r ^•*J r '^^^ rr I. • • • ♦ ^G ^^ . ^ ' • ♦ ^ ■ «>-^ *>^ ^^/I^M^^. ""Cj. A« • o^J^DSir- '»b V* 1^ *l:^'* > '^ .-^o^ >°-v.. ^-^ 'bV ■••S^.- /% •.^•- /% -.W-- **''**, WK" '>>o^ • o 'bV ^.t-d* i THE COMING AND REI&N CHRIST. 'THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORIJ) HAS BECOME OUR LORD'S/ DAVID N. LO RD. NEW-YORK. FRANKLIN KNIGHT, 138 NASSAU STREET. 1858. %^ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by DAVID N. LORD, In the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Libb^vt J . J . R K E D , Printer & ^^tkbkotvper, 4a Centre St.. N. Y. PREFACE. The object of this work is, to present a brief statement of the principles on which the pro- phetic Scriptures are to be interpreted ; to give an outline of the great scheme of God's govern- ment over the world ; to show that Christ is to come in person and establish his throne on the earth at the introduction of the millennial dispen- sation; to state the great events that are to at- tend and follow his coming ; and to indicate the point which the accomplishment of the great scheme of prophecy has reached, and the princi- pal predictions that are yet to be fulfilled before his advent. C ONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Many Important Prophecies have not yet been Accomplished. The Two Leading Views of the Future Administration over the World they are held to Revealj - - - - - - - -9 CHAPTER II. Their Different Views of the Revelations made in the Prophecies Are the result of different modes of Interpretation. The Princi- ples on which Anti-millenarians proceed in their constructions of them, 16 CHAPTER III. The Principles op Interpretation on which Millenarians Proceed. The Laws of Figurative Language, - - - - - 28 CHAPTER IV. The Principles of Interpretation; the Laws of Prophetic Sym- bols, ..,.__-- 40 CHAPTER V. The Redemption of the World is not to take place under the Present Dispensation. Instead, it is a period of trial ; of mixed excitements to evil and good, under which men are left to act out their hearts and show that they are what God in the work of Salvation contemplates them, - 47 CHAPTER VI. The aim of the Present Economy is to Prepare the way for Another Dispensation under which Salvation is to be Extended to all Na- tions AND the World Redeemed, - - - - 63 CHAPTER VII. The Manifestations that have already been made of the Hearts of Men, both Unrenewed and Renewed, under this Dispensation, have been very Great and Decisive, ----- 74 CHAPTER VIIL The office of this trial of the Hearts of Men under the Present Dispensation is to Prepare the way for the Salvation op the Race AT large that is TO COME INTO EXISTENCE IN THE AgES THAT FOLLOW, 90 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. The Aim op Christ's Reign on the Throne of Heaven. The Union of all the Unfallen Orbs with this Redeemed world in One Empire mider His sway, -------- 94 CHAPTER X. The Numberlessness of Ranks and Hosts over whom Christ is Exalt- ed. The whole circuit of the Orbs Peopled by Intelligences, - 109 CHAPTER XI. The Inhabitants of the Heavenly Worlds are made acquainted with THE Work of Redemption, - - - - - 119 CHAPTER XII. Christ's Throne in Heaven, is not the throne of David, - 130 CHAPTER XIII. The Perpetuity of the Human Race, - - - - 150 CHAPTER XIV. The Perpetuity of the Human Race, - - - . 170 CHAPTER XV. Christ's Second Coming is to Precede the Millennium, - 184 CHAPTER XVI. Christ is to Reign in Person on the Earth during the Millennium, 197 CHAPTER XVII. Christ is at His Coming to introduce a New Dispensation, - 210 CHAPTER XVIII. He is to Institute this New Dispensation and enter on His Reign here at the Destruction of the Fourth Empire under the 3e\t:nth Trumpet, -------- 229 CHAPTER XIX. That Christ is thus to Come and Reign in Person on the Earth is the Uniform Teaching of the Scriptures, - - - - 249 CHAPTER XX. Christ's Coming.— the First Great Events that are to follow it.— The Resurrection of the Holy Dead.— The Transformation of Living Be- lievers, 265 CONTENTS. VU CHAPTER XXI. Events .THAT are immediately to follow Christ's Coming. — The De- struction OF the Anti-Christian Powers. —The Binding of Satan, 272 CHAPTER XXII. Events that are immediately to follow Christ's Coming. — The Judg- ment of the Living Nations. — The Restoration of the Israelites. — The effusion of the Holy Spirit, ----- 280 CHAPTER XXIII. Events that are speedily to follow Christ's Coming. — The New Crea- tion of the Heavens and Earth. — The Earth is not to be Annihilated by a Conflagration, _.--.-- 286 CHAPTER XXIV. The Earth not to be Annihilated by a Conflagration, - 300 CHAPTER XXV. The Earth is not to be Annihilated at Christ's Coming, - 314 CHAPTER XXVI. Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Drying of the Eu- phrates, or Alienation of the People from the National Hierarchies. — The Emission of the Unclean Spirits to Gather the Kings to the great battle against God, ----..- 328 CHAPTER XXVII. Events that are to Precede Christ's Coming. — The Eall of the present Civil Governments of Western Europe, and union of the Ten Kingdoms in One Empire. The Restoration of the Catholic Hierarchies to supreme I>ower, -------- 336 CHAPTER XXVIII. Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Slaughter and Resurrection of the witnesses, - - . - 340 CHAPTER XXIX. Events that are to Precede Christ's Coming. — Tho Close of the Turkish Domination over the Eastern Churches.— Tho Third Woe, - - 350 Vlil CONTEXTS. CHAPTER XXX. Events that are to trecede Christ's Coming. — The announcement by the Angel in Mid-heaven, that the Hour of God's Judgment is Come. — The Fall of Babylon. The Warning not to pay Homage to the Civil Powers repre- sented by the Beast nor to the Ecclesiastical Powers denoted by its Image, ..-.---- 356 CHAPTER XXXI. Events that are to precede Christ's Coming. — The Sealing of the Ser- vants of God. — The Destruction of Babylon. — Signs of Christ's Coming in the Heavens, and on the Earth, ----- 363 CHAPTER XXXII. The Prophetic Periods of the Apocalypse and Daniel, - 371 CHAPTER XXXIII. The Glorified and the Unglorified of the Race during the Mil- lennium. -------- 398 CHAPTER XXXIV. Conclusion. — The certainty that these Events are Foreshown. — The Children of God generally are to be led ere long to see that this is the Scheme of His Government, and to look for the speedy Coming of the Redeemer, - - - - - - . 419 THE PRESENT AND FUTURE DISPENSATION. CHAPTER I. MANY IMPORTANT PROPHECIES HAVE NOT YET BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. THE TWO LEADING VIEWS OF THE FUTURE ADMINISTRATION OVER THE WORLD THEY ARE HELD TO REVEAL. A LARGE share of the prophecies both of the Old and New Testament, it is generally admitted by those v^ho receive them as a revelation from God, have not yet had their fulfillment. They foreshow an infliction of great judgments on the nations ; a spread of the gospel ; a persecution of God^s faith- ful people ; an overthrow of the apostate churches ; a coming of Christ ; a destruction of the persecuting civil governments ; an extinction of idolatry ; a re- surrection of the holy dead ; a judgment of the liv- ing ; a conversion of the nations ; a repeal of the curse of toil, pain, sorrow, and death brought on man by the fall ; a new creation of the heavens and the earth ; a reign of Christ over the ransomed world ; and a variety of subordinate events that are yet most certainly future ; and some of them that are of great significance, it is very generally held, are at hand ; and may probably burst on the world ere the present 10 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN VIEW generation passes from the scene. The questions then, What is the true meaning of these predictions ; what is the great scheme of administration which they unfold ; what are the scenes of trial and of tri- umph through which they show the followers of Christ are yet to pass ; what is to be the redemption of the nations which he is to accomplish at his com- ing ; and what is to be the scene and nature of his everlasting kingdom — are questions of great moment and entitled to the serious consideration of those who receive the Scriptures as the word of God. Very dissimilar and in a large measure directly opposite views are entertained in regard to them. A large part of the Protestant churches, both in this country and Europe, maintain that these prophecies are in a great measure significant of events of a dif- ferent nature from those which they literally denote ; and are therefore either to be interpreted as metapho- rical, or spiritualized as though they were allegories. They deny accordingly that Christ is ever to reign over the world in person ; that the risen saints are to reign with him here ; and that he is to institute an administration over men that will differ essentially from that he is now exercising. They hold that the system of providence and the condition of the nations are to continue much as they now are, to the general judgment, with the exception that the gospel is to be made known to the race universally, and great numbers are to be converted ; that better human governments are to be instituted ; the useful arts to OF THE FUTURE DISPENSATION. 11 be much advanced, knowledge more widely diffused, gross crimes prevented, the evils of poverty mitigated, physical suffering greatly diminished, and the race raised to a measure of refinement, virtue and happi- ness, such as only the most favored have hitherto known ; that when a few centuries have thus passed, mankind will reach the end of their career in this world ; that Christ will descend from heaven, and calling the dead from the grave, and judging them along with the living, will then put an end to the multiplication of the race, by transferring the re- deemed to heaven and the lost to the realms of Satan and his hosts, and the earth and perhaps the whole solar system will be annihilated by a conflagration. According to this view, the result of the divine ad- ministration of the world will be, as far as can be judged, the everlasting ruin of immensely greater numbers of mankind, most certainly of adults, than are redeemed ; of the triumph of Satan in destroying, on a vastly greater scale, than of Christ in saving : and the aim of God in the measures of his govern- ment will thence at length be seen to be far more to exemplify his sovereignty and justice in punishing the rebellious, than his power, wisdom and grace in restoring them to holiness and happiness. The work of redemption on this view is to be comprised within comparatively narrow limits — extending to only a small portion of the fallen ; and to have for its ob- ject accordingly, a mere demonstration that God can have mercy on the guilty consistently with justice 12 THE MILLEXARIAN VIEW and truth, rather than the actual exercise of his grace on a scale commensurate with the wonderfulness of the measures by which salvation is conferred, and the necessities of a race that is to continue in successive generations through eternal ages ; and its glory there- fore will lie chiefly in its showing that he is gracious, and equal if he chose, to the salvation of countless hosts ; — not, as the Scriptures represent, in the ex- haustless riches of the love he actually exercises in Christ and is to manifest in the complete extrication of the nations at length from the sway and curse of sin, and elevation to holiness and blessedness in their successive generations through the round of endless years. Those who regard this as the scheme of ad- ministration foreshown in the prophecies, are called Anti-millenarians, and Post-millennialists, because of their denying the personal reign of Christ on the earth during the thousand years. A considerable body of evangelical Christians in this country. Great Britain and Ireland, wdth many in the British colonies and missions, and a few in Germany, maintain, on the contrary, that the present dispensation is drawing to its close, and that it is in its last stages to be marked by avenging judgments on the nations, instead of their conversion, and by great apostasies from the truth, and a fresh persecu- tion of the witnesses of Jesus ; that at the commence- ment of the Millennium Christ is to come in the clouds, destroy the apostate powers denoted by the wild beast and false prophet, raise the holy dead, and OP THE FUTURE DISPENSATION. 13 commence a reign in person over the world ; that the living nations are then to be judged, and those of them not before renewed, that are not consigned to punishment, are to be converted ; that those who are regenerated are to be freed from sin and its curse in this life ; that the earth itself is to be renewed, and be the seat forever of Christ's kingdom ; that the work of redemption, with the exception of a short period during which at the close of the Millen- nium, Satan is to be released from prison, and again delude the nations, is to be continued and embrace all who come into existence from generation to genera- tion through everlasting years. They maintain ac- cordingly, that a new dispensation is to be introduced at the coming of Christ ; that Satan, instead of tri- umphing in the ruin of by far the greatest part of the human family, will be bafl3ed and defeated ; that sin and destruction will be allowed to extend no farther than will serve to prepare the way— by the truths which they set forth — for the salvation of the whole race that comes into existence thereafter ; that Christ's redemption is therefore at length to be a redemption of the whole body of the living nations in their endless generations, and thence is to have a greatness commensurate with the grandeur of God's perfections, the wonderfulness of Christ's incarnation and death, and the benignity and power of the Spirit's influences ; an incomprehensible vastncss, a glory ever augmenting and flashing its splendors in brighter and brighter effulgence through eternal ages ; — a 14 THE DIFFERENCE OF THE VIEWS trophy worthy in its greatness and beauty of the wisdom, power and love that rear it. Those who entertain this view of the great scheme revealed in the prophecies, are called Millenarians and Pre- millennialists, from their holding that Christ is to come in person at the commencement of the Millen- nium, and reign on the earth during the long series of ages denoted by that period. These views of the plan of God^s future administra- tion over the w^orld, thus differ from each other in the most essential particulars, and on the vastest scale. The W'Ork of redemption on the Anti-millen- arian theory, is infinitely less than on the Millen- arian, in its continuance, the number who are to share its blessings, the greatness of the exhibition it forms of God, and the grandeur it reflects on his wisdom. It is altogether incredible, therefore, that they can have equal authority from his word. If one of them is revealed there as the scheme of his ad- ministration, the other cannot be. It were to im- peach his wisdom and truth ; it were to treat his word as though it were inadequate as a guide, to suppose it to be so indeterminate and equivocal in its meaning, that each of these views, so dissimilar and contradictory may legitimately be deduced from it. If one of them is true, the other most certainly is not. If one is worthy of the attributes of God, is to display them in their fullest effulgence, and fill his kingdom forever with adoration and joy ; the other must immeasurably misrepresent his purposes, de- IS OP GREAT MOMENT. 15 tract from his glory, and shed a misleading and dis- astrous influence on those who adopt it. The ques- tion then, which of them presents that view, which he has revealed, of the administration he is to exer- cise, is of the utmost moment, and deserves the care- ful consideration of every reader of his word. 16 DIFFERENT PRINCIPLES CHAPTER II. THEIR DIFFERENT TIETTS OF THE REVELATIONS MADE IN THE PRO- PHECIES ARE THE RESULT OF DIFFERENT MODES OF INTERPRETA- TION. THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH ANTI-MILLENARIANS PROCEED IN THEIR CONSTRUCTIONS OF THEM. Where now lies the reason of the deduction by these parties from the Scriptures, of these different views of the divine purposes ? Such diverse and opposite constructions of the same revelations would plainly be impossible, were the rules of interpreta- tion on which they proceed the same. The same laws applied to the same revelations could not yield results so utterly dissimilar. Their belief, according- ly, that the views they severally entertain, are taught in the Scriptures, is the result of a difference in the principles on which they make their expositions. Their modes of interpretation are as unlike as the views are in which they terminate. ' Thus, the Anti-millenarian obtains his system by disregarding the established laws of language and of symbols, and ascribing to the predictions a wholly imaginary and arbitrary signification by a process OP INTERPRETATION^. 17 called spiritualization. He has no specific and un- equivocal proofs of any one of the elements of his peculiar system of views. He rejects that which is directly taught, and substitutes in its place, as a sort of parallelism to it, an artificial scheme which his fancy has wrought. The Millenarian, on the contrary, obtains his views by interpreting the language and symbols through which the divine purposes are revealed, by their legitimate and established laws, and has the di- rect and express authority of the sacred word for every point that he maintains. He takes that which the prophecies mean — interpreted according to the established laws of language, and the principles on which symbols are used, — as expressing the purposes they are employed to foreshow. This statement we may verify by a multitude of exemplifications. First. The Anti-millenarians do not allege any positive and explicit proof from the Scriptures of any of the great elements of their system. 1. Thus, they do not allege any passage that directly teaches that Christ is not to come until after the Millennium has passed. There is no such passage in the sacred volume. 2. They do not allege any direct statement that the holy dead are not to be raised from the grave, till after the close of the Millennium. There is no such representation in the word of God. 3. They do not produce any direct testimony from the prophecies that Christ is not to reign in person on the earth during the thousand years. No trace of 18 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY such an intimation exists on the sacred page. 4. They have no proofs of their doctrine that the risen saints are not to reign with Christ in person during that period. 5. They have no direct testimonies to sustain their doctrine that the nations are to be con- verted before Christ^s second coming. No hint to that effect is found in any of the prophets. 6. They have no direct proofs of their doctrine that the Israelites are never to be restored to their ancient land, and reorganized as a nation. 7. They have no express proof that the race is to complete its num- bers, and the work of redemption cease, at Christ's second coming. 8. Nor is there any express revela- tion, that the earth is then to be annihilated by a conflagration. Of these great elements of their sys- tem, they have not a particle of direct and explicit proof. They are all the work of mere assumption, inference, or fancy. Secondly. Instead of relying on the direct testi- mony of the word of God to support their system, they deliberately and systematically set it aside, that they may substitute in its place what they regard as a parallel or analogous set of truths. The principle on which they proceed is, that the literal is a mere vehicle of the spiritual ; that predictions therefore of Christ's coming in person at the period of the overthrow of the powers denoted by the fourth beast, Daniel vii. 13, 14, are mere predictions of his spiritual coming ; predictions that he is then to raise the holy dead, are only predictions that he will impart spiri- OF INTERPRETATION. 19 tual life to the impenitent living ; the revelation that he is then to reign in person and glory on the earth, is only a revelation that he is to reign by influences, providences, and a moral administration, as he now rules the world ; promises that the Israelites are then to be restored to their land, converted, and distin- guished by favors, as God^s chosen people, are only promises of the conversion of the Gentiles ; and so of other prophecies. The specific events that are foreshown, the blessings that are expressly pro- mised, are rejected as mere representatives of a totally different class of events and gifts which they fancy are parallels or counterparts of those which the language and other media of the revelations directly denote. It will be enough to exemplify this system by a single specimen. " And it shall come to pass in the last da3^s, the mountain of the Lord^s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say : Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.^^ — Isaiah ii. 2— ±. 20 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY This according to the grammatical meaning of the language, is an explicit prediction that in the last days, the mountain on which Jehovah's temple stands is to be established above the neighboring mountains ; that all nations shall go to it for instruction respect- ing his will, because his word is there to be promul- gated ; that he shall judge and rebuke many people, and that they shall universally discontinue their wars on each other, and convert their weapons into imple- ments of agriculture. It is a specific and clear prediction therefore, that in the last days Jehovah is to have a temple on mount Zion at Jerusalem ; that he is there to make known his will ; that all nations are to go there for instruction ; and that they are thereafter forever to live in peace wdth each other. It implies accordingly the restoration and conversion of the Israelites* It is indeed defined by the prophet as a " word that Isaiah saw concerning Jerusalem and Judah,'' and it closes with a direct appeal to " the house of Jacob to come and walk in the light of Je- hovah. '^ V. 5. Now those parts of this prophecy which are at war with their theory of God's purposes, An- ti-millenarians reject, and maintain that they are mere vehicles of a wholly difi*erent sense ; or representa- tives of a wholly difi'erent class of objects and occur- rences. Thus they assume that the Lord's house, instead of a temple, denotes the Christian church, without any reference to the Israelites ; that the flowing of all nations to his house signifies their en- tering the church ; that the desire of many people OF INTERPRETATION". 21 to receive instruction tliere, means that they are to desire instruction in the church ; and. that the going forth of the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem, is sim- ply the proclamation of the gospel in the church. Now — In the first place, This construction is wholly arbi- trary. There is no mention of the Christian church in the passage. There is no object or word in it that stands for the church. Jehovah's temple on the top of the mountains, is not the name of the church, any more than a temple on any other site is. The fancy is altogether groundless and absurd. In the next place, There is no principle or law of language by which the passage can have such a mean- ing. They do not indeed affect to found their con- struction on the language of the prediction ; but on the things which it denotes ; and especially the Lord's house, Zion, and Jerusalem. But there is no law by which in the connexion in which they stand, they can denote the church. They cannot by virtue of any thing that is affirmed of them in the passage ; for the imputed meaning is not derived from the language, but from the things named by the nouns house, Zion and Jerusalem. But Jehovah's temple, mount Zion, and Jerusalem, do not stand for the church. They are not any where in the sacred vol- ume declared to stand for it. And they are not used in the prediction as representatives of it. Places and material objects are never used by a figure as repre- sentatives of something differing from themselves, 22 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY except it be by the allegory. But this prediction is not allegorical. It is not claimed to be such by those who treat it as representative ; and it cannot be, be- cause there is no analogy between Jehovah's temple, mount Zion, and Jerusalem, and the Christian church. The temple is a structure in which worship is to be of- fered to Jehovah ; Zion is the mountain or hill on or near which that temple is to stand ; and Jerusalem is the city which is to surround that mount. What can be more incongruous, therefore, than to fancy that the structure, the mount, and the city that surrounds it, are representatives of the body of believers that are scattered through the various regions of the globe, who belong to the Christian church ? If they were used as representatives on the principles of analogy, the temple would stand for sacred edifices in other places in which worship is to be offered to Jehovah ; mount Zion for the sites on which those edifices are erected ; and Jerusalem for the cities or inhabited neighborhoods which are to surround those sites and edifices ; while the Christian assemblies who are to worship in those structures, would be represented by the Israelites who are to worship in Jehovah's temple on mount Zion. The construction placed by these interpreters on the prediction is therefore directly against analogy, and confutes itself. Their error is much such as he would make, who disregarding the fact that the Senate and House at Washington are the representatives of the people of the United States, should maintain first that the Capitol in that OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 23 city ; next, the area in wMch it stands ; and thirdly the city, or the District of Columbia, that surrounds it, are representatives of the population of the United States ; and should therefore hold, that they fill that ojQSce exclusively in all the enactments of the national legislature in which the capitol, the grounds that surround it, and the city or district in which it is situated happen to be named. Can any thing exceed the error and absurdity of such a the- ory ? What expositors of law such interpreters would make ! In the third place, There is nothing in the usages of society that gives any authority to such construc- tions of the Scriptures. The principle is absolutely unknown in every other sphere of life, and if intro- duced into laws, titles of property, history, or any other records of human transactions, or opinions, would make their meaning wholly uncertain, and render them worthless. What would title-deeds be worth, if the persons, places, and property named in them, were treated as mere representatives of other persons, places, and things ; and it were left to the caprice or fancy of the judge, whose ofl&ce it is to ex- pound them, to determine who the represented per- sons, the real owners of the property are ; and what the lands, the edifices, or other things are, the owner- ship of which the documents convey ? What would certificates of stock be worth, if the persons named in them as the owners were not really so, but only representatives of the owners, of whose names no 24 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY trace appeared in the certificates, nor any means of determining, or conjecturing who they are ? Yet such a principle of interpreting deeds and certifi- cates of property, charters, compacts, and other simi- lar documents, would be precisely like that on which these interpreters proceed in the spiritualization of this and the other prophecies. In the fourth place, This method of construction, renders different parts of the Scriptures contradictory to each other, and involves them in infinite confusion and uncertainty. If '' The Lord^s house" stands for the Christian church, it plainly does, not because of its name, but solely by virtue of its being his temple ; the structure at Jerusalem consecrated to his wor- ship. But if it stands for the church simply by vir- tue of its being what it is, his temple in Jerusalem, then it is clear that his temple there in past times, must for the same reason have stood for, and been a representative of the church. If the mere fact that the structure called the Lord's house, which is to be erected on or near mount Zion in the last days, is to be his temple, proves that it stands for and means in this prophecy the church ; then the fact that the structure erected by Solomon near that mount, and called the Lord's house, was his temple ; and the fact that the edifice erected by Zerubbabel, on that site, and enlarged and beautified by Herod, and called his house, was his temple, proves that they also stood for and meant the church in all the passages of the Scrip tures in which they are mentioned ; and accordingly OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 25 the catastroplies that are predicted of them, are re- presentatives of catastrophes that were or are to befall the Christian church. The prophecies of Jeremiah and the other prophets of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, of the temple erected by Solo- mon, are prophecies therefore of a like overthrow and annihilation of the church ; and Christ^s predic- tion (Matt, xxiv.,) of the dissolution, by the Eomans, of the temple erected by Herod, so that not one stone should remain on another, is a prediction of a like subversion and extinction of the Christian church. And as neither Solomon's, nor Herod's temple is ever to be rebuilt ; not a particle of the matter indeed of which they consisted being now identifiable by man, it follows that the church, after the annihilation which their destruction represents, is never again to be called into existence. The supposed prophecy in this passage that all the nations are to enter the church ; and the express prediction (Eph. iii. 21,) that it IS to continue elg ndaag rag yevettg rov alcovog rov dtcovov^ through all the generations of the age of ages, are accordingly directly contradicted and convicted of error ! Such are the issues to v/hich this theory of spiritualization leads. In the fifth place. It empties the word of God of all certainty of meaning, and enables the interpre- ter to erase from its pages any truth, and insert in its place any error he pleases. The question Avhcther the persons, places, acts, or occurrences expressed in the prophecies are to be regarded simply as repre- 9 26 THE ANTI-MILLENARIAN THEORY sentatives, and what the persons, objects, or events are which they represent, is to be decided wholly by the fancy or caprice of the interpreter. The nature of the spiritualization ; that is, of the things that are to be considered as foreshown, and the extent to which it is to be carried, are at his arbitrament en- tirely. It depends on no principle, it is regulated by no law. It may be applied to one class of predictions as properly as another, and may strike from us there- fore every futurity that is revealed to us in the word of God. If Christ's coming in person in the clouds of heaven, receiving the dominion of the earth, and reigning on mount Zion forever, are to be spiritual- ized, and made to signify only what is called a figur- ative coming and reigning, i, e., a positive 7Zo^com- ing and 7?o^reigning, then his raising and judging the dead, the reigning of the risen saints, the con- version of the nations, the new creation of the earth and air, and all the other events that are foreshown must be ; and the whole revelation that is made of the future is an unmeaning pageant, a mockery of shows, that only tantalize and disappoint our faith and hope. This method of construction by which they set aside the purposes God has revealed, and substitute others in their place, is thus altogether groundless, arbitrary, and subversive of the truth. If attempted to be introduced into legislation, jurisprudence, or any other sphere, it would be rejected as an outrage fatal to truth and right, and would consign its advo- OF INTERPRETATION ERRONEOUS. 27 cates to universal scorn. Yet it is to this system entirely that Anti-millenarians are indebted for their belief that their theory of his purposes is taught in the word of God. Let them abandon it, and interpret the prophecies by their proper laws, and their notions of his designs will vanish. 28 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS CHAPTER III. THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION ON WHICH MILLENARIANS PROCEED. THE LAWS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. In place of that metlioci of interpretation, Millena- rians hold that the prophecies like other parts of the Scriptures are to be interpreted by the established laws of the media or instruments through which they are conveyed. If they are language prophecies, like those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Christ, and Paul, they are to be interpreted by the usual laws of language, and their grammatical is their true and only sense. If they are symbolical, like those of Daniel and John, they are to be interpreted by the laws of symbolical representation as they are exemplified in the inter- pretations that are given by the Spirit of inspiration in those prophecies, and as they are determinable from analogy. The great features of this system of principles and laws we shall give, as they are pre- sented in the Theological and Literary Journal, and in The Characteristics and Laws of Figurative Lan- guage.^ * The Characteristics and Laws of Figurative Language, by D. N. Lord, fourth edition. New York : F. Knight. OF INTERPRETATION. 29 The language prophecies are easily distinguishable from those which are symbolical. The symbolical prophecies were, with few exceptions, revealed to the prophets in dreams or visions, in which the symbols were exhibited to the eye of the prophet. Thus Daniel and John saw the wild beasts, the human be- ings, the angels, and other agents that were symbols through which the revelations made to them were conveyed, and witnessed the actions they exerted, or conditions through which they passed, by which the actions or catastrophes of those whom they repre- sent are foreshown. When the symbolic agents were not exhibited to the prophet in vision, they were ac- tually present to him, and beheld by him naturally : as were the implements used to represent the siege of Jerusalem (Ezek. iv. 1-3,) and the sticks repre- senting the two houses of Judah and Ephraim, xxxvii. 16-20. The symbolical prophecies beheld in vision accordingly are all narrated in the past tense. And had Ezekiel narrated the symbolical acts he was directed to exert, (chap. iv. v. xxxvii.,) after he had exerted them, they also would have been related in the past tense. The language prophecies on the contrary, are universally, with the exception of a few expressions, in the future tense ; as the pre- diction respecting Abraham's seed. Genesis xvii. 5-8 ; Christ's reign on the throne of David, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; the restoration of the Israelites, Isaiah Ixvi. 19-22, Jeremiah xxx. xxxi ; the conversion of the nations and cessation of wars, Isaiah ii. 2-4. This is a con- 30 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS sideration of great moment, as it cuts off the whole system of spiritualization, which is nothing else than the treatment of language prophecies as though they were symbolical. Of the language prophecies also, that which is lit- eral, is easily distinguishable from that which is figu- rative. No passage or expression is figurative, except such as has a specific figure in it. An expression, for example, cannot be metaphorical, unless it has a meta- phor in it. It cannot be allegorical, unless it is part of an allegory. It cannot be substitutional, or repre- sentative of one act or condition by another, unless there is a hypocatastasis in it. This is a truth of the utmost importance, as it cuts off a large class of inter- pretations Anti-millenarians put upon passages, under the pretext that they are figurative, although there is no figure in them. They are accustomed, w^hen the exigencies of their theory require it, to treat passa- ges as metaphorical without a metaphor, as allegorical without an allegory, and as representative or substi- tutional, without a hypocatastasis. Those prophecies and expressions that are without a specific figure, are to be interpreted as l^^teral, a,nd their grammatical is their true and only sense. Those prophecies and expressions that are figurative, are to be interpreted according to the nature of the figures through which they are expressed, and their gram- matical sense when so interpreted, is their true and only sense. There are nine figures : the comparison, the meta- OF INTERPRETATION. Si phor, the metonymyj the synecdochej the hyperbole, the hypocatastasis, the apostrophe, the personifica- tion, and the allegory. Bach of these has a nature of its own that distinguishes it from the others and from literal language ; each is used on a principle peculiar to itself; and each has its own special law ; and the knowledge of their laws is indispensable to the just interpretation of the predictions that are conveyed through them. The question in respect to the mean- ing of the language prophecies, lies almost wholly in the question what portion of their language is literal, and what portion figurative ; w^hat the figures are that exist in them ; and what the principles are on which their figures are used, and the laws by which they are to be interpreted. When the figures are identified and their laws known, their meaning is as easily and certainly determined, as that of literal lan- guage is. The comparison or simile, is an affirmation that one thing is like another. In its simplest form it merely asserts the likeness ; in its fullest form, the particulars of the resemblance are stated. The law of this figure is, that the names of the things compared are alicays nsed in their literal sense. Otherwise it would not be known what the things are that are compared ; and the force, beauty, and truth indeed of the comparison would be lost. Thus in the Saviour^s declaration that, " as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west ; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be,'^ Matt. xxiv. 27, if '' the lightning^' 32 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS is not used literally to denote an electrical shaft flash- ing from the skies, but some analogous thing of which there is no mention in the passage — as a bright thought darting through the mind — there can be no knowledge what it is to which the coming of the Son of Man is compared. And in like manner, if ^' the coming of the Son of Man,'^ is not used literally and denotes his personal visible coming in the clouds of heaven, but some analogous thing of which there is no mention in the passage, such as an invisible influ- ence of the Spirit, or an act of providence, — then there can be no knowledge what the event is which it is declared shall be like the flashing of the lightning in the east, that shines unto the west. And this law is of the utmost importance : as in many instances it demonstrates that predictions are literal which Anti- millenarians affirm to be figurative. For example, in the prediction, Isaiah xxxv. 1, " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall blossom as the rose,'^ the nouns wilderness, solitary place and desert, are held by Anti-millenarians to be figurative, and to denote men, or the church ; and the verb blossom to be figurative also, and to signify that the church is to flourish. But the comparison of the blossoming of the desert and the blossoming of the rose, confutes that notion, and shows that as the blos- soming of the desert is to be real ; because it is to be like the blossoming of the rose ; so the desert itself that is to blossom like the rose, is real also : and the prediction therefore is a literal prediction of the con- OF INTERPRETATION. 33 version of the literal desert, the waste, and the wil- derness, into scenes of verdure, bloom, and beauty. There is a great number of passages in which this figure in like manner confutes the tropical or spirit- ualized construction put on them by Anti-millenari- ans, and proves them to be literal. The metaphor is an affirmation that an agent, object, or act, is that which it merely resembles ; as when God is called a tower, Zion a crown, and the rapid movement of a vessel before the wind, flying. The peculiarities of the figure thus are : 1. That it ascribes to that to which it is applied, something that is not literally true of it, but which it only in some relation resembles. 2. The figure lies entirely in the affirmative part of the proposition in which it occurs. The words tower, crown, and flies, are the only words that are used by the figure in the expressions — God is a tower, Zion is a crown, the ship flies. The nouns God, Zion, and ship, of which the affirmations are made, are used literally. If they were not, there would be no means of knowing what it is of which the affirmation is made. And this law of the figure is of the greatest practical importance, as it precludes a multitude of constructions put by Anti-millenarians on passages, on the assumption that the name of the agent or object to which the figure is applied is used by the figure, as well as the verb or noun of the affirmation. For example, in the prediction, Isaiah XXXV. 1, " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad," the nouns wilderness and solitarv place are 2* 34 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS held by Anti-millenarians to be figurative, or repre sentative, as well as the verb be glad, and to stand for human beings or the church, instead of uncultured and desolate regions of the earth. But this law of the metaphor shows that the figure is confined to the verb, be glad ; that the nouns which are its nomina- tive, are used in their literal sense ; and that the pre- diction, therefore, is a prediction of a change of the wilderness and solitary place from waste and desola- tion, to a verdure and bloom that shall cause them to resemble in cheerfulness and beauty the human coun- tenance when lighted up with gladness. There is not in the whole sphere of language, a truth of greater moment than this ; that in the metaphor universally, the nominative or name of the agent or object of which the figurative affirmation is made, is used in its literal sense ; and that the agent or object, is the subject of that which is asserted in the figurative affirmation, whatever the meaning of that affirmation may be. The hypocatastasis is a substitution of an act of one kind with its object or conditions, for another, in order by a strong resemblance to set forth and ex- emplify with greater clearness that which the substi- tute is used to represent : as when Enoch is said to have " walked with God," as though it were in a path, to signify that he acted conformably to God^s will ; or lived obediently to his law. This figure, which is wholly unnoticed by rhetoricians and crit- ics, or confounded with the comparison and meta- OF INTEBPKETATION. 35 phor, is of very frequent occurrence in the Scrip- tures. Thus bearing the cross, the instrument of crucifixion, is put for enduring self-denial ; " watch- ing," that is keeping awake, unto '^ all prayer and supplication,'^ for a continual realization of the duty, and a continual earnest offering of prayer ; God^s stretching forth his hand, is put for his exerting his power ; and his hewing down the forests of Lebanon with a stroke, for his striking down the army of Se- nacherib, by the blast of the pestilence. It is of very frequent occurrence also in common speech, as when a person is said to be wading in deep waters, to sig- nify that he is pursuing a course of great diflSculties and dangers ; and that he has anchored his bark in a well-sheltered harbor, to denote that he has placed his affairs in a state in which they are secure from disaster and disturbance. The principal character- istics of this figure are, 1. That its nominative, or the name of the agent or thing of which the aflSrmation is made, is always used in its literal sense ; and that that agent or thing is the agent or subject of the act or effect which the substituted act represents. The person who is said to be wading in deep waters, is the person who is involved in the difficulties which wading is employed to denote. 2. The figure accord- ingly lies wholly in the affirmative part of the pro- position. 3. It consists in the use of an act with its object or condition, not of words. The words may all be used in their literal sense. 4. The acts and conditions ascribed to the agent accordingly are pro- 36 THE MILLENARIAN VIEWS per to his nature. 5. The acts and conditions used by the figure are of a wholly different kind from those for which they are substituted ; and the resemblance that subsists between them is one simply of ease or difficulty, strength or weakness, or some other char- acteristic of that nature. The know^ledge of this figure and its laws is also of the greatest practical importance, as it furnishes the means of overturning a large class of the constructions by which Anti-mil- lenarians set aside the true meaning of the sacred word. Thus it confutes the pretext that the prediction, (Jeremiah xxxiii. 15, 16,) relates to the Christian church. '' In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David ; and he shall execute judgment and right- eousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely ; and this is tlie name whereby he shall be called. The Lord our Righteousness." If, as Anti-millenarians hold, the expressions, '' Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely," w^ere representative, which they are not, it could only be in the affirmative part by a hypocatastasis. Let us then suppose them to be used by that figure, and Judah and Jerusalem the nominatives of the affirmations, will still be used in their literal sense ; and the figure will lie w^hoUy in the words " be saved," and " dwell safely ;" so that whatever those words denote, Judah and Jerusalem OF INTERPRETATION. 37 will be the subjects of them, and not as Anti-mil- lenarians contend, the Christian church. The allegory is the use of agents, objects, acts, and events of one class or sphere to represent intelligent beings and their acts in another ; as in the allegory of the vine, (Psalm Ixxx.,) and of the vineyard, (Isaiah V. 1-7.) The peculiarities of this figure are, 1. That agents and objects in one sphere are used to repre- sent men in another. 2. The agency of the descrip- tive part is always represented as already exerted, that is, the narrative is in the past tense, never in the future. 3. The conditions and acts ascribed to the representatives are always in accordance with their nature. 4. It is always attended by an express intimation who the persons or people are whom it represents. The knowledge of these criteria is also of the utmost importance, as they serve to show that a large class of prophecies that are treated by Anti-millenarians as though they were allegorical, have no trace of that figure in them, and cannot be interpreted as representative, except by the utter rejection of their true, and ascription to them of a false sense. Thus the prophecies of Isaiah Ix. Ixii- Jeremiah xxxi. xxxii. xxxiii. Ezekiel xxxiv. xxxvi. and many others, of the restoration of the Israelites, which Anti-millenarians spiritualize as though they were representative, and therefore allegorical, are shown to be not allegorical* by the simple fact that they are written in the future and predictive, not in the historical or past tense. This simple test reveals 38 THE MILLENAEIAN VIEWS the error of a vast crowd of their interpretations by which they would erase from the sacred volume the great purposes God has revealed respecting the com- ing and reign of Christ, and the redemption of the world. For the other figures, the apostrophe, the metonj^- my, the synecdoche, the hyperbole, and the personi- fication, which are of less frequent occurrence, and of less importance in interpretation, readers are re- ferred to the author's work on the Characteristics and Laws of Figurative Language, where they are treated at large. All figurative expressions in the prophets are thus distinguishable with the utmost certainty and ease from those which are literal ; the principles on which the several figures are used make their mean- ing clear and demonstrable ; and they cut off the spiritualization of the predictions to which Anti-mil- lenarians are addicted, as absolutely as the axioms of geometry preclude false processes in that science. Of the certainty and ease with which these figures are distinguishable from literal language sufficient proof is given in the expositions in the Theological and Literary Journal of the first forty chapters of Isaiah, in which all their figures, with the exception possibly of here and there one through inadvertence, are pointed out. That these are their laws also we have demonstrated in a great number of cases, and it is in truth as indisputable as that the axioms of geometry are the laws of that science. It is equally OP INTERPRETATION. 39 indubitable also that they and the ordinary princi- ples of grammar are the laws by which the Scrip- tures are to be interpreted. They are the laws by which all other language is explained. They are the only principles of speech. It would be impossi- ble for mankind to communicate their thoughts to each other either by spoken or written words, if they did not designate the agents, objects, and ac- tions of which they treat by their literal and distinc- tive names. Were all literal names of persons, ob- jects, places, acts, and events struck out of a history, and their places supplied by pronominal substitutes, as he, it, they, it is plain that it would be impossible to tell who the persons, what the places, or what the actions and occurrences are to which it relates. Yet such a history would be no more unintelligible than the prophecies are, if as Anti-millenarians assume, in regard to many of them, the persons, places, and events named in them, are not the real persons, places, and events which they foreshow, but are re- presentatives of another set which fancy, conjecture, or assumption is to supply. The questions between Anti-millenarians and Mil- lenarians respecting the revelations made in the language prophecies, thus lie almost wholly in the questions, whether those prophecies are figurative or not ; whether they can be figurative without hav- ing specific figures in them ; whether all the figures there are in them can be identified ; what they are, and what the principles are on wliich they are employedj and are to be interpreted. 40 THE PRINCIPLES OP INTERPRETATION. CHAPTER IV. THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION ; THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS. Some of the revelations God has made are convey- ed through symbols in place of language, as most of those of Daniel, and John, and a part of those of Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The peculiarity of a sym- bolical prophecy is, that it is made through repre- sentative agents, objects, acts, and events, on the principle usually of a general, sometimes of exact resemblance ; that is the representative agents are sometimes taken from one sphere, and symbolize agents in another ; as the beasts of Daniel acting in their proper sphere in the animal world, are employ- ed to represent men in the civil and military world. In other cases when no suitable symbol of another sphere can be found, the agent to be represented, or one of his kind is employed as the symbol. There are somewhat over four hundred symbols employed in the Old and New Testament. They are of different orders, as, 1. Divine, God the Father, the Ancient of days, the One like a Son of Man, the Lamb, THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS. 41 the Word. 2. Created beings, as living creatures, angels, Satan, men, spirits, Yv^ho are intelligent ; beasts, monster animals, fowls, fish, insects, that are nnintel- ligent. 3. Dead bodies, as the slain witnesses. 4. Natural unconscious agents or objects, as the earth, sun, moon, stars, waters, a mountain, fire. 5. Arti- ficial objects, as an image, candlesticks, a sword, cities, a crown, books, linen. 6. Acts, effects, char- acteristics, as speaking, flying, fighting. 7. And times and spaces, as days, years, furlongs, length, height. The most important of the laws of symbols are, 1. That the symbol and that which it represents resem- ble each other in the station they fill, the relations they sustain, and the agencies they exert in their re- spective spheres; that is, agents represent agents, not acts or effects ; acts represent acts, not agents ; effects stand for eff'ects, and conditions for conditions. Thus the wild beasts (of Daniel vii.,) destroying in- ferior animals, symbolize human kings conquering and slaughtering their fellow men. This law is of great importance, as it shows the interpreter what he is to find in order to a counterpart to a symbolic agent, with its objects, acts, and efi'ects ; and cuts off a large class of interpretations in which expositors, disregarding the laws of analogy, exhibit agents as symbolizing acts or events instead of agents, and acts and effects as symbolizing agents, instead of ac- tions and events. 2. The representative and that which it represents are of different species, kinds, or ranks, in all cases 42 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. where the symbol is of such a nature, or is used in such a relation that it can properly symbolize some- thing different from itself. This law is also of great moment, as it shows the interpreter that he must look for the agent that is symbolized in a different sphere from that of the s3anbol, when an analogous one can be found ; and cuts off the error into which many have fallen, that warriors must of course sym- bolize warriors, and earthquakes and other commo- tions in the natural world, convulsions and catastro- phes like themselves. 3. When the agents and events to be represented are of a nature, or are to appear in conditions, that no symbol of a different order can properly represent them, they appear in the visions as their own sym- bol. Thus as no created agent can properly symbol- ize God the Father, or Christ, they appear in the visions to foreshow their actual presence in the scenes which the visions represent. The Ancient of days appeared in the vision, Daniel vii. 9-14, of the destruction of the fourth beast, and the investi- ture of the Son of Man with the dominion of the earth ; and the Son of Man appeared in person in the vision of his investiture with the dominion of the earth, Dan. vii. 13-14 ; and the Word of God in the vision of his coming to the great battle of God Al- mighty, Rev. xix. 11-21 ; to foreshow that he is to come in person in the clouds of heaven at the epoch when those visions are to be fulfilled. Men likewise appear in many of the visions as symbols of men in THE LAWS OF PBOPHETIC SYMBOLS. 43 the same spheres and relations, because no other sym- bol could serve to represent them in those conditions. Such are " 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, who hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 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 has come, and Avho shall be able to stand.'' Eev. vi. 15- 17. No inanimate or brute symbol could represent the terror of men at the visible presence and impend- ing wrath of the Lamb, which is here foreshown ; as none but human beings in those conditions are capa- ble of feeling and uttering affections of that kind. To foreshow, therefore, that men are to see the Lamb in the clouds of heaven, are to know that he has come to inflict wrath on his enemies, and are to be over- whelmed with terror at the sight, and fly to the dens and caves of the mountains to escape from his pre- sence, it was necessary that they should be exhibited in their own persons in the vision. And so of the witnesses in their slaughter, and resurrection. Rev. xi. 3-13 ; the resurrection and reigning of the holy dead, xx. 4-6 ; and the resurrection and judgment of the rest of the dead, Rev. xx. 11-15. 4. When the symbol and that which it represents difi*er from each other, the correspondence between them extends to their chief parts, and the general 44 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. elements or parts of the sj^mbol denote corresponding parts in that which is symbohzed. Thns the hosts of men which the tempest of bloody rain and fire sweep- ing over a cultivated country, destroying the grass, the crops, and one-third of the trees, and strewing the scene with disorder and desolation, is employed to represent, Eev. viii. 7, must have been to the Roman people, in power, rapidity, and resistlessness of pro- gress, bloodiness and destructiveness, what that tem- pest was to the natural world over which it drove. — The symbolical agent must have been in the sphere which it filled as great, as wide sweeping, as overpower- ing, and as destructive of life and property, as the fiery whirlwind was in the sphere in which that acted. Otherwise not only would symbols have no adequacy to foreshow events that have a correspondence in fullness and greatness to themselves ; but there would be no means of determining what the agents and events are which they represent. If the resemblance of the symbol to that which it represents were con- fined to a single particular, as there is no agent, object, or event that does not in some respect resem- ble thousands and millions of others, there would be no means of determining which, out of a countless multitude, is the one the symbol represents. Every agent, for example, resembles all others in the fact that it is an agent. Were the resemblance of the symbol to that which it denotes confined therefore to its being an agent, any one out of millions of agents would be as much entitled to be considered as the THE LAWS OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS. 45 agent symbolized as any other. This law is thus of great importance, and it precludes a great number of constructions which interpreters have put on sym- bols, on the assumption that resemblance in a single particular is all that symbolization involves. 5. A single agent in many instances symbolizes a combination and a succession of agents ; as the wild beasts of Daniel and the Apocalypse. Times, also, such as days, months, and years, represent combina- tions of days, and successions of months and years. 6. The names of symbols are their literal and pro- per names. These laws are deduced from the interpretations of symbols that are given by the Spirit of Inspiration in the prophecies themselves ; and that fact, their conformity to the principles of analogy, and the con- sistent solutions to which they lead of the symbols that are not interpreted by the Spirit, amjDly estab- lish this truth. The interpretations given by the Spirit, amount to about one hundred and fifty, and include at least one of each class of symbols, and many of the most important of the leading classes ; and they are all in accordance with and exemplifica- tions of these laws. No higher proof can be asked of their truth, and adequacy to the interpretation of those parts of the symbolic prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. They equally also with the laws of literal and figurative language, cut oft' the spirituali- zation of the predictions of Christ's coming, and the resurrection of the holy dead at the commencement 46 THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. of the millennium ; as according to these laws, his coming in the clouds, Daniel vii. 13, 14, as he himself shows, Matt. xxvi. 64, and his coming with the armies of heaven, Eev. xix. 11-21, symbolize his literal com- ing at the time to which those visions refer ; and the resurrection of the holy dead in the vision. Rev. xx. 4-6, symbolizes their real resurrection at the period to which that vision refers. These brief statements will enable the reader to see what the distinguishing principles are on which the symbolic prophecies are to be interpreted, and the manner in which they demonstrate that Christ is to come in person at the destruction of the powers de- noted by the wild beast and his armies, raise the holy dead, and enter on a literal reign on the earth. Those who desire a full exhibition of the subject, are referred to the Theological and Literary Journal, especially vol. i. pp. 177-256 ; vol. iii. 667-695 ; vol. vii. 177- 217, 386-414, 575-591, and the Premium Essay on Prophetic Symbols by the Rev. E. Winthrop. PECULIARITIES OP THE TIME OF CHRIST^S REIGN. 47 CHAPTER Y. THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD IS NOT TO TAKE PLACE UNDER THE PRESENT DISPENSATION. INSTEAD, IT IS A PERIOD OF TRIAL ; OF MIXED EXCITEMENTS TO EVIL AND GOOD, UNDER WHICH MEN ARE LEFT TO ACT OUT THEIR HEARTS AND SHOW THAT THEY ARE WHAT GOD IN THE WORK OF SALVATION CONTEMPLATES THEM. It is held by those v^ho deny Christ's personal reign on the earth, that the conversion of the nations and prevalence of righteousness and peace foretold by the prophets, are to take place under the present dispensation, and through the agencies and instru- mentalities that are now employed for the communi- cation of the gospel to men, and their deliverance from the thraldom of sin. That belief, however, is not only without authority from the sacred word, but is against its express and ample teachings, and be- speaks a mistaken notion both of what the condition and character of mankind are to be during the period to which those prophecies refer, and what the pecu- liar office is of the present dispensation. What is it then that is specially to distinguish the period of Christ's triumphant kingdom on the earth? 48 PECULIARITIES OF THE TIME OF CHRIST'S REIGN. One of its peculiarities, is to be his personal presence and reign over it, and the reign with him of the risen and glorified saints. This is indeed denied by those who maintain that he is to reign only by influences of the Spirit, by providence and by laws. There are, however, other characteristics of the period that are scarcely less irreconcilable with their theory. All the nations are to be converted, Eev. xv. 4. All individuals are to be righteous, Isaiah Ix. 21. The earth is to be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, Isaiah xi. 9. There are to be no apostates, therefore, no false teachers, no error- ists. Mankind are to be wholly freed from their sel- fish and ferocious passions ; for they are never to un- sheathe the sword against each other again, nor learn war any more, Isaiah ii. 4 ; Ix. 17, 18. There are to be no persecutors, no cruel oppressors, no conquering and enslaving tyrants ; no unjust laws, no unprinci- pled judges, no corrupt courts and legislatures ; no prisons crowded with victims ; no families and races held in bondage. Mankind are to be set absolutely free from all the corrupting and debasing dominations and influences by which they are now held in vassal- age to evil men and evil principles. Satan, who now has access to every mind, and exerts his malignant power to delude and tempt to sin, is then to be im- prisoned, and intercepted from the influences by which he rules in the hearts of men, and leads them to destruction. All the other elements of the curse also brought on the race by the fall, are to be re- CHARACTEH OF THE PEESENT DISPENSATION. 49 Inoved. There is to be no more exhausting and blighting toil ; no more physical suffering ; no more sorrow ; no more tears ; no more death. Those dreadful ingredients which now fill each one's cup, and make the world a vale of grief and miseries, will be unknown, and the world be raised through the work of Christ to much such an exemption from evil in all its forms, as would forever have pre- vailed, had our first parents not transgressed, Eev. xxi. 3-7, 24-21 ; xxii. 1-5. And finally, the Spirit of God will be poured out on the hearts of man- kind universally with a fullness and power of which but faint exemplifications have hitherto been seen. That such a complete change in the condition of the world ; such an exemption of the whole human family from the infinite evils which revolt has drawn in its train, and the universal and unmitigated reign of which is one of the most conspicuous features of the present economy, should nevertheless take place under this very system which admits and perpetuates them, is clearly impossible. The present dispensa- tion does not contemplate such a deliverance of the race as the efi*ect of its agencies. It does not make any provision for it. It does not' employ any means for the production in its completeness of any one of the changes that are to be wrought in order to that re- demption. Thus, it does not carry the gospel eflec- tually to all nations and individuals. It does not re^ move all ignorance. It does not extirpate all evil affections. It does not imbue men universally with 50 CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION. love to God, and to each other. It does not raise the church, as a body, to perfect holiness ; nor even God's true children : but they are left to a war with their own evil affections, Avith a crowd of tempters among their fellow men, and with the great seducer to evil. False teachers and artful and deluding apostates are not intercepted from spreading their deadly errors ; tyrants, remorseless oppressors, and bloody warriors are not prevented from wreaking their cruel passions on the helpless. Satan is not arrested in his maUgnant plots, and restless efforts to drag men to destruction. And no means are provided to put an end to death, sickness, suffering, toil, want and tears. To suppose these and other effects which are to distinguish the era of Christ's reign, to take place under the present dispensation, is therefore in fact, to suppose the dis- pensation itself to be reversed : and become alto- gether a new one. But apart from such of these changes as must be wrought by the direct act of Omnipotence, not by physical instruments, or moral means ; such as the banishment of Satan and his legions, and the repeal of death, sickness, pain, toil, and sorrow, it is impos- sible that the renovation and sanctification of men universally should take place under the present dis- pensation, from the consideration that it is not its aim. The great and peculiar aim of the present ad- ministration is, on the one hand, to display the rights, the power, and the sovereignty of God in the work of saving, and not saving men ; and on the other CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT DISPENSATION. 51 hand, to subject men to trials that cause them, whe- ther evil or good, to show forth their true characters. It is pre-eminently a dispensation of tests, of trials, in all the forms which our nature admits from want, dependence, suffering, the action and re-action on individuals and bodies of men of the good and evil passions and principles of the heart, false doctrines, idolatrous worships, unjust laws, evil examples, and finally, the ceaseless, subtle, and powerful agency of Satan and his hosts. It is a dispensation under which good and evil co-exist, display their characters in contrast with each other, maintain a fierce struggle, and show their natural fruits in all the forms they can assume under such conflicting influences. Chris- tianity does not exist alone in the world. It dwells in the midst of rival religions, the inventions of Satan and men who are his co-operators ; and their impious errors, their debasing principles, and all their vast array of deluding pomps and cheating pre- texts are allowed to exert their power on men as fully as the doctrine of Christ exerts itself to coun- teract, disenthrall, and transform them. The church of Christ does not stand alone as an or^canized bod fe^ IV striving to draw^ other men to itself, to make them partakers of its faith, and sharers in its hopes. It is surrounded on every hand by antagonist organiza- tions with their hierarchies of priests and teachers, their systems of doctrines, rites, and worship, and their agents of propagandism, each endeavoring to extend its sway, or at least to maintain its dominion 52 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION over those whom it has ah'eady drawn to its vassal- age. Satan has a kingdom in the world as well as Christ, and he is allowed to exert his gigantic powers in maintaining it ; in drawing to his side vast crowds of evil men ; in making human govern- ments his instruments ; and in rendering learning, art, and wealth subservient to his cause ; and he has carried his conquests into the church itself, and drawn its great hierarchies of the East and the West to the most efficacious agencies they could exert in his behalf, by intermixing the worship of idols and demons with the worship of God, and substituting a mock sacrifice and atonement in the place of Christ's. Of the vast population of the globe, j^:)zr/'e Christiani- ty, after eighteen centuries, prevails even nominally, with only perhaps forty or fifty millions, and of those not probably over one or two millions can be regard- ed as true children of God. Evil is now as predomi- nant as it was fifteen centuries ago ; it has as deep a hold on the human mind ; it enters as largely into the institutions of society ; it has as numerous and pow- erful engines at work in sustaining and extending its sway, relatively to the evangelical church, as at for- mer periods ; and it derives as powerful aid for the spread and propagation of its empire, as pure Chris- tianity does, from the improvements of the age in the methods of communicating knowledge through the press, and the union of numbers in the profession and dissemination of opinions. The result of this administration, in wdiich the ONE OF TRIAL. 53 gospel and its converts are in this manner left to maintain a struggle against opposing hosts of great power, subtlety", and zeal, thus necessarily is, what the experiment of eighteen hundred years has shown — the full test and exhibition of the opposite princi- ples and affections of the two parties — not the abso- lute victory of either. The true disciples of Christ have indeed through a large part of the long conflict been confined to a small number, compelled to fly from the presence of their enemies and hide them- selves in solitude, and would at many junctures, have been swept from the earth, had it not been for God^s extraordinary care. The issue of this vast trial is — not the redemption of the world, but only the proof and exemplification of its alienation, and hopeless vassalage to evil — not the triumph of the gospel in the extermination of false religions ; but its rejection for fifteen or sixteen centuries by nearly the whole church, as well as the world, and substitution in its place of idol and creature worship, and the degrada- tion of the nations that bear the Christian name, to the lowest depths of ignorance, debasement, and mis- ery. The very nature of the present administration thus wholly precludes both the general conversion of the nations, and the elevation of those who are renewed to the lofty purity and happiness that are to prevail in Christ^s victorious reign. It is as contradictory to it to expect that all mankind are to be renewed and sanctified under it, as it would be to expect that in a contest between vast hostile hosts armed with all the 54 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION engines of death, no death, nor wounds, nor injuries would be inflicted ; or that when all the causes of pestilence and death are present in the great cities and carried by the winds to every hamlet and dwell- ing, no sickness will take place, but health prevail. As the destructive elements must be removed from the soil and air, in order that disease may be pre- vented, and a fresh and vigorous health be universal- ly enjoyed ; so the powerful agents and influences by which men are held in the vassalage of sin, must be removed, and the all transforming power of the Holy Spirit take unobstructed possession of their hearts, in order that they may be turned to righteousness and peace. But the removal of tne powerful tests to which they are now subjected ; the discontinuance of the trials by which they are led to act out their princi- ples and show what their dispositions are toward God, is inconsistent with the very end for which he instituted and maintains this administration. His aim is not now to sanctify all ; but to cause all to show what their hearts are, whether sanctified, or unsanctified ; in the same manner as in conducting the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, it was not his aim to sanctify them all, and free them from excite- ments to evil ; but instead, to test their dispositions toward him, and cause them to show whether they were his friends or his foes. '' Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to ONE OF TRIAL. 55 prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whe- ther thou wouldst keep his commandments, or no ; and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ' the Lord doth man live,^^ Deut. viii. 2, 3. In like manner we are assured by Christ that '' the hour of temptation shall come,'' under the present economy, " upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,'' Rev. iii. 10. They were all to be placed in conditions in which they would show by decisive acts, Avhether they chose his service or not ; and the issue has been at every stage of the trial a demonstration that the multitude will not have him to reign over them ; but pursue the broadway of sin which leads to destruction ; while only here and there one finds the narrow way to life. All the churches planted by the apostles soon declined in love, became distracted by parties, were led by heretical teachers into false doctrines, and went on from one degree of corrup- tion and apostacy to another, till they were swept from existence in a great measure by persecution, and the sword of the Goths, Saracens, and the Turks. The churches of Western Europe, most of which were formed after the death of Paul, soon sunk into an equal depth of ignorance, error, and superstition, and after the lapse of more than a thousand years, were but partially recalled to the knowledge and love 56 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION of tlie truth at the Eeformation. The Lutheran and Reformed churches on the continent have also in a great measure apostatized from the Christian faith to pantheism and other false philosophies of the Hindoos and Greeks of the darkest ages of the world. The churches of Great Britain and this coun- try are rapidly plunging into similar errors, while the nations of Africa, Eastern Asia, and the isles of the Southern and Pacific seas remain almost undisturbed in the vassalage of false religions. The history of the decline, and apostacy of nations which have for a period embraced Christianity, and exemplified its powerful influence in their lives, is the history also of individual churches. Seasons of revival are always followed by seasons of apostacy, dissention, and world- liness. Periods distinguished by great and faithful teachers, are followed by periods in which seducers from the truth arise, and strike the church with a blight and decay that often continue for a series of generations. Every scene that has been distinguish- ed for the piety of its churches, the purity of their faith, and their steadfastness in the truth, has at a later period become the scene of unbelief, worldli- ness, and apostacy. All individuals also, as well as communities, are placed in conditions at every stage of their lives, in which they are led to display the true character of their affections toward God, and show whether they are fit, or unfit, for his kingdom. And the result of this experiment is, the demonstra- tion on a vast and appalling scale of the utter indis- ONE OF TRIAL. 