As I stood atop
the Empire State Building, I could see the Statue of
Liberty, illuminating the gateway to the new world.
Here, spread before me like an animated map, is an
area 60 or 80 miles in diameter. I was amazed that the
Spirit of the Lord should so move me, there atop the
Empire State building. Why should I feel such a surge
of His Spirit and power there?
Suddenly I
heard the voice of the Lord. It was as clear and as
distinct as a voice could be. It seemed to come from
the very midst of the giant telescope; but when I
looked at the telescope, I knew it hadn't come from
there, but directly from Heaven. The voice said, 2
CHRONICLES 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and
fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong
in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward
him. Herein thou has done foolishly; therefore, from
henceforth thou shalt have wars". Immediately when I
heard the voice of God, I knew this was a quotation of
scripture; but never before had a thing come to me so
forcibly by the power of the Spirit.
The ticking of
the telescope stopped. The man before me had used up
his dime's worth. As he stepped away, I knew that I
was next. As I stepped to the telescope and dropped in
my dime, immediately the ticking started again. This
ticking was an automatic clock which would allow me to
use the telescope for a limited time only. As I swung
the telescope to the north, suddenly the Spirit of God
came upon me in a way that I had never thought of
before. Seemingly, in the Spirit I was entirely caught
away. I knew that the telescope itself had nothing to
do with the distance which I was suddenly enabled to
see, for I seemed to see things far beyond the range
of the telescope, even on a bright, clear day. It was
simply that God had chosen this time to reveal these
things to me, for as I looked through the telescope,
it was not Manhattan Island that I saw, but a far
larger view.
That morning
much of the view was impaired by fog; but suddenly as
the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, the fog seemed to
clear until it seemed that I could see for thousands
of miles, but that which I was looking upon was not
Manhattan Island. It was all of the North American
continent spread out before me as a map is spread upon
a table. It was not the East River and the Hudson
River that I saw on either side, but the Atlantic and
the Pacific Oceans; and instead of the Statue of
Liberty standing there in the bay on her small island,
I saw her standing far out in the Gulf of Mexico. She
was between me and the United States.
I suddenly
realized that the telescope had nothing to do with
what I was seeing but that it was a vision coming
directly from God; and to prove this to myself, I took
my eyes away from the telescope so that I was no
longer looking through the lens, but the same scene
remained before me.
There, clear
and distinct, lay all the North American continent
with all its great cities. To the north lay the Great
Lakes. Far to the northeast was New York City. I could
see Seattle and Portland far to the northwest. Down
the west coast there were San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Closer in the foreground lay New Orleans at
the center of the Gulf Coast area. I could see the
great towering ranges of the Rocky Mountains and trace
with my eye the Continental Divide. All this and more
I could see spread out before me as a great map upon a
table.
As I looked,
suddenly from the sky I saw a giant hand reach down.
That gigantic hand was reaching out toward the Statue
of Liberty. In a moment her gleaming torch was torn
from her hand, and in it instead was placed a cup; and
I saw protruding from that great cup a giant sword,
shining as if a great light had been turned upon its
glistening edge. Never before had I seen such a sharp,
glistening, dangerous sword. It seemed to threaten all
the world. As the great cup was placed in the hand of
the Statue of Liberty, I heard these words, "Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, drink ye and be drunken and
spue and fall and rise no more because of the sword
which I will send". As I heard these words, I
recognized them as a quotation from Jeremiah 25:27.
I was amazed to
hear the Statue of Liberty speak out in reply, "I WILL
NOT DRINK!"
Then as the
voice of the thunder, I heard again the voice of the
Lord saying, "Ye shall certainly drink". (Jeremiah
25:28) Then suddenly the giant hand forced the cup to
the lips of the Statue of Liberty, and she became
powerless to defend herself. The mighty hand of God
forced her to drink every drop from the cup. As she
drank the bitter dregs, these were the words that I
heard: "Should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not
be unpunished, for I will call for a sword upon all
the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of
hosts". (Jeremiah 27:29)
When the cup
was withdrawn from the lips of the Statute of Liberty,
I noticed the sword was missing from the cup, which
could mean but one thing. THE CONTENTS OF THE CUP HAD
BEEN COMPLETELY CONSUMED! I knew that the sword merely
typified war, death, and destruction, which is no
doubt on the way.
