The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 314

At the time of Christ’s first advent the priests and scribes of the Holy
City, to whom were entrusted the oracles of God, might have discerned
the signs of the times and proclaimed the coming of the Promised One.
The prophecy of Micah designated His birthplace; Daniel specified the
time of His advent. Micah 5:2; Daniel 9:25. God committed these
prophecies to the Jewish leaders; they were without excuse if they did not
know and declare to the people that the Messiah’s coming was at hand.
Their ignorance was the result of sinful neglect. The Jews were building
monuments for the slain prophets of God, while by their deference to
the great men of earth they were paying homage to the servants of Satan.
Absorbed in their ambitious strife for place and power among men, they
lost sight of the divine honors proffered them by the King of heaven.
With profound and reverent interest the elders of Israel should have
been studying the place, the time, the c