men
which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image."
The sea "became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in
the sea." And "the rivers and fountains of waters ... became blood."
Terrible as these inflictions are, God's justice stands fully vindicated.
The angel of God declares: "Thou are righteous, O Lord, ... because Thou
hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and
Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."(1075) By
condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly incurred the
guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their hands. In like manner
Christ declared the Jews of His time guilty of all the blood of holy men
which had been shed since the days of Abel; for they possessed the same
spirit, and were seeking to do the same work, with these murderers of the
prophets.

In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun "to scorch men with
fire. And men were scorched with great heat."(1076) The prophets thus
describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time: "The land
mourneth; ... because the harvest of the field is perished." "All the
trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the
sons of men." "The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid
desolate." "How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture.... The rivers of waters are dried up, and
the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." "The songs of the
temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be
many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with
silence."(1077)

These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be
wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever
been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of
probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has
shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in
the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.

In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God's mercy which they
have so long despised. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I
will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from
sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they