SOME SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.
In our last we presented the question asked by the disciples of our Lord in Matthew 24:3, and promised a reply. That question, or questions, for there are really three, are: "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?" "These things" refers to the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. This we need not stop to consider. The question we wish now to deal with is, Will there be signs preceding the coming of Christ so definite and distinct that we may know that his coming is near? This question is definitely answered in the record which Luke gives of the same conversation of our Lord and his disciples recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. We there read:— "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21: 25-27. Notice how widespread these signs are to be,—in the sidereal world, in the physical world, in the social world—everywhere. The greatest event ever witnessed by the universe will be heralded, so far as man is concerned, by universal omens and signs. But before we consider these signs let us notice the baselessness of one objection which is brought against the evidence drawn from the discourse of Christ as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. The objection is that all that is said in these chapters refers to the period of time which intervened between the time when the predictions were given and Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. Three things we will mention which forbid this interpretation: 1. The description of Christ's coming and the gathering of his people in Matt. 24: 29, 30, forbids such application. It is consistent as applied to Christ's second coming; it is utterly inconsistent as applied to the destruction of Jerusalem. 2. Among the things which precede the coming of Christ are wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Matt. 24: 6, 7. But this was impossible before Jerusalem was destroyed, as Rome then ruled the world, and for many years after this. What kingdoms or nations were there who rose against each other? 3. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. John wrote the Revelation subsequent to 90 A.D., twenty or more years after the destruction of Jerusalem, yet he gives the same signs which are given in Matt. 24: 29 as omens of the coming of the great day of God. Rev. 6: 13-18. Having established the fact that these predictions of our Lord in Luke 21: 25-27 do not refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, let us note some of the signs there given:— 1. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars. The account is more definite in Matt. 24: 29 and Mark 13: 24. The days of great tribulation under the persecuting power of the Papacy are presented as a feature of the prophecy. These645days are predicted in Dan. 7: 25, and several other prophecies. They are known as the 1260 days, or years, of the papal supremacy, beginning in 538 A.D. and ending in 1798. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened," says Matthew. The testimony of Mark 13: 24 makes it still more explicit, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened." This is the first prominent sign. The tribulation of the days ended before the days expired. Public sentiment revolted against the persecution for conscience' sake. In 1776 Maria Therese, empress of Austria, issued a decree tolerating all sects and religions, which had a vast influence in lifting from Christians the hand of persecution. In the same year the United Colonies of Great Britain in America declared themselves to be free and independent States. This new country opened its doors to the oppressed of all nations. Those who had been persecuted for conscience' sake found here what they had sought,—a church without a pope, and a State without a king. As expressed in another prophecy, "The earth helped the woman [the church]." Rev. 12: 16. Placing the date when the tribulation ceased in 1776, we have a period of time intervening, before the days ended in 1798, of twenty-two years. Now note the exactness of the prophecy concerning this first sign, the darkening of the sun. It comes "in those days, after that tribulation." Mark 13: 24. It also comes "immediately after the tribulation of those days." Matt. 24: 29. So that it matters not how many times the sun may have been darkened in the past, or subsequent to the closing of the 1260 years of tribulation, there must be a darkening of the sun within these twenty-two years, soon after they begin. And there was just such a darkening as this on May 19, 1780, just four years after the tribulation of the days ceased. Many authorities might be given; we will quote two or three and refer to others. Whittier, the poet, has given us a good picture of that time in his poem "Abraham Davenport":— "Twas on a May day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness, like the night
In day of which the Norland sagas tell,—
The twilight of the gods. The low-hung sky
Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim
Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs
The crater's sides from the red hell below.
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sound of labor died;
Men prayed and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky." Says Webster's Unabridged Dictionary in its "Explanatory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of Noted Names," etc.:— The dark day, May 19, 1780, so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day, extending over all New England. In some places, persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known. The Boston Gazette of May 22, 1780, says:— The printers acknowledge their incapacity of describing the phenomenon which appeared in that town on Friday last. It grew darker and darker until nearly one o'clock, when it became so dark the inhabitants were obliged to quit their business, and they had to dine by the light of the candle. Dr. Tenney, in 1785, wrote to the Historical Society concerning it. He says:— Although the uncommon darkness which attracted the attention of all ranks of people in this part of the country on the 19th of May, 1780, was a phenomenon which several gentleman of considerable literary abilities have endeavored to solve, yet I believe you will agree with me that no satisfactory solution has yet appeared. Herschel, the great astronomer, says:— The dark day in Northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature which will always be read with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain. See also "Tract 379—Life of Edward Lee," American Tract Society; "Robert Sears' Guide to Knowledge," New York, 1844; "Our First Century," pp. 88-96, and many other authorities. "And the moon shall not give her light." Matt. 24: 29; Rev. 6: 12. Some of the above authorities also refer to the darkening of the moon, which occurred the following night. The sun could not have been eclipsed, for the moon was in the full; but though it was full moon it gave no light; the darkness was impenetrable, so that, as one writer says, a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye was equally invisible with the blackest velvet. At times the moon appeared, and when it did another writer says it "had the appearance of blood." These God-given signs appeared as predicted. "When these things begin to come to pass [says our Lord], then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke 21: 28. But another sign is yet to follow,—"And the stars shall fall from heaven." Matt. 24: 29; Rev. 6: 13. As to the time when this took-place, we will let the historian answer. Many now are living who will testify to the truth of the following testimonies, the first from Professor Olmstead, of Yale College, the second from Henry Dana Ward in the New York Journal of Commerce of November 14, 1833, the next day after the meteoric shower, or falling stars, occurred:— The extent of the shower of 1833 was such as to cover no inconsiderable part of the earth's surface, from the middle of the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west; and from the northern coast of South America to the undefined regions among the British possessions on the north, the exhibition was visible, and everywhere presented nearly the same appearance. This is no longer to be regarded as a terrestrial, but as a celestial, phenomenon; and shooting stars are now to be no more viewed as casual productions of the upper regions of the atmosphere, but as visitants from other worlds, or from the planetary voids. No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like that of yesterday morning. A prophet 1,800 years ago foretold it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling to mean falling stars; or "hoi asteres tou ouranou epesen teos geos," in the only sense in which it is possible to be literally true. Here are three signs of the Lord's coming, in the sun, moon, and stars, using the latter term as it is commonly used. From these signs our Saviour presents the following parable in Matt. 24: 32-35; Mark 13: 28-31; Luke 21: 29-33. The language is similar in all; we quote the former:— "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." We will consider this passage in our next.