The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 67
found a hiding place. Here the light of truth was kept burning amid the
darkness of the Middle Ages. Here, for a thousand years, witnesses for
the truth maintained the ancient faith.
God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awful grandeur,
befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust. To those faithful
exiles the mountains were an emblem of the immutable righteousness of
Jehovah. They pointed their children to the heights towering above them
in unchanging majesty, and spoke to them of Him with whom there is
no variableness nor shadow of turning, whose word is as enduring as the
everlasting hills. God had set fast the mountains and girded them with
strength; no arm but that of Infinite Power could move them out of their
place. In like manner He had established His law, the foundation of His
government in heaven and upon earth. The arm of man might reach his
fellow men and destroy their lives; but that arm could as readily uproot
the mountains from their foundations, and hurl them into the sea, as it
could change one precept of the law of Jehovah, or blot out one of His
promises to those who do His will. In their fidelity to His law, God’s
servants should be as firm as the unchanging hills.
The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were a constant
witness to God’s creative power, and a never-failing assurance of His
protecting care. Those pilgrims learned to love the silent symbols of
Jehovah’s presence. They indulged no repining because of the hardships
of their lot; they were never lonely amid the mountain solitudes. They
thanked God that He had provided for them an asylum from the wrath
and cruelty of men. They rejoiced in their freedom to worship before
Him. Often when pursued by their enemies, the strength of the hills
proved a sure defense. From many a lofty cliff they chanted the
praise of God, and the armies of Rome could not silence their songs
of thanksgiving.
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