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Chapter Thirty Nine
The Time of Trouble
“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.
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
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.
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God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn.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.
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.
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
have received the message, and Satan will excite to still
greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.
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.
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 eighteen hundred
years 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
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
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.
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.
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.
Having sent his family away, that they may not witness
his distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He
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.
“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
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.
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.
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.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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
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.”
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their
righteousness.”
Ezekiel 14:20.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life
and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief.
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.
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?
“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 hosts has said: “He that toucheth
you toucheth the apple of His eye.”
Zechariah 2:8.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the
earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most
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.
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.
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.
“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.
“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:
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 fathers, 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.”
Psalms
121:5-7;
91:3-10.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of
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.
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.
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.”
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
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.”
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.
“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.
“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 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.
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.
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