“What shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)
This question the disciples asked Jesus. And Jesus answered the question directly, and even more fully than they had asked. They asked, “What shall be the sign?” and Jesus answered, “There shall be signs”--not one only, but a number of them; and these in different places.
But first He tells definitely the time when the signs would begin to appear, so that those who would intelligently look for His coming could know when to expect the signs, and as a consequence know that His coming and the end were near. Thus He says,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days...” (Matthew 24:29)
...there shall be signs.
After the Tribulation
In the stretch of time that would elapse, and the course of events which would occur between the day of His discourse and the day of His coming and of the end of the world, He had said, as noted in the preceding study, that upon the elect,
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22)
“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened the days.” (Mark 13:19-20)
These are the “one thousand two hundred and threescore days,” each day for a year, in which the church of God--the elect--was “nourished from the face of the serpent,” and protected from the flood of wrath, which the dragon through his earthly instrument cast out of his mouth “after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” ( Revelation 12:17; 14-15).
They are the days during which the power symbolized by the “little horn” of Daniel 7, “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them,” and wore them out. (Daniel 7:8, 20-22, 25).
They are the days in which death, on his “pale horse,” rode prosperously, with hell following with him, while he killed “with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” those who must be “slain for the Word of God and the testimony which they held.” (Revelation 6:8-9).
They are the days in which “that woman Jezebel,” “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth,” used her terrible power so astonishingly that she was “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” (Revelation 2:19; 17:3-6).
They are the days in which this “abomination that aston ishes” (Daniel 11:21, margin) caused many to “fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.” (Daniel 11:31-33).
Thus “those days” are the twelve hundred and sixty years of papal supremacy, which began in A.D. 538, at the rooting up of the last of the “three” kingdoms mentioned in Daniel 7:8, 20, 24, and ended in A.D. 1798, when the papal government was abolished in Rome, when a Roman republic was again de clared there, and
“the old foundations of the Capitol were made again to resound with the cries, if not the spirit, of freedom; and the venerable ensign, S.P.Q.R., after the lapse of fourteen hundred years, again floated in the winds,” (Alison’s History of Europe, vol. 1)
and when the pope was made a prisoner and was carried into captivity in France, where he died at Valence, Aug. 29, 1799.
And “the tribulation of those days” is the terrible persecu tion inflicted by the Papacy, as shown by the scriptures referred to in the preceding paragraph, and certified in the history of the Dark Ages.
But Jesus said “those days should be shortened,” and “for the elect’s sake.” “They shall be helped with a little help,” said the angel to Daniel (Daniel 11:34). “The earth helped the woman” in the wilderness, wrote John (Revelation 12:16). The tribulation was shortened; the elect were relieved before the days ended, else there would have been none left.
The tribulation ended in the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773. The days ended A.D. 1798. And “immediately after the tribulation” ended, yet before the days ended, the signs of His coming would begin to appear; for said Jesus, “In those days, after that tribulation,” the signs should begin.
And where would be the signs? Read: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (in the days) “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.” Luke 21:25-26.
Thus the signs of the coming of the Lord and of the end of the world are to be abundant, and in so many places that it is impossible for anybody to fail to see, at the very least, some of them. The signs are to be in the havens and on the earth, amongst the nations, upon the sea, and among men as individuals.
The signs in the heavens are to be in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. And these are the first signs mentioned. Not only are they the first mentioned, but they are definitely specified as the ones which would begin in the days, and after the tribulation: “immediately after the tribulation of those days [in the days] the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” “The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” Mark 13:24; Matt. 24:29; Rev. 6:12; Joel 2:31.
The Dark Day, 1780
As already stated, the tribulation ended in 1773. The days ended in 1798. And May 19, 1780, just seven years after the tribulation ended and eighteen years before the days ended, the sun was darkened from about 10 o’clock in the morning all the rest of the day, and till past midnight; and in that night of darkness such as “doubtless had not been since the Almighty first gave birth to light,” the moon, which had fulled the day before, appeared as red as blood. Of the darkening of the sun, and, consequently, of the moon, one of the best accounts is the following:
Almost if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and as yet unexplained phenomenon of its kind in nature’s diversified range of events, during the last century, stands the dark day of May 19, 1780--a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and atmosphere in New England-- which brought intense alarm and distress to multitudes of minds, as well as dismay to the brute creation, and fowls fleeing bewildered to their roosts, and the birds to their nests, and the cattle returning to their stalls.
Indeed, thousands of the good people of that day became fully convinced that the end of all things terrestrial had come, and gave up, for the time, their secular pursuits, and he betook themselves to religious devotions; while many others regarded the darkness as not only a token of God’s indignation against the various iniquities and abominations of the age, but also as an omen of some future destruction that might overwhelm the land--as in the case of the countries mentioned in Biblical history--unless speedy repentance and reformation took place.
