THE TERRIBLE STORM!

SECTION TWO

THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD IN BIBLE TIMES

The Flood was a direct action by the Creator. When it took place, Satan had wanted to keep the wicked alive for his purposes; however, he was forced to see them destroyed. And amid the powerful forces unleashed by God, the devil feared that he himself would be destroyed before the worldwide storm and deluge was completed.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth."Genesis 6:5-7.

"And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark . . For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."Genesis 7:1, 4.

"As men increased upon the earth, almost the whole world joined the ranks of rebellion. Once more Satan seemed to have gained the victory. But Omnipotent power again cut short the working of iniquity, and the earth was cleansed by the flood from its moral pollution."Patriarch and Prophets, 332.

"The depths of the earth are the Lords arsenal, whence were drawn weapons to be employed in the destruction of the old world. Waters gushing from the earth united with the waters from heaven to accomplish the work of desolation."Patriarchs and Prophets, 109.

"Satan himself, who was compelled to remain in the midst of the warring elements, feared for his own existence. He had delighted to control so powerful a race, and desired them to live to practice their abominations and continue their rebellion against the Ruler of heaven."Patriarchs and Prophets, 99.

"With all their boasted philosophy, men found too late that their wisdom was foolishness, and the Lawgiver is greater than the laws of nature, that Omnipotence is at no loss of means to accomplish His purposes."Patriarchs and Prophets, 104.

"How was it with the rebellious inhabitants of the antediluvian world? After rejecting the message of Noah, they plunged into sin with greater abandon than ever before, and doubled the enormity of their corrupting practices. Those who refuse to reform by accepting Christ find nothing reformative in sin; their minds are set to carry their spirit of revolt, and they are not, and never will be, forced to submission. The judgment which God brought upon the antediluvian world declared it incurable."Testimonies to Ministers, 75.

"By the waters of the Flood, He blotted this long-lived race from the earth, and with them perished the knowledge they had used only for evil."1 Bible Commentary, 1089.

"We have the history of the antediluvians, and of the cities of the plain, whose course of conduct degenerated from lightness and frivolity to debasing sins that called down the wrath of God in a most dreadful destruction, in order to rid the earth of the curse of their contaminating influence."1 Bible Commentary, 1090.

"Before the destruction of the old world by a flood, there were talented men, men who . . became corrupt in their imagination, because they left God out of their plans and councils. They were wise to do what God had never told them to do, wise to do evil. The Lord saw that this example would be deleterious to those who should afterwards be born, and He took the matter in hand. For one hundred twenty years He sent them warnings through His servant Noah. But they used the probation so graciously granted them in ridiculing Noah . . Then they held a carnival over the words of Noah, calling him a crazy fanatic. Gods patience was exhausted. He said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold, I will destroy them from the earth. "1 Bible Commentary, 1090.

"As He called forth the waters in the earth at the time of the Flood, as weapons from His arsenal to accomplish the destruction of the antediluvian race, so at the end of the one thousand years He will call forth the fires in the earth as His weapons which He has reserved for the final destruction, not only of successive generations since the Flood, but the antediluvian race who perished by the Flood."3 Spiritual Gifts, 87.

"For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it . . Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven."Genesis 19:13, 24.

" . . like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath."Deuteronomy 29:23.

"Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw good."Ezekiel 16:49-50.

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."Jude 7.

"In Sodom there was mirth and revelry, feasting and drunkenness. The vilest and most brutal passions were unrestrained. The people openly defied God and His law and delighted in deeds of violence. Though they had before them the example of the antediluvian world, and knew how the wrath of God had been manifested in their destruction, yet they followed the same course of wickedness."Patriarchs and Prophets, 157.

"The inhabitants of Sodom had passed the limits of divine forbearancethe hidden boundary between Gods patience and His wrath. The fires of His vengeance were about to be kindled in the vale of Siddim."Patriarchs and Prophets, 159.

"The Lord rained brimstone and fire out of heaven upon the cities and the fruitful plain; its palaces and temples, costly dwellings, gardens and vineyards, and the gay pleasure-seeking throngs that only the night before had insulted the messengers of heavenall were consumed."Patriarchs and Prophets, 162.

The destruction of Sodom proclaimed the inhabitants of the most beautiful country in the world incorrigible in sin. The fire and brimstone from heaven consumed everything except Lot, and his wife, and two daughters. The wife, looking back in disregard of Gods command, became a pillar of salt."Testimonies to Ministers, 75.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them . . and I will make of thee a great nation . . And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men . . And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made."Exodus 32:1, 7, 9-10, 28, 35.

"The Israelites had been guilty of treason, and that against a King who had loaded them with benefits and whose authority they had voluntarily pledged themselves to obey. That the divine government might be maintained justice must be visited upon the traitors. Yet even here Gods mercy was displayed. While He maintained His law, He granted freedom of choice and opportunity for repentance to all. Only those were cut off who persisted in rebellion."Patriarchs and Prophets, 324-325.

"Sinful as they were, the people of Israel were not destroyed. While those who stubbornly ranged themselves on the side of Satan were cut off, the people, humbled and repentant, were mercifully pardoned. The history of this sin was to stand as a perpetual testimony to the guilt and punishment of idolatry, and the justice and long-suffering mercy of God."Patriarchs and Prophets, 335.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him."Leviticus 24:13-14.

