Time of Trouble
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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 the people liberty, after a certain time, to put
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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 af-
fliction 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 deliver-
ance from the hand of Esau (
Genesis 32:24-30
), represents the experi-
ence 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 remain-
ing 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 defense-
less, 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