Seven Last Plagues and the Wicked (The Great Time of Trouble, Part 1) 161
misrepresented, misjudged, and dishonored.—
The Paulson Collection
of Ellen G. White Letters, 136
(1894).
Already the Spirit of God, insulted, refused, abused, is being with-
drawn from the earth. Just as fast as God’s Spirit is taken away, Satan’s
cruel work will be done upon land and sea.—Ms 134, 1898.
The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit
of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered
by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one.—
The
Great Controversy, 614
(1911).
[243]
At Times Holy Angels Exercise Destructive Power
[
The sinner must himself bear full responsibility for the punish-
ment that is meted out to him. Ellen White states, “God destroys no
one. The sinner destroys himself by his own impenitence.” 5T 120.
See further
The Great Controversy, 25-37
.] God’s judgments were
awakened against Jericho. It was a stronghold. But the Captain of the
Lord’s host Himself came from heaven to lead the armies of heaven
in an attack upon the city. Angels of God laid hold of the massive
walls and brought them to the ground.—
Testimonies for the Church
3:264
(1873).
Under God the angels are all-powerful. On one occasion, in obe-
dience to the command of Christ, they slew of the Assyrian army in
one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.—
The Desire of
Ages, 700
(1898).
The same angel who had come from the royal courts to rescue
Peter had been the messenger of wrath and judgment to Herod. The
angel smote Peter to arouse him from slumber. It was with a different
stroke that he smote the wicked king, laying low his pride and bringing
upon him the punishment of the Almighty. Herod died in great agony
of mind and body, under the retributive judgment of God.—
The Acts
of the Apostles, 152
(1911).
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and
filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by
numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by
which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised
[244]
by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels
when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting