LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ZBSiSFfc Shelf UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Agents Wanted to sell this book, throughout the United States, Canada, A Chronological Table showing the date and page of the events indicated by the prophetic numbers, and the Great Pyramid of Egypt . . . 464-7 CHAPTER I. THE INTRODUCTION. Author's purpose and general outline 9-16 CHAPTER II. THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. The Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Macedo-Grecian, Roman and Christian empires 17-26 CHAPTER III. THE SEVENTY WEEKS. The three-fold decree. Application of the time. . . 27-38 CHAPTER IV. THE SEVEN SEALS. By whom, how and when opened. Meaning of the symbols. 39-54 VI. CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. The woman the Church of Christ. Her child Constantine I. A period of time indicated. A clue to the great mystery. 55-65 CHAPTER VI. THF FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. The first trumpet relates to Constantine's dynasty. The second to the Barbarian invasions. The third to Arian persecutions. The fourth to the Gothic monarchy 63-84 CHAPTER VII. THE TEN-HORNED BEAST. Imperial Christianity. Its ten horns 85-88 CHAPTER VIII. THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. The Beast the Papacy. Plucks up the Heruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. "Six hundred and sixty-six." . . 89-100 CHAPTER IX. THE FIFTH TRUMPET— THE FIRST WOE. Fall of Bishops of Rome. Gregory's keys. Purgatory opened. Saracens the locusts. Saracen conquests. . . 101-125 CHAPTER X. THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. The four Turkish Sultanies. Jerusalem taken. The crusades. The Byzantine empire destroyed 126-134 CHAPTER XL THE TWO WITNESSES. Reed like a rod. Corruption of Christianity. Constantine T. The Paulicians. Innocent III. King John. The Francis- cans and Dominicans. Persecution of the Jews. Slaughter of the "Waldenses. Dawn of the Reformation. Measure- ments 135-193 CONTENTS. Vll. CHAPTER XII. THE SEVENTH TRUMPET— THE THIRD WOE. An outline of the seven plagues. Relation of the seals, trum- pets and plagues, and of different prophecies: . 194-1101 CHAPTER XIII. THE FIRST PLAGUE. Judgment given to the saints. Fall of Charles V. Edicts of Milan and Augsburg. Solyman II. St. Bartholomew's day. Duke of Alva. The Inquisition 202-221 CHAPTER XIY. THE SECOND PLAGUE. The literal and figurative seas. Thirty years' war. Spanish Armada. Quadruple Alliance. The Puritans. The May- flower. Coincidental measurements. . . 222-241 CHAPTER XV. THE THIRD PLAGUE. Fountains and rivers. Colonial wars between England and France, Spain and Holland. The Dragon's rivers swallowed up. Declaration of Independence. Methodists. 242-255. CHAPTER XVI. THE FOURTH PLAGUE. France the sun. Nebuchadnezzar's image — Declaration of In- dependence the Stone. The French Revolution. The Rus- sian campaign. Battle of Waterloo. Important coincidental measurements 256-275 CHAPTER XVII. THE FIFTH PLAGUE. Bonaparte invades the Pope's dominions. Papal States an- nexed to French empire. Measurements. Revolutions in Europe. The Pope's temporal power abolished. Coincidental measurements. Franco-Prussian war. Jesuits. Vatican Council. The Beast is slain and his body destroyed. 276-312 Vlll. CONTENTS. CHAFTEE XYIII. THE SIXTH PLAGUE. The river Euphrates. War in Turkey. The Berlin and Anglo- Turkish treaties. Coincidental measurements. Three un- clean spirits. Communists, Socialists and Nihilists. 313-332 CHAPTEE XIX. THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. Scripture testimony. The Planetary Perihelia. The Great Pyramid. Probable events. The harvest of the earth near. The fate of Eussia. Recovery of Israel. . . 833-3-52 CHAPTEE XX. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD. Plan of man's redemption. The true Christ, the Imperial Antichrist, the Papal Antichrist, and the true Church of Christ, all unmistakably identified by numbers. Preparation of guides. Inspection of past 1 istory. Exploration of the mysterious future. The glorious consummation. . 353-462 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS or DANIEL AND THE REVELATION. CHAPTER I. THE INTEODUCTIOIS". ; 'For the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men, .... but God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He may bring to shame the wise; and the weak things of the world has God chosen that He may put to shame the strong; and the ignoble things of the world, and the things that are despised, has God chosen, and the things that are not, that He may bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his pres- ence. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. i. 2-5-31. The author of the following pages is not a theo- logian, historian, or a chronologist, but a mining engineer, who has been engaged during thirty years in mining, assaying and reducing ores of gold, silver and other metals; but, as 10 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. "Wisdom to silver I prefer, And gold is dross compared with her." "I've been digging deep for treasures, Within the gospel field, Whose mine is rich, and ever Will glorious treasures yield." And as "the Lord, who knoweth the hearts of all men," has enabled a layman, brother D. L. Moody, to accomplish a work such as probably no other man in this generation has done, so may He in His providence eimble His un worthier servant to contribute a mite of service to the good of men, by digging up for them some golden grains of eternal truth, that may have been "hid from the wise and prudent," to be placed upon the balances of impartial judgment, to counter- poise the unbelief and "philosophy and vain de- ceit" of men of the present age, who say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" that these, being "weighed in the balances and found wanting," may be rejected, and give place to those who have a greater recognition of the providence and authority of God, and more love for His word and service. "For I am God, and there is none else, I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." Isa. xlvi. 9. 10. THE INTRODUCTION. 11 In the prophecies of the Bible, we have an in- spired Programme of Earth! $ Drama, the Contents of the Booh of Time, and in subsequent history we have a record of the corresponding acts and events so far as they have transpired. Hence it would seem an easy task to designate the identi- cal events to which the several prophecies allude. This has in some cases been properly done ; but the conflicting opinions of those who have writ- ten on many of the prophecies in the past, indi- cate that the seals were not all removed. Again, in the prophecies, which are ^n Atlas of the world, a map of the kingdom of heaven, a plat of the field in which the Son of Man sowed the good seed, and the devil sowed the tares, (Matt. xiii. ), we have not only a delineation of the various plants that should grow, but also the time and place of their production ; for by the prophetic numbers of Daniel and John, the Omniscient has specified the exact time of the rise, growth, decay and extinction of the formid- able systems of error, or tares, that have prevailed in the kingdom of heaven, or gospel dispensation. So that, when we properly understand our sub- ject, we shall find an exact fulfilment of the prophecies in corresponding times, places, persons and circumstances, and be able to prove the cor- 12 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. rectness of our conclusions by the simple, yet in- flexible rules of arithmetic. Those parts of the prophecy of Daniel which relate to the Israelites after their last dispersion from Palestine, were to be closed up and sealed during the present dispensation, and to be un- sealed "at the time of the end" (Dan. xii. 9), "in the last end of the indignation" (Dan. viii. 19), or towards the termination of the " seven plagues, which are the last; for by them the wrath of God is brought to an end " (Rev. xv. 1), when Is- rael's captivity and Antichrist's reign shall cease. But John's prophecy, relating mainly to "the times of the Gentiles," was to remain un- sealed, for to John it was said : " Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand." Rev. xxii. 10. Daniel's prophecy and prophetic numbers per- tain to the condition of the Jews during two peri- ods, — the first extending from Daniel's time to the crucifixion of Christ, the institution of the Christian church, and the destruction of Jerusa- lem; and the last to " the time of the end," dur- ing which Israel's enemies shall be destroyed, the dispersed sons of Jacob restored to the land of their fathers, and " the saints of the Most Higli shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom THE INTRODUCTION. 13 for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan. vii. 18), Vviiile John's numbers apply to the intervening period, " the times of the Gentiles," and mark the rise, reign and ruin of the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet, or Imperialism, Clericalism and Islamism. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of proph- ecy," or, the spirit of prophecy, the ability to foretell future events, is the great standing evi- dence and testimony of the divinity of Christ, the authenticity of the Bible, and the divine ori- gin of Christianity. In the time of Christ and His Apostles, the subjects of their ministry being comparatively ignorant and superstitious, mir- acles were employed to arrest attention and in- cite faith, and in succeeding ages, the same mir- acles have constituted an important factor in the foundation of the faith of believers. But "in the last days," when, "because iniquity abounds, the love of many shall grow cold," a knowledge of the fulfilment of "the sure words of prophecy" will be necessary to check the growth of skepti- cism and irreligion, and strengthen the wavering faith of the tempted and persecuted Christian. To Daniel the angel said, " Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." Dan. xii. 9. Therefore, be- 14 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. lieving that many of the prophecies were not to be understood in former times, an explanation of their meaning will not be sought among "the traditions of the elders ; " but, grouping together the scriptures thought to relate to particular periods, an attempt will be made to find in mod- ern history the events to which the prophecies allude. And we will endeavor to find, and show, the landmarks and monuments that Palmoni, the wonderful numberer, (Dan. viii. 13, Margin) Ga- briel, and other heavenly surveyors have set up all along the ages; to view and estimate things in the light of the divine word, and not as seen through the colored spectacles of our own or others' theories and prejudices; to correctly read the delineations of character that the Alwise has written in His chart of the several monsters that were to devastate the earth; and to learn and re- veal their terrible nature and awful doom, that men may be induced to hear and obey the voice that now thunders from heaven: "If any one worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared without mixture in the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with THE IOTBODTTCTIOIN". 15 fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascends from age to age; and they who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name, have .no rest day or night;" (Rev. xiv. 9-11), and " Come out of her, my people, lest yon become partakers of her sins, and lest yon receive of her plagues. For her sins reach even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." Rev. xviii. 4-5. The present volume is not intended to give an explanation of all the prophecies of the Bible, nor even of all the points of those predictions that may be noticed; but especially to indicate the events which seem to mark the beginning and the ending of the prophetic periods mention- ed in the Prophecy of Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John. The quotations of New Testament scripture will be mostly from H. T. Anderson's Transla- tion, as in this work the sense is clothed in fam- iliar modern English. "Blessed is he that reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it." Rev. i. 3. Here is an especial blessing pronounced upon those who study and endeavor to unravel the 16 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. mysteries of the Revelation ; and the hope that he may receive this blessing, and prompt others to obtain the same, has induced the writer to de- vote such attention to a consideration of the present subject as he has been accustomed to be- stow upon the mechanical and chemical matters pertaining to his business, and with the further design of glorifying God, and pointing men to Him who can save them "from the wrath to come." CHAPTER n. THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. " Thou, O King, sawest and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of clay . . Tins is the dream ; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O King, (Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon) art a king of kings. . . . Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be -as strong as iron. . . . And the toes of the feet were part of iron,' and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. ... In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. ii. In Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, we have, as it were, a photograph of the mind of the Omniscient in relation to the then future of this world, showing the successive rise and fall of the several great earth-powers, with systems of human government, in which might makes right, the strong oppress the weak, and despots, tyrants and fanatics fill the world with 18 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. woe, and drench the earth with human blood. But the dark picture is relieved by the fact that the despotism becomes less and less severe, as is indicated by the lighter metals succeeding the heavier, until the dawn of the righteous reign of the Prince of Peace, whose "yoke is easy," and whose "burden is light." The following excellent verification of this prophecy by historical events is from " Willson's Outlines of History," University Edition, p. 733- 737. THE FIRST KINGDOM. " The head of the compound image which Neb- uchadnezzar saw was of gold, and Daniel declared that this head of gold represented "the first kingdom, or that of the Babylonians" of which Nebuchadnezzar was the monarch. In the first vision of the prophet the same kingdom is repre- sented by "the first beast, which resembled a lion with eagle's wings," — expressing the fierce- ness and rapidity of Nebuchadnezzar, the found- er of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah had be- fore represented him as a "lion from the north that should make Judea desolate," (Jer. iv. 6, 7), and as "an eagle spreading its wings of destruc- tion over Moab; (Jer. xlviii. 40); but at the time of Daniel's vision "its wings were plucked," for THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 19 its career was checked by the victorious arms and encroachments of Cyrus the Persian. It might be alleged that this interpretation of the "head of gold" as being symbolical of a kingdom al- ready in existence, is not prophetic. Viewed as standing alone it might not be deemed so, except as it is supported by the prophecies of previous writers; but it is the first in the series of the four prophetic kingdoms, and, therefore, an important link in the chain of testimony. The first king- dom found mankind in no state of cohesion — a vast number of petty tribes bound together by no ties of national affinity, religion, language or manners— and in proportion to its expansion, its intensity was weakened, and felt only around the person of the monarch. Having the imper- fection of an elementary state of civilization, and of a first experiment, and being corrupted by the vice of luxurious effeminacy, it fell an easy prey to the then hardy and enterprising Persians. THE SECOND KINGDOM. In the interpretation of the dream of Nebu- chadnezzar, the prophet declared that after the first king (or kingdom) should arise another kingdom (Dan. ii. 32, 39), which was represented by the breast arid arms of the image, which were 20 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. of silver. Here is a prophetic declaration be- lieved to refer to the Medo-Persian kingdom, which lasted two hundred and ^.ve years, from the capture of Babylon by Cyrus (B. C. 536) to the battle of Arbela (B. C. 331). As to the appro- priateness of the symbols representing this king- dom, it may be mentioned that the arms and shields of the Medes and Persians were frequent- ly cased with silver; wherefore Alexander, after the conquest of Persia, adopting the customs of the conquered nations, instituted a body of in- fantry which he called the " Silver Shields.'''' In the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is represented by the second beast, a bear with three ribs in its mouth; (Dan. vii. 5;) and in the second vision by a ram, (Dan. vii. 3,) the figure of which, it is known, became, after the time of Daniel, the armorial ensign of the Persian em- pire. Moreover, in the vision, Daniel saw that the ram had two horns, and that "the one which came up last was higher than the other," — the lower horn believed to be the Median power, and the higher one the Persian, for these two powers constituted the Medo-Persian empire. It is an interesting fact that ram's heads, with unequal horns, one higher than the other, are still to be seen on the ruined pillars of Persepolis. More- THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 21 over, Daniel "saw the ram (that is, the Medo Persian Empire) pushing westward, and north- ward, and southward." Dan. viii. 4. History verifies the interpretation, for in this exact order were Lydia, Babylonia and Egypt, (represented in the first vision, Dan. vii. 5, by three ribs in the bear's mouth,) subdued by Cyrus and his successor, Cambyses. The second kingdom, more powerful than the first, but, like it, held together by the feeblest bonds of union, — owed its fall, after an existence of two centuries, more to the crimes of its monarchs, the mal-administrationof government, and the repeated disputes and wars for succession, than to the small but highly ef- fective force brought against it. THE THIRD KINGDOM. The third division of the compound image which Nebuchadnezzar saw (Dan. ii. 32, 39) was the "belly and thighs of brass," explained with great historical minuteness, as denoting the Ma cedo- Grecian kingdom of Alexander and his successors. The Greeks usually wore brazen ar- mor, whence Homer calls them the "brazen-cors- let Grecians''' In the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is represented by the third beast — a leopard with two pair of wings and four 22 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. heads— the wings aptly denoting the rapidity of the conquests of Alexander; and the four heads the four kingdoms, Macedon, Thrace, Syria and Egypt, into which the empire of Alexander was divided among his generals. In the second vision of the prophet the same Macedo- Grecian king- dom is represented by u a he-goat that came from the west (Macedonia), and touched not the ground " for swiftness. "And the he-goat had a notable horn between his eyes" (Alexander the Great), and "he ran at the ram" (Darius the Per- sian), "and smote him, and cast him on the ground." But when "the he-goat waxed very great, the great horn was broken," (Alexander's death), "and in its place came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. (Alexan- der's four successors, among whom his kingdom was divided). But this part of the second vision is interpreted to Daniel with all the distinctness with which the history could have been written after the events had transpired. For Daniel was told (Dan. viii. 20-22): "The ram which thou raw- est having two horns are the kings (or kingdoms) of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king (or kingdom) of Grecia; and the great horn between his eyes is the first king (Alexander). Now, that being broken, whereas four rose in its THE UNIVERSAL EMPIRES. 23 stead, four kingdoms shall arise out of the na- tion, but not in his power"— that is, not of the family of Alexander. In the fourth vision of the prophet the same historical truths are presented with similar explicitness in the second, third and fourth verses of the eleventh chapter of Daniel, with the additional notice that a certain king of Persia (Darius Codomannus) should stir up the whole empire for an invasion of "the realm of Grecian The prophecy respecting the Third or "Macedo-Grecian" kingdom, is so distinct, and so minute in its details, and the historical verifica- tion so perfect, that no candid mind will attri- bute the coincidence to chance or accident. THE FOURTH KINGDOM. The fourth division of the image which Nebu- chadnezzar saw, and which Daniel declared to represent the fourth kingdom, was " the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay." Dan. ii. 33. This is believed to denote the Ro- man dominion, which reached its full reign about the time of the conquests of Macedon, Greece and Carthage, when the republic, under consular government, was the strongest, as represented by the " legs of iron." Rome, the " Mistress of Na- tions," the " Mother of Empires," was the great- 24 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. est monarchy the world has ever known. It con- tinned in the full tide of prosperity until the con- quest of Egypt, (B. C. 30,) after which it gradually declined under the monarchy ; the partition of the empire into Eastern and Western greatly weakened it, and it gradually sank under the repeated invasions of the Gothic and Vandal tribes, and was finally broken into ten kingdoms, as represented by the ten toes of the image. Daniel says : u As the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken." Dan. ii. 42. In the first vision of Daniel the same kingdom is represented by the fourth beast, which was "dreadful, and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth ; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it ; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns." Dan. vii. 7. Here the Roman power and progress are aptly represented. It was the strength of the four kingdoms, its very name (Ro-me) being the Grecian term for strength, and it broke in pieces and devoured the previous three kingdoms ; and the residue (the western provinces of the Roman empire — Spain, Gaul, etc.) it " trampled upon with the feet of it." And as in the first vision of THE U:NTVER3AL EMPIRES. 25 Daniel, the first three kingdoms had been repre- sented by a lion, a bear and a leopard, (Dan. vii.) so St. John, in the Revelation, (Rev. xiii. 1, 2,) des- cribes the form of the fourth beast (or kingdom) as being compounded of all the- rest, having "the body of the leopard, the feet of the bear, and the mouth of the lion ;" and thus the Roman empire embraced the territories of the preceding em- pires. In the second vision of Daniel the fourth kingdom is represented by "a little horn" springing up from one (the western, or Macedonian) of the four heads (or kingdoms) into which the empire of Alexander had been divided. The progress of the Roman power ishere geographically described also ; for this little horn waxed exceedingly great towards the south, (Sicily and Africa,) and to- wards the east, (Macedon, Greece, and Syria,) and towards the pleasant land, (Judea.) Thus, as marked out by prophecy, four times have the nations of the earth gathered them- selves into mighty aggregates of power, denoted Universal Empires, or Monarchies; none like went before, and none like have come after them; and it is upon the warrant of negative scripture testimony that men believe no other temporal universal empire possible. But still the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the interpretation of the 26 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. prophet, point to a fifth monarchy greater than all the others, that shall arise when Christianity shall have swallowed up all other forms of reli- gion, and the nations of the earth shall be gath- ered into one fold, under one all-conquering Shepherd— the Prince of Peace. For Nebuchad- nezzar saw a " stone cut out without hands, which smote the image and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth," (Dan. ii. 34-5,) and this the prophet himself declares to be " the king- dom which the God of Heaven shall set up, and which shall never be destroyed." The first and the fourth vision of Daniel contain further prophecies relating to this kingdom." CHAPTER in. THE SEVENTY WEEKS. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city. . . . Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah,the Prince, shall be seven weeks,and three score and two weeks. . . . And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. . . . And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease," etc. Dan. ix. 24-27. This wonderful prophecy, which was character- ized by Sir Isaac Newton as "the foundation of the Christian religion" indicates the time of our Lord's baptism in Jordan, His crucifixion on Cal- vary, and the transference of the Gospel to the Gentiles. To Daniel it was revealed by the An- gel Gabriel, about the year B. C. 538, sixty-eight years after the prophet's deportation from Judea, and two years before Cyrus issued a decree for the return of the captives from Babylon, and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The seventy weeks signify seventy weeks of years, or 70 x 7 = 490 years. And it is said that the period should commence with "the going 28 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Respecting the return of the Jews from Babylon, the rebuilding of their temple and city, and the restoration of their civil and relig- ious polity, there were three different command- ments, or decrees, issued; or, more properly speaking, "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem" was issued in three separate parts,or sections, by Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. The first part, that by Cyrus, B. C. 536, authoriz- ing the return, and rebuilding of the temple, was in these words : " Now in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and He hath charged me to build Him a house at Jeru- salem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of the Lord God of Israel (He is the God), which is in Jerusalem." Ezra. i. 1-3. Authorized by this decree " forty and two thousand three hundred and three score, besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty- seven" (Ezra ii. 64, 65,) went up from Babylon to Jerusalem, and at once "builded the altar of the THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 29 God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon," and "in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month began Zerubbabel ... to set forward the work of the house of the Lord." After a while, through the interference of the Jews' enemies, their work on the temple was interrupted and suspended ; but in the year 519, Darius, the king, commanded " Tatnai, governor beyond the river," and others, to "let the work of this house of God alone ; let the governor of the Jews, and the el- ders of the Jews, build this house of God in His place. . . . Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius, the king, had sent, so they did speedily. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zecha- riah, the son of Iddo ; and they builded and fin- ished it according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command- ment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia," Ezra vi. 6-15. In the narrative it will be observed that the decree of Cyrus authorized the building of the temple only, and that of Darius commanded a resumption of the suspended work, but that 30 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. neither one or both constituted the entire "com- mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." It will be seen also that the period of the seventy- weeks, or 490 years, if commenced with Cyrus' decree, in the year 536, would end in B. C. 46, and if begun with that of Darius in 519 it would terminate in B. C. 29, and hence, that the date of neither of these decrees can be the commence- ment of the seventy weeks, or 490 years, referred toby Daniel, because from neither of these points would 490 years reach to the time of "Messiah the Prince." The third decree was issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the seventh year of his reign, which, according to the canon of Ptolemy, and the computations of Usher, Hales, and other chronologists, was in the year B. C. 457. "Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king of Persia, . . . Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given : and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. . . . And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king. . . . Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel. "Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of Heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 31 priests and Levite? in my realm, which are minded of their own free-will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to in- quire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand : and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem; and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the free-will offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; that thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and gold, that do after the will of thy God. The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatso- ever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treas- ure house. And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a de- cree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that what- soever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of Heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, unto an hun- dred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. "Whatsoever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of Heaven : for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons ? Also we certify you, that, touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the peo- ple that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. 32 THE PEOPHETIC KUMBEES. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment he executed speedily upon him, whether it he unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment." Ezra vii. 1-26. Here then we have the closing section of "the commandment (singular) of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia," "to restore and to build Jerusalem." The important points to be noticed are : 1. This decree reiterates the permission granted by Cyrus and Darius for the return of the cap- tives and the building of the temple. 2. It empowers Ezra to institute and diligently maintain the worship of the God of Heaven, and provides an abundant supply of gold and silver with which to buy animals to be offered in sacri- fice on the altar of the temple. 3. It makes provision for beautifying the house of God, and perfecting the temple service, by mak- ing a donation of golden vessels, and ordering that "whatsoever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of Heaven." 4. It clothes Ezra with full power and authority to re-establish the law of God given by Moses, as the law of Judah and Jerusalem, and to compel its observance by all the people beyond the river. 5. And it authorizes Ezra, according to the THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 33 wisdom, will, and design of God, to "set magis- trates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river ;" thus completely re- storing Jerusalem to its proper position as the religious and political capital and centre for the government and control of all the people of Pales- tine, and thereby fully reviving the Jewish theo- cratic commonwealth which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar about a hundred and thirty years before. It is evident that Artaxerxes authorized Ezra to do more than is specified in the decree, for it is stated that "the king granted him all his re- quest," and in Chap. ix. 9, Ezra says, "For we were bondmen ; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a ivall in Judah and in Jerusalem." Ezra here enumerates the favors which the kings of Persia had bestowed upon the Jews as a reviving of their national existence, the building and adorning of their temple, and a giving of them a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And that Ezra built the wall of Jerusalem may be inferred from what we read in JSTeh. i. 3 : "The remnant 34 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire ;" which shows that after Ezra, in accordance with the full grant of power made to him by Artaxerxes, had restored Jerusa- lem, and built its wall, the returned colony were attacked and almost destroyed by their terrible adversaries. So that in the year B. C. 446 a mes- senger brought to JSTehemiah, at Shushan, the sad tidings that " the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great afflic- tion and reproach ; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire." After spending four months in prayer to God, and suffering great agony of mind, Nehemiah ventured to tell the king that his sad and dis- tressed condition resulted from his having learn- ed that "the city, the place of his fathers' sep- ulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire." Whereupon Artaxerxes (the Queen, probably Esther, was sitting by him) granted Nehemiah's request to be allowed to go to Judah and repair Jerusalem and its wall. Nehemiah went to Judah and began at once to build the wall of Jerusalem, and although "it THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 35 came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobia and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ash- dodites (probably those who destroyed what Ezra had bnilt), heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made np, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, and con- spired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it;" yet, pro- tected and urged by the wonderful sagacity and energy of Nehemiah, the Jews, in the short time of fifty-two days, rebuilt their wall, which pro- tected them from the fury of their enemies. Now it must be borne in mind that in the case of Nehemiah there was no commandment or de- cree made " according to the law of the Medes and Persians," which required a written docu- ment signed by the king (Dan. viii.), but that Artaxerxes merely allowed his cup-bearer to go to Judah to build the city, the place of his fath- ers' sepulchres, providing him only with the means of going there in safety and of procuring such timber as he would need for the work he wished to do ; that this was because the complete restoration of Jerusalem had been already au- thorized and commanded by the decree of Cyrus, B. C. 536, the decree of Darius, B. C. 519, and that of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457, and that as the great 36 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem went forth in its entireness in the year 457, this date must be the commencement of the seventy weeks of years of Dan ix. 24-27. And now, having disclosed this important land- mark, let us see if we can find at the termination of the period events corresponding with the pre- dictions. "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks." These sixty -nine weeks, or 483 years, begun at B. C. 457, will end in A. D. 26, which, doubtless, was the very year in which u Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And immediately, coming out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the spirit like a dove descending up- on Him ; and there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Mark i. 9-11. This was the an- ointing of "the Most Holy," and the time at which, and the manner in which Jesus was man- ifested to Israel as "the Messiah the Prince." Soon after His baptism "Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and THE SEVENTY WEEKS. 37 saying, The time is fulfilled (Daniel's 69 weeks) and the kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye, and believe the Gospel." Now began our Lord's ministry, and the last of the seventy weeks. These seven years, A. D. 26- 33, are to be divided into two equal parts of three and a half years each. "And in the midst (or middle) of the week He (Messiah) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease," by offering Himself as the great anti-typical sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. The time of our Lord's ministry, continuing from His baptism in A. D. 26 to His crucifixion in A. D. 30, was about three and a half years. "And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week," or seven years, which begun, as above stated, at the baptism in A. D. 26, extends to the end of the time determined upon, or allot- ed to Daniel's people, the Jews — A. D. 33, thus : 70 x 7 = 490 - 457 = 33. The new covenant was confirmed with many (disciples) by the ministry of our Savior during three years and a half, till His death, and by the preaching of His inspired Apostles during three and a half years more, when, at the termination of the "seventy weeks," the time came that, owing to the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah, 38 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. who "came unto his own and his own received Him not," the murder of Stephen, and the con- tinual persecution of the disciples, who were im- prisoned "and commanded to speak no more at all, nor to teach, in the name of Jesus," the Jews, nationally, forfeited the favor of Heaven, and "the glorious gospel of the blessed God" was transferred to the Gentiles, — by the preaching of Philip to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eu- nuch ; by that of Peter to the Samaritans and the Centurian; and by our Lord's commission to Paul: "Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testi- mony concerning me." "Depart, for I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles." CHAPTEK IV. THE SEVEN SEALS. And now commences "the times of the Gen- tiles," with the progress, persecutions, and tri- umphs of the Gospel under Koine Pagan ; and this is introduced under the symbol of the open- ing of the Seven Seals of the book that was sealed within and without ; and this was accomplished by "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David," of whom "the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders" sang : "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open its seals : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation : and hast made us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. . . . Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." Kev. v. By the book sealed with seven seals we are to understand the Old Testament prophecies, and especially those of Daniel relating to the present dispensation, which Daniel, in obedience to the 40 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. heavenly messenger, "closed up and sealed till the time of the end." Dan. xii. 4, 9. And that the prophet "shut up the words, and sealed the book" effectually, may be inferred from the fact that, up to this time, none of the prophetic num- bers of Daniel (except the seventy weeks) have been understood. And if in the present work the mysteries shall be disclosed, we may be as- sured that we are now living in the very "time of the end." The opening of the seals by the Lion of the tribe of Judah, was not for the purpose of reveal- ing the hidden meaning before "the time of the end," but so to develop and elucidate the sub- jects of prophecy, by giving other numbers of earlier application, and by more fully specifying the indicated events, that "the wise shall under- stand" the matter at "the time of the end." In subsequent chapters we shall see how that, by the Revelation of John, we are enabled to understand the prophecy of Daniel. THE FIRST SEAL. "And I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying-, with a voice like thunder, Come ard see. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat ( n him had a bow ; and a crown was given to him; and he went forth conquering and to con- quer." Rev. vi. 1, 2. THE SEVETS" SEALS. 41 "The first seal exhibits the state of the Church under the conduct of a glorious rider on a white horse, having a bow in his hand, and a crown given to him, who went out conquering and to conquer. Under which emblem Christ Himself is represented, going forth upon His conquests over Jews and Gentiles. And as this relates to Christ's first victory over His enemies, after His commission to His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations, (Matt, xxvii. 18-20,) and the pour- ing down of His spirit for this end on the day of Pentecost ; (Acts ii.) so the full completion of it is not until the end of time. For after all other horsemen and enemies of the Church have done their utmost against Christ and His people, we find this Horseman leading them all in tri- umph as His captives, and proceeding in His con- quests to make a full and final end of them. (Rev. xix. 11, 12, etc). So that this seal begins with the year 33 or 34, and does not end until the end of time, as to its full completion. But if we reckon it only in relation to the beginning of the next seal — Christ's conquests being darkened as to the outward view of men, by what follows," (Fleming)— -it will end in the year 66. In this year Paul, and perhaps Peter also, were martyred at Rome by the Emperor Nero. 42 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. THE SECOND SEAL. "And when he had opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And there went forth another horse, which was red ; and to him was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another ; and there was given to him a great sword." Kev. vi. 3, 4. " The second seal under the emblem of a rider upon a red horse, (who had a great sword given him, in order to take peace from the earth, and engage men in wars), represents the state of the Koman empire from the time that Nero made war on the Jews (in the year 66), and so contains the civil wars of Gralba, Otho, and Vitellius, when men did so remarkably kill one another ; and the wars of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, completed afterwards by the terrible destruction of that nation under Hadrian ; together with his other wars, and the previous persecutions of Domitian and Trajan, and the conquest of this last prince. So that as this begins with the year 66, it ends with Hadrian's wars, in the year 135, or with his life in the year 138." — Fleming. THE THIRD SEAL. u And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I saw. and behold, a. black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying: A chcmiix of wheat for a denarius, and THE SEVEN SEALS. 43 three choenices of barley for a denarius ; and as to the oil and the wine, see that you do no injustice." Eev. vi. 5, 6. "The third seal begins, therefore, in the year 138 ; when, under the hieroglyphic of a rider on a black horse, with a pair of balances in his hand, to weigh and measure all things exactly, are set forth the excellent reigns of the admirable Anto- ninus, Pius and Philosophus. And, therefore, this seal runs out in the year 180." — Fleming. THE FOTJETH SEAL. "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a pale horse; and the name of him that sat upon him was Death: and Hades followed with him. And authority was given to him over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Eev. vi. 7, 8. "The fourth seal represents the Koman horse turned pale, and the rider changed from a grave and awful judge to a murderer, so as to be called Death, by reason of his throwing so many into Hades, or the future state, by immature deaths ; where we have a very remarkable account of the state of the Koman empire after the decease of the brave Antoninus Philosophus, under the barbarities of Commodus, the short lived reigns of Pertinax and Didius Julianus, but especially under the severe and bloody Septimius Severus, 44 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. in his wars against Pescermius Niger, Albums, and others, and under his son Caracalla ; and afterwards under Macrmus, Heliogabalus (the reign of the excellent Alexander Severus being but a short breathing to the empire and the Christians), Maximums and his son Pupienus, Balbinus, and Gordianus, and Phillippus and his son, with whose death I think this seal runs out in the year 250. And with the death of these Philippi, who favored Christianity, the four evangelical living creatures (which our translation renders beasts, most unaccountably) cease to speak openly." — Fleming. THE FIETH SEAL. "And when lie had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they had borne : and they cried with a loud voice, saying : How long, O Sovereign, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And a white robe was given to each of them : and it was said to them, that they should yet rest for a time, till the number of their fellow servants, and of their brethren, who should be killed as they had been, should be completed." Rev. vi. 9-11. During the period of the fifth seal occurred the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth general perse- cutions of the Christians throughout the Eoman empire ; the object of which was to uproot and THE SEVEN SEALS. 45 destroy the Christian religion. The first of these, commencing A. D. 249 or 250, and continuing three years, was instituted by an edict of the emperor Decius, ordering the infliction of torture, death, exile, and confiscation upon bishops, clergy, and laity who refused to turn from Christianity to Paganism. The others were more or less severe and long continued, but the last, the tenth ex- ceeded all the rest, for "during ten years the per- secution continued with scarcely mitigated hor- rors ; and such multitudes of Christians suffered death that at last the imperial murderers boasted that they had extinguished the Christian name and religion, and restored the worship of the gods to its former purity and splendor." — Will- son's Out Hist., 223. This dreadful persecution and slaughter of the Christians was authorized by the aged Diocle- tian, through the influence of the brutal Galerius, in the year 303, and it ended in 313 with the proclamation of the edict of Milan, by which Constantine abolished all laws unfriendly to Christianity, and established universal religious toleration. Hence the souls of the martyrs are represented as lying under the altar of sacrifice, crying to heaven for vengeance upon their murderers, but 46 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. as the time had not come to grant their request, white robes were given to them as a temporary reward for the faithful testimony which they had borne, and they were requested to " rest for a time, till the number of their fellow servants, and of their brethren, who should be killed as they had been, should be completed." This, no doubt, alludes to the fact that before their prayer for vengeance against Rome Pagan should be answered, there would be another great persecu- tion, that under Rome Papal in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries ; and that after that "the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Dan. vii. 26 ; and when the command shall go forth— "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints, and apostles, and prophets ; for God has avenged you on her. . . . And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." Rev. xviii. 20, 24. This second slaughter of the witnesses of Jesus will be noticed in the eleventh chapter. THE SIXTH SEAL. "And I saw when he had opened the sixth seal ; and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood : and the stars of THE SEVEN SEALS. 47 heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a violent wind : and the heaven departed as a volume when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place : and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the officers, and the rich men, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the moun- tains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand T 1 Rev. vii. 12-17. "The sixth seal, or period, produceth mighty changes and revolutions, and, according to the prophetic style, are expressed by great commo- tions in the earth and in the heavens. The very same images, the very same expressions, are em- ployed by other prophets concerning the muta- tions and alterations of religions and govern- ments ; and why may they not, therefore, with equal fitness and propriety, be applied to one of the greatest and most memorable revolutions which ever were in the world, the subversion of the heathen religion, and establishment of the Christian, which was begun by Constantine the Great, and was completed by his successors? The series of the prophecy requires this application, and all the phrases and expressions will easily admit of such a construction. And I beheld when he had opened the sixtl^ 48 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. seal,' Rev. xii, 'and lo, there was a" great earth- quake,' or rather 'a great 0011011881011;' for the word in the original comprehends the shaking of heaven, as well as of earth. The same phrase is used by the prophet Haggai, ii. 6, 21, concern- ing the first coming of Christ, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth,' and this shaking as the apostle saith (Heb. xii. 27), 'signifieth the remov- ing of those things which are shaken ; ' and so the prophet Haggai himself explains it, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will over- throw the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen. ' And where was ever a greater concussion or re- moval than when Christianity was advanced to the throne of Paganism, and Idolatry gave place to the true religion? Then follow the particular effects of this general concussion, ver. 12-14, — 'And the sun became black as sack-cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; and the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.' Isaiah speaketh much in the same manner concerning Babylon and Idumea (xiii. 10; xxxiv. 4),— 'For THE SEVEN SEALS. 49 the stars of heaven and the constellations there- of shall not give their light ; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine ; and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll ; and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.' And Jeremiah, concerning the land of Judah (v. 23, 24), — 'I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void ; and the heavens, and they had no light ; I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly ; ' and Ezekiel, concerning Egypt, (xxxii. 7) — 'And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark ; I will cover the sun with a cloud ; and the moon shall not give her light.' And Joel, concerning Jerusalem, Joel ii. 10, 31. — 'The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble, the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining ; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.' And the Savior Himself, also, concerning the destruction of Jer- usalem, Matt. xxiv. 29, — 'The sun shall be dark- ened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 50 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.' Now it is certain that the fall of any of these cities and kingdoms was not of greater concern and consequence to the world, nor more deserv- ing to be described in such pompous figures, than the fall of the Pagan Roman empire, when the great lights of the heathen world, 'the sun, moon and stars,' the powers, civil and ecclesiastical, were all eclipsed and obscured, the heathen em- perors and Caesars were slain, the heathen priests and augurs were extirpated, the heathen officers and magistrates were removed, the heathen tem- ples were demolished, and their revenues appro- priated to better uses. It is customary with the prophets, after they have described a thing in the most symbolical and figurative diction, to rep- resent the same again in plainer language ; and the same method is observed here, ver. 15, 16, 17, — 'And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, that is, Maximian, Galerius, Maximin, Maxen tius, Licinius, etc., with all their adherents and followers, were so routed and dispersed that they 'hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the moun- THE SEVEN SEALS. 51 tains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us;' expres- sions used, as in others prophets, to denote the utmost terror and consternation. 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand?' This is, therefore, a tri- umph of Christ over His heathen enemies, and triumph after a severe persecution ; so that the time and all the circumstances, as well as the series and order of the prophecy, agree perfectly with this interpretation. Galerius, Maximin and Licinius made even a public confession of their guilt, recalled their decrees and edicts against the Christians, and acknowledged the just judg- ments of God and of Christ in their destruction." —Bishop Newton! s Dissertations on the Prophe- cies, p. 528. "It was the will of God to lay His hand still more heavily on the tyrant Maximin. Struck with rage at his disappointments in the sad re- verse of his affairs, he slew many priests and prophets of his gods, by whose enchantments he had been seduced with false hopes of universal empire in the East ; and finding most probably that he had gained no friends among the Chris- tians by his late edict, he published another in 52 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. their favor as full and complete as that of Con- st antine and Licinius. So amazingly were affairs now changed that contending emperors courted the favor of the poor persecuted Christians. After this he was struck with a sudden plague over his whole body, pined away with hunger, fell down from his bed, his flesh being so wasted away by a secret fire that it consumed and drop- ped off from his bones ; his eyes started out of their sockets ; and in his distress he began to see God passing judgment on him. Frantic in his agonies, he cried out, 'It was not I, but others, who did it.' At length, by the increasing force of torment, he owned his guilt, and every now and then implored Christ that He would com- passionate his misery. He confessed himself vanquished, and gave up the ghost"— History of the Church of Christ, vol. ii. p. 28. The time of the sixth seal begins at the end of the fifth in A. D. 313, and terminates with the death of Constantine in A. D. 337. THE SEVENTH SEAL. "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour," etc. Rev. viii. 1-6. To properly understand the chronology of the seals, trumpets and plagues, it must be borne in THE SEVEN SEALS. 53 mind that the seven trumpets are seven parts or sections of the seventh seal ; that the seven plagues are the seven constituent parts of the seventh trumpet; that what is represented as being said and done on the opening of the seventh seal and the sounding of the seventh trumpet, constitutes prospective outlines of the events that are to transpire under the seven trumpets and seven plagues respectively ; and that, therefore, no time is to be allowed for the seventh seal and seventh trumpet but that occupied by the seven trumpets and seven plagues. When Paganism was suppressed, and Christian- ity became married to the civil power, and estab- lished as the religion of the empire, men thought that the kingdoms of this world were soon to be- come the kingdom of our God and His Christ, but the Omniscient saw otherwise, for when the seventh seal was opened, presenting a panorama of the succeeding 1200 years, the spectators were appalled at the sight and dumb with astonish- ment, so that "there was silence in heaven." In view of the dreadful persecution of faithful Christians that was to ensue, the seven angels to whom the seven trumpets were given, were pre- ceded by another angel, having a golden censer, and much incense to be offered upon the golden 54 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. altar to facilitate the intercessions and prayers of the suffering saints of God ; and on further view of the enormous growth and power of the imperial and papal despots, the angel " took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it into the earth, and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earth- quake," the symbols of the quarrels, contentions, wars, Barbarian, Saracen and Turkish invasions and conquests, by which the persecuting tyrants of the earth should be held in check, and re- strained from annihilating the faithful witnesses of Jesus. Further on, the events symbolized by the voices, thunderings, lightnings and earthquake, will be noticed in detail. CHAPTEK V. THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN". A. D. 33-313. "And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars; and, being with child, she cried out in travail, and in the pains of delivery." Eev. xii. 1, 2. This figure symbolically represents the Church of Christ (a) in Jerusalem at the termination of Daniel's seventy weeks, in A. D. 33. The woman clothed with the sun is the Christian Church in- vested with the rays of Jesus Christ, "the light of the world," "the Sun of righteousness," whose effulgent glory is reflected upon the darkness of the world by the twelve stars, the twelve Apostles of our Lord, who adorn the Head of the church. (b) It represents the Church bringing forth spir- itual children to Christ, her spouse, during the ten bitter persecutions of the first three centuries; a similar expression being used by Paul, Gal. iv. 19 : "My little children, for whom I again suffer the pains of gestation, till Christ be formed in you." (c) It refers to the Church bringing forth 56 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. the first Christian emperor, Constantine, at the end of the last and greatest general persecution. "And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a great dragon, fiery-red, that had seven heads, and ten horns; and on his head seven diadams." Rev. xii. 3. The great red dragon denotes the Pagan Ro- man Empire ; red, scarlet, or purple, as it was usually called, was the distinguishing color of the Roman emperors, consuls and generals. The seven heads allude to the seven hills on which was built the city of Rome, where the dragon had his seat or throne ; the ten horns to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was di- vided ; and the seven diadems to the seven forms of government which successively prevailed at Rome from the time of Romulus to the rise of the Papacy. Dan. vii. Rev. xvii. "And the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to bring forth, that when she had brought forth, he might devour her child. And she brought forth a male child, that was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and the child was caught away to God, even to His throne." Ver. 4, 5. The male child here referred to was Constan- tine, called the first Christian emperor, and the dragon was especially Galerius, who induced Diocletian to issue an edict against Christianity, which resulted in the ten years persecution, A. D. 303-313, called the Age of Martyrs. The ty- THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 57 rant Galerius laid many snares for the young Oonstantine, but, by fleeing into Britain, lie es- caped them all, and finally became the sole mon- arch of the Roman world, and the supreme head of the Christian church, and thus usurped the throne of God, and became the Imperial Anti- Christ — the first beast of Rev. xiii. Constantine lived to see all the Pagan sovereigns, who opposed his authority, destroyed, when he ruled, as it were, all nations ; for the Roman dominions ex- tended from the walls of Scotland to Kurdistan, and they were greatly enlarged by conquests during his reign. But as his stern, Roman na- ture was but little restrained by the corrupt form of Christianity that he embraced, "lie ruled the nations with a rod of iron." In the symbol of the woman bearing a child there is an important period of time indicated. The time from the conception to the birth is 40 weeks, or 280 days, which symbolizes 280 years. Commencing in A. D. 33, at the end of Daniel's "seventy weeks" of years, it reaches to A. D. 313, when the terrible pangs of the tenth general persecution were ended by the Church, the wo- man, giving birth to a Christian emperor, Con- stantine, who in this very year abolished all laws of his predecessors that were unfriendly to the 58 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. Christians, issued the celebrated Edict of Milan, granting universal toleration to Christianity, and established this as the religion of the Roman em- pire. So that the rider of the white horse, who in A. D. 33, with a bow in his hand, " went forth conquering and to conquer," was so successful that in A. D. 313 he had subverted Pagan Rome, and the Cross, the symbol of man's redemption, was borne in triumph by the conquering legions of Constantine. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days." Yer. 6. We merely notice the fact here, but will fully consider it further on, that the system of Imperial Christianity which Constantine made the religion of the empire, was not the true Church of Christ symbolized by the "woman clothed with the sun," for immediately after the male child was brought forth, she retired to the wilderness, where she remained in dejection and obscurity during the twelve hundred and sixty years that the politico-religious system of Con- stantine tyranized over the world. In the woman " clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet," we have another very im- portant thing symbolized — that which affords the THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 59 clue to our understanding of the prophetic num- bers of Daniel and the Revelation. It is that her time is to be measured by solar years, and all time subsequent to hers by lunar years. In Nebuchad- nezzar's monarchical image (] )an. ii.), the head of gold signified the Babylonian empire, which was first chronologically (B. C. 606-538); next in order was the "breast and arms of silver," representing the Medo-Persian empire (B. C. 538-331); then followed " the belly and thighs of brass," refer- ring to the Macedo-Grrecian empire (B. C. 331-65); next came "his legs of iron," alluding to the Ro- man empire (B. C. 65- A. D. 476); and lastly "the feet and the toes, part of potters' clay and part of iron," indicating the ten monarchies of Europe (A. D. 476-1923). This image symbolically represents the chron- ological succession of empires— first in time the head, and last the toes. So does this woman symbolically represent the Gentile church of Christ chronologically. Appearing in A. D 33, with a crown of twelve stars, the twelve Apostles, upon her head, and retiring from the scene, flee- ing into the wilderness with her feet in A. I). 313, the resplendent light of the Sun of righteousness is succeeded by the moonshine of Romanism in- stituted by Constantine. Hence, at this point, 60 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. A. D. 313, occurs the transition from solar to lunar years for the measurement of prophetic time. This change of time is in fulfilment of the promise of Matt. xxiv. 22. Our Lord, speaking of the unparalleled tribulation that should come upon the world, said : "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved ; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." This may be thought to refer to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, but then all the Christians, the elect, had escaped to Pella, and were secure. And, furthermore, the things that have beenwere mere types of those that shall be; so that many prophecies that re- late to the overthrow of Judaism and Paganism will have their complete, anti-typical fulfilment in the destruction of the wicked at the close of this age. Solar years have 365 T %%\ days, while the proph- etic years, symbolized in Daniel and the Revela- tion, consist of twelve months of 30 days each, or 360 days. Hence the times have been shorten- ed by taking 5'242 days from every year from A. D. 313 to A. D. 1923, the period during which the Roman moon eclipses the Sun of righteousness, as will be shown further on. THE WOMAK CLOTHED WITH THE SUN. 61 The "forty-two months" of Rev. xiii. 5 is the same period as the "thousand two hundred and sixty days" of Rev. xii. 6. In prophetic language a day stands for a year — a lunar year ; and the following figures will show that these 42 months and 1260 days will be reduced from 1260 lunar to 1242 solar years, and, consequently, be properly "shortened" by deducting 18 years therefrom: 42 x 30 = 1260 x 5*242 = 6604*920 -4- 365*242 = 18; 1260 — 18 = 1242 solar, or historical years. In a subsequent chapter it will be shown that a grand, sacred scale, upon which the times and seasons of man upon the earth have been pro- tracted, is a year of iveehs of years, or 360 x 7 = 2520 years. These are the degrees of the divine circle, the disk of the sun of righteousness, while 1260, the number that applies to the Roman moon, is one-half of that circle, a crescent of the orb of night — the feeble, flickering light of the "Dark Ages." Hence we conclude that in order to understand the prophecies and prophetic numbers, and adapt them to the times and events of the history of this age, we must take a day to signify a year of 12 months, of 30 days each; that these years, which we will call lunar, must be reduced to so- lar years, as in the foregoing example ; and that 62 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. we have authority for this conclusion from the promise of our Savior that " those days shall be shortened;" from the significance of the sun- clothed woman ; and from the fact that all for- mer attempts otherwise to adjust the prophetic numbers with historical events, have been un- successful, while in this way the matter is quite easy, and the result a wonderful confirmation of the divine origin and genuineness of the blessed Bible, and of our holy Protestant Christianity. "Blessed Bible! howl love it; How it does rny spirit cheer ; What on earth like this to covet ; Oh, what stores of wealth are here."' And now the seals are broken from the Book of Daniel, and the key turned that unlocks the mysteries of the Revelation ; so let us, dear read- er, devoutly proceed to explore these wonderful treasure vaults of the wisdom and beneficence of our Heavenly Father. CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. THE FIRST TRUMPET. "And the first angel sounded ; and there were hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were thrown into the earth : and the third part of the earth was burned up, and the third part of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up." Kev. viii. 7. The period of the sixth seal (A. D. 313-337) was that of the decline and fall of Paganism, and, at the same time, that of the rise, growth, and ma- turity of Imperial or Dragonic Christianity, which was instituted and fostered by the first Christian emperor ; and the events of the first trumpet be- gan immediately after the death of Constantine (A. D. 337) with the murders, contentions, and wars of his sons, Constantine II., Constantius II., and Constans, among whom was partitioned the empire. To Constantine was assigned Britain, Ganl and Spain ; to Constantius, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, etc.; and to Constans, Italy, Africa and Illyricum. Hence under each of the four trumpets mention is made of a third part of 64 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. the Roman dominions, as thus divided ; and this third part refers especially, if not entirely, to the middle portion, or that embracing Italy, Africa and Illyricum. "The voice of the dying emperor had recom- mended the care of his funeral to the piety of Constantius II., perhaps the most favored of his sons ; and that prince, by the vicinity of his eastern station, could easily anticipate the dili- gence of his brothers who resided in their dis- tant governments of Italy and Gaul. On the arrival of Constantius in the capital, he gave his consent to a promiscuous massacre, which involved his two uncles, seven of his cousins, of whom Dalmatius and Hannibalianus were the most illustrious, the patrician Optatus, who had married a sister of the late emperor, and the pre- fect Ablavius, whose power and riches had in- spired him with some hope of obtaining the pur- ple. Of so numerous a family, Gallus and Julian alone, the two youngest children of Julius Con- stantius, were saved from the hands of the assas- sins, till their rage, satisfied with slaughter, had in some measure subsided. The massacre of the Flavian race was succeeded by a new division of the provinces, which was ratified by a personal interview of the three THE FIEST TRUMPET. 