Unthankful, unholy

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” (Lk. 17:26,27).

God delivered Israel from hard bondage. The idolatry of Egypt which the early, small group of Jacob’s children had eyed from his camp in Canaan now swallowed up their children’s children; and the careless life, “the good life,” free of the restrictions of the law of Abraham’s God, now turned on them and gave them the taste of its real character. But, after generations of oppression they decided they needed the God of their fathers, and eighty years later they truly worshipped God and their deliverance happened.

The Lord wanted to bring them into His goodly land but they were corrupted by the wickedness they had adopted from Egypt, so He proved to them their unpreparedness and brought them to the wilderness to hear His lessons and be sanctified.

Leviticus 18 expresses one of the lessons to prepare them. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God.
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
Ye shall do My judgments, and keep Mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.
Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and My judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.” (Lev. 18:1-5).

Depravities which the world commonly practiced was then prohibited, as listed in verses 6-23: that is, family in-breeding; infant human sacrifices to Molech; homosexuality/lesbianism; bestiality. They almost read like today’s newspaper from any modern American city. Then came the Lord’s final warning to the tribes of Israel,

“Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Ye shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Therefore shall ye keep Mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.” “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Lev. 18:24-30;19:2).

Holiness was what the Lord wanted for them; otherwise, they would be vomited out of his land for poisoning the special gift to them from the depths of His big heart that filled heaven.

We have a description of the Canaanites which He spewed out before the children of Israel. Here is a first-hand account with the Israelite Danites. “In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there…. Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.” (Jdg. 18:1,2,7). Their immorality and child-sacrifices not even considered wickedness, the current inhabitants went about life polluting it oblivious to the insult they gave the holy Creator who owned the land He was leasing them and who was forced to watch their shameful lifestyle. Sudden destruction came upon them as God had commanded Israel to execute.

Aside from the animal lust and rampant illicit sexuality of Sodom, Gomorrah and their neighboring towns which finally brought down upon them a cosmic cataclysm, the carelessness and presumption toward Heaven’s longsuffering by these luxury cities of the lush plain is described by the prophet in Babylon. “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, 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 good.” (Eze. 16:49,50).

After Nebuchadnezzar’s overturning of the nations with strict law enforcement, the nations quickly returned to their former life of idolatrous ease and spiritualism, of the resulting forgetfulness of righteousness and evil toward others, especially toward the Jews, the nation which had been afflicted more than any other during the Chaldean strafing. “I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.” (Zech. 1:15).

The fallen human nature gravitates to the easy life, the good life, the sinful life. Even when we see their innervating effects, as society dissolves from its firm former health of law and brotherly love into a societal mush of pervasive self-indulgence, if not under the control of the power of God, society persists in chasing after the life of selfish ease. The voices cease against the deluded pursuit after self-centered happiness. Even though good, hard labor teaches us that “working with [our] hands the thing which is good, [so] [we] may have to give to him that needeth,” (Eph. 4:28) will self-evidently end in blessing and a glory that resounds with every chord in our hearts made after the image of God, yet we can still be attracted away from health and wholesomeness toward excitement and wickedness. The mystery of iniquity! The ease-filled life caused terrible wreckage to Kings David and Nebuchadnezzar, both finally enjoying some intoxicating semi-retirement at the top of their careers; but, in their flush of pride, they were incapable to refrain from relaxing their consciences.

“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” (2Sam. 11:2).
“At the end of twelve months he [Nebuchadnezzar] walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:29,30).

All that they had accomplished for building up an empire of law and prosperity were immediately swept away and their kingdoms lost their fear of God.

Israel never fulfilled its great purpose that God had planned for them, and, although they believed with all their hearts that Israel was protected by Jehovah and could never end, divine retribution finally came in terrible majesty.

“In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:
For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.…
And they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.…
And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight.” (2Ki. 17:612,15,20).

He did to them as He had forewarned Moses in Leviticus 18 and 26 and repeated in Deuteronomy 28 and 29, which He had faithfully inscribed into their sacred library to be perpetually read. But, they came into the land of promise so very different in character than they ended up. Then, they knew God and His law; then, they knew their connection with their holy forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. But, by the time they were swept away they had completely lost their identity to their holy forebears and their sacred experience with Jehovah.

Sacred history is repeating. Protestantism was freed from Roman ecclesiastical oppression. Darkness had densely overspread Christianity. The gospel was hidden away, corruption ran rampantly among the nations, and persecution upon the Reformers. Finally, Providence graciously opened the door to sea discovery and an escape for the Protestants. “The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” (Rev. 12:15,16). The shores of the new continent would provide refuge for the battle-scarred and weary children of the Reformation. Later, their descendents won the freedom of sovereignty and of worship and full separation from Rome; but the glorious prospects of endless tracts of land and natural resources stole away their attraction to whole-hearted service to the God who gave them this abundant refuge flowing with milk and honey, privacy and unprecedented freedom.

Many phrases of the Bible became idioms built right into their conversational language. Certain it is that they originally obeyed their God’s injunction, “These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name.
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
(For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.” (Deut. 6:6-15).

They were warned. From every pulpit the Bible was preached. They all knew its warning messages were to be taken seriously. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2Tim. 3:16,17). In those early days even the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments were their inheritance bequeathed from their forefathers from the great Reformation. The whole Bible had been their treasure and watchword in oppressive Europe, but now its voice was increasingly fading. Jesus, their Lord had warned the enemies of the gospel, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36,37). These words had pointed them in the direction of true life. But, their conversations more and more characterized worldly affairs, and less and less hunger and thirst for righteousness and love of Christ.

They all knew the Scriptures, and God blessed them with innocence and a wonderful moral strength. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” (Prov. 3:5-10). But now, stealing upon Protestantism could be laid the eulogy that had been given to the apostatizing fourth century Christianity, “Lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Rev. 6:5,6).

After 200 years of colonial rugged life, the warnings concerning the spewing out Israel for apostasy, which the Protestants increasingly were refusing to read, came to them as a judgment that was forced upon their ears. “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3:17,16).

Then the new light of Jesus’ soon-coming second advent was proclaimed, after earthly interests for many generations had left them without any inclination to heed it. So long had it been since the denominations of America had heard the voices of warning, appeals to the heart, and calls for reformation that they were completely dead in sins and God’s grace was unknown to them. Few who heard the Millerites’ message of Christ’s coming had ever trembled before God’s word. Judgment day on them had arrived.

“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1-5).

As idolatry had slipped in under Solomon’s radar, likewise had it done so without the recognition of the children of the Reformation.

Now Protestant America is overrun by the same wickedness that caused ancient Israel to be swept way. Do not the following scriptures accurately describe the United States, the land which God had at one time given for a refuge to Protestants? “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” (Rom. 1:28-32).

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2Tim. 3:1-7).

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
[still] neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” (Rev. 9:20,21).

God rules in the philosophy of history—if a nation will obey His laws then He will bless and uplift them. “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.
For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers.” (Jer. 33:15-21).

“Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name:
If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.
Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.” (Jer. 31:35-40).

But, let us never presume that those promises of God aren’t conditional. Its true that the Lord’s promises are not half-hearted and wishy-washy, but “all the promises of God in [Christ] are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2Cor. 1:20). Nevertheless, if those to whom He offers the precious gift of God turn on Him and “kick” Him (Deut. 32:15), then His promise to sadly remove His gift from them is also yea and Amen.

“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” (Jer. 18:7-10).

“Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” (Rom. 11:20-22).

They didn’t fear God and give Him glory for all His blessings to them, and now America and Protestants are just about to step over the threshold into perdition—socially, religiously, militarily, economically, and governmentally. They are only a few steps away from giving this country to Rome and repudiating their Constitution and Protestantism, when God will cut them off. His message for us today in the 21st century, “I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord God.” (Jer. 2:21,22).

“[Lord of hosts] hast brought forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
And hast given them this land, which Thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not Thy voice, neither walked in Thy law;they have done nothing of all that Thou commandedst them to do: therefore Thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them.” (Jer. 32:21-23).

“Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” (Jer. 25:9-11).

“O [Protestant Americans], to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.” (Dan. 4:31,32). “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” (Isa. 60:2).

The great river Euphrates flowing into ancient Babylon symbolized to their proud and self-serving minds the whole world’s wealth flowing into their empire. But, as endless as that supply of luxuriant living appeared to them, overnight it dried up and their boasted Babylon was overthrown and destroyed.

Coming to disobedient Protestant America is the total loss of all that they have enjoyed so carelessly, unthankful to God who gave it all to their Reformation, Bible-loving fathers and mothers. A massive global redistribution of wealth has already begun which will leave Americans wretched in all respects. The Mark of the Beast will reign and only those who will fully deny all allegiance to the Christ of the Bible and abandon obedience to God’s holy Law will be able to rejoin society’s new structure and again partake somewhat of the old good life.

At risk of loss will be all the conveniences of our current standard of living. There will be no more hot water and heat for cold weather or refrigeration and air conditioning for the summer; no more paper products, even toiletries; no more soap and toothpaste. There will be no more gasoline for cars, or the money to keep them in repair. Grocery stores will be limited to special costumers, as will rest stops on interstate highways.

The global socialist program will create a global immigration/emmig-ration movement without sovereign borders to control it. Property/ homeowners of the first world will be forced to share their properties with strangers who qualify as the poor class. Yet, only the owners will be responsible for the mortgages and real estate taxes and utilities. Theft, rape, murder, and abuses of all types will be commonplace.

Only the Protestants who have fortified their minds with the words of scripture and have reproduced the character of Christ in theirs through His grace, will stand through the last great crisis. Everyone else will be filled with uncontrollable rage; “their faces shall be as flames.” (Is. 13:8). Satan will have full control of them then; they will have the stamp of the beast on their characters. “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev. 14:10,11).

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.” (Jer. 51:58). All who will resist the laws of the new world-wide regime will be punished. All who will dissent, picket, or riot will be imprisoned. All who will preach against it in the 4th angel power of Revelation 18 will be persecuted to the ends of the earth.

“Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of His holiness.
For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused My people Israel to err.
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto Me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.” (Jer. 23:9-15).

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the Lord.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed My people; Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jer. 23:1-6).

“Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard My words,
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” (Jer. 25:8-11).

The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. “Though Noah, Daniel, and Job” were in the land, “as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:20. Great Controversy, p. 622.

It will be justice upon the arrogant Protestants for living so carelessly in God’s holy refuge, enjoying it oblivious of Him and defiling it with their lusts and self-indulgence. And the tribulation will be just what His people will need to purify them and make them ready for His return in power and glory.

“I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” (Isa. 13:11,12).