page_title: Three Angels' Messages
section_title: Millerite interpretations
hierarchical_section_title: Three Angels' Messages / Adventist interpretations / Millerite interpretations
caption_attribution_description: English: My photo taken in 2005 of Historic Escondido California SDA Church stained glass window, added aged border.
context_page_description: The "three angels' messages" is an interpretation of the messages given by three angels in Revelation 14:6–12. The Seventh-day Adventist church teaches that these messages are given to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and sees them as a central part of its own mission.
context_section_description: According to the understanding of the Adventist pioneers, the first angel's message occurred during the two decades prior to the spring of 1844. The message of the imminent second coming of Jesus preached by the  Millerite movement then fulfilled the prophecy of the first angel's message.
  The second angel's message was then preached during the (northern-hemisphere) summer of 1844, which was preceded by a significant number of Millerites leaving the movement, and resulted in large numbers of Christians leaving their churches ("Babylon") and joining the Advent movement.
  The third angel's message is based on the idea that the "Seal of God" (Revelation 7:2) is the Sabbath commandment of the decalogue.  Therefore, the "mark of the beast" is the opposite, or the keeping of Sunday as the Sabbath.  Hence the close of the message, "here are they that keep the commandments of God."  It is a point of emphasis among Adventists that the mark of the beast has not yet been given out.
  (The Millerites generally interpreted "Babylon" in the Book of Revelation as the papacy, up through summer 1843. This position aligned with that of most Protestants. Millerite preacher Charles Fitch expanded the idea of "Babylon" to include all Catholics and Protestants who rejected the Adventist teaching. His message was "Come out of her, my people" - based on Revelation 18:2,4 (see also 14:8). This had followed a shift in 1843 when the Millerites received more ridicule, and were increasingly disfellowshipped by their churches. The Millerites came to see themselves as a separate group, increasingly so as many of them experienced disfellowshipping.
  Most of the  eastern leaders did not initially accept Fitch's pronouncements, yet many laypeople did. Eventually and reluctantly Joshua V. Himes came to advocate Fitch's interpretation of the message in autumn 1844.  William Miller himself never affirmed it, despite being disfellowshipped from his church.)
caption: Stained-glass depiction of the Three Angels' Messages
exif: {}