57 position of men spontaneously to return to God, and the hopelessness of their redemption unless it be under an administration in which the great agents that now tempt them to evil, shall be precluded from exerting on them their deluding and maddening pow- er, and the Spirit of God takes exclusive and absolute possession of their hearts. And this system of trial and discipline in which the evil and the good are thus tested and made to disclose themselves, is to continue till Christ comes. He ex- pressly told his disciples, that their life was to be one of disquiet, persecution and suffering. '' Behold the hour Cometh that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. In the world ye shall have tribulation.^' John xvi. 32, 33. Paul also exhorted the believers at Antioch to continue in the faith, because " we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Acts xiv. 22. He reminded the Thessalonians also, 'Hhat no man should be moved by these afflictions" — to which he and his fellow laborers were subjected by their enemies, — "for you yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know." 1 Thess. iii. 3, 4. It was as much a part of the scheme of God's provi- dence that they should be opposed by hostile Jews and Gentiles, maligned, threatened, imprisoned, per- secuted, and subjected to the most violent and igno- minious inflictions ; as it was that thev should preach 3* 58 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATION the gospel, and gather those to whom the word was made efficacious by the Spirit into churches. And the office of this tribulation was to purify their hearts, to bring them to the most unreserved subjection of "themselves to God, and to cause them to show their faith, love, and devotedness to him in the most indu- bitable and emphatic forms. " We glory in tribula- tions, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us." Eom. V. 3-5, and James i. 2-4. And this dis- cipline of trial and suffering is extended without ex- ception to all God's children, of every age, of every rank, and of every condition of life. " My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him ; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he re- ceiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as w^ith sons : for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement — ivliereof aU are partakers — then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them rever- ence ; shall we not rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live ? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, afterward ONE OF TRIAL. 59 it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby.'^ Heb. xii. 5-11. — Subjection to calamities and sorrows, and correction by suffering, are thus exhibited as the lot of God's chil- dren under the present dispensation, as much as the gift to them of the Spirit, the teachings of the word, the supports of the promises, the protection of provi- dence, and life itself are ; and they are represented as an indispensable means to bring them to a proper subjection to him, and cause them to yield the fruits . of righteousness, which are requisite to their prepa- ration for his eternal kingdom. And these tribula- tions are to continue through every period of the present dispensation. It is foretold by Christ that the Israelites shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jeru- salem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles — the period of the fourth Gen- tile kingdom, Dan. vii. 7-28 — shall be fulfilled.'^ Luke xxi. 24. And that " immediately after the tribulation of those days'^ *' shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'' Matthew xxiv. 29, 30. It is foreshown also that all the great obstacles to the conversion of men that lie out of themselves, all the occasions of temptation, all the powerful agencies by which they are prompted to evil, are to continue till Christ comes. Thus want, toil, pain, sorrow and 60 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION death are to continue and reign as they now do, till Christ comes, and introduces a new dispensation. Rev. xxi. 1-5. Instead of a general conversion of the na- tions, Christ teaches in the parable of the tares, that till he comes, the evil are to continue intermixed with the good, as they were at the first promulgation of the gospel, and have been in every subsequent age. " He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom : but the tares are the chil- dren of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is GwrD^eia tov aluvog the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. As there- fore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be kv tj] Gwreletd tov aluvog at the end of the age. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all that cause to stumble'^ — all that seduce and prompt to sin — ^' and all that do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.^' Matt. xiii. 37- 43. Christ thus foreshows in this most indubitable and impressive form that Satan is the sower of the children of the wicked among the children of the kingdom ; and that Trai^ra ra cr/vai^da^a^ he the great tempter to evil, and other subordinate seducers who betray men into sin, are not to be removed out of the world till the end of this age ; that the children of the wicked will, till that time, continue intermixed Vv^ith ONE OF TRIALS. 61 the children of God ; that Christ is then to come, and cause his angels to separate the evil from the good ; and that thenceforth the righteous are to shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matt. xxiv. 31. Not only, therefore, is there to be no general conver- sion of the nations before the end of this age, but there is to be no exemption of them till that epoch, from the tempting presence of the great seducer, nor any deliverance of the children of the kingdom from the presence of the children of the wicked one. The great apostate powers of the church also, denoted by the eleventh horn of the fourth beast, Dan. vii., and the Man of Sin, 2 Thess. ii. 3-8, are to continue in activity down to the time of Christ's advent. It is not till the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven and receives from the Ancient of days the sceptre of the world that all nations may serve him, that that horn is to be judged, and given to the burning flame. It is at the brightness of Christ's coming, not at any earlier epoch, that the Man of Sin is to be consumed by the spirit of his mouth. Instead of gradually los- ing their power and sinking into lethargy as they approach their end, they are in their last stages to wreak their vengeance on the true worshippers, in a bloody persecution. The slaying of the witnesses by the beast, is immediately to precede the seventh trumpet, under which it is to bo cast into the lake of fire. Rev. xix. 20. The woman of Babylon is to bo drunk with the blood of the saints, when seated on the beast in the form in which it is to go to perdition, 62 THE PRESEXT IS A DISPEXSATION OF TRIALS. Eev. xvii. 3-6. These predictions preclude, there- fore, the supposition that the world'is to be converted during the sway of those hostile powers. They are to go to destruction, not to salvation. Their armies are to be slain and given to the fowls of heaven ; not converted into worshippers who are to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, and bring their honor and glory into it. This dispensation is thus to continue to its close to be one of trials, not of rest ; of conflicts with the powers of evil, not of exemption from them. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT ECONOMY. 63 CHAPTER VI. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT ECONOMY IS TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR ANOTHER DISPENSATION UNDER WHICH SALVATION IS TO BE EX- TENDED TO ALL NATIONS AND THE WORLD REDEEMED. What then are the remoter ends which this dis- pensation contemplates ? If only a few compared to the vast multitudes of the race are to be saved under it ; if its chief aim is to try the hearts of men, both evil and good, show forth their character, and verify the great facts of the aKenation and incorrigibleness on the one hand of the unrenewed ; and of the love, sub- mission, and faith of the renovated on the other, on which God proceeds in the work of redemption — what are the ends which that verification on so vast a scale is to subserve ? What bearing has it on the salvation of the race under a future dispensation ? — What office is it to fill in God's administration over his vast empire of worlds ? These are questions which those who hold that there is to bo no redemptive dispensation after the present, seem not to have asked. The present econ- omy in relation to the future, is to them an inexplica- 64 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATIOX ble enigma. There is on their theory no beneficent office tliat it can fill toward the human race itself. Ft can have no place as a preparative for another dis- pensation Tinder which the evils of the present shall be removed, and redemption extended to all the liv- ing population of the globe through an interminable round of ages. According to their views there is no reason v^hj, if it is the design of God to extend sal- vation to the nations at large, the gospel was not made known to them universally immediately after its first promulgation. That such countless hosts are left to perish, they regard as the work of sovereign- ty ; because God does not choose to make more than a small number partakers of salvation ; because he prefers to display his justice, rather than his grace ; and hold that if this economy is to exert any influence on his administration of the universe in future ages, it is to be by the preponderance which his justice in punishing men has, and is to have, over his mercy in saving them. According to them, therefore, the spec- tacle which his government presents, is full of dark- ness and awfulness, and answers in no respect to the delineation he has given in his word of his goodness, nor of the infinite riches of the wisdom and the love which the Bible everywhere represents as disj^layed in the work of Christ, and to be unfolded and veri- fied on a scale commensurate with the grandeur of his being and empire, through eternal ages. His " So loving the w^orld that he gave his only begotten Son to die, that whosoever belie veth on him should IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 65 not perish, bnt have everlasting life/' ends in his leav- ing nearly the whole that come into existence to perish without their even hearing that Christ was to die, or has died, for them. His goodness, his love, his mercifulness which are exhibited as his whole character, and as armed with infinite wisdom and power to accomplish their desires toward mxCn, in- stead of achieving or purposing their salva^tion on a scale proportionate to his attributes, and the great- ness and wonderfulness of the provision made for it in Christ's incarnation and death, are satisfied in a chief degree with making that display of themselves ; and with the exception of a small election, the count- less crowds of the human family are left to perish as helplessly, as they would had no method of salvation been devised for them. But these notions are altogether groundless, and bespeak an astonishing misconception of God, and the teachings of his word. The Scrij)tures declare in the most ample and emphatic manner, as we have shown, that the present dispensation is to termi- nate at the fall of the fourth kingdom symbolized, Dan. vii. 7-27, and is to be followed by another under Christ's personal reign, in which the work of redemption is to be extended to all people, nations, and tongues, and is to continue through eternal ages ; and they indicate that the present economy is pre- paratory to that, and that the exhibitions and verifi- cations that take place in it of the great truths of God's rights, of man's alienation, and of the indubi- 66 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION table renovation of those whom God accepts as his children, are needful to the just understanding by men themselves and the universe of the work of sal- vation, the vindication of God in it, and ascription to him of the infinite righteousness, wisdom, and love, which it displays. That it is preparatory to the dis- pensation that is to follow, is apparent from God's perfections. It would be to impeach his wisdom to suppose that it occupies no such place in respect to that which is to succeed it ; that that dispensation might as well have been introduced at Christ's ascen- sion ; and that the conflicts of so long a series of ages, the perishing of so many generations of the unchris- tianized nations, the apostacy of the nominal church, and the^ trials, and sufferings, and sins of God's true people have been without any object, so far as the subsequent government of the world is concerned. The perfections of God make it certain that it has ends, in his future purposes toward the race, that are commensurate in their importance, with the greatness of the sins and miseries that take place under the present economy. What then are those ends? How is it that the great, the awful, and the glorious truths that are set forth and exemplified in such various forms and on so immense a scale, under the present sj^stem, are to prepare the way for a new dispensation under which the work of redemption is to be extended to all the nations of the earth, and continued through unending years ? The answer is, by verifying the facts on IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 67 which God proceeds in the salvation of men so ade- quately, as to enable the universe to discern and feel them in all their certainty and greatness, and make it sure that without any further exemplification of them, the salvation of mankind in the past, the present, and all future ages, will be justly understood, and the glory given to God for it that is due to his wisdom, recti- tude, and grace. It is plain that the exercise of grace by God to- ward revolters from his government, the restoration of sinners to holiness, their forgiveness, their justifi- cation, their adoption as children and exaltation to the most intimate relations to himself and the Re- deemer, must be measures of the utmost interest to other orders of intelligences, and must give^rise to a variety of questions of the greatest moment to God^s glory and their peace. Are mankind so utterly alien and lost as the work of redemption assumes and re- presents? Is there no disposition left in them spon- taneously to return to allegiance to God? Are those whom God renews and forgives truly reconciled to him ? Are they indisputably his friends, and ready to submit to any evil rather than disown him, and again join the ranks of the unsanctified ? Is their renovation and sanctification indubitably the work of his Spirit ? not of natural affections. Have they given in their conduct such evidences of their resto- ration to holiness that the universe can sec that God is justified in treating them as unalterably his chil- dren, and raising them to exalted stations in his 68 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION kingdom? Is the whole of his achninistration toward them such, that they who are spectators arid fully comprehend all its steps, must see with the fullest conviction that it is marked by the wisdom, right- eousness, and grace which he represents, worthy of his perfections, and suited to raise all his holy sub- jects to a higher sense of his glory and a more rap- turous devotion to his service ? These are questions of the utmost significance to his obedient creatures in every part of his kingdom, and questions they must be furnished with the most ample means of an- swering in the affirmative — in order to their continu- ed confidence and love of him as all-perfect, and wor- thy of the full and fixed homage and submission which he requii-es. To leave them without information, would be to make it impossible that they should com- prehend his ways ; to leave them to perplexity and doubt, and to expose them to the danger of faltering in their allegiance. It is indubitably the part of righteousness and goodness, therefore, that God should make them acquainted with the reahty of all the great facts on which he proceeds in the work of salvation by so arranging his providence that men may present a public, visible, and full exemplification of them in their conduct, in every variety of condition, and under every form of influence that can serve to give expression and demonstration to the truth. — Vast crowds of men deny that they are in revolt from God, or have any need of a Saviour. Multi- tudes deny the necessity and reality of Christ's in- IS PEEPARATIYE TO ANOTHER. 69 carnation, and reject salvation through him. Great numbers deny that there is any need of a renovation of the heart ; or that it is, or can be wrought by the Spirit of God, and maintain that men are entitled to acceptance on the ground of their merits. They deny also that God has a right to punish men for their sins ; and declare it to be impossible that he should consign his creatures for their offences here, to everlasting punishment hereafter. Satan also utters these and similar denials, and impeaches God^s justice, wisdom, and benevolence in all his measures both in the punishment, and in the for- giveness of men. It is not improbable that these denials are known to all the intelligent hosts of God's empire, and that a special necessity arises from that for the confutation of them in his administra- tion over the world. In order, indeed, that the work of redemption should be understood, it seems indis- pensable that sin should be seen in all the forms it naturally assumes in beings like men ; that there should be a full exemplification on the one hand of the alienation, debasement, and misery to which it reduces those in whom it reigns ; and that there should be a full exhibition also, on the other, of the reality of the restoration to holiness of those whom God renews, pardons, and crowns Avith life and glory, and proof by the severest tests of their unalterable allegiance, and meetness for the intimate relations to himself to which he is to exalt them in his kingdom. But suppose Adam and Eve and all their posterity 70 THE PRESENT DISPENSATION had been regenerated immediately after their first transgression, hoAv could the universe or they them- selves have adequately seen what the state is into which revolt naturally brings creatures? How could they have discerned and realized what it is to be de- serted of God ; to be abandoned to the sway of Satan ; to be left to the unmitigated dominion of selfish and malignant affections ? There could then have been no exemplification to the eyes of creatures of what man is as a revolter ; nor what the brutish and fiend- ish shapes are which selfishness, enmity, and malice assume. Suppose all immediately on regeneration had been exempted from all tests of their afi'ections ; how, though they committed no sin, would it appear that it was not owing to the absence of temptation ? How could there be any decisive proofs of their in- flexible attachment to God ? How could there be any demonstration that they were meet for the inti- mate relationship to him to which they are to be ex- alted ? Or if there were, how could it be seen that their obedience was not the spontaneous work of their own minds, instead of the fruits of the renewing and sanctifying Spirit ? There is then a manifest neces- sity, in order that the work of redemption should be understood in its true character and greatness, that there should be such a manifestation in all its forms as is taking place under the present dispensation — of what man^s heart is — what his condition is as a sinner — what the change is which is wrought in IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 71 the redeemed, and who it is who accomplishes that change. It is clear also that in an administration under which such a manifestation of the heart of man takes place, it is requisite that God should exhibit his dis- pleasure at sin, by leaving it to bring forth its natu- ral fruits of blindness, insensibility, and misery ; and should punish it by retributive inflictions. To allow it to pass unchastised, would be to treat it as though it w^ere not the object of disapprobation ; to connect with it the blessings which are the proper fruits of holiness, would be to reward it as though it were ap- proved, and lead the universe to false views of his dispositions and purposes respecting it. The necessity then of such an exemplication of man and of God is apparent ; and it is taking place under the present administration on such a scale as to answer the ends of the divine government, and su- persede a need of its continuance in the ages that are to come. 1. Thus, all nations, all bodies of men, all famihes, and all individuals, are put by the conditions in which they are placed, and the influences to which they are subjected, to a continual and severe trial of their aff*ections toward God, and one another, and led to show what their hearts are. That this is a fact, all are aware from consciousness, observation, and his- tory, and it is expressly taught in the Scriptures ; Deut. viii. 2, 3 ; Rev. iii. 10 ; James i. 12-15. 2. When nations and individuals apostatize from 72 THE PRESENT DISPEXSATION God, and pay tlieir homage to false deities, lie aban- dons them to the sway of their evil principles and passions, and leaves them to work out their natural fruits of impiety, debasement, and misery, and by that practical method confute themselves, and vindi- cate him. This is expressly taught Rom i. 20-32. 3. In like manner when his own professed people apostatize and turn to a forbidden worship, he leaves them to the dominion of their false doctrines and un- sanctified passions, and allows them to pursue them to their natural results, and confute themselves by the wickedness which they generate. ^' The coming of the Man of Sin is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders ; and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that per- ish : because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they may be- lieve a lie, that they all may be condemned, who be- lieve not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteous- ness.^' 2 Thess. ii. 9-12. 4. He not only tries his true people by the ordinary calamities and sorrows of life, but he often allows their enemies to put them to the severest tests to Avhich they can be subjected, by inflicting on them the most cruel torture, and agonizing death, in order, if possible, to force them to apostatize. And millions have surrendered their property, their liberty, their families, and their lives, rather than swerve from their allegiance to him. IS PREPARATIVE TO ANOTHER. 73 5. He testifies against the sins of men, whatever their character may be, by judgments, and gives the universe to see the abhorrence with which he regards them. Thus the destruction of the antediluvian world and of all the ancient nations, was because of their sins. All the evils that have been inflicted on the Israelites for three thousand years, have been in retribution of their rebellion against him, their revolt to idols, and their rejection of the Messiah. And all the immeasurable evils with which the nations of Eu- rope have been smitten during the last twenty years, and all they are yet to suffer in the last stages of the present dispensation, are represented in the Appca- lypse as poured from the vials of God^s wrath. 6. He gives his children indubitable tokens of his favor, hears their prayers, grants them his Spirit, veri- fies his promises, supports them in their trials, and makes death itself, in its most awful forms, for his sake a victory. Under this administration — which stretches from the fall to Christ's second coming — an exemplification and proof of the great truths respecting God's rights, man's ruin, and the restoration to holiness of the re- deemed, are thus made on a scale as vast as the exi- gencies of the divine government require, so that no necessity will exist of their being carried further, but salvation may then be extended to all nations and individuals, through the long period denoted by the millennium without any danger of its being misap- prehended by any part of God's kingdom. 74 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OP THE HEARTS OF MEN CHAPTER VII. V THE MANIFESTATIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE OF THE HEARTS OF MEN, BOTH UNRENEWED AND RENEWED, UNDER THIS DISPENSATION, HAVE BEEN VERY GREAT AND DECISIVE. The exhibitions that have been made of the hearts of men, both evil and good, have been great and va- rious at every period of their history dov^n to the present time. Thus, we are told, that in the ages that immediately foUov^ed the fall, " the wickedness of man became great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ; that God looked upon the earth and behold it was cor- rupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth, and the earth was filled with violence." (Gen esis vi. 5, 11, 12.) Whether the evil imaginations of the thoughts of their hearts embraced the invention and worship of false gods, we are not expressly told ; but the deep corruption of their manners, and the violence with which they filled the world, which are the usual consequences of a rejection of God, render it probable. The whole race advanced to such a AUE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 75 pitch of wickedness, that divine justice required that they should be swept to destruction by a deluge. — This universal apostasy from God, this excess of indi- vidual and social corruption and malevolence, formed a terrible exhibition of what the human heart is, in its estrangement from the Most High. They were not left in the ignorance of the Pagan nations of the present age. They did not derive their false system of religion and morals from a long line of ancestors. Their wickedness was not instilled into them by igno- rant parents, or an established priesthood, and en- forced by a powerful civil government, under the de- ceitful garb of a divine religion. It was all originated and matured by themselves, and amidst the clear light of a divine revelation, and the powerful re- straints of a knowledge of its guilt, solemn warnings from heaven, and the pious remonstrances and holy examples of patriarchs and prophets. God revealed himself openly to men in those ages, as we learn from his appearances to Adam, Cain, Enoch, and Noah, and announced his will to them in an audible voice. — They were made acquainted with the scheme of re- demption, and required to offer sacrifices in expres- sion of their faith in the Messiah whom the slaugh- tered victims typified. They enjoyed the presence, counsels, and examples of Adam, through more than half of the period to the flood ; and tlie instructions, probably, of a great array of eminent prophets down to their last years. Noah himself filled the office of a preacher of righteousness for at least a hundred and 76 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN twenty years before lie entered tlie ark. Yet, amidst all these eminent advantages ; against all these powerful restraints, they sank universally, it seems — with the exception of Noah and his family — to such an abyss of corruption ; they became inflamed, through all their grades, with such vile and mahgnant passions, as to render the divine forbearance any longer towards them inexpedient ; as to make it essential to the vindication of God's rights and glory, that he should storm on them his vengeance, and sweep them instantaneously to perdition. What an amazing proof of their alienation ! What an emphatic and terrible demonstration, that they were in open and unmitigated revolt! How clear must it have been to the witnessing universe, that they were indeed such enemies as the law of God and the work of redemption contemplate them ; and that the doom with which they were overwhelmed was their just due ! Equal proofs were given by the descendants of Noah within a brief period, of their alienation and debasement. Ere that patriarch died — three hundred and fifty years after the deluge, — every nation and tribe into which the race had become divided, had apostatized, there is reason to believe, to idol-worship. There were individuals and families, indeed, as Abram, Melchisedek, Job, and his friends, who re- tained the knowledge, and were worshippers of the true God, and they may have been numerous ; yet no traces appear on the sacred page, that any whole AEE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 77 people continued to be worshippers of Jehovah. The first uninspired histories also, and the earliest monu- ments of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, Assyria, and India, exhibit them as idolaters. Not a trace ap- pears in any of their religions, at the earliest date to which our information extends, of a recognition of the true God. This is certainly astonishing ; as not only Noah lived till after that time, but Shem survived one hundred and fifty years longer, to the time of Ja- cob. So that very ample means must have been pos- sessed of a knowledge of Jehovah, and the method of redemption he had made known to Adam, and re- newed and confirmed to the holy patriarchs and pro- phets through all the long tract of ages that had in- tervened, to the division at Babel of the race into separate tribes. Whence can such a universal apos- tasy from Jehovah have sprung, except from an utter alienation of heart from him ? How could they have turned from him to the besotted homage of creatures, idols, and mere imaginary deities, had there not been an absolute extinction in their minds of righteous- ness, truth and wisdom ; had they not yielded them- selves to the unrestricted domination of the powers of darkness. The principal ancient nations of central and west- ern Asia, northern Africa, and eastern Europe, con- sisted of two classes : one that was under the domi- nation of absolute monarchs and a legalized priest- hood, who dictated to their subjects the religion they should exercise. The governments of the other 78 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN sprang in a measure from the people themselves, and their religion was accordingly the creation and ex- pression, in a large measure, of the popular sentiment and taste. As the rulers and priests of the despotic governments who dictated the religion of their sub- jects, were among the most talented and learned of their age, if they had had any proper notions of Je- hovah, and disposition to favor the exercise of a true religion, they might have exerted a powerful influ- ence in repressing ignorance, superstition, and idol- worship, and prompting their subjects to a recogni- tion of the true God. But no effort of that kind was ever made by them. Instead, the monarchs of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and India, and their priests, gave their whole influence to sustain and spread their sev- eral systems of idolatry. In Egypt, where the belief in the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body, appears to have been retained, and to have given birth to their splendid Mausolea, and their custom of embalming the dead, their worship was transferred from Jehovah to the beasts, birds, and reptiles, that peopled the land, the waters, and the air of that region ; and among them not a few of the most hideous and senseless were made objects of special adoration. Their fanes were crowded also with idols and pictures of idol deities, and the whole population were forced by the iron hand of power to pay their homage to those horrid shapes, sometimes living, more frequently probably dead, and blackened and deformed by the efforts of the embalmer to give ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 79 them a material immortality. Is it possible for crea- tures to offer a more awful affront to Jehovah their creator and upholder? Their paying this worship to the ox, the crocodile, the cat, the ibis, and the beetle, implied that their attributes were superior to his ; that their stations, relations, and agencies, in- vested them with higher rights, and rendered them more worthy of acknowledgment and trust. The despotic rulers of Assyria in like manner es- tablished a vast system of idolatry as the state reli- gion, in which bulls and lions with human heads ap- pear to have held the most conspicuous rank ; while in Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar erected a gigantic image of gold, of a human shape, as the object of homage, and required his subjects on penalty of death to worship it ; and images, or material em- blems of some form, were the objects of homage to the native inhabitants of Palestine, Syria, the adja- cent parts of Asia Minor, and the vast regions that stretch eastward to the confines of India, for a long series of ages ; while in India itself, a different set of still more hideous and monster shapes were con- stituted deities, and a vast array of priests employed to pay them a worship of complicated and cruel rites. The despots who reigned over those populous and cultivated nations for two thousand years, instead of exerting their authority in repressing false religions, and prompting to the worship of Jehovah, gave their whole influence to the introduction and support of idolatry, forced their subjects to live as apostates 80 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OP MEN from Jeliovah, and made their cruel rites and debas- ing superstitions the means of reducing their people to the most abject vassalage to their power. The Greeks of Asia Minor, the islands of the Medi- terranean and eastern Europe, and the population of Italy, enjoyed a higher measure of freedom, and had a voice in the election of many of their rulers. Their governments were accordingly in a far larger degree the expression of the general will, and their religion the work of the popular sentiment. Their gods and religious rites were the gods and rites of the state, be- cause the general voice made them so. Yet those na- tions, left thus to their own tastes in a far higher de- gree than those of the great eastern empires, still apostatized as universally and as eagerly as they to the homage of idols. The loftiest geniuses of Greece, and the Greek colonies of the islands and shores of the Mediterranean, were for ages devoted to the fab- rication of marble and brazen deities, and the erection of temples for their residence. Their cities were thronged with gods not only in the temples, the halls of justice, the theatres, the stadia, and the markets, but in the streets, the gardens, and the houses, and their whole life was moulded and colored by their presence — thus showing in the most striking manner that no strength or subtlety of intellect, no refinement of taste, no literary culture, no measure of scientific knowledge, no perfection in the arts, no political freedom, nor any combination of them in their high- est forms, is any barrier to an apostasy from Jehovah ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 81 to idol- worship : that it is not ignorance and political degradation alone that prompt to it, but that the sub- tle, the learned, the witty, the refined in many forms, and the free, are borne as readily to the renunciation of the Creator and ruler of the universe, and the sub- stitution of stocks and stones that are graven by man^s art and device in his place, as the great nations of Asia and Africa whom the hand of despotism has kept in the most abject ignorance and vassalage. A similar display was likewise made by the population of Italy. And the whole of these nations continued their idolatry down to the age of the apostles. No experi- ence of the vanity of their worship, none of the ter- rible judgments with which they were overwhelmed by the Most High in punishment of their revolt from him — judgments from which they learned that their gods could not deliver them — contributed in the slightest degree to excite them to abandon them. So far from it, they continued to multiply their dei- ties and to sink to lower and lower depths of supersti- tion and debasement in their worship, till their false systems began to be superseded by the gospel. What an amazing exemplification of the human heart! Those nations comprised, with the excep- tion of the Hebrews, the whole, or nearly the whole that had risen above extreme barbarism during the twenty-three centuries that followed the deluge, and abounded with rulers, philosophers, poets, and histo- rians, of as great genius and as large cultivation in 4* 82 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN their several spheres as have ever appeared in the world. Yet with scarce an exception, their great powers were devoted to the sanction and spread of idolatry — the worship of marble, metallic, or wooden statues ; the most hideous brutes and vilest reptiles ; or human monsters of lust, treachery, cruelty, and ambition, deified by the imagination, and invested with a sway over the afi'airs of men. Can the fancy conceive of more decisive and dreadful proofs that the race is in open revolt from Jehovah, and rejects him and his service with the most intense aversion ? If it be not, how is it that not a solitary dissentient from this monstrous impiety is heard through the lapse of so many ages ; or at least not one except it was at the risk of his life ? Their apostasy thus from Jehovah to the worship of false deities, in most of whom an animal and sex- ual nature was held to have a predominance, was ne- cessarily followed, as the apostle indicates, by God^s withdrawing from them, and giving them up to the unrestrained sway of the appetites which they impi- ously deified, and allowing them to sink to the lowest depths of impurity and debasement. The sexual pas- sion, in its most unlicensed and polluting forms, was not only formally sanctioned, but its gratification was a part of their homage to their deities ; their temples be- ing made the scenes of public and boundless prostitu- tion, and their priests and priestesses the chief actors in the horrid scenes. And from them the tide of law- lessness and corruption spread through all the inferior ARE MADE UNDEE THIS DISPENSATION. 83 ranks, till the whole mass sank to the lowest abyss of pollution. The cities on the borders of the As- phaltine sea had reached such an extreme of wicked- ness in this relation, in the days of Abraham, that God swept them to destruction by a storm of fire and brimstone, and their site remains a monument at once of their guilt and his vengeance. Four hundred years later the Canaanites were destroyed, in a large measure, for their addiction to the same debasing sin. The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the population of Syria preeminently, and of Asia Minor, were notorious for the profligacy of their manners ; and throughout the whole circuit of the Roman em- pire, in the age of the apostle, an almost total disso- lution of morals had taken place. And the unbridled reign of that debasing appetite gave birth also — as the Spirit of truth indicates it naturally must — to the whole brood of selfish and malign passions, and converted its vassals into ene- mies, scourges, and destroyers of each other. The great business of tlie chief nations from the days of Abraham to the birth of Christ, was war, slaughter, conquest, plunder, devastation, and vengeance. Dur- ing that period — ^besides the numerous wars between inferior kingdoms — five great empires rose, three in the east, and two in the west, that spread their con- quests over a large part of the world that was then in any degree civilized, and steeped it in the blood of its inhabitants. The people were held to be the absolute property of the monarchs, and were crushed 84 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN by an iron despotism ; millions on millions of the con- quered were dragged into a hopeless and cruel sla- very ; groans of misery and despair rose like a vast exhalation from every part of the earth ; and such things as safety, peace, gentleness, sympathy, love, benignity, were scarcely known to a human bosom. Such was the career of the Pagan nations. The apostasy of the Israelites, the chosen people, from Jehovah to the idols of their heathen neighbors, the depths of impiety and profligacy to which they sank, and the fierce and bloody wars in which, after their division into two kingdoms, they scourged and wasted each other, formed a still more awful exhibition of the human heart. Such was the result of the trial of mankind through four thousand years, to see whether when God clearly revealed himself to them through his works, and made himself known to them in many other modes, they would recognize and honor him, or would reject and turn from him to the worship of imaginary dei- ties ; and to show with what direful passions they would become inflamed, and to what awful forms and degrees of wickedness they would turn, when he in righteousness abandons them, because of their apos- tasy, to the sway of their own corrupt and malignant hearts. This is, indeed, but a faint picture compared to the dread reality. Yet slight and dim as it is, what a terrible proof it forms of man's alienation from God ! But to the celestial hosts who witnessed the whole ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 85 scene, and comprehended its fearful significance, how profound and overwhelming must the realization have been it produced, that the race are lost in a stern and remorseless enmity to Jehovah ! The exhibition made of the human heart under the gospel, in the opposition it met from Jews and Pa- gans at its promulgation, the dreadful perversion to which it was soon subjected, and the merciless per- secution by which the true worshippers were for many ages pursued by Pagans and false Christians, is equally demonstrative of its utter alienation from God. The dark picture given in the New Testament of the treatment Paul received as the great preacher of the glad tidings of salvation through Christ, may be taken as an exemplification of the reception the news of redemption met from the nations generally to whom it was first proclaimed. His life, through the twenty- six years of his labors, was one ceaseless conflict with passionate and malign opponents, a scene of perpetual peril from conspirators, assassins, mobs, and persecu- ting magistrates. He says of himself, " I am more a minister of Christ than others ; in labors more abun- dant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more fre- quent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods ; once was I stoned ; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and 86 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (2 Cor. xi. 23-27.) And he at length fell a victim to the malice of his enemies, and was decapitated at Kome. And this, simply because of his fidelity to Christ ; not- withstanding his .apostleship was demonstrated by a vaster crowd of stupendous miracles — especially in the bestowment of spiritual gifts in connexion with his agency, — than ever authenicated the mission of any other messenger of God ; and although his con- duct was marked by the greatest uprightness, pru- dence, gentleness, nobleness, self-denial, and zeal for the well-being of those whom he addressed. The hatred and malice with which he was pursued, and finally martyred, are only paralleled by the infuriate rage with which the Son of God was rejected amidst the clearest demonstrations of his deity, maligned, mocked, scourged, and at length put to death on the cross. Could such a procedure towards an upright, wise, holy and benevolent, noble-hearted, miracle- working preacher of salvation, have been possible, had not those who thus outraged him been the most stern and implacable foes of God, and lawless and brutal enemies of his children ? The persecution of the disciples of Christ begun, by the Pagans in the apostle's life, was continued by them at intervals through more than two hundred and fifty years, and hundreds of thousands swept to the grave by the most ignominious and cruel deaths ; — starved in dungeons, torn with hot irons, burnt at ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPENSATION. 87 the stake, decapitated on the block, hung on the cross, thrown to wild beasts ; — and all the power of the Eoman empire was exerted to exterminate them from the earth. On the legalization and paganization of the church by Constantino, that monarch and a large portion of the hierarchy themselves became ferocious persecutors of the true worshippers ; and his successors on the Byzantine throne continued to bo such, with but short intervals, through more than a thousand years, till the extinction of that line by the Turks in 1453. The churches of Western Europe also apostatized at the same time as those of the East to the homage of saints, relics, and statues, con- verted the established religion into a horrid system of the most impious errors and debasing supersti- tions, and became also cruel and insatiable persecu- tors ; so that the Catholic churches themselves of the West and the East have been the greatest cor- rupters of the principles and morals of men the world has ever seen, the most impious blasphemers of God, and the most ferocious and remorseless op- pressors and murderers of his children, through more than twelve hundred years ; until in the East they have nearly sunk into extinction ; while in the West they have almost universally passed from even the nominal belief in Christianity into the most blank and impious atheism and pantheism, and sunk, ac- cording to the -usual law of God's providence, to the lowest depths of the most coarse and debasing im- morality, and become inflamed with the most lawless 88 GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN and bloody passions. The comparatively small num- ber of true worshippers who still exist, especially on the continent, exist by the special care of God, in spite of the most gigantic efforts of the Papal church and the civil powers through a long series of ages to exterminate them. The victims of their malice who have perished by the sword, on the rack, and at the stake, wasted away in loathsome dungeons, or been worn out at the galley oar, amount to millions. And these murderers of the lambs of Christ's flock have been as ferocious in their passions towards each other, as they have towards them. The nations of Western Europe have been almost incessantly en- gaged for the last twelve hundred years in the most bloody and malignant wars on each other. There is scarce an extensive region in their cultivated do- mains that has not been a battle-scene, and many of the vales and plains of Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, have frequently been drenched with the blood of thousands. No other part of even this fallen world, probably, has been the theatre of such direful ambi- tion, hate, and revenge ; or resounded with such a vast train of sighs and groans, extorted by the wan- ton infliction of wounds and death by man on man. Such is, in brief, the result of the experiment that has been made of the heart of man through eighteen hundred years under the gospel. Can a more stu- pendous and appalling demonstration be conceived that he is indeed such a fallen, revolting, and incor- rigible being, as the word of God represents, and as ARE MADE UNDER THIS DISPEiSTSATION. 89 the work of redemption assumes him to be ? that left to himself, he instantly apostatizes from God, and be- comes a debased and ferocious brute ; and that noth- ing but infinite power and grace can renew, trans- form, and save him ? 90 THE TRIAL OF MEN NOW IS TO PREPARE THE WAY CHAPTER VIII. THE OFFICE OF THIS TRIAL OF THE HEARTS OF MEN UNDER THE PRE- SENT DISPENSATION IS TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE SALVATION OF THE RACE AT LARGE THAT IS TO COME INTO EXISTENCE IN THE AGES THAT FOLLOW. Such is, in brief, the result of the experiment God has made of the human heart through near six thou- sand years ; and still more dreadful displays of it are to take place as this dispensation draws to a close, in the attempts which the civil powers and the man of sin will make to exterminate the true worshippers and followers of Christ. Can a more stupendous and appalling demonstration be conceived that man is in- deed such a fallen, revolting, and incorrigible being, as the word of God represents, and as the work of re- demption assumes him to be ? Can it be doubted that the worlds and beings that witness or are made acquaint- ed with it, must feel that it forms sufficient proof of the truths it exemplifies to cause the universe to know and realize from what it is that men are saved, even in those future ages of Christ's triumphant reign, when they are to be wholly freed from the pol- TO SAVE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITHOUT TRIAL. 91 lution of sin and its cnrse ? And how indispensable to those who are then to be redeemed will these exem- plifications be ? How else could they so clearly see what the abyss of ruin is from which they are res- cued ; or realize the riches and sovereignty of the grace to which they owe the spotless existence, and the immeasurable glory and beatitude to which they are exalted ? But as they gaze on this awful specW cle and trace its countless myriads through all their history, they will see as clearly and feel with as deep a sensibility as those who are saved under the pre- sent dispensation, what the sin and misery are from which they are exempted, and what the riches and glory of the love, and wisdom, and might, are to which they owe their blissful stations in the king- dom of Christ. The office the present economy is to fill to that which is to follow it, is thus an explanation and a justification of it. It furnishes an ample reason for the administration God is now exercising, and invests those of his measures which would otherwise seem enshrouded in darkness, with the light of wisdom and grace. That he should overrule the rebellion and perishing of such crowds through a long series of ages in such a manner as to prepare the w^ay for his saving the race at large that thereafter comes into existence through eternal years, bespeaks a greatness and grandeur of goodness and skill that transcends the grasp of creatures, and must forever be contem- plated by them with wonder and adoration. It is to 92 OP MEN NOW IS TO PEEP ARE THE WAY this that the apostle refers, Eom. xi. 32-36. On an- nouncing the great truth, that God in the present dispensation, concludes all, both Jews and Gentiles, in unbelief in order that hereafter at the coming of Christ, he may have mercy on all of both classes for- ever, he exclaims : '^ the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How un- searchable are his judgments, and his ways past find- ing out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ; or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again ? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things ; to whom be glory forever." The wonder- fulness and glory of it so transcending the thoughts of creatures, lie thus in the fact that the blindness, unbelief, and perishing of Jews and Gentiles on so vast a scale under the present economy, are in order to God's having mercy upon all of both classes that come into being thereafter. Take away that office it is to fill in respect to the coming dispensation, and its riches of all comprehensive intelligence and wis- dom vanish ! But that subserviency which is to stretch through eternal ages, and contribute to the redemption of such countless millions of beings, in- vests it with a grandeur of love and skill that is worthy of Jehovah, and commensurate with the in- terests of his boundless kingdom. This office of the present administration, and the momentous influence it is to exert on God's future sway, impart an awful significance to the evil ac- TO SAVE FUTURE GENERATIONS WITHOUT TRIAL. 93 tions of men under it, and a lofty dignity to their obedience. With what immeasurable grandeur it invests the humbleness, patience, meekness, submis- sion, love, faith, and steadfastness of the renewed, in their seasons of sharp trial, that they are to prepare the way for their pardon and acceptance, by the proofs they present that God acts according to truth in treating them as indubitably his children ! What an august place is assigned them among the means by which he is to accomplish his purposes of grace, that by the demonstrations they exhibit of his power, sovereignty, and love, and the reality of their recon- ciliation to him whom he accepts, they are to super- sede the necessity of subjecting the race in future ages to such trials, and render it practicable and wise to bestow salvation on all! This great truth was understood and felt by the disciples of the first age, and inspired them with fortitude under the af- flictions to which they were called. It was the com- mon sentiment of the apostles and early martyrs, that trials were to be welcomed, rather than shunned. — ^* Count it all joy when ye fall into divers tempta- tions ; knowing that the trying of your faith work- eth patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." " Blessed is the man that endureth temp- tation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." 94 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE CHAPTER IX. THE AIM OF Christ's reign on the throne of heaven, the UNION OF ALL THE UNFALLEN ORBS WITH THIS REDEEMED WORLD IN ONE EMPIRE UNDER HIS SWAY. The administration Christ is now exercising on the throne of heaven, is designed, we are taught, to make the inhabitants of other worlds acquainted with his work as Eedeemer, and is preparatory to a new dis- pensation over this, under which all nations are to be redeemed. The great purpose God is pursuing, the Scriptures represent, is to bring the whole universe of intelligent creatures — with the exception of the fallen angels, and those of our race who shall be lost — into one har- monious and perfect empire under the sceptre of Christ. Those of the unfallen worlds are placed under his rule as Jehovah-man, and led to know and ac- knowledge him in that nature, and yield a willing and joyous obedience to his sway, and glorify him in his work as the Redeemer of men ; and those of this world also are on his institution of a new dispensation, to be raised to a level in holiness with those unfallen THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 95 worlds, and do his will thereafter on earth as it is done in heaven. Thus Paul says, " He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his own good plea- sure which he purposed in himself, — in the economy, (peculiar plan of administration) of the fulness of the times, to bring together again in one, (empire) all in Christ — those in the heavens, and those upon the earth/' The all in the heavens and upon the earth, are all the intelligent inhabitants of those worlds, to the exclusion of the fallen angels and the lost of man- kind, who will then no longer be inhabitants either of heaven or of earth. This is seen from their dis- crimination from the heavens — the heavenly orbs, in which the one class resides, and from the earth upon which the other dwells. It is shown moreover by the explanation which is given Colos. i. 20, of the nature of this union of the all in heaven in one under Christ, as a conciliation of them to God under him ; that is, bringing them to a filial acquiescence in his rule over them in his human nature ; and Phil. ii. 6-11, where it is exhibited as the bending of every knee of those in the heavens and on earth and under the earth, and the confession of every tongue — which are acts of in- telligences — that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Their being all reunited with the inhabitants of the earth in one, therefore, will be their union in one harmonious empire under Christ, in which all will recognize him in his complex nature, and in his authority as Messiah, as their rightful King, 96 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE tlio just object of their homage and allegiance, and will according to their several natures and spheres render him a glad, adoring, and perfect obedience. The union of the inhabitants of the lieavenly ivorlds under Christ, is accomplished by his exaltation to the throne of heaven, and investiture with supreme au- thority over them. Thus, the apostle says that on his rising from the dead, the Father " set him at his own right hand in the heavenly worlds ; far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all under his feet, and given him to be head over all to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fiUeth all in all.'' Eph. i. 20-23. By this exaltation to supreme authority over them, they are brought into the most intimate connection with him m his twofold nature and office as Redeemer ; made acquainted with his work as such, and called to recognize and serve him as their rightful Lord. This subjection to him is not a change from revolt to obedience, but simply a change in their relations, and a recognition of him in his new relations to them, as Jehovah incar- nate, the Redeemer of mankind, their Creator and rightful ruler, acquiescence in his sway in that char- acter, and glorification of him therefore as having the rights which he assumes in the work of redemption, and as accomplishing the ends at which he aims in it. It was, accordingly, because of his incarnation and death in behalf of mankind, we are taught, that he is THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 97 exalted to supreme dominion over them ; and its ob- ject is to bring them to a knowledge and acknowl- edgment of him in his union to man and work as Re- deemer, and love and adoration of him in that office. Though " being in the form of God, and thinking it no violent grasping — (no usurpation of the divine rights) to be equal with God, he yet made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross : Wherefore, (because of this assumption of man's nature and death for his redemption,) God has high- ly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those of the heavens, and of those of the earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'' Phil. ii. 5-11. The very object of his investiture with the sceptre of the heavenly worlds thus is, to bring all the orders of intelligent beings that dwell in them to a full knowledge and acknowl- edgment of him the incarnate Jehovah as their right- ful Lord, as possessing the prerogatives he claims, and as adequate to the work he undertakes. And as their recognition of him is willing, filial, and adoring ; a glad acquiescence in his rule, and approval of his work as Saviour, it is that union in one under him as their head that is expressed Eph. i. 9-10, by their being in the fulness of the times gathered together, 5 98 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIG-N IS TO UNITE with mankind upon tlie earth, into one empire under him. The whole universe of God^s holy subjects in the heavenfy worlds, is thus brought into the most intimate relations to him, and made acquainted with his deity, his adequacy to his oflBce, and the right- eousness, wisdom, and grace of his work, so as to yield an admiring and rapturous submission to his sway, and justify and glorify the Father for appoint- ing him to the work. This union of the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds, with those of the earth, in one empire under Christ, is exhibited in Colossians as a conciliation, and has been thought by some to indicate that a de- gree of alienation from God, or doubt of the rectitude and wisdom of his ways, exists in the orders of the heavenly orbs. But that is an error. The language of the passage is, " For it pleased God that in him all fulness should dwell, and through him to reconcile all unto himself (bring them to a knowledge of him as the Eedeemer, acquiescence in his work as such, and ado- ration and love of him for it,) he having made peace through the blood of his cross — through him, whether those upon the earth, or those in the heavenly worlds. '' Chap. i. 19, 20. This conciliation is plainly not a change of character in the heavenly hosts, but simply of relations, and a filial acquiescence in the new ad- ministration under which they are placed ; an adoring recognition of its rightfulness and beneficence, and a glorification of Christ and the Father for the wisdom and goodness which it displays. The verb translated THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 99 reconcile, does not necessarily mean a change from alienation to love, from revolt to obedience, but sim- ply a change from one state, or relationship, to ano- ther ; and only denotes in this passage, so far as re- spects the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds, that they assent with joyous and adoring affections to the new relations in which they are placed by the exaltation of Christ to supreme authority over them. And as the elevation of the Word in union with the man Christ Jesus, to that station, investiture with all the rights of the deity, and requirement that all the or- ders of intelligences should worship him in that union with man, and yield obedience to his sceptre, are among the greatest and most wondrous acts of the divine administration towards creatures ; so their bending in submission to him in that nature, worship- ping him as Creator and Lord, and glorifying the Father for investing him with authority over them, are the greatest and most wonderful acts of allegiance that holy creatures can be conceived to render ; and are lofty in beauty and resplendence in them, as well as refulgent in the glory they reflect on God. This union of the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds in one empire under Christ took place doubt- less immediately after his ascension, A knowledge of his investiture with supreme authority over them, must have been then communicated to them, and of the new and peculiar duties to which they were call- ed by the new relations in which they were placed to him. It was shown indeed to the ani2:clic orders 100 THE AIM OF CHRIST^S REIGN IS TO UNITE who were in the divine presence by his exaltation it- self ; and doubtless by revelation also. It must have been made known also to all the other orders of the heavenly orbs, either by revelation, by the ministry of angels, or by the appearance of Christ himself to them, and not improbably in each of those ways. It may have been first by revelation, as it was first made known to the apostles and prophets, after Christ^s ascension. Additional information respect- ing it and the events that have taken place in the heavenly realms and on the earth, may have been communicated from time to time by messengers ; as angels have often been sent to our world to unfold the purposes of God, and give instruction respecting his will. But Christ has not improbably revealed himself to the inhabitants of his innumerable worlds, allowed them to behold him in his incarnate and glo- rified nature, received from them a direct homage, and given them to meet his smile, and hear the ac- cents of acceptance and blessing from his lips. And this vast work, requiring ages for its full accomplish- ment, rather than merely a few years, may be one reason that so long a period has intervened between his ascension, and his return to the earth w^hen he is to bring the family of man also into a like perfect and blissful subjection to his sway. That his exaltation to the throne of heaven, and conciliation of all the orders of unfallen creatures to his sceptre, is intimately connected with and prepar- atory to the full reconciliation of the inhabitants of THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 101 our world to him, is also clearly revealed in these and other passages. For the intelligent beings who are to be brought together in one empire under him, consist of two divisions : first, those in the heavenly orbs ; and second, those that dwell on the earth ; in- cluding all intelligences in the universe therefore, ex- cept the fallen angels, and the lost of mankind, who are not comprised in those divisions, inasmuch as at the time to which this passage, Eph. i. 9, 10, refers, they will not be inhabitants either of the heavenly worlds, or of the earth. The time when the reconcili- ation of the inhabitants of the earth is to be accom- plished, so that they will become a part of his obedi- ent empire, is still future, and future to the present dispensation over men ; for it is to take place under the administration of the fulness of the times ; and that is to follow the present dispensation over this world, which is the time of the Gentiles, and dur- ing which Israel continues in blindness and under the curse of exile and dispersion. Most of the Gen- tile nations remain unapprized of the gospel and pay their worship to idols ; and the church itself has in a great measure apostatized from Christ, instituted a new sacrifice for sin, and pays its homage to crea- tures. But the accession of the inhabitants of the earth to Christ's obedient empire is to take place after the blindness of Israel, and the apostasy of the Gen- tiles have passed, and he comes the second time unto salvation ; for it is then that he is to turn away un- godliness from Jacob, and all Israel sliall bo saved ; 102 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite and then that the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and he shall have mercy upon all, Romans xi. 25- 32 ; Amos ix. 8-15 ; Acts xv. 14-18. What the restoration of the inhabitants of the earth to God's holy empire under Christ is to be, is more fully explained by Paul, Eph. iii. 2-11, " Ye have heard of the dispensation (scheme of adminis- tration) of the grace of God which is given (commu- nicated) to me to you-ward ; that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I have already written briefly (chap. i. 8-11,) whereby when j^e read, ye may see my knowledge (that it is exact and com- prehensive) of the mystery of Christ, which in other ages w^as not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, (namely,) that the Gentiles should he fel- loio heirs and of the same lody, andfelloiu j^artaJcers of the jpromise in Christ through the gosjoel ; whereof I was made a minister, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and make all men see what the economy (the administrative plan,) of the mystery is which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all in Christ, to the intent that noio unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly worlds might be known through the church, the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose which he pur- posed in Christ.'^ The plan which had not before been revealed of Christ's administration over this world in the fulness of the times, is thus stated to be THE UNFALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 103 the plan of making the Gentiles fellow heirSj and fel- low partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel. Who then are those with whom they are to be fellow heirs ; and what are the promises of which they are to be fellow partakers ? The answer is — It is with the Israelites that they are to be fellow heirs, and of the promises made to them in Christ through the gospel that they are to be fellow partakers ; and thence it is by their becoming fellow heirs and par- takers with them of the blessings promised them in Christ, that the whole inhabitants of the earth are to be restored from their alienation, brought into perfect subjection to Christ, and incorporated in the one perfect empire under him. What then are the peculiar blessings promised to the Israelites, of which they are thus to become par- takers? 1. The first great promise is, that God vv^ill be their God, and they shall be his people. '' The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect, and I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee." Genesis xvii. 1, 7. "And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.'' Jer- emiah XXX. 22. 2. That Christ should at length ap- pear and reign over them as their King. " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and tlie gov- ernment shall be upon his slioulder, and liis namo shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mi^'litv 104 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government 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 with justice from henceforth even for ever more/' Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 14-18. 3. That under his reign over them they should all be perfectlj sanctified and crowned with safety and happiness. — " This is the covenant that I will make w^ith the house of Israel. After those days — (the days of their dis- persion) — saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and w^U be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the great- est of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." — Jeremiah xxxi. 33, 34 ; Isaiah xi. 9 ; Ixv. 17-25. 4. That they should continue in holiness and happiness under his reign through an endless series of genera- tions. " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in nay statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 105 to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezek. xxxvi. 24-28. " 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, tliey^ and their children, and their children's children forever ; and my servant David shall be their prince forever." Ezek. xxxvii. 25, 20- 24 ; 26-28. These are the great blessings that were promised to the Israelites in the glad tidings in Christ, and they are the blessings therefore of which the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs, and fellow parta- kers under him. That they are to share in them under his reign is, accordingly, clearly taught in other passages in the New Testament. Thus, 1st, that the Gentiles are to be his- people and he is to be their God, is foreshown Rev. xxi. 3. On the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven, a great voice was heard, saying, " Behold the tabernacle of God is f^era TQv dvOp^TTov, with mankind, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and he will be their God.'' 2d. Christ is to reign over them as their King. " And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The king- dom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign through the ages of ages." Eev. xi. 15. 3. They are all to be perfectly holy and blessed. " Who should not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy name ? For thou only art holy ; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee, be- cause thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. xv. 4. 106 THE AIM OF Christ's reign is to unite " And the nations shall walk in the light of it, (the New Jerusalem), and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day (night indeed there is none there), and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.'' Rev. xxi. 24-26. 4. — And they are to continue holy and happy under his reign like the Israelites, generation after generation forever. " God will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes : and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.'' Rev. xxi. 3-5. " And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse : but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads, and they shall reign forever and ever." Rev. xxii. 1-5. And Paul indi- cates in connection with the passage we have quoted in respect to the purpose of God thus to make the Gentiles fellow heirs with the Israelites of the pro- THE UNF ALLEN AND REDEEMED IN ONE EMPIRE. 107 raises made to them, that the glory of redemption is to redonnd to God in the church through all the gener- tions of the age of the ages," in which he exhibits the church as to continue in successive generations for- ever. " Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly- above all which we ask or think, according to the power which worketh in us ; to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all the generations of the age of ages, amen." Eph. iii. 20, 21. Of these great blessings then the Gentiles are to be fellow heirs and partakers with the Israelites ; and it is by their being together thus freed from sin and its penalties, and brought into one community of per- fectly redeemed persons that the inhabitants of the earth are to be reconciled to God, and admitted into the holy and happy empire under Christ, into which are to be gathered all the other orders of obedient creatures in the universe. Such is the great scheme of administration which Paul calls the mystery of God's purpose, by which, on the one side, all the hosts of the unfallen worlds are to become the willing, joyous, and adoring subjects of Christ's sceptre ; and the inhabitants of this sphere, on the other, are to be restored from their fallen con- dition to perfect holiness and blessedness under his reign over them, and the race again admitted as fit members of his holy empire. No wonder the apostle contemplated this great scheme of the redemption of our world with such fervid interest ! No wonder that he regarded the revelation of it, after having been 108 THE AIM OF CHRIST IS TO UNITE ALL THE HOLY. hid in God from eternity, as forming a new era in the history of the earth and of heaven ! No wonder that he felt that the knowledge of it is essential to a just understanding of Christ's work : that it is only in the light of it, that the riches of the wisdom, power, and grace which it displays can be seen ; and that a gleam is obtained of the boundlessness and grandeur of the results that are to spring from it. It is thus seen that the administration Christ is now exercising on the throne of heaven, has a special re- ference to other orders of intelligences, and is prepa- ratory to a new dispensation over this world, under which he is to reign here in person, restore the race from its fallen condition to holiness and happiness, and admit it to a place in the spotless and blissful empire in which his holy subjects are to be united. THE ORDERS OF INTELLIGENCES INNUMERABLE. 109 CHAPTER X. THE NUMBERLESSNESS OF RANKS AND HOSTS OVER WHOM CHRIST IS EXALTED ; THE WHOLE CIRCUIT OF THE ORBS PEOPLED BY INTEIr LIGENCES. Are the inhabitants of the heavenly orbs, however, of such rank and numbers as to invest the exaltation of Christ over them with high importance ? Is there reason to believe that the worlds generally that wheel through the boundless realms of space, are the abodes of intelligent beings ? This has of late been denied, and under the pretext of science ; but against the dictates of reason and the teachings of the divine word. Though the Scriptures do not give us any minute information respecting the natures and num- bers of the intelligences that inhabit other parts of the universe, they teach expressly and abundantly that there are numerous orders of intelligences, be- sides those of our race, and indicate that the orbs generally are occupied by them. Thus God in his answer to Job out of the whirl- wind, represents that there wore stars that Averc oc- cupied by intelligences, and sons of God, the tenants 110 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES probably of other worlds, that had a knowledge of the creation of our earth, that sang adoration and thanksgiving to him for it, and probably a joyous welcome to the pair who were made possessors of the new-formed sphere. *^ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth ? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner-stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?*' Chap, xxxviii. 