John Thiel mp3
Jeremiah 35:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 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? 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 day of God, we are going into the details of the day of the Lord but today in its association with Jacob’s trouble. Indeed, we are continuing in our preparation for the day of God. And why are we doing it? Why is it so important to go through this subject? Is it indeed meeting due season? Is it important what we are going through? I want to read some quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy to direct our minds. This is the testimony of Jesus that is communicating with us these important thoughts.
The end is very near, God’s people should be preparing for what is to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise. Maranatha page 161 paragraph 2 and 3
Are you taking it in? Sister White wrote that back there. And the problems that have been upon this planet have surprised a lot of people. But it’s not the conclusion of that overwhelming surprise. God’s people should be preparing for what? That which is to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.
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, too indolent to obtain. Maranatha page 161 paragraph 2 and 3
I pray and hope that as we are confronted with God’s Word here this morning and to worship Him intelligently in spirit and in truth, we will comprehend the seriousness and the intense importance of what we are considering together. It is often the case, it goes on to say, that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality. But this is not true of the crisis. God, for himself alone, though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
These are weighty statements for us to absorb. We know already that the terrible perplexity that arrived in the First World War overwhelmed Seventh Day Adventists about these words to come. We need to be prepared, and that’s why this intense work of the messages I’m sharing is taking place.
Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the Word of God and striving to conform their lives. Maranatha page 68 in paragraph 7
We will be so diligent in studying the Word of God, not only studying it, but conforming our lives to its precepts. I want you please to realise that as you listen to this sermon and all the other sermons I’m sharing, I am giving you Bible study. I am not just an ordinary preacher. Many preachers today just talk and use a text here or there. But I am sharing with you exactly what I just read with you here, that what you should be diligently doing is studying the Word of God and striving to conform your lives to its precepts so that you will be prepared for this terrible overwhelming surprise.
My work is not merely to talk to you. My work is therefore to take you through these Bible studies so that you can go home and study it over yourself and apply it to yourself so that you will be prepared. Otherwise, my work is not what God wants it to be. He wants us to study diligently the word so that we will be prepared. Every message is a diligent study of the word to assist us to that end to be prepared.
This hour I want to branch out from our meditation that we had last Sabbath, as we read Isaiah 63. We want to branch out from there into understanding the subject of Jacob’s trouble. The day of the Lord is a day in which God, Jesus, is treading the wine press, and we understood or tried to understand from God’s word what that wine press actually was and how much we are involved in that wine press. Jesus is talking about treading the wine press, but first referring to this:
Isaiah 63:3-5 I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I will tread them in my anger and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in my heart.
He tramples underfoot the wicked who have rejected His beautiful way out for them to be saved. He will trample them; it’s the day of his fury of vengeance and at the same time the year of my redeemed. Why did he link the day of vengeance with the day of the redeemed? Is there something in his mind that we are called upon to examine?
let’s consider this by turning to Isaiah 26 because in the day of His wrath it is the day, it is the year of His redeemed. Isaiah 26 makes a connection for us. he calls upon us beforehand so that we will be able to handle this day of the Lord:
Isaiah 26:20-21 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself as it were for there’s a preparation for the indignation, for behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain.”
Can you see the wine press? Blood will flow in the wine press. This is the day of vengeance that Jesus was talking about there before, hide thyself until the indignation be overpassed. There is something here that we need to comprehend. This is important to understand what is meant with the chambers that we are to hide in.
What are the chambers in which they are to hide?—They are the protection of Christ and holy angels. The people of God are not at this time all in one place. They are in different companies, and in all parts of the earth; and they will be tried singly, not in groups. Every one must stand the test for himself (The Review and Herald, November 19, 1908). 4BC 1143.6
We will be tried singly. We must stand the test for ourselves. Can you see the link in Isaiah chapter 63? What was it there? There will be nobody to help me then. Jesus says this is not just my treading underfoot the wicked. This is God’s people that are linking together with me that will be in great need of standing alone without any help from anybody.
