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Signs in Heaven The Leonid meteor shower that took place November
17, 1998 is not a supernatural phenomena, but a regular event that takes
place every November. And a greater number every 33 years according to
Astronomers. When you subtract 33 years, five times from 1998, or 165 years, you
will have the date of 1833. Ellen G. White claimed that the falling stars
November 13, 1833, was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy of Matthew 24:29 and
Revelation 6:12,13. Ellen believed that this was a supernatural event caused by
God and a sign that he was about to return. The evidence will show that she was
mistaken. Because Ellen is the Adventist's prophet they still teach this non
Biblical doctrine from the book Great Controversy by Ellen G. White and
promote this book as a missionary book. What Ellen saw in 1833, was the Leonid
meteor shower that we will be able to see on November 17,18 1998 and 1999. Journal and Courier Newspaper, Friday November 13, 1998. Page one. "…. The 1998 version and possibly the 1999 version could send hundreds or thousands of meteors an hour as Earth passes through the trail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The comet orbits the sun and creates a meteor "storm" every 32 or 33 years. The last one came in 1966 when observers in the central and western United States counted thousands of meteors in a 20-minute period. The actual "star" fall was estimated at 150,000 an hour. Other large Leonid storms occurred in 1799 and 1833.
They are called Leonids because the meteors appear to radiate from the stars of
the constellation Leo." Journal and Courier. The 1833 Leonid shower account by two self proclaimed prophets
These
two prophets, Smith and White claimed revelations from God. Why did God not
correct their misunderstanding of the November 13, 1833 meteor shower? The
followers of Smith and White were no better off having them as their prophet
than Christians that did not acknowledge a prophet. They were all in error in
believing this was a sign of the end of the world.
It has been 165 years from the stars falling
in 1833 to now, November 1998. How does the Bible describe the falling stars and
what events take place surrounding this end of the world event? Does the Bible
tell us we can expect many years between each sign and all this will take place
a great number of years before Christ's second coming? If this was a sign of
Christ's coming in 1833, what good was it for the people that witnessed in 1833
as they are all dead? The Bible teaches that the signs are to take place before
people that are alive to witness, just before Jesus comes. The people who are
alive before Jesus comes will witness the stars falling and the prophecy will be
fulfilled. It was not fulfilled 165 years ago in 1833 as all those people are
now dead! The Bible says:
Was there an earthquake just prior to the falling of the stars in 1833,
that caused mountains and islands to move out of their places? The answer is NO.
Ellen G. White however says yes: "These signs were witnessed before the opening of the nineteenth century. In fulfillment of this prophecy there occurred, in the year 1755, the most terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known as the earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater part of Europe, Africa, and America." Great Controversy, p. 304. Does the Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755 compare to the one described in Revelation 6 with mountains and islands moving out of their places and the Kings of the earth hiding in caves and rocks? No! Ellen was wrong. Was there a dark day just after the giant earthquake and before the stars fell? No. It is important to notice that Revelation 6:13 uses the word "and" to connect the dark day "and" the stars falling. There is no reference to gaps of many years between each of the signs. All four signs are one big event taking place at one time at the end of the world. Ellen G. White says yes:
"Twenty-five years later (Lisbon earthquake) appeared the next sign
mentioned in the prophecy—the darkening of the sun and moon." Great
Controversy, p. 306. "May 19, 1780, stands in history as
"The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal
density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. Great Controversy, p.
308. What does Adventist now say about the Dark Day? "In a series of three articles (May 22, May 29,
June 5, 1980) appearing in the Adventist Review, Merton E. Springle
conclusively demonstrated that the Dark Day of May 19, 1780 was caused by smoke
from huge forest fires burning in the New England states combining with a dark
storm front passing through the area. Furthermore, if one locates the extent of
the darkness on a globe, it is clear that the area covered was virtually an
infinitesimal portion of the earth's surface, and thus certainly not the cosmic
event described in Revelation 6." Spectrum, Volume 12, number 4, p.
7. Note: Ellen
was wrong comparing this Dark Day to Moses' day. In Moses time the Dark Day was
a supernatural event, the Dark Day of 1780 was a natural event caused by a
forest fire and a storm. "In the Collegiate Quarterly of
April-June 1980, pages 71-72, the same author (Merton Springle) has pointed out
that this meteor shower of November 1833 'was by no means a singular event. In
fact, it is a regular event occurring with records going back as far back as 902
A.D. In the past, much has been said about the 1833
shower being the greatest on record. LeRoy Froom,
for example, has a chart comparing some recent meteor showers. There he lists
the Leonids of 1833 at the rate of 60,000 meteors per hour, while the next
highest he lists the Giacobinids of 1933 at only 15,000 meteors per hour. While
accurate techniques for counting falling meteors have only been developed
recently, with considerable progress having been made since 1833, the
descriptions of early records strongly remind one of popular accounts of the
1833 shower found in Adventist literature. For example, concerning the 902 A.D. Leonid meteor
shower, Arabic records state that "an infinite number of stars were seen
during the night, scattering themselves like rain to the right and left."
Then when observing the same system in 1202 A.D., it is recorded that the
meteors "flew against one another, like a scattering swarm of
locusts." Thus, there is no inherent reason to suppose that the 1833 shower
must have been greater than anything ever seen. However, there is even more
precise, positive evidence that the1833 shower has been surpassed. Scientific
reports of the 1966 Leonid shower mention rates up to 150,000 per hour, or
two-and-a-half times the rate of the 1833 shower, according to Froom's
figures. In sum, both the 1833 meteor shower and the 1780 Dark Day have natural
causes, not, as commonly believed supernatural causes." Spectrum, Volume
12, number 4, p. 7. Ellen G. White's apocalyptic fulfilled prophecy dates: Lisbon earthquake—November 1, 1755. Dark Day—May 1780. Falling Stars—November 13, 1833. Conclusion:
Dirk Anderson's "Signs of the End" http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/egw42.htm |