The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 627
their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of
trial may come upon them as a thief.
As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against
commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and
abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God
will flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies,
dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge
in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont
valleys, they will make the high places of the earth their sanctuaries and
will thank God for “the munitions of rocks.” Isaiah 33:16. But many
of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black
and white, will be cast into the most unjust a nd 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 prophets of Baal? 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?
“Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten
me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.”
Isaiah 49:14-16. The Lord of hosts has said: “He that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of His eye.” Zechariah 2:8.
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