And at that time shall Michael stand up…and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even unto that same time.    Daniel 12:1

One has to wonder, at least about the cycles of turmoil in the world.  Each generation has its own.  We’re certainly having ours.   Objectively, all we can say here is this:  the Bible says there will be a last generation, a generation when the Lord returns to this world, and the troubles just before His return will be the worst the world has ever seen.   So, whether we’re in that time now, or whether the Lord is about to return, we simply can’t know for certain.   We can be sure that those who prophesy ‘peace and safety’ when there isn’t any, are bound for “sudden destruction.”   1Thessalonians 5:3.

So, what of the endless prophecies of doom?  When do they apply?  Edgar Allan Poe once said that you can’t know what the prophecy applies to until the time of the prophcy’s fulfillment.  (Review of Stephens’ Arabia Petraea, 1837)

Were the words of inspiration, affording insight into the events of futurity, at all times so pointedly clear that he who runs might read, they would in many cases, even when fulfilled, afford a rational ground for unbelief in the inspiration of their authors, and consequently in the whole truth of revelation; for it would be supposed that these distinct words, exciting union and emulation among Christians, had thus been merely the means of working out their own accomplishment. It is for this reason that the most of the predictions become intelligible only when viewed from the proper point of observation — the period of fulfilment.

Certainly, in the 19th century, the grand revival of modern “millennialism,” and it’s Great Expectation of 1844 (the prophetic hope of Christ’s return to earth) were characterized by terrorizing fears of cataclysm.   (Poe himself wrote three different short stories on the topic of the end of the world, as well as the “prophecy” review quoted above.   These works are the subject of a small book I will be publishing shortly, The End of the World in Poe:  The Sociological Context of Adventism in Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe.   It’s part of the research I did as a graduate student at Harvard in 1983.)  

One famous religious writer of the time, Ellen G. White (1827-1915), naturally had interesting things to say about disaster, cataclysm, and the end of this present world.  In 1911, addressing the increased immorality in the world, she wrote:

As the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very cruel when God’s fear and love are removed.    Great Controversy, p.608.

 In 1909 she had written about a night vision she’d had of New York City.  It seems that the subject of tall buildings was a matter of grave concern.   The lofty ’skyscrapers’ expressed the vanity of their owners and builders, and were subject to sudden destruction.  Men bragged of the indestructability of their creations, only to see them reduced to rubble in an instant.   In fact , White said whole cities would be thus reduced–unpredictably. (One thinks of Hiroshima, some 50 years after White’s vision.)  

Needless to say, those who believe in the Biblical account of “sudden creation” are obliged to believe in the Biblical counterpart–sudden destruction.   They are an ancient pair, in fact.   That’s the package.  One involves the other.

Ellen G. White, 1827-1915

It is not a pleasant picture painted, at least not by the 19th century prophets and religious commentators.   I will be quick to point out one major point of interest:   there is no clear and present explanation or account of Islam in the Bible.  Islam is apparently insignificant, or, certainly not a decisive factor.  It is not a paramount concern.  It is not a critical controntation.   Otherwise, this matter would be clear by now.   Were there any unmistakable prophecies about Islam, their ”period of fulfillment” would have already happened by now, and the prophecy would be thus clearly recognizable. 

Finally, in that same 1909 period, Ellen White wrote:

There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society.  Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime.  They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis.  If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.  Testimonies, Vol. 9, pp.13.

 I think it’s pretty clear that we are in a time of trouble.  Such as never was since there was a nation?   Hard for us to tell.  We may think it is worse than any time our present generation has ever known before.   That may be true.  But, in the history of the world, who knows?   No doubt, the safe bet is to be prepared.   Find out what it means to be prepared.  Find out what to be prepared for.  These kinds of concerns are surely appropriate.