The Falling Stars of 1833 by L. L. C.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 23, 1916

The Falling Stars of 1833

By L. L. C.

Signs of Christ’s Coming — No. 3

The Falling Stars of 1833

AFTER the darkening of the sun and the moon, the next sign is given in the words, “The stars shall fall from heaven.” Matt. 24:49.

The comment on this text in a book written almost a century and a half before this sign actually occurred, is very striking:—

“The last sign we shall take notice of, is that of ‘falling stars.’ ‘And the stars shall fall from heaven,’ says our Saviour. Matt. 24:29. We are sure, from the nature of the thing, that this cannot be understood either of fixed stars or planets; for if either of these should tumble from the skies and reach the earth, they would break it all in pieces, or swallow it up, as the sea does a sinking ship; and at the same time would put all the inferior universe into confusion. It is necessary, therefore, by these stars to understand either fiery meteors falling from the middle region of the air, or comets and blazing stars. No doubt there will be all sorts of fiery meteors at that time; and amongst others those which are called falling stars; which, though they are not considerable singly, yet if they were multiplied in great numbers, falling, as the prophet says, as leaves from the vine, or leaves from the fig tree, they would make an astonishing sight.”—Dr. Thomas Burnet’s “Sacred Theory of the Earth,” book 3, p. 66, third edition, 1697.

Now let us turn to history for the record of the occurrence of this phenomenon which Christ himself gave as a sign of the approach of his second advent:—

“Probably the most remarkable of all the meteoric showers that have ever occurred was that of the Leonids, on [the night following] Nov. 12, 1833. The number at some stations was estimated as high as 200,000 an hour for five or six hours. ‘The sky was as full of them as it ever is of snowflakes in a storm,’ and, as an old lady described it, looked ‘like a gigantic umbrella.’ . . .

“In 1864 Professor Newton of New Haven showed by an examination of the old records that there had been a number of great meteoric showers in November, at intervals of thirty-three or thirty-four years, and he predicted confidently a repetition of the shower on Nov. 13 or 14, 1866. The shower occurred as predicted, and was observed in Europe; and it was followed by another in 1867, which was visible in America, the meteoric swarm being extended in so long a procession as to require more than two years to cross the earth’s orbit. Neither of these showers, however, was equal to the shower of 1833.”—“Manual of Astronomy,” a textbook by Charles A. Young, Ph.D., LL.D., professor of astronomy in Princeton University, author of “The Sun,” and of a series of astronomical textbooks. Boston, U. S. A., and London: Ginn & Co., publishers. The Athenaeum Press, 1902, pp. 469–472.

In the description of this event given in Revelation we read:—

“The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Rev. 6:13.

The prophetic description was so accurate that an eyewitness, being impressed with this fact, wrote:—

“And how did they fall? . . . Were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt to illustrate the appearance of the heavens as that which St. John uses in the prophecy before quoted. ‘It rained fire,’ says one. Another, ‘It was like a shower of fire.’ Another, ‘It was like the large flakes of falling snow before a coming storm, or large drops of rain before a shower.’ I admit the fitness of these for common accuracy, but they come far short of the accuracy of the figure used by the prophet. ‘The stars of heaven fell unto the earth;’ they were not sheets, or flakes, or drops of fire; but they were what the world understands by the name of ‘falling stars;’ and one speaking to his fellow in the midst of the scene, would say, ‘See how the stars fall!’ and he who heard, would not pause to correct the astronomy of the speaker, any more than he would reply, ‘The sun does not move,’ to one who should tell him, ‘The sun is rising.’ The stars fell ‘even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.’ Here is the exactness of the prophet. The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one: those which appeared in the east fell toward the east, those which appeared in the north fell toward the north, those which appeared in the west, fell toward the west, and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of my residence into the park) fell toward the south; and they fell, not as the ripe fruit falls. Far from it! But they flew, they were cast, like the unripe fruit, which at first refuses to leave the branch, and when it does break its hold, flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the multitude falling some cross the track of others, as they are thrown with more or less force. Such was the appearance of the above phenomenon to the inmates of my house. I walked into the park with two gentlemen of Pearl Street, feeling and confessing that this scene had never been figured to our minds by any book or mortal, save only by the prophet.”

—The New York Journal of Commerce, Vol. VIII, No. 534, Saturday morning, Nov. 16, 1833.

Thus not only the time of the event, but the manner of its occurrence, shows it to be the sign of Christ’s advent spoken of in the Scriptures quoted.

L. L. C.