|
Sealing Time Ministries
Presentations
The
Evidence
The
Footsteps of an Approaching God
By Ryan McCoy
"For the day of the Lord is right upon
the world when evidence shall be made sure." -{11MR 361.2}
"The present is a time of overwhelming interest
to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and
authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed
upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless
relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is
taking possession of every earthly element, and they realize that
something great and decisive is about to take place--that the
world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis." {Mar 266.3}
There are 2
purposes to this study
- To instill an awareness of just how close we are to
the end, and Christ's second coming. We need to understand just how
close Christ's second coming is if we are to avoid being complacent.
- To dispel the deist myth that God does not take direct
control of world events at times, and that He is not above judgment of the
wicked.
As I studied this bible text: "It is
time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law."
-Psalm 119:126, I was impressed to look it up in Ellen G. White's writings. As
I looked at what she wrote on this subject, I was impressed that Katrina and
Rita were not just another set of catastrophic hurricanes.
The word "pre-judgment" being defined here as a
disastrous "natural" event that happens before the final judgment (hence the
"pre"), before the final plagues of Revelation are poured out, before National
Ruin, but more specifically, just before the close of probation, and is a
mixture of mercy and wrath, designed to wake up the world in a series of “great
shocks” to the fact Jesus is coming soon and to prepare our lives, and to warn
others.
Overview
We are told specifically to warn
the world that these "pre-judgments" are coming. Once this series of
"pre-judgments" is started in motion, it cannot be stopped by man, and the
interval of time between each of them will be shorter and shorter, and they will
increase in their destructive power. Large, wicked cities are specific objects
of these "pre-judgments." These judgments will vary in intensity according to
their wickedness, and the light of truth that they have been shown. We know
that even the world will see these "pre-judgments" as judgments from God.
Thousands of cities will eventually be affected, and as a result the protestant
churches will unite on the legislation of worship. This will be done
specifically by the passing of “Sunday (worship) Laws” in a vain attempt to stay
the judgments of God. This “national apostasy” will swiftly be followed by
“national ruin,” the results being social, economic, and spiritual. Those that
keep all of God's Holy law, and more specifically “Sabbath-keepers” led by the
Holy Spirit will raise their voices against the church led nations proclaiming
this counterfeit day of worship created by Rome. (Rev. 14:8 & 18:2,3) Because
they speak with great power and authority (Rev. 18:1) against the established
churches, the popular ministers will stir up the people against them and they
will be led to be viewed as the cause of these "judgments" and great persecution
will follow them. This will result in their complete suspension of all buying
and selling in an attempt to force them into submission. (Rev. 13:17) But their
voices raised speak with a power that many will not be able to deny. They will
hear in their warning the voice of God and will leave these fallen churches.
(Rev. 14:9-11 & 18:4,5) Sometime after this, the probation for the wicked
persecutors will close, and just as in Noah’s day the door to the spiritual
“ark” will again be sealed shut. God's people will be sealed inside, the
wicked marked for total destruction... then will be seen the scenes of “great
tribulation” (Dan. 12:1) as have never been nor ever shall be, and the final
plagues of God will be poured out without mixture on the wicked. (Rev. 16)
I believe that the "Katrina" and "Rita"
hurricanes were a set of "pre-judgments" or direct acts of God. Their purpose
being to warn and correct. This is not an easy conclusion for some, but there is
much evidence for this. God has no joy in his punishment of the wicked, and
every person who survived, is a living testimony to the fact that these
“pre-judgments” will be mixed with mercy. After the close of probation, no such
mixture is granted.
If Katrina was a “pre-judgment” from God
beginning a rapidly occurring, final series of judgments, as I am convinced that
it was, then we have but a very short time until not only the next
“pre-judgment,” but the National Sunday laws will be coming very soon. (There
is also some evidence that the earthquake/tsunami in Indonesia was also a
“pre-judgment”, however I lack knowledge of that area of the world, so I cannot
make a case for the tsunami at this time.) Pay attention to the interval of time
between these great events unfolding before our eyes. We have no time to waste
in the service for God. Our churches need revival, and only the “straight
testimony” will bring that about, as well as “the shaking.” We desperately need
the “straight testimony” to go out in Holy boldness warning our family, friends,
church-members, and the world of the events that are not only about to transpire
in short order, but have already started.
Please read the following short story. A
detailed outline of evidence follows.
Lightning from the Earth
The tower bell of Old St. Mary's on California
Street rang out five times on the still, cool air. It promised to be another
beautiful day for San Francisco; there was no fog that morning and the streets
were quiet. The dance halls at the Barbary Coast and the houses of ill fame on
Pacific Street had closed shop for the night, as a few drunken stragglers made
their way home. A city, forgetting its sins, was beginning to arise.
It was
Wednesday, April 18, 1906; at 5:08 the streetlights dimmed and went out. A few
cable cars and overhead trolleys had already left the streetcar barns to begin a
new day. At 5:12, Police Sergeant Jesse Cook stopped at the corner of Washington
and Davis to chat with Al Levy, a young worker in the fresh produce district
that stood two blocks back of the waterfront. The clocks on the tower of the
Ferry Building said that it was 5:15-they were running a little fast that
morning. But it would be months before they would run again.
For at that instant the earthquake struck.
Leaping out of the sea at seven thousand miles
an hour, like some gigantic animal, it first tore out the Point Arena
Lighthouse, ninety miles north of San Francisco. And then it sprang southward.
Moving rapidly, it unsheathed its bolts of earthen lightning—and sent them into
the City by the Bay.
The animals sensed it first, as the horses
shifted and whinnied. Jesse Cook, later to become police commissioner, heard
behind him a deep rumbling. It was strangely distant. "Deep and terrible," he
later called it. Turning, he looked up the hill of Washington Street—and saw it
coming toward him. "The whole street was undulating. It was as if the waves of
the ocean were coming toward me, and billowing as they came." Packing more power
than all the explosives of World War II, the quake hit the city in full force.
Compression waves flowed beneath streets, buildings, and people. Earth-waves,
two and three feet high, rolled in on the city.
In the next moment, Cook saw both men and
animals crushed beneath falling brick walls.
Over on Market street, the business hub of the
city, a man ran into the middle of the street: " 'Keep to the middle of the
street, Mac!' I shouted to one of my friends. . I was thrown prone on my back
and the pavement pulsated like a living thing. Around me the huge buildings,
looming up more terrible because of the queer dance they were performing,
wobbled and veered. Crash followed crash and resounded on all sides. Screeches
rent the air as terrified humanity streamed out into the open in an agony of
despair."
The shock only lasted 65 to 75 seconds—but it
seemed an eternity. The dance of death toppled towers and chimneys, crumpled
rows of wood frame houses, threw cornices and walls into the streets, sunk
buildings into the ground, twisted steel rails, bridges and pipelines.
The deafening roar produced by the quake was
intense. John B. Farish, a mining engineer in town on business, awoke in the St.
Francis Hotel. "I was awakened by a loud rumbling noise. . [and] a concussion,
similar to that caused by the nearby explosion of a huge blast, shook the
building to its foundations. .And then began a series of the liveliest motions
imaginable, . . followed by tremendous crashes as the cornices of adjoining
buildings and chimneys tottered to the ground.',"
Within seventeen minutes, nearly fifty fires
were reported in the downtown area. Fire engines rushed to answer the calls but
found that the water mains were broken. They stared at their hoses. The
resulting conflagration burned down much of the city.
Like
Port Royal in Jamaica, that wicked haunt of pirates and slave-dealers, which
was hit by a powerful earthquake in 1692, San Francisco had been struck down.
Port Royal slid into the sea; San Francisco burned. (see:
The Port Royal Project, and
The Port Royal Project – History (Texas A&M University))
Shortly thereafter, a small lady was taken by
carriage through the city whose destruction she had agonized over. For she had
predicted it. With tear-dimmed eyes she viewed firsthand the results of warnings
given earlier.
"Not long hence these cities will suffer under
the judgments of God. San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them in wrath." -Manuscript 114, 1902.
Again she had warned:
"1 am bidden to declare the message that cities
full of transgression, and sinful in the extreme, will be destroyed by
earthquakes, by fire, by flood. All the world will be warned that there is a God
who will display His authority."-Manuscript 35, 1906.
Driving amid the stifling stench of the
destruction, she gazed in shock at the terrible judgment. It was but two days
before this devastating disaster that, she saw in a night vision the quake and
the carnage that now lay spread out before her.
"There passed before me a most wonderful
[awesome] representation. During the vision of the night, I stood on an eminence
from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings; great
and small, were falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and
the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out
of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the
terrified.
