My Second Vision on
Ezekiel 9
My first vision
on Ezekiel 9 was given to me on May 1, 1986. This second vision was given me on
November 15, 2018. I importuned the Lord for more light on this most serious
issue, after an SDA minister’s son in Croatia told a prophet student of ours in
our School of the Prophets, that
Ellen White applied her prophesy on Ezekiel 9 only to the churches of Oakland,
California.
In this vision
number 2 on Ezekiel 9, the Lord showed me that the minister’s son is greatly
mistaken, for EllenWhite’s first application of
Ezekiel 9 to the entire church, appeared 27 years prior in Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211, and was published in 1882, as you can see from the contents
section of 5T. Here is the statement as it applied to the entire church,
on page 211 of Testimonies, Vol. 5.
Here is that statement:
“Here we see
that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the
wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who
had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed
their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and
the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed.
These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good,
neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment.
Thus “Peace and safety” is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people
their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that
would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God.
Men, maidens, and little children all perish together.” {5T 211.2}
I was shown the following things about the above statement:
· That the statement was FIRST addressed
to the general SDA church in 1882.
· It was addressed to THE CHURCH—THE
LORD’S SANCTUARY, and fulfills the Bible prophecy that
Judgment begins at the House of God.
· 1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin
at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
· The ancient men means
the leaders whom God had given great light through the Spirit of Prophecy, and
who stood as the guardians of the spiritual interests of the people.
· The leaders betray their trust and the
people are corporately responsible because they elect and maintain their
leaders with the sacred tithe.
· The statement indicts the leaders with
unbelief. This is of serious importance.
· Never again will the leaders lift up their voice like a trumpet to show GOD’S PEOPLE, THE
HOUSE OF JACOB their sins.
· The dumb-dog leaders (Isaiah 56:10-12) will
feel the just vengeance of an offended God.
· Men, maidens and little children will
again all perish together, as they did at the first literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9 in A.D. 70.
It was common
for Ellen White to apply a general theme to a particular
situation, as she appears to do in the following statement addressed to
the churches of Oakland and Berkeley, California, in 1909.
The Ezekiel 9 Statement
Ellen White Applied to the Churches in Oakland and Berkeley California
Below is the
statement our student prophet in Croatia, Dejan Meznaric, showed to the SDA minister’s son in Croatia. The
minister’s son said that statement applies only to the churches of Oakland and
Berkley in California. It is true that Ellen White often reapplied more general
statements specifically. In the following statement, she was reapplying her Testimonies, Vol. 5, 1882 statement to the churches of Oakland and Berkeley in 1909:
“Study the
9th chapter of
Ezekiel. These words will be literally
fulfilled; yet the time is passing, and the people are asleep. They
refuse to humble their souls and to be converted. Not a great while longer will
the Lord bear with the
people who have such great and important truths revealed to them, but
who refuse to bring these truths into their individual experience. The time is
short. God is calling; will you hear? Will you receive His message? Will you be
converted before it is too late? Soon, very soon, every case will be decided
for eternity.” Letter 106, 1909, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7. (To “The
churches in Oakland and Berkeley,”
September 26, 1909.) {1MR 260.2}
1MR 260.2 (Manuscript Releases, vol. 1
[Nos. 19-96])
·
Ellen White’s FIRST WORDS in the above statement are an
admonition to study the 9th chapter of Ezekiel. The 9th
chapter of Ezekiel is addressed to an entire church—“JERUSALEM” of old and
“spiritual JERUSALEM” at the end-time.
·
Ezekiel 9 DOES NOT apply only to the churches of Oakland and
Berkeley, California. It applies to the entire church, His Sanctuary.
·
I was shown that the above statement was written as a reminder
to the churches of Oakland and Berkely, California,
of the 5T 1882 similar statement appearing in Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 65, that Ellen
White penned 27 years prior.
·
Ellen White is speaking of “the people who have such great and
important truths revealed to them.” This included the ENTIRE CHURCH from 1882
on.
·
Ezekiel 9 is the SEALING chapter of the Bible,
and applies to the entire “spiritual” Jerusalem church, the House of
Jacob, at the end-time.
·
Ellen White said that the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70
was a PREFIGURE of the terrors of the last great day.
·
Those terrors BEGIN AT HIS CHURCH, HIS SANCTUARY [HIS PEOPLE],
because Judgment begins at the House of God, the House of Jacob.
·
Anyone who applies Ezekiel 9 to only the churches of Oakland and
Berkeley, California, are being subversive to the Spirit of Prophecy, and God
Almighty in His Word in Ezekiel 9. Such subversion is antichrist if it is
continued in a rejection of clear truth.
“The
ruin of Jerusalem was a symbol of the final ruin that shall overwhelm the
world. The prophecies that received a partial fulfillment in the overthrow of
Jerusalem have a more direct application to the last days. We are now standing
on the threshold of great and solemn events. A crisis is before us, such as the
world has never witnessed. ” Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp.
120, 121.
“The
time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 will be fulfilled; that
prophecy should be carefully studied, for it will be fulfilled to the very
letter.”— Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1303.
The Signs of the Times, February 12, 1880:
“The desolation of Jerusalem stands as a solemn warning
before the eyes of modern Israel.”
“The desolation
of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that
the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot
be disregarded with impunity.” Prophets
and Kings, 416.
"In
the very courts of the temple, scenes will be enacted that few realize. God's
people will be proved and tested, that He may discern 'between him that serveth
God and him that serveth Him not.' Vengeance will be executed against those who
sit in the gate, deciding what the people should have and what they should not
have. These take away the key of
knowledge. They refuse to enter in themselves, and those who would enter in
they hinder. These bear not the seal of the living God. All who now occupy
responsible positions should be solemnly and terribly afraid lest in this time
they shall be found as unfaithful stewards." E.G. White, Manuscript 15,
1886, Paulson Collection, p. 55.
