Historical Interpretation
According to the understanding of the Adventist pioneers, the first angel's message occurred during the two decades prior to the spring of 1844. The message of the imminent second coming of Jesus preached by the Millerite movement then fulfilled the prophecy of the first angel's message.
The second angel's message was then preached during the summer of 1844, which was preceded by a significant number of Millerites leaving the movement, and resulted in large numbers of Christians leaving their churches ("Babylon") and joining the Advent movement.
The third angel's message is based on the idea that the "Seal of God" (Revelation 7:2) is the Sabbath commandment of the decalogue. Therefore, the "mark of the beast" is the opposite, or the keeping of Sunday as the Sabbath. Hence the close of the message, "here are they that keep the commandments of God." It is a point of emphasis among Adventists that the mark of the beast has not yet been given out.
(The Millerites generally interpreted "Babylon" in the Book of Revelation as the papacy, up through summer 1843. This was the position of most Protestants. Well-liked Millerite preacher Charles Fitch expanded it to include all Catholics and Protestants who rejected the Adventist teaching. His message was "Come out of her, my people", which was based on Revelation 18:2,4 (see also 14:8). This had followed a shift in 1843 when the Millerites received more ridicule, and were increasingly disfellowshipped by their churches. The Millerites came to see themselves as a separate group, which became increasingly necessary as many were disfellowshipped.
Most of the eastern leaders did not initially accept Fitch's pronouncements, yet many lay people did. Eventually and reluctantly Joshua V. Himes came to advocate the message, in Autumn 1844. Miller never affirmed it, despite being disfellowshipped from his church.)
Read more about this topic: Three Angels' Messages, Adventist Interpretations
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