God's People Not Misled
But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class on whom the Bible declares that God's unmingled wrath shall be poured out.HF 379.2
Furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ's advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception on this point. “There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ... Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:24-27. See also Matthew 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be witnessed by the whole world.HF 379.3
Only diligent students of the Scriptures who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His Word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible, and the Bible only?HF 379.4
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. (See chapter four.) 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 and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, apparently left to die in dark, loathsome dungeons.HF 380.1
Will the Lord forget His people in this trying hour? Did He forget faithful Noah, Lot, Joseph, Elijah, Jeremiah, or Daniel? Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon walls cannot cut off communication between their souls and Christ. Angels will come to them in lonely cells. The prison will be as a palace, and the gloomy walls will be lighted up as when Paul and Silas sang at midnight in the Philippian dungeon.HF 380.2
God's judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to destroy His people. To God, punishment is a “strange act.” Isaiah 28:21; see also Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Yet He will “by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3. The nation with which He bears long, and which has filled up the measure of its iniquity, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy.HF 380.3
When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast will be poured out. The plagues on Egypt were similar to those more extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God's people. Says the revelator: “There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.” The sea “became as the blood of a dead man.” And “the rivers and fountains of waters ... became blood.” The angel declares: “Thou art righteous, O Lord, ... because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” Revelation 16:2-6, 8, 9. By condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly incurred the guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their hands. Christ declared the Jews of His time guilty of all the blood of holy men shed since the days of Abel (Matthew 23:34-36), for they possessed the same spirit as these murderers of the prophets.HF 380.4
In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with fire.” The prophets describe this fearful time: “The harvest of the field is perished. ... All the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” “How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture. ... The rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” Joel 1:11, 12, 18-20.HF 381.1
These plagues are not universal, yet they will be the most awful scourges ever known. All judgments prior to the close of probation have been mingled with mercy. The blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is unmixed with mercy. Multitudes will desire the shelter of God's mercy which they have despised.HF 381.2
While persecuted and distressed, while they suffer for want of food, the people of God will not be left to perish. Angels will supply their wants. “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” “I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” Isaiah 33:16; 41:17.HF 381.3
Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal their testimony with their blood, as did the martyrs before them. It is a time of fearful agony. The wicked exult, “Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed His people?” But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying on Calvary's cross. Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God.HF 382.1