“WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?”
“He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night! The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night; if ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.” Isa. 21:11, 12. Having reached the time when every prophecy points with clearness to the great fact that the coming of the Lord is right at hand, it is nothing more than should be expected to find the world full of phenomenal occurrences that force the question from every mind, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” Unheard-of storms and most unusual freaks in the weather and climate, present themselves. It is much more difficult to produce a crop than it used to be, for the blight, and the frost, and the insects, seem to have conspired to defeat the work of the husbandman. Then there is the appalling increase of crime on every hand, so that both life and property are very unsafe because of it. And in the face of this terrorizing and all-pervading plague of criminality, the church, with only here and there an isolated, tho noble, individual excepted, stands cowering before it, if, indeed, many of its members are not themselves engulfed in the crimes. The great army of the destitute on the one hand, and the amassing of colossal fortunes by a few on the other, is causing apprehensive disturbances all around the world. And the unprecedented and horrifying preparations for war among all the nations seems to lend a darker coloring to the whole. “What do all these things portend?” is asked with eagerness and bated breath. To this all-important and all-absorbing question, some answer one thing, and some another. But, rising above every voice, and piercing the inmost chambers of every heart, is the unavoidable conviction that all these things, like so many trumpets with thunder tones, are proclaiming the solemn truth that the end of all things earthly is at hand. The watchman is heard to shout with ringing clearness, “The morning cometh, and also the night.” That night of awful gloom is settling fast around every unyielding sinner; but, O, the joy of that brighter thought, The gleamings of that glorious and eternal day are now distinctly seen! The skies are bursting to reveal the surpassing splendor of our returning Lord. Soon, yes, very soon, our adored Redeemer will appear in the clouds of heaven to call us home. Herald the tidings, watchman. Let all the world know the glorious news. Bid every one hasten to get ready for the marriage feast of the Lamb of God.