In this last installment of the study of Jacob’s time of trouble, we’ll look at some remaining quotes from brother Houteff. Then we’ll make a final summary as to how we see the whole view of this coming trouble.
Jer. 30:4-6 — “And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”
The cause of the fear here forecast is fundamentally needless and unnecessary, declares the Lord.
Jer. 30:7 — “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”
The people that have come to this antitypical time of trouble are returning to the homeland, are comforted. Apparently it is bad enough to frighten all, but God’s encouraging counsel is, “Fear not.”
Plainly, the burden of this chapter is concerning the antitypical returning to the homeland. Though terrible the trouble may seem, yet the outcome of it is to be the same as in the type. (Timely Greetings, volume 1, no.47, p.14)
We know that the anti-typical Jacobs who survive, will begin to make the trek back to the “homeland”, Israel. Brother Houteff says. “apparently it is bad enough to frighten all..” and “though terrible the trouble may seem..”, this could be the fearful understanding of the mighty armed men who are falsely protecting the promised land right after the war. This thought could very well make the 144,000 worry and afraid.
Jer. 30:12-19 — “For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.”
After having gone through their captivity, the people shall fully realize God’s mercy and His wisdom to save them. They shall be happy forevermore, for He will multiply them in the land of their fathers, and there He will make them great. (Ibid. p.16-17)
In this Scripture, I was struck how these words are applicable right now. The words such as “incurable, grievous,wound of an enemy, chastisement of a cruel one, etc.” surely describes those within the church now, who have experienced slander, murmuring, demotions and dis-fellow shipping, and other such injustices against them, all because of sticking up for the Truth. Therefore “captivity” surely means this time that the Jacobs are going through right now and even in brother Houteff’s day as well. This must be something they have to go through, the Lord’s refining process.
Expounding on the trouble to take place, brother Houteff correctly prophesied the use “of the civil arm of power to accomplish their evil ends.”
It’s amazing how the great God of recompense, will one day soon turn the tables on those who are now held “captive” by the Esaus within the church. They have been effectively silenced yet the Lord promises —
“And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.
Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful , and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.”(Isaiah 49:5-6)
Wow! What reward will be for those who endure the sufferings and “captivity”!
The S.D.A. church, repeating the history of the Jews (5 T 160), will be swayed by its “priests” and “rulers” today to take a course against “the faithful servants of God “similar to that followed by the priests and rulers in their treatment of Christ’s and the apostles'”. As the 144,000 become more and more like their Saviour, “the light of the world.” making manifest the “darkness and error” enveloping the church, the leaders in their “fanatical hatred” of the saints will move “the mob to a mad fury” against them and, in desperation born of blind and raging hatred, will reach out for the civil arm of power to accomplish their evil ends, merging the following type into antitype.(Sym. Code, vol. 1, no.9, p.3).
Those who have supported and promoted the Lord’s final message of the Shepherd’s Rod have often been first hand witnesses to the un-Christ like behavior from the “Esaus” in the church. Just recently we showed a video of a woman and her kids being escorted from the church by police, for just sticking up for the truth about abortion in our churches while in Sabbath school. The civil arm has been used on more than few occasions against those who’ve embraced His Elijah message. In fact, yours truly experienced the civil arm of the Lord when I helped out “sieging” a church a while back.
(Picture of cop called out by SDA church officials to interrogate woman and her children)
We did a post a while back that showed the leaders upset and physically threatening some young believers in Zambia, simply because they dare to kneel in prayer upon entering the church. The church leaders did not want “new customs” and were upset because the young men were trying upstage the churches “set time for kneeling and praying”. Hard to believe the “gross darkness” engulfing the church because the Jacobs dare to kneel as the Spirit moves them for God’s honor and truth.
Brother Houteff wrote of the reason why the SDA church leaders perpetrated their stand against the truth of his Elijah message. This is the foundation upon the trouble to the Jacobs of the church–
By having instilled in rank and file throughout Laodicea an unprecedented fear and prejudice against reading or hearing anything but that which enjoys someone’s official sanction and blessing, Satan’s subversives have sought to sever the lines of communication between the Spirit of Truth and the people of God. Then to hold them in subjection to themselves and their worldly standards, they threaten with disfellowshipment and perdition any who, fearing God more than man, would dare venture to know the Truth for themselves.
