The Great Hope (Adapted)

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Chapter 10—The Great Rescue

When the protection of human laws is withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, in different lands there will be a simultaneous movement to destroy them.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. GrH_a 44.1

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). GrH_a 44.2

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. GrH_a 44.3

The people of God hear a voice saying, “Look up.” Like Stephen, the early Christian martyr, 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.” GrH_a 44.4