65 brothers. Constantine, the eldest of the Caesars, obtained, with a certain pre-eminence of rank, the possession of the new capital, which bore his own name and that of his father. Thrace and the conn tries of the east were allotted for the patrimony of Constantius ; and Constans was acknowledged as the lawful sovereign of Italy, Africa, and the western Illyricnm. The armies submitted to the hereditary rights, and they con- descended, after some delay, to accept from the Roman senate the title of Augustus. When they first assumed the reins of government, the eldest of these princes was twenty-one, the second twenty, and the third only seventeen years of age. After the partition of the empire three years had scarcely elapsed before the sons of Constan- tine seemed impatient to convince mankind that they were incapable of contenting themselves with the dominions which they were unqualified to govern. The eldest of these princes soon com- plained that he was defrauded of his just propor- tion of the spoils of their murdered kinsman ; and at the head of a tumultuary band, suited for rapine rather than for conquest, he suddenly broke into the dominions of Constans, by the way of the Julian Alps. On the news of his 66 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. brother's invasion, Constans detached a select and disciplined body of his Illyrian troops, proposing to follow them in person with the remainder of his forces. But the conduct of his lieutenant soon terminated the unnatural contest. By the artful appearances of flight, Constantine was be- trayed into an ambuscade, which had been con- cealed in a wood, where the rash youth, with a few attendants, was surprised, surrounded and slain (A. D. 340). The fate of Constans himself was delayed about ten years longer, and the revenge of his brother's death was reserved for the more ignoble hand of a domestic traitor. The vices of Con- stans had rendered him contemptible ; and Mag- nentius, an ambitious soldier, who was of bar- barian extraction, was encouraged by the public discontent to assert the honor of the Roman name. The friendship of Marcellinus, Count of the sacred largesses, supplied with a liberal hand the means of seduction ; and the soldiers in the city of Autun were easily persuaded to salute Magnentius as Augustus. Constans, who was pursuing in the adjacent forest his favorite amusement of hunting, had barely time for flight ; but before he could reach a seaport in Spain, where he intended to embark, he was overtaken THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 67 near Helena, at the foot of the Pyrenees, by a party of light cavalry, whose chief executed his commission by the murder of the son of Constan- tine (A. D. 350)."— Student's Gibbon, 155. About four years after this, Gallus, who with his brother Julian was spared at the massacre of his kindred, fell a victim to the fury of Con- stantius, "and the nephew of Constantine, with his hands tied behind his back, was beheaded in prison, like the vilest malefactor." And it was not long before the martial successes of Julian, who had been made a Caesar and assigned to the province of Gaul, excited the jealousy of Con- stantius, who determined to deprive his cousin of "the hardy veterans who had vanquished on the banks of the Rhine the fiercest nations of Ger- many ; . . . but the soldiers, who loved and admired Julian, who despised and perhaps hated Constantius, determined to raise their general to the throne. They were assembled at Paris before their departure to the east ; and at the hour of midnight they quitted their quarters, encom- passed the palace, and, careless of future dangers, pronounced the fatal and irrevocable words, Julian Augustus ! The prince in vain refused the proffered honor ; nor did he yield till he had been repeatedly assured that if he wished to live 68 THE PEOPHETIC NTJMBEES. lie must consent to reign (A. D. 360) "—/Sfo. Gib- bon, 159. Eapid preparations for civil war were now made, but Constantius dying in A. D. 361, left Julian the undisputed monarch of the Roman world. Julian, called the "Apostate," ridiculed and oppressed the Christians, restored and encour- aged the pagan religion, and aimed what he thought would be a deadly blow to Christianity, by ordering the temple at Jerusalem to be re- built, hoping thus to falsify the language of prophecy and the truth of Revelation ; but this work was frustrated in consequence of balls of fire that burst from the earth, and alarmed and dispersed the workmen who were digging the foundations. At length, in A. D. 363, Julian, in a war with the Persians, was wounded by a javelin, and died the same night ; and thus the race of the great Constantine became extinct. Julian was succeeded by Jovian, who, being suffocated in his bed by fumes of burning charcoal, was fol- lowed by Valentinian, and his brother Valens, by whom the Roman world was finally divided into the Eastern and Western empires (A. D. 364) ; and with this event ended the catalogue of hor- rors symbolized by "hail and fire mingled with THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 69 blood" which, were to burn up the earth, trees, and grass, of the third part of the Roman empire. THE SECOND TRUMPET. "And the second angel sounded; and, as it were, a great mountain; burning with fire, was thrown into the sea : and the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures that were in the sea, that had life, died: and the third part of the ships was destroyed." Rev. viii. 8, 9. Here the sea signifies the Mediterranean, into which project the maritime countries of Italy, Cicily, Illyricum and Africa, which constituted the middle " third part" of the Roman empire as divided by the sons of Constantine ; and the "great mountain burning with fire" alludes to the barbaric nations of the North which, during this period, like a crushing avalanche, over- whelmed those countries that had formed the patrimony of Constans. According to Gibbon "the Goths had contracted an hereditary attachment for the Imperial house of Constantine, of whose power and liberality they had received so many signal proofs," but when Julian,the last of that dynasty was dead,and the empire was divided between Yalentinian and Valens "their contempt for two new and obscure princes, who had been raised to the throne by a popular election, inspired the Goths with bolder 70 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. hopes." And at this time (A. D. 364) the great mountain burning with fire began to roll towards the Mediterranean Sea. The barbarian invasion was retarded during several years by the vigi- lence of Valentinian, Valens, Gratian and Theo- dosius ; but immediately after the death of Theo- dosius, in A. D. 395, the skilled and daring warrior, Alaric, led his impetuous Goths in another invasion of the empire. They first rav- aged and plundered the cities of Greece, and then invaded Italy, and "spread desolation nearly to the walls of Rome." And "scarcely had Alaric departed, when another deluge of barbarians, consisting of Yandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Goths and Alani, and numbering not less than two hundred thousand fighting men, under the com- mand of Radagaisus, poured down upon Italy," but through the skill of the Roman general, Stilicho, Radagaisus was finally defeated and executed, and one third of his mighty hosts were sold as slaves. About three years later Alaric again entered Italy, and directly laid siege to Rome, and after the Romans had become so re- duced by famine that thousands were dying daily they were allowed to purchase temporary relief by the payment to the haughty conqueror of an enormous amount of gold, silver and merchan- THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 71 dise ; but soon after the city fell into Alaric's hands and was pillaged by his ruthless soldiery. We next come to the chastisement inflicted upon the Roman empire by Attila, justly called the "Scourge of God," the chief of the Huns, who "defeated Theodosius, the emperor of the East, in three bloody battles, and after ravaging Thrace, Macedonia and Greece, pursued his deso- lating march westward into Gaul, but was de- feated by the Romans and their Gothic allies, in the bloody battle of Chalons (A. D. 451). The next year the Huns poured like a torrent upon Italy, and spread their ravages over all Lom- bardy." — WillsorHs Outlines of History, 233. We will now notice the important part played by the Vandals, who were led by "the terrible Genseric ; a name which in the destruction of the Roman empire has deserved an equal rank with Alaric and Attila. Genseric landed in Africa in A. D. 429, with fifty thousand effective men. His numbers were soon increased by the Moors, whom the Romans had driven out of their native country, and by the Donatists, whom the Catholics had perse- cuted with cruel severity. . . . The impor- tance and danger of Africa were deeply felt by the regent of the West. Blacidia implored the 72 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. assistance of her eastern ally, and the Italian fleet and army were reinforced by Aspar, who sailed from Constantinople with a powerful armament. As soon as the force of the two em- pires was united under the command of Boniface, he boldly marched against the Vandals ; and the loss of a second battle irretrievably decided the fate of Africa. He embarked with the precipi- tation of despair ; and the people of Hippo were permitted, with their families and effects, to occupy the vacant place of the soldiers, the greatest part of whom were either slain or made prisoners by the Vandals." Eight years after the capture of Hippo the Vandals had taken Carthage, and permanently established their dominion in the African portion of the "third part" of the Roman empire (A. D. 439). "The loss or desolation of the provinces from the ocean to the Alps impaired the glory and greatness of Rome ; her internal prosperity was irretrievably destroyed by the separation of Af- rica. And the rapacious Vandals confiscated the patrimonial estates of the senators, and inter- cepted the regular subsidies which relieved the poverty and encouraged the idleness of the plebians. The distress of the Romans was soon THE FIKST FOUR TRUMPETS. 73 aggravated by an unexpected attack; and the province, so long cultivated for their use by in- dustrious and obedient subjects, was armed against them by an ambitious barbarian. Gen- seric resolved to create a naval power ; and after an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the ports of Carthage again claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the conquest of Sicily, the sack of Pal- ermo, and the frequent descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian. The death of this emperor was the immediate occasion of the invasion of Italy and the sack of Home. . . . Genseric immediately equipped a numerous fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the mouth of the Tiber. . . . On the third day after the tumult Genseric boldly advanced from the port of Astia to the gates of the defenceless city. . . . Rome and its in- habitants were delivered to the licentiousness of the Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions re- venged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and nights (A. D. 455, June 15-29) ; and all that yet remained of public or private wealth was diligently transported to the vessels of Genseric. . . . He (Majorian) formed the design of attacking the Vandals in their new 74 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. settlements, and collected a powerful fleet in the secure and capacious harbor of Carthagena in Spain. But Genseric was saved from impending and inevitable ruin by the treachery of some powerful subjects, envious or apprehensive of their master's success. Guided by their secret intelligence, he surprised the unguarded fleet in the bay of Carthagena : many of the ships were sunk, or taken, or burnt ; and the preparations of three years were destroyed in a single day (A. D. 460). . . . The kingdom of Italy was afflicted, under the reign of Ricimer, by the incessant dep- redations of the Vandal pirates. They repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Bruttium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epirus, Greece and Sicily; they were tempted to subdue the island of Sar- dinia, so advantageously placed in the centre of the Mediterranean; and their arms spread deso- lation or terror from the columns of Hercules to the mouths of the Nile. . . . The powers of the Eastern empire were strenuously exerted to deliver Italy and the Mediterranean from the Vandals. The fleet that sailed from Constanti- nople to Carthage consisted of 1113 ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners exceeded one hundred thousand men. Basiliscus, the brother THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 75 of tl^e empress Verina, was intrusted with this important command. He landed his troops at Cape Bona, or the promontory of Mercury, about forty miles from Carthage ; the Vandals who opposed his progress by sea or land were succes- sively vanquished : and if Basiliscus had siezed the moment of consternation and boldly advanced to the capital, Carthage must have surrendered, and the kingdom of the Vandals been ex- tinguished. But he consented to a fatal truce for five days, and Genseric availed himself of this short respite to destroy the Koman fleet by means of fire ships. Basiliscus returned to Constanti- nople with the loss of more than half of his fleet and army, and sheltered his guilty head in the sanctuary of St. Sophia, till his sister, by her tears and entreaties, could obtain his pardon from the indignant emperor. After the failure of this great expedition (A. D. 468), Genseric again be- came the tyrant of the sea : the coasts of Italy, Greece and Asia were again exposed to his re- venge and avarice ; he added Sicily to the num- ber of his provinces ; and, before he died (A. D. 477,) in the fulness of years and glory, he beheld the final extinction of the empire of the West." — Student's Gibbon, 248-270. Thus, wonderfully, does Gibbon prove the 76 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. truthfulness of the Scriptures which hfe professed to disbelieve ! "As the power of the Romans themselves de- clined, their barbarian allies augmented their demands and increased their insolence, until they finally insisted, with arms in their hands, that a third part of the lands of Italy should be divided among them. Under their leader Odo- acer, a chief of the barbarian tribe of theHeruli, they overcame the little resistance that was offered them ; and the conqueror, abolishing the imperial titles of Caesar and Augustus, pro- claimed himself king of Italy (A. D. 476). The Western empire of the Komans was subverted ; Roman glory had passed away : Roman liberty existed only in the remembrance of the past : the rude warriors of Germany and Scythia pos- sessed the city of Romulus; and a barbarian occupied the palace of the Caesar's." — Will. Out. Hist, 234. Observe how completely the prophecy is ful- filled in these historical events : "And the second angel sounded (at the extinction of the dynasty of Constantine, the bugle blast of the Goths called the warriors to arms) ; and as it were, a great mountain (the powerful nations of the North), burning with fire (inflamed with martial THE FIEST FOUR TRUMPETS. 77 valor and barbaric ferocity), was thrown into the sea (the Mediterranean, Italy, and her maritime provinces) : and the third part of the sea became blood (there was dreadful carnage and blood- shed). And the third part of the creatures that were in the sea, that had life, died (the civil rulers of the conquered provinces, and finally the Ro- man emperor, Augustulus, with his whole family, were deposed, and slain, or dismissed) : and the third part of the ships were destroyed" (the civil and commercial navies of Italy and her provinces, and the immense naval armaments designed to crush the power of the Vandals were all "des- troyed" by Genseric). THE THIRD TRUMPET. "And the third angel sounded; and there fell from heaven a great star, that burned as a lamp ; and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood ; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Rev. viii. 10, 11. As the second trumpet ended with the over- throw of the imperial Roman power in Italy rn A. I). 476, so the third trumpet commences at the same date with the establishment of the kingdom of the Heruli on the ruins thereof. After an ex- istence of fourteen years, this, in turn, was sub- 78 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. verted by the more powerful Ostrogoths, under their famous king, Thecdoric, whose reign "passed like a brilliant meteor," and to whom the symbol of the great star that fell from heaven principal- ly alludes. The bitter principle signified, doubt- less, is Arianism, which was so utterly repugnant to the Orthodox, or Catholic emperors, senators, consuls, bishops, clergy and laity of the Koman dominions, and which the Vandals, Heruli and Ostrogoths had established in the middle "third part" of the empire. The Heruli and the Ostro- goths were less bigoted in their Arianism, and less severe in their persecutions of the Catholics, than were the Vandals ; but it was a most bitter thing for the proud Romans to be in subjection to these barbarian heretics. "The sufferings of the Catholics under Genseric proved but a foretaste of their cruel persecution by Hunneric, who succeeded his father in A. D. 477 On the mere charge of intimacy with the Catholics, the Arian patriarch, and many of his clergy, were burnt alive, and many of Hun- neric's own relations were put to death. The profession of Arianism was imposed as a condi- tion of public employment ; and all who refused to make it were banished. Nearly 5,000 of the Catholic bishops and clergy were exiled to THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 79 Mauritania, with most cruel treatment ; and the virgins of the church were tortured to make them confess guilty intercourse with the clergy. These cruelties were followed by the mockery of sum- moning both parties to a public debate at Carth- age (Feb. 1, A. D. 484). The Arian patriarch, Cyrila, who was seated as president on a lofty throne, cut short the debate on the plea that he could not speak Latin. As if the Catholics had been worsted, Hunneric ordered all their church- es to be closed in one day, and the church prop- erty to be transferred to the Arians. By an edict, which recited the penalties imposed on Arians by the imperial laws, he not only subject- ed the Catholics to the same, but forbade any. one to give them food or lodging, on pain of be- ing burnt, with his house and family. He next required all the bishops to swear fealty to his son Hilderic as his successor. Forty-six who re- fused were sent to cut wood in Corsica ; while their plea, that Christians ought not to swear, was made a pretext for banishing the great ma- jority (302 in number) who had taken the oath. No less than 88 bishops yielded to persecution or cajolement, and abandoned the Catholic faith. ... In the heat of the persecution, Hunneric died by the same loathsome disease as Herod, A. 80 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. D. 484. Under his four successors, the Catholics still suffered in various degrees, though with some intervals of toleration, till the dominion of the Vandals was overthrown by Belisarius (A. D. 534). But the province, long famed for its exu- berant fertility and teeming population, had been utterly ruined by the barbarian devastations and by famine and pestilence, having lost (as is computed) five millions of inhabitants. The number of bishoprics was reduced to one-half or one-third ; and Arianism was extirpated in the destruction of the Arians themselves." — Students' Eccles. Hist 388, 389. THE FOURTH TRUMPET. "And the fourth angel sounded; and the third part of the sun, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, was smitten, that the third part might be darkened, and that the day might not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner." Rev. viii. 12. Here the sun symbolizes the regal power of the Gothic dominion, which was the seventh of the heads, or forms of government, that prevailed successively at Kome; the moon, the Roman senate; and the stars, the Roman consuls and magistrates. The sound of the third trumpet ceased in 534 with the extinction of the kingdom of the Vand- THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 81 als,and the blast of the fourth trumpet commenced in the same year with " the haughty mandate of Belisarius, who claimed the city and promontory of Lilybseum, and threatened, if the Romans took up arms, to deprive the Goths of all the provinces which they unjustly withheld from their lawful sovereign (the emperor Justinian) Justin- ian beheld with joy the dissensions of the Goths, and declared war against the perfidious assassin of Amalasoutha. Belisarius was sent with a small force to reduce Sicily ; the island submit- ted to his victorious arms almost without oppo- sition, and this province, the first-fruits of the Punic wars, was again, after a long separation, united to the P( n r n empire A. D. 535. In the following Spring Belisarius crossed over from Messina to Rhegium, and advanced, with- out opposition, along the shores of Rhegium, Lucania and Campania, till he reached Capua. .... They (the Romans) furiously exclaimed that the apostolic throne should no longer be profaned by the triumph or toleration of Arian- ism; that the tombs of the Csssars should no longer be trampled by the savages of the North ; and, without reflecting that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople, they fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era 82 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. of freedom and prosperity. The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the senate and people, in- vited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary allegiance. When Belisarius entered the city, the garrison departed without molesta- tion along the Flaminian Way ; and Rome, after sixty years servitude, was delivered from the yoke of the barbarians (A. D. 536, Deo. 10). Stu. Gibbon, 316-317. Belisarius "gained possession of Rome (Dec. A. D. 536), where for more than a year he was be- sieged by the Goths ; and although he made good his defence, almost the entire population of the city in the meantime perished by famine. Vitiges himself was next besieged in Ravenna, and was finally forced to surrender the place, and yield himself prisoner. (Dec. A. D. 539.) . . . The jeal- ousy of Justinian, however, having recalled Bel- isarius from Italy, in a few years the Goths re- covered their sway; but it was over a country almost deserted of its inhabitants. At length, in the year 552, Justinian formed in Italy an army of thirty thousand men, which he placed under the command of the eunuch Narses, who unex- pectedly proved to be an able general. In the following year the last of the Ostrogoth kings was slain in battle, and the empire of Justinian THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 83 was extended over the deserted wastes of the once fertile and populous Italy. (A. D. 554)"— Will Out. Hist, 241. Thus, in A. D. 554, the sun, or the regal power of Rome and Italy, "was smitten," and as far as sun-light or regal authority was concerned, " the third part" was "darkened;" but the moon and the stars, or the Roman senate and the consuls and magistrates, which had continued the exer- cise of their functions during the reigns of the Heruli and Goths, still afforded a feeble light. But "Longinus was sent in the year 566 (or 567), by the emperor Justin II., to govern Italy with absolute authority ; and he changed the whole form of the government, abolished the senate, and consuls, and all the former magistrates in Rome and Italy, and in every city of note consti- tuted a new governor with the title of Duke. He himself presided over all ; and residing at Ravenna, and not at Rome, he was called the ex- arch of Ravenna, as were also his successors in the same office. Rome was degraded to the same level with other places, and from being the queen of cities and the empress of the world, was re- duced to a poor dukedom, and made tributary to Ravenna, which she had used to govern."— Diss. Proph. 541. 84 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. The darkening of Rome and Italy, which, was begun by Belisarius, continued by Narses, and furthered by Longinus, was completed by Alboin the king of the Lombards, who invaded the "third part" in A. D. 568, when "from the Tren- tine hills to the gates of Ravenna and Rome, the inland regions of Italy became, without a battle or a siege, the lasting patrimony of the Lombards. . . . The reign of the founder was splendid and transient ; and, before he could regulate his new conquests, Alboin fell a sacrifice to domestic treason and female revenge"— being murdered at the instigation of his wife, Rosamond, in A. D. 573. And with the life of Alboin, ended the period of the darkening of the sun, moon and stars. In the darkness of A. D. 554, another great light, the Papacy, began to rise in Rome. Its lustre was augmented in A. D. 567 and 573 by the darkening of the moon and stars ; and continu- ing its rapid growth, in A. D. 607 and 681 it ex- tracted the brightest rays from the imperial sun of the Eastern sky, and in A. D. 1210 it outshone or eclipsed all other luminaries of the heavens— in the estimation of man. In subsequent chap- ters we shall observe how God, who sees not as man sees, regarded its brilliancy. CHAPTER VII. THE TEN-HORSED BEAST. "And I stood on the sand of the sea, and saw a beast coming out of the sea, and he had seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names impiously irrev- erent," etc. Rev. xiii. 1-10. Ill the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, the Eevelator presents the several forms of Christi- anity that should prevail in the world from the time of the Apostles to the end of this age. The first, that of the pure persecuted church, is sym- bolized by the woman clothed with the sun ; the second, Christianity amalgamated with the civil power, is designated by the ten-horned beast coming out of the sea ; and the third, the idola- trous Papal church, is presented as a two-horned beast coming out of the earth. These rise suc- cessively, but subsequently they are cotemporary. To stand in its proper chronological order the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation should occu- py the break between the sixth and seventh verses of the twelfth chapter, as the period of the beast that came out of the sea, and that of the beast that came out of the earth, comprises the 86 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 1260 days or years intervening between the flight of the woman into the wilderness, and the en- gagement of Michael with the dragon. We will notice some of the characteristics of the beast that came out of the sea : 1. Its seven heads allude to the seven forms of supreme government that prevailed succes- sively at Rome from the time of Romulus to the rise of the eighth head, the Papacy, called the "little horn" in Dan. vii : for the Romans were governed by 1. Kings ; 2. Consuls ; 3. Dictators ; 4. Decemvirs ; 5. Military Tribunes ; 6. Emperors; 7. Barbarian conquerors ; and finally by the Popes, the eighth head of Rev. xvii. 11. 2. The ten horns wearing diadems or crowns, signify the ten monarchies that were developed on the disruption of the Roman empire, and which with the time of their rise, Bishop Lloyd enumer ates thus : "1. Huns, about A. D. 356 ; 2. Ostro goths, A. D. 377; 3. Visigoths, A. D. 378; 4 Franks, A. D. 407; 5. Vandals, A. I). 407; 6 Suevi and Alans, A. D. 407; 7. Burgundians A.D. 407; 8. Heruli and Rugians, A. D. 476; 9 Saxons, A. D. 476 ; 10. Longobards in Hungary, A. D. 526."— Diss. Proph., 233. 3. This beast that came out of the sea, or the popular agitations and political and religious THE TEN-HORNED BEAST. 87 commotions attending the overthrow of Pagan- ism, was like a leopard (Grecian), and his feet were as those of a bear (Persian), and his mouth was as the month of a lion (Babylonian) ; and being made up of these fierce animals it consti- tuted the great and terrible beast of Dan. vii., but in its last, or Christian form, for it rose after John was at Patmos, and was soon divided into ten separate parts, toes, or horns. Hence we must conclude that the second form of Christi- anity, was the imperial, hierarchical system of Constantine, of which the Roman emperors were the head, and over which they exercised supreme authority. 4. It received its power, or armies ; its throne, or seat of government ; and its great authority, or civil and religious supremacy, from the dragon, or Rome Pagan. This exactly corresponds with the succession of Constantine and his civil and religious polity, to the heathen emperors, and their pagan religion. 5. The one of its seven heads that received the wound, which was afterwards healed, was the sixth, or imperial form of government, and the deadly wound was inflicted by the Heruli, Avho in A. D. 476, dethroned and banished the emperor Augustulus ; but the wound was healed 55 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. in A. D. 554, when Narses subdued trie Ostro- goths, and brought Italy under the authority of the emperor Justinian. 6. The beast was to continue with unbroken power for forty-two months, or 1260 symbolic days, or 1260 prophetic years ; he was to utter impious words against God, to make war upon, and overcome the saints ; but as he lead into cap- tivity, and killed with the sword, so he himself must be led into captivity, and be killed with the sword. These points will be noticed more fully further on. CHAPTER Vm. THE TWO-HOEOTED BEAST. "And I saw another beast coming out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence ; and he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed," etc. Rev. xiv. 11-18. A proper understanding of the exact time and manner of the rise of this papal or clerical beast, is of the utmost importance in order to a correct adaptation of the facts and events of modern history to the prophetic declarations of Holy Scripture ; and, happily, much light on this sub- ject may be derived from what is said in the seventh chapter of Daniel, and the seventeenth of the Revelation. The imperial beast rose out of the swelling sea of civil and religious commotion, but the papal beast rises out of the solid earth, and grows al- most imperceptibly until it assumes vast propor- tions, and commits deeds worthy of its dark and deadly character. The papal beast was to rise after the ten horns 90 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. of the imperial beast were developed, for Daniel says: "I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. . . . And the ten horns out of this kingdom (the Roman empire) are ten kings (or kingdoms) that shall rise ; and another shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings" (or king- doms). Dan. vii. 8-24. Before the rising "little horn" three of the ten horns, or monarchies, enumerated in the last chapter, were to be "plucked up by the roots." We will endeavor to find which three of the ten these were. About the beginning of the fourth century, Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, taught that the Son of God was not coequal with the Father, and his doctrine, called Arianism, was soon ac- cepted throughout the Christian Church. By the council of Nice, the Mcene creed was adopt- ed, and Arianism condemned ; and towards the end of the fourth century, by anathema, and more violent measures, it was suppressed within the Roman empire, but it continued to prevail among the Germanic tribes. In the latter part of the fourth century (as we saw in the sixth THE TWO-HORDED BEAST. 91 chapter) the barbarian tribes of the North began to invade the Roman dominions, and the empire became more and more enfeebled until A. D. 476, when Odoacer, the chief of the Heruli (who were Arians) took Eome, abolished the imperial titles of Caesar and Augustus, and proclaimed himself king of Italy. This event placed one of the ten horns in the way of the rising papacy. The Her- uli, being Arians, were very offensive to the bishop of Eome, and to the emperor Zeno at Con- stantinople, and the latter induced Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, to invade " Italy, then ruled by the usurper Odoacer. Consequently, in A. D. 488, he marched toward the peninsula at the head of his whole people, amounting to about 200,000, with a large number of wagons. He first met in the Alpine passes and routed an army of the Gepidas and Sarmatians, then de- feated Odoacer himself on the banks of the Sontius (Isonzo), in A. D. 489. After two other victories, one on the banks of the Adige, and the other on those of the Adda, he shut his opponent within the walls of Ravenna, and after a siege of three years received his capitulation in A. D. 493, apparently consenting to share the kingdom of Italy with him; but Theodoric soon after had his rival assassinated at a solemn banquet, 92 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. and firmly established his power over the whole peninsula."— American Cyclopaedia, u Theodoric." Thus was the first of the three "horns plucked up by the roots." "The second kingdom that stood in the way of the "little horn" was that of the Vandals, who, in A. D. 429, under Genseric, crossed over into Africa with a powerful fleet, and although num- bering not more than 50,000, they conquered the whole of the northern coast as far as Tunis, and subsequently gained possession also of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Baleares," and parts of Italy. "All the shores of the Mediterranean from Asia Minor and Egypt to the straits of Gibralter were now ravaged by the Vandals." "Iii A. ]). 455 they sacked Rome." "A fleet sent by the emperor Majorian (A. D. 457) to check these ravages was destroyed in the bay of Cartagena ; nor was another sent by the Byzantine emperor Leo (A. D. 468), more success- ful, and Genseric reigned victoriously until his death." "Having adopted the Arian creed, he persecuted the orthodox Christians. For more than a century they maintained their power in Africa, with Carthage as their capital, until it was overthrown by Belisarius, the general of the emperor Justinian, who conquered their last king THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. 93 Gelimer in A. D. 534. After this defeat tkey dis- appear from history. 11 {Am. Cyc, " Vandals" and "Genseric") They were "plucked up by the roots." The third monarchy that was plucked up to make room for the Papacy was that of the Ostro- goths, who, as we saw above, established them- selves in Italy by the subjugation of the Heruli. During Theodoric's reign of thirty-three years, Italy enjoyed a good degree of prosperity, and although an Arian, he seldom persecuted the Catholics ; but after his death his successors were unable long to retain the benefits of his conquests and wise legislation. "Profiting by the Gothic disorders consequent upon the death of Theodoric in A. D. 526, Justinian sent Bslis- arius to Italy. He took Pome, and gaining the admiration of the Goths, was invited to be their king. This he refused, but held the Goths in subjection for his master. Totila, a noble Goth, rebelled, and mastered Southern Italy. He was about to destroy Pome, but yielding to the remon- strance of Belisarius that it would add more to his honor to spare it, contented himself with dispersing the inhabitants, (A. D. 546,) and repeo- pling it before the arrival of a fresh army from Constantinople, under Narses. Totila fell in battle (A. I). 552,) and his successor, Teias, suf- 94 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. fered the same fate (A. D. 553). Italy was recon- quered, and the Gothic monarchy, founded by Theodoric the Great, was extinguished." — Am. Cyc. " Goths." "The Goths were again defeated ; Teias, their last king, was slain in battle, A. D. 553, and Aligern (Teias' brother) after defending Cumse above a year against the forces of the Komans, at length surrendered to Narses. After the death of Teias, Italy was overwhelmed by a new deluge of barbarians Two brothers, Lothaire and Buccelin, the dukes of the Alemanni, stood forth as the leaders of the Italian war, and 75,000 Germans descended in the Autumn (A. D. 553) from the Rhaetian Alps into the plain of Milan. ... At the entrance of the Spring (A. D. 554) the Imperial troops who had guarded the cities assembled to the number of 18,000 in the neigh- borhood of Rome. . . . Narses gained another signal victory; and Buccelin and the greatest part of his army perished on the field of battle, in the waters of the Vulturnus, or by the hands of the enraged peasants. After the battle of Cas- ilinum, Narses entered the capital ; the arms and treasures of the Goths, the Franks, and the Ale- manni were displayed; his soldiers, with gar- lands in their hands, chanted the praises of the THE TWOHOKNED BEAST. 95 conqueror ; and Rome, for the last time, beheld the semblance of a triumph." — Stu. Gib. 332. u At length, in the year 552, Justinian formed in Italy an army of thirty thousand men, which he placed under the command of the eunuch Narses, who unexpectedly proved to be an able general. In the following year the last of the Ostrogoth kings was slain in battle, and the em- pire of Justinian was extended over the deserted waste of the once fertile and populous Italy. (A. D. 554)"— Will Out. Hist. 241. "The conquest of Italy was begun by Belisar- ius (A. D. 535,) and completed by the eunuch Narses, who was established as the imperial vice- gerent or Exarch, at Ravenna, in A. D. 554." — Student's Heel. Hist. 393. "The Gothic kingdom lasted only till the year 554, when it was overthrown by Narses, the gen- eral of Justinian."— Will. Out. Hist. 213. We are particular thus to establish by the con- current testimonies of several reliable authors, the time when the last of the three horns was " plucked up by the roots," because at that very time, the " little horn," the Papacy, rose up in its place. To the Revelator it was said (Rev. xvii. 10, 11.) : "And there are seven kings (forms of government), 96 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. five have fallen (Kings, Consuls, Dictators, De- cemvirs and Military Tribunes,) one is, (Emperors were reigning in John's time,) and the other (Gothic or Barbarian) has not yet come ; and when he comes, he must remain but a little while (the barbarian lasted only 78 years— A. D. 476-554 — while the preceding imperial continued about 500 years, and the succeeding Papal over 1200 years). And the beast that was, and is not (the Papacy,) even he is the eighth, and is of the seven;" or, the Papacy is the immediate successor of the Gothic. Consequently, at the exact point where the period of the seventh, the Gothic, ended, there the time of the eighth, the Papal, began ; and this, as we have shown above, was in the year A. D. 554. This second, or clerical, beast "had two horns like a lamb," which may allude (a) to the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople ; (b) to the temporal and spiritual powers of the popes; (c) to the regular and secular clergy of the Papal church; and (d) especially to the Franciscan and Dominican friars, who adorned the head of the matured Anti-Christ when the "little horn" be- came "more stout than his fellows" and "spoke as a dragon." "And he exercises all the authority (temporal THE TWO-HORNED BEAST. 97 and spiritual despotism) of the first beast (the imperial or Constaiitiiiian polity) in his presence (the clerical and the imperial beasts are cotem- porary from the rise of the former to the end of this age) ; and he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed (the Papacy compels men to reverence and submit to the emperors of the East, and their exarchs at Ravenna). And he does great signs, and even causes fire to de- scend from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men (the authority of the Papal Church has been maintained in a great measure, by pretended miracles). And he deceives those who dwell on the earth, by means of the signs which he is allowed to do in the presence of the beast (the pretensions of the Popes are favored by the em- perors that the subjection of men to despotic authority may be facilitated), saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast which had the wound of the sword and did live (the imperial authority was wounded or destroyed by Ocloacer, and re- stored by Narses). And it was granted him to give spirit to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as would not worship the image of the 98 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. beast, to be killed," — the Pope possessed and exercised the power of restoring or reproducing the empire of the West, which had been extin- guished by the Heruli, and he did it thus : "A conspiracy in Rome having forced the Pope to seek the protection of Charlemagne, in the year 800, the latter visited Pome in person to pun- ish the evil doers. While he was there attend- ing services in St. Paul's Church, at the Christ- mas festival, the gratified pontiff placed upon his head a crown of gold, and, in the formula ob- served for the Roman emperors, and amid the acclamations of the people, saluted him by the titles of Emperor and Augustus. This act was considered as indicating the revival of the Em- pire of the West, after an interruption of about three centuries." — Will. Out. Hist, 259. The object of the Pope, Leo III., in creating Charlemagne Emperor of Rome and the West, is clearly stated in the prophecy. It was to effect the entire subjection of all mei\ "small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" to ecclesiasti- cal and civil despotism, and that the civil arm should be employed, so that all who were not Catholics and Imperialists, and refused to obey and worship the tyrants of the Church and State, should be killed, or debarred from buying and THE TWO-HORKED BEAST. 99 selling, and all other common rights and privi- leges of humanity. "Here is wisdom. Let him that has under- standing count the number of the beast ; for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hun- dred and sixty-six." Here we have a prophetic number to dispose of. In ancient times it was customary to designate names by numbers : the first nine letters of the Greek alphabet repre- sented the units, the next nine letters the tens, and the third nine letters the hundreds, etc. Many learned men have endeavored, by the num- ber 666 to write the name of the two-horned beast whose natural history we are now study- ing. "No name appears more proper and suitable than that famous one mentioned by Irenaeus, who lived not long after St. John's time, and was the disciple of Polycarp the disciple of John. He saith, that 'the name Lateinos contains the number 666 ; and it is very likely, because the last kingdom is so called, for they are Latins who now reign : . . . Lateinos with ei is the true orthography, as the Greeks wrote the long i of the Latins, and as the Latins themselves wrote in former times ; . . . and as Dr. Henry More expresseth it, they Latinize in everything. 'Mass, 100 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. prayers, hymns, litanies, canons, decretals, bulls, are conceived in Latin.' And probably as the apostle hath made use of some Hebrew names in this book, as 'Abaddon,' ix. 11., and 'Armaged- don,' xvi. 16, so might he in this place likewise allude to the name in the Hebrew language. Now 'Romiith' is the Hebrew name for 'Roman beast' or 'Roman kingdom:' and this word, as well as the former word 'Lateinos' contains the just and exact number 666. It is really surpris- ing that there should be such a fatal coincidence in both names in both languages. Mr. Pyle as- serts, and I believe he may assert very truly, that 'no other word, in any language whatever, can be found to express both the same number, and the same thing.' "—Diss. Proph., 619. Others have found out that, in the Latin lan- guage, 666 signifies "Vicar of the Son of God," which the Popes have had inscribed upon their mitres, and on the door of the Vatican. We have then, in the Hebrew language, "Ro- miith," meaning "Roman kingdom" and "Roman beast," and signifying both the origin and the place of the two-horned beast; in the Greek tongue "Lateinos," indicating the language in which "the little horn" "speaks great words against the Most High ;" and in the Latin Ian- THE TW0-H0BNED BEAST. 101 guage "Vicar of the Son of God," as one of the many blasphemous titles that the "Mother of Harlots" assumes in order to "reign over the kings of the earth," and to "corrupt the earth with her lewdness." How wonderful are the means afforded for identifying the "Antichrist," "the Man of Sin!" For as the blessed Jesus, the true Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of men, had His superscrip- tion, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, so the Omniscient has designated the Antichrist, the enemy of God and man, in the same three lan- guages. CHAPTER IX. THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. A. D. 554—1076. "And the fifth angel sounded ; and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth ; and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss ; and he opened the pit of the abyss ; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.'" Rev. ix. 1-11. The first four trumpets referred to the removal of Imperial Romanism from Rome, so that Clerical and Papal Romanism might rise up and develop in its place ; and the fifth trumpet alludes first to the origin and development of the Papacy, and then to the divine method of restraining its terri- ble power. In Rev. viii. 13, we read : "And I saw and heard an eagle, as he flew in mid-heaven, saying, with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth (the Roman world) because of the remaining voices of the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound." It may be stated here that the three woes are the restraint, the THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 103 affliction, and the destruction that the Saracens, the Turks and the Protestants were to bring upon the dragon and the beast, or Imperial and Cler- ical Romanism. As soon as the Papacy was ma- tured by the grant of supreme spiritual author- ity, made to Pope Boniface III. by the tyrant Phocas, in A. D. 606 or 607, Mohammed entered his cave to fabricate the system of Islamism, which has been the antidote to Romanism, cir- cumscribing its dominion, and restraining its power ; and without which, humanly speaking, no reformation or relief from the terrible darkness and despotism of the middle ages would have been possible. The first thing that resulted from the sound- ing of the fifth trumpet was the falling of a star from heaven to the earth. In Rev. xii. 1., the "twelve stars" refer to the twelve Apostles of our Lord, and in Rev. i. 20, the "seven stars" are the symbols of the chief pastors or bishops of the seven churches of Asia, and here, this star alludes to the bishop of Rome who fell from the heaven of spirituality, to the earth of worldly cares, am- bition and pride, or became secularized in A. D. 554, on becoming the "little horn" of Dan. vii. 8, and the eighth head of Rev. xvii. 9. In A. D. 553, for a breach of faith with the 104 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. emperor, Pope Vigilius was in a manner deposed by the Fifth G-eneral Council, and "Pelagius was chosen his successor through the influence of Justinian (A. D. 555) ; and for the first time the emperor assumed authority to confirm the elec- tion of a Pope. With the aid of Narses, Pelagius enforced the decrees of Constantinople by depo- sition, banishment and civil penalties, but they were generally resisted in the West. The bish- ops of Northern Italy, Illyria, and Africa, sepa- rated from Pome ; and the schism was only partly healed by Pope Gregory the Great about the end of the century."— Stu. Eccles. Hist, 374. This quotation refers to some of the events which occurred at the commencement of the time during which the Popes, or the Roman See, fell from heaven to the earth : — (a\ Pope Vigilius fell in the estimation of, and was disgraced by, the Emperor and the General Council ; (b), Pela- gius, as a creature and faithful servant of the Emperor, in an earthly, secular and tyrannical manner, and by the aid of the civil arm of the exarch Narses, enforced u by deposition, banish- ment, and civil penalties," the doctrinal decrees of the first beast, Justinian, whose imperial author- ity had just been extended over Italy, so that Pelagius, in this manner, caused the earth and THE FIFTH TEUMPET — THE FIEST WOE. 105 those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed." Rev. xiii. 12 ; and (c), when the second beast, Pelagius, "exer- cised all the authority (civil and ecclesiastical despotism) of the first beast (Justinian, a succes- sor and imitator of Constantine) in his presence," or within his dominions, the See of Rome fell in the estimation of her former adherents, and "the bishops of Northern Italy, Illyria, and Africa, separated from Rome." Yet the See of Rome was now a "horn" or despotic power, though "little," and it continued to grow larger and stronger. This prophecy refers to the fall or seculariza- tion of the Roman See during a period of several years, (A. I). 554-632), but it alludes especially to the terrible fall of Pope Gregory, whom men call Great ; and we will now have Gregory himself re- late to us exactly how it happened. In a letter "to Theoctesta, sister to the emperor," he says : — "Under color of the bishopric, I find I am brought back to the world, in which I am enslaved to such a quality of earthly cares, as I never re- membered to have been infested with in my lay capacity. I have lost the sublime joys of myself ; and, sinking inwardly, seem to rise externally. I deplore my expulsion from the face of my Maker. 106 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. I was endeavoring to live out of the world and the flesh ; to drive away all the phantasms of body from the eyes of my mind, and to see super- nal joys mentally; and with my inmost soul panting after God, I said, My heart hath said to thee, 'Thy face, Lord, will I seek.' . . . But suddenly, from the height of peace and stability, impelled by the whirlwind of this temptation, I have fallen into fears and terrors ; ... I am shaken with the fluctuations of causes on all sides, and say, 'I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.' After the hurry of the causes is over, I desire to return to my heart, but excluded from it by the vain tumult of thoughts, I cannot return." — Hist of the Church of Christ, vol. 3, p. 31. "Ah, Lord, with trembling I confess, A gracious soul may fall from grace ; The salt may loose its seasoning power, And never, never find it more. Lest this my fearful case should be, Each moment knit my soul to thee ; And lead me to the mount above, Through the low vale of humble love." That Gregory had been a truly pious, spiritual- minded Christian, is evident, both from the prophecy and his own statements; and that he fell from his exalted state of heavenly-minded THE FIFTH TKUMPET— THE FIEST WOE. 107 ness and became earthly and sensual, proud and ambitious, is equally clear from his own testi- mony, that of the Scripture, and that of histori- cal writers, which we will now see. "And there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss." "It has been observed that Greg- ory was the first who asserted the power of the Keys, as committed to the successor of St. Peter, rather than to the body of bishops; and he be- trayed on many occasions a very ridiculous eagerness to secure their honor. Consequently, he was profuse in his distribution of certain keys, endowed, as he was not ashamed to assert, with supernatural qualities ; he even ventured to insult Anastasius, the Patriarch of Antioch, by such a gift. I have sent you (he says) keys of the blessed Apostle Peter, your guardian, which, when placed upon the sick, are wont to be re- splendent with numerous miracles." — Wadding- tori 's Church History, 143. "And he opened the pit of the abyss" (estab- lished Purgatory \ Rev. ix. 2. "During the four first centuries there was no mention or thought of Purgatory, . . . but the credit of establish- ing it among the unquestionable truths of the Church is due to the superstition or craft of Gregory the Great. . . . The consequence, 108 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. which presently followed from the establishment of a place of temporary punishment, or purifica- tion for departed souls, was, that the successor of St. Peter assumed, through the power of the keys, unlimited authority there. By indulgence, issued at the discretion of the Pope, the sinner (in the theory, the repentant sinner) was released from suffering, and immediately passed into a state of grace."— Wad. Oh. Hist, 186 and 510. "And there arose a smoke (false doctrines, su- perstition and idolatry) out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit" (Rev. ix. 2); that is, the light of the Sun of righteous- ness, and the pure doctrines of the Gospel, which are as necessary to sustain the divine light and life of the soul as the natural sun and air are to support the physical life of the body, were ob- scured and corrupted by the false doctrines, su- perstition, and idolatry, invented, or established, or encouraged by Gregory, and other fallen min- isters of the Apostate Church. "More firmly rooted each succeeding year, the noxious plants of superstition continued to throw out a number of strong and vigorous branches, which were carefully encouraged and cultivated. They were indeed an unfailing source of profit THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 109 to the corrupt ministers of the Church. The people were instructed that by their liberality to the clergy, or to the monastry, they conciliated the favor of Heaven, and obtained the interces- sion of departed saints. . . . The corrupt doc- trines of religion received, if no improvement, no very considerable alterations, in the sixth cen- tury. The torments of an intermediate state were loudly insisted upon to the ignorant multi- tudes at this time by the superstitious Gregory, whom the Romish Church has chosen to distin- guish by the appellation of Great. . . . The primitive doctrines of the Gospel were so entire- ly obscured by superstition, and so imperfectly understood, that great numbers began to conceive that the profession of religion was all that was necessary for acceptance with God. . . . Every superstitious practice of this period met with a steady and zealous patron in Gregory the Great, who encouraged the use of pictures and images in churches, and strongly insisted upon the effi- cacy of relics."— Ruter's Church History, 126, 129. As stated above, this prophecy alludes to the See of Rome, and especially to Pope Gregory; but it also indicates the state of the Eastern Church, and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Pope 110 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. and Patriarch were now the two horns of the Clerical beast, and two fallen and extinguished stars of heaven. Their Sees alike were filled with false doctrines, superstition and idolatry, and their souls with vanity, pride and ambition. "In A. D. 588, at a Synod called at Constanti- nople, .... John, surnamed the Faster, who was then Primate of the East, adopted, as we have observed, the title of (Ecumenical, or Uni- versal Bishop. It appears that this title had been conferred on the patriarchs by the Empe- rors Leo and Justinian, without any accession of power ; nor was it, in fact, understood to indicate any claim to supremacy beyond the limits of the Eastern Church. But Gregory could not brook such assumption in an Eastern Prelate, and used every endeavor to deprive his rival of the obnox- ious title, and at the same time to establish his own superiority. He failed in both these at- tempts — at least his success was confined to the Western clergy, and to the interested and preca- rious assent of the discontented subjects of the Eastern Church. The quarrel proceeded during the seventh century, and the Roman Catholic writers confidently assert that the Emperor Phocas (a sanguinary usurper), through the in- fluence of Pope Boniface III., transferred the dis- THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. Ill puted title from trie Greek to trie Eoman Pontiff." -Wad. Ok. Hist., 174. " The jealous uneasiness of Gregory at the pride of John, Bishop of Constantinople, has already been mentioned. The title of Universal Bishop had, upon his own application, been conferred upon him in an eastern council. .... Greg- ory was the more vexed at this because the Synod of Chalcedon had offered the same title to the Roman bishops, and they had not accepted it. . . . . But it continues to this day the title of his successors, a standing mark of egregious hypocrisy ! Gregory had an enormous notion of the pre-eminence of his own See as belonging to St. Peter. . . . He solicited the Emperor Mauritius on the subject, but in vain. . . . Phocas took away the title of Universal Bishop from the Prelate of Constantinople, and granted it to Boniface III., the next successor but one to Gregory. After Phocas' death the prelate of the East re-assumed the title. The two bishops each preserved it, and with equal ambition strove for the pre-eminence." — Hist. Church Christ, vol. 3,48,52. " Gregory the Great asserted in lofty terms the rights of the Romish See to an entire supremacy over the whole Christian world Those 112 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. claims to dominion and supremacy, which at first were but faintly urged by the Roman pontiffs, were continually extended, and as continually successful ; new titles, and even those which had occasioned the warmest opposition from the fol- lowers of St. Peter, when conferred upon their brethren of Constantinople, were eagerly sought for, and gratefully received by bishops of Rome for themselves. The artful Boniface III., who had for some years resided as nuncio at the im- perial court, did not disdain to insinuate himself into the good opinions of the infamous Phocas, or to receive with gratitude the effects of his fa- vor. The Romish patriarchs were permitted in future to assume the title of (Ecumenical or Uni- versal bishops. . . . But the demands of am- bition and vanity were insatiable ; and the lead- ers of the Romish Church were so little contented with the honors they had already acquired, that Agatho laid claim to a privilege never yet en- joyed by man ; and asserted that the Church of Rome never had erred ; nor could err in any point, and that all its constitutions ought to be as implicitly received as if they had been delivered by the divine voice of St. Peter. . . . The au- thority exercised by the clergy extended as well to the superior as to the inferior classes of man- THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 113 kind ; and the twelfth council of Toledo, in the year 681, presumed to release the subjects of Wamba from their allegiance to their sove- reign." — Bitter's Church History, pages 122, 142, 143, 148. "And out of the smoke there came locusts upon the earth." Rev. ix. 3. The locusts symbolically represent the followers of Mohammed who was induced by the terrible corruptions, fierce con- tentions, and dreadful idolatry prevalent among Christians and others to fabricate his system of religion to supercede the star worship of the Arabians, the fire-earth-and-water worship of the Persians, and the worship of dead men and women, images, pictures, paintings, and relics by the Greeks and Romans. Hence it is that the locusts, or Mohammedan Arabs, are represented as originating in, and coming out of the darkness and smoke, or the corrupt practices, false doc- trines, and idolatrous worship of degenerated Christendom. The Arabs are the descendents of Abraham's son Ishmael, to whose mother the angel of the Lord said : "I will multiply thy seed exceeding- ly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude," and of her son the angel said : "And he will be a wild man; his hand shall be against every 114 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. man, and every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of his breth- ren." Gen. xvi. 10, 12. And, according to this promise, Ishmael's descendents, the Arabs, have been a distinct and independent people for nearly four thousand yea ^s. Mohammed, the founder of Islamism, was born in Mecca in the year 569. His parents were of "the tribe of the Koreish, and of the family of Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the princes of Mecca, and the hereditary guardians of the Cabba," or the great temple of Mecca. Mohammed's parents were poor, and dying dur- ing his infancy, leaving him only 1iYe camels and a female slave of Ethiopia, entrusted him to the care of his grandfather, and uncle, Abu-Taleb. By the latter he was trained to the business of a traveling merchant. When twenty-five years of age Mohammed entered the service of Cadi j ah, a widow of one of the chief citizens of Mecca, and in her service he traveled with her camels and her merchandise to the great fair at Damascus. To this lady he so commended himself by his engaging qualities that in three years she became his wife. By his extensive travels he was brought in contact with men of all religions, and various nations ; and he obtained that knowledge of opin- THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIEST WOE. 115 ions, and of the state of the surrounding govern- ments, with their religious and political institu- tions, of which he made use in his solitary medi- tations in later years. "With the exception of the children of Israel the religions of the world were guilty, at least in the eyes of the prophet, of giving sons, or daugh- ters, or companions to the Supreme Grocl. In the rude idolatry of the Arabs the crime is manifest and audacious : the Sabians are poorly excused by the pre-eminence of the first planet, or intelli- gence, in their celestial hierarchy ; and in the Magian system the conflict of the two principles betrays the imperfection of the conqueror. The Christians of the seventh century had insensibly relapsed into a semblance of paganism ; their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and images that disgraced the temples of the east : the throne of the Almighty was dark- ened by a cloud of martyrs, and saints, and angels, the objects of popular veneration; and the Collyridian heretics, who nourished in the fruitful soil of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary with the name and honors of a goddess. The creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion and am- biguity ; and the Koran is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The prophet of Mecca re- 116 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. jected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets, on the rational principle that whatever rises must set, that whatever is born must die, that whatever is corruptible must decay and perish."— /S^w. Gib., 453. In the year 606 Mohammed conceived the idea of instituting a system of religion that should be regarded as superior and acceptable by all the surrounding nations, and during three years (A. D. 606-609) he was occupied in developing his doc- trines and plans. During this time he retired to "the cave of Hira, near Mecca, where he spent the day in prayer, meditation and fasting, and came home at night to tell his wife the sights he pretended to have seen, and the sounds he pre- tended to have heard in this mysterious cave. He told her that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him, and addressed him as the apostle of God. . . Cadijah was charmed with this intelligence. . . . His first convert was his wife. The next convert was Zeid, his servant. The third was Ali, son of his uncle and guardian Abu-Taleb, and, at that time a boy. The fourth was Abu-Beker, a man of the highest character and of the greatest in- fluence in Mecca. By Abu-Beker's persuasion, Othman, Abdel-Rahman, Saad, Al-Zobeir, and several leading men of Mecca, were induced to THE FIFTH TRUMPET^ THE FIRST WOE. 117 join him. These disciples of his religion became the main supporters of his authority, and the bravest of his warriors. . . . For three years Mohammed continued to teach his doctrines in private only, because he was afraid of the oppo- sition of the Koreish. During this time, he pro- fessed to have received many revelations from heaven. At length, he felt so strong in the sup- port of Abu-Beker, and in the number of his followers that he resolved to declare to his rela- tions that God had commanded him to make known his mission to them. . . . Mohammed now began to preach to the people in public. 