KEY
OF KNOWLEDGE: It is contrition and faith and love that enable the soul to
receive wisdom from heaven. Faith working by love is the key of knowledge, and
everyone that loveth “knoweth God.” 1 John 4:7. {DA 139.3}
Jesus
said that our TEST as to whether we love Him and the
brethren is KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS
This
(above) is hugely important. Take special notice of these words:
· In the very courts of the temple scenes will be enacted that few realize. (The
church is involved, not just individuals).
· God's wrath in vengeance will
be executed IN THE VERY
COURTS OF THE TEMPLE, against those who sit in the gate at Washington,
deciding what you and I should have and what we should not have. God gave it to
Ellen White FOR ALL OF US!
· The leaders take away the KEY
OF KNOWLEDGE, which is faith that works by love and obedience to Christ.
· The leaders refuse to enter the
straight way and hinder those who do--the true Reformers.
· She says they take away the KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
· They (the leaders) will never
bear the seal of God.
· This shows that those who do
not receive the seal of Ezekiel 9 will be slaughter in the very courts of the
Temple and not just some SDA who have LEFT the Temple, as some misguided
individuals are teaching.
· From A.D. 34-66, all true
Christians were gathered out of the apostate Jewish Temple church, and in A.D.
66, all the faithful Christians fled to Pella in Perea,
and were saved.
· True prophets showed the faithful
Christians were to go. Great Controversy, Chapter 1.
It proves that God's vengeance will be executed at
His Sanctuary, like 5T 211 says.
“Christ
foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, as well as of the temple. His words were
spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but
when He was again alone, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to Him, saying,
“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming,
and of the end of the world?
Jesus did not answer His
disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem, and the last
great day of His coming. The city of Jerusalem represented the world, and the
utterances regarding its destruction are to be connected with
the world’s more terrible destruction. In speaking of Jerusalem, His prophetic
words reached beyond that event to the conflagration that will take place in
that day when the Lord shall rise “out of His place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity.” The description of the two events is mingled,
and the entire subject is a warning to those who shall live in the last scenes
of earth’s history....The events that took place at the overthrow of Jerusalem
will be repeated.” {ST February 20, 1901}
Here is a depiction
of what is to be the fate of the apostate new movement professing to be the
Seventh-day Adventist church militant. This is a PREFIGURE of the next LITERAL
fulfillment of Ezekiel 9:
The
Great Controversy Chapter 1—The Destruction of Jerusalem
“If thou hadst
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee,
that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and
keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy
children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation.” Luke 19:42-44. {GC 17.1}
From the crest
of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem.
Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the
Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to
celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of
gardens and vineyards, and green slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rose the
terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel’s capital. The daughter of Zion seemed in
her pride to say, I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow; as lovely then,
and deeming herself as secure in Heaven’s favor, as when, ages before, the
royal minstrel sang: “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is
Mount Zion, ... the city of the great King.” Psalm 48:2. In full view
were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun
lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls and gleamed from golden gate
and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection of beauty” it stood, the pride of
the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene without a
thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied the mind of
Jesus. “When He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.” Luke 19:41. Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal
entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the
hills, and thousands of voices declared Him king, the world’s Redeemer was
overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the
Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its captives
from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense,
irrepressible agony. {GC 17.2}
Note by Ron: Compare the above
highlighted words with the following description of Babylon in Revelation 18.
Rev 18:7
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much
torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow,
and shall see no sorrow.
Jerusalem is not Babylon, but
Jesus said apostate Jerusalem was the Synagogue of Satan.
Rev 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and
poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but
are the synagogue of Satan.
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to
come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Isa 37:31
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take
root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out
of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
In the PREFIGURE literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9, Isaiah 37:31, 32 (above) was fulfilled. A literal fulfillment of the
same Ezekiel 9 debacle at the end-time would have to involve a fulfillment of
Isaiah 37:31, 32, as well.
A
prophetic statement by Ellen White:
Worse than Babylon -- "God's professed people
are selfish and self-caring....They are idolaters, and are worse, in the sight
of God, than the heathen, graven-image worshippers who have had no knowledge of
a better way." Testimonies, Vol. 2, 440-442.
Pages 440-442 were written in 1870. (See Table of
Contents in the book). The only reason the church at that time could be worse
than heathen, graven-image worshippers who have had no knowledge of a better
way, was that Adventists had that advanced knowledge lacked by the heathen, and
they violated it be lapsing into the Laodicean state in 1856. Ellen White said
that the Laodicean state of the church is the foolish virgin state.
What would she say of the church that since 1955,
formed a new movement that “removed God” (1SM 204-205) and changed pillar
doctrines on the Godhead (The Trinity Doctrine) and the nature of Christ,
teaching the world via Ministry magazine, that Christ took the nature of
Adam BEFORE the fall, when the Bible says that all who say that Christ did not
come in sinul flesh are antichrist.
1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is
it in the world.
2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered
into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Believing that Christ came in the flesh is not sufficient. We must believe that He came in the likeness of
SINFUL FLESH or we are antichrist, and the flesh Adam had BEFORE the fall was
not SINFUL FLESH. The church is still responsible for the teaching of Froom and
Anderson TO THE WORLD that Christ came in the SINLESS FLESH OF ADAM BEFORE
THE FALL.
