Disasters
by Ellen White
Satan puts his interpretation upon events, and they think, as he would have them, that
the calamities which fill the land are a result of Sunday-breaking. Thinking to appease
the wrath of God, these influential men make laws enforcing Sunday observance. They think
that by exalting this false rest day higher and still higher, compelling obedience to the
Sunday law, the spurious sabbath, they are doing God service. Those who honour God by
observing the true Sabbath are looked upon as disloyal to God, when it is really those who
thus regard them who are themselves disloyal because they are trampling under foot the
Sabbath originated in Eden. 10MR 239
From this vision we can learn why so many are preserved from calamity. If these winds
were allowed to blow upon the earth, they would create havoc and desolation. But the
world's intricate machinery is running under the Lord's supervision. Hurricanes,
threatening to break forth, are held under control by the regulations of the One who is
the Protector of the trembling ones that fear God and keep His commandments. The Lord
holds back the tempestuous winds. He will not suffer them to go forth on their
death-mission of vengeance until His servants are sealed in their foreheads.
Frequently we hear of earthquakes, of tempests and tornadoes, accompanied with thunder
and lightning. Apparently these are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganised,
unregulated forces. But God has a purpose in permitting these calamities to occur. They
are one of His means of calling men and women to their senses. By unusual workings through
nature God will express to doubting human agencies that which He clearly reveals in His
Word. He will answer the question, "Who hath gathered the wind in His fists?" He
will reveal Himself as the One who "maketh the clouds His chariot: who walketh upon
the wings of the wind." "He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries."
"The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever." "He
gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He
appointed the foundations of the earth." "He looketh on the earth, and it
trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke." 19MR 279
And see the storms and tempests. Satan is working in the atmosphere; he is poisoning
the atmosphere, and here we are dependent upon God for our lives--our present and eternal
life. And being in the position that we are, we need to be wide awake, wholly devoted,
wholly converted, wholly consecrated to God. But we seem to sit as though we were
paralysed. God of heaven, wake us up!-- Manuscript 1, 1890. 2SM 52
Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, and the lordly palaces erected at great
expense will certainly become heaps of ruins. The earth's crust will be rent by the
outbursts of the elements concealed in the bowels of the earth. These elements, once
broken loose, will sweep away the treasures of those who for years have been adding to
their wealth by securing large possessions at starvation prices from those in their
employ. And the religious world, too, is to be terribly shaken; for the end of all things
is at hand.--Ms 24, 1891, pp. 3, 4. (Diary, cir. Jan. 1, 1890.) 3MR 208
Is it true that the end of all things is at hand? What mean the awful calamities by
sea--vessels hurled into eternity without a moment's warning? What mean the accidents by
land--fire consuming the riches that men have hoarded, much of which has been accumulated
by oppression of the poor. The Lord will not interfere to protect the property of those
who transgress His law, break His covenant, and trample upon His Sabbath, accepting in its
place a spurious rest-day.
The plagues of God are already falling upon the earth, sweeping away the most costly
structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven. Will not these judgements bring
professing Christians to their senses? God permits them to come that the world may take
heed, that sinners may be afraid and tremble before Him.--Ms 99, 1902. 3MR 311
God has a storehouse of retributive judgements, which He permits to fall upon those who
have continued in sin in the face of great light. I have seen the most costly structures
in buildings erected and supposed to be fireproof. And just as Sodom perished in the
flames of God's vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have seen
vessels which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty waters, seeking to
breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and silver, and with their
human freight they sink into a watery grave. Man's pride will be buried with the treasures
he has accumulated by fraud. God will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger and
nakedness have cried to Him for help from oppression and abuse. And the Lord keeps a
record of every action for good or evil. 3MR 315
There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches--even
the Catholic Church--whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and
file to proclaim the truth heretofore. For this reason the eleventh hour labourers will
receive their penny. These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain
sound. When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come
to the front, gird themselves with the whole armour of God, and exalt His law, adhere to
the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended
with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives. . . . 3SM 386
As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending
destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God's
forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's iniquity is full, and that the
angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return. The people of God will then
be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress which prophets have described as
the time of Jacob's trouble. The cries of the faithful, persecuted ones ascend to heaven.
And as the blood of Abel cried from the ground, there are voices also crying to God from
martyrs' graves, from the sepulchres of the sea, from mountain caverns, from convent
vaults: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth?" 5T 451
Before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, everything in nature will be
convulsed. Lightning from heaven uniting with the fire in the earth, will cause the
mountains to burn like a furnace, and pour out their floods of lava over villages and
cities. Molten masses of rock, thrown into the water by the upheaval of things hidden in
the earth, will cause the water to boil and send forth rocks and earth. There will be
mighty earthquakes and great destruction of human life. But as in the days of the great
Deluge Noah was preserved in the ark that God had prepared for him, so in these days of
destruction and calamity, God will be the refuge of His believing ones . . . [Ps. 91:9,
10; 27:5 quoted] (Letter 258, 1907). 7BC 946
We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare
that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and
important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth.
