Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
God will certainly call to account, judge, and avenge Himself upon a guilty people for these evils, for He does not bear with perversity forever but sets limits to His forbearance. His visiting is punishment measured by responsibility, coming as sudden calamity by fire, flood, earthquake and disaster by sea and land to warn that His Spirit will not always strive with men. He sees every secret scheme and work, for His eye never sleeps and all is weighed in the scales of eternal justice because He loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Every person is rewarded according to works, talents, light received and returns made to the Master, with the heaviest reckoning upon those who knew the truth yet disregarded His commands. This reckoning falls for trampling His Sabbath by an idol sabbath and exalting human law above the divine, for unfaithfulness and unconversion in His professed people, and for robbery of God, oppression of the poor, abuse of the colored race, and corrupt dealing for selfish gain.
Nature of Divine Visitation
The two questions declare certainty that God will visit, judge, call to account, and avenge Himself on such a nation and people for these things. The visitation falls on unfaithfulness in His professed people — cold zeal, feeble effort in service, loss of self-denial and cross-bearing, living as consumers and not producers, and an influence that obscures Christ and works death instead of life. As Israel was set aside for failing to possess the whole land and spread the truth, so the church today is on trial before the heavenly universe and will be rejected if it congregates for its own privileges and refuses to carry salvation into regions beyond. He does not bear with perversity forever, for there are limits to His forbearance, and profession of godliness without true conversion, without being born again, clinging to the old life and refusing undivided allegiance and entire consecration, greatly dishonors Him before the world. That consecration requires obtaining a rich, full understanding of His will by study and prayer, giving Him reign over every particle of life, obeying in the very smallest matters, and never laying off Christ's yoke.
Visiting and avenging mean calamity and punishment measured according to responsibility, falling especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands. There will ere long be a sudden change in His dealings because iniquity is swelling to terrible proportions, taught in fires, floods, earthquakes, the fury of the great deep, and calamities by sea and by land as warnings that His Spirit will not always strive with men. When institutions erected for His honor dishonor Him, impress disregard upon workers, refuse to turn to Him with full purpose of heart, and increase in hardness of heart that mocks Him, heavenly angels turn away with grieved countenances. Unless there is reformation, open calamity will overtake the disobedient so the world will know the reason, and the destruction by fire of two institutions in Battle Creek was such a warning to repent and be converted, with further punishment to follow if unheeded. Those who have received great light and evidence of truth yet turn from it, ignore repeated warnings, follow their own ideas and join the enemy's side must repent, otherwise judgment comes and He removes His Spirit from them.
His eye never slumbers or sleeps, so He sees all secret devising, works, purposes of evil, uncertain speculations, and every scheme to betray His cause. All such planning is written in the books of heaven, to be revealed when each is judged for what was done and the full results of opposing His purposes are made known. He knows who is faithful and who is unfaithful, and those who introduce condemned principles will one day see the consequences of their covetousness. He weighs all things in His scales of eternal justice because He loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and He calls to account neglect of duty to relieve the oppressed and needy. Even toward offenders who reject heaven-sent light that would have subdued natural traits, who follow unsanctified imagination in dishonorable provision for self, hinder His work, divert means into selfish channels, and bring reproach upon His cause until blindness and stubbornness leave them unable to feel need of eternal life, His purpose is still to transform poor dust and mold character after the divine likeness for companionship with angels, while the path chosen apart from Christ leads to death.
His judgment rewards every person according to works and deeds. Each is called to account for talents in intellect and in earthly treasure, and the amount of evidence presented, the number of talents received, and the returns made to the Master determine eternal destiny in the day when cases are decided and sentence is passed upon rejecters of mercy and great love provided by the sacrifice of Christ who bore the sins of Adam's sons and daughters. It is rendered by His unchanging Word and law, which do not shift to suit disobedience; twisting Scripture to support error and falsehood brings judgment, while His Word exposes evil and vindicates the righteous. Punishment is measured according to responsibility and light received and falls especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands, including the lawless and disloyal who exalt human authority and human laws above the divine and try to make the highest law void. So those with limited religious advantages who make diligent, persevering effort to lay hold on eternal life, over whom the Lord rejoices with singing, will rise up in judgment against the most favored with privileges and opportunities and light upon light.
