Both the Sign and the Time Foretold
By Eugene W. Farnsworth
Signs in the Heavens to Precede Christ's Coming—A Remarkable Darkening of the Sun—Science Can Not Account for It—The Time of Its Occurrence, as Well as the Event, Foretold
"IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." Matt. 24: 29. We now have before us the question of special import in this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Luke says, "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." Luke 21: 25. Note this carefully. The disciples asked, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?" Matt. 24: 3. The Saviour replied, "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." He stated further that there should be "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity." When was the sun to be darkened?—"Immediately after the tribulation of those days." The Reformation and other influences caused the general persecution of God's people to end about 1750. It grew less and less until, about 1760 or 1765, we find no persecution. The Saviour said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened." He not only tells what the sign will be, but He tells us when it will occur. It is "immediately after the tribulation of those days,"—after the persecution that was inflicted on the people of God during the Dark Ages had ceased. THERE WAS SUCH A DARK DAY
It is a fact that a little while after the tribulation ended, there was a notable dark day for which science is unable to give any satisfactory reason. The sun has been darkened, as the Saviour declared it should be. Eminent men have borne testimony to the truth of this statement. For lack of space, but two or three can be quoted.152 In Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, edition of 1869, in "Explaining and Pronouncing Vocabulary," article "Dark Day," we read: "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." In "Our First Century," page 88, is found this testimony: "Almost, if not altogether, alone, as the most mysterious and as yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind in nature's diversified range of events during the last century, stands the dark day of May 19, 1780, a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England, which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation, the fowls fleeing bewildered to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls. Indeed, thousands of the good people of that day became convinced that the end of all things terrestrial had come; many gave up for the time their secular pursuits, and betook themselves to religious devotions." This darkening of the sun was not an eclipse. It is a well-known fact that astronomers can tell when there is to be an eclipse. Five, twenty, a hundred, or a thousand years ahead, they can tell just as accurately as they can for next year. Astronomers declare that at that time there could not have been an eclipse, on account of the relative position of the sun and the moon to the earth. Josiah Litch, in his exposition of prophecy, referring to the dark day, says: "I refer to the dark day of A.D. 1780, May 19. That was a day of supernatural darkness. It was not an eclipse of the sun, for the moon was nearly at the full. It was not owing to a thickness of the atmosphere, for the stars were seen. The darkness began about nine o'clock A.M., and continued through the day. Such was the darkness that work was suspended in the field and shop, beasts and fowls retired to their rest, and the houses were illuminated at dinner time. . . . The sun was supernaturally darkened." Such statements as these quoted are remarkable; and other writers bear the same testimony,—that at midday, when the sun was overhead, the stars were distinctly seen, hence the darkness could not have been caused by clouds or anything of that kind. There is abundant reason for believing that God brought about the fulfilment of His own prediction. HERSCHEL THE ASTRONOMER COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT
Sir John Herschel wrote on this subject as follows: "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." The poet Whittier thus makes reference to this dark day: " '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.
"Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls
Roosted; and 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." No one denies that the sun was darkened as these writers describe it. And all agree that science is at an entire loss to account for this remarkable phenomenon. A SIGNAL HUNG IN THE HEAVENS
This was the first great signal that God Himself hung out in the heavens to teach His people that the Lord's coming was near at hand. "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?" Answer: "There shall be signs in the sun." "The sun shall be darkened," is the testimony of another. And when that event takes place at the time He declared it should, why should we not believe that it is the very event He said should occur? CHRIST HIMSELF COULD NOT REMOVE THEIR DOUBTS
Some may say, "Indeed, I thought that when the sun was darkened, it would be in such a way that no one could possibly doubt it." Anybody can doubt any evidence God gives them if they wish. When the Pharisees saw the miracles of Christ, what effect did these have on them? They said, If You are the Son of God, show us a sign from heaven. No evidence He could give to verify His divine mission, had any weight with them. They hardened their hearts in unbelief, and rejected the evidence sent them, until they were ready to drive the nails that fastened Him to the cross. The lesson taught by their experience is for all time.