_An Account of those extraordinary Phœnomena and Wonders in Nature,
that, according to Scripture, will precede the coming of Christ, and
the Conflagration of the World._
If we reflect upon the History of burning Mountains, we cannot but
observe, that, before their Eruptions, there are usually some Changes in
the Earth, or in the Air, in the Sea, or in the Sun it self, as Signs
and Forerunners of the ensuing Storm. We may then easily conclude that
when the last great Storm is a coming, and all the Vulcano’s of the
Earth ready to burst, and the Frame of the World to be dissolv’d, there
will be previous Signs, in the Heavens, and on the Earth, to introduce
this tragical Fate: Nature cannot come to that Extremity, without some
Symptoms of her Illness, nor die silently without Pangs or Complaint.
But we are naturally heavy of Belief, as to Futurities, and can scarce
fancy any other Scenes, or other State of Nature, than what is present,
and continually before our Eyes: We will therefore, to cure our
Unbelief, take Scripture for our Guide, and keep within the Limits of
its Predictions.
The Scripture plainly tells us of Signs, of Prodigies, that will precede
the Coming of our Saviour, and the End of the World: both in the
Heavens, and on the Earth. The Sun, Moon, and Stars, will be disturb’d
in their Motion, or Aspect; the Earth and the Sea will roar and tremble,
and the Mountains fall at his Presence. These things both the Prophets
and Evangelists have told us; but what we do not understand, we are slow
to believe; and therefore those that cannot apprehend how such Changes
should come to pass in the natural World, chuse rather to allegorize all
these Expressions of Scripture, and to make them signify no more than
political Changes of Governments, and Empires, and the great Confusions
that will be amongst the People and Princes of the Earth, towards the
End of the World. So that _darkening of the Sun_, _shaking of the
Earth_, and such like Phrases of Scripture, according to these
Interpreters, are to be understood only in a moral Sense.
And they think they have a Warrant for this Interpretation, from the
prophetick Style of the Old Testament, where the Destruction of Cities,
and Empires, and great Princes, is often describ’d by such Figures,
taken from the natural World. So much is true indeed as to the Phrase of
the old Prophets in some Places; but I take the true Reason and Design
of that, to be a typical Adumbration of what was intended should
literally come to pass in the great and universal Destruction of the
World; whereof these partial Destructions were only Shadows and
Prefigurations. But to determine this Case, let us take the known and
approved Rule for interpreting Scripture, _Not to recede from the
literal Sense without Necessity_, or where the Nature of the Subject
will admit of a literal Interpretation. Now, as to those Cases in the
_Old Testament_, History and Matter of Fact do shew, that they did not
come to pass literally, therefore must not be so understood; but as for
those that concern the End of the World, as they cannot be determin’d in
that way, seeing they are yet _future_; so neither is there any natural
Repugnancy or Improbability that they should come literally to pass: On
the contrary, from the Intuition of that State of Nature, one would
rather conclude the Probability or Necessity of them; that there may,
and must be such Disorders in the external World, before the general
Dissolution. Besides, if we admit Prodigies in any Case, or providential
Indications of God’s Judgments to come there can be no Case suppos’d,
wherein it will be more reasonable or proper to admit them, than when
they are to be the Messengers of an universal Vengeance and Destruction.
Let us therefore consider what Signs Scripture hath taken notice of, as
destin’d to appear at that Time, to publish, as it were, and proclaim
the approaching End of the World; and how far they will admit of a
natural Explication, according to those Grounds we have already given,
in explaining the Causes and Manner of the Conflagration. These Signs
are chiefly Earthquakes, and extraordinary Commotions of the Seas. Then
the Darkness or bloody Colour of the Sun and Moon; the shaking of the
Powers of Heaven, the Fulgurations of the Air, and the falling of Stars.
As to Earthquakes, we have upon several Occasions shewn, that these will
necessarily be multiplied towards the End of the World; when, by an
Excess of Drought and Heat, Exhalations will more abound within the
Earth; and, from the same Causes, their Inflammation also will be more
frequent, than in the ordinary State of Nature. And as all Bodies, when
dried, become more porous and full of Vacuities; so the Body of the
Earth will be at that Time: And the Mines or Cavities wherein the Fumes
and Exhalations lodge, will accordingly be of greater Extent, open into
one another, and continued thro’ long Tracts and Regions; by which
means, when an Earthquake comes, as the Shock will be more strong and
violent, so it may reach to a vast Compass of Ground, and whole Islands
or Continents be shaken at once, when these Trains have taken Fire. The
Effects also of such Concussions, will not only affect Mankind, but all
the Elements, and the Inhabitants of them.