Wrongs That Provoke Judgment
The verse judges transgression of the Bible Sabbath by framing an idol sabbath to take its place, putting the common where the sacred belongs and tearing down and trampling God's memorial of creation through acceptance of the institution of the Papacy. It judges cherishing willful ignorance that refuses rays from God's Word, shutting away from light, exalting sayings of men above sayings of God, and teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. It judges refusing to be disturbed, turning against messengers sent with warning and reproof, and accepting a false Sabbath while discarding the holy sanctified day for a common working day put in its place.
It judges transgressing His law and exalting human laws and authority above the divine, trying to make the highest law void. It judges lawlessness and disloyalty, for His law and Word do not change to suit disobedience, and twisting Scripture to support error and falsehood brings judgment by His Word which exposes evil and vindicates the righteous. It judges a world that has dropped eternity from reckoning, made mad by excitement and goaded to violence while multitudes including professing Christians applaud. It judges breaking God's law, which is transgression, while daring to say it is abrogated, though its binding claims remain as shown by heaven and earth not passing before one jot or tittle passes and by Christ coming not to destroy the law and the prophets and showing by His life that man can keep it and cannot break it guiltlessly.
It judges unfaithfulness in His professed people shown in cold zeal, feeble effort in service, loss of self-denial and cross-bearing, living as consumers and not producers, and exerting an influence that obscures Christ and works death instead of life. As Israel was set aside for failing to possess the whole land and spread the truth, so the church on trial before the heavenly universe will be rejected if it congregates for gospel privileges and refuses to carry salvation into regions beyond. It judges profession of godliness without true conversion, without being born again, clinging to the old life and failing undivided allegiance and entire consecration. It requires obtaining a rich, full understanding of God's will by study and prayer, giving Him reign over every particle of life, obeying in the smallest matters, and never laying off Christ's yoke.
It judges failure to turn to God with full purpose of heart, marked disregard of His commandments that leaves its impress on workers, and dishonoring Him in institutions erected for His honor. It judges continually increasing hardness of heart that mocks Him, including hardness in the publishing house, for which heavenly angels turn away with grieved countenances. Unless there is reformation, open calamity will overtake the disobedient so the world will know the reason, with punishment falling especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands and measured according to responsibility.
It judges rich, proud, self-indulgent men who live as if independent of God and unaccountable for land, money, and all goods they hold. Their wrong is robbery of God in worldly gain, neglect of the great Proprietor, worship of self, abuse returned when He comes to His vineyard for fruit, and unfaithful stewardship that puts justice and mercy away for avarice and strife. It judges misuse of entrusted wealth that neglects duty to relieve the suffering, poor, needy, and oppressed, laying up wrath for the day of wrath when each is rewarded according to deeds, for He loves righteousness and hates iniquity and weighs all in scales of eternal justice.
It judges a nation called Christian that will soon be visited for neglect and abuse of the colored race and for permitting great wrong. The wrong is depriving Black people of rights, treating them for generations like cattle, leaving them degraded, abused, and virtually in heathenism, closing almost every avenue to improvement because of color, and spending very little to teach the knowledge of God and to educate and elevate them. It judges setting before them an example of commonness and adultery, then torturing them to death for sins scarcely condemned in white people, whether proved guilty or not. In the Judgment the charge of neglect will fall with heavy weight on those claiming to be Christians who left millions of men, women, and children to become more depraved.
It judges the day when cases are decided and sentence passed on rejecters of mercy and great love provided by the sacrifice of Christ who bore the sins of Adam's sons and daughters. Each is called to account for talents in intellect and earthly treasure, evidence presented, and returns made to the Master, which determine eternal destiny. It applies to those with privileges, opportunities, and light upon light who place themselves on Satan's side to bring soul-destroying narcotics to foreign lands to pollute heathen nations with defiling, health-destroying drugs. It judges a professedly Christian nation forcing that traffic for revenue at the point of the sword and compelling acceptance of merchandise that degrades users below the brute creation, while those with limited advantages who diligently lay hold on eternal life, over whom the Lord rejoices with singing, will rise up in judgment against the most favored.
It judges oppression, deceit, and abuse of sacred trusts in the publishing work, with threats, manipulation, and unfair dealings for personal gain by responsible managers, harming others and sacrificing high principles. It judges coercive pressure, dishonest schemes, and merciless treatment of a person by those with greater power, for which perpetrators are called to account. It judges all dishonest, selfish introduction of condemned principles and covetousness, for He knows who is faithful and who is unfaithful, and consequences will one day be seen unless there is repentance and setting matters right.
