168
The Truth About Angels
The Siege of Jerusalem
The longsuffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the
Jews in their stubborn impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward
the disciples of Jesus, they rejected the last offer of mercy. Then
God withdrew His protection from them, and removed His restraining
power from Satan and his angels, and the nation was left to the control
of the leader she had chosen. Her children had spurned the grace of
Christ, which would have enabled them to subdue their evil impulses,
[241]
and now these became the conquerors.
Satan aroused the fiercest and most debased passions of the soul.
Men did not reason; they were beyond reason—controlled by impulse
and blind rage. They became Satanic in their cruelty.... Satan was at
the head of the nation, and the highest civil and religious authorities
were under his sway.—
The Spirit of Prophecy 4:29, 30
.
Angels of God were sent to do the work of destruction, so that one
stone [of the temple] was not left upon another that was not thrown
down.—
Manuscript Releases 21:66
.
John the Revelator
Of Gabriel the Saviour speaks in the Revelation, saying that “He
sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.”
Revelation
1:1
. And to John the angel declared, “I am a fellow servant with thee
and with thy brethren the prophets.”
Revelation 22:9
, R. V. Wonderful
thought—that the angel who stands next in honor to the Son of God
is the one chosen to open the purposes of God to sinful men.—
The
Desire of Ages, 99
.
God had a special work for him to accomplish. Satan was de-
termined to hinder this work, and he led on his servants to destroy
John. But God sent His angel and wonderfully preserved him. All
who witnessed the great power of God manifested in the deliverance
of John, were astonished, and many were convinced that God was
with him, and that the testimony which he bore concerning Jesus was
correct. Those who sought to destroy him were afraid to again attempt
[242]
to take his life, and he was permitted to suffer on for Jesus.
He was falsely accused by his enemies, and was shortly banished
to a lonely island, where the Lord sent His angel to reveal to him things