The Judgements of God
by Ellen White
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
When Christ shall come the second time, the whole world will be represented by two
classes, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous. Preceding the great
sign of the coming of the Son of man, there will be signs and wonders in the heavens. . .
.
Already sprinklings from the vials of God's wrath have been let fall upon land and sea,
affecting the elements of the air. The causes of these unusual conditions are being
searched for, but in vain.
God has not restrained the powers of darkness from carrying forward their deadly work
of vitiating the air, one of the sources of life and nutrition, with a deadly miasma. Not
only is vegetable life affected, but man suffers from pestilence. . . .
These things are the result of drops from the vials of God's wrath being sprinkled on
the earth, and are but faint representations of what will be in the near future.
3SM 391
Already the judgements of God are abroad in the land, as seen in storms, in floods, in
tempests, in earthquakes, in peril by land and by sea. The great I AM is speaking to those
who make void His law. When God's wrath is poured out upon the earth, who will then be
able to stand? Now is the time for God's people to show themselves true to principle. When
the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then
should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand
in defence of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles
of the Lord when champions are few--this will be our test. At this time we must gather
warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their
treason. The nation will be on the side of the great rebel leader. 5T 136
With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps an account with all nations. While
His mercy is tendered with calls to repentance, this account will remain open; but when
the figures reach a certain amount which God has fixed, the ministry of His wrath
commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. There is no more pleading of
mercy in their behalf. 5T 208
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
Are we to wait until the fulfilment of the prophecies of the end before we say anything
concerning them? Of what value will our words be then? Shall we wait until God's
judgements fall upon the transgressor before we tell him how to avoid them? Where is our
faith in the word of God? Must we see things foretold come to pass before we will believe
what He has said? In clear, distinct rays light has come to us, showing us that the great
day of the Lord is near at hand, "even at the doors." Let us read and understand
before it is too late. 9T 20
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
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
God's message for the inhabitants of earth today is, "Be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:44. The conditions
prevailing in society, and especially in the great cities of the nations, proclaim in
thunder tones that the hour of God's judgement is come and that the end of all things
earthly is at hand. We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the ages. In quick
succession the judgements of God will follow one another--fire, and flood, and earthquake,
with war and bloodshed. We are not to be surprised at this time by events both great and
decisive; for the angel of mercy cannot remain much longer to shelter the impenitent. PK
278
The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down even to
our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn lesson that while God's mercy bears long
with the transgressor, there is a limit beyond which men may not go on in sin. When that
limit is reached, then the offers of mercy are withdrawn, and the ministration of
judgement begins. PP 162
But Christ declared that not one jot or tittle of the law should fail until heaven and
earth should pass away. The very work that he came to do was to exalt the law, and show to
the created worlds and to heaven that God is just, and that his law need not be changed.
But here is Satan's right-hand man ready to carry on the work that Satan commenced in
heaven, that of trying to amend the law of God. And the Christian world has sanctioned his
efforts by adopting this child of the papacy,--the Sunday institution. They have nourished
it, and will continue to nourish it, until Protestantism shall give the hand of fellowship
to the Roman power. Then there will be a law against the Sabbath of God's creation, and
then it is that God "will do a strange work in the earth." He has borne long
with the perversity of the race; he has tried to win them to himself. But the time will
come when they shall have filled their measure of iniquity; and then it is that God will
work. This time is almost reached. God keeps a record with the nations: the figures are
swelling against them in the books of heaven; and when it shall have become a law that the
transgression of the first day of the week shall be met with punishment, then their cup
will be full. RH MAR.09,1886
There is great need that our weakening faith should be quickened, and that we should
ever keep before the mind the evidences that our Lord is soon coming, that we may ever be
found not only waiting, but watching and working. We are not to be found in idle
expectancy; for this leads to carelessness of life, and deficiency of character. We are to
realise that the judgements of God are about to fall upon the earth, and we should most
earnestly present before the people the warning that the Lord has commissioned us to give:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." "Men's hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." RH NOV.22,1892
The judgements of God are in the land. The wars and rumours of wars, the destruction by
fire and flood, say clearly that the time of trouble, which is to increase until the end,
is very near at hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of
war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost reached their final fulfilment.
RH NOV.24,1904
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
No scientific theory can explain the steady march of evil workers under the generalship
of Satan. In every mob wicked angels are at work, rousing men to commit deeds of violence.
. . . The perversity and cruelty of men will reach such a height that God will reveal
Himself in His majesty. Very soon the wickedness of the world will have reached its limit,
and as in the days of Noah, God will pour out His judgements.
But even when wickedness is at its height, we may know that our Helper is close by our
side.--Letter 250, Nov. 16, 1903. UL 334