SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 8, 1857

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

[Continued.]

"WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?"

Our Lord having passed over the important events in the Christian age down to the end, in verses 5—14, next introduces the destruction of Jerusalem, at verse 15, in answer to the inquiry, "When shall these things be?"

Verses 15—20. "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whose read-

eth, let him understand,) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And wo unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, neither on the Sabbath-day."

The "abomination of desolation" mentioned in verse 15, is called "armies" in Luke xxi, 20., referring to the Romans. "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."

This desolating power is spoken of by Daniel the prophet. "And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. . . . And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Margin, "desolator." Dan. ix, 26, 27. Here is a clear prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. Our Lord referred his disciples to the book of Daniel, and taught them to read and understand, and when they saw what was there predicted take place, they must make their escape.

Verse 21. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

We take the position that the "tribulation" here mentioned is the tribulation of the church of Jesus Christ, and not that of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, and offer the following reasons:

1. It is a fact that the tribulation of the Christian church, especially under the reign of Papacy, has been greater than God's people had suffered before, "since the beginning of the world." Fifty millions were cruelly put to death by the Papacy alone. But it is not true that the tribulation of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem was the greatest tribulation the world ever witnessed. How much greater was the tribulation of the inhabitants of the cities of the plain when God rained on them fire and brimstone from heaven! or, when God destroyed all men on the face of the globe, save eight souls, by the flood!

2. We believe that the tribulation of the Christian church has been greater than it will ever be again. True, a time of trouble, "such as never was," spoken of in Dan. xii, 1, is coming upon the world; but we find in the same verse this blessed promise, "And at that time thy people shall be delivered." But we cannot believe that the tribulation of the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem was greater than the world will ever witness. No, the vials of Jehovah's unmingled wrath are yet to be poured out, not upon thousands of one city, or the people of one nation only, but upon the guilty millions of all nations. "The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried." Jer. xxv, 33.

3. If this tribulation be applied to the Jews, or any other class of unbelieving men, it cannot be harmonized with Dan. xii, 1, which speaks of the time of trouble such as never was, when Michael shall stand up. Certainly, there cannot be two times of trouble, at different periods, greater than ever was, or ever would be. Therefore we apply the "tribulation" spoken of in Matt. xxiv, 21, 29, to the church of Christ, extending down through the 1260 years of Papal persecution; and the "trouble" mentioned in Dan. xii, 1, to the unbelieving world, to be experienced by them in the future.

4. The period of tribulation was shortened for the elect's sake. Who are the elect here mentioned? The Jews? No, their house had been pronounced desolate, they were left of God in their hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, and even St. Paul said, "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles." The elect were the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. And where were they when tribulation was upon the Jews? They had fled to the mountains. How absurd, then, to say that the days of the tribulation of the Jews in the city of Jerusalem were shortened for the sake of the elect who had fled from the place of tribulation to the mountains.

5. The connection between verses 20 and 21, shows that the tribulation was to commence even with those Christians who were to flee out of the city. "But pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, neither on the Sabbath-day; for then shall be great tribulation," &c.

Our Lord here speaks of the tribulation which his people would suffer from the time of their flight onward. We follow them in their flight to the mountains, and then pass along down through the noted persecutions of the church of God under Pagan Rome, and we see, indeed, tribulation. And when we come to the period of Papal persecution, we see from fifty to one hundred and fifty millions of the saints of the Most High suffering the most cruel tortures, and dying the most dreadful deaths that wicked men and demons could inflict. This last period is especially noted in prophecy.

The prophet Daniel saw the Papacy, its blasphemy, its arrogance, its work of death on the saints, and its duration as a persecuting power, under the symbol of the little horn. "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Chap. vii, 25.

It is so generally admitted that "a time and times and the dividing of time," is 1260 years, that we shall not here offer any proof on the point. Commencing the 1260 years A. D. 538, they reach to A. D. 1798, when Berthier, a French general, entered Rome and took it. The Pope was taken prisoner and shut up in the Vatican. The Papacy was stripped of its civil power. Here ended the period of tribulation spoken of by our Lord, which was

SHORTENED FOR THE ELECT'S SAKE.