7 ' — Life of Mohammed, 34-37. Dean Prideaux says : "It is to be observed that Mahomet began this imposture about the same time that the Bishop of Rome, by virtue of a grant from the wicked tyrant Phocas, first as- sumed the title of Universal Pastor, and thereon claimed to himself that supremacy which he hath been ever since endeavoring to usurp over the Christian Church. Phocas made this grant A. D. 606, which was the very same year that Ma- homet retired to his cave to forge that imposture there."— Diss. Proph., 362. "It was in the year 609, when Mahomet was already forty years old, that he began to preach 118 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. his new doctrine at Mecca." — Will-son's Out His- tory, 247. The dates given in these two quotations, which correspond with those given by most other au- thors, for the retirement of Mohammed to his cave, and his commencing to preach his doctrines in Mecca, are very important, and we shall have occasion to refer to them again in this and subse- quent chapters. Other important events connected with the rise of Islamism occurred in the year 622, up to which time Mohammed had been oppressed and ridiculed by his countrymen. "And at the end of thirteen years he was obliged to flee from Mecca to save his life (A. D. 622). This celebrated flight, called the Hegira, is the grand era of the Mohammedan religion. Repairing to Yatreb, . . he was there received by a large band of converts with every demonstration of joy ; and soon the whole city acknowledged him as its leader and prophet. Mahomet now declared that the empire of his religion was to be established by the sword." — Will Out Hist, 247. As Mohammed's followers increased in num- bers, he led them in the conquest of larger and more powerful tribes and nations ; In A. D. 627 he subdued the Jews of Arabia. THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 119 In A. D. 629 Mecca submitted to his authority, and professed Islamism, when "the 360 idols of the Caaba were ignominiously broken, and the house of Grod purified and adorned." In A. D. 632 occurred the conquest of Arabia, and the death of Mohammed, at which time a hundred and fourteen thousand men marched under his banners. He was succeeded by Abu- Beker, who in this year commenced the conquest of Syria and Palestine. In A. D. 634 Abu-Beker died, on the very day in which Damascus was taken by his armies, and he was succeeded by Omar. In A. D. 636 occurred the memorable battles of Yermouk and Cadesiah, by which the armies of the Romans and Persians were overthrown, and the entire East became an easy prey to the vic- torious Moslems. "The fall of Emessa, and Baal- bec or Heliopolissoon followed that of Damascus. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, made one great effort to save Syria, but on the banks of the Yermouk his best generals were defeated by Khaled with a loss of seventy thousand soldiers, who were left dead on the field (Nov. A. D. 636). Jerusalem, after a siege of four months, capitu- lated to Omar, who caused the ground on which had stood the temple of Solomon to be cleared of 120 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. its rubbish, and prepared for the foundation of a mosque, which still bears the name of the Caliph. ... In the meantime the conquest of Persia had been followed up by other Saracen generals. In the same year that witnessed the battle of Yermouk, the Persians and Saracens fought on the plains of Cadesiah one of the bloodiest battles on record. Seven thousand five hundred Saracens and one hundred thousand Persians are said to have fallen. The fate of Persia was determined, although the Persian monarch kept together some time longer the wreck of his empire, but he was finally slain in the year 651, and with him expired the second Persian dynasty, that of the Sassanidas." — Wilt. Out Hist, 249. From A. D. 636 to 639 the entire subjugation of Syria and Palestine was effected. From A. D. 639 to 641 Egypt was brought under the dominion of the Mohammedans. From A. D. 647 to 709 the whole of Northern Africa submitted to the yoke of the invaders. From A. D. 711 to 713 Spain was added to the empire of the Arabians. From A. D. 668 to 718 the Moslems made several attempts on Constantinople, but as "they were permitted not to kill" the rulers, possess the capi- THE FIFTH TRUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 121 tal, or overthrow the empire of apostate Imperial Christianity, the plentiful use of Greek fire caused them to abandon their attempts to invade Europe from the East, and to undertake the task by the way of the Pyrenees. In A. D. 721 the Saracens invaded France, and would soon have enveloped the whole of Christen- dom, had not Heaven decreed that "thus far shaft thou come and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed ;" and had not "the stout hearts and iron hands" of Charles Martels' Ger- mans "stood the shock like a wall of stone, and beat down the light armed Arabs with terrific slaughter" on the plains of Poictiers in A. D. 732. These were the locusts that came out of the smoke and darkness, or the ignorance, vice, su- perstition and idolatory, resulting from the cor- ruption of Christianity. And that Mohammed and his successors were rightly called "Abaddon" and "Apollyon," the Destroyer or Desolator; and Islamism, "the abomination that maketh deso- late" (Dan. xii. 11), will appear from the follow- ing : "In ten years of the administration of Omar the Saracens reduced to his obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thous- and churches and temples of the unbelievers, and erected fourteen hundred mosques for the 122 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. exercise of the religion of Mohammed. And so Mr. Mede well observes : 'No nation had ever so wide a command, nor ever were so many king- doms, so many regions subjugated in so short a space of time. It sounds incredible, yet most true it is, that in the space of about eighty years they subdued and acquired to the diabolical kingdom of Mahomet, Palestine, Syria, both Ar- menian, almost all of Asia Minor, Persia, India, Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary, even to the river Niger, Portugal, Spain. Neither did their for- tune or ambition stop here, till they had added also a great part of Italy as far as the gates of Rome ; moreover, Sicily, Candia, Cyprus and the other islands of the Mediterranean Sea.' " — Diss. Proph., 545. "And they were commanded not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but the men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Rev. ix. 14. This, doubtless, alludes to the command given by Abu-Beker to his generals on their first invasion of Syria in A. D. 632 or 633. "When you fight the battles of the Lord acquit yourselves like men without turning your backs ; but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut THE FIFTH TKUMPET — THE FIRST WOE 123 down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. . . . As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monastries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way ; but let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their monastries ; and you will find another sort of people that be- long to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns ; be sure to cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammed- ans or pay tribute." " And they were not permitted to kill them, but to torment them five months. . . . And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name, in Hebrew, is Abaddon, and, in Greek, he has the name of Apollyon." Verses 5, 11. The Saracens were not permitted to kill the faithful servants of God, nor to destroy the Roman, or Byzantine empire, but to torment and punish for their corrupt and idolatrous practices, the apostate Christians, who had not the seal of God, but the seal of Anti-Christ, in their foreheads. The avowed purpose of Mohammed and his suc- cessors was to punish men for their idolatry; and the chastisement inflicted by the Saracens was the most severe where the worship of saints, images, pictures and relics most prevailed. 124 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. In fixing the time during which the Saracens were to hurt and torment men as stated in the fifth and tenth verses, we must notice that the eleventh verse states that they had over them a (one) king, the angel of the abyss (cave or cavern). This alludes to Mohammed, who devised his reli- gion and plans in the cave of Mount Hira ; but as Mohammed died before the five months of years (5 x 30 = 150 years) expired, it applies also to his successors as long as one Caliph only ruled. "When the Ommiyade line of caliphs was over- thrown by the Abbassides, Abderrahman, who had escaped the massacre of his family, was in- vited into Spain, and in A. D. 756 established an Ommiyade dynasty at Cordova,'" — Am. Cyc, "Spain." This event was just 150 years after Mo- hammed first entered his cave in A. D. 606, but these 150 lunar years must be reduced to solar time by deducting 3 therefrom, leaving 147 his- torical years, which, begun in 609, when Moham- med left his cave, commenced to preach in public, to have followers, and to be the leader, or king, of the locusts, will reach to the very year A. D. 756, when Spain revolted "and set up another caliph in opposition to Abbas, then reigning." And, according to Gibbon : "This revolution THE FIFTH TKUMPET — THE FIRST WOE. 125 tended to destroy the power and unity of the empire of the Saracens. . . . Instead of open- ing a door to the conquest of Europe, Spain was dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, en- gaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and inclined to peace and friendship with the Chris- tian sovereigns of Constantinople and France." — Stu. Gibbon, 483. Internal dissensions now arrested the sweeping tide of Saracen invasion, their thirst for conquest abated, and in A. D. 762 the caliph Al-Mansour began to build Bagdad for his residence, which he called Medinat el Salem— City of Peace. CHAPTER X. THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. A. D. 1076-1555. 41 And the sixth angel sounded ; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God, saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet : Loose the four angels that are hound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men." Kev. ix. 13- 16. The idolatrous Christians, after having been tormented by the Arabian locusts, were left for a while that they might consider their wicked ways, repent of their sins, and reform their con- duct; but they "repented not of the works of their hands, that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk ; and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their lewd- ness, nor of their thefts." Rev. ix. 20, 21. There- fore the Euphratean horsemen, or the Seljukian Turks, are brought upon the scene to accomplish THE SIXTH TEUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 127 that which the Saracens were not "permitted" to do— "to slay" the ruling dynasty, capture the seat of government, and annihilate the power of "the third part of men" (the eastern or Greek di- vision of the Eoman empire), and to further tor- ment the worshipers of the dragon and beast. The four angels that were to be loosed were the four sultanies, or dynasties, of the Turkish empire — that of Persia, Kerman, Syria and Roum, which were bound, or retained, in the vicinity of "the great river Euphrates," for 177 years (A. D. 1095-1272) by the eight different crusades that were organized in Europe to rescue Jerusalem and other sacred places in Palestine from the possession of the Mohammedans. "Since the first conquest of the caliphs, the es- tablishment of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia Minor was the most deplorable loss which the church and empire sustained. By the propaga- tion of the Moslem faith, Soliman deserved the name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his new kingdom of the Romans, or of Bourn, was added to the tables of Oriental geography. It is de- scribed as extending from the Euphrates to Con- stantinople, from the Black Sea to the confines of Syria. By the choice of the Sultan, Mce, the metropolis of Bithynia, was preferred for his 128 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. palace and fortress ; the seat of the Seljukian dynasty of Koum was planted 100 miles from Constantinople ; and the divinity of Christ was denied and derided in the same temple in which it had been pronounced by the first general syn- od of the Catholics. . . But the most inter- esting conquest of the Seljukian Turks was that of Jerusalem, which soon became the theatre of nations. In their capitulation with Omar, the inhabitants had stipulated the assurance of their religion and property, but the articles were in- terpreted by a master against whom it was dangerous to dispute ; and in the 400 years of the reign of the caliphs the political climate of Jeru- salem was exposed to the vicissitudes of storm and sunshine After the defeat of the Romans the tranquility of the Fatimate caliphs was invaded by the Turks. They were repulsed from Egypt, but they conquered Syria and the Holy Land. The house of Seljnk reigned about 20 years in Jerusalem (A. D. 1076-1096); but the hereditary command of the holy city and terri- tory was intrusted or abandoned to the Emir, Ortok, the chief of a tribe of Turkmans. The Oriental Christians and the Latin pilgrims deplored a revolution, which, instead of the reg- ular government and old alliance of the caliphs, THE SIXTH TKUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 129 imposed on their necks the iron yoke of the strangers of the North. A spirit of native bar- barism, or recent zeal, prompted the Turkmans to insult the clergy of every sect ; the patriarch was dragged by the hair along the pavement and cast into a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the sympathy of his flock ; and the divine worship in the Church of the Resurrection was often dis- turbed by the savage rudeness of its masters. The pathetic tale excited the millions of the West to march under the standard of the cross to the relief of the Holy Land."— Stu.- Gibbon, 541-543. The eight crusades that followed, and which cost Europe two millions of men, and countless treasure, so engaged the attention of the Turks that they were unable to proceed with the over- throw of the Byzantine empire, which they had undertaken; but after the crusaders retired they resumed the task that Providence permitted, if not designed them to accomplish. In A. D. 1339 they took Mcsea and Mcomedia, and soon made a permanent acquisition of terri- tory in Europe. In A. D. 1357 they took Grallipo- li ; in A. D. 1361 Adrianople, and in A. D. 1444 nearly the whole of the empire was in their pos- session, except the capital. "The Turks appeared before the walls of Con- 130 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. stantinople April 6, A. D. 1453, with an army of 400,000. They were not able to break the chain which protected the entrance of the harbor, but Sultan Mohammed II. had his fleet carried on rollers 10 miles overland, and launched into the inner gulf. Both sides fought bravely, but after a siege of 53 days Constantinople fell, May 29, A. D. 1453. Constantine died heroically in the breach. The city was delivered over to rapine, and the mass of the inhabitants sold into slavery. The brothers of Constantine, Demetrius and Thomas, held out for a short season in Morea. This, with the rest of the Latin principalities, which had acknowledged a loose feudal subjec- tion to the Byzantine emperor had fallen by A. D. 1460. David, the last of the Comneni, and the last emperor of Trebizond, submitted in A. D. 1461. Thus perished an empire which had kept the light of letters and civilization burning through all the night of the dark ages, when Western Europe, including even Italy, lay prostrate at the feet of barbarian conquerors, with whom the will of the strongest was the sole law." — Am. Cyc, "Byzantine Empire." "In the progress of his Anatolian conquests, Mahomet invested with a fleet and army the cap- ital of David, who presumed to style himself em- THE SIXTH TRUMPET 1 — THE SECOND WOE. 131 peror of Trebizond ; the feeble Comnenns surren- dered the city (A. D. 1461), and was transported with his family to a castle in Romania ; but on a slight suspicion of corresponding with the Persian king, David, and the whole Comnenian race were sacrificed to the jealousy or avarice of the conqueror."— Stu. Gibbon, 629. Seeing that the Turks have accomplished their mission — have captured the capital, destroyed the empire, and killed the reigning dynasty of "the third part," or the Greek division of the Ro- man world, let us now endeavor to find to what period the prophetic number, "an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year," applies. A pro- phetic year is 360 years, a month 30 years, a day one year, and an hour about 15 days. These together make 391 years and a fraction ; and the 391 years, properly "shortened," make 385 solar years. Now the Seljukian Turks, as we have seen above, conquered Syria and Palestine, and estab- lished their dominion in Jerusalem in A. D. 1076 ; and if from this date we measure with our 385 years we come exactly to A. D. 1461. In the former year the Turks "were prepared," and in the latter they finished their task, but from A. D. 1095 to 1272 they were "bound at the great river Euphrates" by the Crusades. 132 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Christianity, as instituted by the Apostles of our Lord, soon became corrupted by Greek phil- osophy and pagan idolatry and superstition. In the third century image worship existed, in the fourth century it became general ; Constantine favored and extended it. Reports of miraculous effects produced by some images attracted crowds of pilgrims. In the fifth century it became in- terwoven with the whole domestic and public life of the Greek and Asiatic Christians. In the course of the sixth century it became a custom in the Greek churches to make prostrations before images as a token of veneration to the persons whom they represented. And although some em- perors, kings and bishops protested against these practices, and the Jews denounced them as idolatry and apostacy from the divine law, yet they universally prevailed, and the Church be- came more pagan than Christian. It was to chastise these worshipers of saints and images that the monotheist Saracens and Turks inflicted the first and second woes. Eat, as we learn from the 20th and 21st verses, the terrible punishment and destruction visited upon the African, the Asian and the Greek Christians did not reform the Roman Church, for "the rest of the men that were not killed by these plagues THE SIXTH TRUMPET — THE SECOND WOE. 133 repented not of the works of their hands, that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk ; and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their lewdness, nor of their thefts." And hence in A. D. 1469 Sultan Mohammed II. is- sued this proclamation : "I, Mohammed, the son of Amurath . . . . emperor of emperors, and prince of princes, from the rising to the setting sun, promise to the only God, Creator of all things, by my vow, and by my oath, that I will not seek out what is pleasant, that I will not touch what is beautiful, nor turn my face from the west to the east, till I overthrow and trample under the feet of my horses the gods of the nations, those gods of wood, of brass, of silver, of gold, or of painting, which the disciples of Christ have made with their hands." — Sismondi. Accordingly Mohammed II. and his successors continued to harass and restrain the idolatrous dragonic and papal powers of Europe until the middle of the sixteenth century, when the Refor- mation had so far progressed that the Witnesses (Rev. xi. 11, 12.) were able to stand "upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon those who saw 134 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. them. And they heard a great voice from heav- en, saying to them ■ Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them." This, as will be shown further on, refers to the important events of the year 1555, when the period of the sixth trumpet and second woe ended, and the third, or Protestant woe, con- sisting of the seven last plagues of the wrath of God, began to be poured out upon the dragon and beast to complete the destruction of these monsters, which had been commenced by the Saracens, and continued by the Tmks. CHAPTER XL THE TWO WITNESSES. 313—1555. 4 'And a reed like a rod was given to me ; and it was said : Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But the court that is without the temple leave out, and measure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty-two months. And I will give to my two witnesses, that they may prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth. . . . And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. . . . And after the three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon those who saw them," etc. R?v. xi. 1-13. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days." Rev. xii. 6. Ill the last two chapters we noticed the state and affliction of the outward, temporal, domi- nant, but corrupt Church. In this we must con- sider the condition of the inward, spiritual, sup- pressed, hut pure Church of Christ, as indicated by the above Scripture. 136 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 1. The "reed like a rod" signifies the rigid laws of God, especially those of the New Testament, as the true rule of faith and practice. 2. "The temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it," alludes to Imperial and Papal Christianity, the character of their devotion and sacrifices, and the moral life and conduct of their adherents ; and the command is to measure and test all these by the word of God ; and this was to be done by Erasmus, Zuingli, Luther, and other Protestant reformers. 3. The court that is without the temple, which is to be left out, and not measured at this time, is Mohammedanism, whose dominions almost en- circled Christendom. "The Gentiles" are the Mohammedans, who were to tread "the holy city," Jerusalem, under foot "forty-two months" of years, as will be shown under the sixth plague. 4. The "two Witnesses," "the two olive trees, and the two lamps" signify the Law and the Gospel, the Jewish and Gentile Churches, or the broken off "good olive," and the ingrafted "wild olive" (Rom. xi. 16-25) ; and those European and Asiatic Christians who retained "the testimony of Jesus," the Holy Scriptures, and lived and worshiped in accordance with "the command- ments of God" during the terrible reigns of the THE TWO WITNESSES. 137 dragon and beast. All these were to prophesy, witness to the truth, and protest against the abominable doctrines and practices of the world- ly pompous Church during 1260 years, "clothed in sackcloth," or in an humble, obscure, and des- pised condition. 5. "And when they shall have finished their testimony" (or, as rendered by others, "When they shall be about finishing their testimony," that is, during the latter part of the 1260 years), "the beast that ascends out of the abyss (the Imperial or dragonic beast, Rev. xiii. 7,) will make war with them, and kill them." But after lying in a dead and unburied state for "three days and a half," or three and a half years, they shall stand "upon their feet," and begin the infliction of the third ivoe— the "seven plagues which are the last," upon their terror-stricken enemies. 6. The retirement of true Christians from the worldly corrupt Church, and continuing in a de- jected and persecuted condition for 1260 years, is also symbolized by the Woman who fled into the wilderness. And this figure, taken in connection with what is said in preceeding verses respecting the "woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet," enables us to fix the date when one at least of the Witnesses began to "prophesy 138 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. in sackcloth." It was in A. D. 313, when Christi- anity was made the fashionable, popular, pomp- ous, state religion of the Roman Empire. Now let us search in the wilderness for the Witnesses, notice their measurement of the tem- ple, hear their testimony, and see the beast "make war with them, overcome them, and kill them." But we will first inquire into the cause of their retirement. We have seen (chap, v.) that the period of the pure, primitive, persecuted Church of Christ rep- resented by the "woman clothed with the sun," was terminated in A. D. 313, by Constantine's Edict of Universal Toleration of Christianity. Of this Prof. Schaff says : "In this edict, however, we should look in vain for the modern Protestant theory of religious liberty, as one of the universal and inalienable rights of man. Sundry voices, it is true, in the Christian Church itself, at that time, and even before, declared firmly against all compulsion in religion. But the spirit of the Roman Empire was too absolute to abandon the prerogative of a supervision of public worship. The Constantinian toleration was a temporary measure of state policy, which (as indeed the edict expressly states the motive) promised the greatest security of the public peace, and the THE TWO WITNESSES. 139 protection of all divine and heavenly powers for emper^ and empire. It was, as the result teaches, but the necessary transition to a new order of things. It opened the door to the elevation of Christianity, and specifically of the Catholic hierarchical Christianity, with its exclusiveness towards heretical and schismatical sects, to be the religion of the state." — Schaff, vol. 2, p. 30. "The public respect which he (Constantine) had paid to the old religion (Paganism) up to this time (A. D. 324) was even continued after- wards. . . . Thus his new capital of Constan- tinople was placed under the joint protection of the God of the Martyrs and the Goddess Fortune; his coins bore on one side the monogram of Christ and on the other the image of the Sun-god, with the inscription Sol Invictus ; and he retained to the last the title of Pontifex Maximus, which marked the emperor as the priestly head of the pagan hierarchy. . . . He called himself Bishop of bishops, and in the year after his vic- tory over Licinius he assumed a sort of headship of the Church on earth, by convening and pre- siding over the first of those councils whose very title of (Ecumenical marked the connection of the Church with the organization of the Empire." —Stu. Eccles. Hist, 237 and 345. 1-10 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. "The removal of the seat of government (to Constantinople in A. D. 330) was followed by an entire change in the forms of civil and military administration. The military despotism of the former emperors now gave place to the despotism of the court, surrounded by all the forms and ceremonies, pride, pomp, and circumstance of Eastern greatness."— Will. Out. Hist., 224. "The year which followed the final success of Constantine was disgraced by the execution of his eldest son ; and it is not disputed that the progress of his career was marked by the usual excesses of intemperate and worldly ambition. Some of his laws were severe even to cruelty, and the general propriety of his moral conduct can- not with any justice be maintained." — Wadding- tori's Oh. Hist., 83. "Constantine the Great, the first emperor who made Christianity a state religion, made heresy a state offence, and repeatedly banished those who refused submission to his decisions in doc- trinal controversies." — Am. Cyc, "Inquisition." "The emperors, who, in the last (the fourth) century, had constituted themselves heads of the Church, and had suffered themselves to be ad- dressed by the impious titles of "your divinity? "your eternity" "your godship" "supreme master" THE TWO WITNESSES. 141 and "everlasting king" had still reserved to them- selves the supreme ecclesiastical power."— Ruler's Church History, 97 The present purpose is not to disparage the first Christian emperor, who physically, mentally and morally was a noble man for his age and station, but to show from history that Constan- tine was the pro to-imperial Antichrist, which, ac- cording to 2 Thess. ii., was to be revealed when Paganism should u be taken out of the way," and that the union of Church and state, of spiritual and temporal sovereignty, of Christian ordinances and Pagan rites, of the profession of the religion of Jesus with courtly and military pomp, splen- dor, and extravagance, of the teaching of the G-ospel of Christ with a despotic censorship over man's consciences, was the beginning of the Anti- christianism that succeeded the period of the pure, persecuted Church of Christ. And hence, when in A. 1 ). 313, the outward Church became arrayed in the gorgeous habiliments of worldly splendor and Roman despotism, the true spiritual Church clothed herself in sackcloth, and flew into the wilderness to mourn the degeneracy, and prophesy against the abominations that desolate the Church of Christ "for a thousand two hun- dred and sixty" years. 142 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEKS. "In the time of Constantine and Sylvester, Bishop of Rome, many pious Christians, foresee- ing that the Apostacy which was even then com- mencing, would speedily overspread the Church, retired into the valleys of the Cottian Alps, with the intention of maintaining the Gospel in its primitive simplicity. In these valleys they joined the descendants of those, who, in the Neronic persecution, had fled from Italy, and sought refuge in the same spot. And thus we trace the rise of the Vallensic Church." — Divine History of the Church, 94. From the time of Constantine, onward, the faithful European Witnesses of Jesus found much to prophesy against — the corruptions of the Church by false doctrines and practices, the op- pression, arrogance and pride of potentate, prelate and priest, the worship of dead men and women, images, relics, and pictures, the shameful rivalry and contentions among bishops, especially those of Rome and Constantinople, as to "who should be greatest," and should be "lords over God's heritage," the offer by the murderous emperor Phocas, and the acceptance by Pope Boniface III. of the coveted title of Supreme and Univer- sal Bishop ; the public establishment of idolatry by the dedication of the Pantheon "to the worship THE TWO WITNESSES. 143 of the Virgin Mary and all the saints ;" and the efforts of the clerical beast, or Papacy, leagued with the temporal powers, to exterminate those termed heretics, especially during the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Having found the Latin, or European Witness, we will now search for his Greek or Asiatic com- panion. "The history of the Patjlicians, whose exile scattered over the West the seed of reformation, demands a few words. ... In the neighbor- hood of Samosata, a reformer arose, esteemed by the Paulicians as the chosen messenger of truth f about A. D. 660). In his humble dwelling of Mananalis, Constantine entertained a deacon who returned from Syrian captivity, and received the inestimable gift of the Kew Testament, which was already concealed from the vulgar by the clergy. These books became the measure of his studies and the rule of his faith ; but he attached himself with peculiar devotion to the writings and character of St. Paul ; and the name of the Paulician is derived from the Apostle of the Gentiles. . . . The apostolic labors of Constan- tine and of his disciple Sylvanus soon multiplied the number of his disciples. . . . They were soon exposed to the persecution of the Roman 144 ' THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. government ; and in a calamitous period of 150 years, their patience sustained whatever zeal could inflict ; and power was insufficient to erad- icate the obstinate vegetation of fanaticism and reason. The most furious and desperate rebels are the sectaries of a religion long persecuted, and at length provoked. In an holy cause they are no longer susceptible of fear or remorse : the justice of their arms hardens them against the feelings of humanity; and they avenge their fathers' wrongs on the children of their tyrants. Such have been the Hussites of Bohemia, and the Calvinists of France, and such, in the ninth century, were the Paulicians of Armenia and the adjacent provinces. . . . About the middle of the eighth century, Constantine, surnamed Co- pronymus by the worshipers of images, had made an expedition into Armenia, and found, in the cities of Melitene and Theodosiopolis, a great number of Paulicians, his kindred heretics. As a favor or punishment, he transplanted them from the banks of the Euphrates to Constantinople and Thrace ; and by this emigration their doctrine was introduced and diffused in Europe. . . . The favor and success of the Paulicians in the eleventh and twelfth centuries must be imputed to the strong though secret discontent which armed THE TWO WITNESSES. 145 the most pious Christians against the Church of Koine. The sectaries found their way into every part of Europe, and their opinions were silently propagated in Kome, Milan, and the kingdoms beyond the Alps. ... It was in the country of the Albigeois, in the southern provinces of France, that the Paulicians were most deeply im- planted ; and the same vicissitudes of martyrdom and revenge which had been displayed in the neighborhood of the Euphrates, were repeated in the thirteenth century on the banks of the Rhone. . . . The visible assemblies of the Paulicians, or Albigeois, were extirpated by fire and sword ; and the bleeding remnant escaped by flight, con- cealment, or Catholic conformity. But the in- vincible spirit which they had kindled still lived and breathed in the Western world. Ii\the state, in the Church, and even in the cloister, a latent succession was preserved of the disciples of St. Paul, who protested against the tyranny of Rome, embraced the Bible as the rule of faith, and puri- fied their creed from all the visions of the Gnostic theology. The struggles of Wickliff in England, and of Huss in Bohemia, were premature and in- effectual ; but the names of Zuinglius, Luther, and Calvin are pronounced with gratitude as the deliverers of nations."— Stu. Gibbon, 506-9. 146 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. We have yet to find the Hebrew Witness. Fred- erick the Great said to his chaplain : "Doctor, if your religion is a true one, it ought to be capable of very brief and simple proof. Will you give me an evidence of its truth in one word?" The chaplain answered, "Israel." The chaplain was right, and in nearly every town and city in the world there are to be found the children of faithful Abraham bearing incon- trovertible testimony to the authenticity of the Old Testament, and, indirectly, to the divine origin of the New Testament and Christianity. By their Babylonian captivity the Jews were entirely cured of their inclination to idolatry, and whatever may have been their sins and follies from the return to the destruction of their state, and their^dispersion by Titus and Hadrian, and since then, they have not worshiped idols. Dur- ing the first three centuries many of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" were gathered into the fold of Christ, but when the religion of Jesus became amalgamated with Pagan idolatry, the Jews were found to be faithful witnesses against the abomination, and fewer then were attracted to the standard of the Cross. We have space for only a brief notice of their condition prior to the thirteenth century. THE TWO WITNESSES. 147 "Iii the fourth century they were, by Constan- tine, dispersed over all the empire as fugitives and vagabonds. They were branded as felons, having also their ears cut off, and then banished from Rome. In the fifth century they were driven out of Alexandria, whither they had fled for refuge, and where they found a temporary shelter. Throughout all the Persian empire they were cruelly persecuted and oppressed. In the sixth century they were allured and deceived by false Christs, and led into open rebellion against the Romans, but were soon defeated with very great slaughter. In Africa, whither multitudes had fled, in hopes of finding a resting place, they were forbidden to exercise their religion, being hunted to the caves of the earth. In the seventh century they were expelled from Antioch, from Jerusa- lem, and also from Spain. In France they were compelled either to renounce their religion, or be despoiled of all their property. In Arabia they were subjugated by Mohammed, who first put them under heavy tribute, and then expelled them from his kingdom." — FleetivoocP s Life of Christ, 668. Now, since we have found the Witnesses, and seen them retire to the w.xlerness, we must iden- tify the beast, delineate his character, and see 148 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. him engage in his favorite sport— the murder of the saints of God. And fortunately, for the iden- tification of the fully grown, two-horned monster, we have an infallible method. It consists in the proper use of the number 666. "Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast : for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." Rev. xiv. 18. In a former chapter we gave an explanation of this mystical number founded upon "the traditions of the elders" but here it is the duty of the miner to discover and dig up its hidden meaning. The number 666 is a measure of time, and sig- nifies 666 lunar years, which will be properly "shortened" by deducting 10 therefrom, leaving 656 solar or historical years. And this period is the time from the incipiency of the "eighth head," or Papacy in 554, to 1210, when the two-horned monster had attained his most gigantic propor- tions, "was more stout than his fellows," had two horns like a lamb (his name was Innocent), and he spoke like a dragon," that is, with all the concen- trated tyrannical and despotic authority of Augustinian and Constantinian Imperialism. During his pontificate (A. D. 1198-1216), by the terrors of excommunication, interdict and anath- ema, Pope Innocent III. succeeded in reducing THE TWO WITNESSES. 149 every Prince and potentate in Europe, and many in Asia, to his authority ; hut, as we shall see, A. D. 1210, the time especially designated by 666, was the most important year. "Innocent III. . . . not only usurped the despotic government of the Church, but claimed the empire of the world, and appeared to indulge the lofty project of submitting the kings and princes of the earth to an hierarchal sceptre. . . . In Asia and Europe he disposed of crowns and scepters with the most wanton ambition." — Bitter's Ok. Hist., 248. For awhile king John of England "dared to brave the thunders of the Vatican, then wielded by a pontiff who had dragged the crowns of France and Germany at the wheels of his trium- phal car. The ecclesiastical hierarchy had ever been encroaching on the province of the civil power. The Papal chair was filled by Innocent III. whose proud and enterprising ambition led him to convert the superiority which had been unfortunately ceded to him by all the European princes and potentates into an absolute dominion over them. . . . The holy father was not to be intimidated. He maintained his authority, laid England under a Papal interdict, and from that moment all the churches were shut, and the 150 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. sacred rites of religion forbidden, with the excep- tion of baptism, confession, absolution, and ex- treme unction. After inflexibly maintaining the interdict for two years, Innocent proceeded to excommunicate, and, by consequence, to depose the king" (about A. D. 1209 or 1210.) After several years the wily pontiff succeeded in reducing the refractory king to submission and penitence, and "on bended knee, and in the presence of his now alienated people, the king took the following oath: — 'I, John, by the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland, in order to expiate my sins, do, of my own free will, and by the advice of my barons, give to the Church of Rome, to Pope Innocent, and his successors, the kingdom of England, and all other prerogatives of my crown. I will hereafter hold them as the Pope's vassal. I will be faithful to God, to the Church of Rome, to the Pope my master, and to his successors, legitimately elected. I promise to pay him a tribute of one thousand marks yearly — to wit, seven hundred for the kingdom of England, and three hundred for the kingdom of Ireland.' r —Fergusons History of England, vol. 1, p. 68. "Otho IV. afterward ceded to him (Innocent III.) the disputed territory of the countess Matil- da, but having seized several of the Pope's cities, THE TWO WITNESSES. 151 he was excommunicated in A. D. 1210, and de- posed." — Am. Cyc, "Papal States" "Of the Decretals of former Popes" "about the year 1210, Innocent III. caused a more perfect collection to be made, and gave it the seal of public authority. This was called the Roman Collection." — Waddingtorf s Ch. Hist., 375. "It was reserved to Innocent the Third, than whom no Pope ever possessed more ambition, to institute the Inquisition; and the Waldenses were the first objects of its cruelty. He author- ized certain monks to frame the process of that court, and to deliver the supposed heretics to the secular power. The beginning of the thirteenth century saw thousands of persons hanged or burned by these diabolical devices, whose sole crime was that they trusted only in Jesus Christ for salvation, and renounced all vain hopes of self-righteous idolatry and superstition." — Hist. Oh Christ, vol. 3, 353. Having identified the beast, we must now no- tice the development of his horns, which are the Franciscan and Dominican orders of monks, or friars ; and in doing this we should bear in mind the order in which the Papacy first rose, that we may appreciate the importance of 666 as indicating the final development of the two-horned beast. 152 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 1. In A. P. 553 the last king of the Ostrogoths, the seventh head, was slain in battle : 553 + 656 = 1209. 2. In A. D. 554 the barbarians were entirely subdued; JNTarses was established as Exarch at Ravenna, and Rome left to the Pope : 554 + 656 = 1210. 3. In A. D. 567 Loiiginus succeeded Narses, and took away the old magistracies, etc., of Rome, and thus increased the Pope's powers : 567 + 656 = 1223. 4. In A. D. 573 Albcin, the powerful king of the Lombards, died, and was succeeded by weak princes, which allowed the Pope to assume greater political authority : 573 + 656 = 1229. Consequently, we shall find that in the years 1209, 1210, 1223 and 1229, the Papal beast was com- pletely developed, equipped for action, and earnestly engaged in his proper work, the killing of the witnesses of Jesus. "Francis of Assisium, the founder of the Minor Friars, was doubtless an extraordinary character. He was born at Assisium, in the ecclesiastical state, and was disinherited by his father, who was disgusted at his enthusiasm. In A. D. 1209, he founded his order, which was too successful in the world. His practices of devotion were THE TWO WITNESSES. 153 monstrous, and lie seems ever to have been the prey of a whimsical imagination. Pride and de- ceit are not uncommonly connected with a tem- per like his, and he gave a memorable instance of both. It is certain that he was impressed with five wounds on his body, resembling the wounds of Christ crucified. It is certain, also, that he pretended to have received the impression as a miraculous favor from heaven. To describe the particulars of such a story would be unworthy of a historian of the Church of Christ, Let it suffice to have mentioned in general what is authentic, whence the reader may form some notion of the truth of St. Paul's prediction concerning the man whose coming was to be after the working of Satan with lying wonders. The Papacy in- deed was full of such figments at this time. Francis sought for glory among men by his fol- lies and absurdities, and he found the genius of the age so adapted to his own that he gained im- mense admiration and applause A few years before the unrighteous decision of the Pope in favor of the Friars, a fanatical book, un-, der the title of "Introduction to the Everlasting Gospel," (the original "Everlasting Gospel," was published in A. D. 1210, and the Introduction in A. D. 1250— Waddingtori), was published by a 154 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Franciscan, which, by exalting Francis above Jesus Christ and arrogating to his order the glory of reforming mankind by a new Gospel substituted in the room of that of Christ, attempt- ed to exalt that mendicant tribe to the height of divine estimation in the eyes of mankind." — Hist. Ch. Christ, vol. 4, p. 15. "Franciscans, Grey Friars, or Minorites, a reli- gious order in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in A. D. 1209, by St. Francis of Assisi. When the number of his disciples had increased to ton, he gave them, in A. D. 1210, a rule, in which strict poverty and a union of the active and contemplative hie are the principal points. The order was orally confirmed by Innocent III. in A. D. 1210, and again in A. D. 1215, and spread with such rapidity that 5,000 brethren were as- sembled at the general chapter in A. D. 1219. In A. D. 1223 Honorius III., by a bull, confirmed the order as the first among the mendicant orders, gave them the right of collecting alms, confirmed to the church of Portuincula, the celebrated indul- gence, which was afterwards extended to all the churches of the Franciscans, and granted them several other privileges." — Am. Cyc, "Francis- cans." The Dominicans were founded by Dominic, a THE TWO WITNESSES. 155 Spaniard, about the time that the Franciscans were instituted by Francis. While the Francis- cans were confirmed by Innocent III. in A. D. 1210, the Dominicans had been encouraged by the same Pope, and "on December 22, A. D. 1216, two separate bulls of Honorius III. approved and confirmed the new society ; and a third, issued in the following January, is addressed to them as 'preachers of the county of Toulouse,' and 'preach- ers' has been their official title ever since." "In A. D. 1233 they were appointed, conjointly with the Franciscans, to carry out the new rules of the inquisition in France. ... In the fifteenth century the Dominicans were chosen to preside over the Spanish inquisition, when that tribunal became a state establishment." — Am. Cyc. "Dom- inic" and "Dominicans." To these horns of the beast were mainly com- mitted the extirpation of what the Papists were pleased to call heresy ; the sale of the indulgences or licences to commit sin; and the control of Purgatory, which Gregory and others had in- vented, in which to retain departed souls until their friends should pay the demanded fee for their release. And by their successful manage- ment of these, the principal departments of his government, the authority of the Antichrist was 156 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. extended and perpetuated, and his coffers well supplied with gold. "Another crusade was preached, and in A. D. 1228 a system of Inquisition was permanently es- tablished within the walls of Toulouse. In the same, or the following year, (A. D. 1229) a council there assembled published decrees, which obli- ged laymen, even of the highest rank, to close their houses, cellars and forests against the her- etical fugitives, and to take all means to detect and bring them to trial. . . . And this code of bigotry was properly completed by a strict prohibition to all laymen to possess any copies of the Scriptures. . . By a council held at Toulouse in A. D. 1229, a canon was published which united one priest and three laymen in a sort of council of inquisition. It is this regula- tion which is reasonably considered as the foun- dation of the Court of Inquisition." — Wad. Ch. Hist, 293, 358. "In the year A. D. 1229, a council was held at Toulouse, one of the canons of which was, that the laity should not be allowed to have the Old and New Testament in the vulgar tongue, except a psalter or the like ; and it forbade men even to translate the Scriptures. This is the first instance in the Popedom of a direct prohibition of the THE TWO WITNESSES. 157 books of Scripture to the laity. Indirectly the same thing had long been practiced." — Hist. Ch. Christ, 3, 360. The horns of the Papacy, the Franciscans and Dominicans, soon intruded themselves into the religious, political and educational affairs of every country : "The Friars not only intruded them salves into the diocesses and churches of the bishops and clergy ; and by the sale of indul- gences, and a variety of scandalous exactions, per- verted whatever of good order and discipline re- mained in the church, but also began to domineer over the seminaries of learning. And in all this, as the Pope was the principal leader, a despotism of the worst nature was growing stronger and stronger in Christendom. The doctors of the University of Paris now loudly joined in the cry of the secular clergy against the invasions of the mendicants ; and indeed the Papal power at this time ruled with absolute dominion. No pastor of a church could maintain any due authority over the laity, if a Franciscan or Dominican ap- peared in his parish to sell indulgences, and to receive confessions ; and the learned men at that time in Europe were now subject to the" govern- ment of these agents of the Popedom. The mag- istrates of Paris, at first, were disposed to protect 158 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. the university, but the terror of the Papal edicts reduced them at length to silence ; and not only the Dominicans, but also the Franciscans, as- sumed whatever power they pleased in that fa- mous seminary, and knew no other restriction,ex- cept what the Roman tyrant imposed upon them." —Hist. Oh. Christ, vol. 4, 14. "And of the ten horns that were in his head (the ten monarchies of Europe), and of the other which came up (the Papacy), and before whom three fell (the Heruli, Vandals and the Ostro- goths) ; even of that horn that had eyes (a bishop or overseer of the church), and a mouth that spoke very great things (the blasphemous preten- sions of the Popes), whose look was more stout than his fellows (the monarchs of Europe), I be- held, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them ; until the an- cient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High ; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. . . . And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws : and they (the saints) shall be given into his hand un- til (or during) a time and times and the dividing (or half) of time." Dan. vii. 20-25. THE TWO WITNESSES. 159 "The beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them." Rev. xi. 7. "And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." Rev. xiii. 7. The above Scripture alludes to the war made with the Witnesses which will occupy our atten- tion through the rest of this chapter. It may be remarked that Daniel refers to the war with the saints as being made by the " little horn," or the Papacy, that rose up among the ten horns and became "more stout" or powerful than the secu- lar members of the Roman family ; while John, both here and in Rev. xvii. 12, 13, speaks of the war as being waged by the two-horned, dragonic beast. This is explained by the fact that Inno- cent and his successors did not kill the saints, or Witnesses, but still were the authors of their de- struction, as they authorized, urged and com- pelled the civil rulers to perform the dreadful work. The length of the period during which the clerical and secular beasts should "make war with," "and prevail against" the saints, is stated by Daniel as "a time (one century) times (two centuries) and the dividing of time" (a half cen- tury) ; making 350 lunar, or 315 solar years ; and 160 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. commenced in A. D. 1210, at the end of the peri- od indicated by 665, and when the war begun, it terminated in A. D. 1555, when the Witnesses "stood upon their feet" and ascended to heav- en, as will be fully shown at the end of this chapter. We will first see the two beasts make war with the Israelites, who, owing to their wonderful de- votion to the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," their adherence to the law of Moses, and their utter detestation of Roman idolatry and super- stition, were looked upon and treated as the most incorrigible heretics. King John of England had been a friend and protector of the Israelites. "The very next year (A. D. 1210), however, he passed to the extreme of cruelty against the miserable Jews. Every Israelite, without distinction of age or sex, was imprisoned, their wealth confiscated to the ex- chequer, and the most cruel torments extorted from the reluctant the confession of their secret treasures. . . . Their treasures in London were seized, and their houses demolished to repair the walls, by these stern assertors of the liberties of the land. . . . They were commanded to wear a distinctive mark on their dress, two stripes of white cloth or parchment. . . . The Church THE TWO WITNESSES. 161 pursued them with implacable enmity. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Stephen Lang ton) and the Bishop of Lincoln (Hugh of Wells) even forbade Christians, on pain of ecclesiastical cen- sure, from selling to them the necessaries of life, and severe enactments were directed against them, . . The remainder of the reign of Henry III. was marked with severe oppression of the Jews. The Baron's wars increased their bur- dens. . . . The Jews were terribly persecuted — massacre and plunder being visited upon them in the principal cities in these wars. . . . The accession of Edward I. brought no relief to the Israelites. Heavy exactions were made upon them by the king, and the penalty of non-pay- ment, even of arrears, was exile, not imprison- ment. ... In London alone, 280 were execu- ted, after a full trial ; and many more in the other parts of the kingdom. . . . The clergy, urged on by the Pope, Honorius IV., pushed the poor wretches to the wall. They pulled down their synagogues, and otherwise oppressed them. Finally the king issued an edict expelling the whole race from England. Their whole property was seized at once, and just money enough left them to discharge their expenses to foreign lands, perhaps equally inhospitable. 162 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. The Jews of Spain were of a far nobler rank than those of England, of Germany, and even of France. . . . The darkness gathered more slowly upon them in this kingdom than else- where, but it came not the less surely. In the great crusade of the Christian Kings of Castile, of Aragon, and of Navarre, which won the crown- ing victory of Navas de Tolosa (A. D. 1212), the wild cry which rang through the cities of France and on the Rhine against the Jews, was raised in Toledo. . . . After this time the Cortes seized every opportunity of invading the privileges of the Jews, and increasing their burdens. . . . The popular hatred increased, as the Jews were regarded as raising the prices of the necessaries of life. The clergy were their deadly and irre- concilable enemies, and lost no opportunity of urging the fanatical populace to violence upon them. The monks and the Preaching Friars (the Dominicans and Franciscans) were especially fatal to them ; their fiery sermons kept the pop- ular detestation at a fever heat. There was at Seville (A. D. 1388) a fierce popular preacher, Ferdinand Martinez, Archdeacon of Ecija. Dur- ing the reign of John I. his inflammatory harran- gues against the obstinacy and the usury, and the wealth of the Jews, had excited the pop- THE TWO WITNESSES. 163 ulace to some excesses. . . . Trie Jewries were attacked, forced ; and a general pillage, violation and massacre took place of men and women, old and young. Fire and sword raged unresisted through these quarters of the city. The streets of noble Seville ran with blood, and the wild voice of the Archdeacon rose over all, and kept up the madness. Four thousand Jews perished in the massacre. ... In Aragon, fanaticism and a thirst for plunder roused the populace. . . . The Jews of Navarre suffered no less than those of Aragon. . . . This was the state of affairs when Ferdinand and Isabella united the crowns of Castile and Aragon. . . . The clergy, taking advantage of the bigotry of these sover- eigns, prevailed upon them to introduce the In- quisition into Spain. ... In September A. J). 1480, two Dominicans, Michael Morrello and de St, Martin, were named inquisitors. . . . The dreadful w 7 ork began. Victims crowded the prisons. . . . In one year 280 were burned in Seville alone ; 79 were condemned to perpetual imprisonment in loathsome cells ; 17,000 suffered lighter punishments. The heart sickens at the record of the terrible sufferings inflicted upon the Jews by the Inquisition and the "most Cath- olic" sovereigns of Spain. . . . The Holy Office 164 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. spread over Spain. . , . In A. D. 1492 appear- ed the fatal edict, commanding all nnbaptized Jews to quit the realm in four months. . . . The Jews made every effort to avert their fate, even offering to replenish the treasury, which had been exhausted by the wars of Grenada; but in vain. . . . The unhappy race were required to choose between baptism and exile. For three centuries their fathers had dwelt in this delight- ful country, which they had fertilized with their industry, enriched with their commerce, and adorned with their learning. There were few apostates among them. In a lofty spirit of self- devotion, the whole race, variously estimated at from 166,000 to 800,000, resolved to sacrifice every- thing rather than abandon their ancient faith. . . . Their sufferings, as they passed out of Spain into countries equally inhospitable, were dreadful. . . . The Pope commanded the res- ident Jews to leave the Roman territory. . . . Many passed from Spain into Portugal. . . . Many were unable to quit the country (Portugal), and lingered in it. All these were made slaves. . . . The more steadfast in their faith were shipped off as slaves. ... In Lisbon a "monk was displaying a crucifix to the eyes of the won- dering people, through a narrow aperture in THE TWO WITNESSES. 165 which a light streamed— the light, he declared, was the manifest Deity. A converted Jew dis- covered a lamp ingeniously concealed behind the mysterious crucifix, and exposed the cheat. En- raged at this, the multitude, led by the Domin- icans, dragged the rash Jew to the market place and murdered him. This was followed by a fu- rious assault on the houses of the Jewish con- verts, the Dominicans, with crucifixes in their hands, urging on the maddened mob. Men, wo- men and children were involved in a promiscuous massacre. ... At the burning of a young Jewish woman, Phillip III. had the weakness to shudder. The Inquisitor declared that the king must atone for this crime by his blood. He was bled ; the pale guilty blood burned by the exe- cutioner. . . . All these atrocities were com- mitted by a tribunal calling itself Christian, and professedly in the name of Him who taught only mercy and love." The above quotations are from "Smith's Secu- lar History of the Jews." We will close this account of the war made by the ten-horned and two-horned monsters with Daniel's Hebrew "saints" with a quotation from Mr. Keith : "Nor can any tongue of man tell, or pen write, what trembling of heart and failing of 166 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. eyes were theirs, or what sorrow of mind, what sore sickness of soul, were the portion of this evil family, among the nations whither they were driven; in the oppressions and crushings, the riflings and banishments, the miseries and the massacres, which time after time were relentless- ly inflicted upon them, through Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Italy and England." We must now return to A. D. 1210, identify the other, the Christian Witness, hear his testimony, see the beasts kill him, and behold him rise from the dead, stand upon his feet, and ascend to heaven. We have before noticed that about A. D. 313, on the corruption of Christianity by Constantine, many true Christians (symbolized by the woman clothed with the sun), retired to the Alpine soli- tudes that they might there preserve primitive Christianity to be transmitted in its purity to succeeding generations. And we have already seen that the Paulicians, who originated in Asia about A. D. 660, after for many years keeping the commandments of God and holding the testi- mony of Jesus in Armenia, and other provinces bordering on the Euphrates, were transplanted into Europe, and that "it was in the country of THE TWO WITNESSES. 167 the Albigeois, in the southern provinces of France, that the Paulicians were most deeply implanted." — Gibbon. It may be stated that historians have found it difficult to trace a distinct existence and succes- sion of these two branches of the true Church of Christ, as probably they commingled, but in the places to which the fathers retired we shall easily find and recognize their children. "But the true Witnesses, and, as I may say, the Protestants of this age, were the Waldenses and Albigenses who began to be famous at this time, and being dispersed into various places were dis- tinguished by various appellations. Their first and proper name seemeth to have been Vallenses, or 'inhabitants of the valleys ;' and so saith one of the oldest writers, Ebrard of Bethune, who wrote in the year 1212 ; 'They call themselves Val- lenses, because they 'abide in the valley of tears,' alluding to their situation in the valleys of Pied- mont. They were called 'Albigenses' from Alba, a city in the southern parts of France, where also great numbers of them were situated. They were afterwards denominated Valdenses or Waldenses, from Peter Valdo or Waldo, a rich citizen of Lyons, and a considerable leader of the sect. From Lyons, too, they were called Leon- 168 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ists, and Cathari from the professed purity of their life and doctrine, as others since have had the name of Puritans. . . . Their opinions are thus recited from an old manuscript by the Cen- turiators of Magdeburgh : "In articles of faith the authority of the Holy Scripture is the highest, and for that reason it is the rule of judging ; so that whatsoever agreeth not with the Word of God, is deservedly to be re- jected and avoided. The decrees of fathers and councils are so far to be approved, as they agree with the Word of God. The reading and knowledge of the Holy Scrip- tures is free and necessary to all men, the laity as well as the clergy ; yea and the writings of the Prophets and Apostles are to be read rather than the comments of men. The sacraments of the Church of Christ are two, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. The receiving in both kinds for the priests and people was instituted by Christ. Masses are impious ; and it is madness to say masses for the dead. Purgatory is the invention of man ; for they -who believe go into eternal life, they who believe not, into eternal damnation. THE TWO WITNESSES. 169 The invocating and worshiping of dead saints is idolatry. The Church, of Kome is the whore of Babylon. We must not obey the Pope and bishops ; be- cause they are the wolves of the Church of Christ. The Pope hath not the primacy over all the Churches of Christ, neither hath he the power of both swords. That is the Church of Christ which heareth the sincere word of Christ, and useth the sacra- ments instituted by Him, in what place soever it exists. Vows of celibacy are inventions of men, and occasions of sodomy. So many orders are so many characters of the beast. Monkery is a stinking carcass. So many superstitious dedications of churches, commemorations of the dead, benedictions of creatures, pilgrimages ; so many forced fastings, so many superfluous festivals, those perpetual bellowings, (meaning singing and chanting) of unlearned men, and the observations of the other ceremonies, manifestly hindering the teaching and learning of the Word, are diabolical inven- tions. 170 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. The marriage of the priests is lawful and necessary."— Diss. Proph., 579, 580. "The professed objects of Peter Waldus and his followers were to reduce the lives and manners, both of the clergy and people, to that amiable simplicity, and that primitive sanctity, which characterized the Apostolic age, and which ap- pear so strongly recommended in the precepts and injunctions of the Divine Author of our re- ligion. In consequence of this design, they com- plained that the Eomish Church had degenerated under Constantine the Great, from its primitive purity and sanctity. They considered every Christian as in a certain measure qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort, and confirm the brethren in their Christian course. . . . Their rules of practice were extremely austere ; for they adopted, as the method of their moral disci- pline, the sermon of Christ upon the Mount, which they interpreted and explained in the most rigorous and literal manner.'" — Ruter's Ch. Hist, 241. The Vaudois. — "Among their own traditions there is one, which agrees well with their original and favorite tenet, which objects to the possession of property by ecclesiastics. It is this— that their earliest fathers, offended at the liberality with THE TWO WITNESSES. 