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Sherry. 1843

62
FIRST ELEMENTS
OF
SACRED PROPHECY:
INCLUDING AN
EXAMINATION OF SEVERAL RECENT EXPOSITIONS,
AND OF THE
Year-Day Theory.
BY THE REV. T. RA BIRKS,
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
LONDON:
WILLIAM EDWARD PAINTER, 342, STRAND.
MDCCCXLIII.
Tappen Gift
Prest. Aas
1-30-1332-
INTRODUCTION.
THE whole of divine revelation may be distinguished
into three main portions-the Law, the Gospel, and
the Word of Prophecy. Each of these has its dis-
tinct use, and fulfils an important design in the
instruction of the Church of Christ, and its prepa-
ration for the kingdom of God. The objects which
the prophecies were designed to accomplish are
many and various. They serve to link into har-
monious union the precepts of the Law and the
promises of the Gospel. They give a freedom and
dignity to the obedience of the Christian, by ad-
mitting him to a glimpse of the counsels of the Most
High, and raising him to the high honour of being
a fellow-worker with God. They shield the grace
of the Gospel from licentious abuse, by exhibiting
the severest warnings of judgment to those who
corrupt and pervert its sacred privileges. They
supply warnings to the careless, and instruction and
guidance to the devout Christian. Every spiritual
faculty may find in them an appropriate field for its
noblest exercise. And especially, in these times,
they are the light which God himself has provided
the Church, to prepare it for approaching trials,
and for its final deliverance and glory.
The Word of Prophecy, again, may be distinguished
into two main parts. The first includes the simpler
1
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•
iv
INTRODUCTION.
prophecies of the Old Testament, which refer either
to the first coming of Christ, to judgments on East-
ern nations, or to the future restoration and glory
of Israel. The second comprehends the symboli-
cal prophecies of Daniel and St. John, with the
prophecy of our Lord, and a few predictions in the
writings of St. Paul. Its main objects are the events
of the Christian dispensation, from the ascension of
our Lord to His return in visible glory.
The following pages relate entirely to the second
of these divisions, which is composed mainly of
the symbolical prophecies. These refer more imme-
diately to the Church of Christ, in its actual state
and present dangers; and a right view of their true
meaning is therefore of the highest importance.
Their interpretation is also more difficult, from the
character of the events to which they relate, and the
symbols in which they are conveyed.
The maxims commonly adopted by Protestant
writers in the exposition of these prophecies have of
late been vigorously and perseveringly assailed. If
the objections urged against them are of real weight,
the effect will be to set aside nearly all their labours
from three centuries past, and to compel us to begin
the study afresh upon new principles. But if, on the
other hand, those objections are worthless, the im-
portance of the whole subject seems to require that
they should receive a full and distinct answer. Thus
only can the minds of simple Christians be freed
from painful doubts about the very foundation on
which those interpretations rest which they have
been accustomed to receive.
INTRODUCTION.
V
•
Such is the design of the following work. It is
strictly confined to a discussion of the first principles
of the Christian prophecies, or the truth of those
general maxims on which the best Protestant expo-
sitions repose. It may serve, therefore, as an intro-
duction either to the valuable works which have
already appeared, of Mede and Daubuz, Cressener
and Vitringa, and more recently by Mr. Faber, Mr.
Cuninghame, Mr. Frere, and other authors; or to
those which may yet appear, based on the same
general maxims of interpretation. At the same
time, it involves no decision on those secondary
details, some of them important, in which these
writers may diverge from each other, or from the
true and full meaning of the prophecies they have
sought to explain. It proceeds, therefore, but a
very short distance in this difficult and noble in-
quiry. The object has been mainly to secure firm
footing at every step, and, avoiding more doubtful
questions, to establish the first elements of prophe-
tic truth on clear and logical grounds of Scripture
evidence and solid reason.
The table of contents will explain sufficiently the
order and extent of the subjects which are here ex-
amined. Their variety has compelled me to be very
brief in the exhibition of each separate objection
or argument. There are also, unavoidably, many
references to the works examined. Yet I trust that
the reasoning will, in most cases, be clear and per-
spicuous, even to the general reader. It seemed
needless, in so elementary a work, to multiply refer-
ences to authors whose views may have been adopted;
vi
INTRODUCTION.
but the chief obligations to living writers have been
mentioned where they occur. Several parts might,
perhaps, claim to be strictly original; but this is a
point of very small importance. My chief aim has
been to furnish a manual of strict and conclusive
evidence on these first elements of prophetic inter-
pretation; and, for this end, to exclude carefully
every false statement, and all fallacious reasoning; to
offer no argument where the premises and the con-
clusion were not equally sound; and, in short, to set
before the reader nothing but the pure truth of God.
How far this humble and limited object has been
attained, must be left to his candid decision. May
it please God, even by these pages, however im-
perfect, to strengthen the faith of the Church, and
to diffuse a sound judgment on the meaning of these
mysterious portions of His holy word.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
1
CHAP. I.
ARGUMENTS ALLEGED AGAINST THE RECEIVED INTERPRETATIONS
Received maxims of prophecy, 1. Objection first-Clearness
of fulfilled prophecy, 3. II. Discordance of interpreters, 10.
The sixth seal, 13. Year-day, 14. Testimony of Gibbon,
15. III. Modern origin of the interpretations, 16. The
Year-day, 18. Testimony of Primasius, 20. Meaning of
Dan. xii. 9, 20-24. IV. The study of history required, 25.
Nineveh and Jerusalem, 27. V. Exaggeration of passing
events, 29. VI. Conviction of infidels, 32. Contrast of
the two views, 34.
CHAP. II.
PRESUMPTIONs alleged for THE FUTURIST THEORIES
...
Presumption first, Nature of prophecy as dealing in crisis ex-
amined, 36. Induction of scriptural instances, 38. II. The
tradition of the early Church, 40. Result of actual induc-
tion, 43. III. Simplicity of the Futurist view, 44. Futu
rist expositions of Daniel, 47; of Revelation, 51. Conclu-
sion, 57.
36
ON THE FOUR EMPIRES
CHAP. III.
:
..
59
General subjects in debate, 61. Consent on the four empires,
62. Internal evidence, 62-65; external, 66. II. Sameness
of empires in the two visions, objections, 66. Future use of
the kingdoms, 67. Misinterpretation of Dan. vii. 23, 70.
III. The three first empires, 73. Mr. Maitland and Lacun-
za's hypothesis, 73-76. IV. Application of the fourth em-
viii
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
pire to Rome, 78. Dr. Todd's objections, false maxims im-
puted, 78. Discord of interpreters, 81. Characters of the
fourth kingdom, 83. Mede's interpretation of the stone, 84.