Froom and Anderson assured Walter Martin that Bible
Readings for the Home Circle, 1914 edition, that said Christ took our
sinful flesh, as the Bible says, WOULD BE CHANGED, and it was! That change and ANSWERS
TO QUESTIONS ON DOCTRINE. by Froom and Anderson, were the first “books of a
new order” by the new movement (1SM 204—205).
Ellen White says in over
one-hundred statements that Adventists are moving in the same path of
disobedience as did God’s first chosen people, the Jews. Here are a few
examples:
“The
same disobedience and failure which were seen in the Jewish church have
characterized in a greater degree the people who have had this
great light from heaven in the last messages of warning.” Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 456.
History repeats itself. “The
thing that has been, it is that which shall be: and that which is done is that
which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9). In
other words, “The important movements of the present have their
parallel in those of the past.”
(G.C. 343).
That the Advent Movement is an
important movement of the present no one can deny and
it has its parallel in the history of Ancient Israel: “The remnant church is
called to go through an experience similar to that of the Jews.” (1 SM, 387).
Not one of us can afford to ignore the following warning:
“The trials of the children of Israel, and their
attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me,
again and again, to ILLUSTRATE the position of the people of God in their
experience before the second coming of Christ—how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of
the minds of the Jews, and today her is seeking to blind the minds of God’s
servants, that they may not be able to discern the Precious Truth.” (1 SM, 406;
2 Cor 4:4). The “precious truth” mentioned here is the light sent to the
Seventh-day Adventists in 1888.
"I
have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening the church. You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. There is the
same falling away from your holy calling as God's peculiar people. You are having fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your concord with unbelievers have provoked he Lord's displeasure. You know not the things that
belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid from your eyes. [The very
words applied to fallen Israel on page 17 of The Great Controversy] Your neglect to follow the
light will place you in a more unfavorable position than
the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe." Testimonies, Vol. 5,
pp. 75-76.
"Like
ancient Israel, the church has dishonored her God by departing from the light,
neglecting her duties, and abusing her high and exalted privilege of being
peculiar and holy in character. Her members have violated their covenant to
live for God and him only. They have joined with the
selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin have been
cherished, and CHRIST HAS DEPARTED. His Spirit has been quenched in the church. Satan
works side by side with professed Christians yet they are so destitute of spiritual discernment that they do not
detect him." E.G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 2, pp. 441-442.
graven
image
"Among
the professed followers of Christ, there is the same pride, formalism,
vainglory, selfishness, and OPPRESSION, that existed in the Jewish
nation."
E.G. White, Sketches from the Life of Paul, 251-252.
Worse
than Babylon -- "God's
professed people are selfish and self-caring....They are idolaters, and are
worse, in the sight of God, than the heathen, graven-image worshippers who have
had no knowledge of a better way." Testimonies, Vol. 2, 440-442.
“Then I was pointed back to the
years 1843 and 1844. There was a spirit of consecration then that there is not
now. What has come over the professed peculiar people of God? I saw the
conformity to the world, the unwillingness to suffer for the truth's sake. I
saw a great lack of submission to the will of God…
I saw that many who profess to believe the truth for these last days think it
strange that the children of Israel murmured as they journeyed; that after the
wonderful dealings of God with them, they should be so ungrateful as to forget
what He had done for them. Said the angel: "Ye have done worse than they." Testimonies for the
Church, Vol. 1, pp. 128, 129.
“I was shown the conformity of
some professed Sabbathkeepers to the world. Oh, I saw
that it is a disgrace to their profession, a disgrace to the cause of God. They
give the lie to their profession. They think they are not like the world, but
they are so near like them in dress, in conversation, and actions, that there
is no distinction…” “As I saw the dreadful fact that God's people were
conformed to the world, with no
distinction, except in name, between many of the professed disciples of the
meek and lowly Jesus and unbelievers, my soul felt deep anguish. I saw that
Jesus was wounded and put to an open shame. Said the angel, as with sorrow he
saw the professed people of God loving the world, partaking of its spirit, and
following its fashions: "Cut loose! Cut loose! lest He appoint you your
portion with hypocrites and unbelievers outside the city. Your profession will
only cause you greater anguish, and your punishment will be greater because ye
knew His will, but did it not." Testimonies for the Church, vol 1, p 131,
133.
REPEATED FOR
EMPHASIS: Worse
than Babylon -- "God's professed people are selfish and self-caring....They
are idolaters, and are worse, in the sight of God, than the heathen,
graven-image worshippers who have had no knowledge of a better way." Testimonies,
Vol. 2, 440-442.
Am I
remiss in observing (reasoning) that worse than heathen, graven-image worshippers,
means worse than Babylon? Especially after knowing the truth and a knowledge of
a better way! If I am, how and why? By the above statement it is flattery, presumption, and
patronization error to refer to the apostate SDA church as Babylon! Let it not
be said by anyone that Ron Beaulieu has said that the church is Babylon!
I
concur with Ellen White that God's professed people are worse than Babylonian heathen
graven image idol worshippers! Worse than Catholics! Worse than the great
Whore! Why? Because they had the light of truth and have willfully united with
the great whore in business partnership! Ellen White said we are never to unite
with unbelievers in business partnership, let alone the great Whore of Babylon!
However, I concur with Ellen White that the church could and indeed has become
the cage of every unclean and hateful bird, language that is distinctly applied
to Babylon in Revelation 18, but Ellen White said it and not I. Credit her and
not me. I am agreeing with her.
