The Great Controversy
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 39: The Time of Trouble
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Jacob's night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer
for deliverance from the hand of Esau represents the
experience of God's people in the time of trouble.
Illustration ©
Pacific Press Publ. Assoc. |
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"At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince
which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of
trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and
at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found
written in the book." Daniel 12:1. {GC 613.1}
When the third angel's message closes, mercy no longer
pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have
accomplished their work. They have received "the latter rain,"
"the refreshing from the presence of the Lord," and they are prepared
for the trying hour before them. Angels are hastening to and fro in heaven. An
angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test
has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to
the divine precepts have received "the seal of the living God." Then
Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands and
with a loud voice says, "It is done;" and all the angelic host lay
off their crowns as He makes the solemn announcement: "He that is unjust,
let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him
be holy still." Revelation 22:11. Every case has been decided for life or
death. Christ has made the atonement for His people and [614]
blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects is made up; "the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven," is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to
reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {GC 613.2}
When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the
inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the
sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon
the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent.
God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His
love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their
probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last
withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked
one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final
trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human
passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be
involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old. {GC 614.1}
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians
and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering
the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was
punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God
commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces
now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation
everywhere. {GC 614.2}
Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing
judgments upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful
convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling
the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the
wicked; their anger is kindled against all who [615] have
received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the
spirit of hatred and persecution. {GC 614.3}
When God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish
nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and
swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded
themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued;
sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing
was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God's dear Son and seeking to
slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the
sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever
fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of religion
will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn;
and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the
accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for
God. {GC 615.1}
As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy
throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to
enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small
minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal
execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an
institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated;
that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into
confusion and lawlessness. The same argument many centuries ago was brought against
Christ by the "rulers of the people." "It is expedient for
us," said the wily Caiaphas, "that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not." John 11:50. This argument will
appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow
the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the
severest punishment and giving [616] the people liberty, after a
certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World and apostate
Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor
all the divine precepts. {GC
615.2}
The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of
affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob's
trouble. "Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of
fear, and not of peace. . . . All faces are turned into paleness.
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." Jeremiah 30:5-7. {GC 616.1}
Jacob's night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for
deliverance from the hand of Esau (Genesis 32:24-30), represents the experience
of God's people in the time of trouble. Because of the deception practiced to
secure his father's blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life,
alarmed by his brother's deadly threats. After remaining for many years an
exile, he had set out, at God's command, to return with his wives and children,
his flocks and herds, to his native country. On reaching the borders of the
land, he was filled with terror by the tidings of Esau's approach at the head
of a band of warriors, doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob's company, unarmed
and defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter.
And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of
self-reproach, for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only
hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves
nothing undone on his own part to atone for the wrong to his brother and to
avert the threatened danger. So should the followers of Christ, as they
approach the time of trouble, make every exertion to place themselves in a
proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger
which threatens liberty of conscience. {GC 616.2}
Having sent his family away, that they may not witness his
distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He [617]
confesses his sin and gratefully acknowledges the mercy of God toward him while
with deep humiliation he pleads the covenant made with his fathers and the
promises to himself in the night vision at Bethel and in the land of his exile.
The crisis in his life has come; everything is at stake. In the darkness and
solitude he continues praying and humbling himself before God. Suddenly a hand
is laid upon his shoulder. He thinks that an enemy is seeking his life, and
with all the energy of despair he wrestles with his assailant. As the day
begins to break, the stranger puts forth his superhuman power; at his touch the
strong man seems paralyzed, and he falls, a helpless, weeping suppliant, upon
the neck of his mysterious antagonist. Jacob knows now that it is the Angel of
the covenant with whom he has been in conflict. Though disabled and suffering
the keenest pain, he does not relinquish his purpose. Long has he endured
perplexity, remorse, and trouble for his sin; now he must have the assurance
that it is pardoned. The divine visitant seems about to depart; but Jacob
clings to Him, pleading for a blessing. The Angel urges, "Let Me go, for
the day breaketh;" but the patriarch exclaims, "I will not let Thee
go, except Thou bless me." What confidence, what firmness and
perseverance, are here displayed! Had this been a boastful, presumptuous claim,
Jacob would have been instantly destroyed; but his was the assurance of one who
confesses his weakness and unworthiness, yet trusts the mercy of a
covenant-keeping God. {GC
616.3}
"He had power over the Angel, and prevailed."
