Chapter 5—A Movement of Prophecy

During the history of the church there have been a number of great religious movements which were movements of prophecy. The migration of Israel from Canaan to Egypt was foretold to Abraham:TOJ 32.1

God “said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” Genesis 15:13-16.TOJ 32.2

The Divine Record is that at the end of this predicted period, “even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:41.TOJ 32.3

The great religious awakening under John the Baptist, preceding the first advent of Christ to this earth, was a movement of prophecy. When the Jews sent priests and Levites to inquire of John, “Who art thou?” “Art thou Elias?” “What sayest thou of thyself?” John replied, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” John 1:21-23. The work of John was a fulfillment of divine prediction, and he understood the character of his work and the source of his divine call.TOJ 32.4

The great second advent movement, now doing its work among the many nations of men, is a movement of prophecy. Long years ago the prophets of God pointed out that the coming of the Lord would be ushered in by a series of unusual manifestations in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; that there would go to the world, based upon these signs, a last warning message, like that given to the antediluvian world by Noah. This message would be a message of reform, calling the church back from the darkness into which it had been drawn by the subtle snares of the enemy, into the clear light of divine revelation. This last-day message would proclaim Christ as the one Saviour from sin; His righteousness as the one passport to the heavenly home; that by the operations of the Holy Spirit, His divine law should be written upon the heart; and as a result of His enabling power, this law should be expressed in the life. (See Joel 2:1; Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6-12.)TOJ 32.5