4-7. The morning stars were the stars in the eastern sky when at the fiat of the Almighty the earth leaped into being, and met the first flash of the sun's rays. They were a vast host then, whether they belonged to our cloud of worlds, or to others stationed in the distant realms of space ; and were peopled with in- telligences who either witnessed, or were made ac- quainted with the birth of the new group of worlds to which our earth belongs. There were sons of God also, intelligences of different and perhaps inferior orders, to whom information of the creation of our heavens and earth may have been communicated by angelic messengers, and they also through all their ranks shouted for joy. This passage breathed from the lips of Jehovah himself, thus announces to us that there was a material universe in existence ante- rior to the creation of our heavens and earth, and occupied by intelligences of various orders ; that this IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. Ill new creation was made known to them, and that they sang homage to the Almighty for the work, and shout- ed congratulation to the happy beings formed in his image who were to be its tenants ; and it implies that the number of those heavenly intelligences was immense. That there were other intelligences besides our first parents, both sinful and holy, in existence at the fall, is shown by the fact that it was through the agency of the great fallen arch-angel that Eve was betrayed into sin ; and that holy beings of an order called Cherubim were stationed at the gate of Para- dise on the expulsion of Adam and Eve to prevent their return there. Of the existence of angelic intelligences, and of their frequent visits to our world on offices of mercy or judgment, and agencies in the administration of providence, we have ample testimonies in the Scrip- tures. They appeared to Abraham. They delivered Lot out of Sodom. A host of them met Jacob on his return from Padanaram. An angel destroyed tho people of Israel with a pestilence, because of David's sin in numbering them. An angel destroyed tho army of Senacherib. When the king of Syria at- tempted to seize Elisha, a host of horses and clmriots of fire filled the mountains around him ; and the chari- ots of God, we are told by the Psalmist, are twenty thousand, and thousands of angels ; and they encamp round about them that fear him, and deliver them out of their troubles. An an^el announced to Mary that 112 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES she should be the mother of the Saviour ; and a host of angels sang his birth to the shepherds. Angels ministered unto him after his temptation ; an angel strengthened him in his agony in the garden ; an angel rolled the stone from the sepulchre at his re- surrection ; and angels at his ascension proclaimed his return from heaven in like manner to the earth at a future time. That there not only are angels, but of various ranks, and great numbers, is amply taught in the Bible. Thus they are distinguished by the different titles of principalities, authorities, powers, dominions, and thrones, Eph. i. 20 ; Col. i. 16; which denote that they are of different orders and spheres of service. And that their hosts are immense is indicated by the vision of the Ancient of days, Dan. vii. 9, 10, and of the Father and the Lamb, Rev. v. In the former a thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousands ten-thousands, that is a myriad of myriads, stood before him. These numbers are indefinite, in- asmuch as the number of the thousands that were re- peated a thousand times, and the number of myriads that were repeated a myriad of times are not speci- fied. They may have been many thousands, and many myriads. Taking the number of thousands to be multiplied by a thousand at the lowest number, two =2000, and the thousand thousands were 2,000,- 000, and taking the myriads that are to be multiplied by a myriad, in like manner at two myriads, 20,000, and multiplied by 10,000, they are 200,000,000. There IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 113 were at the lowest number therefore that the lan- guage can express, two hundred and two millions of angels present on that occasion. But in the vision, Eev. V. 11, of the reception by the Lamb of the seal- ed book from the Father there were thousands of thousands, and myriads of myriads present, which at the lowest numbers the terms can express, were four hundred and four millions ; and they may have been many times that number : thousands and myriads of millions. Great, however, as their numbers were, they are not to be regarded as all the angels of God, but only as representatives of the immeasurably greater numbers of their orders ; in the same manner as the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders were representatives pf all of our race who had been redeemed out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, amounting probably to many millions ; and as other symbols in the Apocalypse, such as the horsemen of the seals, the woman clothed with the sun, the angel clothed with a cloud, the wild beast of ten horns, the two witnesses, and the woman Babylon, represent great combinations and succes- sions of men. And if used in that relation, how im- mense the hosts to which they belong ? The revela- tion was made to them as truly as it was to the apostle John, and they may have borne no greater proportion to the countless millions of their orders, than John did to the vast crowds of mankind to whom through him the revelation has been connnu- nicated. 114 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES But angels are not the only order of intelligences in the heavenly worlds, as is clearly indicated by their titles, thrones, dominions, principalities, pow- ers, and authorities, which are the names of poten- tates who exercise authority over other intelligences, and indicate therefore that there are other ranks of intelligences inferior to them in nature, that are placed under their sway. And this is signified also by the name angel : which is the name of their office or function. Angel is literally a messenger. But a messenger, that is, an intelligence bearing a message such as the will or command of God, is of course a messenger to an intelligence or to intelligences. A spiritual being bearing a communication from a spir- itual being, is not sent to stocks and stones, to un- conscious unintelligent matter. From the nature of his office those to whom he is a bearer of messages must be intelligent beings. The fact, therefore, that there is such an order of intelligences, and of such countless numbers, is itself a direct proof that there are other orders of intelligent beings of inferior na- tures, of infinitely greater numbers ; and makes it probable accordingly that the whole circuit of worlds that fill the realms of space are peopled by such races and ranks. And this is confirmed by several passages which exhibit the universe of worlds as occupied by hosts that worship God. Such is Nehemiah ix. 6. ^'Thou, thou art Jehovah alone. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their hosts ; the earth, IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 115 and all that are therein ; the seas, and all that are therem ; and thou preservest them all : and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." ^' Heaven," and " the heaven of heavens," are not space ; for space is not created ; but the material worlds, the countless orbs that fill the immeasurable realms of space ; and their host is their intelligent inhabitants. This is seen from their discrimination from the orbs themselves. The creation of their host is exhibited as a different act from the creation of the worlds themselves, in the same manner as the creation of the organized and living things of the earth and the sea, was a different work from the creation of the earth itself. And their host worships Jehovah, which is the act only of intel- ligent beings. The passage thus teaches that the vast train of worlds that wheel their circuits in the heights and depths around us, considered as one, have an intelligent population, that belongs to them as one, that is distributed therefore throughout their groups, and that worships Jehovah. In other words, the vast circuit of w^orlds that surrounds us, is peo- pled by intelligences, that vary in nature according to the spheres which they occupy, and that pay a joyous and adoring homage to God. There is a similar indication of this great truth in Psalm cxlviii. 2-4, where the angels are distinguished from the other hosts of Jehovah, and both from the material worlds which they inhabit. ^'Praise ye him all his angels, praise ye him all his hosts. Praise ye him sun and moon ; praise him all ye stars of light. 116 THE RANKS AND HOSTS OF INTELLIGENCES Praise him ye heaven of heavens'^ — the worlds that wheel in the remote regions of space — "and ye waters that are above the heavens," the clouds that float in the heights of our atmosphere. As " his hosts'' thus differ both from the orbs in which they reside, and from the angels, who bear messages from God to other ranks of his subjects, they are intelligences of a different order from angels, and are as numerous doubtless in their families, as the worlds are that are fitted for their residence. This is still more clearly intimated in Psalm ciii. 19-21 : " The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord all his hosts, his ministers that do his will. Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion.'' Here the angels mighty in strength are distinguished from his other hosts of servants. They are his messengers, who listen for the voice of his command, and bear his will with mighty energy to the orders of intelligences to whom he sends them. All his hosts of ministers who do his will, are distinguished not only from the angels ex- celling in strength who are his messengers, but also from all his works in all places of his dominion or empire ; and they either denote all the other orders of intelligences in the universe, or else which seems more probable, those orders who are intrusted with authority in the different parts of the divine king- IN THE UNIVERSE INNUMERABLE. 117 dom over races or ranks of inferior natures, who are in that relation his ministers and do his will ; and are the ranks denoted in the New Testament by thrones, and principalities, and powers, and authorities, and dominions, who probably never leave the spheres of their authority and pass like angels to other orbs, or to the divine presence. And if that be the class to which all his hosts of ministers belong, then all his works, all he has created, that is, all his creatures in all places of his dominion, are all inferior orders of intelligences throughout his illimitable realms ; and this is indicated by their discrimination from the places, that is the worlds in which they exist. The passage thus clearly teaches that there a.re hosts of intelligences of different orders from the angels, and that they are distributed throughout the range of the material universe. We have thus the most ample proof from the word of God that the whole circuit of worlds, that wheel around us daily, is peopled by intelligences of various orders, and that the exaltation therefore of Christ over them, by which they are brought to recognize and worship him in his union with our nature, is an event of the utmost significance, and bespeaks in a most impressive manner the greatness of his work in our behalf, and the vastness and grandeur of the re- sults that are to spring from it. With wliat joy must the hosts of those unfallen worlds welcome his reign over them ! With what rapture must his presence, if he visits their sinless abodes in liis glorified form, 118 THE ORDERS OP INTELLIGENCES INNUMERABLE. fill their hearts I What chants of love and adora- tion, must burst from their lips as they feel the bliss of his smile ; as they contemplate the progress of his reign, by which not only all the holy races and ranks of the universe are united in one happy empire, but man himself is to be freed from the dominion and curse of sin, and the earth again admitted to wheel in harmony among the unfallen worlds though eternal ages! ALL BEINGS ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 119 CHAPTER XI. THE INHABITANTS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLDS ARE MADE ACQUAINTED WITH THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. That a knowledge of the work of redemption is communicated to all orders of intelligences, and that they are greatly influenced by it, is clear from the fact that Christ is exalted to the throne of the uni- verse, and that all intelligent creatures are required to recognize and worship him in that station as their Lord and Creator. For in order to their acknow^ledg- ment of him in his two-fold nature as Jehovah the Word, and glorifying the Father for appointing him to his mediatorship and investing him with authority over them, they must be made acquainted with the reason of his incarnation, the nature of his w^ork as Saviour, and the issues that are to spring from it. — Their homage to be suited on the one side, to their rectitude and wisdom as holy intelligences, and on the other, to the majesty of his perfections, and the grandeur of the redemption he accomplishes, must be founded on a knowledge of what he does and is to do in his office, in all its relations, and a sense of the infi- nite wisdom and love and power which it displays. 120 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE 1. It implies, therefore, that they are made ac- quainted with the nature of the beings for whose re- demption he became incarnate, suffered death, and is exalted to the throne of the universe. To understand his work, they must know the peculiarities of man as an intelligent creature, the rank he holds among the various orders of God^s rational subjects, the law under which he was originally placed, his apostasy, the condition of alienation and misery to which it brought him, and the death and endless ruin which it draws in its train. How else could they appreciate the depth of Christ's condescension ; the wonders of his love ? 2. They must be made aware of the various forms which sin assumes in mankind, the debasing influences it exerts on them, and the miseries with which it overwhelms them ; and this requires that they should know the peculiarities of man's nature by which he has offspring ; the relationships in which he is placed, such as those of the family and of social and civil soci- ety, out of which his duties spring ; the laws that are imposed on him by God, and the providence that is exercised over him. How else can they understand what the duties of men are, what the temptations are by which they are assailed, and w^hat the motives are that should restrain them from evil, and prompt them to good? 3. They are made acquainted with the course of God's administration over mankind, and their conduct under it ; their universal revolt from his sway ; the ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST'S WORK. 121 awful senselessness and impiety of their false reli- gions ; the eagerness and passion with which they have worshipped as gods the great objects of nature, idols, demonSj beasts and reptiles ; the ferocious pas- sions that have reigned in their breasts toward each other, and the infuriate slaughters and miseries they have inflicted on each other in battles, in the sack of cities, in the devastation of fields, and in consigning the conquered and helpless to bondage and toil; and all the countless atrocities that mark their history. — For how else can they understand the amazing de- basement to which mankind have sunk ; the selfishness and malignity of their affections toward each other ; and the boundless miseries they have inflicted on one another for the gratification of their pride, their ava- rice, their ambition, and their revenge ? Of all the spectacles this world exhibits, there is none, perhaps, that strikes the holy inhabitants of other orbs with deeper astonishment and horror, than tlie ceaseless wars which men wage with one another ; their thirst for each other's blood, and the fiendish joy with which they consign each other by thousands and millions to slaughter on the battle field, and count their prowess and skill in destroying each other of their chief glory. It is in this part of his history that it is seen what an enemy man is to himself, as it is in his worship of de- mons, idols and reptiles, Avhat an alien he is from God. 4. They must understand the scope of Christ's me- • diatorial work ; the reasoas of his incarnation ; the ofiice of his death ; the principle on Avhicli jnstifica- 122 THE INHABITANTS OP ALL WORLDS ARE tion is granted through him ; the power by which men are renewed ; the relations to him into which the renewed and pardoned are brought ; and the im- mortal life of holiness and blessedness to which they are to be exalted. For how else can they see that the method of salvation is worthy of God ; that he maintains in- it his righteousness and truth, while he exer'cises his mercy ; that he secures and advances the well-being of all his unfallen subjects, while he restores countless hosts of the fallen to holiness and happiness ? 5. They must know what the reception is which Christ^s mediation has met from mankind ; the blind- ness and aversion with which it has been disbelieved and rejected ; the disdain and hatred with which jus- tification and life through his blood are spurned ; the boldness and impiety with which the doctrines and rites of his religion are perverted, and blended with false worships, the pride and audacity with which his office and rights as mediator are usurped; and the rage and malignity with which his followers are hated, persecuted, and slain. For how else can they see what an enemy to God man is, and what obstacles are to be overcome to accomplish his restoration to love, obedience, and bliss? 6. They must know something of the great purposes of God respecting the redemption which is to be ac- complished through Christ ; the office of the present administration under which men are put to trial, and led to show their hopeless alienation ; the dispensa- ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 123 tion that is to follow this, when Christ is to come, assume the empire of the world, and bring all nations to partake of his salvation ; and the endless round of ages through which his redemptive work is to be con- tinued. For how else can they appreciate the riches of the wisdom and love which it displays, and the grandeur of the results that are to spring from it ? The homage, in short, of these august beings, ex- alted in intelligence, delight in God, and interest in the wonders of his reign immeasurably above his chil- dren here, must in order to accord with the dignity of their nature and their relations to him, be founded on a just and comprehensive view of Christ's work, the ruin from which he rescues man, and the glory to which he exalts him. And the fulness of their knowledge and the glow of love and adoration with which it inspires them, are beautifully indicated in the ascriptions of the angelic hosts on his assumption in the Apocalypse of the office of revealer to the church of the scheme of his administration over the world. "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels in the circuit round the throne and of the living crea- tures, and of the elders, and their number was myri- ads of myriads, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb w^ho was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing,'^ Rev. v. 11, 12. These ascriptions thus include every title to authority and homage that belongs to God. They are acknowledgments of the Lamb as Jehovah, and 124 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE as having in his work as Redeemer exercised his rights and displayed his love in a manner worthy of his injfinite perfections, and that places the loftiest of his intelligent subjects under obligation to adore and glorify him. His worth is commensurate with his station and his claims. He has a title to all the hon- ors they can render him. And this bespeaks a know- ledge of his whole work ; of the character and condi- tion of those for whom he died ; of the wisdom, righteousness, and grace of the method of their re- demption ; of the power by which they are regene- rated ; of the means by which they are sanctified and made to verify their renovation in obedient lives; of the rewards with which they are to be crowned ; and of the scheme of administration he is to pursue through his eternal reign. For how other- wise can they know that there is no defect in his pro- cedure ? How, if without the assurance of an actual acquaintance with it ; how, if left in uncertainty and darkness, could they offer him such positive ascrip- tions of infinite worthiness ; and how could that homage meet his acceptance, as the offspring of their intellects and hearts, prompted by an intimate in- spection and comprehension of his ways ? For they are not merely spectators of his administration, but have in every age had a share in conducting it, and filled important offices in the protection of those who are saved, and in the punishment of those who per- ish. And this indicates again the office which the ex- ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 125 emplifications that have hitherto taken place under the divine administration fill. For how could the angelic orders have such a knowledge of the wisdom, righteousness, and grace of Christ^s work ; how could they know what the condition of man is ; the depth of his alienation from God ; and the greatness of the power, and pity, and love that are requisite to his redemption ; and the holiness, wisdom, and gracious- ness of all the methods that are employed for his de- liverance ; if no such experiment as has been wrought in the divine administration through the six thou- sand years of his existence, had been made of man, and of the means of his restoration to holiness, in which all the great facts on which the work of salva- tion proceeds are so shown forth and verified, as to give those lofty intelligences a perfect comprehen- sion of it ? Their information is real and direct ; not derived and founded on testimony. It was obtained by the actual observation of mankind and God's gov- ernment over them, not received by revelation. For they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. i. 13- 14. " The Mosaic law was ordained in their hands we are told,'' Gal. iii. 19 ; and the world in the pre- sent age, it seqms to be indicated, Heb. ii. 5, is sub- ject to them, or the sphere of their special ministry. They gather their knowledge accordingly by an ac- tual presence in the scene, the exercise of a ceaseless ministry of mercy or of judgment, and the direct ob- servation of the great exhibitions which it presents 126 THE INHABITAIJJT3 OF ALL WORLDS ARE of man and of God. And how clear again it is in the light of this fact, that a time will at length arrive, when these exemplifications of man's heart, will reach a vastness and completeness that will be commensu- rate with the needs of the universe, so that they may thereafter be discontinued, and renovation and re- demption be extended to all the nations and families of the earth, without any danger that it will not be justly understood, and the honor and glory that are due for it given to God. The exaltation of Christ to the throne of the uni- verse, and subjection of all the orders of holy beings to his sway, is thus a most important feature in his mediatorial work, and bespeaks in a sublime manner its infinite significance. Every holy being in the universe has a personal interest in it. Every holy intelligence, whatever may be his rank, the world he inhabits, or the sphere in which he acts, is made ac- quainted with it ; is brought into an intimate relation to the Son in his human nature ; and is called to re- cognize and adore him in it as Jehovah the Eternal Word, the Creator of all worlds and creatures, and the Saviour of sinful men. And in what a dazzling light it sets forth its spotless rectitude and the infi- nite riches of its wisdom and love, that it is thus submitted to the minute and searching inspection of all his moral subjects, and that the most piercing in- telligences in his empire — those towering beings whose glance is the deepest and most comprehen- sive — detect in it no defect, but only find in it fresh ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST^S WORK. 127 occasions of admiration of his boundless wisdom, and new and more transporting signals of the riches of his skill and love ! And how glorious it is to him that he thus makes it the means of advancing them to a higher knowledge of his perfections, and bind- ing them in a more indissoluble allegiance to his throne. And this indicates again that it is to have a great- ness far beyond what those who hold that the present is the last dispensation imagine. The salvation of but a mere fraction of the human family ; the interception of the work after the lapse of a few centuries more, and an administration like the present under which but here and there one is redeemed, would seem dis- proportioned to the attitude in which it is placed to the Avhole body of God's moral creatures ; and to the personal interest which all the obedient subjects of his empire are made to feel in it. It is onlj^ such a re- demption as he has foreshown in his word ; a redemp- tion of all nations and all individuals through an end- less round of ages and generations, that is in harmony with the place it occupies in God's government over the universe, and that is commensurate with the office it is to fill in manifesting his glory, and promoting the intelligence, the piety, and the happiness of his kingdom. And finally, what a vast scene of holy and blissful ministries of the higher ranks of intelligences to those of inferior orders, this great feature of Christ's work unfolds ! Angels are so formed that tlicr can descend 128 THE INHABITANTS OF ALL WORLDS ARE • from their heavenly abodes to our sphere and gain a knowledge of man^s ruin and redemption by a direct inspection of the condition and conduct of those who are under the power of sin, and of the renewed ; and the nature of the means by which the fetters of sin are broken, and the soul restored to holiness and bliss. But in the vast circuit of God's empire there are doubtless orders of beings whose natures, like ours, confine them to their own orbs, and who must therefore obtain their knowledge of Christ's work directly from him, or through other beings. — He probably reveals himself in person to all his holy creatures, and gives them directly to behold his glory and express their allegiance to him. But the full knowledge of his work must doubtless be communi- cated by fellow creatures who gain an acquaintance with the fall and redemption of our race by a direct vision of us, and whose nature allows them to visit other parts of God's empire, and communicate the intelligence they have acquired to the beings to whom they are sent. And what countless hosts must be requisite to perform that work to all the worlds inha- bited by intelligences through the vast circuit of his empire ! That high office is held by the angels ; and their numbers are equal to the missions, coextensive with the universe, which they are called to fill. Those who stood in a circle round the throne at the opening of the Apocalypse, chap. v. 11, amounted, the language of the vision indicates, to several hundreds, perhaps thousands of millions. Yet they were representa- ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST's WOEK. 129 tives of the immeasurably more numerous hosts of the orders, to which they belonged ; though perhaps of those only whose sphere lies within our nebula of worlds. How infinite the armies then that occupy the orbs allotted to their order through the boundless circuit of peopled space ! Who can deem it improba- ble that the holy dead may also after the resurrection, be assigned a share in this august and blissful office, and may make known by their own voice to the inha- bitants of myriads and millions of worlds, the won- drous manner in which Christ raised them from the thrall and curse of sin, and show the grandeur of his love to them in the splendors in which their outward nature is invested and the dignity of the stations in his kingdom which they fill ! 6* 130 Christ's throne in heaven, CHAPTER XII. Christ's throne in heaven, is not the throne of david. The predictions of the Old Testament respecting Christ's sway, most generally exhibit him as a King, who is to sit on the throne of David, and reign over the house of Israel. Such is the promise to David, 2 Samuel vii. 16. Such is the prophecy of Isaiah ix. 6, 7 : ''For unto us a child is born : unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoul- der : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- sellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his govern- ment 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 with justice from henceforth, even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah shall perform this.'^ Such is the prophecy of Jeremiah xxxiii. 14-16, and of Micah v. 2 ; and such also is the annunciation to Mary, Luke i. 30-33 : " Behold thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. And he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest : And the Lord God IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 131 shall give unto him the throne of his father David ; And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." It was accordingly, at first, the expectation of Christ's disci- ples that he would at once institute his kingdom in Judea, release the Israelites from the power of their enemies, and bring the nations into subservience to his sceptre. In his last interview with them, as he was about to ascend to heaven, they asked him, " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king- dom' to Israel ?" As then he immediately ascended to heaven, and entered on a reign over the universe, and instead of delivering the Israelites from the hands of the Gentiles, left them to be conquered afresh, driven into exile, and held in vassalage through a long tract of ages ; it is inferred by many that these pre- dictions of his reign on the throne of David and over the kingdom of Israel, are not literal predictions, but are mere representatives of the reign on the throne of heaven he is now exercising. The fact, accord- ingly, that those prophecies have had no literal fulfil- ment is regarded as a decisive proof that they are never to have such an accomplishment ; and indeed his reign on the throne of heaven is alleged as directly demonstrating that he is never to be enthroned on the earth, and that the belief held by Millenarians that he is yet to reign here, is mistaken. It is main- tained, even that if the literal sense of those prophe- cies were their true and only sense, their non-fulfil- ment for such a series of ages would prove that they 132 Christ's throne in heaven, are false, and overthrow the whole fabric of Christi- anity. Thus a recent writer alleges in the most earnest manner that to maintain that the throne of heaven, on which Christ now reigns, is not the throne of Da- vid, is in ejBfect to represent that the predictions, that he should reign on the throne of David and over the kingdom of Israel, can never have a fulfilment, and treat them as false, and thereby put an instrument into the hand of the sceptic by which he can, in his own conviction, overturn the whole structure of Christianity. He maintains, moreover, that the lite- ral accomplishment of those prophecies is impossible, on the assumption that if Christ were really to reign on the throne and over the kingdom of David, he would of necessity descend to a level with David, in his personal condition and the mode of his reign, which is inconsistent with his deity. Both of these impressions, however, are wholly un- authorized and mistaken. That Christ has not yet enthroned himself on Mount Zion, and reigned over the restored Israelites, is no proof that he cannot and will not at a future period ; any more than the fact that he has not yet redeemed Israel out of the hands of their enemies and recalled them to their ancient seat, is a proof that he is never to regather and estab- lish them in their own land ; or than the fact that he has not yet converted all the nations of the earth, is a proof that he is never to convert them. His long delay to return and assume the sceptre of the world, IS NOT THE THRONE OP DAYID. 133 is no more irreconcilable with his promises and pre- dictions, and no more against the expectations the church has very generally entertained, than his long delay is to come and overthrow the apostate powers that are making war on his saints, spread the light of the gospel throughont the earth, and bring all na- tions to accept his salvation. Nor does it any more follow that, if he reigns on the throne of David, he must be " a king on the earthly model of David,'' and " possess the outward forms and trappings of Jewish royalty,'' than it follows that he must be a mortal like David, sustain precisely the relations he did, and reign over exactly such subjects. Solomon's mode of reigning differed greatly from that of David. He erected a new and far more gorgeous throne ; he set it in a new palace ; he was surrounded by a different train of attendants ; his whole administration of the kingdom varied greatly from that of his father ) but that did not prove that he did not inherit his father's throne and kingdom. He reigned on his father's throne, because he succeeded to his empire and his authority. And so Christ will reign on the throne of his father David, and over the house of Jacob when he reigns in person on Mount Zion as the special king of that restored and redeemed people ; though he reigns in glory as God-man, and over all other na- tions and all other worlds. We might, moreover, confute, by a variety of considerations, the the- ory that the throne which is denominated David's is the throne of heaven on which Christ is now 134 Christ's throne in heaven, reigning, and DavicVs kingdom, the universe of worlds which forms Christ^s empire ; such as, first : That it is a gratuitous assumption. No proof whatever is given of it. Not a syllable can be alleged from the Scriptures, indicating that those kingdoms are identi- cal. Next : That it is a self-contradiction. The throne of heaven was not the throne of David ; the universe of worlds and creatures was not his empire. No er- ror can be greater than to imagine it. David no more reigned on the throne of heaven, or owned it and the infinite hosts of intelligences that bend in homage to Jehovah who reigns on it, than Saul owned them, or Jeroboam, Ahab, or any other prince of Israel. — Thirdly : That there is no figure or law of language by which the predictions that Christ should possess the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob, can mean that he should possess the throne of heaven and reign over all worlds and creatures. The two are wholly distinct, and wholly unlike. — Christ's right to the throne of the universe, and the reason of his reigning on it in his complex nature, have their ground exclusively in his deity. The only right to a throne which is transmitted to him from David, is a right to the throne of Israel ; a throne over that people in the natural life. Fourth- ly, That the fancy that these prophecies are sym- holical is wholly mistaken. They have not a sin- gle mark of symbolization. They are mere lan- guage prophecies, and are to be interpreted by the ordinary laws of speech. To treat them as symboli- IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 135 cal, is to involve them in inextricable contradiction and. absurdity, and make it impossible to assign them a credible meaning. For if David^s throne and king- dom are mere symbols of a throne and kingdom that differ wholly from themselves, then David himself must also be a mere symbol of some other personage than himself, and the house of Jacob must be a sym- bol of some other people than the descendants of Jacob. Who, then, is it that David represents ?• — No one, we presume, would quite feel justified in an- swering — It was God the Father ; yet it was he who gave Christ the throne of the universe. Eph. i. 19- 23 ; Phil. ii. 9-11 ; Col. i. 15-20. And whom does the house of Jacob symbolize ? Would any one deem it safe to answer — They are the holy inhabitants of the countless worlds wheeling in the realms of space over which Christ reigns ? Beside the revolting solecism of such a construction, it would be to con- tradict the interpretation that is placed on the house of Jacob, as a symbol of the Christian church. It is to confound and desecrate these prophecies to make David, a guilty creature, the symbol of the Most High, and the revolting, idolatrous, and debased Is- raelites the symbol of the spotless hosts of the hea- venly worlds. But it is not necessary to enter into these proofs that the throne of David is not the throne of heaven, nor the representative of it; nor the kingdom of Israel, the universe of creatures, or the symbol of it, over which Christ now reigns. The question is set- 136 Christ's throne in heaven, tied directly in the New Testament, by the express declaration that no revelation was made to mankind anterior to Christ's coming, that he was to be exalted to the throne of the universe, and exercise the gov- ernment over all orders of beings he is now adminis- tering. This great measure of the divine procedure was withheld from the ancient church. It was only revealed to the Israelites that the Messiah should be their king ; that he should be enthroned on Mount Zion ; that he should redeem them from their ene- mies ; that he should recall them from their disper- sion, and re-establish them in their own land ; that he should reign over them in glory and peace ; that aU nations should be subject to his sceptre, and that his kingdom should continue without end. That ere the redemption of Israel should be ac(iomplished ; that immediately after his offering himself a sacrifice, and rising from the dead, he was to ascend to the throne of heaven, and reign there through a long tract of ages, to make himself known in his complex nature and office as Redeemer to all the countless ranks of obedient creatures in the universe, receive their homage, and unfold to them his work and aims in the salvation of men — while, in the meantime, the earth was to continue the scene of false worships, apostasies of his professed people, and conflicts and miseries, much as it had been through all preceding ages — was kept concealed in the divine mind, till Christ had suffered and was about to ascend to hea ven. The promise, therefore, to Christ of the throne IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 137 of David and the kingdom of Israel, cannot have been a promise of the throne and kingdom of the universe ; inasmuch as if it were, it would have been a revela- tion that he was to ascend to the throne of heaven, and reign over the universe of worlds and creatures. But no such revelation having been made, this can- not have been a promise that he should reign on that heavenly throne, and over those worlds and creatures. That no revelation was made in the Old Testament, of the union of all worlds in one empire under Christ, is expressly affirmed by Paul, Ephesians i. 8-10. " He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and pru- dence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he pur- posed in himself, in the economy (that is, the peculiar administration) of the fulness of the times, to bring to- gether again in one (or reunite in one) the all in Christ — those in the heavens and those upon the earth.'' The all, " those in the heavens and those on the earth,'' are all intelligent beings of those divisions of the universe ; as is seen from their being distin- guished from the earth, the physical globe, and the heavens, the material orbs in which they dwell ; and from vs. 20, 21, in which those in the heavenly worlds are defined as principalities and powers, and mights and dominions, and eveiy name that is named, both in this age and that which is to come ; from Phil. ii. 6-11, where they are exhibited as beings that have knees that can bow, and tongues that can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father ; 138 Christ's throiv^e in heaven, and many other passages. To bring together in one in Christ these populations of all worlds, these infinite hosts of intelligences that fill the vast circle of orbs throughout the realms of space, is to unite them in one empire under him, the incarnate Word, their creator, upholder, and ruler, and our Lord and Re- deemer. It is to bring them into a direct relationship and subordination to him as God-man, in which on the one hand he, in his two-fold nature, is to reign over them in the rights, authority, and glory of Jehovah ; and on the other, they are to recognise, adore, obey, and glorify him as Jehovah the Word, in union with man, and form in that willing and joyous subordina- tion, and that loving, adoring, and confiding homage and obedience, through all their ranks and mj^riads, one united, consentaneous, and perfect kingdom. It is, accordingly, in Col. i. 19, 20, called a reconciliation of all things in the heavens and on the earth unto the Father through Christ — that is, a being brought to a filial, joyous submission to God in Christ, acquiescence in his rule as rightful and befitting in its relations to them, and as holy, gracious, and wise in its relations to mankind, and glorification of the Tather for it. " For it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell ; and that through him all should be reconciled unto himself, whether those in the earth or those in the heavens f that is, brought to a recognition and acknowledgment of him as Jehovah incarnate, a glad acquiescence in his sway, an adoring approbation of his work in the salvation of men, and a grateful horn- IS NOT THE THRONE OP DAVID. 139 age of the Father for it, and for his headship over them. And the purpose of God thus to exalt him to the throne of the heavens, and bring all ranks of holy creatures into an intimate relation to him, and sub- mission to his sceptre, was a mystery, the apostle de- clares, wholly unknown to man until revealed to him and others after their appointment to the apostleship. It was a part of " the mystery of Ms willj according to the good pleasure which he had purposed in himself, in the economy of the fulness of the times, to gather to- gether in one all in Christ, both those that are in the heavens and those that are on the earth ;'' that is, that purpose was undisclosed to men ; it remained a secret in the divine counsels, until it was revealed to the apostles. He accordingly refers to it, chap. iii. 1-11, as it contemplates the reconciliation of the Gen- tile as well as Israelitish inhabitants of this world, and represents it as not having been made known unto the sons of men, but kept hidden in God. " For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, since ye have heard of the dispensation (or economy) of the grace of God which is given unto me to you-ward, how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (the purpose before undisclosed), as I have just written in brief (chap. i. 9, 10), by which when ye read, ye may apprehend my under- standing of the mystery of Christ, which in other gen- erations was not made knov/n to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are to be fellow-heirs 140 Christ's throne in heaven, and the same body, and fellow-partakers of his prom- ise in Christ through the gospel, of which I am made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which is given to me according to the inworking of his power — to me the least of all saints is given this favor — among the Gentiles to preach the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make known to all what the economy (the scheme of admin- istration) is of the mystery (the undisclosed purpose) which was hidden from the ages in God, who created all things, that noiu might be made known to the prin- cipalities and the powers in the heavenly worlds through the church, the manifold wisdom of God, ac- cording to the purpose of the ages which he formed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Here the mystery — the purpose of God before undisclosed, is the same as that of which he speaks, chap. i. 9, 10, and represents as a purpose to bring the populations of all worlds — those of the heavenly orbs on the one side, those of the earth on the other — into one loving, obedient, and perfect empire under Christ. He then, v. 20, 21, contemplated it chiefly in reference to Christ's exal- tation over the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds ; all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named in this age, and that which is to come ; he here contemplates it in its re- ference to the inhabitants of the earth, and exhibits it as a purpose that all the Gentile nations shall be fellow-heirs with the Israelites, of the same body, and fellow-partakers of the promise of the gospel ; namely, IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 141 a promise of a perfect redemption from the dominion and curse of sin : so that this world is in the fulness of the times to be wholly reconciled to God, and brought into a full and blissful harmony with the other worlds in their subjection to Christ. And this purpose, he declares, " in other generations was not made knowij. unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets f " but from the begin- ning of the world had been hid in God/' To the Colossians, also, he represents it as " the mystery which had b^en hid from the ages, and from the gen- erations, but now is manifest to his saints, to whom God willed, to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery, in respect to the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory,'' chap. i. 26, 27. These passages thus teach, in the clearest man- ner, that the great purpose of the exaltation of Christ to the throne of the universe, the submission to him of all the hosts inhabiting the heavenly orbs, and the reconciliation of this world to him by a full and final restoration of all the Gentile nations, as well as the Israelites, to holiness, so that the whole shall form one* peaceful, loving, and blissful empire, was not made known to the ages and the generations that preceded Christ's incarnation, but was first revealed to the apostles and prophets at the promulgation of the gospel. And this is repeated and confirmed in other passa- ges. Thus Paul, Rom. xvi. 25, 26, represents this mystery as having been kept silent through all pre- 142 CHRIST^S THRONE IN HEAVEN, ceding times, but as now by revelation, made mani- fest, while also it was made known through the pro- phetic writings by the command of God, in order to an obedient faith among all the Gentiles. " Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, conform- ably to the revelation of the mystery kept silent, XpovoiQ aiovLOLc, from eternity, but now made manifest, and through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, made known among all the nations, in order to an obedience of faith f that is, a believing obedience. It is thus declared to have been kept silent from eternity, but now to be mani- fested by revelation ; while at the same time the writings of the prophets of the Old Testament are used in communicating it to all nations, in order to lead them believingly and obediently to receive it. As this mystery was at that time first made known by revelation, it had not been before disclosed to the ancient prophets. Their writings were not referred to therefore as having foreshown it, but simply as foreshowing other elements of the great scheme of redemption that are associated with and confirm it ; such as the deity of the Messiah, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; his death, Isaiah liii. 3-10; his resurrection. Psalm xvi. 9-11; the full redemption at length of Israel, Jer. xxxi. 31-34; the reign of the Messiah over that re- stored and redeemed people, Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; Psalm ii. 6-8 ; the participation of the Gentiles in the bless- ings of his reign, Isaiah Ixvi. 19-23 ; Zech. xiv. 16, IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 143 17 ; their subjection to his sceptre, Zech. xiv. 9 ; and the creation of new heavens and a new earth, Isa. Ixv. 17-25. These and other great truths respecting Christ and his reign on earth were made known to the ancient church, and they were adapted to concili- ate the faith of those to whom the gospel was pro- claimed, in those purposes of God respecting the ex- altation of Christ to the throne of heaven, and the ultimate full redemption of the Gentile nations, as well as the Israelites, which had before been conceal- ed from the sons of men. This is confirmed by the fact, that there is no reve- lation in the Old Testament prophecies that Christ was to be invested with authority over the inhabi- tants of the heavenly realms. It is, indeed, clearly signified in Psalm ex. 1, that he would be exalted to the right hand of the Father : " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." But there is here no intimation that in that exaltation he was to be invest- ed with the sceptre of the universe, and reign over all the hosts of the heavenly worlds, as well as over the inhabitants of the earth. Instead, he is contem- plated simply as the king of this world ; and this world is exhibited as the scene of his conflicts with and conquest of his enemies. '' The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath : he shall judge among the heathen ; he shall fill places 144 CHRIST^S THRONE IN HEAVEN, with the dead bodies ; he shall wound the heads over many countries/' v. 2-6. These are events indisputa- bly that are to take place in his reign on the earth. In Psalm xlv. 6, also, he is addressed as God, and his throne is declared to be for ever ; yet this world is exhibited as the scene of his reign. " Thine ar- rows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies ; ' the people fall under thee. Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thoulovest righteousness and hatest wickedness ; therefore God has thy God anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.'' Psalm Ixxii., also, which celebrates his reign, exhib- its the earth as its scene. " He shall judge the peo- ple in righteousness and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring forth peace to the people, and the hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people ; he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth : all kings shall fall down before him ; all nations shall serve him." And all ground for the supposition from these passages, that though his reign is to be over the earth, he is to be enthroned in heaven, while exercising it, is removed by the an- nouncement by Christ, that in coming in the clouds of heaven to judge and reign over men, he is to be seated on the right hand of power. " And the high IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 145 priest said unto him, I adjure tliee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said : but I say unto you ; hereafter ye shall see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven," Matt. xxvi. 63, 64. And it is fore- shown. Rev. xxi. 22, 23, xxii. 1, 3, that the Father is to be present in the new Jerusalem, the symbol of the ris- en saints, on its descent to earth. " And I saw no tem- ple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." ^' And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants shall serve him." As then the throne of the Father is to be among the glorified saints on earth as well as the throne of Christ, during that part of his reign represented by the thousand years, which is to precede the final put- ting of all his enemies under his feet, those passages, in exhibiting him as God, and as seated at the right hand of Jehovah, during that period, do not imply that the throne on which he is then to reign is, like that on which he is now seated, to be in heaven, and not on the earth; and the revelation accordingly, that he was to be seated at the right hand of Jeho- vah, was not a revelation that he was to be exalted to the throne of the universe, and invested with au- thority over all orders of intelligent beings. That no such revelation was made to the ancient 7 146 Christ's throne in heaven, church, is indicated also by the expectation which prevailed among Christ's disciples, till his ascension, that he would immediately enter on his reign over the house of Israel. They asked him but a few mo- ments before he ascended to heaven, "'Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?'' showing that they regarded the ancient prophets as foreshowing the restoration of the kingdom to that people ; and that they knew not but he would immediately declare himself their king, and commence his reign over them on mount Zion. This is confirmed, moreover, by the fact, that it was wholly unknown to the ancient church that the Israel- ites were to continue in blindness and unbelief for a long period after ChHst came, during which they were to be conquered by the Gentiles, and driven into exile ; their city destroyed, and their worship abolished. Paul says, " I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits,) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gen- tiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written. Then shall come out of Zion the De- liverer ; and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." And he represents this part of the divine purpose as a depth which no one had known or could have searched out. "For God hath conclud- ed them all — Israelites and Gentiles — in unbelief, that ho might have mercy on all. the depth of the IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAVID. 147 riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?^' Rom. xi. 25, 26 ; 32-34. This is called a mystery, because it had not been revealed by the ancient prophets to the Israelites. As, then, no revelation had been made to them that they were to continue in blind- ness and alienation for a long series of ages after Christ came, and were not to be redeemed till his second coming, and the redemption of the Gentiles, but they were left to suppose that he would com- mence his reign over them soon after his birth ; no revelation was made to them that ere he began his reign over them, he was to be exalted in his human nature to the throne of heaven, and reign through a long succession of ages over the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds. It is clear, then, from these various considerations, that no revelation was made in the ancient Scriptures of the exaltation of Christ to the throne of heaven, and reign over the universe of unfallen creatures. — The promise and prophecy that he should reign on the throne of David, and over the kingdom of Israel, therefore, were not a revelation that he should be exalted to that heavenly throne, and reign over the unfallen worlds. His present reign in heaven, ac- cordingly, is not a fulfilment of the promise that he should reign on the throne of David and over the kingdom of Israel. Consequently the promise to hrm 148 CHRIST^S THEONE IN HEAVEN, of David^s throne, and an eternal reign on it over his kingdom, remains yet to be fulfilled ; and as a reign in heaven and over other worlds is not and cannot be a fulfilment of it, it is to be fulfilled by his actually coming and reigning as the descendant of David on his throne over the kingdom of restored and redeem- ed Israel. The fancy, therefore, maintained so confidently by some, that the throne of David is a symbol of the throne of heaven, and Israel and the kingdom of Israel symbols of the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds, and that Christ's exaltation to heaven and reign over the universe, are the accomplishment of the prophecies that he shall reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, is set aside. It is not only Avithout authority, and against the laws of analogy, but it is proved to be AvhoUy mistaken and in contra- vention of the truth, by the fact thus expressly de- clared by the apostle, that no revelation was made in the ancient prophecies, that Christ was to ascend to the throne of heaven, and exert the administration he is now exercising there over the populations of the celestial spheres. The present reign of Christ in hea- ven is thus shown to be perfectly consistent with his future reign, according to the predictions of the pro- phets, over Israel and the Gentile nations on the earth : and the fact that those predictions have not yet had any fulfillment, and that they cannot have, in a reign in heaven, is a proof that they are hereafter IS NOT THE THRONE OF DAYID. 149 to have their accomplishment in a literal personal reign of the Redeemer on the earth. We commend this conclusion to the consideration of God^s people. There is no escape from it, by any artifices of philology or exploits of logic. It confronts those who would spiritualize the prophecies with a direct negative from the great Re vealer himself j and shows that it is those who deny that Christ is yet to reign in person on the earth — not those who main- tain that he is — who in effect impeach the truth of the prophecies respecting him, and fill the quiver of "the adversaries'^ with arrows with which to assail the truth of Christianity. 150 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. CHAPTER XIII. THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. One of the most important questions in regard to the future administration God is to exercise over our world, respects the period during which the series of human generations and the work of redemption are to continue. If the race is within a few centuries to reach its term, and the number who are to be saved completed, then the work of redemption is to be com- prised within limits that seem very narrow, and dis- proportioned to the great measures by which their restoration to holiness is accomplished. If they are to continue forever to perpetuate themselves in suc- cessive generations, and renovation is soon to be ex- tended to all that come into existence, and continued through eternal years, then the result of Christ's in- tervention is to be commensurate with the divine per- fections, and suitable to the wonderfulness of the me- diation by which it is to be achieved. What then are the purposes of God respecting the perpetuation of our race ? Is this world to continue to be their abode, and are they to multiply in an end- THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 151 less series of generations ? Or are they soon to reach their destined number, cease to come into life, be transferred to some other scene of existence, and the earth, having filled its office as the place of their birth and probation, be struck back into the nothing- ness from which it was called ? The latter is very generally supposed to be the teaching of the divine word. It is maintained that the end of the millenial age — which it is held is to close a little over a thousand years hence — is to be the end of the world, as a physical existence ; that when soon after that period closes, the last resurrec- tion and judgment take place, the sanctified are to be removed to a residence prepared for them in some other part of the universe ; the wicked consigned to the abyss of punishment ; and the globe itself burned by a fire that is either to annihilate it, or dissolve it into its elements, and disperse them through the realms of space. This view, however, though very confidently held and taught, is not the doctrine of the Scriptures. — There is no intimation in them that the earth is ever to be annihilated, or cease to be the birthplace and home of human beings. Instead, they teach that it is to continue for ever, and that mankind are for ever to occupy it, and multiply in an endless succession of generations ; and that it is to be the scene of Christ^s everlasting kingdom and reign. These great futuri- ties are not simply implied or hinted in the word of God ; they are revealed with such clearness, fre- 152 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. quency, and amplitude, and are so inwoven in the whole web of the divine predictions, as to make them among the most obvious and indubitable of the pur- poses which God has made known respecting his future administration of the world. Thus it was revealed to Noah after the flood, that neither the ground itself, nor its animal tribes, were ever again to be smitten with a curse for man's sake ; but that as long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest shall continue. ^' And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake ; neither will I again smite any more every thing living as I have done. While the earth re- maineth, seed time and harvest, and summer and win- ter, and day and night, shall not cease,'' Gen. viii. 21, 22. This promise declares not only that the earth is never again to be swept by a deluge, nor the animal tribes destroyed on account of man's transgression, but that as long as it subsists it is to continue subject to its present great movements on its axis and round the sun, and in a condition to yield the crops and fruits that are designed for the sustenance of mankind in their natural life ; and implies, therefore, that men in the natural, in contradistinction from a glorified life, are to inhabit and cultivate the earth as long as it exists. Seed time is the time when men, whose office it is to cultivate the earth, plant and sow food- bearing vegetables ; and harvest is the time when they gather the ripened crops of the grains and seeds they have sown. The promise is equivalent, there- THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 153 fore, to a declaration that mankind are to inhabit and cultivate the earth for their subsistence as long as it turns on its axis and wheels round the sun ; and that it is to continue those movements and pass through a succession of seasons as long as it continues to exist. It is a clear prediction, accordingly, that mankind are to continue on the earth and subsist on its annual crops as long as the earth itself continues in exist- ence. How long, then, is the earth thus to exist ? And how long are men to propagate on it ? The answer given by the Most High in the covenant with Noah is — for ever — through endless generations. ^^And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, say- ing : And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood ; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the eaxth. And God said, this is the token of the coven- ant which I make between me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for QblJ? iimb P^^'" petual generations (generations of eternity). I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over tlie earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud ; and I 7^ 154 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh ; and the bow shall be in the cloud ; and I will look upon it that I may remember tDbl? JD^^^lSl ^^^ covenant of eternity — the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth," Gen. ix. 8-16. The covenant that was made with Noah and every living creature, is thus declared to be unto genera- tions of eternity, or eternal generations ; that is gen- erations of men and every living creature, that are to continue in an endless succession. It is equivalent to a declaration, therefore, that mankind and the ani- mal tribes are to continue in an eternal series of gen- erations. The covenant also between God and every living creature of all flesh is called an everlasting covenant ; which, as the parties with whom it is made, must continue to subsist as long as the covenant itself continues and is verified, — is equivalent to a declara- tion that the posterity of Noah and the earth itself are to continue for ever in the conditions which that covenant contemplates ; and therefore that the bow is for ever to appear in the clouds ; that men are for ever to continue to behold it ; and thence that they are for ever to subsist here in the natural life, — in which, and in which alone, that pledge would be ap- propriate to them. See also Eccl. i. 4 ; Ps. civ. 5. These passages thus plainly teach that the earth is to exist for ever and under its present great laws ; that mankind are to inhabit it and raultiply on it in THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 155 an endless series of generations ; and that they are to continue through all their endless successions to cultivate and subsist on its vegetable crops ; and thence are to continue in their natural corporeal life. It is not to be supposed that risen and glorified human beings will need the pledge of the rainbow that they are never to be drowned by a general deluge ; it is not to be supposed that they will cultivate the earth and live on its vegetable productions. It is to men in the natural life that these promises relate. That the expression, generations of eternity, de- notes generations that are to continue in an endless series, is clear from the frequent use in the Scriptures of the continuous generations of mankind as a mea- sure of eternity. Thus in the expression, Isa. li. 8, " My righteousness shall be to eternity and my salva- tion unto generation and generation''^ — QblSb- to eternity, is used as a parallelism with " unto genera- tion and generation ;" and the declaration, " My sal- vation shall be unto generation and generation,'' as- serts its eternity as absolutely as the expression, " My righteousness shall be le olam, to eternity," as- cribes eternity to that. This is confirmed moreover by the inconsistency of a different construction with the divine perfections. It is as contradictory to God's own eternity and unchangeable goodness, wis- dom, and purpose, to deny the eternity of his salva- tion, as it is to deny the eternity of his righteousness. The expressions are used in a like parallelism, Dan. iv. 3, 34, " How great are his signs ! And how mighty 156 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. are his wonders ! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion unto generation and gen- eration/^ "And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is Tinto generation and generation/^ That these are parallels is made indispntable by the exhibition, in the first, of the kingdom, and in the other of the do- minion, as olam everlasting ; while in the first it is the dominion, and in the last the kingdom, that is " unto generation and generation." The expression " nnto generation and generation" is used therefore as equivalent to eternity, and assumes, accordingly, that the generations of mankind are to continue to succeed one another throughout the unending future. In Ps. cxlv. 13, eternities, and every generation and generation, are used as equivalents. " Thy kingdom is a kingdom Q^^^^blS^'bi of ^U eternities, and thy do- minion in every generation and generation." As the dominion corresponds in duration with the kingdom, its continuance in every generation and generation of mankind is identical with its continuance through all eternities. " Generation to generation," is used as the equivalent to eternity as the measure of God^s name and reign. " Jehovah, thy name is Qbl^b ^^ eternity ; Jehovah, thy memory is unto generation and generation :" Ps. cxxxv. 13. " Jehovah shall reign to eternity ; thy God, Zion, unto generation and generation :" Ps. cxlvi. 10. Here generation and generation is exhibited as the measure of God's eter- THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 157 nal reign, as absolutely as eternity is. This use of the expression is, in effect, therefore, as absolute a declaration that the generations of mankind are to continue to succeed each other for ever, as a direct aflS.rmation that they are to continue in an endless succession would have been. As they are to be com- mensurate with his reign, they are to be as eternal as his reign is. And, finally, they are used by Joel iii. 20, as equivalents in predicting the perpetuity of Judah's residence in their national land : ^' But Judah shall dwell to olam^ eternity, and Jerusalem to gener- ation and generation." These passages, like the promises to Noah, thus explicitly teach that the gen- erations of men, are to continue to succeed one another for ever, and are to be a measure in their perpetual series of the round of eternal ages. To maintain that this is not their meaning, is not only to contradict the plain equivalence of the endless gen- erations of mankind to eternity in these delineations of the Divine kingdom and reign ; but is to exhibit God as having used a measure of the continuance of his kingdom, his dominion, his name, and his memory, that is wholly incommensurate with, and altogether misrepresents them ; which were inconsistent with his veracity and wisdom. This use, moreover, of the ever continuing succes- sion of human generations, as a measure of God's eternal kingdom and reign, was not far-fetched or in- appropriate to the Hebrews, but was the most natu- ral, the most graphic, and the most impressive that 158 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. could have been selected ; from the fact, that the pas- sages in which it is used, were all written after God had specifically given the land of Canaan to Abraham and his posterity, as an everlasting possession, and pledged, in a great number of promises and predic- tions, that they should dwell there and enjoy it in their successive generations to eternity. Having thus the assurance by the express revelation and covenant of God, that their nation is to subsist there for ever, and in the presence of contemporary Gen- tile nations, the endless generations of the race are the most natural and the most significant measure that could have been chosen by the Most High, to in- dicate to them the perpetuity of his dominion and reign over them. That the race is to continue to occupy the earth in an endless succession of generations, was clearly fore- shown and assured to the Hebrews by the gift to Abraham and his posterity of the land of Canaan as a possession to eternity, and the promise and predic- tion that his seed should inherit and enjoy it for ever. This gift of Canaan to Abraham and his seed, as an everlasting inheritance, and pledge that his posterity should continue in an endless succession of genera- tions to enjoy it, entered as a chief element into the covenant God made with that patriarch, and all his subsequent promises to the Israelites down to the time of their dispersion by the Romans, and has an equally prominent place in the predictions of their restoration and re-establishment in that land as his THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 159 chosen people. Thus, his language to Abraham was, *' Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and east- ward, and westward : For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I giv.e it, and to thy seed, ad olam, to eternity. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth : so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." (Gen. xiii. 14-16.) The duration of the gift is thus explicitly defined as eternity ; and its eternity im- plies, therefore, the everlasting existence of the earth and of Canaan, and the endless continuance by suc- cessive generations of the Hebrews. And the pro- mise is literal, not metaphorical : there is no metaphor in the use of ad olam, to eternity. The supposition is contradictory to the law of the metaphor, which always ascribes to that to which it is applied, some character^ act, or condition that is not compatible with its nature, but only in some relation resembles what is true of it. But an endless continuance of the Hebrews by successive generations, is not inconsist- ent with their nature. Instead, it is precisely that ~ for which their nature is fitted, and which will cer- tainly take place, unless they are intercepted from it by some modification of their constitution, change in the state of the world, their removal to another scene of existence, or some other extraordinary mea- sure of Divine providence. Nor is it hj^perbolical, or a substitution of an infinite for a finite period ; — as it is not hyperbolical in reference to the nature of man, 160 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. or the constitution of the world, to predicate eternity of the succession of human or Hebrew generations — inasmuch as their nature fits them for propagation through any period during which God pleases to con- tinue them in existence, whatever its length may be. That it is literal, and not hyperbolical, is shown more- over by the prediction that Abraham^s seed is to be as the dust of the earth, so that to number them will as much transcend the powers of a human mind, as to number the dust of the earth does. Such a promise would not be simply an extravagant hyperbole ; it would stupendously misrepresent man's power of enu- meration ; if, as is generally held, the Hebrews are to propagate only about one thousand years longer — as the number that at that time will have come into being, will not, at a very large estimate, rise, proba- bly, above 700,000,000 — the work of numbering whom would bear no comparison in vastness and endlessness to an enumeration of the dust of the earth. On the supposition, however, that they continue to multiply through eternal ages, their aggregate will at length, from their multitude and from the indeterminateness of the hosts that will ever still be to come into exist- ence, as absolutely transcend an individuals power of enumeration, as it surpasses one's power to number the dust of the earth. This gift was renewed in the covenant afterwards made with Abraham, of which circumcision was made the seal. " Thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 161 many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will estab- lish my covenant betwixt me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations for a covenant, olo.m^ of eternity, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for a possession, olam, of eternity. And I will be their God,^^ Genesis xvii. 5-8. This covenant of eternity with Abraham and his seed after him in their generations^ and the gift to them of Canaan as a possession of eternity, again plainly implies that their generations are to continue to succeed each other for ever, and that the earth and Canaan also, are for ever to be their residence. For how can Canaan be the possession of Abraham's seed for eternity, if it does not continue for ever to exist ; if, as is generally imagined, after the lapse of a few hundred years more it is to be annihilated ; or to cease from being, as the land of Canaan ? How can God^s covenant with his seed in their generations to be their God, be a covenant of eternity, if at the end of a few hundred years, their generations reach a limit, and the whole of his posterity assume another form of being, and pass to another scene of life, in- volving a total abolition of that covenant ? For God^s promise to multiply his seed, and make a covenant with them of eternity as their God, of which circum- cision was the seal, and his gift to them of Canaan as 162 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. an everlasting possession, could not be a promise and covenant of eternity, if after a few hundred years no more of his line come into existence to receive the seal of that covenant, and none of his posterity have "/)ossession of Canaan as their inheritance and home. The same promise of Canaan for an eternal posses- sion was made to Jacob : " God Almighty appeared unto me, and said unto me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and will make of thee a multitude of people ; and will give this land to thy seed for a possession — olam — of eternity,^' Genesis xlviii. 4. It was referred to by Moses in his prayer, as God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : — *' Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of, will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it, le olam, to eternity," Exodus xxxii. 