Hosea 12:4. Through humiliation, repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful,
erring mortal prevailed with the Majesty of heaven. He had fastened his
trembling grasp upon the promises of God, and the heart of Infinite Love could
not turn away the sinner's plea. As an evidence of his triumph and an
encouragement to others to imitate his example, his name was changed from one
which was a reminder of his sin, to one that commemorated his victory. And the
fact that Jacob [618] had prevailed with God was an
assurance that he would prevail with men. He no longer feared to encounter his
brother's anger, for the Lord was his defense. {GC 617.1}
Satan had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claiming
the right to destroy him because of his sin; he had moved upon Esau to march against
him; and during the patriarch's long night of wrestling, Satan endeavored to
force upon him a sense of his guilt in order to discourage him and break his
hold upon God. Jacob was driven almost to despair; but he knew that without
help from heaven he must perish. He had sincerely repented of his great sin,
and he appealed to the mercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose,
but held fast the Angel and urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries
until he prevailed. {GC
618.1}
As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will
stir up the wicked to destroy God's people in the time of trouble. And as he
accused Jacob, he will urge his accusations against the people of God. He
numbers the world as his subjects; but the little company who keep the
commandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the
earth, his triumph would be complete. He sees that holy angels are guarding
them, and he infers that their sins have been pardoned; but he does not know
that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary above. He has an accurate
knowledge of the sins which he has tempted them to commit, and he presents
these before God in the most exaggerated light, representing this people to be
just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. He declares
that the Lord cannot in justice forgive their sins and yet destroy him and his
angels. He claims them as his prey and demands that they be given into his
hands to destroy. {GC
618.2}
As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins,
the Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God,
their faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past,
their hopes sink; [619] for in their whole lives they
can see little good. They are fully conscious of their weakness and
unworthiness. Satan endeavors to terrify them with the thought that their cases
are hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He
hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations and
turn from their allegiance to God. {GC 618.3}
Though God's people will be surrounded by enemies who are
bent upon their destruction, yet the anguish which they suffer is not a dread
of persecution for the truth's sake; they fear that every sin has not been
repented of, and that through some fault in themselves they will fail to
realize the fulfillment of the Saviour's promise: I "will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world." Revelation
3:10. If they could have the assurance of pardon they would not shrink from
torture or death; but should they prove unworthy, and lose their lives because
of their own defects of character, then God's holy name would be reproached. {GC 619.1}
On every hand they hear the plottings of treason and see the
active working of rebellion; and there is aroused within them an intense
desire, an earnest yearning of soul, that this great apostasy may be terminated
and the wickedness of the wicked may come to an end. But while they plead with
God to stay the work of rebellion, it is with a keen sense of self-reproach
that they themselves have no more power to resist and urge back the mighty tide
of evil. They feel that had they always employed all their ability in the
service of Christ, going forward from strength to strength, Satan's forces
would have less power to prevail against them. {GC 619.2}
They afflict their souls before God, pointing to their past
repentance of their many sins, and pleading the Saviour's promise: "Let him
take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make
peace with Me." Isaiah 27:5. Their faith does not fail because their
prayers [620]
are not immediately answered. Though suffering the keenest anxiety, terror, and
distress, they do not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the strength
of God as Jacob laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their souls is:
"I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." {GC 619.3}
Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining
the birthright by fraud, God would not have heard his prayer and mercifully
preserved his life. So, in the time of trouble, if the people of God had
unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish,
they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could
not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a
deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal.
Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment and have been blotted out, and they
cannot bring them to remembrance. {GC 620.1}
Satan leads many to believe that God will overlook their
unfaithfulness in the minor affairs of life; but the Lord shows in His dealings
with Jacob that He will in no wise sanction or tolerate evil. All who endeavor
to excuse or conceal their sins, and permit them to remain upon the books of
heaven, unconfessed and unforgiven, will be overcome by Satan. The more exalted
their profession and the more honorable the position which they hold, the more
grievous is their course in the sight of God and the more sure the triumph of
their great adversary. Those who delay a preparation for the day of God cannot
obtain it in the time of trouble or at any subsequent time. The case of all
such is hopeless. {GC
620.2}
Those professed Christians who come up to that last fearful
conflict unprepared will, in their despair, confess their sins in words of
burning anguish, while the wicked exult over their distress. These confessions
are of the same character as was that of Esau or of Judas. Those who make them,
lament the result of transgression, but not its guilt. They feel [621]
no true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They acknowledge their sin, through
fear of punishment; but, like Pharaoh of old, they would return to their
defiance of Heaven should the judgments be removed. {GC 620.3}
Jacob's history is also an assurance that God will not cast
off those who have been deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin, but who
have returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this
class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of
peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are
terrible; but the Lord's eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their
cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to
consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire.