Plagues and judgements are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The
calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are
portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.
The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are
strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our
world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.
The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The
daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold
robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed
on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little
children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.
The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men's hearts with the
desire for selfish gain. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the
street, and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are
multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and
clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live
luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or
worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other
things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The
cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression
and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes. 9T 11
In the visions of the night a very impressive scene passed before me. I saw an immense
ball of fire fall among some beautiful mansions, causing their instant destruction. I
heard someone say: "We knew that the judgements of God were coming upon the earth,
but we did not know that they would come so soon." Others, with agonised voices,
said: "You knew! Why then did you not tell us? We did not know." On every side I
heard similar words of reproach spoken. 9T 28
While at Loma Linda, California, April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most
wonderful representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which
I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were
falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theatres, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy
were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was
filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.
The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings so thoroughly
constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of
rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special
peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to
describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgement day
had come.
The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of
the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large
cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in
wrath for persistent disregard of His law.
Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself
most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given in connection with it. The angel that
stood by my side declared that God's supreme rulership, and the sacredness of His law,
must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of
kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgements, in
order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realisation of the sinfulness of their
course. 9T 92
It is in a crisis that character is revealed. When the earnest voice proclaimed at
midnight, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him," and the
sleeping virgins were roused from their slumbers, it was seen who had made preparation for
the event. Both parties were taken unawares; but one was prepared for the emergency, and
the other was found without preparation. So now, a sudden and unlooked-for calamity,
something that brings the soul face to face with death, will show whether there is any
real faith in the promises of God. It will show whether the soul is sustained by grace.
The great final test comes at the close of human probation, when it will be too late for
the soul's need to be supplied. COL 412
I am bidden to declare the message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the
extreme, will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood. All the world will be warned
that there is a God who will display His authority as God. His unseen agencies will cause
destruction, devastation, and death. All the accumulated riches will be as nothingness. .
. .
Calamities will come--calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these destructions
will follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of the warnings that God has
given, and if churches will repent, returning to their allegiance, then other cities may
be spared for a time. But if men who have been deceived continue in the same way in which
they have been walking, disregarding the law of God and presenting falsehoods before the
people, God allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened. . . .
The Lord will not suddenly cast off all transgressors or destroy entire nations; but He
will punish cities and places where men have given themselves up to the possession of
Satanic agencies. Strictly will the cities of the nations be dealt with, and yet they will
not be visited in the extreme of God's indignation, because some souls will yet break away
from the delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted, while the mass will be
treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.-- Manuscript 35, 1906. EV 27
While at Loma Linda, California, April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most
wonderful representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which
I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were
falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theatres, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy
were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was
filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.
The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings so thoroughly
constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of
rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special
peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to
describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgement day
had come.
The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of
the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large
cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in
wrath for persistent disregard of His law.
Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself
most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given in connection with it. The angel that
stood by my side declared that God's supreme rulership, and the sacredness of His law,
must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of
kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgements, in
order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realisation of the sinfulness of their
course.-- Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 92. (1909) EV 28
Last Friday morning, just before I awoke, a very impressive scene was presented before
me. I seemed to awake from sleep but was not in my home. From the windows I could behold a
terrible conflagration. Great balls of fire were falling upon houses, and from these balls
fiery arrows were flying in every direction. It was impossible to check the fires that
were kindled, and many places were being destroyed. The terror of the people was
indescribable. After a time I awoke and found myself at home.-- Letter 278, 1906. EV 29
The earth looked like a desolate wilderness. Cities and villages, shaken down by the
earthquake, lay in heaps. Mountains had been moved out of their places, leaving large
caverns. Ragged rocks, thrown out by the sea, or torn out of the earth itself, were
scattered all over its surface. Large trees had been uprooted and were strewn over the
land. Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Here he
will be confined, to wander up and down over the broken surface of the earth and see the
effects of his rebellion against God's law. For a thousand years he can enjoy the fruit of
the curse which he has caused. Limited alone to the earth, he will not have the privilege
of ranging to other planets, to tempt and annoy those who have not fallen. During this
time, Satan suffers extremely. Since his fall his evil traits have been in constant
exercise. But he is then to be deprived of his power, and left to reflect upon the part
which he has acted since his fall, and to look forward with trembling and terror to the
dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that he has done and be punished for
all the sins that he has caused to be committed. EW 290
Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases
of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith;
but at the same time he works as a destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to
ruin. Intemperance dethrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow.