If we’re going to stand then, what do we need to do now? We need such a knowledge of Him that will sustain me when I meet that horrendous, overwhelming, surprising experience. I need to be prepared by what? By studying the Word. I need to be prepared so I can learn from Jesus how to be able to stand in that day.
Let’s see the link that Jesus is trying to communicate with us here. Notice some important details as we proceed through this research of the day of Jacob’s trouble. An overwhelming surprise.
Jeremiah 30:5-7 “For thus saith the LORD, we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace.
Tell me, when Jesus was treading the wine press alone, was he at peace? Was he fearing? Was he crying?
Jeremiah 30:5-7 Ask ye now, and see whether a man does travail with child. Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loyals as a woman in travail and all faces are turned into paleness.”
All faces pale. “Alas.” Now that word “alas” is a word that is an expression of true horror taking place around us.
Jeremiah 30:5-7 Alas for that day is great so that none is like it at the time of trouble such as never was.
Remember that? Daniel chapter 12. Then when Jesus stands up it’s going to be a time of trouble such as never was. The time of Jacob’s trouble.
Jeremiah 30;5-7 It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
We need to understand how out of this terrible time, such as never has been, we will be saved out of it. That time of Jacob’s trouble. We see it here, that link of a time that Jesus met in Gethsemane. I just want to really bring the point home because I’m going to read it afterwards and you know the scripture yourself anyway. Jesus had to overcome that terrible test that he went through in Gethsemane. And we will not have to know how to overcome when the wine press of God’s wrath is being trodden.
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble
Such will be the experience of God’s people in their final struggle with the powers of evil. God will test their faith, their perseverance, their confidence in His power to deliver them. Satan will endeavor to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless; CC 68.5
Satan will endeavour to terrify them with the thought of a discovery in your feelings and your thoughts, “My case is hopeless.” That their sins have been too great to receive pardon. Try to comprehend what is stated here. That when this experience comes your way, you feel like, “I can’t handle this, this is overwhelming me, overwhelming surprise. You know, when people have come to me and some of you know, you’ve come to me and you’ve told me this, “I can’t see in my way through, I can’t make it.” We are already in such a time, and it’s going to get worse. We need a knowledge, so that when those thoughts that Satan is permitted to terrify you with, Satan is the one that gives you that thought. When you have that thought, that thought does not come from God. It does not come from Jesus. It comes from Satan, and in this time of Jacob’s trouble, he is endeavouring to terrify you with the thought that your case is hopeless, that your sins have been too great to receive pardon.
They will have a deep sense of their shortcomings, and as they review their lives their hopes will sink. But remembering the greatness of God’s mercy, and their own sincere repentance5 CC 68.5
Sister White has just taken us into the scene of Jacob’s experience. Go with me to Jacob’s experience. Genesis 32 is the time that Jacob went through, which is our experience, the time of Jacob’s trouble that we will meet this terrible time that never was before, that can overwhelm you with an overwhelming surprise, but we are studying now so that when that happens to you, you are fully equipped, you are prepared to understand.
Jacob was left alone; he was on his way back and he had the message sent to him that Esau, the one who he had sinned against, was coming with 400 soldiers and it was terror-stricken. He did his best to try and ameliorate the problem, and then he was left alone.
Genesis 32: 24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Remember, the time of Jacob’s trouble shall be saved out of it, but how will we be saved out of it? This is the important material here. What are the two factors that Jacob was experiencing here, the experience? He was meeting the consequences of his past sin, his brother that he supplanted with. The one that he had deceived was coming after him. His past sin is returning to haunt him. And secondly, while he was there in this anguish of this discovery, someone touches him and what does he think? Oh, here comes my enemy.
Let’s read some detail as we seek to understand this time of Jacob’s trouble that, as we read already, is coming our way if it hasn’t already.
Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth; it was midnight. All that made life dear to him were at a distance, exposed to danger and death. Patriarchs and Prophets, page 196
I don’t know how well you can comprehend this; I comprehend it very closely, everything that is dear to you.”
