Signs of the Times—No. 5.
NATURE gives indication of the coming doom. As when Eve put forth her hand and took of the forbidden fruit, “Earth felt the wound;” and Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost,”
so now, Nature gives premonitory symptoms of the great change that is approaching. Strange sights, unusual occurrences, startling phenomena, crowd thick upon us as advance heralds of the coming crisis. We scarcely need refer the reader to the predictions which set forth this class of signs. The sun was to be darkened, the moon was to withhold her light, the stars were to fall from heaven, there were to be wonders in heaven above and in the earth beneath, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, floods, and storms; and following these, more or less immediately, was to appear the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. Matt. 24: 29-35, and parallel passages in the other evangelists; Acts 2: 19, 20; Rev. 6: 12, &c. Almost as unnecessary is it to refer the reader to those events which have furnished a fulfillment of these predictions. The dark day of May 19, 1780, the dark night following, the falling of the stars in November, 1833, stand as unquestionable fulfillments of the predicted signs in the sun, moon, and stars. But it may be said by those who labor hard to disbelieve, that there have been many dark days and nights, and frequent occurrences of falling stars, so that the occasions we have referred to, cannot be taken as signs of the end. It has already been noticed that events which are of frequent occurrence cannot be taken as signs unless they are of a very marked or unnatural character; but if an event occurs containing these marked, unusual features, then it matters not how many events of a like nature have occurred in the past; for this one so far stands pre-eminent and alone. Now granting that there were dark days previous to 1780, and some, it is true, are mentioned, it still remains a fact that nothing of the kind ever occurred which would bear any comparison with the dark day of 1780, either in the wide extent, or the intensity, of the darkness. In both these respects it was almost as marked as though nothing of the kind had ever transpired. So that when we look for a darkening of the sun as the fulfillment of the prediction, the only natural and consistent course is to fix upon this one as the event in question. But the prophecy has made the matter even more definite than this; for it has located the time when that darkness should occur which was to constitute a sign of the coming end. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,” says Matthew. The days referred to are the days of papal tribulation upon the church mentioned before. This is a definite period of 1260 years, as is shown by the prophecies of Daniel and of John. The tribulation that was to be inflicted upon the church by the papal power, was not to continue, and owing to the Reformation did not continue, through the whole period. The predicted darkening of the sun was to occur shortly after the tribulation of those days was made to cease; and it was yet to be before the prophetic period terminated; for Mark definitely says, “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,” &c. The days ended in 1798, and eighteen years before that time, the sun, according to the prediction, was darkened. The event thus occurred at the precise time between the restraining of the tribulation, and the ending of the days. In view of this fact, it matters not, not only how many darkenings of the sun there may have been in centuries past, but it matters not even if some of them were as remarkable events as the one under notice; for the prophecy, looking down to a definite period in the future, said that there the sun should be darkened as a sign of the end; and when we find the sun darkened at that time, that darkening, say what we will of other like events, is the predicted sign of the end. One objection is thus disposed of; another is sometimes urged. It is claimed by some that the prophecy is not to be taken in a literal, but a figurative, sense. Very well, let us look at it in this light. If it is to be taken in a figurative sense, what does it mean? What is denoted by the sun, moon, and stars? The answer is, Men in high and exalted positions, kings and potentates. And their being darkened and falling from heaven, denotes that they would be brought down from their lofty stations. In other words, the prediction, taken figuratively, denotes war, revolution and trouble among the great men of the earth. Turning to the parallel record in Luke, this objection is entirely removed by the happy antithesis which the writer there introduces. He says, 21: 25, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity.” Here the celestial, and terrestrial phenomena are set forth in the plainest contrast: the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, are one thing; and the signs upon the earth are another thing. And this predicted distress and perplexity upon the earth must embrace all the revolutions among men which is contemplated in the prophecy; and it must be taken in its literal sense; hence the declarations respecting the sun, moon, and stars, are equally literal, and refer to signs to be manifested in those heavenly bodies. Would the sacred writer express, in figurative language, distress, revolution, and perplexity among the great men of the earth, and connect therewith by the word, and, as though he was about to speak of something else, a declaration of the same thing in literal language! This would make nonsense of the sacred record. It is not our object to repeat the testimony which has been given concerning those striking events. Eyewitnesses have left on record their descriptions of the startling scenes, and the impressions produced upon all who beheld them. It is enough. Science cannot explain them. Even conjecture flags and falters in its attempt to account for them. There is but one solution of the mystery. God veiled the great luminaries of the day and night, and shook out fiery meteors in the aerial heavens, in fulfillment of his word. The prediction was literal, the time was specified, the fulfillment was exact. The sun has been darkened, the moon has refused to give her light, and the stars have fallen from heaven. What shall we do with these things? Those who view them aright will acknowledge them to be the finger of God tracing out before all the inhabitants of the land the great fact that the Divine Agency is still at work in the fulfillment of his word, and that the end of all things, of which these are the heralds and precursors, is about to come. We might speak of other phenomena; strange sights above, strange events below; the Aurora Borealis, known only about two hundred years; terrific storms, the alarming frequency and intensity of earthquakes, great tidal waves, the sea and the waves roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth. On the single item of earthquakes, look at the following figures, taken from Robert Mallet, by M. Ponton, Fellow of the Royal Society at Edinburgh. We find the table in “The Coming Earthquake” by D. T. Taylor. Earthquakes recorded before the Christian Era, for a period of 1700 years, 58; thence to end of 9th century, 900 years, 197; thence to end of 15th century, 600 years, 532; thence to end of 18th century, 300 years, 2894; thence to 1850, only 50 years, 3240; and finally, a writer in Harper’s Magazine states that he has prepared “from very imperfect materials, a list of upwards of TWO HUNDRED EARTHQUAKES, reported to have occurred in the fourteen months between October 1867 and January, 1869—a number many times in excess of that of any preceding year.” For a full examination of this branch of the subject, with a full account of tidal waves, tempests, hurricanes, and floods, the reader is referred to the work above mentioned. But we have good times still, urge the dreamers of peace and safety. There have been bright days and lovely nights since the darkening of the sun and moon in 1780. The starry heavens have shone as brightly and serenely since the wonderful meteoric display of 1833, as ever before. We have had summer and winter, sunshine and rain, soft breezes and gentle showers, favorable seasons and fruitful years. To which it may be replied, Very true; and all this you will still have; “for while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” A sufficient number of things will continue as they were, to cause the willful skeptic to exclaim, All things continue as they were from the beginning; and where is the promise of his coming? And at the same time there will be deviations from nature, signs and phenomena, enough to show all those whose eyes are open to discern the tokens of the coming end, that the great day is even at the door. And honest faith answers, Enough there have already been.