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01 - The Destruction of Jerusalem - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter one, The Destruction of Jerusalem. If thou hadst known,
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Speaker 1: even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
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Speaker 1: which belong to thy peace, But now they are hid
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Speaker 1: from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon THEE,
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Speaker 1: that thine enemies shall cast a trench about THEE, and
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Speaker 1: compass THEE round, and keep THEE in on every side,
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Speaker 1: and shall lay THEE even with the ground, and thy
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Speaker 1: children within THEE, and they shall not leave in THEE
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Speaker 1: one stone upon another. Because thou knewest not the time
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Speaker 1: of thy visitation. From the crest of Olive, Jesus looked
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Speaker 1: upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out
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Speaker 1: before him. It was the season of the Passover, and
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Speaker 1: from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there
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Speaker 1: to celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of
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Speaker 1: gardens and vineyards and green slopes studded with pilgrim's tents
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Speaker 1: rose the terraced hills, the stately palaces and massive bulwarks
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Speaker 1: of Israel's capital. The daughter of Zion seemed in her
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Speaker 1: to say, I said a queen, and shall see no
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Speaker 1: sorrow as lovely then, and deeming herself as secure in
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Speaker 1: Heaven's favor as when ages before the royal minstrel sun
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Speaker 1: beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is
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Speaker 1: Mount Zion, the city of the Great King. In full
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Speaker 1: view were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays
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Speaker 1: of the setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of
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Speaker 1: its marble walls, and gleamed from golden gate and tower
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Speaker 1: and pinnacle. The perfection of beauty had stood the pride
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Speaker 1: of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze
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Speaker 1: upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration.
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Speaker 1: But far other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. When
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Speaker 1: he was come near, he beheld the city and wept
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Speaker 1: over it, amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry,
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Speaker 1: while palm branches waved, while glad Hosannas awoke the echoes
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Speaker 1: of the hills, and thousands of voices declared him king,
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Speaker 1: the world's redeemer. Was overwhelmed with a sudden and mistife,
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Speaker 1: furious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the promised one
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Speaker 1: of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its
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Speaker 1: captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief,
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Speaker 1: but of intense, irrepressible agony. His tears were not for himself,
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Speaker 1: though he well knew whither his feet were tending. Before
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Speaker 1: him lay Assemone, the scene of his approaching agony. The
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Speaker 1: sheep Gate was also in sight, through which for centuries
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Speaker 1: the victims for sacrifice had been led, and which was
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Speaker 1: to open for him when he should be brought as
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Speaker 1: a lamb to the slaughter. Not far distant was Cavalry,
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Speaker 1: the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was
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Speaker 1: soon to tread, must fall the horror of great darkness
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Speaker 1: as he should make his soul an offering for sin.
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Speaker 1: Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that
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Speaker 1: cast the shadow upon him in this hour of gladness.
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Speaker 1: No foreboding of his own superhuman anguish clouded that unselfish spirit.
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Speaker 1: He for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem because of the
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Speaker 1: blindness and impenitence of those whom he came to bless
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Speaker 1: and to save. The history of more than a thousand
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Speaker 1: years of God's special favor and guardian care manifested to
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Speaker 1: the chosen people, was open to the eye of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: There was Mount Moriah, where the Son of Promise an
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Speaker 1: unresisting victim had been bound to the altar, emblem of
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Speaker 1: the offering of the Son of God. There the covenant
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Speaker 1: of blessing, the glorious Messianic promise had been confirmed to
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Speaker 1: the Father of the faithful. There, the flames of the sacrifice,
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Speaker 1: ascending to Heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan had
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Speaker 1: turned aside the sword of the Destroying Angel, heading symbol
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Speaker 1: of the Savior, sacrifice and mediation for guilty men. Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: had been honored of God above all the earth. The
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Speaker 1: Lord had chosen Zion, he had desired it for his habitation.
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Speaker 1: There for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning. There,
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Speaker 1: priests waived their censers, and the cloud of incense, with
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Speaker 1: the prayers of the worshippers had ascended before God. There
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Speaker 1: daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered, pointing
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Speaker 1: forward to the lamb of God. There, Jehovah had revealed
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Speaker 1: his presence in the cloud of glory above the mercy Seat.
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Speaker 1: There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting Earth
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Speaker 1: with Heaven, that latter upon which angels of God descended
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Speaker 1: and ascended, and which opened the world the way into
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Speaker 1: the holiest of all. Had Israel as a nation preserved
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Speaker 1: her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever the
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Speaker 1: elect of God. But the history of that favored people
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Speaker 1: was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They had resisted
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Speaker 1: Heaven's grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their opportunities. Although
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Speaker 1: Israel had mocked the messengers of God and despised his
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Speaker 1: words and misused his prophets, he had still manifested himself
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Speaker 1: to them as the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering,
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Speaker 1: and a London and goodness and truth. Notwithstanding repeated rejections,
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Speaker 1: his mercy had continued its pleadings with more than a
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Speaker 1: father's pitying love for the son of his care. God
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Speaker 1: had sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes
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Speaker 1: and sending because he had compassion on his people and
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Speaker 1: on his dwelling place. When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke had failed,
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Speaker 1: he sent to them the best gift of heaven. Nay,
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Speaker 1: he poured out all heaven in that one gift. The
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Speaker 1: Son of God himself was sent to plead with the
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Speaker 1: impenitent city. It was Christ that had brought Israel as
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Speaker 1: a goodly vine out of Egypt. His own hand had
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Speaker 1: cast out the heathen before it. He had planted it
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Speaker 1: in a very fruitful hill. His guardian care had hedged
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Speaker 1: it about, his servants had been sent to nurture it.
