From Here to Forever

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The Angel of Death

Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.” “They began at the ancient men which were before the house,” those who professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. Ezekiel 9:6. HF 396.4

False watchmen are the first to fall. “The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” “A great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.” Isaiah 26:21; Zechariah 14:13. HF 396.5

In the mad strife of their own fierce passions and by the outpouring of God's unmingled wrath, fall wicked priests, rulers, and people. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other.” Jeremiah 25:33. HF 397.1

At the coming of Christ the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the city of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. ... The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word ... because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned.” Isaiah 24:1, 3, 5, 6. HF 397.2

The earth appears like a desolate wilderness. Cities destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks torn out of the earth are scattered over its surface. Vast caverns mark the spot where the mountains have been rent from their foundations. HF 397.3