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The Desire of Ages
death. Forty years after His crucifixion it was still to be held sacred.
For forty years the disciples were to pray that their flight might not be
on the Sabbath day.
From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the
greater event, the last link in the chain of this earth’s history,—the
coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two
events, there lay open to Christ’s view long centuries of darkness,
centuries for His church marked with blood and tears and agony. Upon
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these scenes His disciples could not then endure to look, and Jesus
passed them by with a brief mention. “Then shall be great tribulation,”
He said, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time,
no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be
shortened.” For more than a thousand years such persecution as the
world had never before known was to come upon Christ’s followers.
Millions upon millions of His faithful witnesses were to be slain. Had
not God’s hand been stretched out to preserve His people, all would
have perished. “But for the elect’s sake,” He said, “those days shall be
shortened.”
Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second
coming, and He gives warning of dangers to precede His advent to the
world. “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
believe it not. For 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. Behold, I have told you
before. 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.” As one of the
signs of Jerusalem’s destruction, Christ had said, “Many false prophets
shall rise, and shall deceive many.” False prophets did rise, deceiving
the people, and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and
sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into
the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the
last days. This sign is given as a sign of the second advent. Even
now false christs and false prophets are showing signs and wonders
to seduce His disciples. Do we not hear the cry, “Behold, He is in the
desert”? Have not thousands gone forth into the desert, hoping to find