revelation 14!
Nothing could be further from the truth. Context simply does not allow Adventism to identify legitimately with the three angels and their messages. The gospel the angels proclaim is a different gospel than Adventism proclaims—and the Adventists are not doing the work of God’s tribulation angels!
Beyond their misuse of Revelation 14, the psalmist’s joy and praise of Yahweh is nowhere reflected in Adventism. Adventism rejoices in its own special identity defined by Ellen White’s description of their being God’s last day remnant church, but this identity is entirely assumed. It is extra-biblical. Adventism is nowhere described in the Bible—except, perhaps, in Paul’s warnings in Colossians 2:18–21:
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, going into detail about [visions] he has seen, being puffed up for nothing by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees: “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”?—Colossians 2:18–21 LSB
Adventism is a false religion with a false prophet and a false gospel. I appeal to anyone watching or reading this who may have an Adventist background to ask the Lord to show you what is real and true. Ask Him to remove your Ellen White, great controversy filter that interprets all reality to you, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
Open your Bible and ask the Lord to show you how to read and understand it in context. Get a notebook, and begin—perhaps with the book of Colossians—to copy the book, a few verses at a time, into that notebook, asking the Lord to reveal to you what He wants you to know.
If you have never faced the fact that you are by nature dead in sin and in need of a Savior, go to the Lord Jesus now. Confess your sin, your anxiety, your inability to please Him, and ask Him to be your Savior. Believe that He died for your sin and fully atoned for it. Believe that He was buried and that on the third day He rose from death and shattered your death sentence into which you were born.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved! You will be released from identifying with those tribulation angels, and you will be hidden with Christ in God. He will bring your dead spirit to life, and He will transfer you into the kingdom of His beloved Son. Believe today—and live! †
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