A Sign of the Day of God.
By D. M. C.
OBSERVER. My friend, while we are waiting here at the depot, let me call your attention to these cars. They are certainly a wonderful invention, the admiration of all the world. This is an age of wonders; but there is nothing more wonderful than the cars. TRAVELER. Yes, indeed. I always look on them with awe and admiration. I have sometimes thought they might be a forerunner of the millennium in fulfillment of the prophecies. OBSERVER. I think they are a remarkable fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. As I have the Bible here, I will read it. I verily believe that no man, however familiar with the cars, could give as accurate a description of a railroad train in so few words as are employed in the book of God for that purpose. TRAVELER. I am interested to see such a prophecy, if there be one. I never heard our minister mention it. OBSERVER. I know that many of the ministers pay but little attention to the prophecies, though they comprise a large and most important portion of the Bible. But now look for yourself. Let us read Nahum 2 : 3–5; “The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways; they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.” I believe that this prophecy is fulfilled before our eyes. “The chariots shall be with flaming torches.” This, you will readily see, indicates that they will be propelled by fire, or, at least, that fire will be used on them for some purpose while running. “They shall seem like torches;” that is, they shall look like torches in the dark. How exactly this is fulfilled by the cars! See! there comes a train now. I am glad that it is night so that you can see the force of this prophecy. There! See that illuminated train approaching. Does it not from a distance look like many flaming torches in the dark? TRAVELER. Really, it does seem to be a very good fit. But has there never been anything like this before the cars? OBSERVER. No sir, fire was never applied to the propelling of any carriage till these railways were invented, which was less than fifty years ago. And then, these cars exactly fulfill every specification of the prophecy. “The chariots shall rage in the streets.” To rage is to act vehemently, to make much noise and ado. There! look at that train as it comes thundering past us. Hear what a deafening noise it makes when it whistles! How the ground shakes, and everything trembles! How could it be more appropriately described than by saying that it rages? Then again: “They shall justle one against another in the broad ways.” There, you see those switches and side tracks. There are side tracks enough for several trains to pass each other at the same time. Hence these may very appropriately be called “broad ways,” wider than the ordinary track. Now watch that freight train as it switches off to unload and load again. Says the prophecy, “They shall justle one against another in the broad ways.” See them run one against another, making everything ring, in switching off, backing up, and starting again. The language, “they shall justle one against another,” indicates that several chariots, or coaches, will be attached one on to another as these cars are. This never was true of any other chariots. TRAVELER. It does seem to fit very well so far, I confess. “They shall run like the lightnings.” That certainly is true of the cars. It is astonishing with what rapidity they do run. Indeed, some trains have been called “lightning trains.” I believe there never was any carriage invented before that could run anywhere near so fast, was there? OBSERVER. Certainly not. Swift-footed animals were the fastest means of conveyance which men could have till the railways were invented. Till within fifty years, it took long weeks and months to travel a few hundred miles, which can now be traveled in a few hours. Nothing in the past could fulfill this prophecy—“They shall run like the lightnings.” But the cars do strikingly fill the picture. TRAVELER. It may be that this prophecy does refer to the cars. I do not see how it could well be made plainer. OBSERVER. But read further: “He shall recount his worthies.” Verse 5. Every time the train passes a station, the conductor goes through and re-examines, or recounts, his passengers to see what new ones have come aboard. How exactly this agrees with the prophecy! TRAVELER. Why, how plain that is! I never knew that such things were in the Bible. OBSERVER. This is not all. Read on: “They shall stumble in their walk.” Now, see men try to walk in the cars as they are in motion. They go stumbling along and hastily catching at the seats and sides of the cars to avoid falling. TRAVELER. Yes, I know that to be so. OBSERVER. Hence the prophet continues; “They shall make haste to the wall thereof,” &c. Thus every prominent feature of the cars which would strike one on first beholding them, is here described by the prophet. They look like torches, they run like lightning, they rage, they justle against each other, the conductor recounts his passengers, they stumble while walking in them, &c. Could a prophecy be much plainer? TRAVELER. Indeed, I don’t see how it could very well. OBSERVER. Having settled this, I wish to call your attention to another point in this prophecy, one which makes it of great interest to me. When was it to be fulfilled? And of what was it to be a sign? TRAVELER. Is there anything by which we can tell? OBSERVER. There should be, or the prophecy would be of no use. Read again: “The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of His preparation.” “His preparation” means the Lord’s preparation, as may be seen by the previous verse. What this day of preparation is for, may be learned by looking back a little further, in the fifth verse of the previous chapter: “The mountains quake at him [the Lord], and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea the world, and all that dwell therein.” Turning to 2 Pet. 3 : 10, we learn that this takes place in the end of the world. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” This shows that the prophecy applies to the last days. Verse 9 says that the Lord “will make an utter end.” Verse 15 says, “The wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” This we know is to take place at the judgment. Many other allusions in this prophecy show that it relates to the last days. Nahum is speaking of the same time that Isaiah is when the latter says, “Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13 : 9. This, then, is the day for which God is preparing. TRAVELER. But does not this apply to the ancient city of Nineveh? OBSERVER. It is true that Nineveh is mentioned. But in prophecy, future events, persons, kingdoms, &c., are frequently described under well known names of the past. Thus, Christ is called David, Jer. 30 : 9; an apostate church is called Jezebel, Rev. 2 : 20; and Babylon, Rev. 17 : 5, and Egypt and Sodom, Rev. 11 : 8. By overlooking this fact many are misled in reading the prophecies. TRAVELER. Since you mention it, I remember that familiar names are frequently thus used in the Bible. OBSERVER. That Nineveh is so used here is evident from the first chapter, and from the fact that no such chariots were known in ancient times.27 TRAVELER. Can it be that these wonderful cars are a sign of the day of God? OBSERVER. Yes, my friend, it is really so; for God has said that the chariots should be with flaming torches, &c., in the day of his preparation. This world has stood for nearly 6000 years; great men have lived, talented men, men of genius, yet they never invented anything to fulfill this prophecy till within less than fifty years. Men needed, wanted, and greatly desired, something like the cars to travel with, in the past as much as now. Yet no man could invent them? Why not? God had said they should be a sign of the day of wrath. His word could not be broken. For nearly half a century this marvelous sign of the day of the Lord at hand has gone thundering and raging through the great cities and towns of the world. Every time a train of cars goes by “like the lightnings,” it says, “The day of His preparation has come.” Every time the engine whistles, it says in thunder tones, “The day of God is at hand.” Fearful day! Day of wrath! Who shall be able to stand? TRAVELER. I have long thought that many things indicate the end near at hand, though I did not know how near. OBSERVER. This is very plain to be seen by those who study the word of God, and compare it with the signs of the times. It is remarked by all that this is an age of wonders. Numerous wonderful inventions have been brought out here within a few years’ time, as it were, all together. The railroad, the steamboat, the telegraph, the printing press, and many other improvements have been developed within the past few years. And God’s word declares them to be tokens of the last days. In the “time of the end,” says Daniel, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12 : 4. TRAVELER. These things are certainly remarkable. I am inclined to believe that the Lord has a design in all this. OBSERVER. Yes, it is the day of His preparation, and he is using these instrumentalities, in preparing the world for the harvest of the great day. The men of business think the cars a good thing because they can make gain out of them; the politician, because they aid him in his work; and the pleasure-seeker, because they contribute to his enjoyment. God and his word of prophecy are not thought of. But the Lord designs them not only as signs of the end, but to be used in speeding on a final message of warning to the world. TRAVELER. I fear these things are so, and there are other signs which seem to indicate the same thing. OBSERVER. Oh! yes; there have been signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth everywhere. For nearly forty years hundreds of men have been proclaiming the coming of the Lord nigh at hand. Thousands of tons of books and tracts have been scattered all over the world. Multitudes are looking for Jesus soon to come in the clouds of heaven. The world has been warned. TRAVELER. If these are so, they certainly are worthy of attention. I must look into them. But what is meant by the day of “His preparation”? OBSERVER. While Noah was preaching and preparing the ark during the 120 years, that was the day of God’s preparation for the destruction of the world by the flood, was it not? TRAVELER. Yes, of course. OBSERVER. So it is now. For nearly half a century God has been preparing the world for the coming of his Son, by the preaching of his servants, and by numerous signs in heaven and earth. This is meant by the “day of his preparation.” TRAVELER. If this be so, it is important that the world should know it. The mass of the people are far from being prepared, except it be for destruction to which they seem to be fast hastening. OBSERVER. Well, my friend, I must now go. May the Lord impress these things upon your mind, help you to look into his word, to discern the signs of the times, and may we finally meet in the soon coming kingdom of God.