The Time of Jacob's Trouble

Chapter 19: The Time of Jacob's Trouble

How did the Lord describe the dreadful period of anguish
that the king of Babylon would bring upon Judah?
Jeremiah 30: 5-7-- "This is what the Lord says: "'Cries of fear are heard-
-terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do
I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,
every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will
be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved
out of it.

Shortly after the angel of mercy takes her flight, what will Satan
and his hosts bring upon modern Israel?
"As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the
impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that
the limit of God's forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's
iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight,
never to return. The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of
affliction and distress which prophets have described as the time of Jacob's
trouble" (5T 451).

Over what issue will Satan stir up all the world
against Seventh-day Adventists?
"As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout
Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce
the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to
yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration"
(GC 615).

What will be the immediate cause of this terrible period of distress?
"I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus' work
was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues. These
plagues enraged the wicked against the righteous; they thought that we had
brought the judgements of God upon them, and that if they could rid the earth
of us, the plagues would then be stayed. 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" (EW 36, 37).
"A decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of
the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment
and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.
Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a
similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts.
"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 615, 616).

Why is this crisis called
"the time of Jacob's trouble"?
Genesis 32: 24-28 -- So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with
him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched
the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not
let you go unless you bless me." The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob,"
he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,
because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
"Jacob and Esau represent two classes: Jacob, the righteous, and Esau, the wicked.
Jacob's distress when he learned that Esau was marching against him with four hundred
men represents the trouble of the righteous as the decree goes forth to put them to
death, just before the coming of the Lord. As the wicked gather about them, they will
be filled with anguish, for, like Jacob, they can see no escape for their lives. The
angel placed himself before Jacob, and he took hold of the angel and held him and
wrestled with him all night. So also will the righteous, in their time of trouble and
anguish, wrestle in prayer with God, as Jacob wrestled with the angel. Jacob in his
distress prayed all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau. The righteous in their
mental anguish will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the hand of the wicked
who surround them" (SR 97 [3SG 131, 132]).
"Jacob's experience during that night of wrestling and anguish represents the trial
through which the people of God must pass just before Christ's second coming. The
prophet Jeremiah, in holy vision looking down to this time, said, '...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' (Jer. 30: 5-7).

Do all Seventh-day Adventists agree that the "time of Jacob's trouble"
will begin with the universal death decree after probation's close?
No, they do not. There are some who believe that the time of Jacob's trouble will
begin with the national Sunday law prior to the close of probation. Their conclusion is
based on the following statement: "To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will
yield to the demand for a Sunday law...As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to
the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign
to us that the limit of God's forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's
iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.
The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress which
prophets have described as the time of Jacob's trouble" (5T 451).
Actually, the statement in 5T 451 harmonizes perfectly with quotations already
cited. The people of God will "then" (after the angel of mercy takes her flight) be
plunged into the time of Jacob's trouble.

Can we get a complete picture of this bitter ordeal from the Spirit of Prophecy?
"The 'time of trouble, such as never was' is soon to open upon us; and we shall
need an experience which we do not now possess and which many are too indolent
to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality;
but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach
the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself
before God" (GC 622).

Would the time of Jacob's trouble be too severe a test
for even some genuine Christians?
1 Corinthians 10: 13--No temptation has seized you except what is common
to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under
it.
"It is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing. ...He knows whether or
not those for whom petitions are offered would be able to endure the trial and test that
would come upon them if they lived. He knows the end from the beginning. Many will be
laid away to sleep before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble shall come upon our
world" (CH 375).
"The Lord has often instructed me that many little ones are to be laid away before
the time of trouble. We shall see our children again. We shall meet them and know them
in the heavenly courts" (2SM 259).

Where will the people of God be at this time?
See "Chapter 18: The Death Decree," "While they are waiting to be slain, where
will God's people be?"

Is it advisable for us to plan now for our
temporal wants in the time of trouble?
"The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any
provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food
laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence
are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap
their fields" (EW 56).
"Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they
will then have to flee before infuriated mobs" (ibid. 56).

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