The Voice of Disaster by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Apr 26, 1906

The Voice of Disaster

By Editor

Editorial

Many have been the warnings that have been given to this people concerning the destruction which is to be visited upon the great cities of this land, and urgent have been the exhortations not to build up great institutions in these crowded centers of population. On account of this instruction we have been establishing plants in the country in recent years. Sanitariums, schools, and publishing houses have been located in retired places amid rural surroundings. We have recognized the message to get out of the cities as a heaven-sent warning of coming troubles, designed to make it possible for us to continue our work of warning the people even after destruction was visited upon the populous cities. The recent overthrow of San Francisco emphasizes the timeliness and the value of this instruction. While some are seeking to prove that the spirit of prophecy is unreliable, the logic of events is demonstrating its truthfulness in a most striking manner, and even those who are denying its accuracy are fulfilling its predictions to the letter. Those who have clear discernment can see many marked indications that the end of all things is at hand, and their confidence in this great second advent movement will be steadily increased. Now is the time to be gaining that experience which will prepare us to stand through the trying scenes upon which we are even now entering. All that the Lord has said will surely come to pass, but we may find a refuge in him from the approaching storm.

The Voice of Disaster

We are appalled at the greatness of the disaster which has befallen the people of California. By the great earthquake and the subsequent conflagration hundreds of lives were lost, and many millions of dollars' worth of property destroyed in a few short hours. One day changed a great and prosperous city into a heap of ruins with many morgues crowded with the dead and the dying. It is impossible to express in words the terror of the panic and the horror of the experiences of such a dread calamity. When the very foundations of the earth are convulsed, and huge structures of stone and brick are tossed about like a child's plaything, all sense of security vanishes, and fear runs riot in the hearts of men. Even the scoffers may lose their boasted confidence and grow serious under such circumstances, and surely believers will inquire for the meaning of these things. What is the message of this terrible disaster? Has it a voice which speaks to us? We need not seek long for a reply if we are willing to accept the instruction which the Maker and Ruler of heaven and earth has already imparted to us through his servants who have been commissioned to speak for him. Hear it: “The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” “In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes, and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. . . . These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast.” The voice of disaster declares that the great day of the Lord is near. O that all would heed the warning!