"God Himself pronounced the sentence; by the divine direction, the blasphemer was conducted outside the camp, and stoned to death . .

"There are those who will question Gods love and His justice in visiting so severe punishment for words spoken in the heat of passion. But both love and justice require it to be shown that utterances prompted by malice against God are a great sin. The retribution visited upon the first offender would be a warning to others, that Gods name is to be held in reverence. But had this mans sin been permitted to pass unpunished, others would have been demoralized; and as the result, many lives must eventually have been sacrificed."Patriarchs and Prophets, 408.

"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day . . And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp."Numbers 15:32, 34-35.

"One of the people, angry at being excluded from Canaan and determined to show his defiance of Gods law, ventured upon the open transgression of the fourth commandment, by going out to gather sticks upon the Sabbath . . The act of this man was a willful and deliberate violation of the fourth commandmenta sin not of thoughtlessness or ignorance, but of presumption . . The sins of blasphemy and willful Sabbathbreaking received the same punishment, being equally an expression of contempt for the authority of God."Patriarchs and Prophets, 409.

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commandeth them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them and they died before the Lord."Leviticus 10:1-2.

"For burning the incense they took common instead of the sacred fire which God Himself had kindled, and which He had commanded to be used for this purpose. For this sin, a fire went out from the Lord and devoured them in the sight of the people."Patriarchs and Prophets, 359.

"Contrary to Gods express direction, they dishonored Him by offering common instead of sacred fire. God visited them with His wrath; fire went forth from His presence and destroyed them."3 Testimonies, 295.

"And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them; and they perished from among the congregation."Numbers 16:32-33.

"The eyes of all Israel were fixed upon Moses, as they stood, in terror and expectation, awaiting the event. As he ceased speaking, the solid earth parted, and the rebels went down alive into the pit, with all that pertained to them, and they perished from among the congregation . . But the judgments were not ended. Fire flashing from the cloud consumed the two hundred and fifty princes who had offered incense."Patriarchs and Prophets, 400-401.

"But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord . . And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces . .

"Now they which died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah."Numbers 16:41, 44-45, 49.

"God had given overwhelming evidence that He was leading Israel. But Korah and his companions rejected light until they became so blinded that the most striking manifestations of His power were not sufficient to convince them; they attributed them all to human or satanic agency. The same thing was done by the people, who the day after the destruction of Korah and his company came to Moses and Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord. Notwithstanding they had the most convincing evidence of Gods displeasure at their course, in the destruction of the men who had deceived them, they dared to attribute His judgments to Satan, declaring that through the power of the evil one, Moses and Aaron had caused the death of good and holy men. It was this act that sealed their doom. They committed the sin against the Holy Spirit, a sin by which mans heart is effectually hardened against the influence of divine grace."Patriarchs and Prophets, 404-405 (see 3 Testimonies, 358).

"Moses commanded the men of war to destroy the women and male children. Balaam had sold the children of Israel for a reward, and he perished with the people whose favor he had attained at the sacrifice of twenty-four thousand of the Israelites. The Lord is regarded as cruel by many in requiring His people to make war with other nations. They say that it is contrary to His benevolent character. But He who made the world, and formed man to dwell upon the earth, has unlimited control over all the works of His hands, and it is His right to do as He pleases, and what He pleases with the work of His hands. Man has no right to say to his Maker, Why doest Thou thus? There is no injustice in His character. He is the Ruler of the world, and a large portion of His subjects have rebelled against His authority, and have trampled upon His law . . He has used His people as instruments of His wrath, to punish wicked nations, who have vexed them, and seduced them into idolatry."1 Bible Commentary, 1117.

"And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor . . And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand."Numbers 25:3-5, 9.

"By swift-coming judgments the people were awakened to the enormity of their sin. A terrible pestilence broke out in the camp, to which tens of thousands speedily fell a prey. God commanded that the leaders in this apostasy be put to death by the magistrates. This order was promptly obeyed. The offenders were slain, then their bodies were hung up in sight of all Israel, that the congregation, seeing the leaders so severely dealt with, might have a deep sense of Gods abhorrence of their sin, and the terror of His wrath against them."Patriarchs and Prophets, 455.

"For the Lord will rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do His strange work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act."Isaiah 28:21.

"And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died; they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword."Joshua 10:10-11.

"At His own will, God summons the forces of nature to overthrow the might of His enemiesfire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word. When the heathen Amorites had set themselves to resist His purposes, God interposed, casting down great stones from heaven upon the enemies of Israel."Patriarchs and Prophets, 509.

"But the Lord had not wholly cast aside His people, nor would He long suffer the exultation of the heathen. He had used the Philistines as the instrument to punish Israel, and He employed the ark to punish the Philistines. In time past the divine Presence had attended it, to be the strength and glory of His obedient people. That invisible Presence would still attend it, to bring terror and destruction to the transgressors of His holy law."Patriarchs and Prophets, 585.

"And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."2 Kings 19:35.

"When Sennacherib, the haughty Assyrian, reproached and blasphemed God, and threatened Israel with destruction, it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five thousand. "Great Controversy, 512.

"The God of the Hebrews had prevailed over the proud Assyrian. The honor of Jehovah was vindicated in the eyes of the surrounding nations."Prophets and Kings, 361.

  CONTINUE ~~    TERRIBLE STORM TOC