“Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
— Revelation 7:3, KJV. Read the verse.
Revelation 14 · Pioneer chronology · The sealing
When Did the Third Angel's Message Begin?
The third angel's message began in the fall of 1844, when Christ entered the Most Holy Place and the seventh-day Sabbath came into view as present truth. The pioneers' understanding and proclamation grew as they followed Christ by faith and studied the Scriptures. That same message identifies the faithful dead who rise before Christ appears and the living saints who welcome them at His coming.
Follow the source chronologyThe resurrection scene
The 144,000 recognize friends raised from the graves
“Then Jesus’ silver trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised His eyes and hands to heaven, and cried, ‘Awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise.’ Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. The 144,000 shouted, ‘Alleluia!’ as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.”
— Counsels for the Church, 34.1. A parallel early printed account appears in Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2 (1860), p. 18. Read the Volume 2 source online.
Revelation 7:3 · Ellen G. White
God Seals Those Who Will Inherit His Kingdom
“Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth, and to cause them to waver. I saw a covering that God was drawing over His people to protect them in the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the truth, and was pure in heart, was to be covered with the covering of the Almighty. Satan knew this, and he was at work in mighty power to keep the minds of as many people as he possibly could wavering and unsettled on the truth.... I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding because they were not firmly planted on the truth.... Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God’s people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 43–44. Read the source in context.
“We are brought out of the darkness of the world into God’s marvelous light. If we receive the image of God, if our souls are cleansed from every moral defilement, the seal of God will be placed upon our foreheads, and we shall be prepared for the closing scenes of this earth’s history. But we have no time to lose. The more we study the life of Christ, with a heart to learn, the more Christlike we become.”
— Ellen G. White, Letter 135, 1897, par. 11; published in Sons and Daughters of God, p. 342. Read Letter 135 in context.
“The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 58. Read the source in context.
These testimonies are published in Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 342, with their original references to Early Writings and Letter 135, 1897. Open Sons and Daughters of God.
The full testimony · Early Writings
The Open and the Shut Door
Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 42–45 in the standard online edition. Read at EGW Writings · Compare the 1893 printed edition.
Sabbath, March 24, 1849, we had a sweet and very interesting meeting with the brethren at Topsham, Maine. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us, and I was taken off in the Spirit to the city of the living God. Then I was shown that the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ relating to the shut door could not be separated, and that the time for the commandments of God to shine out with all their importance, and for God’s people to be tried on the Sabbath truth, was when the door was opened in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, where the ark is, in which are contained the ten commandments. This door was not opened until the mediation of Jesus was finished in the holy place of the sanctuary in 1844. Then Jesus rose up and shut the door of the holy place, and opened the door into the most holy, and passed within the second veil, where He now stands by the ark, and where the faith of Israel now reaches.
I saw that Jesus had shut the door of the holy place, and no man can open it; and that He had opened the door into the most holy, and no man can shut it (Revelation 3:7, 8); [See page 86. See also Appendix.] and that since Jesus has opened the door into the most holy place, which contains the ark, the commandments have been shining out to God’s people, and they are being tested on the Sabbath question.
I saw that the present test on the Sabbath could not come until the mediation of Jesus in the holy place was finished and He had passed within the second veil; therefore Christians who fell asleep before the door was opened into the most holy, when the midnight cry was finished, at the seventh month, 1844, and who had not kept the true Sabbath, now rest in hope; for they had not the light and the test on the Sabbath which we now have since that door was opened. I saw that Satan was tempting some of God’s people on this point. Because so many good Christians have fallen asleep in the triumphs of faith and have not kept the true Sabbath, they were doubting about its being a test for us now.
The enemies of the present truth have been trying to open the door of the holy place, that Jesus has shut, and to close the door of the most holy place, which He opened in 1844, where the ark is, containing the two tables of stone on which are written the ten commandments by the finger of Jehovah.
Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth and to cause them to waver. I saw a covering that God was drawing over His people to protect them in the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the truth and was pure in heart was to be covered with the covering of the Almighty.
Satan knew this, and he was at work in mighty power to keep the minds of as many people as he possibly could wavering and unsettled on the truth. I saw that the mysterious knocking in New York and other places was the power of Satan, and that such things would be more and more common, clothed in a religious garb so as to lull the deceived to greater security and to draw the minds of God’s people, if possible, to those things and cause them to doubt the teachings and power of the Holy Ghost. [See page 86. See also Appendix.]