171 which Constantine endowed the Church of Rome, and the worldliness with which Pope Sylvester accepted those endowments, seceded into the Al- pine solitudes ; that they there lay concealed and secure for so many ages through their insignifi- cance and their innocence." — Waddingtori! s Ch. Hist, 554. Jesus said of His true disciples : u By their fruits ye shall know them." U A popish inquisitor says, 'Heretics are known by their manners. In be- havior they are composed and modest, and no pride appears in their apparel.' Seysillius says, 'It much strengthens the Waldenses, that, their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians. They never swear but by compulsion, and seldom take the name of God in vain ; they fulfil their promises with good faith ; and, living for the most part in poverty, they pro- fess that they at once preserve the apostolic life and doctrine.' Lielenstenius, a Dominican, speak- ing of the Waldenses of Bohemia, says, 'I say that in morals and life they are good ; true in words, and unanimous in brotherly love.' . . . The Bohemian inquisitor already mentioned says, 'These heretics are known by their manners and words ; for they are orderly and modest in their manners and behavior, they avoid all pride in 172 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. their habits. To avoid lies, they do not follow trade, but live by the labor of their own hands as handicraft men and day laborers. They do not heap up riches, but are content with neces- saries. They are also very chaste. They are sparing and temperate in eating and drinking ; they do not frequent taverns and ale houses, neither do they go to balls and other vanities. They abstain from anger. Their women are very modest, avoiding backbiting, foolish jesting, and levity of words ; and especially they abstain from lies and swearing, not so much as making use of the common asseverations, 'in truth,' 'for cer- tain,' and the like, because they look upon them to be as oaths. They kneel down upon the ground before a bench or such like, and pray in silence as long as it might take to repeat the Paternoster thirty or forty times, concluding their prayers by repeating the word 'Amen' several times. This they do every day very reverently, amongst those of their own persuasion, before noon, afternoon, and at night when they go to bed ; and in the morning when they rise out of bed, besides some other times in the day.' . . . Another treatise respecting the Waldenses, probably written by Reinerius, bears strong testimony to their scrip- tural method of teaching; he says, 'They instruct THE TWO WITNESSES. 173 even little girls in the Gospels and Epistles, that they may be brought to embrace their doctrines even from their childhood ; and those who have been tlxus taught endeavor, with their utmost ability, to teach others whenever they find any who are inclined to listen to them. . . . The heretic begins to teach them many things con- cerning humility and chastity, and other virtues, and to avoid vices, also to make known to them the words of Christ and the Apostles, and other saints, so that they seem rather to hear an angel from heaven than a man.' Such is the testimony of an adversary r—Hist. Ch. Christ, vol. 3, p. 327, 382, 387. These were the loyal subjects of Him "whose kingdom is not of this world," the sheep of the Good Shepherd, that the Papal wolves would destroy. As a mate for the above picture of the hetero- doxy of the Waldenses, we must now paint one of the orthodoxy of the time indicated by 666-1209 -1229. During this period : 1. Innocent claimed dominion over all the monarchs of the earth : he deposed the emperor Otho, and several kings. 2. Innocent called himself the "Spouse of the Ohurch.^ 174 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 3. The Inquisition was instituted to destroy the Waldenses. 4. The doctrine of Transubstantiation was es- tablished. 5. Auricular Confession was established. 6. Celibacy was imposed upon the clergy. 7. The Franciscans originated, and were adopt- ed by the Papacy as its first horn. 8. The Dominicans originated, and were adopted by the Papacy as its second horn. 9. Dominic instituted the Rosary and mechan- ical devotions. 10. The Laity were forbidden to have, read, or translate the Scriptures. 11. The Roman Collection of the Decretals of the Popes was made, and occupied the place of the decrees of Jehovah. 12. The Testament of Francis was placed in the room of the " Testimony of Jesus." 13. The "Everlasting Gospel" of the Francis- cans, originated, and was adopted in place of u the Glorious Gospel of the blessed God." 14. The destruction of the Jews commenced. 15. 300,000 Papal crusaders murdered 200,000 Waldensian Christians in a few months. This is the paragraph of the Natural History of the two-homed beast that <56ragon from the highest heaven of monarchical greatness, into the earthly condition of ordinary mortals, (b), Also, in the estimation of the Pope, the god of the heaven of which the emperor was the sun, Charles was cast down to the earth. We have seen that the purpose of the Pope in reviving the Emperor of the West in the person of Charle- magne, was that "all, small and great, rich and poor, freehand bond" should be compelled to sub- mit to Imperial and Papal authority, and that he might "cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast, to be killed." These duties, in the main, Charlemagne's successors faithfully performed, but at the end of the "forty-two months," the power of the Dragon being broken, he was unable longer "to make war with the saints" and to kill heretics, and then the Mother of Harlots turned from him in disgust, and adopted as her favorite paramour the vigorous 206 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. sovereign of the French monarchy, which from A. D. 1555 to 1870 was the sun of the Papal world — the principal horn of the monarchical dragon of Europe. The following quotations relate to the fall of the Emperor Charles V. : "The treaty of Augs- burg was to Charles V. the hand- writing on the wall which showed him that the end of the mighty power which he had wielded was fast approaching. So offended was the Pope at the sanction which Charles had given to the principles of religious toleration, that he became the avowed enemy of the house of Austria, and entered into a close alliance with the young king of France. Charles saw, from afar, the storm that was ap- proaching, and, abandoned as he was by fortune, afflicted by disease, and opposed in his declining years by a rival in the full vigor of life, he wisely resolved not to forfeit his fame by vainly strug- gling to reclaim a power which he was no longer able to wield ; and, in imitation of Diocletian, to the surprise of the world, he abdicated his throne, and having resigned his German empire to his brother Ferdinand, and his kingdoms of Spain, the Netherlands, and Italy, to his son Philip, he retired to end his days in the solitude of the monas- tery of St. Just. 11 ( Will. Out. Hist. 337.) "Maurice t::e first plague. 207 was now only two days march from Insprnck, and but for a mutiny of one of his battalions, which delayed him some hours, Charles would probably have fallen into his hands! The em- peror was apprized of his danger at a late hour in the evening of May Uie 22nd : as nothing but immediate flight could save him, he caused him- self to be put into a litter, though suffering much from the gout. He regarded not the darkness of the night, nor the heavy rain which was then falling, but leaving Inspruck, travelled by torch- light through the difficult and dangerous paths among the mountains. King Ferdinand, with his attendants, followed the emperor in the ut- most confusion, many of them on foot. The principal nobility of the Spanish and German courts were compelled to find their way as well as they could, through slippery paths, and drenched with rain, all ranks confounded to- gether : nor did the emperor stop till he reached Villach, in Corinthia." ("The great dragon . . . was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.") "Charles was not able to com- plete the arrangement of these vast and compli- cated affairs until the month of September, A. 1). 1556, when he embarked for Spain, where he had caused a place to be prepared for his future resi- 208 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. dence near Placentia, in Estremadura. 'Into this humble retreat,' says Dr. Kobertson, 'scarce- ly sufficient for the comfortable accommodation of a private gentleman, did Charles enter with twelve domestics only. He buried there in soli- tude and silence his grandeur and his ambition, together with all those vast projects which, during half a century, he had alarmed and agi- tated Europe, filling every kingdom in it, by turns, with the terror of his arms, and the dread of being subjected to his power'."— Hist Ch. Christ, vol. 6, 364, 379. 3. That the substance of the Edict of Milan was almost an exact counterpart of the treaty of Augsburg which called on the Protestants to ascend to the heaven of civil and religious lib- erty. The former broke the power of Rome- Pagan, ended the terrible persecutions of the early Church, restored to the Christians their confiscated property and privileges, and elevated them beyond the reach of their Pagan persecu- tors; and the latter broke the power of Rome- Papal, terminated the 345 years persecution of the Church in the Wilderness, restored to the revived and resurrected Witnesses full political and religious privileges and powers, of which their Papal enemies have never since been able THE FIEST PLAGUE. 209 to deprive them. The Edict of Milan cast down, and gave the primitive Church its first victory over the Eome-Pagan dragon, and the Edict of Augsburg cast down, and gave to the restored Church its first triumph over the Rome-Papal dragon. The former introduced the reign of Antichrist, the latter "the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ ; " and these two events, which are among the most important recorded in history, — the first occurring in A. D. 313, and the last in A. D. 1555, are exactly span- ned by the prophetic number of "forty-two months" The following quotation shows the importance that the Christian historian attaches to the standing up of Michael, or Maurice of Saxony : "Maurice was wounded mortally by a pistol shot. He died two days after the battle, in the thirty- second year of his age. Such was the unexpected end of Maurice of Saxony, whose proceedings were fraught with more important consequences to the Church of Christ than those of any other prince since the days of Canstantine. . . . With the character of Maurice as a politician we have little to do. We have only to view him as an instru- ment raised up by God for the furtherance of the truths— Hist. Ch. Christ vol 6, 37L 210 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 4. That as a result of the "great voice from heaven," the Edict of Augsburg, "there was a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell ; and in the earthquake there were slain names of men, seven thousand ; and the rest were frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven." In the symbolism of prophetic scripture an earth- quake signifies a tremendous political convul- sion, the overthrow of monarchies, the dismem- berment of empires, etc.; and the "city" and "great city" allude to the dominions of the Pa- pacy. The fulfilment of this prophecy is found in the fact that at the time now under consider- ation, there was a dismemberment of the empire of Antichrist, for seven nations of men, or men of seven names— the Germans, the English, the Scotch, the Danes, the Swedes, the Swiss and the Dutch, "the tenth part of the city," renounced Roman Catholicism, and were slain, or cut off from the empire of the Pope. And the rest of Europe was frightened, or deeply affected and influenced by the principles of Reformation, so that, to some extent, they "gave glory to the God of heaven." 5. That after the great earthquake, the seces- sion of seven nations from the empire of Anti- christ, the second, or Turkish woe, ended. Al- THE FIEST PLAGUE. 211 ready it has been shown that the work of the Turks was to restrain and weaken the power of the dragon and beast, so that reformation and relief from their terrible tyranny might finally be possible ; and we have seen that attempts of the emperor and Pope to crush the Kef ormation were frustrated by Turkish invasions. The weakness of Charles when attacked by Maurice in A. D. 1552 was partly owing to the fact that "part of his Spanish troops had been ordered in- to Hungary against the Turks ;" in A. D. 1553 "Naples was attacked by the Turkish fleet," which at that time was "the most formidable in Europe," and in A. D. 1555 the transactions of the Diet of Augsburg were very much influenced by the fact that "the Turks also continued to threaten the empire, and . . . there was every reason to expect another invasion of Hungary, if the internal peace of the empire was not estab- lished." But upon the acquisition of power by the Protestants, who were to inflict the third ivoe, and complete the destruction of Komanism, the second woe ended and the power of the Moslems rapidly declined. "In an attempt upon Malta in A. D. 1565, the whole naval force of Solyman was repulsed. In A. D. 1566 he again led a vast army to the invasion of Hungary, crossed the Drave, 212 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. and laid siege to the fortress of Sziget, which was defended by a small garrison under Zrinyi ; but a paroxysm of anger at the terrible repulses he encountered induced an attack of apoplexy, in which he died a few days before the last and fa- tal assault was made. Under this sultan, the Ottoman empire attained its greatest military power, and it began immediately to decline under his successor, Selim II." — Am. Cyc, "Solyman 6. That the expression "Alas for the land and for the sea ! for the devil has come down to you with great anger, because he knows he has but a short time," indicates that the victory of the Church of Christ over her enemies was not then complete, but that she had yet to endure terrible conflicts with her old adversary, the dragon. "Alas for the land and for the sea" denotes that dire conflicts were to occur during the time of the first and of the second plagues, when the suc- cessor of the dragonic Charles, having great an- ger because he knew he had but a short time, should exert to the utmost his diabolical energy to extinguish the reformed faith in all Europe. Philip well knew that his august predecessor had incurred the displeasure of the Pope by his ina- bility to suppress the Reformation, and that now THE FIRST PLAGUE. 213 the court of Rome, that of France and all the Protestant States, were arrayed against him, and that unless he could recover the favor of, and an alliance with, his "Lord God the Pope," his pre- dominance in the affairs of Europe, and the reign of his dynasty, would have "but a short time." Hence the terrible wars, persecutions and massa- cres of the periods of the first and second plagues — for the purpose of regaining the favor of the Pope, and ascendency over the Protestants. This view accords with the language of the thirteenth verse : "And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth he persecuted the woman that brought forth the male child." This shows also that the revived Christianity that the successors of the fallen dragon persecuted was the same that brought forth the male child, Constantine. For the triumph of Christianity over Paganism in A. 1 ). 313 was a type of its victory over its Im- perial and Papal enemies in A. D. 1555, and both of these, doubtless, are typical of a final triumph over the dragon, beast and false prophet, that is to occur in the future, and the rising of Maurice is typical of the standing up of Michael— one who is like God — the Lord Jesus Christ— yet to take place. 7. And that, in the grand, monumental year, 214 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. A. D. 1555, there commenced a new era in the world's history, with the first of the "seven plagues, which are the last, for by them the wrath of God is brought to an end." "And the first angel went, and poured out his cup on the land (the dominions of the dragon) ; and there came a hurtful and afflictive sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast (the religion of the Pope), and that worship his image" (the abettors of Im- perialism). The following quotation illustrates this prophecy: "Elizabeth endeavored to pro- mote Protestant principles, as the best safeguard of her throne ; and in the year A. D. 1559 the parliament formally abolished the Papal suprem- acy, and established the Church of England in its present form. On the other side Philip II. was the champion of the Catholics ; and hence England now became the counterpoise to Spain, as France had been during the reign of Charles V., while the ancient rivalry between France and Spain prevented these Catholic powers from cordially uniting to check the progress of the Reformation. . . . During these events in Scotland, Elizabeth was carrying on a secret war against the attempts of Philip II. to establish the inquisition in the Netherlands, and also against a similar design of the Catholic party in France, THE FIRST PLAGUE. 215 which ruled that country during the minority of the sovereign. In both these countries the at- tempts of the Catholic rulers provoked a des- perate resistance. In France, banishment or death became the penalty of heresy. . . . The object of the court, however, was not peace, but vengeance ; and Charles IX., now in his twentieth year, engaged zealously in the project of his mother Catherine, to entice the Protestant lead- ers to the capital, and there massacre them, and afterwards carry on the war of extermination against the Huguenots throughout the kingdom. For the purpose of enticing the Huguenots to the capital, and lulling them into security, it was proposed that young Henry of Navarre, a Protestant, should espouse the king's sister, Mar- garet, — a marriage which would in itself be a bond of union between the two parties. The nuptials were celebrated with the greatest mag- nificence ; and amid the festivities which fol- lowed, the plan of the massacre was matured. When the decree of extermination was placed be- fore Charles for his signature, he at first hesi- tated, appalled by the enormity of the deed, but at length signed it, exclaiming, 'let none escape to reproach me.' About three o'clock in the morning of St. Bartholomew's day, the 24th of 216 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. August, A. D. 1572, the young duke of Guise and his band of cut-throats commenced the bloody work by breaking into the apartment of the aged Coligni, and slaying him while engaged in prayer; the tocsin was sounded, and the Catholics of Paris, with the sign of the cross in their caps to distinguish them, rushed forth to the massacre of their brethren. What is surprising, the vic- tims made no resistance ! They would not dero- gate, at such a moment, from their character of martyrs. The massacre lasted, in Paris, eight days and nights, without any apparent diminu- tion of the fury of the murderers. Charles com- manded the same scene to be renewed in every town throughout the kingdom ; and fifty thou- sand Protestants are believed to have fallen victims to the monarch's orders. ... A cir- cumstance as horrible as the massacre itself was the joy it excited. Philip IL, thinking Protes- tantism subdued, sent to congratulate the court of France: medals to commemorate the event were struck at Rome ; and the Pope went in state to his cathedral, and returned public thanks to heaven for this signal mercy. But the crime from which so much was ex- pected, produced neither peace nor advantage ; and the civil war was renewed with greater force THE FIEST PLAGUE. 217 than ever: mere abhorrence of the massacre caused many Catholics to turn Huguenots ; and although the latter were at first paralyzed by the blow, the former were stung by remorse and shame. Charles himself seemed stricken already by avenging fate. As the accounts of the mur- ders of old men, women and children were suc- cessively brought to him, while the massacre continued, he drew aside M. Ambroise, his first surgeon, to whom he was much attached, al- though he was a Protestant, and said to him, Ambroise, I know not what has come over me these two or three days, but I find my mind and body in disorder ; I see everything as if I had a fever ; every moment, as well waking as sleeping, the hideous and bloody faces of the killed ap- pear before me ; I wish the weak and innocent had not been included.' From that time a con- tinued fever preyed upon him, and, eighteen months later carried him to the grave (May A. D. 1574), but not until he had been compelled to grant the Huguenots a peace, after seeing that his grand and sweeping crime had but enfeebled the Catholic party, instead of insuring its triumph. "At the time of the massacre of St. Bartholo- mew, civil war was raging in the Netherlands. During the six years of the administration of the 218 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. duke of Alva, Philip's governor in that country, the land was desolated by the insatiate cruelty of one of the greatest monsters of wickedness the world has ever seen ; and it is the recorded boast of Alva himself that, during his brief adminis- tration, he caused eighteen thousand of the in- habitants to perish by the hands of the execu- tioner. At length, in A. D. 1572, a general rising against the Spanish power was organized, the prince of Orange being at the head of the revolt- ers. After a war of varied fortunes on both sides, in A. D. 1576 the States-general, or congress, of most of the Batavian and Belgic provinces, met, and assumed the reins of government in the name of the king, and soon after concluded a union between the States, which is known as the Pacification of Ghent. The expulsion, from the country, of Spanish soldiers and other foreigners was decreed; Alva's sanguinary decrees and edicts against heresy were repealed, and religious toleration guaranteed. Ere long, however, the confederacy thus formed fell to pieces, owing to jealousies between the Catholic and Protestant States; and it became evident that freedom could be attained only by a closer union of the provinces, resting on an entire separation from Spain. Acting on this belief, in January, A. D. THE FIRST PLAGUE. 219 1579, the prince of Orange convoked an assembly of deputies at Utrecht, where was signed the fa- mous act called the Union of Utrecht, the real basis, or fundamental compact of the Republic of the United provinces. Early in the following year (A. D. 1580) the States-general assembled at Antwerp, and, in spite of all the opposition of the Catholic deputies, the authority of Spain was renounced forever, and the "United Provinces" declared a free and independent State. Philip, however, still waged a vindictive war against them, while they received important aid from Elizabeth of England, a circumstance which led Philip to declare war against the latter country." — Willson's Out. Hist, 339-345. We have already seen that the period of the institution and establishment of dragonic or Ro- manized Christianity began in A. D. 313. It end- ed with the death of Constantiiie in A. D. 337, when the' Empire was divided between his three sons. And so the corresponding time, indicated by the "forty-two months," A. D. 1555-1579, is the period of the first plague upon the dominions of the dragon and beast, which produced the "afflic- tive and hurtful sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast (Papists), and that worshiped his image"(Monarchists). This passage alludes 220 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. to the disastrous consequences to the Papal party, the eternal disgrace, loss of territory, power, and influence, resulting from the furious attempts of Philip of Spain and Charles of France to sup- press the Reformation in their dominions; for the fearful persecutions, massacres and wars in France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, were far more injurious to the cause of Romanism than to that of Christianity. We will conclude this chapter with a paragraph of English history, as we find that the bigoted Philip of Spain was the husband of "Bloody Mary" of England. The Reformation had made rapid progress in England, but in A. D. 1553 the bigoted Mary ascended the throne, and in A. D. 1554 the nation returned to the loving embrace of Popery, of wdiich "the news spread over Eu- rope with gladness and speed. The Pope cele- brated the second conversion of England to Christianity by a solemn procession, and ratified all the laws of the faithful legate. ... In January, A. D. 1555, a commission, headed by Gardiner, sat in Southwark, for the trial of Prot- estants. Of this tribunal the most eminent ecclesiastics and laics of the land became the un- happy victims. Rogers, who was first called to suffer, and who, on his way to Smithfield, met his THE FIEST PLAGUE. 221 faithful and beloved wife with her ten children, one of whom lay at her breast, passed through the fire in the triumph of a living faith. Hooper, who was committed to the flames in his episcopal city, Gloucester, died with a fortitude becoming a man pervaded with the life of God. Sanders em- braced the stake with the exclamation— 'Welcome the cross of Christ ! welcome everlasting life !' Eidley and Latimer perished together in the same flames at Oxford ; and never will the words of Latimer to Eidley be forgotten :—' Be of good cheer, brother ; we shall this day kindle such a light in England as, I trust in God, shall never be extinguished.' The constancy and the courage of those who suffered were more than human. An invisible power sustained them, and the hope of glory inspired them. . . . This was in Eng- land. In other countries the work of destruc- tion was carried to an incredible extent. Tens of thousands were massacred and slain. Every- where Christendom was wet with the blood of the faithful."— Ferguson's Hist Eng., vol, 2, 103. CHAPTER XIV. THE SECOND PLAGUE. 1579—1718. "Alas for the land and for the sea ! for the devil has come down to you with great anger, because he knows he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the male child. And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent." Rev. xii. 12-14. "And the second angel. poured out his cup on the sea ; and it became blood, like that of a dead man : and every soul in the sea died." Rev. xvi. 3. The second plague resulted from the continued efforts of the dragon to persecute the woman. The first plague was upon the land, causing loss of territory and severe affliction to "the men that- had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped his image." The second consisted of several des- perate naval engagements upon the literal sea, and of dire calamities upon the populous nations of continental Europe, which, according to Rev. xvii. 15, constitutes the figurative sea:— 'The THE SECOND PLAGUE. 223 waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.'' As this period is long from 1579 to 1718, we will introduce only a few of the many characteristic events. "From the death of Charles V., in the year 1558, to the year 1618, there were no events in German history that exercised any important influence on the politics of Europe. At the latter period, however, the German emperor, Matthias, suc- ceeded in procuring the subordinate crown of Bohemia for his cousin Ferdinand, a bigoted Catholic; a circumstance which increased the hostile feelings that had long existed between the Roman Catholic and Protestant parties in Bohemia ; but when Ferdinand banished the new faith from his dominion, and destroyed the Protestant churches, his impolitic conduct led to an open revolt of his Protestant subjects (A. D. 1618). This was the commencement of a thirty years' war-\hs last conflict sustained by the Reformation — a war indeterminate in its objects, but one which, before its close, involved in its complicated relations nearly all the states of con- tinental Europe. ... In October, A. D. 1648, the treaty of Westphalia closed the sad scene of the long and sanguinary 'Thirty years' war.' 224 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Peace found the German States in a sadly de- pressed condition ; the scene that was everywhere presented was a wide waste of ruin : and two- thirds of the population had perished, although not so much by the sword as by contagion, plague, famine, and other attendant horrors that follow in the train of war." — Willson's Out. Hist, 355, 861. Besides the countless numbers that perished by pestilence, famine and war in other places, 200,000 died of the plague in Constantinople in A. D. 1611; 35,000 in London in A. D. 1625; 600,000 in Lyons in A. D. 1626; and 68,000 in Lon- don in A. D. 1665. As we have seen that the first plague, that on the land, ended with the Union of Utrecht in A. D. 1579, so we shall find that the second plague, on the literal sea, immediately followed that event, and resulted from the assistance that u Good Queen Bess" of England gave to the infant Ke- public : "Philip, however, still waged a vindic- tive war against them, while they received im- portant aid from Elizabeth of England, a cir- cumstance which led Philip to declare war against the latter country. . . . The execution of the queen of Scots inflamed the resentment of the Catholics throughout Europe, and gave ad- THE SECOND PLAGUE. 225 ditional vigor to the preparations of Philip II. for an invasion of England, a project which he had long in contemplation, and by which he hoped to destroy the power of the great supporter of the Protestant cause. With justice, perhaps, Philip complained of the depredations which the English, under their great admiral, Sir Francis Drake, had for many years committed on the Spanish possessions in South America, and more than once on the coast of Spain itself ; and now a vast armament was prepared to sweep the English from the seas, ravage their coasts, burn their towns, and dethrone their Protestant queen. In May, A. D. 1588, the Spanish fleet of one hundred and thirty ships, some the largest that had ever plowed the deep, carrying, exclusive of eight thousand sailors, no less than twenty thousand of the bravest troops of the Spanish armies, a large invading force in those days, sailed from the harbor of Lisbon for the English coast. The Pope had blessed the expedition, and offered the sovereignty of England as the conqueror's prize: and the Catholics throughout Europe were so confident of success that they had named the armament 'The Invincible Armada.' The queen of England beheld the preparations and heard the vauntings of her enemies with a 226 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. resolution worthy of the occasion and the cause, She visited the seaports in person, superintended the preparations for defence, and on horseback addressed the troops ; and such was the enthusi- asm which she everywhere inspired, that even her Catholic subjects joined their countrymen, heart and hand, against foreign domination. Lord Howard of Effingham was appointed ad- miral of the fleet ; Drake, Hawkins, and Forto- sher, the most renowned seamen in Europe, served under him; while an army of forty-five thousand men was organized for the defence of the coast and the capital. After the Armada had sailed from Lisbon it suffered considerably from a storm off the French coast : in passing through the English channel it was seriously harrassed, during several days by the lighter English vessels ; and while at anchor off Calais the English sent a number of fire ships into the midst of the fleet, destroyed several vessels, and threw the others into such confusion that the Spanish admiral no longer thought of victory, but only of escape. As the south wind blew, he was unable to retrace his course, and therefore resolved to return by coast- ing the northern shores of Scotland and Ireland. "But his disasters were not ended : many of his THE SECOND PLAGUE. 227 vessels were driven by storm on the coasts of Norway and Scotland : off the Irish coast a sec- ond storm was experienced, with almost equal loss ; and only a few shattered vessels of this ar- mament returned to Spa in, to bring intelligence of the calamities that had overwhelmed the rest. The defeat of the Armada was regarded as the triumph of the Protestant cause, it exerted a favorable influence on the welfare of the United Provinces, and virtually secured their indepen- dence ; and it raised the courage of the Hugue- nots in France, and completely destroyed the decisive influence which Spain had long main- tained in the affairs of Europe. Henceforth the naval power and the commerce of Spain declined; and the king, at his death in A. D. 1598, be- queathed a vast debt to a nation whose resources, notwithstanding her rich mines of gold and silver in the New World, were already exhausted. To complete the humiliation of Spain, eight years later, in the treaty of Munster, she was compelled to acknowledge the independence of Holland, after having maintained a warfare of eighty years' duration, only interrupted by a brief space of twelve years from A. D. 1609 to 1621 ; and even during this period, hostilities did not cease in the Indies. 228 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. The disasters that were befalling Roman Cath- olic Spain were fast overwhelming that proud monarchy with disgrace and ruin, while the new Republic of Holland was taking its place, as a free and independent State, among the most powerful nations of Europe. The treaty of Westphalia, signed the same year (A. D. 1648\ secured to Holland internal tranquility, by recon- ciling the conflicting interests of her own people, and guaranteeing the enjoyment of civil and re- ligious liberty — one of the noble aims and results of Christian civilization. . . The treaty of Utrecht in A. D. 1713, which closed the* war of the Spanish succession, had given pacification to southern and western Europe, by defining the territorial limits of the belligerents in such a manner as to preserve that balance of power on which the peace of Europe depended. The intri- guing efforts of Spain in contravention of that portion of the treaty by which Philip V. re- nounced forever all right of succession to the crown of France, induced England and Holland, in A. D. 1717, to unite with France in forming a Triple Alliance guaranteeing the fulfilment of the treaty ; but during the same year a Spanish fleet, entering the Mediterranean, quickly re- duced the island of Sardinia, which had been as- THE SECOND PLAGUE. 229 signed to Austria; and in the following year another fleet and army captured Sicily, which had been adjudged to the duke of Savoy. These acts of aggression roused the resentment of Aus- tria ; and by her accession to the terms of the Triple Alliance, the Quadruple Alliance was formed, for the purpose of putting a check to the ambition of Spain (A. D. 1718). A British squad- ron, under Admiral Byng, sailed into the Medi- terranean and destroyed the Spanish fleet, whilst an Austrian force passed into Sicily to contest with the Spanish army the sovereignty of that island. The successes of the allies soon compelled even Spain to accede to the terms of the Alliance for preserving the peace of Europe." — Willson's Out. Hist., 345, 392, 418. The Quadruple Alliance of A. D. 1718 which broke the power of the dragon (Spain), marks the termination of the second plague, hence we must again measure our work with the prophetic num- ber that applies to this time, the "forty-two months," or 1242 historical years; bearing in mind that we are now considering events which are the counterparts of those that facilitated the growth of the ten-horned beast, or the despotic monarchism of Europe ; that all European mon- archies, medieval and modern, Papistical and 230 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Protestant, have been, and are, toes of the image, horns of the beast, Dragonic, Constantinian, Ro- man, Antichristian ; that as the former events developed the power and extended the dominion of the Antichrist, so the latter must develop and extend "the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ ;" and that as the former events brought upon the Woman, the true Church of Christ, bondage and oppression, so the latter must bring to her escape from thraldom, and the blessings of civil and religious liberty. "And two wings of a great eagle were given to the Woman, that she might fly into the wilder- ness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent." Rev. xii. 14. We must now find the Woman, and follow her in her flight into the wilderness, and to aid us we will borrow additional light from Isaiah and Daniel : "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it." Isa. ii. 2. u Thou sawest till that a stone was cutout without hands." "Foras- much as thou sawest that the stone was cut THE SECOND PLAGUE. 231 out of the mountain without hands." Dan. ii. 34, 45. These words of the prophets teach us : 1. That in the last days the mountain of the Lord's house, or Christianity, with its pure doctrines and just laws, shall be exalted and established above the hills and mountains, or the corrupt and oppres- sive systems of religion and government previous- ly existing. We have seen that the incipiency of this was in A. D. 1555. 2. That out of this mountain, the revived Christianity of Europe, a stone, or fragment, should be cut or separated without the aid or au- thority of the political and ecclesiastical powers of Europe. This stone, and the Woman that flew into the wilderness, are doubtless the same. The stone could not be cut out or severed from the moun- tain, and the Woman could not be away from the presence of the serpent if they remained in Eu- rope, therefore they must go to some other coun- try. Surely it must be an extraordinary class of people, their moral character and religious faith of a high order, their influence upon the destiny of the world of tremendous importance, that Heaven has designated by the symbol of the wo- 232 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. man that went "into her place" and by a stone that "became a great mountain, and filled the whole earthy "These men were called Puritam, of whom it is affirmed, that they recognized no title of su- periority but the divine favor ; and, confident of that favor, they despised all the accomplishments and all the dignities of the world. If they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and of poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God ; if their names were not found in the regis- ter of heralds, they felt assured that they were in the Book of Life ; if their steps were not at- tended by a splendid train of menials, legions of ministering spirits had charge over them. On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, they looked down with contempt ; for they es- teemed themselves rich in a more sublime lan- guage, nobles by the right of an earlier crea- tion, and priests by the imposition of a mightier hand." — Ferguson! s Hist Eng., vol. 2, 121. During the reign of Elizabeth, Protestantism was legalized in England, but the liberty of that age was as a galling yoke to the aspiring souls of the Puritans, who, in quest of greater freedom, in A. D. 1608, went over to Holland. But finding that even there they were still in the presence of the serpent, in A. D. 1620, they set sail in the THE SECOND PLAGUE. 233 Mayflower from Plymouth, England, for the un- known wilderness of America. Impelled by the "two wings of a great eagle," civil and religious liberty, and aided by the outspread sails of the Mayflower, the Woman was wafted to her des- tined home— "the land of the free." Many unsuccessful attempts had been made to colonize what is now the United States, under charters from European monarchs. "And a pat- ent was obtained from the king for a new com- pany incorporated as the council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for planting, ruling, ordering and governing New England in America. The first English settlement within its limits, however, was established without the hnoivledge of the corporation, and without the aid of King James, by the pilgrim fathers of New England, a body of Puritans (102 in number), who . . sailed from England Sept. 6, A. D. 1620, in the Mayflower, a vessel of 180 tons burden. They anchored first at Cape Cod (Nov. 6\ and on Dec. 11 (O. S.) an exploring party landed at a harbor in Massachusetts Bay, where the May- flower anchored a few days afterward. Here they began to build a town, which they called Plymouth in memory of the hospitalities received at the last English port from which they had 234 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. sailed. The government was strictly republican. The governor was elected by the people, and re stricted by a council of five (afterward seven) as- sistants. The legislature at first comprised the whole body of the people, but as the population advanced, the representative system was adopted." —Am. Cyc, u United States" "A certain part of the English people, however, aspired to more complete liberty than a monarchy could afford them, and passed over the sea to se- cure freedom of conscience and political enfran- chisement in the New World. . . . Thus the English colonies became the escape valve of Eu- ropean politics and society, the Appendix of the Reformation, and the Hope of Liberty. . . . In A. D. 1620, the Puritans of England, persecu- ted for their religious views, sought liberty of worship in the New World, establishing a colony at Plymouth, in the eastern part of New Eng- land."— Footprints of Time, 144, 150. "Religious freedom must correspond with poli- tical liberty. The one cannot exist apart from the other. Set a man politically free, and he will soon learn to trample under foot every form and manifestation of spiritual despotism. . . . Thus Protestantism and civil liberty have min- istered to each other in all modern history. Thus THE SECOND PLAGUE. 235 hand in hand, have they come down through ages of proscription and blood; — with shield to shield have they stood in the battle-fields of England, Scotland, Holland, and Germany; — over the ocean they were wafted by the same wing; — side by side have they grown beneath the pine and the holly, in the solitude of the New World." "If we look across the Atlantic, what a scene of interest stretches before us in the United States of America! There we see the Protestant faith living, and spreading, and exerting itself in manly strength. This is an- other fruit of the Reformation. The birth of Luther took place soon after the birth of Colum- bus; the reformer folloAved fast upon the dis- coverer. And when the great principles of the reformation had to struggle for a free and healthy existence in the Old World, Providence was preparing a field in the New World for their full and soul-stirring development. The Pilgrim Fathers, driven by the bitterness of persecution from their own country, sought an asylum for their families and their faith on the other side of the Atlantic, and there fulfilled one of the most glorious destinies in the history of man." — Ferguson's Hist. Eng. vol. 2, 111, 65. As before stated, the events of the plagues, by 236 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. which the power of the ten-homed dragon is destroyed, correspond with the circumstances by which the system of European Monarchism be- came developed. We have already seen that Christianity became Romanized in A. D. 313, when Constantine usurped the throne of God by constituting himself the supreme head of the Christian Church, and that this event had its counterpart in the casting down from heaven of the Emperor Charles V. in A. D. 1555 (313 + 1242 = 1555 \ and that the maturity of Imperial Chris- tianity, which occured in 337, when its founder, Constantine died, and his empire was divided by his three sons, had its counterpart in A. D. 1579 (337 + 1242 = 1579), when the Union of Utrecht severed the fair provinces of the Netherlands from the empire of the dragon, Philip II. In the same year the first attempt to plant an Eng- lish colony in America was made by Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert. And as with the last named date the first plague ended and the second began, we must follow along the parallel lines of ancient and modern history to see if we have made a correct adaptation of prophecy to history respect- ing the dragon and the Woman during the period of the second plague; And we will test the matter by four coincidental measurements. THE SECOND PLAGUE. 237 First. Julian the Apostate, the last of Con- stantine's dynasty, was dead, and in A. D. 364, Valentinian and Valens, "two new and obscure princes, who had been raised to the throne by a popular election," made a "solemn and final di- vision of the Roman empire" into Eastern and Western. From this time "the Goths who had contracted an hereditary attachment for the Imperial house of Constantine," but who des- pised the power of Valentinian and Valens de- termined upon the invasion and conquest of the Roman dominions. And, as a modern counter- part of this, in A. D. 1606 (364 -f 1242 = 1696) James I., King of England, determined upon the occupation of the Western continent, and estab- lish the London and Plymouth Companies for settling North America — thus in a sense divid- ing the English nation into Eastern and West- ern, and his realm into Old and New England. And from this event followed the successful colonization of the New World. Second. Roman resistence to barbarian in- vasion was generally successful until the year 378, when in a desperate encounter near Hadria- nople, the Emperor Valens "was slain in battle, and two-thirds of the Roman army were exter- minated by the sword of the victorious Groths." THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. {Gibbon.) From this event historians elate those great migrations that overwhelmed the Roman empire, and established the ten horns, or ten barbarian monarchies, on the ruins thereof. On the other hand, the severe persecution of the Puritans, the most protestant of the Protestants, the most worthy children of the Woman, and whose was the highest type of Christianity then in Europe, continued until 1620 (378 + 1242 = 1620), when the "stone (or fragment) was cut out of the mountain (Protestantism) without hands" (without a charter or assistance from King James, and without the aid or even the knowledge of the Plymouth Company), and the Woman flew "into the wilderness, into her place" which Provi- dence had reserved expressly for her. And with this event commenced the great migration to the New World and the growth of the stone that is destined to effect the entire demolition of the colossal fabrics of Monarchical and Papal despotism. Third. "The barbarians acquired, from the junction of some Pannonian deserters, the knowl- edge of the country and the roads, at length crossed the Rhine, and entered without opposi- tion the defenceless provinces of Gaul. This memorable passage of the Vandals, the Suevi, the THE SECOND PLAGUE. 239 Alani and the Burgundians,who never afterward retreated, may be considered as the fall of the Roman empire in the countries beyond the Alps; and the barriers which had so long separated the savage and the civilized nations of the earth were from that fatal moment levelled with the ground. . . . That rich and extensive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps and the Pyrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who destroyed the cities, ravaged the fields, and drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the sen- ator and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and altars (A. D. 406)." (Stu. Gibbon, 229). This great event, which introduced and estab- lished the barbarian nations (the horns of the beast) in the central and western portions of Eu- rope, destroyed the ancient civilization and Christianity, and instituted a state of civil and religious despotism that continued forty-two months, had its counterpart in the year 1648 (406 -f 1242 = 1648), in "the Peace of Westphalia, which terminated the religious wars of Europe, and forms a grand landmark in its history," se- cured freedom of conscience to all, and excluded the dragon (Spain) from all interference with the affairs of Protestant Europe. Fourth. The last paragraph showed the re- 240 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. lation. between the fall of the Roman empire in the countries beyond (or north of) the Alps, and the taking away of the tyrannical power of the monarchical horns of the Imperial beast in those countries. In this paragraph will be shown the relation between the overthrow of the Roman empire and the destruction of the power of its modern representative in the countries south of the Alps. The final extinction of the Roman em- pire in Italy was effected by "Odoacer, a bold barbarian, who assured his fellow-soldiers that, if they dared to associate under his command, they might soon extort the justice which had been denied to their dutiful petitions. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy the confederates impatiently flocked to the standard of this popu- lar leader ; and the unfortunate Orestes, over- whelmed by the torrent, hastily retreated to Pavia. The city was immediately besieged, the fortifications were stormed, and Orestes was slain. The helpless Augustulus, who could no longer command the respect, was induced to im- plore the clemency of Odoacer (A. D. 476). . . . The unfortunate Augustulus was made the in- strument of his own disgrace ; he signified his resignation to the senate." {Gibbon). Thus "the Western empire of the Romans was subverted : THE SECOND PLAGUE. 241 Roman glory had passed away : Roman liberty existed only in the remembrance of the past : the rude warriors of Germany and Scythia possessed the city of Romulus ; and a barbarian occupied the palace of the Caesars." — Will. Out. Hist. The confideracy of several allies in A. D. 476 to overthrow the Roman Imperial power, had its exact counterpart in "the Quadruple Alliance of England, France, Germany and Holland, against the designs of Spain" in A. D. 1718 (476 + 1242 = 1718) already mentioned in this chapter ; and as "the unfortunate Augustulus was made the in- strument of his own disgrace— he signified his own resignation to the senate," and thus second- ed and accomplished the designs of his success- ful enemies, so "the success of the allies soon compelled even Spain to accede to the terms of the Alliance for preserving the peace of Eu- rope." CHAPTER XV. THE THIRD PLAGUE. 1718—1776. "And the serpent threw out of his mouth water like a river, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman ; and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river that the dragon threw out of his mouth." Rev. xii. 15,16. "And the third angel poured out his cup on the rivers and the fountains of waters ; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters, saying : Just art thou, who art and who wast, the Holy One, because thou hast thus judged. For they have shed the blood of saints and of prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, and they are worthy. And I heard a voice from the altar saying : Even so, Lord God Al- mighty, true and just art thy judgments." Rev. xvi. 4-7. The third plague, like the second, affects the waters, — the "peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues" "where the harlot sits" (Rev. xvii. 15). The second was upon the figurative sea, or the nations of continental Europe, while the third is upon the fountains— the English, French, Spanish and the Dutch, and the rivers of people, which, issuing from these fountains, had flown off to colonize other lands. Hence this plague is THE THIRD PLAGUE. 243 to be upon the mother countries and their colo- nies. The passage from Eev. xii. shows that after the Puritans came to America the clragonic na- tions of Europe would send out numerous colo- nies adverse to the principles of religious and political freedom, and that their mission would not only be unsuccessful, but that they would finally be "swallowed up," or become incorpo- rated into the dominions of the United States. Hence the third plague will consist of a series of wars among the nations of Europe respecting their American possessions, and as a final result all the Papistical colonies planted on this conti- nent since the Puritans came here, will be incor- porated into the grand domain of Liberty. Following the Quadruple Alliance, with which our last chapter ended, there was twenty years of comparative tranquility in Europe. "In A. D. 1739, however, the general peace was interrupted by a war between England and Spain, growing out of the commercial and colonial difficulties of the two nations. For a long time Spain, claim- ing the right of sovereignty over the seas adjacent to her American possessions, which had been confirmed by successive treaties, had distressed and insuted the commerce of Great Britain by illegal seizures made under the pretext of the 244 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. right of search for contraband goods; while Britain, on the other hand, secretly encouraged a contraband traffic, little to her honor, and deeply injurious to Spain. War was first declared by England : the vessels of each nation in the ports of the other were confiscated ; and power- ful armaments were fitted out by the one to seize, and by the other to defend, the Spanish American possessions, while pirates from Biscay harrassed the home trade of England. . . . During the year 1745 the important French fortress of Louis- burg, on the Island of Cape Breton, was captured by the British and their colonial allies, an event which revived the spirits of the English, and roused France to a great vindictive effort for the recovery of Louisburg, and the devastation of the whole American coast from Nova Scotia to Georgia. Accordingly a powerful naval arma- ment was sent to America in A. D. 1746 ; but it was so enfeebled by storms and shipwrecks, and dispirited by the loss of its commander, that nothing was accomplished by it. During the years 1746 and 1747 hostilities were carried on with various success by the French and Spaniards on one side, and the English, Dutch and Aus- trians on the other. By sea the French lost al- most their last ship ; but no important naval THE THIRD PLAGUE. 245 battles were fought, as trie English navy had scarcely a rival. . . . Immediately after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle difficulties arose between France and England respecting their colonial possessions in India. . . . More serious causes of quarrel arose in North America. The French possessed Canada and Louisi ana, one commanding the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the other that of the Mississippi, while the intervening territory was occupied by the English colonists. . . The French made settlements at the head of the Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, claiming the terri- tory as a part of New Brunswick ; while by ex- tending a frontier line of posts along the Ohio river they aimed at confining the British colonies to the Atlantic coast and cutting them off from the rest of the continent. In A. D. 1754 the English colonial authorities began hostilities on the Ohio, without waiting for the formality of a declaration of war : in the following year the French forts at the head of the Bay of Fundy were reduced by Colonel Monckton ; but the English general, Braddock, who was sent against Fort Du Quesne, on the Ohio, was defeated with a heavy loss, and his army was saved from total destruction only by the courage and conduct of Major Washington, 246 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. who commanded the provincial troops. These colonial difficulties were the prominent causes of enmity between France and England. . . It was not till the month of May and June A. D. 1756, that England and France issued their dec- laration of war against each other, although hostilities had for some time previously been car- ried on between their colonies. France com- menced the war by an expedition against the island of Minorca, then in possession of the Eng- lish. ... In the mean time the war had been carried on in other quarters between the French and the English. In India the French were gen- erally successful, as they not only preserved their possessions, but wrested several fortresses from their rivals, but they were deprived of all their settlements on the coast of Africa, while in North America they abandoned Fort 1 )u Quesne to the English, and were obliged to surrender the im- portant fortress of Louisburg, after a vigorous siege conducted by generals Amherst and Wolfe. . . . On the ocean and in the colonies the re- sults of the year 1759 were highly favorable to the English. The French fleets were destroyed ; the English gained a decided preponderance in India ; while the conquest of Canada was achieved by the gallant Wolfe, who fell in the THE THIRD PLAGUE. 247 moment of victory before the walls of Quebec. . . . During the year 1760 France and Spain formed an intimate alliance, known by the name of the Family Compact, by which the enemy of either was to be considered the enemy of both, and neither was to make peace without consent of the other. This was an unfortunate act for Spain, whose colonies of Cuba and Manilla, with her ships of war and commerce soon fell into the hands of England. The English were also suc- cessful against the French ; and the latter, be- fore the close of the war were divested of all their possessions in the East Indies, while Belle- isle, on the very coast of France, was captured, and in the West Indies, Martinico, Guadaloupe, and other islands, were added to the list of British conquests. In November, A. D. 1762, the preliminary arti- cles of peace were signed at Paris between Eng- land, France and Spain, while Prussia and Austria, deserted by their allies, were left to con- tinue the war ; but they also soon agreed to sus- pend hostilities, and in the month of February, A. D. 1763, peace was concluded between all the belligerents. France ceded to England, Canada and Cape Breton, while Spain purchased the res- toration of the conquests which had been made 248 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. from her, by the cession of Florida to England, by giving the latter permission to cut logwood in the bay of Honduras, and by a renunciation of all claim to the Newfoundland fisheries. But im- portant as these results were to England, they were so much less advantageous than her posi- tion might have commanded, that it was said of her, 'she made war like a lion, and peace like a lamb.'"— Willsorts Out. Hist, 418-433. The prayer of the Rome-pagan martyrs for judgment and vengeance upon their murderers (Rev. vi. 9-11) has now been answered in the pun- ishment inflicted upon the Romanists by the first, second and third plagues; and the justice of their chastisement is universally acknowledged — by the living saints, and by those lying under the altar of sacrifice : "And I heard the angel of the waters, saying : Just art Thou, who art, and who wast, the Holy One, because Thou hast thus judged. For they have shed the blood of saints and of prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, and they are worthy. And I heard the voice from the altar saying : Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments." The time of the third plague corresponds with that of the third trumpet, during which the Bar- barian "rivers," the Heruli, Goths, etc., had pos- THE THIED PLAGUE. 249 ession of Italy. The former period commenced in A. D. 476, by the overthrow of the Empire of the West by the Barbarian Alliance, headed by the Hernli, and ended in A. D. 534 Avith the de- claration of Belisarius of his purpose "to deprive the Goths of all the provinces which they unjust- ly withheld from their lawful sovereign," Justin- ian ; and the latter period began in A. D. 1718 (476 + 1242 = 1718), with the overthrow of the dragon, Spain, by the Quadruple Alliance, head- ed by the English, and it terminated in 1776 (534 + 1242 = 1776), with the Declaration (of Inde- pendence) of Benjamin Franklin and others of their purpose to deprive the British of all the provinces which they unjustly withheld from their lawful owners, the American people. In the foregoing chapters we have- traced the true Church of Christ in her retirement to the Alpine solitudes to preserve the pure faith of the Gospel during the fearful night of the Dark Ages. "The Waldenses are the middle link, which con- nects the primitive Christians and Fathers with the reformed; and, by this means, the proof is completely established that salvation, by the grace of Christ, felt in the heart, and expressed in the life, by the power of the Holy Ghost, has ever existed from the time of the Apostles till 250 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. this day, and distinct from all that religion of mere form or convenience, or of human inven- tion, which calls itself Christian, but wants the spirit of Christ."— Hist Oh. Christ, vol. 3. 374. And we have seen that after the Reformation, on being again persecuted by the Dragon, Popery, and Prelacy, the Woman retired to the wilder- ness of America, leaving "the rest of her children" in Europe. Through severe oppression by the frowning State Churches, the baneful influence of infidelity, which is the legitimate offspring of corrupt and oppressive forms of religion, and by contact and contests with the wild nature and wilder men in the New World, the poor Woman had become reduced to a mere skeleton of her proper self ; and had not the Alwise made pro vision for supplying new vitality to her shriveled form, with her the hope of the world would have perished ; and the stone that "was cut out of the mountain without hands" could never demolish Nebuchadnezzar's monarchical image, and "be- come a great mountain and fill the whole earth." But through the good providence of Him who promised that the gates of hell should never prevail against His Church, the needed re-en- forcement came at the proper time. The new life came from the Moravians, whose THE THIED PLAGUE. 251 "preparatory history extends back as far as the ninth century, when Christianity was introduced into Bohemia and Moravia by Cyril and Metho- dius, who gave the people a Slavic version of the Bible, and built up a national church. Hence for several centuries the people of Bohemia and Moravia manifested the spirit of what was after- ward Protestantism, holding fast to ecclesiastical principles opposed to the injunctions of the Ro- man Catholic Church, and submitting to the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice." — Am. Cyc, "Moravians? Methodius was made a bishop, and appointed the metropolitan cf Moravia, and the Moravians, who read the Scriptures and worshiped God in their mother tongue (not in the language of Rome), and "kept the commandments of God and held the testimony of Jesus," are the link that connects the ancient with the modern Metho- dists. For it was from the Moravians that John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield learned the glorious truth that salvation is to be obtained by faith in the precious blood of Christ, and not by the works of the law and the perform- ance of the ritualistic ceremonies of state churches. On the ship that took the Wesleys to Georgia, 252 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. as missionaries, were some Moravian immigrants, whose simple faith and trust in God, and joyful serenity in prospect of shipwreck and a watery grave, surprised the missionaries, and convinced them that the humble German peasants were rich in a faith and hope, of which they, with all their learning, were ignorant. On their return from Georgia, the Wesleys became acquainted with Peter Bohler, a young Moravian missionary, who, on his way to America, had stopped in London to learn the English language ; and by him they were pointed to "the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." "John Wesley hastened, after his conversion, to the continent, to consult with the Moravians, whose English representatives had thus far been his best guides. He conversed with Count Zinzendorff and other leaders of the United Brethren, and returned to England confirmed in his faith, and the now single purpose of his life." From this time the two Wesleys, and Whitfield, who had obtained the same precious faith, preached to listening thousands a full and free salvation ; the slumber- ing churches of Britain and America awoke to a new life ; a second reformation was affected ; and from this originated the many Missionary and Bible societies "having the eternal Gospel to THE THIRD PLAGUE. 253 preach to those who dwell on the earth, even to every nation and tribe and tongue and people." Rev. xiv. 6. In his excellent history of England, Dr. Fergu- son alludes to the great Methodistic reformation thus : "Churchism was substituted for an evan- gelical faith and life. Formalism took the place of an active, self-denying, and spirit-striving Christianity. The pulpits of the Establishment were filled by men the majority of whom were strangers to the life of God, and whose inner man had no sympathy with the truths which they were called upon to teach and inculcate. The nonconformists, still subject to civil pains and penalties, had but few opportunities of dif- fusing the principles and doctrines of the Gospel beyond their own limited circle, and even among them the spirit of lukewarmness and inactivity was but too general. The spirit of the people was lulled into sleep. It was the sleep of spirit- ual death. Nothing could again awake that spirit but the Omnipotence of life. This mighty power came down upon England — and England awoke to life. . . , Whitfield and Wesley, whose names are associated with one of the most remarkable revivals of religion in the history of England, breaking loose from the restraints im- 254 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. posed upon the priesthood of the national church, and putting on the character of itinerant preach- ers, travelled over England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and even to America, to proclaim the sublime and saving doctrines of the Cross. . . . Thus it was with Whitfield and with Wesley, who, with seraphic love and ardor, did spend themselves in the cause of human good. Their preaching fell upon the hearts of the people with all the freshness and the force of inspiration. Mind awoke from its slumbers. Religion was acknowledged to be possessed of paramount claims and importance. The breath of life passed over the Church and over the land. A new state of things rose into view. It was as if a second reformation had been effected, and something more. It was an era in the religious life of Eng- land, whose influence can be known only by the progressive and ever-multiplying evolutions of time. . . . The great founders of Methodism left results on the national character which will terminate only with the existence of the nation itself."