The Great
Controversy - Chapter XXXIX- “The Time
of Trouble”
Continued…
As the Sabbath has
become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious
and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday,
the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand, will
make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who
stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the State,
ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole
nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness.
The same argument
eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the “rulers of the
people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that one man should
die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” [John 11:50.]
This argument will
appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow
the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the
severest punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to
put them to death. Romanism in the Old World, and apostate Protestantism in the
New, will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine
precepts.
The people of God
will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by
the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble.
“Thus saith the
Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.” “All
faces are turned into paleness. Alas! For that day is great, so that none is
like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of
it.” [Jeremiah 30:5-7.]
Jacob’s night of
anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from the hand of Esau,
[Genesis 32:24-30.] represents the experience of God’s people in the time of
trouble.
Because of the deception practiced to secure
his father’s blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed
by his brother’s deadly threats. After remaining for many years an exile, he
had set out, at God’s command, to return with his wives and children, his flocks
and herds, to his native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was
filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s approach at the head of a band of
warriors, doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob’s company, unarmed and
defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter.
And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of
self-reproach; for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only
hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves
nothing undone on his own part to atone for the wrong to his brother, and to
avert the threatened danger. So should the followers of Christ, as they
approach the time of trouble, make every exertion to place themselves in a
proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger
which threatens liberty of conscience. Having sent his family away, that they
may not witness his distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He
confesses his sin, and gratefully acknowledges the mercy of God toward him,
while with deep humiliation he pleads the covenant made with his fathers, and
the promises to himself in the night vision at Bethel and in the land of his
exile. The crisis in his life has come; everything is at stake. In the darkness
and solitude he continues praying and humbling himself before God. Suddenly a
hand is laid upon his shoulder. He thinks that an enemy is seeking his life,
and with all the energy of despair he wrestles with his assailant. As the day
begins to break, the stranger puts forth his superhuman power; at his touch the
strong man seems paralyzed, and he falls, a helpless, weeping suppliant, upon
the neck of his mysterious antagonist. Jacob knows now that it is the Angel of
the covenant with whom he has been in conflict. Though disabled, and suffering
the keenest pain, he does not relinquish his purpose. Long has he endured
perplexity, remorse, and trouble for his sin; now he must have the assurance
that it is pardoned. The divine visitant seems about to depart; but Jacob
clings to him, pleading for a blessing. The Angel urges ,“Let me go; for the
day breaketh;” but the patriarch exclaims, “I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me.”
What confidence, what
firmness and perseverance, are here displayed! Had this been a boastful,
presumptuous claim, Jacob would have been instantly destroyed; but his was the
assurance of one who confesses his weakness and unworthiness, yet trusts the
mercy of a covenant-keeping God. “He had
power over the Angel, and prevailed.” [Hosea12:4.]
Through humiliation,
repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with the
Majesty of Heaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon the promises of
God, and the heart of Infinite Love could not turn away the sinner’s plea. As an
evidence of his triumph, and an encouragement to others to imitate his example,
his name was changed from one which was a reminder of his sin, to one that
commemorated his victory. And the fact that Jacob had prevailed with God was an
assurance that he would prevail with men. He no longer feared to encounter his
brother’s anger; for the Lord was his defense.
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 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 they shall fail to realize the fulfillment of the Saviour’s
promise, “I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon
all the world.” [Revelation 3:10.]
If they could have
the assurance of pardon, they would not shrink from torture or death; but
should they prove unworthy, and lose their lives because of their own defects
of character, then God’s holy name would be reproached. On every hand they hear
the plottings of treason, and see the active working of rebellion; and there is
aroused within them an intense desire, an earnest yearning of soul, that this
great apostasy may be terminated, and the wickedness of the wicked may come to
an end.
But while they plead
with God to stay the work of rebellion, it is with a keen sense of
self-reproach that they themselves have no more power to resist and urge back
the mighty tide of evil. They feel that had they always employed all their
ability in the service of Christ, going forward from strength to strength,
Satan’s forces would have less power to prevail against them. They afflict their
souls before God, pointing to their past repentance of their many sins, and
pleading the Saviour’s promise, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may
make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah27:5.]
Their faith does not
fail because their prayers are not immediately answered.
Though suffering the
keenest anxiety, terror, and distress, they do not cease their intercessions.
They lay hold of the
strength of God as Jacob laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their
souls is, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Had not Jacob
previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud, God would
not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life. So, in the time of
trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while
tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut
off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for
deliverance.
But while they have
a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal.
Their sins have gone beforehand to Judgment, and have been blotted out; and
they cannot bring them to remembrance.
Satan leads many to
believe that God will overlook their unfaithfulness in the minor affairs of
life; but the Lord shows in his dealings with Jacob that he will in nowise
sanction or tolerate evil.
All who endeavor to
excuse or conceal their sins, and permit them to remain upon the books of
Heaven, unconfessed and unforgiven, will be overcome by Satan.
The more exalted
their profession, and the more honorable the position which they hold, the more
grievous is their course in the sight of God, and the more sure the triumph of
their great adversary. Those who delay a preparation for the day of God cannot
obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any subsequent time.
The case of all such is hopeless. Those
professed Christians who come up to that last fearful conflict unprepared, will,
in their despair, confess their sins in words of burning, anguish, while the
wicked exult over their distress. These confessions are of the same character
as was that of Esau or of Judas. Those who make them lament the result of
transgression, but not its guilt. They feel no true contrition, no abhorrence
of evil. They acknowledge their sin, through fear of punishment; but, like
Pharaoh of old, they would return to their defiance of Heaven, should the
judgments be removed.
Jacob’s history is
also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived, and
tempted, and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto him with true
repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send his angels
to comfort and protect them in the time of peril.
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