The Great Tribulation (1U
Condensed
Report of an Address
Delivered
by Rev. R. V. Miller
at the Bible Conference
Held at Montrose,
Pa.
~
OME one has said t h at the sing- ing of a nightingale is much more pleasing t h an the croaking of a frog, but if t he f r o g 's croak wa r ns of danger while the night bird's song would in an hour of peril lull to sleep, the f o rmer is mo re serviceable. Those who preach plainly the evident teaching of t he Bible along all lines a re likely to be called pessimistic at times, but the f a i t h f ul servant of the Lord cannot af- ford to me moved by this. Th at this present evil age is an end in a time of unparalleled tribulation is abundantly evident. Every dispensation of the past has closed with t he culmination of ma n 's sin and consequent j u d gme n t s, a nd this one will be no exception. Ac- cording to prophesy it remains for this age to produce, at its close, a time of h o r r or compared to which all previous visitations, seem insignificant. It will be a time when Satan and wicked angels and demons shall concentrate all their energies in e a r t h 's hour of travail; in a last desperate effort to overthrow God's plan. God, nevertheless, in the exceeding greatness of His power will then crush t he serpent's forces. The cosmic forces, too, with ma ny a f e a r f ul e a r t h q u a k e, tidal wave a nd volcanic eruption will add awfulness to t he time. This great tribulation will doubtless be world-wide in its scope, b ut h as par- ticular r e f e r e n ce to Israel and their land of Palestine. Open your Bible at Matthew 24:5-8. " F a l se Christs, wars, famines, pesti- lences and e a r t h q u a k es will be seen at their worst. T he word translated "sor- TOWS" means " b i r th pangs," and sug- gests the idea of a rapidly culminating crisis at t he end. In accord with this is t he sixth chapter of Revelation. The white horse a nd rider is evidently the Anti-Christ, who is to come, counter- feiting the t r ue Messiah, who is seen riding His white horse in chapter nine- teen. Th en follows t he red horse of war, t a k i ng peace f r om the e a r t h; t he black horse of f am i ne and t he pale horse of death, wf th all ma n n er of pes- tilence in his wake. Under t he sixth seal the great and aw f ul e a r t h q u a ke is described. Th r o u gh the s ummer season some leaves fall f r om t he trees, b ut in
a u t umn they drop in showers; so across t he centuries t he race h as been dying, but at this time t h e pale horse and rider gallop mercilessly over millions. A very graphic idea of the tribulation can be had by studying t he book of the Revelation f r om the sixth to the nine- t e e n th chapters inclusice. At chapter six troubles begin to accumulate and j u d gme nt is intensified, waxing worse and worse, t h r o u gh the sounding of t he t r ump e ts and the pouring out of the vials to t he end. At first t h e re are "lightnings, t h u n d er and voices," ( 4 : 5) to this is added "lightnings, thunders, voices and an e a r t h q u a k e; ( 8 : 1 5) then "lightnings, t h u n d e r, voices, a nd an e a r t h q u a ke and great h a i l ;" ( 1 1 : 9) a nd finally "an e a r t h q u a ke such as was not since men were upon e a r t h ," and hail- stones weighing a talent ( 1 6 : 1 8 - 2 1 ). In chapter nine two h u n d r ed million demon cavalrymen are t u r n ed loose f r om the bottomless pit and swa rm up on e a r th to possess men. In chapter twelve the devil and his angels are cast out of t he heavenly places into the e a r t h. All this with ma n 's n a t u r al h a t r ed of God and His things will t r u ly bring p a n d emo n i um among t he peoples of e a r t h. Is it any wonder then t h at J e r em i ah calls it " t he day of Jacob's t r o u b l e "' ( J e r. 30:7.) Nor t h at Daniel calls it "a time of trouble such as never was." (Dan 12:2.) And to this Jedus adds, " F or then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since t he beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be '• (Matt. 24:31.) But t h e re is a B r i g ht Side even to the great tribulation. The sev- enth c h a p t er of Revelation is a beauti- f u l parenthesis, lying between the sixth and seventh -seals, showing us, first, one h u n d r ed and forty-four thousand of Israel, who are to be preserve« t h r o u gh all these scenes for God's pur- poses. "God h a th n ot cast away His people whom he f o r e k n ew ," and the twelve tribes will come in blessed re- memb r a n ce before H im when this d a rk time of Jacob's troubel shall come.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker