What was the spiritual meaning of the DARK DAY of 1780? Was it just one of those chance happenings, of astronomical interest, that has puzzled scientists for years without divulging its mysterious origin? Or was there something in it which was meant to be a SIGN?
I believe that nothing occurs in this world without meaning. Some things are almost too small to require notice, but nevertheless form the microscopic in-filling of greater events. At the other end of the scale there are events such as the dark day, which may not seem more than an academic curiosity now, but had a remarkably strong effect at the time. Try to imagine what newspapers would say if we experienced three days of total darkness in Europe at this present time! I believe it would cause a profound effect on everyone, and probably cause a large number of people to turn to God, if only out of fear, what one might call the “just in case” syndrome.
My own estimation of the dark day, after completing this historical survey, is that it was a God-given warning of the dark powers about to arise in the world. I have shown how the Illuminati dates from almost the same time, i.e. 1776. Adam Weishaupt was the king-pin, the man with the strongest negative vibrations, the one who at first belonged to the Jesuits, then left, hating them thereafter, as he hated the Jews and indeed anyone who professed to have faith. He was the one who set into motion the MODUS OPERANDI of all the “enlightenment” groups that were to follow him, showing us that the Illuminati represented the WATERSHED of all HUMANIST activity. It will be of value to stop at this point and unveil exactly what HUMANISTS say in these latter times, 200 after the founding of the Illuminati. Here is a summary of their beliefs, taken from the HUMANIST MANIFESTO of 1933
- Deny God as Creator; accept evolution as fact
- Label all traditional religious concepts as inadequate
- Believe there is no life after death
- Do not tolerate worship or prayer
- Determine values only by “scientific enquiry”
- Strive to control all human institutions
- Believe man is merely the product of his environment
- Despise free enterprise and promote socialist economic order
As if this is not bad enough, the HUMANIST MANIFESTO II of 1973 is even worse. It affirms as “rights” full sexual freedom, abortion, divorce, euthanasia, and suicide. It also sets out to eliminate national sovereignties, and “move towards the building of a world community, – – – a system of world law and a world order based upon transnational federal government.”
Many people in America probably think of Madalyn Murray O’Hair as a lone figure in her fight against Bible reading and prayer in schools, but in point of fact she was a spokeswoman for humanism. She was the Editor of THE FREE HUMANIST in 1961, and spent eight years on the board of the AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION. More recently she has been advocating observance of ancient pagan festivals!
What do we see in all this? We see an organisation at work. Its head pops up all over the place, under various umbrella organisations, and it is working now through Parliament in Britain. The Marxists may have had their day, but Satan always clears away the debris of earlier systems that have completed their usefulness. By this means he keeps people guessing. The West may have heaved a sigh of relief when the Berlin wall came down, when the whole of the Eastern Bloc was transformed, almost overnight. But in reality, it was because its purpose had been fulfilled. Satan had already established his humanism across the globe, with the PUPPET MASTERS behind the scenes, adjusting, proposing, purposing, scheming, and above all manipulating governments to move towards their end in view – WORLD GOVERNMENT. Those who have the largest bank balances, like the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds, are poised of course to have the greatest say.
Humanism may therefore be the most modern form of this iniquitous process. It sounds less horrific. It doesn’t get people all worked up into political arguments like “Socialism”, and “Marxism”, and “Naziism” but nevertheless it is the same thing at root level. It all stems from the DARK DAY OF 1780, and the rise of ILLUMINISM.
Throughout these historical sketches we have seen this principle at work. I have chosen to call it the LOWER HAND. It has shown persistent hatred for the Jews, and for the Christians. The Roman Catholic movement (I refuse to call it a “Church”) has always had elements of antisemitism within it, believing the Jews to have been the ones wholly responsible for the death of Christ. Likewise Roman Catholicism has been the persistent persecutor of true Christianity. (Whereas the Jewish holocaust spoke of 6 million deaths, The Catholics have been responsible for some 20 million according to one estimate I found.) Because of this, we are likely to see the Humanist movement actuallyuse Catholicism in coming days. I believe that this has already happened, and I will explain what I mean.
In 1966 a new movement began, which is now called the Charismatic movement. When it first started we were in the midst, and God spoke very clearly about the way ahead. Prophetic utterance from the lips of true men of God of many years standing, men who had devoted themselves to prayer and fasting, warned us that the Church had gone off course. We were shown that there was only one true way, and it was the way the Master emphasised and affirmed again and again, the WAY OF THE CROSS. It meant that God wanted to rule in the hearts of His people, rather than seeing them attend traditional churches and escape all forms of spiritual cleansing, purging, purifying, and maturing. They were exciting days, and my wife and I remember them very clearly. In fact we were responsible for making transcripts of those early prophecies, and distributing them – only to find that HARDLY HAD THE LORD SPOKEN THE WORD, than an opposing movement got to work, even amongst the very leaders who had spoken in conference.
Greatly saddened by this event, and not knowing what to do or where to go, we were driven into the wilderness by the Lord, while the rest began their trip down the wide roads of TRIUMPHALISM, HEALTH AND WEALTH, “KIDS OF THE KING”, etc. etc., all the words that are currently used to describe the movement that grew up. In time we found that here and there others were equally offended by this LAODICEAN attitude of “We are rich and have need of nothing,” and likewise withdrew from the bandwagon. Statistically, the Charismatics are the fastest growing group in the world. But here’s the point. There are an estimated SEVENTY MILLION CATHOLIC CHARISMATICS. The Pope has seized upon this as a golden opportunity of bringing about the return of all his “separated brethren.” This is why the English Church has been seeking to restore communion with Rome. The blind leaders of Anglicanism believe that they will be able to obtain “good terms” from the Pope. But as we have seen from a Catholic letter, certain things are “not negotiable.”
I see this movement as a great trap. The Charismatics, having cast away their true heritage in “the way of the cross” are now easy prey for anything else that comes along, wrapped up in gilt paper. The Catholic movement I believe is the one which the World Government leaders are planning to use for purposes of forming a ONE WORLD RELIGION, and whilst they can rely on a man of such character as John Paul II, they are on a winning ticket. Ultimately, when they obtain their desired goal, religion will be outlawed. The beast will destroy the scarlet woman, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, because the Humanist Manifesto cannot allow for ANY religion at all. But along the way, the Roman organisation, I believe, is their choice, and they think it will assist in achieving their final goal. They know that to outlaw religion NOW would be to alienate vast numbers of people and slow down the achievement of their goal. Hence they will use it as a disposable commodity in the outworking of their plan.
All these things have been part of the DARKNESS of these last days, and it’s amazing that the word ROME appears in no less than THREE settings.
- The Roman religious organisation
- TheTreaty of Rome in 1957, the beginning of the Common Market
- The Club of Rome, the final division of the world into ten regions
The Roman Catholic organisation is like a powerful monster, seeking to gobble up every other supposedly Christian group. The countries under the Treaty of Rome are like another monster, growing all the time, and seeking to gobble up more and more land and nations in its drive for World Domination. Two monsters, both with the same name, one religious, and the other political, but with the same unseen and almost unknown human Puppet Masters behind them. And behind the Puppet Masters sits one who rebelled from God in the beginning, even Satan himself. This scenario is remarkably similar to the set-up of Revelation 13 – 18.
What about the Lord’s people? Where are they? Do any of them linger within these systems? The answer is yes, many do. This is why God says, “Come out of her, my people, and be not partaker of her sins.” All those who linger within the “system”, are in danger of imbibing the fumes of spiritual death. It is not just Rome, which may definitively be the “Mother of Harlots.” Being a Mother, she also has several Daughters, and these are the smaller, mainly Protestant systems.
Looking back at the lessons from this study, we can see how the Lower Hand has been at work, not just with the Illuminati tree and its “enlightened” foliage, but also in the rise of “spiritualism”, another distinct branch of the same tree, whose members might look disdainfully at the various branches of enlightenment and humanism, but fail to realise that they serve the same master. Then again, the rise of Zionism attracted a mixed multitude, and in the land of Israel today, that mixture still exists. There are some who look at the whole process, from Herzl onwards, as the beneficent Upper Hand of God, bringing His ancient people back to Palestine. And perhaps these would be correct in their assessment. But there are many others who, though of Jewish descent, are in fact humanistic in their outlook, and work for the Lower Master. Then again, looking at the Suffrage movement, there is the minority which has welcomed the fresh air of new-found freedom for ladies (and I use that word advisedly), but one gets the impression that the majority are crusading for the very aims that humanism has declared in its latest manifesto. Socialism has been looked at from several angles in this study, and quite the majority can be seen as a major branch within the same old humanistic tree, but no doubt here and there one may find those of a socialist persuasion whose outlook is more akin to that of our Lord in heaven.
So much then for the work of the Lower Hand, with its powerful Puppet Masters, and its hundred-and-one different modes of operation and manifestation, from the purely political stance through the various grades of humanistic activity and New Agery, to the two apparently opposed religious branches, (i.e. spiritualism and charismatism,) and finally to Romanism.
We must now look at the other side, in other words the work of the Upper Hand. This has been left to the last, because it goes without saying that it is best to finish on a positive note.
Whereas the Dark Day of 1780 was indeed an ominous sign, correctly interpreted by the people who witnessed it, as the coming of God’s judgment scene, the darkness has, so to speak, a bright fringe to it, a golden glow, showing that it was the start of an accelerating end-time work of God, re-adjusting the world scene to His own purposes.
Look at it this way. When the Pope decided to raise himself to a position of new importance, the more lofty position of “infallibility” in all his so-called “ex-cathedra pronouncements”, the Lord steps in and all but wrecks the occasion with a stupendous thunderstorm. When David Jenkins, the Bishop of Durham, decides to become vocal about his disbeliefs, calling the resurrection “a conjuring trick with bones”, the Lord steps just hours later and destroys a complete transept of the York Minster where he had been enthroned as Bishop, and when the Queen begins to lay aside her coronation oaths, the “House of Windsor” (her Castle) goes up in flames. Even before this, one of her other prestigious properties, Hampton Court Palace, was seriously destroyed by fire. Thunder and lightning, and fire are God’s instruments of judgment. The literal fire bespeaks a more serious spiritual fire, by which He burns away from His people the things that offend.
In all of these cases, the trained spiritual observer sees the point of what God is doing, but the world at large says “What a shame. Let us collect some money together so that these lovely old places can be restored. After all they are part of Britain’s heritage.” This has been the major point of this historical study, to display those things which hardly ever get into the news, or if they do, they soon get forgotten. But in point of fact they have great and important lessons to teach us.
The whole of the nineteenth century was noted for its missionary work. This followed the Dark Day, and was part of the new spiritual enlightenment, the true enlightenment, of which the French enlightenment was the counterfeit. And then, right at the beginning of the 20th century, and in the same year, was the great Welsh revival and the happenings at Azusa Street. There were several similarities. In both cases there were outpourings of holy spiritual power. In Azusa Street it was the resumption of the gifts that were known in the early church. In Wales this was present as well, but not so overtly as in Los Angeles. However, in both events, there was the strange geographical boundary effect set up by the Upper Hand, whereby people walking through this boundary were struck down with a sense of the presence of God, and were more than usually conscious of their own sin. Hence “revival” spread rapidly. Miners coming out of the pits walked past Chapels where services and singing were heard, and suddenly felt the necessity to stop and enter the places, whereupon they were convicted of sin, and sought the Saviour. It was a sovereign work of God. The normal channels of evangelism were by-passed, and mightier channels were opened. Believers have often prayed that this might happen again, in other localities. Arthur Wallis for one, a founder of the charismatic movement, prayed throughout his life for revival, but died never having witnessed what he so deeply sought.
What was happening? Why did God work in this way? The only meaningful way to understand it is to link it with Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road. He was suddenly struck down by the presence of the Lord in glory. He repented and changed. Later he spoke about the experience, saying that he was as “one born out of due time.” In the Greek, the word means an ABORTION, a birth BEFORE its correct time. What did Paul mean by this? He saw prophetically (in years subsequent to his conversion) that all Israel would be saved, when the Deliverer returned from Zion. The whole of his nation would then “look upon the One whom they pierced, and would mourn for Him.” With Paul it happened in a microcosmic event before its due time, almost as though God were granting people a visual understanding of what the future was to hold.