Contrast of Bellarmine's reasoning, 87. Roman moderation,
Gibbon and Plutarch, 89. V. General inferences-time of
the prophecies, 91. Degradation of the parts of the image, 92.
Correspondence of symbols and history, 93. Silence of New
Testament on a future kingdom, 94.
CHAP. IV.
THE VISION OF THE RAM AND HE-GOAT (Dan. viii.)
General consent, 96. I. Historical evidence, date of the
vision, 97; its scene, 98; the horns of the ram, 99;
the three directions of conquest, 99. II. Objections—the
time of the end, 101; the two horns of the ram, 103. Divi-
sion of Alexander's kingdom, 104-109. Short continuance of
the division, 109. III. General remarks—change of dialect,
112; point of departure, 113; character of the symbols,
114; main outline of the vision, 116.
96
CHAP. V.
SUPPLEMENTARY OBJECTIONS
...
The two little horns, 118. Prophetic meaning of KINGS, 122.
Futurist objection, 123, 124. Question defined, 125. Scrip-
ture usage, 127-133.
CHAP. VI.
THE PROPHECY OF THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH (Dan. xi. 1-20)
Historical evidence, 135; Ptolemy, 137; Seleucus, 138; Phi-
ladelphus, 140; Antiochus the Great, 141; Raphia, 142;
perfecting of the temple, 145; Antiochus Epiphanes, 148.
II. Objections alleged-Authority of Jerome, 149; discord
of interpreters, 150; the latter days, 153; the mighty king,
154; the fourth king, Xerxes, 156; division of Alexander's
kingdom, 157; Bishop Newton defended, 158; kings for
kingdoms, 160; succession of persons, 162; homogeneity of
the kingdoms, 164; natural sense of the prophecy, 166.
118
135
CONTENTS.
CHAP. VII.
4.
ix
THE SEVENTY WEEKS
PAGE
General principles, 168. Mr. Tyso's objections, 169. Persian
decrees, 172. Discrepancy of interpreters, 173. Real source
of difficulty, 176. Outlines of the actual fulfilment, 176-179.
CHAP. VIII.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS FROM THE VISIONS OF DANIEL
The LAW of DEPARTURE, 182; of CONTINUITY, 183; of progres-
sive DEVELOPMENT, 185; of prophetical PERSPECTIVE, 186; the
cause of the peculiar clearness of the prophecy Dan. xi. 1-30,
187. The spiritual importance of the common events of Pro-
vidence, 189.
168
182
CHAP. IX.
THE PROPHECY OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
...
Nature of the difficulty, 194. Futurist theory, 195. I. Paral-
lelism of the three Gospels, 197. II. The point of departure,
199. III. The nature of the narrative in St. Luke, 202.
IV. The ABOMINATION Of DESOLATION, 204. Objections, 206.
the holy place, 209. The times of the Gentiles, 213. V. The
transition, 215. The great tribulation, 216. The shorten-
ing of the days, 217. VI. The meaning of "this generation,"
221-230. The day and hour, 231. VII. General conclu-
sions, 233.
CHAP. X.
THE GENERAL DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE-FUTURIST OBJECTIONS
TO ITS FULFILMENT
The variety of actual expositions, 243. Early use of the pro-
phecy, 245; later use, 247. II. The duty of literal in-
terpretation, 250. Opposite dangers, 251. Fallacy of the
common plea for the letter, 252; necessary limits, 253; stars,
rivers, and fountains, 255. The sealed tribes, 256; remarks
of Vitringa, 258. III. Alleged disbelief of miracles, 260.
IV. The analogy of Matt. xxiv., and the vision of the seals,
240
193
261.
X
CONTENTS.
CHAP. XI.
PAGE.
THE GENERAL SCOPE OF THE APOCALYPSE-DIRECT ARGUMENTS 264
The title of the prophecy, 265. The analogy of the Old Testa-
ment, 267. The analogy of Daniel's visions, 272. The pro-
phecy of our Lord, 275. The prophetic allusions in the
Epistles, 277. The character of St. John's writings, 279.
The date of the prophecy, 284. The parties addressed, 286.
Direct statements of the prophecy-" things which must be
shortly done," 287. The opening benediction, 290. The
special occasion of the visions, 292. The Lord's-day, 294.
The opening emblems, 294. The allusions to the Jews, 296.
The Epistles to the Churches, 298. The prophetic scenery,
300. The oath of the angel, 302. The universal consent
of the Church, 303. Summary of the evidence and the
objection, 304-307.
CHAP. XII.
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY-THE QUESTION STATED
Importance of the subject, 308; state of the controversy, 309.
I. General nature of the theory, 310. Objections thus re-
moved, 312. Mede's statement explained and defended, 314.
II. Nature of possible evidence, 316; maxim of Hooker,
317. III. The nature of the passages themselves, 319.
IV. Symmetry of the sacred prophecies, 324; previous ex-
amples of revealed periods, 325. V. The symbolical nature
of the books, 326. VI. The dispensation, one of mystery,
328. VII. Their mysterious introduction, 330. Early re-
cognition of the mystery, 331.
CHAP. XIII.
308
...
332
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY-THE NUMBERS IN DANIEL
I. The seventy weeks, 333. Opposite answers, 334. Four
terms of prophetic time, 336. Gradation of periods, 337. II.
The sentence in the wilderness, 338. III. Typical siege in
Ezekiel, 344. Objections of Bishop Horsley, 346. IV.
The words of Christ, Luke xiii., 349. V. The time, times,
and half, 350. VI. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar, 353.
VII. The evening and morning (Dan. viii.), 356. Connexion
CONTENTS.
xi
PAGE.
with the seventy weeks, 359: Remark of Mede, 360.
Jewish opinions, 363. VIII. The oath of the angel, 363.
The Jewish dispersion, 365. IX. The supplementary dates,
366. Comparison with Josh. xiv., 367. X. Cyclical cha-
racter of the times, 368. Concluding remarks, 371.
CHAP. XIV.
...
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY-THE NUMBERS IN THE APOCALYPSE
The ten days' tribulation, 373. II. The locust woe, 374.
Symbolical miniature, 375. Oath of the angel, 376. III.
The second woe, 376., Version of Rev. ix. 15, 377. Cor-
respondence with Ezekiel, 378. IV. The holy city, 378.
The type of Elias, 379. The three days and half, 380. V.
The wilderness sojourn, 381. Threefold reference to typical
histories, 383. VI. The mystery of God, 385. Meaning
of "time no longer," 386-388. VII. The sixth head of the
beast, 389.
373
CHAP. XV.