There
is no consolation to being a harlot SISTER to fallen
Babylon, while not being classic Babylon:
“We must as a people arouse and
cleanse the camp of Israel. Licentiousness, unlawful intimacy, and unholy
practices are coming in among us in a large degree...We are in danger of
becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become
corrupted and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful
bird, and will we be clear unless we make decided movements to cure the
existing evil?” {E. G. White, Manuscript
Releases No. 449, pp. 17, 18.}
A SISTER to fallen Babylon means
ONE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF ROME. The daughters are fallen as well, so there is no
consolation to being a SISTER to the Daughters of
fallen Babylon, especially A
WORSE sister! Because of possessing but violating advanced truth.
The
truth is that Adventists still have a high divorce rate. http://archives.adventistreview.org/2002-1534/story3.html
End Note by Ron.
Ezekiel 9 could not have been fulfilled before
A.D. 34, because that is when the 490 years of probation (Daniel Chapter 9)
ended, commensurate with the stoning of Stephen. God would not have destroyed
His people before their allotted probation was ended.
(Great
Controversy, Chap.1 cont)
His tears were
not for Himself, though He well knew whither His feet were tending. Before Him
lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony. The sheepgate
also was in sight, through which for centuries the victims for sacrifice had
been led, and which was to open for Him when He should be “brought as a lamb to
the slaughter.” Isaiah 53:7. Not far distant was
Calvary, the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread
must fall the horror of great darkness as He should make His soul an offering
for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that cast the shadow
upon Him in this hour of gladness. No foreboding of His own superhuman anguish
clouded that unselfish spirit. He wept for the doomed thousands of
Jerusalem—because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to
bless and to save. {GC 18.1}
The history of
more than a thousand years of God’s special favor and guardian care, manifested
to the chosen people, was open to the eye of Jesus. There was Mount Moriah,
where the son of promise, an unresisting victim, had been bound to the
altar—emblem of the offering of the Son of God. There the covenant of blessing,
the glorious Messianic promise, had been confirmed to the father of the
faithful. Genesis 22:9, 16-18. There the flames of the sacrifice
ascending to heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan
had turned aside the sword of the destroying angel (1 Chronicles 21)—fitting symbol of the Saviour’s sacrifice
and mediation for guilty men. Jerusalem had been honored of God above all the
earth. The Lord had “chosen Zion,” He had “desired it for His
habitation.” Psalm 132:13. There, for ages, holy
prophets had uttered their messages of warning. There priests had waved their
censers, and the cloud of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had
ascended before God. There daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered,
pointing forward to the Lamb of God. There Jehovah had revealed His presence in
the cloud of glory above the mercy seat. There rested the base of that mystic
ladder connecting earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51)—that ladder upon which angels of God descended
and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all.
Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have
stood forever, the elect of God. Jeremiah 17:21-25. But
the history of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion.
They had resisted Heaven’s grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their
opportunities. {GC 18.2}
Although Israel
had “mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His
prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:16), He had still manifested Himself to
them, as “the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6); notwithstanding repeated
rejections, His mercy had continued its pleadings. With more than a father’s
pitying love for the son of his care, God had “sent to them by His messengers,
rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on
His dwelling place.” 2 Chronicles 36:15. When remonstrance,
entreaty, and rebuke had failed, He sent to them the best gift of heaven; nay,
He poured out all heaven in that one Gift. {GC 19.1}
The Son of God
Himself was sent to plead with the impenitent city. It was Christ that had
brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt. Psalm 80:8. His own hand
had cast out the heathen before it. He had planted it “in a very fruitful
hill.” His guardian care had hedged it about. His servants had been sent to
nurture it. “What could have been done more to My vineyard,” He exclaims, “that
I have not done in it?” Isaiah 5:1-4. Though
when He looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes,
yet with a still yearning hope of fruitfulness He came in person to His
vineyard, if haply it might be saved from destruction. He digged
about His vine; He pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in His efforts to
save this vine of His own planting. {GC 19.2}
For three years
the Lord of light and glory had gone in and out among His people. He “went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,” binding up
the brokenhearted, setting at liberty them that were
bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk and the deaf to
hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to the
poor. Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5. To all classes alike was addressed the
gracious call: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will
give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. {GC 20.1}
Though rewarded
with evil for good, and hatred for His love (Psalm 109:5), He had
steadfastly pursued His mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that sought
His grace. A homeless wanderer, reproach and penury His daily lot, He lived to
minister to the needs and lighten the woes of men, to plead with them to accept
the gift of life. The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts,
returned in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love. But Israel had
turned from her best Friend and only Helper. The pleadings of His love had been
despised, His counsels spurned, His warnings ridiculed. {GC 20.2}
The hour of
hope and pardon was fast passing; the cup of God’s long-deferred wrath was
almost full. The cloud that had been gathering through ages of apostasy and
rebellion, now black with woe, was about to burst upon a guilty
people; and He who alone could save them from their impending fate had
been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be crucified. When Christ
should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel’s day as a nation favored and
blessed of God would be ended. The loss of even one soul is a calamity
infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a world; but as Christ looked
upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him—that
city, that nation, which had once been the chosen of God, His peculiar
treasure.{GC 20.3}
Prophets had
wept over the apostasy of Israel and the terrible desolations by which their
sins were visited. Jeremiah wished that his eyes were a fountain of tears, that
he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people, for
the Lord’s flock that was carried away captive. Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17. What, then, was the grief of Him whose prophetic
glance took in, not years, but ages! He beheld the destroying angel with sword
uplifted against the city which had so long been Jehovah’s dwelling place. From
the ridge of Olivet, the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and his army, He
looked across the valley upon the sacred courts and porticoes, and with
tear-dimmed eyes He saw, in awful perspective, the walls surrounded by alien
hosts. He heard the tread of armies marshaling for war. He heard the voice of
mothers and children crying for bread in the besieged city. He saw her holy and
beautiful house, her palaces and towers, given to the flames, and where once
they stood, only a heap of smoldering ruins. {GC 21.1}
Looking down