God's love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as
strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is
needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be
consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected. {GC 621.1}
The season of distress and anguish before us will require a
faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will
not faint though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to
prepare for that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined.
His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay
hold of God's promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was,
will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize
before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it.
Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! How few have ever had
their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is
on the stretch. When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over
the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God. [622]
{GC 621.2}
Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest
danger of falling under the power of satanic delusions and the decree to compel
the conscience. And even if they endure the test they will be plunged into
deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have never
made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faith which they have neglected
they will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of discouragement. {GC 622.1}
We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His
promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should
rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God.
The deepest poverty, the greatest self-denial, with His approval, is better
than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to
pray. If we allow our minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord may
give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile
lands. {GC 622.2}
The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse
to enter any path save that upon which they could ask God's blessing. If the
messengers who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the
blessing of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in
faith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say: "I
have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Genesis 32:30. They
would be accounted of heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and
with men. {GC 622.3}
The "time of trouble, such as never was," is soon
to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and
which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is
greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis
before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the
ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.
"Though Noah, Daniel, and Job" were in the land, "as I live,
saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son [623] nor
daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness."
Ezekiel 14:20. {GC 622.4}
Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for
us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our
Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human
hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is
cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ
declared of Himself: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in
Me." John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would
enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and
there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the
condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. {GC 623.1}
It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us,
through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour invites us
to join ourselves to Him, to unite our weakness to His strength, our ignorance
to His wisdom, our unworthiness to His merits. God's providence is the school
in which we are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. The Lord is ever
setting before us, not the way we would choose, which seems easier and
pleasanter to us, but the true aims of life. It rests with us to co-operate
with the agencies which Heaven employs in the work of conforming our characters
to the divine model. None can neglect or defer this work but at the most
fearful peril to their souls. {GC 623.2}
The apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in heaven exclaiming:
"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come
down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time." Revelation 12:12. Fearful are the scenes which call forth this
exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as his time
grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination
in the time of trouble. [624] {GC 623.3}
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be
revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The
spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole
world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his
last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and
subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ
Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world's
Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have
revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures. {GC 624.1}
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan
himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the
Saviour's advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will
make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan
will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness,
resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation.
Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything
that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air:
"Christ has come! Christ has come!" The people prostrate themselves
in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing
upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His
voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones
he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour
uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed
character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and
commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who
persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to
listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong,
almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who [625] were
deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give
heed to these sorceries, saying: This is "the great power of God."
Acts 8:10. {GC 624.2}
But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of
this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is
pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class upon
whom the Bible declares that God's unmingled wrath shall be poured out. {GC 625.1}
And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the
manner of Christ's advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception
upon this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming.
"There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect. . . . Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is
in the desert; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it
not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the
west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:24-27,
31; 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This coming there is no
possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known—witnessed
by the whole world. {GC
625.2}
Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures
and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful
delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect
the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting
of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now
so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence
of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible
only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to
stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way,
entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden,
that [626]
their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of
trial may come upon them as a thief. {GC 625.3}
As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom
against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and
abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will flee
from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in
the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds
of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make
the high places of the earth their sanctuaries and will thank God for "the
munitions of rocks." Isaiah 33:16. But many of all nations and of all
classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the
most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in
chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to
die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear
their moans; no human hand is ready to lend them help. {GC 626.1}
Will the Lord forget His people in this trying hour? Did He
forget faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world?
Did He forget Lot when the fire came down from heaven to consume the cities of
the plain? Did He forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt? Did He forget
Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of
Baal? Did He forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison house?
