Review and Herald, Vol. 39, No. 22. (5/14/1872)

Review and Herald

May 14, 1872

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 14, 1872

The Darkly Lowering Heavens.

By L. D. SANTEE

As I seat myself before the window, I see a bank of black clouds slowly rising above the rim of the western horizon. As they come up higher, they assume a greenish hue. At short intervals, scuds of fog will dash over them and then disappear. Lightning is continually playing through the dark mass, making appropriate the words of the poet:—

“There, like a trumpet, loud and strong, Thy thunders shake our coast, While the red lightnings wave along— The banners of the host.”

The air is oppressive and sultry, and the wind that a few minutes ago was quite fresh has died away save now and then a fitful puff. By all these tokens, I know that the storm will soon burst upon us.

By the inspired word of God, by the signs in the political heavens, by the throes in the earth that portend approaching dissolution, I know that there is another storm, more dreadful and bringing destruction and ruin in its train, that will soon illume with its lurid lightnings and sweep with its fiery breath the frail and trembling planet on which we live. The earthquakes that cause the crust of the earth to tremble, the tidal waves that sweep thousands into eternity, are but the heralds of that last desolating storm that shall be ushered in with burning and fuel of fire.

As I open my Bible, I read concerning that storm: “For, behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble.” Mal. 4:1. Isaiah, as his prophetic vision is directed to this scene, exclaims, “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low. . . . And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”

Daniel testifies, “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” Chap. 12:1. The language of the prophet Joel is pertinent and full of meaning: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” Chap. 2:1, 2.

Is there a possibility that these prophecies will fail? None. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1:21. In the same chapter, the apostle tells us how sure it is. He first declares that they were eye-witnesses of the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he adds in verse 19: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.” There is an old adage that “seeing is believing;” but this word of prophecy is more sure, more infallible, than eyesight.

In chapter 3:10, he has given a graphic description of the last tempest, the final consummation: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

As I turn away from these evidences of the coming storm, my soul repeats the words of the prophet Joel: “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?” In seeming answer to this question, my eyes fall on the 31st verse of Acts 16, where the condition of salvation and refuge is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But how can we follow his example? He was without sin; while our sins are like scarlet. Without divine assistance, we must perish. Like a strain of rich, sweet music come these words of inspiration to us, floating down through the ages, yet losing none of their life-giving tenderness: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:5. And the apostle, to confirm the wavering and strengthen the weak, adds, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb. 7:25. Daniel, speaking of the time of trouble, adds, “At that time thy people shall be delivered.” Blessed Jesus, Saviour of thy people! “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And, although unbelief lift her head in defiance of Heaven and to ridicule the God-fearing, still in him, and in him only, will we trust. Then when the desolating tempest of the wrath of God makes a speedy riddance of them that dwell in the land, we shall be hidden in that shelter where no fire, tempest, or flood, can reach us.

It is a matter of certainty that the world that now is, is reserved unto fire. The next question is, When shall these things be? Are we to look for them? or will some age far in the future witness these terrible scenes? This question we propose to answer, first from prophecy, secondly from nature, and lastly from the testimony of learned men on this subject.

The first prophecy that throws light on this subject is found in Dan. 2, where four kingdoms are represented as arising, bearing rule for a season, and then passing away or being merged into the succeeding kingdom. These kingdoms are respectively, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. At the close of the fourth kingdom, the Lord will come, and all earthly kingdoms will be broken, destroyed, and swept away as chaff. The first three kingdoms are matters of history, and Rome, the fourth and last, has crumbled until her civil power is gone; and in the ecumenical council even her ecclesiastical power is questioned. What next? Manifestly the destroying of the earth and burning of the works that are therein when our Lord shall inaugurate a kingdom of peace and righteousness that shall endure forever.

In Dan. 7, the same powers are brought to view under different figures, and the Judgment is introduced in close connection with the downfall of the divisions of the fourth power. Verse 11, speaking of the duration of the Roman power, adds, “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” In the light of these prophecies, where are we? Just before the burning day of God, and where we may expect the scenes of eternity soon to become a thrilling reality.

We might refer to Nahum’s chariots running like the lightning over our iron roads as evidence that we are living in the day of God’s preparation. Daniel prophesies that in the last days knowledge shall be increased. Would that we could notice some of the results obtained from scientific research; but space forbids. Wind and water, fire, steam, and electricity, are all made subservient to the will of man, and to increase his pleasure and profit. In scriptural knowledge our progress is no less marked. The prophecies, which to our fathers were a sealed book, are opened to us as it was foretold they should be in the time of the end. In all these prophecies, there is perfect agreement, and they say to us that the end of all things is at hand.