While he was thus battling for his life, the sense of his guilt pressed upon his soul; his sins rose up before him, to shut him out from God. But in his terrible extremity he remembered God’s promises, PP 196.3
Remember what God’s promise was? Remember when he fled from Esau? He saw the ladder? He had something to remember. These are all such important details to prepare. He remembered God’s promises, and his whole heart went out in entreaty for his mercy. While he was fighting, all these sins were coming up before him and then he remembers God’s promises.
But in his terrible extremity he remembered God’s promises, and his whole heart went out in entreaty for His mercy. The struggle continued until near the break of day, when the stranger placed his finger upon Jacob’s thigh. PP 196.3
What is the detail of this experience? Because this experience is symbolic in all the detail of God’s people going through in the time of the day of the Lord. That is what it is symbolic of.
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, “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace…. All faces are turned into paleness. 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.” Jeremiah 30:5-7. PP 201.1
When Jesus leaves His position as man’s intercessor before God, the solemn announcement is made, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. Then the restraining Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth. 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. And as the patriarch wrestled all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau, so the righteous will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the enemies that surround them. PP 201.2
What a lot of information is here to be understood.
Jacob’s night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from the hand of Esau represents the experience of God’s people in the time of trouble because of the deception practiced. GC 616.2
Notice there is a link between his suffering of the fear of the attacks of his enemy and his own mistake that his enemy is somebody whom he has sinned against.
Because of the deception practiced to secure his father’s blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother’s deadly threats. After remaining for many years an exile, he had set out, at God’s command, to return with his wives and children, his flocks and herds, to his native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s approach at the head of a band of warriors, doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob’s company, unarmed and defenceless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter. And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of self-reproach, for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. GC 616.2
Such important information here that we need to be understanding because we’re going to spend a bit of time in exploring that. Who are in the wine press of God’s wrath? They are the ones like in Esau’s example, Jacob.
And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of self-reproach, for it was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves nothing undone on his own part to atone for the wrong to his brother and to avert the threatened danger. So should the followers of Christ, as they approach the time of trouble, make every exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger which threatens liberty of conscience. GC 616.2
The wicked and those who have not accepted the beautiful gift of Jesus will now be free to exercise their passions, and they will slaughter one another, and they will attack you and me because of what they have been led by Satan to believe against us. Are we comprehending?
Satan is at work through these people. As he accused Jacob, he will urge his accusations against the people of God. He numbers the world as his subjects, but the little company who keep the commandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he could plot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. He sees that holy angels are guarding them, and he infers that their sins have been pardoned, but he does not know that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary above.
He has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted them to commit, and he presents these before God in the most exaggerated light, representing this people to be just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. He declares that the Lord cannot in justice forgive their sins, and yet destroy him and his angels. He claims them as his prey, and demands that they be given into his hands to destroy. GC88
To pick up the real experience of all this, the association with guilt, and their sins that they have as Joseph, as Jacob had, that sense of his own guilt, and now he’s suffering the consequences of it. This is the picture. Former brethren and relatives who know our past. That’s the picture just like Esau.
As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins upon their destruction, yet the anguish which they suffer is not a dread of persecution for the truth’s sake; they fear that every sin has not been repented of and that through some fault in themselves they will fail to realize the fulfillment of the Saviour’s promise: ‘I will keep them from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the earth,’ that’s the promise. If they could have an assurance of pardon, they will not shrink. GC 628.3
Those who live in the last days must pass through an experience similar to that of Jacob. Those will be all around them ready to condemn and destroy. That’s what the issue is. They’ve got knowledge. Satan’s got a knowledge of you, and they will turn upon us for the knowledge they have of our past mistakes and sins. Alarm and despair will seize God’s people for it appears to them as to Jacob in his distress that God himself has become an avenging enemy.
What? That’s what he thought. It was an enemy that touched him, and the thought will come to us as well that now I am meeting an enemy when it’s really God. Are you comprehending? I don’t know how much I have to emphasize this for you to comprehend because I’m telling you I’ve been through this. I have been through this, and I know whatever is coming in the future is a repeat of what I’ve already been through.