Verse 22. "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." The Papacy was clothed with civil power to punish heretics for 1260 years, and had not the period of tribulation of the elect in the providence of God been shortened, the martyrdom of the church would have continued to 1798, in which event, in all human probability, no flesh of the elect would have been saved. But the reformation under Martin Luther, and those associated with the mighty reformer, modified this tribulation, and continued to restrain the rage, and consume the power of the Papacy until 1700, since which time, according to all church history, there has been no general persecution against the church.

Reader, where are we brought in this prophetic discourse of our Lord? Ans. Down into the eighteenth century, very near the present time. We should naturally expect, then, that the instructions and warnings of the next verse would be applicable to this generation.

Verses 23, 24. "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Here is a description of the spiritual deception of the present age. False christs arose not far from the first advent of Christ, to deceive the Jews in regard to that event; [see verse 5;] likewise, false christs and false prophets have arisen at this day to deceive the people on the subject of the second advent. The Shakers say, "Lo, here is Christ." His second coming is in the person of Ann Lee. "Lo, he is there," cry most of the popular ministers of these times. "His second coming is at the conversion of sinners, or at the death of saints." So they have as many second comings of Christ as there are sinners converted, and saints die. Senseless theology this! "Lo here," exclaim a host of Spiritualists, and they "show great signs and wonders." If possible they would deceive the very elect. And we regard it as a safe conclusion that they will yet deceive all others but the elect.

Verses 25, 26. "Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not." Our Lord is here dwelling upon what he had just before told them. His subject is still the teachings of those who say, "Lo, here is Christ!" "Lo, he is there!" If the Mormons say, "Behold he is in the desert," at Salt Lake city, "go not forth," yet many of their disciples have gone. Or, if you hear proclaimed from the lips of the professed minister of Jesus, "Behold, he is in the secret chamber," Christ's second coming is spiritual, at death, or at conversion, believe it not. And why not believe such mystical teachings? The reason is given in the next verse. And we greatly rejoice that our Lord has not only pointed out false christs and false prophets, and has warned us against their teachings, but he has in contrast set before us the manner of his second coming in the plainest terms.

Verses 27, 28. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

When "the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father," and all the holy angels with him, the whole heavens will blaze with glory, and the whole earth will tremble before him. Said the angels to the men of Galilee who were anxiously viewing their ascending Lord, "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts i, 11. Said Paul, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven." 1 Thess. iv, 16. "Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." Rev. i, 7.

Verses 29—31. "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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

We have before seen that our Lord speaks in this chapter of the long period of tribulation upon his followers, and we have also seen how these days of tribulation were shortened for the elect's sake. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened," &c. We refer the reader to the noted dark day of May 19th, 1780, as the fulfillment of this declaration. Mark this. It does not read, after these days, but "after the tribulation of those days." The days [1260 years, Dan. vii, 25] reached to 1798, eighteen years this side of the dark day in 1780. Mark xiii, 24 makes this point still plainer. "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened." That is, before the 1260 years closed, but after the tribulation, or martyrdom of the saints ceased, the sun was darkened. Those who would point to the future, or to the past, prior to the eighteenth century, for the darkening of the sun here mentioned, will do well to read again Mark xiii, 24. "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened."

"THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED."

"A something strikingly awful shall forewarn that the world will come to an end, and that the last day is even at the door."—Martin Luther.

In May 19th, 1780, there was a remarkable fulfillment of the predicted darkening of the sun; and in reference to the facts and date, there can be no doubt; for, besides the historical accounts, which all agree, there are many now living who witnessed it, and can testify to it.

"In the month of May, 1780, there was a very terrific dark day in New England, when 'all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived: 'men's hearts failing them for fear' that the judgment day was at hand, and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man; for his lamp was trimmed, and shining brighter than ever, amidst the unnatural darkness. Happy and joyful in God, he pointed them to their only refuge from the wrath to come, and spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude."—Tract No. 379 of Am. Tract Society—Life of Edward Lee.

"The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkably dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses. The birds were silent and disappeared. The fowls retired to roost. It was the general opinion that the day of judgment was at hand. The Legislature of Connecticut was in session, at Hartford, but being unable to transact business adjourned."—President Dwight, in Ct., Historical Collections.

