The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 630
awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments
upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy.
The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the
full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out
unmixed with mercy.
In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God’s mercy which
they have so long despised. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God,
that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander
from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and
fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12.
The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while
persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for
want of food they will not be left to perish. That God who cared for
Elijah will not pass by one of His self-sacrificing children. He who
numbers the hairs of their head will care for them, and in time of famine
they shall be satisfied. While the wicked are dying from hunger and
pestilence, angels will shield the righteous and supply their wants. To
him that “walketh righteously” is the promise: “Bread shall be given
him; his waters shall be sure.” “When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear
them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” Isaiah 33:15, 16; 41:17.
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat;
the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the
stalls;” yet shall they that fear Him “rejoice in the Lord” and joy in the
God of their salvation. Habakkuk 3:17, 18.
“The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil:
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