The time is near when He will say, "Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 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." Isa. 26:20, 21. Men who claim to be Christians may now defraud and oppress the poor; they may rob the widow and fatherless; they may indulge their Satanic hatred because they cannot control the consciences of God's people; but for all this God will bring them into judgment. They "shall have judgment without mercy" that have "showed no mercy." (James 2:13.) Not long hence they will stand before the Judge of all the earth, 179 to render an account for the pain they have caused to the bodies and souls of His heritage. They may now indulge in false accusations, they may deride those whom God has appointed to do His work, they may consign His believing ones to prison, to the chain gang, to banishment, to death; but for every pang of anguish, every tear shed, they must answer. God will reward them double for their sins. Concerning Babylon, the symbol of the apostate church, He says to His ministers of judgment, "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double." Rev. 18:5, 6.

Tiden er nær da han vil sige: "Mit folk, gå ind i dit kammer og luk dine døre bag dig; hold dig skjult en liden stund, til vreden er draget over Thi Herren går ud fra sin bolig for at straffe jordboernes brøde; sit blod bringer jorden for lyset og dølger ej mer sine dræbte." Mennesker der bekender sig til at være kristne, kan nu bedrage og undertrykke de fattige; de kan stjæle fra enken og de faderløse; de kan lade deres sataniske had få frit løb, fordi de ikke kan øve kontrol over Guds folks samvittighed; men for alt dette vil Gud føre dem frem for dommen. "Thi dommen er ubarmhjertig mod dem, der ikke har øvet barmhjertighed." Om ikke så længe skal de stå frem for al jordens dommer for at aflægge regnskab for de legemlige og sjælelige smerter som de har forvoldt hans arvelod. De kan nu benytte falske anklager de kan spotte dem, som Gud har udvalgt til at udføre sin gerning, de kan kaste hans troende børn i fængsel, overgive dem til lænker til forvisning og døden, men de må stå til ansvar for hver angstens kval og smerte, for hver tåre, der er blevet fældet. Gud vil give dem en dobbelt straf for deres synder om Babylon, der er et billede på den frafaldne menighed, siger han til dem, som udfører hans straffedomme: "Thi hendes synder har hobet sig op, så de når til Himmelen, og Gud har kommet hendes uretfærdigheder i hu. Giv hende lige for lige, ja, betal hende dobbelt gengæld efter hendes gerninger; skænk dobbelt i til hende i det bæger som hun selv skænkede i."