VIOLENCE IN THE LAND by S.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 25, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 39.

VIOLENCE IN THE LAND.

By S.

WHEN Christ was giving to His followers signs which would indicate the proximity of His second appearing, He declared:— “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17: 26.

The inspired record declares in regard to the days of Noah:—

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Gen. 6: 11–13.

As the conditions existing in the days of Noah were to exist again in the days immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, and as we have seen the fulfilment of other signs which He gave, we are warranted in asking, Has this sign also an application now in our day?

While war is a live topic on every hand, and the nations are angry, as God has said they would be, yet we can look farther than this, and see the very spirit of violence itself permeating the mass of the people. Every day brings an increasing number of deeds of violence between man and man. Lynchings are more numerous than ever; and this points back to that other fact that the deeds which stir up lynchings are more numerous than ever before. Robberies and murders are an every-day—almost every-hour—occurrence, while embezzlements, fraudulent dealings, and infractions of every good law, are piling up at a rate hitherto unheard of.

Now that a great strike is on, the record of crime is still further increased. The record of violence from this cause during one day in San Francisco is enough to shock and startle those who are looking for peace and safety on the earth, and to sadden every lover of righteousness. A policeman was placed on every dray to protect the driver; but in very many cases both police and driver were stoned, clubbed, or otherwise beaten into unconsciousness. Horses were burned and cut on the street; attempts were made to burn barns containing large numbers of horses, and in one instance such a barn was destroyed. One teamster was held while his wrists were beaten with stones till the bones were broken.

Vehicles have been prevented from taking badly wounded men to the hospitals. Nuts were taken from the wheels of a cab that was conveying to the hospital a man with a broken leg; and but for its timely discovery the wounded man would have been thrown to the street. Men have been kidnapped and held as prisoners, robbed of their liberty, and sometimes of their personal effects. One prominent man is quoted as saying: “If any one wishes to convince ‘himself that there is violence, let him put on a suit ‘of old clothes, and drive a wagon along the ‘streets.” More than eight hundred cases of violence have occurred in San Francisco alone since the beginning of the strike.

Truly there is violence in the land, and some are beginning to see that there is. Some are beginning to recognize, too, that the conditions of these present days show them to be the days when the coming of the Son of man would be near, even at the door. Those days were to be like the days of Noah’s time. These are such days. The Lord said of the people living in those days, “Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” But of this time He has said:—

“The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” ² 2 Peter 3: 6, 7.

On every side evidence is accumulating, showing to all who wish to see, that the coming of that great and terrible day is drawing nigh. It is but the act of wisdom to awake out of the lethargy of death that is creeping over the world, lest that day come upon us as a thief, and find us unprepared to stand before the Judge of all the earth.