13. It was repeated by Moses to Joshua : '' And Moses sware in that day, saying, surely the land whereon thy feet have trod- den shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's, ad olam, to eternity,'' Joshua xiv. 9. The gift and possession of the land are thus in all these covenants and promises so frequently repeated, defined as eternal. No other period is mentioned ; no intimations are given that the word olam, eterni- ty, is used in a modified sense. No expressions are employed which represent that the earth is not to exist for ever, and that imply therefore that its eterni- THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 163 ty is a mere measure of a temporary continTiance of the thing given. The supposition that Canaan is to continue in being but for a few generations, and that their possession of it is to reach its end at the dis- tance at the utmost of forty or fifty centuries after Moses, is as contradictious to the language of these promises, as a similar supposition would be in respect to God's dominion, reign, and existence. That supposition, moreover, is precluded by ex- press assurances, that Zion, Jerusalem, and the land are to continue for ever, and that God is for ever to reign there. ^' They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth to olam, eternity,'^ Ps. cxxv. 1. ^' The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it," Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14. ^' The Lord appeared to Solomon, and said unto him : I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made be- fore me : I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there, ad olam, to eternity : and my eyes and heart shall be there (all days) perpetu- ally. And if thou w^lt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel — olam — to eterni- ty," 1 Kings ix. 3-5. " The Lord has said, Li Jerusa- lem shall my name be — olam — to eternity," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 4. These, and a great number of other pas- sages, thus explicitly teach that Zion, Jerusalem, and 164 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. the realm of Israel are to continue to eternity, and may therefore be the possession through unending ages of successive generations of Israelites. The gift of Canaan to the Hebrews as an everlast- ing possession, was not only thus made in the cove- nant with Abraham, and the promises to Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites, down to the time of their estab- lishment there, but it was renewed and repeated with equal distinctness and emphasis in all the great pre- dictions uttered by Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, of their exile for a period, because of their apostasy from God, and of their ultimate restoration and re-adoption as God's chosen people. " They shall call thee the city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an excellence — olam — of eternity, a joy of generation and generation. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls sal- vation, and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee ; but Jehovah shall be thine (olam) everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous : they shall inherit the land — olam — to eternity," Isaiah Ix. 14-21. " Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and I will gather them on every side, THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 165 and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. And David my servant shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes and do 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, they and their children, and their children's children, ad olam, to eternity ; and my servant David shall be their prince, le olanij to eternity. Moreover, I will make a cove- nant of peace with them : it shall be a covenant, olam, of eternity with them ; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them, le olam, to eternity. My tabernacle also shall be with them : yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I the Lord do consecrate Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them, le olam, to eternity,^' Ezekiel xxxvii. 21-28. '' In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted ; and I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far oflf a strong nation ; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion henceforth, and ad olam, to eternity. And thou, tower of the flock, the stronghold of the 166 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion : the kingdom shall come to the daugh- ter of Jerusalem," Micah iv. 6-8. There is a large number of similar predictions in these and the other prophets. Notwithstanding their long exile because of their sins, they are at length to be restored, and their possession of the land to eterni- ty is pledged to them after their return, as absolutely as it was anterior to their banishment. Though they have been so long driven from it, it is as assuredly theirs to eternity, as it would have been had it never been wrenched from their possession because of their revolt. In accordance with this, the continuance also to eternity of the Hebrews as a nation, and in their land, is promised with equal explicitness : " Thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar ; the Lord of Hosts is his name ; if those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will ako cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And it shall not be plucked up, nor THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 167 t]irov\'n down any more, le olam, to eternity/' Jere- miah xxxi. 35-40. Here the continuance of the Israelites as a nation before Jehovah, is declared to be as sure as the con- tinuance of his ordinance that the sun shall give light by day, and the moon and stars by night. As the sun, moon, and stars were created, and are upheld by Jehovah ; as it is his ordinance that they shall give light to the earth ; and as there is no cause either in them, or any other created thing, that can prevent them from filling that office ; it is certain that they v/ill for ever continue to shed light on the earth. — So in like manner, as God creates and upholds the Israelites, and ordains the laws by which they con- tinue their national existence by new births from age to age ; and there is no cause either in them, or any other part of the created imiverse that can pre- vent their continuing in that manner by successive generations for ever ; it is sure that they will so con- tinue as a nation before him for ever. The decree of God, which no created power can intercept from ac- complishment, makes the event in one case as certain, as his decree which cannot be intercepted from exe- cution, renders it in the other. And again, as it is impossible from our peculiar nature that heaven above can be measured by us, or the foundations — the central depths — of the earth beneath, be search- ed out by us ; — inasmuch as they arc wholly inacces- sible to us ; so likewise God's promise makes it im- possible that he should cast oft' all the seed of Israel, 168 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. because of their rebellion. To cast them all off for ever, would be as inconsistent with his moral attri- butes, and contradictory to them, as the measurement of heaven above, and the searching of the depths of the earth beneath, are inconsistent with our physical attributes. Can a stronger assurance be framed or conceived that the seed of Israel are not to cease to be a nation before God to eternity ? ." Then shall the Redeemer come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, gaith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed^s seed, saith the Lord, from now and to eternity,^' Isaiah lix. 20, 21, This is as specific a pledge as language can express, that their seed^s seed, or their succession of genera- tions, is to continue to eternity. " For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord," Isaiah Ixvi. 22, 23. " The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth shall shake ; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. THE PERPETcrrrr of the human race. 169 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwell- ing in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusa- lem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim ; Egypt shall be a desolation ; and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness. But Judah shall dwell to eternity, and Jerusalem unto generation and gen- eration," Joel iii. 16-20. The perpetuity of the Israelites, as a nation, and their residence in Canaan for ever, is thus made as certain, as the fulfilment of God's ordinance is, that the earth and the sun, the moon and the stars, shall exist for ever. As the new heavens and the new earth are to remain before him for ever ; as the Jeru- salem he is to create a rejoicing, is to be an excellence of eternity, a joy of generation to generation in an everlasting succession ; so their seed and their name are to remain for ever. They are to dwell in Jeru- salem to eternity. They are to people Judea through the round of unending ages. 170 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. CHAPTER XIV. THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. The covenant with Noah and his posterity, and the promises to Abraham of an ever continuing seed, and the everlasting possession by them of the land of Ca- naan, indicate, as we have shown in the preceding chapter, that the earth is forever to subsist and be the abode of human beings. On the institution of a monarchy over Israel, and the elevation of David to the throne, these pledges and predictions of the everlasting continuance of the nation and possession of the land of Canaan, were re- peated and confirmed by new promises and predic- tions that the kingdom of Israel should continue to eternity, and its throne be filled by the seed of David. Thus his promise to David was : — " I will set up thy seed after thee, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom, ad olarrij to eternity. Thy house and thy kingdom shall be established, ad olam, to eternity." And it was interpreted by David as a pledge of the perpetuity of his family, his throne, and the nation ; for in his praj^er in response to the promise, he said : THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 171 " For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, to be a people unto thee, ad olam^ to eternity, and thou Lord art become their God. And now, Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it, ad olam, to eternity. And let thy name be magnified, ad olaMj to eternity, saying, the Lord of Hosts is the God over Israel. And bless the house of thy s.ervant that it may continue before thee," 2 Samuel vii. 12- 15 ; 24-29. That the Israelites are for ever to con- tinue as a nation, and as God's chosen people, is thus expressly recognised by David, and it is on that pur- pose that the promise is made to him of the establish- ment of his throne over them to eternity, and the everlasting reign on it of his seed. This promise is frequently renewed, and the eter- nal reign of David's posterity on his throne exhibited as one of the most essential and glorious of God's pur- poses of mercy to that people and the world. Thus, the author of Psalm Ixxxix. 4, 29, 36, 37, in singing of the mercies of Jehovah to eternity, and making known his faithfulness to generation and generation, cites, as an exemplification of it, this promise to David : — " I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David ; thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations : my mercy will I keep for him, ad olam, to eternity : and my cov- enant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. His seed shall endure le olam, to eternity, 172 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. and his throne as the sun before me ; it shall be es- tablished as the moon, eternally. ^^ Here again, the continuance of the sun and moon, the days of heaven, and the succession of human generations, are exhibited as equivalents to eternity, and they and eternity itself are presented as measures of the continuance of Da- vid's throne and seed, and his reign over Israel. Other passages show that the great personage in whom these promises are to have their chief fulfil- ment is Christ, who is not only to be the King of Is- rael, but the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords. " 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, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government 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 with justice from now and, ad olamy to eternity. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this," Isaiah ix. 6, 7. Here both his humanity and his deity are asserted, and his reign on the throne of David, and over his kingdom, and exercise of the functions of a righteous monarch, it is declared, shall be to eternity. There is a like prediction in Jeremiah. '' Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised [their restoration] unto the house of Israel and to THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 173 the house of Judah, In those days, and at that time will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David ; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be savedj and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness. For thus saith the Lord : David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kin- dle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. — And. the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, say- ing : Thus saith the Lord : If ye can break my cove- nant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season ; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests my minis- ters. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured ; so will I mul- tiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me,''^ Jeremiah xxxiii. 14-22. It is thus not only promised most expressly that there shall never be a period after their restoration, when a descendant of David shall not sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, but it is represented to be as impossible that that purpose of Jehovah should be prevented from its accomplishment, as it is that men should annul his ordinance respecting the suc- cession of day and night. As to put an end to the 174 THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. succession of day and night is wholly out of the pow- er of men, so to prevent the accomplishment of God^s purpose, that the seed of David shall reign to eterni- ty on the throne of Israel, is out of the power of man and all other created causes. It is promised, more- over, that the descendants of David shall be multi- plied, so that their multitude shall transcend man's power of enumeration, as the stars of heaven do, in- finite hosts of which lie wholly beyond the sphere of his vision. It is to be as impossible to determine their hosts that are to come into being, as it is to as- certain the bulk of the sands of the sea by measuring them ; a result that is infallibly certain, if they con- tinue and multiply in an endless series of generations ; but that otherwise as certainly cannot take place con- sistently with the laws of nature. The prediction and pledge of the perpetuity of David's throne, and the reign of his seed on it for ever, was accordingly renewed at the annunciation of Christ's birth to Mary. '' Behold thou shalt con- ceive and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David ; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob through the ages ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end," Luke i. 31-33. All these predictions of the Messiah's reign, thus contemplate the continuance through eternal ages of the Israelites as a people, and his rule over them, on tlio throne of David, as their special monarch, in dis- THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 175 tinction from other nations. It is everywhere pre- sented as an essential feature in his purposes ; an element of the greatest significance in the adminis- tration under which he is to rescue the world from ruin, and raise it to the beauty and glory of an obe- dient empire. Accordingly, in all the great prophetic representa- tions of his reign over the earth after he assumes its sceptre, his kingdom here is exhibited in the most express and emphatic manner, as to continue for ever, and over mankind in their division into nations, and in their natural life. Thus it was declared to Daniel, that on the destruction of the fourth kingdom repre- sented by the legs and feet of the great image ; '^ the God of heaven shall 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 other kingdoms, and it shall stand to eternities," Daniel ii. 44. It is to be a kingdom therefore in this world, and thence a kingdom over human beings. It is to extend itself over all the other kingdoms of the world, and therefore embrace the whole territory and population of the earth. It is to continue to eternity, and it is to be the king- dom of heaven, which Christ is to establish, and over which he is to reign. In the vision, accordingly, in the seventh chapter of Daniel, of the institution of this kingdom, on the destruction of the powers of the fourtli empire de- noted by the wdld beast, it is expressly represented 176 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. that the dominion with which Christ is then to be in- vested, is the dominion of the earth ; that the sub- jects of his rule are to be the nations of the earth, and mankind therefore in the natural life ; and that his reign over them is to continue to eternity. " And I saw in the night visions, and behold one like a Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is a do- minion of eternity, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,'^ vii. 13, 14. No language could more clearly declare that the dominion with which he is thus to be invested on the destruction of the rulers of the fourth kingdom, is the dominion of this world ] that the rule he is to exercise is to be over mankind in the natural life ; that it is to extend to all the peoples, nations, and languages, into which they are divided ; and that it is to con- tinue to eternity. This is reiterated accordingly and confirmed in the interpretation which the revealing Spirit gave of the vision, in which it is declared, that on the judgment and destruction of the power denoted by the wild beast, ^' The kingdom and do- minion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is a kingdom of eternity, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,^' v. 26, 27. THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN PACE. 177 The scene of the kingdom is thus represented to be tinder our skies ; all that lies beneath the circuit of our atmosphere : it is declared to be a kingdom of eternity, and a kingdom in which the saints of the Most High shall reign ; which shows again that the people, nations, and tongues, over whom Christ is to reign and exercise an eternal dominion, are human beings in the natural, not in a glorified life ; for how else can the saints of the Most High have human sub- jects over whom they can reign ? The kingdom which the saints are to take on the destruction of the fourth beast, and possess for ever, is to be a kingdom of human beings, as much as the kingdoms of the beasts were. But if all the human beings v/ho are then to dwell on the earth are to be glorified, and all are to reign, they can have no human subjects. For if all reign, and thence are of equal authority in respect to each other, v^^hat can be clearer than that they will have no authority at all over one another, but will all stand on precisely the same level ? But the saints of the Most High who are to possess the kingdom, are, the prophecy teaches, the saints whom the little horn had worn out and slaughtered through a long succes- sion of ages ; and, as is shown in the vision in the Apocalypse of the first resurrection, are risen and glorified saints ; and therefore, as they are all to bo kings unto God and Christ, and are to reign with him, the subjects over whom they are to reign are indubitably the people, nations, and tongues, over whom Christ is to receive dominion ; and thence 8-^ 1TB THE PERPETOITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. those people, and nations, and tongues, are to con- tinue to exist on the earth, generation after genera- tion, like the kingdom of Christ over them, through eternal ages. To the same effect, in the Apocalypse, at the sound of the seventh trumpet, there were great voices in heaven, that proclaimed " The kingdom of this world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever," chap. xi. 15. The kingdom of the world which is then to become his, is the king- dom rov /coa/ioi;, of this globe; not of human beings in some other sphere, but of this earthy the birthplace and residence of mankind. It is here accordingly and over human subjects that he is to exercise his rule. This is shown, also, by the acts enumerated by the elders, who fell and worshipped, as to be exer- cised by him : " The time of his wrath,'' they pro- claimed, " has come against the hostile nations ; the time to destroy the corrupters of the earth ; and the time to reward those who fear his name — the living — both small and great." These are indisputably human beings and in the natural life. They are rulers and people, open and implacable enemies, and obedient children who inhabit the earth at Christ's second coming. And the period during which he is to reign over them, is, elg toH aiavag tCjv aluvov; through the ages of ages, — that is, to eternity. And finally, it is revealed with equal explicitness, that after Christ has come and commenced his reign on the eaj-th^ the nations are still to continue here, and are THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 179 to be saDctified and saved. For the apostle declares, in respect to the New Jerusalem, which he saw de- scending out of heaven : — " And I saw no temple therein ; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city has no need of the sun nor the moon, that they may light it : for the glory of God lights it, and the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor to it. And its gates shall not be shut by day (for there is no night there), and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations to it. And nothing shall enter it that is unclean, and that works defilement and falsehood ; but they only who are writ- ten in the Lamb's book of life. " And he showed me a river of water of life pure as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of the broad place, aud on each side of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, according to each month yielding its fruit, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the na- tions. And there shall be no curse any more. And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; And his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And they shall rule as kings through the ages of ages," chap. xxi. 23-27 ; 5:xii, 1-5. It is thus as clearly revealed here, that tlio Lor^ God and the Lamb are to be visibly present with ^l^Qse on the earth whom the city represouts, as it is 180 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. that the city is to come down to the earth from hea- ven ; for they are to see his face, and he is to be their light. It is clear, also, that those who are represented by the city, who reign, and whom God lights with his glory as he lights the city, are a different class from the nations ; for the latter w^alk in the light of the city and bring their glory to it. And those who are symbolized by the city and. reign, are expressly de- clared in the vision to be the Lamb's wife — which is the denominative of the risen and glorified saints, xxi. 9, 10. The nations are, therefore, the literal nations of the earth ; the people and tongues over whom Christ received dominion at his coming in the clouds, to the Ancient of days, Daniel vii. 13, 14, that they should serve him. This is shown, also, by their being healed by the leaves of the tree of life. The prophecy makes it as certain, accordingly, that the nations are to continue on the earth in the natural life after Christ's second coming, and during his reign and the reign of the saints through the ages of ages, as it does that he himself is to be visibly present and seen by the risen and glorified saints denoted by the city, and that they are to reign as kings through the ages of ages. The great purpose of God, that mankind shall con- tinue to inhabit the earth, and multiply through an endless series of generations, is thus taught in the Scriptures with great frequency and clearness. It is inwoven in the whole web of revelation. It is indi- cated in the command to the first pair, to be fruitful THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN EACE. 181 and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it; — a command which has never been rescinded, and which implies that the earth is to be the birthplace and dwelling of the human race as long as it exists. It is revealed in the covenant with Noah and his sons, for generations of eternity. It is expressly predicted and pledged in the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Hebrews on their establishment in Canaan. It is revealed and promised in the pledge to David, the first monarch ancestor of Christ, that his seed shall reign to eternity on his throne, and over his kingdom of Israel. It is revealed in the predic- tions that the Son of the Virgin, the God-man, was to be the descendant of David who should for ever reign on his throne. The prophecies of Christ's coming in the clouds and receiving the dominion of the earth, foreshow that mankind in the natural life — people, nations, and tongues, — are to be the subjects of his eternal reign on the earth. And finally, it is fore- shown in the visions of his reign on the earth after his second coming, that the nations are still to exist here, and are to continue in an endless series of gen- erations, to be the subjects of his sway. It is thus presented in a conspicuous manner at each of the great stages of the revelations God has made ; it en- ters as an element into all the covenants ; it is woven into all the great predictions and delineations of the kingdom and reign of Christ. It lies at the basis, as it were, of the work of redemption, and was contem- plated in all the measures that were preparatory to 182 THE PERPETUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. Christ's incarnation ; it was contemplated in his offer- ing himself as a sacrifice for the whole world ; it is contemplated in his eternal priesthood, and the inter- cessions he is to offer for those coming unto God by him, through the round of eternal ages. And there are no representations in the Scriptures that are con- tradictory to these ; there is not a hint in them that the earth is ever to be annihilated, or that the race is ever to reach a point beyond which no new genera- tions or individuals are to come into existence. This great purpose of the Most High is one of the most important that he has revealed to us ; and the knowledge of it is essential in order to understand the successive measures of his administration, and es- pecially the incarnation, sacrifice, and reign of Christ. Without it, no adequate impression can be made on us of the vastness of his aims and the grandeur of the redemption he is to accomplish. Those who imagine that our earth is the only world that exists ; that the other planets, the sun and the stars, are mere balls, or glittering points set in the arch of the sky, of no greater bulk than the objects near us on the earth that are of the same apparent dimensions, are not in a greater error in respect to the illimitableness of God's empire, than they are in respect to the great- ness of Christ's work, and the infinite crowds who are to be redeemed by him from age to age, who imagine that the race has already nearly reached its bounds ; that within about a thousand years, the whole num- ber of human beings that are ever to exist, will have THE PERPETUITY OP THE HUMAN RACE. 183 come into life ; and that the work of redemption, ac- cordingly, is to be circumscribed within those narrow limits. This great purpose of God respecting our race, con- futes the theory of Anti-millenarianism. That narrow scheme, the creature of human speculation, contem- plates no such everlasting work of redemption. It has no place for so vast and glorious a display of the Divine wisdom and goodness. Instead, it holds that the work of saving man is soon to reach its end ; that the redemption of a small part of those who come into existence, is all that God designs ; and that the grand measures by which a further extension of the evils of the fall is to be prevented are, the intercep- tion of the race from a further multiplication by a re- moval of them to other worlds, and the annihilation of the earth 184 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. CHAPTEE XV. Christ's second comixg is to precede the millennium. The most important question between Millenarians and Anti-millenarians, respects the time of Christ's second coming, and the nature of his reign on the earth during the millennium. Pre-millennialists hold that he is to come at the commencement of the thou- sand years, and is to reign in person on the earth during that period and for ever thereafter. Anti- millenarians hold that his reign during the thousand years is to be only such as he now exercises by in- fluences, laws, and providences, and that he is not to come to raise the dead and judge the living till after the millennium has passed. It is, however, on alto- gether insufficient and arbitrary grounds. There are very few future events predicted with such clearness and amplitude as that his second coming is to pre- cede the thousand years of the saints' reign, and that he is then to establish his kingdom on the earth and reign over it in person. 1. There is no direct prophecy or clear indication that he is not then to come and reign over the earth. CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 185 There is no prophecy that either expressly declares, or naturally implies that his second advent is to fol- low, instead of preceding the thousand years. There is no declaration nor hint, nor any thing that can consistently with the laws of language be construed as teaching that his reign on the earth is not to be a reign in person and visible glory^ but only by the Spirit, by laws, and by providences. It is by an ar- bitrary rejection of the natural sense of the predic- tions respecting his coming and reign, and substitu- tion in their place of a fanciful meaning by a process of spiritualization, that Anti-millenarians force them to yield a seeming attestation to their theory. 2. It is consonant to Christ's nature as Jehovah- man, and the ends of his mediation, that he should reign here in person in accomplishing the redemp- tion of the race. He is himself in his finite nature of our race. What so natural and appropriate as that he should reign in that person over our race, rather than in some distant realm that is the habita- tion of a different order of intelligent beings ? The work of redeeming men is the most important mea- sure of his administration, and is to exert a vaster and more momentous influence on the other orders of his subjects than any other act of his government. — How natural and fitting that this world where he is to make the most glorious display of his perfections, and whence the most powerful and beneficent influ- ences are to emanate to all other parts of his empire 186 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. should be made the scene also of his visible presence, and the seat of his throne ? 3. But it is expressly revealed that his coming in the clouds of heaven and receiving the dominion of the earth, is to take place before the conversion of the nations, and therefore is to precede the millenni- um. After the vision of the judgment and destruc- tion of the fourth beast, the prophet Daniel says: "I continued to look in the visions of the night, and be- hold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he advanced toward the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and tongues should serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away ; and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.'^ Chap. vii. 13, 14. His coming thus in person in the vision, is, according to the law of divine symbols, representative of his really coming in person in the clouds at the epoch of the destruc- tion of the powers denoted by the fourth beast to which the vision relates ; and is his second coming as he himself has shown in his profession to the high priest that he was " the Son of God,^^ and declaration that, " hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea- ven,'' Matt. xxvi. 63, 64; and xxiv. 30 ; and xxv. 31. That it is to precede the conversion of the nations is seen from its being of the epoch of the destruction of the persecuting horn of the beast that is to prevail CHRIST TS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 187 against the saints till the time of Christ's coining ; and from the consideration that it is then that the empire of this world is to be first given to Christ, and that his reception of it is to be in order that all people, nations, and languages may serve him, which they will never previously have done. There are symbolizations also in the Apocalypse of his coming with his heavenly hosts in power and glory at the destruction of the beast and its armies under the sixth seal and the seventh trumpet, which are indis- putably to precede the millennium, Rev. xix. 11-21 ; xi. 15-18 ; vi. 12-17. These visions admit of no other construction. They determine the time of his second coming to be that of the overthrow of the anti-chris- tian powers, with as absolute certainty as it could have been expressed in a language prophecy. It is revealed also with equal clearness in the language prophecies. Thus, it is foreshown that the destruc- tion of the man of sin is to take place at the time of Christ's coming, because that usurper is to be con- sumed by the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming, 2 Thess. ii. 6, and that the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, when he takes ven- geance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe, 2 Thess. i. 7-10. 188 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. The time when he " comes to be glorified in his saints/^ is the time when he comes to raise them from death in glory, and exalt them to thrones in his king- dom. 4. It is revealed that his coming is to be at the re- surrection of the holy dead, and that is to take place at the commencement of the thousand years. " For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not go before them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,^' 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16. ^' For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own band ; Christ airapxv^ first ; sneLra, afterwards they that are Christ^s at his coming : Eira, afterwards, (at a still later period,') the last band,^^ 1 Cor. xv. 22— 24. But the resurrection of the holy dead is to take place before the thousand years, as is expressly fore- shown. Rev. XX. 4-6, where the symbols of their re- storation to life and elevation to thrones, are said by the Spirit to be symbols of the first resurrection ; and it is declared that they are to reign with Christ during the thousand years. As then their resurrec- tion is to precede the thousand years of their reign with Christ, and as Christ^s second coming is to take place at the time of their resurrection, his coming is to precede the thousand years of their reign with him. CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 189 This is confirmed also by the fact that those who are to be raised are to be divided into bands, and that those bands are to be raised at different periods. Now as the resurrection foreshown, 1 Cor. xv. 22, is the resurrection of mankind universally that die ; and as those who are to rise are to be distributed into separate bands and according to their character, as is shown by the resurrection of those who are Christ^s in a band by themselves at his coming, it is clear that the unholy are to form a band by themselves. And as the bands are to rise in succession at different pe- riods, it is clear that the band of the unholy is to rise at a different and later time than the holy. That the unholy are to form a band by themselves is seen from the declaration, '^ All shall be made alive, but every one in his own band f and the definition of the first band as Christ, perhaps including those who rose with him ; and of the second as consisting of those who are Christ's. As the unholy are not in- cluded in the second band, they must of course form another band by themselves ; and this is indicated by the term i^iCj — his own band, which doubtless means the band to which he belongs by his character, and the nature of the resurrection he is to receive. Every one who is Christ's belongs to the band that is to be raised in glory and admitted to immortal life in his kingdom, and that band is his ow^i band ; that in which his character and relations to Christ place him. Every one who is not Christ's, belongs to the band whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of 190 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. life, and who are to be raised to shame and contempt. That is the host in which his character and relations to Christ place him. It is as clear, therefore, from the distribution of them which is to take place into bands according to their character and the nature of the resurrection of which they are to be the subjects, that the unholy are to form a band by themselves, as it is that the holy are, who it is expressly shown are to be raised as a band by themselves at Christ's coming. It is equally certain, also, from the designations of time, that the resurrection of these bands is to be at different periods. The terms aTzapxv, ^rceira, and elra are designations of times, and as they are here used, of times that are in a series. The first, Christ ; which, as the event has shown, precedes that next in order, more than eighteen centuries. "^Trelra, afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming. Elra, after that — that is, at a still later period, after an interval, as the Apocalypse shows, of a vast round of ages, ro raog, the last band in the train. Elra as clearly designates a time that is subsequent to that denoted by eTTetra, when those who are Christ's are to be raised; as eneiTa denotes a time that is subsequent to Christ's re- surrection. The express and sole office of tTretra is to show that the resurrection of the holy dead is to take place at a distance from Christ's resurrection, and that distance is defined as extending to his coming : and the express office, in like manner, of elra, is to show that the resurrection of the last band is to take CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 191 place at a later period than the resurrection of the holy ; and its period is defined as that at which Christ, having put down all his enemies, is to deliver up to the Father the sceptre of the universe which he received at his exaltation, and commence his ever- lasting reign, exclusively, over this world and race. Eha is used in this sense, Mark iv. 28 : " For the earth spontaneously brings forth fruit, first the blade ; eira then, that is, next, the ear ; elra, afterwards the full grain in the ear.'' It is used in a like manner, 1 Cor. xii. 28, to denote an analogous gradation in a series of miraculous gifts. ^' And God has placed some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, eTceira, next after^ miracles, elra after them, gifts of healing, helps, governments.'' They are used in .the same manner in this discussion respecting the resurrection. *^ He was seen of Peter ; elraj next after by the twelve ; eTrecTa, afterw^ards by more than five hundred brethren at once ; enecra, after that by James ; elra, next after that by all the apostles ; ecrxarov 6e ttuvtov, last of all by me." To deny, then, that these terms are used to denote successive times, and that eha (v. 24) denotes a later time than eneiTa (v. 23), and treat it as though it were t6t€, then, and stood for the same time as tVeira, is to deny its clear and indubitable meaning, and assign it one that is foreign to its usage. It is to disregard, also, the structure of the sentence of which elraroTeXog is a Continuation. Elra is not the beginning of a new sentence and a new subject. Had a new sentence begun after irapovcjca^ Christ's coming, 1 92 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. it would have been introduced by rbre, then, and icai yip, or some other word, or words, indicating a new sen- tence and another event, and its contemporaneousness with Christ's -^apovAa, coming. Instead of that, elra ro raof is a continuation of the sentence commenced in V. 23, and completes the series of times of which i.'Kapxn, and '^^ura, are the first and second. And finaUy, this is confirmed by the specification which foUows, of the time to which Ara refers, namely, brav, when Christ shall deliver up to the Father the kingdom which he received at his exaltation ; and the specifi- cation also, of that time, as ira,., when he shall have put down all his enemies, of which the last that is to be put down is death, which is to be after the period denoted by the millennium has passed (Rev. xx. 14) ; while his coming, at which his own people are to be raised, is to precede that epoch by a vast round of ages (Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Eev. xi. 15 ; xx. 4-6.) The time of the resurrection of the last band, is thus spe- cifically defined as the time of the last judgment, when the rest of the dead who are not to live till after the thousand years are past are to be raised ; (Eev. xx. 4^6, 14) ; precisely as the time of the resurrection of the' second band is defined, as the time of Christ's second coming. It is clear then beyond the possibility of refutation, that those who are to be raised, are to be divided into bands according to their character and the nature of the resurrection they are to experience ; and that the resurrection of these bands is to take place sue- CHRIST IS TO COME BEFOEE THE MILLENNIUM. 193 cessively at times that are to be separated from each other by wide intervals. The resurrection of the holy dead is to be at a distance of at least near nine- teen centuries after Christ's resurrection. The re- surrection of the unholy is not to take place till after the period denoted by the thousand years of Christ's reign on the earth with his saints, and is to follow Christ's coming, therefore, at the distance of three hundred and sixty thousand years. 5. His coming is to take place at the close of the tribulation of the Israelites that followed their con- quest and dispersion by the Romans. Thus Christ foretold that, "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden by the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; and there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things be- gin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke xxi. 24-28. The redemption of that people there- fore is to take place at the time of Christ's coming in the clouds. This is foretold also by Peter, Acts iii. 20, 21, where he declares that Avhen the times of re- 9 194 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. freshing shall come from the presence of Jehovah, he shall send Jesus Christ — before preached unto them — whom the heavens must retain imtil the times of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets. But the times of the restitution of all things which God has promised, are the times of the restoration of the Israelites to their ancient land and to their relation to God as his cho- sen people. Christ is to return from the heavens therefore at that epoch, and commence his reign on the earth. This is foretold also with equal explicitness, Zech. xiv. 1-16, where it is declared that when in the day of Jehovah he shall gather all nations against Jeru- salem to battle ; the Lord shall go forth and fight against those nations, and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee ; and that then the Lord shall be king over all the earth ; and there- after there shall be no more utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited; and "such as are left of the nations that come against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of taber- nacles.'' There is a like prediction also, Isaiah Ixvi. 15-22. But the restoration of the Israelites is to take place at the time of the conversion of the Gen- tiles. For it is to be at the time when the fulness of the Gentiles comes in, that the Redeemer is to come to Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob : and CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM. 195 it is then that God is to have mercy on all, both Gen- tiles and JewS; who are previously to be shut up in unbelief. The restoration of the Israelites is to take place also at the time of the creation of the new hea- vens and the new earth ; for then God is to " create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy ; and he is to rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in her people, and the voice of weeping is no more to be heard in her, nor the voice of crying f but they are to be freed from the curse, and crowned with unmixed blessed- ness and peace, Isaiah Ixv. 17-25, and the creation of the new heavens and new earth is to take place at the time that " the tabernacle of God" descends from heaven and " is with men and he dwells with them, and they become his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God." For that is the time when he is to ^' make all things new," Rev. xxi. 1-5. It is therefore at the commencement of the millennium. For that is the time of the resurrection of the saints, whom the new Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God, sym- bolizes, who are to reign with him during the mil- lennium. Rev. XX. 4-6, and the time of their marriage as the bride to the Lamb, Rev. xxi. 9 ; xix. 7-9, and that is to take place soon after the destruction of great Babylon under the seventh trumpet and sev- enth vial, Rev. xix. 1-6. Such are the clear, specific and uniform teachings of the Scriptures. The revelation they make is, be- yond all room for debate, that the second coming of Christ is to take place before the conversion of the 196 CHRIST IS TO COME BEFORE THE MILLEXXIUM. nations and liis reign of a thousand years with the risen saints. It is to treat those nnmerous passages as with- out meaning to deny that that is their import. It is also to impeach the wisdom and truth of God. Why did he employ these numerous, specific, and consist- ent designations and definitions of the time of Christ's second coming, if the time of his coming is not that which they denote ? Why is no other period desig- nated? Why are all the predictions of his advent in harmony with these? Among all the revelations God has made of future events, there is scarcely one that is more clearly and frequently foreshown, or more in- dubitably certain than that Christ's second coming is to take place under the seventh trumpet, and is to precede his thousand years' reign and the conversion of the world. CHRIST^S REIGN ON THE EARTH. 197 CHAPTER XVI. CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH DURING THE MILLENNIUM. But Christ is not only to come at the commence- ment of the millennium ; he is to reign here in per- son during that period and for ever thereafter. First, This is seen from the fact that the earth is then to become his kingdom, Daniel vii. 13, 14, Rev. xi. 15. It is then to become his kingdom, not simply in contradistinction from its being the kingdom of the beast and of Satan, but in distinction from all other parts of the universe. It is to be distinc- tively and peculiarly his kingdom as Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; and it is the scene therefore in which he is to reign in person. He is surely to reign where his kingdom is ; not where it is not. To maintain that he is not to reign in person here after his investiture with the dominion of the earth, is equivalent to maintaining that it is not in fact his kingdom in the highest sense, his peculiar dominion as the Messiah — but is only subject to his legal and providential sway, like other worlds 198 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH that are not the seat of his personal reign, and that the world where he reigns in visible glory, is there- fore the real seat of his empire, and in the most em- phatic sense his peculiar kingdom. The proclamation of the many voices from heaven at the sound of the seventh trumpet, kyhero fj ^aGLleia Tov KOGfiov Tov Kvpiov yjLtcJv Kol TOV XpiGToiJ avrovj kol paai7.evGei elg rovg alcovag tov aluvcov; "the kingdom of this world (the earth) is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign through the ages of ages,'' is a j)roclamation that he is to reign here J not somewhere else. To maintain that he is not to reign here is to offer it a direct contradiction. It is equivalent indeed to denying that he is to reign anywhere in person. For w^here is he to reign in person, if not in his own special and peculiar king- dom as Jehovah-Jesus, the Redeemer of the world ? Secondly, That he is to reign here in person, is seen from the consideration that his throne is here. For his throne is the throne of David. Thus, it was pre- dicted of him by Isaiah : " 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, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Ever- lasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government 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 with justice from henceforth even forever," Isaiah ix. 6, 7. It was foretold also to Mary at the annunciation, that she should "bring forth a Son and call his name Jesus. DURING THE MILLEXNIUM. 199 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord God shall give nnto him the throne of hisfatlier David^ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end/^ Lnke i. 31-33. But the house of Jacob as a kingdom is the family of the descendants of Jacob in this world ; not in some other part of the universe. The denial that it is in this world that he is to reign over them, implies that they form a king- dom by themselves in some other orb. Where have Anti-millenarians any authority for such a virtual re- presentation ? And v^^hat do they gain by denying that Christ's throne is to be in this v/orld, where his kingdom is to be ; if in order to it, they are to imply that he reigns in person over the descendants of Ja- cob as a kingdom in some other part of his domin- ions ? The throne and kingdom of David also are in this world. His subjects were the Israelites ; and it was over them that it was promised that his seed should reign for ever. ^^ I took thee from the sheep- cote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people^ over Israel . . . and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; neither shall the children of wickedness afl3ict them any more. . . . And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee ; thy throne shall be established for ever.'' And to this David answers : " Thou hast confirmed to thyself thy peo- ple Israel, a people unto thee for ever, and thou Lord 200 CHRIST IS TO REIG-N" ON THE EARTH art become their God ; and now Lord God the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said ; and let thy name be magnified for ever, saying : The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel ; and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee,'^ 2 Sam. vii. 8-16, 25, 26. David^s kingdom was thus the kingdom of Israel, and it is over them that his throne is to be established forever ; not any other people. To deny therefore that Christ is to reign over them in this world, is either to deny that he is to reign over them at all, or else to imply that they are to form a king- dom by themselves in some other sphere, and that he is to reign over them there; each of which is in direct contradiction to the teachings of these and other simi- lar passages. As God has confirmed his peojole Is- rael to be a people unto him, to eternity ; and as they are therefore to subsist here to eternity as a distinct people, to deny that they are to be David^s kingdom, and that Christ is to reign over them on his throne, is to offer a point blank denial to the predic- tions of these passages and pronounce them false. — They must be false, if the Israelites who are to con- tinue a people in this world for ever, are not to con- tinue to be the kingdom of David. They must be false, if David's great descendant, Jesus, does not reign on his throne here over the house of Jacob for ever. There is no medium between rejecting this whole class of prophecies, and admitting the great DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 201 truth they so clearly proclaim, that Christ is for ever to reign here in person on the throne of David over the people of Israel. Thirdly. His throne is to be on Mount Zion. The Lord proclaims in answer to the rage of the nations who take counsel against his anointed — " Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree : Thou art my Son ; this day have I be- gotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore ye Kings ; be in- structed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.'^ Ps. ii. 6-11. Can any thing be clearer, than that the hill of Zion on which the King is to be enthroned, is the literal Zion of Je- rusalem, and that the reign here depicted is to be in this w^orld and over human beings ? It is predicted also by Micah that on the restoration of the Israelites the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion to eter- nity. " In that day" — when all nations are to be con- verted, and to beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and learn war no more — " saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halt- eth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted ; and I will make her that halted 9^ 202 CHEIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH a remnantj and her that was cast far off, a strong na- tion ; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from this time to eternity/' chap. iv. 6.. 7. The Lord is to reign then over the Israelites in Zion, from the time of their restoration to eternity. And as Christ is the Lord who is to reign over them, he is to reign there in person in his complex nature as God-man : otherwise he will not reign over them in Zion. If he were to reign over them not in person, but only by laws, influences, and providences, he would no more reign over them on Mount Zion, than he would in any other place where he made known his laws to men, breathed the influences of his Spirit on them, and exerted over them a providence. The prediction that he is to reign in Zion, in contradis- tinction from other places, is a nullity, unless he is to reign there in person. Fourthly. He is to reign where the risen saints reign ; and they are to reign on the earth. " Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection : on such the second death has no power ; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him the thousand years.'' Rev. xx. 6. But they are to reign on the earth ; The living creatures and elders sang, " Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earilij'' Rev. v. 9, 10. And it is fore- DUEING THE MILLENNIUM. 203 shown, Daniel vii. 13, 14, 18, 22, 27, that when on the destruction of the powers denoted by the fourth beast, Christ is to receive the dominion of the earth, that all people, nations, and tongues may serve him, "the saints of the Most High also shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom to eternity, and to eternity of eternities," and that " the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom," which " shall be given" to them, is " the kingdom under the whole heaven ;" that is the whole circuit of the earth which lies beneath the atmosphere. As then the saints are indisputably to reign on the earth, and nowhere else, as far as we are taught, and as he is to reign with them ; — he is as indisputably to reign on the earth ; and in person ; as otherwise he will no more reign with them, than the Father will, or the Holy Spirit. But that is in contradiction to the revelation, Daniel vii. 13, 14 ; Ps. ii. 6 ; Rev. xi. 15 ; xix. 16, and others, which exhibit Christ as constituted the King of the earth by the Father, and as reigning over it as his peculiar kingdom. Fifthly. And finally he is exhibited in the Apoca- lypse as reigning over the earth in person after his second coming, raising the holy dead, and establish- ing his kingdom on the earth. Thus we are told that on the descent of the New Jerusalem, the symbol of the risen saints, " the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads : And there shall be no night tlieve ; and 204 CHRIST IS TO REIGJS" ON THE EARTH they need no light of lamp, nor light of sun ; for the Lord God sheds light upon them ; and they shall reign through the ages of ages. ^^ Eev. xxii. 3-5. As his throne is to be amidst the risen saints, and his face is to be seen by his servants, he is to be present and reign in person on the earth. That he is to come in the clouds at the commence- ment of the thousand years, and is thereafter to reign in person and glory forever on the earth, is thus taught with a directness, a fulness, and a certainty with which few other measures of his administration are revealed ; and cannot be denied, without a palpable and wanton contradiction to a great class of the most important predictions, and a virtual surrender of the word of God to an arbitrary construction that discards its indisputable teachings, and substitutes a lawless theory in its place ; — a misrepresentation and perver- sion that if applied to human writings that concern the rights and well being of men, would be regarded as unpardonable. But why, it will perhaps be asked, if Christ is thus to reign on the earth, did he not establish his throne here immediately after his resurrection ? Why did he depart from the earth to heaven, and exercise through so many ages an administration over mankind like the present ? The answer is : 1. He ascended to heaven, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and assumed the sceptre of the universe, that all orders of God's obedient sub- jects might be brought to a knowledge of him as the DUEING THE MILLENNIUM. 205 Eternal Word in union with man, and of the nature of his work as Redeemer ; and might acknowledge, wor- ship, and glorify him in that union and station, and that the wisdom, righteousness, and grace displayed in the salvation of the guilty might thereby be made the means of blessing to all his holy children through- out his illimitable realms. This end, as we have seen, is of infinite significance ; and it has been accom- plished, doubtless, far more effectually, than it would had he reigned since his resurrection on the earth. For he has not only been beheld by the angelic orders in his exaltation to the throne of the universe, the acts of his administration witnessed, and a knowledge of his sway doubtless communicated by them to all other ranks of intelligent beings ; but not improbably he has revealed himself in his incarnate nature to all the holy inhabitants of his empire, whatever their na- ture may be, and received their direct homage as God-man, their creator, upholder, and ruler, and the Saviour of mankind. Many of them may have beheld him, knelt in adoration in his presence, and received the smile of his love, many times. As he reigns in visible glory in the presence of the angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, why should it not be deemed likely that he reveals himself also in his hu- man nature, to the inhabitants of other worlds, re- ceives their homage, and blesses them Avith the tokens of his favor ? The instruction of his boundless king- dom by these and other means in the wonders of his incarnation and death, and the aims of his everlastini;* 206 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH reign, is a vast and momentous work, and may require the long period through which he continues his sway in heaven. 2. His withdrawal from the earth was obviously necessary to his exercising an administration over men like the present, in which they should be put to severe tests, and left to act out their dispositions to- ward him with little restraint. Had he be^n present in the dazzling splendors in which he is clothed in heaven, how could men have doubted his existence or deity? How could they have questioned his right and power to reign over them? How could they have rejected his salvation, and attempted to substi- tute another in its place ? How could they have un- dertaken to usurp his throne, constitute themselves saviours, and lead men to look to them for redemp- tion ? How could they have paid their homage to idols, and demons, and reptiles? How could they have forgotten him, scorned him, and turned to the treasures and pleasures of this world for happiness ? How could they have made war on one another in his presence, and wreaked their ferocious passions in tor- turing and slaughtering one another ? The restraints under which they would have been j)laced, the flood of truth that would have been poured on them, would have rendered it impossible. It was a necessary con- dition to their being left to act out their hearts in all the forms of evil they now do, that they should be exempted from the overpowering realizations with which his personal presence would impress them ; — DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 207 that they should be placed in a sphere like the pre- sent, in which he is to be seen only by the eye of faith and through his works and word. As then the exhibition which is now taking place of the heart of man, is, as we have shown, an essential preliminary to the redemptive dispensation that is hereafter to be instituted, and continued forever ; so Christ's reign in heaven during the present economy was doubtless necessary in order to that trial and exhibition of the human heart ; and therefore to the gracious dispen- sation that is to follow through everlasting years. 3. It was necessary that Christ should reign in hea- ven during the present economy, that Satan might continue his kingdom here, and exert the vast agency he has in tempting mankind, and leading them to the various forms of sin to which he has prompted them. It is inconsistent with the dignity and majesty of Christ that Satan should carry on his war against him in his immediate presence ; deny his being, impeach his character, resist his rights, misrepresent his work, and assail and pervert the doctrines of his word to his face, as it were, and tempt and betray and destroy his subjects amidst the unveiled glories of his deity and throne. It is incompatible with his sanctitude, and would involve his holy subjects in perplexity and horror, and overthrow his authority. Even men when they have directly affronted him in the scene where he revealed himself, have been instantly stricken with his avenging power, as Nadab and Abihu and Korah and his company. 208 CHRIST IS TO REIGN ON THE EARTH 4. The ends of this admmistration, however, will soon be accomplished, and he will come and receive the earth as his special kingdom as Messiah, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; and it will then be as es- sential that he shonld reign here in person and visible glory, as it now is that he should reign in person in heaven ; his visible presence will doubtless contribute as much to the instruction and impression of mankind, as the visible revelation of himself now does to the instruction and impression of the inhabitants of other worlds ; and the supposition that he is not to reign here personally and visibly, is as contradictory to his nature, his glory, and the ends of his administration, as the supposition is that his reign in heaven is not visible : but that he shrouds himself from the eyes of his holy creatures, and allows them to know him only through his works and his word. We see in his purpose to come and reign in person on the earth and enter on the redemptive dispensa- tion he has foreshown, the reason that the apostles and early believers looked with so much desire to the hour of his second coming. It is to be not only the epoch of their complete redemption ; but of the redemption of the world. It is to be an era of infi- nite significance to the whole universe of holy beings. The great enemies of God and man are then to be ar- rested in their career of war on him and his kingdom, and consigned to judgment. Death, suffering, sorrow, and sin, are to be brought to a pause on the earth, and mankind rescued from their thraldom ; Christ DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 209 is to display the grandeur of his omnipotence, his wisdom, and his love in the redemption of men from the debasement and curse of sin, and transformation into righteousness and love. The earth is to become a vast paradise of holy and rejoicing beings, and be filled with the glory and praise of God. Who can look with indifference on such a spectacle ? "Who can withhold himself from the wish of the apostle to whom the scene was revealed in vision, '' Come Lord Jesus, come quickly V^ 210 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING CHAPTER XVII. CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. The Scriptures indicate that great and momentous changes are to take place in God^s administration over the world, at the commencement of Christ's mil- lennial reign, when all people, nations, and languages are to become obedient to his sceptre. They every- where represent, in a specific and emphatic manner, that the day.s that are immediately to precede that epoch, are to be the last days of the present dispen- sation, during which Satan, the prince of the power of the air, exerts a predominating sway over men ; the great systems of idol-worship and false Christi- anity prevail ; the evil continue mixed with the good, like tares with wheat ; and the malign principles and passions of the wicked are left to work out their cha- racter and fruits, and show that men are in reality in that alienation from God, and need of a gratuitous salvation, which Christ's intervention represents, and makes the ground of his redemptive w^ork. They ex- pressly represent, also, that the former things — sor- row, pain, crying, and death — are then to pass away, TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 211 and all things are to be made new ; and specify among the former things that are thus to pass — the reign of the apostate and persecuting powers of Christendom, the systems of idolatry and other false worships, the tempting agency and presence of Satan, ignorance, and delusion ; and they indicate also a number of the new things that are then to take place — such as the personal coming and reign of Christ in glory, the resurrection of the holy dead and reign with him, the restoration of Israel, the communication to all nations and individuals of the knowledge of Christ, their universal conversion, and the discon- tinuance of wars, violence, and evils "of every form — which show that the administration that is then to be instituted, will differ very widely from the present, and may be justly denominated a new dispensation. What, however, is meant by its being a new dis- pensation ? Not, as disbelievers in Christ's reign sometimes represent, that a new method of redemp- tion is then to be instituted, or a new method of de- livering men from sin. No statement could be more mistaken. The object of the new administration is not to supersede the work of Christ by some other method of atonement or justification, but to apply his redemption on a vastly greater scale ; to extend its blessings to the whole population of the globe. Its aim is to give efficacy to the mean^ of exempting men from temptation ; enlightening, convincing, and renewing them ; transforming them to wisdom and rirfiteousness : and elevatini^: them in everv excel- 212 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING lence, m a measure altogether transcending what the church has yet seen, and commensurate with the ne- cessities of all the nations and individuals of the race ; — not to set aside those means and influences, and reform and purify them by other instruments and agencies. Christ will then be the expiation, righteousness, and Redeemer of his people, and in a far higher sense to their thoughts and affections than he has hitherto been ; the Spirit will still be the sole renewer and sanctifier of the redeemed, and far more consciously to them, and with far more resplendent displays of his power, wisdom, and love, than now ; and the gospel will still be the glad news of salva- tion, and its truths the great instrument, in the in- fluences of the Spirit, of convincing, enlightening, and purifying the heart, and kindling it with the holy affections which are the fruits of his agency. But it will be a new dispensation, because, on the one hand, of the perfect exemption which the race are then to enjoy from the tempting arts of Satan, and of cruel and Avicked men ; and on the other, of the presence of Christ, new and higher means of in- struction and impression, and the immeasurably more copious and efficacious influences of the renewing and sanctifying Spirit, by which those means are to be applied to the illumination and transformation of men. In these relations, it will be far more emjDhati- cally a new dispensation than either the Mosaic or Christian was in regard to that which preceded it. Its peculiarities will be much more numerous and im- TO INTRODUCE A NEV*^ DISPENSATION. 213 port ant ; its influences will be far more extensive. The Mosaic dispensation was confined in its design and effect almost exclusively to the Hebrews. The Christian has, in fact, been confined almost absolute- ly to the nations living within the limits of the ancient Roman empire, and those that have inter- mixed with or sprung from them. On the vast population of Central and Southern Africa, of East- ern and Northern Asia, of the islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the numerous aboriginal tribes of this continent, scarce a ray of its light has ever fallen. The new dispensation is to pour its effulgence on every part of the globe ; is to exert its life-giving power in every human breast. That the most important changes are to be intro- duced in the administration of the world, at the time when it is thus to become the scene of Christ^s king- dom, in contradistinction from the kingdom of Satan and of apostate and hostile men, is taught in a great number of passages. Thus it is shown in the follow- ing vision of Daniel, that at the time that the nations of the earth are to become the subjects of Christ^s sceptre, he is to come in the clouds of heaven, and be invested with the dominion of the world ; the powers denoted by the beast of ten horns are to be arraigned and destroyed ; and the saints of the Most High, whom the little horn had prevailed against and worn out by persecution and martyrdom, are to take the kingdom^ and reign with him for ever and ever. " And I continued lookin^r until the thrones were 214 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING placed, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool ; his throne was the fiery flame,. his wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him, thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him ; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I continued looking then because of the great words which the horn sjDake, I continued look- ing until the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and it was committed to the burning flames. '* I continued to look in the visions of the night, and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and he advanced to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and tongues, should serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. " And I came near to one of those that stood by, and asked him the truth (the true import) of all this ; so he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings (dynasties) which arise in the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the king- dom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. " Then would I know the truth (the meaning) of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 215 others, exceedingly dreadful ; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up and before which three fell ; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I continued looking, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints joossessed the kingdom. Thus he said : The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as to the ten horns out of this kingdom, ten kings shall arise, and another shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from those that preceded, and three kings shall he subdue, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand for a time, and times, and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and do- minion, 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 ever- lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall servo and obey him."