Dark day of May 19th, 1780.—The sun rose clear, and shone for several hours; at length, the sky became overcast with clouds, and by 10 o'clock, A. M., the darkness was such as to occasion the farmers to leave their work in the field, and retire to their dwellings; fowls went to their roosts, and before noon, lights became necessary to the transaction of business within doors. The darkness continued through the day."—Gage's History of Rowley, Mass.

Anniversary of the Dark Day.—The dark day, May 19th, 1780, is thus described by Mr. Stone, in his History of Beverly:

"The sun rose clear, but soon assumed a brassy hue. About ten o'clock, A. M., it became unusually dark. The darkness continued to increase till about one o'clock, when it began to decrease. During this time candles became necessary. The birds disappeared and were silent, the cocks crew as at daybreak, and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night. The alarm produced by this unusual aspect of the heavens, was great."—Portsmouth Journal, May 20th, 1843.

"In the dark day, May 19th, 1780, the heavens were covered with a dense cloud for three or four hours. . . . During this time, the clouds were tinged with a yellowish or faint red, for hours, for which no satisfactory cause has been assigned. I stood and viewed the phenomenon, but had not any fear that the world was coming to an end."—N. Webster, LL. D.—New Haven Daily Herald.

"The following description of the extraordinary dark day was given by Dr. Adams, on the 27th of May, 1780, eight days after it occurred. He writes:

"We had a very extraordinary phenomenon, the 19th day of this month. In the morning it was rainy till about 9 o'clock, when the clouds broke away and the sun appeared, but very red. After nine the clouds grew very thick, with the wind from south-west in breezes; at half past ten it was uncommonly dark, the clouds appearing of a yellow hue. At eleven, the public school was dismissed, it being so dark that no person could read or write. It continued to grow darker till twelve, when it was so dark we could not tell one person from another in a room with three large windows in it. In short, it was midnight darkness at noon-day. . . . Thousands of people who could not account for it from natural causes, were greatly terrified; and indeed it cast a universal gloom on the earth. The frogs and nighthawks began their notes."

"From Robert Sears' Guide to Knowledge, published in New York, 1844, we extract the following: 'On the 19th of May, 1780, an uncommon darkness took place all over New England, and extended to Canada. It continued about fourteen hours, or from ten o'clock in the morning till midnight. The darkness was so great, that people were unable to read common print, or tell the time of the day by their watches, or to dine, or transact their ordinary business without the light of candles. They became dull and gloomy, and some were excessively frightened. The fowls went to roost. Objects could not be distinguished here at a very little distance, and everything bore the appearance of gloom and night. Similar days have occasionally been known, though inferior in the degree or extent of their darkness. The causes of these phenomena are unknown. They certainly were not the result of eclipses.'"

"THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT."

"The moon shines with a borrowed light, and therefore if the sun from whom she borrows her light is turned into darkness, she must fail of course and become bankrupt."—Matthew Henry.

"The night succeeding that day (May 19th, 1780) was of such pitchy darkness, that, in some instances, horses could not be compelled to leave the stable when wanted for service. About midnight, the clouds were dispersed, and the moon and stars appeared with unimpaired brilliancy."—Portsmouth Journal, May 20th, 1843. Extract from Stone's History of Beverly.

"The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light. I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet."—Mr. Tenny, of Exeter, N. H., quoted by Mr. Gage, 'to the Historical Society.'

Dr. Adams, speaking of the dark night, says: "At nine it was a darkness to be felt by more senses than one, as there was a strong smell of soot. Almost every one who happened to be out in the evening, got lost in going home. The darkness was as uncommon in the night, as it was in the day, as the moon had fulled the day before."

"STARS SHALL FALL FROM HEAVEN."