The ignorant indulged in vagaries and wild conjectures as to the cause of the phenomenon; and those profounder minds, even, that could gauge the heavens and tell the stars, were about usually at loss for any rational explanation of the event.
It is related that the Connecticut Legislature has a session at this time, and that so great was the darkness the members became terrified, and thought that the day of judgment had come; a motion was consequently made to adjourn. At this Mr. Davenport arose and said: “Mr. Speaker, it is either the day of judgment or it is not. If it is not, there is no need of adjourning. If it is, I desire to be bound doing my duty. I move that candles be brought, and that we proceed to business.”
The time of the commencement of this extraordinary darkness was between the hours of 10 and 11 in the forenoon of Friday of the date already named; and it continued until the middle of the following night, but with different appearances at different places.
As to the manner of its appearance, it seemed to appear, first of all, in the southwest. The wind came from that quarter, and the darkness appeared to come on with the clouds that came in that direction. The degree to which the darkness arose varied in different localities. In most part it became so dark, that people were unable to read common print distinctly, or accurately determined the time of day by their clocks or watches, or dim, or manage their domestic affairs conveniently without the light of candles. In some places the degree of darkness was just about equal to preventing persons seeing to read ordinary print in the open air for several hours together.
The extent of this darkness was also very remarkable. It was observed at the most easterly regions of New England; westward to the farthest parts of Connecticut, and at Albany; to the southward it was observed all along the seacoasts; and to the north as far as the American settlements extended. It probably far exceeded these boundaries, but the exact limits were never positively known.
With regard to its duration, it continued in the neighborhood of Boston for at least fourteen or fifteen hours; but it was doubtless longer or shorter in some other places. The appearance and effects were such as tended to make the prospect extremely dull, gloomy, and unnatural.
Candles were lighted up in the houses; the birds, in the midst of their blithesome forenoon enjoyments, stopped suddenly, and, singing their evening songs, disappeared and became silent; the fowls retired to their roosts, the cocks were crowing in their accustomed manner at the break of day; objects could not be distinguished at a comparatively slight distance; and everything bore the aspect and gloom of night,--to say nothing of the effect upon the minds of the people, which, indeed, was quite indescribable.
The above general facts concerning this strange phenomenon were ascertained, after much painstaking inquiry, soon after its occurrence, by Roger Williams, of Harvard College, who also collected together some of the more particular observations made in different parts of the country, relative to the remarkable event.
At 8 in the evening the darkness was so impenetrably thick as to render traveling positively impracticable; and, altho the moon rose nearly.about 9 o’clock, yet it did not give light enough to enable a person to distinguish between the heavens and the earth.
That this darkness was not caused by an eclipse is manifest by the various positions of the planetary bodies at that time; for the moon was more than one hundred and fifty degrees from the sun all that day, and according to accurate calculations made by the most celebrated astronomers, there could not, in the order of nature, be any transit of the planet Venus or Mercury upon the disc of the sun that year; nor could it be a blazing star--much as is a mountain--that darkened the atmosphere; for that would still leave unexplained the deep darkness of the following night.
Nor would such excessive nocturnal darkness follow an eclipse of the sun; and as to the moon, she was at that time more than forty hours’ motion past her opposition. (Our First Century, pp. 89, 90, 93, 95, “Great and Memorable Events”, R.M. Devens)
The Falling of the Stars, 1833
The sign “in the stars” is that “the stars shall fall from heaven” (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:25), and that they shall fall
“...as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” (Revelation 6:13)
And so, in 1833, it came to pass.
Extensive and magnificent showers of shooting stars have been known to occur at various places in modern times, but the most universal and wonderful which has ever been recorded is that of the thirteenth of November, 1833, the whole firmament, over all the United States, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion!
No celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country since its first settlement, which was viewed with such intense admiration by one class in the community, or with so much dread and alarm by another. It was the all-engrossing noise of conversation and of scientific disquisition for weeks and months.
Indeed, it could not be otherwise than that such a rare phenomenon,--next in grandeur and sublimity to that of a total solar eclipse, or a great comet stretched athwart the starry heavens in full view of a wonder struck universe--should awaken the deepest interest among all beholding it.
Nor is the memory of this marvelous scene yet extinct: its sublimity and awful beauty still linger in many minds, who also remember well the terror with which the demonstration was regarded, and the mortal fear excited among the ignorant that the end of the world had come.
During the three hours of its continuance, the day of judgment was believed to be only waiting for sunrise, and long after the shower had ceased, the morbid and superstitious were still impressed with the idea that the final day was at least only a week ahead, impromptu meetings for prayer were held in many places, and many other scenes of religious devo tion, or terror, or abandonment of worldly affairs, transpired, under the influence of fear, occasioned by so sudden and aw ful a display.