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY CONCLUDED
The ten kingdoms, 392. Uncertain date of the 1,260 years,
396. Analogy of other predictions, 398. Repeated failures
examined, 401. Gradual communication of light, 406. Pro-
traction and anticipation, 410. Expositions actually fulfilled,
413. Review of the argument, 416.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
CHAP. XVI.
392
...
420
>
1
CHAPTER I.
CURRENT ARGUMENTS AGAINST RECEIVED
INTERPRETATIONS.
EVER since the time of the Reformation, the following
maxims in the interpretation of the sacred prophecies
have been generally received by the Protestant Churches :
1. That the visions of Daniel commence with the
times of the prophet.
2. That the events predicted in the Apocalypse begin
from the time of prophecy, or within the first century.
3. That the fourth beast denotes the Roman empire.
4. That Babylon in the Apocalypse denotes Rome.
5. That the little horn in Dan. vii. denotes the Papacy.
6. That the man of sin relates to the same power.
7. That the prophecy in 1 Tim. iv. is fulfilled in past
events.
8. That Babylon denotes, at least inclusively, Rome
Papal.
The three following have also been received by the
most learned and able commentators of our own country,
from the time of Mede down to the present day.
9. That the two woes relate to the Saracens and the
Turks.
10. That the two beasts in Rev. xiii. denote the civil
and ecclesiastical Latin empire.
11. That a prophetic day denotes a natural year, and
a prophetic time three hundred and sixty natural years.
Of these leading maxims, the four first are held by
the fathers of the early Church and most of the Roman
commentators, as well as by the Reformed Churches.
On the other hand, the three last, though generally re-
B
2
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. I.
ceived by interpreters of the English Church, are re-
jected by many foreign Protestants, especially among
the Lutheran divines.
All of these maxims, however, without distinction,
have been rejected by several late writers. Mr. Burgh,
Mr. Maitland, Dr. Todd, Mr. Dodsworth, Mr. Tyso, and
Mr. Mac Causland, and more recently Mr. Govett, are
the chief of them whose names have appeared; and of
these, the three first are doubtless the leaders. To these,
several anonymous writers may be added. They agree
in few points, except in rejecting the conclusions of all
previous expositors; and maintain that nearly the whole
of Daniel's prophecies and of the Apocalypse are unful-
filled.
Now, if the theories of these writers are entirely ground-
less, the responsibility which they have incurred is very
great, and the effects of their error may prove extremely
fatal to the Church. The strongest bulwark against
the revived zeal of the Romish Church will have been
taken away. when it is most needed; and the danger of
a renewed apostasy will have been fearfully increased,
at the time when its guilt would be most aggra-
vated, and its punishment most speedy and sure. A
spirit of feverish and sceptical doubt, the most fatal to
real progress in divine truth, will have been injected,
without warrant, into the the minds of thousands; the
light which the word of God has thrown, for the benefit
of the Church, on half the whole period of her history,
will have been quenched in darkness; and her hopes for
the future, by a perplexed and fallacious application of
irrelevant prophecies, be involved in a chaos of fanciful
conjectures and inextricable confusion.
It is not, then, from a light estimate of the mischiefs
which these theories are calculated to produce, that I
shall endeavour carefully to guard against all controver-
•
CHAP. I.]
3
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sial asperity; but because truth, however important, is
best maintained and most commended to others by a
calm and dispassionate inquiry. One subject, indeed,
will occur, where the monstrous nature of the paradox
which is maintained, and the tone in which it is de-
fended, would justify severe language, and seems almost
to require an indignant protest to be joined with its re-
futation.
For distinctness, I shall call the rival systems the
Protestant and the Futurist interpretations. The three
last of the maxims given above are rejected, it is true,
by many Protestant divines. Yet, since those propo-
sitions embody, to use Mr. Maitland's words, "the
sentiments which have been maintained by most Pro-
testant divines, and which are held by most (Protestant)
writers on Prophecy in the present day," while the
oppositeview denies all warrant in the prophecies for any
protest against the Church of Rome, the propriety of the
title, in the former case, cannot with justice be denied.
The following are the main preliminary objections
which the Futurists allege against the Protestant system:
1. The natural or necessary clearness of all fulfilled
prophecy.
2. The discordance of Protestant interpreters.
3. The modern or even heretical origin of their views.
4. The historical research which they require.
5. The exaggerated view of passing events on which
they are based.
6. Their unsuitableness to convince infidels, or profit
the Church.
I. THE NATURAL CLEARNESS OF ALL FULFILLED
PROPHECY is the first objection. So Mr. Maitland,
First Enq., pp. 43-46; Mr. Burgh, Lect. Adv., pp. 21,
118; Lect. Apoc., pp. 43, 44, Dr. Todd, Lect. iv., pp.
137, 186; and Mr. Mac Causland, Látt. Days, pp. 13, 14,
f
1
B 2
4
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
1
114. For the sake of brevity, I will only quote one passage
from Mr. Burgh, which contains the sum of the whole:
"Why are they unintelligible? Why, but because
the great canon of interpretation, derived from the use
and intent of all prophecy, has been lost sight of; that
that prophecy-which before fulfilment did not serve
the purpose of warning to the believer, and about which,
on the supposition of its having been fulfilled, there
remains difficulty, uncertainty, and doubt-has not yet
been fulfilled."
Now, since the warning beforehand is the same on
every hypothesis, it is the second clause alone in which
the objection resides. And this admits of a very full
and conclusive answer.
1. First, the maxim, as broadly laid down in the
places referred to above, is palpably false. There are
many prophecies, the fulfilment of which, though real,
is denied both by Jews and Infidels; as all those which
relate to the first advent of our blessed Lord. The
clearness asserted must, at least, be confined to sincere
and pious Christians. Hardened prejudice or unbelief
may be blind to the plainest truths.
2. Secondly, even when thus limited, the assertion is
untrue. There are thousands of sincere, but ignorant
Christians, who are too little acquainted with the facts
of history and the state of the world to have any clear
assurance about many fulfilled prophecies: and there
are Christians, both pious and intelligent, whose ac-
quaintance with the prophecies themselves is very slight,
and who can therefore have no clear knowledge which
of them are fulfilled.
3. Further, there are predictions, the right application
of which depends on a critical exactness in the trans-
lation, as 2 Sam. xxiii. 7. Now upon such passages no
Christian can form a certain judgment, whether they
CHAP. I.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
5
10
·
have been accomplished or not, unless he be versed in
the original language, or, at least, able to avail himself
of the labours of others more learned than himself.
