The Time of Jacob's Trouble

[devotional at egwlists.whiteestate.org]

-----------------------------------------------------------
Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for September 21
Visit us at http://www.whiteestate.org
-----------------------------------------------------------

 The Time of Jacob's Trouble

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the
time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Jer. 30:7. 

I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus' work
was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues.
These plagues enraged the wicked against the righteous; they thought
that we had brought the judgments of God upon them, and that if they
could rid the earth of us, the plagues would then be stayed. A decree
went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night
for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob's trouble. 

As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up the
wicked to destroy God's people in the time of trouble. And as he accused
Jacob, he will urge his accusations against the people of God. He
numbers the world as his subjects; but the little company who keep the
commandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them
from the earth, his triumph would be complete. He sees that holy angels
are guarding them, and he infers that their sins have been pardoned; but
he does not know that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary
above. He has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted
them to commit, and he presents these before God in the most exaggerated
light, representing this people to be just as deserving as himself of
exclusion from the favor of God. He declares that the Lord cannot in
justice forgive their sins and yet destroy him and his angels. He claims
them as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to
destroy. 

As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord
permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their
faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past,
their hopes sink; for in their whole lives they can see little good.
They are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan
endeavors to terrify them with the thought that their cases are
hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away.
He hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his
temptations and turn from their allegiance to God.

>From Maranatha - Page 272