Chapter 40—God's People Delivered

When the protection of human laws is withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, in different lands there will be a simultaneous movement to destroy them. As the time set in the decree approaches, the people will conspire to strike in one night a decisive blow that will silence dissent and reproof. 5TC 364.2

The people of God—some in prison cells, some in forests and mountains—plead for divine protection. Armed men, urged on by evil angels, are preparing for the work of death. Now, in the hour of greatest extremity, God will step in: “You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes ... to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones” (Isaiah 30:29, 30). 5TC 364.3

Mobs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when a dense blackness, deeper than night, falls on the earth. Then a rainbow spans the sky and seems to encircle each praying group. The angry crowds are stopped. They forget the objects of their rage. They gaze on the symbol of God's covenant, and they long to be shielded from its brightness. 5TC 365.1

The people of God hear a voice saying, “Look up.” Like Stephen they look up and see the glory of God and the Son of man on His throne (see Acts 7:55, 56). They recognize the marks of His humiliation, and they hear His request, “I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am” (John 17:24). They hear a voice saying, “They come, holy, harmless, and undefiled! They have kept My command to persevere.” 5TC 365.2

Deliverance Comes

At midnight God unveils His power to deliver His people. The sun appears shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow. The wicked look with terror on the scene, while the righteous see the indications of their deliverance. In the midst of the angry sky is one clear space of indescribable glory. The voice of God comes from there like the sound of many waters, saying, “It is done!” (Revelation 16:17). 5TC 365.3

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, “such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (Revelation 16:18). Ragged rocks are scattered on every side. The sea is lashed into fury. There is the shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons. The earth's surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by the angry waters. “Babylon the great” is “remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (Revelation 16:19). Great hailstones do their work of destruction. Proud cities are laid low. Grand palaces on which people have lavished their wealth crumble before their eyes. Prison walls are torn apart, and God's people are set free. 5TC 365.4

Graves are opened, and “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth ... awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” “Even they who pierced Him,” those who mocked Christ's dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth, are raised to see the honor placed on the loyal and obedient. (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 1:7.) 5TC 366.1

Fierce lightnings wrap the earth in a sheet of flame. Above the thunder, voices—mysterious and awful—declare the doom of the wicked. Those who were boastful and defiant, cruel to God's commandment-keeping people, now shudder in fear. Demons tremble while men and women beg for mercy. 5TC 366.2

The Day of the Lord

The prophet Isaiah said: “In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily” (Isaiah 2:20, 21). 5TC 366.3

Those who have sacrificed everything for Christ are now safe. Before the world and in the face of death they have demonstrated their loyalty to Him who died for them. Their faces, so recently pale and gaunt, are now aglow with awe. Their voices rise in triumphant song: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (Psalm 46:1-3). 5TC 366.4

While these words of holy trust ascend to God, the glory of the celestial city streams from heaven's open gates. Then, against the sky, a hand appears, holding two tablets of stone. That holy law, which God spoke from Sinai, is now revealed as the rule of judgment. The words are so plain that everyone can read them, and they awaken memories that sweep the darkness of superstition and heresy from every mind. 5TC 366.5

It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have trampled on God's law. To gain the approval of the world, they set aside the law's requirements and taught others to disobey it. Now that law which they have despised condemns them. They see that they are without excuse. The enemies of God's law have a new understanding of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the sandy foundation on which they have been building. They have been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led people to destruction while claiming to guide them to Paradise. How great is the responsibility of those in holy office, how terrible the results of their unfaithfulness! 5TC 367.1

The King of Kings Appears

The voice of God is heard declaring the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The people of God stand listening, their faces lighted up with His glory. Soon in the east a small black cloud appears. It is the cloud that surrounds the Savior. In solemn silence the people of God gaze at it as it comes nearer, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Not now a “Man of sorrows,” Jesus rides forward as a mighty conqueror. Holy angels, a vast crowd of them too many to count, come with Him, “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” Every eye sees the Prince of life. A crown of glory rests on His brow. His face is brighter than the noonday sun. “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16). 5TC 367.2