The clearness asserted, then, can only apply to the
case of sincere Christians, of a teachable spirit, of com-
petent information and scriptural knowledge, and who
are either critics themselves, or have a sound judgment
to decide upon the researches of others. But is it true,
even within these limits? Both reason and Scripture
decide that it is not.
4. This may be shown, first, on grounds of reason.
The obscurity of unfulfilled prophecy arises from twe
main causes-difficulties of grammar, phrase, style, or
connexion; and the omission of circumstantial details,
not given in the prediction. The second of these is
removed by the fulfilment, when that has been clearly as-
certained; but the other source of obscurity remains un-
diminished. And besides, in many cases, the fulfilment
itself may give rise to fresh difficulties; first, to ascertain
the event itself, since different events may have a close
resemblance to each other; next, to catch the true moral
features of the history, which are commonly the most
prominent in the prediction; and, thirdly, to explain
minuter parts of the prophecy, which may very possibly
be obscure, even when the general reference is clear and
certain. We cannot therefore assume, from any prin-
ciple of reason, that every fulfilled prophecy must be
clearer than those which are unfulfilled. For anything
we can tell, some of them may even become more difficult
than before, since several fresh sources of obscurity have
been introduced, and only one has been removed. Nay,
this will certainly be the case, if one class of them only
are given as a sign to the unbeliever, and others are
designed exclusively for the Church, to exercise the
wisdom and humility of her members, and unfold the
deeper mysteries of Divine Providence.
21
6
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
5. Next, the Scriptures themselves conclusively refute
the assertion. The prophecies which have evidently
been fulfilled, and which, nevertheless, are still involved
in uncertainty and doubt, are so many and various, that
the chief difficulty is to compress them within a narrow
compass.
(1). Matt. ii. 15. Fulfilled, and commonly applied
to our Lord's return from Egypt. Yet a learned pro-
fessor of our own days maintains that it has no such
reference, and that it was fulfilled by the flight into
Egypt, and by a succession of events previous to that
flight, from the time of the Exodus.
(2). Matt. ii. 23. Fulfilled, yet no point has been
more disputed among divines than the passage or pas-
sages referred to, and the exact nature of the fulfilment.
(3). Matt. iv. 15, 16. Here we learn, from inspired
authority, that Isaiah ix. 1, 2, is fulfilled. Yet, by con-
sulting Mede, pp. 101, 457, we shall find that the views
most diverse have been taken of its exact meaning and
proper application.
(4). Matt. xi. 14. The prophecy in Mal. iv. fulfilled,
by our Lord's own testimony, in the Baptist; but in
what sense, or to what extent, or whether exclusive of
a personal coming of Elijah, is even still disputed in the
Church.
(5). Matt. xii. 40. There are five or six opinions
upon this fulfilled prophecy, two or three modes of
reckoning the time, and three different expositions of
"the heart of the earth."
(6). Matt. xvi. 16, 17. Our Lord's character as the
Messiah was already confirmed by the fulfilment of
many prophecies. Yet our Saviour does not view the
confession of Peter as the result of their clearness, but
as the proof of God's special grace to that Apostle.
The last verse of the chapter is another instance.
(7). Matt. xxi. 23. A fulfilled prophecy, of which at
CHAP. L]
7
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY
least three applications have been made to the visible
Church-to true believers-and to the British nation,
The fanciful nature of this last does not affect the
argument.
(8). Matt. xxiv. 14. Fulfilled, or fulfilling; but
whether before the fall of Jerusalem, or at present, or
in both periods, is still a subject of frequent debate.
(9). Matt. xxvii. 9, 10. The passage, Zech. xi. 7-14,
is thus plainly fulfilled. But its obscurity is almost in-
superable, and far greater than that of many unfulfilled
prophecies.
(10). Luke ii. 35. This has clearly been fulfilled;
yet no less a writer than St. Hilary applies it to the
fiery trial of the Virgin in the day of judgment.
(11). Luke xii. 49. Fulfilled, since the fire was
already kindled; but three or four different meanings
have been assigned to it.
(12). Luke xiii. 32, 33. The same. Three or four
varieties of opinion still-whether literal days, or years,
or indefinite; and, if definite, how to be reckoned.
(13). John vi. 14. Even the Capernaites bear wit-
ness that Deut. xv. 15-18 is fulfilled in the person of
our Lord; the same is confirmed by the inquirers,
John vii. 40; by St. Peter, Acts iii. 22, 24, 26; and St.
Stephen, Acts vii. 35, 37. Yet Mr. Mac Causland, one
of the Futurists, maintains that Elijah, and not our Lord,
fulfils the prophecy.
(14). John vii. 41, 42, 52. Two prophecies, Isa. ix.
1, 2, and Micah. v. 2, were already fulfilled in our Lord.
Yet after this fulfilment, those who followed Mr Burgh's
advice, by searching Scripture without searching history,
drew an imaginary proof from one of these prophecies
that neither had been fulfilled.
(15). John xii. 12-16. No instance can be clearer
than this; the prophecy was known to the disciples
,2
8
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
short and simple-the facts before their eyes, yet" they
understood not at the first." The short interval after
which they understood does not affect the conclusion.
It was the ligh tof fresh facts. distinct from the fulfil-
ment, which removed the veil from their eyes.
(16). John xvi. 16. Fulfilled, and yet only a few
years ago the subject of controversy, with no less than
four different opinions. (See Scott in loco, Invest. i.
p. 426, ii. p. 259, iv. p. 54).
The theories of the writers with whom we are arguing
forbid all reference to the Apocalypse, and leave us but
a narrow field of choice in the Epistles; however, we
have one clear instance, and perhaps more might be
found.
(17). 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7. The letting power has been
fulfilled, whether we suppose it, with the Fathers and
Protestant writers, taken away centuries ago; or, with
the Futurists, still in action. But there are five or six
views of the exact meaning—the Roman imperial power,
the coercion of that empire, the Holy Spirit, the civil
magistracy of Europe, and the episcopal succession.
It is needless to prolong this list by examples from the
Old Testament, where, I believe, the instances are still
more numerous. The total emptiness of this first ob-
jection of the Futurists, when tested by the word of God,
is now abundantly clear.
Finally, no class of writers more uniformly sin against
this axiom of their own framing than the Futurists them-
selves. It is singular to observe, that whatever frag-
ment of Daniel, or the Apocalypse, or our Lord's pro-
phecies, any one of them admits to be fulfilled, he is
contradicted by the others. To avoid prolixity, I shall
here adduce only three or four instances; but the fact
has no exception.
First, the head of gold, Mr. Burgh maintains, is the
CHAP. I.]
9
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
;
individual Nebuchadnezzar exclusively.
Mr. Tyso,
however, expounds it to be the Babylonian empire, and
Mr. Maitland, the Babylonian and Persian empires
viewed together as a single monarchy.
Secondly, on Dan. ix., Mr. Maitland "holds it plain
from the event that the seventy weeks' are sevens of
years, or that the period is 490 years." Mr. Burgh
reckons the sixty-two weeks as past; but the seven
weeks are future in his first edition, and past in the
second. Dr. Todd "is not convinced that the first part
even is fulfilled;" while Mr. Tyso is convinced that the
whole period is 490 days, and future.
Thirdly, on Dan. xi. 1-20, Dr. Todd asserts that "the
disagreement of commentators," and their "widely dis-
cordant systems," prove it to be altogether future. But
Mr. Mac Causland declares that "the unanimous con-
currence of commentators," and the "universal assent
of mankind," show "the precision and accuracy of the
prediction," and "guarantee the truth of its fulfilment.”
Fourthly, Mr. Mac Causland regards the passage,
Luke xxi. 8-24, as 66
an indisputable announcement of
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus," and quite dis-
tinct from those in Matt. xxiv. and Mark xiii., which he
maintains to be future. Mr. Burgh, on the other hand,
and Maramensis, another Futurist, use the passage in
St. Luke as one main argument to prove the prediction
St. Matthew and St. Mark unfulfilled; nay, Mr. Burgh
calls the opposite view "one of the interpretations made
out for the year-day theory !"
#
What egregious self-contradiction is here! Surely
these ultra-literalists are bent on securing, for one pre-
diction at least, a figurative fulfilment; for there is not
one stone laid on another in the temple of prophecy
which they do not strive to throw down.
II. THE DISCORDANCE OF PROTESTANT INTER-
B 3
10
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. I.
$
PRETERS is the second presumption brought against
the truth of their views. See, for instance, Attempt
&c., p. 22; First Enq., pp. 48-56; Burgh. Lect. Apoc.,
pp. 39-44; Donnellan Lect., pp. 136, 137; Mac Causl.
Latt. D., pp. 13, 14.
This objection is very plausible and popular, and well
adapted to leave a deep impression upon superficial
minds. The Futurists, who urge it, are open, indeed, to
a crushing rejoinder: but at present I will only make a
few remarks, that seem directly to meet the objection,
and prove its weakness.
Supposing, then, that the general principle of the
received interpretations is true, and that the visions of
Daniel and St. John range over two thousand years,
what is the degree of accordance that could be reason-
ably looked for among the Protestant expositors? If,
in fact, they fall short of this, there is a solid presumption
against their theory, but not otherwise. The following
points need, therefore, to be carefully weighed.
1. The prophecies themselves, on this view, reach
through more than half the time of the world's history ;
and this, too, the half which is by far the most eventful
to the Church, including the rejection of the Jews, the
call of the Gentiles, the restoration of Israel, and both
advents of the Messiah. This wide range of the prophecies
would alone warrant us to expect considerable variety,
even supposing the main hypothesis to be true.
2. The number of distinct predictions is very great;
those of Daniel alone include at least one hundred and
twenty particulars, and those of the Apocalypse more
than twice the number. How, then, without a miracle,
could there fail to be many and great diversities, among
the soundest expositors, where the predictions are so
numerous and the events have so wide a range?
3. These prophecies are chiefly symbolical.
The
..
A
CHAP. I.]
11
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
whole of nature thus becomes a divine language to
express the various events of Providence. Now the
language of parables, as Christ himself teaches, excludes
the careless from knowledge, while it is doubly instruc-
tive to the faithful inquirer; we might reasonably expect
increased variety of judgment and interpretation from
this cause.
4. The Apocalypse is full of typical allusions to other
Scriptures, on which the true exposition very greatly
depends. Extensive knowledge of the word of God,
and a close attention to these allusions, are eminently
needful, before a successful interpretation can be given.
Here is another source of mistakes, and therefore of
discordance.
5. Some of these prophecies, or parts of them, are
declared to be sealed till the time of the end. This of
itself seems to imply that the knowledge of them would
not at once be given to the Church, but gradually in the
latter times. Here we have a further explanation of the
divergence of interpreters. The divine purpose of
revealing the prophecies by degrees could not otherwise
have been fulfilled. Thus Sir Isaac Newton observes—
"All this is as much as to say that these prophecies of
Daniel and John should not be understood till the time
of the end: but then some should prophecy out of them
in an afflicted and mournful state for a long time, and
darkly, so as to convert but few; but, in the very end,
the prophecy should be so far interpreted as to convince
many. Then (saith Daniel) many shall run to and
fro, and knowledge shall be increased.' It is, therefore,
a part of this prophecy, that it should not be understood
before the last age of the world; and therefore it makes
for the credit of the prophecy that it is not yet under-
stood. But if the age of opening these things be now
approaching, as by the great successes of late interpreters it
+
12
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
E.
seems to be, we have more encouragement than ever to
look into these things."
We may here observe, in passing, how far this cautious
reasoner was from adopting the rash conclusion of those
who would infer, from partial discordance, universal
error. Those who have traced carefully the progress of
interpretation since his time, will see in it a fresh proof
of the correctness of his judgment.
6. The interpreters whose discordance is made the
ground of objection are scattered over many countries,
and through nearly four centuries, are extremely various
in their habits of thought, and differ widely in piety,
power of thought, and soundness of judgment. When
to this we add all the previous causes of divergence,
can it be surprising that several schools of interpretation
should exist, and that each should include many partial
variations?
No presumption, therefore, can justly lie against the
Protestant interpretation, unless it can be shown that,
in the most popular and approved expositors, there has
been no general approach to a fixed interpretation of
the ymbols, and to definite results in their historical ap-
plication. But, after perusing more than thirty of the
most noted, from the Reformation downwards, I assert,
without hesitation, that the reverse is true—that a
gradual progress towards fixed and consistent interpre-
tation does exist, and may be traced by any one who
reads them, not to cavil at their mistakes, but to learn
the true meaning of God's word. But besides this fact,
which many perhaps are unable to confirm for them-
selves, I will adduce two or three of a simpler kind.
These will show the little reliance that can be placed on
the judgment of the Futurists, when their object is to
expose the discord of Protestant interpreters.
1. Mr. Burgh and Mr. Maitland dwell at length on
CHAP. I.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
13
the numerous expositions given of the seals. This is
natural, since on that subject the divergence of opinion
is great. The symbols themselves, indeed, would lead
us to expect it: they are silent and voiceless, and bear
many tokens of peculiar mystery. But Mr. Maitland
proceeds further to ridicule the symbolical expositions
of the sixth seal as a gross insult to common sense.”
"To be sure (he says of one of them), if we may go so
far from the plain letter of Scripture, it may easily
admit of any construction. Surely, if these prophecies
are holy Scripture, it is high time that the common
sense of the Christian Church should be aroused to seek
after some interpretation which may do less violence to
the word of God." (Att., p., 22). In short, nothing
but the danger of "violating the chronology" of a
system, in Mr. Maitland's view, could have led to so
absurd an exposition.
(C
Now, of the two Futurists who have expounded this
chapter, and who of course have no chronology" to
warp their judgment, one maintains spontaneously that
precise interpretation of the symbols which Mr. Mait-
land rejects as absurd. Mr. Mac Causland reasons
thus:-
"From these prophetic descriptions of the overthrow
and annihilation of the several political communities of
Babylon, Idumea, and Egypt, and which are for the
most part identical in expression with the passage of the
Revelations, we may collect, in the first place, that the
scene pourtrayed in the opening of the sixth seal is sym-
bolical; and, in the next place, that the purport of it is
the subversion of the existing powers, and the desolation
of their seals of empire; and that therefore the sun,
moon, and stars, &c., are emblematic of those things
which are to be shaken." "Such, then, is the probable
purport of the symbols-constituted authority deposed,
-
14
CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
།
the nobility blotted out with sanguinary violence, and
all subordinate powers cast to the ground." (Latter
Days, pp. 98, 101).
Here, then, we see a Futurist, with no chronology to
violate, who is led, by comparing scripture with scrip-
ture, to that precise view, which, in the Protestant in-
terpreters, Mr. Maitland ridicules as a "gross insult to
common sense." The ridicule and sarcasm, therefore,
in this case, prove only a very superficial acquaintance
with the subject in debate.
2. Mr. Tyso, in his "Elucidation of the Prophecies,"
gives a portentous list of forty-seven dates assigned to
the 1,260 days, by different authors, and this in disproof
of the year-day theory. "By these it will be seen (he
adds), that no two of them agree in the same date
Decisive time has proved thirty-two of them mistaken.”
Now, of the forty-five authors adduced, three are
Literalists, and seven reject the year-day theory. Of the
rest, five at least agree in one date, three respectively in
two others, and two in several. Stranger still, out of
thirty-six authors, whose dates, Mr. Tyso says, have
been disproved by time, no less than twenty-three assigned
those dates after the events. It is plain then, that,
whatever has refuted them, time has not. And yet
statements so utterly rash and careless are one main
reason brought forward by this writer to justify a total
rejection of the Protestant interpreters.
3. Dr. Todd asserts, as we have seen, that the ex-
positions of Dan. xi. are throughout so discordant, as to
prove that the whole is unfulfilled. "The most eminent
theologians have laboured upon it, and laboured, as
their disagreement proves, in vain." Now, on the
nineteen first verses, not one variety of exposition, of
any importance, can be found, from the time of Jerome
down to the present day; and in the eleven which follow,
CHAP. I.]
15
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
not above three or four dissentients appear, except the
present writers. Hence Mr. Mac Causland, a thorough
Futurist, honestly declares, with scarce an hyperbole,
that "the universal assent of mankind has been accorded
to the interpretation.”
But the rashness of Dr. Todd's assertion will be mani-
fest in a still clearer light from the following quotation.
That very interpretation, which the Futurist divine
reckons so obscure as to prove the prophecy unfulfilled,
Gibbon, the infidel, affirms to be so plain as to prove
that the prophecy was written after the event.
Let us
hear his own words:-
"The author of the book of Daniel is too well informed of the
revolutions of the Persian and Macedonian empires, which are
supposed to have happened long after his death. He is too ig-
norant of the transactions of his own times. In a word, he is
too exact for a prophet, and too fabulous for a contemporary
historian.
"The first of these objections was urged fifteen hundred years
ago, by the celebrated Porphyry. He carefully illustrated the
distinct and accurate series of history contained in the book of Daniel,
as far as the death of Antiochus Epiphanes; for beyond that period
the author seems to have had no other guide than the shadowy
light of conjecture. The four empires are clearly delineated: the
expedition of Xerxes into Greece; the rapid conquest of Persia
by Alexander; his untimely death, without posterity; the division
of his monarchy into four kingdoms, one of which, Egypt, is
mentioned by name; their various wars and intermarriages; the
persecution of Antiochus; the profanation of the temple; and
the invincible arms of the Romans, are described with as much
clearness in the prophecies of Daniel, as in the histories of Justin
and Diodorus. From such a perfect resemblance the artful infidel
would infer, that both alike were composed after the event.".
See Gibbon's Letter to Bishop Hurd (Hurd's Works, vol. v., p.
365).
This one passage alone, with every thoughtful mind,
must annihilate the pretensions of the Donnellan lec-
16
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
turer as a sound or wise interpreter of prophecy. The
exact correspondence between the vision and the facts of
history, which is plain to the eyes even of the infidel,
to his far more sceptical vision appears faint and ob-
scure; and while not only Christian interpreters, but
unbelievers themselves, from the third down to the
eighteenth century, are agreed in the meaning, Dr.
Todd ventures to assert, that the discordance is so
great as to prove the prediction unfulfilled! The points
which are specified by Gibbon, for their historical
plainness, are all, without one exception, denied by the
Futurist divine, on the vain pretence of their impene-
trable obscurity.
*
III. THE MODERN ORIGIN OF THE PROTESTANT IN-
TERPRETATIONS is a third presumption brought against
them. So Mr. Burgh, L. Adv., p. 56; Mr. Tyso, Pref.,
and p. 68; and Dr. Todd, Lect. on Ant., pp. 28-35.
One passage from the last of these writers will be suffi-
cient to explain the nature of the charge:—
"In endeavouring to ascertain the true sense and import of
these prophecies, it is natural to inquire how they were received
and understood in the primitive Church. The opinions enter-
tained by ancient Christian expositors must always be regarded
as of great importance, not only as having existed before the
great theological controversies that have so warped the judgment
of modern commentators, but because it is reasonable to think
that they, who were but a few generations removed from the
Apostles, may have preserved some light, which has since been
extinguished.
"Certain, however, it is, that, in the interpretation of the pro-
phecies relating to antichrist and the latter times, the ancient
Church were much more nearly unanimous than we have been
since the introduction of the controversial expositions, wherein
the contending parties have sought only to discover their theo-
logical opponents in the antichrist or apostasy foretold. It is
true there are points in the ancient opinions about antichrist
which I am far from undertaking to defend; but, setting these
CHAP. I.]