Paul says that “in the last days perilous times shall come.” In 2 Tim. 3:1–5, he enumerates a long catalogue of sins that should be found in the church. As we look over the religious world, we are forced to confess that he has described our times. We might bring more proof on this point; but brevity is our motto, and we pass to another division of our subject, remarking as we leave this that the warning, “Prepare to meet thy God,” is peculiarly applicable to us, standing, as we are, almost within the sound of the coming storm, and seeing around us the gloom of the lowering heavens.

Next in order we shall present evidence drawn from nature.

“In the sun, the moon, the stars, Signs and wonders there shall be; Earth shall quake with inward wars, Nations, with perplexity.”

On this division of our subject, we are at a loss where to begin, not from the absence of testimony, but from the great amount which the narrowness of our limits forces us to exclude. Every one who carefully examines the earth must be struck with the increasing number and violence of earthquakes. All confess that the interior of the earth is in a state of fusion, a molten sea of fire. Earthquakes are caused by some internal commotion whereby the crust, or surface, of the earth is shaken. Noted geologists compute the crust, or surface, to vary from twenty to thirty miles in thickness. How can we expect things to remain as they are while this crust is shaking and trembling from internal fires.

We are humbled as we think of the destroying agencies held in check by the power of Omnipotence, and our hearts exclaim, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him?” With gratitude and love we acknowledge the mercy and long-suffering of that almighty Power at whose word our earth goes plunging through space at the fearful speed of nearly nineteen miles a second.

We referred to the increasing number of earthquakes. It is estimated by historians that 7000 earthquakes occurred up to the year 1850. But within the last fifty years, 3240 have occurred. What are these but omens of approaching dissolution, heralds of the storm that is to be ushered in with burning and fuel of fire? We might refer to the earthquakes that within the last five years have rocked the greater part of Africa, nearly all of South America, and to many shocks which have been felt in our own country, and later still, the earthquake in China hurrying multitudes into eternity. They have become so common that it is conjectured that some portion of the earth’s surface is continually oscillating.

In view of these convulsions of mother earth, bespeaking approaching dissolution, we cannot better express the language of our hearts than by quoting an extract from the pen of Bro. D. T. Taylor: “We insist that with such utterances and facts blazoned forth at noonday, we, who have made the prophetic word our careful study for a period of a quarter of a century and see the light that is now shining, shall not stay for the dreamy indifference of a sleeping church, nor be hindered by a mocking world, but send out with affectionate solemnity a world-wide voice of entreaty and warning, and cry, ‘The Judge is at the door, prepare to meet him.’”

The increase of storms is no less startling. For the last ten years, the reports of our secular journals have been one continual record of storm, shipwreck, and disaster. Shall we refer to the terrible storm in India that ten years ago destroyed sixty thousand inhabitants? In the same country six years later, thirty thousand more were destroyed by the same agency. In Laynan the same year, ten thousand were destroyed by inundation. The South American coast has suffered terribly as the thousands of the slain testify. We will not sadden the minds of our readers by mentioning further the multitudes that storm and tempest have swept away from among the living. Sufficient it is that these things are so.

To the observing, the question will arise, Whither are we tending? Shall we in the light of this testimony swell the ranks of those who cry, against reason and revelation, All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation? The Lord forbid. Let us watch and be sober.

We might also speak of volcanoes and tidal waves. They help to swell the great number of victims that earth and sea shall give up when is heard the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.

On May 19, 1780, there was a dark day, terrific and supernatural. On the night succeeding, the moon was totally obscured. Eclipse was impossible, as the moon had fulled the day before. On the night of Nov. 13, 1833, there was a dense shower of falling stars, or meteors. These phenomena in the heavens were a source of fear to some and of wonderment to all. Astronomers frankly confess their inability to account for it. By consulting the word of God, we may obtain a solution of these mysteries; Matt. 24:29: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days [the papal tribulation ending about the year 1700] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” These are enumerated by our Saviour as signs of his coming, and of the end of the world. Verse 3. He continues in verse 33: “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin, he] is near, even at the door.” Here we have the explanation. These wonders in the heavens are outriders telling that the day of the Lord is at hand. What shall we say of the aurora borealis that “nightly waves its flaming banners in our northern sky”? Two centuries ago, it was unknown. We are told that it is not in our atmosphere, but that the ether just outside is heated to a white heat. This

does not set our minds at rest; for, if this be true, why does it heat more now than formerly? Is it not because the element of hydrogen is becoming exhausted in the air, that its friction should heat more than formerly?