The King of kings descends on the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The earth trembles before Him: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people” (Psalm 50:3, 4). 5TC 367.3

“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:15-17). 5TC 368.1

Mocking jokes have ended; lying lips are hushed. Nothing is heard except the voice of prayer and the sound of weeping. The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks rather than have to face Him whom they have despised. That voice which penetrates the ear of the dead, they know. How often its tender tones have called them to repentance! How often they have heard it in the appeals of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer. Oh, if only it were the voice of a stranger to them! That voice awakens memories of warnings they despised and invitations they refused. 5TC 368.2

Those who mocked Christ in His humiliation are there. He declared, “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). Now they look at Him in His glory; they are yet to see Him sitting at the right hand of power. There is the haughty Herod who jeered at His royal title. There are the men who placed the thorny crown on His brow and the mimic scepter in His hand—those who bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery, who spat on the Prince of life. They try to run from His presence. Those who drove the nails through His hands and feet gaze at these marks with terror and remorse. 5TC 368.3

With terrible clarity priests and rulers remember the events of Calvary, how, wagging their heads in satanic gloating, they exclaimed, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Matthew 27:42). Louder than the shout, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” which rang through Jerusalem, swells the despairing wail, “He is the Son of God!” They try to run from the presence of the King of kings. 5TC 368.4

In the lives of all who reject truth there are moments when conscience wakes up, when the mind is troubled with vain regrets. But what are these compared with the remorse of that day! In the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the redeemed exclaiming, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us” (Isaiah 25:9). 5TC 368.5

Resurrection of God's People

The voice of the Son of God calls the sleeping saints from their graves. Throughout the earth the dead will hear that voice, and they that hear will live, a great army of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. From the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying out: “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). 5TC 369.1

All come out from their graves the same height as when they entered the tomb. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth. Christ came to restore what was lost. He will change our lowly bodies and conform them to His glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form, once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful and immortal. Blemishes and deformities are left in the grave. The redeemed will “grow up” (Malachi 4:2, KJV) to the full stature of the race in its original glory. The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed. In mind and soul and body, Christ's faithful ones will reflect the perfect image of their Lord. 5TC 369.2

The living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” At the voice of God they are made immortal, and with the risen redeemed they are caught up to meet their Lord in the air. Angels “gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). They carry little children to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united, never to part again, and with songs of gladness they ascend together to the city of God. 5TC 369.3

Into the Holy City

Throughout the countless numbers of the redeemed every gaze is fastened on Jesus. Every eye beholds the glory of Him whose “visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men” (Isaiah 52:14). Jesus places the crown of glory on the heads of the overcomers. For each there is a crown bearing his own “new name” (Revelation 2:17) and the inscription, “Holiness to the Lord.” Every hand receives the victor's palm and the shining harp. Then, as the commanding angels strike the note, all the redeemed sweep the strings with skillful touch in rich, melodious tones. Each voice is raised in grateful praise: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 1:5, 6). 5TC 369.4

Just ahead of the assembled redeemed is the Holy City. Jesus opens the gates, and the people from all nations who have kept the truth enter in. Then He says, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Christ presents to the Father those His blood has purchased, declaring: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” “Those whom You gave Me I have kept.” (Hebrews 2:13; John 17:12.) Oh, the joy of that moment when the infinite Father, looking at the ransomed, will see His image, sin's decay removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine! 5TC 370.1

The Savior's joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the people who have been saved by His agony and humiliation. The redeemed will share in His joy, as they see others who were won through their prayers, labors, and loving sacrifice. Gladness will fill their hearts when they see that one has brought others, and these still others. 5TC 370.2

