More Signs of the End Times.

Continued from yesterday's study….

This study is on an article written 147 years ago.  So much has happened in our world since then. Some of the things in here will sound strange to us, and some may not seem relevant now. Time and place truly are necessary in all things. May God forever and always guide us ONLY to HIS truth in all we read, in all we study, all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

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The Second Coming of Christ  BY ELD. JAMES WHITE.

"What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" - DISCIPLES.  

"When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." - JESUS.

"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 19, 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 20, 1843, - Extract from Stone's History of Beverly. 

Mr. Tenny, of Exeter, N. H., quoted by Mr. Gage, to the Historical Society, speaking of the dark day and dark night of May 19, 1780, says: "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. 

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." 

THE 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. 13, 1833: published in the Journal of Commerce, Nov. 15, 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 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.6:13. 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 and 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. 

"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." 

"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 toward the east; those which appeared in the north, fell toward the north; those which appeared in the west, fell toward the west; and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of my residence into the park), fell toward the south. And they fell not as a 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." 

Prof. Olmstead, of Yale College, says: "The extent of the shower of 1883 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. 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. 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." 

The People's Magazine, Boston, January, 1834, on the falling stars of Nov. 13, 1833, says: "The Rockingham (Va.) Register calls it, A rain of fire, - thousands of stars being seen at once; some said it began with considerable noise. 

The Journal of Commerce informs us that 'three hundred miles this side of Liverpool the phenomenon was as splendid there as here; and that in St. Lawrence County there was a snowstorm during the phenomenon, in which the falling stars appeared like lightning; . . . that in Germantown, Pa., they seemed like showers of great hail.'  "The Lancaster (Pa.) Examiner says: 'The air was filled with innumerable meteors or stars; . . . hundreds of thousands of brilliant bodies might be seen falling at every moment, . . . sloping their descent toward the earth, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, resembling flashes of fire. 

This is important testimony as to the vast extent of the falling stars, and also as to their emanating from a single point in the heavens. It was the greatest display of celestial fire-works 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. 

POWERS OF THE HEAVENS SHAKEN

This event we must regard as being future. It holds the same place in the events of this chapter, that the departing of the heavens as a scroll does in the events of the sixth seal of Rev.6. Both follow the falling stars. Please compare Matt.24:29, 30, with Rev.6:12, 17. The Scriptures plainly teach that, prior to the resurrection of the just by the voice of the Son of God, the voice of God the Father will shake the heavens and the earth, when will be fulfilled the shaking of the powers of the heavens. This will probably take place at the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air. Rev.16:17. Then it is said, "And there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done." This is not the voice of the Son of God as he descends to raise the dead. It comes from the throne of God in the temple of Heaven. "Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Heb.12:26. "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3:16. 

We would not speak too positively of future events; but venture the opinion that the voice of the Father will shake the heavens and the earth before the sign of the Son of Man appears. The people of God will be safe. Islands may disappear, and mountains be thrown down; but the saints will remain unharmed. Earthquakes may break up the earth's surface, so that kings and nobles, rich and poor, bond and free, may hide "themselves in dens and in the rocks of the mountains," still God will be the hope of his people. 

SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN

This is not one of the signs which show that the Son of Man is near; but "the sign of the Son of Man in heaven." It is that which signifies his position. When Christ ascended from the mount of Olivet, "a cloud received him "from the sight of the disciples. They still gazed at the cloud as it rolled upward, bearing the Saviour toward the Father's throne; but they could not see his person. When he comes "in like manner" as he was taken up to Heaven, the cloud will appear small in the distance; but as it draws near, it will apparently increase in size. It will signify to those who are looking for his return, that he is there, soon to burst forth from the cloud in matchless glory. This cloud will be the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. 

THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH MOURN

During the pouring out of the seven last plagues, and at the time of the shaking of the powers of the heavens, a large portion of the wicked will doubtless be destroyed. A portion still remain, to view scenes still more terrible, and to endure anguish more dreadful. The sign is soon in heaven. The once slighted, insulted, and crucified Saviour, now King of kings, and Lord of lords, is coming near the earth! His glory blazes everywhere! The saints hope and rejoice with trembling; but what an hour for the wicked! The tribes of the earth mourn. Amid the ruins of shivered creation they hold one general prayer-meeting. Kings and great men, rich men, chief captains and mighty men, free and bond, all, yes, all unite in the general wail. As the Son of Man in the glory of his Father, attended by all the holy angels, draws still nearer, consternation fills every breast. They hide in dens, and in the rocks of the mountains. Their only hope is to be concealed from the glory of that scene. They know it is too late to pray for mercy; that probation for the human family has ended forever. Here is a copy of that dreadful prayer: "Mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Rev.6:16, 17. 

But rocks cannot shelter them from the burning glory manifested by the King of kings, attended by the whole heavenly host. The presence of but one angel before Joseph's sepulcher, caused the keepers to fall like dead men. Then when "the Son of Man shall come in the glory of the Father," "and all the holy angels with him," no sinner can endure the scene, and live. The exceeding brightness of that vast multitude of angels, brighter than thousand suns at noonday, will pierce the sinner's lowest hidingplace, and will "make a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Zeph.1:18. Or, as Paul says, "Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness [bright shining, Macknight's translation] of his coming." O Christian brother, we warn you to watch and be ready to receive your Saviour with joy. Backslider, arouse, and return to the Lord while he may be found. And, poor sinner, though you have never tasted of the pardoning love of Christ, you, too, may come and find pardon, and a shelter from approaching wrath. 

To be continued….