Entering the Twentieth Century

In the time of Jesus Christ, there were many signs by which the believers could know that Jesus was the Christ of God.   Therefore, Jesus rebuked them because they could not discern the signs of the times.  Likewise, God has given us many signs so we can know when and where He is working in our generation.

The industrial revolution, and the rise of the United States of America, set the stage for the preparation for the second coming of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Nahum clearly showed that a man would make that preparation in the day of automobiles (Nahum 2:1-4; Rev. 2:26-27).  Solomon also prophesied of the time as when “a bird of the air shall carry The Voice” (Eccl. 10:20).

Daniel and Joel both prophesied of this period of time.  God said to 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” (Dan. 12:4).  God surely included scriptural knowledge of the plan of God for consecrated Christians, as well as secular knowledge for the natural man.

To Joel He said, “It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.”

Jules Verne’s writings, in the 19th century, about submarines and space travel are a good example of that new ability, among secular writers, to prophesy.  Then, as the century came to a close, God began to pour out of His Spirit “also upon the servants and upon the handmaids.”  It was 1896, when that outpouring came.

Peter rightly used this prophecy in the book of Joel, to speak of their experience on the day of Pentecost, but the full effect of Joel 2:28-29, was not seen until the time of the industrial revolution.

Within ten years after the constitutional convention of the United States of America, man began to use natural gas for lighting.  All manner of new inventions swiftly followed.  By the year 1807, the steamboat was invented.  By 1851, we had railroad cars, revolvers, the reaper and mower, electric telegraph, photography, the sewing machine, and submarine cable.

In the second half of the nineteenth century there were more than a dozen major inventions which would affect transportation, agriculture, communica-

tions, and other industries.  The telephone, the typewriter, X-rays, electric lights, and the gasoline engine, to name a few.

The century closed with great strides in the development of modern modes of transportation.  Automobiles, motorcycles and aircraft, which are now commonplace, began their development in the final years of the last century.  Providentially, several of them reached a special stage of development in the year 1903, and have since burgeoned into their full potential.

Several significant events transpired in 1903, including Albert Einstein’s thesis on the science of Astronautics.  That same year, the Pope of Rome died and was replaced, and the Communist Party was formed.  In 1903 the Ford Motor Company was formed and the Harley Davidson Co. began to manufacture motorcycles.  And on December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful, heavier-than-air, flight.  All of these things happened in the year 1903, as a sign that God was beginning a special new series of prophetic events, to signal the soon coming of Jesus.