Admonitions to the Wise
By L. A. S.
The year 1904 is scarcely more than a month old, but already it has become a memorable one in American history and in the history of the modern world. The greatest conflagration since the Chicago fire of 1871 has just laid in ruins the business district of Baltimore, than which there are but five larger cities in the Western hemisphere. In the Old World, war has broken out between Russia and Japan, the first war between two great powers since the Franco-Prussian conflict more than thirty years ago. Whether or not this war will start a military conflagration that will sweep Europe and Asia, is a question that troubles the statesmen of the world. Those who know that we are in the hour of God's judgment, which began with the entrance of our great High Priest into the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary at the end of the prophetic period of twenty-three hundred years, in 1844, know that at this time just such events are to be expected. The judgments of God are in the land. The end of time, when the very earth itself will be laid in ruins, is swiftly approaching. But those who do not know the times and the seasons which prophecy has pointed out, wonder at these events, but remain in ignorance of their import. They know not that the day of the Lord is coming, to overtake them as a thief in the night. This is the time of which the heavenly messenger spoke to the prophet Daniel: “Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” There is something about these fateful events which upsets all human calculations,—something no human foresight, however aided by history or experience, has been able to provide against. There is something which speaks of the existence of destructive natural or supernatural forces, of which, notwithstanding the discoveries of modern science, we know little or nothing. How contrary to all that could be anticipated was the sudden visitation of death that fell upon the inhabitants of St. Pierre, in Martinique, only a short time ago. Who could have thought that there was lurking, under the surface of Mont Pelee, a titanic and deadly force which would suddenly burst through the mountainside and slay the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of St. Pierre, five miles away, almost in a moment of time? Who could have thought that in Chicago's most modern theater building, apparently fire proof, such a train of circumstances would utterly override all human foresight, and in ten minutes' time pile its interior with hundreds of dead bodies? It is true that the investigation revealed negligence and disregard of safety regulations on the part of the owners of the building; but even taking this into account, the fact remains that in its appalling swiftness and deadliness the catastrophe came as though its component train of circumstances had been planned for in advance, and directed by a malignant intelligence. In nearly all the great catastrophes that are now becoming so frequent, there is something that speaks of the operation of some unexpected, unforeseen cause, against which human foresight was powerless to give protection. This element of the mysterious was not lacking in the Baltimore catastrophe. Of the origin of the fire the published account says:— The fire started in the wholesale dry goods store of John E. Hurst & Co., in Hopkins Place, with a series of loud explosions which were heard in remote parts of the city, and spread with fearful rapidity. A sharp, splitting roar went up like reverberating thunder. This was followed by a peculiar whistling noise, like that made by a shrill wind. The churches in the central section of the city were filled with worshipers, many of whom became frightened, and, while no panics ensued, hundreds of men and women left their seats and went outside to see what had happened. In a few moments the streets and pavements all over the city were crowded with excited people. Another deafening crash occurred, and dense columns of cinders and smoke shot up over the central section of the city, and in a huge brown column moved rapidly toward the northeast. According to all accounts, if the starting of a great conflagration calculated to destroy the city had been carefully planned and the plan executed, nothing more effective to that end could have followed than did follow from the conditions existing in and around the dry goods store mentioned, which we may be sure had not been designed to inaugurate any such visitation of ruin, so far as human foresight could anticipate. The sudden and irresistible destruction was such as might only be expected to follow the touch of the finger of God. How forcibly does this event remind us of words which were but recently uttered through the spirit of prophecy concerning the visitation of divine judgments: “No matter how large or how strong their buildings, no matter how many safeguards against fire may have been provided, let God touch these buildings, and in a few minutes or a few hours, they are in ruins.” Looking over the record of conflagrations that have occurred within recent times, it is to be noted that nearly all have come since the beginning of the hour of God's judgment, and most of them so recently as to indicate that such visitations are becoming more frequent. A partial record is here given:— Dec. 16, 1835, New York City. The fire destroyed 674 buildings, causing a property loss of $17,000,000. 1842, Hamburg, Germany. Property loss, $35,000,000. July 4, 1866, Portland, Me. Two hundred acres of buildings burned. Loss, $15,000,000. Oct. 9, 1871, Chicago. The direct loss from this fire was $190,000,000. Two hundred and fifty people were killed, and nearly 100,000 made homeless. Nov. 9, 1872, Boston. Eight hundred buildings were consumed, and fourteen lives lost. Property loss, $80,000,000. June, 1889, Spokane Falls, Wash., burned. Loss, $8,000,000. Oct. 28, 1892, Milwaukee, Wis. Thirteen blocks were burned, causing a property loss of $6,000,000. Nov. 20, 1897, London. Four acres in the Cripplegate district were burned, the property loss being $10,000,000. April 26, 1900, Ottawa and Hull, Canada. Property valued at $17,000,000 was burned, and seven lives were lost. June 30, 1900, North German Lloyd pier at Hoboken, N. J. One hundred and fifty lives were lost. Property loss amounted to $7,000,000. May 3, 1901, Jacksonville, Fla. Property loss, $10,000,000. Feb. 9, 1902, Paterson, N. J. Property loss, $9,000,000. Who that knows it can but be reminded also of the message that has recently come to us—“Out of the cities”? How such events emphasize the timeliness of this message! How many hundreds of families are there in Baltimore to-day who would have been saved from great misfortune if, before this calamity came, they had received and accepted such a message. No doubt many will be forced to see the necessity of leaving the cities, and finding in the country a better and safer place for their families, by the judgments that are coming; but Seventh-day Adventists have in this, as they have had regarding other important truths, the opportunity to see far ahead of what can be discerned by the world. “Out of the cities,” is my message. . . . The time is near when the large cities will be visited by the judgments of God. In a little while these cities will be terribly shaken. . . . The ungodly cities of our world are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities, God is showing us what will come upon the whole earth.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 83. “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” It is our privilege to be among the wise.