It judges selfish dealing over wages in His work, where influence is used to increase pay contrary to self-sacrifice and justice between man and man. Those securing higher wages join a confederacy for robbery of God's treasury, over which evil angels exult, through systems of excessive wages and mutual support to serve self-interest in handling sacred work. Such a course displeases God, will react upon the doers, and will be exposed in His own time with consequences unless they repent and set matters right.
It judges withholding help, standing off and unjustly criticizing workers, and taking money raised and dedicated for the Southern Field for other uses that did not belong to the conference or to the Pacific Press. It judges keeping donated means in grasp, causing anxious trouble and needless trials to workers in a field destitute of means, counterworking His purposes, and delaying the work years behind, for which the guilty will not be held guiltless. It judges withholding money needed to spread the gospel so the spiritual vineyard lies unworked when many more laborers should carry truth to others, for which He withholds His goods in return. It judges working against counsel by human influence that kept workers in Battle Creek when they should have gone to lacking fields and opposed direction to move the publishing work and establish plants near but outside large cities and in other places, whose full results will be revealed when heaven's books are opened and each is judged for what was done.
It judges those in positions of responsibility and trust who reject God's way, abandon His instructions, follow their own ideas and plans, cling to unsanctified judgment, and resist correction. They lead others astray by example into false paths and error, joining the enemy's side after great light, evidence of truth, and repeated warnings, and are answerable both for their own mistakes and for harm their influence causes. It judges rejecting light sent from heaven that would have subdued natural traits, following unsanctified imagination in dishonorable provision for self, laying plans to hinder His work, diverting means into selfish channels, and bringing reproach upon His cause. Such blindness and stubbornness leave them unable to feel need of eternal life, with all secret devising, works, purposes of evil, and every scheme to betray His cause seen by the eye that never slumbers and written in heaven's books, though His purpose is still to transform worms of dust and mold character after the divine likeness while the path chosen apart from Christ leads to death, and He removes His Spirit from those who persist unless they repent.
God will certainly call to account, judge, and avenge Himself upon a guilty people for these evils, for He does not bear with perversity forever but sets limits to His forbearance. His visiting is punishment measured by responsibility, coming as sudden calamity by fire, flood, earthquake and disaster by sea and land to warn that His Spirit will not always strive with men. He sees every secret scheme and work, for His eye never sleeps and all is weighed in the scales of eternal justice because He loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Every person is rewarded according to works, talents, light received and returns made to the Master, with the heaviest reckoning upon those who knew the truth yet disregarded His commands. This reckoning falls for trampling His Sabbath by an idol sabbath and exalting human law above the divine, for unfaithfulness and unconversion in His professed people, and for robbery of God, oppression of the poor, abuse of the colored race, and corrupt dealing for selfish gain.
Nature of Divine Visitation
The two questions declare certainty that God will visit, judge, call to account, and avenge Himself on such a nation and people for these things. The visitation falls on unfaithfulness in His professed people — cold zeal, feeble effort in service, loss of self-denial and cross-bearing, living as consumers and not producers, and an influence that obscures Christ and works death instead of life. As Israel was set aside for failing to possess the whole land and spread the truth, so the church today is on trial before the heavenly universe and will be rejected if it congregates for its own privileges and refuses to carry salvation into regions beyond. He does not bear with perversity forever, for there are limits to His forbearance, and profession of godliness without true conversion, without being born again, clinging to the old life and refusing undivided allegiance and entire consecration, greatly dishonors Him before the world. That consecration requires obtaining a rich, full understanding of His will by study and prayer, giving Him reign over every particle of life, obeying in the very smallest matters, and never laying off Christ's yoke.
Visiting and avenging mean calamity and punishment measured according to responsibility, falling especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands. There will ere long be a sudden change in His dealings because iniquity is swelling to terrible proportions, taught in fires, floods, earthquakes, the fury of the great deep, and calamities by sea and by land as warnings that His Spirit will not always strive with men. When institutions erected for His honor dishonor Him, impress disregard upon workers, refuse to turn to Him with full purpose of heart, and increase in hardness of heart that mocks Him, heavenly angels turn away with grieved countenances. Unless there is reformation, open calamity will overtake the disobedient so the world will know the reason, and the destruction by fire of two institutions in Battle Creek was such a warning to repent and be converted, with further punishment to follow if unheeded. Those who have received great light and evidence of truth yet turn from it, ignore repeated warnings, follow their own ideas and join the enemy's side must repent, otherwise judgment comes and He removes His Spirit from them.