17
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
aside, there are certain great and leading outlines in which the
primitive Church is agreed; and it is admitted by the most
learned and zealous defenders of the modern system of interpre-
tation, that, until about the twelfth century, the conclusions
which they have drawn from the prophecies were utterly un-
known to the Church."
A few remarks will expose the real emptiness of this
objection, however plausible it may appear at first sight.
1. First, out of the eleven axioms of Protestant in-
terpretation before given, the four first, which are the
basis of the rest, have the full and unbroken concur-
rence of the early Church; while the view of the Futu-
rists on three out of the four is flatly opposed to all
primitive tradition.
2. The doctrine which is most open to the charge of
novelty, and against which the Futurists aim their chief
assault, is the year-day theory, or the mystical inter-
pretation of the 1,260 days. Now, to judge of the
weight of this objection, we must first examine the na-
ture of the year-day theory, as maintained by its sounder
advocates. Viewed as an hypothesis, it rests on two
certain facts and one assumption.
(1). That the Church of Christ was designed to be
kept in a continual expectation of the Saviour's speedy
return, as the full object of her hope, and the continual
motive to diligence and watchfulness. This is plain
from numerous passages of Scripture.
(2). That, in the wisdom of God, a long season, as
man would account it, of more than eighteen hundred
years was to elapse, before the fit and appointed time
would be come for that glorious revelation. This is
clear from the event alone.
(3). That to sustain this hope to the end, when the
lapse of centuries had obscured it, an interval of about
two-thirds of its length, and forming its latest portion,
འ
18
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
+
was announced under a form which partially veiled its
meaning; so that, while unintelligible till events began
to explain it, it might afterwards, as the time drew nigh,
be clearly interpreted on principles drawn from Scrip-
ture itself. This assumption is in complete harmony
with the two previous facts, and with the actual length
of the prophetic period. It is also strongly confirmed
by the analogy of the seventy weeks of Daniel, which
occupy about three-fourths of the space between Cyrus
and the fall of the second temple.
From these two facts, and this one postulate, it would
plainly result-
First, that this figurative sense of the 1,260 days,
even if true, could not possibly be received in the Church
till the close of the twelfth century, or within one gene-
ration from the close of the period, supposing its com-
mencement to be dated from the birth of Christ. To
ante-date it still further would be manifestly absurd,
though natural enough up to this limit.
Secondly, that for three centuries, at least, after its
appearance, the notion could only be held vaguely and
partially, and rather as a floating suspicion than a fixed
doctrine; because, for three centuries after Christ, there
would be no events answering to those by which the
prophecy describes and marks out the commencement
of this period.
Thirdly, that after this time the mystical exposition
would be held with greater consistency and firmness;
because its commencement might be placed in times of
plain corruption and partial apostasy in the Church,
without its close becoming so distant as to destroy, in-
stead of sustaining, the expectation of our Lord's speedy
return. Still we might infer from the first maxim that
there would be repeated anticipations of the true date.
Now such are the precise facts which history presents
CHAP. I.
19
ELEMENTs of proPHECY.
to us. The mystical exposition of the 1,260 days as
years was first published about A.D. 1,200. For more
than three centuries, till the Reformation, it was held
by comparatively few, and in a vague manner. But
from the time of Osiander (1544), and the Centuria-
tors, it has been generally received and retained in
the Protestant Churches, though with frequent antici-
pations of its date, from Brightman down to the present
day. The facts minutely correspond to the hypothesis.
Nothing, therefore, can be more absurd than to allege
these same facts as a proof that the hypothesis is false.
If it be false, it must be proved such on other grounds of
internal evidence, drawn from the prophecy alone.
3. I have thus shown that, with regard to the period
of 1,260 years, the comparatively modern rise of the in-
terpretation is no presumption against its truth; and
indeed, when its peculiar circumstances are closely
examined, is an argument in its favour. The objec-
tion, however, may be stated in a more general form.
It may be urged that, apart from this specific case, the
principle, itself of expounding days as years, or of giving
a mystical sense to the periods of time in the Apoca-
lypse, is unnatural and groundless; that it is novel, with-
out an excuse for its novelty, and condemned by the
silence of all antiquity. So Mr. Tyso writes :-
"I ob-
ject to the day-year theory, because it does not appear
that any man ever interpreted days as meaning years
during the first fifteen centuries of the Christian era.
All the early fathers understood the times literally."
Now, to pass by the gross mistake about fifteen cen-
turies, which Mr. Tyso himself has blazoned with italics
to make it more conspicuous, I reply to the general state-
ment itself, that it is groundless and untrue. The two
principles, of a mystical meaning in the prophetic times,
and of interpreting a day by a year, were both separately
20
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
recognized at or before the rise of Popery in the sixth cen-
tury. Thus Primasius observes (La Bigne Biblioth.,
tom. i., col. 1411, 1417) on the forty-two months
"Numerus mensium non novissimam tantum persecu-
tionem significat, sed etiam Christianitatis tempus omne
designat." And again, on xii. 5, he observes-" By that
number of days, which make three years and six months,
he denotes in this place also all the times of Christianity
ever since the preaching of Christ began."
The principle, then, of a mystical sense is clearly re-
cognized. But so, too, is the principle of expounding
a day by a year. For thus Primasius expounds the
passage, Rev. xi. 9, 11: “By the three days and a half
we may understand three years and six months, of which
the prophecy of Daniel also announces that they will arrive
in the last week." So that, in fact, the two principles
of the Protestant interpretation most decried as novel
have been separately derived from Scripture as early as
the beginning of the sixth century, and were applied to
the 1,260 days, as soon as that was possible, without
doing violence to the great hope of the Church.
4. The Protestant interpretation of the times is no
novelty, therefore, in the maxims on which it rests, but
only in their application. I observe, fourthly, that
within these limits its novelty is an argument in its
favour: for on this point, at least, we have the direct
warrant of Scripture for preferring the views of later times
to those of the early Church. The words which contain
these mysterious times are said to be "closed and sealed
till the time of the end.”
The greater part of Dr. Todd's first lecture, and the
whole of the first appendix, amounting to nearly a hundred
pages, are employed in the attempt to refute this argu-
ment, which yields so strong a presumption in favour of
the Protestant interpretations. It will require, however,
CHAP. I.]
21
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
a very short analysis to prove that this attempt is a total
failure, and that the historical research of that appendix,
so far as it bears on the main question, is entirely thrown
away.
