A.A. Allen vision - 1950s
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 25:27)
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.
Last modified: 03/16/10