"And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones" (Zechariah 13:6-7).
This messianic prophecy was written by the prophet Zechariah toward the end of his message sent to the discouraged Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile to rebuild Jerusalem. Five centuries later, few of the Jewish people caught the significance of the fulfillment of such words in the life and death of Jesus Christ, their promised Messiah. Yet Jesus Himself quoted from Zechariah 13:7, the smiting of the Shepherd, to eleven of His disciples as they made their way up to the Mount of Olives on the night before His crucifixion (Matthew 26:31).
Some Bible commentaries rightly interpret Zechariah 13:6, at least in a secondary application, as predictive of Christ's scourging and the wounds He received at the hands of those who should have been His friends. Many Seventh-day Adventists are aware of this fact and that Ellen White also quoted verse 6, as one of the "plain and specific prophecies" predicting "even the manner of His death:" However, few Adventists may be aware that Ellen White also applied the portrayal of Zechariah 13:6 to the disgraceful treatment of Jesus Christ, represented by the Holy Spirit, at the hands of His remnant people during the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference session and throughout the controversial aftermath in the years that followed. How few are aware that Christ was "wounded" among our own church fathers, 125 years ago. Is it possible that we are continuing to wound Him today by our naïve or willful ignorance of the way He was treated in the past? All too often, as we long for Christ's Second Coming to put an end to our suffering, we forget how He has been wounded and what enormous suffering the long delay has caused Him-and all heaven. Well might we take to heart the words Ellen White penned in 1902:
"The result of hastening or hindering the gospel, we think of, if at all, in relation to ourselves and to the world. Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that sin, from its very inception, has brought to the heart of God.... Our world is a vast lazar-house, a scene of misery that no pen can picture, misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all."
Is it possible that such divine sufferings were intensified during the 1888 episode and its aftermath-an aftermath that continues even to this very day? Wounded in the House of His Friends seeks to bring us face to face with the reality of this fact.
Wounded in the House of His Friends is really an interlude, or summary volume, in The Return of the Latter Rain series-Volume 1 being first published in 2010. The Return of the Latter Rain was the result of a personal study that began in 1998 as a simple, yet unique compilation of Ellen White statements on the subject of the latter rain and the loud cry, placed in chronological order-statements which Ellen White made between the 1840s and the close of her life in 1915. As the study developed into a manuscript, more and more background information was added to help give context surrounding the historic events in which Ellen White's statements were made. Of particular interest were her statements made around the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference session and during the events that followed over the next decade.
Originally, the manuscript's main objective was to address the core questions surrounding the 1888 episode that have plagued Adventism since the 1890s: Did in fact the Lord send the beginning of the latter rain and the loud cry in 1888-and were they accepted? For 125 years many have believed that at least the loud cry began and was after a short time of trial, ultimately accepted and has been proclaimed ever since. Yet others have claimed that both the latter rain and the loud cry began in 1888, but through the action of our own brethren of that day these heaven-sent gifts were in a great measure shut away from our people, all of which has resulted in the long delay of Christ's return.
As The Return of the Latter Rain manuscript continued to develop, more and more original sources and primary evidence was added in an attempt to address the above core questions. At the same time, the manuscript also began addressing many other related topics and issues, such as: biographical sketches of both Jones and Waggoner before and after the Minneapolis meetings; what part their personalities might have played in the 1888 session and controversies that followed; a fuller understanding of the law in Galatians controversy; what exactly was the 1888 message in its totality; what were the theological contributions of both Jones and Waggoner in such areas as, the nature of sin and of man, the nature of Christ (both human and divine), righteousness by faith, the covenants, the perfecting of a final generation before Christ's return, religious liberty, etc.; the extent of Ellen White's endorsements of Jones and Waggoner; the degree to which the message was accepted or rejected; the aspects and extent of the antagonism expressed against Jones and Waggoner by key proponents such as Frank Belden, Captain Eldridge, Dan Jones, John Harvey Kellogg, Harmon Lindsay, A. R. Henry, Uriah Smith and others; the thoroughness and outcome of confessions made by antagonists following Minneapolis; the magnitude of the revival and reformation that took place between 1889 and 1893 among Adventists; the cause and reality of Jones and Waggoner's departure from the faith; the consequences of all the above on Adventist thought since the 1890s to this very day; and many other related topics and issues.
