Distance from Unrest and Destruction
“At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France.”
Education (ED 228.2)
“Through the working of trusts and the results of labor unions and strikes, the conditions of life in the city are constantly becoming more and more difficult. Serious troubles are before us, and for many families removal from the cities will become a necessity.”
Adventist Home (AH 136.4)
“O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry.”
The Review and Herald, September 10, 1903
“The time is near when the large cities will be visited by the judgments of God. In a little while, these cities will be terribly shaken...in ruins.”
Country Living (CL 7.2)
“He will punish cities and places where men have given themselves up to the possession of satanic agencies. Strictly will the cities of the nations be dealt with...”
Evangelism, 27 (1906)
“satan will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, satan is exercising his power.”
Evangelism, 27 (1906)
Remove Reliance on Supply Chain
“Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one.”
Selected Messages (2SM 141.1)
“Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and their children...”
Country Living (CL 10.4)
Freedom of Conscience
“God never forces the will or the conscience; but satan's constant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.”
The Great Controversy (GC 591.2)
“Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority.”
Great Controversy (GC 592.1)
“It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced...”
Great Controversy (GC 590.1)
Protection from Temptation & Perversion
“Life in the cities is false and artificial. The intense passion for money getting, the whirl of excitement and pleasure seeking, the thirst for display, the luxury and extravagance—all are forces that, with the great masses of mankind, are turning the mind from life's true purpose...”
Adventist Home (AH 135.1)
“The gratification of unnatural appetite led to the sins that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God ascribes the fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins.”
Counsels on Diet and Foods (CD 147.3)
Mental & Physical Health
“…shut up within four walls often feel that they are prisoners in their rooms. When they look out of a window they see nothing but houses, houses, houses…”
Testimonies for the Church (7T 82.2)
“The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to health. The constant liability to contact with disease, the prevalence of foul air, impure water, impure food, the crowded, dark, unhealthful dwellings, are some of the many evils to be met.”
Country Living (CL 6.4)
“It was not God's purpose that people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements... The more nearly we come into harmony with God's original plan, the more favorable will be our position to secure health of body, and mind, and soul.”
The Ministry of Healing, 363-365 (1905)
Spiritual Health
“In harmony with the light given me, I am urging people to come out from the great centers of population. Our cities are increasing in wickedness, and it is becoming more and more evident that those who remain in them unnecessarily do so at the peril of their soul's salvation.”
Manuscript 115, 1907
“Spiritual things are not valued and are not sought after, for the love of gain has eclipsed the heavenly treasure… Compare the earnest effort made to obtain the things of this earth with the languid, weak, inefficient effort to gain spirituality and a heavenly treasure… Our desires are not in that direction; they are mostly confined to earthly pursuits, seeking for worldly things, and neglecting the eternal.”
Testimonies for the Church (2T 183.1)
“The angels of mercy hurried Lot and his wife and daughters by taking hold of their hands. Had Lot hastened as the Lord desired him to, his wife would not have become a pillar of salt. Lot had too much of a lingering spirit. Let us not be like him.”
Country Living (CL 6.7)
“Instead of dwelling where only the works of men can be seen, where the sights and sounds frequently suggest thoughts of evil, where turmoil and confusion bring weariness and disquietude, go where you can look upon the works of God. Find rest of spirit in the beauty and quietude and peace of nature. Let the eye rest on the green fields, the groves, and the hills...”
The Ministry of Healing, 265-267(1905)