The monster gleams in the bright light of a Florida morning, poised and ready for its leap into the heavens. Smoke and fumes spout from its vents and a loud hissing sound emanates from its nostrils. Previously, it had been housed in the giant Vehicle Assembly Building while workmen groomed it for its flight. Then the huge doors opened , and it slowly inched its way along a track to the launching pad. And now it is waiting, embraced in the arms of the gantry crane, as the final countdown begins. Engineers, using a pre-launch checklist, which could take several days, make sure that all is in readiness for the launch. The final procedure is the filling of the fuel tanks with liquid propellants, LOX (liquid oxygen) and liquid hydrogen. The astronauts climb aboard and the final countdown begins, interrupted by two pauses at T-20 and T-9 minutes, to give time to correct last minute malfunctions. The last few seconds of the countdown are under the control of a computer, but there is still an option of human intervention before lift-off at T-zero. As the final seconds tick off, T-5, T-4, T-3, suddenly there is a command to "Hold!" The countdown stops and the giant Space Shuttle stands there waiting.
The Bible pictures a similar situation for the last days of earth's history. All heaven is eagerly waiting for the final events of the great controversy. Those last days will be more terrible than anyone has seen before; pestilences, famines, earthquakes, and terrible persecution of God's people will occur. Right now there is a divine power holding these evil winds from blowing. "And...I saw four angels standing in the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth"(Rev. 7:1). "The four angels had power from God to hold the four winds, and they were about to let go; but while their hands were loosening, and the four winds were about to blow, Jesus cried, 'My blood, Father, My blood, My blood, My blood, My blood!' Then I saw an angel... swiftly fly to the four angels who had a work to do on the earth...crying with a loud voice, 'Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold! until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads'" (EW p 38. Also Rev. 7:2,3).
Here we have pictured a last minute hold before the T-zero of earth's countdown. We know not how long this holding pattern will last, how long God will delay His coming. Instead of watching and waiting, we have been sleeping, as were the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane; they were sleeping instead of watching when Jesus returned, as were the ten virgins sleeping when the bridegroom came. Let us awaken from our slumber and prepare to meet Jesus; soon the countdown will resume and there will be "no more holds."