The Two Adams Meet

As the ransomed are welcomed to the city of God, a triumphant cry rings out. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God will receive the father of our race—whom He created, who sinned, and for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are on the Savior's body. As Adam sees the prints of the nails, in humiliation he throws himself at Christ's feet. The Savior lifts him up and invites him to look once more on the Eden home from which he was exiled so long ago. 5TC 370.3

Adam's life was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every animal sacrifice, every stain on mankind's purity, was a reminder of his sin. His agony of remorse was terrible as he was blamed for being the cause of sin. Faithfully he repented of his sin, and he died in the hope of a resurrection. Now, through the atonement, Adam is reinstated in his Eden home. 5TC 370.4

Filled with joy, he sees the trees that were once his delight, whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence. He sees the vines his own hands trained, the very flowers he once loved to care for. This is truly Eden restored! 5TC 371.1

The Savior leads him to the tree of life and invites him to eat. He sees so many of his family redeemed. Then he throws his crown at the feet of Jesus and embraces the Redeemer. He touches the harp, and heaven echoes the triumphant song, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12). The family of Adam throw their crowns at the Savior's feet as they bow in adoration. Angels wept when Adam sinned, and they rejoiced when Jesus opened the grave for all who would believe on His name. Now they see the work of redemption accomplished, and they unite their voices in praise. 5TC 371.2

On the “sea of glass mingled with fire” are gathered those who have gotten “the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name.” The one hundred forty-four thousand were redeemed from among humanity, and they sing a new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb. (Revelation 15:2, 3.) None but the hundred forty-four thousand can learn that song, because it is the song of an experience that no other group ever had. “These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” These, having been taken to heaven from among the living, are the “firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4, 5.) They passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. They endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble. They stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. They “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault” before God. “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:14; 14:5; 7:16, 17.) 5TC 371.3

The Redeemed in Glory

In all ages the Savior's chosen ones have walked in narrow paths. They were purified in the fires of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured hatred, slander, self-denial, and bitter disappointments. They learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its misery. They abhor it now. A sense of Jesus’ infinite sacrifice for its cure humbles them and fills their hearts with gratitude. They love much because they have been forgiven much (see Luke 7:47). Partakers of Christ's sufferings, they are prepared to be partakers of His glory. 5TC 372.1

The heirs of God come from attics, hovels, dungeons, scaffolds, mountains, deserts, caves. They were “destitute, afflicted, tormented.” Millions went to the grave dishonored by nearly everyone because they refused to yield to Satan. But now they are no longer afflicted, scattered, and oppressed. From this point onward they stand dressed in richer robes than the most honored of the earth have worn, wearing crowns more glorious than were ever placed on the head of earthly rulers. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all faces. They join in a song of praise, clear, sweet, and harmonious. The anthem swells throughout heaven, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all respond, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.” (Revelation 7:10, 12.) 5TC 372.2

In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of redemption. With our limited comprehension we may consider very earnestly the shame and the glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in the cross. Yet even with the greatest stretch of our mental powers, we fail to grasp its full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of redeeming love we only dimly comprehend. The plan of redemption will not be fully understood even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know as they are known, but through the eternal ages new truth will continually unfold to their amazed and delighted minds. Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are over and their cause removed, the people of God will always have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost. 5TC 372.3

The cross will be the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified they see Christ crucified. They will never forget that the Majesty of heaven humbled Himself to uplift fallen men and women, that He bore the guilt and shame of sin and the hiding of His Father's face till the anguish of a lost world broke His heart and crushed out His life. The Maker of all worlds laid aside His glory from love to humanity—this will forever inspire the awe of the universe. As the nations of the saved look on their Redeemer and know that His kingdom will have no end, they break out in song: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and has redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!” 5TC 373.1

The mystery of the cross explains all mysteries. It will be clear that God who is infinite in wisdom could invent no plan for our salvation except by the sacrifice of His Son. His compensation for this sacrifice is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and immortal. So great is the value of each person that the Father is satisfied with the price paid. And Christ Himself, seeing the fruits of His great sacrifice, is satisfied. 5TC 373.2