And the few who do have the courage to carry out their convictions, straightway in consequence become targets for the Enemy’s fiercest darts of opposition, — bitterest prejudice, scandalizing falsehood and character defamation, ridicule and scorn and hatred embarrassment and hardship.
Thus “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:12) find themselves “outcasts” (Isa. 66:5; Luke 6:22; Acts 24:14) at the hands of persecutive forces perpetuating and even outdoing the worst that was ever in Judaism and Romanism. And what is still worse, when these revivalists of tyranny, clothed in apostle like robes, succeed in confusing and overthrowing the faith of an investigator or of a follower of Truth for this very time, they compel him to submit to rebaptism in order to be readmitted into church fellowship, even though he has become more faithful than ever before! What astounding blasphemy! (White House Recruiter, p.54-55)
Ok, lets now turn to more references on our subject.
After twenty years of faithful service in Padan-Aram, in the sharp, overreaching employ of Laban, his uncle, Jacob at last turned his face and his steps homeward toward his father’s house in the land of promise.
But trouble overtook him. While grappling with his fears as to the outcome of his imminent meeting with Esau “there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” Gen. 32:24
Here lay down the man Jacob and rose up the man Israel, exemplifying the agonizing experience through which his posterity must victoriously pass before they, too, receive a new name, pass from sons of Jacob to sons of God, become Israelites indeed. Having gained the victory over this test, “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” they will reach home, the land of promise — the happy end of their long and troubled journey.
On this trying and testing time the Spirit of Prophecy comments: “A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob’s trouble” — Early Writings, pp. 36, 37. (See also Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 202, 203.) (SRod Tract no.1, p.36)
In the highlighted area we want to add a comment. The word’s “the happy end of their long and troubled journey” must include the experience of the 144,000 while in the church pre-Ezekiel 9. This way the word “long” makes sense. We know that after the church judgment the elect will hasten to go home quickly as the message tells us–
Zech. 14:3, 4 — “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
At the time Jerusalem, that now is, falls, the Lord’s feet shall stand upon Mount of Olives and there make a very great valley; that is, remove the obstacles and hindrances, and thus prepare the land for the returning of His people. Then it is that the prophecy of Zechariah 10:8 — that the Lord shall “hiss” for His people — will have met its fulfillment.
Zech. 14:5 — “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”
Having thus opened the way for the re-establishment of the house of Judah, His people, who beforehand have been informed of it through present Truth, will flee to the valley, to where the Lord’s feet stand, as quickly as if they were fleeing from an earthquake; and all the saints thereafter follow after them.(Timely Greetings, vol. 1, no.19, p.4-5)
Here we see that Inspiration tells us that right after the war, when the Lord stands on the Mount of Olives, the 144,000 will “flee to the valley, to where the Lord’s feet stand, AS QUICKLY as if they were fleeing an earthquake..” So we see that the trip post Ezekiel 9 to the promised land will be rather quick. The “long journey” therefore must include the experiences of the days of church persecution pre-Ezekiel 9, which spiritually speaking is the first part of our “long” journey.
“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” (Rev. 12:16)
Or, literally stated, the unconverted who are now in the midst of the church, are to be slain and buried. The converted are then to be taken into the kingdom. Then will the dragon be “wroth with the woman, and…make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17)
Stirred to fury over her purification, the dragon will make war “with the remnant of her seed.” Against her personally, though, he will not war, because her communicants, the 144,000 (the first fruits — Rev. 7:3-8; 14:4), those who go first into the kingdom, stand with the Lamb, the King, on Mount Sion (Rev. 14:1) His palace grounds. Thus being the rulers of the tribes, they are symbolized by the crowned woman. And being in their own land, they are protected from the dragon who consequently persecutes only the “remnant,” those who are left behind, who are still in Babylon but who are finally called out of her (Rev. 18:4).(Tract no.12, p.44)
Ah here is something extremely insightful. We notice that the 144,o00 are “protected” once in the kingdom. The dragon (Satan) goes to trouble those outside the kingdom! Let’s look at one more similar quote from the Elijah message.
