A Wide-spread Error by S. OSBORN

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 27, 1872

A Wide-spread Error.

By S. OSBORN

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Matt. 24: 29.

When I had finished addressing a congregation on these words, a Disciple preacher arose and requested the privilege of asking a few questions. He said that if he could not show that this was all fulfilled at the crucifixion of Christ, he would never come into that house again. As proof of his view, he quoted Joel 2: 10: “The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble, the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Verse 31: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 3: 15: “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”

These passages he quoted to prove that these events were to be fulfilled in the future, and then he quoted Mark 15: 33 and Luke 23: 44, “And when the sixth hour was come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,” “And it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour,” to prove that these prophecies were fulfilled, and hence the events spoken of at the head of this article, were also fulfilled at the crucifixion.

In reply, I stated that I would admit that the darkness at the crucifixion was supernatural; but the darkness spoken of at the crucifixion did not fulfill the specifications in the prophecies of Joel or Christ in Matt. 24: 29. For, 1. The darkness at the crucifixion had no moon in it or falling of the stars while the prophecies of Joel and Christ had those specifications alike, showing a clear distinction. And 2. The darkness of the sun at the crucifixion was on that notable day: but the darkness of the sun and moon, and falling of the stars, were events to occur before the great and terrible day of the Lord. See Acts 2: 20. 3. The quaking of the earth that was spoken of at the crucifixion, was after that event; but the “powers of the heavens shall be shaken,” spoken of in Matt. 24: 29, was to be before the coming of the Son of Man; for after our Lord gave these signs he says, verse 30, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.”

There are two points of distinction here worthy of notice. 1. It will be noticed that all the signs spoken of in verse 29 were to precede that great day of the Lord, a clear distinction between the events to occur at the different periods of time. And 2. There were but a very few tribes of the earth that could mourn at the crucifixion of Christ; for they were not there to mourn. And then considering that the people that were there gained the victory over our Lord, and put him to death, they certainly in their own estimation could not find much cause to mourn.

And again, Rev. 6: 12–14, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and 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. And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”

It seems to me that no unprejudiced mind could help but see that these events were the same as spoken of by Joel and Christ, and could not be fulfilled at the crucifixion, for several reasons. Among these are, 1. Their location. They could not take place before the opening of the sixth seal; and that did not open until the great earthquake (which is given as the signal of the opening) of Lisbon in 1755. 2. The events to occur in connection with the darkening of the sun, moon, and falling of the stars, as described in verses 14, 15, 16, 17. Particular attention is called to the last verse: “For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” Now there could not be much of the wrath of God visited upon the world at the crucifixion; for we read in John 3: 16, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, &c. So we see it was the amazing love of the Father for the world, and not his wrath, that caused him to give his Son to die for sinful man. And the previous verses establish this view. For this wrath comes not upon Christ, but upon the kings, great men, rich men, bond men, free men, &c.

S. OSBORN.