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The Great Controversy
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
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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
.