God's Controversy with the Nations.
By H. L. H.
Though the analogies of the past and the aspects of the present, speak with no uncertain voice concerning the probable issue of this mighty conflict, yet their verdict is manifestly insufficient to decide the question, in the absence of more positive testimony. Analogies may be mistaken—appearances are deceptive. God alone can scan and foretell the future. To his word then we turn, and before the door of the eternal oracle we enquire, What shall be the end of these wonders? What shall be the issue of this great controversy? We must refer to the words of the prophets of God, and learn from them the course and issue of this terrible contention. First, then, let us listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who has so plainly spoken of this controversy. As the custom of kings anciently was to inflict death on criminals by a cup of poison, this figure is made use of in speaking of God's dealings with the nations of the earth. The prophet, who in his childhood had been set "over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant," was therefore bidden to bear the cup of wrath to the enemies of God. "For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine-cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me." He then proceeds to an enumeration of the nations that were designated as guilty criminals, deserving wrath, and destined to drink the wine-cup of his fury. "To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day: Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, Dedan, and Tema and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes." After indicating the various nations that were thus doomed to bear the judgments of the Lord, the prophet's vision seems to widen and encompass unknown and unnamed nations and empires, that were yet hidden in the womb of time—for he continues to say: "And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. For lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.—Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 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." Here is the terrible history of this controversy, forewritten by the servant of the living God. The judgments that commenced upon Jerusalem and Israel for their rejection of divine authority, were to overspread the earth. They commenced in isolated inflictions upon various nations and tribes. And where are those nations whose death-warrant is here issued by Jehovah? With scarce an exception they are gone. Their power has been broken, their cities overthrown, their governments subverted, their palaces desolated, their glory departed, and they have perished from the face of the earth. But others were to share in these judgments. The bounds of geographical knowledge were reached, but the cup still overflowed. Palestine and all the adjacent countries had been mentioned—the great empires of antiquity had been included, and still he extends the dreadful malediction, and hurls it down to time's remotest years; and fastens it upon "all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth." No refusal can avail them. They must certainly drink the cup of fury. The world shall not be unpunished. God will call for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth. He shall rush to their destruction as the vintagers tread the grapes. The noise of the conflict "shall come even to the ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations." And how shall it issue? "He will plead with all flesh—he will give them that are wicked to the sword." The tempest of wrath shall burst like a furious tornado. It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked—it shall do its work of desolation "in the latter days," and as its result the slain of the Lord shall strow the earth from end to end, ungathered, unlamented, and unburied, they shall be dung upon the ground. The mighty, the great, the princes and the nobles, are called upon to mourn over their impending ruin.—"Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger." This is their doom. Their days of slaughter, in which they have nourished their hearts, and dispersed and killed the just, are ended. They shall be destroyed as a crystal goblet is shivered by its fall, and over all their hopes and prospects brood the clouds of darkness, desolation, and despair. Such is the terrible destiny that overhangs the impenitent world. A destruction so awful and so widespread, has never been known since the waters of Noah overwhelmed the race. No history can furnish a fulfillment of the whole of this terrible denunciation. The controversy has not yet reached its final issue. Some nations have fallen; but "that day" in which "the slain of the Lord" shall bestrew the world, and the wicked shall be given to the sword of his vengeance, is manifestly yet future. No local judgment can accomplish it; no mere national calamity can answer to it. It overhangs the world like a pall of darkness. It is the death warrant of a godless and impious race. Nothing but a slaughter, wide as the world, can fill the terrible picture. "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many." The whole tenor of the Scriptures accords with this representation. It were almost too great a task to quote the various passages that point to this terrible conclusion. It is the universal voice, the concurrent testimony of prophets and apostles, and of Christ himself, that necessitates this decision. If we turn over the pages of inspiration, we look in vain for any tokens or predictions of a process of gradual improvement, that is to usher in a brighter day. The whole Bible represents the world as growing66worse and worse, until the protracted controversy reaches its terrible consummation, in manifestations of divine indignation; compared with which, all previous national inflictions are like rain-drops before the storm.—Great Controversy by H. L. H.