— Chap. vii. 9-27. Here the great events that are symbolized, are re- 216 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING presented as contemporaneous with or of the same great epoch as the conversion of the nations. The period when all people, nations, and tongues are to pass under Christ's rule and serve him, is the epoch of the session of the Ancient of days in the air, and the judgment and destruction of the civil and eccle- siastical powers symbolized by the wild beast. It is to be of the same period also as the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, and investiture with the dominion of the world, that all its people and nations should serve him. It is likewise to be of the same epoch as the reception of the kingdom by the_. saints of the Most High, who are thenceforward to possess it for ever and ever. The institution of the rule on which Christ is to enter at his investiture with the dominion of the earth, here foreshown, is not to commence anterior to the destruction of the hostile powers denoted by the wild beast ; for the eleventh horn, which made war with the saints, is to prevail against them until the Ancient of days comes, and judgment, that is, judicial authority, is given to the saints of the Most High, and the time arrives that they are to possess the kingdom. The reign of Christ and the reign of the beast are not to be con- temporaneous ; but the reign of Christ is to follow that of the beast, and to commence when his career ends. In like manner, the conversion of the nations to Christ's rule is not to precede his coming in the clouds of heaven and investiture with the dominion of the world. Why should he be invested with the TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 217 sceptre of the earth ages after it has been his king- dom and yielded to his sway? But he is to receive the earth as his kingdom and be invested with au- thority over it as the Son of Man, in order that all people, nations, and tongues may serve him. Their obedience is to be the consequence and work of his sway ; not his dominion and sway the consequence of their conversion and obedience. Here is then a clear and indubitable revelation that, at the time that all nations are to become subject to Christ, he is to institute a kingdom on the earth that is to be unlike any that previously existed, and enter on an administration that, in form and efficiency, will differ very essentially from any that preceded it. It will be ushered in by the destruction of the powers denoted by the wild beast, and by his coming in the clouds of heaven, receiving the earth as his kingdom, and causing all its people and nations to submit to his sceptre ; and it will be marked by his personal reign over them, by the reign with him of the saints of the Most High who had been persecuted and slain during the powef of the beast ; by the conversion and obe- dience to him of all nations and tongues ; and by a continuance for ever ; and these and other great mea- sures revealed in other prophecies, which are to be adopted at the same period, are emphatically to con- stitute his administration a new and peculiar one. It is to be new and peculiar, because Christ is to reign over the nations in person. As the earth is then to be his kingdom, he is to be its King, in place 10 218 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING of the usurping, slaughtering, and oppressing rulers symbolized by the four wild beasts ; and he is to reign liere and visibly, not as he now does in a distant part of the universe beyond the sphere of our sight. Why should he be constituted the king of the earth, and be exhibited as entering on a new and eternal reign over it, if he is then to be no more its king than he was before, and reign over it in no different form ? If he is not then in fact on the earth any more than he now is, and does not reign over it in person and visibly any more than he now does, how will he any more be its king, to the exclusion of all others, than he is now ? If earthly monarchs are then to reign over the nations, and as absolutely as they do now, though more wisely, why will they not be the kings of the earth, in contra- distinction from Christ, enthroned in a different and distant world, as much as the j)resent monarchs of the earth are ? It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- cause there will then be no conspiring and bloody monarchs, not only in the ten kingdoms ruled by the beast, but, as we learn from other prophecies, in no part of the world, Isaiah ii. 4-18, who will employ themselves in making war on their fellow men, slaugh- tering them, crushing them with oppression, and en- ticing or forcing them to apostatize from God, and pay their homage to idols and false deities. The uni- versal abolition of other worships is indeed implied in the subjection of all nations to Christ. The false religions that have prevailed in the world for four TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 219 thousand years, have been mainly instituted, sustained, and propagated by the arbitrary and cruel rulers of the nations. Their priests have been the instruments of those monarchs, and their bloody and profligate rites the means of augmenting their power, and keep- ing the people in submission to their will. The idol- atries of Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome, were all instituted and fostered by the governments, and owed to them their authority and perpetuation from age to age. What a stupendous change in the con- dition of the race will the extinction of all those false religions form ; and their extinction by the personal presence of the Son of Man in the glories of his deity, as the Creator and the Redeemer of men, and the only proper object of their homage ! How infinite the influences that are to spring from it ! It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- cause the saints of the Most High are to take the kingdom along Avith Christ, and reign with him for ever and ever. The saints who are thus to receive judicial authority and to possess the kingdom, are i)ot saints in the natural life, but those who are at Christ^s coming to be raised from the dead and ex- alted to thrones, and reign with him, as is foreshown in the vision of the first resurrection. Rev. xx. 4-0. This is seen from the consideration, that they are the identical saints on whom the eleventh horn of the beast made war, prevailed over, and wore out by per- secution and slaughter during the long period of its reign symbolized by a time, times, and the JiviJiiiu' 220 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMINrx of a time, or twelve hundred and sixty years. That they are not the saints in the natural body, is seen also from the consideration that all the nations, that is, all in the natural life, are to be their subjects. If they are saints in the natural life, as all in this life are to be saints, there would be no subjects over whom they could reign. They are to be the risen and glorified saints, therefore, as is foreshown, Rev. XX. 4-6, who are then to be invested with kingly au- thority, and given to reign with Christ. And that will be a measure that has no parallel in the present administration of the world, and will be fraught un- doubtedly with immense and propitious influences. It will be a new and peculiar administration, be- cause all people, nations, and tongues will be obedi- ent to Christ. There not only w^ill not be any tyran- nical and bloody monarchs, any apostate and perse- cuting church, nor any false religions ; but there will not be any irreligious and demoralized communities, any deceitful and deluding teachers, nor any wicked families nor individuals. All peojole, nations, and tongues are to serve the Son of Man, and all domin- ions under the whole heaven be obedient to his scep- tre. What a stupendous change ! Every false belief swept from existence ! Every selfish and ferocious passion hushed in eternal silence ! Every breast swayed by rectitude, wisdom, and love, and seeking to promote the intelligence, purity, virtue, and hap- piness of all others, and finding a lofty and perfect bliss in Christ and his kingdom ! TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 221 These are the plain and indubitable teachings of the vision. The construction we have put on it, in- deed, is in a great measure given by the Spirit of in- spiration himself ; it is in accordance with the lav/s of the symbols, and of the language in which it is ex- plained and unfolded ; and its teachings interpreted in this manner are confirmed by many other passages in the Scriptures which predict the same great events, at the same epoch. Thus it is foretold by Christ that men are to continue in blindness, unbelief, and devo- tion to worldly pleasures and sin, down to the time of his coming in the clouds of heaven. " And as were the days of Noe, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be ; for as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not till the flood came and took them all aw^ay ; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matt. xxiv. 37-40.) '' Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded : but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke xvii. 28-30. So also it is shown in the parable of the wdieat and tares, that the children of the wicked one are to continue intermixed with the children of the kingdom till the end of the age, when he is to come and establish his throne on the earth. Both are to grow together 222 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING until the harvest, which is the end of the age : when the Son of Man is to ''send forth his angels and gather all those w^ho tempt to sin, and all that do iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire/^ Matt. xiii. 39-42. It is foretold, moreover, that in the latter times of the present dispensation, there shall be an apostasy from the faith to seducing spirits and the doctrines of demons : and in the last days still more perilous times shall come, when men, under the pretence of piety, but denying its power, shall go to the monstrous length of maintaining that ungodliness itself is virtue ; the vilest and most atrocious passions and principles, and the most base and impious prac- tices, are religion in its purest and highest form, the religion of reason and of Christianity ; and will ad- dict themselves to the most lawless indulgence of their brutal appetites and fiendish pride and ma- lignity. 1 Tim. iv. 1-3 ; 2 Tim. iii. 1-7. At that time, also, scoffers are to arise who will deride the prediction that Christ is to come and destroy his enemies, and mock at the faith of God's people in it. It is foreshown, also, that Christ is to descend from heaven in infinite glory and pomp with all his armies, at the last great battle of the wild beast and false prophet and their hosts against him, and is to destroy them ; and immediately after, enter on his millennial reign, and bring all nations to submission to his gracious will. Rev. xix. 11-21; xx. 1-6; 2 Thess. i. 6-10. And, finally, it is foretold that the holy dead are then to be raised, and reign with him, Rev. xx. TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 223 1-6 ; 1 Cor. xv. 23-57 ; 1 Thess. iv. 14-17, and that he is to dwell with men and manifest his presence and glory to them. Rev. xxi. 1-9 ; xxii. 1-5. We might cite a great nnmber of other passages in which it is foreshown that these events are to take place at the same epoch. It is the representation everywhere given of them ; it is the voice of the whole prophetic Scriptures respecting them. Not only are these the plain teachings of the vi- sion, but no other construction can be put on it, without involving the prophecy in the grossest con- tradictions. Thus, it cannot be maintained that the reign of the saints is to precede the comiing and reign of the Son of Man, without such a contradiction ; as it is expressly declared that the blaspheming and persecuting horn ^^ made loar with the saints and pre- vailed against them until the Ancient of days came, and judicial authority was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints pos- sessed the kingdom, '^ v. 21, 22. And it is at that session of the Ancient of days, and gift of judicial power to the saints, that the Son of Man is to come in the clouds of heaven, and receive the dominion of the earth, that all people and nations may servo him ; and that reception of the earth as his kingdom, and the glory of dominion over it as his empire, is to be his absolute and final reception of it as such ; not a merely preliminary and lower investiture Avith au- thority over it; for it is added, that the dominion with which he is then to be invested is an everlasting' 224 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed ; '* an everlasting kingdom, '' in the sway of which " all dominions shall serve him.^^ No language or revelation could more clearly declare, on the one hand, that the reign of the saints is not to commence till the Ancient of days ap- pears, and judges the powers denoted by the beast, and the Son of Man comes in the clouds of heaven, and receives the earth as his kingdom ; and on the other, that the relation in which Christ is to reign over the earth, is never thereafter to change, he is never to become its king in a different form, nor ex- ercise over it a different dominion. How could the notion be more expressly excluded, that the reign of the saints is to precede the judgment by the Ancient of days, and the coming of the Son of Man ; and that his personal reign is not to commence until after their reign is over? It cannot be maintained that the reign of the saints is contemporaneous with the domination of the beast, without a like contradiction ; for it is ex- pressly represented that the time w^hen the saints are to possess the kingdom, is the time of the session of the Ancient of days, when the beast is to be arraign- ed and destroyed ; and until that time the persecu- ting power is to make war on them, and prevail against them ; and that that malignant power is to have supreme sway over the times and laws, until the judgment shall sit which is to take away its dominion and destroy it. It cannot be maintained that Christ^s reio:n is to be TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 225 contemporaneons with that of the beast ; for on the one hand, the beast is to be supreme, hold the times and law^s in its power, and make war on the saints and prevail against them, down to the time when it is to be arraigned at the tribunal of the Ancient of days and destroyed ; and on the other, it is not till that session of the Ancient of days and destruction of the beast, that the Son of Man is to receive the do- minion of the earth, and bring the nations into obedi- ence to his sceptre. The reign of the saints, more- over, is to commence with the reign of Christ, and contemporize w^ith his. But their reign is not to commence till the judgment and destruction of the wild beast. His reign accordingly is not to commence until that epoch. It cannot be maintained that the reign of Christ over the world, after his coming in the clouds of hea- ven and assumption of its dominion, is not to differ from that which he now exercises ; for that would imply either that he is not in reality to receive any authority, glory, or kingdom, at his coming in the clouds, or else that he is not to exercise any of the power and dominion which he is then to receive ; each of which is contradictious to the prediction, and treats it as altogether unmeaning and deceptive. To assert that he is not then to be invested with the do- minion of the earth, and be constituted its king in a sense that he had not before been, is to contradict the prediction, for it is expressly said tliat there was given him, as he stood before the Ancient of days, 10^ 226 CHRIST IS AT HIS COMING clominiGn and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and tongues, should serve him ; and that the dominion with which he was then invested, is an ever- lasting dominion, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed, but shall be obeyed by all dominions. Will any one in the presence of this august transac- tion, and this revealed explanation of its import, ven- ture to maintain that they are an unmeaning pageant ; a gorgeous mockery ; that they present no indication that the Son of Man is at his coming to be invested with a dominion of the earth he never before pos- sessed ; and is to become its king, in a relation and a glory he will not before have been ? Can a more fla- grant contradiction to the prophecy be devised, or a more direct impeachment of the truth of the great Revealer ? "Were it a more presumptuous and sweep- ing assault on the prophecy, to deny that the session of the Ancient of days, the judgment and destruction of the beast, the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds, the reign of the saints, or the submission of the nations to Christ's sway, denote the events which they represent, or imply that any new measures of any kind are to enter into the divine administration, or new and extraordinary occurrences to take place under it? That Christ is to be invested with a new and peculiar dominion over the earth at his coming must then be admitted ; and thence it must be ad- mitted that the new dominion with which he is to be invested, and the new reign on which he is to enter, is that of its absolute and personal king, who is to es- TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPENSATION. 227 tablisli his throne here, and appear visibly to men ; inasmuch as to suppose it otherwise, is either to sup- pose that he had no dominion whatever over men be- fore ; or else that he had identically the same in kind as he is then to receive ; each of which is to contra- dict the prophecy, and the teachings of every other part of the Bible respecting his millennial and ever- lasting reign. For if he is not, in virtue of the do- minion he is at that epoch to receive, to reign in per- son over the earth, then the power he is to receive is simply a power to reign over men invisibly on his throne in heaven, as he now does, and as he perhaps reigns over other distant realms of his empire. But if his reign is to be simply an invisible one, by laws, providences, and the influences of his Spirit, then the gift of that power to him at his coming in the clouds implies that he had no such power before. For if he has it now, why is it to be given to him then ? But to suppose that he has not that power now, is to con- tradict the clearest teachings of the sacred word. He himself declared after his resurrection that all power in heaven and earth was given to him ; and the apos- tle avers, that on his ascension the Father ^^ set him at his own right hand, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this w^orld, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all under his feet.'^ On the other hand, to admit that he has that power now, and jet to maintain that he is not to be invested Avith any higher authority or kingsliip at his coming, is io 228 CHRIST IS TO INTRODUCE A NEW DISPEXSATIOX. maintain that no new authority whatever is then to be given him, and represent the vision as an unmean- ing and deceptive pageant. To assign any other time to the coming of Christ, and commencement of his kingly reign and the reign of the saints on the earth, than that of the judgment and destruction of the powers denoted by the wild beast ; or exhibit his reign, instead of a reign in per- son, as a mere reign by laws, influences, and provi- dences, is to set aside the plain teachings of the pro- phecy, and involve it in the grossest self-contradic- tion. This great vision thus makes it certain that the conversion of the nations is to follow the coming of Christ in the clouds and establishment of his throne on the earth — not to precede it ; and that his coming and the commencement of his reign here, and the reign of the saints with him, are to take place at the judgment and destruction of the powers symbolized by the wild beast. THE DATE OF THE NEW DISPENSATION. 229 CHAPTER XVIII. HE IS TO INSTITUTE THIS NEW DISPENSATION AND ENTER ON HIS REIGN HERE AT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH EMPIRE UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. The contemporaneousness of Christ^s coming, and the commencement of his reign here and the reign of the saints, with the judgment of the powers sym- bolized by the wild beast, is revealed also in the vision of the Apocalypse under the seventh trumpet. " And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world has become our Lord^s and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four-and- twenty elders, who sat before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, We thank thee, Lord God, the Almighty, who is, and who was, that thou hast taken thy great power and reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who fear thy name, small 230 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS HEIGN nnd great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."— Rev. xi. 15-18. Here the investiture of Christ vrith the kingdom or sovereignty of the world, and the commencement of his everlasting reign over it as the Messiah, is re- presented as taking place under the seventh trumpet, when the last plagues on the wild beast, false prophet, and their vassals are to be inflicted, and those hostile powers are to be destroyed. The sovereignty of the world with which he is then to be invested, is un- doubtedly one that he had not before possessed ; and the relation in which he is to be its king, and reign over it, is one in which he had not before been its monarch. To maintain that he is not, then, to re- ceive any dominion he did not before possess and exercise, and that he is not then to become the mon- arch and ruler of the earth in any other sense than that in which he now is, is to contradict the vision, and make the proclamation by the great voices from heaven empty sounds, uttering no prophecy, and con- veying no information. No one who receives the vision as divine will be so rash as to exhibit that as its character. But if those voices are prophetic, and reveal the gift of the world to Christ as his kingdom, and the commencement of his reigning over it, then it must be a revelation that he is at that epoch to re- ceive the earth as his kingdom, in which he is to reign in person and visibly ; for otherwise he will be no more, nor in any other sense, the monarch of the earth than he now is. Does he not now, seated UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 231 at the right hand of the majesty on high, and possess- ing all power in heaven and earth, reign over our world by laws, influences, and providences ? And if he is only to reign in that manner after the seventh trumpet, will he possess any more dominion, or reign over it in any other way than he now does ? The prophecy that he is then to receive the world as his kingdom, and commence an everlasting reign over it, is thus demonstratively a prophecy that he is then to come to the earth, receive it as his peculiar kingdom, and reign over it in person. But the reception of the world as his kingdom is to take place at the time of the destruction of the wild beast ; for it is to be at the time of the seventh trumpet, and the time of the Almighty's wrath, when he is to destroy those who destroy the earth ; and those destroyers are the wild beast, the false prophet, and Babylon, the symbols of the apostate and perse- cuting civil and ecclesiastical rulers of the ten king- doms of the Apocalypse, on whose subjects and throne the first six vials are poured, and whose de- struction is to take place under the seventh. The time of this reception of the world as his king- dom, and destruction of the wild beast and false pro- phet, is also to be the time of the holy dead, that Christ should judge and give reward to his servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them among the living also that fear his name, both small and great ; and that is the time of the resurrection of the holy dead, therefore ; for it is at their resurrection 232 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN that they are to be judged, and be constituted kings and priests, receive their crowns, and enter on their reign with Christ. Rev. xx. ^6 ; 1 Corin. xv. 51- 57 ; Dan. xii. 1-3 ; Matt. xiii. 37-43. The time, there- fore, of Christ's reception of the world as his king- dom, and destruction of the destroyers of the earth, is to be the time of his coming in the clouds of hea- ven in great glory and power ; and his reign over the earth is accordingly to be a reign over it in per- son. For he is to come in person at the resurrection of the holy dead, and the judgment, acceptance, and reward of the living saints. He is to come also in person in the clouds of heaven at the destruction of his living enemies. Thus, " The Lord himself shall de- scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Afterwards we the living who survive, shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we be ever with the Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- corruptible, and we shall be changed,'' 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall all nations" — that is, the living — ''be gathered, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shep- herd divideth his sheep from the goats ; and he shall UNDEE THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 233 set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left ; and these shall go away into everlasting pun- ishment, but the righteous into life eternal," Matt. XXV. 31-46. " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe," 2 Thess. i. 7-10. All these passages thus teach, in the most express manner, that Christ is to come in person and visibly at the resurrection of the holy dead, the acceptance of the living saints, and the judgment and destruction of his enemies. As, then, at the seventh trumpet, when he is to receive the world as his kingdom, he is to judge and reward the holy dead, and the holy living small and great, and destroy his enemies — acts in which he is to be personally present, — it is clear that he is then to come in the clouds of heaven in person and visibly, and thence that the everlasting reign on which he is then to enter over the world is to be a reign in person and visibly. But that is to be the period of the conversion of the nations of the world. For immediately after the infliction of the last plagues, it was chanted before the throne by those Vvdio had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image, that ''All nations shall come and wor- ship before him, because his. righteous judgments," 234 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN in destrojdng his enemies, " have been made mani- fest/' Rev. XV. 4. It is thus clear from this prophecy, as well as from that of Daniel, that the epoch of the conversion of the nations is to be the epoch of Christ's coming in the clouds of heaven, receiving the dominion of the earth as his kingdom, raising his dead saints in glory, de- stroying his organized enemies, and entering on an everlasting reign here in person and visible glory. There are several other passages which show with equal clearness that the Son of Man is to come in person, in power, and in glory, at the destruction of the enemies and perverters of his kingdom ; and that that coming and extermination of his foes is to be preparatory to his reign over the world as its king, and the obedience of the nations to his swa)^. Thus, vvdien at the redemption of Zion, " the hand of the Lord is to be made known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies,'' he is to ^'come with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead Avith all flesh ; and the slain of the Lord shall be many," Isa. Ixvi. 15, 16. That this coming is to be in person and visibly, is seen from its being with fire, and with chariots, and that flames of fire are to be the instruments of his vengeance on his enemies. It is shown also by the comparison of his coming with Qre and chariots, to the rush, the resistlessness, and the dazzling flashes perhaps of a whirlwind ; as it is UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 235 the law of that figure, that the things compared are identically what their names literally denote — their names always being used in their proper sense, not by a metaphor. As he therefore is to come with real fire and real chariots, he is to come iu person and visibly. For it is Ms coming with fire and chariots, not the mere coming of fire and chariots, that is com- pared to such a whirlwind. But this coming is to be at the epoch of the conversion of the nations ; for it is added, '^ It shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory ; and I Vv^ill set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to the isles afar off that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. '^ And that is to be followed by the restoration of the Israelites who still remain in dispersion, and the conversion and obedience of the whole race. '^ And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations ; and I will take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to an- other, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesli come to worship before me, saith the Lord,^' v. IS--0. ^ These Gentile nations cannot before liave been con- verted to God; for how then could it be said that the nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, nearest Pal- 236 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN estine, where the predicted slaughter is to take place, V. 24, and of the isles afar off, will not until then have heard his fame nor seen his glory ? It is after that visible coming, conquest of his armed foes, redemp- tion of Israel, creation of the new atmosphere and new earth, and establishment of his throne at Jeru- salem, not before, that all nations are to come and worship before him. There is a like prediction, also, in Zechariah : '' Be- hold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ; and the city shall be taken, and half the city shall go forth into captivity. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle ; and his feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west, a very great valley : and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth : in that day shall there be one Je- hovah, and his name one. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, '^xiv. 1-9, 16. That the Lord-Christ^s coming is then to be in person and visibly, is shown by the fact that his feet are to stand on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem. UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 237 It is shown, also, by his bringing all the saints, that is, the holy dead, who will then have been raised to life, with him. That he is then to receive the domi- nion of the earth and commence his reign over it, as is also shown in Daniel and the Apocalypse, is seen from the prediction, that " in that day Jehovah shall be king over all the earth ; and there shall be one Jeho- vah, and his name one,^^ — an announcement that would be wholly nugatory and meaningless, if he is not then to be the king of the earth — the Jehovah alone, bear- ing one name, — in a manner he had never before been. And that the conversion of the nations is not to take place previously to that visible coming and destruc- tion of the enemies of his kingdom, but is to be con- sequent on his presence and his judgments, is seen from the prediction that the nations are, at the time of his appearing, to be gathered in array against Je- rusalem, in order to prevent the establishment of his chosen people there, and that he is to fight with them. It is not until he has enthroned himself there, that all nations are to come there to worship in his pre- sence. In like manner it is foreshown in the Apocalypse, that Christ is to come in person at the destruction of the wild beast and false prophet, and is then to enter on his reign over the nations as the King of kings and Lord of lords. '^ And I saAv heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and he that sat upon him was called faitliful and true, and in righteousness doth he judge and 238 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns ; and he had a name writ- ten that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of the Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written. King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him on the white horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false pro- phet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire and brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which proceeded out of his mouth.''— Rev. xix. 11-21. The personage on the white horse is declared to be the Word of God, and his appearing in the vision denotes that he is to appear in person in the scene which it foreshows ; it being a law of symbolization, ■ that if the appearance of the deity in person is to be foreshown, he appears in person in the vision which foreshows it ; and of necessity, inasmuch as no other UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 239 being can properly represent his personal appearance. ■ Thus the Ancient of days, in Daniel, appeared in the vision foreshowing his session in the judgment of the civil rulers of the fourth kingdom, which the vision symbolizes ; and the one like a Son of Man, coming in the clouds of heaven, appeared in the vision, which was employed to foreshow his real coming in the clouds at the judgment of the powers denoted by the beast, and reception of the dominion of the earth ; in the same manner as his appearance in the vision of the last judgment. Rev. xx. 11-15, foreshows his real personal presence in the great scene of the resurrec- tion and judgment which that vision symbolizes. It teaches us, therefore, in the most indubitable and impressive manner, that he is to come in person a.t the destruction of the civil and ecclesiastical rulers denoted by the wild beast and false prophet. The coming with him of the armies of heaven clothed in white robes shows, also, that it is to be at the epoch of the resurrection of the holy dead ; for white robes are symbols of the righteousness of the saints, and indicate that those who wear them are the redeemed saints, and therefore have been raised from the dead ; as otherwise, their being borne on horses would be unnatural. It is proper to corporeal beings only, not to mere spirits, to be borne on steeds, and to make war with corporeal beings. It is foreshown, also, in the vision preceding this, that the marriage of the Lamb had come, and his wife had made herself ready, being clothed in fine linen, which is the righte- 240 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN ousness of the saints. That marriage is the symbol of the exaltation of the saints to that relation to Christ, as fellow heirs in his kingdom, in which they are for ever to reign with him ; and implies, there-, fore, that they are then to be raised from the dead in their glorious and immortal forms. It is to be the epoch, also, of Christ^s becoming the King of the kings of the earth, and the Lord of its lords ; for it was proclaimed immediately before the marriage of the Lamb, '' The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.'^ He accordingly appeared, on his descent from heaven, with the title on his vesture, ^' King of kings, and Lord of lords ;'' and it was predicted that he should " smite the nations with his sword, and rule them with an iron rod.^' He is then, therefore, to receive the dominion of the earth, as is foreshown in Daniel vii. 13, 14, and Rev. xi. 15, and to commence his eternal reign. It is after his personal coming, accord- ingly, that the nations are to be converted ; as at his coming they are to be arrayed in war against him, and vast multitudes of them are to be trodden hj him in the wine-press of his wrath. The same great events are thus woven together in this vision, and exhibited as of the same period, as are grouped together in the prophecy of Daniel, of Isaiah, and of Zechariah, and the vision of the seventh trumpet of the Apocalypse, and foreshown as to take place at the same epoch. They can no more be sep- arated from each other and assigned to different ages, than the appearance of the Judge on the great white UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 241 throne, Rev. xx. 11-15, and the resurrection and doom of the dead and their judgment, can be separated from each other, and referred to different epochs and ages ; or any more than the separation of the right- eous from the wicked in the judgment of the living nations. Matt. xxv. 31-46 ; the placing of the right- eous on the right hand and the wicked on the left ; and the welcome of the one to the kingdom prepared for them, and the doom of the other to fire, can be disjoined from each other and referred to widely dif- ferent epochs. This vision of the personal coming of the Word of God, with his risen saints, at the destruction of the powers denoted by the beast and false prophet, is followed by a vision of the resurrection of the dead saints, and their exaltation to thrones to reign with Christ during the thousand years. " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them ; and I saw the souls f those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and whoever had not worshipped the beast, nor its image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and in their hand ; and they lived and reigned with Christ the thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection ; over them the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God 11 242 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. '^ — Rev. xx. 4-6. This vision is thus declared by the revealing Spirit himself to be the symbol of the first resurrection ; and those Avhose resurrection it represents are de- clared to be holy and blessed. And this, and the whole spectacle itself, shows that it is a symbol of a real corporeal resurrection of the holy dead. It can- not, as many have supposed, be a symbol of the first mo7^a? resurrection, or the renovation of men ; for that would imply that no renovation of men by the Spirit had ever taken place. How can this vision foreshow the first renovation of men, if thousands and millions of renovations had before been wrought by the Spi- rit ; if the mart)- rs and witnesses for Jesus, and others who appeared in the vision as raised from the grave, had themselves already been renewed, myriads and millions of them, ages before the vision is to have its accomplishment? That absurd notion contradicts the symbols themselves also, as well as the interpre- tation of them that is given by the Spirit. The re- presentative persons are the holy dead ; those who had not worshipped the beast nor its image, but had resisted their sway, and maintained allegiance to God. The representative events and acts are their resur- rection in glory, investiture with judicial — that is, kingly — authority, session on thrones, and reigning with Christ a thousand years, in holiness and blessed- ness. But such holy persons are not proper repre- sentatives of unrenewed men in the natural life. UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 243 Their characters and relations to God are direct op- posites, in place of resembling each other. The resurrection of those saints in glory is no proper sym- bol of the renovation of men, in the natural body, who are at enmity with God. It were to make but one- half of the nature, the body, of his risen saints, the representative of but one-half of the nature, and the opposite one, the mind, of the renewed sinner, which is contradictious and absurd. Whatever the risen saint is the symbol of, it is in his whole being, body and soul, that he is the symbol of it. It can no more be claimed that only his body is a symbol, than it can that the body is the only part of the being which he, as a symbol, represents. It is impossible, therefore, that the risen saints, perfect both in mind and body, and freed from the curse of sin, can be the represen- tatives of the whole nature of men in the natural life, both in a state of mental non-renovation and renova- tion, and continuing after renovation under the do- minion in a large measure of sin, and, without mitiga- tion, under the sentence to corporeal death. No two beings, no two conditions, can be more devoid of the resemblance which must subsist between symbols and that which they symbolize. In a like manner, the gift to the risen saints of judicial or kingly authority, their elevation to thrones, and reigning with Christ a thousand years, has no counterpart in the natural life and condition of men here, who arc simply renewed. With what kingly •authority are those of the present ago who are re- 244 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN newed invested ? Who are their subjects ? Who of them pretends to any judicial authority over the na- tions ? On what thrones are they seated ? In what sense do they reign with Christ ? The pretext that the mere renovation of men invests them with such august prerogatives, and exalts them to such stations and influences, is too bald and senseless a. contradic- tion to the consciousness and conditions of the whole people of God, to need any further refutation. It is the fanatical and impious only, like Munzer and his followers of the sixteenth century, who claim to be clothed with such power and fiU such offices. The events symbolized by the vision, then, are a real corporeal resurrection of the holy dead, investi- ture with judicial power, elevation to thrones, and reigning with Christ a thousand years ; and these events are represented by the saints themselves ap- pearing in the vision, being raised from the dead, receiving authority, and reigning with Christ.; — ^be- cause no other persons or agents could represent them in those states ; it being a law of symbols that when no representative of a different kind can be found to symbolize the person or persons to be fore- shown, either in their nature or in the conditions that are to be represented, then the being or beings to be represented, appear in their own persons in the vision, as their own representatives. Thus the An- cient of days, the Son of Man, the Lamb, the Word of God, appeared themselves in the visions in which UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 245 there was a representation of their real appearance in the scenes that were foreshown. But this resurrection of the holy dead is to be at the epoch of Christ^s second coming ; as is shown by the passages we have already cited, which declare that he is to descend from heaven at the resurrection of his saints ; and by the vision of the preceding chapter, of his descent from heaven with the armies at the great battle with the beast and false prophet. His second coming, therefore, and this first resurrec- tion, are to take place before the millennium ; as it is expressly declared that the thousand years of the saints' reign with him are to follow their resurrec- tion, not precede it. And it is also to precede the conversion of the nations ; for it is not until after the resurrection of the saints, and investiture with crowns, that all nations become obedient to Christ's sway. It is after the descent of the New Jerusalem, the sym- bol of the risen saints in their relation to Christ as the bride, that is, in their stations as kings and priests, which they are ever thereafter to fill, that the nations are to be healed by the leaves of the tree of life, which is to grow on the banks of the river flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb in that city ; and not till then, that they are to walk in the light of that city, and the kings of the earth are to bring their glory and honor into it. Down to the time of Christ's coming, they are to continue in alienation ; and arc at that crisis to rise to a climax of rebellion, and unite in an attempt to confute the predictions of his word, 246 CHRIST IS TO COMMENCE HIS REIGN by dispersing again the gathered tribes of Israel at Jerusalem, and thereby prevent the institution of his millennial kingdom there. Thus, again, in these pro- phecies, all these events are united as of the same great epoch — the coming of the Word of God in the clouds, the resurrection of the saints, his entering on his reign on the earth, the reign of the saints with him, and, consequent thereon, the conversion of the nations. But not only are these great changes in the admin- istration of the world to be introduced at that period ; another event of the utmost significance to the con- version and sanctification of men is to signalize that epoch. Satan and his legions are to be banished from the earth, and intercepted during the thousand years from tempting the nations. ^^ And I saw an angel come down from heaven hav- ing the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- sand years should be fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a little season." — Rev. xx. 1-3. The binding and imprisonment of Satan, the pro- phecy thus declares, is in order that he should deceive men no more, till the thousand years should be fin- ished. It indicates, therefore, the total interception of his tempting agency on them. He is to deceive UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 247 or entice them no more; he is not to exert any tempt- ing agency on them whatever during that period. And this is signified also by his binding and impri- sonment, which indicate that he is to be debarred from access to them, and banished from their pre- sence. To suppose him capable of influencing them, when held a prisoner at a distance in a deep abyss, would be to suppose him omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, which would be to regard him as a god, not a creature. This measure of the divine ad- ministration will contribute to distinguish that epoch from the present age, and will exert the most mo- mentous influence on the condition and conduct of the nations and of individuals. How vast the influ- ence is which Satan exerts, is seen from the predic- tion which follows, that immediately after he is loosed again, he is to go out and prompt the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, to gather them- selves together to battle with the saints. He is now, the Scriptures represent, the tempter of men to all the great sins which they commit. We are directed to pray, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.'' He is exhibited as reigning in the hearts of the children of disobedience ; as betray- ing the nations into all their false religions ; as going about seeking whom he may devour ; and as cease- lessly hurling fiery darts, to protect himself from which every one needs the shield of faith. To be freed, therefore, at once from all his assaults, \o bo exempted from all the vast enginery of his direct in- 248 THE DATE OF CHRIST^S REIGN. fluences, and tlio myriads and millions of evil men whom he nses as his instrnments and co-operators, will be a momentous change in the condition of men, and will remove a most formidable barrier to their conversion and subsequent obedience. CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 249 CHAPTER XIX. THAT CHRIST IS THUS TO COME AND REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH IS THE UNIFORM TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURES. The prophecies adduced in the preceding chapters thus, in the clearest manner, exhibit this group of momentous events as to occur at the same epoch. It is not, however, the teaching of those passages alone — it is the representation of the whole series of the prophecies that relate to the subject. There is not a single passage in the word of God that declares that the nations are to be converted before the second coming of Christ. Let those who think other- wise produce one, if they can. There is not a passage that clearly implies that their conversion is to pre- cede his coming. So far from it, all the predictions that are usually cited as teaching that their conver- sion is to take place under the present dispensation, before he comes to raise the holy dead, and new cre- ate the earth and air, either expressly indicate that it is to take place at his second coming, or else sim- ply announce that it is to take place, without a speci- fication of the period ; and are, therefore, in harmonv IP 250 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. with the numerous predictions that its epoch is that of his second advent and commencing reign on the earth. Thus the prophecy, Isaiah ii. 2-4, is often quoted as foreshowing that all nations are to be con- verted by the means now employed to Christianize them, and anterior to Christ^s coming. " And it shall come to pass in the last days, 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. And many people shall go and say: Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Je- rusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they shall beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'' This is alleged as a prediction that all nations are to be converted from idolatry, and enter the Chris- tian church anterior to Christ's coming ; but it is clearly by a gratuitous assumption. There is not a hint in it, that the exaltation of the Lord's house, and the flowing of all nations to it, is to precede his personal advent. Instead, the time when these great events are to take place, is expressly declared to be the " last days," which are sometimes indeed employed in the prophe- cies to denote the close of the present age, but usual- CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 251 ly the time when Christ is to come in the clouds of heaven and receive the dominion of the earth, that all people and nations may serve him. Thus they sometimes denote the day of the resurrection ; as when Martha said in respect to Lazarus, ^^I know that he shall rise again at the last day/' John xi. 24, and vi. 39, 40, 44, 54. Sometimes they denote the day of judgment, as in the expression, " The same shall judge him in the last day,'' John xii. 48. Some- times they denote the great and terrible day of Christ's coming, immediately before which the sun is to be turned into darkness and the moon into blood ; and when he is to pour out of his Spirit on all flesh, and convert the nations universally by his mighty influences, as Joel ii. 28, 32 ; Acts ii. 16, 21. The period to which the prophecy refers is thus shown, by that designation, to be that of Christ's coming ; and this is confirmed and made indisputa- ble by the latter part of the prediction, in which it is foretold that " the day of the Lord," when that shall be accomplished, '^ shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up ; and he shall be brought low, and the lofti- ness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughti- ness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall abolish utterly. And they shall go into the holes of the Tochs^ and into the caves of the earthy for fear of the Lord J and for the glory of his majesty iclicn he ariseth to sJiaJce terrihly the eartli^'' ii. 10-21. Their attempt- 252 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. ing to hide themselves in the clefts of the rocks and the caverns of the mountains, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, shows that there is to be a visible manifestation of his majesty that will strike them with terror. Why should they seek to conceal themselves in the clefts and dens of the rocks, if there are no signals of the avenging presence of the Almighty ? But the period is still further defined by Micah in his prophecy of the same events, ex- pressed in nearly the same language, chap. iv. 6-10, as the period of the restoration of the Israelites, and of the Lord's beginning to reign over them in Mount Zion for ever and ever. " In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted ; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from hence- forth even for ever. And thou, tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion ; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Zion.'' This renders it in- disputable that the last days, when all nations are to go unto the house of the Lord at Mount Zion, are the days of Christ's second advent, when he is to com- mence his reign there for ever and ever ; for the period when he is to receive the dominion of the earth, and enter on it as his everlasting kingdom, is expressly defined in Daniel, as that of his coming in the clouds of heaven ; by Zechariah, as that of his CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 253 descending on the Mount of Olives, and delivering his people from the hostile nations ; and by John, in the Apocalypse, as that of the seventh trumpet, when the kingdom of the world is to become his, and the time of the dead arrives that he should judge and give the reward to his servants the prophets, and the saints and all that fear his name, both small and great, and reign for ever and ever. Christ is not to com- mence his everlasting reign on the earth antecedent- ly to his receiving it at his coming in the clouds, as his everlasting kingdom, that is not to pass away or be destroyed, Dan. vii. 14. How can it be then given him as an everlasting kingdom, if it is as much his be- fore as it will be made his by that gift ; and if he is to reign over it as much, and in the same manner be- fore, as he will after that reception of it as his? These prophecies thus not only present no intimation that the conversion of the nations is to take place before Christ's coming, but they define its period by the most indubitable marks, as that of his coming in power and glory to judge the nations, redeem his people, and commence his reign, which is to continue for ever. An attempt is often inade, however, to get rid of this great feature of these prophecies, by the pretext that they are altogether figurative ; that the Lord's house, Zion, and Jerusalem, are only representatives of the Christian church ; the going of the nations there to worship, representative of tlie accession of the Gentiles to that church ; and the glory of the 254 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. majesty of the Lord, from which men are to endeavor to hide themselves, the moral glory of his administra- tion ; that all, therefore, that it means is, that the Gentiles are to be Christianized and enter the church ; and that God is to display the glory of his perfections in his administration over men. But this, in the first place, is wholly arbitrary and absurd. There is no figure by which the prophecy can be representative in that manner ; the whole pretext is groundless and contradictory to the laws of the hypocatastasis and allegory, the only figures in which things of one kind are used as representatives of things of another. Next, it makes the prophecy a senseless jumble of in- congruities and contradictions. If the Lord's house, as authors placing this construction on the prediction maintain, signifies the Christian church, and that church comprises all nations, what is meant by all nations flowing unto it, and going to worship in it ? Can any nonsense be grosser than to talk of nations going to themselves as a house, and worshipping in themselves as such ? If, moreover, the Lord^s house is a mere representative, must not the nations that go there to worship be representatives also ? But if so, of what? Not of themselves, certainly. That would be to make the prediction literal instead of representative ; for, if the Gentiles denote themselves, why is not the house representative of the house ; and their going up to the Lord's house, representa- tive of their really going there ; and the whole pro- phecy literal instead of figurative ? But, if not thus CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 255 literal, but representative of things different from the house, Zion, Jerusalem, and going there — ^which it must be, if figurative — then the nations, also, must represent some other order of beings than them- selves ; and their going to Jerusalem, as representa- tives, to worship, cannot denote their own conversion, but only the Christianization of the agents whom they represent. This construction, therefore, de- feats itself, and excludes from the prophecy the very signification which it attempts to fasten on it ; and turns it into a prediction that some other order of beings besides mankind are to go to worship God at the place signified by Jerusalem. On the same prin- ciple, the idols that are to be cast to the moles and the bats, the caverns of the earth and the clefts of the rocks to which men flee to hide themselves from the glory of God^s visible majesty, and that awe-in- spiring majesty itself, are mere representatives, and the whole prophecy is thus made to refer not only to a different order of beings from mankind, but a differ- ent world from our earth, and to the majesty of a dif- ferent deity from our Jehovah ; and is thus made a senseless and impious mockery of both him and man. What more preposterous notion can be conceived, than that the moral majesty of God displayed in his ordinary administration of the world, should strike Christianized and converted nations with such dread and terror, as to lead them to flee to caverns and dens to hide themselves from it? Is it with terror in- stead of adoration — is it with fright and despair, that 256 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. the glory of God^s perfections and sway impresses his children? Besides, how would a retreat to the clefts of the rocks and the tops of the ragged rocks serve to hide that glory from their perception ? If the majesty that is to awe and overwhelm them is to be discerned by the intellect simply, not by the out- ward eye, will it not be as perceptible in the gloom of caverns, and in the darkness of midnight, as in the glare of noonday ? Such are the open contradictions to the plain teach- ings of the prophecy, such the repulsive absurdities in which they involve themselves who attempt to in- vest it with a figurative meaning, by treating it as representative of objects, persons, and acts of a dif- ferent class from those which its language denotes. Another passage frequently alleged as showing the conversion of the nations under the present system of means, and anterior to the coming of Christ, is the prediction, Isaiah xi. 9 : " For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'^ But this declaration, taken by itself, does not present any indication when the event it an- nounces is to occur. To assume from the mere lan- guage that it is to be accomplished antecedently to Christ's advent, is to take for granted the point it is employed to demonstrate. Nor is there anything in the context that indicates that that universal diffu- sion of the knowledge of the Lord is to take place under the present dispensation, and be the result, as is imagined by those w^ho thus misapply the predic- CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 257 tion, of missions and other agencies, like those now employed by the church to communicate the gospel to the heathen. Instead, it is shown in the clearest manner, that its period is to be that of the reign of the Messiah, and the redemption of Israel. Thus it is to be at the period when "a rod out of the stem of Jesse shall judge the poor with righteousness, and reprove with equity the meek of the earth ; with the rod of his mouth, and w^ith the breath of his lips, shall he slay the wicked f and that, we are shown in the Apocalypse, is to be at his second coming, as the King of kings and Lord of lords. In the vision of his descent to the great battle, in which the beast and false prophet were destroyed, out of his mouth went a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the na- tions ; and the remnant of the armies of his enemies were slain with it ; and it is declared that he is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, Eev. xix. 15-21. It is to be at the time, also, when " the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them,^^ V. 6. But that, we are taught, Isaiah Ixv, is to bo after the creation of the new heavens and earth ; and that we learn — Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16, and Eev. xxi. 1, 9 — is to follow Christ's coming in the clouds of heaven with fire and chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger to his enemies with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. It is also to be at the period of tlio restoration of the Israelites, which, it is foreshown in 258 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. many prophecies, is to take place at Christ^s second coming and the commencement of his reign, and it is expressly indicated here that he is then visibly to reveal himself in his glory to the nations. " And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign for the people; unto him shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest" — the place of his resi- dence — his throne — '' shall be glorious." Christ is thus to be personally present in the glory of his ma- jesty, as is shown, Isaiah ii. 19, 21 ; Ixv. 17-25 ; Ixvi. 15-23 ; Zech. xiv. 1, 9, 16, 21 ; for how can he stand for an ensign — a visible signal like a banner waving in the sky — like a beacon flaming on a mountain top — if he is no more visibly present than he now is ? How can his residence, his throne, be glorious to the eyes of the Gentiles who seek unto him, if no such residence is visible, if no external glory indicates his presence there ? To deny that this is the meaning of the passage, and attempt to make it representative, is not only to divest it of its true import, but is to make it the vehicle of a senseless and monstrous falsehood ! For if the Redeemer, his standing for an ensign, and the glory of his abode or presence, are mere representatives of something different from themselves ; then, in the first place, the Saviour is excluded from that which is predicted, and he is to have no place in the events foreshown ; and next, the Gentiles and the Israelites, and the acts and events affirmed of them, must also be representative of things different from themselves, and the prophecy ceases CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 259 to have any relation to the inhabitants of this world, and to the world itself, and some other sphere and some other order of beings are its subjects ! There is no escape from this monstrous perversion of the prophecy, but by rejecting the notion that it is re- presentative (got up for the very purpose of ascrib- ing to it a meaning to suit the fancy of the interpre- ter), and receiving it in its simple character, as a lan- guage prediction that is to be understood according to the usual and established laws of speech. And, interpreted by those laws, it presents indisputable indications that the period when the knowledge of the Lord is to fill the whole earth as the waters cover the sea, is the period when the Son of God shall come in person and glory, reveal himself to the nations, and enter on his visible millennial reign ; when the earth and the atmosphere are to be renovated, the animals are to be divested of their ferocious and noxious na- tures, and all mankind are to be renewed, and become willing and joyous subjects of Christ^s sceptre. Another passage alleged to prove that the world is to become Christ^s anterior to his coming, is the promise in the second Psalm, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. ^^ But there is no intimation in this promise, nor in the con- text, that he is to receive the gift anterior to his ad- vent and assumption of the sceptre of the earth. On the contrary, that Psalm expressly shows that tlic period when the nations are to become his inherit- 260 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. ance, is that of his being constituted king on the hill of Zion ; and that is the time of his coming in the clouds at the destruction of the beast, and receiving the dominion of the earth. Thus, at the time at which he is to be constituted king, the nations are to be gathered together to intercept him from his throne, and exempt themselves from his dominion : ^' The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Christ ; saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us,'' v. 2, 3. This conspiracy is that of the great battle, doubtless, sjonbolized Reve- lation xix. 11-21, and that foreshown also Zech. xiv, when Christ is to descend from heaven and destroy the hostile hosts : '' He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee ; ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter- most parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them like a potter's vessel," v. 4-9. It is thus clearly taught that the time when the inheritance of the heathen and most distant parts of the earth are to be given to him, is the time when he is to be established on Zion as its king ; and that we know from Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah, is to be at his coming in the clouds of CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 261 heaven, and receiving from the Ancient of days the dominion of the earth, that all people, nations, and tongues should serve him ; and from the Revelation, that it is to be at the seventh trumpet, when the kingdom of this world is to become his, and he is to reign over it for ever and ever ; and it is then that he is to break them with a rod of iron, and dash them as a potter^s vessel. Rev. xix. 15. The Psalm, thus, instead of indicating that the nations are to be con- verted before Christ's coming, teaches us in the clear- est manner, that it is not till he comes in power and glory, and assumes the dominion of the earth, that he is to conquer the hosts that are arrayed against him, and bring all the tribes and nations that survive his avenging judgments into obedience to his gracious sway. In like manner, the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, ^' Great and marvel- lous are thy works. Lord God Almighty : just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Who shall not fear, Lord, and glorify thy name ; for thou only art holy ; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee, because thy judgments have been made manifest,'^ Rev. xv. 3-4, are often cited as showing that all nations are to be converted under the present administration, anterior to Christ's coming. The song, however, contains no intimation that the reno- vation of the nations is to precede his advent. On the contrary, the passage shows in the clearest man- ner that the judgments, in consequence of Avhicli they 262 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. are to fear God and go to worship him, are the judg- ments of the vials immediately before his advent, and especially the seventh trumpet, under which he is to descend in the clouds, destroy the wild beast and false prophet, and establish his millennial throne on the earth. There are other passages which foreshow that the whole world is at length to become subject to his sway, and rejoice in his dominion, such as Psalms xcvi. and xcvii ; but they all, if they indicate the period when it is to take place, show in the plainest manner that it is when he comes to judge the earth, and to reign over it as its king. Not a solitary prediction represents the renovation of the nations as to precede his advent. This great futurity, then, is presented to us in the clearest and most impressive manner on the sacred page ;— it is taught in every variety of form that could contribute to give it certainty, and preclude the no- tion that the conversion of the world is to take place under the present administration, and precede Christ^s second coming. It is the voice of the whole pro- phetic word on the subject, that the civil and ecclesi- astical enemies of Christ^s kingdom and corrupters of the nations, denoted by the beast and false prophet, and the systems of idol worship, are to continue in the predominance to the end of the present age ; that at the close of this age, the witnesses of Jesus, instead of being victors and reigning in peace, are to be per- secuted and slaughtered, down to the time in which CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. 263 their persecutors are to be arraigned at the tribunal of the Ancient of days, and consigned to destruction ; that at the period of their destruction, the Son of Man is to come in the clouds of heaven, receive the dominion of the earth, and enter on a reign over it in person as its king, and exercise an administration very unlike that of the present age ; and that it is under his reign in person over the world, that all na- tions are to be brought to obedience to his sceptre. The time and the great attendants of their renovation, are thus placed as absolutely beyond doubt, as they can be by any revelation that could have been given of them. Its epoch is woven into the whole web of the prophecies respecting Christ's kingdom. There is not one of the predictions of his Millennial or ever- lasting reign over the world in which it is not a con- spicuous element. And there are no countervailing predictions ; there is not a syllable in the sacred word that is not in harmony with them. Let us receive it, then, with the awe, the confidence in its wisdom, the joy, which his gracious will should inspire. It is the method of procedure he has chosen, because best adapted to the great ends he is pursuing, most glorious to himself, most benignant to men ; es- sential, indeed, doubtless to the redemption of the world, and the just understanding of it by the uni- verse. And to whom but to him does it belong to do- * termine what the administration shall be, under which the nations are to be converted? Are men wiser than he ? Are they his counsellors ? A humble and 264 CHRIST IS TO REIGN IN PERSON ON THE EARTH. broken heart will never arrogate to itself such an office. Instead, its utterance will be that of the mul- titude of the redeemed before the throne, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands : " Salva- tion to our God who sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb/^ Its song will be that of Moses the ser- vant of God and the song of the Lamb. " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify thy name, as alone holy ! For all nations shall come and worship before thee : because thy judgments have been made manifest/' Its prayer will be that of the apostle, who beheld his coming in the clouds of heaven : " Come, Lord Jesus,'' ^' Come quickly." EVENTS THAT ARE TO FOLLOW CHPJST^S COMING, 265 CHAPTER XX. CHEIST's coming. THE FIRST GREAT EVENTS THAT ARE TO FOLLOW IT. THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. THE TRANSFORMA- TION OF LIVING BELIEVERS. At the moment of Christ's coming, the earth is to be shrouded in total darkness, by an interception of the light of the snn, moon, and other heavenly orbs : the effect of which will be, to invest his approach with the utmost conspicuity and resplendence. " Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. • How immeasurably will the spectacle transcend any con- ception we can form of it ! In what dazzling splen- dors Avill he be arrayed to bo visible at such a distance as to be beheld at the same time by the inhabitants of a whole hemisphere ! He is to be attended by the 12 266 THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. redeemed and all the armies of his angels ; . thousands and myriads of millions ; hosts countlessly more nu- merous than could be grouped in the arch of heaven when bounded by the most distant horizon we can see. In what effulgence must they be clothed, to be severally visible ! With what overwhelming impres- sions will the spectacle strike the nations ! Every heart will know that it is he, and will understand the object of his coming : and held generally, as the tribes of the earth will still be, in the thrall of idol-worship, and sunk to the lowest depths of moral and social debase- ment, they will be taken by surprise, and filled with consternation. The first great act he is to exert on his coming is the raising of the holy dead. " For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.'^ Thess. iv. 16. His approach thus with shouts of ascription from the infinite hosts of his attendants of power and wisdom to recall his holy dead to life ; and of utterances of won- der and joy, at the graciousness and beauty of his de- sign, and his victory and triumph over death, is inex- pressibly grand. His hovering armies are not to be silenfspectators of the scene. That were unbefitting the greatness of the moment. Their hearts are to swell with an irrepressible sense of the grandeur of his attributes and purposes, and are to breathe their fervid homage in ascriptions of might, and wisdom, and love ; in bursts of adoration and joy at the re- THE RESURRECTION OP THE HOLY DEAD. 267 demption he is to accomplish for his saints. What an epoch will it be to the conscious universe ! What a moment to the rising dead ! What a manifestation will it present of Christ^s deity ; of the fulness of his perfections ; and of his dominion over his works ! No other display of the beauty of illimitable power and knowledge, all-perfect goodness and grace, can transcend that which the instant summons of myriads and millions of human beings from the ruins of death to a glorious and immortal life will form. They are to be raised incorruptible and spiritual. " It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonor, it is raised m glory ; it is sown in weak- ness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual hodjj^ 1 Corin. xv. 42-44. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no power. '^. Rev. xx. 6. By this nature they vdll be freed from the laws of our present bodies, and be fit- ted like the transfigured saints to ascend into the atmosphere to meet the Lord, Thess. iv. 17, and of passing like Christ, if need be, from this world to others. It is not intimated that their resurrection is to be known at the time to living believers and others. It seems rather that it is not. For a voice from a great multitude proclaimed that " the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready /^ he/ore the descent of the Word of Cod Avith his armies to the great battle with tlio beast and his liosls : and it is added that to her was ii'rantod tliat 268 THE RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY DEAD. *' she should be arrayed in fine linen, pur« and white ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints/' Rev. xix. 5-9. This implies, that the saints, whom the bride represents, are to be raised justified, and ad- mitted to the stations they are to fill as kings and priests in his kingdom — which is symbolized by his marriage to them — before the destruction of the powers denoted by the wild beast and false prophet. The risen saints accordingly clothed in fine linen and seated on white horses, are exhibited as attending him in his descent from heaven to destroy the ene- mies symbolized by the beast and his armies, who are to be gathered together in war against him. Rev. xix. 14. It is foreshown also, Zech. xiv. 5, that when he comes to destroy the hosts who are to be gathered against Jerusalem for the purpose of preventing the establishment of his kingdom there, he is to bring all his saints with him. They are to be constituted kings and priests unto God and to Christ, and are to reign with him the thousand years. Those offices, and the beauty and glory of their na- ture, indicate that the sphere they are to fill is to be of great dignity and power. It is to lie especially in this world, it would seem, and in the sway of the nations ; as they are to reign with Christ, and are — it is foreshown in Daniel vii. 18-27 — -to take the king- dom, and possess it along with him forever and ever. And it seems eminently suitable that Christ should unfold to them such a scene of activity, in which their lofty powers may find ample scope for exertion, and THE CHANGE OP THE LIVING BELIEVERS. 269 they may testify their love to him, and joy in the re- demption of the race by taking a share in the instruc- tion and government of the crowds that are to come into existence, and be made partakers of his grace from age to age. They may, also, not improbably fill important offices of authority and love to other orders of intelligences, and carry the knowledge of the work of redemption, as it advances from period to period, to all the countless worlds that wheel in the realms of space. They are not to be idle spectators of the great scenes Christ's kingdom is to present. They are not to be debarred from testifying, by an active service, the sincerity of their allegiance, and the fer- vor of their love. A theatre of activity is to be opened to them commensurate with the greatness of their powers, and the intimacy of their union to Christ ; and they are to fill offices and render obedi- ences that will form a fit expression of their gratitude and devotion to him ; and carry to the universe who witness their allegiance, indubitable proofs of the reality of their restoration to holiness, and fill all hearts with a sense of the grandeur of the redemp- tion Christ accomplishes. The living believers also are at Christ^s coming, to be freed from the sentence to death, and rendered immortal. " Behold, I tell you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo- ment, in tlie twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incor- ruptible, and Ave shall be changed. For this corrupti- 270 THE CHANGE OF THE LIVING BELIEVERS. ble must put on incorruption ; and this mortal put on immortality. And when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the say- ing that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is thy sting : where, grave, is thy victory V^ 1 Corin. xv. 51-55. The change of the living, therefore, is not like that of the dead, to in- corruptible, but only to immortal, or a freedom from the causes and from the sentence of death. Their transfiguration to glory is probably to take place at a later period ; as it is foretold that it is at a later period that they are to be caught up in the air to meet the Lord. ETrelra, ^^ afterwards"— that is at a time subsequent to the resurrection of the holy dead, " we the living Avho survive shall be caught up to- gether with them in the clouds, to the presence of the Lord in the air ; and so we shall ever be with the Lord," 1 Thess. iv. 17. For such a change the apostle indicates Christ is at length to accomplish for the living as well as the dead : '' We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glo- rious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself," Phil. iii. 20. 21. The apostle does not declare, 1 Corin. xv. 52, that the living are to be changed to immortal at the same moment as the dead are raised in incorrup- tion ; he only affirms that their change is to take place under the last or seventh trumpet, which un- doubtedly from the great number of events that are THE CHANGE OF THE LIVING BELIEVERS. 