Did He forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or Daniel in the den of
lions? {GC 626.2}
"Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath
forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." Isaiah
49:14-16. The Lord of hosts has said: "He that toucheth you toucheth the
apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:8. [627] {GC 626.3}
Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon
walls cannot cut off the communication between their souls and Christ. One who
sees their every weakness, who is acquainted with every trial, is above all
earthly powers; and angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light
and peace from heaven. The prison will be as a palace; for the rich in faith
dwell there, and the gloomy walls will be lighted up with heavenly light as
when Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises at midnight in the Philippian
dungeon. {GC 627.1}
God's judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking
to oppress and destroy His people. His long forbearance with the wicked
emboldens men in transgression, but their punishment is nonetheless certain and
terrible because it is long delayed. "The Lord shall rise up as in Mount
Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work,
His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act." Isaiah
28:21. To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. "As I
live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."
Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord is "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth, . . . forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin." Yet He will "by no means clear the guilty." "The
Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the
wicked." Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3. By terrible things in righteousness He
will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. The severity of the
retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by the Lord's reluctance to
execute justice. The nation with which He bears long, and which He will not
smite until it has filled up the measure of its iniquity in God's account, will
finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy. {GC 627.2}
When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the
unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast and his image
and receive his mark (Revelation 14:9, 10), will be poured out. The plagues
upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to
those [628]
more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just
before the final deliverance of God's people. Says the revelator, in describing
those terrific scourges: "There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the
men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his
image." The sea "became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul
died in the sea." And "the rivers and fountains of waters
. . . became blood." Terrible as these inflictions are, God's
justice stands fully vindicated. The angel of God declares: "Thou art
righteous, O Lord, . . . because Thou hast judged thus. For they have
shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink;
for they are worthy." Revelation 16:2-6. By condemning the people of God
to death, they have as truly incurred the guilt of their blood as if it had
been shed by their hands. In like manner Christ declared the Jews of His time
guilty of all the blood of holy men which had been shed since the days of Abel;
for they possessed the same spirit and were seeking to do the same work with
these murderers of the prophets. {GC 627.3}
In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun
"to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat."
Verses 8, 9. The prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this
fearful time: "The land mourneth; . . . because the harvest of
the field is perished. . . . All the trees of the field are withered:
because joy is withered away from the sons of men." "The seed is
rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate. . . . How do
the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no
pasture. . . . The rivers of water are dried up, and the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness." "The songs of the temple
shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead
bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence." Joel
1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3. {GC
628.1}
These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the
earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most [629] awful
scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men,
prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading
blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his
guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy. {GC 628.2}
In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God's
mercy which they have so long despised. "Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander
from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro
to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos 8:11, 12. {GC 629.1}
The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while
persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for want of
food they will not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not
pass by one of His self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their
head will care for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied. While
the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the
righteous and supply their wants. To him that "walketh righteously"
is the promise: "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."
"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not
forsake them." Isaiah 33:15, 16; 41:17. {GC 629.2}
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall
fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no
herd in the stalls;" yet shall they that fear Him "rejoice in the
Lord" and joy in the God of their salvation. Habakkuk 3:17, 18. {GC 629.3}
"The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The
Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: [630] He
shall preserve thy soul." "He shall deliver thee from the snare of
the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His
feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine
eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made
the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall
no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."
Psalm 121:5-7; 91:3-10. {GC
629.4}
Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God
must soon seal their testimony with their blood as did the martyrs before them.
They themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand
of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry unto
God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard:
"Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if
you are indeed His people?" But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon
Calvary's cross and the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery: "He
saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now
come down from the cross, and we will believe Him." Matthew 27:42. Like
Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal
struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease not their earnest
intercession. {GC 630.1}
Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold
companies of angels that excel in strength stationed about those who have kept
the word of Christ's patience. With sympathizing tenderness, angels have
witnessed their distress and have heard their prayers. They are waiting the
word of their Commander to snatch them from their peril. But they must wait yet
a little longer. The people of God must drink [631] of the
cup and be baptized with the baptism. The very delay, so painful to them, is
the best answer to their petitions. As they endeavor to wait trustingly for the
Lord to work they are led to exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have
been too little exercised during their religious experience. Yet for the
elect's sake the time of trouble will be shortened. "Shall not God avenge
His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? . . . I tell you
that He will avenge them speedily." Luke 18:7, 8. The end will come more
quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves for
the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires of
destruction. {GC 630.2}
The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue
their watch. Though a general decree has fixed the time when commandment
keepers may be put to death, their enemies will in some cases anticipate the
decree, and before the time specified, will endeavor to take their lives. But
none can pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some
are assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the swords
raised against them break and fall powerless as a straw. Others are defended by
angels in the form of men of war. {GC 631.1}
In all ages, God has wrought through holy angels for the
succor and deliverance of His people. Celestial beings have taken an active
part in the affairs of men. They have appeared clothed in garments that shone
as the lightning; they have come as men in the garb of wayfarers. Angels have
appeared in human form to men of God. They have rested, as if weary, under the
oaks at noon. They have accepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have
acted as guides to benighted travelers. They have, with their own hands,
kindled the fires at the altar. They have opened prison doors and set free the
servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of heaven, they came to roll
away the stone from the Saviour's tomb. {GC 631.2}
In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of [632]
the righteous; and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to
Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they have passed
the boundary of God's forbearance. The Lord delights in mercy; and for the sake
of a few who really serve Him, He restrains calamities and prolongs the
tranquillity of multitudes. Little do sinners against God realize that they are
indebted for their own lives to the faithful few whom they delight to ridicule
and oppress. {GC 631.3}
Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in
their councils angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked upon them;
human ears have listened to their appeals; human lips have opposed their
suggestions and ridiculed their counsels; human hands have met them with insult
and abuse. In the council hall and the court of justice these heavenly
messengers have shown an intimate acquaintance with human history; they have
proved themselves better able to plead the cause of the oppressed than were
their ablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated purposes and
arrested evils that would have greatly retarded the work of God and would have
caused great suffering to His people. In the hour of peril and distress
"the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them." Psalm 34:7. {GC 632.1}
With earnest longing, God's people await the tokens of their
coming King. As the watchmen are accosted, "What of the night?" the
answer is given unfalteringly, "'The morning cometh, and also the night.'
Isaiah 21:11, 12. Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountaintops.
Soon there will be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about
to shine forth. The morning and the night are both at hand—the
opening of endless day to the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to
the wicked." {GC
632.2}
As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the
veil separating them from the unseen seems almost withdrawn. The heavens glow
with the dawning of eternal day, and like the melody of angel songs the words
fall upon the [633] ear: "Stand fast to your
allegiance. Help is coming." Christ, the almighty Victor, holds out to His
weary soldiers a crown of immortal glory; and His voice comes from the gates
ajar: "Lo, I am with you. Be not afraid. I am acquainted with all your
sorrows; I have borne your griefs. You are not warring against untried enemies.
I have fought the battle in your behalf, and in My name you are more than
conquerors." {GC
632.3}
The precious Saviour will send help just when we need it.
The way to heaven is consecrated by His footprints. Every thorn that wounds our
feet has wounded His. Every cross that we are called to bear He has borne
before us. The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace. The time
of trouble is a fearful ordeal for God's people; but it is the time for every
true believer to look up, and by faith he may see the bow of promise encircling
him. {GC 633.1}
"The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with
singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall
obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am
He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man
that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and
forgettest the Lord thy Maker; . . . and hast feared continually
every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy?
and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may
be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should
fail. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The
Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have
covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand." Isaiah 51:11-16. {GC 633.2}
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"Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken,
but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the
cause of His people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of My fury; thou shalt no more drink it
again: but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have
said [634]
to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the
ground, and as the street, to them that went over." Verses 21-23. {GC 633.3}
The eye of God, looking down the ages, was fixed upon the
crisis which His people are to meet, when earthly powers shall be arrayed
against them. Like the captive exile, they will be in fear of death by
starvation or by violence. But the Holy One who divided the Red Sea before
Israel, will manifest His mighty power and turn their captivity. "They
shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels;
and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."
Malachi 3:17. If the blood of Christ's faithful witnesses were shed at this
time, it would not, like the blood of the martyrs, be as seed sown to yield a
harvest for God. Their fidelity would not be a testimony to convince others of
the truth; for the obdurate heart has beaten back the waves of mercy until they
return no more. If the righteous were now left to fall a prey to their enemies,
it would be a triumph for the prince of darkness. Says the psalmist: "In
the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His
tabernacle shall He hide me." Psalm 27:5. Christ has spoken: "Come,
My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide
thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For,
behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their iniquity." Isaiah 26:20, 21. Glorious will be the deliverance of
those who have patiently waited for His coming and whose names are written in
the book of life. {GC
634.1}
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"God's People Delivered"
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