“The Time of Trouble”
511
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
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hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away.
He hopes to so 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