But enough of conjecture. We are satisfied to consider all the signs we have mentioned as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:30, 31: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.”

We might dwell at great length upon this subject without exhausting it; but it would go beyond the design of this article to say more. We leave it with a feeling of regret at the thought of leaving so much unsaid. Do you ask more evidence? Read it on the scroll above your head, read it on the earth beneath your feet, hear the thousand voices of nature that tell of an approaching crisis, read it in the inspired volume; and then, if you have ever doubted, ask pardon of God for your unbelief.

In closing, we shall introduce the testimony of some learned men:—

Sir Charles Lyell says: “The wonder is, not that the earth will be dissolved, but that it exists for a single moment.”

Dr. Hitchcock, of Amherst, says: “In a very short time, far shorter than we imagine, all the scenes of futurity will be to us a thrilling reality.”

Dr. Baird, in Rochester, remarked that no well-informed man can look upon the world as it is without coming to the conclusion that some great consummation is about to take place.

Professor George Bush says: “If we take the ground of right reason, we must believe that the present age is one expressly foretold in prophecy, and that it is just opening upon the crowning consummation of all prophetic declarations.”

Rev. Hollis Read, author of “God in History,” says: “We live in a very remarkable period of the world’s history. A very general impression obtains in all reflecting minds that we are on the confines of another of those signal crises which mark the history of our race. The signs of the times are strangely significant. There is a feeling in the human breast that despotism, bloodshed and oppression, and unbridled lust, have, in defiance of Heaven, rioted long enough, and that a righteous God will soon rise in his wrath and make a short work. This prophetic yearning for deliverance—this instinctive prophecy of the human heart—is not peculiar to the Christian. The Hindoo, the Mohammedan, the Papist, feel it. The world waits the coming change.”

Dr. Geo. B. Cheever writes: “It is impossible to look upon a more sublime spectacle than that which rises to the mind of the spiritual observer at the present crisis. . . . The trains laid with divine wisdom are fast completing.”

We might adduce testimony from hundreds of others, but it is unnecessary. And now, dear reader, let me ask, with affectionate solicitude, Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? If not, strive for the life that is eternal. Obey God, seek an interest in Christ. So shall you be safe amid the perils of the last days, safe from the coming storm, forever safe in the kingdom of God. L. D. SANTEE.

THE HARDEST TIME OF ALL.

By Sel.

There are days of deepest sorrow In the season of our life; There are wild, despairing moments, There are hours of mortal strife, There are hours of stony anguish, When the tears refuse to fall; But the waiting time, my brothers, Is the hardest time of all.

Youth and love are oft impatient, Seeking things beyond their reach; And the heart grows sick with hoping, Ere it learns what life can teach, For, before the fruit be gathered, We must see the blossoms fall; But the waiting time, my brothers, Is the hardest time of all.

Loving once, and loving ever, It is sad to watch for years For the light whose fitful shining Makes a rainbow of our tears. It is sad to count at morning All the hours to evenfall; Oh! the waiting time, my brothers, Is the hardest time of all.

We can bear the heat of conflict, Though the sudden crushing blow, Beating back our gathered forces, For a moment lay us low. We may rise again beneath it, None the weaker for our fall; But the waiting time, my brothers, Is the hardest time of all.

For it wears the eager spirit, As the salt waves wear the stone, And Hope's gorgeous garb grows threadbare, Till its brightest tints are gone. Then, amid youth's radiant tresses, Silent snows begin to fall; Oh! the waiting time, my brothers, Is the hardest time of all.

Yet at last we learn the lesson, That God knoweth what is best, And a silent resignation Makes the spirit calm and blest; For, perchance, a day is coming, For the changes of our fate, When our hearts will thank him meekly That he taught us how to wait.

—Sel.

The Sea of Galilee.

By W. W. Patton

It was with no common thrill of feeling that I first saw the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee (or of Tiberias, as now called), having a short time before had Mt. Tabor pointed out on the southern horizon. We had followed the Jordan from Lake Huleh a few miles, down to the bridge Jisr Benat Yakub, and had then struck into the hills on its west, to an old khan called Jubb Yusef, in approaching which we had our first view of that beautiful sheet of water around which the ministry of our Lord was principally exercised. It lay at a distance of six miles, in a deep basin, surrounded on all sides by mountains, which rise from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above it. It is about 600 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and the same below Lake Huleh, being in that vast gorge extending from Hermon to a point south of the Dead Sea, which has been rent in the earth by volcanic forces, by the reason of which the Jordan alone of all earth's rivers has its course below the sea-level. From the clearness of the atmosphere it appeared quite small and is actually only thirteen miles long and six wide. But the interest of the Saviour's life centers here. Upon its waters and along its shores were his wondrous discourses spoken and his mighty deeds wrought.

