The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Seite 224

The European Union in Prophecy
The restraining Spirit of God, which imposes a check upon the cruel power of
Satan, was in a great measure removed, and he whose only delight is the
wretchedness of men was permitted to work his will. Those who had chosen the
service of rebellion were left to reap its fruits until the land was filled with crimes too
horrible for pen to trace. From devastated provinces and ruined cities a terrible cry
was heard--a cry of bitterest anguish. France was shaken as if by an earthquake.
Religion, law, social order, the family, the state, and the church--all were smitten
down by the impious hand that had been lifted against the law of God. Truly spoke
the wise man: "The wicked shall fall by his own wickedness." "Though a sinner do evil
a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well
with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it shall not be well with the
wicked." Proverbs 11:5; Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13. "They hated knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the Lord;" "therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
and be filled with their own devices." Proverbs 1:29, 31.
God's faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous power that "ascendeth out of
the bottomless pit," were not long to remain silent. "After three days and a half the
Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great
fear fell upon them which saw them." Revelation 11:11. It was in 1793 that the decrees
which abolished the Christian religion and set aside the Bible passed the French
Assembly. Three years and a half later a resolution rescinding these decrees, thus
granting toleration to the Scriptures, was adopted by the same body. The world stood
aghast at the enormity of guilt which had resulted from a rejection of the Sacred
Oracles, and men recognized the necessity of faith in God and His word as the
foundation of virtue and morality. Saith the Lord: "Whom hast thou reproached and
blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes
on high? even against the Holy One of Israel," Isaiah 37:23. "Therefore, behold, I will
cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know My hand and My might; and
they shall know that My name is Jehovah." Jeremiah 16:21, A.R.V.
Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares further: "And they heard a
great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to
heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them." Revelation 11:12. Since France
made war upon God's two witnesses, they have been honoured as never before. In
1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society was organized. This was followed by
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