Events That Arrived on Schedule Time
By W. E. Gillis
As in the type, ten days before the day of atonement, or the cleansing of the sanctuary, the priests at Jerusalem were to blow the trumpets announcing the definite time of that solemn event, so in the events connected with the heavenly sanctuary and its cleansing we must expect some similar manifestation as marking the prophetic period of a day for a year. Are we disappointed? — No. On time, as all of God's appointments have appeared, came the falling of the stars as witnessed over the greater portion of the Western Hemisphere on the night of November 13, 1833. God had spoken through the prophet Daniel nearly 2,400 years before, saying, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:14. And God's prophets at various times in the centuries had written of the stars of heaven falling as a fig-tree casts her green figs in a mighty wind. And now, just ten years before the cleansing Judgment in the heavenly sanctuary begins, the inhabitants of America are startled by one of the most magnificent sights ever man has been privileged to behold. From one point in the heavens stream forth in all directions multitudes of what appear to be the stars of heaven, in every way fulfilling the description of the scene as witnessed by the ancient prophets. For fully ten hours they fell from the inexhaustible storehouse. The earth at midnight was lightened with their glory, and the astonished beholders were everywhere calling upon God for deliverance from their sins, for they thought that the end of the world had come. God's people quickly carried the news of the event and its import to all the world. Just as it was impossible for the priests of the typical service, blowing their horns at Jerusalem, to be heard all over the land of Israel, but the event had to be heralded by messengers, so God gave this sign where His followers were most diligent, and bade them carry the news of it to the ends of the earth. By the fall of 1843 all the nations of the world had been made acquainted with the time for the beginning of the Investigative Judgment. Because God delights in mercy (Micah 7:18-20), the message to which this sign from heaven calls men's attention is magnified by world-wide publications, so that a man though a fool may not err therein. Reader, the night of sin is about to end. We are in the last watch. When the morning breaks, probation will have ended. Will your name be among those retained in the Lamb's book of life?