We here give an extract from an article written by Henry Dana Ward, in regard to the falling stars of Nov. 13th, 1833, published in the Journal of Commerce, Nov. 15th, 1833:

"At the cry, 'look out of the window,' I sprang from a deep sleep, and with wonder saw the East lighted up with the dawn and meteors. The zenith, the North, and the West, also, showed the falling stars, in the very image of one thing, and of only one, I ever heard of. I called to my wife to behold; and while robing, she exclaimed, 'see how the stars fall!' I replied, 'that is the wonder;' and we felt in our hearts, that it was a sign of the last days. For truly '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.' Rev. vi, 13. This language of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. Yesterday, it was literally fulfilled. The ancients understood by aster in Greek, and stella in Latin, the smaller lights of heaven. The refinement of modern astronomy has made the distinction between stars of heaven and meteors of heaven. Therefore, the idea of the prophet, as it is expressed in the original Greek, was literally fulfilled in the phenomenon of yesterday, so as no man before yesterday had conceived to be possible that it should be fulfilled. The immense size and distance of the planets and fixed stars forbid the idea of their falling unto the earth. Larger bodies cannot fall in myriads unto a smaller body; but most of the planets and all the fixed stars are many times larger than our earth. They cannot fall unto the earth; but these fell towards the earth. And how did they fall? Neither myself, nor one of the family, heard any report; and were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt to illustrate the appearance of the heavens, as that which St. John uses in the prophecy before quoted. 'It rained fire!' says one; another, 'It was like a shower of fire!' Another, 'It was like the large flakes of falling snow, before a coming storm, or large drops of rain, before a shower.' I admit the fitness of these for common accuracy; but they come far short of the accuracy of the figure used by the prophet 'The stars of heaven fell unto the earth:' they were not sheets, or flakes, or drops of fire; but they were what the world understands by 'falling stars,' and one speaking to his fellow, in the midst of the scene, would say, 'see how the stars fall!' And he who heard would not pause to correct the astronomy of the speaker, any more than he would reply, 'the sun does not move,' to one who should tell him, 'the sun is rising.' The stars fell 'even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' Here is the exactness of the prophet. The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one: those which appeared in the east fell towards the east; those which appeared in the north fell towards the north; those which appeared in the west fell towards the west; and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of the residence into the Park) fell towards the south. And they fell not as the ripe fruit falls. Far from it; but they flew, they were cast like the unripe fruit, which at first refuses to leave the branch; and when under a violent pressure, it does break its hold, it flies swiftly, straight off, descending; and in the multitude falling, some cross the track of others, as they are thrown with more or less force, but each one falls on its own side of the tree. Such was the appearance of the above phenomenon to the inmates of my house."

The second extract is from Prof. Olmstead, of Yale College, a distinguished meteorologist.

"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.

"In nearly all places, the meteors began to attract notice by their unusual frequency as early as eleven o'clock, and increased in numbers 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 a star called Gamma Leonis, in the bend of the sickle.

"Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of Nov. 13th, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been seen since the creation of the world, or at least within the annals covered by the pages of history.

"I feel assured that this is no atmospheric or terrestrial phenomenon, but that these fiery meteors come to us from the regions of space, and reveal to us the existence of worlds of a nebulous or cometary nature, existing in the solar system, and forming constituent parts of that system. Nor are these conclusions built on mere hypothesis, but are necessary inferences from certain facts.

"This is no longer to be regarded as a terrestrial, but as a celestial phenomenon, and shooting stars are now to be no more viewed as casual productions of the upper regions of the atmosphere, but as visitants from other worlds or from the planetary voids.

"Subsequent inquiries have led me to the belief, that the body was so distant as hardly to exhibit any apparent parallax, but was projected on very nearly the same part of the sky, as seen by all observers. This fact at once shows that the source of the meteors was far beyond the atmosphere, and confirms the preceding conclusion that it was wholly independent of the earth."

This is important testimony as to the vast extent of the falling stars, and also of their emanating from a single point in the heavens. It was the greatest display of celestial fireworks recorded on the pages of history. It was no atmospheric, or terrestrial phenomenon, common to the upper regions of the earth; but a display of the Divine Power, baffling the science of man.

"A gentleman in South Carolina thus describes the effect of the phenomenon of 1833 upon the ignorant blacks: 'I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy I could hear from most of the negroes of three plantations, amounting in all to about six or eight hundred. While earnestly listening for the cause, I heard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment I heard the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, 'O my God, the world is on fire.' I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me most, the awfulness of the scene, or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upwards of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground, some speechless, and some with the most bitter cries; but most with their hands raised imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was truly awful, for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell towards the earth, east, west, north and south, it was the same.'"—E. H. Burrett.

(To be Continued.)