"The destroying angels of God were at work. One
touch, and buildings so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure
against every danger quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no assurance of
safety in anyplace. I did not feel in any special peril but the awfulness of the
scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed the
forbearance of God was exhausted, and the judgment day had come.
"Terrible as was the presentation that passed
before me; that which impressed itself most vividly upon my mind was the
instruction given in connection with it.
"The angel that stood by my side declared that
God's supreme rulership, and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those
who persistently refused to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who
choose to remain disloyal, must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order,
that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of
their course."-Manuscript dated April 16, 1906 (Letter 137, 1906, in
Testimonies, Volume 9, page 92).
Awakening from the above vision, she turned on
the light. It was 1:00 am., Monday, April 16. Four years earlier, in 1902, she
had first predicted the devastation of San Francisco. Within 53 hours it was to
take place. '"
490 city blocks were destroyed; 256,000 were
left homeless. Mercifully, only 498 died. Property was destroyed at the rate of
one million dollars every ten minutes by the earthquake and fire following it,
Which burned at times with blast furnace heat, ranging up to 20000 F. Yet she
later warned of still more destruction in the future upon these and other wicked
cities.
"The light given me is that the wickedness in
the cities of San Francisco and Oakland is beyond all imagination. God's wrath
is upon many of the inhabitants of these cities." Manuscript 25,1908.
"'These things make me feel very solemn,
because I know that the judgment day is right upon us. The judgments that have
already come are a warning, but not the finishing, of the punishment that will
come on wicked cities." –Letter 154, 1906.
"I feel sure that San Francisco and Oakland
will again be visited with the judgments of God."-Letter 2,1909.
Seismology—the study of earthquakes —was yet in
its infancy. But warnings given then, are recognized today by leading scientists
as facts to be fulfilled again along the San Andreas Fault.
When a prophet speaks, it comes to pass.
-PROPHET OF THE END, Ch. 1, "Lightning from the
Earth"
According to the Spirit of Prophecy, The Great
San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was a “pre-judgment” from God. It is clearly
pointed out that more judgments will come to other wicked cities, and that San
Francisco and Oakland will again be visited in judgment from God if they are not
warned, and repent.
"Pre-Judgments"
1.
What is a "pre-judgment?"
1.1.
"Pre-judgment" is a disastrous nature related event that happens before
the main judgment, before the close of probation, and before the final plagues
are poured out. This clearly being a direct act of God in judgment, it's
purpose being "correction." (Job 37) These "pre-judgments" are a mixture of
justice and mercy, unlike the plagues, that are "poured out without mixture."
a)
Natural event
·
Bible evidence:
·
"And there will be famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning of
sorrows." -Matthew 24:6-8
·
"For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’;
Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work.
The beasts go into dens, And remain in their lairs.
From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind,
And cold from the scattering winds of the north.
By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are
frozen.
Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His
bright clouds.
And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That
they may do whatever He commands them On the face of the whole earth.
He causes it to come, Whether for correction,
Or for His land, Or for mercy." -Job
37:6-13
·
"But
the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up."
-Jonah 1:4
·
"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,
and said:" - Job 38:1
·
"The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters,..."
-Psalm 77:18
·
EGW evidence:
·
"They will point to calamities on land and sea--to the
storms of wind, the floods, the earthquakes,
the destruction by fire--as judgments indicating God's
displeasure..." -Southern Watchman, June 28, 1904. {ChS 155.2}
·
“How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes,
of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and
property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of disorganized,
unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the control of man, but in them all
God's purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by which He seeks to
arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.”--PK 277 (c. 1914). {LDE 28.3}
·
At His own will God summons the forces of nature to overthrow the
might of His enemies--"fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling
His word." Psalm 148:8. When the heathen Amorites had set themselves to resist
His purposes, God interposed, casting down "great stones from heaven" upon the
enemies of Israel. We are told of a greater battle to take place in the closing
scenes of earth's history, when "Jehovah hath opened His armory, and hath
brought forth the weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50:25. "Hast thou," he
inquires, "entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the
treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?" Job 38:22, 23. {PP 509.3}
b)
Before close of probation
·
"Already a few drops of God's wrath have fallen upon the
earth; but when the seven last plagues shall be poured out without
mixture into the cup of His indignation, then it will be forever too
late to repent, and find shelter." {CET 187.3} (Note: The seven last plagues
signal the end of probation, and that mercy is no more, notice evidence that
a few drops of God's wrath will fall before the close of probation.)
·
"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 of his
guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy."
{Mar 267.3} (Note: Obviously there will be judgments "prior to the close of
probation." That would be the time we are in now.
·
Even before the last great destruction
comes upon the world, the flattering monuments of man's greatness
will be crumbled in the dust. God's retributive judgments will
fall on those who in the face of great light have continued in sin. Costly
buildings, supposed to be fire-proof, are erected. But as Sodom perished in the
flames of God's vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have
seen vessels which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty ocean,
seeking to breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and
silver, and with all their human freight, they sank into a watery grave.
Man's pride will be buried with the treasures he has accumulated by fraud.
God will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger and nakedness have cried
to Him for relief from oppression. {ST, October 9, 1901 par. 3}
·
God's judgments are abroad in the land. Shall we allow these
things to come upon the world without telling the people the meaning of
these terrible calamities, and how every one
may escape from the wrath to come? Shall we let our
neighbors remain in darkness without a preparation for the future life? Unless
we ourselves realize where we stand, the day of God will come upon us as a
thief. . . . {PM 312.3}
c)
Poured out in a mixture - Justice and mercy
·
"Already a few drops of God's wrath have fallen upon the
earth; but when the seven last plagues shall be
poured out without mixture ..." {CET 187.3} (Note: the few drops
of wrath have had a mixture of mercy, the plagues will have no such mixture of
mercy)
·
"Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in
mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be
aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course. {9T 93.3}
(Note: This is what the angel told EGW during her vision regarding the San
Francisco earthquake.)
2.
Are all natural disasters "pre-judgments?"
2.1.
No, some are directly from God, some from Satan (or the withdrawal of
God's divine protection)
a)
God
·
Bible evidence
·
“And
the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in
His heart. 7So
the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the
face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I have made them.”” - Genesis 6:6 NKJV
·
“And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth,
to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the
breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.”
-Genesis 6:17
·
“So
He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground:
both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed
from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark
remained alive.” -Genesis 7:23 NKJV
·
“And
the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,”
-Genesis 18:17 (note: This is Jesus speaking to His angels, in the presence of
Abraham as he walked with them out of his camp, and just prior to the
destruction of Sodom.)
·
“And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed
it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath
may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make
of you a great nation.” Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said:
“LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought
out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the
Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them
in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn
from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self,
and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and
all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall
inherit it forever.’” So the LORD relented from the harm which He said
He would do to His people." -Exodus 32:9-14 (note: God's
people/church is not above correction/judgment)
·
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them,
and He did not do it.” -Jonah 3:10
·
“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, As I have
punished the king of Assyria." -Jeremiah 50:18
·
"Then the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp
of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when
people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead."
-Isaiah 37:36
·
"Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death?
Did he not fear the LORD and seek the LORD’S favor? And the LORD relented
concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we are
doing great evil against ourselves.” -Jeremiah 26:19 (note: This was a judgment
God was about to bring upon Judah)
·
So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand
men of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As
he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the
angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel
of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. -1 Chronicles
21:14,15
·
“And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on
the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven
on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from
the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.” -Joshua 10:11
·
“And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search
Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men who are settled in complacency,
who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
Therefore their goods shall become booty, and their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them; They shall plant
vineyards, but not drink their wine.” - Zephaniah 1:12,13
·
"Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light
by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is
His name):"-Jeremiah 31:35 (note the same wording as in Matthew 24 "the sea and
the waves roaring")
·
I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and
create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’ -Isaiah 45:7
·
EGW evidence
·
“The destroying angels of God were at work.”
-Manuscript dated April 16, 1906 (Letter 137, 1906, in Testimonies, Volume 9,
page 92). (Note: This is from her vision regarding the San Francisco
earthquake, also note: that these scenes were to be repeated, see below.)
·
"As we near the close of this earth's history, we shall have
the scenes of the San Francisco calamity repeated in other places. . . .
These things make me feel very solemn because I know that the judgment day is
right upon us. The judgments that have already come are a warning, but not the
finishing, of the punishment that will come on wicked cities. . . ." {LDE
114.4}(note: Notice the word “places” would indicate more than one occurrence of
this great calamity.)
·
He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent
disregard of His law." {9T 93.2}(Note: This is from her vision regarding the
San Francisco earthquake.)