— Vol. 4, 103-5. As in England, so in America. And thus it was that the reserve forces of divine light, life and fire were transferred from the Moravian con- servatory at Herrnlmt, in Saxony, to the more THE THIRD PLAGUE. 255 fertile soil of England and America, and {lie emaciated Woman, "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," became so vitalized and invigorated as to be able to fulfil her glorious destiny on the earth, before she ascends to meet her Bridegroom in the heavens. CHAPTER XVI. THE FOUETH PLAGUE. 1776—1815. "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out (of the mountain) without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces." Dan. ii, 34. "And the fourth angel poured out his cup on the sun ; and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat; and they uttered impious words against the name of God who had power over these plagues ; and they repented not, that they might give him glory " Kev. xvi. 8, 9. The above scripture indicates, (a), a terrible calamity to be inflicted upon some nation called the sun ; which, (b), after being itself scorched should terribly scorch other men or nations ; (c), the prevalence, during these awful times, of a fearful amount of wickedness, atheism, and blasphemous or impious expressions, against the God of heaven ; (d), that these scorching calami- ties would not lead the people to repentance or reformation ; and (e), that (according to our un- derstanding of the stone nation) the cause of the trouble would originate in America, and THE FOUKTH PLAGUE. 257 seriously affect one or more of the ten toes, or monarchical nations of Europe, consisting of the incoherent elements of iron, or Roman despotism, and clay, or modern democracy. This plague commenced in the year 1776, and the following clause of the Declaration of Inde- pendence which is but a modern expression of the doctrine of Christ, — "All ye are brethren," was the stone of mountain weight, that then began to roll, and shake the tyrants from their thrones: "We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We conclude that the nation signified by the sun is France, and that the agent employed in scorching others was Napoleon Bonaparte, be- cause, 1. Prophecy shows that when the old sun, the great dragon Charles V. was cast down in A. D. 1555, his "place was found no more in heaven;" and, accordingly, history states that "so offended was the Pope at the sanction which Charles had given to the principles of religious toleration, that he became the avowed enemy of the house of Austria, and entered into a close alliance 258 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. with the young king of France." Hence, as in- dicated by prophecy, and proved by history, France was thus constituted the sun of the Papal world. 2. Hereafter France was the most ponderous and brilliant monarchy of Papal Europe. 3. Louis XIV. of France took the sun for his emblem. 4. Chronologically, the French Revolution which succeeded the period of the colonial wars described in the last chapter, resulted from the Declaration of Independence, and its events ex- actly correspond with the above prophecy, as will presently be shown by quotations from his- tory, and, 5. The period, 1776—1815, corresponds with the time during which the old Roman sun, moon, and stars were darkened, as will be indicated further on. During the Revolutionary war that followed the Declaration of Independence, "France and Spain, arbitrary despots of the Old World, had stood forth as the protectors of an infant repub- lic, and had combined, contrary to all the prin- ciples of their political faith, to establish the rising liberties of America. They seemed but as blind instruments in the hands of Providence, THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 259 employed to aid in the dissemination of those republican virtues that are destined to overthrow every system of political oppression throughout the world. The democratic spirit which had called forth the war between England and her American colonies, and which the princes of continental Europe had encouraged and fostered, through jealousy of the power of England, to the final result of American independence, was destined to exert a much wider influence than the royal allies of the infant Republic had ever dreamed of. Borne back to France by those of her chivalrous sons Avho, in aiding an op- pressed people, had imbibed their principles, it entered into the causes which were already at work there in breaking up the foundations of the rotten frame-work of French society, and contributed greatly to hurry forward the tre- mendous crisis of the French Revolution. At the time of the death of Loius XV., in A. D. 1774, the lower orders of the French people had been brought to a state of extreme indigence and suffering, by the luxuries of a dissolute and despotic court, during a long period of misrule, in which agriculture was sadly neglected, and trade, commerce, and manufacturies, existed but in an infant and undeveloped state. The nobil- 260 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ity had been, for a long time, losing their power and their wealth, by the gradual elevation of the middling classes; and the clergy had lost much of their influence by the rise of philo- sophical investigation, which was not only at- tended by an extraordinary degree of freedom of thought, but was strongly tinctured also with infidelity. To find a remedy for the disordered state of the French finances, and the decline of public credit, was the first difficulty which Louis had to en- counter ; nor did he surmount it until he found himself involved in the vortex of a revolution. . . . When it was known that the great assem- bly of the nation was to be convened, a universal ferment seized the public mind. Social reforms, extending to a complete reorganization of society, became the order of the day : political pamphlets inundated the country ; politics were discussed in every society ; theories accumulated upon theories ; and in the ardor with which they were combated and defended were already to be seen the seeds of those dissensions which afterward deluged the country with blood. There was abundance of evil to be complained of, and it was evident that exclusive privileges, and marked divisions of classes must be broken down. The THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 261 clergy held one-third of the lands of the king- dom, the nobility another third ; yet the remain- ing third was burdened with all the expenses of government. This was more than could be borne; yet the clergy, the nobility, and the magistracy, obstinately refused the surrender of their exclu- sive privileges, while, on the other hand, the philosophic party, considering the federal repub- lic of America as a model of government desired to break up the entire framework of French so- ciety, and construct the edifice anew. Louis, greatly alarmed, now abandoned the counsels of the party of the nobles, who had ad- vised him to suppress the threatened revolution at the head of his army, and hurrying to the National Assembly, craved its support and inter- ference to restore order to the capital. At the same time he caused the regular troops to be withdrawn from Paris, while the defence of the place was intrusted to a body of civil militia, called the National Guards, and placed under the command of La Fayette, whose liberal senti- ments, and generous devotion to the cause of American liberty had made him the idol of the populace. . . . The consequences of the insur- rection of the 14th of July extended throughout France ; the peasantry of the provinces, imita- 262 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ting tlie lower orders of the capital in a crusade against the privileged classes, everywhere pos- sessed themselves of arms ; the regiments of the line declared for the popular side ; many of the chateaux of the nobles were burned, and their possessors massacred or expelled, and in a fort- night there was no authority in France but what emanated from the people. These things produced their effect upon the National Assembly. The deputies of the privi- leged classes, seeing no escape from ruin but in abandonment of those immunities which had rendered them odious, consented to sacrifice the whole ; the clergy followed the example, and in one evening's session the aristocracy and the Church descended to the level of the peasantry ; the privileged classes were swept away, and the political condition of France was changed (Aug. 4th, A. D. 1789). In the mean time the training, dividing, forming and marshaling of parties went on. At first La Fayette and those who aided him— the moderate friends of liberty— prevailed in the Assembly, satisfied with constitutional reforms, without desiring to overthrow the mon- archy. But there was another class— the ultra revolutionists— composed of the factious spirits of the Assembly, who afterwards obtained the THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 263 control of that body. Having organized them- selves into a club called the club of the Jacobins, from the name of the convent in which they as- sembled, and gathering members from all classes of society, they held their nightly sittings, where, surrounded by a crowd of the populace, they can- vassed the acts of the Assembly and formed public opinion. At one time this club contained more than two thousand iive hundred members, and corresponded with more than four hundred affiliated societies throughout France. It was the hotbed of sedition, and the centralization of anarchy, and it eventually overturned the gov- ernment, and sent forth the sanguinary despots who established the Reign of Terror. While the machinations of the Jacobins were convulsing France, the repose of Europe was threatened by the injudicious movement of the emigrant nobility, large numbers of whom (esti- mated at seventy thousand), disgusted with the Revolution, had abandoned their country, re- solved to seek the restoration of the old govern- ment by the intervention of foreign powers. . . . The constitutionalists would have preserved the throne, while they stripped it of its power ; but the Girondists, enthusiastic admirers of the Am- ericans, despising the vain shadow of royalty, 264 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. longed for republican institutions on the model of antiquity. One step further was necessary to complete the Revolution, and that was the death of the kind- hearted and unfortunate monarch. On the ri- diculous charge of having engaged in a conspi- racy for the subversion of freedom, on the 26th of December Louis XVI. was brought before the Convention, and, after a trial which lasted twenty days, was declared guilty, and condemned to death by a majority of twenty-six votes out of seven hundred and twenty-one. Nearly all of those who had voted for his death subsequently perished on the scaffold, during the sanguinary 'reign of terror,' which scon followed. On the 21st of January, A. D. 1793, Louis was led out to execution. He met death with magnanimity and firmness, amid the insults of his cruel execution- ers. . . . Revolutionary committees, radiating from the central Jacobin power in Paris, extend- ed their net-work over the whole kingdom ; and these committees, having the power of arresting the obnoxious and the suspected, and numbering more than five hundred thousand individuals, often drawn from the very dregs of society, held the fortunes and lives of every man in France at their disposal. The prisons throughout France THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 265 were speedily filled with victims ; forced loans were exacted with rigor ; terror was made the order of the day ; and the guillotine was put in requisition to do its work of death. The queen was brought to the scaffold, and the dauphin, thrown into prison, ere long fell a victim to the barbarous neglect of his keepers. Irreligion and impiety raised their heads above the mass of pol- lution and crime ; the Sabbath was abolished by law ; the sepulchres of the kings of France were ordered to be destroyed, that every memorial of royalty might be blotted out ; and the leaders of the municipality of Paris, in the madness of atheism, publicly expressed their determination 'to dethrone the 'King of Heaven, as well as the monarchs of the earth.' As the crowning act of this drama of wickedness, the Goddess of Keason, personified by a beautiful female, was introduced into the Convention, and declared to be the only divinity worthy of adoration : — the churches were closed — religion everywhere abandoned — and on all the public cemeteries was placed the inscrip- tion : 'Death is an Eternal Sleep.' The death of Louis XVI., which derives its chief importance from the principle which the revolutionists thereby proclaimed, excited pro- found terror in France, and feelings of astonish- 266 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. merit and indignation throughout Europe. France thereby placed herself in avowed and unrelenting hostility to the established govern- ments of the neighboring States ; and it was uni- versally felt that the period had now arrived when she must conquer the coalition of thrones, or perish under its blows. The Convention did not wait to be attacked, but forthwith, on vari- ous pretexts, declared war against England, Spain and Holland, and ordered the increase of the armies of the republic to more than five hundred thousand men. . . . Thus terminated the mem- orable campaign of A. D. 1793. In the midst of internal dissensions and civil war, while France was drenched with the blood of her own citizens, and the world stood aghast at the atrocities of her 'Reign of Terror,' the national councils had shown uncommon military talent and unbound- ed energy. The invasion, on the north, had been defeated; the Prussians had been driven back from the Rhine ; the Spaniards had re-crossed the Pyrenees; the English had retired from Toulon ; and the revolt of La Vendee had been extinguished; while an enthusiastic army of more than a million of men stood ready to en- force and defend the principles of the lie volution against all the crowned heads of Europe. THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 267 Thus terminated that Reign of Terror, which, under the cloak of Republican virtue, had not only overturned the throne and the altar, and driven the nobles of France into exile, and her priests into captivity, but -which had also shed the blood of more than a million of her best citi- zens. . . . In a few hours tranquility was re- stored ; and this was the last insurrection of the people in the French Revolution. The new gov- ernment being established, the Convention, Avhich had passed through so many stormy scenes, and had experienced so great changes in sentiment, determined to finish its career by a signal act of clemency, and after having abolished the pun- ishment of death ; and published a general am- nesty, it declared its mission of consolidating the Republic accomplished, and its session closed. (Oct. 26th, A. D. 1795). In the Spring of A. D. 1796 the French Direc- tory sent three armies into the field ; that of the Sambre and Meuse, under Jourdan, numbering seventy thousand men : that of the Rhine and Moselle, under Moreau, numbering seventy-five thousand ; and the army of Italy under Bona- parte, numbering forty- two thousand. . . . The operations of the army of Bonaparte in Italy were more eventful. Although opposed by greatly 268 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. superior forces, the indefatigable energy and ex- traordinary military talents of the youthful gen- eral crowned the cam paign with a series of bril- liant victories, almost unparalleled in the annals of war. Napoleon, on assuming the command, found his army in an almost destitute condition, maintaining a doubtful contest on the mountain ridges of the Italian frontier. Rapidly forcing his way into the fertile plains of the interior, he soon compelled the king of Sardinia to purchase a dis- honorable peace, subdued Piedmont, conquered Lombardy, humbled all the Italian States, and defeated and almost destroyed four powerful armies which Austria sent against him. The 'Grand Army' assembled in Poland for the Russian war amounted to the immense aggre- gate of more than five hundred thousand men, of whom eighty thousand were cavalry — the whole supported by thirteen hundred pieces of cannon. Nearly twenty thousand chariots or carts, of all descriptions, followed the army, while the whole number of horses amounted to one hundred and eighty-seven thousand. To oppose this vast army the Russians had collected, at the beginning of the contest, nearly three hundred thousand men ; but as the war was carried into the interior their forces increased in numbers THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 259 until the armies on both sides were nearly equal. .... Still Napoleon pressed onward in sev- eral divisions, frequently skirmishing with the enemy, and driving them before him, until he arrived under the fortified walls of Smolensko, where thirty-thousand Russians made a stand to oppose him. A hundred and fifty cannon were brought up to batter the walls, but without effect, for the thickness of the ramparts defied the efforts of the artillery. But the French howit- zers set fire to some houses near the ramparts ; the flames spread with wonderful rapidity, and during the night which followed the battle a lurid light from the burning city was cast over the French bivouacs, grouped in dense masses for several miles in circumference. . . . When the retreating forces had reached the small vil- lage of Borodino, their commander, General But- usoff , resolved to risk a battle, in the hope of sav- ing Moscow. On the evening of the 6th of Sep- tember the two vast armies took their positions facing each other, — each numbering more than a hundred and thirty thousand men— the Russians having six hundred and forty pieces of cannon, and the French five hundred and ninety. . . . At six o'clock on the morning of the 7th a gun fired from the French lines announced the com- 270 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. mencement of the battle ; the roar of more than a thousand cannon shook the earth : vast clouds of smoke, shutting out the light of the sun, arose in awful sublimity over 1h 3 scene ; and two hun- dred and sixty thousand combatants, led on in the gathering gloom by the light of the cannon and musketry, engaged in the work of death. The battle raged with desolating fury until night put an end to its horrors. The slaughter was immense. The loss on both sides was nearly equal, amounting in the aggregate to ninety thousand killed and wounded. The Russian po- sition w r as eventually carried, but neither side gained a decisive victory. On the day after the battle the Russians retired, in perfect order, on the great road to Moscow. Preparations were immediately made by the inhabitants for aban- doning that city, long revered as the cradle of the empire. ... At midnight on the night of the 15th a vast light was seen to illuminate the most distant part of the city ; fires broke out in all directions ; and Moscow soon exhibited a vast ocean of flame agitated by the wind. Nine-tenths of the city weve consumed, and Napoleon was driven to seek a temporary refuge for his army in the country ; but afterward returning to the Kremlin, which had escaped the ravages of the THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 271 fire, lie remained there until the 19th of October, when, all his proposals of peace being rejected, he was compelled to order a retreat. The horrors of that retreat, which, during fifty-five days that intervened until the recrossing of the Memen, was almost one continued battle, exceeding any- thing before known in the annals of war." Be- sides the immense loss of the Russians and their allies, "It has been estimated that in this famous Russian campaign, one hundred and twenty-five thousand men of the army of Napoleon perished in battle ; that one hundred and thirty-two thousand died of fatigue, hunger, and cold : and that nearly two hundred thousand were taken prisoners. . . .In vain Napoleon now at- tempted to open negotiations with the allied powers, and prof essed an ardent desire for peace; the allies denounced him as the common enemy of Europe, and refused to recognize his authority as emperor of the French people. All Europe was now in arms against the usurper. . . . On the 16th of June, A. D. 1815, he defeated the Prussians under Blucher, at Ligny, but at the same time Ney was defeated by Wellington at Quatre Bras. The defeat of the Prussians in- duced Wellington to fall back upon Waterloo, where, at eleven o'clock on the morning of the 272 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 18th he was attacked by Napoleon in person, while at the same time large bodies of French and Prussians were engaged at Wavre. On the field of Waterloo the combat raged during the day with terrific fury — Napoleon in vain hurling column after column upon the British lines, which withstood his assaults like a wall of ada- mant ; and when, at length, at seven in the evening, he brought up the Imperial Guard for a final effort, it was driven back in disorder. At the same time Blucher, coming up with the Prus- sians, completed the route of the French army. The broken host fled in all directions, and Napo- leon himself, hastening to Paris, was the herald of his own defeat. Once more the capital capitu- lated and was occupied by foreign troops : Napo- leon a second time abdicated the throne, and after vainly attempting to escape to America, surrendered himself to a British man-of-war. He was banished by the allies to the island of St. Helena, where he died on the 5th of May, A. D. 1821, during one of the most violent tempests that had ever raged on the island— fitting time for the soul of Napolron to take its departure. On the 20th of November, A. D. 1815, the second treaty of Paris was concluded between France and the allied powers, by which the French f ron. THE FOURTH PLAQUE. 273 tier was narrowed to nearly the state in which it stood in A. D. 1790 : twenty-eight million pounds sterling were to be paid by France for the expen- ses of the war, and a larger sum still for the spoliations which she had inflicted on other powers during her revolution, and for five years her frontier fortresses were to be placed in the hands of her recent enemies ; while the vast treasures of art which adorned the museums of the Louvre — the trophies of a hundred victories —were to be restored to the states from which they had been pillaged by the orders of Napoleon. Mournfully the Parisians parted with these me- morials of the glories of the consulate and the empire. The tide of conquest had now set against France herself — her pride was broken — her humiliation complete — and the iron entered into the soul of the nation."— Will. Out. Hist, 445-503. These terrible circumstances affecting the French monarchy, the sun of modern Europe, were a counterpart of those which darkened the Gothic monarchy, the sun of ancient Europe. The first series of events was begun by the decla- ration of Belisarius of his purpose u to deprive the Goths of all the provinces which they unjustly withheld from their lawful sovereign ;" and the 274 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. second series was commenced with the Declara- tion of Independence, announcing the inherent and inalienable rights of all men. This applied, in its most limited sense, to the political powers and privileges of the American people, in their relation to the king of Great Britain, by whom they were oppressed; it applies in a broader sense, as seen in the light of prophecy and his- tory, to the French nation, which was more se- verely oppressed by its monarchs, and aristocrat- ic and clerical classes; and it applies in its broadest sense to the civil, religious and social rights of all men, everywhere, and at all times, — to the breaking down, pulverizing and blow- ing away of the whole of Nebuchadnezzar's im- age. The recovery of Italy was begun by Belisarius in A. D. 534, and prosecuted with varying fortune until A. D. 552, when Narses was appointed com- mander of the armies in Italy. In A. D. 554 the power of the Goths was subdued, and the author- ity of Narses was obeyed until A. D. 567, after which the further subjugation of the country was effected by Alboiii, king of the Lombards, who reigned until A. D. 573, when the splendid career of this great military chieftain was ended through his inability to defend himself from the THE FOURTH PLAGUE. 275 revenge of his wife, Rosamond, whose people he had murdered. So from A. D. 1776 (534 + 1242 — 1776) the recovery of the provinces unjustly withheld from their laAvful owners was com- menced and prosecuted, first in America, and then in France, with varying fortune, until A. D. 1794 (552 + 1242 = 1794), when Napoleon u was made a brigadier general of artillery," and when, being "stationed at the foot of the Maritime Alps, he made the campaign of A. D. 1794 against the Piedmontese troops." In 1796-7 (554 + 1242 = 1796) the power of the Pope in Italy was sub- dued, and the rule of Napoleon continued till A. D. 1809 (567 + 1242 = 1809), when he renewed the subjugation of Italy by annexing all the re- maining provinces to the French empire. And after this time he continued to oppress Europe until A. D. 1815 (573 + 1242 = 1815), when, at the battle of Waterloo, the splendid career of this great military chieftain was ended by his inabil- ity to defend himself from the revenge of Wel- lington and Blucher, whose people he had mur- dered. CHAPTER XVH THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 1796-1874. "And the fifth angel poured out his cup on the throne of the beast ; and his kingdom was filled with darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain; and they spoke im- piously against the God of heaven because of their pains, and because of their sores ; and they repented not of their works.* 1 Eev. xvi. 10, 11. "And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire.'' Rev. xvii. 16. " I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." Dan. vii. 11. In former chapters we have considered the pro- gressive rise and development of the Papal beast ; and his co-operation with the ten-horned monarchical monster of Europe in persecuting and killing the saints of the Most High ; and we have seen "the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and of the blood of the Witnesses of Jesus." Kev. xvii. 6. In the present chapter we shall trace the decline and fall of this murderous power, see the fifth angel pour out his cup on the THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 277 throne of the beast, and "the ten horns" that were to "receive authority as kings at the same time with the beast," "hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire." In the eighth chapter we saw that the seventh form of Roman government, the Gothic, was su- perseded by the eighth, the Papal, in A. D. 554. Hence we may infer that in A. D. 1796, at the end of the "forty-two months" (554 + 1242 = 1796), a terrible affliction will befall Rome, the throne of the Papal beast, or the capital, and temporal do- minions of the Pope : "In the Spring of A. I). 1796 the French directory sent . . . the army of Italy, under Bonaparte, numbering forty- two thousand, . . . which subdued Piedmont, conquered Lombardy, humbled all the Italian States, and defeated, and almost destroyed, four powerful armies which Austria sent against him. . . . Thus terminated the brilliant Italian cam- paigns of Napoleon. Italy was the greatest suf- ferer in these contests. 'Her territory was par- titioned; her independence ruined; her galleries pillaged ;— the trophies of art had followed the car of victory ; and the works of immortal genius, which no wealth could purchase, had been torn from their native seats and violently transplant- 278 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBEES. ed into a foreign soil." — Willson's Out. Hist., 465, 467. "While condemning these violent proceedings, Pins VI. refused to join the coalition of European States against France ; but the assassination at Rome, Jan. 13, A. D. 1793, of Basseville, a French emissary, ultimately led to the invasion of the Papal territories by Bonaparte in A. D. 1796. By the treaty of Tolentino, Feb. 19, A. D. 1797, Pius was forced to surrender Avignon and the Ven- aissin, and the legations of Ferrara, Bologna and the Romagna, to pay an indemnity of 31,000,000 francs, and to give up to the French some of the finest works of art in Rome. The fulfilment of these conditions brought the Pope to the verge of ruin."— Am. Cya, "Pius VI." The above constitutes an exact counterpart of the events of A. D. 554 and 555. In 554 the power of the Goths was suppressed in Rome and Italy, that the authority of the Popes might prevail there, and in A. D. 1796 (554 + 1242 = 1796) the dominions of the Pope were invaded, and his power suppressed by Napoleon , in A. D. 555 Pope Vigilius having died, "Pelagius was chosen his successor -by the influence of Justinian," and in the same year he became possessed of the wealth and splendors of the See of Rome, and in A. D. THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 279 1797 (655 + 1242 = 1797), through, the influence of Napoleon, Pius VI., as already shown, was forced to surrender much of his temporal dominions in Italy, u to pay an indemnity of 31,000,000 francs, and to give up to the French some of the finest works of art in Rome. The fulfilment of these conditions brought the Pope to the verge of ruin." In chapter VIII. we saw also that "Longinus was sent in the year A. D. 566 (some historians say A. D. 567) by the emperor, Justin II., to govern Italy with absolute authority; and he changed the whole form of the government, abolished the senate, and consuls, and all the former magis- trates in Rome and Italy, and in every city of note constituted a new governor with the title of Duke. He himself presided over all ; and resid- ing at Ravenna, and not at Rome, he was called the Exarch of Ravenna,"— Diss. Proph., 541. By removing from Rome the senate, consuls, magistrates and everything else pertaining to the former Imperial and Barbarian dominions, great- er facilities were afforded for the rise of the power of the Popes. Consequently, at 1242 years from that time we may expect to find a corres- ponding humiliation of Papal authority. The 1242 years added to 566 brings us to the year 1808. 280 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. "In the meantime (A. D. 1808) difficulties had arisen between the French emperor and Pope Pins VII. : French troops entered Rome; and by a decree of Napoleon, the Papal States were annexed to the French empire. This was imme- diately followed by a bnll of excommunication against Napoleon, whereupon the Pope was seized and conveyed a prisoner into France, where he was detained until the Spring of 1813." — Will, Out. Hist, 491. "The refusal of the Pope to grant a divorce be- tween Jerome Bonaparte and Miss Patterson, and a dispute concerning appointments to certain va- cant Sees in the kingdom of Italy, hastened a rupture. In February, A. D. 1808, a French force under Gen. Miollis took possession of Pome; in April the emperor declared diplomatic intercourse at an end, and annexed the provinces of Ancona, Macerata, Fermo and Urbino to the kingdom of Italy, and in May, 1809, the remainder of the Ro- man States were incorporated with the French empire, Napoleon declaring that he 'deemed it proper, for the security of his empire and of his people, to take back the grant of Charlemagne V The Pope replied by a bull of excommunication (June, A. D. 1809). At dawn on July 6, Gen. Radet forced an entrance into the Quirinal, and THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 281 conveyed the Pontiff, with his friend, Cardi- nal Pacca, to Grenoble."— Am. Cyc, "Pius VII.' 1 "Napoleon abolished the inquisition in all Italy in A. D. 1808," and in Spain, "Joseph Bonaparte entirely abolished it in December, A. D. 1808."— Am. Cyc, "Inquisition." In. A. D. 566 or 567 the emperor Justin II. sent his exarch or deputy "to govern Italy with abso- lute authority, and he changed the whole form of the government, abolished the senate, and consuls, and all the former magistrates in Eome and Italy." Justin caused all the old institutions and privileges to be abolished, that the provinces of Italy, the ancient centre of imperial power, might be completely incorporated with his By- zantine empire, and to increase the security of his empire and of his people. And in A. D. 1808 and 1809 (567 + 1242 = 1809) the emperor Napo- leon sent his generals, or deputies to govern Italy, they abolished the inquisition and other favorite institutions of Popery, and the provinces of Italy, the centre of Papal power they incorporated with the French empire of Napoleon, "for the security of his empire and of his peqple." The acts of Bonaparte and his generals correspond with those of Justin and his exarch, rather than with the doings of Charlemagne, as Napoleon supposed : 282 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. for the removal of the senate, consuls and magis trates from Eome cleared the way for the estab- lishment of the power of the Popes there. The destruction of Papal and clerical tyranny, as well as the overthrow of monarchical and aris- tocratic despotism, is the proper work of the "stone cut out of the mountain," or the divine principle of human rights proclaimed in the Dec- laration of Independence ; and from the year A. D. 1776 to the present time, the little horn, to- gether with the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's monarchical image, have been crumbling to dust, which has been bloAvn away by the wind of heaven. We will now notice some of the conflicts of the stone with the toes of the image— the efforts of the people to establish, and of the dragon and beast to suppress, civil and religious liberty : ''''Spain. During the period of general peace, from A. D. 1815 to 1820, Spain, under the rule of the restored Ferdinand, was in a state of con- stant political agitation ; and in A. D. 1820 an insurrection of the soldiery compelled the King to restore to his subjects the free and almost re- publican constitution of A. D. 1812. . . . Sev- eral of the European powers, in a congress held at Verona, adopted a resolution to support the authority of the king in opposition to the consti- THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 283 tution which he had granted ; but England stood aloof, and to France was intrusted the execution of the odious measure of suppressing democratic principles in Spain. Portugal. The adjoining kingdom of Portu- gal was a prey to similar commotions. . . . In August A. D. 1820 a revolution broke out, and a free constitution was soon after established, hav- ing for its basis the abolition of privileges, the legal equality of all classes, the freedom of the press, and the formation of a representative body in the national legislature. The constitution, being violently opposed by the clergy and privi- leged classes, who formed what was called the apostolic party, . . . was suppressed in A. D. 1823. Naples. ... At length, on the 2d of July, A. I). 1820, the growing discontent of the people broke out in open insurrection, and a remon- strance was sent to the government demanding a representative constitution. One based on the Spanish constitution of A. D. 1812 was im- mediately granted, and the Neapolitan parlia- ment was opened on the 1st of October following; but on the same month a convention of the three crowned heads who formed the Holy Alliance, attended by ministers from most of the other 284 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. European powers, met at Troppau; and it was there resolved by the sovereigns of Russia, Aus- tria and Prussia, to put down the Neapolitan con- stitution by force of arms. France approved the measure, but the British cabinet remained neu- tral. Piedmont . . . Scarcely had the Neapolitan Revolution been suppressed, when an insurrec- tion, beginning with the military, broke out in Piedmont. . . . While efforts were made to organize a government, an Austrian army was assembled in Lombardy to put down the revolu- tion. . . . On the 8th of April the insurgents were overthrown in battle ; and on the 10th the combined royal and Austrian troops were in pos- session of the whole country. In Piedmont, as in Naples, Austrian interference, ever exerted on the side of tyranny, suppressed every germ of constitutional freedom. The French Revolution of 1830. . . . The new king, bitterly opposed to the principles of the Revolution, and governed by the councils of bigoted priests, labored to build up an absolute monarchy, with a privileged nobility and clergy for its support; while, on the other hand, the people, persuaded that a plot was formed to de- prive them of their constitutional privileges, THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 285 talked of open resistance to the arbitrary de- mands of the court. ... In the meantime the king and his ministers, hoping to facilitate their projects, and overcome their unpopularity by gratifying the taste of the French people for mil- itary glory, declared war against Algiers. English Reforms. From the death of George the Third, in A. D. 1820, to the death of George the Fourth, in June, A. D. 1830, England was agi- tated by a continued struggle between the two great parties which divided the nation — the whigs and the tories. Civil disabilities of all kinds were loudly objected to, and political abuses denounced with a plainness and force never before known in England. . . . The passage of the reform bill was, "to England, a po- litical revolution — none the less important be- cause it was bloodless, and carried on under the protection of law. ... As to England her- self, none of the many evils arising from demo- cratic ascendency in the government, so often predicted by the aristrocratic party, have yet fol- lowed in the train of reform ; but, on the con- trary, the peace, power and prosperity of the country have increased thereby. French Revolution oj '1848. . . . During the winter of A. D. 1847-8 numerous political reform 286 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. banquets were held throughout France. . . . The leaders of the opposition having announced that reform banquets would be held throughout France on the 22d of February, Washington's birthday (a terror to despots); on the evening preceding the 22d, the administration forbade the intended meeting in Paris, and made exten- sive military preparations to suppress it if it were attempted. . . . On the morning of the 22d the opposition papers announced that the ban- quet would be deferred. . . . At an early hour on Wednesday, February 23d, crowds again appeared in the streets, barricades were erected, and some skirmishing ensued, in which a few persons were killed. . , . Between ten and eleven in the evening a crowd, passing the Hotel of Foreign Affairs, was suddenly fired upon by the troops with fatal effect. The people fled in consternation, but their thirst for vengeance was aroused, and the cry, 'To arms ! Down with the assassins ! Down with Louis Phillippe ! Down with the Bourbons !' resounded throughout Paris. . . . On the day of the king's abdication the Chamber of Deputies assembled ; but, being over- whelmed by the crowd, the greatest confusion prevailed, and amid shouts of 'No king ! Long live the republic,' the members of a provisional THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 287 government were named, and adopted by popular acclamation. . . . And amid the turbulent demonstrations of the Parisian populace the French Republic was adopted, and proclaimed to the nation. Royalty had vanished, almost with- out a struggle— blown aivay by the breath of an urban tumult — and the strangest revolution of modern times was consummated. Revolutions in the German States, Prussia, and Austria. As soon as the first accounts of the French Revolution of the 24th of February, A. D. 1848, reached Germany, the whole of that vast country was in a ferment : popular commotions took place in all the large cities ; and the people demanded a political constitution that should give them a share in legislation, establish the liberty of the press, and otherwise secure them their just rights. . . . Within a week from the revolution in Paris the demands of the peo- ple had been acceded to throughout nearly all the south and west of Germany. . . . When, however, news of the downfall of Louis Phillippe reached Vienna, a shock was felt which vibrated throughout the whole Austrian empire; the public funds immediately fell thirty per cent. : the people, sympathizing with the Parisians, ex- pressed themselves upon the great subject of 288 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. reform with a freedom and earnestness altogether foreign to their habits; and the royal family, panic-stricken by the gathering tempest, were closeted in deep consultation. All the royal family and the imperial cabinet, with the excep- tion of the Archduke Louis, uncle of the emperor, and the minister Metternich, were in favor of making immediate concessions to the people, as the only means of retaining the provinces, if not of preserving the throne. . . . The first period of the revolution terminated with the triumph of the people, and was followed by apparently sincere efforts on the part of the government to fulfil its promises and carry out the reforms projected. But serious difficulties intervened. . . . The emperor Ferdinand, yearning for re- pose, resigned his crown in favor of his nephew the Archduke Joseph : the government resumed its despotic powers ; and Austria fell back to her old position. In Prussia, Frederick William, imitating the Austrian emperor, and calling the army to his aid, dissolved the assembly which he had called for the purpose of constructing a con- stitution, and forgot all his promises in favor of reform. With both Prussia and Austria against them, the smaller German States, divided in their THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 289 counsels, could accomplish nothing ; and the pro- ject of German unity was virtually abandoned. Revolution in Italy. Since the fall of Napo- leon, Austrian influence has been predominant in Italy. ... It was not long before Austria, in her steady adherence to the principles of des- potism, had exacted treaties from all the princes of Italy, stipulating that no constitution should be granted to their subjects. . . The elec- tion in June A. D. 1846, of Cardinal Mastai, to fill the Pontificial chair, with the appellation of Pius the Ninth, threatened the subversion of Austrian influence throughout a greater part of Italy. . . . From the well-known liberal char- acter of Pius the Ninth, and the manner in which his reign began, it was to be expected that, in the Papal States at least, liberty would find a quiet asylum. For a time prince and people were united in the noble cause of the political renovation of Italy ; but the people soon outran the Pope in the march of reform, and began to murmur because he lingered so far behind them. . . . In the Summer of A. D. 1848 symptoms of reaction began to appear : Pius signified to the Roman Chamber of Deputies that it was asking too much ; and his appointment of Rossi to the post of prime minister exasperated the people, 290 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. and diminished his own popularity Rossi's avowed hostility to the democratic movement led to his assassination on the 15th of November, as he was proceeding to open the Chambers, and eight days later the Pope fled from Rome, and took up his residence in Gaeta, in the territory of the king of Naples. On the 9th of February following, a National Assembly, elected by the people, proclaimed that the Popes, temporal pmver was at an end, and that the form of government of the Roman States should be a pure democracy, with the name of 'The Roman Republic' Month after month Pius remained at Gaeta, unwilling to demand foreign aid to reinstate him in his temporal sovereignty, and hoping that his peo- ple acknowledging their past misconduct, would recall him of their own accord ; but no signs of any change in his favor being exhibited, he at length availed himself of the only resource left him. The Roman Catholic powers of Austria, Naples, Spain, and France, responded to his appeal for aid : the Austrians entered the Papal States on the north,— the Neapolitans on the south— a body of Spanish troops landed on the coast— and, to the shame of republican France, toward the close of April a French army, un- der the command of General Oudinot, was THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 291 sent to southern Italy, under the avowed pre- tence of checking Austrian influence in that quarter, but, in reality, as the sequel proved, to restore Papal authority on the ruins of the Roman Republic. . . . Pius the Ninth re- turned to Rome, stealthily, and in the night, a changed man. Three years of political experience had changed his zeal for reform into the most imbittered feeling towards all democratic insti- tutions : political tolerance gave place to the most determined support of absolutism ; and the blessings with which his people once greeted him were changed to curses."— WilUorHs Out. Hist. 512-548. Before we proceed we must make an assay to see if we are still following the vein of golden ore. In former chapters we have seen that while the supreme authority in ecclesiastical affairs had been claimed and contested by the rival bishops of Rome and Constantinople, the emper- ors from Coustantine to Phocas, were virtually head of the Church, and exercised authority over all bishops, and church doctrines and controver- sies ; and that in the year 606 or 607 Pope Boni- face III. "by virtue of a grant from the wicked tyrant Phocas, first assumed the title of Univer- sal Pastor, and thereon claimed to himself that 292 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. supremacy which lie hath been ever since en- deavoring to usurp over the Christian Church." Some modern writers place this grant of Phocas in the year 607 : Pope Boniface III., "a Greek successor of Sabinianus in March, A. D. 607, died in November of the same year. He convoked a council of 72 bishops, . . and obtained from the emperor, Phocas, the acknowledgment that the See of Rome had universal supremacy." — Am, Cyc, "Boniface HIP In this manner, and at this time, the headship of the Church was transferred from the emperor (the dragon) to the Pope (the beast), and the lat- ter received from the former his "great author- ity." And, measuring with the 1242 solar years from 606-607, we come exactly upon the remark- able events of 1848-1849 (607 + 1242 = 1849), when, as shown by the above quotations, the great au- thority of the Pope was taken from him, and a republican form of government was proclaimed in Rome. Although the Pope was reinstated, and for a time supported in his temporal domin- ion, this was not by his own power, but by that of dragonic Austria, Naples, Spain and France ; and, as we shall soon see, when the bayonets of these powers were no longer available, the temporal power of the Popes came to its final end. THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 293 We will now endeavor to- find in history the events indicated by John by these words : "And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire," (Rev. xvii. 16) ; and by Daniel by these words: "I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." Dan. vii. 11. "The ten horns," or despotic monarchies, were to "receive authority as kings at the same time with the beast," or Papacy, to which they were to "give their power" "till the words of God be accomplished ;" and after this time, "these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked." Up to this time Spain, Austria and France had been the chief supporters of the Papacy, but we will now notice when the change took place in the attitude of these powers. Spain. "On Aug. 15th the national guard was dissolved, and gradually the illiberal legislation of A. D. 1845 restored, especially since Narvaez had became prime minister. The sale of church property was inhibited, and the concordat of A. D. 1851 restored. The church property question was finally adjusted by a convention with Rome, on 294 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Aug. 25, A. D. 1859; and the Spanish government became the strongest supporter of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope." (Am. Cyc, "Spain") "But in September, A. D. 1868, while the Queen Eegnant was absent at the north to interview her friend, Napoleon III., a widely extended movement, in which most of the eminent men of Spain took part, began ; and in a few days the Spanish monarchy ceased to exist. . . . The effect of this revolution was to liberalize Spain at a bound, and for two years that country has been as free from bigotry in action as any coun- try in Europe. Protestant worship is as safely performed in Madrid as in London or New York ; and the Bible in Castilian can be circulated to the south of the Pyrenees." — Harper's Magazine, Jan., 1871. Austria. "During the war the work of central- ization had been carried on by the Austrian government with apparent success. By the con- cordat with the Holy See (A. D. 1855) Austria gave back to the Roman Catholic clergy all the privileges and influence which had been wrested from them since the time of Joseph II." During A. D. 1866 Austria was terribly defeated and hu- miliated by her Protestant neighbor, Prussia, and "on May 25, A. D. 1868, the government sanction- THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 295 ed three laws adopted by both houses of the Reichsrath, which, in accordance with the views of the liberal party, abolished the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts over the marriage rela- tions of Catholics, transferred the supreme direc- tion and superintendence of the entire depart- ment of instruction and education to the State, and regulated the relations of the churches re- cognized by the State on the basis of equal rights. The Papal Nuncio in Vienna protested against these laws as a violation of the concordat, and the Pope declared them to be null and void ; but the government, while endeavoring to con- ciliate the bishops as much as possible, carried them through. Another important victory was gained by the liberal party in A. D. 1870, when the government declared the concordat of A. D. 1855 to be no longer valid." — Am. Cyc, "Austria." France was now the only dragonic power that could uphold and defend the beast, and it was the fate of these two monsters to be destroyed at the same time. "Among external affairs the 'Roman question,' the problem of the position of the Papal States in relation to the rest of Italy, had assumed an aspect which seemed likely to require prompt action if the imperial policy was 296 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. to be sustained. When in the Autumn of A. D. 1867 an Italian uprising against the continuance of the Papal power in Rome occurred, under Garibald's influence and leadership, and the government of Victor Emanuel manifested the greatest hesitancy in undertaking an active in- terference, Napoleon was driven to more ener- getic measures. An ultimatum was sent to Flor- ence on October 16, and on the 30th a body of French troops, brought from Toulon by sea, en- tered Rome ; on Nov. 3, they reinforced the Pa- pal troops at the battle of Mentana against the Italian forces, and secured the defeat of the lat- ter ; and no part of the force was withdrawn un- til the Pope's authority was re-established. Even then small garrisons were left in Rome and Civ- ita Vecchia ; and as much diplomatic negotiation on the part of France with the other great poAvers did not lead to a settlement of the question which was at the same time satisfactory to the government of Victor Emanuel and that of the emperor, these garrisons were retained pending the decision of the matter; and they did not finally leave the Italian capital until other and far different events had brought about Napo- leon's downfall, nearly three years later/' — Am. Cyc, "France" THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 297 On August 2d, A. D. 1870 war was commenced between Protestant Germany and Catholic France, and after one month's fighting the vast armies of the latter were so overwhelmingly de- feated that "the emperor Napoleon surrendered himself to king William in person, Sept. 2, and was carried prisoner to Wilhelmshole. In dead and wounded and the vast number of prisoners of war the French had thus lost in a few days an army of nearly 150,000 men." — Am. Ci/c. "France" Thus terribly fell the crushing vengeance of heaven upon the civil powers that have courted and practiced lewdness with the harlot of Rome. This final destruction of the imperial power of France is doubtless indicated by the "forty-two months." Let us see. The tranquility of the Roman empire that succeeded the barbarian in- vasions had been frequently disturbed by her eastern rival, Persia, Avhen finally "the spirit of Heraclius was roused, and God gave him won- derful success : The Persian king was repeatedly vanquished, though he ceased not to persecute the Christians, so long as he had power, . . . and in the year A. D. 628 the Persian power ceased to be formidable to the Roman empire." — Hist. Ok. Christ., vol. 3, 86. 298 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. In A. D. 628 the king of Persia, the chief sup- porter of the Magian religion, was vanquished by the Romans, and ceased to be formidable to the empire of Romanism ; and in A. D. 1870 (628 + 1242 = 1870) the emperor of France, the chief supporter of the Papal religion was vanquished by the Protestants of Germany, and ceased to be formidable to the empire of Protestantism. How the European nations "hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked" may be seen also in their treatment of the Jesuits, those deadly enemies of civil and religious liberty, who are ever plotting the overthrow of Protestant and liberal governments, and who are always made to fly on the rising of the friends of freedom. "The revolution of A. D. 1848 endangered their existence in all Italy ; mobs attacked their houses in Genoa and Naples, and they were expelled from nearly every state, even from the dominions of the Pope. The General found for some time a refuge in England. They returned after the success of the counter revolution in A. D. 1849 to most states, except Sardinia and Tuscany, but were again expelled by the movements of A. D. 1859 from Lombardy, Parma, Modena, and the le- gations. In Naples the principal organ of the Jesuits, the Civilta Cattolica of Rome, was pro- THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 299 hibited in A. D. 1855 for having censured the government. . . . In A. D. 1860 the progress of Garibaldi in Sicily and the Neapolitan provin- ces was attended by the expulsion of the Jesuits and the sequestration of their property. The establishment of the kingdom of Italy was the signal for the final suppression of the order in the peninsula, . . . As province after province was taken from him (Pius IX.), the Jesuits were driven from their houses. When Rome became the capital of Italy in A. D. 1870, the Italian par- liament decreed the suppression of all religious orders and corporations. The houses destined as residences for the heads of these orders and their officers were at first reserved from the gen- eral decree ; but in October A. D. 1873, despite the efforts of the Italian ministry, these central residences were suppressed by the legislature, and no Jesuit at present legally exists in Rome or elsewhere in Italy. In Portugal, John VI. protested against their restoration. Dom Miguel admitted them by a decree of A. D. 1829, but Dom Pedro exiled them in A. D. 1834, since which time there have been no recognized communities of Jes- uits in that country." ... In Spain "in A. D. 1835 Queen Christiana was compelled to suppress the order, and in A. D. 1840 its last house, at Loyola 300 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. in Guipuzcoa was dissolved by order of the pro- vincial regency. . . . They were once more banished by Espartero in A. D. 1854, but were recalled by O'Donald in A. D. 1858, at the in- stance of the emperor and empress of the French. . . . But after the revolution of A. D. 1868 they were once more banished from Spain. . . . In the kingdom of Saxony they were expressly excluded from the country by a provision in the constitution of A. D. 1831. The events of A. D. 1848, which expelled them from so many coun- tries, opened to them a wide field of action in many of the German states. . . . But the active part taken by the theologians of the order in advocating and promoting the dogma of pon- tifical infallibility, and the coalition of the ultra- montane deputies with the separatists in the Reichstag, aroused the suspicions of the German imperial government, and led finally to their suppression and their expulsion from the German empire in A. D. 1873." In Switzerland "in A. D. 1847 the federal diet demanded the dissolution of the Sonderbund and the removal of the Jesuits ; the seven cantons refusing submission to this de- cree, war ensued, and ended in breaking up the alliance and the expulsion of the Jesuits, who have ever since been forbidden by the federal THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 301 constitution to return. The Swiss constitution as revised in A. D. 1874 rigorously excluded all religious corporations from the territory of the republic,"— Am. Cyc, "Jesuits" Daniel "beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame." "At length,, after the withdrawal of the last French soldier, Aug. 21, 1870, in consequence of the French reverses in the German war, Vic- tor Emanuel wrote to Pius IX. declaring that the occupation of Eome by Italian troops had become an imperative necessity. This event took place on Sept. 20, the pontiricial garrison making but a brief resistance. The great powers were notified of it on Oct, 18 ; in December the Italian cham- bers at Florence declared Kome the capital of Italy, and on May 13, A. D. 1871, passed a law known as 'the bill of the Papal guarantees.' By this law the Pope is permitted to enjoy the rank of a sovereign, and occupy the palace and basilica of the Vatican, with a yearly revenue from the Italian treasury of $625,000. All church property in Eome and its immediate territory became the property of the nation in A. 1 >. 1873, and a large portion of the numerous establishments have since been sold to help pay the heavy public debt." (Am. Cyc, "Papal States.") "A plebisci- 302 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. turn held in the following October, A. D. 1870, declared, by an immense majority (^50,000 to 50), the will of the citizens to submit to the consti- tutional government of the king* of Italy. The temporal sovereignty of the Pope was in conse- quence abolished. Rome was declared the capi- tal of the Italian kingdom, and became thence- forth the seat of the new government, where the royal court has its residence, and the Italian parliament its sessions. The first session of par- liament was opened on Nov. 27, A. D. 1871." "The first English Protestant church ever erected within the walls of Pome was opened Oct 26, A. D. 1874."— ,4m. Cyc, "Rome." We have already seen that the "forty-two months" indicated that the chief supporter of the Papacy should be overthrown in A. D. 1870. And as Daniel has so graphically described the des- truction of the beast we may hope that he has also indicated the time when this important event should occur. u Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and fiYQ and thirty days." Dan. xii. 12. In this case, as In others, a day signifies a lunar year, and the 1335 years will be properly shortened by deduct- ing 19 therefrom, which leaves 1316 historical years. And measuring from the year 554 when THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 303 the Gothic power in Eome was totally extin- guished, and the Papal period commenced, the 1316 leads us down to the remarkable year 1870, when the humane and popular constitutional government of Victor Emanuel was completely established upon the ruins of the illiberal, unpop- ular and despotic government of the Roman Pontiffs. And this doubtless was the very event that Daniel alluded to in Dan. vii., for certainly in A. D. 1870 "the beast was slain, and his body des- troyed and given to the burning flame," which will continue u to consume and to destroy it unto the end." And as the rise of the Papacy was by three great steps : 1. Usurping the place of the Father in A. D. 554, in becoming in a manner governor of the world ; 2. Usurping the prerog- atives of the Son of God in A. D. 567, by assum- ing to be law-giver ; and 3. Usurping the func- tions of the Holy Ghost in A. D. 607, by receiving the title of and claiming to be, Supreme and Uni- versal Bishop, possessing the sole right and au- thority to "teach all things" and. "guide into all the truth," so we have seen that its decline by three great steps, in A. D. 1796, 1809, and 1849, was an exact counterpart of its development, and doubt- less its total extinction will occur in the same 304 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. three-fold order, and the periods of its utter overthrow, indicated by the 1335 days of Dan. xii. 12, be 1870, 1883, and 1923. The events of the former year we have already pointed out, those of the latter two we will consider in other chap- ters. There are many other things connected with the fifth plague that would be studied with interest, but we have space for only the follow- ing : u As much glory and voluptuousness as she has given to herself, so much torment and sorrow give her ; for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore, her plagues shall come in one day (one year), death and mourning and famine ; and she shall be utterly burned with fire ; for strong is the Lord God who judges her." Rev. xviii. 7, 8. This scripture corresponds with the circum- stances of the great Vatican Council, which was convened at a time when two of the harlot's chief paramours, Austria and Spain, were alienated from their spouse, and France was the only dra- gonic power remaining faithful to her. Hence, having one of her ten husbands remaining, she says, "I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." She could exult thus be- cause he had substantial evidence of her lover's affections in the troops which he had placed for THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 305 her protection in Rome and Civita Veccliia Neither would she consider herself childless, for over 700 representatives of her harlot daughters then surrounded her throne. And although in "the sermon preached at the opening of the council before the Sovereign Pon- tiff, and the assembled Fathers, by Mgr. Luigi Puecher Passavalli," the preacher quoted Lam. i. 1, "How doth the city sit sorrowful that was full of people ! How is the mistress of the Gen- tiles become as a widow: the princess of prov- inces made tributary," but without quoting the answer in the eighth verse : "Jerusalem (Rome) hath greviously sinned ; therefore she is removed: all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness ;" yet he spurned the idea of widowhood thus : "behold, a ray of pu- rest light cleaves the thick darkness, and revives our almost withered hopes. For the mind of the Supreme Pontiff, who directs the helm of the ship, was inspired with the thought of calling to his side the Elders of the new Israel and his brothers in the faith, that they might, by their united wisdom, take immediate concert for the security of the Tabernacle of G-od, threatened even in the inmost recess of its sanctuary, by hosts of formidable enemies ;" and, in concluding 306 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. his discourse, prayed thus: "May all these graces be mercifully vouchsafed to each of us, tit rough the intercession of the Ever Blessed and Glorious Virgin Mary, for to-day the world cele- brates with boundless joy the mystery of Her Immaculate Conception." And although u at the opening of the Holy (Ecumenical Council by our Most Holy Lord, Pope Pius, by Divine Providence the Ninth, on the eighth day of December, 1869," the "Holy Father" prayed thus : "And thou, too, Mother of fair love, of knowledge and holy hope, thou Queen and bulwark of the Church, do thou take our consultations and our toils under the secure pro- tection of thy motherly care ; and by thy prayers to God gain for us the grace to be ever one in spirit and one in heart. Be you also with us, ye angels and archangels ; and thou, too, prince of the Apostles, Blessed Peter ; and thou fellow- Apostle of Peter, Paul, doctor of the Gentiles and preacher of truth in the whole world ; and all ye saints of Heaven, ye especially ivhose relics we venerate in this place; by your powerful inter- cession procure for us that we may all faithfully fulfil our ministry, and may receive mercy from God in the midst of His temple ;" yet the Ger- mans beat the French, and Victor Emanuel took THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 307 possession of Rome, and the "Supreme Vicar of Christ" was obliged to suspend his council, using among others, these doleful words : "We trusted that these labors would be able to continue their progress by the united diligence and zeal of the Brotherhood, and be brought by a smooth and successful procedure to the desired completion. But the sudden sacrilegious invasion of this be- loved city of our See, and of the remaining prov- inces of our Temporal Dominion, by which in- vasion, against all law and with incredible perfidy and audacity, the undisputed rights of the Civil Principality of us and of the Apostolic See have been violated — has cast us in such a condition of affairs that, by the permission and inscrutable dispensation of Almighty Cod, we are completely placed under hostile dominion and power. . . . Therefore, we, beholding to the grief of our soul things brought to that pass that the Vatican Council cannot go on in such times, after mature deliberation, of our own motion, and by Apostolic authority— do by the tenor of these presents suspend and announce to be suspended to a more opportune and convenient season to be declared as such by this Holy See — the celebra- tion of the said (Ecumenical Council of the Vati- can. . . . Given at Rome at Saint Peter's un- 308 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. der the Eing of the Fisherman this 20th day of October, Anno, 1870, in the 25th year of our Pon- tificate." The above quotations are from "The Vatican Council, Part Second," an English Catholic pub- lication. The following list of events will more clear- ly show the signal destruction that "came in one day" — one year— 1870, upon "the Mother of Harlots": Dec. 8, 1869. The Vatican Council opens with firing of artillery, "ringing of the bells of all the churches in Rome," immense processions filling the streets and squares, and other pompous dis- plays of Romanism. "And an hour was consumed by the members in paying the prescribed homage to the Pope." Talk of widowhood under these circumstances ! The council continued its labors for more than seven months. May 8, 1870. Louis Napoleon submitted to the French people "the re-affirmation of the right of his family to the French throne ;" which was ac- corded by a large majority. July 18. The blasphemous dogma of Papal In- fallibility promulgated "by the Sovereign Pon- tiff" in the Vatican Council. Aug. 2. War begun by France and Germany. THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 309 Aug. 21. France withdraws her last soldier from Rome. Sept. 2. The Emperor Napoleon surrenders him- self a prisoner to King William of Prussia. Sept. 4. Jules Favre demanded in the corps legislatif the deposition of the emperor and his dynasty," and "Gambetta, in the midst of the most tumultuous applause, proclaimed the re- public." Sept. 12. "Victor Emanuel wrote to Pius IX., declaring that the occupation of Rome by Italian troops had become an imperative necessity." Sept, 20. Rome finally taken possession of by Italian troops. Oct, 2. The citizens of Rome declare by a vote of 50,000 to 50 that they will "submit to the con- stitutional government of Victor Emanuel. The temporal sovereignty of the Pope was in con- sequence destroyed." "The beast was slain, and his body destroyed." Oct. 18. The great powers of Europe are noti- fied that the troops of Victor Emanuel had taken possession of Rome. Oct. 20. The Pope suspends the Vatican Council. "In the beginning of December the Italian parliament met and declared Rome the capital of Italy." 