THE SOLEMN ASSEMBLY

(2 SC #9 1936)

 

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of His chamber, and the bride out of her closet.  Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" (Joel 2:15-17.)

 

“Joel's prophecy above quoted must meet its fulfillment in the time when probation's hours are fast closing, for the Word says, "Let the bridegroom go forth of His chamber, and the bride out of her closet."  The term, "let", means to allow it to be so; and as the bridegroom is Christ at the time when He is to be crowned or married to the New Jerusalem--His bride--(Rev. 21:9), this scripture can not meet its fulfillment at any time other than when this event, to which all heaven and earth have been looking forward, is about to take place.  Therefore, the Lord is urging us to "blow the trumpet in Zion" (the church), and to hasten the time of crowning Him King of kings and Lord of lords--the time in which He closes His mediatorial work,--"goes forth of His chamber"--the Most Holy place.

 

“The command, "Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts," signifies a complete separation from the world of "old and young, both maids and little children, and women" "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof" (Ezek. 9:4,6): and being prophetically made to the church (Zion), this command evidences the fact that when the trumpet shall blow in fulfillment of this scripture, it will find Zion, His church, unsanctified and commingled with the world.  There-fore, comes the call for sanctification. (2 SC #9 p.2)

 

(2 TG #8 1947)

 

Joel 2:15, 16 -- "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet." “

 

“In these verses, as in Joel 2:1, the command is given to blow the trumpet in Zion.  This second trumpet, however, is not to announce the day of God, but to sanctify both a fast and the people, to call a solemn assembly, from which not one is to be excluded from the assembly.

 

Joel 2:17 -- "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?"

 

“Here we are plainly told that God's people (are to) face persecution and distress, (See 2TG. #36 p.8) and that unless they keep close to the Lord their very existence may be at stake, God's name dishonored, and the heathen allowed to rule over them and to challenge their faith in God." (2TG. #8 p.22)

 

(3 Ans. 1944)

 

(Joel 2:15, 16.)

 

”When it has accomplished this "closing work for the church" (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), then those who have overcome every "temptation in the strength of the Might One," who have sighed and cried and escaped the destruction will "be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them." Zech. 12:8. Davidians indeed!--"a great people and a strong" (Joel 2:2), "clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness,...'fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,'...to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer."--Prophets and Kings, p. 725.In this way the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists are to gather all the saints to the house of the Lord.

 

”Mt. Carmel's great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so that we may then go home to our eternal rest, no more to be fettered with the shackles of sin.” (3Ans. p 64)

 

Before giving an explanation on this subject, we will briefly high light the main points.

 

(1) ”Joel's prophecy must meet its fulfillment in the time when probation's hours are fast closing,”

 

(2) “Therefore, the Lord is urging us to "blow the trumpet in Zion" (the church)”

 

(3)….“the fact that when the trumpet shall blow in fulfillment of this scripture, it will find Zion, His church, unsanctified and commingled with the world.  There-fore, comes the call for sanctification.”

 

(4) “This second trumpet, however, is not to announce the day of God, but to sanctify both a fast and the people, to call a solemn assembly, from which not one is to be excluded from the assembly.”

 

(5) ”Here we are plainly told that God's people are to face persecution and distress, and that unless they keep close to the Lord their very existence may be at stake, God's name dishonored, and the heathen allowed to rule over them and to challenge their faith in God.”

 

(6) “Mt. Carmel's great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so that we may then go home to our eternal rest, no more to be fettered with the shackles of sin.”

 

It is very plain to see from the references quoted, that the solemn assembly takes place during probationary time, just prior to the purification of the church, while the wheat and the tares are still commingled.

 

It is a time of preparation, in coming together because God’s people are to face (future tense) persecution and distress. The persecution that will be brought upon God’s people is the “Mark of the Beast.” (See 2TG #14 p17, 2TG #36 p8.)  It is during the time of the mark of the beast decree, Jacob’s time of trouble, that God’s people will face persecution, not before (See9Tr. p53).

 

When the war spoken of in 2TG #41 p18 is escalated in the Middle East to the point that all will realize that without a shadow of doubt this is the war, then it will bring a higher level of consciousness among us.

 

It is for that reason we are commissioned   “to sanctify both a fast and the people, to call a solemn assembly, from which not one is to be excluded from the assembly,” It is also a time for God’s people to realize their short comings, and for our ministers to sanctified them selves and weep between the porch and the alter, that God will spear His people that the heathen should not rule them.

 

This is the atmosphere of what our session ought to be like. No time for politicking or scheming for office. It is a time in which God’s people should cast away their idols, so that Assyria can fall, that the heathen will no longer rule over us. May God have mercy upon us all!!

 

Mt. Carmel's (Waco Texas) great burden is to get this manifold work done as soon as possible, so that we may then go home to our eternal rest, no more to be fettered with the shackles of sin. See 1SC #14 p 7, 8.

 

“God's plea is that we prepare to meet the day; that now as sincere Christians who realize that for such an hour as this has this message of mercy come to us, we penitently return unto Him.” (2TG #8 p21)