·
If Heaven's Warnings Go Unheeded.--I am bidden to declare the
message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the extreme, will be
destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood. All the world will be warned
that there is a God who will display His authority as God. His unseen agencies
will cause destruction, devastation, and death. All the accumulated
riches will be as nothingness. . . . {Ev 27.2}
·
The crisis is fast approaching. The time for God's
visitation has about come. Although loth to punish, nevertheless He
will punish, and that speedily. {CET 186.3}
·
“But his (Pharaoh's) determined stubbornness called
for still greater manifestations of the power of God, and plague
followed plague, until at last he was called to look upon the dead face of his
own first born, and those of his kindred; while the children of Israel,
whom he had regarded as slaves, were unharmed by the plagues, untouched by the
destroying angel.” -{CC 89.4}(note: This is in reference to
Pharaoh, also the Destroying angel here is an angel of God)
·
“As the violence of the storm increased, trees, buildings, rocks,
and earth were hurled in every direction. The terror of man and beast was beyond
description. Above the roar of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people
that had despised the authority of God. Satan himself, who was compelled
to remain in the midst of the warring elements, feared for his own existence.”
{PP 99.3}(note: Satan is obviously not always in charge of natural disasters.)
·
At His own will God summons the forces of nature to
overthrow the might of His enemies--"fire, and hail; snow, and
vapor; stormy wind fulfilling His word." Psalm 148:8. When the
heathen Amorites had set themselves to resist His purposes, God
interposed, casting down "great stones from heaven" upon the enemies of
Israel. We are told of a greater battle to take place in the closing
scenes of earth's history, when "Jehovah hath opened His armory, and
hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation." Jeremiah 50:25. "Hast thou,"
he inquires, "entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the
treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?" Job 38:22, 23. {PP 509.3}
b)
Satan
·
There is plenty of bible and EGW evidence stating Satan can and
will cause plenty of destruction and that is not the focus of this study.
3.
What is "God's Purpose in Calamities?" (LDE 27.4)
3.1.
Bible evidence:
a)
"He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for
His land, or for mercy." - Job 37:13 NKJV (read all of Job 37 for
more)
·
Correction and judgment are the same.
·
Bible evidence:
·
"...You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You
have marked them for correction." -Habakkuk 1:12 NKJV
b)
EGW evidence
·
The judgments that have already come are a warning,
but not the finishing, of the punishment that will come on wicked cities. . .
." {LDE 114.4}
·
The plagues of God are already falling upon the earth,
sweeping away the most costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven.
Will not these judgments bring professing Christians to their senses?
God permits them to come that the world may take heed, that sinners
may be afraid and tremble before Him.--3MR 311 (1902). {LDE 28.1}
·
“God has a purpose in permitting these calamities to occur.
They are one of His means of calling men and women to their senses. By unusual
workings through nature God will express to doubting human agencies that which
He clearly reveals in His Word.” --19MR 279 (1902). {LDE 28.2}
·
How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of
destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently
these calamities are capricious outbreaks of disorganized, unregulated forces of
nature, wholly beyond the control of man, but in them all God's purpose
may be read. They are among the agencies by which He seeks to arouse men
and women to a sense of their danger.--PK 277 (c. 1914). {LDE 28.3}
·
"Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy
with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be
aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course. " {9T 93.3}
·
The Time of God's Judgments a Time of Opportunity for the
Unwarned--The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for
those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the
Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched
out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter.
Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the
first time.--Letter 103, 1903, p. 4. (To G. B. Starr and wife, June 3,
1903.)
·
“In tender compassion God himself is speaking to an
impenitent world through judgments; and he will continue to speak in this manner.”
{RH, July 5, 1906 par. 7}
·
“The Lord is soon to come. In fire and flood and earthquake,
he is warning the inhabitants of this earth of his soon approach. O,
that the people may know the time of their visitation!” {RH, May 24, 1906 par.
19}
·
“God's judgments are abroad in the land. Shall we allow
these things to come upon the world without telling the people the meaning of
these terrible calamities, and how every one may escape from the wrath to come?
Shall we let our neighbors remain in darkness without a preparation for the
future life? Unless we ourselves realize where we stand, the day of God will
come upon us as a thief. . . .” {PM 312.3}
4.
Why does God use natural disasters for judgments?
4.1.
God uses natural disasters because He is the God of creation. By using
nature as a tool for judgments men cannot claim that it is from man.
a)
Bible evidence
·
“Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I
am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to
shame.” - Joel 2:27
b)
EGW evidence
·
“God has a purpose in permitting these calamities to occur. They
are one of His means of calling men and women to their senses. By unusual
workings through nature God will express to doubting human agencies that which
He clearly reveals in His Word.” --19MR 279 (1902). {LDE 28.2}
5.
Will we know these "pre-judgments" are coming?
5.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"And
you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for
all these things must come to pass,
but the end is not yet.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in
various places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows."
-Matthew 24:6-8
b)
"His thunder declares it, the cattle also, concerning the rising storm."
-Job 36:33 (note: thunder is used as a representation of God's voice all over
the Bible)
5.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"Those who walk in the light will see signs of the approaching
peril..."{CET 186.3}
b)
"You knew of these terrible judgments that were
coming. We were associated together, but you did not tell us. Why
did you not warn us, that we might have escaped?" May God help us
that we may not have upon our garments, because of our neglect, the blood of
souls! {RH, August 15, 1907 par. 13} (note: this is what those that
receive of these “pre-judgments” say to God's people)
6.
Who do these judgments fall on?
a)
Wicked cities
·
Bible evidence
·
"But
the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against
the LORD." -Genesis 13:13
·
"So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in
extent." -Jonah 3:3
·
"Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the
ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on
themselves." -Romans 13:2
·
EGW evidence
·
"The angel that stood at my side then instructed me that but
few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today,
and especially the wickedness in the large cities. He
declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors
in wrath for persistent disregard of His law." {9T 93.2}(Note: This
is from her vision regarding the San Francisco earthquake.)
·
"As we near the close of this earth's history, we shall have the
scenes of the San Francisco calamity repeated in other places. . . . These
things make me feel very solemn because I know that the judgment day is right
upon us. The judgments that have already come are a warning, but not the
finishing, of the punishment that will come on wicked cities. . .
." {LDE 114.4}
·
If Heaven's Warnings Go Unheeded.--I am bidden to declare the
message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the
extreme, will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by
flood. All the world will be warned that there is a God who will display His
authority as God. His unseen agencies will cause destruction, devastation, and
death. All the accumulated riches will be as nothingness. . . . {Ev 27.2}
·
“The Lord will not suddenly cast off all transgressors or destroy
entire nations; but He will punish cities and places where men have given
themselves up to the possession of Satanic agencies. Strictly will
the cities of the nations be dealt with, and yet they will not be
visited in the extreme of God's indignation, because some souls will yet break
away from the delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted, while
the mass will be treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.”--Manuscript 35,
1906.
b)
Those who say "peace and safety."
·
Bible evidence:
·
"For
when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And
they shall not escape. " -1 Thessalonians 5:3 NKJV (note: When a nation
"says" something, they say it with laws, or with force. The US has actively
deployed forces in the war on terrorism, their goal being "peace and safety."
7.
What are some Conditions in the cities that bring on “pre-judgments?”
7.1.
Bible evidence
a)
““As
I live,” says the Lord GOD, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have
done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of
your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride,
fullness of food, and abundance of idleness;
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were
haughty and committed abomination before Me;
therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” -Ezekiel 16:48-50
7.2.
EGW evidence
a)
“There is coming, rapidly and surely, an almost universal guilt upon the
inhabitants of the great cities because of the steady increase of
determined wickedness. ... As in the days before the Flood, so now
the time is right upon us when the Lord God must reveal His omnipotent power. .
. .” {HP 345.2}
b)
God's Spirit Gradually Withdrawn.--The days in which we live are solemn
and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from
the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers
of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled
state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching
events of the greatest magnitude. {Ev 31.5}
c)
“The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Holidays are numerous; the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts thousands
from the sober duties of life. The exciting sports--theatergoing, horse
racing, gambling, liquor drinking and reveling--stimulate every passion to
activity.” {9T 89.2} (note: What would her examples be today?)
d)
“The Lord will not suddenly cast off all transgressors or destroy entire
nations; but He will punish cities and places where men have given
themselves up to the possession of Satanic agencies. Strictly
will the cities of the nations be dealt with, and yet they will not be visited
in the extreme of God's indignation, because some souls will yet break away from
the delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted, while the mass
will be treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.”--Manuscript 35, 1906.
e)
“Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which
impressed itself most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given in
connection with it. The angel that stood by my side declared that God's supreme
rulership, and the sacredness of His law, must be revealed to those who
persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of kings. Those
who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order
that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of
their course.”-- Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 92. (1909)
f)
“The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any
conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the
wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time
when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard
of His law.” {Ev 28.3}
8.
