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Strange Phenomena

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Sep 25, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 39.

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Strange Phenomena

By Frederick M. Wilcox

WE do not believe that the statement partakes of sensation when we say that the closing days of earth's history will be marked by many peculiar and unnatural phenomena. The Scriptures of truth declare that “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 waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”
The heavens above and the earth beneath will disclose many strange sights. When the great Creator formed the earth in the beginning and set the sun and moon and stars in the firmament above for lights by day and by night, he declared that they would be “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Later, through the prophet Joel, the Lord declares that he “will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” Our Saviour in his great prophetic discourse, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, points out the particular period in which some of these signs would appear; namely, in the closing days of papal domination, ending in 1798.
How accurately and strikingly were fulfilled these prophecies in the notable darkening of the sun on May 19, 1780, and in the notable meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833. Closely associated with these specific fulfilments of the prophecies were other striking and notable appearances in the heavenly bodies.
The daily press from time to time contains many reports of unusual occurrences in various parts of the world. The following striking incident is related in the Washington Star of August 4, telling of the destruction visited upon a village in Spain:—
MADRID, July 25, 1913.
The village of Alcocer, near Valencia, has been practically wiped out and the surrounding country ravaged by an aerolite of great size.
Shortly after noon there dropped from a cloudless sky a great lurid ball of fire. A deafening series of detonations, like a thousand rifle-shots, resounded through the still atmosphere and scattering tongues of flame in all directions as the heavy mass buried itself in the earth.
The surrounding country was set on fire, and within an hour nothing but blackened masses of smoldering cinders remained of farmhouses, hay-lofts, trees, and gathered crops of hay, wheat, and olives.
The whole population of Alcocer was at the moment attending a requiem service in the church, some two miles distant. But for that circumstance, the loss of life would have been terrible. As it was, five persons were seriously burned, one of them succumbing to his injuries the same evening.
At the moment the aerolite fell at Alcocer a terrific thunder-storm, which was accompanied by a rain of stones, some the size of oranges and weighing nearly two pounds, burst over the neighboring villages of Benavites and Cuartil.
The ground was covered in places to a depth of five inches by these stones. A pungent odor of sulphur pervaded the locality for hours after the phenomenon.
The earth and sea are contributing their quota to the full measure of these sign conditions. Earthquakes, tidal waves, pestilence, and famine, frightful and unheard-of calamities sweeping away whole towns,—these experiences are coming to be of almost daily occurrence.
They are allowed to come as Heaven's monitors. By them we should be admonished of the times in which we live. We are amid the perils of the last days. The danger is that our senses will become blunted and our comprehension dulled, so that we shall fail to read in the existing conditions the lesson God would have us learn. Happy is the man who today has God for his refuge; happy indeed the heart that can rest in him, not fearing for the future, but trusting in a father's love to protect and safeguard his children.
F. M. W.