At Times Holy Angels Exercise Destructive Power
[The sinner must himself bear full responsibility for the punishment that is meted out to him. Ellen White states, “God destroys no one. The sinner destroys himself by his own impenitence.” Testimonies for the Church 5:120. See further The Great Controversy, 25-37.] God’s judgments were awakened against Jericho. It was a stronghold. But the Captain of the Lord’s host Himself came from heaven to lead the armies of heaven in an attack upon the city. Angels of God laid hold of the massive walls and brought them to the ground.—Testimonies for the Church 3:264 (1873). {LDE 243.1}
Under God the angels are all-powerful. On one occasion, in obedience to the command of Christ, they slew of the Assyrian army in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.—The Desire of Ages, 700 (1898). {LDE 243.2}
The same angel who had come from the royal courts to rescue Peter had been the messenger of wrath and judgment to Herod. The angel smote Peter to arouse him from slumber. It was with a different stroke that he smote the wicked king, laying low his pride and bringing upon him the punishment of the Almighty. Herod died in great agony of mind and body, under the retributive judgment of God.—The Acts of the Apostles, 152 (1911). {LDE 243.3}
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.—The Great Controversy, 614 (1911). {LDE 243.4}
The First Two Plagues
When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark (Revelation 14:9, 10), will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God’s people. Says the revelator, in describing those terrific scourges: “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 every living soul died in the sea” [Revelation 16:2, 3].—The Great Controversy, 627, 628 (1911). {LDE 244.1}
The plagues were falling upon the inhabitants of the earth. Some were denouncing God and cursing Him. Others rushed to the people of God and begged to be taught how they might escape His judgments. But the saints had nothing for them. The last tear for sinners had been shed, the last agonizing prayer offered, the last burden borne, the last warning given.—Early Writings, 281 (1858). {LDE 244.2}
The Third Plague
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.—Early Writings, 36, 37 (1851). {LDE 245.1}
And “the rivers and fountains of waters ... became blood.” Terrible as these inflictions are, God’s justice stands fully vindicated. The angel of God 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). 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.—The Great Controversy, 628 (1911). {LDE 245.2}
The Fourth Plague
In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat” (Revelation 16:8, 9). The prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time: “The land mourneth; ... because 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.” “The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate.... How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture.... The rivers of water are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence” (Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3). {LDE 245.3}
These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals.—The Great Controversy, 628, 629 (1911). {LDE 246.1}
The Fifth Plague
With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when, lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God’s covenant, and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.... {LDE 246.2}
It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement on the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance.—The Great Controversy, 635, 636 (1911). {LDE 246.3}
God’s Law Appears in the Sky
There appears against the sky a hand holding two tables of stone folded together. Says the prophet, “The heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is judge Himself” (Psalm 50:6). That holy law, God’s righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed from Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of judgment. The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the precepts of the Decalogue, traced as with a pen of fire. The words are so plain that all can read them. Memory is aroused, the darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every mind, and God’s ten words, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of all the inhabitants of the earth.—The Great Controversy, 639 (1911). {LDE 247.1}
Arthur | (Paulo Rocha) Saúde
Cláudio | (Ruth) Saúde
Levi | Saúde
Luiz e Alejandro | Saúde
Marcos | Saúde
Pedro | (pastor) Saúde
Miguel | (Alex) Saúde
Pr. Ottoni | (pai da Marjorie) Saúde
Thalles | (Juan e Thais) Saúde
Mateus | Saúde
Sandra | (Joezel) Saúde
Isadora | Saúde
Inês | Saúde
Laurete | Saúde
Enock e Túlio | (Silas) Saúde
Nair | (Oliveira) Saúde
Tia Bia | Saúde
Lúcia | (vó Keyse) Saúde
Saul | (família Cruz) Saúde
Elisa | (família Aguiar) Saúde
Jorge | (Ever) Saúde
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