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Promises of Christ’s Return
173
moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and
the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they
see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”
Mark 13:24-26
. The revelator thus describes the first of the signs
to precede the second advent: “There was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood.”
Revelation 6:12
.
The Earthquake That Shook the World
In fulfillment of this prophecy there occurred in 1755 the most
terrible earthquake ever recorded. Known as the earthquake of
Lisbon, it extended to Europe, Africa, and America. It was felt in
Greenland, the West Indies, Madeira, Norway and Sweden, Great
Britain and Ireland, an extent of not less than four million square
miles. In Africa the shock was almost as severe as in Europe. A
great part of Algiers was destroyed. A vast wave swept over the
coast of Spain and Africa engulfing cities.
Mountains, “some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously
shaken, as it were, from their very foundations; and some of them
opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful
manner, huge masses of them being thrown down into the adjacent
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valleys. Flames are related to have issued from these mountains.”
At Lisbon “a sound of thunder was heard underground, and
immediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part
of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand
persons perished. The sea first retired, and laid the bar dry; it then
rolled in, rising fifty feet or more above its ordinary level.
“The earthquake happened on a holyday, when the churches
and convents were full of people, very few of whom escaped.
“The terror of the people was beyond description. Nobody wept;
it was beyond tears. They ran hither and thither, delirious with
horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, crying,
‘Misericordia! the world’s at an end!’ Mothers forgot their children,
and ran about loaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many
ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament
2
Sir Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, p. 495.
3
Encyclopedia Americana, art. “Lisbon,” (ed. 1831).