the ages, He saw the covenant people scattered in every land, “like wrecks on a
desert shore.” In the temporal retribution about to fall upon her children, He
saw but the first draft from that cup of wrath which at the final judgment she
must drain to its dregs. Divine pity, yearning love, found utterance in the
mournful words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not!” O that thou, a nation favored above every other, hadst known the
time of thy visitation, and the things that belong unto thy peace! I have
stayed the angel of justice, I have called thee to repentance, but in vain. It
is not merely servants, delegates, and prophets, whom thou hast refused and
rejected, but the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer. If thou art destroyed, thou
alone art responsible. “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” Matthew 23:37; John 5:40. {GC 21.2}
Christ saw in
Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion,
and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The woes of a
fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that exceeding bitter
cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood; His
heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted and suffering ones of
earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn back
the tide of human woe; few would seek their only Source of help. He was willing
to pour out His soul unto death, to bring salvation within their reach; but few
would come to Him that they might have life. {GC 22.1}
The Majesty of
heaven in tears! the Son of the infinite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with
anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the
exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how hard a task it is, even for Infinite
Power, to save the guilty from the consequences of transgressing the law of
God. Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a
deception similar to that which caused the destruction
of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the
great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God,
the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah
would be despised and set at nought. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of
Satan, doomed to suffer the second death, would refuse to listen to the
words of truth in their day of visitation. Terrible blindness! strange
infatuation! {GC 22.2}
Two days before
the Passover, when Christ had for the last time departed from the temple, after
denouncing the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers, He again went out with His
disciples to the Mount of Olives and seated Himself with them upon the grassy
slope overlooking the city. Once more He gazed upon its walls, its towers, and
its palaces. Once more He beheld the temple in its dazzling splendor, a diadem
of beauty crowning the sacred mount. {GC 23.1}
A thousand
years before, the psalmist had magnified God’s favor to Israel in making her
holy house His dwelling place: “In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His
dwelling place in Zion.” He “chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He
loved. And He built His sanctuary like high palaces.” Psalm 76:2; 78:68, 69. The first
temple had been erected during the most prosperous period of Israel’s history.
Vast stores of treasure for this purpose had been collected by King David, and
the plans for its construction were made by divine inspiration. 1 Chronicles 28:12, 19. Solomon, the wisest of Israel’s
monarchs, had completed the work. This temple was the most magnificent building
which the world ever saw. Yet the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggai,
concerning the second temple: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater
than of the former.” “I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations
shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of
hosts.” Haggai 2:9, 7. {GC 23.2}
After the
destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar it was rebuilt about five hundred
years before the birth of Christ by a people who from a lifelong captivity had
returned to a wasted and almost deserted country. There were then among them aged
men who had seen the glory of Solomon’s temple, and who wept at the foundation
of the new building, that it must be so inferior to the former. The feeling
that prevailed is forcibly described by the prophet: “Who is left among
you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not
in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” Haggai 2:3; Ezra 3:12. Then was given the promise that the glory of
this latter house should be greater than that of the former. {GC 23.3}
But the second
temple had not equaled the first in magnificence; nor was it hallowed by those
visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple.
There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No
cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from
heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no
longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy
seat, and the tables of the testimony were not to be found therein. No voice
sounded from heaven to make known to the inquiring priest the will of
Jehovah. {GC 24.1}
For centuries
the Jews had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise of God given by
Haggai had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the
true meaning of the prophet’s words. The second temple was not honored with the
cloud of Jehovah’s glory, but with the living presence of One in whom dwelt the
fullness of the Godhead bodily—who was God Himself manifest in the flesh. The “Desire
of all nations” had indeed come to His temple when the Man of Nazareth taught
and healed in the sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only,
did the second temple exceed the first in glory. But Israel had put from her
the proffered Gift of heaven. With the humble Teacher who had that day passed
out from its golden gate, the glory had forever departed from the temple.
Already were the Saviour’s words fulfilled: “Your house is left unto you
desolate.” Matthew 23:38. {GC 24.2}
The disciples
had been filled with awe and wonder at Christ’s prediction of the overthrow of
the temple, and they desired to understand more fully the meaning of His words.
Wealth, labor, and architectural skill had for more than forty years been
freely expended to enhance its splendors. Herod the Great had lavished
upon it both Roman wealth and Jewish treasure, and even the emperor of the
world had enriched it with his gifts. Massive blocks of white marble, of almost
fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for this purpose, formed a part of its
structure; and to these the disciples had called the attention of their Master,
saying: “See what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” Mark 13:1. {GC 24.3}
To these words,
Jesus made the solemn and startling reply: “Verily I say unto you, There shall
not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2. {GC 25.1}
With the
overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the
events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of
universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the
nation the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that He would come the second
time. Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to
that coming; and as they were gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of
Olives, they asked: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of
Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Verse 3. {GC 25.2}
The future was
mercifully veiled from the disciples. Had they at that time fully comprehended
the two awful facts—the Redeemer’s sufferings and death, and the destruction of
their city and temple—they would have been overwhelmed with horror. Christ
presented before them an outline of the prominent events to take place before
the close of time. His words were not then fully understood; but their meaning
was to be unfolded as His people should need the instruction therein given. The
prophecy which He uttered was twofold in its meaning; while foreshadowing the
destruction of Jerusalem, it
prefigured also the terrors of the last great day. {GC 25.3}
[BEGINNING AT HIS CHURCH, HIS SANCTUARY 5T 211. AND EZEKIEL 9:6.]
