p. 165 | SIGNS ARE FULFILLING! by M. E. Cornell

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 9, 1861

SIGNS ARE FULFILLING!

By M. E. Cornell

“And 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 the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” Luke xxi, 25, 26.

By this prophecy we learn that after the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, are fulfilled, other signs are to be expected on the earth and among men. The signs in the heavens above are already passed, and the “distress of nations” appears to be already here. “The sea and waves roaring,” indicates an unusual stir in the elements. How strikingly has this been fulfilling the past few years! In several places the people have been terror-stricken by heated winds and tornadoes of unparalleled fury. The following I clipped from an Iowa paper in August last:

“HEATED WIND STORM.”

“A heated wind storm passed over a portion of Kansas on the 7th inst., which proved nearly as destructive to animal life as the recent tornadoes that visited with such terrible effect portions of Iowa. The wind arose about half-past ten, A. M., and continued until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. At 1 o’clock the mercury rose to 119½° and continued so for an hour, and then gradually began to decrease. The effect can scarcely be imagined. The wind blew a brisk gale, carrying with it a salty, sulphurous smell. Two men in attempting to cross the country from Iola to Humboldt, a distance of eight miles, were overtaken and perished. There were three others at Humboldt, who were caught out with teams, which perished, the men alone surviving, and are now in a fair way to recover. There was scarcely a chicken left in the country. Hogs and cattle fell in their tracks and suffocated. Various reasons and conjectures as to its cause are given, but all unsatisfactory.”

It was said of the darkening of the sun and moon, “No satisfactory cause has yet been given;” and why? Because it was a sign and therefore supernatural.

The following summary of events in the past year is from the Columbus (Ohio) Journal:

“A REMARKABLE YEAR.”

“The present is one of the most remarkable years on record. The celestial and atmospheric wonders have been rare. Electrical currents have been unusually disturbed, preventing, at times, for hours, the transmission of telegraphic communications. There has been an incontinence of thunder-storms. Tornadoes of unequaled destructiveness on the western continent have desolated portions of our country. There is an overwhelming vegetable production. There have been earthquakes and simoons in the temperate zone. Meteors and bob-tailed shooting stars are becoming so common as to cease almost to be rarities. There has been an almost entire absence of rain in the West Indies for over a year, and now, to crown the remarkable features developed, it has been discovered that the trade-winds are reversed—a phenomenon which has not been observed—so it is said—for more than a century in the history of navigation. There seems actually to be a general revolution among the elements. Tides which have been running placidly in one direction for a long time, seem now to be reversed.

Efforts have been made to account for all signs on natural principles, and thus to destroy their significance. Especially has this been the case with the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. How vague have been their efforts to account for this wonderful phenomenon, which never was seen until a little over one hundred years ago! This sign has been more and more frequent and wonderful as time has rolled on. The efforts to explain it have been various and contradictory, so much so, that a scientific gentleman of Illinois, beholding their confusion, wrote the following take-off, and thus rebuked them all:

“The Aurora Borealis Explored.—When the melofygistic temperature of the horizon is such as to caloricise the impurient indentation of the hemispheric analogy, the cohesion of the borax curbistus becomes surcharged with infinitesimals, which are thereby deprived of their fissural disquisitions. Thus effected, a rapid change is produced in the thorambumpter of the gyasticutis palerium, which causes a convacular in the hexagonal antipathies of the terrestrium acquaverusli. The clouds then become a mass of deodorized speculæ of cermocular light, which can only be seen when it is visible.”

As our Saviour spoke in parable, to the intent that only those who desired to know and do right, could understand his teaching, so now he is speaking to the wise and watching ones in signs which they only will discern. The unbelieving scoffers will not know; “none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” “But ye brethren are not in darkness that ‘that day should overtake you as a thief.’”

God’s people will discern the signs of the times. Even so, amen.

M. E. CORNELL.