I saw that as Jesus looked upon the disappointed ones with the deepest compassion, he sent his angels to direct their minds that they might find him, and follow him where he was; that they might understand that the earth is not the Sanctuary; that he must needs enter the Most Holy place of the heavenly Sanctuary to cleanse it; to make a special atonement for Israel, and to receive the kingdom of his Father, and then return to earth and take them to dwell with him forever. The disappointment of the disciples well represents the disappointment of those who expected their Lord in 1844. I was carried back to the time when Christ triumphantly rode into Jerusalem. The joyful disciples believed that he was then to take the kingdom, and reign a temporal prince. They followed their King with high hopes. They cut down the beautiful palm branches, and took off their outer garments, and with enthusiastic zeal spread them in the way; and some went before, and others followed crying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! The excitement disturbed the Pharisees, and they wished Jesus to rebuke his disciples. But he said unto them, If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. The prophecy of Zech. ix, 9, must be fulfilled, yet, I saw, the disciples were doomed to a bitter disappointment. In a few days they followed Jesus to Calvary, and beheld him bleeding and mangled upon the cruel cross. They witnessed his agonizing death, and laid him in the tomb. Their hearts sunk with grief. Their expectations were not realized in a single particular. Their hopes died with Jesus. But as he arose from the dead, and appeared to his sorrowing disciples, their hopes revived. They had lost their Saviour; but again they had found him. p. 149, Para. 2, [1SG].
I saw that the disappointment of those who believed in the coming of the Lord in 1844, was not equal to the disappointment of the disciples. Prophecy was fulfilled in the first and second angels' messages. They were given at the right time, and accomplished the work God designed they should. p. 150, Para. 1, [1SG].
Chapter XXVI (26) · Another Illustration
I was shown the interest which all heaven had taken in the work which had been going on upon the earth. Jesus