271 to take place under it, will sound for a series of years. Nor is it certain that all the living believers will be changed at the same time. It is not improbable that the first who are to be rendered immortal, are those who are represented by the hnndred and forty- four thousand, who are said to be '^'•edeemed from among men, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb/^ Eev. xiv. 4. That others are not to be changed till a later period, seems indicated by the prediction that it is not until after Christ has come, that he is to " send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another,'^ Matt. xxiv. 31 ; and that some who are to be invited to the marriage feast, are not to be ready till a later period. Matt. xxv. 1-13. The living be- lievers are to be gathered together before Christ and judged also before they are to be admitted to his kingdom. Matt. xxv. 31-40. These transactions may occupy very considerable periods. The re- lease from the sentence to death is at length — after the judgments of the seventh trumpet on the wicked have been executed, to be extended to all, at least all the regenerated. For on the making of all things new, it is declared " there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there bo any more pain ; for the former things are passed away,'^ Eev. xxi. 4. What momentous changes in the condition of the race ! What a display llio}' will form of Christ's power! What an exomplilica- tion of the graciousness of his purposes ! 272 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. CHAPTER XXI. EVENTS THAT ARE IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW CHRIST's COMING ; THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS ; THE BINDING OF SAT.VN. The next great act of the Saviour will be the de- struction of the civil and ecclesiastical powers de- noted by the wild beast of ten horns, the false pro- phet and their armies. The monarchs of Western Europe with other kings and the pope, that are to be in league with them, are at that time to be assembled in war against him. Three unclean spirits like frogs are to go 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 working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited world — the whole Eoman empire, eastern and Avestern — to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty," Rev. xvi. 13, 14. And the ten horns of the beast in its last form, which are to receive pov/er as kings at the same time with the beast, it is foreshown, '^ shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he i? THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. 273 Lord of lords, and King of kings/^ Eev. xvii. 12-14. Their aim is to be to prevent the establishment of his throne and kingdom on the earth ; and by cap- turing Jerusalem, which is to be the metropolis of the new Hebrew kingdom, and dispersing the Israel- ites who will have returned and re-established them- selves there ; as is seen fromZechariah xiv, where it is foreshown that " in the day of the Lord all nations are to be gathered against Jerusalem in battle,'^ and are to take and sack the city, carry half its population into captivity, and seem for the moment to have achieved their object. This indicates that they will understand distinctly that it is the teaching of the Scriptures and the expectation of those who look for Christ^s coming, that the kingdom of Israel is again to be established in Palestine, and that the Son of God is to reign over it in person. Their war is therefore to be directly a war with him, for the pur- pose of falsifying his word, and preventing his as- sumption of the world as his empire. It w^ill be eminently appropriate therefore that he should in- terpose in person, confound their impious schemes, and dash them to destruction. And he is to go forth, the prophet foreshows, and fight against those na- tions, and destroy their hosts by a storm of devour- ing fire. ^' Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall con- sume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth,^^ v. 12. That they are to be destroyed by fire is foreshown also Daniel 12^ 274 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI-CHRISTIAN POWERS. vii. 9-11 ; Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16 ; 2 Thess. i. 7-9 ; Psalm xi. 6 ; xcvii. 3. It is indicated also in the Apocatypse tha.t the great battle at which they are to be destroyed, is to take place in Palestine. The unclean spirits are to gather the kings of the earth in a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon, the battle field on the great plain of Esdraelon where Sisera was defeated, Judges V. 19-21, and Josiah was slain, 2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30. In the vision of the battle, Eev. xix. 11-21, ^^ the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, and they were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone ; and the remnant were slain with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse. ^' Such is to be the end of their impious usur- pation of his throne, their attempt to substitute an idolatrous worship in place of his, their tyranny over the nations, and their merciless persecution and slaughter of his faithful followers ! What a just vindi- cation of himself! What an appropriate retribution for their crimes ! It will be the most fearful specta- cle of which the world is to be the scene, till the great hour arrives when the revolters after the close of the thousand years are to meet a like destruction by fire, and the unholy dead are to be raised and re- ceive their final doom ; and it will doubtless fill all orders of beings who witness it, or learn its occur- rence and character from the lips of witnesses, with THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ANTI- CHRISTIAN POWERS. 275 a resistless sense of God's wrath at sinners, and the guilt of sin. And what a deliverance to the surviving popula- tion of the world ! These usurping powers and their predecessors have been the great corrupters of the nations of Christendom for fifteen centuries. It was they who intermixed the worship of saints, angels, idols, and relics with the worship of God in the church. It was they who instituted the sacrifice of the mass, in place of Christ's sacrifice. It was they who claimed the right of legislating over the church and Christianity itself, annulled the laws of Christ, and substituted a false and corrupt system in their place. It was they who set up the pope as Christ's vicar, claimed for him the rights and honors of an absolute dominion over the word of God, and over the church and the world, and compelled their sub- jects in effect to worship him. It was they Avho de- nied the word of God to the people, and held them in the thrall of ignorance and superstition, that they might make them the instruments of their avarice, their sensuality, and their ambition. It was they who persecuted the true worshippers from age to age, and consigned myriads and millions of them to torture and to death, for their allegiance to him ! What a riddance to the world to have them swept from its bosom, never more to recover their place here ; never more to resume their work of debasing and corrupting mankind ; never more to wreak their infuriate passions on the holy! There will be no 276 THE IMPRISOXMEXT OF SATAN. more corrupters of the race by wicked laAvs and evil examples ; there will be no more perverters of reli- gion by false doctrines and lying miracles. Christ will be the only law-giver, and his laws will be uni- versally received and obeyed. Another great act he is to exert, preparatory to the institution of his kingdom, is the banishment of Satan and his angels from the earth, and release of the race from their tempting influences. This is foreshown under the symbols of the binding of Satan with a chain and shutting him in an abyss. The apostle says, " I saw an angel come down from heaven, hav- ing the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 'And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years ; and cast him into the bottom- less pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- sand years should be fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a little season,'^ Rev. xx. 1-3. Satan is here the symbol of himself and all the fallen angels and demons, who are his co-workers and agents in tempt- ing and deluding the nations. His being bound by a great chain, cast into the bottomless pit, and shut in it by closing and sealing its door, represents their being debarred — by removal to a distant scene and held there under restraint, — from access to mankind and precluded from assailing them with a tempting agency. It foreshows therefore that mankind are to be delivered from the presence of the devil and his THE IMPEISONMENT OF SATAN. 277 angels during the period denoted by the thousand years, and exempted-from all influences from him and his agents, by which he now deludes them and excites them to evil. This will be a far greater riddance than their deliverance from the usurping rulers and apostate ministers symbolized by the wild beast and false prophet. We can form but very inadequate conceptions of the vast and benignant change it will cause in the condition of the race. Satan now reigns in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and moulds them to his will ; and exerts all his powers to disturb, seduce, and drive the renewed into sin. He strives to deceive the intellect, to inflame the imagi- nation, to rouse and exacerbate the selfish affections, and impel mankind to all the forms of sin of which they are capable. The misery and madness with which he would smite them, w^ere it in his power, were exemplified in the maniacs whom he and his legions possessed and tortured in the time of Christ's ministry. He is the author and prompter of all the false religions in the world, of the tyrannical govern- ments, of the corrupt principles and maxims that pre- vail ; and of all the vices of ranks and communities, and the crimes and sins of individuals. How vast his influence is, is seen from the prediction that immedi- ately on his being released from prison at the close of the thousand years, he is again to seduce the nations and lead them into open revolt and war on God's children. He is especially the great enemy of Christ's kingdom, and contriver and prompter of all the apos- 278 THE IMPRISONMENT OP SATAN. tasies from it, and plots against it. He undertook by his temptations to defeat Christ at the commencement of his work ; and strove in Gethsemane and on the cross to overwhelm him by the fury and terror of his onsets. He excited the Jews to reject the gospel and persecute the apostles and first converts. He insti- gated false teachers to misrepresent its doctrines, to disturb the church by dissensions, and to obstruct in every form the spread and influence of the truth. He especially prompted the great apostasy of the Man of sin, whose coming we are told, is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying won- ders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. '^ 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10. And so fierce and restless are his assaults on believers, that Paul represents each one as needing to be clothed in the whole armor of God, in order to be protected from his fiery darts. He goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour ; and all are the objects of his malice ; all feel the fury of his as- saults. Into what silence will the world sink, when the whirlwind of his tempting agency is arrested in its infuriate career, and he is dashed into the depths of the abyss, and its massy gates shut over him and sealed ! Into what a calm will the passions of men subside I What a stupendous deliverance ! Of how large an element in the curse of revolt, will that be a repeal ! And how suitable when Christ takes posses- THE IMPEISONMENT OF SATAN. 279 sion of the earth to redeem its tribes and nations, that Satan should be banished from his presence, and "unobstructed access to their hearts be opened to the enlightening, renewing, and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit! 280 THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIYIXG NATIONS. CHAPTER XXII. EVENTS THAT ARE IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW CHRIST^S COMING. THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIVIXG NATIONS. THE RESTORATION OF THE ISRAELITES. THE EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Another act tliat is to mark the commencement of Christ's reign, is the judgment of the living nations. ^' When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : And before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats ; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then ehall the King say unto them on his right hand : Come ye blessed of my Father ; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. . . Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand : Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting jfire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into ever- lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eter- nal." Matt. XXV. 31-46. The subjects of this judgment are the living na- THE JUDGMENT OF THE LIVING NATIONS. 281 tions of the earth at that epoch : the term ra kOvrj, the nations being always used in the Scriptures to denote the living population of the globe in the great divi- sions by which they are distinguished, as peoples un- der separate governments, kindreds or tribes de- scended from the same ancestor, or tongues, speak- ing the same languages. Many hold it to be the general judgment ; but that is an error. The reasons of the awards assigned them are represented to be their conduct toward Christ's disciples in Avants, sicknesses, and imprisonments to which they had been subjected. " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my breth- ren, ye have done it unto me.'' But unto them on his left hand, he will say : ^' Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me." This indicates that the disciples of Christ are immediately before this judgment to be overwhelmed with poverty and suffering, and be cast into prison ; and doubtless in the persecution that is to rage at Christ's coming ; and that the nations are then to be divided into two great parties, one of which shall take the side of Christ's sulTevinp: disci- ples, and endeavor to relieve their necessities and 282 ^ THE EESTORATIOX OF THE ISRAELITES. soothe their sorrows ; and the other the side of the persecutors, and refuse all aid and sympathy to Christ^s brethren. It would seem, therefore, that those who are then to be judged, are those only who have acted in a direct relation to Christ and his peo- ple in those circumstances, and whose conduct as sympathizing friends, or merciless and hostile spec- tators, is to be taken as an index of their dispositions toward Christ. All the open and relentless enemies of Christ and his kingdom are thus to be swept from the earth. The restoration of the Israelites and reorganization as a people, is to take place soon after Christ^s com- ing. A portion of that people are to return and at- tempt to reestablish themselves in Jerusalem, it seems from Zech. xiv. 1, 2, before his coming ; and it is to be the aim of the nations in assailing them to disjoerse them again, and prevent the erection of an Israeli- tish kingdom there, conformably to the predictions of the prophets. The chief re-gathering of that nation however, and reorganization as God^s chosen people, is to take place after Christ's advent and destruction of his and their enemies. It is after he has come with fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire, that he is to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see his glory ; and he is to set a sign among them, and send those that escape of them to the nations that have not heard his fame, to declare his glory among the Gentiles ; and the3^ THE RESTORATION OF THE ISRAELITES. 283 are to bring all the Israelites an offering unto the Lord out of all nations to Jerusalem, and he is to take of them for priests and for Levites ; and as the new heavens and the new earth which he is to create are to remain before him, so is their seed and their name to remain. Isaiah Ixvi. 15-22. This will in every relation be a great and wonder- ful event, and fill the world with awe and joy. Their regathering from the four quarters of the globe into which they are dispersed, division into the tribes to which they belong, and reunion as one people in their national land, will accomplish a long series of pro- mises and prophecies respecting them of the Old and New Testament, and will involve majestic displays of God^s knowledge, faithfulness, and power. The co- operation of the Gentiles in their return, indicates that they are to understand the purpose of God in their exile and their restoration, and know the great scheme of his future reign over the world. Their re- adoption as God^s chosen people, and the resumption over them by Christ of a theocratic government, will be a sublime event : and their intimate relations to him, and the offices they are to fill as priests and Le- vites in his kingdom, will invest them with a high and sacred influence over the nations. What wit- nesses will they forever be of the truth of God's covenants and promises ! "What monuments of his grace and faithfulness ! With what a dazzling glory will his justice shine in the records of their lineage ! Who will ever doubt that their redemption is the 284 THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. work of his power and love, and that the wisdom, and truth, and righteousnes, and praise are wholly his ? That race have, in their rebellion and apostasies for three thousand and five hundred years, presented one of the most awful exemplifications the world has seen, of what man is. Their restoration to holiness, and elevation from the physical degradation to which they have sunk, to the dignity and beauty of immor- tals, will form one of the most majestic displays of which the earth is to be the scene, of the grandeur of God's thoughts and purposes of love in the work of redemption. And finally, God is then to pour out his Spirit in effusions immeasurably transcending any which his people have hitherto enjoyed. "And it shall come to pass afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall pro- phesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days I will pour out my Spirit. '^ This is to be at " the great and terrible day of the Lord,'' when as signals of his coming, " wonders are to appear in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke ; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood." And he is at length to appear for the de- liverance of those in Zion who call on his name. Joel ii, 28-22 ; Zechariah xiv. 1-11. The influences of the Spirit are then to be extended to young and old of both sexes and of all ranks, and endow them with THE EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. 285 prophetic gifts as well as renew and sanctify them ; and they are all to be filled with the knowledge of him, and all have his law written on their hearts. ^' This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel : after those days'^ — the days of their disper- sion — '' saith the Lord, I will put my law in their in- ward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God ; and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me, from the least to the great- est of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jerem. xxxi. 32-34. The measures in which they are to be crowned with the gifts of the Spirit, are as much to surpass those which men now enjoy, as the blessings of their external condition are. The dis- pensation Christ is to institute, is then to be suited in all its relations to the redemption of mankind from the sway and curse of sin, and elevate them to the rectitude, the intelligence, the dignity, and the bless- edness that befit a race restored from revolt, and given to dwell under the direct rule, and to enjoy the immediate presence and smile of the Divine Re- deemer. 286 THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. CHAPTER XXIII, Tl'cj EVENTS THAT ARE SPEEDILY TO FOLLOW CHRISrS COMING. THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED BY A CONFLAGRATION. Christ is then by a new creation, to restore the air and earth from the curse with which they were smit- ten by the fall, to a condition much like that probably in which they originally existed, and fitting them to be the scene of his reign, and the residence of holy and immortal beings. That this restitution or trans- formation of them is to be wrought at Christ^s com- ing, is seen from 2 Peter iii. 7-13, where it is shown that it is to take place immediately after the firing of the earth and atmosphere at his advent, by which the ungodly are to be destroyed, and that it is to be that new creation which is promised Isaiah Ixv. 17, 18, at the restoration of the Israelites to their national land. " We according to his promise, look,'^ the apostle says, " for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness f and that is the pro- mise of their new creation at the recall of the Israel- ites, and readoption as God^s people, Isaiah Ixv. 17- THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. 287 25, when the curse on the earth is to be repealed. " For behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create : for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people ; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child an hundred years old shall die ; and the sinner an hundred years old shall be accursed." This indicates that the change to be wrought is such, that the race will be restored to a vigor of life like that of its primitive inhabitants ; so that infancy shall not be confined, as now, to a short period, nor the season of maturity pass prematurely into the decrepitude of old age. The expression, ^^ the child an hundred years old shall die ;" is perhaps hypothetical, and means that should a child die, it might die a hundred years old ; but a sinner of that age would be accursed, or reprobate ; and therefore that the supposition that he should exist is inconsistent with the righteousness and bliss that are to reign in the new earth ; as in the parallel passage, Rev. xxi. 4, it is expressly foreshown that after the descent of the New" Jerusalem, there is not to be any more death. " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes : and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are 288 THE NEW CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND EARTH. passed away." And that the descent of the New Je- rusalem is to take place at the marriage supper of the Lamb, soon after the destruction of Babylon, is shown by the prophets falling down to worship the angel which, though narrated by him twice, chap. xix. 10, xxii. 8, 9, was doubtless a single occurrence ; and as it took place on the proclamation from heaven that the marriage of the Lamb had come, chap. xix. 10, before the vision of the destruction of the wild-beast, it indicates, in conformity wdth the prediction of Isa- iah and Peter, that the creation of the new heavens and descent of the risen saints is to take place at that period soon after Christ comes. The earth is thus to be prepared by its new creation for the abode of mankind in their renovated state, and to be the seat of Christ's kingdom and visible reign. " The wilder- ness and the solitary place shall be glad ; and the de- sert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing : the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon : they shall see the glory of the Lord, — the excellency of our God." Isaiah xxv. 1, 2. It is generally maintained indeed by Anti-millena- rians that the earth is to be annihilated at Christ's coming. That belief is founded on the prediction 2 Peter iii. 3-13. The office however of the fire which is there foreshown, is to destroy the wicked, not to annihilate the earth, as is seen from the following translation and exposition. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 289 ^^ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last of the days mockers, walking according to their o^YIl inordinate desires, and saying, Where is the pro- mise of his coming ? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of the crea- tion. For they are willingly ignorant [or inconside- rate] of this : that by the word of God the heavens w^ere of old, and the earth standing out of water and in water, through which [that is, the heavens from which the rain fell, and the land which was depressed beneath the ocean] the world of that time was de- stroyed [that is, made a waste.] But the present heavens and earth are by the same word treasured up for fire ; reserved to the day of judgment and de- struction of the men that are impious. But let it not be unknown to [or escape] you, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thou- sand years as one day. The Lord is not dilatory re- specting the promise, as some count dilatoriness ; but is long suffering toward us ; not desiring that any should perish, but that all should come to repent- ance. " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass with a rushing noise ; and the elements being kindled will melt ; and the earth and the works on it will be burned. As tlien all these are (to be) loosed [let loose], what manner of persons ought ye to be in holy deportment and piety, looking for and earnestly awaiting the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens beini;- in- 13 290 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. flamed shall be let loose [to rush in fiery whirlwinds], a;nd the elements being fired shall melt. New hea- vens, however, and a new earth, we, according to his promise, look for, in which righteousness dwells/^ This translation gives the sense of the several parts just as it is expressed in the original. O! ovpavoi, the heavens, are the atmosphere merely, the region of winds, clouds, and reflected light ; as in the expres- sions '^ the fowls of heaven," " the rain of heaven," " the clouds of heaven." The statement that 6 rare KOGjLLoc cTTcjAero, the world of that time was destroyed, denotes simply that it was destroyed as to its inhab- itableness ; not that it was annihilated, or subjected to a total dissolution of its parts. It was destroyed as an inhabitable world, by the submersion of all its land beneath the sea, precisely as a road built on a quicksand is said to be destroyed when it sinks be- neath the surface ; and a house when it is overthrown by a tempest, though the change that takes place is a mere change of position, by which it is unfitted for the purpose for which it was erected : not an annihi- lation, or even a dispersion of its parts. Tuv doepcjv dvOpcjnov, are the men that are eminently wicked, the impious ; not the sinful simply, for the renewed are still sinful ; nor the men unregenerate, for many of them, and especially the young, are not impious. UapE?.ev(jovTaL shall pass, in the expression, the heavens, i. e, the atmosphere shall pass with a rushing noise, means simply that it shall rush by in the form of a wind, like a tornado ; not that it shall be annihilated. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 291 or vanish into space, and leave the earth in a vacuum. The literal meaning of the verb is, to pass along by ; and that it is used in its literal sense, is clear from the consideration that the movement which it denotes is to be poL^TiSov, with a loud noise, as of a rushing wind. It is employed, therefore, literally to signify an ac- tual movement of the atmosphere along the surface of the earth ; not metaphorically, to express some analogous change, such as annihilation, which w^ould involve no motion in space, and produce no noise. If instead of being employed literally, it were used by a metaphor to denote some change that merely resembles a motion in space, or the effect of such a movement, such as a disappearance like that of a body that by its motion passes out of sight, or a ceas- ing to be ; then the idea of motion in space would be dropped, and only the analogous idea of ceasing to be, be retained.' But the idea of motion is not here dropped, but is the identical act which the verb describes, as is seen from the fact, that the act it de- notes, is to produce aloud noise, as of a rushing wind ; which could not be, except by a real, and a violent and agitated movement. No terms could have been used that would have more absolutely defined the event denoted as a movement of the air according to its ordinary laws, as in a whirlwind or tornado ; and excluded the idea of cessation from being or vanish- ing into distant space. As then the event which it denotes, would have its full accomplishment in furious blasts and rushing whirlwinds, like tliose tliat result 292 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANXIHILx^.TED. from volcanic eruptions, the whole meaning of the verb is confined to that. No such sense attaches to it, therefore, as that ascribed to it by commen- tators who seem to regard it as denoting a rush of the air from the globe into distant space. Such a meaning is as unphilosophical indeed, as it is ground- less and contradictory to the language. If, as those writers suppose, the atmosphere were to fly from the earth, it would not be merely by its being re- leased from the force of gravity, but by being en- dowed with a positive repellant force, or else sub- jected to a powerful attraction from some other body ; for if simply released from the force of gravity, it would be tlie earth that would fly from the atmosphere^ not the atmosphere that would fly from the earth. But the first would divest it of its povN^er of producing sound, no matter how rapid its motion might be ; since if deprived of weight, it would be as incapable of vibration as blank space is ; and even if still susceptible of vibration, could pro- duce no impression on the ear ; as weight and im- pulse are necessary to give motion to the drum of the ear, and excite the sensation of sound. It could not, therefore, produce the loud rushing noise that is to attend its motion. The supposition of its being im- bued with a repellent force, by which it should fly from the earth, is equally inconsistent with its na.- ture, and would equally divest it of its power of pro- ducing by its departure the sensation of sound. What can be more unphilosophical than to suppose THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 293 that the laws of matter are thus to be wholly re- versed, or the earth and air invested with a new na- ture in order to their destruction ! Are these writers aware of the existence of any such repellent force in the universe, as, if transfused into the atmosphere or earth, would instantly drive them asunder ? Is not gravity a property of all matter, and is not its law demonstrably from the movements of the heavenly bodies, the same in all other spheres as in this ? What right have these speculatists to assume that that power is to be struck from the air, and a di- rectly opposite principle substituted in its place, in order that they may give a color of authority to their theory of the annihilation at that crisis of the atmosphere, and the destruction thereby of all the human beings then dwelling on the globe ? They surely cannot have considered what their assumption involves. But the supposition of the atmosphere^s being endowed with such a repellent force, is equally fatal to their scheme ; as it would divest it of its power of producing a sensation of sound as it re- ceded from the earth : for as it would then fly off at every point, in a line perpendicular to the surface of the earth, as soon as it had risen above the heads of men — which would be as quick as thought — it would cease to act on their ears, and be incapable of pro- ducing a sense of the rushing noise which is io at- tend the movement that is predicted in this passage. Men, moreover, left in such a vacuum, and struggling on the one hand with the agonies of suHbcation, and 294 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. on the other with the still greater agonies of the ex- pansion of their bodies and the effusion of blood from every pore consequent on their being freed from the pressure of the atmosphere, would have little leisure for, or power of giving attention to the noise of the retreating atmosphere as it receded into remote space, on the supposition that its rush were per- ceptible by the ear. Had these writers carefully considered what their construction involves, they would have shrunk from ascribing to the passage such a tissue of impossibilities and absurdities. i^TOLxeia, are the elements or simple substances of which the world or its different parts consist. They have been supposed by some writers to denote those chiefly of the atmosphere, and the vapors and other material substances that ordinarily float in it. There is no ground, however, in the language for such a limitation ; and in v. 10 they undoubtedly denote the inflammable substances that are then to be ejected from the earth into the air. Neither the atmosphere in fact, nor the water that floats in it, in the form of vapor and clouds, is capable of fusion by heat. They are naturally fluids, not made such in distinction from solids, by the application of heat. The effect on them of a high measure of heat is simply to expand them into a greater volume ; to convert them into thinner fluids ; not to divest them of solidity, which does not belong to their nature. Melting is a process of which solids alone are susceptible. It is the min- eral substances of the globe, therefore, undoubtedly. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 295 that are to be ejected into the atmosphere at the - period, that are denoted by Groixeia, elementary sub- stances, V. 10, that are to be kindled and let loose. KavGovfieva, signifies being set on fire, kindled, put in a blaze. The elements that are thus to be enkindled are doubtless those that are naturally inflammable, such as carbon, sulphur, and gases of which they or other inflammable substances are ingredients. A.vdr]- Govrai is used in the sense of let loose, as the burning elements of a volcano are when projected into the at- mosphere, and driven by furious blasts, they become the means of assailing and destroying men. The verb literally denotes, to untie, to loosen, to unbind, to set free from a physical restraint, like a bond or fetter. It does not involve the idea at all, therefore, of the cessation or annihilation of that which is let loose. Instead, it implies that it continues in its state of release, and that if there has been any cessa- tion of existence, it is of the bond or force from which it is released. In like manner, a sense of annihila- tion, or ceasing to be, is not involved at all in its use when employed by a metaphor to denote a resem- bling release of persons or things from a condition like that of being tied or bound with a fetter ; as the loosing a slave from bondage, which is a political change ; the freeing the body from pain, which is a change of sensation ; and the release of a person from death. In all these metaphorical uses of the verb, the continued existence of that which is re- leased, and in its proper nature, is implied in its be- 296 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. ing set free. So also to loose a seal is to break its continuity simply, not to annihilate it, or produce a chemical dissolution of its parts ; and to dissolve, i. e. take down a building, is merely to remove its timbers, stones, and other elements, from that orderly arrange- ment and connexion with each other, by which it is constituted a building ; not to destroy the materials of which it consists, or change the form in which they severally exist. The stones are still stones, the tim- ber is still timber, and all the other elements remain precisely what they were before. The verb does not, therefore, in any form involve the sense of the anni- hilation or absolute destruction of that which is un- loosed; but, instead, necessarily implies its continu- ance. In this instance, it is used by a metaphor to sig- nify that the elements of the kindled earth are to be let loose from the force by which they are naturally held in a condition that is compatible with the safety and enjoyment of men ; and like the fluid matter of a volcano projected into the atmosphere, are at liberty to rush upon them and become the engines of their destruction. It does not involve, nor admit of the notion of their chemical dissolution and annihilation, any more than the loosing of the ox or ass from the stall to lead it to w^atering, Luke xiii. 15, or the loos- ing of the colt bound at the gate, Mark xi. 4, implied the chemical dissolution and annihilation of those animals. Its meaning in each case is simply that of letting loose ; though the restraint from which the elements are set free is of a 'different kind from that THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 297 from which the animals were released by untjdng or removing their fastenings. " And the earth and the works on it KaraKameTac shall be burned.'^ The earth and the works on it are not the same as the kindled elements which are to be let loose, but are combustible things on the surface of the earth, such as crops, grass, trees, and structures erected by men, on which those burning elements, projected into the atmosphere and borne off by the winds, will fall, and kindle, and burn them. To sup- .pose that the burning elements, and the natural and artificial objects on the earth are the same, would be to treat the passage as tautological. If the elements, and the earth, and the works on it, are the same, and the prediction that the kindled elements shall be let loose, means, as the common construction represents, that they shall be dissolved and reduced to a chaos, or annihilated, why is it added that the earth and the works on it shall be burned? It would imply that the earth and the works on it are to continue to be the earth and the works on it, and therefore to con- tinue to subsist in their natural state, after they have undergone a total dissolution and passed out of exist- ence. Instead of such a contradictory sense, the re- presentation of the passage is, that the burning of the earth and the works on it is to be consequential on the letting loose of the kindled elements. The combustible matter with which the surface of the earth is to be covered — grass, crops, trees, buildings — is to be set on fire by the kindled elements projected 13^ 298 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AKXIHILATED. into the atmosphere, and burned, as usually takes place in volcanic eruptions. TovTov ovv TzdvTov ivouevcov; " As then all thesc are (to he) unloosed [to become instruments of destruction], what manner of persons ought j^e to be?'^ All these, means not only the kindled elements and the atmos- phere, but the burning substances also on the surface of the earth, which the elements falling from the at- mosphere are to kindle. liora-novg del vnapxetv v/ndg ; ev aylaig uvaarpocpalg koI evaepecaLg TrpoadoKovrag adi oirevdovrag. The distinction between holy deportment and piety, is, that the one has a special reference to men, the other to God. UpoGdoKCjvrag koi (jnevdovrac, aS WcU aS v/J-ag, are governed by dei VTrapxecv ; and the sense of the passage is ; — all these then — the kindled elements, the atmosphere, and the burning substances on the surface of the earth — being thus to be unloosed from their natural state to become in- struments of destruction to the imj)ious ; how holy ought your deportment to be towards men, and your hearts towards God, that you may not be among those who are then to perish ; and how ought you to live in the expectation of the coming of that day, and re- alization that the kindled atmosphere is then to be let loose, and the burning elements of the earth to melt, and carry terror and death to those who are ar- rayed against God. The certainty that these resist- less instruments of death are to be^let loose for the destruction of the impious, is thus made the ground by the apostle of enforcing the duty on the one hand THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 299 of a life of uprightness towards men, and piety to- wards God, and on the other of an habitnal looking for and earnest contemplation of the day of God, as to be marked by those awful evolutions of the powers of nature, and employment for the destruction of the impious who are then to perish. " New heavens, however, and a new earth, we, ac- cording to his promise, look for, in which righteous- ness dwells," and which therefore, the implication is, are never to be made engines of destruction, as men are never again to become impious. Such is indubitably the philological meaning of this passage ; the simple, full, and only sense it will bear. Not a hue of the pencil, in the explication we have given of it, is either raised above, or de- pressed below the color of the original. And not a trace appears in it of the universal conflagration, dis- solution, and annihilation of the earth and atmosphere, which commentators generally have supposed it to foreshow. The notion of such a catastrophe has no just foundation in the passage, and has sprung entirely from a misconception of the import of the terms, a consequent misjudgment of the phenomena which they describe, and a neglect to consider the incom- patibility of a general conflagration and dissolution of all things with the descriptions that are given in other parts of the sacred word, of the same event. 300 THE GLOBE IS XOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. CHAPTER XXIY. THE EARTH NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED BY A CONFLAGRATION. The trutti of the exposition given in the preceding chapter of the prophecy, 2 Peter iii. 3-13, is made still more apparent by a consideration of the nature and grounds of the construction that is ordinarily put on it. By most it is regarded as wholly incompatible with the survivance of any portion of mankind in the natural life ; and by others as at least rendering the supposition of their survivance extremely difficult. It results, however, from their forming conceptions of the catastrophe, and of the class of persons whom it is to destroy, which the language does not warrant. Thus, one class of commentators interpret the term " heavens,'^ as denoting the celestial orbs, the moon, planets, sun, and stars, and regard the prophecy as announcing the conflagration of the whole material universe. No fancy, however, could be more mista- ken or absurd. The object of the fire is to destroy '^ the impious.'' It is to the judgment and destruc- tion of the men who are ungodly, that the heavens THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 301 and earth are reserved for fire. But how would the conflagration of tlie sun, the moon, and the planets, be necessary to that destruction, or in any manner contribute to it? And much more, how would the conflagration of all the other systems of worlds that fill the boundless realms of space, that have no phy- sical connection whatever with our system, be need- ful to that end? Do those persons suppose the un- godly men who are then to perish, are to be destroyed by the flames of the distant parts of the universe ? If not, if they are to be destroyed by the fires of the earth, what need can there be of a more extensive conflagration ? But the word ol ovpavot, the heavens, instead of the sun, moon, planets, and the starry spheres, denotes simply the atmosphere of the earth ; the region of the air above us, in which " the fowls of heaven'^ fly, and " the clouds of heaven^^ float. This is clear, not only from the subject itself of the passage, but especially from the prediction that ol ovpavol, the heavens, shall pass away, or rush with a crash, or loud noise ; which shows that the rush or rapid mo- tion producing the crashing noise, is to be within the limits of our atmosphere, inasmuch as it is only with- in the region of the air that the motion of objects can produce a sound. To suppose that a rush of Ju- piter, Saturn, and Herschel, from their orbits into space, would produce a crash which would bo heard in our world, is to assume that the whole region through which the sound would pass, is filled by an element susceptible of vibration, like our atmosphere, 302 THE GLOBE IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. wliich is contrary to fact. No such element exists in the space that surrounds our atmosphere, which, as far as has been determined by astronomers, ex- tends only to a height of forty-five or fifty miles. Beyond that limit, as at the distance of the moon and planets, a body could no more produce a crashing vi- bration in our atmosphere by dashing through space, than it could by remaining stationary. The catas- trophe, then, which the prophecy foreshows is un- questionably to be confined to our world. Others regard the passage as foreshowing that the earth at least is to be completely consumed, or reduced to cinders, and perhaps struck from existence. They derive that impression probably from the expression in the common version, that ^' the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.'' As a house, or other wooden structure, a forest, a field of grain, or any combustible matter, is said to be burned up when it is completely fired, divested of organiza- tion, and reduced to ashes, these persons suppose that the language implies that the whole earth is in like manner to be consumed by the fire, divested of all its organized structure, and converted, at least, into a mass of ruins, if not swept from existence. But this, the original does not warrant. All that the verb means is that the earth — that is, the combustible things on its surface, in the scene where the catas- trophe occurs, shall be set on fire and shall burn, as for example, in a volcanic explosion, when the burn- ing lava fires and consumes the inflammable objects, THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. S03 immediately around, with which it comes in contact. In like manner, w^hen a violent upheaval and agita- tion of the surface of the earth in a particular district is produced by interior fires, the earthy without limita- tion, is said to shake and quake, although the move- ment is confined to a narrow region and to its mere surface. So also the earth is said to be wrapped in darkness at night, although the darkness is confined to one hemisphere, while the other is basking in the full light of day. And it is predicted that at the de- struction of the antichristian hosts, ^^the mountains shall be melted with their blood,^^ Isaiah xxiv. 3 ; though those mountains only are meant which are to be the scene of their slaughter, and not all the moun- tains of the globe. That all that this language means is, that the inflammable matter on the surface of the earth will be set on fire and will burn, in the regions where the destruction of the ungodly is to take place, is shown still more clearly by the fact, hereafter to be adduced, that even the wicked themselves, who are to be destroyed by the flames, are not to be ab- solutely consumed, but are to remain in such a condi- tion as to be devoured by the birds of the air, and to require a burial. Others seem to suppose that the conflagration in the atmosphere is to be universal, and is to take place at the same time over the whole surface of the globe ; and that the survivance of any of its pojnila- tion must therefore be impossible. Tliis notion, however, has no ground whatever in the passage. 304 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. The prediction is simply that the atmosphere shall be kindled, and shall be let loose, and shall rush with a great noise. It is not said that the whole atmos- phere of the globe is to be kindled and rush in that manner. The prophecy will be accomplished, if that takes place in the scene where the impious, who are to perish, are assembled. As the atmosphere is not combustible, and cannot be separated into its con- stitutents and made inflammable, except by the ap- plication of heat, or some other chemical force sepa- rate from itself, it is apparent that the firing of the air, or filling the air with fire, must be produced— if wrought as it doubtless will be, by natural means — by the infusion into it of some combustible ele- ment, such as an inflammable gas, carbon, or sulphur. The fire by which that combustible element is to be inflamed and ejected into the air, is probably to be that which is to issue from the throne of God, Dan. vii. 9, 10 ; the flaming fire in which he is to be re- vealed when he comes to take vengeance on his ene- mies, Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16 ; 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. If then the inflammable element is to be introduced into the atmosphere at the time — unless created at the mo- ment, which will not be deemed likely, inasmuch as ample stores of combustibles exist in the earth itself ■ — what is so probable as that it will be disengaged from the earth at the time, by the earthquakes which are then to convulse the globe, Zech. xiv. 4, 5 ; Joel iii. 16, and the firing of the interior by the lightnings flashed from the divine presence, by which those THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 305 earthquakes are to be generated and the mountains made to melt ; which, it is predicted, Ps. xcvii, are to take place at his coming to reign on the earth ? "A fire goeth before him and burneth up his ene- mies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world ; the earth saw and trembled. The hills melt- ed like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the pre- sence of the Lord of the whole earth. '^ But if that is to be the source of the inflammable materials with which the atmosphere is to be kindled, and the fusion of the earthy matter on which the volcanic fires act, is to be the melting of the elements which the pre- diction foreshows, it is not to be supposed that it is to extend at once through the whole mass of the at- mosphere around the whole globe. It will naturally, and .without a miracle necessarily, be confined to the regions immediately round the scenes of the earth- quakes and volcanic fires, and thence to the portions of the atmosphere over the regions in which the un- godly men are assembled, whom its office is to de- stroy. And such a firing of the earth, and conflagra- tion of the air, in those regions in which great num- bers of the antichristian party live and are to be assembled, will fully equal the import of the predic- tion, and form an ample verification of it. This view will be rendered still more indubitable by considera- tions hereafter to be adduced. If it is held that the conflagration, instead of being produced by natural means, is to be the Avork exclu- sively of a miracle, then no explanation of the exemp- 306 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. tion of the nations who are living on the earth is ne- cessary ; inasmuch as if the conflagration is altogether miraculous, the exemption of the nations is just as consistent with the miracle as their destruction would be. The whole supposition that the living popula- tion of the globe are to perish by the conflagration, proceeds on the assumption that the fire is to act ac- cording to the laws of nature. If therefore the laws of nature have no place in it, but it is to be the mere work of the divine volition, the preservation of the nations is just as consistent with it as their destruc- tion can be. To maintain, accordingly, that the burning of the atmosphere must naturally destroy the inhabitants of the earth, is to maintain that the fire is to act according to the natural and invariable laws of that element ; and that implies that it is to be produced by natural means ; that is, by the in- flammation of naturally combustible matter. That, however, as necessarily implies that those means are to be drawn from the earth itself, in which inflamma- ble matter exists in ample quantity : for why should it be supposed that God will create combustible ele- ments to fire the earth, when such elements already exist in the earth itself, and only need the application of fire to kindle and explode them into the atmos- phere ? But the supposition that they are to be drawn from the earth itself, implies that they are to be developed and emitted into the atmosphere only in certain regions and in limited quantities ; for that results necessarily from the partial distribution of THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 307 those elements, and their agency as far as it has hith- erto been exemplified ; and thence it follows that the conflagration, instead of being universal at the same momentj is to be confined to limited regions ; and as will hereafter appear, is to take place in those regions successively. Others assume that none of the unsanctified are to escape that conflagration, from the fact that it is de- signed to destroy " the men that are impious.'' That term, however, tdv aaepcjv, the impious, is used, there is the most ample certainty, not to designate the un- sanctified generally and promiscuously, but only the open, organized, and peculiarly guilty enemies of Christ, who are directly opposing his kingdom, or at least giving their sympathy and concurrence to its opposers. For they are in several prophecies ex- pressly designated as the parties who are to be de- stroyed by fire at Christ's coming. Thus the ten- horned beast, that is to be slain at the judgment at which the Ancient of days is to preside, is the sym- bol of the kings and subordinate rulers of the fourth great monarchy ; and it is they only whose destruc- tion is symbolized by its death, and the giving of its body to the burning flame. That the subjects of that empire are promiscuously to perish along Avitli the rulers denoted by the beast, not a hint is given in the vision ; nor is the supposition compatible with the revelation which it makes of the catastrophe of the monarchs, the false prophet symbolized by the eleventh horn, and their subordinates in the i2:overn- 308 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. ments of wliicli tliey are the heads. If the people are to perish along with the governments, how is it that they appear as symbols in the vision which immediately follows of the investiture of Christ wilh the dominion of the earth, and it is announced that they, who are most certainly included in '' all peopl'e, nations, and languages," are to "serve him,'^ and throughout his reign which is to continue for ever and ever ? In like manner at the great battle of Armageddon, it is the ten-horned beast, and the false prophet or head of the papacy alone, that are to be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone ; and the kings and armies that are to be associated with them alone that are to be slain. No intimation is given- that the population of the realms over which those monarchs and priests reign, are to perish along with them. So also in the vision of the great image, Dan. ii, as it is the image alone that is dashed to powder by the stone cut out of the mountain, and blown away by the wind like chaff from the threshers, so it is the chief rulers and their subordinates alone who belong to the or- ganized bodies that exercise the governments and are symbolized by the image, whose destruction is foreshown by the crushing of the image. In the prediction of the same great event also, Isaiah Ixvi. 15-24, while it is foreshown that the Lord will plead w^ith all flesh, and that the slain of the Lord shall be many, and that those especially are to perish who are open idolaters ; it is yet announced that he will ga- THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 309 ther all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see his glory, and he will set a sign among them, and those of them that escape, he will send to the nations at a distance that have not heard his fame nor seen his glory, and that they shall assist the return of the Israelites to their land, and shall afterwards come there to offer worship, — which indicates that the de- struction is to be confined to the open and incorrigi- ble enemies of Christ. The nations at large are to survive. In like manner the prediction of the great battle at Jerusalem, Zech. xiv, exhibits the destruc- tion which is then to take place, as confined to the armies that are arrayed against that city, and endea- voring to prevent the establishment there of Christ's throne. For those alone who are to parish are '' the people that have fought against Jerusalem. '^ The remainder of the nations to whom those '' people'^ be- longed, are expressly represented as surviving and going up ^' from year to year'' to Jerusalem '^ to wor- ship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." What can more clearly show that the destruction is to be limited to the armed hosts that are to be engaged in open war against Christ? But that the phrase " the ungodly men," " the men that are impious," against whose judgment and per- dition the burning of the atmosphere and earth is re- served, denotes the open, organized, and incorrigible enemies of Christ and his kingdom, who are engaged in an attempt to defeat him, and prevent the verifi- 310 THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. cation of his word, is seen from the passage 2 Thess. i. 8, 9, and the parallel prediction, 2 Peter iii. 4. For those then to perish who are described v. 8, as not knowing God, and not obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, are to be of the same class, it is indicated, as those v. 6, who had perse- cuted the Thessalonian believers. " Your patience and faith in all j^our persecutions and tribulations that ye endure," are " a manifest token of the right- eous judgment of God in counting you worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye suffer : since it is righteous with God to recompense tribulation to those who trouble you" by persecution ; '^ and to you who are afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." As the patience and faith of the believers under persecution are to be the reason of their ac- ceptance and reward when Christ comes in flaming fire, so, the representation is, the disowning of God, and rejection of the gospel, manifested in the persecu- tion of the saints^ are to be the reason of the destruc- tion of those who are to perish by the fire. For it is the persecutors roig dlifSovGiv vfiag, those who afflict you, it is expressly said, whom God is then to repay by affliction. That the terms, ^' the men that are impious," against whose judgment and dirDlelag, perdition, the firing of the air and earth is reserved, are thus used to desig- THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 311 nate the openly apostate and persecuting enemies of Christ's kingdom, not the unrenewed promiscuously, is confirmed also by the denomination in the next chapter, 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, of the great combination of false and persecuting teachers of the Catholic church, 'Hhe man of sin,'' the son of dTTolelag perdition, and the antagonist and rival of all that is called God or enti- tled to homage ; and the announcement that it is the party which he represents, who are to be consumed by the breath of Christ's mouth, and destroyed by the effulgence, that is the flaming fire of his advent. They are further described as a body in whom the inworking of Satan appears with all power and signs and lying miracles, and all the deceit or falsehood of unrighteousness. They are to be persons, therefore, who profess to act with divine authority, and to work miracles in proof of their commission and the truth of their doctrines ; but w^hose miracles are to be false, and their show of piety a mere deceit or counterfeit by unrighteousness. They are to be false religious teachers, therefore, counterfeit disciples and ministers of Christ, who usurp his name, authority, and throne. As these are the class denominated the man of sin and son of perdition, who are then to perish by the fire of Christ's presence, and as no intimation is given that any others living in the same scenes are to be involved in that catastrophe, it indicates that Peter's phrase, " the ungodly men," " the men that are impi- ous," who are to perish at the same juncture, is used 312 THE GLOBE IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. also to denote only the same class of open and organ- ized enemies to Christ^s kingdom. This is corroborated also by the parable of the field sown with good seed, in which the owner symbolizes Christ, and the wheat and tares those who professedly live under his rule ; the wheat representing the true believers whom Christ introduces into his kingdom, but the tares denoting the wicked, whom Satan intro- duces among Christ's true disciples, by leading them to profess his name, and assume the badge of his fol- lowers ; and it is these alone who are to be gathered by the angels out of his kingdom at his coming, and consigned to the furnace of fire. These may include some, not improbably, who are not open apostates and persecutors ; but it indicates that the destruction is to be confined to the special- agents and vassals of Satan, whose aim and office is to pervert and destroy the kingdom of the Redeemer. In like manner those, in the judgment of the living, foreshown Matt. xxv. 31-46, who are to be placed at the left hand of the judge, and co«isigned to everlast- ing punishment, are exhibited as consisting solely of those w^ho have acted in a direct relation to Christ's true people in the great persecution which is imme- diately to precede his coming, and as having either taken an open part with the persecutors, or shown a concurrence with them by refusing all succor to the persecuted in their sufferings. The representation assumes that they were all in a condition, if they had had a disposition to it, to have relieved the sufferers, THE GLOBE IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 313 not only by giving food, clothing, shelter, and medi- cine, to those who were at large and might be ap- proached without obstruction, but to those also who were confined in prison ; and that they took the side therefore, and in their sphere acted the part of per- secutors, as really as those in official stations by whom the persecution was originated and carried on. They are probably difierent persons from those who are to perish at Armageddon ; but are of the same general class, the open and merciless enemies of Christ^s true people. These various descriptions of the parties who are then to be destroyed, all of which exhibit them as open, organized apostates, and relentless enemies of God, not the unsanctified generally, make it clear that it is the antichristian, idolatrous, and persecuting host alone, that is then to perish by the fires of the divine vengeance, not the unrenewed nations gener- ally of the earth. 14 314 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. CHAPTER XXV. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED AT CHRIST^S COMING. In addition to the considerations alleged in the pre- ceding chapter, it is apparent that the fire that is to destroy " the impions men'^is not to consume the whole earth and reduce it to a wreck, from the fact that it is not even to burn up the bodies of the an ti christian host generally that is to perish at that crisis, but they are to remain unconsumed, to be devoured by the birds of the air, and in many instances to require burial. Thus at the great battle of God at Armageddon, where the armies of the kings who are to co-operate with the wild beast are to be slain by the sword, or breath proceeding from the mouth of Christ, the fowls of heaven are summoned to gather themselves together to the supper of the great God, that they may eat " the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and great.'^ " And the beast and the false prophet that w^rought miracles before THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 315 it, were taken and cast alive into the lake of fire burn- ing with brimstone ; the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh," Rev. xix. 17-21 ; which indicates that they • were merely killed by the flaming breath of the Re- deemer, not devoured by it, nor by any conflagration of the atmosphere or earth that was kindled by it, or by any other cause. For why should the fowls have been invited to sup on them, if they were v/rapped in a devouring fire and consumed by it ? And how, if they were dispatched in that way, could all the fowls, or any of them, have been filled by their flesh ? In like manner Gog, who is to invade the land of Israel, after the Israelites have returned and resettled there, and whom God is to destroy by raining upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hail- stones, fire, and brimstone, is to be given unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured ; and their bows and arrows are to remain and serve as fuel for the Israelites for seven years, and their bones are to lie on the surface, and in such numbers and scattered over so wide a region, as to require seven months to comj)lete their burial, Ezek. xxxviii, xxxix. Can a stronger proof bo im- agined, that though they are in a measure to be killed by the fire and brimstone showered on them, tliov \ et are not to be burned and reduced to ashes by it, or by a general conflagration ? If they are to perisli by 316 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AXXIHILATED. a general conflagration, how could their bodies remain to be devoured by ravenous birds and wild beasts ? Hovr, if the whole atmosphere is then inflamed and annihilated, and the whole earth fused and consumed by the heat, can the birds and beasts survive to feed on their carcases ? Or how could their bows, arrows, spears, and other combustible armor, escape the burn- ing, and serve for fuel to the Israelites ? How indeed could the Israelites themselves any more escape de- struction by such a universal fire ? Can anything be more clear, than that the whole fancy of such an all- devouring conflagration is without authority, and irreconcilable with the predictions of the catastrophe by which '' the impious" are to perish at that crisis ? Or can any clearer indication be necessary, than is presented in this prophecy, that the fire and brim- stone that are to be rained upon Gog and his armies, though kindled probably by the lightnings flashed from the throne of the Almighty, are yet to proceed from the volcanoes with which Palestine is then to be fired and convulsed ? For the great earthquake with which it is predicted the land of Israel is then to be shaken, is doubtless to proceed from the explo- sion of combustible matter beneath the surface, that is to vent itself by the projection of its burning gases and heated minerals into the atmosphere, and pro- duce the conflagration of the air and fusion of the elements, which it is foreshown by Peter are to take place " in that day'^ '' of the Lord.'' " For in my jeal- ousy, and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken ; THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 317 Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ; so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence ; and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground," Ezek. xxxviii. 19, 20. A great earthquake is to take place, therefore, at the time of the rain of the fire and brimstone on Gog and his hosts ; and as such violent convulsions of the earth usually, and probably in all instances, issue in volcanic eruptions, in which sulphur is a lead- ing element, what is so probable as that the fire and brimstone with which the invading hosts are to be overwhelmed, are to be projected from the kindled earth into the atmosphere, and by emitting a vast volume of inflammable gas along with them, fill the heavens to a great height with flame, and in the rush- ing whirlwinds and crashing noise which usually at- tend the explosions of great volcanoes, verify the pre- diction that the heavens or atmosphere shall rush with a loud roar, or thundering noise ? The phenomena described by the apostle are precisely such as attend the eruption of the great volcano, Kilauea Hawaii, as de- scribed in passages quoted in the Tlieol. and Lit. Jour- nal, vol. V. pp. 189, 199, and 3G9, from which we tran- scribe the following sentences. " The stream plunged into the sea with loud detonations. The burning lava, on meeting the waters, was shivered like melted 318 THE EARTH IS KOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. glass into millions of particles which were thrown up in clouds that darkened the sky, and fell like a storm of hail over the surrounding country. Vast columns of steam and vapors rolled off before the wind, whirl- ing in ceaseless agitation, and the reflected glare of the lavas formed a fiery firmament overhead. '^ — Dana's Geol. U. S. Expl. Expedition, pp. 188-192. " The intense heat of the fountain and stream of lava caused an influx of cool air from every quarter. This created terrific wliirlioinds^ which constantly stalking about, like so many sentinels, bade defiance to [threatened] the daring visitor. These were the most dangerous of anything about the volcano. Clouds approaching the volcano were driven back, and set moving in wild confusion. '^ — Letter of H. Kinney, Am. Jour, of Science, Sept. 1852, p. 258. As, then, volcanic phenomena — the filling the sky with flames, the whirlwind rush of the air, a loud roar and crash, and the fusion of the earthy elements pro- jected from the crater, and decomposition of the water and air with which they come in contact — thus accord with those described by the apostle as to attend the judgment and destruction of "the impious men f why should it not be held as clear that the firing of the air and earth, and melting of the elements, which he foreshows, are to be of the same kind, and proceed from the same cause ? The language he employs is not stronger, the effects he describes are not of a more intense nature, than those depicted in these passages. THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 319 It is predicted also, Isaiah Ixvi. 24, that there are to be carcases of men, who are to be slain at that epoch, that not only are not to be consumed by the fire, bnt are to remain visible at least for a time, and it would seem from the description, in a volcanic lo- cality ; and are to be gazed at by survivors. " And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to an- other, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord ; and they shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me ; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. ^' This view of the catastrophe is corroborated by the description given by Zechariah of the mode in which the antichristian hosts are then to be destroy- ed. " And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. '^ "And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in their tents, as this plague." — Chap. xiv. 12, 15. This is not the efi'ect that would naturally be pro- duced, if they were absolutely enveloped in a devour- ing fire, as they then could not remain on their feet, nor would one part of their bodies be more exposed to injury than another ; but it is precisely llie elVect 320 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. that would be produced by a volcanic eruption, send- ing up vast volumes of melted lava and burning gases into the heights of the atmosphere, that should reflect an intense heat and glare on the eyes, and generate hot gusts and whirlwinds loaded with heated particles that should rush in all directions, and filling the eyes, mouths, and clothes of the hosts every few moments, excite inflammation, and soon destroy the parts most exposed, while the sufi'erers would still be able to remain on their feet. It is corroborated also by the prediction, that in- stead of being instantly destroyed by the fire, they are to be thrown into a tumult, and in their confusion and terror are to fall on each other. '^ And it shall come to pass in that day, a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them ; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor,'^ Zech. xiv. 13. This might naturally arise from a volcanic eruption, that, threatening them with destruction, should prompt them to fly in haste and disarray, and, blinding them with ashes and smoke, should 23Tevent them from distinguishing each other. In such a flight they would naturally run against each other, and not improbably mistake one another for foes, and each endeavor to effect his escape by sacrificing whoever stood in his way. But no sucli tumult and conflict could occur were they instantly enveloped in an atmosphere of devouring fire. Flight would then be impossible. Each would instantly sink overpow- THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 321 ered by his sufferings, and have neither motive nor strength to contend with his neighbor. "Who ever heard of persons enveloped in the flames of a burn- ing building fighting with each other, or can conceive it possible ? This accords also with the prediction, Psalm xi. 6. " The wicked,'^ the impious, are defined, v. 2, as those who plot the destruction of the righteous. ^' For lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.'' '^ The Lord is in his holy temple ; the Lord's throne is in heaven ; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous ; but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth." And these he is to destroy by a storm like those which are often generated by volcanic eruptions. '' Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horri- ble tempest: the portion of their cup." These considerations make it clear that the catas- trophe which the apostle foreshows, instead of a universal conflagration of the atmosphere and the earth, that is to blot them from existence, or reduce them to a mass of ruins, is to be but a local and par- tial firing of the earth and air, that is to be the means of terror, confusion, and death to the impious hosts and their co-operators who are arrayed in open war against Christ ; not of destroying the nations of the earth at large. And finally, this is confirmed by the events that 14^ 322 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE AXXIHILATED. are to intervene between the coming of Christ in the clouds, and the completion of the judgment of the living nations, which show not only that no general conflagration of the world is to take place on his ar- rival, but that the destruction of the impious, who are to perish by his avenging fires, instead of being accomplished in a single catastrophe, is to take place successively, and in different scenes. There are many who seem to suppose that the world will be set on fire and the wicked universally destroyed, im- mediately on Christ^s arrival. But that notion is both wholly unfounded, and inconsistent with many events that are ix) attend and follow his advent. Thus it is apparent that his advjent itself, or first appearance, cannot be beheld by all the inhabitants of the globe at the same time ; since whatever the direction may be in which he approaches it, he can only be visible at the same moment to the people of one hemisphere, and if perceptible at a great distance, cannot, unless he passes round the earth, or there is an acceleration of its rotation on its axis, under twelve hours after, be seen by all the residents in the other hemisphere ; while if he is not visible till he reaches the atmosphere, and the region of clouds, he will be seen at the same time by the population of only a narrow region. But his avenging lightnings are not to be darted on his enemies and kindle the earth and atmosphere, even at the great battle with his armed foes, the in- stant of his becoming visible. His foes, instead of THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 323 being immediately enveloped in fire and devoured, are to flee to the mountains and crags, and endeavor to hide themselves from his wrath. ^' And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand. ^' Eev. vi. 15-17. The same terror, flight, and attempt to secrete themselves are predicted by Isaiah ii. 10—21. '^ Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is j^^^oud and lofty ^ and upon evet-y one that is lifted up ; and he shall be brought low ; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan ; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced w^all, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the hauglitiness of men shall be made low ; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols shall be utterly abolished. And they shall go into 324 THE EAETH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day shall a man cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to wor- ship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majest}^, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.'' This indicates that the vengeance of God is then to be especially directed against the limiglity and daring in sin, and that a terrible earthquake is to be one means by which it is to be executed ; but it shows that the guilty are not to be instantaneously de- stroyed, but are to have opportunity to flee to the mountains, and hide themselves in dens and caverns. The event foreshown in these passages is doubtless the battle of Armageddon, Vvdien the usurping and perse- cuting powers denoted by the wild beast, the false prophet, and their armies, are to be destroyed. A still longer period is to intervene between Christ's advent, and the judgment of the living nations, de- scribed Matt. XXV. 31-46 ; for they are to be gathered together after his coming,^ and not, as is generally supposed, at the same time and place, but there is every reason to presume successively. It is after he has come in the clouds of heaven, he himself announces, Matt. xxiv. 31, that he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet to gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 325 other ; and it is still later, it is indicated in the vision of the vintage, Rev. xiv. 17-20, that the wicked are to be gathered and destroyed ; and probably neither of these classes is to be assembled at one time and in one place. The language does not imply it. The representation will be perfectly verified by the assem- bling of the nations before him, though it be in differ- ent scenes and successively. And why should the population of Europe, Africa, America, and the Paci- fic and Indian isles, be transported to Asia to be judged ? — a process that unless accomplished by a miracle, would occupy many years, more indeed far than an ordinary lifetime even of the aged, and de- mand extraordinary provisions for the subsistence and shelter of those collected at the scene, while the gathering was in progress. Such a voyage and march of nine hundred millions of human beings to a single point on the globe, would involve, in truth, an array of miracles, compared with which all that have hith- erto been wrought in the government of the world would sink into insignificance ; and is not to be thought of. The judgment of the nations will doubt- less take place in their several territories, and in succession. A considerable period therefore, and not impossibly years, may pass ere it is completed. The supposition, accordingly, that the earth and atmos- phere are to be fired throughout and utterly con- sumed as the process proceeds, is contradictious and absurd. It is equally inconsistent with the resurrection of 326 THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. the unholy from the grave and the sea at the distance of the vast series of ages denoted by the thousand years after Christ's advent, and the resurrection of the righteous, and the destruction of the antichristian hosts. It is expressly revealed in the vision of the resurrection of the holy dead at the commencement of the thousand years, that '' the rest of the dead are not to live again until the thousand years are finish- ed f and there is immediately after a vision of their resurrection from the sea, the grave, and the realms of the unburied, and their judgment soon after the close of the thousand years. But their resurrection at that late period, after Christ's coming and destruc- tion of the impious hosts, symbolized by the beast, Babylon, the false prophet, and their confederates, shows that the earth and air cannot in the mean time have been reduced to a mass of ruins by a conflagra- tion, and the sea evaporated or struck from existence ; as then, to make it possible, it would be necessary that the earth and sea should be restored from their dissolution to essentially the state in which they sub- sisted before their destruction ; for how can the grave and the sea at that epoch give up the dead that are in them, if there are no graves, nor sea, in which the dead are buried ? But who will venture to maintain that the earth and the sea are to be reproduced from non-existence, in their original state, and that the dead they once contained are to be redeposited in them, in order to their resurrection in the manner represented in that vision ? THE EARTH IS NOT TO BE ANNIHILATED. 