THE DECISIVE SIGN by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 28, 1902

THE DECISIVE SIGN.

By Editor

THERE is a prophecy concerning what we call “the Eastern question” which points out that the Turk shall remove the seat of his government from Constantinople to Jerusalem, and then come to his end with none to help him. And this is in close connection with the standing up of Michael, or the beginning of the everlasting reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, who finally sets up His eternal kingdom for the saints of the Most High. Dan. 12:1; 11:45. Naturally the mind of the student of prophecy would fix itself upon this point, the expulsion of the Turk from Europe, as the immediate and decisive sign of the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven.

A correspondent from Hume, Mich., has been studying upon this point, and writes:—

“In Luke 21:20 we read that when the disciples should see Jerusalem compassed with armies, they were to consider it a sign for immediate flight from the city. Is it not possible that this may have a secondary and particular application to the people of God in the last days; namely, that the retirement of the Turk from Europe, and the establishment of his government at Jerusalem, will be a sign for the people of God to flee from the cities, and retire by themselves into secret places, waiting for the coming of the Lord? for when the scene shifts to Jerusalem, we understand that all nations will be gathered there to the battle of the great day. Then Jerusalem would be compassed with armies (plural), whereas now, when we speak of the military power of a nation, we say army (singular), as ‘the army of Great Britain, the army of the United States,’ etc. When Jerusalem was overthrown, it was compassed with one army,—the Roman army,—not armies; but the time will come in the future when it will be compassed with armies; and will not this be the decisive sign to us, of the end?”

ANSWER.—The events transpiring in the East are worthy of special attention, and their significance as signs, should be marked; but it should be remembered that there is a Western question which is equally significant. Events are moving here, the currents of which are eddying around our own feet, which are just as significant and striking as signs as anything can be. Signs are multiplying on every hand. In our own country they are manifested in political, social, and religious movements, especially the latter. Backsliding and apostasy from some of the highest and noblest principles among men, are apparent in our land. The everlasting truth, incorporated in the Declaration of the Independence of the United States, that “governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” is repudiated by a growing party in our own country, and denounced as the “old Philadelphia lie.” They would have it that governments derive all their powers directly from God, said powers to be interpreted and applied by His agents, alias themselves. Secondly, the Constitution of the United States, a document which has been described by a leading organ of public opinion in England as “the most sacred political document in the world,” has been repudiated. It has been denied the privilege of “following the flag.” The United States has shown itself willing to extend its jurisdiction over subject peoples, while at the same time it denies to them the civil and religious rights which the Constitution guarantees to all people. This is national apostasy, and this is to-day taking place right before our eyes. It ought to make the nerves of every intelligent man tremble with apprehension when he contemplates the inevitable results of such a course. Ancient prophecy foretold it, modern prophecy repeats and applies it. It says, “When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power [which it is now doing], when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism [which she is now doing], when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government [which she is now doing], and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then [which is now] we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near. As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight never to return.”—“Testimony for the Church,” No. 32, page 207, quoted in “The Marvel of Nations,” page 298.

So, critical and stirring as events in the East are, here are movements in our own land, which are now taking place, and which are distinctly specified as an indication by which we may know, when they do take place, that the cup of iniquity in our nation is full, that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, and mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.

So while keeping our eyes open on events in the East, let us not overlook movements nearer home. All things admonish us to be ready for the wave the crest of which is even now curling to break and burst upon our land and upon the world, and involve all in ruin. Here is the decisive sign. EDITOR.