It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people . The sun appears , shining in its strength . Signs and wonders follow in quick succession . The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene , while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance . Everything in nature seems turned out of its course . The streams cease to flow . Dark , heavy clouds come up and clash against each other . In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory , whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters , saying : " It is done ." Revelation 16:17 .
That voice shakes the heavens and the earth . There is a mighty earthquake , " such as was not since men were upon the earth , so mighty an earthquake , and so great ." Verses 17 , 18 . The firmament appears to open and shut . The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through . The mountains shake like a reed in the wind , and ragged rocks are scattered on every side . There is a roar as of a coming tempest . The sea is lashed into fury . There is heard the shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction . The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea . Its surface is breaking up . Its very foundations seem to be giving way . Mountain chains are sinking . Inhabited islands disappear . The seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by the angry waters . Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God , " to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath ."
Great hailstones , every one " about the weight of a talent ," are doing their work of destruction . Verses 19 , 21 . The proudest cities of the earth are laid low . The lordly palaces , upon which the world ' s great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves , are crumbling to ruin before their eyes . Prison walls are rent asunder , and God ' s people , who have been held in bondage for their faith , are set free . Graves are opened , and " many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth . . . awake , some to everlasting life , and some to shame and everlasting contempt ." Daniel 12:2 . All who have died in the faith of the third angel ' s message come forth from the tomb glorified , to hear God ' s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law . " They also which pierced Him " ( Revelation 1:7 ), those that mocked and derided Christ ' s dying agonies , and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people , are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient .
Thick clouds still cover the sky ; yet the sun now and then breaks through , appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah . Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens , enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame . Above the terrific roar of thunder , voices , mysterious and awful , declare the doom of the wicked . The words spoken are not comprehended by all ; but they are distinctly understood by the false teachers . Those who a little before were so reckless , so boastful and
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