This, I believe, is the correct way of understanding the Welsh revival and Azusa Street. The future holds many wonders, but occasionally God gives a “foretaste” of His future glories, so that we may yearn the more readily for the Kingdom Age. Where we often go wrong is in assuming that revivals are really part of this gospel age, and that if we fulfil all the conditions, God will grant it again. But I do not believe this to be so. As Bishop Ryle once wrote, “I believe that the grand purpose of this present dispensation is to gather out of the world an elect people, and not to convert all mankind. It does not surprise me at all to hear that the heathen are not all converted when missionaries preach, and that believers are a little flock in any congregation in my own land. It is precisely the state of things which I expect to find – – This is a dispensation to election, and not of universal conversion. I believe that the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the great event which will wind up the present dispensation, and for which we ought daily to long and pray.”
But in addition to the revival, we find the outpouring of spiritual gifts, such as speaking in tongues. God graciously restored those gifts in 1906. In no time at all they spread across the American continent and Europe. The Elim Pentecostal Church was founded, being very largely the work of the Jeffreys brothers. Then the Assemblies of God was formed, as a breakaway group from Elim. Mighty gifts of healing were poured out during the 1920s.
Why was this? The right way to look at it, I believe, is to see that almost at the same time the Jews were stirred up to return to their own land, and after the Zionist Congresses, there was a steady influx of Jews into Palestine, a trickle that was to become an ever-increasing flow in later years. Then came the Balfour Declaration, followed by Allenby taking Jerusalem, until by 1948 there was once again a land of Israel, governed entirely by Jewish people.
Both events are inseparably connected. God was bringing the world back to the condition it was in during the first century of the Christian era, so that the prophecies related to His return could be enacted. From 1948 to 1967 great changes were taking place in Palestine and in the Christian world, so that when Jerusalem was captured by the Jews in 1967, there could be an even greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was the time of the neo-pentecostal conferences, where many serious Christians were fasting and praying, and seeking the Lord’s guidance for the way ahead. As I said earlier in this chapter, God graciously answered those prayers, but there was a rapid falling away from His word. However, the important point is that the EVENT occurred at all, because it was yet another evidence of the Lord’s purpose in the work of restoration. It wasn’t that we were returning to Pentecost, so much as God preparing us for Tabernacles, the winding up of this age, and the great harvest scenes.
Throughout the 200 or so years from 1780, these grand interventions from heaven have caused spiritual awakening and alertness amongst believers. And even during times of darkness, such as the two great war periods, we have seen how God intervened miraculously, on at least four occasions. And as Bishop Ryle rightly pointed out, God’s purpose has been to gather out a remnant from amongst the peoples, a little flock, made ready for the Master, so that He can use it in the coming days of His Kingdom on earth.
What if many have failed? What if the large majority have failed to read the signs correctly? We should not be discouraged. Our Master is not discouraged, for He has pledged Himself to form a Kingdom, and He will bring many sons to glory. What if the enemy builds up enormous power, and attempts to take over the whole world? What would it gain such men if they were to achieve that end, and yet lose their own souls?
No, it doesn’t matter what happens in the world. It isn’t like a great machine running out of control. We do not need to behave like Uzzah, and try to steady the Ark of God with our hands, when we have no legal right to touch it. It will surely be the death of us. Let us realise that “He who sits in the heavens will laugh; He will have them in derision”. No matter how near the forces of Babylon advance to their goal, the Lord will never actually allow them to complete their Tower. No matter how near the Bilderburgers and the Trilateral Commission get to their goal of World Government, a day will come when “the Ancient of Days will take His seat, and judgment will be given in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the people of the saints of the Most High will take the Kingdom.” The whole of the Beast system will collapse in an amazingly short space of time, perhaps less than a year.
Let us remember all the positive items from the past 200 years, seeing the Upper Hand at work, bringing into the world many NEW THINGS in readiness for the SUNTELEIA, the “drawing together of the threads” of this age. Yes, that is the true meaning of the Greek word used by the Lord, when He spoke of the “end of this age.” The drawing together of the threads may also be likened to the rays of light as they pass through a lens, a burning glass, to come to a focus. The Dark Day of 1780 was, I believe, like the LENS. Ever since then, the rays of divine light have been moving ever closer together, and very soon now they will meet at the focus! And the Lord Jesus will have achieved His end, and suddenly resurrection will be observed, an event which will put a halt to the advance of evil. Nothing will ever be the same again.
This is our great hope, and because of it, we need constantly to seek the Lord’s face, alone and with our brethren, to know whether the Lord sees aught that still needs attention within us before He comes. Let us encourage each other in this hope, so that we may have confidence and not be ashamed at His coming.
