“The Time of Trouble”
519
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 these terrific scourges, “There fell a
noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the
[628]
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.” [
Revelation
16:2-6, 8, 9
.] 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, 8, 9
.] 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.” [
Revelation
16:2-6, 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 waters 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
[629]
of his guilt; but in the final Judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed
with mercy.