When do these "pre-judgments" start?
8.1.
Once the cup of iniquity is full.
a)
Bible evidence
·
“But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for
the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” -Genesis 15:16
(note: God told this to Abraham 400 years before it happened.)
·
”And
the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and
because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they
have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me;
and if not, I will know.”” -Genesis 18:20,21 (note: Jesus came down to see it
for himself.)
·
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it;
for their wickedness has come up before Me.” -Jonah 1:2
b)
EGW evidence
·
Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their
evil deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as He afterward did from
Nineveh. But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and
the warnings of God's prophet, that generation filled up the measure
of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction. {PP 97.2}
·
The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their
warning light down even to our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn
lesson that while God's mercy bears long with the transgressor, there is a
limit beyond which men may not go on in sin. When that limit is
reached, then the offers of mercy are withdrawn, and the ministration of
judgment begins. {CC 53.2}
8.2.
They start during a time when "peace and safety" is being pursued.
a)
Bible evidence:
·
"For
when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape. " -1 Thessalonians 5:3 NKJV (note: The war on terrorism is in the name
of peace and safety.)
b)
EGW evidence
·
"The world, full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, is asleep,
asleep in carnal security. Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They
laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, "All things continue as they were
from the beginning." "Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant." 2
Peter 3:4; Isa. 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says,
"Behold, I come as a thief." Rev. 16:15. At the very time when the world
is asking in scorn, "Where is the promise of His coming?" the signs are
fulfilling. While they cry, "Peace and safety," sudden destruction is coming.
When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the
routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard
to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but
his Bible, Christ comes as a thief." {DA 635.3}
8.3.
Some of these judgments have already started to fall.
a)
EGW evidence
·
God's Spirit Gradually Withdrawn.--The days in which we live are
solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn
from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the
despiser's of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the
unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast
approaching events of the greatest magnitude. {Ev 31.5}
9.
How close together are these "pre-judgments?"
9.1.
Bible evidence:
a)
"For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall
not escape." -1 Thessalonians 5:3 NKJV
9.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"These calamities will increase more and more, one disaster will
follow close upon the heels of another..." -Southern Watchman, June 28,
1904. {ChS 155.2}
b)
"We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the ages. In
quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another,--fire,
and flood, and earthquake, with war and bloodshed. We are not to be surprised at
this time by events both great and decisive; for the angel of mercy cannot
remain much longer to shelter the impenitent.-- Prophets and Kings, p. 278."
{ChS 51.1}
c)
The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world
will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched
with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession
the judgments of God will follow one another,--fire and flood and
earthquakes, with war and bloodshed. Something great and decisive will soon of
necessity take place. {BCL 65.1}
d)
Calamities will come--calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these
destructions will follow one after another. If there will be a
heeding of the warnings that God has given, and if churches will repent,
returning to their allegiance, then other cities may be spared for a time. But
if men who have been deceived continue in the same way in which they have been
walking, disregarding the law of God, and presenting falsehoods before the
people, God allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened.
{CL 7.5}
e)
“Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land,
in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in
tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in
a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening
harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint,
and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become
more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man
and beast. "The earth mourneth and fadeth away," "The haughty people . . . do
languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant." Isaiah 24:4, 5. {CH 461.1}
10.How many
cities will be affected?
10.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." -Revelation 16:19
(note: "cities" (more than one)
10.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of
thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry."--Ev 29 (1903). {LDE
111.4}
11.What are
the conditions for an event to be a “pre-judgment” and not just another natural
disaster?
11.1.
Poured out on the wicked. (see # - Who do these “pre-judgments” fall on?)
a)
Does not kill God's true children.
b)
Bible evidence
·
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” -Genesis
6:8 NKJV
·
“Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your
household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me
in this generation.” -Genesis 7:1
·
The righteous were spared at Sodom. (Lot and his family) -Genesis
13 (note: not all who claim to be righteous are, as in Lot's wife)
c)
EGW evidence
·
“When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as
a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity, and kept
themselves unspotted from the world.” {CET 187.1}
·
“Earthquakes, hurricanes, flame,
and flood cannot injure those who are prepared to meet their Saviour in
peace.” {8MR 347.5}
·
“God made it evident upon whom rested His favor, who were His
people.” {CC 89.4}
·
What mean the accidents by land...The Lord will not
interfere to protect the property of those who transgress His law, break His
covenant, and trample upon His Sabbath, accepting in its place a spurious rest
day. {LDE 27.4} }(note: God will protect his children as well as
their possessions during this time of “pre-judgments” just as he did with
the children of Israel in the land of Goshen.
d)
Other evidence:
·
“But what of Seventh-day Adventists and Adventist Church
properties in San Francisco? While there were a few injuries,
no lives were lost. The treatment rooms, sometimes referred to as the
branch sanitarium, superintended by Dr. Lamb at 1436 Market Street, were housing
some patients. When the earthquake struck, the brick walls fell away from the
building, but the patients, uninjured, were soon placed in the custody of
relatives. The vegetarian cafeteria at 755 Market Street and the health-food
store at 1482 Market withstood the quake but in a few hours were swept by
flames. The building on Howard Street that housed a number of denominational
workers went up in flames. A number of Adventists lost their homes.”
{6BIO 85.3}
·
“The new post office and some of the largest stores in the town
had been leveled to the ground--totally destroyed. Other buildings were badly
wrecked. And when we saw the fallen walls of the Pacific Press, we were sad
at heart; but we could not help rejoicing over the fact that no lives
were lost.”--Ms 45, 1906, pp. 1, 2. ("A Visit to Mountain View,
California," May 6, 1906.) {5MR 110.2} (also note: part of the Seventh-day
Adventist church Pacific Press were damaged. If you place your institutions or
make your homes near or in large wicked cities they will be damaged or you will
lose them.)
·
“It’s been reported that at least fifteen Adventist churches in
New Orleans and surrounding areas are under water but no Adventist
families have suffered casualties." -Adventist Community Services (http://www.communityservices.org/national_002.html)
(This qoute from ACS is amazingly similar to those in SOP listed above.)
12.Is there
anything man can do to stay these “pre-judgments?”
12.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes
upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape." -1 Thessalonians 5:3 NKJV
12.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"Calamities will come--calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these
destructions will follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of
the warnings that God has given, and if churches will repent, returning to their
allegiance, then other cities may be spared for a time. But if men who
have been deceived continue in the same way in which they have been walking,
disregarding the law of God, and presenting falsehoods before the people, God
allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened." {CL 7.5}
13.Will
some judgments be worse than others?
13.1.
Yes
a)
Bible evidence
·
"According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the coastlands He will fully
repay." -Isaiah 59:18
b)
EGW evidence
·
"The end is near and every city is to be turned upside down
every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken
is to be shaken and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will
be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they
have had."--1MR 248 (1902). {LDE 111.3}
14.What are
some examples of warnings?
14.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings
of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and
the remainder fled to the mountains. Then they took all the
goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and
went their way. They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom,
and his goods, and departed." -Genesis 14:10-12 (note: Notice this is a
“pre-judgment” against Sodom, they were conquered, and all their “goods” and
“provisions were taken, as well as some that died, some fled, and some were
taken as captives. You can see Sodom did not regard the “pre-judgment” sent in
warning against them, and were fully destroyed later. Also take note how this
applies to today, Lot (a man of God) went right back to Sodom as well, and did
not take notice of the “pre-judgment.”)
b)
"and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned
them to destruction, making them an example to those who
afterward would live ungodly;" -2 Peter 2:6 (note: The destruction of
Sodom was not only a direct judgment of God against them, but it is also a
warning to others.)
c)
"Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty
works had been done, because they did not repent:
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven,
will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”" -Matthew
11:20-24 (note: Even Jesus took time to warn the cities.)
d)
“And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was
Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in
Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness,
self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was
afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call
for you.” -Acts 24:24,25
e)
"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet
seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his
household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness which is according to faith." -Hebrews 11:7,8
f)
"Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying:
“The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all
the words that you have heard. Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings,
and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning
the doom that He has pronounced against you. As for me, here I am, in
your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you. But know for certain
that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves,
on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to
speak all these words in your hearing.”" -Jeremiah 26:12-15 (note: Don't
shoot the messenger)
g)
"I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved
children I warn you." -1 Corinthians 4:14
h)
"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly,
comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." -1
Thessalonians 5:14
i)
"Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not
lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as
were some of them. As it is written,
“The people sat down to eat
and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality,
as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt
Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor
complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." -1
Corinthians 10:6-11
j)
“Him we preach, warning every man and
teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus.” -Colossians 1:28
14.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah,
and the Lord will visit them. Not far hence they will suffer under His
judgments." --Ms 30, 1903. {LDE 114.1}
b)
"The great earthquake of San Francisco is to be followed by
earthquakes in other places. We need not be surprised if after a time
Oakland should become so wicked that calamities will fall on this city also.