I do not wonder that frequent and great Earthquakes should be made a
Sign of an approaching Conflagration; and the highest Expressions of the
Prophets concerning the _Day of the Lord_, may be understood in a
literal Sense, if they be finally referr’d to the general Destruction of
the World, and not terminated solely upon those particular Countries or
People, to whom they are at first directed. Hear what _Ezekiel_ says
upon this Subject, _Chap. xxxviii. 19, 20, 22._ _For in my Jealousy and
in the Fire of my Wrath have I spoken; surely in that Day there shall be
a great shaking in the Land of Israel: So that the Fishes of the Sea,
and the Fowls of the Heaven, and the Beasts of the Field, and all
creeping Things that creep upon the Earth; and all the Men that are upon
the Face of the Earth, shall shake at my Presence; and the Mountains
shall be thrown down, and the steep Places shall fall, and every Wall
shall fall to the Ground.——And I will rain an overflowing Rain, and
great Hail-stones, Fire and Brimstone._ The Prophet _Isaias_, (_Chap.
xxiv. 18, 19, 20._) describes these Judgments in Terms as high, and
relating to the natural World; _The Windows from on high are open, and
the Foundations of the Earth do shake. The Earth is utterly broken down,
the Earth is clean dissolved, the Earth is moved exceedingly. The Earth
shall reel to and fro like a Drunkard, and shall be removed like a
Cottage, and the Transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it
shall fall, and not rise again._
To restrain all these things to _Judea_, as their adequate and final
Object, is to force both the Words and the Sense. Here are manifest
Allusions and Footsteps of the Destruction of the World, and the
Dissolution of the Earth; partly as it was in the Deluge, and partly as
it will be in its last Ruin, torn, broken, and shatter’d. But most Men
have fallen into that Error, to fancy both the Destructions of the World
by Water and Fire, quiet, noiseless Things; executed without any Ruins
or Ruptures in Nature: That the Deluge was but a great Pool of still
Waters made by the Rains, and Inundation of the Sea; and the
Conflagration will be only a superficial Scorching of the Earth, with a
running Fire. These are false Ideas, and unsuitable to Scripture: For as
the Deluge is there represented a Disruption of the Abyss, and
consequently of the then habitable Earth; so the future Combustion of
it, according to the Representations of Scripture, is to be usher’d in
and accompanied with all sorts of violent Impressions upon Nature; and
the chief Instrument of these Violences will be Earthquakes. These will
tear the Body of the Earth, and shake its Foundations; rend the Rocks,
and pull down the tall Mountains; sometimes overturn, and sometimes
swallow up Towns and Cities; disturb and disorder the Elements, and make
a general Confusion in Nature.
Next to Earthquakes, we may consider the _Roarings of a troubled Sea_.
This is another Sign of a dying World. St. _Luke_, (_Chap. xxi. 25, 26,
27._) hath set down a great many of them together: Let us hear his
Words: _And 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. Mens Hearts failing them for fear, and for
looking after those things which are coming on the Earth; for the Powers
of Heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming
in a Cloud, with Power and great Glory, &c._ As some would allegorize
these Signs, which we noted before; so others would confine them to the
Destruction of _Jerusalem_. But ’tis plain, by this _coming of the Son
of Man in the Clouds_, and the _Redemption of the Faithful_, (Verse 28.)
and at the same Time the _Sound of the last Trumpet_, (Matt. xxiv. 31)
which all relate to the End of the World, that something further is
intended than the Destruction of _Jerusalem_. And though there were
Prodigies at the Destruction of that City and State, yet not of this
Force, nor with these Circumstances. ’Tis true, those partial
Destructions and Calamities, as we observ’d before, of _Babylon_,
_Jerusalem_, and the _Roman_ Empire, being Types of an universal and
final Destruction of all God’s Enemies, have, in the Pictures of them,
some of the same Strokes, to shew they are all from the same Hand,
decreed by the same Wisdom, foretold by the same Spirit; and the same
Power and Providence that have already wrought the one, will also work
the other, in due Time, the former being still Pledges, as well as
Prefigurations, of the latter.
