THE SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD.
By Otis Nichols
"And as Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us . . . what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. xxiv, 3. The answer to this question is recorded in verses 29, 30. "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. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, 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." See also Mark xiii, 24—26; Luke xxi, 25—27. These are the signs of the end of the world, and the second coming of Christ. They are distinctly given in their order, "after the tribulation," so that none need be mistaken in their application, nor the time of their fulfillment. The disciples asked our Lord a literal question, and we believe he gave them a literal answer. The first thing necessary to notice, is the period, and the application, of "the tribulation of those days" that precede the signs. Our Lord in verse 15, has given warning of its approach, and cautioned against a misunderstanding. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand,) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. . . . For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Verses 15, 16, 21, 22. From the expression "them which be in Judea," verse 16, this tribulation was formerly believed (and many still believe it) to refer to the severe afflictions of the Jews in the time of the siege by the Romans, when Jerusalem was destroyed. According to Josephus, "eleven thousand Jews then perished in Jerusalem, and more than two hundred and fifty thousand in other parts of Judea, besides ninety seven thousand captives, and innumerable others who perished by starvation and other means." It is sufficient to note, (1.) The tribulation spoken of by our Lord referred expressly to the severe afflictions of the elect, Christians, and not to the Jews that perished in Judea. (2.) It did not take place until "the abomination of desolation" stood up in the holy place, the Church, near five hundred years afterwards. What is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel? Certainly, it was not the sacrificial abominations of the Pagans, called "the daily sacrifice," [Dan. viii, 13.] neither was it the idolatrous standards of the Roman armies that were planted on the walls of the city and temple of Jerusalem, as many think. Nor can it refer to Dan. ix, 27; for that speaks of abominations, plural; whereas our Lord speaks of a particular abomination, singular, and cautions against a misunderstanding. This desolating power is expressly referred to in Dan. viii, 13. It is there called "the transgression of desolation." "They shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." xi, 31. "From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up," &c. See margin xii, 11. Notice this fact. "The daily sacrifice," that is, the Pagan Roman governments and its sacrifices, were first restrained, and taken away; and afterwards "the abomination of desolation" was "placed" or "set up" "in the holy place." The holy place at that time could not refer to the temple of Jerusalem, as some think, for that was destroyed more than four hundred years before this desolating power was set up. Thus the abomination of desolation could not apply to the Roman armies, or their idolatrous standards at the time Jerusalem was destroyed, neither could it refer to the Pagan Roman governments, nor its sacrifices. The only reasonable application of this desolation, is to the setting up, or establishing the jurisdiction of the Papal governments in the Church, and the Pope of Rome, the supreme executive. The sanctuary and the host, were first trodden down by the Pagans. After Paganism was restrained, Papacy came into power and made the Church of Christ desolate. Paganism hindered the establishment of the Church of Rome, as long as its governments continued: but it no longer stood in their way, after England, the last of the ten Pagan kingdoms was christianized. Arthur put an end to Paganism among the Britons. He was crowned a Christian monarch of the Britons, by a Catholic Bishop in A. D. 508. [Kippis' and Henry's Biog. Brit. See Hale's reply to Dr. Pond.—Signs of the Times, 1843.] The Pagans then lost their head in the Western empire of Rome, and the way was open to set up the Papal power in the Church, or "holy place"—"where it ought not," [Mark xiii, 14.] "in the temple of God." See 2 Thess. ii, 4. Take notice, the Church was called "the temple of God" under the gospel ministry, and was the holy place, [1 Cor. iii, 16, 17.] where God's law and Spirit should dwell, as the tabernacle of Moses was, under the first covenant. Compare the quotations of 2 Cor. vi, 16, with Lev. xxvi, 11, 12, and Ex. xxix, 43—45, xxv, 8. Papacy was established in A. D. 538. The Pope of Rome was then constituted the head of all the Christian churches in the world, and invested with the supreme authority over all in all matters pertaining to religion. The Papal supremacy continued 1260 years from the time it was established, and during this period the saints were given into the hands of this power. Dan. vii, 25, 26; Rev. xiii, 5—7. This was the period that the abomination of desolation stood in the holy place. This was the period of the tribulation of those days, in which the saints suffered under the Papal persecution, which for the magnitude and duration of their afflictions, (in which more than fifty millions of the saints were cruelly put to death,) there was not the like "since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." The severity of that tribulation began to be broken before the 1260 days, or years, expired that the Church was to remain in the "mountains," [verse 16.] or "wilderness." See Rev. xii, 6, 14—16. The kings began to make war on that desolating power [see Rev. xvii, 16.] many years before the whole period allotted to it had expired; and thus, the days in the violence of the persecution were shortened, and for the elect's sake, the Church. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days," &c. Mark says, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened," &c. The history agrees with the prophecy. "In those days," [1260.] allotted to "the abomination of desolation," and yet after the tribulation of the Church, from that power, had passed, the sun was literally darkened. "In 1780, May 19th, the sun rose clear—at ten o'clock the horizon began to be darkened, and at twelve, people had to light candles—laborers left the field—the fowls retired to roost, and a feeling that the judgment day had come, rested upon many minds." "The moon shall not give her light." "The darkness, not only continued through the day, but the night following, till past midnight, though the moon was at the full. Such was the darkness, that a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible as the blackest velvet. An eye-witness says, that when the moon first became visible, it had precisely the appearance of blood. The prophet Joel says, [Chap. ii, 31.] "the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come."—We have seen that this prophecy has been fulfilled. "The stars shall fall from heaven." This is another sign of the end of the world. In 1833, Nov. 13th, was seen precisely such an appearance as is described in Rev. vi 13. The atmosphere was literally filled with falling stars, shooting in every direction, answering exactly to the description there given. A sign, that is, an omen of a future event, is frequently a phenomenon of some of the scenes that usher in the event signified; as the appearance of a drawn sword over the city of Jerusalem, and armies fighting in the air, or clouds, were omens of her destruction by the Roman armies. Thus the darkening of the sun and the moon in 1780, and the falling of the stars in 1833, were omens of warning that the great and terrible day of the Lord was near. They were a precursory exhibition of the like scenes that will usher in that day. There are two distinct classes of prophecies of the darkening of the sun and the moon, which refer to two distinct events. One refers to such as are signs that are fulfilled previous to the event signified. See Joel ii, 31; Matt. xxiv, 29, 30; Mark xiii, 25, 26; Luke xxi, 26, 27. These are omens of warning for the saving benefit of the world. The other refers directly to the great and terrible day of the Lord, particularly, to the scenes that usher in that day. See Isa. xiii, 9, 10; Joel ii, 10, 11; iii, 15; Rev. vi, 12—17. These latter prophecies of the darkening of the sun and the moon have evidently their fulfillment at the commencement "of the great day of His wrath." They cannot be omens of warning that will result for the salvation of the enemies of God; then they that are filthy will be filthy still. The next sign in the order after the falling of the stars is "and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn," &c. I understand the shaking of the powers of the heavens to be a literal appearance of the shaking of the heavens. See Isa. xiii, 13; Hag. ii, 6; Joel ii, 10; Heb. xii, 26. The powers of the heavens can be no other than the sun, the moon, and the stars, "that rule the day, and the night, seasons and years." Gen. i, 14, 18. If the heavens have a literal appearance of being shaken, will not the sun, moon and the stars also tremble? This event is future, and immediately precedes the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and the literal appearance of our Lord in the clouds of heaven. "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree. When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin, 'he'] is near, even at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Verses 32—34. In Whiting's translation, verse 34, reads thus, "Truly I say unto you, this very generation will not pass away, till all these things are fulfilled." "This generation," is clearly defined by our Lord. None other can reasonably apply, but the "very generation" that are eye-witnesses to the fulfillment of "all these things," that is, the signs of the end of the world, and second coming of Christ, commencing with the darkening of the sun and the moon in 1780.—Luke says, [xxi, 28.] "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh." Matthew says, "When ye shall see all these things, know that he is at the doors." "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away." Thus we are assured by the testimony of our Lord that a remnant of the very generation that was born nearly eighty years ago will not pass away before they see all these signs, and even the literal coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. "Watch, therefore, and be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto you all, Watch."