310 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. And as in A. 1). 554 the Gothic dominion ter- minated and the Papal commenced, so in A. D. 1870 (1316 + 554 = 1870), the Papal ended and the Italian began. But, as in A. D. 554, Pope Vigil- ius was at Constantinople, and, returning, having died at Syracuse, his successor, Pelagius, was elected and came to reside in Rome in A. D. 555, so on July 2nd, 1871 (1316 + 555 = 1871), "Victor Emanuel made his solemn entry into Rome, and took up his residence at the Quirinal." And now after an experience and observation of seven years, we will let Pio Nono tell us what are his views of the state of affairs inaugurated at Rome in 1870 : "The seventh year is already upon us since the invaders of our civil principality, riding rough- shod over every right, human and divine, break- ing faith in solemn compacts, and taking advan- tage of the misfortunes of an illustrious Catholic nation (France), by violence and force of arms, occupied the provinces still remaining in our power, taking possession of this holy city, and by acts of sovereign iniquity overwhelming the entire Church with grief and mourning. The false and worthless promises, which in those woful days they made to foreign governments concerning our dearest interests, by declaring THE FIFTH PLAGUE. 311 that they desired to pay homage and honor to the freedom of the Church, and that they in- tended that the power of the Roman Pontiff should remain free and unabridged — these prom- ises did not succeed in beguiling us into vain hopes, and did not prevent us, from that very moment, from fully realizing all the tribulations and afflictions that awaited us under their do- minion. On the contrary, fully aware of the impious designs entertained by men who are leagued together by a fondness for modern in- novations, and by a criminal oath, we at once openly proclaimed that this sacrilegious invasion was not intended so much to oppress our civil principality as it was to undermine all the more readily, through the oppression of our temporal power, all the institutions of the Church, to overthrow the authority of the Holy See, and to utterly destroy the power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, which, all unworthy as we are, we exercise here on earth. Indeed it may be said that this work of demolition and of general de- struction of everything connected with the structure and order of the Church is almost con- summated : if not to the extent of the desires and hatred of the persecutors, it is at least so far as concerns the sad heap of ruins they have 312 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. succeeded, up to this time, in piling up. It is only necessary to glance at the laws and decrees promulgated since the commencement of the new administration, up to the present day; to realize fully what they have wrested from us, piece by piece, little by little; how, day after day, and one after another, they took the means and re- sources we so much needed for the proper guid- ance and direction of the Catholic Church." — From the Allocution of Pope Pius IX. March 12, 1877, in Am. Cyc, 1877, p. 677. u And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire." Rev. xvii. 16 "I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." Dan. vii. 11. u And the fifth angel poured out his cup upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain : . . . and they repented not of their works? Rev. xvi. 10, 11. CHAPTER XVIH. THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 1874—1883 (?). "And the sixth angel poured out his cup on the great river Euphrates ; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons that do signs, and they go forth to the kings of the whole world, to bring them together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Be- hold, I come as a thief, blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that men may not see his nakedness. And they brought them together unto a place that is called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev. xvi. 12-16. "And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her children, that keep the commandments of God, and that hold the testimony of Jesus." Rev. xii. 17. "But the court that is without the temple leave out and measure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty-two months." Rev. xi. 2. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." Dan. xii. 11. 314 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. The scripture which heads this chapter clearly indicates that the period of the sixth plague— in which we are now living — is the time in which begins the awful crisis of this world — "that great day of God Almighty." The prominent events predicted are: 1. The pouring out of the u cup on the great river Euphrates," or the country through which the Euphrates flows, and the drying up of its waters — destroying the power of the people. It is unnecessary to state that this alludes to the Turkish empire, especially to Turkey in Asia, and that the people indicated by the water are the Mohammedan Turks. Under the sixth trum- pet the Turks who had been bound at the great river Euphrates were loosed, and commenced the conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire, and under the sixth plague their power is broken, and their empire dried up. The fifth plague terminated in A. D. 1874, and the sixth began at the same time : "A difficulty arose between Turkey and Montenegro in A. D. 1874, on account of the murder of some Monte- negrins by Turks, at Podgoritza. An effort was made by some of the powers to make this a ques- tion for joint settlement ; but the Porte refused to allow them to interfere, and the adjustment THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 315 was made without any help from abroad."— Am. Gyc. 1877, "The Eastern Question:' 1 "In the Summer of 1875 an insurrection broke out in Herzegovina, and in October, Turkey de- clared her partial insolvency. Other grave com- plications threatening a dismemberment of the empire, the six powers who had signed the treaty of Paris, A. D. 1856, proposed a scheme of reforms in February, A. D. 1876, which the Sultan mainly accepted ; but the insurgents refused to lay down their arms, and his situation became more and more critical, and was greatly aggravated by the opposition of the Turkish fanatics to Christian equal rights, and the massacre of the French and German consuls at Salonica in May. A con- ference at Berlin between Russia, Austria and Germany contemplated more exacting terms for the protection of the Christians and restoration of tranquility, but England took no part in it. The adversaries of Abdul- Aziz, prominent among whom were the softas, comprising about 20,000 students in Constantinople, who were alienated by his alleged subserviency to Russia, his refusal to restore his spoils (which were afterward con- fiscated), and his attempted change of the order of succession, brought about his deposition on May 30, and the accession of his nephew as Amu- 316 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ruth V., who on June 4 announced his prede- cessor's alleged suicide. The new sultan is beset by formidable financial and other difficulties. Herzegovina is still in revolt (June, A. D. 1876) ; Servia, Montenegro, and Bosnia maintain a threatening attitude ; and Bulgaria and other provinces are disaffected. But the European powers, and especially England in her antago- nism to Russia, strive to prevent the dismember- ment of Turkey, although the general confidence in the stability of the Ottoman dominion over Christian communities has never, since the con- quest of Constantinople (A. D. 1453) been so low as now." This quotation from the American Cyclopedia, article "Turkey," shows the commencement of the sixth plague which is to dry up the waters of the Mohammedan false prophet, as the fourth plague scorched the dragon France, and the fifth destroyed the body of the Papal beast. The desperate efforts of Turkey to subjugate her revolted tributary states and provinces, and her sanguinary but ineffectual attempts to resist the overwhelming legions of her hereditary enemy Russia, must be too fresh in the mind of the reader to require recital here. Suffice it to add that the armies of the former being com- THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 317 pletely defeated by those of the latter, the repre- sentatives of the great powers of Europe met in congress at Berlin in July, A. D. 1878, and effected a treaty which lifts the iron heel of the Turk from the neck of the Christian throughout all of Turkey in Europe, and guarantees to the latter a good degree of civil and religious liberty. And on the 4th of June, A. D. 1878, an Anglo-Turkish alliance was formed, by which "his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, promises to England to intro- duce necessary reforms, to be agreed upon later between the two powers, into the government, and for the protection of the Christian and other subjects of the Porte in these territories," — Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and other parts of Turkey in Asia. While it is true that the immediate disintegration of the Turkish empire has been arrested by these treaties of the great powers, it cannot be denied that, as a result of the Berlin Congress the provinces of European Turkey have been taken under the protection of Christian Eu- rope, and hence the oppression of Christians by Moslems must soon cease. And it is equally clear that by the protectorate that England has obtain- ed over Asiatic Turkey the power of the British Lion will supercede that of the Ottoman Turk, and that the cross will wax as the crescent wanes. 318 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. We have now reached the point where recorded events can no longer illustrate the prophetic word, and before we advance into the mysterious future, we must make another observation to see if we are still in the way laid out and marked with monuments and landmarks, by Palmoni, Gabriel, and other heavenly surveyors. When the "reed like a rod was given"- to John and he was told to "measure the temple of God," that is, the Papal Church, in which the Pope, "the Man of Sin . . . sits as God, . . . openly showing that he is God" (2 Thess. ii. 3, 4\ it was said to him, "But the court that is without the temple (the Turkish empire) leave out, and meas- ure it not : for it is given to the Gentiles (the Mohammedans) and the holy city (Jerusalem) they (the Mohammedans) shall tread under foot forty-two months." We saw in the eleventh chapter when the measuring of the temple com- menced, and now we will try to find when the measurement of the outer court should begin, and when the forty-two months during which Jerusalem is to be trodden down by the Gentiles should end. We will first establish by quotations the time when Palestine and Jerusalem began to be trod- den down by the Mohammedans : "The fall of THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 319 Emessa, and Baalbec or Heliopolis, soon followed Damascus. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, made one great effort to save Syria, but on the banks of the Yarmouk his best generals were defeated by Khaled, with a loss of seventy thous- and soldiers, who were left dead on the field (Nov., A. D. 636). Jerusalem, after a siege of four months, capitulated to Omar, who caused the ground on which had stood the temple of Solo- mon to be cleared of its rubbish, and prepared for the foundation of a mosque, which still bears the name of the Caliph" — (the Mosque of Omar). — Will. Out. Hist, 249. "In A. D. 636 Jerusalem was besieged by Khaled and Abu Obeidah, generals of the caliph Omar. The siege lasted four months, and scarcely a day passed without a sortie or an attack. . . . The patriarch Sophronius at length resolved to capitulate, but insisted upon treating with the caliph in person, hoping to gain from him better terms than he could from his generals. Omar came to Jerusalem, and on taking possession of the city treated the inhabitants with great kind- ness and generosity." These forty-two months, like those that apply to Romanism, must be reduced from lunar to so- 320 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBEKS. lar years by taking 18 from the 1260: 42 x 30 = 1260 - 18 = 1242; and 1242 added to A. D. 636, w^ien the Saracens began to tread down Jerusa- lem, brings ns to the year 1878, when, by the Anglo-Turkish and Berlin treaties, the power of the Musselmans was for ever broken. But this number has also an earlier applica- tion—to the years 632 and 1874. In the former year, Islamism being matured, and his native Arabia conquered and converted to his faith, Mohammed died, and was succeeded by Abu- Beker, who immediately commenced the conquest of Syria and Palestine, after first instructing his generals, as quoted in the eight chapter : "When you fight the battles of the Lord, . . . destroy no palm trees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees," etc, in fulfilment of Rev. ix. 4. And this was the very time when "out of the smoke there came locusts upon the earth"— Roman earth— the commencement of the Saracen invasion of the Roman empire, which is the sub- ject of the prophecy. Begun in A. D. 632, the 1242 years reach down to 1874 (632 + 1242 = 1874) when, having slain the Papal beast, and made "her desolate and naked," the powers of Europe, the horns of the Imperial beast, began to inflict the sixth plague by interfering with the affairs THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 321 of the False Prophet. The treacling clown of Jerusalem, as we saw above, began in A. D. 636, and this had its counterpart in the above men- tioned treaties. The complete subjugation of Palestine was effected in A. D. 639, and the con- quest of Egypt was then undertaken. From A. D. 639 the 1242 years reach down to A. D. 1881, when a further humiliation of the Turkish power at Jerusalem may be looked for. This number of forty-two months marks the rise and decline of the Mohammedan power at Jerusalem, but it throws no light on the incep- tion or the utter extinction of Islamism. But, for- tunately, Daniel supplies a number that will do this : "And from the time that the daily sacri- fice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a. thousand two hundred and ninety days.' 1 Dan. xii. 11. "The abomination that maketh desolate" is, doubtless, the system of religious faith and fanaticism that was developed and propagated by Mohammed and his successors ; for this blasts, blights and desolates every country in which it prevails. As the 1335 days of Daniel will prob- ably mark the weakening and complete over- throw of Komanism, so doubtless will the num- ber 1290 indicate the decline and final annihila- 322 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. tion of Mohammedanism. This number must first be applied to the very origin of Islamism, which, as we show in the eighth chapter, was in the year 606, when Mohammed retired to the cave in Mount Hira, there to concoct his scheme. The 1290 days, or prophetic years, will be prop- erly "shortened" by deducting 18 from the num- ber, which will leave 1272 historical years ; and this number added to the 606 leads us down to the remarkable year 1878 : 1290 - 18 = 1272 + 606 = 1878. So we see that this number exactly spans the interval between the inception of Mo- hammedanism and the beginning of its fall ; and doubtless the events occurring between A. D. 606 and 639, which facilitated the growth of the religion and power of the False Prophet, will have their counterparts in the depression of the same system between A. D. 1878 and 1908. Their probable character will be noticed hereafter. 2. The reason assigned for drying up the water of the Euphrates is "that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." This prob- ably alludes to the construction of a railway, having branches to Palestine and Egypt (Isa, xix. 23.), along the Euphrates Valley to the Persian Gulf, or, perhaps, on to India, as it was by the way of this valley that, prior to the discovery of THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 323 the passage around the Cape of Good Hope, the intercourse and commerce was carried on be- tween Persia, India, and other eastern countries, and the nations of western Asia and Europe. Hence it is called "the way of the kings of the east." It will be remembered that the first re- ports concerning the conclusion of the Berlin and Anglo-Turkish treaties were accompanied by announcements that the building of a rail- way was one of the important matters decided upon :— u The occupation of the island of Cyprus gives England absolute control over the Euphra- tes Valley. A line of railway having this object in view is to be constructed soon. Any further encroachment of Eussia in this direction is now impossible. So far as Asia is concerned, Eng- land and Turkey are practically one power." And English engineers have been, and probably now are, surveying the route for the proposed railway. 3. Another noticeable feature of the sixth plague is the going of "unclean spirits like frogs out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet," which "go forth to the kings of the whole world, to bring them together to the bat- tle of that great day of God Almighty." The 324 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. same tiling seems to be indicated by these words : "And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her children (the Christians of England) that keep the commandments of God, and that hold the testimony of Jesus.' The Dragon here as elsewhere is the symbol of despotic Monarchy ; the Beast the symbol of the equally despotic Papacy; and the False Prophet the symbol of the no less despotic Mohammedan polity. These are the rulers of this world ; but during the last 350 years a fourth party has become de- veloped into prominence which is symbolized by the Woman who was clothed with the sun. Her children are the Protestants, the friends of liberty, and of these there are two kinds: first, those who, while they protest against the spiritual and temporal despotism ol the Church and State, are still loyal subjects of the King of kings, and Lord of lords — that -keep the commandments of God and that hold the testimony of Jesus. These are "the saints of the Most High who shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever;" while the second kind are those, who, while they protest against and reject the tyrcin- THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 325 nical rulers of the Church and of the State reject also the authority of the God of heaven, and like their brethren in the French Revolution, "in the madness of atheism publicly express their de- termination to dethrone the King of Heaven as well as the monarchs of the earth." These are the Communists of France, the Socialists of Ger- many, the Nihilists of Russia, etc. — the clay, which in "the battle of that great day of Cod Almighty" will be crushed to powder, and blown away by the wind of heaven. Many of the first class, the woman brought with her to America, while "the rest of her children" remained in Europe, and they are now mostly found among the Nonconformists and Dissenters of the British Isles, where they protest alike against Popery and Prelacy, acknowledge no spiritual Head but Christ, and do not practice lewdness with the civil power. With these the dragon will make war. According to Dan. xii. 11, 12, at the time when the beast (the Papacy) had his body (temporal power) destroyed, in A. D. 1870, u the rest of the beasts (the ten monarchies of Europe) had their dominion (despotic authority) taken away : yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time," that is, they continued to exist for awhile as con- 326 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. stitutional monarchies. And since that time the False Prophet has had his dominion taken away, yet his life also is prolonged for a time. Yet there is one dragon, an absolute monarch, still reigning in undimmed splendor — the "Autocrat of all the Russias," whose dominions were never included in the Roman Empire, and hence he is not one of those who had their dominion taken away ; and yet, doubtless, it is he wiio will play the part of the dragon in the great drama that is soon to open upon the earth. Having been struck by the "stone cut out of the mountain without hands," these three earth- ly fabrics have been shaken and shattered to their very foundation, but before their final fall another desperate effort is to be made to regain their former solidity. Hence the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet will send out their embassa- dors, emissaries, envoys, and legates, that, by diplomacy, intrigue, and treachery, they may make such combinations, alliances, and treaties, as will prepare them to undertake the subjuga- tion or destruction of their oppressors, rivals, and enemies. It is impossible to foretell what combinations will be effected, but we may suppose (a) that the Czar of Russia will unite with the more conser- THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 327 vative monarchs, those of Germany and Austria, to maintain their favorite doctrine of the "divine rights of kings," and to put down Communism, Socialism, Nihilism, Democracy, Republicanism, and all other attempts of the clay to resist the iron, (b), That the Czar, as the head of the Greek Church, will combine with the Pope, the head of the Roman Church, to put down Protestantism, and especially to crush Protestant England, in which are "the rest of the children!'' of the Woman, upon whose Asiatic possessions the former looks with longing eyes, and whose attempts to estab- lish British power and Christianity upon the ruins of Islamism, both Czar and Pope will re- gard with disfavor, and endeavor to thwart ; (c), that Russia will seek to form alliances with Per- sia, Tartary, Afghanistan, and other Mohammed- an countries, court the friendship and aid of China, acquire control of Asiatic and European Turkey, and excite the people of India against the British, (d), That the Pope will try to enlist in his cause many of the kings of the earth, and endeavor, through the influence of the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans and the aid of many special legates, to employ his vast hierarchy of 122 vicars apostolic, 183 archbishops, and 693 bishops, stationed throughout the world, to mar- 328 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. shal in his behalf his mighty host of 200,000,000 adherents, who, in their blindness, bigotry and superstition, acknowledge allegiance to no power, prince or potentate on earth, but the pretended "Vicar of Christ," (e), That the Sultan, supported by England, will endeavor to secure the co-opera- tion of all the Moslems throughout the world— in Turkey, in Asia and in Europe; in Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, Barbary, Algiers, Morocco and elsewhere in Africa ; in Persia, Arabia, Tartary. Afghanistan, Beloochistan, Hindostan, China, and other countries of Asia, (f ), That England, as an ally of the Sultan, and having Russia and the Pope against her, will sooner or later call for assistance from the Protestant States of Europe, and finally from the United States of America. And (g), that the Communists, Socialists and Nihilists (three unclean spirits) will perfect an organization among themselves and endeavor to secure the co-operation of all the oppressed mil- lions of Europe in a grand and final crusade against all rulers, governments and privileged classes, and re-enact in every city and town the terrible scenes of the French Revolution. This probably indicates something of the work that will be done by the "unclean spirits" that will "go forth to the kings of the world, to bring THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 329 them together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." And these operations, to some extent, are now in progress, which is evidenced by Russia's sending the Oimhria to the United States, and an embassy to Cabul, the capital of Afghan- istan ; the activity of the Communists, Socialists and Nihilists, and their attempts upon the lives of so many monarchs ; the many interviews and conferences of the crowned heads ; and the per- sistent efforts of the Pope to adjust his difficul- ties with Germany, and other States of Europe. It is reported that the Pope has threatened that if the monarchs do not accede to his wishes, he will make common cause with the people against their rulers. Not long since the "Supreme Vicar of Christ" placed Cardinal McCloskey, one of his "temporal princes" in New York, and recently a special legate has been sent from Rome to super- intend the Romish hierarchy in this country. The interference of the priests with the politics and common schools of the United States in- dicates what the Roman anaconda will try to do with this republic when its coils are more com- pletely adjusted. Did not the Berlin Congress say, "Peace and safety V Yes, but sudden destruction will come; and unless we misinterpret the prophecies, the 330 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. next forty years will witness such scenes of car- nage and devastation as this poor world has never beheld : for doubtless the treading of the "wine-press of the wrath of God" is near at hand. 4. Applicable to this time of preparation for "the battle of that great day of God Almighty" is the warning that Christ gives. to His followers : "Behold, I come as a thief : blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that men may not see his nakedness." Rev. xvi. 15. This locates Christ's second coming in the period of the sixth plague, in which we are now living. He now comes, (a), to reap His harvest, the wheat grown among the tares. Matt, xiii. 36-43. This harvest is referred to in Rev. xiv. 14-16 : "And I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man, who had on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, and cried with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud : Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." This doubtless alludes to the time of the fust resurrection, when the dead and living THE SIXTH PLAGUE. 331 saints, the precious wheat that has ripened and fallen to the earth, as well as that still standing, shall be gathered into the granary of the Son of Man, as described in 1 Thess. iv. 15-17 : "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who remain till the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who are asleep : for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall arise first ; then we. the living who remain, shall, together with them, be caught up in clouds into the air to meet the Lord, and so shall we be ever with the Lord." "Say, are you ready, O are you ready ? If the archangel should call. Say, are you ready, O are you ready ? Mercy's now waiting for all." Christ now comes, (b), to institute the judgment of the nations, — to "gather all nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat" (Joel iii. 2.), "to take vengeance on those who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" (2 Thess. i. 8.) to inaugurate the seventh plague, "that great day of God Al- mighty," and the treading of "the great wine- press of the wrath of God." 332 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. To this present time also applies the message of the third angel (Rev. xiv. 9-11.) : "If any one worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared without mixture in the cup of his in- dignation," etc. "The world is very evil, The times are waxing late : Be sober and keep vigil, The Judge is at the gate ; The Judge that comes in mercy, The Judge that comes with might, To terminate the evil, To diadem the right. Arise, arise, good Christian, Let right to wrong succeed ; Let penitential sorrow To heavenly gladness lead, To light that hath no evening, That knows no moon nor sun, The light so new and golden, The light that is but one." CHAPTER XIX. THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 1883-1923. "And the seventh angel poured out his cup into the air; and there came a great voice from the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying ; It is done. And there were lightnings and voices and thunders ; and there was a great earthquake, such as has not been since men were on the earth, — so great an earthquake, and so mighty. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and Babylon the great was remembered before God, that he might give her the cup of the wine of His fiercest wrath. And every island fled, and the mountains were not found. And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, fell from heaven upon men; and men spoke impiously against God, because of the plague of the hail : for the plague of it was very great." Eev. xvi. 12- 16. Like the events of the former plagues, those of the seventh are briefly described in highly figu- rative and symbolical language ; and as the events of the former plagues, though described in few words, were many, and occupied several years, we should not suppose that the seventh plague will consist of one great battle of a few days, or even months, duration, but rather seek 834 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. to learn what the Scriptures teach upon this im- portant subject. 1. We may be assured that all the predicted calamities now unacccmplished will be crowded into the final member of the "seven plagues which are the last ; for by them the wrath of God is brought to an end." Kev. xv. 1. 2. The going forth of the unclean spirits will eventuate in a series of unprecedented calamities, for "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time." Dan. xii. 1. And 3. The final result will be the complete over- throw and disintegration of all political and reli- gious institutions and governments, especially of Europe, for there shall be "a great earthquake (political and religious convulsion), such as has not been since men were on the earth,— so great an earthquake, and so mighty. And the great city (Romanism) was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and Babylon the great (the Papal Church) was remembered before God, that he might give her the cup of the wine of his fiercest wrath. And every island fled, and the mountains were not found," — every nation disorganized, and government abol- ished THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 335 4 The seventh plague affects the air, a univer- sal, all-pervading element ; which signifies that while the former plagues were local, the seventh is to involve the whole world. Thb idea is expressed in Joel iii. 1 : "I will gather all nations, said bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat,"— the place of the judgment of God ; and in Eev. xvi. 14 : "And they go forth to the kings (kingdoms or nations) of ike ivhole world to bring them to- gether to the battle of that great day of God Al- mighty." We may seek answers to the following ques- tions : 1. When will these awful transactions begin? We shall defer to the twentieth chapter the con- sideration of the chronology of the events of this time. But we may notice here that from the close connection subsisting between the fifth and sixth plagues — the former, the time of prepara- tion and commencement, the latter, that of the execution and completion; the former, relating to the begun overthrow of Ottoman power, the latter, to the total suppression of the Turkish empire, we may reasonably suppose that the events attending the destruction of Islamism will constitute a counterpart of those attending its propagation — the same, as we have seen, was 336 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS the case with the Papacy. And we must bear in mind also that not only the False Prophet, but the Dragon, the Beast and the men of liberty, both Infidel and Christian, are to play their parts in the great drama that is soon to burst upon the slumbering world ; and hence all these must have some accommodation as to time. As being of much less value than Scripture statements, but still of interest in this connec- tion, we insert the following respecting the ap- proaching planetary perihelia, and the prophetic significance of the Great Pyramid of Egypt : "According to the Science of Health, a medical journal, the ensuing seven years will be a period of war, famine and pestilence upon the face of the earth, superinduced by celestial causes. It is noted that the period of woe unto mankind has already set in, as witness the recent famines in China and India, the phenomenal tidal waves and marine earthquake in the South Pacific, the ominous mutterings of wars and rumors of wars in Europe and Asia, the yellow fever epidemic in our own country, and the skeleton footprints of cholera advancing westward across the North African desert. The cause of these alarming dis- turbances in the physical world is stated by the Science of Health to be the approaching simul- THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 337 taneous perihelion of the four largest planets' of our solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. During the terrestrial year of 1880-81, these four planets will make their nearest ap- proach to the sun all at once, and it is predicted that the result will be a serious modification of the atmospheric and organic conditions of our globe It has been determined by astronomical calculus that these four great planets were in simultaneous perihelion a little over 4,000 years ago, or at a period coeval with the scriptural date of the deluge; and many astronomical scientists maintain that the event was brought about by the extraordinary celestial influences under consideration." — Washington Post. The Great Pyramid, of Egypt has of late re- ceived much attention from learned men, and some of the conclusions arrived at are : (a), That this remarkable structure was built about the year B. C. 2170, by Philitis, Melchizedec, Job, or some other chosen man, under the direct inspira- tion and superintendence of the Great Architect of the Universe, to be, among other things, a symbolical prophecy relating to the commence- ment, progress and termination of the Christian dispensation; (b\ that in the external and inter- nal construction of the Great Pyramid there are 338 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. e violences of wisdom and knowledge of the heav- ens and the earth surpassing that of the scientists of the present day ; and (c), that its mysterious passages, chambers and galleries allude to the different eras of the world's history. "The feature of chief interest to us is the Grand Gallery, which Prof. Smyth and his co-la- borers hold to be a prophetic record of the Chris- tian era commencing with the birth of Jesus Christ, and ending with His return a second time to take His believing ones out of the world; which thereafter passes through 'the great trib- ulation,' and then emerges into the grand mil- lennial glory, of which the King's Chamber is held to be a type. ... At once the great question springs up, How long is the Christian era to be ? and, with all the 'if 's' properly certified, the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid an- swers : Eighteen hundred and eighty-one years ; for that is the number of pyramid inches, as measured along its ascending floor." — Christian Advocate, June 27, 1878. Thus it seems that the starry heavens, the rocky Pyramid, and "the sure word of prophecy" concur in designating the immediate future as the commencement of a period of terrible calam- ities to the inhabitants of the earth. THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 339 2. Who will be engaged in the conflicts ? The answer to this question was indicated in the last chapter — the Dragon, or the monarchical party, led by Russia ; the Beast, or the Papists, directed by the Pope ; the False Prophet, or the Moham- medan polity, perhaps supported by England; and the friends of liberty, both infidel and Christian. One bone of contention will doubtless be the "sick man's estate," or the territories of the dying Turkish empire ; and here, "where the carcass is, will the vultures come together." Russia's en- deavors to seize Turkey will be opposed by Eng- land and her allies, and the consequent general wars will constitute a large part of the great battle of Armageddon. The Papists, allied with the monarchs, or with their rebellious subjects, may attempt to gain that control of the world to which the doctrine of Pontifical Infallibility en- titles "Our Lord God the Pope." The Turks will fight on the defensive against the aggressions of Russia. The Communists, Socialists and Nihil- ists will doubtless play a horrible part in the desolating transactions of these sad times. A fifth party, the Israelites, will be deeply inter- ested in the commotions of* these days, for by them the way will be opened for their return to the land of their fathers. 340 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. There is scarcely another period that is the subject of so many prophecies as the time of the seventh plague, "that great clay of God Al- mighty." We will now indicate some predicted events, and the results to follow : "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image (Nebuchadnezzar's mon- archical image) upon its feet (modern Europe) that were of iron (monarchical power) and clay (democracy) and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors ; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. ii. 34, 35. As was suggested in a former chapter, the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and the Woman that flew into the wilderness (Rev. xii. 14), correspond in so far as that the two symbols re- late to the same event, the fleeing of the Puritans to America, but differ in that the former alludes mainly to the principle of popular civil govern- ment in which eveny man should render allegi- ance and obedience to the "King of kings and Lord of lords," and the latter to the condition of THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 341 the true Christian Church — the Woman — the spouse of Christ, as having no other lord or husband during the absence of her heavenly Bridegroom. These two principles, civil and religious liberty, have come hand in hand down through the ages from the time of their enunciation by the Savior of man in these words : "You know that the rulers of the G-entiles act as lords over them, and their great men Jiave authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be first among you, let him be your servant." Matt. xx. 24-26. This is an impor- tant section of the constitution of the kingdom of heaven, which teaches that he is the greatest who serves and benefits his fellows the most. And this stone being crushed by the ponderous iron, brass, silver and gold of monarchical Europe was brought, by divine intervention, to America, where being built into that immortal monument, the Declaration of Independence, ( u We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"), it has grown, so that now its oscillations make the 342 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. whole world tremble ; and by it "the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold will soon be broken in pieces together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floors ; and the wind will carry them away, that no place will be found for them." But the question might be asked, Does not this indicate the success of Socialism, Communism, and Nihilism, which are, in some degree, the outgrowths of American, or rather Christian liberty? To which we reply, No ; the Socialists, Communists, and Nihilists are the clay, which, while resisting their earthly rulers, reject, deny and blaspheme the God of heaven, and although used by Him as blind in- struments in destroying oppressive monarchy and aristocracy, they, the clay, will eventually be crushed finer, and by the wind of God's wrath be carried further than the heavier metallic dust. These words indicate the result to follow : u And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth," signifying that nations and states of God-fearing men, mak- ing and executing their own civil laws on the basis of Christian principle,— true republics- shall supercede the present civil polities of the world, and constitute the realms of Him "whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 343 not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." But we are not to suppose that this favored land will be exempt from the fire of that day "that shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Although the stone has already fallen upon African slavery, there yet remains the monstrous evils of intemperance, infidelity, popery, political and social corruption, Sabbath desecration, profanity, and many other things offensive to Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." And hence we may expect that the United States will have to pass through the furnace of affliction to remove her dross before she is prepared to fulfil her mission to the other nations of the earth. Her enemies are the rum party, the Papists, and the Commun- ists, and these, doubtless, will be the fuel to feed the fires of her refining. "When properly pre- pared, and at the appointed time, the stone will strike the final blow that will complete the des- truction of Nebuchadnezzar's image. After the woman flew into the wilderness that she might be "away from the presence of the 3-M THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. serpent" (monarchical and Papal Europe) "the serpent threw out of his mouth water like a river" (Papistical colonies, hostile armies, African slaves, votaries of Papal errors, superstitions, and vices, atheism, infidelity, irreligion, Communism, So- cialism, and other outgrowths of corrupt and oppressive forms of government and religion), yet the earth (this republic) has already opened its mouth and swallowed up the dragon's colo- nies, his hostile armies, chattel slaves, and much of the ignorance and vice brought hither by his foul waters ; and after it shall have swallowed up what remains here, it will strike the sources of these evils on the other side, and make them like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. The time of the seventh plague is characterized as the great harvest of the world: "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles : Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up : Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble your- selves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about : thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 345 the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle : for the harvest is ripe : come, get you down ; for the press is full, the fats overflow : for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel iii. 9-14. "And another angel came out of the temple that is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. And another angel that had power over fire, came out from the altar : and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, and said : Thrust in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle on the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city : and blood came out of the wine-press, even to the bridles of the horses, to the distance of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Rev. xiv. 17-20. "As therefore, the tares are collected and burned in fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. The Son of man will send forth his angels, and collect out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those that work iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be 846 THE PROPHETIC LUMBERS. weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father." Matt, xiii. "Most awful truth ! And is it so? Must all the world this harvest know? Is every man a wheat or tare? Then for the harvest, oh, prepare :— For soon the reaping time will come, And angels shout their harvest home." In the last chapter we notice that, according to Kev. xiv. 14-16, the Son of Man, the Blessed Jesns, will soon appear in the clouds to reap His harvest, and preserve the precious wheat to be finally gathered into His granary, the millennial kingdom. In the twentieth chapter it will be in- dicated that 40 years will intervene between Christ's harvest, at the first resurrection, and the time when "the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom." During this interval will oc- cur the judgment of the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat ; the gathering of the clusters of the vine of the earth,— the Imperial, Papal, and Moslem nations, communities, and fraternities, and crushing them in the great wine-press of the wrath of God ; and the collecting, and casting "into the furnace of fire," "all things that offend, and those that work iniquity." And after the expiration of the 40 years "shall the righteous THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 347 shine f ortli as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." It will be during this "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time," that the way will be fully prepared for the return of Daniel's people, the Jews, to the land of their fathers ; but the chief obstacles will be removed by events occuring near the be- ginning of the 40 years, and then the Israelites will repair in large numbers to Palestine, taking their immense wealth with them. When a goodly number shall have settled there, and reached a prosperous condition, the avarice of the Czar of Eussia will induce him to organize a mighty host to invade and plunder the Holy Land ; and by this means will be brought about some of those terrible conflicts of the seventh plague. These conflicts are alluded to in many places in the Holy Scriptures, but the fullest de- scription of them seems to be given in the 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel, where the ancient names of the nations that will participate are clearly given: "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog (of) the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, (or the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal) and prophesy against him, 348 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. and say, thus saitli the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Me- shech and Tubal ; (the prince of Bosh, Meshech and Tubal) and I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his bands ; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands; and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them." Ezek. xxxviii. 1-7. The above "prince of Bosh, Meshech and Tubal," agrees with the rendering given by the LXX. and other able translators, and doubtless Bussia is the modern name for "Bosh," and by "the prince of Bosh, Meshech, and Tubal," the Czar of Bussia is signified, as the person to whom the foregoing and the following words of the prophet are addressed : "After many days thou slia.lt be visited : in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought *back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 349 against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste : but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm; thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord God , It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought : And thou shalt say, I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling with- out walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now in- habited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land." Verses 8-11. When the Czar and his confederates shall have invaded Palestine, his purposes will be perceived, and he will be confronted by the friends and protectors of the Jgws, here called "Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarsliish, with all the young lions thereof." By these names the people of the Anglo-Indian Empire are evidently designated ; and these will say to the Czar, "Art thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered 350 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil ?" Verse 13. Then will begin the terrible slaughter that will result in the complete overthrow of the mighty hosts of the royal plunderers, according to the following words of the prophet : "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God ; In that day when my people Is- rael dwell safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: and thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land ; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God ; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them ? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up into my face. . . . And I will call for a sword against him through- THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. 351 out all my mountains, saitli the Lord God ; every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone (the rifle shot, cannon balls, bombs and gunpowder smoke, of modern war- fare). Thus will I magnify myself ; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord." (verses 14-23.) u Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee : I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured. . . And it shall come to pass in that day that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the pass- engers on the east of the sea ; and it shall stop the noses of the passengers ; and there shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude ; and they shall call it, The Valley of Hamon-gog." Ch. xxxix. 4, 11. This signal destruction of their enemies will open the eyes of the Israelites, so that they will recognize the hand of God in their deliverance : "So the house of Israel shall know that I am the 352 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Lord their God from that day forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies ; so fell they all by the sword. . . . Therefore, thus saith the Lord God ; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. . . When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies 1 lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many na- tions , then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into cap- tivity among the heathen : but I have gathered them into their ownjand, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them : for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." Ezek. xxxix. 22-29. CHAPTEE XX. THE KECONSTRUCTKXN". "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot ? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days,- then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. viii. 13, 14. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth,and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Dan. xii. 11, 12. In this chapter we shall endeavor to trace the divine plan for the recovery and reconstruction of our sin-cursed world, and the divine system of chronology by which the prophets have indicated the important events to occur. To exhibit these more fully we will first briefly review the past, and then, led by our infallible guide, the "sure word of prophecy," advance into the future. In the infinite love of the Divine Father origi- nated the wonderful plan for the salvation of the degenerate sons of Adam by the incarnation, in- struction, sacrificial and vicarious death, resur- rection, and intercession at the throne of the 354 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. heavenly grace, of our Lord Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only be- gotten Son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life." John iii. 16. The Christian age began with the advent of Jesus Christ, and His herald, John the Baptist. Concerning the latter Isaiah says : "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God ;" and Malachi : "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." The historical fulfilment of these proph- ecies is recorded by Luke : "And Zachariah was troubled at the sight (of the angel Gabriel), and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him : Fear not, Zachariah ; for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you shall have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. . . . And many of the sons of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient, by the wisdom of the just, in order to make ready for the Lord a prepared people. . . . Now the time for Eliza- THE RECONSTRUCTION. 355 betli to be delivered had fully come ; and she gave birth to a son. . . . And Zachariah his father was rilled with the Holy Spirit, and proph- esied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people. . . . And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High : for you shall go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways, by giving to his people the knowledge of salvation in the re- mission of their sins." Luke i. 12-77. The advent of Christ is thus foretold by Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign : Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- sellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his gov- ernment and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever." Isa. vii. 14 ; and ix. 6, 7. And Luke narrates the fulfilment of these prophecies in these words : "And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into 63b THE PROPHETIC NUMBEPvS. a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And the angel came into her pres- ence and said : Hail, graciously accepted : the Lord is with yon ; blessed are yon among women. And she was perplexed at his words, and reas- oned, what this salutation could mean. And the angel said to her : Fear not, Mary ; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High * and the Lord God will give to him the throne of David his father ; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (for he was of the house and family of David), to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed wife, who was with child. And it came to pass while they were there, that the days for her to be delivered were completed; and she brought forth her first born son ; and wrapped him in swathing clothes, and laid him in the stable, because there was no place for them in the inn.. And there were in the same country THE RECONSTRUCTION. 357 shepherds, living in the open field, and guarding their flocks by night. And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them ; and they were greatly afraid. And the angel said to them : Be not afraid ; for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people. For there is born for you this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be to you the sign : you will find the babe wrapped in swathing clothes, and lying in a stable. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying : Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." Luke i. 26-33; and ii. 4-14. Now if Jesus of Nazareth were "the Messiah the Prince," of whom the Jewish prophets wrote and sang, we might expect to find the important events of His life to constitute a typical and chronological basis of the history of the Christian dispensation. And, on the other hand, if in this chapter it shall be shown that the prominent events in the life of Jesus Christ do constitute the foundation upon which subsequent history has been built, it will afford such proof of the divinity of the Son of Man, as ought to cause 358 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. every doubting Thomas to exclaim : "My Lord and my God !" and every son of Jacob to say : "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Before proceeding we must prepare the foun- dation, by fixing the dates at which the principal events of the life of Christ took place. Being fully aware that here we enter a battle ground of historical critics, we shall endeavor not to provoke an encounter with any occupant of the field, but will take the position that we deem the most defensible, and so fortify it that in the future it shall be unassailable. The birth of our Lord is placed in B. C. 1, by Pearson and Hug ; B. C. 2, by Scaliger ; B. C. 3, by Baronius, Calvisius, Suskind, and Paulus ; B. C. 4, by Lamy, Bengel, Anger, Wieseler, and Gres- well ; B. C. 5 by Usher and Petavius ; B. C. 7 by Ideler and Sanclemente." — Smith's lie', of Bible. As the date of our Lord's birth we adopt the year B. C. 5, as determined by Usher and Peta- vius ; but we consider the incipiency of the Christian age to have been in B. C. 6, with the announcement to Zachariah of the birth of John the Baptist, and to the Virgin Mary of the ad- vent of her divine Son. Hence we lay the years B. C. 6 and 5 as the first corner stone of the foun- dation of our historical edifice. THE KECONSTRUCTIOISr. 359 The next great event in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, was His baptism by John in the Jordan, when "on coming up from the water he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there was a voice from the heavens : Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I delight." Mark i. 10, 11. Isaiah alludes to this event thus : "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold : mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my Spirit upon him : he shall bring forth judgment to the G-entiles." Isa. xlii. 1. The baptism of Jesus took place in the year A- D. 26, soon after He attained the age of thirty. So we place A. D. 26 as the second corner stone of our foundation. The third great epoch in our Savior's mission on the earth was that of His crucifixion, resurrec- tion, and ascension. Of this, the dates given by chronologists vary from A. D. 29-35. "Wieseler, Bishop Ellicott, Dr. P. Holmes, etc., place it on the 7th of April, A. D. 30." The year A. 1>. 30 is here adopted as the time of the crucifixion, resur- rection, and ascension of our Lord, and the de- scent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And these events constitute the third corner of our founda- tion. Some of the Old Testament prophecies and cor- 3C0 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. responding New Testament history relating to these important circumstances is as follows: The Crucifixion. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did es- teem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him : and with his stripes we are healed. . . He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living : for the transgressions of my people was he stricken." Isa. liii. 4, 5, 8. "And Pilate answered and said again to them : What, then, do you wish me to do with him whom you call the King of the Jews ? They again cried out : Crucify him ! But Pilate said to them : Why, what evil has he done ? But they cried vehem- ently . Crucify him ! And Pilate, willing to gratify the multitude, released to them Barabbas: and delivered Jesus, after he had scourged him, to be crucified. . . . And when they had de- rided him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes upon him, and led him out to crucify him. . . . And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. . . . And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right THE KE CONSTRUCTION". 361 hand, and the other on the left. And the Scrip- ture was fulfilled, which says: And he was numbered with transgressors. . . . And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land, till the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying : Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani ! which is, when translated, My God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me ! . . . And when the centurion that was standing opposite saw that he thus cried out, and gave up his spirit, he said : Truly, this man was the Son of God." Mark xv. 12-39. The Resurrection. "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell : neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Psal. xvi. 10. "And after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre. And behold, there had been a great earthquake ; for the angel of the Lord, having descended from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment was white as snow. From fear of him the keepers did shake and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women: Fear not; for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here : for he 362 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his dis- ciples, that he has risen from the dead : and be- hold, he goes before you into Galilee. There you shall see him. Lo, I have told you." Matt, xxviii. 1-7. The Ascension. "Thou art ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive : thou hast re- ceived gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord Grod might dwell among them." Psa. lxviii. 18. "And he led them out as far as Bethany ; and he lifted up his hands, and bless- ed them. And it came to pass, that as he blessed them, he was separated from them, and carried up into heaven." Luke xxiv. 50, 51. The Descent of the Holy Spirit. "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the hand- maids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." Joel ii. 28, 29. "And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one consent in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing, violent wind, and it filled the whole house in which they were sit- THE RECONSTRUCTION. 363 ting. And there appeared to them tongues like fire, which distributed themselves, and sat one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts ii. 1-4. The fourth fundamental era of Christianity was that embracing the organization of the Church by the appointment of the seven deacons; Stephen's arrest, and noble defence before the Sanhedrim ; the death by stoning of the proto- martyr ; the persecution and dispersion of the Church of Jerusalem, and the consequent trans- ference of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The date of these events seems to be A. D. 33 ; and this we place as the fourth corner of our historical edifice. Before we proceed with the superstructure we must be sure that the base is properly laid; and to this end we will test it by Gabriel's plumb line, square and compasses : "Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks. . . . And after three score and two weeks shall Mes- siah be cut off, but not for Himself. . . . And 364 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week : and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. " Dan. ix. 25-27. In the fifth chapter it was clearly shown that the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- salem went forth in the year B. C. 457. In this quotation from Daniel there are three events in- dicated : 1. The manifestation to Israel of "the Messiah the Prince," which took place at the baptism of Jesus ; when there came u a voice from heaven, saying: This is My beloved Son, in Him I de- light," This was to be at the end of seven weeks and three score and two weeks 7 + 62 = 69 x 7 =483), or 483 years, from B. C. 457, that is (483 - 457 = 26), in A. D. 26— the very year of our Lord's baptism. 2. Succeeding this time there was to be one week, the seventieth, during which the Messiah was to confirm the new covenant, that of the Gospel, with many of Daniel's people, the Jews ; and in the midst, or middle of this week, was the Messiah to be "cut off, but not for himself ;" when, being offered as the great antitypical sacri- fice for the sins of the whole world, he caused the typical, Jewish sacrifices and oblation, to THE RECONSTRUCTION. 365 cease, loose their efficiency, and become useless. One-half of this week, or Si years, begun in A. D. 26, reaches into the year 30, when, as we have seen, our blessed Lord was crucified. 