Jesus declared
to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall upon apostate
Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them for
their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs would
precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come suddenly and
swiftly. And the Saviour warned His followers: “When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy
place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountains.” Matthew 24:15, 16; Luke 21:20, 21. When the idolatrous standards of the Romans
should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the
city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When
the warning sign should be seen, those who would escape must make no delay.
Throughout the land of Judea, as well as in Jerusalem itself, the signal for
flight must be immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must
not go down into his house, even to save his most valued treasures. Those who
were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for the
outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of the day.
They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the general
destruction. {GC 25.4}
In the reign of
Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatly beautified, but by the erection of
towers, walls, and fortresses, adding to the natural strength of its situation,
it had been rendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this time have
foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah in his day, have been
called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said: “Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35. Because
of her sins, wrath had been denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn
unbelief rendered her doom certain. {GC 26.1}
The Lord had
declared by the prophet Micah: “Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of
Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all
equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads
thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the
prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say,
Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.” Micah 3:9-11. {GC 26.2}
These words
faithfully described the corrupt and self-righteous inhabitants of Jerusalem.
While claiming to observe rigidly the precepts of God’s law, they were
transgressing all its principles. They hated Christ because His purity and
holiness revealed their iniquity; and they accused Him of being the cause of
all the troubles which had come upon them in consequence of their sins. Though
they knew Him to be sinless, they had declared that His death was necessary to
their safety as a nation. “If we let Him thus alone,” said the Jewish leaders,
“all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our
place and nation.” John 11:48. If Christ were sacrificed,
they might once more become a strong, united people. Thus
they reasoned, and they concurred in the decision of their high priest, that it
would be better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish. {GC 27.1}
Thus the Jewish
leaders had built up “Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.” Micah 3:10. And yet, while they slew their Saviour because
He reproved their sins, such was their self-righteousness that they regarded
themselves as God’s favored people and expected the Lord to deliver them from
their enemies. “Therefore,” continued the prophet, “shall Zion for your sake be
plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the
house as the high places of the forest.” Verse 12. {GC 27.2}
For nearly forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had
been pronounced by Christ Himself, the Lord delayed His judgments upon the city
and the nation. Wonderful was the long-suffering of God toward the rejectors of
His gospel and the murderers of His Son. The parable of the unfruitful tree
represented God’s dealings with the Jewish nation. The command had gone forth,
“Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” (Luke 13:7) but divine mercy had spared it yet a little
longer. There were still many among the Jews who were ignorant of the character
and the work of Christ. And the children had not enjoyed the opportunities
or received the light which their parents had spurned. Through the
preaching of the apostles and their associates, God would cause light to shine
upon them; they would be permitted to see how prophecy had been fulfilled, not
only in the birth and life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. The
children were not condemned for the sins of the parents; but when, with a
knowledge of all the light given to their parents, the children rejected the
additional light granted to themselves, they became partakers of the parents’
sins, and filled up the measure of their iniquity. {GC 27.3}
The
long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in their
stubborn impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward the disciples of Jesus
they rejected the last offer of mercy. Then God withdrew His protection from
them and removed His restraining power from Satan and his angels, and the
nation was left to the control of the leader she had chosen. Her children had
spurned the grace of Christ, which would have enabled them to subdue their evil
impulses, and now these became the conquerors. Satan aroused the fiercest and
most debased passions of the soul. Men did not reason; they were beyond
reason—controlled by impulse and blind rage. They became satanic in their
cruelty. In the family and in the nation, among the highest and the lowest
classes alike, there was suspicion, envy, hatred, strife, rebellion, murder.
There was no safety anywhere. Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents
slew their children, and children their parents. The rulers of the people had
no power to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions made them tyrants. The Jews
had accepted false testimony to condemn the innocent Son of God. Now false
accusations made their own lives uncertain. By their actions they had long been
saying: “Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Isaiah 30:11. Now their desire was granted. The fear of God
no longer disturbed them. Satan was at the head of the nation, and the highest
civil and religious authorities were under his sway. {GC 28.1}
The leaders of the opposing factions at times united to
plunder and torture their wretched victims, and again they fell upon each
other’s forces and slaughtered without mercy. Even the sanctity of the temple could not
restrain their horrible ferocity. The worshipers were stricken down before the
altar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies of the slain. Yet in
their blind and blasphemous presumption the instigators of this hellish work
publicly declared that they had no fear that Jerusalem would be destroyed, for
it was God’s own city. To
establish their power more firmly, they bribed false prophets to proclaim, even
while Roman legions were besieging the temple, that the people were to wait for
deliverance from God. To the last, multitudes held fast to the belief
that the Most High would interpose for the defeat of
their adversaries. But Israel had spurned the divine protection, and now she
had no defense. Unhappy Jerusalem! rent by internal dissensions, the blood of
her children slain by one another’s hands crimsoning her streets, while alien
armies beat down her fortifications and slew her men of war! {GC 29.1}
All the
predictions given by Christ concerning the destruction of Jerusalem were
fulfilled to the letter. The Jews experienced the truth of His words of
warning: “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew 7:2. {GC 29.2}
Signs and wonders
appeared, foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of
the night an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar. Upon the
clouds at sunset were pictured chariots and men of war gathering for battle.
