Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 25, 1912

Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy

By W. A. S.

The Hand of God in History—No. 7

Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy

Witness of Astronomy to History and Prophecy

The combined testimony of Scripture and the canon of Ptolemy to the years of Artaxerxes is clear. Of the assurance that the canon has been correctly copied and preserved, Hales says:—

“As to the authenticity of these copies of the canon, the strongest testimony is given by their exact agreement throughout with above twenty dates and computations of eclipses in Ptolemy’s ‘Almagest.’”—“Chronology,” Vol. I, page 450.

Thus the accuracy of the astronomical record witnesses to the historic. An English writer on chronology, Jas. B. Lindsay, said long ago of Ptolemy’s Canon and “Almagest”:—

The astronomic and historic can not be separated, and they must both stand or fall together. The astronomic can be rigidly verified.—“Chrono - Astrolabe,” London, 1858.

And he adds: “A foundation is laid for chronology sure as the stars.”

Take one illustration. Ptolemy’s “Almagest” preserves the record of an eclipse of the moon observed at Babylon on the night of the seventeenth of the month Phamenoth, in the seventh year of Cambyses, king of Persia. According to the canon, it was on the night following July 16, B. C. 523. The modern astronomer works away with pencil and paper, and tells us that on that very night an eclipse would be observable in Babylon. It is a fascinating topic. Speaking of the accuracy with which dates of eclipses may be verified, an American writer, Sylvester Bliss, quotes from Professor Mitchell the following paragraph:—

Go back three thousand years, stand upon that mighty watch-tower, the temple of Belus, in old Babylon, and look out. The sun is sinking in eclipse, and great is the dismay of the terror-stricken inhabitants. We have the fact and circumstances recorded. But how shall we prove that the record is correct? The astronomer unravels the devious movements of the sun, the earth, and the moon, through the whole period of three thousand years; with the power of intellect, he goes backward through the cycles of thirty long centuries, and announces that at such an hour, on such a day—as the Chaldean has written—that eclipse did take place.—“Sacred Chronology,” chap. 8.

The infinite precision of the movements of the heavenly bodies bears testimony to history that means much to the student of prophecy. “The heavens declare the glory of God” not only in their shining testimony to his creative and sustaining power, but in the witness they bear to his fulfilling word. How infinite the wisdom and the power of God!

“O thou eternal One, whose presence bright All space doth occupy, all motion guide!

“A million torches lighted by thy hand Wander unwearied through the blue abyss.

“Thy chains the unmeasured universe surround, Upheld by thee, by thee inspired with breath!”

A divine hand moves the clock of the universe. There is no slipping of the wheels, no weakening of the springs of motion. This earth of ours completes “its spiral journey round the sun”—six hundred million miles every year, the astronomers tell us—in exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. Never a second is lost. The Lord bringeth out the host of heaven by number, “he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:26.

And this is the God who says: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Isa. 46:9, 10. And “this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.” Ps. 48:14.

In one of the trying hours of the Reformation, when the way was dark and the cause of reform seemed ready to perish, Luther went out under the starry sky and read in it the message of courage: “He who holds up all that, can hold up all this.” W. A. S.