A COMING FAMINE by Samuel W. Pack

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 7, 1881

A COMING FAMINE.

By Samuel W. Pack

BY SAMUEL W. PACK.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos 8:11, 12.

This prophecy is just on the eve of being fulfilled. At the present time there is more religion (so called) than at any previous time, but there is very little of real godliness. The world's history is fast closing up. God's signs are abroad in the earth,—distress of nations with perplexity, famine and pestilence in divers places,—but God's mercy is mingled with it, and will continue to be as long as Christ is our mediator. But as soon as the one hundred and forty-four thousand are sealed in their foreheads with the seal of the living God, Rev. 7, Christ will cease to act as our mediator and priest. He will then lay aside his priestly robes, and put on the robes of royalty, preparatory to ruling the nations with a rod of iron, and dashing them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Ps. 2:7-9. The seven angels will be sent forth with the seven last plagues; in other words, with God's unmingled wrath, or wrath without mercy. Rev. 16; 14:9-12.

Then commences the famine spoken of by the prophet. Christ is now in the holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuary, where he entered in 1844, when the proclamation went forth, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come." And when he leaves that position the people know not where to look for him; he is no longer our intercessor; and as no one can approach the Father but through him, their prayers and entreaties are unheard. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Those who have not found the word of the Lord previous to the pouring out of the seven last plagues will not find it afterwards. This constitutes the famine.

We are not told in the sacred word just how far this event is in the future, but we are to know by signs in the heavens above and in the earth beneath when "it is near, even at the doors." We believe that the United States government will amend the constitution in a religious point of view in accordance with prophecy. Then the end will be very near. This will be the final contest, and it will be for each one to decide for himself whether he will reverence the Sabbath of the Lord—the seventh day of the week—as found in the fourth commandment, or Sunday—the first day—as established by the church and the law. Those who are on the Lord's side will be the one hundred and forty-four thousand who will be caught up with the resurrected righteous to meet the Lord in the air; the others will be slain with the breath of his mouth and the brightness of his coming. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer. 25:33.

The subject of the Sanctuary is a central truth around which other truths of importance cluster. It gives a definite idea of the mediation of Christ in both the holies of the heavenly sanctuary, and explains the nature of the disappointment of Adventists in 1844. We have a clear and full exposition of this glorious theme in the work, "Sanctuary and Twenty-three Hundred Days," published at the office of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. The sanctuary as built by the Jews was made after a pattern shown to Moses in the mount. Ex. 25:9, 40; Heb. 8:5. It had two appartments, the holy and most holy. It was cleansed with blood. It was a type or figure of the sanctuary of the New Covenant which is in Heaven. The most holy place was entered only one day in the year, the day of atonement. The atonement and cleansing of the sanctuary are identical. The high priest ministered in the holy place every day, but only on the day of atonement did he enter the most holy place with the breastplate of judgment and with the blood of a goat chosen by the Lord to cleanse the sanctuary of all the sins borne in during the year. When he came out, he placed his hands on the head of another goat, called the scape-goat, transferring all the sins from the sanctuary to that goat, and the goat was then taken away to a land not inhabited; and thus the sanctuary was cleansed. Christ at his ascension entered the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to make intercession for his people. The angel Gabriel, in explaining Daniel's vision to him, said: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14. The fulfillment of prophecy shows clearly that this period expired in 1844. The Adventists supposed at that time that the cleansing of the sanctuary was the burning of the earth, and Christ would be coming in the clouds at the same time for his redeemed people; hence their disappointment. At this time Christ passed from the holy to the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, with his own blood and the breastplate of judgment. Hence the proclamation at that time, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come." This is the investigative judgment. The executive judgment is the destruction of the wicked at the second coming of Christ. So since 1844 Christ has been determining who of all the dead and living are worthy of eternal life. Christ next comes forth from the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary with all the sins of his redeemed people since the foundation of the world, and places them on the head of the devil, the antitype of the scape-goat, and the author of all sin. Thus is the heavenly sanctuary cleansed. Probation will then be ended. Christ will no more be our mediator, hence there will be no more mercy for sinners. Then follow the seven last plagues, and the famine for the word of the Lord. The wicked at that time will also suffer for temporal food and water, but there is a promise to the one hundred and forty-four thousand that their bread and water shall be sure.