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!
*******
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….
