Where is a sealed book mentioned?
. “…Revelation following [follows] Daniel, as giving fuller light on the subjects dealt with in Daniel. The object is to bring these books together, showing that they both relate to the same subjects.” {TM 117.2}
The book of Daniel and the book of Revelation share the same subjects because they are given to mankind by the same divine teacher. Therefore, we can conclude that the same sealed book that is mentioned in Revelation 5, is the same book mentioned in Daniel 12 and Revelation 10.
What is the sealed book?
The sealed book is the prophecy that after the 2300 day prophecy in Daniel 8, an important event will occur. It was believed by those in the advent movement of 1844, that on October 22, 1844, Jesus would come again. However when book was unsealed, the followers of the advent movement realized that Jesus began cleansed the heavenly sanctuary.
The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel’s message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be. {17MR 6.2}
Now that the 2300 day prophecy is fulfilled, we are to proclaim the third angel’s message that all those who willingly disobey the Sabbath commandment will not gain eternal life. Therefore, the sealed book is the knowledge of God’s law and that all who willingly disobey it will perish. As a result of this knowledge, thousands of people left the protestant churches and began the advent movement in 1844.
Why or How was the book sealed?
In Daniel chapter 12 verse 1-3 and 5-7, God was revealing to Daniel what will occur at the end of time. In verse 8, Daniel did not understand the vision, so he asks “what shall be the end of these things?” God answers in verse nine, “Go thy way, Daniel: for words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” The prophecies were unfulfilled or sealed. However, at the time of the end (1844), God’s people saw the fulfilled prophesies of the past and proclaimed the prophesies that were soon to be fulfilled. The book or prophesy of Daniel 12 was then unsealed, understood, and proclaimed.
Conclusion:
God presented Daniel with a vision of what would happen in the distant future. He showed to Daniel that after two thousand three hundred years, God would call His people out of the protestant churches that had rejected his laws, particularly the sabbath day. The sealed book is the understanding of, or the prophecy of these events.
It was unsealed on October 2, 1844 and is now open for study and understanding by all mankind.
Questions for further study:
What are the seven seals of the book in revelation 6?
Rubrics 5.5