The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 619
had prevailed with God was an assurance that he would prevail with men.
He no longer feared to encounter his brother’s anger, for the Lord was
his defense.
Satan had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claiming the right
to destroy him because of his sin; he had moved upon Esau to march
against him; and during the patriarch’s long night of wrestling, Satan
endeavored to force upon him a sense of his guilt in order to discourage
him and break his hold upon God. Jacob was driven almost to despair;
but he knew that without help from heaven he must perish. He had
sincerely repented of his great sin, and he appealed to the mercy of God.
He would not be turned from his purpose, but held fast the Angel and
urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries until he prevailed.
As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up
the wicked to destroy God’s people in the time of trouble. And as he
accused Jacob, he will urge his accusations against the people of God.
He numbers the world as his subjects; but the little company who keep
the commandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he could
blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. He sees that
holy angels are guarding them, and he infers that their sins have been
pardoned; but he does not know that their cases have been decided in
the sanctuary above. He has an accurate knowledge of the sins which
he has tempted them to commit, and he presents these before God in the
most exaggerated light, representing this people to be just as deserving
as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. He declares that the Lord
cannot in justice forgive their sins and yet destroy him and his angels. He
claims them as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to
destroy.
As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord
permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their
faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past, their
hopes sink;
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