“A DAY OF THE TRUMPET AND ALARM.”
By T.
“THE great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zeph. 1: 14-18. The foregoing language of the prophet Zephaniah gives a vivid picture of the condition of things when “the great day of the Lord is near,” “and hasteth greatly.” He says, “The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.” Also we are told “that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation.” Be particular to note what this forcible and positive Word of God says. Don’t bother about what it means; look at what it says, and give the Lord of heaven and earth the credit of saying what He means. Your teaching may have been to the contrary of what this Word of the Lord says. You may have heard the fable that the world is all to be converted, and that every one will become good before the end of time. But no such doctrine was ever built upon the foundation of the Word of the Lord. The heavenly Father has never told us any such thing, no matter how pleasing it would be to us for Him to say it. God can deal only with facts. The truth is the only thing He can tell. Sometimes it may not seem so pleasing as a cunningly-devised fable, but it is always the truth. “The great day of the Lord” is also “a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.” You may have heard those who are saying that there are to be no wars, but a millennium of peace is to precede the advent of Christ. But pay no attention to hearsay. Study the Bible,—what is recorded in the Book. Rest assured that the Word of God is right. “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” Men in these last days are trusting in the great fortunes that they are piling up. They can use their money to defeat justice now; it is a source of power to them for the present, but the time is just ahead when their hoarded wealth will lose its ability to deliver them. Study closely the foregoing verses quoted from Zephaniah. Compare what this scripture so clearly says with the condition of “distress,” of the “trumpet and alarm,” that is so darkly rising all over the world to-day, and then ask yourself, “Is not the great day of the Lord near and hasting greatly?” Do not allow yourself to be deceived in this time. Look at the actual realities squarely. We are in ominous times. But if you are on the Lord’s side, the omens are of the coming day.