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God for the “munitions of rocks.” But many of all nations and all
classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast
into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass
weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be
slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome
dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; no human
hand is ready to lend them help.
Will the Lord forget his people in this trying hour? Did he forget
faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian
world? Did he forget Lot when the fire came down from heaven to
consume the cities of the plain? Did he forget Joseph surrounded
by idolaters in Egypt? Did he forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel
threatened him with the fate of the Baal prophets? Did he forget
Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison-house? Did he
forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or Daniel in the den of
lions? Christ ca
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the purchase of his precious blood.
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Though the people of God endure privation, and even suffer for
want of food, they are not left to perish. While God’s judgments are
visited upon the earth, and the wicked are dying from hunger and
thirst, angels provide the righteous with food and water. Said Jesus,
in his lessons of faith to his disciples: “Consider the ravens; for they
neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and
God feedeth them; how much more are ye better than the fowls?”
[Luke 12:24.] “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows.” [Matthew 10:29-31.]
Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must
soon seal their testimony with their blood, as did the martyrs before
them. They themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to
fall by the hand of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day
and night they cry unto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and
the jeering cry is heard, “Where now is your faith? Why does not
God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed his people?” But
the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon Calvary’s cross, and
the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery, “He saved others;
himself he ca
down from the cross, and we will believe him.” [Matthew 27:42.]
Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express
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their internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease
not their earnest intercession.
Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold compa-
nies of angels that excel in strength stationed about those who have
kept the word of Christ’s patience. With sympathizing tenderness,
angels have witnessed their distress, and have heard their prayers.
They are waiting the word of their Commander to snatch them from
their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of God
must drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism. The very
delay, so painful to them, is the best answer to their petitions. As
they endeavor to wait trustingly for the Lord to work, they are led to
exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have been too little exer-
cised during their religious experience. Yet for the elect’s sake, the
time of trouble will be shortened. The end will come more quickly
than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves
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for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires
of destruction.
The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their
watch. In some cases, before the time specified in the decree, ene-
mies will rush upon the waiting ones to put them to death. But none
can pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul.
Some are assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the
swords raised against them break and fall as powerless as a straw.
Others are defended by angels in the form of men of war.
In all ages God has wrought through holy angels for the succor
and deliverance of his people. Celestial beings have taken an active
part in the affairs of men. They have appeared clothed in garments
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that shone as the lightning; they have come as men, in the garb of
wayfarers. Angels have appeared in human form to men of God.
They have rested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have
accepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have acted as
guides to benighted travelers. They have, with their own hands,
kindled the fires of the altar. They have opened prison doors, and set
free the servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of Heaven,
they came to roll away the stone from the Saviour’s tomb.
In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the
righteous, and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went
to Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they
have passed the boundary of God’s forbearance. The Lord delights
in mercy; and for the sake of a few who really serve him, he restrains
calamities, and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes. Little do
si
to the faithful few whom they delight to ridicule and oppress.
Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their
councils angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked
upon them; human ears have listened to their appeals; human lips
have opposed their suggestions and ridiculed their counsels; human
hands have met them with insult and abuse. In the council hall
and the court of justice, these heavenly messengers have shown
an intimate acquaintance with human history; they have proved
themselves better able to plead the cause of the oppressed than their
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ablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated purposes
and arrested evils that would have greatly retarded the work of God,
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and would have caused great suffering to his people. In the hour of
peril and distress let it never be forgotten that “the angel of the Lord
encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
[Psalm 34:7]
With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their
coming King. As the watchmen are accosted, “What of the night?”
the answer is given unfalteringly, “‘The morning cometh, and also
the night.’ Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountain