Signs of the Times.—No. 3.
By Uriah Smith
The last days of our world's history, were, in the third place, to witness startling and widespread political commotions. The following are some of the predictions applicable to this part of the subject: Matt. 24: 6: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” Luke 21: 25: “And there shall be . . . upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity.” Joel 3:9, 10: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.” Rev. 11:18: “And the nations were angry.” We now have before us a few of the definite utterances of the prophetic word upon this subject. Thus was it to be in the last days: a war-like spirit should bestride the world, summoning the nations to arms; every breeze should be freighted with the sound of battle or the rumors of coming strife; every land should resound with the din of busy preparation for anticipated, but uncertain, conflicts; and the nations would be agitated by feelings of hatred, distrust, jealousy, and anger toward each other. If this is the condition of things at the present time, to a sufficient extent to fulfill the prophecy, then we are certainly in the last days; and the end of all things is upon us. Are we witnessing the fulfillment of these predictions? This seems like an unnecessary question. It would seem to be sufficient to simply state what the prophetic word has uttered, and leave all to make their own application. And thousands would make the application if they knew what was written in the prophets concerning these things. There is no lack of attention bestowed upon the state of the world, nor of comment upon it. But the minds of the masses are not by this state of things carried forward to the ultimate conclusion of these scenes; because they are not aware of what prophecy has said should immediately follow in this train of events. The question for the student of prophecy to settle, is respecting the character of these events, whether they are remarkable or unusual as compared with events of like nature in the past; for, an event to be a sign must either be something entirely new and unheard of, or if an event of common occurrence, then of a very marked or unnatural character. Events that have occurred from the early ages of the world till the present day, could not be taken as signs of the end as we draw near the close of time, unless they were then to occur with more frequency or with some new and remarkable characteristics. There must be something connected with them, out of the usual course. Now there have been wars and political disturbances ever since Nimrod, the mighty hunter, established a kingdom on the banks of the Euphrates; and it would not be logical to attach any particular significance to events of this kind, unless there is something connected with them which marks them as unusual. But it is this very feature of the political commotions of the present day which elicits so much comment. They are of a nature before unheard of as respects their frequency and wide extent. And this is just what we think is pointed out in the prophecies. It is noticeable that as we draw near the end, evils of all kinds assume a more general and prevalent character. What have before existed in particular localities, as isolated plague spots, exceptions to the general rule, now breaking over all former bounds, manifest themselves in all classes, and everywhere. There have all along been wicked cities, Sodoms, Gomorrahs, Admahs, and Zeboims, towering above their neighbors, as monuments of rottenness and vice; but we believe there never was a time, as now, when scarcely a city could be found which did not almost equal them in corruption and crime. There have all along existed, probably, instances of human depravity, incarnations of evil, equal to any that can now be found on the earth; but we doubt if ever there was a time when, as compared with the present, more hearts could be found unmoored from all the principles of right, and swayed wholly by that which the prophet says is natural to the carnal heart, deceitfulness above all things, and desperate wickedness. The virus is all-pervading. Almost the whole mass is leavened. And as with sin, so with God's judgments against sin; the last of the seven last plagues is poured out into the air, and envelops the globe. Applying the same principle to the question in hand, we find prophecy pointing out in the last days a more general state of agitation, war, and strife, than ever before. The principal wars of the world in all past time, have been subjects of prophecy; but that which the prophetic pencil portrayed was generally the march of some particular power, monopolizing the attention of the world, as it won its individual way to greatness and renown. But now, says the prophet, looking over to the last days, Proclaim this among the Gentiles; let the summons go to all the nations, to prepare war, and wake up the mighty men; for now scenes are to transpire which will not concern some particular power and nation, to the exclusion of the rest; but all the world is to be engaged. So in Rev. 11:18: Under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, John says, in unqualified terms, The nations were angry. The seven trumpets are symbols of wars and strife. But look at the first six, and what do they portray? The progress and devastation of some particular power. The Goths, the Vandals, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Saracens, and Turks, are consecutively introduced upon the stage of action. But when the seventh trumpet sounds, the scene changes. Then not one nation alone arises in wrath against its neighbors; but all are angry. The spirit of war, leaving its perch upon the banners of a single power, wings its way to all the governments of earth; and commotion and strife, plots and counter-plots, threats of war and preparation for battle, are the order of the day. Is this an exact description of the state of the nations at the present day? Here we come back to the question which we have already said need not be asked. We have ascertained what the prophecy has plainly pointed out. And every intelligent observer of passing events knows, better than we can tell him, that the world to-day fulfills the description. South America is never at rest. The eastern question is threatening, through the multitude of interests that center in the Ottoman power, to involve all Europe in blind and furious strife. And all are familiar with the rival manoeuvers of England and Russia for supremacy in Asia. Such is the aspect which the world presents at the present time. All is commotion, like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. All answers to the prophetic description. All betokens the approach of the battle of the great day when He whose right it is to rule and reign, shall make all wars to cease by breaking the bow and spear in sunder, and dashing the nations in pieces with a rod of iron. And while a proud, ease-loving, and worldly church is led by the enemy of all truth to look for the golden age, and cry, Peace and safety, and persistently declare that the nations are about to beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruninghooks, the governments of earth are summoning their mighty men to awake, and bidding their subjects beat their ploughshares into swords and their pruninghooks into spears, and prepare for instant and earnest strife. In this clarion note of war, the drowsy church seems to see nothing to disturb its dream of coming peace and prosperity. In it, the governments of earth hear only a call for self-defense; warriors hear only a call to glory and renown; but the student of prophecy hears a summons to prepare for the world's last change, and to be ready for the opening of the day of God. Who will read aright the lessons of the hour? U. S.