(Very) Brief Reflections Concerning the Issue of "Delay" in

"Hope and the Delay, pt. 1 (November 23-29), pp. 72-78 and
"Hope and the Delay, pt. 2 (November 30-December 6), pp. 80-86.
Seventh-day Adventist Church Lesson Guide, "Living the Advent Hope,"
Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide
October-November-December 2002

Larry Kirkpatrick, November 29, 2002.

"Hope and the Delay, pt. 1 (November 23-29), pp. 72-78

Quarterly, p. 72: "The 'waiting time' is one of tension -- living between the 'already' and the 'not yet' -- the 'already' being Christ's death in our behalf that is already complete, the penalty for all our sin already being paid, and the reconciliation between God and humanity already being accomplished, as opposed to the 'not yet,' the Second Coming, when all that Christ had accomplished at His first coming is brought to fruition."

Comment: Regretably, both here and in other places the second coming is considered from an almost exclusively "legal" point of view, what Jesus does for us and little if any recognition of what must be accomplished at the human ended in cooperation with God. In this context we cannot be surprised that the idea of delay comes in for repeated hints of being an incorrect idea, or merely limited to the human perspective.

Quarterly, p. 75: "The fact that all the women fell asleep [Matthew 25:1-13] doesn't seem to be presented in this parable as the problem, for even the wise ones snoozed. The Lord, obviously, knew the impact that His timing would have upon His people (more proof that the "delay" isn't really a delay)."

Comment: Sorry. The delay is indeed a delay. EGW uses the word repeatedly. For example, twice in COL p. 406 which has explicit reference to this parable. The Bible uses the word "tarry," kronidzontos, a present active participle. It means to spend time. The timing remains in the hands of the Lord but it is fully within His domain of control to determine under what conditions He shall come. He is within the rights of His sovereignty to wait until certain conditions are met, whether by Himself or others. We do not want to press this parable at every point. Its main purpose is to illustrate the necessity of personal preparation. More on this in the following.

Quarterly, p. 76: "The parable shows that the "oil supply" is personal. It cannot be transferred. This applies to spiritual aspects of our relationship with Christ. Salvation is no more transferable than bloodtype."

Comment: This is correct. Remember, our salvation includes two aspects: our title and fitness: "Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven." (Ellen G. White, RH, June 4, 1895 par. 7). Christ's sacrifice provides the title, but personal holiness has a part in the fitness. Hebrews 12:14 reminds us: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Note that experiencing real personal holiness is no indicator that we ever merit our salvation; we simply meet the conditions.

"Hope and the Delay, pt. 2 (November 30-December 6), pp. 80-86.

Quarterly, p.80: "As we touched on last week, all of us who have the hope of the Second Coming have to deal with the problems caused by the 'delay.'"

Comment: The delay is here presented as a mysterious, external situation in which our participation is strictly in the realm of emotional reaction to an event beyond our control. It is not "the delay" so much as it is our delay, the delay of the Seventh-day Adventist people and their delay of the world.

Quarterly, p. 80: "To identify a delay suggests the passing of some definite time. But God has not expressed a definite date; delay is a term that comes from only the human perspective. Time has continued longer than we -- but not the Lord -- may have expected."

Comment: The question is not God has been surprised, but whether the behavior of God's people causes the temporary existence of evil to continue longer than it otherwise would have. Please note that there has been the passing of some definite time. EGW tells us that the end could have come shortly after 1844: "Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this [written 1883] to receive His people to their reward." Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 696). The quotation continues here: "But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. Dissensions and divisions came in. The majority opposed with voice and pen the few who, following in the providence of God, received the Sabbath reform and began to proclaim the third angel's message. Many who should have devoted their time and talents to the one purpose of sounding warning to the world, were absorbed in opposing the Sabbath truth, and in turn, the labor of its advocates was necessarily spent in answering these opponents and defending the truth. Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history!" (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 68). This period is located mostly in the latter half of the 1840s.

Quarterly, p. 82: "As some texts have shown, the "delay" is nothing unforeseen. In fact, it is probably not the best word to describe the unexpected continuance of time before the coming of the Lord . . . Unforeseen circumstances cause a 'delay.' A mistake on someone's part results in a 'delay.' Technical problems are the reason for a 'delay.' Unpleasant tasks are avoided or 'delayed.' This list of negative implications could be extended, but it well illustrates the danger of using the term as a description of the work of God. Do we really want to associate the divine coming of Christ with such dubious connotations? . . . Can we really term God's actions as 'delayed'?

Comment: The above is a very sad way to portray matters. See, EGW uses the word delay over and over again to speak of precisely this! What is our quarterly trying to say, that she was wrong? Ellen G. White uses the term with an eye especially focused on the co-operative human element in the Bible's eschatology. A time does come when God proclaims "here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). Before the end God will produce such a people.

Quarterly, p. 82: "Albert Einstein proved that time is elastic."

Comment: Albert Einstein proved nothing of the kind. In fact, today the very theory of relativity is increasingly being questioned.

Quarterly, p. 82: "We cannot speak of a delay, at least not from God's perspective."

Comment: Yes we can. If the Second Coming was potential as of some date very shortly after 1844, and the behavior of God's people was insufficient to demonstrate heaven's purposes to the watching universe, then His purposes have indeed been delayed. The Quarterly here confuses foreknowledge with purpose. It confuses the divine aspect with the human aspect. The delay has to do with the fact that potential was there from just after 1844 onward to conclude the great controversy. From the time when the book of Daniel was inscripturated, the 2300 day/year prophecy was locked in as part of the divine plan.

Quarterly, p. 83: "For many Christians, January 1, 2000, was surely going to bring the end of the world, the Second Coming, and the end of all our suffering."

Comment: This is an incorrect statement. Very, very few persons, and very, very very few Christians held such a point of view.

Quarterly, p. 83: "[Concerning the time of the Second Coming] no one knows when He will come back. . ."

Comment: True, but to repeat this emphasizes human passivity and inactivity and our subjection to fate, rather than our active participation in the closing events of the age at the front lines of the battle.

Quarterly, p. 84: "If God is not willing to rush and hurry and force but patiently allow His children to come to His salvation, why should we do any differently?"

Comment: Faulted on the same basis as previous comments.

Quarterly, p. 84: "The parallel of the Exodus experience is useful here. God's will was for Israel to go in and occupy the land given by promise. Yet, God cannot save people without their assent. The Israelites erred in their hearts (Heb. 3:10), and most did not enter their promised rest. Their participation in salvation depended upon their response. They spent 40 unnecessary years wandering over the rocky wilderness of southern Palestine. This was not the result of the will of God but of the rejection of His promises by His covenant people. Ellen White remarks on this subject: "The same sins have delayed the entrance of modem Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years."ÑEllen G. White, Selected Messages, book l, p. 69."

Comment: The above material is much more as the remainder of these two lessons should have been.

Quarterly, p. 85: "Perhaps time has 'continued longer' than we expected, but that is only because our expectations are faulty."

Comment: This is quite incorrect. The end should have come long before our day, and could have come long before our day. The expectation that is faulty is that God conducts His sovereign purposes without reference to the role he has specified for the human aspect in the great controversy demonstration.

Note: The discussion question on p. 86 has some real merit.

For more materials on this topic, consider our "delay" section, Jesus' Return Delayed.

Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda.