"Stormy Wind Fulfilling His Word."
By T.
THE 148th Psalm is a song of praise to the Lord. Among the things that are called upon to praise the Lord are mentioned, "Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling His word." "His word" says, "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2: 30, 31. The prophet is here talking about "the great and terrible day of the Lord." And he tells us of some of the things that will be seen in that time. There will be general commotion. Another prophecy says, "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." Luke 21: 10, 11. These verses are taken from the prophecy that our Lord gave in answer to the questions that the disciples asked Him concerning the signs that would precede His coming and the end of the world. This prophecy also tells of the general commotion that will be in the world at the close of time; it tells of the earthquakes, the famines, the pestilences, and the fearful sights and great signs that shall be from heaven as precursors of the great day of the Lord. These commotions, these storms, these earthquakes, and all the rest of the disasters that these prophecies call for are not permitted to come because the Lord is angry with us; but He allows them to come in mercy so that we may not become so wedded to this life that we fail to prepare for the great day of the Lord that is so near at hand. And when any of these great calamities9are being visited you will find that the impression is riveted irresistibly upon the mind that the end of all things is being witnessed to and foreshadowed. The expression is heard everywhere, when some great visitation is in progress, "the end of the world has come, the end of the world has come!" We might expect such expressions from the ignorant and the superstitious; but the most educated give way to fears in the presence of nature's upheavals, and the conviction is wrung from them also that the end of time is reached. These things would convince us, if we were not too stubborn or too proud to admit it, that God's Spirit accompanies His prophetic word to produce conviction as it is being fulfilled. There are daily reports of great floods, of hail storms, of tornadoes, of earthquakes, of famines and pestilences. These things have always existed to a greater or lesser extent. But they never came in such numbers and in so many places as during the recent years. And those who are observant know that they are alarmingly on the increase. And, more than this, those who know the word of God are fully aware of the fact that they will increase more and more to the end of time. The storms and other calamities that we have had in the past are as nothing compared to what is before us in the immediate future. The worst has not been reached by any means. But, while all this is true, it is also true that every one who places his trust in the Lord and in His word has nothing to fear or to dread. God will protect His people thru it all. The promise is, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the wicked. For Thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent." Ps. 91: 5-9. The foregoing promise is wonderfully strong and soul-uplifting. It assures us that the child of God will not only pass thru these last-day disasters unscathed, but he will actually "not be afraid." How glorious! The thought of being able to stand without fear in the midst of all the calamities the prophets tell us will come in the last days is enough to make every individual desire to take shelter under these mighty promises of our heavenly Father. When all the world is being stricken with the agonies of fear it is most fitting that the Father above would raise His followers above such torments so that they may hold forth the sheltering comforts of God's promises in the strong and steady confidence of divine power.