SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.
By Francis M. Wilcox
THAT the Lord has warned the world of the near approach of the end of all things, is only in harmony with His character of love and mercy. In all judgments which He has visited upon guilty man, those judgments have been preceded by messages of love, offering time for repentance and opportunity for escape from the visitation of divine wrath. As He says through His prophet Amos, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." When the ancient world was visited by a flood of waters, for one hundred and twenty years Noah, a preacher of righteousness, warned men to flee from the wrath to come. And not alone has the Lord exercised His clemency toward the world in a general way, but His loving mercy has extended to particular localities, and even to single cities,—as in the case of the cities of the plain in the days of Lot, and of Nineveh in the days of Jonah, the people of which He warned through His servants of impending judgments. Hence, if God would give warning of such comparatively small visitations, how much more reasonable is it to suppose that all the great events connected with the second coming of Christ, such as the destruction of this earth by fire, the judgment of the world, the annihilation of the wicked, the inauguration of everlasting peace and righteousness—all of which will take place within the day of the Lord—would be preceded by portending signs and warning messages of mercy. This the Scriptures reveal that He will do, and in no inconspicuous way does He reveal these indications. In the heavens, than which there could be no more conspicuous place for the revelation of His will to the natural sight of man, God hangs out the signs of the last great day. Indeed, this purpose must have entered into His mind way back in the days of creation. In making the lights of the firmament of heaven, He said, "Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years." Says our Lord, as recorded by Luke, "And there shall be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars." Matthew and Mark, in their record of these predictions of the Lord, are more specific. By Matthew our Saviour is represented as speaking of the great period of tribulation which will come upon the church of God, evidently that found in the papal persecution beginning in 538 A.D., and ending in 1798. Dan. 7:25, et al. These were the years of tribulation, when by the kings of the earth the word of the pope was recognized as law, and they stood ready to follow his behests and do his bidding. It may be stated here, however, that, altho this papal persecution extended until 1798, when the pope was robbed of his authority as corrector of heretics by the armies of the French Republic, owing to the influences of the Protestant Reformation, one after another of the States of Europe had withdrawn from him their power and patronage, until he was recognized as head over all the church in form only, with little of the civil power to back up his decrees. In the year 1776 there was proclaimed the Declaration of American Independence. In the same year Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, at that time one of the most powerful States in the Eastern world, issued a decree of religious toleration to all her subjects. The influence of this decree in Europe, and the asylum opened up in the Western world for the oppressed and persecuted, proved the last straws in the destruction of papal supremacy. Hence, it may be said that while the papal supremacy continued until its formal overthrow by France in 1798, its force as a persecuting power was effectually broken in 1776. With this statement of facts before us, we are now prepared to intelligently enter upon a consideration of the signs in the heavens. Said our Lord, as recorded by Matthew, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened." This is the first sign in the series. Note that our Saviour does not say, "after those days," but, "after the tribulation of those days," these signs shall begin to take place. As quoted by Mark, His words are even more to the point: "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." If our statement is correct, that the persecuting power of the Papacy was broken in 1776, and the papal supremacy was taken away in 1798, then somewhere between these two dates, namely, 1776 and 1798, must occur the fulfilment of this prediction. What do the records of the past show? —In 1780, on May 19, only four years after the ending of the period of tribulation, and eighteen years before the end of papal supremacy, occurred a most remarkable darkening of the sun. The same event is foretold in the sixth chapter of the Revelation, when, upon the opening of the sixth seal, "there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." Reference here is undoubtedly made to what is known as the earthquake of Lisbon, occurring in 1755. The dark day of 1780 would come in as a fulfilment of this prophecy, likewise. This darkening was not an eclipse. Regarding its causes, "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary," edition of 1869, says:— The dark day of May 19, 1780, so called on account of the remarkable darkness on that day, extending over all New England; in some places persons could not see to read good print in the open air for hours together. The true cause of this phenomenon is unknown. Robert Sears' "Guide to Knowledge," published in New York in 1844, contains the following reference:— On the 19th of May, 1780, an uncommon darkness took place all over New England, and extending to Canada. It continued about fourteen hours, or from 10 o'clock in the morning until midnight. The darkness was so great that people were unable to read good print, or to tell the time of day from their watches, or to dine, or to transact their ordinary business without the light of candles. They became dull and gloomy, and were excessively frightened. The fowls went to roost; objects could not be distinguished but a very little distance, and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night. The causes of these phenomena are unknown; they certainly were not the result of eclipses. Milo Bostwick, writing from Camden, N. J., March 3, 1848, says:— The 19th of May, in the year 1780, I well remember. The sun shone with a pale and yellowish hue, but kept growing darker and darker, until it was hid from sight. At noon we lit a candle, but it did not give light as in the night, and my father could not see to read with two candles. My father and mother, who were pious, thought the day of judgment was near. They sat up that night, during the latter part of which they said the darkness disappeared, and then the sky seemed as usual, but the moon, which was at its full, had the appearance of blood. The following graphic description by the Quaker poet, J. G. Whittier, is to the point:— "Twas on a May day of the fair old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth and heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness, like the night
In day, of which the Norland sages tell—
The twilight of the gods.
"Birds ceased to sing, and all the barn-yard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed; and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept: all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky." In this record we have the remarkable fulfilment of the prophetic Word. The greatest scientific men of the day were unable to give any reason in nature for the cause of the phenomenon. It was as tho the Creator Himself reached forth His hand and covered up the great orb of day, to give a fulfilment to His own prophetic sayings. Prophecy said it would be; history says it has been. The Word of God is proven true, and thus the future fulfilment of the prophecy demonstrated.