Those who do not believe that the Lord is coming soon are building without
stopping to consider why the Lord wiped out a greater part of the city of San
Francisco; but the leading men of San Francisco are no pattern for us to
follow. {SpTB09 37.2,3}
c)
"The light given me is that the wickedness in the cities of San
Francisco and Oakland is beyond all imagination. God's wrath is upon many of the
inhabitants of these cities." -Manuscript 25,1908.
d)
If Heaven's Warnings Go Unheeded.--I am bidden to declare
the message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the extreme,
will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood.
All the world will be warned that there is a God who will display His authority
as God. His unseen agencies will cause destruction, devastation, and death. All
the accumulated riches will be as nothingness. . . . {4MR 90.5}
e)
"The Lord, in his great mercy, does not bring judgments upon the
earth without giving warning to its inhabitants by the mouth of his servants.
Says the prophet Amos, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he
revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." [AMOS 3:7.]
When the iniquity of the antediluvians moved him to bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, he first made known to them his purpose, that they might have
opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundred and twenty years
was sounded in their ears the warning to repent, lest the wrath of God be
manifested in their destruction. But the message seemed to them an idle
tale, and they believed it not. From unbelief they proceeded to scorn and
contempt, ridiculing the warning as highly improbable, and unworthy of their
notice. Emboldened in their wickedness, they mocked the messenger of God, made
light of his entreaties, and even accused him of presumption. How dare one man
stand up against all the great men of the earth? If Noah's message were true,
why did not all the world see it and believe it? One man's assertion against the
wisdom of thousands! They would not credit the warning, nor would they seek
shelter in the ark." {4SP 208.2}
f)
"Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil
deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as He afterward did from
Nineveh. But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience
and the warnings of God's prophet, that generation filled up the measure
of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction." {PP 97.2}
g)
"The Lord gives warnings to the inhabitants of the earth,
as in the Chicago fire and the fires in Melbourne, London, and
the city of New York.--Ms 127, 1897." {LDE 111.2}
15.Were the
hurricanes Katrina and Rita "pre-judgments?"
15.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"A noise will come to the ends of the earth—For the LORD has a
controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh.
He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the LORD.”
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, disaster shall go
forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up
from the farthest parts of the earth." -Jeremiah 25:31,32
b)
"The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The
depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your
arrows also flashed about.
The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known." -Psalm 77:16-19
c)
"You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and
earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame
of devouring fire." -Isaiah 29:6
d)
"The coastlands saw it and feared, the ends of the earth
were afraid; they drew near and came. Everyone helped his
neighbor, and said to his brother, “Be of good courage!”" -Isaiah 41:5,6
e)
"According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury
to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; the
coastlands He will fully repay." -Isaiah 59:18
15.2.
EGW evidence
a)
The Judgments of God on our Cities - "The time is near when large
cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming
judgments."--Ev 29 (1910). {LDE 111.5}
b)
"We should let it be well understood that we regard this
terrible calamity as the stroke of an offended God, because His treasure has
been lavishly spent to glorify self. Let our works be such that men
can see that we are but sojourners here; that we are seeking a better country,
even a heavenly." {SpTB09 37.4} (note: this is in reference to the 1906
earthquake) Many rich, lavish casino's and hotels were completely destroyed by
these two hurricanes, not to mention the oil platforms of some of the richest
corporations in the world.
15.3.
Other evidence
a)
KATRINA: STORM OF A GENERATION - "When you have been watching weather
patterns for as long as I have 30+ years, since childhood), it becomes less
likely that a storm will "impress" you." "...so many extreme events have come
and gone in my 30 years of weather fascination, that it takes something
very bizarre to impress me. Well, Katrina has made that fateful
list. She replaces Camille (whom I tracked as a kid living in Philly
back in the summer of 1969) as the foremost hurricane of my generation. I look
for her name To be retired from the National Hurricane library. Never again will
a storm be named Katrina." "...My take on Katrina, the hurricane of my
lifetime!" - (http://www.wsaz.com/tony_cavalier.php)
Tony Cavalier, WSAZ Newschannel 3, Chief Meteorologist
b)
Fires Hit Galveston's Historic District - "Wind from Hurricane
Rita whipped up dramatic fires in this city's historic Strand District and parts
of Houston, sending out swirls of sparkling embers even as rain poured down in
sheets. One building was nearly destroyed in Galveston; two others appeared
heavily damaged. A burning electric pole was lying on one of the buildings. "It
was like a war zone, shooting fire across the street," Fire Chief Michael Varela
said early Saturday. ...The Strand District includes historic buildings, night
clubs and shops. It is the site of a massive Mardi Gras celebration
and an annual Charles Dickens festival." -(http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3892816)
Pam Easton - Associated Press Writer
16.Was the
lesson from a "pre-judgment" learned?
16.1.
Was the “pre-judgment” lesson learned at Sodom before it's destruction?
Obviously not.
16.2.
Was the “pre-judgment” lesson learned in San Francisco? Apparently not...
a)
"I feel sure that San Francisco and Oakland will again be
visited with the judgments of God."-Letter 2,1909.
16.3.
Consider the following articles...
a)
Don't give up your Mardi Gras plans
"Over the last week I've heard several national news reporters state that there
would probably not be a Mardi Gras next year. It's obvious to me that these
individuals know little about New Orleanians. If there were only two
people left in the city, next year on
Mardi Gras day one would be on the street throwing beads and the other
would be on the sidewalk catching them. That's just the way it is in New
Orleans." -New Orleans for Visitors (http://goneworleans.about.com/)
(Note: Notice what God says about Sodom: "Then he (Abraham) said, “Let not
the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found
there?”[righteous within the city] And He said, “I will not destroy it for
the sake of ten.”" - Genesis 18:32-33
b)
Reuters - Strippers Help Tease Back New Orleans Night Life - “In a sign
that things may be returning to normal in New Orleans, strip shows are back in
the city's famous French Quarter. Erotic dancers and strippers are entertaining
crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel instead of the usual
audiences of drunken conventioneers and tourists in Bourbon Street's Deja Vu
club, which reopened this week. - (Reuters-Yahoo
- Strippers help tease back New Orleans nightlife)
c)
The Party Must Go On - After being almost wiped off the face of the
earth, New Orleans is proving remarkably adept at bouncing back: residents are
returning to their homes, bars are reopening and rumor has it that even the
prostitutes are back in business. But can the city ever really get back to
normal?...The Return of Sin - One of the men at the bar
announced that there are rumors that the first prostitutes have come back to
town. "Even sin returns," he says. His colleagues hoot.
The return of prostitutes to the Big Easy, on Day 17 after Katrina, is a
good sign. - (http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,375138,00.html)
- Matthias Gebauer SPIEGEL ONLINE – September 16, 2005, 07:21 PM
17.If
Katrina was a "pre-judgment" why is it important?
17.1.
If Katrina was a “pre-judgment” in a series of events occurring in “rapid
succession” with bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes, then we
have an obligation to not only warn the world that more are coming, but that
Jesus is coming very soon!
18.Why New
Orleans, Biloxi, Gulfport and Galveston's Strand District?
18.1.
"Southern Decadence started thirty-five years ago as a
simple going-away party. As a top gay Labor Day Weekend destination, it
has evolved into one of our world's major annual events. One of
the largest annual celebrations in New Orleans, it has become
known as the "Gay Mardi Gras." People begin to arrive on the Wednesday
before Labor Day, and generally don't even think about stopping or going home
until the following Tuesday. With over 100,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender participants last year, the economic impact on the city was
estimated to be in excess of $95 million. Mayor Ray Nagin has
recognized its importance with an Official Proclamation to welcome the event.
... The city's wildest neighborhood gets even crazier as the French Quarter is
packed for the entire event; however, the big day is Sunday.
That's when the Grand Marshal leads the annual parade through the streets.
Tradition dictates that the previous year's Grand Marshal choose their
successor, a well guarded secret until the annual coronation ceremony in July.
Grand Marshal honors for 2005 were shared by Lisa Beaumann and Regina Adams.
The theme was "Jazz and Jezebels" and the colors were red and purple."
-Official Southern Decadence Website (www.southerndecadence.com)
September 9, 2005 (note: When the mayor recognized Southern Decadence, with an
Official Proclamation, he expressed the cities official welcome for Southern
Decadence, and thus made the entire city ripe for judgment.)
