„Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.“ Ezek. 28:2-5

„I ask our people to study the twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel. The representation here made, while it refers primarily to Lucifer, the fallen angel, has yet a broader significance. Not one being, but a general movement, is described, and one that we shall witness. A faithful study of this chapter should lead those who are seeking for truth to walk in all the light that God has given to His people, lest they be deceived by the deceptions of these last days.“ Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17a, p. 30

“When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.” Ezek. 27:33

If we are to understand the important questions for today for all Seventh Day Adventists, we must truly understand and study the 28th chapter of Ezekiel and heed the prophet's command to 'compare scripture with scripture' (TM 476). In order to understand what is meant by the word 'traffic' we must compare this chapter with Revelation chapter 18:3,11-15. The word traffic denotes that there is more than one person involved because one cannot traffic with oneself – as in buying, selling and bartering. And, it goes without saying that the more cunning who are involved in this traffic will be richer.

Let us take some examples of trafficking. In Daniel chapters 2 and 7, we see the portrayal of beasts and images. In particular, in chapter 7 we see 4 large beasts whose reign streches through the annals of worldly history. In Rev. 13:2 we se that all the beasts (as well as the image) still exist. In Rev. 13:2 we read, „And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard...“ This leopard is the same beast mentioned in Dan. 7 as the third beast and corresponds to the belly of the great image in Dan. 2. Further, we read in Revelation 13:2, „his feet were as the feet of a bear...“ This bear is the second beast of Dan. 7 and corresponds to the shoulders of the great image. Further in Rev. 13:2 we read, „and his mouth as a mouth of a lion,“ corresponding to the first beast mentioned in Dan 7:4 and relates to the head of the great image of Dan. 2. It is this beast of Rev. 13:2 that we are warned of in the third angel's message for approximately the past 160 years. Here we also see (as in Dan. 2:44,45) that this beast stands until the stone smites it in the feet. Then, and not before then, the entire image falls and is broken.

Thus they missed the greatest thruths for this time. Who, then, are those that Sr. White saw in her vision Uriah Smith has taken worldly history and mingled it with his own interpretation of these biblical verses and given it to posterity as the truth. Throughout the ages, we have all heard of these worldly kings and their rise and fall ... all this we studied for no great reason for the majority of these kingdoms has long fallen yet the image remains standing. So we see that in bartering and trafficking with Lucifer and his vast army (two hundred thousand thousand), SDA's did not see the most important aspect of these prophecies ... they did not see themselves symbolically portrayed in these kingdoms but rather saw only vague histories of kingdoms long gone. Thus they missed the greatest truths for this time. Who, then, are those that Sr. White saw in her vision recorded in Test. For the Church, vol. 1, p. 577, „That night I dreamed that I was in Battle Creek looking out from the side glass at the door and saw a company marching up to the house, two and two. They looked stern and determined. I knew them well and turned to open the parlor door to receive them, but thought I would look again. The scene was changed. The company now presented the appearance of a Catholic procession. One bore in his hand a cross, another a reed. And as they approached, the one carrying a reed made a circle around the house, saying three times: “This house is proscribed. The goods must be confiscated. They have spoken against our holy order.” The goods spoken of here refer to h er writings and not her domestic goods. This vision was written in 1867.

She also writes, „Our position in the image of Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the toes, in a divided state, and of a crumbling material, that will not hold together.“ Test. For the Church, vol. 1, p. 360. We also read in BC, 7A, vol. 4, p. 1168, „We have come to a time when God's sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay ... The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches.“

Now all SDA's must ask themselves why Uriah Smith didn't take these writings (written in 1899) into mind when interpreting Daniel and the Revelation. Rather, he gathered worldly history and mingled with the most important and pertinent sacred prophecies of the Bible. In his book, Dan. And the Rev., p. 475, regarding the 7 trumpets, we read, „the blowing of the trumpets by the seven angels comes as a complement to the prophecy of Dan. 2 and 7, beginning with the breaking up of the old Roman Empire into its ten divisions.“ Do we not see the trafficking of the riches (truths) God has given us with Satan's goods? Let us look at an old Sabbath School Lesson dated January 1937 regarding Daniel and Revelation. Now let us look for example some notes regarding the 4th trumpet. The question is, 'whom do the sun, moon and stars represent and how did their light go out?' Below this question is a note taken from Uriah Smith's book, „The symbols sun, moon, and stars – for they are undoubtedly here used as symbols – evidently denote the great luminaries of the Roman government, its emperors, senators, and consuls... Western Rome fell in A. D. 476. Still, however, though the Roman sun was extinguished, its subordinate luminaries shone faintly while the senate and consuls continued.“ All the interpretation is taken from the writings of Uriah Smith, and all is accepted as Bible truth by all three SDA churches.

What then can be said regarding the vision of the John the Revelator in chapters 8, 9 and 11:1519? 'And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.' I will not go in detail into the meaning of the seven trumpets for that has been written and distributed in all three SDA churches. But the leaders of all three churches have trafficked with the prince of Tyrus and his numerous host and in turn they have received the false report that these seven trumpets tell us of worldly wars – wars begun by Satan himself. He had produced that merchandise. Thus, this prince of Tyre, who is wiser than Daniel, covered the true meaning of all seven trumpets – with the consent of the SDA ministers ('they have spoken against our holy order').

I believe that all can clearly see the trafficking of our churches with the prince of Tyrus. This is why Sr. White warns us to carefully study this chapter that we may see and avoid the deadly wine. This trafficking will continue and increase as time goes by. And this not only in the SDA churches, but among the separated brethren as well. Therefore all must learn to firmly stand on the Bible and the Bible alone. The prince of Tyrus knows that his time is short and so he will increase his trafficking as denoted in Rev. chapter 18 – the period of time in which we all live. Let us, therefore, pray that God will lead us in this age of many false Christs and gods and false prophets and teachings that seem to increase daily. Thus is being fulfilled in our day the words of Ezekiel chapter 28. L. G.