327 Such are the stupendous contradictions and absur- dities which the notion of the conflagration and disso- lution of the world at Christ's coming involves. It not only has no authority whatever in the passage from which it has been drawn, and no countenance from any other part of the word of God, but it is en- tirely inconsistent with the views which are presented in the prophets of the events that are to attend and follow Christ^s coming, destruction of the impious, judgment of the living population of the world, and reign over the nations through the ages that are to follow. It is not the Millenarian, therefore, but the Anti- millenarian, whose views it is impossible to reconcile v/ith the apostle's language, and the teachings gene- rally of the Scriptures on this subject. On the whole, then, the notion almost universally entertained of the conflagration and dissolution of the heavens and earth at Christ's coming, is without any ground whatever in the apostle's w^ords, and springs wholly from attaching to them a meaning which they do not involve. The fires by which the impious are then to be destroyed, are to be but local and tempo- rary, and are to offer, there is reason to believe, no more obstacle to the safety of the population of the globe at large, than the volcanoes have that liave already raged in the depths of the earth, and ejected their burning elements into the atmosphere. 328 EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. CHAPTER XXVI. EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. THE DRYING OF THE EUPHRATES, OR ALIENATION OF THE PEOPLE FROM THE NA- TIONAL HIERARCHIES. THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS TO GATHER THE KINGS TO THE GREAT BATTLE AGAINST GOD. But Christ's advent is still at a considerable dis- tance, and is to be preceded by a series of great and momentous events, both in the governments of the world and in the church. What are the triumphs or defeats of his enemies, and the sad or joyous oc- currences to his friends, that are to mark the period that is yet to pass ere he comes and assumes the sceptre of the earth ? What is the point to which the accomplishment of the Apocalypse has advanced? The first four vials are justly regarded as having been poured in the French revolution and the wars that followed it from 1789 to 1815, and in a measure still later ; and the fifth as showered on the throne of the beast, partially in 1815 and 1830, but especially in 1848, when the Catholic thrones on the continent were for a time in effect overturned, and the king- dom of the beast filled with darkness. The sixth THE DRYING OF THE EUPHRATES, 329 has been descending through nearly as long a period, and is still pouring. The Euphrates of that vial bears the same relation to the Babylon of the prophecy, that the real river bore to the literal Babylon, the metropolis of Chaldea that stood on its banks. The symbol is taken from the drying up of the Euphrates by Cyrus, by diverting its waters from their channel, and by that means entering and conquering the city ; and it foreshows an analogous change in that which the symbolic Euphrates represents, and as the means of a similar conquest and destruction of that which the Babylon of the prophecy denotes. But the waters of the Euphrates symbolize peoples, and nations, and multitudes ; as the rivers and fountains of the third vial are expressly interpreted, as deno- ting human beings, communities, and nations. '' The third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say : Thou art right- eous, Lord, who art, and who wast, the holy, be- cause thou hast judged thus : For tliey have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them hlood to drink: for they are loorthyj^ Rev. xvi. 4, 5. There is a similar exposition of the waters that were seen in -a subsequent vision surrounding the seven hills of Rome. " And he said unto me. The waters which thou sawest where the harlot sitteth, arc peo- ples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'^ Rev. xvii. 15. The waters of the Euphrates, there- fore, we are thus shown by the revealing Spirit, liim- 330 THE DRYIXG OF THE EUPHRATES. self, symbolize peoples, and multitudes, and nations. That accordingly which the Babylon of the pro- phecy represents, stands in a relation to those na- tions and multitudes, that resembles that of the literal Babylon to the Euphrates ; and is the hier- archy of the Catholic church especially, or the whole body of its ecclesiastics as a single organiza- tion, nationalized by the state ; as is indicated by the station of the woman Babylon on the wild beast, the symbol of the civil rulers of the western Roman em- pire. The drying up of the waters of the Euphrates so as to prepare the way for Cyrus and Darius, the kings of the East, to enter and conquer it, symbolizes the separation in a resembling manner of the nations and multitudes of the kingdoms of Europe from the hierarchies of the nationalized churches, especially the Catholic. And this great change is already wrought on a large scale in every kingdom to which the prophecy refers. In Italy, Spain,. Portugal, France, Switzerland, and Germany there is a general alienation of the Catholics from their hierarchies. An equal desertion of the churches and aversion to the ministers prevails in the Protestant national establishments of Belgium, Holland, Prussia, and Saxony — while in Great Brit?tin more than half the population are open dissenters from the establish- ment, and a large share of those who still belong to it, regard it with indifference, or aversion. The event foreshown by this vial is clearly, there- fore, in a largo measure accomplished. It is to be THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAISr SPIRITS. 331 carried still farther, doubtless, and ere it reaches its completion, it is probable from the symbols of Chap- ter xvih that the Protestant national churches of Great Britain and Ireland, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, and Saxony, will be de- nationalized, and the Catholic be reinstated in the supremacy she formerly enjoyed throughout the ten kingdoms. The woman Babylon, borne by the wild beast in his last form immediately before going to perdition, is the symbol of a hierarchy, or combina- tion of hierarchies, that drinks the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus. She denotes a persecuting hierarchy, or combination of hierar- chies then, that agree in the hatred of Christ^s doc- trines and disciples. They all, therefore, it seems probable are to be Catholics. When this alienation of the people from the hierar- chies has reached its consummation, the way will be opened for the parties whom the kings of the earth symbolize, to assail them and deject them from their station, as nationalized establishments, sustained and ruled by the states. Another important event that is to take place under the sixth vial, is the sending forth of the unclean spi- rits by the dragon, wild beast and false prophet. '^ And I saw come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of the nunitli of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons working signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole habitable earth, to 332 THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS. gather them to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. '^ Chap. xvi. 13, 14. As the spirits were like frogs in shape, they must have had bodies ; and doubtless of that animal. They are called unclean because their bodies were of that class, and to denote their groveling and odious nature. That such hide- ous creatures, though animated by demons, should address themselves to the kings of the whole habita- ble earth — that is, of the Roman empire extending from the North sea to the Euphrates, and should per- suade them to enter into a war against Christ and his kingdom, implies that they will have sunk to the low- est conceivable degree of ignorance, debasement, and impiety. A more unlikely shape to exercise an intel- lectual and religious influence could not be selected. As they are intelligences and in bodies, the agents whom they denote must be intelligences also, and in bodies ; and are men therefore ; and of an unspiritu- ality, debasement and vileness that correspond to the demon frogs that represent them. As the spirits wrought signs to accomplish their ends, so these hu- man beings are to work signs that shall seem to be miraculous, and shall pass them off on the kings as proofs that they are the ministers of God, and have his authority for the commands or counsels to which they demand obedience. The vision therefore fore- shows that the dragon, the wild beast, and- the false prophet, are to send forth a set of agents who are to be as vile and odious as human beings, as frogs ani- mated by demons are in their sphere ; and who are THE EMISSION OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRITS. 333 to go to the kings of the whole ancient Roman em- pire — stretching from the Euphrates to the Shetland isles — and professing to be God's ministers, are to work signs before them, and are to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, when he is to destroy them. As that battle is to take place in the great plain of Esdraelon in Palestine, and is to have for its object the dispersion of the Israelites who will have returned to Jerusalem, and the preven- tion of a Hebrew kingdom there over which Christ can reign, it is apparent that the agents of the dra- gon bea.st and false prophet, are to gather the kings there for the purpose of preventing the institution of Christ's kingdom. And this implies that at the time when they are sent forth for that purpose and commence their work, the Israelites ^vill have begun to return to their national land ; and that the expec- tation will prevail among Christ's true people that he is soon to appear for their redemption, that his advent is to take place in Palestine, and that it is to have for its first object, the deliverance and reorgani- zation of the Israelites, and destruction of their and his foes. This prediction therefore indicates that during the pouring of the sixth vial, and alienation of the population of the West of Europe from their persecuting hierarchies, the Israelites are to begin to return to Palestine in the expectation of reestab- lishing themselves as God's people there ; that the faithful disciples of Christ will generally become persuaded that the time of his advent is at liand, and 334 THE SIXTH YIAL IS YET TO POUR SOME TIME. that he is to appear at Jerusalem, and establish his throne there over the Israelites ; and that the powers denoted by the dragon, the wild beast, and the false prophet, will each send forth agents of the vilest and most detestable character, who shall affect to be mes- sengers of God, and shall persuade the kings of the whole Roman empire. East and West, to assemble in Palestine to disperse the Israelites who have returned, and thereby to intercept the institution there of Christ^s kingdom. This shows that the sixth vial is yet to pour for a considerable time, and that great changes are to take place in the faith of the people of God in respect to his designs. As the slaughter and resurrection of the witnesses are to take place before the seventh trumpet, and as they will undoubt- edly carry a resistless conviction to all Christ's true dis- ciples that his coming is at hand, it is probable that the emission of the agents symbolized by the demon frogs will not take place till after those great events. The prophet adds the warning, "Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments (on), lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. '' xvi. 15, 16. This shows that Christ's coming will then be at hand, that he will apprise his people of it, and that they will watch for his approach like one who, wait- ing for a coming bridegroom, keeps his garments on that he may not be obliged to meet him undressed, and with disgrace. What a change this bespeaks ! CHANGES IN THE VIEWS OF BELIEVERS. 335 The church of true believers are to be vv^hoUy waked ere then from the dreams which they are now indulg- ing. They w^ill cease to pervert and deny his word under the pretext of assigning it a spiritual meaning. Their eyes will be opened to discern its plain teach- ings ; and they will turn from their mistaken theories of the regeneration of the world, to welcome the com- ing and reign of the Lamb ; the King of kings and Lord of lords. 336 EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. CHAPTER XXVII. EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST^S COMING. THE FALL OF THE PRESENT CIVIL GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE, AND UNION OF THE TEN KINGDOMS IN ONE EMPIRE. THE RESTORATION OF THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHIES TO SUPREME POWER. A REVOLUTION of tlie civil governments of the ten kingdoms is to take place probably at or near the close of the sixth vial, in which the old monarchies are to fall and be succeeded by new chiefs of perhaps an elective or military order, and they and the whole empire are to be under a common chief or emperor, as at the time of the vision, before the sovereignty passed from the heads to the horns. The wild beast, chafp. xiii. 1-10, represents the civil and military rulers of the Roman empire from its origin down to the end of the period denoted by the forty-two months. The beast of chap, xvii, is the symbol also of the civil rulers of that empire, but at a later stage, and after the beast of the first period has died, as it were, and returned from hades, to a new life and in an altered form. The beast of chap, xiii. rose out of the sea. The beast of chap, xvii, is FALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE. 337 to ascend out of the abyss, hades, the invisible VN^oiid, where the devil is to be cast and imprisoned, chap. XX. 3, and where the spirits of the unsanctified abide. This indicates that before assuming the form which it is to wear at the period to which chap, xvii refers, it is to perish, and is to return to life in its last shape, as it were by a resurrection. The angel said of it accordingly, '' The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the abyss — hades — and go into perdition f and he represents its reappearance after its destruction, as exciting the astonishment of the nations over which it is to rule. ^' And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder (whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.'^ This beast differs from that of chap, xiii in its hue. It is scarlet colored ; signify- ing that it is to be steeped in blood. No such dye is ascribed to the beast that rose from the sea. It is to be full, or covered throughout with names of blas- phemy, indicating that it is to be pre-eminently impi- ous in its pretensions and acts. The beast from the sea only had names of blasphemy on its heads. On the ten horns of the beast from the sea there were ten diadems, showing that the rulers v^diom the horns symbolized were to be independent, or absolute mon- archs. Nothing is said of diadems on the horns of the beast from the abyss ; and it would seem from the description of the kings or chiefs wliom they re- present, V. 12, that they are not in realitv \o be inde- 15 338 FALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF WESTERN EUROPE. pendent kings, but are only to have authority as kings. A still more important peculiarity of the re- vived beast is to be that instead of being under the sway of a head, or succession of rulers of a specific rank, as during the first ages of its career, or under the rule of the horns, as during the twelve hundred and sixty years of their power, it is to be under the svv^ay of a single king or imperial chief, much like a Ccesar. " The seven heads are as symbols the same as the seven mountains, where the woman sits, and are seven kings. Five have fallen ; one is ; the other has not yet come ; and when he comes, he n^ust con- tinue a short time. And the beast which was, and is not, even he is an eighth (king), and is of the seven — and goes to perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have not yet received a kingdom, but receive authority as kings one hour with the beast. These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and authority to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall conquer them ; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they who are with him are called, and cho- sen, and faithful.'^ chap. xvii. 9-14. That the kings are not to receive a kingdom, but only have authority as kings with the beast, and that they give their power and authority to him, shows that they are not to be absolute monarchs of the ten kingdoms, but only vice-kings or chiefs under the eighth king, who like those symbolized by the seven heads is to be the king, or chief of the whole empire : and accordingly THE GOVERNMENT THAT IS TO SUCCEED. 339 is called the beast, it would seem, because the whole power of the empire will in fact be held by him. This vision thus clearly shows that the beast of ten diademed horns that rose out of the sea is, at the end of its twelve hundred and sixty years probably, to perish in some great political convulsion ; and is again to rise from the abyss of hades to a new life in a modified form, and after a brief career go to perdi- tion. In that revolution the old monarchies are to fall, and be succeeded by an imperial chief who shall reign over the whole empire, with absolute sway like the emperors of the old Roman empire ; and by ten subordinate chiefs who shall receive authority much as though they were kings ; but who perhaps after rising to their stations, by popular choice, or usurpa- tion, shall give over their power to that imperial chief, and hold it thereafter as his subordinates. And in this relation, they are to make war on the Lamb, and to be conquered by him. This great revolution in the governments of the ten kingdoms is clearly yet future. Though the mon- archs of several of the Catholic kingdoms lost their power for a short time in 1848, and the beast appeared to have perished, and to be followed by elective chiefs ; yet the old monarchies soon recovered their former power in all the kingdoms except France, where a new rule was established. That may perhaps prove the beginning of the change. The other mon- archies may not fall together but in succession : as they originally rose, not simultaneously, but at (tiller- 340 THE CHANGE IS TO BE UNDER THE SIXTH VIAL. ent periods. How soon it is to be completed, it is not clearly revealed, but certainly before the close of the sixth vial ; as it is expressly foreshown, chap. xi. 9, that it is the beast from the abyss that is to make war on the witnesses and overcome them ; and that is indicated also by its bloody hne, and. the intoxica- tion of the woman whom it bears, with the blood of the saints, and of the witnesses of Jesus. And their slaughter is to take place under the sixth vial. There seems already to be a preparation for it in Italy, Ger- many, Spain, and Portugal. No one would be sur- prised at the occurrence any day of revolutions there that should overthrow the old dynasties, and rear democracies, or military despotisms on their ruins. Nor would it be deemed strange, should such a change ere long take place in Great Britain. The causes that are in action, it is universally felt, must naturally, sooner or later, issue in such a change. The beast in this last form may, perhaps, occupy the thirty years, that are to follow the twelve hundred and sixty. The apostate and persecuting hierarchies are again, it is shown by this vision, when the beast rises from the abyss to its new career, to be exalted to supremacy throughout the ten kingdoms. The station of the woman Babylon on the beast, shows that the hierar- chies which she represents are to be nationalized, and this implies that the Protestant establishments of Great Britain and the continent will then have fallen, and the Catholic church have succeeded to their power. The tendency at present is very obviously THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AGAIN TO BE IN POWER. 341 in that direction. Her holding the cup of her abom- inations in her hand, indicates that she is to be active in the dissemination of her false doctrines and super- stitious and idolatrous rites ; while her intoxication with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, foreshows that she is to piirsue and slaughter them with an infuriate joy. But her triumph will be short. The demonstration of her impious character, and con- futation of her pretences that will be wrought by the resurrection of the w^itnesses, will disenchant the mul- titude, whom she has duped, from her sorceries, and prompt them to assail and destroy her. 342 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION CHAPTER XXVIII. EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING, THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION OF THE WITNESSES. It is under the sway of the wild beast from the abyss that the persecution, slaughter and resurrec- tion of the witnesses are to take place, and probably soon after its return to power. " And I will give to my two witnesses, and they shaU prophesy a thou- sand two hundred and threescore days in sackcloth. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss shall make war upon them, and shall overcome them, and shall kill them. And their dead body shaU lie in the broad place of the great city which sj)iritua]ly is called So- dom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And they of the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations (gathered there) look on their dead body three days and a half, and they do not suffer their dead bodies to be put into a sepulchre. And they that dwell upon the earth rejoice over them and exult, and shall send gifts to one another, because those two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. OF THE WITNESSES. 343 " And after 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. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Ascend here. And they ascended into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. And in the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell ; and in the earth- quake were slain seven thousand names of men (men" of name), and the rest became fearful, and gave glory to the God of heaven.'' Rev. xi. 3-13. The two witnesses are representatives according to the third law of symbols, of men that are witnesses like themselves ; not agents of a different nature. This is seen from the consideration that their death cannot symbolize any other event than a real death of witnesses for Christ. Their death cannot repre- sent an apostasy from God, for his witnesses do not apostatize : nor would he raise apostates from their apostasy to his presence in heaven as a public vindi- cation and rew^ard of their revolt from him. The death which their dying symbolizes is a real corpo- real death, therefore, of witnesses like themselves ; and this is confirmed by the consideration, that, if a real death and resurrection of witnesses for Jesus were to be foreshown symbolically : there are no symbols that could represent it but a real death and resurrection of witnesses like themselves. The death of animals could not represent it, for they cannot die as witnesses. Nor is there any other event of which 344 THE SLAUGHTER AXD RESURRECTION men can be the subjects, that bears any analogy to it. The "witnesses then are symbols of witnesses like themselves, and their death, their non-bnrial, their resurrection, and their assumption to heaven, denote a like real corporeal death, non-burial, resur- rection and ascension to heaven of the witnesses whom they symbolize. They are but tw-o ; but ac- cording to the sixth law of symbolization, they un- doubtedly represent a large number, probably hun- dreds, perhaps thousands. When they have finished their testimony of twelve hundred and sixty days, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss, — that is, returns from hades, — is to make war on them, and conquer them, and put them to death : and is to place their dead bodies in the broad place of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord w^as crucified. Jerusalem then w^as the symbol city in which their slaughter took place : and as it was given, with the temple that was in it, to the Gentiles to be trodden by them for the forty-two months of the ministry of the witnesses, it is the symbol of the inhabited territory under the dominion of the beast, in which the Christian church is situated, and where the witnesses whom the symbol prophets represent, are to deliver their testimony and meet their death. The broad place in Jerusalem, accordingly, — which was the chief place of concourse and business, — sym- bolizes a part of the ten kingdoms that bears a simi- lar relation to the whole a« a place of concourse and OF THE WITNESSES. 345 business. It may therefore be the leading city in England ; it may be the capital of Prance ; it may be a much frequented city of Italy. The time of the bodies remaining there — three days and a half — is the symbol of three and a half years. The preservation of the bodies unburied, and in a locality where they were accessible, and were continually inspected by people from different parts of the empire for three days and a half, signifies that the bodies of those whom they represent, are in like manner at the instance of the people, to be kept un- buried in a place where they are to be open to in- spection by all who wish to see them ; and that they are to be continually visited and viewed by persons from the different districts of the empire : and that treatment must undoubtedly be prompted by some peculiar and powerful motive : and what can it be, but a wish to test and confute, if possible, the truth of this prophecy, that the witnesses are at the end of three years and a half to be raised from the dead ? The measures to be taken are precisely such as would naturally be employed by the civil powers, if the witnesses and their friends entertained and professed the belief, that according to this prophecy, God would raise them to life and take them to heaven : and the rulers and people disbelieving and deriding it, re- solved in the most effective manner to test, and if possible confute it. That accordingly is the object undoubtedly of their preserving their bodies un- buried, and in a form in which they will be prevent- 15^ 346 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION ed from dissolution, and can be identified. That is the reason for which the bodies are to be placed where they will be open to inspection by whoever wishes to see them. That is the reason that they are to be objects of such general curiosity, and are to be visited continuously by persons of the different peoples, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations of the empire through the whole of the three years and a half of their lying dead : and that is the reason also that on the day of their resurrection, their enemies are to be present, and are to witness their restoration to life and assumption to heaven. Why are their enemies to be present at that juncture, if it is not that they are to be aware that that is the day on which, according to this prophecy, their resurrection is to take place ? This vision thus foreshows that the wild beast soon after its return from hades, is to attempt to confute this prophecy, and the persuasion of the martyrs of Jesus, and their friends, that they are truly his wit- nesses, by putting them to death in the manner re- presented in this vision, and complying with all its predictions in the preservation of their bodies un- buried in a place of chief concourse, in the empire, and in a form in which they can be identified ; and allowing them to be continually visited and inspected by whoever wishes to see them ; and that this is to cause a crowd of their enemies to be present at the time when, according to the prophecy, they are to be raised, to testify to their non-resurrection, should OF THE WITNESSES. 347 they not rise ; but who, instead of triumphing over the victims of their rage, are themselves to meet a defeat. At the great moment, the cloud of the di- vine presence is suddenly to fill the heavens over the scene, and doubtless to flash its glory on the croTvds upgazing in surprise and terror. The Spirit of life is to descend from Jehovah, and entering the dead witnesses, they are to rise to their feet, and a loud voice from heaven calling them to ascend there, they are to pass up through the air and enter the cloudy pavilion in which the Almighty is concealed. No wonder their enemies who witness the spectacle are to be struck with fear, and give glory to the God of heaven ! No wonder that the whole population of the empire are to be thrown into commotion at the news of the event ! A great political agitation and revolution, symbolized by an earthquake, is immedi- ately to follow, and a tenth part of the empire, that is one of its ten kingdoms symbolized by a tenth of the city, is to fall, and thousands of the most con- spicuous and influential in it, are to perish. What an impressive proof this revelation presents of the error of the notion that is generally entertain- ed, that the days of persecution are over ; that the church hereafter, instead of being assailed and van- quished by the antichristian powders, is itself to con- quer them, and is to carry the gospel victoriously to all lands, and sweep from the earth all the forms of false religion by which the nations are now held in 348 THE SLAUGHTER AND RESURRECTION vassalage ! Not a word indeed uttered by the voice of inspiration authorizes that expectation. It is con- futed by the whole body of predictions that respect the issue of the contest between the wild beast and Christ's witnesses, and the state of the world and church at the close of the present dispensation. And here is a specific revelation that in the last period of the powers symbolized by the wild beast — the rulers of the western Roman empire — they are to attempt absolutely to exterminate the faithful wit- nesses of Christ by martyring them, and to confute this prophecy of their resurrection, and of his coming and kingdom on the earth, and thereby forever con- found and extinguish the faith of God/s people in his predictions and promises respecting Christ's reign ; and justify their usurpations of his throne and blasphemies of his name. The enemies of Christ's kingdom are to rage more furiously here- after, than they have ever yet done ; they are for a time to regard themselves as having more certainly triumphed, and his followers are to be exposed to more abusive denunciations and cutting mockeries, and are to be swept from the earth by a more bloody and exterminating persecution than at any other period of their conflicts ! How greatly are their dangers augmented who studiously shut their eyes to this great futurity proclaimed to us by such im- pressive symbols, and pictured in this vision in such a form that the whole scene is made visible, as it OF THE WITNESSES. 349 were to us, and the glorious victory to the martyrs in which it is to terminate ! " Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. '^ 350 THE CLOSE OF THE SECOND WOE. CHAPTER XXIX. EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST^S COMING. ^THE CLOSE OP THE TURKISH DOMINATION OVER THE EASTERN CHURCHES. THE THIRD WOE. The resurrection and ascension of the witnesses is to be followed by the termination of the second woe, and the commencement of the third. ^' The second woe is past : behold, the third woe cometh quickly.'' Rev. xi. 14. The second woe is the domination of the Turks over the churches of the eastern Roman empire. Under their cruel and debasing sway those churches long numerous, wealthy, and of a command- ing influence in the state, have disappeared from many once flourishing cities and populous districts, and have every where dwindled into feebleness and decrepitude, and sunk to the lowest depths of igno- rance and superstition. "What the way is in which the woe they are sufi*ering from the Mohammedans is to terminate, whether by the fall of the Turkish power, and the institution of new governments, or by the complete extrication of the churches from their dominion and influence in a religious relation THE THIRD WOE. 351 the prophecy does not indicate. It seems most pro- bable it will be the overthrow of the Turkish rule, and the substitution of Christian governments in its place. The third woe is that which is to be inflicted under the seventh vial and seventh trumpet. " And the seventh poured his vial into the air ; and there came a great voice out of the temple from the throne, say- ing, It is done ! And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders ; and there was a great earth- quake, such as there was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine- of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And hail great as talents in weight fell out of heaven upon men ; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for its plague was very great." Chap. xvii. 17-21. These symbols show that the nations are now to be shaken by the most violent convulsions and smitten wdth inflictions. Lightnings, thunders and other sounds in the air, and the vibration and upheaving of the earth, be- speak analogous commotions and outbreaks in the world of men, and show that the whole structure of society is to be thrown into agitation and revolution. The great city is Babylon, the symbol of the Catholic nationalized hierarchies, and its separation into throe 352 EVENTS UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. parts denotes that those hierarchies are to divide into three parties. The cities of the nations are symbols of the nationalized hierarchies of other churches out of the western Roman empire, such as the Lutheran of Denmark and Sweden, the Greek of Russia and Greece, the Armenian, Syrian, and others of the eastern Roman empire, and their fall denotes their denationalization, or loss of their power which they derive from the civil governments under which they exist. The crushing hail denotes some direct and torturing infliction from God, under which men, instead of repenting, are to be inflamed with rage at him, and are to blaspheme his name. All the events symbolized under the seventh vial are thus inflic- tions ; plagues ; the last plagues ; and the vial from which they are poured is a vial of wrath. The events foreshown under the seventh trumpet which is to be blown simultaneously with the efi*usion of the seventh vial, are more extensive, and consist of gifts and deliverances to God^s people, living and dead, as well as judgments on his enemies. " And the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in heaven saying : The kingdom of the world is become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign forever and ever. " And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying : "We thank thee, Lord, the Almighty God, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and reigned. And the nations were EVENTS UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 353 angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to thy servants the prophets, and the holy, and those who fear thy name, small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake and great hail.^' Chap. xi. 15-19. The lightnings, the voices, the thunders, the earth- quake and the hail, which are the only symbols of that class that accompanied the sound of the trumpet, are the same as those of the seventh vial, and denote the same political agitations and revolutions. The voices from heaven and the song of the elders are not symbolical, but are direct announcements of other events that are to take place under the trumpet — the first that the sovereignty of the world has become Christ^s : the other that God's wrath is come, and the time of the dead that he should judge and give re- ward to his servants the prophets and the holy, and all who fear his name, and should destroy his enemies. .A.S these are not represented by symbols, and are not expressed in figures, but in the most simple and une- quivocal language, there is no room for the fancy that the events which they announce are not literally those which they foreshow. All pretext for spiritualizing them is cut off". They cannot be spiritualized, indeed, except by converting them into solecisms and nonsense. What can God's wrath mean, spiritualized ? Is any 354 CHRIST IS TO COME such thing known as a spiritualized wrath of God, in contradistinction from his literal wrath ? What can rewarding his servants who are dead, and the holy who are living, mean spiritualized ? If the passage is to be spiritualized, the servants of God, the pro- phets, the holy, and the destroyers of the earth must be treated as representatives of beings of different orders. Who then are they who are represented by the holy who are to receive the spiritualized reward ? Not human beings certainly ; for they must be beings of a different order from those who represent them. Who are the parties whom the destroyers that are to be destroyed, represent ? And what is it that their destruction symbolizes ? Is there a spiritual destruc- tion that is to be inflicted on those whom the wild beast and false prophet represent, in distinction from that literal destruction which is denoted by their be- ing cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ? Will any one thus involve himself in contradictions and absurdities in order to force on these predictions a signification which cannot be defined nor conceived? There is no consistent medium between denying that they are prophecies, and admitting that they foreshow the coming of Christ, the resurrection and judgment of the holy dead, and the judgment and reward of the holy living. No legerdemain, however daring or adroit, can wrest from them that meaning. Christ then, it is indisputable, is under the seventh trumpet to come and assume the dominion of the world ; he is then to inflict his wrath on the great UNDER THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 355 enemies of his kingdom, and sweep tliem to destruc- tion ; he is then to judge and reward all w^ho fear his name, both small and great ; and as they include the living, he is then to judge and reward all those who are living that are holy. And these predictions, it is apparent from what follows, will then be understood by the people of God, as revealing these great events, and their verification will be regarded as at hand. 356 THE ANGEL IN MID-HEAYEN. CHAPTER XXX. EVEXTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRISt's COMIK'G. THE ANNOUNCE- MENT BY THE ANGEL IN MID-HEAVEN, THAT THE HOUR OF GOD^S JUDGMENT IS COME. THE FALL OF BABYLON. THE WARNING NOT TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE CIVIL POWERS REPRESENTED BY THE BEAST NOR TO THE KCCLESIASTICAL POWERS DENOTED BY ITS IMAGE. Soon after the seventh trumpet begins to sound, the angel flying through mid-heaven having the everlasting gospel, will announce to the nations that the hour of God^s judgment has come. " And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the ever- lasting gospel to proclaim to those w^ho dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice : Fear ye God, and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment is come ; and Avorship je him who made the heaven, and the earth, and sea, and fountains of water/' Chap. xiv. 6, 7. The hour of God's judgment of the living na- tions to whom this announcement is to be made, is the hour or time in which he is to judge them, as is foreshown under the seventh trumpet, and Matt. xxv. ANNOUNCING THE HOUR OF GOD^S JUDGMENT. 357 31-46 ; and is to accept and reward those of thenrwlio are obedient, and condemn and destroy those of them who are his enemies. The angel vestured in light, and flying through the high regions of the air where all eyes can see him, is the symbol of an order of men who are in a conspicuous and impressive manner to proclaim the everlasting gospel to the nations of the earth, and warn them that the time has arrived when God is to judge them, and assign them everlasting rewards, according as they are or are not his worship- pers, and to exhort them to fear and adore him. This indicates that the ministers of the gospel, or at least a large and conspicuous body of them, will at that time understand the predictions under the sev- enth trumpet, as announcing the speedy coming of Christ to establish his throne on the earth, to raise and glorify his dead saints, to judge and reward his living elect, and to destroy his incorrigible enemies. The perversion of the Scriptures by spiritualization will then have ceased. The great revelations God has made of his purposes, will be received in their natural and true meaning ; and the dreams of a re- demption of the world by 4iuman instrumentalities, and of a millennial kingdom without its king and its risen saints, now so fondly cherished by multitudes, will have given way to the joyous expectation and assurance of the Saviour's coming and reign in power and glory, and continuance of his redemptive work through everlasting ages. This proclamation tliat the hour of God'e judgment 358 THE SECOND ANGEL ANNOUNCING lias come, is soon to be followed by the announ cement by another body of men that it has already commenced, in the fall of Babylon. '' And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication." Chap. xiv. 8. And another angel, it seems from chap, xviii. 1-3, instead of flying along the high regions of the air, came down from heaven, and repeated this announcement. ^' And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power ; and the earth was lighted with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication Avith her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." These angels, like that with the everlasting gospel, are symbols of bodies of men, who are to rise and proclaim to the nations the fall of Babylon, by the judgment of God because of her great sins. She is spoken of chiefly as a woman. Her arts as such, and her seduction of the nations by her intoxicating cup, are symbols of her apostasy from her covenant with God to the homage of demons and idols, and allurement and compulsion of the na- tions by her arts and power to join in her false wor- ship. Her fall accordingly is her dejection from her THE FALL OF BABYLON. 359 station on the wild beast, chap. xvii. 3, and signifies the fall of the hierarchies which she symbolizes from their position -as nationalized by the civil govern- ments ; not their annihilation ; for they are to subsist after their fall, and be a station for demons and mon- sters, as the literal Chaldean Babylon on its overthrow became the abode of the most hideous and detestable animals. Her destruction is to take place at a later period, and by the hands of the people, not of the rulers. The splendor of the angel who lighted the earth with his glory, indicates that those whom he represents are to be persons of great distinction and influence ; and their proclamation of her fall from her connection with the states that have sustained her, given her power to tyrannize and persecute, and exe- cuted her bloody decrees, shows that the people of God will regard it as an event of the greatest moment, and deem it essential that it should be contemplated as the act of God's vengeance in retribution of her sins. This public and emphatic announcement by those whom the angel represents that she is hurled from her lofty station, because of her infidelity to God and seduction of the nations from his worship to the hom- age of demons and idols, seems eminently proper, both as a vindication of God, and justification of those who have resisted her sway, and as a confutation of her impious usurpations and claims. Her vassals are not to be left to regard her fall as a mere natural event that presents no index of her character. Tlie 360 THE THIRD AXGEL WARXIXG MEN nations are not to be left in doubt what the judgment of God respecting her is. The announcement of the fall of Babylon is to be followed by a warning to the nations not to pay any more the homage to the beast and its image which they will still endeavor to exact. ^^ And another, a third angel, followed them, saying with a loud voice : If any one worship the wild beast and its image, and receive a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he shall even drink of the vdne of the wrath of God poured out unmixed into the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels, and before the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever. And they have no rest day and night who worship the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commands of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead, who hereafter die in the Lord ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their toils, and their works follow ^^'ith. them.'^ Chap. xiv. 9-13. This angel, like those that preceded him, symbolizes a body of eminent men who are in a public and im- pressive manner to utter this warning against wor- shipping the beast and its image ; and pronounce this blessing on those who suffer martyrdom rather than swerve from their allegiance to God. The wild beast is the symbol of the civil rulers of the western NOT TO WORSHIP THE BEAST NOR ITS IMAGE. 361 Eoman empire : The image is the symbol of the Ca- tholic hierarchy of that empire, or whole body of Ca- tholic clergy with the pope as their head, which is modeled after the imperial government at the time of the vision, and is for that reason called the image of the wild beast. To worship the wild beast and its image, is to acknow^ledge and submit to the claims and commands of the civil rulers and the papal eccle- siastics in which they usurp the prerogatives of God, and legislate over his law^s as though they had supreme authority over religion itself, and could determine who or what men shall worship, and what acts or ser- vices shall be the means and conditions of salvation : — a submission to which is equivalent to an ascription to the beast and image of the rights of God. Any one who after this warning deifies and Vv^orships them in that manner, and thereby in effect denies that God is his supreme lawgiver, and that it belongs to him alone to determine the method of salvation, is to drink the unmixed wine of God's wrath. He is not to be saved from that doom by being led by the Spirit to repentance. He is not to be forgiven. The only measure God will take with him will be to present to him the cup of his indignation ; to consign him to the fires in which the incorrigible are for ever to be tor- mented. The warning indicates that the powers symbolized by the beast and its image will still per- sist in their impious claims to dictate the religion of the people, and that there will bo persons who will be tempted to yield to them : And the aiuiounconient, 16 362 A BLESSING ON THOSE WHO DIE FOR CHRIST. " Here is the patience of the saints ; who keep the commands of God and the faith of Jesus '^ and the voice from heaven, " Blessed are the dead who here- after die in the Lord ; yea saith the Spirit ; that they may rest from their toils, for their works follow with them,'' shows that the civil powers and the Catholic priests are still to endeavor to constrain obedience to their impious dictation. The saints are at this junc- ture, as well as at the period when the witnesses are slain, to show their steadfast allegiance by enduring persecution rather than unite in the worship of the apostate church, and some of them are to surrender their lives for Christ's sake. The contest between the two parties is thus to continue to the last. The antichristian powers are not to be brought to repent- ance by the judgments with which they are smitten. The beast and false prophet are to continue to blas- pheme and make war on the Lamb and his followers, till he interposes and hurls them to destruction. THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 363 CHAPTER XXXI. EVENTS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE CHRIST's COMING. THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON. SIGNS OF Christ's coming in the heaven ; and on the earth. It is at this period of persecution, it is probable, that the sealing of the servants of God which is fore- shown under the sixth seal, is to take place. ^' And after this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, having power over the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the sun-rising, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it Avas given to hurt the earth and the sea ; saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we can seal the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred forty- four thousand were sealed out of the whole race of the sons of Israel." Chap. vii. 1-4. The angel from the sun-rising is the symbol of a body of men wlio are to exert the agency which is denoted by liis seal- 364 THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. ing the hundred forty-four thousand of the sons of Israel. The effect of his stamping the name of God on their foreheads was, not to constitute them ser- vants of God, but to make it manifest to others that they were such. It was as his servants that they were marked by the impression of his name. The effect of that which the sealing symbolizes is in like manner to be that those who are distinguished by it, are to become visibly and demonstrably such, to those who behold them. The twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, are symbols of the denominations or bodies of the Christian church from which those are to be taken, on whom the agency denoted by the sealing is to be exerted. As the effect of the seal- ing the sons of Israel was to make it manifest to spectators that they were the servants of God, so the effect of that which the sealing symbolizes is to be to make it manifest that those who are the sub- jects of it are the servants of God. And what that is, is indicated in the description of the hundred forty-four thousand, as they appeared standing Avith the Lamb on Mount Zion, having his name, and the name of his Father written on their foreheads ; where it is given as their characteristic. '' That they were not defiled with women ; for they are pure.'' Chap. xiv. 4. Being defiled with women is the s3"mbol of being seduced to the false worship of the apostate priesthood represented by the harlot Babylon and her daughters. That which is especi- ally to distinguish those represented by the sealed THE SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 865 then, is, that it is to be made manifest to all eyes that they are the servants of God by their maintain- ing a spotless allegiance to Christ, and refusing to yield to the seductions of the idolatrous hierarchies, and the compulsion of the civil rulers to sanction their usurpations of authority over the church, and to join in their superstitious and idolatrous worship. The office of those whom the sealing angel symbol- izes, is accordingly to be to prompt or cause them to give that public proof of their allegiance to Christ. It may be by instruction, counsel, exhortation, un- folding their duty to Christ, depicting the guilt of apostasy, pointing them to the rewards with which their fidelity will be immediately crowned. That reward is not improbably a transfiguration to glory. For '' these,^' it is added, " have been redeemed from men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouths was found no falsehood ; for they are blameless.^' Chap. xiv. 4, 5. As they are to be dis- tinguished from others by the indubitable proofs they exhibit of their allegiance to Christ, so they are to be distinguished by him from others by being the first of living men who are to obtain a perfect re- demption. The song they are to sing accordingly, it is said, no one can learn but themselves — showing that there is a peculiarity in God^s dealings with them, with which no others are to bo distinguished. It seems eminently appropriate that the first of the living who are thus transformed to glory and raised to the most intimate relations to Christ, should be 366 WARNING TO GO OUT OF BABYLON. persons who have given the most decisive evidence of their inflexible allegiance to him. That some are to display no such alertness and fidelity, but are to continue under the sway of the apostate priests after their denationalization, is seen from the sum- mons to them to come out of Babylon after her fall. *^ And I heard another voice from heaven saying. Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. ^^ Chap, xviii. 4. This warning of the people of God to come out of Babylon is soon to be followed by her destruction. — Her overthrow and annihilation are exhibited as of a city by a conflagration; but the plagues with which the hierarchies the city represents are to be swept from the earth, are want, sorrow, slaughter, and fire ; the . instruments with which they con- signed so many of God's people to the grave : " Give to her as she also gave, and double to her double according to her works. Into the cup into which she has poured, pour to her double. As much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so much torment give her and sorrow. Because in her heart she says, I sit a queen, and am not a widow, and I cannot see sorrow ; therefore in one day her plagues shall come, death and sor- row and famine, and she shall be burned with fire ; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." Chap, xviii. 6-8. And her destruction is to be the work of the people whom she has deluded b}^ THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON. 367 her sorceries, and crushed by her tyranny : not the civil rulers ; for they are to stand unresisting spec- tators of her overthrow, and lament it. " And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her, when standing afar for fear of her torment, they see the smoke of her burning, shall lament and mourn, saying : Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, the mighty city : for in one hour has thy judgment come !^' And the destruction is to be complete . ^^ And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall the great city Babylon be cast down, and shall not be found any more." " Rejoice over her, heaven, and the saints, and the apostles, and the prophets, for God has avenged your condem- nation by her !'^ v. 21, 20. The apostles and pro- phets whom she has condemned, the martyrs on whom she has wreaked her vengeance from age to age, will see in the storm that sweeps her to ruin a vindication of themselves. The angels who have witnessed her long career will rejoice in her end as a fitting display of God^s righteousness and a just retribution of her sins. What a verification it will form of his supre- macy, his holiness, and his truth ! And what impres- sions will it make on those of God^s people who sur- vive ! What a confutation of her impious claims that she is the church of God, the bride of Christ, and of supreme authority in religion, will tlie avenging thunderbolts by which she is dashed to perdition 368 THE SONG OF TRIUMPH OVER HER form ! And what a riddance to the world w^ill her extinction he felt to be ! Her destruction, accordingly, as though in response to the apostrophe. Chap, xviii. 20, is immediately followed by ascriptions of righteousness and glory to God in heaven, and a summons to the inhabitants of the earth to fear and praise him. " After these, I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying. Alleluia! The salvation, and the glory, and the power of our God ! For true and righteous are his judgments ; for he has judged the great harlot, that corrupted the earth with her forni- cation ; and has avenged the blood of his servants from her hand. And again they said, Alleluia ! lind her smoke ascends through the ages of ages. And the four and twenty elders, and the four living crea- tures, fell and worshipped God who sat on the throne, saying, Amen : Alleluia. " And a voice came from the throne sa34ng. Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye who fear him, small and great. And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude, and as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of mighty thunders, saying : Alleluia ; for the Lord God Almighty has reigned. Let us rejoice and exult, and give glory to him ; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself." Chap. xix. 1-7. As the voice from heaven was addressed to servants of God who are divided into the two classes of small and great, which are pe- culiarities of human beings, it is to be s^ooken to men. sig:n^s of Christ's approach. 369 Their response therefore implies that the people of God universally are, at this epoch, to know that Christ has assumed the sceptre of the world, and that he is about to raise his saints from the grave, and exalt them to their stations as kings and priests in his kingdom, which is the event denoted by his consti- tuting them his bride. They will look accordingly for his speedily appearing to destroy the wild beast and its armies, who will be gathered to contend with him at Armageddon. " Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. ^^ Before his advent, hov\^ever, there are to be signs in heaven, that are to indicate his approach. *' I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.'' Joel ii. 30, 31. " And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth ; for the powers of heaven shall be sha- ken. And then shall they see the Son of Man com- ing in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke xxi. 25-27, Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. At length the light of his glory is to flash on the world, and all eyes are to see him descending Avith his infinife train of atten- dants, and all hearts tremble at his majestv and 16-^ 370 SIGNS OF Christ's approach. power. Such are tlie great events that are to pre- cede and herald Christ's coming : such is the cer- tainty that it is to take place under the seventh trumpet and seventh vial at the commencement of his thousand year's reign. PROPHETIC PERIODS OF DANIEL AND JOHN. 371 CHAPTER XXXII. THE PROPHETIC PERIODS OF THE APOCALYPSE AND DANIEL. Nearly all the recent expositors of Daniel and John, whether Millenarian or Anti-millenarian, re- gard the times of the domination of the powers de- noted by the ten-horned wild beast, the testimony of the witnesses in sackcloth, and the wearing out of the saints by the eleventh horn of the beast, as to terminate not far from the present period. Some writers, twenty or thirty years ago, assigned their end with great confidence to 1843 and 1847, and have not only been confuted by events, but have thrown, by their misjudgment and rashness, much discredit on the study of the prophetic Scriptures. A far greater number have referred their close to 1864, 1866, or 1868, and others still to 1880. The near ap- proach of those periods, renders it peculiarly impor- tant that the grounds on which they are held by their advocates to be the time when the twelve hundred and sixty years shall end, should be carefully exam- ined, and the people of God — if that view is mista- ken — put on their guard against a disappoiiitnient. 372 ERROES OF WRITERS IN REGARD TO The defeat of a confident expectation entertained by a large part of the evangelical church, of the fall of the antichristian powers in 1864, 1866, 1868, or 1880, would give a dangerous shock to many, and drive them into perplexity, discouragement, and unbelief. There are several errors in their constructions who fix on those dates, which it is important should be corrected. I. Som^e of them found their calculations in a mea- sure on passages that are not symbolical of time, and have no reference to the present age of the world. Thus Mr. Faber assumes that a prophetic period of seven times symbolizing 2520 years, is indicated in Daniel as the duration of the four great Gentile mo- narchies represented by the image and the beasts, and makes that assumption the basis of his prophetic chronology, attempts to fix its commencement and its middle point, and speculates and reasons in regard to it, as though it were one of the most indubitable and important elements of the prophecy. It is alto- gether, however, the work of his fancy. No such sym- bolic period is mentioned by the prophet. The only instance in which the expression ''seven times'^ is used by him, is in Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the great tree ; and it is there used to denote the period of the seven literal years during w^hich that monarch was to be driven from his throne and capital, and live with the beasts of the field. This is clear from the interpreta- tion of the dream revealed to Daniel, which exhibits the tree as the symbol of Nebuchadnezzar only ; not CHRONOLOGICAL PREDICTIONS. 373 of his and the other great Gentile dynasties ; the hewing down of the tree as representing his being driven from his throne and people to dwell with the beasts of the field : the seven times as signifying the seven years of his continuing in that degraded state ; and the preservation of the stump of the tree, as de- noting the preservation of his kingdom, for restora- tion to him, on his recovering his reason, and recog- nizing his subordination to Jehovah. Mr. Faber^s theory is therefore a sheer invention, without any authority from the prophecy. The effect conse- quently of his asserting it with confidence, and giv- ing it a conspicuous place in his Calendar of Pro- phecy, has been to discredit his judgment, and lead the critical reader to feel that, without a careful ex- amination of his grounds, little reliance is to be placed on his constructions. The Eev. E. B. Elliott also falls into the same error, and founds it expressly on the seven times, that were the measure of Nebuchad- nezzar^s deprivation of his throne and reason. Erroneous chronological calculations have also been founded on the hour, and day, and month, and year, Eev. ix. 15, on the assumption that they are symbols of the duration of the Turkish woe ; they, however, simply denote the commencement, or at most the period of the slaughters, which were to be inflicted by the armies under the command of those denoted by the angels. ^' And the four angels were loosed, who had been prepared for the hour and day, and month and year, that they might slay a third of the men." 374 ERRORS IN RESPECT TO THE BEGINNING OP But the slaughters were not commensurate with the woe. They were chiefly confined to the four periods of invasion and conquest, under the leaders denoted by the four angels. The woe has continued without intermission for eight centuries. 11. Writers have fallen into important errors also in respect to the events which they regard as deter- mining the commencement of the twelve hundred and sixty years. Thus Mr. Cunninghame and many others date that period from the letter of Justinian in A. D. 533, in which he addressed Pope John II. as the head of all the holy churches and all the holy priests ; on the assumption that it thereby conveyed to the Roman bishop the supremacy which it ascribed to him, and was thence a delivery of the saints, the times, and the laws into his hands. But that is a mistake. The letter confers no authority whatever on the pope ; nor do any of its expressions imply that the patriarch of Rome was held to be the head of the church in any other sense than that his patriarchate had the prece- dence in rank and honor of the others, and that har- mony with it was deemed necessary in order to the unity of the church. The letter relates exclusively to the churches of the eastern empire, and the empe- ror's object in it was, to make known to the bishop of Rome on the one hand, what the doctrines were that were maintained in those churches by the impe- rial authority ; and on the other, what the heresies were that were denounced and repressed by it, and THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS. 375 to ask of him an expression of his concurrence in those doctrines and measures ; not that the pope had any more authority over the doctrines of the church, or the church itself, than Justinian himself had, but only that the emperor might use the pope's judgment to corroborate his own, and command the acquiescence of his subjects in the faith he was enforcing."^ Nor could Justinian, had he attempted it, have con- ferred any authority on the pope over the churches of the western empire ; as that empire was no longer under his dominion, but had passed under the juris- diction of the Goths. He had not a solitary inch of territory, nor a subject in Italy, the northern coast of Africa, or the kingdoms west and north of the Alps. To have affected to confer on the pope authority over the churches and people of those regions, would have been an invasion of the prerogatives claimed by the western monarchs, and a mockery. The whole fancy therefore that the letter was a decree, that it invested the pope with supreme authority over all the churches of the ten kingdoms of the west, which is the sphere of his agency, and that it determines the date of the delivery of the saints into his hands, is mistaken. To assign that ofSce to it, is as groundless as it were to ascribe it to any other letter from Justinian, or impe- rial decree, in which no allusion is made to the church of Rome. Others regard the letter of Phocas, emperor of Constantinople, to Boniface iii. in A. D. GOG, as con- * Labbei Concilia, torn. viii. pp. 795, 79G. 376 ERRORS RESPECTING THE BEGINNING AND END stituting the bisliop of Rome the head of the church, and deUvering the saints, and laws, and times, into his hands : but that is equally mistaken. Phocas had no authority to deliver the churches and people of the western empire into the hands of the pope, for he had no jurisdiction over them any more than his predecessor Justinian. His jurisdiction at the west, was confined to the exarchate of Ravenna, and was there so slight that Gregory the Great two years before the emperor's letter, had made peace with the Lombards, without the assent of the Byzantine court. Every other part of the western empire was wholly independent of the Greeks. As Phocas, therefore, had no authority over the churches and people of the west, he could not, had he attempted it, have conferred on Boniface any right or power over them. But Phocas made no attempt to confer any authority on the Roman pontiff. He only in a letter written as was customary in answer to a notification of the elevation of Boniface to the papal seat, stated and promised that the title universal should be ap- plied to the bishop of Rome alone — not to the bishop of Constantinople. Professus sit solum Romanum Pon- tificem esse dicendum CEcumenicum, nempe Univer- salem Episcopum ; Constantinopolitanum nequa- quam. Id quidem ipsum Bonifacium ab eo obti- nuisse, Anastasius his verbis testatur. Hie, inquit, obtinuit apudPhocam Principem, ut sedes apostolica beati Petri apostoli, caput esset omnium Ecclesiarum, id est, Romana ecclesia ; quia ecclesia Constantino- OF THE TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS. 377 politana primam se omnium Ecclesiarum scribebat."^ '* He promised that the Roman PontiJff alone should be called ecumenical, that is universal bishop : the Con- stantinopolitan should not. The language of Anas- tasius who relates it, is, He obtained from the emperor Phocas that the apostolic seat, that is the Roman church, should be head of all the churches, and because the Constantinopolitan church had claimed that title." But that title was not then first applied to the Roman church. It had been claimed and assumed by the pontiffs, often and long before. The letter of Phocas accordingly conferred no authority, but only sanctioned the exclusive use ot a title it had long arrogated, and which then meant little more than that the Roman church had the prece- dence in rank and authority of all others. It is w^holly mistaken, therefore, to regard the emperor's letter as a decree, delivering the saints, the times, and the laws into the pope's hands, and determining the com- mencement of the twelve hundred and sixty years. III. Another important error into which many writers have fallen, is the assumption that the termi- nation of the twelve hundred and sixty years, is to bo the epoch of Christ's second advent, and the wild beast's destruction. The twelve hundred and sixty years, however, instead of being the measure of the wild beast's life, is only the measure of its career in the form it assumed on the* fall of the seventh head, and the transferrence of the crowns from the heads * Baronii. Annal., torn. viii. pp. 19S. 378 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS to the horns. It is the beast as he rose from the sea, Rev. xiii. 1, in its form under the supremacy of the horns, or Gothic dynasties, to which power was given to act forty and two months, and make war with the saints and overcome them. But after it has fallen in that form, it is to rise again out of hades, in another shape, run a short career as a blasphemer and perse- cutor in alliance with the Roman church, and then go to perdition. In that last form it is to be under the sway of an eighth imperial chief, and the ten kings of that period are to be subordinate to that chief, and give their power to him.