The priests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrified by mysterious
sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitude of voices were heard crying: “Let
us depart hence.” The great eastern gate, which was so heavy that it could
hardly be shut by a score of men, and which was secured by immense bars of
iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid stone, opened at midnight, without
visible agency.—Milman, The History of the Jews, book 13. {GC 29.3}
For seven years a man continued to go up and down the
streets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to come upon the city. By
day and by night he chanted the wild dirge: “A voice from the east! a voice
from the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and
against the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! a voice
against the whole people!”—Ibid. This strange
being was imprisoned and scourged, but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult
and abuse he answered only: “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” “woe, woe to the
inhabitants thereof!” His warning cry ceased not until he was slain in the
siege he had foretold. {GC 30.1}
Not one Christian perished in the destruction of
Jerusalem. Christ had given His disciples warning, and all who believed
His words watched for the promised sign. “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed
with armies,” said Jesus, “then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then
let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out.” Luke 21:20, 21. After the
Romans under Cestius had surrounded the city, they
unexpectedly abandoned the siege when everything seemed favorable for an
immediate attack. The besieged, despairing of successful resistance, were on
the point of surrender, when the Roman general withdrew his forces without the
least apparent reason. But God’s merciful providence was directing events for
the good of His own people. The promised sign had been given to the waiting
Christians, and now an opportunity was offered for all who would, to obey the
Saviour’s warning. Events
were so overruled that neither Jews nor Romans should hinder the flight of the
Christians. Upon the retreat of Cestius, the
Jews, sallying from Jerusalem, pursued after his retiring army; and while both
forces were thus fully engaged, the Christians had an opportunity to leave the
city. At this time the country also had been cleared of enemies who might have
endeavored to intercept them. At the time of the siege, the Jews were assembled
at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus the Christians throughout the land were able to
make their escape unmolested. Without delay they fled to a place of safety—the
city of Pella, in the land of Perea, beyond Jordan.
{GC 30.2}
The Jewish
forces, pursuing after Cestius and his army, fell
upon their rear with such fierceness as to threaten them with total destruction. It was with great difficulty that the
Romans succeeded in making their retreat. The Jews escaped almost without loss,
and with their spoils returned in triumph to Jerusalem. Yet this apparent
success brought them only evil. It inspired them with that spirit of stubborn
resistance to the Romans which speedily brought unutterable woe upon the doomed
city. {GC 31.1}
Terrible were
the calamities that fell upon Jerusalem when the siege was resumed by Titus. The city was invested at the
time of the Passover, when millions of Jews were assembled within its walls.
Their stores of provision, which if carefully preserved would have supplied the
inhabitants for years, had previously been destroyed through the jealousy and
revenge of the contending factions, and now all the horrors of starvation were
experienced. A measure of wheat was sold for a talent. So fierce were the pangs
of hunger that men would gnaw the leather of their belts and sandals and the
covering of their shields. Great numbers of the people would steal out at night
to gather wild plants growing outside the city walls, though many were seized
and put to death with cruel torture, and often those who returned in safety
were robbed of what they had gleaned at so great peril. The most inhuman
tortures were inflicted by those in power, to force from the want-stricken
people the last scanty supplies which they might have concealed. And these
cruelties were not infrequently practiced by men who were themselves well fed,
and who were merely desirous of laying up a store of provision for the
future. {GC 31.2}
Thousands
perished from famine and pestilence. Natural affection seemed to have been
destroyed. Husbands robbed their wives, and wives their husbands. Children
would be seen snatching the food from the mouths of their aged parents. The
question of the prophet, “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” received the
answer within the walls of that doomed city: “The hands of the pitiful women
have sodden their own children: they were their meat
in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” Isaiah
49:15; Lamentations 4:10. Again was fulfilled
the warning prophecy given fourteen centuries before: “The tender and delicate
woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the
ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the
husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, ... and
toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of
all things secretly in the siege and straitness,
wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.” Deuteronomy 28:56, 57. {GC 32.1}
The Roman
leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews and thus cause them to
surrender. Those prisoners who resisted when taken, were scourged, tortured,
and crucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily put to death in this manner, and
the dreadful work continued until, along the Valley of Jehoshaphat and at
Calvary, crosses were erected in so great numbers that there was scarcely room
to move among them. So terribly was visited that awful imprecation
uttered before the judgment seat of Pilate: “His blood be on us, and on our
children.” Matthew 27:25. {GC 32.2}
Titus would
willingly have put an end to the fearful scene, and thus have spared Jerusalem
the full measure of her doom. He was filled with horror as he saw the bodies of
the dead lying in heaps in the valleys. Like one entranced, he looked from the
crest of Olivet upon the magnificent temple and gave command that not one stone
of it be touched. Before attempting to gain possession of this
stronghold, he made an earnest appeal to the Jewish leaders not to force
him to defile the sacred place with blood. If they would come forth and fight
in any other place, no Roman should violate the sanctity of the temple.
Josephus himself, in a most eloquent appeal, entreated them to surrender, to
save themselves, their city, and their place of worship. But his words were
answered with bitter curses. Darts were hurled at him, their last human
mediator, as he stood pleading with them. The Jews had rejected the entreaties
of the Son of God, and now expostulation and entreaty only made them more
determined to resist to the last. In vain were the efforts of Titus to save the
temple; One greater than
he had declared that not one stone was to be left upon another. {GC 32.3}
Note by Ron:
The great heat from the fire melted the gold and it ran between the cracks in
the stone structure of the Temple. The soldiers overturned the stones to
retrieve the gold. End note.
The blind obstinacy of the Jewish leaders, and the
detestable crimes perpetrated within the besieged city, excited the horror and
indignation of the Romans, and Titus at last decided to take the temple by
storm.