18.2.
“Is it true that Mardi Gras is really a pagan holiday? - If you've
ever been on Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras, as a drunken mob gathers around a
Golden Calf beating drums and blowing horns and shouting "Hail to the Calf!",
you won't need to ask that question. There is no doubt that the period
of celebration that we call Carnival has roots in pagan end-of-winter and
beginning-of-spring rituals reaching back thousands of years. These
festivals - some of which can only be described as drunken orgies -
existed across most lands that were being overtaken by the Christian Church, and
like many other holidays and rites, the Church sought a balance between the old
and new. Understanding that the party was not going to stop, the church
placed limits on it, decreeing that it could not start until the finish of the
Christmas holidays and had to end on the day before Ash Wednesday.” -
NOLA.com - The Top Questions You Weren't Afraid to Ask -
http://www.nola.com/mardigras/about/index.ssf?/mardigras/about/content/stories/faq.html#answer14
18.3.
“By the way, you may be interested to know that Gulfport,
Mississippi, also claims to have been the site of the first American Mardi Gras.
If you take the famous Ship Island excursion ride, you'll find an article from a
local newspaper on the wall that claims that Ship Island was the REAL Mardi Gras
Island referred to by the explorer.” - NOLA.com - The Top Questions You Weren't
Afraid to Ask -
http://www.nola.com/mardigras/about/index.ssf?/mardigras/about/content/stories/faq.html#answer10
18.4.
"Here a Catholic church can stand right next to a Voodoo temple and no
one finds that unusual. Those of us who live in the uptown area are not
surprised to hear that our house or one nearby has a resident ghost." -New
Orleans for Visitors (http://goneworleans.about.com/)
(note: religious ignorance, and spiritualism)(also note this video, you
will see many Voodoo gods correspond to Catholic saints -
http://www.nola.com/haunted/video/index.ssf?/haunted/video/voodoo_ceremony.html)
18.5.
In the calamity that befell San Francisco, the Lord designed to wipe out
the liquor saloons that have been the cause of so much evil, so much misery and
crime; and yet the guardians of the public welfare have proved unfaithful to
their trust, by legalizing the sale of liquor. . . . They know that in doing
this, they are virtually licensing the commission of crime; and yet their
knowledge of this sure result deters them not. . . . The people of San Francisco
must answer at the judgment bar of God for the reopening of the liquor saloons
in that city. --Review and Herald, Oct. 25, 1906. {Te 26.4}
19.Did we
have a warning about Katrina and Rita?
19.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals
His secret to His servants the prophets." -Amos 3:7
19.2.
EGW evidence
a)
“The startling and stupendous events connected with the warning of the
world are fraught with momentous results. The messengers who proclaim the
truth for this time are laboring in co-operation with all the forces of heaven.
In tender compassion God himself is speaking to an impenitent world
through judgments; and he will continue to speak in this manner.”
{RH, July 5, 1906 par. 7}
19.3.
Other evidence
a)
Soo
·
"The angel then gave Soo information that to her was puzzling. He
told her when she went to America that something bad was going to happen.
However, the angels were going to hold the winds and the gospel would spread to
the all world. He said that in 2005 something bigger would happen in
America and that the Sunday law would come in after that. Soo
asked him “What is Sunday law?” His answer made it no clearer to her; “Good
people work in government, but they work for evil. Watch the news.” -http://www.bibleplus.org/Soo/NoOneLeftBehind.htm
20.Will
entire nations be destroyed during this period of “pre-judgments?”
20.1.
EGW evidence
a)
“The Lord will not suddenly cast off all transgressors or destroy
entire nations; but He will punish cities and places where men have given
themselves up to the possession of Satanic agencies. Strictly will the cities of
the nations be dealt with, and yet they will not be visited in the
extreme of God's indignation, because some souls will yet break away from
the delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted, while the
mass will be treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.”--Manuscript 35,
1906.
b)
“With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps an account
with all nations. While His mercy is tendered with calls to repentance,
this account will remain open; but when the figures reach a certain amount
which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath commences. The account is closed.
Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of mercy in their behalf.”
{5T 208.2}
21.What
happens after the prejudgments end?
21.1.
EGW evidence
a)
National Ruin follows National Apostasy (note: Now the judgments will
happen at a national level, not just in the cities.)
·
“When our nation, in its legislative councils,
shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their
religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing
oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath,
the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land, and
national apostasy will be followed by national ruin.”--7BC 977 (1888).
{LDE 133.5}
·
“It is at the time of the national apostasy when,
acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on
the side of the man of sin. It is then the measure of guilt is full.
The national apostasy is the signal for national ruin.”--2SM 373
(1891). {LDE 134.1}
·
“Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and
protection of the state. This national apostasy will speedily be followed
by national ruin.”--RH June 15, 1897. {LDE 134.2}
·
The people of the United States have been a favored people, but
when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give
countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and "national
apostasy" will be registered in the books of heaven.--RH May 2, 1893. {LDE
133.4}
b)
A world in defiance of God
·
The seven last plagues come on a world that defies God.
22.What is
the result of the "pre-judgments?"
22.1.
The "image of the beast" is enforced (National Sunday law
enforcement)(note: This is not a Biblical study on why the “image of the beast”
is National Sunday laws. For a detailed study on this please see
www.sabbathtruth.com)
a)
EGW evidence:
·
"Satan is leading men and women to complete the ruin he began in
heaven. He is willing for the world to declare that the calamity by land and sea
and the destruction by flood and fire, are because Sunday is desecrated. Herein
lies his deception. He is well pleased when men and women exalt Sunday; for he
has been working for centuries to place the first day of the week where the
seventh should be." {RH, June 4, 1901 par. 10}
·
“Satan puts his interpretation upon events, and they [leading men]
think, as he would have them, that the calamities which fill the land are a
result of Sunday-breaking. Thinking to appease the wrath of God, these
influential men make laws enforcing Sunday observance. They
think that by exalting this false rest-day higher, and still higher, compelling
obedience to the Sunday law, the spurious sabbath, they are doing God service.
Those who honor God by observing the true Sabbath are looked upon as disloyal to
God, when it is really those who thus regard them who are themselves disloyal,
because they are trampling under foot the Sabbath originated in Eden." {Mar
176.4}
·
“As men depart further and further from God, Satan is permitted to
have power over the children of disobedience. He hurls destruction among men.
There is calamity by land and sea. Property and life are destroyed by fire and
flood. Satan resolves to charge this upon those who refuse to bow to the idol
which he has set up. His agents point to Seventh-day Adventists as the cause of
the trouble. "These people stand out in defiance of law," they say.
"They desecrate Sunday. Were they compelled to obey the law for Sunday
observance, there would be a cessation of these terrible judgments."
{Mar 176.1}
·
"They will point to calamities on land and sea--to the
storms of wind, the floods, the earthquakes, the
destruction by fire--as judgments indicating God's displeasure because
Sunday is not sacredly observed. ...those who make void the law of God will
point to the few who are keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the
ones who are bringing wrath upon the world. " -Southern Watchman, June 28, 1904.
{ChS 155.2}(note: all these events are nature based)
22.2.
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
a)
“Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am
the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour
out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your
young men shall see visions." - Joel 2:27-28
b)
“One thing will be plainly developed at this time, one
question will be clearly settled,--whether we are solid Christians,
or merely professors.” -{SpTB09 37.4} (note: “this time” in context
referred to the period following the 1906 earthquake, you notice there is a
division of what people believed on this subject.)
23.Why do
those that receive judgments point to God's people as the cause?
23.1.
Bible evidence
a)
“So
the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise,
call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know
for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and
the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose
cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you
come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God
of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”" -Jonah 1:6-9
23.2.
EGW evidence
a)
“As men depart further and further from God, Satan is permitted to have
power over the children of disobedience. He hurls destruction among men. There
is calamity by land and sea. Property and life are destroyed by fire and flood.
Satan resolves to charge this upon those who refuse to bow to the idol
which he has set up. His agents point to Seventh-day Adventists as the cause of
the trouble. "These people stand out in defiance of law," they say.
"They desecrate Sunday. Were they compelled to obey the law for Sunday
observance, there would be a cessation of these terrible judgments."” {Mar
176.1}
24.Are we
to warn the cities?
24.1.
Bible evidence
a)
"But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the
trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes
any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his
blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’" -Ezekiel 33:6
b)
"And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them
by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He
had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the
messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the
wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy." -2
Chronicles 36:15,16
c)
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it;
for their wickedness has come up before Me.” -Jonah 1:2
d)
"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation,
tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give
glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who
made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”" -Revelation 14:6,7
e)
"but He said to them, “I must
preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I
have been sent.”" -Luke 4:43
f)
"And Jesus said, “For
judgment I have come into this world,
that those who do not see may see, and that those who
see may be made blind.”" -John
9:39
24.2.
