Maranatha

Turmoil in the Cities, May 13

Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13. Mar 141.1

It was not God's purpose that His people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed our first parents in a garden amidst the beautiful sights and attractive sounds of nature, and these sights and sounds He desires men to rejoice in today.^{15Testimonies for the Church 7:87.} Mar 141.2

Light has been given me that the cities will be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things will increase till the end of this earth's history.^{16Testimonies for the Church 7:84.} Mar 141.3

It is time for our people to take their families from the cities into more retired localities, else many of the youth, and many also of those older in years, will be ensnared and taken by the enemy.^{17Testimonies for the Church 8:101.} Mar 141.4

“Out of the cities; out of the cities!”—this is the message the Lord has been giving me.^{18Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 409.} Mar 141.5

The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is not God's planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise acknowledge. God's word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves up in bundles ready to be burned. Mar 141.6

We are now to use all our entrusted capabilities in giving the last warning message to the world. In this work we are to preserve our individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or with trade-unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ.^{19Testimonies for the Church 7:84.} Mar 141.7

The ungodly cities of our world are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities God is showing us what will come upon the whole earth. He has told us: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [the coming of the Son of man] is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:32, 33.^{20Testimonies for the Church 7:83.} Mar 141.8