Let us then proceed in our Explication of this Sign, _the Roaring of the
Sea, and the Waves_, applying it to the End of the World. I do not look
upon this ominous Noise of the Sea, as the Effect of a Tempest, for then
it would not strike such a Terror into the Inhabitants of the Earth, nor
make them apprehensive of some great Evil coming upon the World, as this
will do; what proceeds from visible Causes, and such as may happen in a
common Course of Nature, does not so much amaze us, nor affright us:
Therefore ’tis more likely these Disturbances of the Sea proceed from
below, partly by Sympathy and Revulsions from the Land; by Earthquakes
there, and exhausting the subterraneous Cavities of Waters, which will
draw again from the Seas what Supplies they can; and partly by
Earthquakes in the very Sea it self, with Exhalations and fiery
Eruptions from the Bottom of it: Things indeed that happen at other
Times, more or less; but at this Conjuncture, all Causes conspiring,
they will break out with more Violence, and put the whole Body of the
Waters into a tumultuary Motion. I do not see any Occasion, at this
Time, for high Winds; neither can I think a superficial Agitation of the
Waves would answer this Phænomenon; but ’tis rather from Contorsions in
the Bowels of the Ocean, which make it roar, as it were, for Pain. Some
Causes impelling the Waters one Way, and some another, make intestine
Strugglings, and contrary Motions; from whence proceed unusual Noises,
and such a troubled State of the Waters, as does not only make the Sea
innavigable, but also strikes Terror into all the maritime Inhabitants,
that live within the View or Sound of it.
So much for the Earth and Sea. The Face of the Heavens also will be
changed in divers Respects; the Sun and the Moon darken’d, or of a
bloody or pale Countenance; the celestial Powers shaken, and the Stars
unsettled in their Orbs. As to the Sun and Moon, their Obscuration or
Change of Colour is no more than what happens commonly before the
Eruption of a fiery Mountain. _Dion Cassius_, you see, hath taken notice
of it in that Eruption of _Ætna_ which he describes; and others upon the
like Occasions in _Vesuvius_. And ’tis a Thing of easy Explication; for,
according as the Atmosphere is more or less clear or turbid, the
Luminaries are more or less conspicuous; and, according to the Nature of
those Fumes, or Exhalations that swim in the Air, the Face of the Sun is
discolour’d sometimes one Way, sometimes another. You see, in an
ordinary Experiment, when we look upon one another through the Fumes of
Sulphur, we appear pale like so many Ghosts; and in some foggy Days, the
Sun hangs in the Firmament as a Lump of Blood: And both the Sun and
Moon, at their Rising, when their Light comes to us through the thick
Vapours of the Earth, are red and fiery. These are not Changes wrought
in the Substance of the Luminaries, but in the Modifications of their
Light, as it flows to us: For Colours are but Light in a Sort of
Disguise; as it passes through Mediums of different Qualities, it takes
different Forms, but the Matter is still the same, and returns to its
Simplicity, when it comes again into a pure Air.
Now the Air may be changed and corrupted to a great Degree, tho’ there
appear no visible Change to our Eye. This is manifest from infectious
Airs, and the Changes of the Air before Storms and Rains, which we feel
commonly sooner than we see, and some other Creatures perceive much
sooner than we do. ’Tis no Wonder then, if, before this mighty Storm,
the Dispositions of the Air be quite alter’d; especially if we consider,
what we have so often noted before, that there will be a great Abundance
of Fumes and Exhalations, thro’ the whole Atmosphere of the Earth,
before the last Fire breaks out, whereby the Light of the Sun may be
tinctur’d in several Ways: And lastly, it may be so order’d
providentially that the Body of the Sun may contract at that Time some
Spots, or _Maculæ_, far greater than usual, and by that means be really
darkened, not to us only, but to all the neighbouring Planets: And this
will have a proportionable Effect upon the Moon too, for the Diminution
of her Light: So that upon all Suppositions, these Phænomena are very
intelligible, if not necessary Forerunners of the Conflagration.
The next Sign given us, is, that the _Powers of Heaven will be shaken_.
By the _Heavens_ in this Place is either understood the Planetary
Heavens, or that of the _fix’d Stars_; but this latter being vastly
distant from the Earth, cannot be really affected by the Conflagration;
nor the Powers of it, that is, its Motion, or the Bodies contained in
it, any ways shaken or disorder’d. But, in Appearance, these celestial
Bodies may seem to be shaken, and their Motions disorder’d; as in a
Tempest by Night, when the Ship is toss’d with contrary and uncertain
Motions, the Heavens seem to fluctuate over our Heads, and the Stars to
reel to and fro, when the Motion is only in our own Vessel: So possibly
the uncertain Motions of the Atmosphere, and sometimes of the Earth it
self, may so vary the Sight and Aspect of this starry Canopy, that it
may seem to shake and tremble.