Then as one
drunken on too much wine, I saw the Statue of Liberty
become unsteady on her feet and begin to stagger and
to lose her balance. I saw her splashing in the gulf,
trying to regain her balance. I saw her stagger again
and again and fall to her knees. As I saw her
desperate attempts to regain her balance and rise to
her feet again, my heart was moved as never before
with compassion for her struggles; but as she
staggered there in the gulf, once again I heard these
words: "Drink ye and be drunken and spue and fall and
rise no more because of the sword which I will send
among you". (Jeremiah 25:37)
As I watched, I
wondered if the Statue of Liberty would ever be able
to regain her feet, if she would ever stand again; and
as I watched, it seemed that with all her power she
struggled to rise and finally staggered to her feet
again and stood there swaying drunkenly. I felt sure
that at any moment she would fall again, possibly
never to rise. I seemed overwhelmed with a desire to
reach out my hand to keep her head above water, for I
knew that if she ever fell again, she would drown
there in the gulf.
"Thou shalt not
be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow
that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that
walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that
wasteth at noonday". (Psalms 91:5-6)
Then as I
watched, another amazing thing was taking place. Far
to the northwest, just out over Alaska, a huge, black
cloud was arising. As it rose, it was as black as
night. It seemed to be in the shape of a man's head.
As it continued to arise, I observed two light spots
in the black cloud. It rose further, and a gaping hole
appeared. I could see that the black cloud was taking
the shape of a skull, for now the huge, white, gaping
mouth was plainly visible. Finally, the head was
complete. Then the shoulders began to appear; and on
either side, long, black arms.
It seemed that
what I saw was the entire North American continent,
spread out like a map upon a table with this terrible
skeleton-formed cloud arising from behind the table.
It rose steadily until the form was visible down to
the waist. At the waist the skeleton seemed to bend
toward the United States, stretching forth a hand
toward the east and one toward the west--one toward
New York and one toward Seattle. As the awful form
stretched forward, I could see that its entire
attention seemed to be focused upon the United States,
overlooking Canada at least for the time being. As I
saw the horrible black cloud in the form of a skeleton
bending toward America, bending from the waist over,
reaching down toward Chicago and out toward both
coasts, I knew its one interest was to destroy the
multitudes.
As I watched in
horror, the great black cloud stopped just above the
Great Lakes region and turned its face toward New York
City. Then out of the horrible, great gaping mouth
began to appear wisps of white vapor which looked like
smoke, as a cigarette smoker would blow puffs of smoke
from his mouth. These whitish vapors were being blown
toward New York City. The smoke began to spread until
it had covered all the eastern part of the United
States.
Then the
skeleton turned to the west and out of the horrible
mouth and nostrils came another great puff of white
smoke. This time it was blown in the direction of the
west coast. In a few moments' time the entire West
Coast and Los Angeles area were covered with its
vapors.
Then toward the
center came a third great puff. As I watched, St.
Louis and Kansas City were enveloped in its white
vapors. Then on they came toward New Orleans. Then on
they swept until they reached the Statue of Liberty
where she stood staggering drunkenly in the blue
waters of the gulf. As the white vapors began to
spread around the head of the statue, she took in but
one gasping breath and then began to cough as though
to rid her lungs of the horrible vapors she had
inhaled. One could readily discern by the coughing
that those white vapors had seared her lungs.
What were these
white vapors? Could they signify bacteriological
warfare or nerve gas that could destroy multitudes of
people in a few moments' time?
Then I heard
the voice of God as He spoke again: "Behold, the LORD
maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth
it upside-down and scattereth abroad the inhabitants
thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with
the priest; as with the servant, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the
buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with
the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the
giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly
emptied and utterly spoiled, for the LORD hath spoken
this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The
world languisheth and fadeth away. The haughty people
of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled
under the inhabitants thereof because they have
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken
the everlasting covenant; therefore, hath the curse
devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are
desolate; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are
burned and few men left". (Isaiah 24:1-6)
As I watched,
the coughing grew worse. It sounded like a person
about to cough out his lungs. The Statue of Liberty
was moaning and groaning. She was in mortal agony. The
pain must have been terrific, as again and again she
tried to clear her lungs of those horrible white
vapors. I watched her there in the gulf as she
staggered, clutching her lungs and her breast with her
hands. Then she fell to her knees. In a moment she
gave one final cough, made a last desperate effort to
rise from her knees, and then fell face forward into
the waters of the gulf and lay still as death. Tears
ran down my face as I realized that she was dead! Only
the lapping of the waves, splashing over her body
which was partly under the water and partly out of the
water, broke the stillness.