But, tho in many districts the mass of the population were thus panic-stricken, through fear as well as want of familiarity with the history of such appearances, the more enlightened were profoundly awed at contemplating so vivid a picture of the apocalyptic image--that of “the stars of heaven falling to the earth, even as a fig-tree casting her untimely figs, after she is shaken of a mighty wind.” In describing the effect of this phenomenon upon the black population, a southern planter says:
I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy could be heard from most of the negroes of three plantations, amounting in all to some six or eight hundred. While earnestly and breathlessly 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!” 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 others uttering the bitterest moans, and 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.W. Maunder, Invisible Glories of the Heavens-November Meteors)
In a word, the whole heavens seemed in motion.The dis- play, as described in Professor Silliman’s journal, was seen all over North America. The chief scene of the exhibition was within the limits of the longitude of 61° in the Atlantic Ocean, and that of 100° in Central Mexico, and from the North American lakes to the southern side of the island of Jamaica.
Over this vast area, an appearance presented itself by surpassing in grandeur and magnificence the loftiest reach of the human imagination. From two o’clock until broad daylight, the sky being perfectly serene and cloudless, an incessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities was kept up in the whole heavens. Some of these were of great magnitude and most peculiar form.
One of large size remained for some time almost stationary in the zenith, over the falls of Niagara, emitting streams of light which radiated in all directions. The wild dash of the waters, as contrasted with the fiery commotion above them, formed a scene of unequaled and amazing sublimity.
Arago computes that not less than two hundred and forty thousand meteors were at the same time visible above the horizon of Boston! To form some idea of such a spectacle, one must imagine a constant succession of fire-balls, resembling sky-rockets, radiating in all directions, from a point in the heavens near the zenith, and following the arch of the sky towards the horizon.
They proceeded to various distances from the radiating point, leaving after them a vivid streak of light, and usually exploding before they disappeared.
The balls were of various sizes and degrees of splendor; some were mere points, but others were larger and brighter than Jupiter or Venus; and one, in particular, appeared to be nearly of the moon’s size.
But at Niagara no spectacle so terribly grand and sublime was ever before beheld by man as that of the firmament descending in fiery torrents over the dark and roaring cataract.
The point from which the meteors seemed to issue was observed, by those who fixed the position of the display among the stars, to be in the constellation Leo. At New Haven it appeared in the bend of the “sickle“--a collection of stars in the breast of Leo--a little to the westward of the star Gamma Leonis. By observers at other places remote from each other, it was seen in the same constellation [sic.], altho in different parts of it. An interesting and important fact in this connection is, that this radiating point was stationary among the fixed stars, that is, that it did not move along with the earth in its diurnal revolution eastward, but accompanied the stars in their apparent progress westward. (R.M. Devens, Our First Century, pp. 329, 330, 332).
In all of these extracts the italics are those of the book itself.
Distress of Nations
“...and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity.” (Luke 21:25)
This is so today in all the nations; for years it has been so, and it only grows worse. Note that it is not simply distress of nations; this might be, and it might be borne with compara tive equanimity, because they might see a way of escape. But it is not so in this word, nor in the time of the fulfillment of that Word; for this is “distress of nations with perplexity.” They do not know which way to turn to find assured relief from the distress, and ways that they do take deepen rather than relieve the distress and perplexity.
And everywhere today men’s hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth. Among all classes of people there is this fear because of what is already before them, and wondering what can be the worse which they certainly fear is coming.
Then said Jesus,
“When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” (Luke 21:28)
They began to come to pass in 1780, and then this redemption was drawing nigh. And next He says,
“When you shall see all these things, then know that it [His coming] is near, even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:33)
All people can now see all these things. All the signs men tioned as coming “upon the earth,” and among the nations and among men, can be seen in the events of the times in which we live today.
And the signs that were to be in the heavens, and which were the beginning ones, all can see in the authentic records of the events.
And today being the time when all can “see all these things,” it is settled by the Word of the Lord that now is the time when He would have all to “know that He is near, even at the doors.”
“But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” (Matthew 24:33)
The definite time, the day and the hour, the times and the seasons, of His coming “the Father has put in His own power” (Acts 1:7); and no one, neither man nor angel, can ever make it known. And every one who ever attempts to know it is deceived; and every one who ever attempts to make it known, is both deceived and a deceiver.
But, though no one can ever make known the day and hour of the Lord’s coming, this in no wise affects the truth that all may know when His coming “is near, even at the doors;” for He said,
“When you shall see all these things know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:33)
And now is the time.