His eye never slumbers or sleeps, so He sees all secret devising, works, purposes of evil, uncertain speculations, and every scheme to betray His cause. All such planning is written in the books of heaven, to be revealed when each is judged for what was done and the full results of opposing His purposes are made known. He knows who is faithful and who is unfaithful, and those who introduce condemned principles will one day see the consequences of their covetousness. He weighs all things in His scales of eternal justice because He loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and He calls to account neglect of duty to relieve the oppressed and needy. Even toward offenders who reject heaven-sent light that would have subdued natural traits, who follow unsanctified imagination in dishonorable provision for self, hinder His work, divert means into selfish channels, and bring reproach upon His cause until blindness and stubbornness leave them unable to feel need of eternal life, His purpose is still to transform poor dust and mold character after the divine likeness for companionship with angels, while the path chosen apart from Christ leads to death.
His judgment rewards every person according to works and deeds. Each is called to account for talents in intellect and in earthly treasure, and the amount of evidence presented, the number of talents received, and the returns made to the Master determine eternal destiny in the day when cases are decided and sentence is passed upon rejecters of mercy and great love provided by the sacrifice of Christ who bore the sins of Adam's sons and daughters. It is rendered by His unchanging Word and law, which do not shift to suit disobedience; twisting Scripture to support error and falsehood brings judgment, while His Word exposes evil and vindicates the righteous. Punishment is measured according to responsibility and light received and falls especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands, including the lawless and disloyal who exalt human authority and human laws above the divine and try to make the highest law void. So those with limited religious advantages who make diligent, persevering effort to lay hold on eternal life, over whom the Lord rejoices with singing, will rise up in judgment against the most favored with privileges and opportunities and light upon light.
Wrongs That Provoke Judgment
The verse judges transgression of the Bible Sabbath by framing an idol sabbath to take its place, putting the common where the sacred belongs and tearing down and trampling God's memorial of creation through acceptance of the institution of the Papacy. It judges cherishing willful ignorance that refuses rays from God's Word, shutting away from light, exalting sayings of men above sayings of God, and teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. It judges refusing to be disturbed, turning against messengers sent with warning and reproof, and accepting a false Sabbath while discarding the holy sanctified day for a common working day put in its place.
It judges transgressing His law and exalting human laws and authority above the divine, trying to make the highest law void. It judges lawlessness and disloyalty, for His law and Word do not change to suit disobedience, and twisting Scripture to support error and falsehood brings judgment by His Word which exposes evil and vindicates the righteous. It judges a world that has dropped eternity from reckoning, made mad by excitement and goaded to violence while multitudes including professing Christians applaud. It judges breaking God's law, which is transgression, while daring to say it is abrogated, though its binding claims remain as shown by heaven and earth not passing before one jot or tittle passes and by Christ coming not to destroy the law and the prophets and showing by His life that man can keep it and cannot break it guiltlessly.
It judges unfaithfulness in His professed people shown in cold zeal, feeble effort in service, loss of self-denial and cross-bearing, living as consumers and not producers, and exerting an influence that obscures Christ and works death instead of life. As Israel was set aside for failing to possess the whole land and spread the truth, so the church on trial before the heavenly universe will be rejected if it congregates for gospel privileges and refuses to carry salvation into regions beyond. It judges profession of godliness without true conversion, without being born again, clinging to the old life and failing undivided allegiance and entire consecration. It requires obtaining a rich, full understanding of God's will by study and prayer, giving Him reign over every particle of life, obeying in the smallest matters, and never laying off Christ's yoke.
It judges failure to turn to God with full purpose of heart, marked disregard of His commandments that leaves its impress on workers, and dishonoring Him in institutions erected for His honor. It judges continually increasing hardness of heart that mocks Him, including hardness in the publishing house, for which heavenly angels turn away with grieved countenances. Unless there is reformation, open calamity will overtake the disobedient so the world will know the reason, with punishment falling especially on those who know the truth yet disregard His commands and measured according to responsibility.