But if we understand this of the _planetary Heavens_, they may really be
shaken; Providence either ordering some great Changes in the other
Planets, previously to the Conflagration of our Planet; as, ’tis
probable, there was a great Change in _Venus_ at the Time of our
_Deluge_: Or the great Shakings and Concussions of our Globe at that
Time, affecting some of the neighbouring Orbs, or at least that of the
Moon, may cause Anomalies and Irregularities in their Motions. But the
Sense that I should pitch upon chiefly for explaining this Phrase of
_Shaking the Powers of Heaven_, comprehends, in a good measure, both
these Heavens of the fix’d Stars and of the Planets: ’Tis that Change of
Situation in the Axis of the Earth, which we have formerly mention’d,
whereby the Stars will seem to change their Places, and the whole
Universe to take another Posture. This is sufficiently known to those
that know the different Consequences of a strait or oblique Posture of
the Earth. And as the Heavens and the Earth were, in this Sense, once
shaken, before, namely, at the Deluge, when they lost their first
Situation; so now they will be shaken again, and thereby return to the
Posture they had before that first Concussion. And this I take to be the
true literal Sense of the Prophet _Haggai_, repeated by St. _Paul_,
(_Ch. ii. 6._, and _Heb. xii. 26._) _Yet once more I shake not the Earth
only, but also Heaven._
The last Sign we shall take Notice of, is that of _falling Stars_. _And
the Stars shall fall from Heaven_, says our Saviour, _Matt. xxiv. 29._
We are sure, from the Nature of the Thing, that this cannot be
understood either of fix’d Stars, or Planets; for if either of these
should tumble from the Skies, and reach the Earth, they would break it
all in Pieces or swallow it up, as the Sea does a sinking Ship; and at
the same Time would put all the inferior Universe into Confusion. It is
necessary therefore, by these Stars, to understand either fiery Meteors
falling from the Middle Region of the Air, or Comets and Blazing Stars.
No doubt, there will be all sorts of fiery Meteors at that Time; and,
amongst others, those that are call’d _falling Stars_; which, tho’ they
are not considerable singly, yet if they were multiplied in great
Numbers, _falling_ (as the Prophet says, _Isa. xxxiv. 4._) _as Leafs
from the Vine, or Figs from the Fig-tree_, they would make an
astonishing Sight. But, I think, this Expression does chiefly refer to
Comets, which are dead Stars, and may truly be said to fall from Heaven,
when they leave their Seats above, and those æthereal Regions wherein
they were fix’d, and sink into this lower World; where they wander about
with a Blaze in their Tail, or a Flame about their Head, as if they came
on purpose to be the Messengers of some fiery Vengeance. If Numbers of
these blazing Stars should fall into our Heaven together, they would
make a dreadful and formidable Appearance; and, I am apt to think, that
Providence hath so contriv’d the Periods of their Motion, that there
will be an unusual Concourse of them at that Time, within the View of
the Earth, to be a Prelude to this last and most tragical Scene of the
sublunary World.
I do not know any more in Scripture relating to the last Fire, that,
upon the Grounds laid down in this Discourse, may not receive a
satisfactory Explication. It reaches beyond the Signs before-mention’d
to the highest Expressions of Scripture: as, _Lakes of Fire and
Brimstone_, _a molten Sea mingled with Fire_, _the Liquefaction of
Mountains_, and of the Earth it self. We need not now look upon these
Things as hyperbolical, and poetical Strains, but as barefac’d
Prophesies, and Things that will literally come to pass as they are
predicted. One thing more will be expected in a just Hypothesis, or
Theory of the Conflagration; namely, that it should answer, not only all
the Conditions and Characters belonging to the last Fire, but should
also make Way, and lay the Foundation of another World to succeed this,
or of _new Heavens_ and a _new Earth_: For St. _Peter_ hath taught this
Doctrine of the _Renovation_ of the World, as positively and expresly as
that of its _Conflagration_; and therefore they that so explain the
Destruction of the present World, as to leave it afterwards in an
eternal Rubbish, without any Hopes of Restoration, do not answer the
Christian Doctrine concerning it. But as to our Hypothesis, we are
willing to stand this farther Trial, and be accountable for the
Consequences of the Conflagration, as well as the Antecedents and Manner
of it. And we have accordingly, in the following Book, from the Ashes of
this, raised a New Earth, which we leave to the Enjoyment of the
Readers. In the mean time, to close our Discourse, we will bid farewell
to the present World, in a short Review of its last Flames.