THE TIME OF THE END --
-- The Time of the End --
THE book of prophecy was to be closed up and sealed till "the time of the end!' "But thou, O Daniel,
shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12:4. The question was then asked: "How long shall it be?" And
the answer was given: "It shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished
to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished!' V. 6, 7.
We have seen (pp. 52-60) that the "time, times, and an half," during which the papacy should scatter
God's true followers, began in 538 A. D., and ended in 1798 A. D. And as "the time of the end" begins
when this period "shall be finished!' It is plain that "the time of the end " began in 1798 A. D. And at
that time "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12: 4. And it is
remarkable how knowledge has been increased since 1798, not only in the prophecies, but also in
general, as we shall presently see. But we must answer one question first. Some ask why God wanted
to give important prophecies, and then keep them sealed up for so many centuries. There is a reason.
The prophecies give solemn warnings against the papal power. If these prophecies had been fully
understood during the Dark Ages, when the Roman Catholic Church burned all books she thought were
damaging to her, those prophecies would have suffered the same fate. Therefore God spoke in
symbolic language, and placed the keys to those symbols where they would not be found till the Papacy
lost its power, when God would impress the minds of His people where to find the keys. No one who
locks his house will leave the key in the door, but he puts it where only members of his family know
where to find it. Just so the Lord did with His prophecies. (The keys to prophetic symbols are given on
page 34)
When these prophecies were to be opened at "the time of the end," their message would have to go
quickly to earth's remotest bounds. (Revelation 14: 6, 7; Romans 9: 28) And as this could never have
been accomplished without the modern printing press, and the more speedy means of travel and
communication, the Lord set in motion those spurs in the human breast that led to new discoveries.
During the 1260 years of papal supremacy, people did not dare to think freely, or independently of the
lines of education established by the Church. (See p. 127) Galileo's trial by the Inquisition in 1623 will
serve as an example of how advancement in science and invention was opposed by the church of
Rome. But when in 1798 the Papacy lost its power, its downfall broke the shackles, and unloosed the
world's genius, so that invention followed invention in quick succession.
Table of Inventions
1. Gas for lighting purposes 1798
2. Cast-iron plows 1800
3. Steel pens for writing 1803
4. First locomotive 1804
5. First steamboat 1808
6. Steam printing press 1811
7. Passenger cars for trains 1825
8. Kerosene for lighting purposes 1825
9. Matches 1829
Page 129
10. Mowing machine, reaper 1833
11. First electric motor 1834
12. Telegraph 1837
First message: "What hath God wrought!" 1844
13. Photography 1839
14. Submarine telegraph cable 1851
15. Typewriter 1868
16. Telephone 1876
17. Phonograph 1877
18. Electric railway 1879
19. Linotype 1885
20. Automobile 1893
21. Wireless telegraphy 1895
22. Aeroplane, first successful flight 1903
23. Radio broadcasting 1921
24. Television 1926
25. Pushbutton elevator 1934
26. Airplane bombsight 1940
Prophecy had decreed that in the day of God's preparation for finishing His work on earth, "knowledge
shall be increased"; and when His hour struck for the giving of His last warning message, nothing
could stop it. We read: "The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of His preparation. . . .
The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall
seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." Nahum 2: 3, 4.
How could any one give a better description of modern railroads and automobiles? Even the coming of
the Zeppelin and the aeroplane is foretold in the Bible: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the
doves to their windows?" Isaiah 60: 8. The simile is striking, for doves and aeroplanes both need
landing places. This prophecy speaks of a time when "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the people," while God's glorious light is shining upon His faithful servants. (Verses 1, 2)
This was never more true than now. The book of prophecy, that had been closed for centuries, is now
opened to God's people. (Daniel 12: 4, 10; Revelation 5: 1-9; 10: 1, 2, 8-11; 22: 6, 7, 16) Light is now
shining from the throne of God upon them, while evolution, infidelity, spiritism, and Roman Catholic
superstitions are enveloping the world in the grossest of spiritual darkness, and crime is at its high tide.
Thinking people are everywhere scanning the horizon to detect some prophetic message from heaven
that will cast light on the present chaos.
William T. Ellis, in an article entitled, "Why Don't the Churches Settle Things?" which appeared in the
Saturday Evening Post, of February 12, 1921, points out this fact in a striking manner. He says:
"There never before was a greater interest in religion in America than today - or a smaller interest in the
churches. This is the paradox of our times. . . .
"Ever since the war began, the country has been listening for a clear trumpet note from some prophet of
the living God. In vain." He then speaks of "the church's reproach of having failed in her prophetic
function." After relating the concern of two business men on this point he says:
"That incident brings me squarely up against one of the most uncomfortable, perplexing and tragic
situations in connection with this entire theme of the strange spiritual stirrings of the race today. Many
Page 130
clergymen seem scarcely aware of what is going forward beneath the surface of life. Many experts
upon religion, who are the ministers of the gospel, have seemingly failed to hear 'the sound of a going
in the tops of the mulberry trees.' Otherwise we should find them gathering with agony of soul in
protracted sessions of prayer. . . .
"Morbid minds could easily persuade themselves that there is a present visitation of blindness upon the
teachers of religion!'
D. L. Moody says;
"If God did not mean to have us study the prophecies, He would not have put them into the Bible. . . .
About one third of the Bible is prophetic. . . .
“The return of the Lord to this earth is taught in the New Testament as clearly as any other doctrine in
it. . . . Whoever neglects this has only a mutilated gospel. . . . Yet I was in the church fifteen or sixteen
years before I ever heard a sermon on it. . . . I can see a reason for this; the Devil does not want us to
see this truth, for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man realises that Jesus
Christ is coming back again to receive His followers to Himself, this world loses its hold upon him.” -
“The Second Coming of Christ,” pp. 17, 18
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