Basic HTML Version
Chapter 40—God’s People Delivered
When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from
those who honor the law of God, there will be in different lands a
simultaneous movement for their destruction. As the time appointed
in the decree draws near, the people will conspire to strike in one
night a decisive blow which shall silence dissent and reproof.
The people of God—some in prison cells, some in forests and
mountains—plead for divine protection. Armed men, urged on by
evil angels, are preparing for the work of death. Now, in the hour
of utmost extremity, God will interpose: “Ye shall have a song, as
in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart,
as when one goeth ... to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the
mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice
to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the
indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with
scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.”
Isaiah 30:29, 30
.
Throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when a
dense blackness, deeper than night, falls on the earth. Then a rainbow
spans the heavens and seems to encircle each praying company.
The angry multitudes are arrested. The objects of their rage are
forgotten. They gaze upon the symbol of God’s covenant and long
to be shielded from its brightness.
By the people of God a voice is heard, saying, “Look up.” Like
Stephen they look up and see the glory of God and the Son of man
on His throne. See
Acts 7:55, 56
. They discern the marks of His
humiliation, and hear the request, “I will that they also, whom thou
[386]
hast given me, be with me where I am.”
John 17:24
. A voice is heard
saying, “They come, holy, harmless, and undefiled! They have kept
the word of my patience.”
At midnight God manifests His power for the deliverance of His
people. The sun appears shining in its strength. Signs and wonders
follow. The wicked look with terror on the scene, while the righteous
behold the tokens of their deliverance. In the midst of the angry
343