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Speaker 1: What could have been done more to my vineyard? He
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Speaker 1: exclaims that I have not done in it, Though when
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Speaker 1: he looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought
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Speaker 1: forth wild grapes. Yet with a still yearning hope of fruitfulness,
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Speaker 1: he came in person to his vineyard. If haply it
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Speaker 1: might be saved from destruction. He digged about his vine,
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Speaker 1: he pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in his
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Speaker 1: efforts to save this vine of his own, planting for
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Speaker 1: three years, the Lord of Light and Glory had gone
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Speaker 1: in and out among his people. He went about doing
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Speaker 1: good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
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Speaker 1: binding up the broken hearted, setting at liberty them that
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Speaker 1: were bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame
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Speaker 1: to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers,
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Speaker 1: raising the dead, and preaching the Gospel to the poor,
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Speaker 1: to all classes alike, was addressed. The gracious call, come
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Speaker 1: unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
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Speaker 1: and I will give you rest. Though rewarded with evil
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Speaker 1: for good and hatred for his love, he had steadfastly
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Speaker 1: pursued his mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that
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Speaker 1: sought his grace, A homeless wanderer, reproach and penury his
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Speaker 1: daily lot. He lived to minister to the needs, enlighten
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Speaker 1: the woes of men, to plead with them to accept
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Speaker 1: the gift of life. The waves of mercy, beaten back
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Speaker 1: by those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of
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Speaker 1: pitying inexpressible love. But Israel had turned from her best
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Speaker 1: friend and only helper. The pleadings of his love had
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Speaker 1: been despised, his counsel spurned his warnings, ridiculed. The hour
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Speaker 1: of hope and pardon was fast passing. The cup of
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Speaker 1: God's long deferred wrath was almost full. The cloud that
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Speaker 1: had been gathering through ages of apostasy and rebellion, now
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Speaker 1: black with woe, was about to burst upon a guilty people.
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Speaker 1: And he who alone could save them from their impending fate,
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Speaker 1: had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be crucified.
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Speaker 1: When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel's
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Speaker 1: day as a nation favored and blessed of God would
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Speaker 1: be ended. The loss of even one soul is a
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Speaker 1: calamity infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a world.
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Speaker 1: But as Rice looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a
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Speaker 1: whole city, a whole nation was before him, that city,
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Speaker 1: that nation which had once been the chosen of God,
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Speaker 1: his peculiar treasure. Prophets had wept over the apostasy of
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Speaker 1: Israel and the terrible desolations by which their sins were visited.
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Speaker 1: Jeremiah wished that his eyes were a fountain of tears,
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Speaker 1: that he might weep day and night for the slain
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Speaker 1: of the daughter of his people, for the Lord's flock
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Speaker 1: that was carried away captive. What then was the grief
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Speaker 1: of him whose prophetic glance took in not years but ages.
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Speaker 1: He beheld the destroying Angel with soward uplifted against the
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Speaker 1: city which had so long been Jehovah's dwelling place. From
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Speaker 1: the ridge of Oliver it the very spot afterward occupied
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Speaker 1: by Titus and his army. He looked across the valley
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Speaker 1: upon the sacred courts and porticoes, and with tear dimmed eyes,
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Speaker 1: he saw an awful perspective, the walls surrounded by alien hosts.
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Speaker 1: He heard the tread of armies marshaling for war. He
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Speaker 1: heard the voice of mothers and children crying for bread.
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Speaker 1: In the besieged city, he saw her holy and beautiful house,
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Speaker 1: her palaces and towers given to the flames, and where
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Speaker 1: they once stood, only a heap of smoldering ruins. Looking
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Speaker 1: down the ages, he saw the covenant people scattered in
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Speaker 1: every land, like wrex on a desert shore. In the
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Speaker 1: temporal retribution about to fall upon her children, he saw
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Speaker 1: but the first draft from that cup of wrath, which,
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Speaker 1: at the final judgment, she must strain to its dregs.
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Speaker 1: Divine pity, yearning love found utterance in the mournful words, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are
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Speaker 1: sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy
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Speaker 1: children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
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Speaker 1: her wings. And ye would not oh that thou, a
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Speaker 1: nation favored above every other, had snown the time of
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Speaker 1: thy visitation, and the things that belonged to thy peace.
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Speaker 1: I have stayed the Angel of Justice. I have called
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Speaker 1: thee to repentance. But in vain. It is not merely servants,
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Speaker 1: delegates and prophets, whom thou hast refused and rejected, but
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Speaker 1: the Holy One of Israel, thy redeemer. If thou art destroyed,
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Speaker 1: thou alone art responsible, you will not come to me
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Speaker 1: that ye might have life. Christ saw in Jerusalem a
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Speaker 1: symbol of the world, hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and
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Speaker 1: hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The
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Speaker 1: woes of a fallen race pressing upon his soul. Forced
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Speaker 1: from his lips that exceeding bitter cry, he saw the
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Speaker 1: record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood.
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Speaker 1: His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted
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Speaker 1: and suffering ones of earth. He yearned to relieve them all,
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Speaker 1: but even his hand might not turn back the tide
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Speaker 1: of human woe. Few would seek their only source of help.
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Speaker 1: He was willing to pour out his soul unto death
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Speaker 1: to bring salvation within their reach, but few would come
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Speaker 1: to him that they might have life. The majesty of
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Speaker 1: Heaven and tears, the son of the infinite God, troubled
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Speaker 1: in spirit, bowed down with anguish. The scene filled all
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Speaker 1: heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the exceeding
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Speaker 1: sinfulness of sin. It shows how hard a task it is,
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Speaker 1: even for infinite power to save the guilty from the
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Speaker 1: consequences of transgressing the law of God. Jesus, looking down
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Speaker 1: to the last generation, saw the world involved in a
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Speaker 1: deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem.
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Speaker 1: The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ.
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Speaker 1: The great sin of the Christian world would be their
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Speaker 1: rejection of the Law of God, the foundation of His
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Speaker 1: government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would
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Speaker 1: be despised and said it not. Millions in bondage to sin,
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Speaker 1: slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the second Death, would
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Speaker 1: refuse to listen to the words of truth in their
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Speaker 1: day of visitation, terrible blindness, strange infatuation. Two days before
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Speaker 1: the passer, when Christ had for the last time departed
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Speaker 1: from the Temple after denouncing the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers,
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Speaker 1: he again went out with his disciples to the Mount
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Speaker 1: of olives, and seated himself with them upon the grassy slope.
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Speaker 1: Overlooking the city. Once more, he gazed upon its walls,
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Speaker 1: its towers, and its palaces. Once more he beheld the
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Speaker 1: Temple in its dazzling splendor, a diadem of beauty crowning
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Speaker 1: the sacred mount. A thousand years before, the Psalmist had
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Speaker 1: magnified God's favor to Israel in making her holy house
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Speaker 1: his dwelling place in Salem also is his tabernacle and
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Speaker 1: his dwelling place in Zion. He chose the tribe of Judah,
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Speaker 1: the Mount Zion, which he loved, and he built his
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Speaker 1: sanctuary like high palaces. The first Temple had been erected
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Speaker 1: during the most prosperous period of Israel's history. Vast stores
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Speaker 1: of treasure for this purpose had been collected by King David,
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Speaker 1: and the plans for its construction were made by divine inspiration. Solomon,
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Speaker 1: the wisest of Israelse monarchs, had completed the work. This
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Speaker 1: temple was the most magnificent building which the world ever saw.
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Speaker 1: Yet the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggieye concerning
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Speaker 1: the second Temple, the glory of this latter house shall
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Speaker 1: be greater than of the former. I will shake all nations,
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Speaker 1: and the desire of all nations shall come, and I
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Speaker 1: will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts.
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Speaker 1: After the destruction of the temple by nebuchad Nezzar, it
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Speaker 1: was rebuilt about five hundred years before the birth of
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Speaker 1: Christ by a people who, from a life long captivity,
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Speaker 1: had returned to a wasted and almost deserted country. There
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Speaker 1: were then among them aged men who had seen the
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Speaker 1: glory of Solomon's temple, and who wept at the foundation
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Speaker 1: of the new building that it must be so inferior
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Speaker 1: to the former. The feeling that prevailed is forcibly described
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Speaker 1: by the prophet. Who is left among you that saw
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Speaker 1: this house in her first glory? And how do ye
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Speaker 1: see it now? Is it not in your eyes? In
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Speaker 1: comparison of it? As nothing then was given the promise
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Speaker 1: that the glory of this latter house should be greater
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Speaker 1: than that of the former. But the second temple had
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Speaker 1: not equaled the first in magnificence, nor was it hallowed
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Speaker 1: by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained
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Speaker 1: to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural
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Speaker 1: power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was
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Speaker 1: seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from
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Speaker 1: heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The
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Speaker 1: Chicaina no longer abode between the cheryo Him in the
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Speaker 1: most holy place. The ark, the mercy Seat, and the
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Speaker 1: tables of the Testimony were not to be found therein
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Speaker 1: No voice sounded from heaven to make known to the
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Speaker 1: inquiring priest the will of Jehovah. For centuries the Jews
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Speaker 1: had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise of God
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Speaker 1: given by Haggeeye had been fulfilled. Yet pride and unbelief
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Speaker 1: blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet's words.
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Speaker 1: The Second Temple was not honored with the cloud of
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Speaker 1: Jehovah's glory, but with the presence of one in whom
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Speaker 1: dwelt the fullness of the god Head bodily, who was
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Speaker 1: God himself manifest in the flesh. The desire of all
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Speaker 1: nations had indeed come to his temple when the Man
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Speaker 1: of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts, in
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Speaker 1: the presence of Christ, and in this only did the
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Speaker 1: Second Temple exceed the first in glory, but Israel had
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Speaker 1: put from her the proffered gift of heaven with the
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Speaker 1: humble teacher, who had that day passed out from its
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Speaker 1: golden gate. The glory had forever departed from the Temple.
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Speaker 1: Already were the Saviour's words fulfilled. Your house is left
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Speaker 1: unto you desolate. The disciples had been filled with awe
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Speaker 1: and wonder at Christ's prediction of the overthrow of the Temple,
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Speaker 1: and they desired to understand more fully the meaning of
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Speaker 1: his words. Wealth, labor, and architectural skill had for more
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Speaker 1: than forty years been freely expended to enhance its splendors.
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Speaker 1: Herod the Great had lavished upon it both Roman wealth
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Speaker 1: and Jewish treasure, and even the Emperor of the world
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Speaker 1: had enriched it with his gifts. Massive blocks of white
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Speaker 1: marble of almost fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for this purpose,
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Speaker 1: formed a part of its structure. And to these the
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Speaker 1: disciples had called the attention of their Master, saying, see
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Speaker 1: what manner of stones and what buildings are here? To
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Speaker 1: these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply, Verily,
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Speaker 1: I say unto you, there shall not be left here,
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Speaker 1: one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
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Speaker 1: With the overthrow of Jerusalem, the Disciples associated the events
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Speaker 1: of Christ's personal coming in temporal glory, to take the
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Speaker 1: throne of universal Empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and
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Speaker 1: to break from off the nation the Roman yoke. The
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Speaker 1: Lord had told them that he would come the second time. Hence,
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Speaker 1: at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted
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Speaker 1: to that coming, And as they were gathered about the
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Speaker 1: Savior upon the Mount of Olives, they asked, when shall
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Speaker 1: these things be? And what shall be the sign of
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Speaker 1: Thy coming and of the end of the world. The
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Speaker 1: future was mercifully veiled from the disciples. Had they at
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Speaker 1: that time fully comprehended the two awful facts, the Redeemer's
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Speaker 1: sufferings and death, and the destruction of their city and temple,
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Speaker 1: they would have been overwhelmed with horror. Christ presented before
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Speaker 1: them an outline of the prominent events to take place
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Speaker 1: before the close of time. His words were not then
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Speaker 1: fully understood, but their meaning was to be unfolded as
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Speaker 1: his people should meet the instruction therein given. The prophecy
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Speaker 1: which he uttered was twofold in its meaning. While foreshadowing
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Speaker 1: the destruction of Jerusalem, it prefigured also the terrors of
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Speaker 1: the last Great Day. Jesus declared to the listening disciples
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Speaker 1: the judgments that were about to fall upon apostate Israel,
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Speaker 1: and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them
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Speaker 1: for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs
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Speaker 1: would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come
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Speaker 1: suddenly and swiftly. And the Savior warned his followers, when
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Speaker 1: ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of
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Speaker 1: by Daniel the Prophet stand in the Holy place, whoso
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Speaker 1: rideth let him understand. Then let them which be in
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Speaker 1: Judea flee into the mountains. When the idolatrous standards of
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Speaker 1: the Romans should be set up in the holy ground,
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Speaker 1: which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the
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Speaker 1: followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When
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Speaker 1: the warning sign should be seen, those who would escape
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Speaker 1: must make no delay. Throughout the land of Judea as
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Speaker 1: well as in Jerusalem itself. The signal for flight must
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Speaker 1: be immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop,
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Speaker 1: must not go down into his house, even to save
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Speaker 1: his most valued treasures. Those who were working in the
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Speaker 1: fields or vineyards must not take time to return for
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Speaker 1: the outer garment laid aside, while they should be toiling
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Speaker 1: in the heat of the day. They must not hesitate
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Speaker 1: a moment lest they be involved in the general destruction.
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Speaker 1: In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been
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Speaker 1: greatly beautifu but by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses,
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Speaker 1: adding to the natural strength of its situation, it had
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Speaker 1: been rendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this time
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Speaker 1: have foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah in his day,
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Speaker 1: have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said,
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Speaker 1: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
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Speaker 1: not pass away. Because of her sins, wrath had been
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Speaker 1: denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn unbelief rendered her doom certain.
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Speaker 1: The Lord had declared by the prophet Micah, hear this,
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Speaker 1: I pray you, ye, heads of the House of Jacob,
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Speaker 1: and princes of the House of Israel, that a poor
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Speaker 1: judgment and pervertile equity they build up Zion with blood,
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Speaker 1: and Jerusalem with iniquity, the heads thereof judge for reward,
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Speaker 1: and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets
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Speaker 1: thereof divine for money. Yet will they lean upon the
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Speaker 1: Lord and say, is not the Lord among us? None
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Speaker 1: evil can come upon us. These words faithfully described the
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Speaker 1: corrupt and self righteeous inhabitants of Jerusalem. While claiming to
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Speaker 1: observe rigidly the precepts of God's law, they were transgressing
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Speaker 1: all its principles. They hated Christ because his purity and
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Speaker 1: holiness revealed their iniquity, and they accused him of being
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Speaker 1: the cause of all the troubles which had come upon
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Speaker 1: them in consequence of their sins. Though they knew him
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Speaker 1: to be sinless, they had declared that his death was
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Speaker 1: necessary to their safety as a nation. If we let
20:26
Speaker 1: him thus alone, said the Jewish leaders, all men will
20:29
Speaker 1: believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
20:32
Speaker 1: away both our place and nation. If Christ were sacrificed,
20:36
Speaker 1: they might once more become a strong united people. Thus
20:40
Speaker 1: they reasoned, and they concurred in the decision of their
20:42
Speaker 1: high priest, that it would be better for one man
20:45
Speaker 1: to die than for the whole nation to perish. Thus,
20:48
Speaker 1: the Jewish leaders had built up Zion with blood and
20:51
Speaker 1: Jerusalem with iniquity. And yet while they slew their savior
20:55
Speaker 1: because he reproved their sins, such was their self righteousness
20:59
Speaker 1: that they regarded them themselves as God's favorite people and
21:01
Speaker 1: expected the Lord to deliver them from their enemies. Therefore
21:05
Speaker 1: continued the prophet, shall Zion for your sake be plowed
21:09
Speaker 1: as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
21:12
Speaker 1: mountain of the House as the high places of the forest.
21:16
Speaker 1: For nearly forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had
21:19
Speaker 1: been pronounced by Christ himself, the Lord delayed his judgments
21:23
Speaker 1: upon the city and the nation. Wonderful was the long
21:27
Speaker 1: suffering of God toward the rejectors of his gospel and
21:29
Speaker 1: the murderers of his son. The parable of the unfruitful
21:33
Speaker 1: tree represented God's dealings with the Jewish nation. The command
21:37
Speaker 1: had gone forth cut it down, why cumbereth at the ground,
21:41
Speaker 1: But divine mercy had spared it yet a little longer.
21:44
Speaker 1: There were still many among the Jews who were ignorant
21:47
Speaker 1: of the character and the work of Christ, and the
21:49
Speaker 1: children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light
21:53
Speaker 1: which their parents had spurned. Through the preaching of the
21:56
Speaker 1: apostles and their associates, God would cause light to shine
21:59
Speaker 1: upon them them they would be permitted to see how
22:02
Speaker 1: prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birth and
22:05
Speaker 1: life of Christ, but in his death and resurrection. The
22:09
Speaker 1: children were not condemned for the sins of the parents.
22:12
Speaker 1: But when with the knowledge of all the light given
22:14
Speaker 1: to their parents, the children rejected the additional light granted
22:18
Speaker 1: to themselves, they became partakers of the parent sins and
22:22
Speaker 1: filled up the measure of their iniquity. The long suffering
22:26
Speaker 1: of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews and their
22:29
Speaker 1: stubborn impenitence in their hatred and cruelty toward the disciples
22:33
Speaker 1: of Jesus. They rejected the last offer of mercy. Then
22:37
Speaker 1: God withdrew his protection from them and removed his restraining
22:41
Speaker 1: power from Satan and his angels, and the nation was
22:44
Speaker 1: left to the control of the leader she had chosen.
22:47
Speaker 1: Her children had spurned the grace of Christ, which would
22:50
Speaker 1: have enabled them to subdue their evil impulses, and now
22:53
Speaker 1: these became the conquerors. Satan aroused the fiercest and most
22:58
Speaker 1: debased passions of the soul. Men did not reason. They
23:02
Speaker 1: were beyond reason, controlled by impulse and blind rage. They
23:06
Speaker 1: became Satanic in their cruelty. In the family and in
23:10
Speaker 1: the nation. Among the highest and the lowest classes alike,
23:13
Speaker 1: there was suspicion, envy, hatred, strife, rebellion, murder. There was
23:18
Speaker 1: no safety anywhere. Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents
23:23
Speaker 1: slew their children, and children their parents. The rulers of
23:27
Speaker 1: the people had no power to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions
23:32
Speaker 1: made them tyrants. The Jews had accepted false testimony to
23:36
Speaker 1: condemn the innocent son of God. Now false accusations made
23:39
Speaker 1: their own lives uncertain. By their actions. They had long
23:43
Speaker 1: been saying, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease
23:46
Speaker 1: from before us. Now their desire was granted. The fear
23:50
Speaker 1: of God no longer disturbed them. Satan was at the
23:53
Speaker 1: head of the nation, and the highest civil and religious
23:56
Speaker 1: authorities were under his sway. The leaders of the opposing
24:00
Speaker 1: factions at times united to plunder and torture their wretched victims.
24:05
Speaker 1: And again they fell upon each other's forces and slaughtered
24:08
Speaker 1: without mercy. Even the sanctity of the temple could not
24:12
Speaker 1: restrain their horrible ferocity. The worshippers were stricken down before
24:16
Speaker 1: the altar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies
24:20
Speaker 1: of the slain. Yet, in their blind and blosphemous presumption,
24:24
Speaker 1: the instigators of this hellish work publicly declared that they
24:27
Speaker 1: had no fear that Jerusalem would be destroyed, for it
24:30
Speaker 1: was God's own city. To establish their power more firmly,
24:34
Speaker 1: they bribed false prophets to proclaim, even while Roman legions
24:38
Speaker 1: were besieging the temple, that the people were to wait
24:41
Speaker 1: for deliverance from God. To the last. Multitudes held fast
24:45
Speaker 1: to the belief that the Most High would interpose for
24:47
Speaker 1: the defeat of their adversaries. But Israel had spurned the
24:51
Speaker 1: divine protection, and now she had no defense. Unhappy Jerusalem,
24:57
Speaker 1: rent by internal dissensions, the blood of her children slain
25:00
Speaker 1: by one another's hands, crimsoning her streets, while alien armies
25:04
Speaker 1: beat down her fortifications and slew her men of war.
25:08
Speaker 1: All the predictions given by Christ concerning the destruction of
25:12
Speaker 1: Jerusalem were fulfilled to the letter. The Jews experienced the
25:16
Speaker 1: truth of his words of warning with what measure ye meet,
25:19
Speaker 1: Yet shall be measured to you again. Signs and wonders appeared,
25:23
Speaker 1: foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of the night,
25:27
Speaker 1: an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar.
25:31
Speaker 1: Upon the clouds. At sunset were pictured chariots and men
25:34
Speaker 1: of war gathering for battle. The priests ministering by night
25:38
Speaker 1: and the sanctuary were terrified by mysterious sounds. The earth trembled,
25:42
Speaker 1: and a multitude of voices were heard crying, let us depart. Hence,
25:47
Speaker 1: the great Eastern Gage, which was so heavy that it
25:49
Speaker 1: could hardly be shot by a score of men, and
25:52
Speaker 1: which was secured by immense bars of iron fastened deep
25:55
Speaker 1: in the pavement of solid stone, opened at midnight without
25:59
Speaker 1: visible agency. For seven years, a man continued to go
26:03
Speaker 1: up and down the streets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes
26:06
Speaker 1: that were to come upon the city. By day and
26:09
Speaker 1: by night. He chanted the wild dirch, a voice from
26:12
Speaker 1: the east, a voice from the west, a voice from
26:15
Speaker 1: the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and against the Temple,
26:19
Speaker 1: a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, a voice
26:23
Speaker 1: against the whole people. This strange being was imprisoned and
26:27
Speaker 1: scourged but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult and abuse,
26:31
Speaker 1: he answered, only, woe woe to Jerusalem, woe woe to
26:35
Speaker 1: the inhabitants thereof. His warning cry ceased not until he
26:40
Speaker 1: was slain in the siege he had foretold. Not one
26:44
Speaker 1: Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had given
26:47
Speaker 1: his disciples warning, and all who believed his words watched
26:51
Speaker 1: for the promised sign. When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed
26:55
Speaker 1: with armies, said Jesus, then know that the desolation thereof
26:58
Speaker 1: is nigh. And let them which are in Judea flee
27:01
Speaker 1: to the mountains, and let them which are in the
27:03
Speaker 1: midst of it to part out. After the Romans under
27:07
Speaker 1: Cestius had surrounded the city, they unexpectedly abandoned the siege
27:11
Speaker 1: when everything seemed favorable for an immediate attack. The besieged,
27:16
Speaker 1: despairing of successful resistance, were on the point of surrender
27:20
Speaker 1: when the Roman general withdrew his forces without the least
27:22
Speaker 1: apparent reason. But God's merciful providence was directing events for
27:27
Speaker 1: the good of his own people. The promised sign had
27:30
Speaker 1: been given to the waiting Christians, and now an opportunity
27:33
Speaker 1: was afforded for all who would to obey the Saviour's warning.
27:37
Speaker 1: Events were so overruled that neither Jews nor Romans should
27:41
Speaker 1: hinder the flight of the Christians. Upon the retreat of Cestus,
27:45
Speaker 1: the Jews sallying from Jerusalem pursued after his retiring army,
27:50
Speaker 1: and while both forces were thus fully engaged, the Christians
27:53
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to leave the city. At this time,
27:56
Speaker 1: the country also had been cleared of enemies who might
27:59
Speaker 1: have endeavored to intercept them. At the time of the siege,
28:03
Speaker 1: the Jews were assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast
28:05
Speaker 1: of Tabernacles, and thus the Christians throughout the land were
28:09
Speaker 1: able to make their escape unmolested. Without delay. They fled
28:13
Speaker 1: to a place of safety, the city of Pella in
28:15
Speaker 1: the land of Paria beyond Jordan. The Jewish forces pursuing
28:20
Speaker 1: after Cestus and his army, fell upon their rear with
28:23
Speaker 1: such fierceness as to threaten them with total destruction. It
28:27
Speaker 1: was with great difficulty that the Romans succeeded in making
28:30
Speaker 1: their retreat. The Jews escaped almost without loss, and with
28:34
Speaker 1: their spoils, returned in triumph to Jerusalem. Yet this apparent
28:38
Speaker 1: success brought them only evil it inspired them with that
28:41
Speaker 1: spirit of stubborn resistance to the Romans, which speedily brought
28:45
Speaker 1: unutterable woe upon the doomed city. Terrible were the calamities
28:49
Speaker 1: that fell upon Jerusalem when the siege was resumed by Titus.
28:53
Speaker 1: The city was invested at the time of the Passover,
28:56
Speaker 1: when millions of Jews were assembled within its walls. Their
29:00
Speaker 1: stores of provision, which if carefully preserved, would have supplied
29:04
Speaker 1: the inhabitants for years, had previously been destroyed through the
29:07
Speaker 1: jealousy and revenge of the contending factions, and now all
29:11
Speaker 1: the horrors of starvation were experienced. A measure of wheat
29:15
Speaker 1: was sold for a talent. So fierce were the pangs
29:18
Speaker 1: of hunger that men would gnaw the leather of their
29:20
Speaker 1: belts and sandals, and the covering of their shields. The
29:24
Speaker 1: great numbers of the people would steal out at night
29:26
Speaker 1: to gather wild plants growing outside the city walls, though
29:30
Speaker 1: many were seized and put to death with cruel torture,
29:33
Speaker 1: and often those who returned in safety were robbed of
29:36
Speaker 1: what they had gleaned at so great peril. The most
29:39
Speaker 1: inhuman tortures were inflicted by those in power to force
29:42
Speaker 1: from the want stricken people the last scanty supplies which
29:45
Speaker 1: they might have concealed. And these cruelties were not infrequently
29:49
Speaker 1: practiced by men who were themselves well fed, and who
29:52
Speaker 1: were merely desirous of laying up a store of provision
29:55
Speaker 1: for the future. Thousands perished from famine and pestilence. Natural
30:00
Speaker 1: affection seems to have been destroyed. Husbands robbed their wives,
30:04
Speaker 1: and wives their husbands. Children would be seen snatching the
30:08
Speaker 1: food from the mouths of their aged parents. The question
30:11
Speaker 1: of the prophet, can a woman forget her sucking child?
30:14
Speaker 1: Received the answer. Within the walls of that doomed city,
30:18
Speaker 1: the hands of the pitiful women have sought in their
30:20
Speaker 1: own children. They were their meat. In the destruction of
30:23
Speaker 1: the daughter of my people again was fulfilled the warning
30:27
Speaker 1: prophecy given fourteen centuries before. The tender and delicate woman
30:31
Speaker 1: among you, which would not adventure to set the soul
30:34
Speaker 1: of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness,
30:37
Speaker 1: her eyes shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom,
30:40
Speaker 1: and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward
30:42
Speaker 1: her children, which she shall bear, for she shall eat
30:45
Speaker 1: them for want of all things secretly in the siege
30:48
Speaker 1: and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee and thy gates.
30:53
Speaker 1: The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews,
30:56
Speaker 1: and thus cause them to surrender. Those prisoners who resisted,
31:00
Speaker 1: when taken, were scourged, tortured, and crucified before the wall
31:04
Speaker 1: of the city. Hundreds were daily put to death in
31:07
Speaker 1: this manner, and the dreadful work continued until along the
31:10
Speaker 1: valley of Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosses were erected in
31:14
Speaker 1: so great numbers that there was scarcely room to move
31:17
Speaker 1: among them. So terribly was visited that awful imprecation uttered
31:21
Speaker 1: before the judgment seat of Pilot. His blood be on
31:24
Speaker 1: us and on our children. Titus would willingly have put
31:28
Speaker 1: an end to the fearful scene, and thus have spared
31:31
Speaker 1: Jerusalem the full measure of her doom. He was filled
31:34
Speaker 1: with horror as he saw the bodies of the dead
31:36
Speaker 1: lyne and heaps in the valleys. Like one entranced. He
31:40
Speaker 1: looked from the crust of Olivet upon the magnificent temple
31:43
Speaker 1: and gave command that not one stone of it be touched.
31:47
Speaker 1: Before attempting to gain possession of this stronghold. He made
31:50
Speaker 1: an earnest appeal to the Jewish leaders not to force
31:53
Speaker 1: him to defile the sacred place with blood, if they
31:56
Speaker 1: would come forth and fight in any other place, no
31:59
Speaker 1: Roman should violate the sanctity of the temple. Josephus himself,
32:03
Speaker 1: in a most eloquent appeal, entreated them to surrender, to
32:06
Speaker 1: save themselves, their city and their place of worship. But
32:10
Speaker 1: his words were answered with bitter curses. Darts were hurled
32:13
Speaker 1: at him, their last human mediator, as he stood pleading
32:16
Speaker 1: with them. The Jews had rejected the entreaties of the
32:19
Speaker 1: Son of God, and now expostulation and entreaty only made
32:24
Speaker 1: them more determined to resist to the last. In vain
32:27
Speaker 1: were the efforts of Titus to save the temple one
32:30
Speaker 1: greater than he had declared, that not one stone was
32:33
Speaker 1: to be left upon another. The blind obstinacy of the
32:37
Speaker 1: Jewish leaders and the detestable crimes perpetrated within the besieged
32:41
Speaker 1: city excited the horror and indignation of the Romans, and
32:45
Speaker 1: Titus at last decided to take the temple by storm.
32:49
Speaker 1: He determined, however, that if possible, it should be saved
32:52
Speaker 1: from destruction, but his commands were disregarded. After he had
32:56
Speaker 1: retired to his tent at night, the Jews, sallying from
32:59
Speaker 1: the temple, attacked the soldiers without In the struggle, a
33:03
Speaker 1: firebrand was flung by a soldier through an opening in
33:05
Speaker 1: the porch, and immediately the cedar lined chambers about the
33:09
Speaker 1: holy house were in a blaze. Titus rushed to the place,
33:13
Speaker 1: followed by his generals and legionnaires, and commanded the soldiers
33:17
Speaker 1: to quench the flames. His words were unheeded. In their fury,
33:21
Speaker 1: the soldiers hurled blazing brands into the chambers adjoining the temple,
33:25
Speaker 1: and then with their swords they slaughtered in great numbers
33:27
Speaker 1: those who had found shelter there. Blood flowed down the
33:31
Speaker 1: temple steps like water. Thousands upon thousands of Jews perished
33:36
Speaker 1: Above the sound of battle, voices were heard shouting Ichabod,
33:40
Speaker 1: the glorious departed. Titus found it impossible to check the
33:45
Speaker 1: rage of the soldiery. He entered with his officers and
33:48
Speaker 1: surveyed the interior of the sacred edifice. The splendor filled
33:52
Speaker 1: them with wonder, and as the flames had not yet
33:54
Speaker 1: penetrated to the holy place, he made a last effort
33:57
Speaker 1: to save it, and springing forth again exhorted the soldiers
34:00
Speaker 1: to stay the progress of the conflagration. The centurion Liberalis
34:05
Speaker 1: endeavored to force obedience with his staff of office, but
34:08
Speaker 1: even respect for the Emperor gave way to the furious
34:11
Speaker 1: animosity against the Jews, to the fierce excitement of battle,
34:15
Speaker 1: and to the insatiable hope of plunder. The soldier saw
34:19
Speaker 1: everything around them radiant with gold, which shone dazzlingly in
34:23
Speaker 1: the wild light of the flames. They supposed that incalculable
34:26
Speaker 1: treasures were laid up in the sanctuary. A soldier unperceived
34:30
Speaker 1: thrust a lighted torch between the hinges of the door.
34:33
Speaker 1: The whole building was in flames in an instant. The
34:36
Speaker 1: blinding smoke and fire forced the officers to retreat, and
34:40
Speaker 1: the noble edifice was left to its fate. It was
34:43
Speaker 1: an appalling spectacle to the Roman, what was it to
34:46
Speaker 1: the jew The whole summit of the hill which commanded
34:49
Speaker 1: the city, blazed like a volcano. One after another. The
34:53
Speaker 1: buildings fell in with a tremendous crash and were swallowed
34:56
Speaker 1: up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of Cedar were
34:59
Speaker 1: like sheets flame. The gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of
35:03
Speaker 1: red light. The gate towers sent up tall columns of
35:06
Speaker 1: flame and smoke. The neighboring hills were lighted up, and
35:10
Speaker 1: dark groups of people were seen watching in horrible anxiety
35:14
Speaker 1: the progress of the destruction. The walls and heights of
35:17
Speaker 1: the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with
35:21
Speaker 1: the agony of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shouts
35:26
Speaker 1: of the Roman soldiery as they ran to and fro,
35:28
Speaker 1: and the howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in
35:31
Speaker 1: the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and
35:34
Speaker 1: the thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of the
35:38
Speaker 1: mountains replied or brought back the shrieks of the people
35:41
Speaker 1: on the heights. All along the walls resounded screams and wailings.
35:46
Speaker 1: Men who were expiring with famine rallied their remaining strength
35:50
Speaker 1: to utter a cry of anguish and desolation. The slaughter
35:54
Speaker 1: within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from without.
35:58
Speaker 1: Men and women, old and young, in insurgents and priests,
36:01
Speaker 1: those who fought, and those who entreated mercy were hewn
36:04
Speaker 1: down an indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded
36:08
Speaker 1: that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over
36:12
Speaker 1: heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination.
36:16
Speaker 1: After the destruction of the temple, the whole city soon
36:19
Speaker 1: fell into the hands of the Romans. The leaders of
36:22
Speaker 1: the Jews forsook their impregnable towers, and Titus found them solitary.
36:27
Speaker 1: He gazed upon them with amazement and declared that God
36:30
Speaker 1: had given them into his hands. For no engines, however powerful,
36:34
Speaker 1: could have prevailed against those stupendous battlements. Both the city
36:38
Speaker 1: and the temple were raised to their foundations, and the
36:40
Speaker 1: ground upon which the Holy House had stood was plowed
36:43
Speaker 1: like a field. In the siege and the slaughter that followed,
36:47
Speaker 1: more than a million of the people perished. The survivors
36:50
Speaker 1: were carried away as captives, sold as slaves, dragged to
36:54
Speaker 1: Rome to grace the conqueror's triumph, thrown to wild beasts
36:58
Speaker 1: in the amphitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers throughout the earth.
