When God’s People Triumph
and
the
Wicked Realize Their Loss
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CHAPTER 41
Desolation
of the Earth
"Her sins have reached unto heaven, and
God hath remembered her iniquities. . . . In the cup which she hath filled
fill to her double. 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. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire:
for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the
kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with
her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, . . .
saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come." Revelation
18:5-10. "The
merchants of the earth," that have "waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies," "shall stand afar off for the fear of
her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas that great city,
that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold,
and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought." Revelation 18:11, 3, 15-17. Such are the judgments that fall upon
Babylon
in the day of the visitation of God's wrath. She has filled up the measure of
her iniquity; her time has come; she is ripe for destruction. 654 Note by
Ron: The Lord has shown me that the above description involving Revelation
18, describes Ezekiel 9 as it is fulfilled against Babylon, not Jerusalem. The
above words on page 653, provide the context for the
mention of Ezekiel 9 on page 656, when it is inflicted upon Babylon, but it
all begins at apostate Jerusalem. And this is a very important reason why
apostate Jerusalem should not be referred to as Babylon. The first literal
fulfillment of Ezekiel 9 referred to the first apostate Jerusalem as
Jerusalem, not Babylon, so the antitypical literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9
must fall upon end-time spiritual Jerusalem FIRST. This is most important for
nomenclature and order of fulfillment purposes. That being said, we must
remember that while still here on earth, Jesus referred to the apostate
Jewish Temple as the Synagogue of Satan. That is a more apt description of
modern-day apostate Jerusalem, new movement, omega of apostasy Adventism. Ellen
White reapplies Matthew 22:10-12 in Sermons
and Talks, pp. 4-9. She specifically quotes Matthew 22:7, which is the
destruction of apostate Jerusalem, not Babylon. The fulfillment of Matthew
22:7 coincides with Ezekiel Chapter 5, wherein God visits judgments upon what
is now spiritual, apostate Jerusalem in the sight of all nations. This is
Ezekiel 9 “beginning at His Sanctuary, “Jerusalem,” in its end-time
fulfillment. The Lord showed me that Ezekiel 5:9 proves this fact because it
is at the end time that God does the worst thing He ever does per Matthew
24:21. Ezekiel 5:9 establishes end-time context for a literal fulfillment of
Ezekiel 9, for Ezekiel 5 is just another take on Ezekiel 9. This is Bible
proof for Ellen White’s statement that Ezekiel 9 will be literally fulfilled.
And it all begins with apostate Jerusalem, new movement Adventism, from which
a faithful remnant will go forth out of—Isaiah 37:31, 32, as was the case in
the first literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 9, circa A.D. 27-70. When the wicked realize their Error
and Their Eternal Loss We need to
keep this scenario clear in our minds because this will be of the greatest
inspiration to us by way of encouragement to remain faithful through the
greatest time of trouble this earth has ever experienced. rwb
“When the voice of God turns the captivity of His
people, there is a terrible
awakening of those who have lost all in the great conflict of life. While probation continued they were blinded by
Satan's deceptions, and they justified their course of sin. The rich prided
themselves upon their superiority to those who were less favored;
but they had obtained their riches by violation of the law of God. They had
neglected to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to
love mercy. They had sought to exalt themselves and to obtain the homage of
their fellow creatures. Now they are
stripped of all that made them great and are left destitute and defenseless. They look
with terror upon the destruction of the idols which they preferred before
their Maker. They have sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments,
and have not sought to become rich toward God. The result is, their lives are a failure; their pleasures are now
turned to gall, their treasures to corruption. The gain of a lifetime is swept away in a moment. The rich bemoan the destruction of
their grand houses, the scattering of their gold and silver. But
their lamentations are silenced by the fear that they themselves are to
perish with their idols. The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their
sinful neglect of God and their fellow men, but because God has conquered.
They lament that the result is what it is; but they do not repent of their
wickedness. They would leave no means untried to conquer if they could. The world see the very class whom they have mocked and derided, and desired to exterminate, pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest, and earthquake. He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is to His people a safe pavilion. The minister
who has sacrificed truth to gain the favor of men
now discerns the character and influence of his teachings. It is apparent that the omniscient eye was following
him as he stood in the desk, as he walked the streets, as he mingled with men
in the various scenes of life. Every 655 emotion of the soul, every line written, every word uttered,
every act that led men to rest in a refuge of falsehood, has been scattering
seed; and now, in the wretched, lost souls around him, he beholds the
harvest. Saith the Lord: "They have healed the hurt of the
daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace." "With lies ye have made
the heart of the righteous sad, whom I
have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should
not return from his wicked way, by promising him life." Jeremiah 8:11;
Ezekiel 13:22. "Woe be unto the pastors
that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! . . . Behold, I will visit
upon you the evil of your doings." "Howl, ye shepherds, and cry;
and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for your days
for slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; . . . and the
shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to
escape." Jeremiah 23:1, 2; 25:34, 35, margin. Ministers and people see that they have not sustained
the right relation to God. They see that they have rebelled against the
Author of all just and righteous law. The setting aside of the divine
precepts gave rise to thousands of springs of evil, discord, hatred,
iniquity, until the earth became one vast field of strife, one sink of
corruption. This is the view that now appears to those who rejected truth and
chose to cherish error. No language can express the longing which the
disobedient and disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever--eternal
life. Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now
see these things in their true light. They realize what they have forfeited
by transgression, and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have
despised and derided, and confess that God has loved them. The people see that they have been deluded. They accuse
one another of having led them to destruction; but all unite in heaping their
bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied
smooth things; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to
656 persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before
the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury.
"We are lost!" they cry, "and you are the cause of our
ruin;" and they turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once admired them most will
pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them.
The very hands that once crowned them with
laurels will be raised for their destruction. The swords which were to slay
God's people are now employed to destroy their enemies. Everywhere there is
strife and bloodshed. "A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth;
for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, He will plead with all
flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword." Jeremiah 25:31. For six thousand years the great controversy has
been in progress; the Son of God and His heavenly messengers have been in
conflict with the power of the evil one, to warn, enlighten, and save the
children of men. Now all have made their
decisions; the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against
God. The time has come for God to vindicate the authority of His downtrodden
law. Now the controversy is not alone with Satan, but with men. "The
Lord hath a controversy with the nations;" "He will give them that
are wicked to the sword." The mark of deliverance has been set upon those
"that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done." Now
the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's vision by the men
with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: "Slay
utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come
not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." Says
the prophet: "They began at the ancient men which
were before the house." Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins
among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people.
The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare.
Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together. "The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the
inhabitants 657 of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall
disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21.
"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their
flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes
shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in
their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from
the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of
his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor." Zechariah 14:12, 13. In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by
the awful outpouring of God's unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of
the earth--priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low.
"And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the
earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented,
neither gathered, nor buried." Jeremiah 25:33. At the coming
of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth--consumed
with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the City of God, and the
earth is emptied of its inhabitants. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh
it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof."