I saw that Satan was working through agents in a number of ways. He was at work through ministers who have rejected the truth and are given over to strong delusions to believe a lie that they might be damned. While they were preaching or praying, some would fall prostrate and helpless, not by the power of the Holy Ghost, but by the power of Satan breathed upon these agents, and through them to the people. While preaching, praying, or conversing, some professed Adventists who had rejected present truth used mesmerism to gain adherents, and the people would rejoice in this influence, for they thought it was the Holy Ghost. Some even that used it were so far in the darkness and deception of the devil that they thought it was the power of God, given them to exercise. They had made God altogether such a one as themselves and had valued His power as a thing of nought.
Some of these agents of Satan were affecting the bodies of some of the saints—those whom they could not deceive and draw away from the truth by a Satanic influence. Oh, that all could get a view of it as God revealed it to me, that they might know more of the wiles of Satan and be on their guard! I saw that Satan was at work in these ways to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling.
Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God’s people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues. God has begun to draw this covering over His people, and it will soon be drawn over all who are to have a shelter in the day of slaughter. God will work in power for His people; and Satan will be permitted to work also.
I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders and false reformations would increase and spread. The reformations that were shown me were not reformations from error to truth. My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past.
The 1893 volume places the testimony on printed pages 34–37 (PDF scans 44–47) and its “false reformations” clarification in the Supplement, p. 2 (scan 84). Open the edition guide and historical scans.
The resurrection scenes together
How can the 144,000 shout “Alleluia” when they recognize their resurrected friends?
The order of the resurrections answers the question. After October 22, 1844, the sanctuary message brought the seventh-day Sabbath into view as a present test for God’s people (Early Writings, pp. 42–43). Faithful Advent pioneers received this light, followed Christ’s ministry in the Most Holy Place, and remained faithful unto death. Before Christ appears, those who died in the faith of the third angel’s message are raised in the special resurrection to hear God’s covenant of peace (The Great Controversy, p. 637). They stand with the living saints when Christ calls the remaining righteous dead from their graves.
Ellen White named Mrs. Hastings as one of these sealed pioneers: on March 18, 1850, she wrote that Mrs. Hastings would rise at God’s voice, stand upon the earth, and be with the 144,000 (Letter 10, 1850, paragraph 5). The sequence is clear: the sealed pioneers rise first; the remaining righteous dead rise when Christ appears; the 144,000 recognize their friends and shout “Alleluia!” The pioneers raised in the special resurrection are already standing with the living saints to welcome them.
Open the Great Controversy source pageA straight testimony from Scripture
Philadelphia’s wise virgins call Laodicea to wake
Ellen White made the connection explicit:
The state of the Church represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state.
That is the testimony to Laodicea. The foolish virgins had lamps and expected the
Bridegroom, but they had no oil in reserve; their profession did not prepare them for
His coming (Matthew 25:1–13;
Review and Herald, August 19, 1890, paragraph 10).
Read Ellen White’s complete passage.
Philadelphia shows the faithful answer: Christ says, “thou hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name,” and commands, “hold that fast which thou hast” (Revelation 3:8, 11, KJV). The wise virgins picture Philadelphia’s faithful class: they keep Christ’s word, cherish the oil of a living faith, and are ready when the Bridegroom comes. The foolish virgins reveal Laodicea’s lukewarm, self-satisfied condition.
Christ’s message to Laodicea is a merciful rebuke, not permission to remain lukewarm. He says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,” to receive white raiment and eyesalve, and “be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:18–19, KJV). He stands at the door and knocks (verse 20). Do not mistake a lamp for readiness or church profession for the oil of grace. Open the door to Christ, receive His righteousness, and follow His word while the invitation stands. Be among the wise: take oil in your vessel and be ready to meet the Bridegroom.
Study the 144,000, the sealing, and the Advent pioneersPrimary-source chronology
What did the pioneers say about the message's beginning?
These statements separate the prophetic beginning, the early interpretation, the spread of understanding, and the later loud cry. Dates below belong to the source documents, not to a claim that every believer understood the message at once. This selected chronology is substantial but is not an exhaustive census of every pioneer occurrence.
Christ's ministration and the third message
“As the ministration of Jesus closed in the holy place, and He passed into the holiest, and stood before the ark containing the law of God, He sent another mighty angel with a third message to the world.”
— Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 254.1; see the 1858 account in Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1.
Read the 1858 Volume 1 online“Since the 7th month 1844”
“As the patient waiting time has been since the 7th month 1844, and as the class that keep the sabbath, etc. have appeared since that time: it is plain that we live in the time of the third angel's message.”
— James White, A Word to the “Little Flock” (1847), p. 11, “Thoughts on Revelation XIV.”
A difference worth preserving
“We say, then, that these messages closed with the world, when they were condemned by them, at the end of a cry at midnight, in Oct. 1844.”
— Joseph Bates, A Vindication of the Seventh-day Sabbath (1848), pp. 103–104.
Bates's early interpretation differs from James White's later explicit placement of the third message after the disappointment.
The message follows the second angel
“The second angel's message reached to the fall of 1844, where the cry—‘Come out of her my people’ closed: then the time for the third came.”
— James White, The Third Angel's Message (1850), p. 11, para. 2.
“This also shows that the time for keeping all the commandments right, the Sabbath with the rest, has been since 1844, where the third angel's message commenced.”
— James White, The Third Angel's Message (1850), p. 13, para. 2.
William Miller and those who joined him
“As John the Baptist heralded the first advent of Jesus, and prepared the way for his coming, so also, Wm. Miller and those who joined him, proclaimed the second advent of the Son of God.”
— Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1 (1858), p. 129, para. 1.
“I saw the third angel pointing upward, showing the disappointed ones the way to the Holiest of the heavenly Sanctuary. They followed Jesus by faith into the Most Holy. Again they have found Jesus, and joy and hope spring up anew.”
— Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1 (1858), p. 163, para. 1.
Read the 1858 source onlineThe most holy place and the prophetic days
“When Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of the atonement, he committed to his servants the last message of mercy to be given to the world. Such is the warning of the third angel of Revelation 14.”
— Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 (1884), p. 273, para. 1.
“As foretold in the Scriptures, the ministration of Christ in the most holy place began at the termination of the prophetic days in 1844.”
— Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 (1884), p. 273, para. 2.
A later summary of the message's fruit
“Since 1844, in fulfillment of the prophecy of the third angel's message, the attention of the world has been called to the true Sabbath, and a constantly increasing number are returning to the observance of God's holy day.”
— Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 (1884), p. 286, para. 2.
The transition was not instantaneous
“The transition from the disappointment after the passing of the time in 1844 to the full light of the great system of truth which we find in the ‘third angel's message,’ was somewhat slow.”
— G. I. Butler, Advent Experience (1885), p. 10, para. 4.
The loud cry is distinguished from the message's beginning
“The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer.”
— Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 22, 1892, para. 7.
A. T. Jones connects it with 1844
“And as we have found that this Seventh Angel began to sound in 1844, then it was, and onward, that the Third Angel's Message is due to the world.”
— A. T. Jones, The Great Nations of To-day (1901), p. 131, para. 3.
Uriah Smith links the periods
“Hence it began to be seen that the period of the third message synchronizes with the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which began with the ending of the 2300 days in 1844, and that the proclamation is based on the great truths developed by this subject.”
— Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation, chapter 14, p. 667, para. 1, digitized edition DAR1909.
Early Adventists began studying the message
“As to the first question, we note that in 1845, some of the Adventists began the study of the third angel's message of Revelation 14:9-12.”
— J. N. Loughborough, Questions on the Sealing Message (1916), p. 7.
Read Loughborough's book pageThe seal, the law, and the heart
How does the sealing message connect with God's law?
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” — Revelation 14:12, KJV
“Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” — 2 Corinthians 3:3, KJV
“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” — 1 Corinthians 15:45, KJV
Read together, these passages frame the sealing as a work of faithful character: God's commandments held in the heart through the Spirit of Christ, alongside “the faith of Jesus.” This is the theological reading presented here; the Bible passages themselves remain the reader's foundation for testing it.
Keep the claims distinct
Do the sources date when the 144,000 began to be numbered?
The quotations on this page place the third angel's message in the 1844 setting and trace later study and proclamation. They do not identify a calendar date when a separate count of the 144,000 began. That distinction matters: the beginning of a message, the sealing work, and a proposed date for numbering are related questions, but one citation should not be used as proof of all three.
For the broader pioneer discussion of the 144,000, see Who are the 144,000?. For the 1858 Great Controversy, read Spiritual Gifts, Volume 1.
Follow the testimony to its source
Read the book, compare the dates, and examine the question of the sealed company in context.