37:03
Speaker 1: The Jews had forged their own fetters. They had filled
37:06
Speaker 1: for themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction
37:10
Speaker 1: that befell them as a nation, and in all the
37:12
Speaker 1: woes that followed them. In their dispersion, they were but
37:15
Speaker 1: reaping a harvest which their own hands had sown. Says
37:19
Speaker 1: the prophet O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself for thou
37:23
Speaker 1: hast fallen by thine iniquity. Their sufferings are often represented
37:28
Speaker 1: as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree
37:31
Speaker 1: of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks
37:34
Speaker 1: to conceal his own work by stubborn rejection of divine
37:37
Speaker 1: love and mercy. The Jews had caused the protection of
37:40
Speaker 1: God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted
37:44
Speaker 1: to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties
37:48
Speaker 1: enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of
37:51
Speaker 1: Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control.
37:56
Speaker 1: We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for
37:58
Speaker 1: the peace and protection which we can enjoy. It is
38:01
Speaker 1: the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing
38:05
Speaker 1: fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful
38:09
Speaker 1: have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long
38:12
Speaker 1: suffering in holding him check the cruel, malignant power of
38:14
Speaker 1: the evil one. But when men pass the limits of
38:18
Speaker 1: divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand
38:22
Speaker 1: towards the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression,
38:27
Speaker 1: but he leaves the rejectors of his mercy to themselves
38:29
Speaker 1: to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of
38:33
Speaker 1: light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged,
38:38
Speaker 1: every transgression of the law of God is a seed
38:41
Speaker 1: sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The spirit of God,
38:45
Speaker 1: persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and
38:49
Speaker 1: then there is left no power to control the evil
38:52
Speaker 1: passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice
38:55
Speaker 1: and enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a
38:59
Speaker 1: fearful and sol all a morning to all who are
39:01
Speaker 1: trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the
39:04
Speaker 1: pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more
39:08
Speaker 1: decisive testimony to God's hatred of sin and to the
39:11
Speaker 1: certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty. The Saviour's
39:15
Speaker 1: prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to
39:19
Speaker 1: have another fulfillment of which that terrible desolation was but
39:23
Speaker 1: a faint shadow. In the fate of the Chosen City,
39:27
Speaker 1: we may behold the doom of a world that has
39:29
Speaker 1: rejected God's mercy and trampled upon his law. Dark are
39:33
Speaker 1: the records of human misery that the earth has witnessed
39:35
Speaker 1: during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens and
39:39
Speaker 1: the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the
39:42
Speaker 1: results of rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene
39:46
Speaker 1: yet darker is presented than the revelations of the future.
39:49
Speaker 1: The records of the past, the long procession of tumults,
39:53
Speaker 1: conflicts and revolutions, the battle of the warrior, with confused
39:57
Speaker 1: noise and garments rolled in blood. What are these in
40:00
Speaker 1: contrast with the terrors of that day, when the restraining
40:03
Speaker 1: spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked,
40:06
Speaker 1: no longer to hold in check the outburst of human
40:09
Speaker 1: passion and satanic wrath. The world will then behold, as
40:12
Speaker 1: never before, the results of Satan's rule. But in that day,
40:16
Speaker 1: as in the time of Jerusalem's destruction, God's people will
40:20
Speaker 1: be delivered every one that shall be found written among
40:23
Speaker 1: the living. Christ has declared that he will come the
40:26
Speaker 1: second time to gather his faithful ones to himself. Then
40:30
Speaker 1: shall all the tribes of the earth morn, and they
40:33
Speaker 1: shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
40:35
Speaker 1: of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall
40:38
Speaker 1: send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet,
40:41
Speaker 1: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
40:44
Speaker 1: from one end of heaven to the other. Then shall
40:47
Speaker 1: they that obey not the Gospel be consumed with the
40:50
Speaker 1: spirit of his mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness
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Speaker 1: of his coming. Like Israel of old, The wicked destroy themselves.
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Speaker 1: They fall by their iniquity, by a life of sin.
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Speaker 1: They have placed themselves so out of harmony with God.
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Speaker 1: Their natures have become so debased with evil that the
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Speaker 1: manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire.
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Speaker 1: Let men beware, lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to
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Speaker 1: them in the words of Christ, as he warned his
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Speaker 1: disciples of Jerusalem's destruction, giving them a sign of the
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Speaker 1: approaching bruin that they might make their escape. So he
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Speaker 1: has warned the world of the day of final destruction,
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Speaker 1: and has given them tokens of its approach, that all
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Speaker 1: who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares,
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Speaker 1: there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
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Speaker 1: and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations.
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Speaker 1: Those who behold these harbingers of his coming are to
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Speaker 1: know that it is near. Even at the doors. Watch ye.
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Speaker 1: Therefore are his words of admonition. They that heed the
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Speaker 1: warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day
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Speaker 1: should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch,
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Speaker 1: the day of the Lord so cometh as a thing
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Speaker 1: in the night. The world is no more ready to
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Speaker 1: credit the message for this time than were the Jews
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Speaker 1: to receive the Saviour's warning concerning Jerusalem. Come. When at
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Speaker 1: May the Day of God will come unawares to the ungodly,
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Speaker 1: When life is going on in its unvarying round, when
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Speaker 1: men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic and
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Speaker 1: money making, when religious leaders are magnifying the world's progress
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Speaker 1: and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security,
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Speaker 1: then as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling.
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Speaker 1: So shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and the ungodly,
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Speaker 1: and they shall not escape. End of Chapter one,