In order to strike the Sea at Tell Hum, we quit the road at Khan Jubb Yusef, and rode across the pathless hills in a southeasterly direction, over the rocks and through thistles, for nearly two hours, picking our way with much difficulty, until we reached a rise of ground upon the border of the lake. A warm dispute has existed for some years among geographers of the Holy Land whether Tell Hum is the site of Chorazin or of Capernaum. I shall not enter into it; but the fact of the dispute adds to the evidence of the complete ruin to which Christ doomed these unbelieving cities. There was at Capernaum a splendid marble synagogue, and it is certain that the ruins of precisely such an edifice have been found at Tell Hum. Fragments lay here and there, and were occasionally seen by travelers, who, by the aid of two or three Arabs with clubs, could work through a thicket of thorns and thistles six or eight feet high, in the spring of the year. But last winter, Capt. Wilson, of the English Exploring Committee, excavated quite a place amid the ruins, though by no means as largely or completely as I had supposed from previous report. The building was of white limestone and marble, and the lower portions or foundations have been partly uncovered, while among them lie fragments of columns, the bases being often still in place, and very beautiful Corinthian capitals, with other elaborate sculptures, exceeding in richness and delicacy any other remains in Palestine. On a large cornerstone I observed a carved representation of the front of a temple or synagogue (perhaps a model of that very building) about fifteen inches long by eight high. There were also curious double or twin columns, with capitals and bases all cut from one rock. Explorations are soon to be resumed at this place, and will no doubt bring out interesting results.

Here we took to the shore, and followed it for three hours, till we reached Tiberias, enjoying a most charming and exciting ride through the obscure ruins and now ignoble sites of Bathsaida, Capernaum, at Ain et-Tin (if Tell Hum be not the place), and Magdala, and across the small but fertile plains, three miles in width, near the northwest corner of the lake, which was the ancient “land of Gennesareth,” and gave one of its three names to the body of water.

Here we rode over a smooth, hard beach abounding in shells, and free from the stones elsewhere prevailing; just the place for fishermen to draw their nets to shore, and probably the very spot where the disciples carried on their business, and where the miraculous draught of fishes occurred. And could it be that along this deserted coast there were once numerous cities, that this lonely sheet of water was once alive with vessels, and that here Jesus called his apostles and taught the thronging thousands? Surely, no contrast could be more striking than of the past and the present. Our tents were on the shore, a few rods outside of the petty and dirty modern city of Tiberias, on the south, where the ruins of the ancient city begin and stretch along a narrow plain, a third of a mile in width, between the mountain and the sea, for the space of a mile or more, to the natural warm baths.

These baths, the water of which issues in springs from the earth as hot as the hand can bear, and with a brackish and sulphurous taste, taken with the black basaltic rock of the coast, like the slag of a furnace, bear testimony to the volcanic character of the locality, as do also the fearful earthquakes which from time to time convulse the region. The ancient ruins betoken a city of size and splendor, as sixteen large columns lie prostrate by the foundations of one edifice.

The Jews' cemetery is contiguous, and the stones with the memorial inscriptions in Hebrew, were almost without exception fragments of marble plucked from the ruins and then inscribed. The steep mountainside above the ruins exhibited several caves, with traces of ancient paths, which were perhaps used as tombs. The quietness and solitude of the place may be judged of by the fact that the wild ducks swam unconcernedly to and fro in front of our tents, and hardly thought it worth while to dive when I threw stones at them.

We enjoyed a luxurious bath in the cool waters of the lake, complaining only of the stony bottom. The lake abounds in crabs, that differ from their salt-water brethren in being amphibious, for they issue from the lake, wander over the land, and hide under the stones. They even march boldly into my tent. At first I took them to be a land species; but, on catching one and putting him into the water, he proved to my astonishment to be perfectly at home there.

On Monday, we crowned our visit by a boat excursion. What could be more interesting than to follow the course of our Lord and his disciples, and to cross the Sea of Galilee in a fisher's boat? For such was the little vessel in which we embarked, with our Arab fishermen to navigate. There are now six or eight similar boats on the lake, rude affairs, with the merest apology for a sail; a few years since, and not a boat moved upon the water. Fish are abundant, yet are not taken in long nets, but with a small hand-net, with which on his arm the fisher walks stealthily along the shore, or in the water, till he spies a fish, and then suddenly throws the net over it.

The coast opposite Tiberias appeared nigh, owing to its height and the clearness of the air; but, as there was no wind, it required two hours to row our vessel across to it. I had a special object in crossing, beyond the boat-ride and the fine view obtained of the entire sea. The whole eastern side is dangerous to be visited on horseback without an armed escort, as the Bedouin plunderers are in all that region. But a boat may cross, and touch here and there on the shore, with less risk. Directly opposite Tiberias, the coast widens into a plain nearly a mile wide, upon which opens the Wady (or valley) Fik. In the middle of the opening rises a high, steep hill, access to which is at its east end by a low, narrow neck, which joins it to the mountain on the south. On the summit are the ruins of the city of Gamala, famous in the days of Josephus, who himself commanded there at one time, and which cost the Romans under Vespasian great effort to take. After the capture, they massacred 4,000 of the brave defenders, while 5,000 others cast themselves from the walls upon the rocks below and thus miserably perished.

Notwithstanding the fears of our dragoman, I was determined to push inland and visit these ruins. So, taking him and one of the Arab fishermen, I crossed the plain and ascended the steep side of the hill in front of us, without much difficulty beyond a little weariness of muscle and expenditure of breath. On the top were extensive ruins, showing the existence of a large plan, with traces of walls and fortifications that must have made it almost impregnable, raised as they were on the precipitous hillsides. I went down into a reservoir, still in tolerable condition, arched over, and about 60 feet long by 30 broad and 30 deep. There was a noble view from the summit, of the sea and the opposite coast. No Bedouins made their appearance, though we took the trip leisurely and descended by the isthmus and the valley on the south to the plain and the boat.

During my absence, a scowling, surly-looking party of Arabs came down to the shore by the boat (from which we had landed by being carried a few yards through the water), and my companion and his wife thought it wise to retreat on board again, where I rejoined them. One of our boatmen, meanwhile, had been off with his net, and returned with several good-sized fishes. The wind rose a little, the waves roughened, the lady became ill, and we knew not but we should have experience of a scriptural storm on this memorable lake. But we reached Tiberias again in safety after another tedious row.

As it was but half past three o'clock, and we were to leave for Nazareth in the morning, I mounted a horse and rode to the south end of the sea, to examine the Jordan at its issue. The road was all the way by the waterside, and, but for the utter silence and desolation, most charming. In a mile and a half were the hot springs before mentioned, over two of which are buildings, to which the people resort for a bath. A mile beyond were nameless ruins, not anywhere described, so far as I am aware; and a mile or more still beyond were the ruins of ancient Tarichaea, now called Kerak, just at the southwest corner of the sea. Ten minutes' further ride brought me to the point where the Jordan issues from the Sea of Galilee, and hurries on its tortuous, downward course to the Dead Sea, in the great chasm 1,300 feet below the Mediterranean; in reaching which it descends 700 feet, and cuts out a winding channel of 150 miles, full of rapids, though the direct distance is not more than sixty miles. The banks at the opening are rather high and rounded, with the remains apparently of an old bridge, or of the approaches to one. The stream, to my surprise, was narrower than where it flows from Lake Huleh, and less deep also, being only forty feet wide and four and a half deep just below the remains of the bridge. To make sure of my calculation, I undressed and took a bath, and, wading across, found the water to rise only to my shoulders. A fine valley seemed to accompany it southward, which under any rule but the Turkish would be a garden, but is now given over to be a wilderness.

A smart trot of an hour brought me back to the tents, by the light of the moon silvering the waves of the “Lake of Gennesareth.” A fisher's boat passed me, bound down the lake, for a night's fishing, and brought to mind similar expeditions of the apostles, when sometimes “they toiled all night and caught nothing.” And thus, with many sad and impressive reflections, as I looked in that still hour over the water and upon the deserted shores, I concluded the last day of my visit to the Sea of Galilee. The next morning, with many a fond and regretful look backward, I ascended the mountain, crossed the summit, and, except a glimpse of the northeast corner from Tabor, lost sight of the precious lake forever.—W. W. Patton, D. D.

Nazareth, Nov. 13, 1866.

Day of the Lord.

By Adolphus Smith

ITS CHARACTER.

“A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” Joel 2:2. See also Eze. 30:3; Isa. 13:9; 2:11–21; Amos 5:18, 20; Zeph. 1:14–18. A “day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men;” 1 Pet. 3:7; Acts 17:31; Mal. 4:1; Ps. 92:7; Jude 14, 15; 2 Thess. 1:7–10; and of reward to the people of God. Rev. 11:18.

ITS APPROACH.

To the world, as a thief in the night. 2 Pet. 3:10; 1 Thess. 5:2, 3; Rev. 3:3; 16:15. To the people of God, it is heralded by certain unmistakable signs: 1 Thess. 5:4, 5: Darkening of the sun and moon, A. D. 1780; falling of the stars, 1833, &c.; Matt. 24:29, 32, 33; Isa. 13:10; Joel 2:31; 3:15; Rev. 6:13; railroad cars. Nah. 2:3–5; riotous living, Matt. 24:37–39; Luke 17:28; Jude 7, 8; decrease in morality and faith, 2 Tim. 3:1–9; Luke 18:8; anger of the nations, Rev. 11:18.

It will be introduced by the setting up of the fifth universal kingdom, at the conclusion of Christ’s ministration in the sanctuary, and the pouring out of the seven last plagues. Dan. 7:14, 27; 8:14; Rev. 16.

ITS DURATION.

More than one thousand years. 2 Pet. 3:7, 8; Rev. 20:4. During the thousand years, Christ and the saints sit in judgment upon the wicked. Dan. 7:22; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; 15:24, 25; Rev. 20:4.

The resurrection of the saints is to take place at the beginning of this period, and that of the wicked at the end. Rev. 20:4, 5. The intermediate state of the earth is one of desolation. Isa. 24:1–6; Jer. 4:23–28. During this time, Satan is to be bound. Rev. 20:2. The day is to close with the burning of the earth, the melting of the elements (air and water), and the destruction of the wicked. 2 Pet. 3:7–10; Mal. 4:1.

That the melting of the elements is possible, science fully attests. Water is composed of eighty parts of hydrogen, and twenty parts of oxygen gas. The first part is exceedingly combustible, and the last is an excellent supporter of combustion. When combined and ignited, they detonate with great violence. If a bladder be filled with hydrogen gas, and, by compression, the gas is made to pass through the stem of an attached tobacco pipe dipped into a basin of suds in the usual way of making soap bubbles, it will form bubbles that will quickly ascend like diminutive balloons. If a lighted match or candle be applied to these bubbles, they will explode with a noise as loud as a pistol, and more stunning. If a pail of water, with a few drops adhering to its outer surface, be set upon a hot stove, hydrogen gas will be evolved, and loud explosions result.

If the decomposition of a few drops produce such results, what would not attend the decomposition of the seas?

If this gas be allowed to escape in a body from a vessel containing it, and be ignited, it will ascend in a volume of flame. It is about fourteen times lighter than common air; balloons are sometimes filled with it.

Oxygen gas exists in about the same proportion in both air and water. It is an excellent supporter of combustion; even iron and steel will burn in it with intense heat and corruscations of light too intense for the human eye to endure.

Every believer in divine revelation will concede the point that He who created the elements is able to dissolve them. Before this faith, every difficulty in the way of the fulfillment of the prophetic declaration, “The elements shall melt with fervent heat,” forever disappears.

That such an event is possible, is fully attested both by revelation and chemical analysis.

I cannot close this subject in more fitting language than that used by the apostle in the connection: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” And lest, in view of the terrors of the day of the Lord, the mind should be left in despair, the apostle addresses to the church the following language of hope, based upon the immutable promise of God: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” ADOLPHUS SMITH.

Late at Church.

“Lord, how delightful ’tis to see, A whole assembly worship thee.”

BUT how is that delight marred by those who fail to conform—as to posture during prayer and singing—to the usages of those with whom they worship; and most of all, by the coming in of the laggard after the service has commenced. When the time of commencing public worship has been fixed by the united action or general assent of a Christian congregation, every member of that congregation is obligated to conform to that arrangement; and whoever is behind the time through indolence or indifference, sins against God, his fellow-worshipers, and his own good. A tardy courtier offends his prince—how much more a tardy worshiper his God.

To be behind time at a business appointment, is to infringe upon the time and rights of others, and never more so than when that business is worshiping God; and all persons, old or young, young especially, who, through slothfulness or carelessness, are late at the house of God, have reason to take “shame and confusion of face” unto themselves.

Continue reading: The Sower