As a consequence of seeking to cover so many related topics and issues, when The Return of the Latter Rain was originally published in 2010 it was merely the first volume drawn from the original manuscript, but only covered the years 1844 through the year 1891. Plans were immediately made to publish the remainder of the story in a second volume the following year. By 2012, however, it was clear that there was far more material to cover than would fit in a second volume alone and that more thorough research needed to be done in order to cover such a vast amount of related topics and issues. As a result, the completion of the series has been delayed.
In early 2013, while working on the manuscript for The Return of the Latter Rain, volume 2, the author was asked to write an article for the special 125th anniversary commemorating the 1888 Minneapolis session to be featured in the Adventist Review in October 2013. The originally assigned topic was to cover the events surrounding the 1888 message that developed during the 1888 to 1896 era. In the process of seeking to summarize the events from this era-taken from the large amount of research material collected over the past twenty years-a small manuscript was formed wherein the original underlying theme or topic of The Return of the Latter Rain manuscript once again surfaced: Did in fact the Lord send the beginning of the latter rain and the loud cry in 1888, and were they accepted? Many of the answers to these core questions may be found in material from the 1888 to 1896 era. From this newly formed manuscript, a 2,000-word summary article was painfully extracted for the Review, through the excellent and professional editorial help of Ken McFarland. Plans were also made to publish the small manuscript as a pamphlet for those readers of the article who wished further documentation.
However, when the article was submitted to the Review in August of 2013, one week before the deadline, it failed to meet the objectives of the editorial staff and was ultimately turned clown. Rather than losing all the time and effort put into both the summary article and the pamphlet, plans were made that, with a little further development, would produce the book you hold in your hands. Once again, Wounded in the House of His Friends is really a summary book of the underlying theme of The Return of the Latter Rain series. Work will continue on the series, covering in greater depth the main theme in Wounded in the House of His Friends, as well as many of the other related topics and issues that surround the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference and its aftermath.
ln the meantime, let us now direct our attention to Jesus Christ and His representative the Holy Spirit and ask how they were treated during the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference and throughout the controversial aftermath in the years that followed. Is it possible that just as the Jews waited for so long for their Deliverer, yet at His coming they knew Him not, likewise many Seventh-day Adventists, who had waited so long for the latter rain and the loud cry, knew not the hour of their visitation? If the answer is in the affirmative, how are we to respond to the mistakes of our spiritual fathers and to the long forbearance and mercy of God toward us all? Furthermore, how does the call for repentance from the True Witness found in the message to the Laodiceans factor in to the answer of such questions? May Wounded in the House of His Friends help us begin to find some of the answers.
While we review our history we should remember that it is not for the purpose of finding fault in others-past or present-or for the sake of tearing down, but rather that we might learn from their mistakes and not repeat them-that we may learn anew the depth of the long forbearance and mercy of God. We should consider well the words of Kenneth H. Wood, former Review editor:
"As we note the mistakes of our spiritual forebears, we may be filled with anguish and regret. But we cannot change the past. We cannot rewrite history. We can, however, learn from history, and we can set our own hearts and houses in order, giving full opportunity for the Holy Spirit to have His way with us. Only as we today relate rightly to the message of righteousness by faith can we expect the outpouring of the latter rain and the finishing of "the work"."
As in The Return of the Latter Rain, volume 1, the storyline of Wounded in the House of His Friends focuses on key events in Seventh-day Adventist history from 1888 to the present and is largely taken from primary sources. Additional comments and/or contrasting viewpoints expressed by various modern-day Adventist historians have been included in some of the footnotes.