By Dr. J. E. Shelley, of Famagusta, Cyprus.
WE have heard a great deal of the subject of air raid Precautions lately. Even in remote Cyprus it is regarded as a matter of urgency!
By means of the newspapers, the radio, and countless booklets, we are urged daily not to neglect the suggested means of safety.
There have been exhibitions and demonstrations of various shelters and refuges, the institution of new fire brigades and the formation of anti-gas squads.
Men, women and children are being informed concerning the peril from the air, and told how to escape from it.
Everywhere is appears to be regarded as inevitable that soon the heavens will be black with clouds of airplane’s raining down death and destruction. It is admittedly within the power of men to thus pour wrath upon their enemies.
They have done it, and are doing it!
Only those who have diligently prepared against this danger have a chance of escape; though even these are not assured of safety from destruction at the hands of their fellow men.
The Effect of Divine and Human Warnings
All over the world these warnings are taken seriously and acted upon carefully.
But the warnings of Almighty God concerning similar though vastly greater dangers are scoffed at, and the infallible precautions He recommends, utterly neglected!
God actually condescends to issue details concerning these coming aerial bombardments, and to describe in advance, their awful effects.
A State of Universal Terror!
We quote just one. “And I beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of Heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken with a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
“And the kings of the earth, and the great men and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:12-1712And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:12‑17)).
This is an “Air Raid warning” from the Governor of the Universe which it behooves all human beings to heed.
Yet how is this solemn and gracious prediction regarded?
It is called “Apocalyptic nonsense,” “Impossible rubbish,” “Exaggerated threats only fit to frighten women and children,” “Quite unheard of aberration of the fixed laws of nature,” etc. But God has not only issued the warning. He, as well as man, has accompanied it with demonstrations!
For example. It is not generally known that on June 30th 1908, there occurred
The Greatest Astronomical Catastrophe
ever recorded by eye witnesses—the fall of an immense meteorite in the wilds of Siberia.
Traveling at perhaps 45 miles a second, it struck a hilly plateau near the river Yenesi in broad daylight. It was described as brighter than the sun. The nearest town, Vanovara, fifty miles away was enveloped in flame, and the concussion which followed was terrific. The passengers on the trans-Siberian railway 400 miles distant were terror-stricken by a violent uproar, and the driver stopped the train, believing it to be derailed.
The sound was heard at numerous points within a circle of 2,000 miles diameter, and a column of fire twelve miles high was seen from a distance of 280 miles!
Strangely enough, the craters found were not very deep, but the devastation was immense. Pine trees were felled radially round the craters to a distance of thirty-seven miles in every direction, and there was a radius of burnt forest for seven or eight miles. Approximately a thousand square miles of forest were laid waste. But as there are practically no habitations in the area, few human beings seem to have perished. How merciful God is!
Had this demonstration bomb fallen on London, the metropolis would have been wiped out!
But God’s mercy has a limit, and when He rains His wrath on an impenitent world, who indeed shall be able to stand?
The rocks and the hills will not suffice to cover or protect man in that day. However deep men may dig their trenches, God’s projectiles will reach them. For in Arizona there is a crater 570 feet deep, and three-quarters of a mile wide caused by the fall of another giant meteorite!
There is but one shelter from the righteous wrath of God, that is under the precious Blood of Christ.
Take Cover in the Rook of Ages
cleft for the very purpose of hiding the sinner. No other rock for safety in that great day.
Have you neglected this, the only infallible precaution? “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”
Make a careful study of the great A.R.P. Book provided by the Judge of all the earth wail yourself of the shelter provided by Him, at the cost of the death of his only Son. It is firmly founded on the Rock of truth and free to all.
(By courtesy of “Living Links.”)