"A fire
devoureth before them, and behind them a flame
burneth; the land is as the Garden of Eden before
them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, and
nothing shall escape them". (Joel 2:3)
Suddenly the
silence was shattered by the screaming of sirens. The
sirens seemed to scream, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Never before
had I heard such shrill, screaming sirens. They seemed
to be everywhere--to the north, the south, the east,
and the west. There seemed to be multitudes of sirens;
and as I looked, I saw people everywhere running, but
it seemed none of them ran more than a few paces, and
then they fell. And even as I had seen the Statue of
Liberty struggling to regain her poise and balance and
finally falling for the last time to die on her face,
I now saw millions of people falling in the streets,
on the sidewalks, struggling. I heard their screams
for mercy and help. I heard their horrible coughing as
though their lungs had been seared with fire. I hear d
the moanings and groanings of the doomed and the
dying. As I watched, a few finally reached shelters,
but only a few ever got to the shelters.
Above the
moaning and the groaning of the dying multitudes, I
heard these words: "A noise shall come even to the
ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy
with the nations. He will plead with all flesh; he
will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the
Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall
go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind
shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth, and
the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one
end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.
They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor
buried; they shall be dung upon the ground". (Jeremiah
25:31-33)
Then suddenly I
saw from the Atlantic and from the Pacific and out of
the Gulf rocket-like objects that seemed to come up
like fish leaping out of the water. High into the air
they leaped, each headed in a different direction, but
every one toward the United States. On the ground the
sirens screamed louder, and up from the ground I saw
similar rockets beginning to ascend. To me these
appeared to be interceptor rockets although they arose
from different points all over the United States;
however, none of them seemed to be successful in
intercepting the rockets that had risen from the ocean
on every side. These rockets finally reached their
maximum height, slowly turned over and fell back
toward the earth in defeat.
Then suddenly
the rockets which had leaped out of the oceans like
fish all exploded at once. The explosion was
ear-splitting. The next thing which I saw was a huge
ball of fire. The only thing I have ever seen which
resembled the thing I saw in my vision was the picture
of the explosion of the H-bomb somewhere in the South
Pacific. In my vision it was so real that I seemed to
feel a searing heat from it.
As the vision
spread before my eyes and I viewed the widespread
desolation brought about by the terrific explosions, I
could not help thinking, While the defenders of our
nation have quibbled over what means of defense to use
and neglected the only true means of defense--faith
and dependence upon the true and living God--the thing
which she greatly feared has come unto her! How true
it has proven in Psalms 127:1: Except the Lord build
the house, they labour in vain that build it; except
the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in
vain.
Then as the
noise of battle subsided, to my ears came this
quotation: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of
the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for
it is nigh at hand. 2. A day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as
the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people
and a strong, there hath not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it, even to the years
of many generations. 3. A fire devoureth before them,
and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the
Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4. The
appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and
as horsemen, so shall they run. 5. Like the noise of
chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,
like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the
stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6.
Before their face the people shall be much pained; all
faces shall gather blackness. 7. They shall run like
mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war,
and they shall march every one on his ways, and they
shall not break their ranks. 8. Neither shall one
thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path;
and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be
wounded. 9. They shall run to and fro in the city;
they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon
the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a
thief. 10. The earth shall quake before them; the
heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be
dark,, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
(Joel 2:1-10)
Then the voice
was still. The earth, too was silent with the silence
of death.
Then to my ears
came another sound--a sound of distant singing. It was
the sweetest music I had ever heard. There was joyful
shouting and sounds of happy laughter. Immediately I
knew it was the rejoicing of the saints of God. I
looked, and there, high in the heavens, above the
smoke and poisonous gases, above the noise of the
battle, I saw a huge mountain. It seemed to be of
solid rock, and I knew at once that this was the
Mountain of the Lord. The sounds of music and
rejoicing were coming from a cleft high up in the side
of the rock mountain.
It was the
saints of God who were doing the rejoicing. It was
God's own people who were singing and dancing and
shouting with joy, safe from all the harm which had
come upon the earth, for they were hidden away in the
cleft of the rock. There in the cleft they were shut
in, protected by a great, giant hand which reached out
of the heavens and which was none other than the hand
of God, shutting them in until the storm be
overpassed.