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From Here to Forever
extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the
final deliverance of God’s people. Says the revelator: “There fell a
noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the
beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.” The sea “became
as the blood of a dead man.” And “the rivers and fountains of waters
... became blood.” The angel 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. Christ declared the Jews of
His time guilty of all the blood of holy men shed since the days of
Abel (
Matthew 23:34-36
), for they possessed the same spirit as these
murderers of the prophets.
In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch
men with fire.” The prophets describe this fearful time: “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.” “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.”
Joel 1:11, 12, 18-20
.
These plagues are not universal, yet they will be the most awful
scourges ever known. All judgments prior to the close of probation
have been mingled with mercy. The blood of Christ has shielded the
sinner from the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment,
wrath is unmixed with mercy. Multitudes will desire the shelter of
God’s mercy which they have despised.
While persecuted and distressed, while they suffer for want of
food, the people of God will not be left to perish. Angels will supply
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their wants. “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” “I
the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”
Isaiah 33:16
;
41:17
.
Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must
soon seal their testimony with their blood, as did the martyrs before
them. It is a time of fearful agony. The wicked exult, “Where now
is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if you
are indeed His people?” But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying
on Calvary’s cross. Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God.