EGW evidence
a)
"Our Saviour's work was to warn the cities and to
ordain workers to go out of the cities to places where the light had never yet
been given, and to lift up the standard of truth in new localities..." {Ev
47.1}
b)
“The messengers who proclaim the truth for this time are laboring
in co-operation with all the forces of heaven. In tender
compassion God himself is speaking to an impenitent world through judgments; and
he will continue to speak in this manner. For many years we have
known that the great cities would be visited with divine judgments because of
long-continued disobedience. In no uncertain words the Lord has warned us not to
establish large institutions in the cities. "Out of the cities; out of the
cities,"--this is the message that has often come to us. And this is one reason
why the Lord has been opening the way so wonderfully for our publishing houses
and sanitariums and schools to be located in country places.” {RH, July 5, 1906
par. 7}
c)
"As a people we need to hasten the work in the cities,
which has been hindered for lack of workers and means and a spirit of
consecration. At this time, the people of God need to turn their hearts fully
to Him; for the end of all things is at hand. They need to humble
their minds, and to be attentive to the will of the Lord, working with earnest
desire to do that which God has shown must be done to warn the cities of
their impending doom."--Review and Herald, Jan. 25, 1912. {Ev 30.1}
d)
"The conditions that face Christian workers in the great cities,
constitute a solemn appeal for untiring effort in behalf of the millions living
within the shadow of impending doom. Men will soon be forced to great decisions,
and they must have opportunity to hear and to understand Bible truth, in order
that they may take their stand intelligently on the right side. God is
now calling upon His messengers in no uncertain terms, to warn the cities
while mercy still lingers, and while multitudes are yet susceptible to the
converting influence of Bible truth."--Review and Herald, April 7,
1910. {Ev 25.3}
e)
"We must make wise plans to warn the cities, and at the
same time live where we can shield our children and ourselves from the
contaminating and demoralizing influences so prevalent in these places."--Life
Sketches, pp. 409, 410. (1906) {CL 31.4}
f)
"Those who walk in the light will see signs of the approaching peril; but
they are not to sit in quiet, unconcerned expectancy of the ruin,
comforting themselves with the belief that God will shelter His people in the
day of visitation. Far from it. They should realize that it is their duty
to labor diligently to save others, looking with strong
faith to God for help. "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much." James 5:16. {CET 186.3}
g)
"The time is near when large cities will be
swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments."--Ev
29 (1910). {LDE 111.5}
h)
"The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the messenger of God, "Shall
not the cities be warned? Yes; not by God's people
living in them, but by their visiting them, to warn them of what is coming
upon the earth."--Letter 182, 1902. {CL 30.2}
i)
"Men will know what is truth. Onward, and still onward, the work will
advance, until the whole earth shall have been warned. And
then shall the end come." {RH, November 22, 1906 par. 7}
j)
"All around us are souls going down to ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as
that which befell Sodom. Every day the probation of some is closing.
Every hour some are passing beyond the reach of mercy. And where
are the voices of warning and entreaty to bid the sinner flee from this fearful
doom? Where are the hands stretched out to draw him back
from death? Where are those who with humility and
persevering faith are pleading with God for him?" {CC 51.6}
25.When do
the warnings stop?
25.1.
Bible evidence
a)
25.2.
EGW evidence
a)
In every age there is given to men their day of light and privilege, a
probationary time in which they may become reconciled to God. But there is a
limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be slighted and rejected; but
there comes a time when mercy makes her last plea. The heart becomes so hardened
that it ceases to respond to the Spirit of God. Then the sweet, winning voice
entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings cease. {DA 587.1}
26.How are
we to warn the cities?
26.1.
Bible evidence
a)
Large cities
·
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against
it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” -Jonah 1:2
b)
Smaller cities
·
"Wherever He entered, into villages, cities,
or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged
Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched
Him were made well." -Luke 6:56
26.2.
EGW Evidence
a)
Large Cities
·
"As a people we need to hasten the work in
the cities, which has been hindered for lack of workers and means and a
spirit of consecration. At this time, the people of God
need to turn their hearts fully to Him; for the end of all things is at hand.
They need to humble their minds, and to be
attentive to the will of the Lord, working with earnest
desire to do that which God has shown must be done to warn the
cities of their impending doom."--Review and Herald, Jan. 25, 1912. {Ev
30.1}
·
Our Saviour's work was to warn the cities and
to ordain workers to go out of the cities to places where the
light had never yet been given, and to lift up the standard of truth in
new localities. . . .The light is given me that we must not have special
anxiety to crowd too many interests into one locality, but should look for
places in out-of-the-way districts and work in new places.
Thus people may be reached and converted who know nothing of the precious,
testing truths for this time. The last call should be made just as important
in new places in this country as in distant lands. This word was spoken
concerning some localities that have not had the message brought to them. The
seeds of truth are to be sown in uncultivated centers. . . .It will
cultivate a missionary spirit to work in new localities.
Selfishness in respect to keeping large companies together is not the Lord's
plan. Enter every new place possible and begin the work of
educating in vicinities that have not heard the truth. {Ev 47.1}
·
The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the
messenger of God, "Shall not the cities be warned? Yes; not by God's
people living in them, but by their visiting them, to
warn them of what is coming upon the earth."--Letter 182, 1902. {CL
30.2}
·
"Why did our Saviour labor to sow the seed in out-of-the-way
places? Why did He travel slowly away from the villages which had been
His places for communicating light by opening the Scriptures? There was a world
to hear, and some souls would accept the truth who had not yet heard it. Christ
traveled slowly and opened the Scriptures in their
simplicity to minds that would receive the truth." --Letter 318, 1908.
{Ev 47.2}
b)
Small Cities
·
Simultaneous Efforts in Smaller Cities.--During the time when camp
meetings can be held in this conference, two or three meetings in different
places should be in progress at the same time. There is a time when these
meetings cannot be held; but during the months when we can use the tents to
advantage, we are not to confine our efforts to the largest cities.
We must give the warning message to the people in every place.--
Manuscript 104, 1902. {Ev 47.3}
27.Will the
world heed the warnings?
27.1.
Bible evidence
a)
The Flood
b)
Sodom – cities of the plain
c)
Destruction of Jerusalem
d)
Nineveh – (some will heed the warnings)
27.2.
EGW evidence
a)
“The world is no more ready now to credit the warning than were the
Jews in the days of our Saviour. Come when it may, the end will
come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying
round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic, in
money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world's progress and
enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security,--then, as the
midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden
destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, "and they shall not escape."”
{4SP 38.2}
28.What
will some say (in and out of the church) about these warnings?”
28.1.
Bible evidence
a)
“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of
His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were from the beginning of creation.”” -2 Peter 3:3,4
b)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who
kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!
How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” -Luke 13:34
(note: Notice the reference to Jesus wanting to protect them under his wings,
but they rejected the warnings.)
c)
“Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,
Who cause the seat of violence to come near;" -Amos 6:3 (note: you can see some
will put off the end, and by so doing, they actually are doing more damage)
d)
“Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle
and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my
people know not the judgment of the LORD. How do ye say, We are
wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?" -Jeremiah 8:7,8
28.2.
EGW evidence
a)
The judgments of God are soon to be poured out upon the earth. "Escape
for thy life" is the warning from the angels of God. Other voices are heard
saying: "Do not become excited; there is no cause for special alarm."
Those who are at ease in Zion cry "Peace and safety," while
heaven declares that swift destruction is about to come upon the transgressor.
The young, the frivolous, the pleasure loving, consider these warnings as
idle tales and turn from them with a jest. Parents are
inclined to think their children about right in the matter, and all sleep
on at ease. Thus it was at the destruction of the old world and when
Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by fire. On the night prior to their
destruction the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure. Lot was derided
for his fears and warnings. But it was these scoffers that
perished in the flames. That very night the door of mercy was
forever closed to the wicked, careless inhabitants of Sodom. The same voice that
warned Lot to leave Sodom bids us, "Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, . . .and touch not the unclean" (2 Corinthians 6:17). Those who obey
this warning will find a refuge. {CC 53.4,5}(note: again you see evidence in
the word “Zion” that the US are the ones that will say “Peace and safety.”)
b)
“From age to age the warnings which God has sent to the world by his
servants have been received with like incredulity and unbelief.