“Fruits” garnered are the result of a harvest. When the 144,000, the first fruits (Rev. 14:4), are garnered in, and the tares (flood) are destroyed (swallowed) from among them, the 144,000 are taken to Mt. Zion, where they then comprise the Mother church, the twelve-star-crowned woman, under the protection of the Lamb, the One with them. Thus protected, she is secure from the dragon’s then making war against her. So he wars only against her “remnant,” those yet to be garnered-the second fruits still scattered throughout the world, away from Mt. Zion. This climax of the ages was vividly foretold by both Isaiah and Micah:
“But in the last days,” declares Micah, “it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Mic. 4:1, 2. (See also Isaiah 2).
From these scriptures, it is plainly seen that Mt. Zion becomes the headquarters for the last gospel work on earth, after the time the 144,000 arrive there, and during the time the dragon wars against the remnant “for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem”-no longer from the General Conference, or from Mt. Carmel Center. (Answerer, vol. 2, Q-26)
Again Inspiration clearly points out that the 144,000 are protected within the kingdom. So the last work of proclaiming the Gospel is to have the “headquarters” based from Mt.Zion. This would indicate that, a sort of home base is to be established from which the 144,000 are to leave and return on a regular basis. Sort of like missionary missions to the souls stuck in Babylon(false religions-churches).
One may ask– If the 144,000 go outside of the Kingdom, wouldn’t they then be able to be attacked by Satan and his human agents? Not necessarily, because the Scripture make it clear that His “redeemed” , the 144,000 are to be protected no matter what.
“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.But you will not go out in haste, Nor will you go as fugitives; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”(Isaiah 52:8-12)
This concludes the references from Victor Houteff. So now we must “put it all together” and get the whole view from our blocks of truth. From what we’ve gathered so far, it is clear that Ellen White was given much more revelations of this trouble during the “post” church judgment (Ezekiel 9). Brother Houteff was given more before as well as after. Being the “restorer” (Matt. 17:11) he obviously was given a more complete picture of Jacob’s time of trouble.
SUMMARY
As we mentioned in the beginning, this subject is quite entailed and is not so easily clear to understand. But we did get enough building blocks of truth to see a general whole view.
Ellen White showed us that the trouble comes in the time period after the SDA church judgement. She showed that it comes both before the close of the “world’s” probation and after it. So it appears that she is equating the “Jacobs” as those who are not within the kingdom, because we just found out that the 144,000 will be protected. I am not sure how we can type and anti-type this but it appears that she is calling the “remnant”, those left behind who come out of Babylon, -Jacob– and consequently the Esaus which come from the same Mother (churches of Babylon) are persecuting them. For instance she says, “As Jacob was threatened with death by his angry brother, so the people of God will be in peril from the wicked who are seeking to destroy them.”(PP, p.201-203)
We know that the 144,000 are untouchable, because we just read–“Thus protected, she is secure from the dragon’s then making war against her. So he wars only against her “remnant,” those yet to be garnered-the second fruits still scattered throughout the world, away from Mt. Zion.(Answerer, vol. 2, Q-26).
So in order for EGW’s statement to apply it has to be concerning the “second fruits”, otherwise known as the “great multitude”. Again she says, “The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble.” ( GC, p.615-616)
The Elijah message tells us of great joy by the people in the kingdom, such as “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.(Jer.31:13).
So obviously there appears two scenarios. The “Jacobs” of the world, and the Jacobs of the SDA church. A double application. Brother Houteff expounded clearly on the pre-Ezekiel 9 trouble to which singularly applies to the SDA church. Then he described the “short” trouble that can come immediately after the church judgment. But thank God , brother Houteff gives us an uplifting picture of the final result of the long-suffering “Jacobs” within the SDA church. Scripture does also–
“..a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it ,even to the years of many generations.” (Joel 2:2)
So there we have it, two scenarios to play out within the final events. Jacobs and Esaus playing their respective parts, in the world and in the church. As we cannot be sure of all the details, we are thankful for the light that the Lord has provided in regards to this glorious and troubling time–known as the long awaited– JACOB’S TIME OF TROUBLE.
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