3. The end of the last week, and the termina- tion of the 490 years (70 x 7 = 490) was in A. D. 33 (490 - 457 = 33) when, as already stated, the Jewish Church of the new covenant, whose or- ganization commenced with our Lord's baptism, was dispersed abroad, carrying the Gospel into the adjacent provinces of the Roman empire ; and with this event the "seventy weeks" of years allotted to the Jews ended, and "the times of the Gentiles" began. Thus we see that, in relation to the Old Testa- ment prophecies, our foundation of Christian history is properly laid ; and hence, we may ven- ture to place the second course of the structure, which consists of the history of Christianity among the Gentiles, from its introduction in A. D. 33, to the establishment of Imperial Anti- christianism in A. D. 313. This period of 280 years is indicated in Rev. xii. 1-6, by "a Woman (the Christian Church) clothed with the sun (the righteousness and pure doctrines of Jesus Christ); and the moon (the feeble light of Romanized Christianity) under .her feet (succeeding her 366 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. time), and on her head was a crown of twelve stars (the twelve apostles); and, being with child, she cried out in travail, and in the pains of deliv- ery ; " for the time from the conception to the birth is 40 weeks, or 280 days. In the fifth chap- ter it is shown that these, and the succeeding four verses symbolically represent the condition of Christianity during its subjection to, and con- flicts with, the Imperial power and Pagan relig- ion, of the Roman empire. The circumstances affecting the Church during this time are figura- tively represented by the opening of the six seals, as was shown in the fourth chapter. It is not the purpose here to recount the horrid persecutions, heroic faith and zeal, and sublime achievements of the Christians of the first three centuries, but to clearly identify, and unmistak- ably designate by the use of the prophetic num- bers, the systems of error, superstition, and cruel- ty that supplanted and succeeded primitive Christianity. In former chapters it has been shown that the second form of Christianity, or rather, the first organized system of Antichristianism, was the politico-religious, pagano-Christian, Church-and- State polity instituted and presided over by Con- stantine and his successors. THE RECONSTRUCTION'. 367 Now, as it lias pleased the Alwise to designate the exact time of the principal events of the rise of Christianity, it is supposable that the same has been done respecting the rise of Antichristian- ism. In the foregoing chapters it has been shown by concurrent prophetic and historical testimony that Constantine was the proto-Antichrist ; and now let us see if the inflexible rules of arithmetic will prove our former conclusion cor- rect. For the birth of Constantine, as for that of Christ, several dates have been set, varying from A. D. 272 to 275, yet 274, or perhaps 275, seems most probable. "Constantine, the son of Con- stantius and Hellen, was probably born at Naissius, in Dacia, A. D. 274." — Student's Gibbon, 100. Above it was shown that the first corner stone in the foundation of Christian history was the years B. C. 6 and 5* and also that the 280 years, symbolized by the Woman bearing a child, was the period of pure primitive Christianity, ex- tending from the time of the true Christ to that of the Antichrist, From B. C. 6, the 280 years reach to 274, and from B. C. 5 to 275. Hence we see that the birth of Christ and that of Constan- tine are spanned by the 280 years. 368 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. The second great event in the life of Christ was His anointing by the Holy Spirit, and induc- tion into His heaven-ordained office in A. D. 26. Constant ius, the father of Constantine, "ended his life in the Imperial palace of York, July 25, A. D. 306. . . . His death was immediately succeeded by the elevation of Constantine, who was saluted by the troops with the name of Augustus and Emperor."— Stu. Gib., 100. In A. D. 26 the blessed Jesus, the true Christ, came forth from obscurity, was elevated to the Mes- siahship, and saluted, and introduced to the world by u a voice from heaven, saying : This is My beloved Son, in whom I delight." Matt. iii. 17. And in A. D. 306 (,280 + 26 = 306) Constan- tine, the Antichrist, came forth from obscurity, and was elevated by the pagan soldiery to the throne of God (Rev. xii. 5), and by them saluted with the divine "names of Augustus and Em- peror." The third great epoch in our Lord's history was that of His crucifixion, resurrection and ascen- sion in A. D. 30. "While Constantine was en- gaged upon the Rhine in repelling an insurrec- tion of the Franks, Maximian seized the vacant throne. The rapid return of Constantine de- feated all the hopes of Maximian, who lied for THE RECONSTRUCTION. 369 refuge to Marseilles. Tlie inhabitants of this city surrendered him to Constantine, who com- pelled the old man to put an end to his life, A. D. 310, February."— Stu, Gib., 103. In A. D. 30, while the Prince of Life was engaged at the river of the dark valley in subduing the foes of His empire, His enemy, Death, usurped His vacant throne ; but the sudden return to life of Jesus defeated all the hopes of sin, death and hell, for "He ascended on high, He led captive a multi- tude of captives, and gave gifts to men. Eph. iv. 8. "O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory." And in A. D. 310 (30 -f- 280 = 310 \ while Constantine was engaged upon the river Rhine in repelling the foes of his empire, his enemy, Maximian, usurped his throne ; but the rapid return of Constantine defeated all the hopes of Maximian, who was soon led as a cap- tive to death ; and Constantine re-ascended his throne, now more secure than before. The fourth important era in the institution of Christianity was that in which the Gospel of sal- vation was transferred to the Gentiles of the Ro- man provinces of Samaria, Phenicia, Syria, Cy- prus, etc., in A. D. 33, when ended the "seventy weeks" of years allotted to the Jews. "A few months after the death of Maxentius in A. D. 313, 370 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. by which Constantiiie became the master of Italy, he published the celebrated edict of Milan. . . . After the death of Maximian (A. D. 313) the edict of Milan was received as a general and funda- mental law of the Eoman world." — Stu. Gib., 119. In A. D. 33, ''the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," as formulated and proclaimed by Jesus Christ and His Apostles, with its divine maxims, and heavenly laws, was introduced to the Gen- tile nations, as designed by Jehovah to be the general and fundamental law of the Roman world; and in A. D. 313 (33 + 280 = 313) the edict of Milan, with its human maxims, and earthly laws, as formulated and proclaimed by Constan- tine and his apostles, was introduced to the Gen- tile nations as designed by Constantiiie to be the general and fundamental law of the Ro- man world. Again, in A. D. 44, a second great persecution sent off others with messages of salvation to the heathen. u At that time Herod, the king, under- took to afflict some of the churches. And he slew, with the sword, James, the brother of John. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he apprehended Peter also." Acts xii. 1. And, in this year, Paul came with Barnabas from Anti- och to Jerusalem, and while praying in the tern- THE KECONSTBUCTION. 371 pie, the Lord said to him : "Make haste, and de- part quickly out of Jerusalem, for they (the Jews) will not receive your testimony concerning me. . Depart, for I will send you far off to the Gentiles." In obedience to this command they returned to Antioch. "And while they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit said : Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to the work to which I have called them. Then, after they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away (A. 13. 45). Therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed to Cyprus." Acts xiii. 2-4. "The establishment of Christianity as the reli- gion of the State followed the defeat of Licinius (A. D. 324). As soon as that event had invested Constantine with the sole dominion of the Ro- man world, he immediately, by circular letters, exhorted all his subjects to imitate, without de- lay, the example of their sovereign, and to em- brace the divine truths of Christianity. The ir- resistable power of the Roman emperors was displayed in the important and dangerous change of the national religion. The terror of a military force silenced the faint and unsupported mur- murs of the Pagans." — Stu. Gib., 122. 372 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. u At the Pentecost, or Whitsuntide, of the yeai 325, . . . the representatives of the churches were gathered at Mcaea, and the Emperor ar- rived on the 14th of June. . . . Eusebius gives a glowing description of the opening scene : After all the bishops had entered the central building of the royal palace, on the sides of which very many seats were prepared, each took his place with becoming modesty, and silently awaited the arrival of the Emperor. . . . The moment the signal was given which announced the Em- peror's approach, they all rose from their seats, and the Emperor appeared like a heavenly mes- senger (or angel) of God, covered with gold and gems,— a glorious presence, very tall and slender, full of beauty, strength and majesty. . . . When he reached the golden throne prepared for him, he stopped, and sat not down till the bishops gave him the sign ; and, after him, they all resumed their seats."— Stu. Eccl. Hist, 256, 257. The following parallels may be drawn between the events of the years A. D. 44 and 324 (44 + 280 = 324). 1. In A. D. 44 Herod's persecution and its termination tended to extend and establish the religion of Jesus Christ among th? Gentiles ; and THE RECONSTRUCTION. 373 in A. D. 324, Licinius' war and its termination tended to extend and establish the religion of Constantine among the Gentiles. 2. In A. D. 44, in consequence of the opposition to the religion of Jesus in Jerusalem, the old seat of Judaism, a new seat of primitive Christianity was established by the Lord Jesus at Antioch, in Syria ; and in A. D. 324, in consequence of the opposition to the religion of Constantine in Rome, the old seat of Paganism, a new seat of Imperial Christianity was established by Constantine at Byzantium, in Thracia. 3. In A. D. 44 the Lord Jesus sent Saul "far off to the Gentiles," with messages of mercy to all men, exhorting them to embrace the divine truths of Christianity, as preached by ministers sent forth by the Supreme Head of the true Church, Jesus Christ ; and in A. D. 324 the em- peror Constantine, "by circular letters, exhorted all his subjects to imitate without delay the exam- ple of their sovereign, and to embrace the divine truths of Christianity" as preached by ministers commissioned by the supreme head of the (apos- tate) Church, Constantine. 4. While in A. D. 33, Christianity had been informally introduced to the Gentiles, in A. D. 44, by the direct and positive commands of Christ 374 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. to Saul, it was authoritatively transferred to the heathen world ; and while in A. D. 313, by the edict of Milan, Constantinianism was informally introduced to the nations, in A. D. 324, by the di- rect and positive commands of the emperor, it was authoritatively established as the religion of the Roman world. The following are parallels between the events of A. D. 45 and 325 (45 + 280 = 325). 1. In A. D. 45 there was an assembly of the chief members of the Gentile Church at Antioch, in the midst of which, according to His promise, was the Lord Jesus, who, as seen by John on Patmos, "was clothed in a robe reaching to His feet, and girdled about the breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and his feet were like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and his voice was like the voice of many waters. And he had in his hand seven stars, . . . and his face was as the sun when it shines in its strength." Rev. i. 13-16 ; and in A. D. 325 there was an as- sembly of the chief members of the Gentile Church at Nica^a, in which Constantine "the em- peror appeared like a heavenly messenger (or angel) of God, covered with gold and gems,— a THE RECONSTRUCTION. 375 glorious presence," and sat upon "the golden throne prepared for him." 2 In A. D. 45 the Holy Spirit, presiding over and controling the proceedings of the assembly at Antioch, caused such things to be done as would most effectually extend and establish the kingdom of Christ throughout the world ; and in A. D. 325, the emperor, presiding over and con- trolling the proceedings of the Council of Mcaea, caused such things to be done as would most effectually extend and establish the kingdom of Antichrist throughout the world. To be sure that the second course of our his- torical edifice is properly laid we must again test our work by Gabriel's plumb-line of "seventy weeks." In the year B. C. 446, following a great persecution in Jerusalem, Jewish fugitives came to Shushan bearing the sad tidings that the people in Judea were "in great affliction and re- proach," and in B. C. 445 Artaxerxes, king of kings, sent forth Nehemiah to resume, extend, and complete the work that Ezra was commis- sioned to do in B. C. 457. So in A. D. 44 (490 - 446 = 44) Jewish fugitives came to Antioch bring- ing sad tidings of the great affliction and reproach that the Christians in Judea were in, owing to the persecutions of Herod ; and in A. D. 45 (490 376 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. — 445 =45) the Lord Jesus, King of kings, sent forth Barnabas and Saul to resume, extend, and complete the work that had been commenced by the Christians driven from Jerusalem by the persecution following the death of Stephen in A. D.33. The character of Constantine and of the system of Imperial Christianity established by him will further appear from the following: "Upon the death of Lepidus, Augustus assumed the title of Pontifex Maximus, or Supreme Pontiff, which gave him the management of the Roman religion, and this important dignity was borne by all his successors. ... A regular custom was intro- duced, that, on the decease of every emperor, the senate, by a solemn decree, should place Irm in the number of the gods. ... At length the style of our Lord and Emperor was not only be- stowed by flattery, but was regularly admitted into the laws and public monuments. . . . When a subject was admitted to the Imperial presence, he was obliged, whatever might be his rank, to fall prostrate on the ground, and to adore, accord- ing to the eastern fashion, the divinity of his lord and master. ... It was long since established as a fundamental maxim of the Roman constitu- tion, that every rank of citizens was alike subject THE KECONSTKUCTION. 377 to the laws, and that the care of religion was the right as well as duty of the civil magistrate. Con- stantine and his successors could not easily per- suade themselves that they had forfeited by their conversion any "branch of the Imperial preroga- tives, or that they were incapable of giving laws to a religion which they had protected and em- braced. The emperors still continued to exercise a supreme jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical order."- Stu. Gib., 13, 15, 93, 94, 123. "But he (Constantine) was still a heathen (after A. D. 313). . . . Still he worshiped the gods of Borne, and professed a special devotion for Apollo, with whom Constantine's flatterers com- pared him for his manly beauty. It was not till after his final victory over his last remaining rival, Licinius, that he made a distinct profession of Christianity, and recommended all his subjects to embrace the religion of Christ (A. D. 321). The public respect which he had paid to the old re- ligion (Paganism) up to this time was even con- tinued afterward. . . . Thus his new capital of Constantinople (dedicated in A. D. 330,) was placed under the joint protection of the God of the martyrs and the goddess Fortune ; his coin bore on one side the monogram of Christ, and on the other the image of the Sun-god, with the in- 878 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. scription Sol Invictus ; and he retained to the last the title of Pontif ex Maximus, which marked the emperor as the priestly head of the Pagan hierarchy. . . . He called himself the Bishop of bishops, and in the year after his victory over Licinius he assumed a sort of headship of the Clmrch on earth, by convening and presiding over the first of those councils, whose very title of (Ecumenical marked the connection of the Church with the organization of the empire. . . . His ecclesiastical position is thus summed up by an Anglican divine (Dean Stanley) : — 'So passed away the first Christian emperor, the first 1 )e- fender of the Faith, the first Imperial patron of the Papal See and of the whole Eastern Church ; the first founder of the Holy Places ; Pagan and Christian, orthodox and heretical, liberal and fanatical ; not to be imitated and admired, but much to be remembered and deeply to be studied." —Stu. Ecd. Hist, 237, 247. "Neither in Constantine, nor in his favorite bishops, nor in the general appearance of the Clmrch, can we see much of the spirit of godli- ness. Pompous apparatus, augmented super- stitions, and unmeaning forms of piety, with much show and little substance appear. . . . The doctrine of real conversion was very much THE KECONSTRUCTION. 379 lost, or external baptism was placed in its stead; and the true doctrine of justification by faith, and the true practical use of a crucified Savior for troubled consciences, were scarcely to be seen at this time. There was much outward religion, but this could not make men saints in heart and life. The worst part of the character of Constan- tine is, that as he grew older he grew more culp- able, oppressive in his own family, oppressive to the government, oppressive by eastern super- fluous magnificence. The facts displayed will show how little true humility and charity were now known in the Christian world ; while super- stition and self- righteousness were making vigor- ous shoots, and the real Gospel of Christ was hidden from men who professed it."— Hist. Oh. Christ, vol 2 ; 31, 33. "It is in vain that zealous writers have tried to relieve Constantine's reputation from the crimes committed to satisfy his ambition. His father- in-law; his brother-in-law, Licinius; his own son, Crispus; his nephew, the son of Licinius, a boy of eleven years, and lastly his wife, Fausta, were successively his victims. . . . All vestiges of republican forms were extinguished by him. . . . He made his court outshine in splendor and mag- nificence even those of the oriental princes, and 380 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. created a hierarchy of officials which to this day has remained the model of European mon- archical courts. A standing army of 300,000 men and 29 naval squadrons supported the imperial authority. Heavy impositions upon the people were necessary to cover the enormous expenses." — Am. Cyc. " 'Const ant hie Z" Thus rose the great system of imperial, Anti- christian despotism over the bodies and souls of men redeemed from sin and slavery by the pre- cious blood of Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. It was originated by Con- stantine, developed by succeeding emperors, and then divided into two parts, Eastern and West- ern. The Czar of Russia is the modern represen- tative of the Eastern or Greek division. The Western or Roman section was divided into ten parts, horns, or toes ; and among these, as one of the family, the "little horn," the Papacy came up. The present monarchies of Europe are the ten horns, and with these, as well as with the Dragon of Russia, the Beast of Rome, and the False Prophet of Turkey, the God of heaven has a con- troversy, and will soon "bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there." Joel iii. 2. Having thus unmistakably designated the THE RECONSTRUCTION. 381 imperial, politico-religious, Pagan o-CIiristian, Church-and-state polity of Constantine as Anti- christianism, tlie ten-horned beast of Dan. vii. 7, and Rev. xiii. 5, let us now endeavor to identify the second child, the female that became an har- lot, and even the Mother of Harlots. It has been shown in this chapter that the ad- vent of the Divine Author of Christianity was in B. C. 6-5, and that the author of Imperial Christi- anity was born in A. D. 274 or 275 (280 - 6 = 274), so, in the eighth chapter it is clearly shown that Clerical or Papal Christianity originated in A. D. 554-555 (274 + 280 = 554). In A. D. 554 the Gothic dominion in Italy ended and the Papal began, and in A. D. 555, Pope Pelagius, having been elected, and confirmed by the emperor Jus- tinian, came forth from Constantinople to Rome, and occupied the chair of Saint Peter. So that just 40 symbolic weeks, or 280 years after the Woman, the Church, gave birth to the male child, Imperialism, she brought forth the female child, Ecclesiasticism, which is doubtless the little horn of Dan. vii. 8 ; the two-horned beast of Rev. xiii. 11 ; and the eighth head and harlot of Rev. xvii. A:J in the foregoing chapters it has been shown by c orresponding prophetical and historical testi- 382 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. mony, as well as by many measurements made with the 42 months and the number 666 of Kev. xiii. 5, 18, and other prophetic numbers, that "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and of the Idolatrous Pollutions of the earth" is the apostate Romish Church, and that the u flve months," and "an hour, and a clay, and month, and a year," of Eev. ix. 10, 15, allude to impor- tant events in the history of the Saracens and Turks, we will not here review the dismal doings of the Dark ages, but pass on to contemplate the morning light of the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Now, as it has been shown that the origin and history of Primitive, Imperial, and Papal Christi- anity are chronologically founded upon the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, if, in the estimation of the Omniscient, Luther's reformation was really what some men consider it to have been — a re- vival and restoration of the religious faith and worship instituted by our Lord and His apostles — the commencement of Christ's recovery of the world from the dominion of Antichrist, we might expect to find that this also bears a similar rela- tion to the common foundation of Christian his- tory. Let us examine the matter. In Rev. xiii. 5, it is stated that the Imperial THE KECONSTRUCTION. 883 beast was "to continue forty-two months." This period, as is shown in the fifth chapter, page 61, is equal to 1242 historical years, which, together with the 280 years will reach exactly from our Lord's advent in B. C. 6 and 5 to A. D. 1516 and 1517, the epoch of the Reformation, as begun by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ by Zwingli and Luther as they learned it from the Greek Testament published by Erasmus. "Erasmus published in A. D. 1516 the first printed edition of the Greek Testament from manuscripts, which has been regarded as* his greatest work." — Am. Cyc. "Erasmus." This was the "reed like a rod," straight and inflexible, (Rev. xi. 1.), by which those godly men, Zwingli, Luther and other great reformers, measured the impious pretensions and practices of Rome. To the Pope's nuncio, who objected to his preaching, Zwingli said : "With the help of God I will go on preaching the gospel, and this preach- ing will make Rome totter." "I began," said Zwingli, "to preach the gospel in the year of grace 1516, that is, at a time when the name of Luther had never been heard among these coun- tries (Switzerland). It was not from Luther that I learned the doctrine of Christ ; it was from 8S4 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. God's word. If Luther preaches Christ, he does as I do; that is all." "I am no Lutheran," said Zwingli, "for I understood Greek before I had heard the name of Luther ;" intimating thereby that the study of the Greek Testament had taught him the necessity of a reformation." — Am. Cyc, 11 'Zivinali" "In A. D. 1517 Luther first read in public his famous theses, or propositions, in which he bit- terly inveighed against the traffic in indulgences, and challenged all the learned men of the day to content them with him in a public disputation. . . . And as he enlarged his observation and reading, and discovered new abuses and errors, he began to entertain doubts of the Pope's divine authority — rejected the doctrine of his infalli- bility—gradually abolished the practice of mass, auricular confession, and the worship of images —denied the doctrine of purgatory, and opposed the fastings of the Romish Church, monastic vows, and the celibacy of the clergy." — Willso?i's Out. Hist., 333. All historians regard this as the real commence- ment or birth of the great Reformation from Ro- manism. And we shall find that the other im- portant events in the rise of Christianity and Const antinianism have their counterparts in the THE RECONSTEUCTION. 385 institution of Protestantism, according to Eev. xi. 7-13 : but with this difference : Whereas our Savior's death, resurrection and ascension all occur in A. D. 30, "in the midst of the week," His faithful Witnesses are slain at the beginning, they rise in the middle, and ascend at the end of the seven years. In A. D. 26 the Lord Jesus, and in A. D. 306 Constantine, commenced their life-work, the for- mer appointed by the Divine Majesty of the heavens, the latter by the base soldiery of the earth ; and in A. D. 1548 (26 + 280 = 306 + 1242 = 1548) the Witnesses of Jesus began their life- work — to suffer the loss of all things for Christ (1 Peter ii. 21), and to be slain or deprived of their political and religious life, as was the case in Sept., A. D. 1548, when the enforcement of the "Interim" obliged the Protestants to relinquish to the Papists their churches and their dearest rights. "The Protestant clergy now were expel- led throughout the greater part of Germany. Melancthon states that in Swabia and the circles of the Rhine four hundred pastors were driven from their cures ; some were murdered, and their families exposed to a variety of sufferings. Nor were others found to supply their places ; the churches were mostly shut up, no public assem- 386 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. blies were held, nor were the sacraments admin- istered."— Hist. Oh. Christ, vol. 6, 331. The Witnesses were now killed by "the beast that ascends out of the abyss," that is, by the Em- peror Charles V., the successor of Constantine through the line of Charlemagne. In A. D. 30 the blessed Jesus rose to life, and dethroned his enemy, Death ; in A. D. 310 Con- stantine, as it were, returned to life, and dethroned his enemy, Maximian, and in March, A. D. 1552 (30 -f 280 = 310 + 1242 - 1552), headed by Maurice of Saxony, the dead but unburied Protestants, "after three days and a half" (3i years from Sept. A. D. 1548), the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them" (Rev. xi. 11),— the Popish "council of Trent dissolved itself with consternation, and was not able to re- assemble for the space of ten years." In A. D. 33, by an edict from heaven, the pure, heavenly faith and worship of Jesus Christ es- caped the persecution of Judaism, and was intro- duced to the Gentile world ; in A. D. 313, by the edict of Milan, the corrupt, earthly faith and worship of Constantine escaped from the perse- cution of Paganism, and was introduced as the "general and fundamental law of the Roman THE EE CONSTRUCTION. 387 world," and in Sept., A. D. 1555, three years and a half from March, A. D. 1552 (33 + 280 = 313 + 12-12 = 1555), by an edict of the great diet of Augsburg, the revived faith and worship of the Bible escaped the persecution of Imperialism, and was re-introduced to the world. "The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protes- tants."— Chilling-worth. In A. D. 44-5 Christianity was established in the Gentile world, and the first council of its kind, at Antioch, over which the Holy Ghost presided, sent forth holy men to preach, by di- vine inspiration, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God ; in A. D. 324-5 Constantinianism was established in the Gentile world, and the First (Ecumenical Council, at Nicaea, over which Con- stantine presided, framed and sent forth instead of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, the Mcene creed, together with several other human productions. u To the original creed a clause was appended, amathematizing Arius and his follow- ers ; and henceforth no affirmation of truth was deemed forcible enough without a curse on its deniers. . . . Thus the principle of punish- ment by the civil power for heresy . . . was for the first time established as a law" (Stu. Eccl. Hist., 285) ; and in A. D. 1566 (44 + 280 = 324 + 388 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 1242 = 1566) Protestantism was established in the world, u For by that time all the Reformed churches were settled, and published their creeds and confessions against Rome, in opposition to the determination of the Popish Council of Trent, published in the year 1563, and the creed of Pope Pius VI., which added twelve Antichristian ar- ticles to the twelve primitive Christian ones, which was put out A. D. 1564." — Fleming. And in the year 1566 died the great Turkish Sultan, Solyman the Magnificent, who had restrained the rage of the Romanists during the Reformation, and was succeeded by the indolent Selmin II., when the military power of the Turks "began immediately to decline," and the second, or Turk- ish woe, ended, and the third, or Protestant woe, upon the dominions of the Antichrists began. In A. D. 330, arrangements for the transfer hav- ing been made in A. D. 313 and 324, Constantine dedicates New Rome as the future capital of Im- perialism; and in A. D. 1572 (330 + 1242 = 1572), arrangements for the transfer having been made in A. D. 1555 and 1566, the Pope causes Paris, the modern capital of Imperialism, to be dedicated during eight days, beginning with St. Bartholo- mew's day, by the massacre of more than 50,000 Protestants. THE RECONSTRUCTION. 389 We have now reached the period of the fourth form of Christianity, that of the Protestants, who by wielding the sharp two-edged sword of "The Word of God," and by proclaiming the divine truth "that all men are created equal," are to in- flict the "seven plagues which are the last," and destroy the kingdom of the Imperial and Papal Antichrists. This period extends from the as- cent of the Witnesses to the heaven of power and influence in A. D. 1555, to the end of the present age. As the progress of their work up to the present time has already been recorded, we have now, by the clear light of the "sure word of prophecy," to advance into the future, and ex- plore those wonderful "things that have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." In order to proceed surely in our search, we must employ and take with us every available guide, and to this end we will now properly prepare and place in order for future use, all the divinely given prophetic numbers that apply to "the last end of the indignation." In Dan. viii. 13, 14, is recorded a conversation heard by the prophet between two celestial be- ings, and the answer to a question asked, which was addressed to Daniel. "Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint (probably Gabriel) 390 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. said unto that certain saint (Palmoni, or the Wonderful Numberer) which spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice (service or worship), and the transgression of des- olation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said to Hie, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Now as 2300 years, commenced at any reasonable date, will not reach to the present time, when the sanctuary is not cleansed, and for other reasons given below, we take the liberty to question the correctness of the text, and to attempt to show that instead of "Unto two thousand and three hundred days," it should read, "Unto two thous- and and four hundred days." "In the time of Josephus, the first century after Christ, the sacred Scriptures were found only in Hebrew and Greek— the latter, called the Septu- agint version, being a copy of the former. From the Hebrew, Josephus translated his Jewish An- tiquities into the Greek language. . . . Sub- sequently, however, a remarkable difference has arisen between copies of the Hebrew and of the Grecian text. . . . When, by whom, and in what versions of the Scriptures, the chronologi- cal errors were introduced, has long been a sub- THE RECONSTRUCTION. 391 ject of investigation with the learned; and a va- riety of evidence, of a highly interesting charac- ter, has at length been adduced, proving that, while the Septuagint has remained essentially unchanged, the chronology of the Hebrew text has been perverted at different times by the Jews, that the prophecies concerning the advent of the Savior might not appear to be fulfilled, and that the reality of the Christian Messiah might thereby be disproved."— Willson's Out. Hist, 622. From this it seems almost probable that the text under consideration has been corrupted, and the probability will be strengthened by the follow- ing from Diss. Proph., page 290 : "It is difficult to fix the precise time when the prophetic dates begin, and when they end, until the prophecies are fulfilled, and the event declares the certain- ty of them. And the difficulty is increased in this case by reason of some variety in the copies. For the Seventy (the Septuagint version) have four hundred in this place." Assuming then that "Unto two thousand and four hundred days" is the proper reading of the text, we will, by deducting 35, properly reduce the 2400 lunar to 2365 solar years, and adopt the latter period as the guide Number One. 392 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. But what is this mysterious number that has been so long hid from view, but is now raised to the light of day? Why, it is a Jubilee of Jubi- lees ! or a grand cycle of 49 x 49 years ! at the final ending of which the sanctuary is to be cleansed, and the remnant of the whole world, that has so long been led captive by the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet, shall return to the kingdom and service of the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In Rev. xii. 14 we read that when the Dragon (Monarchy, Popery and Prelacy of Europe) "per- secuted the Woman (true Christianity) that brought forth the male child" (Constantine) "two wings of a great eagle were given to the Woman, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place (North America— especially reserved for her), where she is nourished for a time, and times and half a time, away from the presence of the ser- pent." This is the same period as that mentioned in Dan. xii. 7. The time signifies a century, times two centuries, and half a time a half century — making 350 prophetic, or 345 historical years. We take this as our guide Number Two. Dan. xii. 11, reads thus : "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, THE RECONSTRUCTION. 393 there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." These 1290 prophetic years will be properly shortened by the subtraction of 18, and the resulting number, 1272, we adopt as our guide Number Three. Another important prophetic number is found in Dan. xii. 12 : "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days ;" which is reduced from 1335 prophetic, to 1316 historical years, by taking 19 therefrom ; and the number 1316 is accepted as our guide Number Four. The number "forty-two months," in Kev. xiii. 5, which has already so accurately indicated the times and seasons of the male and female Anti- christs, will, without doubt, safely lead us into the future ; and this, which equals 1242 solar years, we take as our guide Number Five. In 2 Chron. xxxvr 10, we read : "And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him (king Jehoiachin) to Babylon," etc.; and in Ezek. xxi. 25 : "And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when ini- quity shall have an end." We understand this prophetic day of the latter passage to correspond with the year of the former, and the year to sig- nify a year of iveehs of years, or (360 x 7 = 2520) 394 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 2520 years, and this we regard as the grand sacred scale of time, upon which the times and seasons of man upon the earth have been protracted, re- ferred to in the fifth chapter. And as this num- ber applies to the glorious light of the Sun of of Righteousness, and not to the moonlight of Eomanism, it consists of 2520 solar years. "Darkness is not from the Sun, Nor mount the shades till He is gone." And this we take as our guide Number Six. Our guides lack one of being the complete sacred number seven, and hence we must find another. Isa. xix. 19, 20, referring to the close of the present age states that "In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border there- of to the Lord. And it shall be for a witness unto the Lord of hosts, in the land of Egypt." This doubtless alludes to the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. So without much intruding upon the do- main of the learned Pyramidolcgists, we will enter its mysterious recesses in search of our seventh guide, bearing in mind that when time is indicated an inch signifies a year, and in astro- nomical measurements an inch represents a mile. The part for our examination must be the THE RECONSTRUCTION. 395 Grand Gallery, as this is supposed to symbolize the Christian dispensation. The Grand Gallery is a large chamber rising at an angle of about 26° It is about 82 inches wide, 340 inches high, and, on its floor line, 1881*6 inches long. On each side there is a solid stone bench, or "ramp," 21 inches high and 20 inches wide. Its sides are constructed of seven courses of masonry, each of which over- laps, so that at the roof the width is much less than it is just above the benches, where it is the greatest. Its roof consists of 36 overlapping stones. In each bench, up to the step there are 27 little excavations, at intervals, called "ramp holes," 6 inches wide and 22 inches long. The end walls, like the sides, are built of seven layers of stone, and the south wall is not vertical, but leans inward, so that the length of the Gallery, as measured along a line, graven in the solid rock by the builders, about half way up the side, is 1878'4 inches. Across the upper, or south end, there is a stone bench 36 inches high, and 61 in- ches long, called the "Great Step." Most students of the Great Pyramid, who be- lieve in its prophetic character, suppose that the Grand Gallery symbolizes the Christian dispen- sation as commencing with the birth of Christ about A. D. 0, and ending, according to the num- 396 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ber of inches in its floor measurement, in A. D. 1881 or 1882. But the opinion of many able chro- nologists that our Savior was born in B. C. 5, has, we think, in this chapter been substantiated. And, furthermore, it has herein been shown that all prophetic periods of the Bible that apply to the age of Boinanism are expressed in lunar time; hence it is supposable that if the chronology of the Grand Gallery is of Divine origin, that this also is set forth in years of 360 solar days, which will have to be reduced to historical years of 365'242 days in order that the wonderful reve- lations of the "sign and witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt," may be properly un- derstood at the time intended, "the last end of the indignation." Hence we must search for lunar indications in the Grand Gallery. And, as before we can enter the "King's Chamber," supposed to represent the glorious millennium, we must encounter and sur- mount the Great Step, let us inquire what this serious obstruction to our progress was designed to teach. 1. The height of the Great Step is 36 inches, and a line of this length forms one-half of a side of an equilateral triangle the length of whose- three sides in inches multiplied by ten (a Pyra- THE KECOXSTEUCTIOIS". 397 mid number), gives 2160, which represents the di- ameter of the moon in British miles.* 2. The 36 inches multiplied by 10 gives 360, the number of days in the prophetical year. And the 36 overlapping stones with which the whole Gallery is covered, show that the length of the Christian age is here expressed in years of 360 days. The 36 roof stones multiplied by 10, and the product by 7, the number of layers forming the sides and ends, give 2520, indicating that the period represented by the Grand Gallery forms a portion of the history of the human race, whose times and seasons have been protracted upon the grand scale of a year of iveeks of years. Having learned that the time indicated by the Grand Gallery is lunar, let us now endeavor to deduce from its mysterious symbols the true scale of time that is to stand "for a sign and for a wit- ness unto the Lord of hosts." The length, as measured along the floor and on the ramps or benches, is 1881*6 inches, that along the graven line on the west wall, 1878*4, and the mean of the two is 1880. This number, which denotes the time of Roman supremacy in lunar * The writer's son, Joseph E. Collom, aged 17, made this discovery Jan. 13th, 1880. 398 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. years, will be properly "shortened" by deducting 27 therefrom, leaving, as the measure of the times of the Gentiles, 1853 historical years. The years to be deducted, or discounted, are shown by the spaces, the ramp holes — 27, on each side, up to the "step." The number 1853, dug out, by so much labor, from the mine of the Great Pyramid, we will now adopt as our guide Number Seven. These seven are our principal guides, who will conduct us to the end of our journey. There are three others who will serve us for a time. The Queen's Chamber of the Pyramid, with the passage leading to it, is supposed to symbolize the condition of the Jews since the time of Christ. The low and narrow passage which runs under the Grand Gallery, and seems to allude to the state of the Jews prior to the Reformation, as be- ing in subjection to the Gentiles, is 1519*4 inches long; and the Queen's Chamber, which is also below the Grand Gallery, but is large, and turns towards the West, and hence evidently alludes to the improved condition of the Israelites in Western Protestant Europe and America from the dawn of the Reformation to their return to the land of their fathers, is 2267 inches long : making the combined lengths of the passage and gallery 17461 inches. As the "seventy weeks," THE KECONSTRUCTION. 399 and other numbers that pertain to the Jews, ex- press solar years, and as there seems to be no lu- nar indications in the Queen's Chamber, we in- fer that the 1746 inches signify so many historical years. This number we enlist as our guide Num- ber Eight. The evidence given by the last two Witnesses must be brought "to the law and to the testi- mony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." But if the testimony borne by these two Witnesses un- to the Lord of hosts, on being roused from a sleep of forty centuries in the land of Egypt, shall coin- cide with that of their younger brothers from Babylon and Patmos, then we should not hesi- tate to regard the Great Pyramid of Egypt, as well as our Holy Bible, as of divine origin. In Rev. xi. 2 it is stated that "the holy city shall they (the Gentiles) tread under foot forty-two months." These 42 months, or 1260 years, which refer to the crescent-following Moslems, like the similar number relating to the moon-light of Romanism, will be properly prepared for our use by subtracting 18 therefrom ; and the resulting 1242 solar years we enroll as our guide Number Nine. In Luke xxi. 25, referring to the time of Christ's 400 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBEKS. second coming, it is stated that "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." This, doubtless, alludes to the approach- ing planetary perihelia ; and this we take as our guide Nunber Ten. That our guides may be on hand when called to duty, we will arrange them as follows : No. 1. Dan viii. 14. "Two thousand and four hundred days" = 2365 years. No. 2. Dan. xii. 7 ; and Eev. xii. 14. "A time, and times, and half a time" = 345 years. No. 3. Dan. xii. 11. "A thousand two hundred and ninety days" = 1272 years. No. 4. Dan. xii. 12. "A thousand three hun- dred and five and thirty days" = 1316 years. No. 5. Rev. xiii. 5. "Forty- two months" = 1242 years. No. 6. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10 ; and Ezek. xxi. 25. A day = a year = a year of weeks of years = 2520 years. No. 7. The Pyramid's Grand Gallery = 1853 years. No. 8. The Pyramid's Queen's Chamber and passage = 1746 years. No. 9. Rev. xi. 2. "Forty-two months" = 1242 years. No. 10. The Planetary Perihelia. THE RECONSTRUCTION. 401 "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God : but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever." Deut. xxix. 29. Lest the reader should think our proposed study of times and events that are future to be unwarranted or prohibited in the Bible, we will assure him that we shall not attempt to pry into "the secret things" (the day a.nd the hour) that "belong unto the Lord our God," but only into "those things which are revealed" (the years) which "belong unto us and to our children for- ever." The revelation which God has made is our only source of knowledge of divine things, wheth- er past, present or future. While we do not criticise or condemn the com- mendable efforts of former writers who "have en- quired and searched diligently" concerning "the grace that is to be brought to them at the revela- tion of Jesus Christ," "into which things the an- gels desire to look" (1 Peter i. 10-13), yet, believ- ing that in their time Daniel's seals hid from them the truth, we do not adopt their theories and opinions; still, in some cases, we grate- fully use some historical facts which they have gathered. It is because we have the command to "search the Scriptures ;" because there is a blessing prom- J:02 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ised to those who study the mysteries of the Revelation ; and because infidelity pervades the world, and woiidliness the Church, that having, as we verily believe, correctly adapted the pro- phecies to the history of the past, we will now at- tempt, by the same divinely appointed means, and for the glory of God, and the good of men, to indicate the times of the "things that must be hereafter." But we will first test the knowledge and skill of our guides on portions of the domain of the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet, through which we have already come, that, having proved their trustworthiness in the light of the past, we may the more confidently rely upon their guidance in the darkness of the future. We will first bring forward guide No. 1. The cleansing of the sanctuary, 2365 years. According to the chronology of Petavius, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the few remaining Jews car- ried captive to Babylon or scattered elsewhere, and the Israel of old ceased to exist as a nation in the year B. C. 589. Measuring from this memorable point with our 2365 years, we reach a date dear to every lover of liberty— 2365 — 589 = 1776 !— when the political sanctuary was cleansed, THE RECONSTRUCTION. 403 the stone, the Declaration of Independence, was cut out of the mountain, Christian ethics, with- out hands, and assumed the proper shape to begin the demolition of all the colossal fabrics of tyranny throughout the world. Or, if we pre- fer Ushers computation, which sets A. D. 588 for the destruction of Jerusalem, our guage will extend from this point to A. D. 1777, the year in which the 'Articles of Confederation and Per- petual Union of the United States of America were agreed to by Congress," which constituted the Israel of the Gospel with thirteen States, instead of the Israel of the Law with thirteen Tribes ("Joseph shall have two portions"), and the confederated commonwealth that is to be the model for reconstructing the nations of the world when "the Lord shall be king over all the earth." This was indeed the commencement of the cleansing of the sanctuary, or, as the U. S. seal expresses it, " Novus Ordo Seclorum — A new era in the ages ; " the institution of a free, inde- pendent Christian State, "away from the pres- ence of the serpent," — the dragonic and Papal powers of Europe. In the year B. C. 536, Cyrus, king of Prussia, issued the first of those decrees which resulted in the rebuilding, and restoring of the Temple, 404 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. Jerusalem, and the Jewish State, in Palestine. "Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God) which is in Jerusa- lem." Ezra i. 2, 3. With this proclamation of Cyrus terminated the seventy years captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and their ascendency over their enemies now commenced ; and hence at the end of 2365 years (2365 - 536 = 1829) we may expect some affliction to come upon their modern enemies and possessors of Palestine, the Turks : "In A. D. 1829, after successfully defeating the Turkish armies to the East and North, in Ana- tolia and on the shores of the Euxine, the Eus- sians passed the Balkans, and fixed their head- quarters in the city of Adrianople. On hearing of the near approach of the victorious Russians, the Sublime Porte submitted to terms of peace dictated by the victors. Liberty from the Turk- ish yoke was secured to the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, and not a Turk was permitted to reside north of the Danube. The THE EECONSTKUCTIO]*. 405 liberty and independence of Servia, and the regions inhabited by Franks in the European dominions of Turkey, had their liberty secured —Greece being already free. In A. D. 1829, the French seized upon Algiers, and converted a province of Turkey into a French Colony." — Di- vine Hist Church, 221. Again, in B. C. 536, Zerubbabel and his com- panions went to Juclea to inaugurate the return of the Jews from captivity, and the restoration of Jerusalem ; and, in A. D. 1829, Sir Moses Mon- tefiore, a wealthy London banker, and a relative of the Eothschilds, went, with his wife, to Pales- tine, and commenced those earnest and per- sistent endeavors to improve the condition of the Hebrews and effect their return to the land of their fathers, a work which he has continued to the present time, although he is now nearly a hundred years of age. As the result of the proclamation of Cyrus the altar was erected, the offering of sacrifices insti- tuted, and the building of the temple com- menced, when the enemies of the Jews wrote to Artaxerxes : "Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us, are come to Jerusalem, building the rebellious and bad city, and have set up the walls thereof and 406 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings." Ezra iv. 12, 13. In answer to this letter, Artaxerxes gave "com- mandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded. . . . Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusa- lem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia." Three years after this, in B. C. 519, and just 70 years from the final captivity in B. C. 589 (Peta- vius), Darius commanded to "Let the work of this house alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God in his place." Following this decree the Jews enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity (B. C. 519-515), during which they built, and finished, and dedicated their temple. And now let us see what events affecting the condition of the Israelites occurred during the corresponding period at the end of the 2365 years. 2365 - 519- 515 - 1846-1850. 1. In B. C. 519, the Jews obtained favor from the king of Persia, who issued an order suspend- ing and countermanding a former decree against THE RECONSTRUCTION. 407 their interests ; and in 1846 Sir Moses Montefiorre was made a baronet by the Queen of England, and, in 1846 he prevailed npon the emperor Nicholas to suspend a ukase against the Jews, and was invited to visit Poland to suggest meas- ures for the amelioration of the condition of its Jewish inhabitants." — Am. Cyc, " Montefiore? As there are 2,000,000 of Jews in the Russian empire, about one-fourth of the number in the world, the suspension of the unfavorable ukase was to them a matter of great importance. 2. The political commotions of this period re- sulted very favorably to the Hebrews : "Pro- claimed in the United States and France, the rights of the Jews were recognized in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, part of Germany, Canada and Jamaica ; in A. D. 1848-9 throughout Germany, Italy and Hungary, and finally in Norway and England. . . . The revolutionary movement of A. D. 1848-9 proved the immense progress of the Jews as well as of public opinion since Men- delssohn and Leasing." — Am. Cyc, "Hebrews." In Dan. ix. 25, it is indicated that during "seven weeks," or 49 years, the street and the wall of Jerusalem should u be built again," "even in troublous times." The 49 years commenced with the decree of Cyrus in B. C. 536, ends in B. 408 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. C. 487 ; and the 2365 years begun at the latter date will reach down to the year 1878, whose im- portant events have already been noticed. No. 2. The Woman in the wilderness. 345 years. It has been shown that the time and times and half a time of Dan. vii. 25 equals 345 years, and applies to the persecution of the Church in the wilderness from A. D. 1210 to 1555. So we may infer that the similar numbers of Dan. xii. 7, and Rev. xii. 14 also equals 345 years, and when called upon to do so, will properly designate the period of the Woman's second retirement to the wilder- ness. No. 3. "The abomination that maketh desolate,'''' 1272 years. It has already been shown that this number applies to Islamism, and that it indicated the pouring of the sixth plague upon the Turkish empire in A. D. 1878. Hence we may hope that it will prove a reliable guide in all matters per- taining to "the abomination that maketh deso- late," to our journey's end. No. 4. "Blessed is he that cometh" 1316 years. This number relates especially to the advent of the blessed Jesus who is todestroy "that Wicked," the Papal Antichrist, with the brightness of his coming (2 Thess. ii. 8.), and it applies first to the coming in A. D. 1870-1 of a type of Christ, king THE EECONSTEUCTION. 409 Victor Emanuel,— the conquering God-ivith-us, who completely destroyed the temporal power of the Pope. Hence we may expect it to point out the time of the future antitypical coming of the Lord Jesus to reap His harvest, and "gather all nations and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat," and finally to receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him." No. 5. The ten-horned beast. 1242 years. As this faithful guide has unerringly led us during the past 360 years, and shown us fifteen encounters between the Protestants and Romanists we need not doubt his ability to lead us to the scene of the final overthrow of the Dragon and Beast. No. 6. " Until he come whose right it is." 2520 years. Owing to the imperfections and uncer- tainties of the chronology of the times prior to B. C. 800 we can make but little use of this long period ; but we will suggest that upon this grand scale the times and seasons of man upon the earth have been protracted ; and that the whole time from Adam's creation and fall to the coming of the Second Adam to "bring in everlasting right- eousness," will be three times this period or 7560 years commencing with the creation of man in B. C. 5637 (Hales gives 5411, Clement of Alexan- 410 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. dria 5624, some chronologists more, others less), and ending with the d v truction of evil in A. D. 1923. These three great days may be divided into six periods of 1260 years each, during the last of which the Antichrist reigns, and during a seventh the saints shall "reign with Christ a thousand years." No. 7. The Great Pyramid's Grand Gallery. 1853 years. The testimony that this ancient "wit- ness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt'' has to bear entirely relates to the typical and antitypical comings of our Lord Jesus Christ. u He shall send them a Savior and a great one, and he shall deliver them." Commencing at the first corner stone of the foundation of Christian history, the birth of Christ in B. C. 5, it indicates the memorable event, of A. I). 1848-9 (1853 - 5 = 1848), when almost every throne of the ten-horned monster of Europe was shaken to its very foun- dation ; constitutional liberties wrung from the despotic monarchs; the Pope, in dismay, fled from the scene ; and the "Roman Republic" was proclaimed in Italy. These events typify those that are to take place in the future, and which are soon to be shown us con jointly by our faith- ful guides. We will now take the testimony of our three THE RECONSTRUCTION. 411 temporary guides, 8, 9 and 10 ; follow them as far as they will lead us into the future, then dis- charge them and call upon the more competent seven to lead us onward in our studies of the pro- cess of the reconstruction of the earth for the realm of Him "whose right it is." No. 8. The Queen's Chamber and its Passage. The small passage, 1519"4 years, alludes to the de- pressed condition of the Jews until the time of the Reformation. "The Reformation found the Jews spread in great numbers in Germany and Poland. . . . During the century preceeding the Reformation their history is marked by per- secutions in almost every city and province of Germany. . . . The Reformation brought peace to the Jews in most parts of Europe, partly by diverting the attention of the Church of Rome to other and more dangerous enemies, and partly by the wise maxims of toleration, which, though not the immediate, were not less the legitimate fruits of this great revolution in the European world." — Smith's Sec. Hist. Jews. The Passage and Chamber together are 1746 inches, which signifies 1746 years. We have al- ready seen that Belisarius, in A. D. 534, began the recovery of Italy with a declaration of his purpose "to deprive the Goths of all the provinces 412 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. which they unjustly withheld from their lawful sovereign," and that, as a counterpart of this, Washington and his compatriots, in A. D. 1776 (534 + 1242 = 1776), began the recovery of this country with a declaration of their purpose to deprive the British of all the provinces which they unjustly withheld from their lawful owners, the American people, the children of the Woman. And we have also seen that the first act of cleansing the political sanctuary, indicated by our guide No. 1, was the declaration in 1776 (,2365 — 589 = 1776) of the inalienable rights of all men to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So we shall here see that in the estimation of the designer of the Queen's Chamber, the recovery and reconstruction of the political world with the Israelites as the key-stone in the arch of the nations, commenced with the glorious Declara- tion of Independence in A. D. 1776. Measuring with the Queen's Chamber number from the res- urrection of Him who announced the heavenly truth, "all ye are brethren," we reach the resur- rection and incorporation of the same divine truth into the Declaration of Independence in A. D. 1776 (30 + 1746 - 1776). The conflicts which resulted in the final de- struction of Jerusalem, when "the ruins which THE RECONSTRUCTION. 413 Titus had left were razed to the ground and the plow passed over the foundation of the Temple," and the "Jews were forbidden to enter it on pain of death," were begun by Hadrian in A. D. 132, and successfully ended by him in A. D. 135. Com- menced at the former date the Queen's Chamber number reaches exactly to 1878 (132 + 1746 = 1878), when, by the Berlin Congress, and the An- glo-Turkish treaty, measures were adopted that will soon result in the suppression of the Moslems in Jerusalem. In A. D. 135, by the success of the Jews' enemies, the Komans, the Israelites were expelled from the Holy City, and in A. D. 1881 (135 + 1746 = 1881) we may expect that, by the success of the Jews' friends, the British, the Turks will be ex- pelled from Jerusalem, and the Jews restored ; and in confirmation of this evidence comes Wit- ness No. 3, with testimony as follows : No. 3. "The abomination that maketh desolate," 1272 years. In A. D. 606 Mohammed began to fab- ricate his system of religion to take the place of Judaism and Christianity, and in A. D. 1878 (606 + 1272 = 1878) the Berlin and Anglo-Turkish treaties were fabricated, tending to the suppres- sion of Islamism and the re-establishment of Ju- daism and Christianity in its place. And, as in 414 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. A. D. 609, Mohammed left the place of his retire- ment, the cave of Hira, and commenced to prop- agate his doctrines, so we may infer that in A. D. 1881 (609 + 1272 = 1881) the apparent inaction of those who are to suppress "the abomination that maketh desolate," will end, and they will begin those decisive measures that will finally destroy the polity of the False Prophet. No. 9. "The Holy City {Jerusalem) they {the Mohammedans) shall tread under foot forty-hoo months ." =1242 years. As we have already seen, the Saracens began the capture of Jerusalem and the conquest of Palestine in A. D. 636, and com- pleted the work in A. D. 639. From the former date the 1242 years reach to A. D. 1878 (636 -f 1242 = 1878), and from the latter date to A. D. 1881 (639 + 1242 = 1881. During the former period of three years Islamism was established in Jeru- salem and Palestine, and during the latter three years, it is probable, the power and religion of the Turks will be dis-established there. Here we have three concurrent testimonies, — the first from the Great Pyramid, the second from the book of Daniel, and the third from the Revela- tion. The next events to be considered are those of the year 1883. Further on it will be shown that THE RECONSTRUCTION. 415 the final termination of the age of Romanism, and the taking of the kingdom by the saints of the Most High, will be in the year 1923 ; but here we have to notice the events to occur at the leav- ing of the spiritual Egypt, forty years previous to entering the antitypical Canaan. We will first take the concluding testimony of guide No 9, 1242 years. On completing the subju- gation of Palestine, the Saracens began to invade Egypt in A. D. 639, and effected the capture of Alexandria and the conquest of the land of the Pyramids in A. D. 641. Well, guide, what of the land of Egypt ? 1. To Egypt God sent Moses to deliver His own people from bondage. 2. In Egypt the Israelites were resurrected to a new national life. 3. The plagues were visited upon those from whose bondage the Hebrews escaped. 4. Being raised to a new life the Israelites started on their journey toward Canaan. 5. Only those who had the sprinkled blood es- caped when the destroying angel smote the Egyptians. 6. Those only who had the sprinkled blood left the scene of destruction to be with Christ 40 years preparatory to occupying Canaan. 416 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 7. Those who had been raised to a new life were for 40 years with Christ sustained in an un- earthly manner. u He had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angel's food : he sent them meat to the full." Psa. lxxxvii. 24, 25. "And did all eat of the same spiritual meat ; and did all drink of the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Eock was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. The counterpart of this will doubtless occur when the Saints of the Most High shall escape from the bondage of Romanism, which is the antitypical Sodom and Egypt (Rev. xi. 8), in A. D. 1883 (641 + 1242 = 1383). 1. To this modern Egypt will God "send Jesus Christ," a Prophet like Moses (Acts iii. 19-23,) to deliver His own people from bondage. 2. The saints of God will now be resurrected to a new and eternal life (1 Cor. xv. 51-54). 3. The plagues of the wrath of God will be visited upon those from whom the saints escape (2 Thess. i. 6-10). 4. Being raised to a new life the saints will enter upon their 40 years journey toward the heavenly Canaan. 5. Those only upon whose hearts the cleans- THE BECONSTKUCTION. 417 ing blood of Christ has been sprinkled will escape from destruction. 6. Those who shall have the sprinkled blood will leave the scene of destruction and be with Christ 40 years preparatory to occupying the antitypical Canaan. 7. Those who shall be raised to the new life will be for forty years with Christ, sustained in an unearthly manner by "angel's food." From this and the corresponding testimony to be borne by other guides we conclude : 1. That in the year A. I). 1883 the first resur- rection, that of the saints (Eev. xx. 4-6), and the appearance of the Son of Man on the cloud to reap His harvest (Rev. xiv. 14-16), will take place. 2. That the resurrected dead, together with the changed living, who shall be caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air will be for 40 years in the heavens with Christ, sustained as are the angels. 3. That after being in the heavens with their Lord for forty years, the disciplined saints will return to the earth and there "reign with Christ a thousand years." Matt. xix. 28 ; Rev. v. 10; Rev. xx. 4. 4. That during these 40 years will occur the judgment of the nations in the valley of Jehosh- 418 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. apliat (Joel iii.) the treading of the great wine- press of the wrath of God (Eev. xiv. 17-20,) ; and "the battle of that great day of Grod Almighty" in Armageddon (Eev. xvi. 13-21). This is the time of the seventh plague. In the Old Testa- ment, as well as in the New, it is described as a time of dreadful wars, pestilences, famines, etc. Of the effects of the approaching planetary perihelia during this time Dr. Knapp writes : "But lively times in physic— lively times for doc- tors and undertakers also— may be looked for by those who believe in the certainties of astronomy, all the way from now to then, for Uranus will not complete his perihelion circuit until the go- ing out of the nineteenth century, and Neptune until 1923 ; so that the malign influences may be looked for under every recurring perihelion ap- proach of Jupiter during the cycle in which we are now sailing, viz., of 1830, 1892, 1904 and 1916." It is, doubtless, to the time of the first resur- rection that the many admonitory parables of our Lord refer; those in which he represents His coming to be suddenly, unexpectedly and as a thief in the night. "Watch, therefore, and pray at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man? Luke xxi. THE RECONSTRUCTION. 