It is something in this story that we all need to embrace very, very diligently. Remember, we are to be prepared for that day by diligent Bible study. I’m sharing with you the words of the testimony of Jesus. Was it not that Jesus trod the winepress alone so that in the day of the Lord, when He treads the wine press of God’s wrath? He is doing what? He is letting the people’s passions that he has not managed to take away from them by his grace. They will now be let loose, and those people’s passions as they destroy each other will come and destroy you and me if they were allowed to destroy you.
“I will drink, I will sup with you and you with me.” And then what does he say? “To them that overcome even as I overcame, will I grant to sit with me in my throne?” What does he say? “I was treading the wine press alone and with me there was nobody to help me; therefore my own righteousness gave me the victory. You who live in the time of Laodicea, you will come to that experience. You must drink and eat with me so that you can overcome as I overcame.'”
This is a different experience than anybody else has ever had. We must remember that he drank the bitter cup of our guilt, of our experience, of our condemnation. You heard me read that last divine service. All our sins were crushing Him; He was being crushed. Let us now prepare by verse 20 of Revelation 3: “What was that? I want to drink with you the cup of suffering that you are going to meet who are living in the period of Laodicea.”
Jesus had taken the cup of suffering from the lips of guilty man. Wasn’t that the case? He suffered with my guilt, with everybody else’s guilt, and if we believe in Him, we will be saved. It will be the year of the redeemed, while it’s going to be the year of vengeance on those who have rejected that. He had taken the cup of suffering from the lips of guilty man and proposed to drink it himself and in its place to give to man the cup of blessing. You want to understand what that means.
The bitter cup was apportioned to us to drink. Our sins mingled it. But our dear Saviour took the cup from our lips and drank it Himself, and in its stead He presents to us a cup of … salvation.5 FLB 97.6
What was that? He shall be saved out of it. If you are a follower of Jesus as it really is meant to be, then you will go through Jacob’s trouble together with Jesus. You will drink together with Him your own discovery of your own sinfulness, as I read it there. And Jesus says, “That’s exactly what I suffered. Come on, here is the cup of salvation. I’m here with you. Drink with me the recovery from this.”
We cannot measure how much deeper our sin is. “I will not let you go.” He was redeemed. This is the important understanding that when we go through these horrifying experiences as we’ve just been reading, that we will drink together with Jesus the wonderful recovery of salvation through this. “I will not let you go. I’m going to hang on to your wonderful mercy to me,” and He can’t shake us off.
We may rejoice in hope through His our advocate’s merits. We have pardon and peace. He died that He might wash away our sins, clothe us with his righteousness, and fit us for the society of heaven where we may dwell in light forever. Are we picking up God’s thoughts here? This is essential that we will be so informed in our study of God’s Word that when that horrifying day comes to you, you will have the answer.
If you’re not studying God’s Word, I’m studying it here with you, but you must make it your own because wrestling with God. What was that? What was the answer there in Jeremiah 30:7? This horrifying day of Jacob’s trouble, he shall be saved out of it through Jesus Christ. Yes? We will be. And then by what we know now and put into practice, remember what I read in the very beginning? We need to study the word and put it into practice so that we will be prepared to meet this time.
Jacob’s history, his experience, yes, is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin but who have returned unto him with true repentance. He will not cast you off. Yes, you may have sinned grievously. Yes, Satan will bring it all in front of you. He’s going to try and squash the life out of you. You’re going to be treading the wine press alone. Truly, and that was what we can read in greater detail how if Jacob would not have repented he would not have survived, and if we haven’t repented we wouldn’t survive either. But we have repented because we know that those sins have crucified Jesus.
While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send his angels to comfort and protect them in the distress. Seasons of distress and anguish before us. Now here is now the concluding summary. Follow it closely, just like Jacob did. This is now the detail. The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure. Can you endure? A faith that will endure, weariness, delay. The prayer won’t be answered straight away. And hunger. A faith that will not faint, those severely tried.
The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. GC 621.2
Wrestling with God. How few know what it is. Do you know what it means to wrestle with God as Jacob did? How few, Sister White says, how few know what it is. How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair, which no language can express, sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God, “I will not let you go unless thou bless me.”
If you haven’t been through it already, you’ll be coming. It’s coming. That I can still stand here and preach God’s beautiful word to you.