When the iniquity of the antediluvians moved him to bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, he first made known to them his purpose, that they might have
opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundred and twenty years was
sounded in their ears the warning to repent, lest the wrath of God be manifested
in their destruction. But the message seemed to them an idle tale,
and they believed it not. Emboldened in their wickedness, they mocked the
messenger of God, made light of his entreaties, and even
accused him of presumption. How dare one man stand up against
all the great men of the earth? If Noah's message were
true, why did not all the world see it and believe it? One
man's assertion against the wisdom of thousands! They would not credit the
warning, nor would they seek shelter in the ark.” {GC88 337.3}
c)
"The Lord, in his great mercy, does not bring judgments upon the earth
without giving warning to its inhabitants by the mouth of his servants. Says
the prophet Amos, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets." [AMOS 3:7.] When the iniquity of the
antediluvians moved him to bring a flood of waters upon the earth, he first made
known to them his purpose, that they might have opportunity to turn from their
evil ways. For a hundred and twenty years was sounded in their ears the
warning to repent, lest the wrath of God be manifested in their destruction.
But the message seemed to them an idle tale, and they
believed it not. From unbelief they proceeded to scorn and
contempt, ridiculing the warning as highly improbable,
and unworthy of their notice. Emboldened in their
wickedness, they mocked the messenger of God,
made light of his entreaties, and even accused him of presumption.
How dare one man stand up against all the great men of the earth?
If Noah's message were true, why did not all the world see it and believe
it? One man's assertion against the wisdom of thousands! They would
not credit the warning, nor would they seek shelter in the ark." {4SP
208.2}
d)
“As sin became general, it appeared less and less sinful, and
they finally declared that the divine law was no longer in force; that it was
contrary to the character of God to punish transgression; and
they denied that His judgments were to be visited upon the earth.
Had the men of that generation obeyed the divine law, they would have
recognized the voice of God in the warning of His servant; but their minds had
become so blinded by rejection of light that they really believed Noah's message
to be a delusion.” {PP 95.3}
e)
“As God sent his servant to warn the world of the coming flood, so he
sent chosen messengers to make known the nearness of the final Judgment. And as
Noah's contemporaries laughed to scorn the predictions of the preacher of
righteousness, so in Miller's day many, even of the professed people of
God, scoffed at the words of warning.” {GC88 338.3}
f)
“While drawing crowded houses of intelligent and attentive hearers,
Miller's name was seldom mentioned by the religious press except by way of
ridicule or denunciation. The careless and ungodly, emboldened by the position
of religious teachers, resorted to opprobrious epithets, to base and blasphemous
witticisms, in their efforts to heap contumely upon him and his work.
The gray-headed man who had left a comfortable home to travel at his own expense
from city to city, from town to town, toiling unceasingly to bear to the
world the solemn warning of the Judgment near, was sneeringly denounced as a
fanatic, a liar, a speculating knave.” {GC88
336.1}
·
Websters definition of “knave”: Main Entry: knave - 1
archaic a : a boy servant b : a male servant
c : a man of humble birth or position 2 : a
tricky deceitful fellow
g) “I saw that
some will be so hardened, as to even make sport of the judgements of God.”
Conclusions:
God's people are not prepared for the loud cry
of the third angel.
--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 486
(1865).
Those who
think it impossible for them to yield to the will of God and have faith in His
promises until all is made clear and plain before them, will never yield at
all. -{AG 38.4}
"God has always given men warning of
coming judgments. Those who had faith in His message for their
time, and who acted out their faith in obedience to His commandments, escaped
the judgments that fell upon the disobedient and unbelieving". {LDE
13.1}
“Those who accepted the Advent doctrine were roused to the necessity of
repentance and humiliation before God. Many had long been halting between Christ
and the world; "now they felt that it was time to take a stand. The things of
eternity assumed to them an unwonted reality. Heaven was brought near, and
they felt themselves guilty before God. Christians were quickened
to new spiritual life. They were made to feel that time was short,
that what they had to do for their fellow-men must be done quickly.
Earth receded, eternity seemed to open before them, and the soul,
with all that pertains to its immortal weal or woe, was felt to eclipse
every temporal object." The Spirit of God rested upon them, and
gave power to their earnest appeals to their brethren, as well as to sinners, to
prepare for the day of God. The silent testimony of their daily life was
a constant rebuke to formal and unconsecrated church-members. These did not wish
to be disturbed in their pursuit of pleasure, their devotion to money-making,
and their ambition for worldly honor. Hence the enmity and opposition
excited against the Advent faith and those who proclaimed it.” {GC88
340.1}
Satan is not asleep; he is wide awake to make
of no effect the sure word of prophecy. With skill and deceptive power he is
working to counterwork the expressed will of God, made plain in His word. For
years Satan has been gaining control of human minds through subtle sophistries
that he has devised to take the place of the truth. In this time of peril,
rightdoers, in the fear of God, will glorify His name by repeating the words of
David: "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law."
Psalm 119:126. {9T 92.2}
No Time to Lose
Sound an alarm through the land.
Tell the people that the day of the Lord is near, and hasteth greatly.
Let none be left unwarned. We might have been in the place
of the poor souls who are in error. According to the truth that we have received
above others, we are debtors to impart the same to them. {Ev 218.4}
We have no time to lose.
The powers of darkness are working with intense energy, and with stealthy tread
Satan is advancing to take those who are now asleep, as a wolf taking his prey.
We have warnings now which we may give, a work now which we may do, but
soon it will be more difficult than we imagine. . . . {Ev 218.5}
The coming of the Lord is nearer than
when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end.
Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that
the end of all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars
declare it. Is there a Christian whose pulse does not beat with
quickened action as he anticipates the great events opening before us? {Ev
219.1}
The Lord is coming. We hear the
footsteps of an approaching God, as He comes to punish the world for its
iniquity. We are to prepare the way for Him by acting our part in getting a
people ready for that great day.--Review and Herald, Nov. 12, 1914.
{Ev 219.2}
“All who
profess to believe that the Lord is soon coming, should reveal their faith by
corresponding works.” -{RH, August 13, 1889 par. 14}
It's time for revival.
Sabbath afternoon one of our number was sick, and requested prayers that he
might be healed. We all united in applying to the Physician who never lost a
case, and while healing power came down, and the sick was healed, the Spirit
fell upon me, and I was taken off in vision. I saw four angels who had a work to
do on the earth, and were on their way to accomplish it. Jesus was clothed with
Priestly garments. He gazed in pity on the remnant, then raised his hands
upward, and with a voice of deep pity cried--"My Blood, Father, My Blood, My
Blood, My Blood". Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from God, who sat
upon the great white throne, and was shed all about Jesus. Then I saw an angel
with a commission from Jesus, swiftly flying to the four angels who had a work
to do on the earth, and waving something up and down in his hand, and crying
with a loud voice--"Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold! until the servants of God are sealed
in their foreheads." I asked my accompanying angel the meaning of what I heard,
and what the four angels were about to do. He shewed me that it was God that
restrained the powers, and that he gave his angels charge over things on the
earth, and that the four angels had power from God to hold the four winds, and
that they were about to let the four winds go, and while they had started
on their mission to let them go, the merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the
remnant that were not all sealed, then he raised his hands to the Father and
plead with him that he had spilled his blood for them.--Then another angel was
commissioned to fly swiftly to the four angels, and bid them hold until the
servants of God were sealed with the seal of the living God in their foreheads.
-{RH, August 1, 1849 par. 15}
Here was a work to be done before the
angels should let go the four winds; and if we shall awake to what is
transpiring right around us, we must admit that we are not ready for the contest
and the perplexities which are to be brought upon us, after the decree shall go
forth. We are to cry to the God of heaven in earnest, united prayer, for the
angels to hold the four winds till missionaries shall be sent to all parts of
the world, till we have proclaimed the warning against disobedience to the law
of Jehovah, and against worshiping the beast and his image. The claims of God's
law must be made known to the inhabitants of the earth. This is our work; but
every conceivable thing that the enemy can do will be done to hinder the people
of God from awaking. -{RH, December 18, 1888 par. 16}
“In fires, in floods, in
earthquakes, in the fury of the great deep, in
calamities by sea and by land, the warning is given
that God's Spirit will not always strive with men.” -3MR 315 (1897).
{LDE 26.2}
“Men will continue to erect expensive buildings, costing
millions of money; special attention will be called to their architectural
beauty and the firmness and solidity with which they are constructed; but the
Lord has instructed me that despite the unusual firmness and expensive display,
these buildings will share the fate of the temple in Jerusalem. That magnificent
structure fell. Angels of God were sent to do the
work of destruction, so that one stone was not left upon another
that was not thrown down.” {21MR 66.6}
“Mercies and judgments will be
sent from heaven. The working of providence will be revealed both
in mercies and in judgments.” {RH, October 13, 1904
par. 9} |
