The following vision
was received by Evangelist A.A. Allen on July 4, 1954:
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 sixty or eighty 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, "The eyes of the lord run
to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of them
whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein you have done foolishly. Therefore,
from henceforth, you shall 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 dimes 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 definitely 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 it's 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, there 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.
And as l 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. lt 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, 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 25:7.
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, "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, YE SHALL
CERTAINLY DRINK." (Jer.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 you
be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword
upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of Hosts."
(Jer.25:29) When the cup was withdrawn from the lips of the Statue 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, "Ye shall drink and be drunken, and
spue, and fall, and rise no more because of the sword that I shall send among
you."
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 pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes 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
towards 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 the entire attention seemed to be focused
upon the U.S., overlooking Canada at least for the time being. As I saw the
horrible black cloud in the form of a skeleton bending towards America, bending
from the waist over, reaching down toward Chicago and out towards both coasts,
I knew it's 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 it's face towards 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 L.A. area was covered with it's vapors.
Then towards the center came a third great puff. As I watched,
St. Louis and Kansas City were enveloped in its white vapors. Then on it came
towards 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 buyer, so with the seller, 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 has 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 has the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell therein are
desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are
left." (Isa.24:1-6)
As I watched, the coughing grew worse. It sounded like a person
was about to cough out his lungs. The Statue 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, and made a
last desperateeffort 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 water, broke the
silence.
"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." 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, 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 struggling to regain her poise and balance, and finally falling 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 heard the
moanings and groanings of the doomed and the dying. As I watched, a few finally
reached shelters, and above the moaning and groanings, I heard these words:
"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth for the Lord has a
controversy with the nations. He will plead with all flesh; He will give them
that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. 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 onto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented neither
gathered nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. (Jer. 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 towards The U.S. On the ground, the sirens screamed
louder. And up from the ground I saw similar rockets begin to ascend. To me,
these appeared to be interceptor rockets although they arose from different
points all over the U.S. 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. Them suddenly, the rockets which had leaped out of the ocean
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 in the South Pacific. In my vision, it was so real I seemed to
fell 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 that "Except the Lord keep The city,
The watchman watches but in vain."
Then as the noise of the battle subsided, to my ears cam this
quotation from Joel, the second chapter, "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; 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.
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. The appearance of them is as
the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run..." (Joel
2:4).