Satan delights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the soul and then sweeps into
eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to
war against one another, for he can thus divert the minds of the people from the work of
preparation to stand in the day of God.
Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has
studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control
the elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks
and herds, servants, houses, children, were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as
in a moment. It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the
destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the
Lord will do just what He has declared that He would--He will withdraw His blessings from
the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and
teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not
especially guard. He will favour and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and
he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting
them.
While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their
maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin
and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in
great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods,
cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is
exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow.
He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These
visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon
both man and beast. "The earth mourneth and fadeth away," "the haughty
people . . . do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because
they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant." Isaiah 24:4, 5. GC11 589
And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing
these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their
troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual reproof to
transgressors. It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the
Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday
observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth
commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing
their restoration to divine favour and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of
old against the servant of God will be repeated and upon grounds equally well established:
"And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that
troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's
house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed
Baalim." 1 Kings 18:17, 18. As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false
charges, they will pursue a course toward God's ambassadors very similar to that which
apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah.
The miracle-working power manifested through spiritualism will exert its influence
against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will
declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error,
affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament
the great wickedness in the world and second the testimony of religious teachers that the
degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the
indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony. GC11 590
In the last scenes of this earth's history, war will rage. There will be pestilence,
plague, and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and
life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that
Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him. There is a rest from earth's conflict.
MAR 174
The time is at hand when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal.
The Spirit of God is being withdrawn. Disasters by sea and by land follow one another in
quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by
fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are
capricious outbreaks of disorganised, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the
control of man; but in them all, God's purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by
which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger. PK 277
Last night a scene was presented before me. I may never feel free to reveal all of it,
but I will reveal a little.
It seemed that an immense ball of fire came down upon the world, and crushed large
houses. From place to place rose the cry, "The Lord has come! The Lord has
come!" Many were unprepared to meet Him, but a few were saying, "Praise the
Lord!"
"Why are you praising the Lord?" inquired those upon whom was coming sudden
destruction.
"Because we now see what we have been looking for."
"If you believed that these things were coming, why did you not tell us?" was
the terrible response. "We did not know about these things. Why did you leave us in
ignorance? Again and again you have seen us; why did you not become acquainted with us,
and tell us of the judgement to come, and that we must serve God, lest we perish? Now we
are lost!" RC 243
Everything has been moving on just as the Lord revealed in prophecy that it would.
Something great and decisive is soon to take place, else no flesh would be saved. The
character of God will not be compromised. Under the wrath of God, universal desolation
will soon reach all parts of the known world. There have been lightnings and earthquakes,
fires and floods, calamities by sea and land; but who reads these warnings? What
impression is made upon the world? What change in their attitude is seen? No more than was
seen in the inhabitants of the Noachian world. The people are just as ardent to-day in
their games, in their horse racing, in their love of amusement, as were the antediluvians,
who "knew not until the flood came, and took them all away," They had
heaven-sent warnings, but they refused to listen. By their attitude they declared, We want
not thy way, O God; we want our own way, our own will. To-day the world is mad: an
insanity is upon men and women, and is hurrying them on to eternal ruin. Every species of
indulgence prevails, and men have become so infatuated with vice that they will not listen
to warnings or appeals. RH NOV.27,1900
Everywhere there are men who should be out in active ministry, giving the last message
of warning to a fallen world. The work that should long ago have been in active operation
to win souls to Christ has not been done. The inhabitants of the ungodly cities so soon to
be visited by calamities have been cruelly neglected. The time is near when large cities
will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgements. But who is giving
to the accomplishment of this work the wholehearted service that God requires? . . .
O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities,
now almost given to idolatry. RH SEP.10,1903
The Christian's hope is as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entereth
into that which is within the veil, whither Christ the forerunner is for us entered. We
have an individual work to do to prepare for the great events that are before us. The
youth should seek God more earnestly. The tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its
fury, by having repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
will arise to shake terribly the earth. We shall see troubles on all sides. Thousands of
ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will
be sacrificed by millions. Fires will break out unexpectedly, and no human effort will be
able to quench them. The palaces of earth will be swept away in the fury of the flames.
Disasters by rail will become more and more frequent; confusion, collision, and death
without a moment's warning will occur on the great lines of travel. The end is near,
probation is closing. Oh, let us seek God while he may be found, call upon him while he is
near! The prophet says: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have
wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the
day of the Lord's anger." ST APR.21,1890
I ask you, Is the kingdom of God within you? God's people are to be minutemen, always
ready, always composed in Jesus Christ. The time is now come when one moment we may be on
solid earth, the next the earth may be heaving beneath our feet. Earthquakes will take
place where least expected. TM 421
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