419 36. Isaiah, also seems to allude to the security of the people of God while the wicked are being punished: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometli out of his place to punish the in- habitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isa. xxvi. 20, 21. Respecting the time of Christ's second advent we read in Luke xxi. 25-28 : "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and on the earth, distress of nations in perplexity ; the sea and its waves roaring ; men's hearts failing on account of the fearful expecta- tion of the things that are coming on the land : for the hosts of the heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near." This expresses the present condition of the world : 1. The "signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars" evidently allude to the planetary 420 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. perihelia, concerning which Prof. B. Gr. Jenkins, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, in the conclusion of an article published in the Pali- Mall Gazette, of March 6, 1879, says : "In conclu- sion, I would say that within the next seven years there will happen that which has not hap- pened for hundreds of years : all the planets at or near their nearest point to the sun about the same time. It is true of the earth that its mag- netic intensity is greater about the time when it is near the sun ; the same is probably true of all the planets ; therefore we may expect extraordi- nary magnetic phenomena during the next seven years, and great plagues, which will manifest themselves in all their intensity when Jupiter is about three years from his perihelion— that is, in 1883." .2. No one familiar with the present state of the political, religious and social world, especial- ly of Europe, can fail to see that this is a time of "distress of nations in perplexity," and that men's hearts are failing on account of the fear- ful expectation of the things that are coming on the land ;" how insecurely crowns sit upon the heads of monarchs ; that the foundation of every throne is, as it were, a seething volcano, liable at any moment to engulf it : that the severe repres THE EECONSTEUCTION. 421 sive laws of Russia, Germany, and other states tend only to exasperate, consolidate and strength- en the Communists, Socialists and Nihilists ; and that the inevitable doom of the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet cannot be long delayed. 3. But this time, so full of evil forebodings to despots and unbelievers, is, to the child of Grod, a season of joyful anticipation, in which he looks up, and lifts up his head, in - delightful hope of soon seeing "the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory," to effect the final redemption of those "who look for His appear- ing." No. 4. ''Blessed is he that cometh" 1316 years. This number, as before stated, refers exclusively to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is based upon the rise of the Papal Antichrist, Its first application, as we have seen, is to the incip- iency of the Papal period in A. D. 554, and the taking away of the temporal power of the Pope in A. D. 1870, by Victor Emanuel. By the test of the numbers 666 and 42 months, we have proved that the second great step in the rise of the Pa- pacy was in A. D. 567. In this year the Supreme Euler of the Roman world, Justin II., through the solicitations of his wife, Sophia, removed the avaricious, self -aggrandizing eunuch, Narses, and 422 THE PROPHETIC LUMBERS. sent his deputy, Longinus, to govern Italy with supreme authority ; who took away the consuls, senate, magistrates, and everything that pertain- ed to the former Imperial and Gothic dominion, and instituted a new form of government under dukes, or leaders of armies. In conformity with this we saw in the seventeenth chapter that in A. D. 1809, at the end of the 42 months (567 -{- 1242 = 1809), typical of the events to occur in A. D. 1883, the great Emperor Napoleon sent to Italy his deputies, who took away the authority of the Pope ; and "the remainder of the Roman States were incorporated with the French empire, Nap- oleon declaring that he deemed it proper for the security of his empire, and of his people, to take back the grant of Charlemagne." So in A. D. 1883 (567 + 1316 = 1883) we may expect that the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, through the sol- icitations of "the bride, the Lamb's wife," and for the security of His empire and people, will send Jesus Christ (Acts iii. 20), His deputy, who will remove and supersede the avaricious, self- aggrandizing (2 Thess. ii. 4) Idol Shepherd (Zech. xi. 17), and Antichrist of Rome, and institute a new form of government under dukes, or leaders of armies (Rev. xix. 14), which, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and at Armageddon, will utterly THE RECONSTRUCTION'. 423 destroy the doomed legions of the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet. The scenes of the period from A. D. 1883 to 1923 are delineated in the 19th chapter of the Revelation ; and the warning to the world to flee this coming wrath is in Rev. xiv. 9-14 : "If any one worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Gk)d, which is prepared, without mixture, in the cup of his indignation," etc. JVo.7. The Grand Gallery. 1853 years. This num- ber also alludes to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : first to institute, and then to terminate, the great tribulation now under consideration. "For they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Savior, and a great one, and he shall deliver them." Isa, xix. 20. Having before indicated that this number reaches from the birth of Christ to the great events of A. D. 1848, we have now to show to what it will reach from the other corners of the foundation of Christian history. It will be re- membered that the seventieth week of Dan. ix. 27, the final probationary period of the Jews, in which they rejected their Messiah and His dis- ciples, was from A. D. 26 to 33. From this time, the 1853 years lead us down to A. D. 1879-1886 424 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. (26 -f 1853 = 1879), the very period of seven years, during which, according to Prof. Jenkins, the evil influences of the planetary perihelia will most seriously affect the earth. In this chapter it has been shown that the 280 years reached from the resurrection of Christ in A. D. 30 to the resurrection of the Antichrist in A. D. 310, and that the 1242 years extended from the resurrection of Constantine, in A. D. 310, to the resurrection of the Witnesses in A. D. 1552, and now we have to show that the Grand Gallery's number reaches from the resurrection of our blessed Savior in A. D. 30, to 1883 (30 + 1853 = 1883), when, as the other numbers have indicated, the resurrection of the righteous dead will take place. "Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection ; over such the second death has no power : but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." "Let us rejoice and be glad, and give glory to him : for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was given that she should be clothed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." Rev. xix. 7, 8. It is a pleasing thought that, not- withstanding the present worldliness of the THE RECONSTRUCTION. 425 Church, when the heavenly Bridegroom shall come for His faithful Bride, His Wife will be prepared and ready to. meet Him, being clothed with the resplendent robes of His righteous- ness. Oh, for a million heralds to proclaim, "Be- hold, the Bridegroom comes, go you out to meet him." During the period of the great tribulation, the Jews are to be gathered back to Palestine : "For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jer- usalem, I will gather all nations, and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." Joel iii. 1,2. u And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. xii. 1. From the wilderness of the nations, impover- ished by the removal of the Christians, the salt, while the world is being trodden under foot, as 426 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. the great wine-press of the wrath of God, through much affliction, will a remnant of Israel be brought back to a possession of the land of prom- ise. Ezek. xx. 33-38. The time during which they shall be recovered from their captivity among the nations, like that from Egypt, will be 40 years : "According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous things." Micah vii. 15. To make room for the Jews, the Turks will be removed from Palestine, and as our guide No. 3 professes a knowledge of Mohammedanism, be- fore we follow him further we must carefully ex- amine his credentials. As there are several prophecies respecting the setting up of "abominations," and several histori- cal events by which the predictions seem to be fulfilled, it is very important to ascertain to which of the abominations Dan. xii. 11 alludes. Dan. xi. 31, reads : "And arms shall stand on his part and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and they shall take away the daily sac- rifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." This prophecy doubtless re- fers to the first desecration of the temple built at Jerusalem by the captives returned from Baby- lon ; which was effected in B. C. 170-167 by Anti- THE RECONSTRUCTION". 427 ochus Epiplianes, and is described in the first chapter of the first book of Maccabees : "And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus siirnamed Epiplianes, the son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at Borne, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. . . . And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he re- turned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof. And the table of show-bred, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the censers of gold, and the vail, and the croAvns, and the golden ornaments that are before the table, all which he pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels : also he took the hidden treasures which he found. And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoke very proudly. . . . For the king had sent letters by messen- gers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they should follow the strange laws of the land, and forbid burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and drink-offerings in the temple ; and that they 428 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. should profane the Sabbath and festival days : and pollute the sanctuary and the holy people : set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts. . . . Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side : And burnt incense at -the doors of their houses, and in the street." Jose- phus states the same facts in his "Antiquities of the Jews," Book xii. Chap. v. The prophecies relating to the next spoilation of the temple are recorded in Dan. viii. 11, 12 : and ix. 26, 27. This was done by the Romans under Titus in A. D. 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, nearly 1,500,000 Jews slain, thousands sold as slaves, and the Jewish polity annihilated. To this our Savior referred, Matt. xxiv. 15, 16 : "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso read- eth let him understand): Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." This in- junction of our Lord the Christians of Jerusalem obeyed in fleeing to Pella, east of the Jordan, as soon as they saw the city being invested by the THE RECONSTRUCTION". " 429 Komans, while the non-Christian Jews, expecting their Messiah to come as their deliverer, instead of to answer their prayer, "His blood be upon us, and our children," remained there, and were destroyed. As, begun at the setting up of either of these "abominations," the 1272 years will not reach to the end of the "times of the Gentiles," we have to search for the setting up of another abomina- tion — that referred to in the explicit prophecy of Dan. xii. 11. We have already seen that the armies of the Saracen caliph, Omar, invested Jerusalem in A. I) 636, and after a siege of four months, the Christians being reduced to the greatest extrem- ities, surrendered the city. Omar "granted them honorable conditions, he would not allow any of their churches to be taken from them ; but only demanded of the Patriarch, with great modesty, a place where he might build a mosque. The Patriarch showed him Jacob's stone, and the place where the temple of Solomon had been built, which the Christians had filled with ordure in hatred to the Jews. Omar began himself to cleanse the place, and he was followed in this act of pietv by the principal officers of his army ; and it was in this place that the first mosque was 430 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. erected in Jerusalem. Soplironius the Patriarch, said upon Omar's taking possession of the city : 'This is of a truth the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place.' "—Diss. PropL, 419. The Patriarch was right, for the establishment of the power and religion of the Saracens in Jeru- salem and Palestine, and the erection of the mosque of Omar upon the site of Solomon's tem- ple, was the setting up of "the abomination that maketh desolate," referred to in Dan. xii. 11. So now we need not question the ability of guide No. 3 to show us the relation between the setting up and the taking down of "the abomination that maketh desolate." Guides No. 8, 9 and 10, having assisted No. 3 to indicate the events of 1878, 1881, and 1883, we now discharge, being fully assured that the latter is competent to lead us safely on- ward. The next noticeable event in the rise of Islam- ism, after Mohammed began to preach in A. D. 609 occurred in A. 1). 622, the year of the Hegira, "the grand era of the Mohammedan religion," when "Mohammed assumed the exercise of the regal and sacerdotal office," and "declared that the empire of his religion was to be established by the sword." Measuring with the 1272 years THE RECONSTRUCTION. 431 from this point we reach A. D. 1894 (622 + 1272 = 1894). At this time, it is supposable that some severe affliction will befall the disciples of the False Prophet. In A. D. 636 occurred the memorable battles of Yermouk and Cadesiah, by which the armies of the Romans and Persians were defeated and the entire East prostrated before the victorious Mos- lems. "The Persian empire under the Sassanidae continued until A. D. 636, when it was over- thrown by the Moslems in the great battle of Cadesiah." "Palestine remained under the Ro- man dominion (part of the time under the eastern or Greek empire) until the year 636, when Omar conquered Jerusalem." — Willson's Out. Hist. 572, 574. From A. D. 636 the 1272 years reach down to A. D. 1908 (636 + 1272 = 1908). As the special department of our guide No. 1 is the cleansing of the sanctuary, we must now examine his credentials, and take his testimony concerning the time when that work shall be undertaken. Two years after Daniel had the wonderful vision recorded in Dan. vii. he "was at Shushan, in the palace which is in the province of Elam," when he saw his second vision, in which there appeared a ram with two horns (the Medo-Persian 432 • THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. power), then a lie-goat (the Macedonian empire) which had a notable horn (Alexander the Great) between his eyes. After this there came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great (the Roman power) by which the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed. And then in answer to the ques- tion which Gabriel asked Palmoni as to how long the transgression of desolation should continue, and the sanctuary, or the site of Solomon's tem- ple should be trodden under foot by the Gentiles, he was told that these things should continue for 2400 years, and then the sanctuary should be cleansed from Gentile defilement. After this, Daniel "heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision." Then the angel Gabriel came, and said to Daniel, "Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation : for at the time appointed the end shall be." As Gabriel described the symbolic "ram," "he-goat," and "king of fierce countenance" who should "destroy the mighty and the holy people," the Jews, Daniel "was astonished at the vision," and could hear no more, for he fainted and was sick certain days : and without making a full explanation, Gabriel had to return to heaven, until Daniel should be THE RECOXSTlZUCTIOjtf. 433 able to receive instruction respecting the rest of the vision. After the lapse of fifteen years ; on learning from the writings of Jeremiah that the seventy years of the captivity were soon to end, Daniel cflers that wonderful prayer, Dan. ix. 4-9, in be- half of the children of Israel, Jerusalem, and "the sanctuary that is desolate." And he says, "Whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the be- ginning (the vision of the eighth chapter), being •caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understand- ing. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee ; for thou art greatly beloved ; there- fore understand the matter, and consider the vision." The angel Gabriel now comes again and im- mediately takes up the subject of the vision on the banks of Ulai, which, owing to Daniel's astonishment and fainting had only been par- tially explained at the former interview. In his former instructions Gabriel had proceeded so far as to mention the part of the vision relating to 434 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. the 2400 days, or evening-mornings, as in the mar- gin, assuring Daniel that it was true, but gave no explanation of it ; and now he begins right at the point where he then left off, by saying, "Seventy weeks are determined (or cut off from the 2400 years) upon thy people, and upon thy holy city," etc. Thus signifying that the first 490 years of the 2400 were allotted to the Jews, and that the rest of the long period was to consti- tute "the times of the Gentiles." This matter is explained in the third chapter, where it is shown that the period of the 70 weeks, or 490 years, commenced B. C. 457 : and hence we can now see that the 2400 years must begin at that time also. As already stated, the true length of this period is 2365 historical years. And now let us see when the cleansing of the sanctuary will begin: 2365 - 457 = 1908! "How great are his signs ! and how mighty are his wonders !" Seeing that our guides No. 1 and 3 have desig- nated the year 1908 as a time of important events, let us now inquire what will then take place ? 1. As in A. D. 636 the power of the Christians and Magians of the East was broken, and every serious obstacle to the setting up of "the abomi- nation that maketh desolate,"— the power, relig- ion and mosques of the Saracens— was removed, THE EECONSTRUCTION. 435 so we may expect that in A. D. 1908 the power of the Mohammedans in the East will be broken, and every serious obstacle to the cleansing oi the sanctuary — the institution of the power, re- ligion, temple and churches of the Jews and Christians -will be removed. This was typified by the events of 1878. 2. In the year B. C. 457, "Artaxerxes, king of kings," issued the final decree (Ezra vii.) for the suppression of the Jews' enemies in Palestine, and the restoration of the Jewish Theocratic Com- monwealth, by commanding "Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven," "that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem," "and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsel- lors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem ; and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;" by ordering that "what- soever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven ;" and by re-establishing the civil and re- ligious polity of the law of Moses : — "And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine 436 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God ; and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprison- ment." So in A. D. 1908 (2365 - 457 = 1908) it is prob- able that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will issue a decree for the re-establishment of the Jewish Theocratic Commonwealth according to the laws of the God of heaven ; "and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, silver and apparel, in great abun- dance" (Zecli. xiv. 14), carried back by the return- ing Jews. "Surely the isles shall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish (England) first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee." Isa. lx. 9. The restoration of Jerusalem, as resumed by Ezra in A. D. 457, was soon interrupted, for in A. D. 446 Nehemiah met, in Shushan, Hanani, "and certain men of Judah, and asked them concern- THE KECONSTKUCTION. 437 ing the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto him, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction, and reproach, the wall of Jeru- salem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." Hearing this, JNehemiah "sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." In the next year (A. D. 445) Artaxerxes allowed his cup-bearer to go to Judah to repair the wall of Jerusalem, and to complete the restoration of the Jewish State, which had been commenced by Zerubbabel, and prosecuted by Ezra ; and by the exercise of wonderful prudence and energy, in a short time he succeeded, in opposition to the mal- ice and intrigues of his enemies, in finishing the wall, perfecting the appointment of the priests, Levites, singers, porters and Nethinims ; estab- lished the reading of the law of Moses, the ob- servance of the Sabbath, and the proper services of the temple ; kept the Feast of Tabernacles, such as had not been kept since the time of Joshua, and made a new covenant with Jehovah, which was signed and sealed by the "princes, Levites and priests," "to walk in God's law, which 438 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord." By these acts, which probably ended in B. C." 442, (Josephns states that Nehemiah's work on the walls occupied "two years and four months," and that "when the walls were finished, Nehe- miah and the multitude offered sacrifices to God for building them,") this typical sanctuary was cleansed, and this typical Theocracy completely established. Consequently in A. D. 1923 (2365 - 442 = 1923) we may expect the final cleansing of the anti-typical sanctuary and the establishment of the glorious anti-typical Theocracy of this world; when "the Lord shall be King over all the earth" (Zech. xiv. 9), "whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. vii. 27. "Yea, Amen ! let all adore thee, High on thy eternal throne ; Savior take the power and glory ; Claim the kingdom for thine own : Jan ! Jehovah ! Everlasting God, come down!" "This is the best place to notice the Milieu avi- an doctrine, or Chiliasm, which interpreted the promised millennium of the Apocalypse as a lit- eral personal reign of Christ upon earth, with His THE KECONSTRUCTIO^. 439 saints, for a thousand years before the resurrec- tion and last judgment. But this doctrine, though ultimately rejected by the Catholic Church, was too frequently held by the early Fathers to be ranked among heresies. . . .Even the orthodox Fathers (as, in particular, Irenseus) refer to an Apostolic tradition in support of a millenarian interpretation of that book. Though the doctrine provoked much opposition, especial- ly at Home and Alexandria, it was not branded as a heresy till the time of Constantine,when the imperial establishment of Christianity seemed to have satisfied the longings of the persecuted Church for an earthly reign of Christ, and re- conciled them to a more spiritual interpreta- tion of His second coming." — Stu. Eccl. Hist, 233. We have seen that all the prophecies relating to events up to the present time, though couched in highly figurative and symbolical language, have been literally fulfilled by the ordinary po- litical, ecclesiastical and military transactions of men upon the earth : and hence it would be un- wise, if not absurd, to say that the prophecies re- lating to the return of the Jews to Palestine, the second advent, and personal reign of Jesus Christ with His saints upon the earth — expressed in 440 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. language far more explicit than most other pro- phetic declarations— will have any other than an entirely literal fulfilment. The Old Testament, the Gospels, the Epistles and the Revelation are all replete with predictions respecting the second coming and reign of Christ, and now "the sev- enth trumpet speaks him near," yet most Christi- ans, the wise as well as the foolish Virgins, are fast asleep. Ever since the time of Constantine, the Heavenly Bridegroom, who said, "I have come in my Father's name and you receive me not ; if another should come in his own name, him you w^ould receive," has been disowned and rejected by His unfaithful spouse. The Church, through her criminal intimacy with the civil powers and the world, now neither expects, nor desires the return of her Divine Lord. The faith- ful Bride, the Woman clothed with the sun, both before her retirement to the Wilderness and after her return at the Bef ormation, was earnestly "looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;" but since the European churches, after being severed from Borne, became married to the civil powers, taking the emperors and kings for their supreme heads, their worldly, well-paid, sumptuously fed and gorgeously clothed (with ti:e reconstruction. 441 moonliglit) liireling shepherds, lil^co those of the Mother of Harlots, have discountenanced the idea "that our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shep- herd of the sheep," (Hob. xiii. 20 ; 1 Pet. v. 4) will come to disarrange their profitable sheep-folds. But it is pleasing to know that in Europe, as well as in America, the Woman has an increasing number of children who continue "to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, even Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, and who delivers us from the coming wrath." 1 Thess. i. 9. And now let guide No. 2—345 years— tell us when will end the "time, and times, and half a time," during which the Woman in the second wilderness of her widowhood "away from the presence of the serpent" is to mourn the absence of her heavenly Bridegroom. In the year 1578, the planting of English Protestant colonies in America was first contemplated and projected. In this year "Queen Elizabeth grants a patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert to such remote, heathen, and barbarous lands as he should find in North America." So, in accordance with the united testimonies of our seven guides, in A. I). 1923 (1578 + 345 = 1923) to the Lord Jesus Christ shall be given "the heathen for his inheritance, and 442 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. the uttermost parts of the earth for his posses- sion." Then, the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, being utterly destroyed, "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. vii. 27. "Lift your heads, ye friends of Jesus, Partners in His patience here : Christ, to all believers precious, Lord of lords, shall soon appear : Mark the tokens Of His heavenly kingdom near." No. 3. 1272 years. "The abomination that maketh desolate." "Two battles, one fought at Cadesia in A. D. 636, and the other on the plains, of Ne- havend in A. D. 641, where 100,000 men are re- ported to have fallen, decided the fate of Persia. The defeated monarch flying from the field, took refuge in his eastern provinces, where for several years, he wandered a fugitive till in A. D. 651 he was murdered by a miller, and with him ended the line of the Sassanian kings, and the religion of the Magi."— Am. Cijc, "Persia." "The Persian Ardsshir, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes, overthrew the last Parthian THE RECONSTRUCTION. 443 king, founded the new Persian dynasty of the Sassanians, and restored the religion of Zoroas- ter." u The Sassanians reigned in Persia from A. D. 226, to the Mohammedan conquest in A. D. 651." Stu. Eceles. Hist 105. It has already been shown that "the abomina- tion that maketh desolate" is Islamism, which Mohammed framed in the cave of Hira from A. D. 606 to 609, and was by him established upon the ruins of Sabianism and Judaism in Arabia from A. D. 609 to 632— the year of his death. In A. D. 632, 'Abu-beker, the first caliph, declared war against all nations, especially against the emperor of Constantinople, and 'the great king of Persia,' at that time the most powerful mon- arch of the world." It was at this time that Abu-beker gave to his generals the command, "Destroy no palm trees" etc., already quoted; and it was now that "out of the smoke there came locusts (the Saracens) upon the earth," — the Roman world. Their mission was against all existing governments and religions ; but the imperial seat of the Christians, Constantinople, they were not permitted to destroy, "but to tor- ment them fiye months." The Saracens con- quered the Christians, and set up their power and religion in Syria and Palestine from A. D. 444 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 632 to 639; in Egypt from A. D. 639 to 641; and they subdued the Persians and established Is- lamism in the place of the Magian religion from A. 1A 636 to 651 : And then they had completed the work of setting up u the abomination that maketh desolate" upon the ruins of all the great religious systems of the East. There is no word in the original of Dan. xii. 11 corresponding with the word "sacrifice" in our version, but, doubtless, daily worship, devotion, or service is implied ; and the prophecy refers to the worship of the Sabians of Arabia, that of the Christians of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and especially to that of the Magians of Persia ; whose religious systems were all successively suppressed, or "taken away" by the invading Saracens. Magianism, or the Zend religion, was founded or reformed by Zoroaster, some say, about the sixth century B. C, others, about B. C. 1200. It seems to have been one of those religious sys- tems, which, descending from the time of Noah retained some knowledge of the true God, but mixed with error and superstition. Some histo- rians say that Zoroaster was a servant and dis- ciple of the prophet Daniel. The "wise men" who were led by the star from the East to Beth- THE RECONSTRUCTION. 445 leliem to worship the new-born "King of the Jews" were Magians. Nebuchadnezzar placed Daniel at the head of the Magian priesthood in Babylon — he made him "master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;" (Dan. v. 11.) and it is with these men and this religion that Daniel and his fellow exiles were associated during their captivity. Hence it is to be expected that in the divine communication there would be some intimation of the fate of the faith and worship that Daniel had controlled, improved, and in which he must have been deeply in- terested. Accordingly, the final suppression of Magianism in Persia, and the setting up of u the abomination that maketh desolate" upon its ruins is placed as the great monumental event from which the "thousand two hundred and ninety days" are to reach to the end of the present dispensation. - As in A. D. 651, the religion and power of the False Prophet, Mohammed, were established up- on the ruins of all former religions and powers, so, doubtless, in A. D. 1923 (651 + 1272 = 1923) the holy religion and supreme power of the True Prophet, Jesus Christ, will be firmly estab- lished upon the ruins of all former religions and powers. .-.:-.. 446 THE PEOPHETIC NUMBERS. "He shall reign from pole to pole "With illimitable sway : He shall reign, when, like a scroll, Yonder heavens have passed away. Then the end ; — beneath His rod, Man's last enemy shall fall ; Hallelujah ! Christ in God, God in Christ, is all in all." No. 4. 1316 years. "Blessed is he that cometh." We have seen in former chapters that the su- premacy of the world in spiritual matters, though held and exercised by the Roman emperors, had long been claimed and contested by the Pope of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople, when, in A. D. 607, the Emperor Phocas conferred upon Pope Boniface III. the coveted title of Universal Bishop. Hence, as in A. D. 607 the control of the world in spiritual matters was transferred from the Imperial to the Papal Antichrist, we may infer that to the Blessed One who comes in A. D. 1923 (607 + 1316 = 1923) will be transferred from the usurper of Rome, the supreme controL of the world in spiritual, as well as in temporal matters. Measuring from A. D. 607 with the 1242 years, we come to A. D. 1849, when the Pope's power was temporarily taken away ; and meas- uring with the 1316 from the beginning of the Papal period in A. D. 554-5, we reach 1670-l,when the political power of the Pope was entirely taken THE EECONSTEUCTION. 447 from him. Both of these events were typical and indicative of what will occur in A. D. 1923, when will end the reign of the "Man of Sin," "whom the Lord Jesus will destroy by the spirit of His mouth, and utterly overthrow by the brightness of His coming." "Lo ! He comes with clouds descending, Once for favored sinners slain ; Thousand thousand saints attending, Swell the triumph of His train: Hallelujah ! God appears on earth to reign." No. 5. 1242 years. In A. I). 681 the emperor, Constantine IV., presided over the sixth "(Ecum- enical Council of the Empire; the last recognized as such by all the leading churches of Christen- dom." In this council "George, the Patriarch of Constantinople, followed by all his bishops, ac- cepted the decrees of the Pope and the Roman Synod." "At the same Council the title ("of (Ecumenical Bishop") was claimed for Pope Agatho by his legates, and it was henceforth usu- ally assumed by the successors of the great bishop (Gregory) who disowned and condemned it."— Stu. Ecel Hist, 377-8, 493. At this time Pope "Agatho laid claim to a priv- ilege never yet enjoyed by man : and asserted that the Church of Some never had erred, nor 448 THE PROPHETIC NtTMBERS. could err in any point, and that all its constitu- tions ought to be as implicitly received as if they had been delivered by the divine voice of St. Peter. . . . The authority exercised by the clergy extended as well to the superior as to the inferior classes of mankind ; and the twelfth council of Toledo, in the year 681, presumed to release the subjects of Wamba from their allegiance to their sovereign." — Ruter^s Ch. Hist, 143, 148. Constantine's two brothers having displeased him, "he caused their noses to be cut off in the presence of the bishops assembled in the sixth general Synod of Constantinople. He gained the favor of the Church by remitting the payment made on the election of a new Pope ; and offered the hair of his two sons on the shrine of St. Peter as a symbol of their adoption by the Pope."— Am. Cyc, "Constantine IV." With these materials let us now build a monu- ment for our guide No. 5 to measure from. It has already been shown that in A. D. 607 the title of Universal Bishop was conferred by the murderer Phocas upon Pope Boniface III. We have here to show that all the blasphemous assumptions and despotic prerogatives afterward manifested by Gregory VII., Innocent III. and other Popes THE RECONSTRUCTION. 449 were originated or extended by the ambitious Agatho in A. D. 681. We may notice : 1. That in A. D. 681 was held the last of the (Ecumenical Councils of the Roman Empire, which shows that at this time began the ascend- ency of the Papal over the Imperial beast. 2. Papal in fa llibility was now for the first time claimed by the Bishop of Rome. 3. The title of (Ecumenical Bishop, implying spiritual dominion over the whole habitable world, was now claimed for, and conferred upon, the Roman Pontiff. 4. At this time "George, the Patriarch of Con- stantinople, followed by all his bishops, ac- cepted the decrees of the Pope and the Roman Synod." 5. Constantine now virtually conceded the independence of the Romish "Church by remit- ting the payment made on the election of a new Pope." 6. "The pagans usually appropriated the first cuttings of the hair of their children as an offer- ing to some of their divinities. This pagan rite was, with numberless others, adopted by the Christians."— Ruter's Oh. Hist, 171. So the Em- peror now recognizes the Pope "as Cod sitting in the temple of Cod," and the future subjection of 450 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. the civil to the ecclesiastical authority by "offer- ing the hair of his two sons on the shrine of St. Peter, as a symbol of their adoption by the Pope," and also by cutting off the noses of his two brothers to edify and amuse the assembled bishops. 7. About this time bishops first undertook to regulate the succession of monarchs. At the twelfth Council of Toledo, by the following edict they deposed Wamba, king of the Visigoths, and set up Ervigius in his stead : "We declare that the people is absolved from all obligation and oath by which it was engaged to Wamba, and that it should recognize for its only master Ervi- gius, whom God has chosen, whom his predeces- sor has appointed, and what is still more, whom the whole people desires." — Waddingtorts Ch. Hist 211. Hence we may infer that the counterpart of the above will take place in A. D. 1923 ^681 + 1212 = 1923) ; that then the (Ecumenical Council of the heavens, over which the Divine Father presides, will terminate the reign of him "whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," and the dominion of the "ten-horns" that have exercised "authority as kings at the same time with the beast ;" proclaim THE RECONSTRUCTION. 451 that "the kingdom of the world has become our Lord's and his Christ's and he shall reign from age to age ;" and declare that all nations are ab- solved from their allegiance to the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet, and shall recognize for their only master Jesus Christ, whom God has chosen, and whom the whole people desires ; and when even those who once rejected and pierced their Messiah, shall exclaim, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the highest." "Every eye shall now behold Him Robed in dreadful majesty ; Those who set at naught and sold Him, Pierced and nailed Him to the tree, Deeply wailing, Shall the true Messiah see." As a further indication of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness on the setting of the Ro- man moon the 1335 solar years extend from A. D. 588, when the title of (Ecumenical Bishop was conferred upon the Patriarch of the Greek Church, to the terminal year 1923 ; and the same remarkable point is reached by the 1260 solar years when commenced in A. D. 663, the time when Pope Vitalian ordered the exclusive use of Latin in public worship throughout Christendom. £52 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. No. 6. 2520 years. " Until he comes whose right it is." "As I live, saitli the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence. . . . And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country where ye were not born ; and there shall ye die. . . . O earth ! earth ! earth ! hear ye the word of the Lord, Write ye this man child- less, a man that shall not prosper in his days : for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah." Jer. xxii. 24-30. "And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saitli the Lord God : remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same : exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it : and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is ; and I will give it to him." Exek. xxi. 25-27. "And Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did beseige it. And Jehojachin, the king of Judah went out to the king of Baby- lon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes and his officers : and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And THE RECONSTRUCTION. 453 he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thou- sand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths : and. none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land." 2 Kings xxiv. 11-16. The above prophecy of Jeremiah declares that Coniah, called elsewhere Jeconiah and Jehoia- chin, the nineteenth king of Judah, should be removed from his throne, given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and be carried to a foreign land from which he should not return ; that being in the sight of God as a "despised broken idol, a ves- sel wherein is no pleasure," he and his entire dynasty should be cast into a land which they knew not ; and that the earth was called upon to hear the solemn sentence of Jehovah, which declared that none of Coniah's posterity should sit upon the throne of David and rule any more in Judah. The quotation from Kings shows that in fulfilment of Jeremiah's prediction Nebuchad- nezzar carried captive to Babylon king Jehoia- chin, his mother, his wives, his servants, his 454 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. princes, his officers, his army, his craftsmen and his smiths ; that he carried away all J erusalem, so that none remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land ; and that he also took away the treasures of the palace, and of the temple of Solomon. So far as the power and independence of the kingdom of Judah and the dynasty of Solomon are concerned, this was the final as well as the principal captivity of the nation ; yet Jerusalem for a short time was spared, and over the misera- ble remnant left in the land, Mattaniah, an uncle of Jehoiachin, reigned as the sworn vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, his master, who changed his name to Zedekiah. Encouraged by several false prophets, the Jews expected an early return of their captive king, and the end of their captivity, and it seems to have been to remove these false hopes from the minds of his fellow-exiles that the prophet Ezekiel uttered the following respecting God's final rejection of Jehoiachin and his posterity, coupled with a promise of the establishment of the throne and kingdom of which that of David and Solomon had been a type, at a time when he should "come whose right it is :" "And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is THE BECONSTKUCTIOI*. 455 come when iniquity shall have an end (the "clay," or "year," or year of weeks of years, or 2520 years during which the iniquity of Israel and of all other nations shall be purged away), thus saith the Lord God ; Remove the diadem, take off the crown : this shall not he the same (no indepen- dent monarch of Solomon's line shall again reign) ; exalt him that is low (the line of the ob- scure Nathan), and abase him that is high (the magnificent Solomon). I will overturn, overturn, overturn it (the dominion of Israel) : and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is ; and 1 will give it to him." The idea that man's probationary state is to be during three periods of 2520 years each, reaching from the creation and fall of the first Adam, to the final coming of the Second Adam, "the Lord from heaven," seems to be contained in Hosea vi. 2 : "After two days will he revive us : in the third day will he raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." At the end of the second day from the creation, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Jewish monarchy (2 Chron. xxxvi. 10 ; Ezek. xxi. 25) ; in the early part of the third period there was a partial revival of their nationality in the return from Babylon under Zerubbabel, a descen- dant of David's son Nathan ; near the end of the 456 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. third year of weeks of years they will be raised up from the valley of the dry bones (Ezefc xxxvii. 1-14), and after the third day they will live in the sight, and under the reign of the ' true Heir of David's throne. "And David my servant shall be king over them ; . . . and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt ; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever : and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. . . . And I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Ezek. xxvii. 24-27. Hence, as the great landmark from which to measure with the 2520 years we have the disrup- tion of the kingdom of Judah, which, accord ing to the computations of Hales, Rawlinson, and other able chronologists, took place in B. C. 597. So we may be assured that in A. D. 1923 (2520 - 597 77= 1923) the Jewish Theocracy will be fully restored, and that then "he whose right it is" will come to occupy the throne of David His father, and to reign over the house of Jacob for- ever. THE KECOjtfSTRUCTKXN". 457 "All hail the power of Jesus' name I Let angels prostrate fall ; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all. Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, Ye ransomed from the fall, Hail Him who saves you by His grace; And crown Him Lord of all." No. 7. 1853 years. The Grand Gallery's final testimony. "And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt : for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Savior, and a great one, and he shall deliver them." In our study of the recovery and reconstruction of the world, we have noticed the progressive and final destruction of the Dragon, Beast and False Prophet ; the ascension of the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, to meet her heavenly Bridegroom ; the restoration of the Israelites to the land of their fathers ; and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign over the earth. We have lastly to notice the descent to the earth of the resur- rected saints, who are to form the glorious ret- inue of King Immanuel, when He comes to es- tablish His Grand Millennial Kingdom, and who shall be the kings, princes, ministers of state, priests, judges, executive officers, and 458 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. mighty men of valor, to surround the throne of the Lord in the New Jerusalem, and govern the world-wide domain of the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." The period of the inauguration of Christianity in the place of Judaism began with the birth of Christ in B. C. 5, and ended with the overthrow of the Jewish state and the destruction of Jeru- salem in A. D. 70, and, according to the Grand Gal- lery's testimony, the inauguration of the reign of Jesus Christ in the place of the secular and ecclesiastical Antichrists, commenced with the terrible revolutions of their empire in A. D. 1848, and will end with the complete overthrow of Romanism and the establishment of the New Jerusalem in A. D. 1923 (70 + 1853 = 1923). "And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem, com- ing down out of heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying : Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, their God. . . . Come hither, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in spirit to a mountain, great and high, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of THE BECCHSTSTRUCTIOIN-. 459 heaven from God, having the glory of God." Rev. xxi. 2-11. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and the power of judging was given to them ; and I saw the souls of those who had been be- headed for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God ; and of those who had not wor- shiped the beast, nor his image, and had not re- ceived his mark on their foreheads, nor on their hand : and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Rev. xx. 4. To this point, A. D. 1923, all the chief prophetic numbers converge, and here they end. Here is the glorious consummation of the divine plan for the recovery and reconstruction of the world. Now is "the time for restoring all things that God has spoken by the mouth of His holy pro- phets of ancient times ;" (Acts iv. 21) and that to which Christ referred in saying to His Apostles : "Verily I say to you, That in the restoration, when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious throne, you also who have followed me, shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matt. xix. 28. Paradise is now restored. The New Jerusalem, far surpassing in splendor the beautiful cities de- stroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, is found- 460 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. ed. The kingdom of heaven is established upoi the earth, in which are Abraham, Isaac and Ja- cob, the Apostles, martyrs, saints, and prophets, with Daniel, to whom the angel said : "But go thou thy way till the end be : for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.' (Dan. xii. 13). That is in A. D. 1923, at the end of the 1290 and 1335 days, or prophetic years that the angel had just mentioned. "Alleluia, for the Lord God the Almighty reigns." "He shall reign from sea to sea ; from the river unto the ends of the earth." "All kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him." "His name shall endure forever: His name shall continue as long as the sun : and men shall be blessed in him ; all nations shall call him blessed." "And blessed be his glorious name for ever ; and let the whole earth be filled witli his glory. Amen and Amen." And now, dear reader, "What think you of the Christ? whose son is He?" To the spiritually blind Pharisees, the man whose eyes Jesus had opened said : "Why, there is something wonder- ful in this, that you know not whence He is, and yet He has opened my eyes." It was truly a wonderful work to open the eyes of him who was born blind. But more wonder- THE EECONSTKUCTION. 461 ful still is the work of "the Lion of the tribe oi Judah, the root of David," in opening the sealed mysteries of the divine prophecies, and even still more surprising is the infinite love of the Divine Father in giving to His erring, rebellious, and ungrateful children the present unmistakable warning to nee from the wrath of God that is coming upon the earth between the present time and A. D. 1923. "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, even he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared without mixture in the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the pres- ence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their tor- ment ascends from age to age : and they who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name, have no rest day or night." "Come out of her, my people, lest you become partakers of her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins reach even to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." "These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life through his name." 462 THE PROPHETIC NUMBERS. 4 'Christ is coming ! let creation Bid her groans and travail cease ; Let the glorious proclamation Hope restore and faith increase ; Christ is coming ! Come, thou blessed Prince of peace I Earth can now but tell the story Of Thy bitter cross and pain ; She shall yet behold Thy glory When Thou comest back to reign ; Christ is coming ! Let each heart take up the strain. Long Thy exiles have been pining, Far from rest, and home, and Thee ; But, in heavenly vesture shining, Soon they shall Thy glory see ; Christ is coming ! Haste the joyous jubilee. "With that 'blessed hope' before us, Let no harp remain unstrung ; Let the mighty advent chorus Onward roll from tongue to tongue • Christ is coming! Come Lord Jesus, quickly cornel" THE END. A TABLE. 463. J± TABLE Showing the Pages on which Coincidental Measurements are made, with the several Prophetic Numbers. 1. Dan. vii. 25. "A time and times and the dividing of time." 159, 188 2. Dan. viii. 14. -'Two thousand and four hundred days." 402-7, 435-8 3. Dan. ix. 24. "Seventy weeks." . . 36-8, 363-5, 375 4. Dan. xii. 7. "A time, times and a half." . 441-5 5. Dan. xii. 11. u A thousand two hundred and ninety days." 321-2, 413, 430-5, 442-5,' 446 6. Dan. xii. 12. "The thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." . . . . . 302-3, 310, 421-3 7. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. A year. . . . . 452-6 8. Ezek.- xxi. 25. A "day." 452-6 9. Rev. ix. 5, 10. "Five months." .... 124 10. Rev. ix. 15. "An hour, and a day, and a month, and a year." . . . 131 11. Rev. xi. 2. "Forty-two months." . . 320, 414, 415 12. Rev. xi. 3. "A thousand two hundred and sixty days." 192. 239-9 13. Rev. xi. 9, 11. "Three days and a half." . 189-192 14. Rev. xii. 1. "A woman clothed with the sun." 57, 365- 375, 381-8 15. Rev. xii. 6. "A thousand two hundred and sixty days." 192, 236-9 16. Rev. xii. 14. "A time, and times, and half a time." 441 17. Rev. xiii. 5. "Forty-two months." 192, 219, 236-241, 249, 274-5, 277-281, 291-2, 298, 383-8, 447-451 18. Rev. xiii. 18. "Six hundred and sixty-six." 151-4, 173-4 19. The Great Pyramid's Grand Gallery. 337, 410,423-4. 457-8 20. The Great Pyramid's Queen's Chamber. . 310^tl3 £1. The Planetary Perihelia 336,418,420 A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX, Showing the Date and Page of the Events indicated by the Pro- phetic Numbers, and the Great Pyramid of Egypt. B. C. 606 Nebuchnezzar besieges Jerusalem, ... 59 597 "AllJerusalem" carried away captive, . . 456 588-9 Jerusalem destroyed, 402-3,412 536 Cyrus' decree, 28,403-5,407 519 Darius' decree, 29,406 515 The Temple finished, 29, 406 457 Artaxerxes' decree to restore Jerusalem, 30, 36-7, 364. 375 434-6 446 Nehemiah meets Hanani in Shushan, . 34, 375, 436 445 Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem, . . 34, 375. 487 442 Jerusalem is restored 438 6 Gabriel appears to Zachariah and the Virgin Mary. 358 381, 383 5 John the Baptist is born in Hebron, . . 358,381 5 Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem, 358, 367, 381, 458 A. D. 26 His baptism in Jordan, . 36-7, 359, 364, 368, 385. 428 30 His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension etc., 37. 359-365 368-9, 386. 412. 424 33 End of Jewish, beginning of Gentile times, 37, 55, 57-9 200, 365, 369, 386-7, 423 44 Herod's persecution, etc., .... 370-5,387 45 Barnabas and Saul sent to the heathen, . 371-6,387 70 Jerusalem destroyed by Titus, . . . 428, 458 132 Bar-Cochab's revolt against the Romans, . . 413 A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 465 A. D. 135 Jews finally expelled from Jerusalem, . . 413 274 or 275 Birth of Constantine I., . . . 367,381 306 Constantine proclaimed Emperor. . . 189, 368. 38-5 310 Death of Maximian, .... 369, 386, 424 313 Edict of Milan, etc, 52, 57, 63, 138, 190-2, 204, 208, 313 370-8, 386, 388 324 Imperialism established, . . . 139,365,370-7 325 Council of ISTicsea, 139, 387 330 Constantinople dedicated, . . . 140, 377, 388 337 Death of Constantine, ... 52, 63, 219, 236 364 Goths called to arms, 70, 237 378 The Emperor Valens slain, 237 406 Barbarians conquer Gaul. 239 476 Western Empire overthrown, . 59, 76-7, 87, 240-1, 249 534 Vandals "plucked up,'' 80 534 Belisarius threatens the Goths, . . 249.274-5,411 552 Narses commander in Italy, . . . 82,95,274-5. 553 Last Ostrogoth King slain, .... 94, 152 554 Papal period begins, 83-4, 94-6, 103, 152, 274, 277-9, 303 310, 381, 421, 446 555 Pope Pelagius goes to Home, . . 104, 278, 310, 381 567 Longinus succeeds Parses, . 83-4, 152, 274-5, 279- 281, 421-2 573 King Alboin slain, 84, 152, 274-5 .588 Council of Chalcedon, .... 110-1, 451 606-7 Phocas' grant to Boniface. III., 84, 116, 291-2, 303, 446 606 Mohammed enters cave of Hira, . . 103, 116, 413 609 Mohammed preaches in Mecca, . . 116-7,124,414 622 Mohammedan Hegira US, 430 628 King of Persia humbled, .... 297,302 632 Death of Mohammed, .... 119, 320, 443 632 Arabia conquered, 119, 443 633-9 Syria and Palestine conquered, . 120-3. 320, 414 636 Battles of Yarmouk and Cadesia, 119, 319-321 , 429, 431 636-651 Conquest of Persia, ... 120, 431, 442-5, 466 THE PKOPHETIC NUMBERS. A. D. 639-641 Conquest of Egypt, .... 120. 415. 444 663 Pope Vitalian orders Latin used, . . . 451 681 Sixth (Ecumenical Council, .• 84. 113, 204.447-451 756 Bevolt in Spain, 124 1076 Jerusalem taken by Turks, .... 128, 131 1209 Franciscans founded, 152 1210 Franciscans confirmed, 154 1210 Pope Innocent III., . . . 84,150-8.173-8,188 1210 Massacre of the Waldenses and Jews, . . 1 HO. 177 1223 Franciscans first of Mendicants, . . . ' . 154 1229 Inquisition founded, 156 1461 Byzantine Empire overthrown, .... 130-1 1516 Erasmus prints New Testament, . . . 180,383 1516 Zwingli preaches the Gospel, .... 383 1517 Luther reads his Theses, 182, 384 1548 * The Interim enforced, 190,385-6 1552 Maurice of Saxony, . . 187-191-2,211-3,386,424 1555 Diet of Augsburg, . . 187-192,204-213,231,387 1566 Solyman the Magnificent dies, . . . 211,388 1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew's, . . . 215. 388 1578 Queen Elizabeth's charter, , 236, 441 1579 Union of Utrecht, 219. 236 1606 Plymouth Company chartered, .... 237 1620 Puritans sail for America, 230-8 1648 Peace of Westphalia, . . , . 223.228.239 1718 The Quadruple Alliance, . . . 229. 240-1. 24!) 1776 Declaration of Independence, 249, 258, 275. 282. 492. 412 1777 Congress adopts Articles of Confederation, . . 403 1794 Napoleon made Brigadier General, ... 275 1796 Napoleon invades Italy, . . . 267.274-5.277-9 1797 The Pope ruined, 275-9 1808-9 Papal dominions seized, . . 275.280-1.422.446 1815 Fall of Napoleon, 258. 271-5 1829 Turkey humbled, 404 1846 Sir Moses Montefiore, 405-7 A CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 467 A. D. 1848 Kevolutions in Europe, . . 285, 292, 407, 423, 458 1848-9 Pope's power overthrown, .... 290-2, 446 1866 Austria defeated by Prussia, .... 294 1870 The great Vatican Council, 304-9 1870 Prance defeated by Prussia, . . . . 295-309 1870 The Pope's temporal power abolished, 200, 301-12, 421, 446 1871 Victor Emanuel comes to reside in Rome, . 310, 408 1874-5 Turkish troubles begin, . . ... 314 1878 Berlin and Anglo-Turkish Treaties, 317-822, 407, 413 The author believes that the prophecies indicate the following events to occur : 1881 Turks loose control of Jerusalem, . 321,338,413-4 1883 Papal " magistemum " abridged, ... 422 1883 The First Resurrection, . . • . . 304, 416-424 1894 Further affliction upon the Turks, ... 430 1908 Palestine restored to the Israelites, . . . 431-6 1923 The Jewish Theocracy established, . . 304,438-462 1923 The beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ with His Saints upon the Earth, . . 60, 204, 438-462 BOOKS AND TRACTS FOR SALE ON THE COMING OF THE LORD. Second Coining' of Christ. A Bible reading. By J. IT. B. 25 ciu. Coming- and Appearing- of Our Lord. By James H. Brookes. Price 10 cents. Twenty Reasons for believing that the Second Coming of the Lord is near. Price. 15 cents. Maranatha; or, the Lord Cometh. By J. H. Brookes, D. D., 515 pages, cloth. Price, $1.25. Jesus is Coming-. By W. E. B. A new edition. Only 15 cents for 160 pages. Over 10,000 copies sold already. The Blessed Hope; or, the Glorious Coming of the Lord. By Rev. Willis Lord, D. D. Price, in cloth, $1.25; or, paper 60 cents. The Present Condition and Future Glory of Believers and the Earth. By Rev. Nathaniel West, D. D. Ably written. Price, 10 cents. ON MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. MOW to Use the Bible. By James H. Brookes, 46 pages, 15 cts. May Christians Dance % By J. H. Brookes, D. D. Price 25 cents. The Number 666 and the name of Antichrist. 223 pages. Eng- lish edition. Price $1.00. Bound Volumes of Our Rest for 1878. Cloth $1,75. Un- bound volumes for 1879, $1.00. How and When the World will End. By Joseph Wild, D. D. 422 pages. Cloth. Price $1,00. The Coming Collision between England and Russia. By an M. A. of Cambridge. Price 25 cents. Star Prophecies, or a view of coming disasters on the earth from A. D. 1881 to 1885, as viewed from an astronomical and astrological standpoint. By M. L. Knapp, M. D. and others. Illustrated. Price 25 cts. The Emphatic IMag'lott. A word for word translation of the original Greek Text of the New Testament. Each Greek word with its English equivalent directly under it. A very useful book for students. 884 pages, cloth, f 4 00. Curious and Original Discoveries, concerning the re-settlement of the seed of Abraham in Syria and Arabia, with Mathematical and Geographical Scripture proofs. Colored map. By Major J. Scott Phillips, London. Price, 15 cents. The Destiny of Russia, and Future Movements and Destiny of England, Germany, Persia, Africa and the Jews, as Foretold by God's Prophets. It contains also a colored map of Europe and Asia, showing the territory to be occupied by the two great contestants, England and Russia, in the last days. Price, cloth, 75 cents. Paper, 50 cts. ON THE ANGLO-ISRAEL SUBJECT. Ammi, or the Chosen People. By Miss Bird. Price 10 cents. Notes in the Visions of Zechariah. By J. A. H. Price 40 cents. We are a Sliemitic Race. By Rev. H. Marriott, M. A. Price 10 cents. Our Identity with the House of Israel. By Philo Israel. Price, 20 cents. Japhetic or Semitic, which are we? By Caroline Pearse. Price 20 cents. Specimen Copies of the Banner of Israel, monthly parts, for 1878. Price 17 cents. The British Nation; Is it the Nation of Israel ? By W. T. Ord. Price 25 cents. Our Scythian Ancestors identified with Israel. By Col. J. C, Gawler. Price, 10 cents. Flashes Of Light, by Edward Hine, being the second part of 41 Identifications. Price 20 cents. Manasseh and the United States, an Essay delivered by the Rev. Joseph Wild, D. D. Price 6 cents. Our Israelitish Origin. By the late John Wilson. 150 pages and map. Cloth binding. Price $1.50. Blessing's aad Curses, and their relation to Israel and Juclah. By F. W. Phillips. Price 10 cents. Anglo-Israel, or the British nation the Lost Tribes of Israel. By Rev. W. H. Poole. Price 80 cents. The New Old Story, with a slight introduction to a marvellous puzzle. By A. E. I. Price, 25 cents. Biblical Testimony to the Present and Future of Israel By Rev. J. G Tipper, M. A., England. Price, 6 cents. TheLost Ten Tribes and 1882. By Rev. Joseph Wild, D. D., 280 pages, neatly bound in cloth. Price $1 00. The Anglo-Israel Almanac for 1880. Edited by Rev. Jas. Bellington, F. S. A., F. R. II. S. Price, 10 cents. Israel in Britain. The collected papers on the Ethnic and Philological Argument, By C. M. Price, 20 cents. An Inquiry establishing the Identity of the British Nation with the Lost Tribes. By Philo Israel. Price, 15 cents. Is it not Reasonable? A Dialogue on the Anglo-Israel con- troversy. By Rev. Canon Titcomb. Price, 10 cents. Israel Discovered in the Anglo-Saxon and Kindred Protestant Nations. By Rev. H. Newton, B. A. Price, 25 cents. Israel's Chronology, completed from the Old Testament, and ar- ranged as a chart. By Geo. N. Walsh. Price 40 cents. The Anglo-Israel Post-Bag, or "llow Arthur came to see it," by the Right Rev. Bishop Titcomb. Price, 60 cents, post paid. Cili Bono, or the Political, social, and Religious uses of the British being identical with Israel, by Edward Hine. Price, 20 cents, post paid. Forty-seven Identifications of the British Nation with the Lost house of Israel. 500 scripture proofs, by Edward Hine. Price 20 cents. The Title Deeds of the Holy Land and Identification of the Heir, By the late John Wilson. 144 pages, cloth binding. Price $1.50. The History of the House of Israel, How they were lost, and how they were found. Told for the children. By Philo Israel. Price, 25 cents. The Identity of the British Nation with the Lost Ten Tribes of the House of Israel. The clue to the Eastern Question. By C. W. E. Price, 5 cents. A Resume of the Scriptural argument proving the Identity of the British Race with the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. By Philo Israel. Price, 5 cents. The Historical, Ethnic and Philological Arguments in proof of British Identity with the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. By Philo Israel. Price 10 cents. Are we Israelites? The testimony of History, Philology, and Ethnology on the subject. By the Rev. Bourchier Wrey Saville, M. A. Price, 35 cents. The Sisters of Harrowdale Rectory. A tale for the young on the Identity of Lost Israel. By M. A. Searson. Cloth, gilt edges, 132 pages. Price, $1.00, Horse Propheticse, or a commentary on the Prophecies con- cerning the Ten Tribes of Israel. Exegetical and Critical. By Rev. II. Marriott, M. A. Price, $1.25. OUR REST, A monthly periodical, devoted to the discussion of Prophetic subjects, and topics bearing upon our present and future wel- fare. Especial attention is given to the elucidation of the sub- ject of Till] G REAT PYRA M 1 1> OF EG Y PT, Believing as we do, that this is a monument embodying scien- tific truths together with a perfect Chronological record from A dtim down to the present time and beyond. The subject of CHEIST'S SECOND COMING is also discussed, with a vie* to the preparation of the Church for that great and near event. N"o Earnest Christian should be without " Our Rest." The Terms are only One Dollar a year in advance. Illustrated. WILSON & JONES, 188 Monroe Street, Chicago, 111. ON THE GREAT PYRAMID OF EGYPT. The Great Pyramid of Egypt- By "Philo Israel," of England, Price, 20 cents,. Gleanings from the Great Pyramid, with Diagrams, by J. E. Norman. Price 20 cents. The Great Pyramid of Egypt, the Lord's Pillar of Witness. By Matthew Lawson. Price 30 cents. Scientific and Religions Discoveries in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 64 pages. Price 25 cents. The Pillar of Witness, a Scriptural View of the Great Pyramid, by late Commander B. W. Tracy, R. N. Price 60 cts. A Miracle in Stone. By Dr. Seiss; being a scries of lectures on the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 2-"0 pages, cloth, §1.25". Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid. By Prof. Piazzi SmytJu Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Illustrated, $6.00. Fourth edition. ■ The Egyptian Pyramids; an Analysis of a Great Mystery. By Everett W. Fish, M. D* 165 pages, cloth; illustrated. Price $1.00. A Supplement to the Miracle in Stone. This is invaluable to those who possess the first edition of the Miracle in Stone. Price, 40 cts. The Mystery of Bible Dates solved by the Great Pyramid. Win. Rowbottom, England. Price, $1.00, 76 pages octavo. Cloth. Price $1.00. Photographic Views of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, on a sheet lOx 12 inches. On the back is printed a diagram of the interior of the Pyra- mid, with explanation. Price, only 25 cents. The French Metric System, or the Battle of the Standards. A. discussion of the comparative merits of the Metric System and the Standards of the Great Pyramid. By Charles Latimer. Cloth, 50 cents ; paper, 25 cents. Philitis : or Solution of the Mystery which for 4000 years has shrouded the Great Pyramid in Egypt. By Charles Casey. Fifth Edition-Illustrated-Revised and Enlarged. Price 75 cts. ISP 50 Sample copies of Our Rest sent on receipt of ten cents. Parties who are desirous of procuring any of the foregoing works will please address their orders as follows : Wilson & Jones, Book DE*ia.Tol±ssli.e:rss, 188 MONROE ST., CHICAGO, IJLJj. PRICE ONLY 25 CENTS. ASTRONOMICAL ETIOLOGY STAR PROPHECIES CONCERNING COMING DISASTERS ON THE EARTH FROM 1881 to 1885. By M. L KNAPP, M, D„ and others. CHICAGO: THOMAS WILSON, Publisher, 188 Monroe Street. -&F* Jmm . ■HI Wr