He determined, however, that if possible it should be
saved from destruction. But his commands were disregarded. After he had retired
to his tent at night, the Jews, sallying from the temple, attacked the soldiers
without. In the struggle, a firebrand was flung by a soldier through an opening
in the porch, and immediately the cedar-lined chambers about the holy house
were in a blaze. Titus rushed to the place, followed by his generals and
legionaries, and commanded the soldiers to quench the flames. His words were unheeded.
In their fury the soldiers hurled blazing brands into the chambers adjoining
the temple, and then with their swords they slaughtered in great numbers those
who had found shelter there. Blood flowed down the temple steps like water.
Thousands upon thousands of Jews perished. Above the sound of battle, voices
were heard shouting: “Ichabod!”—the glory is departed. {GC 33.1}
“Titus found it
impossible to check the rage of the soldiery; he entered with his officers, and surveyed the interior of the sacred edifice.
The splendor filled them with wonder; and as the flames had not yet penetrated
to the holy place, he made a last effort to save it, and springing forth,
again exhorted the soldiers to stay the progress of the conflagration. The
centurion Liberalis endeavored to force obedience
with his staff of office; but even respect for the emperor gave way to the
furious animosity against the Jews, to the fierce excitement of battle, and to
the insatiable hope of plunder. The soldiers saw everything around them radiant with gold, which shone
dazzlingly in the wild light of the flames; they supposed that incalculable
treasures were laid up in the sanctuary. A soldier, unperceived, thrust
a lighted torch between the hinges of the door: the whole building was in flames
in an instant. The blinding smoke and fire forced the officers to retreat, and
the noble edifice was left to its fate. {GC 33.2}
“It was an
appalling spectacle to the Roman—what was it to the Jew? The whole summit of
the hill which commanded the city, blazed like a volcano. One after another the
buildings fell in, with a tremendous crash, and were swallowed up in the fiery
abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded pinnacles shone
like spikes of red light; the gate towers sent up tall columns of flame and
smoke. The neighboring hills were lighted up; and dark groups of people were
seen watching in horrible anxiety the progress of the destruction: the walls
and heights of the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with the agony
of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shouts of the Roman
soldiery as they ran to and fro, and the howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in the
flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the thundering sound
of falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains replied or brought back the
shrieks of the people on the heights; all along the walls resounded screams and
wailings; men who were expiring with famine rallied their remaining strength to
utter a cry of anguish and desolation. {GC 34.1}
“The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the
spectacle from without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests,
those who fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in
indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The
legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of
extermination.”—Milman, The History of the Jews, book 16. {GC 35.1}
After the destruction of the temple, the whole city soon
fell into the hands of the Romans. The leaders of the Jews forsook their
impregnable towers, and Titus found them solitary. He gazed upon them with amazement, and declared that God had given them into his
hands; for no engines, however powerful, could have prevailed against those
stupendous battlements. Both
the city and the temple were razed to their foundations, and the ground upon
which the holy house had stood was “plowed like a field.” Jeremiah 26:18. In the siege and the slaughter that followed, more than a
million of the people perished; the survivors were carried away as captives,
sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to grace the conqueror’s triumph, thrown to
wild beasts in the amphitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers throughout
the earth. {GC 35.2}
The Jews had
forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the cup of vengeance.
In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes that
followed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping the harvest which
their own hands had sown. Says the prophet: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself;” “for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Hosea 13:9; 14:1. Their sufferings
are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of
God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By
stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection
of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them
according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction
of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan’s vindictive power over those who
yield to his control. {GC 35.3}
We cannot know how
much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the
restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the
control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for
gratitude for God’s mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel,
malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine
forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as
an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the
rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every
ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion
indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields
its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last
withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil
passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan.
The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all who are
trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the pleadings of divine
mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony to God’s hatred of sin
and to the certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty. {GC 36.1}
The Saviour’s
prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have
another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow.
In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected
God’s mercy and trampled upon His law. Dark are the records of human misery
that earth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens,
and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the results of
rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the
revelations of the future. The records of the past,—the long procession of
tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the “battle of the warrior ... with
confused noise, and garments rolled in blood” (Isaiah 9:5),—what are
these, in contrast with the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of
God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the
outburst of human passion and satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as
never before, the results of Satan’s rule. {GC 36.2}
But in that
day, as in the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, God’s people will be delivered,
everyone that shall be found written among the living. Isaiah 4:3. Christ has declared that He will come the second
time to gather His faithful ones to Himself: “Then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from
one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31. Then
shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth
and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked destroy
themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed
themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased
with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming
fire. {GC 37.1}
Let men beware
lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He
warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the
approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so
He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them
tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come.
Jesus declares: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars; and upon the earth distress of nations.” Luke 21:25; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. Those who behold these harbingers of
His coming are to “know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. “Watch ye therefore,” are His words of
admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in
darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will
not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5. {GC 37.2}
The world is no
more ready to credit the message for this time than
were the Jews to receive the Saviour’s warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when
it may, the day of God 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.” Verse 3. {GC 38.1}
“The great day of the Lord is
near, it is near, and hasteth greatly” (Zephaniah
1:14); but where do we behold the true advent spirit? Who are preparing to
stand in that time of temptation which is just before us? The people to whom God has
entrusted the sacred, solemn, testing truths for this time are sleeping at
their post. They say by their actions: We have the truth; we are “rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” while the True Witness
declares: Thou “knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor,
and blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:17. The people to whom God has entrusted the sacred, solemn,
testing truths for this time are sleeping at their post.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 101.
In the Name of the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jaccob,
R. William Beaulieu