^' Rev. xvii. 11- 12. The end of the twelve hundred and sixty years then, is not to be the epoch of Christ^s coming and the final destruction of the wild beast. It is still to subsist in a modified form, and make war with the Lamb, to intercept him from assuming the sceptre of the world ; and it is in that impious attempt that it is to perish. How long its career in that shape is to continue, must be left to the event to determine. It is not improbably through the thirty years that are to intervene between twelve hundred and sixty, and twelve hundred and ninety. That period is to be signalized by the sealing probably of the servants of God, the proclamation of the gospel to all nations, and the overthrow of Babylon, and is to be closed by the coming of Christ and destruction of the powers denoted by the wild beast, false prophet, and their armies. Setting aside these errors then, let us inquire what WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 379 the act was of the delivery of the saints into the power of the eleventh horn, who the agent was of that de- livery, and when it took place. TV, What then was the nature of the act by which the saints were delivered into the power of the little horn which was to wear them out, and think to change times and laws ? Its nature and source are seen from the nature and source of the power by which the papacy denoted hj the horn, persecutes and has persecuted the saints of the Most High in the ten kingdoms through a long series of ages. That power is, and has been at every stage of its exercise, derived from the civil government. The papal hierarchy has had authority and power to persecute dissentients from its faith, only when the civil governments of those kingdoms refused to tolerate and protect dissentients, and made their non-submission to the Roman church a crim- inal offense. Whenever the civil government of any of those kingdoms has tolerated and protected dissent, then the Catholic hierarchy has lost the power to persecute non-romanists in that kingdom. The power of the church to persecute is thus de- rived wholly from the civil government ; and neces- sarily, because the civil government alone has power over the property, the persons, and the life of its subjects. To subject to a forfeiture of property, to inflict corporeal punishment, to deprive of personal freedom, to consign to death, is the prerogative alone of civil rulers. By what act w^as it then, that 380 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAIXTS the civil governments of tlie ten Idngdoms gave to the papacy the power to persecute the disciples of Christ in their respective jurisdictions? By the acts by which those governments legalized the Catholic hierarchy in their dominions, gave it the exclusive right to teach, ofter worship, and administer disci- pline, and made dissent from it a criminal offense : and they were the acts of the nationahzation of the Eomish church in their kingdoms and establishment of the papal as the State religion. In that legaliza- tion of the Romish church, those governments as- sumed on the one hand, that it belonged to their office to decide for their subjects what religion they ought to exercise, and to command and constrain them to embrace and exercise that religion ; which was in effect to claim that the rights and laws of God himself were under their jurisdiction, and could be invested with authority or annulled at their will. On the other hand, they assumed that the Roman Catholic religion of their time, which was in fact an apostasy from Christianity to the homage of the mass, the worship of images and relics, and the deification of saints, was the true religion, and was obligatory on them and their subjects, and that the pope and the hierarchies of that church were the authorized expositors of its doctrines and duties. They held accordingly that all dissent from the doctrines and rites of that church, and all denials of the right of its priests to determine authoritatively what true reli^'ion is, and make their faith and will WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 381 the law, is a dissent from Christianity itself, and a denial of its authority and truth ; and is a crime just- ly and needfully punished by the civil law. The monarchs of the ten kingdoms were led to this arrogation of authority over Christianity and the faith and worship of their subjects, by the example of their predecessors, the Roman emperors, as is foreshown Rev. xiii. 2. The dragon which was the symbol of the rulers of the Roman empire down to the fall of the western throne, and of the rulers of the eastern empire from that time to its overthrow by the Turks, gave, it is said, to the wild beast the sym- bol of the Gothic rulers of the ten kingdoms, " its power and throne, and great authority :" that is, in the surrender by the emperor of the west of his ter- ritories and sceptre to the Gothic kings, he yielded and transferred to them all the imagined rights and prerogatives over his subjects which he had himself asserted and exercised : and they, after his example, assumed that among them was the right of legalizing the Roman Catholic religion, and enforcing it on their subjects. And this assumption of authority, as was fore- shown in the same prophecy. Chap. xiii. 12, was jus- tified and urged as a duty by the Catholic church. The two-horned wild beast — which is the symbol of the civil and ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Roman state — "exercises,'^ it is said, "all the authority of the first wild beast, and causes the earth and {^11 wlio inhabit it to pay a religious homage to the first beast whose deadly woimd was healed ; namely, the dra- 382 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS gon beast, the symbol of the rulers of the ancient Ro- man empire . That religious homage or worship by the people of the rulers of the old empire, was their as- sent to the arrogation by those rulers of authority over Christianity, and the right to dictate to their subjects what doctrines they should accept as the doctrines of Christianity, what worship they should offer, and what teachers they should receive as of power to determine their faith and practice, and dis- pense to them the blessings of pardon and salvation. And this prediction, the bishop and hierarchy of the Roman sta-te verified. They taught, at the institu- tion of the Gothic kingdoms — and have in every sub- sequent age — that it is the right and duty of the civil rulers to legislate over the faith and worship of their subjects, and determine their religion, and that the religion they were to legalize and enforce, was that of the Catholic church : and in order to give effect to their teachings, they wrought false miracles, as the prophecy foreshows. Chap. xiii. 13-16, to con- vince the rulers and people that the Roman priests w^ere the true and authoritative ministers of God : and induced them to make an image to the dragon- beast, infused a living spirit into that image, and caused that all who would not yield it implicit hom- age and submission should be put to death. The erection of an image to the first or dragon-beast, denotes the erection of the Catholic hierarchies of the ten western kingdoms into one federative hierarchy, with the pope at its head ; and the infu- WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 383 sion of a spirit into the image, and the power of speech by the two-horned beast, symbolizes the im- putation by the priesthood of the Eoman state to the Catholic church at large represented by the image, of the right and power to determine the faith and rites of the people of the ten kingdoms, and give their decrees the authority of laws ; while the gift to the image of the power of causing that all who would not worship the image should be put to death, signi- fies the attribution and gift to the hierarchy of the Eoman church of power to enforce its decrees by persecution and death. And this prophecy of the agency of the dragon and the two-horned beast has been most conspicuously fulfilled. It was because the emperors of the old Roman empire from Constan- tino to Augustulus had arrogated the right of legaliz- ing the church, and enforcing the doctrines and claims of its priesthood on their subjects, that that right was assumed by the Gothic kings, their successors in the west. The monarchs of the ten kingdoms simply usurped the power over the church and over reli- gion, which they regarded themselves as having gained from the Roman emperors by conquest. And the hierarchy of the Roman state, symbolized by the two-horned beast, maintained that the rulers of the ancient empire had the authority over Christianity and the church which they arrogated. And the pope and his agents induced the nations of the west to place their hierarchies under the doniinlou ol iho Eoman pontiff, so as to form them into one va^-t or- 384 THE ACTS BY WHICH THE SAINTS ganization, with the pope as its chief, in much the same way that all the subordinate organizations of the ancient empire were united in one political struc- ture, with the emperor as its head. And the pontiff taught this great hierarchy to claim universal sub- mission to its will, and to cause that those who would not obey its behests, should be put to death. No facts in the history of the Catholic church are more notorious and indubitable than these. The pope be- gan to claim authority over the whole Catholic com- munity immediately after the nationalization of the Romish church in Italy by the Lombards. He and his hierarchy have asserted the right through all the ages that have followed, of dictating to the nations their faith and worship, and demanding that the civil rulers should recognize their authority and enforce their decrees ; and they have denounced a non-com- pliance with their will as a capital crime, and used the civil governments as the instruments of inflicting forfeitures, imprisonment, torture and death on their victims. It is clear, therefore, that the acts by which the saints were delivered into the hands of the. papacy, were the acts of the civil rulers by which the Catho- lic hierarchies were legalized, and the Romish reli- gion made the religion of the state ; as it has been in consequence of that legalization and through the con- currence and agency of the civil governments, that the persecutions by which the saints have been worn out have been carried on. Had there been no civil WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 385 establishment of either the Catholic or the Protes- tant church in the ten kingdoms, and no arrogation of the right to legislate over religion itself and the chnrch, there would have been no persecution ; and had there been no legalization of one denomination to the exclusion of others, there would have been no power by which the intolerant and persecuting de- crees of a church against dissentients could have been enforced by fines, imprisonment and death ; as none but civil rulers have the power to punish with those inflictions. Y. "When then was it that the Catholic hierarchies were thus nationalized, by the civil governments of the ten kingdoms, so that the Romish priesthood with the pope as its head, claimed the exclusive right to teach the Christian religion and off'er worship, in the western empire, and attempted to enforce their claims by persecuting dissentients by the arm of the civil governments ? The exact time of the complete legalization of the Catholic church is not known, but was near the close of the sixth, or beginning of the seventh century. The first monarch w^ho embraced Christianity and nationalized the church, was Clovis, King of the Franks, who acknowledged and legalized the Catholics, and became their patron in A. D. 499. Others followed at different periods ; the King of the Swevi in Gallicia in 569 ; the King of the Goths in Spain in 589 ; the King of the Lombards, who then held the whole of Italy except tlie territory of the exarchate of Eavenna, in 591 ; and Ethelbert of Eng- 386 THE TIME WHEN THE SAINTS land, the last in the train, somewhere near the close of the century, or early in the next. He was baptized in the spring of 597, and in December of that year ten thousand of his subjects received the rite. He did not, however, attempt by authority to force his people to embrace his new faith, but left them to de- cide for themselves. In 601, Pope Gregory sent the pallium to Augus- tine, who had been ordained bishop, — and authorized him to institute two bishoprics in England and install twenty-four diocesan bishops ; and in 605, Ethelbert made donations to Augustine, the archbishop of Can- terbury, and his associates, and formally acknowledged the pope's assumed authority over the Catholic church by invoking him to excommunicate whoever should violate the conditions of his gifts. That these acts involved a nationalization of the church for the time, there can be little doubt. In 604, the King of Essex also embraced the Catholic faith and received a bishop to his capital. On the death, however, of Ethelbert, in 616, Eadbald, his successor, drove the bishop of Canterbury from his kingdom, and the sons of the King of Essex, then also dead, expelled the bishop from their territory and threatened a re-estab- lishment of paganism. But ere the year closed they recalled the banished prelates, and the Catholic reli- gion thereafter maintained its position in those king- doms as the state religion. In the same year Edwin, King of Northumberland, and a pagan, became the head of the heptarchy. It does not appear, however, WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 387 that he offered any obstruction to the Catholics in the other kingdoms, and in A. D. 626 he embraced the faith of the church, and from that period the Catholic continued to be the religion of the state. Within this period then, from A. D. 597, to 626, there is no doubt the Catholic church was national- ized in England ; and we think its most probable date was A. D. 602, when Augustine (who had been or- dained a bishop) receiving the pallium from Gregory was constituted archbishop of Canterbury, with au- thority to institute another archbishopric, and was recognized by Ethelbert in that character. It is certain that in that year or the next he held a synod with the assent of the king, in which he asserted the jurisdiction of the Eoman church over the bishops and churches of the native Britons, and denounced the judgments of God on them for their refusal to submit to his authority. Ethelbert also recognized and legalized the Catholic church by enacting laws for the protection of its property, and the property of its ministers, which indicated that he regarded their rights as peculiarly sacred.^ The Saxon kings were the last to embrace the Ro- mish religion. On its nationalization in England, it was established throughout the ten kingdoms. It would not be certain, however, if that was the date of its complete nationalization, that it was the date also of the twelve hundred and sixty years ; unless * Labbei Concilia, torn. x. pp. 491-499. Baronii. torn. viii. pp. 190, 191. 388 THE TIME WHEN THE SAINTS it had begun to persecute immediately on the delivery of the saints into its hands ; inasmuch as the twelve hundred and sixty years appear to be the measure of the persecution of the saints. Thus the witnesses are to be in sackcloth during the thousand two hun- dred and three-score days of their prophesying; which indicates that they are to be in great humiliation and sorrow from the opposition of those against whom they are to testify. The forty and two months of the Gentiles' treading the holy city, are forty and two months during which they are to assert and exercise an absolute dominion over it, to the exclusion of the true worshippers. The time, times, and half a time during w^hich the woman was to be nourished in the wilderness, were times in which her safety depended on her seclusion from the face of the serpent. And the forty and two months during which power was given to the ten-horned wild beast to act, appear to be months in which he opened his mouth in blas- phemy against God's name, his tabernacle, and his redeemed in heaven, and made war with the saints. Eev. xi. 2, 3 ; xii. 14 ; xiii. 5-7. There is little doubt, however, that the twelve hundred and sixty years of the repression and persecution of the saints date from the period of the complete nationalization of the church. Laws had several years before been enacted in a number of the kingdoms, subjecting those who refused submission to the priesthood to forfeitures of property, and to exile ; and the most zealous and imperious claims were asserted by Greg- WERE DELIVERED TO THE PAPACY. 389 ory the Great from his accession to the papal seat, to the submission of the whole western church to his authority^ and the most strenuous efforts made to re- press those who were called heretics, and force them to renounce their peculiar doctrines and worship, and yield obedience to the Catholic church. It is probable, therefore, that the wearing out of the saints by the little horn, commenced with their delivery into its hands by the nationalization of the Catholic hierarchies. What the exact date of either was, however, cannot be absolutely determined. We only know that it was probably the first or second year of the seventh century, and that, at the most, it can have been but a few years later. VI. But what is the relation of these twelve hun- dred and sixty days, to the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel viii. 14 ; the time, times and dividing of time of Dan. vii. 25 ; and the time, times and a half ; the twelve hundred and ninety days ; and the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days of Dan. xii. 7-11, 12? It is held by some commentators that the twenty-three hundred days of Dan. viii. 11, are to terminate at the same time, as the time, times and a half, and the twelve hundred and sixty days of Dan. xii. 7-11, and the forty-two months of Rev. xiii. 5. That however is very far from being certain or pro- bable ; as the event with wdiich they are to termiiiak\ is not the fall of the ten-horned beast in the form in which it rose from the sea, Rev. xiii. l-G, but tlio cleansing of the sanctuary : by Avhicli is meant, tlio 390 THE RELATION TO EACH OTHER expulsion of the mass as the expiation for sin, from the church, and the restoration of Christ's sacrifice to its proper place in the faith of the worshippers of God. Others have supposed that the event denoted by the taking away of the daily sacrifice, was the literal interception of the daily sacrifice at Jerusalem by the destruction of the temple and exile of the Jews by the Romans in a. d. 70 ; and thence have supposed that the twelve hundred and sixty years ended in a. d. 1330, and the twelve hundred and ninety in 1360. But that is wholly mistaken. The vision is symbolic ; and as the ram, the goat, and their horns signify the Persian and Greek powers and their monarchs, and the little horn that sprang out of one of the four horns of the goat, the Roman power ; so the host of heaven, the sanctuary, the daily sacrifice, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, signify things diff'ering from themselves. The little horn is the Roman power which, after es- tablishing itself in Macedonia, extended its conquests over the whole of w^hat had been the eastern and southern Grecian empire. The host or stars of heaven against which it waxed great, and cast them to the ground, denote the true ministers of the Chris- tian church ; the prince of the host against whom it magnified itself by the usurpation of his rights and throne, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the re- deemed church ; the daily sacrifice which it took away symbolized the sacrifice of Christ as the expia- tion of sin ; and its being taken away, denotes its re- jection by the papacy, and the substitution in its OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETIC PERIODS. 391 place of the sacrifice of the mass ; and the sanctuary, the place of the offering of the Jewish sacrifices, re- presents the places of the worship of. Christian be- lievers who put their faith for pardon in the sacrifice of Christ. The cleansing accordingly of the sanctu- ary, which is the event that is to mark the close of the twenty-three hundred days, is to be a discontinu- ance of the mass, and the restoration of Christ's sac- rifice to the faith of the ministers universally, and members of the church as their trust for expiation and pardon ; and that will take place at the destruc- tion of Babylon the great, the symbol of the Catholic priesthood, who are the offerers of the mass. But Babylon is to fall and be destroyed after the fall of the ten-horned beast in its first form, and its rise out of hades in the shape in which it is to go to perdi- tion ; as is seen from Rev. xvii. 3-14 ; in which the woman Babylon appears seated on the wild beast after its emergence from the abyss in its last form. If, therefore, the forty-two months of the beast that was and is not, is the measure of its career before it falls and rises in its last shape, then the cleansing of the sanctuary at the end of the twenty-three hun- dred days, is to take place after that period. It is indeed stated, Dan. xii. 11, that " from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomi- nation that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days,'' that is be- fore that abomination shall be removed, and the expi- ation symbolized by the daily sacrifice, restored. 392 THE RELATION TO EACH OTHER The twenty-three hundred days, therefore, are to terminate with the twelve hundred and ninety — not with the twelve hundred and sixty. It is indicated also, Dan. xii. 6, 7, that the end of the calamities and deliverance foreshown to the pro- phet, is to take place later than the close of the twelve hundred and sixty years. " And one said to the man clothed in linen who was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ? And I heard the man clothed in linen who was upon the waters of the river, where he held up his right and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times and a half, and when he shall have accom- plished the scattering (that is ended the dispersion) of the holy people, all these shall be finished.^' The end is thus to be not only after the close of the twelve hundred and sixty years, but also after the dispersion of the Israelites is ended ; that is, after the time for their return has arrived, and they have in a measure re-established themselves in their an- cestral land. The events, moreover, the accomplish- ment of which is to constitute the end, are to be tne coming of Christ, the destruction of the wild beast, the deliverance of his people, and the resurrection of the holy dead. For it is expressly predicted that the time when the power denoted by the wilful king, Dan. xi. 45, who is the same as the imperial person- age symbolized by the beast in his last form. Rev. xvii. 11, comes to his end, is to be the time when OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETIC PERIODS. 393 Michael the great prince, the Messiah, shall stand for the Israelites, and deliver them, and many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to ever- lasting life. It is foreshown also, Zech. xiv. 1-5, that the coming of Christ with his saints, is to take place when the Israelites shall have partially returned to their national land, and the antichristian armies shall attempt to drive them again into exile ; and Rev. xix. 11-25, that the destruction of the wild beast is to take place at Christ's second coming. Its de- struction is accordingly to be at least as late as the close of the twelve hundred and ninety days. It is to subsist, therefore, thirty years, (the period doubt- less following its emergence out of the abyss,) af- ter the expiration of its twelve hundred and sixty years. The forty-five years that are to follow — making the thirteen hundred and thirty-five, are probably to be occupied in the judgment of the living, the complete restoration of the Israelites, and the conversion of the nations. VII. From these considerations it is apparent that the exact date of the twelve hundred and sixty years is not known ; nor, consequently, the time of their termination. It is clearly revealed, however, that their end is not to be the period of the extinction of the wild-beast, nor the coming of Christ. They are to be at least thirty years later. It is clear, also, from several prophecies. Matt. xxiv. 36-39, 1 Thess. v. 2, 2 Peter iii. 10, that the day of 17-^ 394 THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE TO BE AWARE Christ's coming is not to be certainly known until he appears in the clouds. The only signal of his imme- diate approach is to be the darkening of the sun and moon, and fall of the stars, the object and effect of which will be to give his advent the greatest possible resplendence. Every ray of light from the heavenly orbs being intercepted, and the earth wrapped in absolute darkness, his glory will shine with a dazzling effulgence, and attract every eye and awe every heart. The people of God, however, though not foreknow- ing the exact day of his coming, are undoubtedly to be generally aware that it is nigh. The proclamation by the angel flying through mid-heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach, that the hour of God's judgment is at hand, shows that the messengers whom the angel represents who are to make that an- nouncement to all the nations of the earth, are to be aware that his coming is nigh. The parable of the ten virgins also indicates that believers generally will be looking for his speedy coming, although a large share of them w^ill not prepare themselves for it. And the occurrence of the great events that are immediately to precede it, such as the fall of the per- secuting governments of the ten kingdoms, and the rise of others of a worse character in their place, the persecution, martyrdom, and resurrection of the wit- nesses, the communication of the gospel to all nations, the fall of Babylon, the return of a portion of the Jews and re-establishment of themselves in their na- THAT Christ's coming is nigh. 395 tional land, will naturally impress all who receive the Scriptures as the word of God, with th^ feeling that the daj of Christ's coming is at hand. The years that are approaching are to be marked by great and extraordinary occurrences that will awe and agitate the nations of Christendom in a measure they have not hitherto known. How soon that revo- lution of the governments of the western kingdoms, which is denoted by the descent of the ten-horned wild beast into the abyss, is to take place, cannot be foreseen. It may be within a few years. It may be at the distance of quite a number. When it takes place, and the beast rises in its final form from the pit, a momentous change will be wrought in the con- dition of its subjects. The papacy will be restored to exclusive nationalization ; persecution will be re- sumed ; and an attempt made either to drive those who hold the true faith to apostasy, or to exterminate them by the sword ; for it is expressly foretold that this persecution of the witnesses is to be by the wild beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit — that is hades — in distinction from the beast that ascended out of the sea. Rev. xi. 7. The resurrection of the martyrs and assumption to heaven at the time fore- told, in the presence of vast multitudes, will defeat that aim, and carry a resistless conviction to millions that they are the true worshippers of God, and that the state church which arraigned and martyred them, is a false church. Under the vehement disgust and indignation which that discovery is to excite, the 396 THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE TO BE AWARE people are to denationalize the Catholic church, and at a later day strike her from existence. Roused from their false beliefs and lethargy by these great events, and led to search the divine word afresh to learn the purposes of God respecting the world, and receive the great doctrine of Christ's coming and reign, they will engage with one heart in the work of heralding his approach to the nations by proclaiming to them his gospel, and warning them that the hour of his judgment has come. After the destruction of Baby- lon, the imperial chief of the empire w^ill institute, it is intimated in Dan. xi. 36-45, a still worse form of false religion, and will crush the disciples of Christ with new persecutions, and at length make war on the Lamb himself, by attempting to drive the Israel- ites, w^ho will have returned to Palestine, again into exile, and intercepting him from the establishment of his throne there. These and the other great events that are to attend them, the discrimination of the true worshippers from the false, denoted by the sealing of the servants of God ; the judgments which are to smite the nations, and fill them with terror and do spair ; and the awful forms of malice and impiety in which the passions of men are to display themselves, are to make the period one of unexampled excitement, agitation, and alarm ; bringing the true worshippers into the most intimate relations to God, and raising them to eminent watchfulness, faith, love, and hope ; and confounding, and exasperating his enemies, and leading them to show the depth of their alienation THAT CHRIST^S COMING IS NIGH. 397 and hostility by the violence of their efforts to crush his cause and extricate themselves from his power. In the prospect of these fearful scenes, it becomes the disciples of Christ to take heed to his counsels and watch for his coming, lest they be found unprepared. It is given as a distinguishing mark of those who will then be ready for admission to his kingdom, that they will be expecting his advent, and will have his name graven on their foreheads, and like the wise virgins who had oil in their vessels, be ready to join his triumphal train. It is given as the mark of others, that though aware of his approach, they will not be fit to be admitted to his presence with those whose redemption is then to be completed, but will be left without, while the world at large will be taken by surprise, and will be overwhelmed with terror and dismay. 398 THE GLORIFIED AND THE UNGLORIFIED. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE GLORIFIED AND THE UNGLORIFIED OF THE RACE DURING THE MILLENNIUM. It has been generally held, that no difference is to subsist between those believers who, at Christ^s com- ing, are to be raised from death, and the living, who are to be changed to immortal ; but that the bodies of the latter, as well as the former, are to become spiritual and glorious. That they are to be widely dissimilar, however, in nature and station, seems abundantly clear. A glorified body must differ essentially, it is plain, from its distinguishing characteristics, from one that is simply immortal. The one is no longer to be natu- ral or earthly ; but is to be spiritual, and from its very nature incorruptible. It is to be placed by its constitution out of the action, as completely as the spirit itself is, of those physical agents, which impair and dissolve organisms in the sphere of natural life. The forces by which it is to subsist, and which are to control it, are to be of a different and higher species than those of animal bodies, which are formed and DURING THE MILLENNIUM. 399 subsist according to the laws of matter. A body, however, that is simply immortal, may still be natu- ral and earthly, and be subject to the laws of an earthly material organism, as Adam doubtless would have been, had he continued in obedience. Its cease- less life will depend, not on the nature of its elements, or the principle of its organization, but on the power of God exerted on it, or the vigor of the life with which it is animated. And that the saints who are to be raised from the dead at Christ^s coming, are thus to differ from those in life who are then to be changed from mortal to immortal, is clear. They are discriminated from each other by the apostle by the very terms which denote the essential differences we have mentioned. His language is : " Behold I show you a mystery (an event not before revealed). We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorrup- tion, and this mortal put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory,'' 1 Cor. xv. 51-5-1. Here incorruptibleness is predicated exclusively of those who are to be raised from the dead ; as it is also in the description, vs. 40-45, of the glorified body. " There are also celestial bodies, and bodies torres- 400 THE DEAD TO BE RAISED IN GLORY. trial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial another. So also is the resur- rection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it is sown in Aveakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written. The first man, Adam, was formed into a living soul ; the last Adam into a life-giving spirit.^' The life of the glo- rified body is not like that of the natural or psychical body, to be the efi*ect of an inbreathed psyche ; but the spirit itself is to be the source of it. The psychi- cal body has its psyche or vital principle breathed into it by God, and by that inbreathing it becomes a living organism. But of the spiritual body the spirit itself is to be the life. The first Adam was formed by an inbreathing by the Creator, into a liv- ing psyche — a vital organism ; the second Adam is formed into nveviia ^oottolow, a life-making spirit ; a spi- rit that makes or forms the life. And the bodies of the redeemed are to be made like his. " As are the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly ; and as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Cor. xv. 48, 49. " The Lord Jesus Christ shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," Phil. iii. 21. ''Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be THE LIVING TO BE CHANGED TO IMMORTAL. 401 like him, for we shall see him as he is/^ 1 John iii. 2. The spirituality of the glorified body, accordingly, is not to consist in an immateriality or subtilization of its substance, but in its spirit being its animating principle, in place of a psyche, which is the life of the natural body. Incorruption, spirituality, or life from the indwelling spirit, and power and glory, are thus given as the characteristics of the resurrection body of the believer, while there is no intimation that they are to be qualities of the changed bodies of the living saints. Instead, the definition given in these passages of the change that is to be wrought in them, is, simply, that it is to be from mortal to immortal. As the dead and dissolved body is to put on incorruption, so the living mortal body is to put on immortality. But that will be a mere release from the sentence to death, and the causes that produce it, and restoration to a state and life in which, like the first Adam's, it will be unobnoxious to dissolution. It will not involve a conversion into a spiritual body, or body of which the spirit is the life, in place of a sensitive psyche. Nor will it be a glorification, of which that life from the spirit will undoubtedly be an* essential condition. For Adam and Eve were in their original state immortal ; that is, they were ex- empt from all causes of death, and animated with a life that was adapted to an endless continuance. To suppose that they were not immortal, is to suppose that they were created with the seeds of death in their nature, and therefore under the penalty of sin, 402 THE LIVING TO BE CHANGED TO IMMORTAL. which is contrary to the Divine perfections, and to the representations of the Scriptures. Yet their bo- dies were not glorified. They were natural psychical bodies. Other human beings then may also be ex- empt from all causes of death, and capable of an interminable life. Those accordingly whose mortal is simply to put on immortality, will still continue to be psychical as Adam and Eve originally were, in contradistinction from spiritual. They will simply be delivered from the efiects of the fall, and restored to the original state of the first pair. The bodies of the two classes are thus to be essentially different in constitution and life, as well as in external glory. The change, however, of the living, though far infe- rior to that of the glorified, will be of great signifi- cance and beauty. It will involve the removal of all the debasement and disorder that have resulted from revolt, and an elevation to a purity and perfection that will fit it to be the tenement of the mind, which is then also to be restored from the blight it has suf- fered from sin. The integrity and harmony of the powers that will then be enjoyed, the freshness and energy of intellect and feeling, the quickness and delicacy of the senses, the exemption from inordinate appetite and corroding passion, and the perfect union and concurrence that will subsist between body and mind, will raise those who are exalted to that state, to a height of beauty and blessedness, of which we can now form but a very inadequate conception. It will, perhaps, be objected to this view of the THE RISEN SAINTS TO BE GLORIFIED. 403 change to be wrought in the living saints, that it is said by the apostle, that " flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." That, however, in place of opposing, confirms it. For flesh and blood denote man's body in his fallen and mortal state, nojb its simple nature as a psychical organism, as Adam's was before his fall. The very object accordingly of the revelation which the apostle immediately an- nounces is, to show how the living saints are to be admitted into the kingdom of God, without a trans- formation to a spiritual nature, like that which is to be wrought in those who are raised from the dead. They are to be fitted for admission to the kingdom by a full redemption from sin and its curse, and re- storation to a pure and deathless nature. Their mortal is to put on immortality, as the corruptible of the dead is to put on incorruption. Their re- demption therefore is to be as perfect as that of the glorified ; though their bodies are not to be as re- splendent, nor their sphere in the kingdom so ex- alted. That the bodies of the risen saints are to difi*er from those who are simply changed to immortal, is shown also in the following passage. ^'And I sa^v the holy city, the new Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from hcaren saying, Behold the tabernacle of God with men ; and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peo- ples, and God himself shall bo with them, tluMr Goii, 404 THE LIVING TO BE RENDERED IMMORTAL. and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall toil be any more ; for the former things have passed away,'' Rev. xxi. 2-5. The New Jeru- salem is the symbol of the risen and glorified saints, as an organized body of kings and priests in relation to men, as is seen from its being denominated the bride, the Lamb's wife, vs. 9, 10 ; from its coming down from heaven, Avhither none of the redeemed but those who have died ascend ; and from the office of the risen saints as kings and priests unto God, Rev. XX. 4-6. They are accordingly here called the tabernacle of God, and in vs. 10, 22, 23, the great city, the holy Jerusalem, of which the Lord God Al- mighty and the Lamb, are the temple and the light. They are thus discriminated in the clearest manner from the living saints, who are merely to be changed from mortal to immortal. The risen saints descend out of heaven from God to the earth. The living saints are on the earth. The risen saints are the tabernacle of God icitli men, the hierarchy of kings and priests who are to reign with Christ over men ; not men themselves over whom they are to reign. On the other hand, the men themselves with whom God is to dwell in that tabernacle are to be his peo- loles^ as numerous as the nations are to which thej belong. And they are to be changed to immortal, and freed from the curse of the fall in all its forms. For God shall wipe every tear from their eyes^ and THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. 405 death, shall be no more, neither sorrov/, nor crying ; nor shall toil be any more. The same view is presented of them in the vision of the palm-bearing multitude, Rev. vii. 9-17, where they are represented as having come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes, and whitened them in the blood of the Lamb ; and " For that rea- son (it is said), they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple ; and he who sits on the throne shall tabernacle with them. They shall not hunger anymore, nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike upon them nor any heat ; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to the living fountain of waters, and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." There is to be a total repeal, then, in respect to them of the curse of the fall, and restoration to the state in which the first pair were created. They, accordingly, are to be changed from a fallen to an unfallen state, and from mortal to immortality, con- formably to the representation, 1 Cor. xv. 40-50, before considered. That the bodies of the risen saints are to be essentially different from those of the living who are to be changed to immortal, is thus abundantly manifest. The stations and relations of these two classes, are to be as different as their corporeal natures. The risen saints are to be kings and priests of God and of Christ, and are to reign with him on the ear(h. These offices are expressly ascribed to them in the 406 THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. vision of the first resurrection, Rev. xx. 4-6 ; and v. 9, 10, and to them alone. This is indicated also by their symbolization by the holy city^ New Jerusalem^ which presents them as a structure, analogous to a walled city, and an organized body therefore, a hier- archy of royal priests who have authority over men, on the same principle as Babylon, -the ancient seat of idolatry on the Euphrates, is used as a symbol of the hierarchy of the Romish church, which exercises authority over the unofficial members of that com- munion. It is taught also (Dan. vii. 18-22,) where it is foreshown that at the coming of Christ at the over- throw of the power denoted by the fourth beast, ^' the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess it for ever and ever." These terms and representations are indeed very general, yet they indicate clearly that the risen saints are to stand in very intimate relations to Christ, and to fill offices of great significance to men. They are to be the medium of communicating his will to them, it would seem ; for the nations are to walk in the light of the city, which is their symbol. Men are also to yield a cheerful obedience to their rule ; for the kings of the earth are to bring their glory and honor, and the glory and honor of the nations into the city. And those who are thus to walk in its light and bring their honors to it are to be perfectly sanctified ; for there shall by no means enter it anything that is un- clean, and that works defilement and falsehood ; but they only who are written in the Lamb^sbook of life" THEIR STATIONS TO DIFFER. 407 (Rev. xxi. 27.) As they are persons then who are freed from the dominion of sin, they are the living saints who are also freed from its curse by being changed from mortal to immortal. These then are the special subjects over whom the glorified saints reign, or those at least of their subjects who walk in their light and yield a spotless obedience under their sway. The living saints who are thus to be changed to immortal are to occupy no such stations as kings and priests who reign with Christ. Their sphere is to be that of subjects, not of kings. They are to serve the Redeemer under the reign of the glorified saints, in stead of reigning with him and them. Yet their con- dition and life will be one of great dignity and beauty. Restored from the injuries of the fall to a perfect na- ture, enjoying the. indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the fulness of his gifts, exalted to the society of the glorified saints, placed under their instruction and guidance, and led on by them to heights of knowledge, of wisdom, of love, and of trust far beyond what they would otherwise attain, their condition will be one of eminent grace and blessedness, and will exemplify in an impressive form the perfection and glory of the redemption which Christ accomplishes. When, however, is this change of the mortal saints to immortal to be wrought? At the moment of Christ^s coming, or at a later period ? And are all believers who are then living to be changed at the same time, or at difi*erent periods ? 408 THE TIME WHEN THE LIVING The change of the living is not to take place at the moment of Christ^s coming and the resurrection of the holy dead, but at a later period. This is expressly taught 1 Thess. iv. 16-17 : "For this we say unto yon by the word of the Lord, that we the living, who re- main unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who sleep. For the Lord himself, with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and trump of God, shall descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. "E-eLra, afterivards, we, the living, who re- main, shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air.'' If the epoch to which this re- fers, is that of the change of the living saints to im- mortality, and the event foreshown plainly cannot precede that, it is clear that it is to take place subse- quently to the resurrection of the holy dead. How long a space is to intervene between the two, there is no intimation. It may be a considerable period. There are other passages also that show that time at least, and perhaps of some length, is to intervene be- tween them. Thus Christ foreshows. Matt. xxiv. 30, 31, that it is not till the Son of Man has come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, that he is to send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. It is implied also very clearly in Christ's representation of his judgment of the living nations after he comes. For his welcome to those at his right hand, " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared IRE TO BE CHANGED. 409 for you from the foundation of the world/^ shows that they are not before to be inheritors of that kingdom in the form in which they are then to become ; and therefore are not before to be fitted for it by being changed to immortal ; while on the other hand, the prediction with which the prophecy closes, indicates that it is at that epoch that that change is to be wrought. "And these (on the left hand) shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eternal,'^ v. 46. If, as this clearly teaches, they are then first to enter on a life that is never to end, it must be by a passage from a mortal life ; and therefore their change from mortal to immortal is to take place at that epoch. Not only, however, is a period, probably of some length, to pass after Christ comes and raises the holy dead, before any of the living saints will be changed to immortal — but it is foreshown in the parable of the virgins, that all of them are not to be changed at the same time. The bridegroom in that parable repre- sents Christ ; the bride the risen and glorified saints ; the marriage the installation of those saints in their oflSces as kings and priests in Christ's kingdom on the earth ; and the virgins who were invited to the mar- riage supper, the living believers w^ho are to be invi- ted to enter into the kingdom under that union of the risen saints with Christ in the rule of the world. The ten virgins then w^ere all believers ; for they were all invited to be guests at the supper, and all had had oil in their lamps, though five of them had not bad 18 410 MANY ARE TO REMAIN FOR A PERIOD enough to secure their admission to the mansion of the bridegroom and participation in the feast. The inadequacy of their oil for the occasion, and their ex- clusion on that account from the mansion and the supper, show therefore that a portion of the living believers at Christ's coming will, by a want of the requisite qualifications, be excluded from immediate admission to his kingdom by a full deliverance from the curse and elevation to a perfect and immortal life, which are the condition and form of that admission. The gift to them of such a redemption will take place at a later period, when they shall have become meet for it ; as a like redemption also of others, who after- wards become subjects of renovation, will doubtless take place from time to time as they reach a due pre- paration for it. At what period of life believers generally of suc- cessive generations during the millennium will be thus freed from the curse and raised to immortality, or what share of the population of the globe will at any time belong to this class, no intimations are given. That a large share will at every period be in the na- tural life, and that all that come into life will be born in that state, is indicated by the fact that when at the close of the thousand years Satan is loosed and goes forth to deceive the nations, he will find a generation ready to yield to his tempting influences and make war upon the camp of the saints, and upon the holy city ; by which is meant probably those who are in immortal and those who are in glorified bodies. IN THE NATURAL LIFE. 411 Those revolters will therefore have been boru in the natural fallen life, and of parents and predecessors who v/ere of a like birth. It is revealed, nevertheless, that all nations are to be brought to obedience to Christ during his millennial reign. At his coming in the clouds, he is to receive ^^ a dominion and glory and kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him,^^ and all nations, it is foretold, are to come and worship before him (Rev. xv. 4), and. the earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the wa- ters cover the seas (Isaiah xi. 9). The generations that come into life during that period, then, though born like those of the present time under the blight of the fall, will all become obedient, and be changed at length from mortal to immortal, and all will ulti- mately be glorified, as Christ is to " change this hum- ble body into a form like his glorious body,'' and all are to be " like him, for they are to see him as he is.'' This exposition of these passages is indeed objected to very earnestly by some, on the pretext that it is incredible from the nature of glorified and unglorified beings, that they can dwell in the same world, and communicate with each other ; and by others on the ground that if it is not impossible, it at least cannot be seen how human beings of such different classes can subsist in the same world, and each have a sphere suited to their nature and station in relation to the other. But to this we reply, that our comprehension of their several natures, their respective spheres and 412 WE ARE TO RECEIVE THESE FUTURITIES relations to one another, and their modes of inter- course, is not a necessary condition of our faith in the certainty that they are to exist together on the earth and in intimate relations to each other. If we are to believe nothing but what we fully comprehend, we shall not believe even that the holy dead are to be glorified, or raised to endless life, or that the world is at length to be delivered from the curse, and be- come a new earth and a new heaven ; for we have no comprehension of the nature of either of those changes. We only know the fact from the revelation God has made of his purposes that they are to take place, and we believe them solely on his testimony. And so in reference to the reign of the glorified saints with Christ on the earth, the change of the living be- lievers at his coming to immortal, the continuance of a large share of the race from generation to genera- tion in the natural life, and the co-existence of these classes in their several spheres during his millennial reign ; — the question in order to our faith, is not, whether we have a perfect knowledge of the mode in which they are to subsist here, and act in reference to each other ; but simply whether God has fore- shown in his word that they are. If he has, we are to believe it, and as unhesitatingly as we are any other event in our future existence, the nature of which lies out of our comprehension. And that he has revealed the great futurities we have enumerated, is indisputable. 1. He has most certainly foreshown that the holy ON god's testimony. 413 dead are to be raised in glory at his coming, and to reign with him. Rev. xx. 4-6, v. 9, 10 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22, 23, 40-54 ; Dan. xii. 18, 22, 27. 2. He has most certainly foreshown, also, that the living believers at the time of his coming are to be changed from mortal to immortal. 1 Cor. xv. 52- 54 ; 2 Cor. v. 4 ; Rom. vii. 14-17, xxi. 3-5. 3. He has foreshown with equal certainty, that mankind are to exist as nations during Christ's mil- lennial reign over them, Dan. vii. 13, 14, 27 ; Rev. XV. 4, xxi. 23-26, xxii. 2, and therefore that they are to continue to subsist in successive generations. To suppose that they are not, is to suppose that the im- penitent, or a portion of them who are in life when Christ comes, are to continue in life and impenitence through the whole of his millennial reign, and consti- tute the host like the sand of the sea in number, who are then to make war on the holy and the holy city ; for if no generations are to come into life after Christ comes, who are to constitute the nations whom Satan is to seduce to revolt on his release from the abyss ? But to suppose that those who revolt at the close of the millennium are the nations who are in impeni- tence at Christ's coming at its commencement, is to suppose that no conversion of the nations is to take place during his millennial rei^*n ; which is to contra- dict the express prediction that all people, nations, and languages are then to serve him, Dan. vii. 14, 27 ; that the kingdom of this world is then to become his, Rev. xi. 15 ; that the nations are to be beaknl by 414 THEY AEE AMPLY REVEALED the tree of life, Eev. xxii. 2, and are to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, Rev. xxi. 24 ; and that all are to know him from the least unto the greatest, Jer. xxxi. 34 ; Heb. viii. 11. Besides, it is expressly taught in the covenant with Noah, and Abraham, and in a great many other passages, that mankind are to continue in an endless series of generations ; as Gen. ix. 8-16, where the generations of the race are called generations of eternity, Dan. ix. 3, 34 ; Ps. clxv. 13, cxxxv. 13, where the succession of human genera- tions is represented as to be as everlasting as God^s kingdom, and his own eternity, Gen. xyii. 7 ; Joel iii. 20, where it is represented that the descendants of Abraham are to continue through an endless series of generations ; and Eph. iii. 21, where it is indicated that the church is to continue in generations that are to extend through the age of ages. 4. And it is clear that those generations that come into existence during the millennium, are to come into it fallen beings ; inasmuch as the nations whom Satan is to assail on his release from the abyss, are to be led by him into an open war on the saints. They are therefore to be fallen beings. They cannot have been renewed, or they could not be seduced to such a revolt and meet such a doom from God. As these revelations then have thus been made for our instruction and impression, we are to receive and believe them, whether we can comprehend all that they involve or not. The events which they foreshow cannot present any inconsistency with our nature, or THE TRUTHS THEY WILL DISPLAY. 415 God's wisdom and goodness ; or he would not have purposed and revealed them. Such a method of pro- cedure is doubtless to subserve important ends. It is characteristic of God's dispensations over the world, that they are framed and conducted in such a manner that on the one hand a full exhibition takes place under them of the character of man as a fallen being ; and on the other, it is seen that the salvation of those who are saved is altogether the work of God, and that they are truly recovered from the bondage of sin, and imbued with the holy affections that make them meet to be admitted to his kingdom. And the reign of the glorified saints with Christ on the earth during the millennium, and the change of a portion of the living saints from mortal to immortal, while the greater part of the living continue in the nat- ural life, may, among other ends, be designed to manifest these and other truths, the perception of which by the universe, is essential to a just under- standing of the righteousness, wisdom, and grace of the Divine ways. Under the present dispensation, there is a vast manifestation of what man is when left wholly without the Spirit of God, and when enjoying but partial measures of his sanctifying influences. There is no exhibition whatever of what he may be in the natural life under the full aids of the Spirit. There is none of what ho would have been had he not fallen, and what he may and will be if restored from the eilects of the fall io a 416 THE TRUTHS THEY WILL DISPLAY. nature unblighted and fit for an immortal life. There is none of what he perhaps would ultimately have become had he not fallen, and what the holy are to be in the form they are to receive at their resurrec- tion, which is the highest our nature is ever to attain. But exemplifications of each of these will take place during the millennium, on a scale and with a resplendence, doubtless, that will reflect important light in the eyes of the infinite hosts that witness or are made acquainted with them, on the truth, wis- dom, and grace of God's ways. And among those displays, not improbably one of the most impressive will be, the purity, intelligence, benignity, and bless- edness of which mankind are capable under the all- transforming influences of the Spirit while in the natural life. For they will doubtless be raised to the highest perfection of which their natures, while they remain mortal, are capable, and a fresh demonstration thereby be given of the perfect righteousness, wis- dom, and benevolence of the laws which God has given men on the one hand, and proof on the other that the degradation and misery with which men have been overwhelmed through all preceding ages have been the work of sin. Ends of the greatest moment to the vindication and glory of God, and the intelligence and happiness of the innumerable hosts of his unfallen subjects, may thus be answered by such a dispensation. Instead, accordingly, of being contemplated, as it is by some, with doubt THEY ARE TO BE RECEIVED WITH JOY. 417 and aversion even, it should be received with un- hesitating faith, thankfulness for the grace which it displays, and joy at the blissful prospect which it un- folds to our world. 418 THE CERTAINTY CHAPTER XXXIY. CONCLUSION. THE CERTAINTY THAT THESE EVENTS ARE FORESHOWN. THE CHILDREN OF GOD GENERALLY ARE TO BE LED ERE LONG TO SEE THAT THIS IS THE SCHEME OF HIS GOVERNMENT, AND TO LOOK FOR THE SPEEDY COMING OF THE REDEEMER. Such are the great purposes which God has re- vealed respecting the redemption of the world ; such are the kingdom and reign of Christ which are at hand, and are to extend through everlasting ages. The series of events which is here exhibited as to precede, attend, and follow the coming of Christ, are not fictions, the work of imagination, or deductions by a process of reasoning. They are the identical events that are named and described by the prophets, and m all the forms in which their predictions are conveyed 5 in literal language, in language in which figures are employed to illustrate them, and express them more fully and forcibly ; and in visions, in which symbols are used to represent them. And they are foreshown through all those species or media of pro- phecy with a frequency, a clearness, and an amplitude that is not equalled by any other theme of the pre- dictive Scriptures. The overthrow of Babylon, of THAT THESE EVENTS ARE FORESHOWN. 419 Nineveli, of Tyre, of Jerusalem itself, are not fore- shown with greater frequency, minuteness, and cer- tainty of meaning, than the continuance of the anti- christian powers, and the non-conversion of the world down to the coming of Christ ; his coming in person at the sound of the seventh trumpet ; his raising his dead saints in glory ; overthrow of the fourth empire ; establishment of his throne on the earth ; converting the nations, and reigning here in love, and continuing the work of salvation through the ages of ages. And the prophecies in which these events are foreshown can no more be wrenched from this meaning and tor- tured into predictions of a different class of events, than those prophecies of the destruction of Nineveh and Babylon, Tyre and Jerusalem, can be wrested from the sense by which they foreshow their over- throw. They cannot be set aside or made the vehi- cle of predictions of a different set of events by alle- gorization, spiritualization, or any other process that may not be applied with equal propriety to any other parts of the Scriptures, empty them of their true sig- nification, and make them predictions of whatever a lawless fancy may choose to ascribe to them. If Christ's coming in the clouds of heaven at the over- throw of the wild beast and his armies, under the sev- enth trumpet, is to be spiritualized, then his coming in person to raise and judge the dead at any other time must, on the same principle, be spiritualized, and every prophecy swept from the sacred word that he is ever to come in person to the earth. It* the rev- 4:20 BELIEVERS ARE SOON TO RECEIVE THIS elation that he is to raise the holy dead at the com- mencement of the thousand years is to be spiritual- ized, then the prediction that he is to raise them or the unholy at e.ny time whatever, must be spiritual- ized, and the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead struck from existence. If the numerous prophecies in the Old and New Testament that he is to establish his throne on the earth and reign here in person for- ever, are to be allegorized and invested with a mere spiritual meaning, then all other representations of the Scriptures that he has a throne, reigns in power and glory,' and receives the homage of his creatures, must in like manner be spiritualized, and his whole office as a ruler, his sceptre, his crown, and his king- dom, be wrested from him ; and homage must no longer be paid to him as the King of kings and Lord of lords, who reigns through the ages of ages. There is no consistent medium between receiving these as the indubitable teachings of the Scriptures, and re- jecting them altogether, as an intelligible and reliable revelation from God. And this is becoming the con- viction of many of the careful students of the Bible. A great change has taken place in this country within the last ten years. Great numbers, it is well known, in the chief evangelical denominations, have become averse to the allegorization of the prophecies which has so long prevailed, as wholly unauthorized by any laws of language, as involving them in the utmost u.n- certainty of meaning, and as sweeping away with equal effect, if applied to them, all the great doctrines of re- AS THE SCHEME OF HIS GOVERNMENT. 421 demption and a future existence ; and the conviction is prevailing extensively that to reach their true mean- ing, the prophecies that are expressed in language merely, must be interpreted according to the usual laws of speech ; and those that are conveyed through symbols, according to the principles of symbolization as they are presented in the explanations which the Spirit of God has given for our guidance, of the lead- ing symbols in the prophecies themselves. And a similar change is taking place in Europe. Several scholars of high repute on the continent unreservedly repudiate and denounce the allegorizing and spiritu- alizing methods of exposition as wholly unauthorized, absurd, and misleading ; and they are rejected also by a large body of able and evangelical teachers in Great Britain. This great scheme of administration is consistent also with all the other teachings of the Scriptures, and corroborated by them. It is inwoven with them in every part of the sacred volume, and it is in its light alone that they can be justly understood. No forced constructions are necessary to bring them into harmony with it ; no yawning gulf is to be leaped to pass from the one to the other. And it exhibits the work of redemption in a greatness and beauty that are suitable to the grandeur of God^s attributes, and the wonderfulness of the means by which it is accom- plished. A complete restoration at length of the generations of men from the curse of the fall, and contmuance of their redemption as they come into 422 IT IS CONFIRMED BY existence trom age to age, through the round of eternal years, and exaltation to the spotlessness, the glory, and the bliss of immortals, seem suitable to the power, the wisdom, and the mercy of God, and in harmony with the greatness of Christ's humiliation and sacrifice, and the riches of his love. It corres- ponds too with the vastness of the divine empire, and the momentous ends it is to answer in the rule of the infinite hosts of his subjects through eternal years. Their view, who reject this system, has no such con- currence with the attributes of God, or the descrip- tions that are given in his word of the exhaustless riches of his grace : but exhibits the salvation of men as confined within very narrow limits, and fall- ing infinitely below the preparation that is made for it in Christ's expiation. For it maintains that the renovation and pardon of men are to reach their end after the lapse of a few centuries more ; that Christ is then to abdicate his mediatorial oflSce ; and that to prevent any farther accumulation of evils from the fall of men, their multiplication is to be ter- minated, and the earth struck from existence ; imply- ing that Christ's work is not adequate to the redemp- tion of men, as a perpetually multiplying race, from the curse of the fall, and restoration of them, to holiness and immortality ; and that Satan is to triumph not only in the ruin of more than will be saved, but in a demonstration that the difficulties in which he has in- volved the divine government are such, that God not only cannot remedy them ; but that he cannot escape THE OTHER TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES. 423 a worse defeat by any other means than preventing a further multiplication of the race by bearing them to other scenes of existence, and annihilating the earth. For why should he intercept them from continuing to come into life, if he can redeem and reign over them in a manner glorious to his perfec- tions, and favorable to the well being of the rest of his kingdom ? That this is the scheme of the divine purposes that is revealed in the Bible is confirmed, moreover, by the consideration that it belongs to a great system of predictions that have been fulfilling for four thousand years ; all the verifications of which have been accord- ing to their sense as interpreted by the established laws of language and symbols, as we have stated and applied them. A vast series of the language pro- phecies that were addressed to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to Moses and the Israelites in Egypt and at Sinai, to Samuel, to David, to Isaiah, and the other prophets of the Old Testament, to the Jews by Christ, and to the Jews and Gentiles by the apostles, have been fulfilled ; and every one of them according to the sense of the prediction as in- terpreted by the ordinary laws of language. Not a verification or probable verification of one of them, if allegorized, or spiritualized, can be shown to have taken place. To apply that method of interpretation to the promises to Noah, Abraham, and David ; to the predictions of the conquest and destruction of Jeru- salem by the Babylonians; of the captivity of the 424 IT IS CONFIRMED BY THE PRESENT Israelites in Assyria and Clialdea ; of the overthrow of Tyre, Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, Idumea, Moab ; of the incarnation and death of Christ ; of the capture of Jerusalem and dispersion of the Jews by the Ro- mans ; and a long series of other predictions, would be to empty them of all their true meaning, and con- vert them into a senseless jargon of words. The symbolical prophecies of Daniel respecting the Babylonian, Median, Greek, and Roman empire have also been in a great measure fulfilled ; and a large share of the symbolic predictions of John respecting the Roman empire and the church have been accomplished, according to their sense when interpreted by the laws of symbols as they are ex- emplified — as we have stated them — in the explana- tions that are given by the Spirit of inspiration in the prophecies themselves. And not one of them has been verified in any other sense. To attempt to spiritualize them, is to make caricatures of them, and render it impossible to show that they have had any accomplishment. As all the prophecies that have been fulfilled, have thus been fulfilled according to the sense they bear as interpreted by these princi- ples ; so it is according to their sense as interpreted by these principles that those predictions are to be accomplished, that are still to have their fulfillment. And the present attitude of the world and church is such as this system of predictions contemplates. There are no indications whatever of a conversion of the world by means like those now employed for the ATTITUDE OF THE WOELD AND CHURCH. 425 purpose, while it continues under the administration at present exercised over it. Large as the success of missions is, not the slightest progress, taking the world together, is made. So far from it, the retrogres- sions in Christendom into infidelity, atheism, panthe- ism, or other forms of fatal error, are immensely more than enough to counterbalance the conversions even nominally to Christianity in heathen lands. Within fifty to sixty years, nearly the whole of Protestant Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland, have gone into rationalism, atheism, or pantheism ; and idealism, pantheism, spiritualism, . or other forms of infidelity have spread to a vast ex- tent in Great Britain and her colonies, and in the United States. On the other hand, there are decided indications that many of the great events foreshown in these predictions are to take place. No one would be sur- prised at a revolution in Europe that should over- throw the old dynasties, and give rise to democratic or military despotisms. Should that occur, no one would deem it improbable that some talented chief- tain, like the first or present Buonaparte, would rise to the head of those despotisms, and reunite the western Roman empire under his sceptre. No one would be surprised should such a despotism ally it- self to the Catholic hierarchies for the sake of their support. No one would think it strange should such a monarch under the promptings of those hierarohios, renew the persecution of the Protestants, and at- 426 BELIEVERS GENERALLY ARE SOON TO RECEIVE tempt to exterminate those of them who should boldly denounce him as the beast from the abyss, and proclaim the speedy coming of Christ to destroy his enemies, and establish his throne on the earth. — No one would be surprised if such a persecution should recoil on the Catholic church, and lead to its disseverance from the State, and its destruction. It is what a vast proportion of the people of France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and even Great Britain now wish. It would excite no general surprise, should the Israelites return to their national land, and reor- .ganize and re-establish themselves there as a nation. It would excite no surprise if under the impressions made by those great events, the conviction should very generally prevail with the people of God, that the coming of Christ is at hand, and great numbers should go forth to proclaim that belief, and bear the glad tidings of the gospel to the nations of the earth. The civil world is most manifestly tending toward these political and antichristian events. The ten- dency of the evangelical church is manifestly toward the views and the agencies which are foreshown of the people of God. And finally, it is revealed in these prophecies that while the antichristian party will continue to reject the doctrine of Christ's personal coming and reign, persecute those who hold and teach it, and oppose and endeavor to intercept the establishment of Christ's kingdom ; his true people will ere long be brought to receive it ; and the undoubting belief and THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST^S COMING AND REIGN. 427 open profession of it will become one of their most distinctive characteristics, and lead the civil rulers and apostate priests to attempt by persecution and war to sweep them from the earth. It is manifest from the measures which the persecutors are to take to preserve the bodies of the slain witnesses so that it may be seen with the most indubitable certainty whether they are raised from death, or not, that the witnesses are to die in the belief that they are to be raised ; and that they, therefore, and their party are to interpret the prophecy of their slaughter and re- surrection literally, not spiritually ; and thence that they are to interpret the other prophecies with which it is associated literally also ; and accordingly that they are to believe in the speedy infliction of destroying judgments on the apostate church ; the coming of Christ to intercept the beast and his armies in their attempts to prevent the establishment of his kingdom in the earth ; the resurrection of the holy dead at that epoch, and the commencement of his miillennial reign. The whole body of the witnesses and those who sympathize with them are thus indubi- tably to be avowed, and earnest believers in Christ^s speedy coming and reign. The announcement by the angel flying through mid-heaven having the everlast- ing gospel to preach, that the hour of God's judg- ment has come, shows also that those whom the angel represents are to know that the hour has come in which Christ is to descend to judge and destroy his enemies according to the predictions of these 428 BELIEVERS GENERALLY ARE SOON TO RECEIVE prophecies, and establish his empire on the earth. The shout of the people of God from the earth in response to the voice from the throne, after the over- throw of Babylon, " Alleluia ; for the Lord God Om- nipotent reigneth ; Let us rejoice and exult, for the marriage of the Lamb is come,'' indicates also that " all his servants, small and great," on the earth at that time, are to understand that the time of Christ's coming to raise his holy dead has arrived, and that the destruction of his enemies, and the redemption of the world is immediately to follow. The whole body of the sanctified are unquestionably therefore very soon to receive these as the teachings of the prophetic word, and are to profess and cherish them with the utmost earnestness and joy. The Spirit of God will breathe into their hearts a desire to under- stand what the purposes are which he has revealed. Faithful men will be raised up who will unfold and demonstrate more clearly that the principles on which the prophecies are to be interpreted, are those by which they are a revelation of these great events ; and the accomplishment of the predictions of the de- scent of the wild beast into hades, and its return, thence in the form of an eighth monarch of the whole empire, with ten subordinate chiefs that give to him their power, the renationalization of the Catholic hierarchies, and a fresh persecution of those who ad- here to their allegiance to Christ, will break the fet- ters of prejudice in which so many of God's people are now held, show them that the literal is the true THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST's COxMING AND REIGN. 429 construction of these predictions, and lead them to an -unhesitating and exulting faith in the coming and reign of Christ, as not only the doctrine of his word, but their only salvation, and the only hope of the world. Such is the issue in which this controversy is to ter- minate. No prepossessions ; no endeavors to perpet- uate the opposite belief; no struggles against the light of truth ; no efforts of antichrist or Satan can prevent it. It is the sovereign and gracious will of God, and he will accomplish it by his omnipotent Spirit and providence. It is in reference to this ques- tion that the two great parties into which mankind are to be divided, are to array themselves, and engage in their last conflict. The true people, the faithful witnesses of God are to believe and proclaim the great teachings of the prophecies, that Christ is to come in person, raise his saints from the grave, de- stroy the apostate hierarchy symbolized by Babylon, and the persecuting civil powers represented by the wild beast, establish his throne on the earth, judge the nations, convert those of them that are not con- signed to destruction, and reign here for ever over the ransomed race. Antichrist and his party are to deny it, and to undertake to verify their denial by disproving the prediction of the resurrection of the slain witnesses, and the establishment of an Israelit- ish kingdom in Judea, and are to perish in the at- tempt. It is a subject, therefore, of the greatoi^t practical 430 IT IS A SUBJECT OF MOMENT. moment, and is ere long to attract all eyes, and agitate all hearts. Let those who wish to be found on the side of Christ, beware how they trifle with or neglect it. Let those who reject and oppose his coming and reign, consider what the party is with which they are arraying themselves, and what the destiny is to which it is hastening. H 152 82 ' A <► •'TVi' .0*" ^ '» • ' • />■ <, ♦! r^ ^v ^ •]^^'^^4 *v - 'reatment Date: August 2005 (P^ yJ^^ ^°^ ' ' ^**'*^ •^. fw?R?o^.?^*'°"Technologies il -J^^^" *• .-V .V^^ *"'"'''' "*»^'"'"'*P" PRESERVATION fJ • J^S^^^ ** ^ V • ^a^TB ' ^ ^ Thomson Park Drive J '^ ■ A-fy ', fc^ 9"^ "^i/i'' ti. A-e- »v •♦i, ii>