Signs of His Coming by Roderick S. Owen

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 10, 1911

Signs of His Coming

By Roderick S. Owen

By Roderick S. Owen

III. The Falling Stars

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.

IN this scripture the Saviour was giving an answer to the question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?" Here we find four things spoken of; to wit, the darkening of the sun, the darkening of the moon, the falling of the stars, and the shaking of the powers of the heavens. The first three mentioned are signs of His coming, while the last is an attendant circumstance; for the text states that when the powers of the heavens are shaken, then shall they see the sign of the Son of Man — not the sign of His coming, but His sign, the sign of His presence — and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Thus we see that the last great sign in the heavens, in this series, which is to precede the coming of the Master, is the falling of the stars.

Perhaps John states this fact more plainly in Rev. 6: 12-17; for he says: "I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

Thus we see that following the falling of the stars, comes the departing of the heavens as a scroll, the breaking up of the surface of the earth, while all its inhabitants who are not prepared are mourning and calling for the rocks to hide them from the face of Christ, for He has come with power and great glory. But alas,

Where shall the sinner hide in that day? It will be in vain to call, "Ye mountains, on us fall;" For His hand shall find out all In that day.

Has the Prediction Been Fulfilled?

But let us now inquire, Has this sign also been given? We have found that the sun and moon were darkened May 19, 1780. Following this in the order called for in the prophecy, there occurred Nov. 13, 1833, one of the most wonderful exhibitions of celestial fireworks, ever witnessed by the inhabitants of our planet. At that time the heavens were filled with the falling, blazing meteors, that obscured the presence of the stars. Yea, all the host of the luminaries were lost sight of in the brilliancy, grandeur, and splendor of this display. All the meteors seemed to start from one point in the heavens; but they fell in every direction, flying swiftly, crossing each other’s pathway, but all falling toward the horizon. But let us listen to the description as given by eye-witnesses:

We pronounce the raining of fire, which we saw on Wednesday morning last, an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful day which the inhabitants of earth will witness when the sixth seal shall be opened. The time is just at hand described not only in the New Testament but in the Old. A more correct picture of a fig-tree casting its leaves when blown by a mighty wind is not possible to behold.—Connecticut Observer, Nov. 25, 1833.

But the most sublime phenomenon of shooting stars of which the world has furnished any record, was witnessed throughout the United States on the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The entire extent of this astonishing exhibition has not been precisely ascertained, but it covered no inconsiderable portion of the earth’s surface. . . . The first appearance was that of fireworks of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with myriads of fire balls, resembling sky-rockets. Their coruscations were bright, gleaming, and incessant, and they fell thick as the flakes in the early snows of December. To the splendors of this celestial exhibition the most brilliant sky-rockets and fireworks of art bear less relation than the twinkling of the most tiny star to the broad glare of the sun. The whole heavens seemed in motion, and suggested to some the awful grandeur of the image employed in the Apocalypse upon the opening of the sixth seal, when the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.—Burritt’s “Geography of the Heavens,” page 103, ed. 1854.

Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of Nov. 13, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been since the creation of the world, or at least within the annals covered by the pages of history. In nearly all places the meteors began to attract notice by their unusual frequency as early as eleven o’clock, and increased in number and splendor until about four o’clock, from which time they gradually declined, but were visible until lost in the light of day. The meteors did not fly at random over all parts of the sky, but appeared to emanate from a point in the constellation Leo, near the star called Gamma Leonis, in the bend of the sickle. 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 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 regarded as casual productions of the upper regions of the atmosphere, but as visitants from the other worlds, or from the planetary voids.—Professor Olmsted of Yale.

And surely the stars did fall, and they fell in exactly the manner described by the prophet of God more than eighteen centuries before.

Thus the last great sign in the heavens has been given, and we find ourselves between the falling of the stars and the departing of the heavens as a scroll, which when it occurs will reveal to our astonished vision the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. Each should ask himself the question, Am I ready? Can I greet Him with joy? A most wonderful experience will come to all those who are ready; for they shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from the mortal to immortal, from the corruptible to the incorruptible, and together with the loved ones who have fallen asleep in Jesus they will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so ever to be with the Lord. 1 Cor. 15: 51, etc.; 1 Thess. 4: 16, etc.