It judges rich, proud, self-indulgent men who live as if independent of God and unaccountable for land, money, and all goods they hold. Their wrong is robbery of God in worldly gain, neglect of the great Proprietor, worship of self, abuse returned when He comes to His vineyard for fruit, and unfaithful stewardship that puts justice and mercy away for avarice and strife. It judges misuse of entrusted wealth that neglects duty to relieve the suffering, poor, needy, and oppressed, laying up wrath for the day of wrath when each is rewarded according to deeds, for He loves righteousness and hates iniquity and weighs all in scales of eternal justice.
It judges a nation called Christian that will soon be visited for neglect and abuse of the colored race and for permitting great wrong. The wrong is depriving Black people of rights, treating them for generations like cattle, leaving them degraded, abused, and virtually in heathenism, closing almost every avenue to improvement because of color, and spending very little to teach the knowledge of God and to educate and elevate them. It judges setting before them an example of commonness and adultery, then torturing them to death for sins scarcely condemned in white people, whether proved guilty or not. In the Judgment the charge of neglect will fall with heavy weight on those claiming to be Christians who left millions of men, women, and children to become more depraved.
It judges the day when cases are decided and sentence passed on rejecters of mercy and great love provided by the sacrifice of Christ who bore the sins of Adam's sons and daughters. Each is called to account for talents in intellect and earthly treasure, evidence presented, and returns made to the Master, which determine eternal destiny. It applies to those with privileges, opportunities, and light upon light who place themselves on Satan's side to bring soul-destroying narcotics to foreign lands to pollute heathen nations with defiling, health-destroying drugs. It judges a professedly Christian nation forcing that traffic for revenue at the point of the sword and compelling acceptance of merchandise that degrades users below the brute creation, while those with limited advantages who diligently lay hold on eternal life, over whom the Lord rejoices with singing, will rise up in judgment against the most favored.
It judges oppression, deceit, and abuse of sacred trusts in the publishing work, with threats, manipulation, and unfair dealings for personal gain by responsible managers, harming others and sacrificing high principles. It judges coercive pressure, dishonest schemes, and merciless treatment of a person by those with greater power, for which perpetrators are called to account. It judges all dishonest, selfish introduction of condemned principles and covetousness, for He knows who is faithful and who is unfaithful, and consequences will one day be seen unless there is repentance and setting matters right.
It judges selfish dealing over wages in His work, where influence is used to increase pay contrary to self-sacrifice and justice between man and man. Those securing higher wages join a confederacy for robbery of God's treasury, over which evil angels exult, through systems of excessive wages and mutual support to serve self-interest in handling sacred work. Such a course displeases God, will react upon the doers, and will be exposed in His own time with consequences unless they repent and set matters right.
It judges withholding help, standing off and unjustly criticizing workers, and taking money raised and dedicated for the Southern Field for other uses that did not belong to the conference or to the Pacific Press. It judges keeping donated means in grasp, causing anxious trouble and needless trials to workers in a field destitute of means, counterworking His purposes, and delaying the work years behind, for which the guilty will not be held guiltless. It judges withholding money needed to spread the gospel so the spiritual vineyard lies unworked when many more laborers should carry truth to others, for which He withholds His goods in return. It judges working against counsel by human influence that kept workers in Battle Creek when they should have gone to lacking fields and opposed direction to move the publishing work and establish plants near but outside large cities and in other places, whose full results will be revealed when heaven's books are opened and each is judged for what was done.
It judges those in positions of responsibility and trust who reject God's way, abandon His instructions, follow their own ideas and plans, cling to unsanctified judgment, and resist correction. They lead others astray by example into false paths and error, joining the enemy's side after great light, evidence of truth, and repeated warnings, and are answerable both for their own mistakes and for harm their influence causes. It judges rejecting light sent from heaven that would have subdued natural traits, following unsanctified imagination in dishonorable provision for self, laying plans to hinder His work, diverting means into selfish channels, and bringing reproach upon His cause. Such blindness and stubbornness leave them unable to feel need of eternal life, with all secret devising, works, purposes of evil, and every scheme to betray His cause seen by the eye that never slumbers and written in heaven's books, though His purpose is still to transform worms of dust and mold character after the divine likeness while the path chosen apart from Christ leads to death, and He removes His Spirit from those who persist unless they repent.