"The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord
hath spoken this word." "Because
they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they
that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are
burned." Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6. The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The
ruins of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees,
ragged rocks thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are
scattered over its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the
mountains have been rent from their foundations. 658 Now the event takes place foreshadowed in the last
solemn service of the Day of Atonement. When the ministration in the holy of
holies had been completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the
sanctuary by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, then the scapegoat was
presented alive before the Lord; and in the presence of the congregation the
high priest confessed over him "all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the
head of the goat." Leviticus 16:21. In
like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been
completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of
the redeemed the sins of God's people will be placed upon Satan; he will be
declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as
the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be
banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness. The revelator foretells the
banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the
earth is to be reduced, and he declares that this condition will exist for a
thousand years. After presenting the scenes of the Lord's second coming and
the destruction of the wicked, the prophecy continues: "I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and
set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little
season." Revelation 20:1-3. That the expression "bottomless pit"
represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from
other scriptures. Concerning the condition
of the earth "in the beginning," the Bible record says that it
"was without form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep." [THE HEBREW WORD HERE TRANSLATED
"DEEP" IS RENDERED IN THE SEPTUAGINT (GREEK) TRANSLATION OF THE
HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT BY THE SAME WORD RENDERED "BOTTOMLESS PIT" IN
REVELATION 20:1-3.] 659 Genesis 1:2. Prophecy teaches that it will be brought
back, partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day
of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it
was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld
the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I
beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were
fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the
cities thereof were broken down." Jeremiah 4:23-26. Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels
for a thousand years. Limited to the
earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who
have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his
power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so
many centuries has been his sole delight. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of
Satan's overthrow, exclaims: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down
to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! . . . Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and
consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the
earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a
wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of
his prisoners?" Isaiah 14:12-17. For six thousand years, Satan's work of rebellion has
"made the earth to tremble." He had "made the world as a
wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof." And he "opened not
the house of his prisoners." For six
thousand years his prison house has received God's people, and he would have
held them captive forever; but Christ had broken his bonds and set the
prisoners free. 660 Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of
Satan, and alone with his evil angels he
remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin has brought. "The kings of the nations, even all of them, lie
in glory, everyone in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy
grave like an abominable branch. . . . Thou shalt
not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and
slain thy people." Isaiah 14:18-20. For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in
the desolate earth to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of
God. During this time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall his life of unceasing
activity has banished reflection; but
he is now deprived of his power and left to contemplate the part which he has
acted since first he rebelled against the government of heaven, and to look
forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future when he must suffer
for all the evil that he has done and be punished for the sins that he has
caused to be committed. To God's people the captivity of Satan will bring gladness
and rejoicing. Says the prophet: "It shall come to pass in the day that
Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and
from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast
made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable
against the king of Babylon [here representing Satan], and say, How hath the
oppressor ceased! . . . Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath
with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution
that none restrained." Verses 3-6, R.V. During the thousand years between the first and the
second resurrection the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul
points to this judgment as an event that follows the second advent.
"Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring
to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels
of 661 the hearts." 1 Corinthians 4:5. Daniel declares that
when the Ancient of Days came, "judgment was given to the saints of the
Most High." Daniel 7:22. At this
time the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. John in the
Revelation says: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given unto them." "They
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand
years." Revelation 20:4, 6. It is at this time that, as foretold by
Paul, "the saints shall judge the world." 1 Corinthians 6:2. In
union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the
statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done
in the body. Then the portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out,
according to their works; and it is recorded against their names in the book
of death. Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and His
people. Says Paul: "Know ye not that we shall
judge angels?" Verse 3. And Jude declares that "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day." Jude 6. At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection
will take place. Then the wicked will be raised from the dead and appear
before God for the execution of "the judgment written." Thus the revelator, after describing the resurrection of the
righteous, says: "The rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished." Revelation 20:5. And Isaiah declares,
concerning the wicked: "They shall be gathered together, as prisoners
are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many
days shall they be visited." Isaiah 24:22. The Great Controversy, pp. 654-661.
Satan on
earth with his evil angels with his angels satan
and his angels "Here is
to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years.
Limited to the earth, he will not have access to
other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this
sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise
his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for
so many centuries has been his sole delight. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of
Satan's overthrow, exclaims: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down
to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! . . . Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that
did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the
cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?" Isaiah
14:12-17." The Great Controversy,
p. 659. “Even the wicked are now
placed beyond the power of Satan, and alone with his evil
angels he remains to realize the
effect of the curse which sin has brought. "The
kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own
house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable
branch. . . . Thou shalt not be joined with them in
burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people."
Isaiah 14:18-20.” The Great
Controversy, p. 660. |