(1). In the first place, the lecturer's remarks are
aimed chiefly against a peculiar hypothesis of Joseph
Mede. That distinguished writer supposed that the
periods of 1,290 and 1,335 days were to be dated from
the profanation of the temple by Antiochus, and that
their close was to be marked by the unsealing of the
prophecy. Now, apart from history, there are several
internal objections to this view; and, in fact, scarcely
any expositor since Mede has adopted it; and it is not
maintained, so far as I am aware, by a single living com-
mentator. The general argument from the passage,
Dan. xii. 9, is quite independent of this theory, and
rests on its own basis. The main part, therefore, of
Dr. Todd's remarks, are entirely foreign to the real
question; and exhibit either a complete ignorance of
the actual state of the controversy, or else a willingness,
by this refutation of an extinct theory, to conceal the
dangerous strength of the adverse argument.
(2). The lecturer argues, next, that it is rather the
period when the events are to take place, than the events
themselves, which is declared to be sealed. This may
be true, if referred to the length of the period; but is not
true, if applied to its date, or the time of its commence-
ment. For the "words" which are sealed, as contained
in the oath of the angel, do include the period itself, and
do not include either the date, or the event by which
that date is to be assigned. The assertion of Dr. Todd,
in the only sense which the text allows us to receive, is
fatal to his own argument, and to the short reckoning.
The reason is evident. The "time, times, and a half,”
and not the season of their commencement, are the
22
ELEMENTS OF PROFHECY. [CHAP..
words which are declared to be sealed. Their true sig-
nificance, we may hence infer, was not to be understood
for a long interval, and cannot, therefore, be simply
three natural years and six months, as the lecturer main-
tains.
(3). Not satisfied with this solution, Dr. Todd has re-
course to another. This is, indeed, the general feature
of the lectures, to propose to the reader two or three
doubtful alternatives: as if it were of no consequence
what view we take of the Scripture prophecies, so that
we are only firm in our disbelief of the received inter-
pretations. He now adopts the Vulgate translation of
the eighth verse-"O my Lord, what shall be after
these things?" And hence he infers that the ninth
verse has the following sense: "That the events fore-
told were to be accomplished at a period beyond which
no prophecy extended, and until which no futher know-
ledge of futurity should be given to man" (p. 24). This
he supposes to be confirmed by Dan. ix. 24, in the use
of the phrase, "to seal up the vision and the prophecy."
The altered version, however, if we consult Dan. viii.
23, must appear very questionable, even on the score of
grammatical correctness. Taken in connexion with the
context, it is plainly absurd. Why should the prophet
ask for events after the vision, when he did not yet un-
derstand the vision itself? Or how could he ask for
events more remote than what is "everlasting?"
Nay, granting the version were true, Dr. Todd's para-
phrase would be quite intolerable. He expounds it to
mean three things. First, that "no further revelations
were to be made to Daniel." Now the words imply,
doubtless, that no full explanation was to be given him of
the statement which he sought to have explained. But
there is nothing in this to shut out the possibility of fur-
ther revelations. The same phrase occurs in Dan.
CHAP. I.]
23%
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
viii. 26, and therefore would prove, according to Dr..
Todd, that Daniel received no revelation after the vision
of the ram and the goat. Secondly, "that the events
foretold were to be fulfilled at a period beyond which
no prophecy extends." In other words, that even the
three kings of Persia (xi. 2) are not to arise till the
heaven and earth shall have passed away, and the last
judgment has been completed! Thirdly, that "until
then, no further knowledge of futurity should be given
to mankind." Therefore, since, according to Dr. Todd,
the time of the end is still future, our Lord himself, when
on earth, prophesied nothing, and the book of Revela-
tion reveals nothing!
Such is the strange incongruous patchwork of mean-
ings which Dr. Todd would substitute for the clear
sense of the passage. Aboute ighty pages are occupied
in refuting what no one maintains, and the rest are spent
in maintaining a bad version, and a worse paraphrase,
which no one who has the least soundness of judgment
can possibly receive.
The argument, then, from Dan. xii. 9, remains unim-
paired. "The time, times, and a half," were not to be
understood in their true meaning till the time of the
end. They were generally supposed, in early times, to
denote three natural years and six months. Since the
Reformation they have been commonly understood, by
learned and judicious Protestants, to denote twelve hun-
dred and sixty years. In this contrast of opinion, the
passage before us removes all the a priori presumption
of truth from the former opinion, and transfers it to the
interpretation of later times.
5. The laboured charge of heresy, which Dr. Todd
has brought against the originators of the Protestant
expositions, has been examined by Mr. Faber, with his
usual ability and clearness, in the " Provincial Letters."
24
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
=
But the allusion to the controversial nature of those ex-
positions demands a passing notice. However plausible
the objection may sound in the ears of latitudinarians, it
is in reality empty and frivolous. Divine truth, as we
are plainly taught, is part of the Christian armour; and
what is the use of armour, but to be employed in con-
flict? The very purpose and intent of sacred prophecy
is to warn the Church against secret danger; and what
warning can be given without exposing unsuspected ene-
mies? An interpretation of prophecy which is not, in
some way or other, controversial, would by that mark
alone be proved spurious and deceptive.
But this interpretation, we are told, " had its origin in
three different and independent families of reputed
heretics." The argument, as thus stated, is not very
formidable. That the men who believed and affirmed
the Roman Church to be the harlot Babylon should be
reputed fearful heretics by her votaries and admirers,
is not very surprising. For such men to have been
owned as sound and orthodox Christians by the fol-
lowers of the accused system would have been a miracle
of no common órder. And when we are assured, by
an adverse authority, that the same testimony was
given by three independent families of such heretics, we
can scarce fail to be reminded of the words of Scripture
"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every
word be established."
But "has the exposition (Dr. Todd asks) restored
unity to the Church? Has it carried with it the intel-
ligent conviction of all impartial readers of the Bible?"
It may be asked, in the same tone—"Has Christianity
restored unity to the world? Has it carried with it the
intelligent conviction of all the nations of the earth?" It
is dangerous for Christian divines to borrow their shafts
against an obnoxious theory from the armoury of infi-
!
CHAP. I.]
25
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
བཟུང ཀྭ?
dels. As the Gospel itself predicts the opposition it
would receive, and the numbers who would reject it;
so do these prophecies both imply and expressly assert,
that multitudes within the Church would either slight
or pervert them. Let us only give a faithful paraphrase
of this triumphant inquiry, and its gross absurdity be-
comes apparent. "Has that exposition of prophecy,
which affirms that the Church will be troubled till the
coming of Christ, by a dangerous apostasy, of which
Rome is the centre and head, restored unity to the
Church, and put an end to the apostasy long before his
coming?" An objection of this singular kind calls for
no answer; it is its own best refutation.
To conclude: the Protestant system, in its first prin-
ciples, has the full concurrence of the early Church;
while that of the Futurists, in its very foundations,
directly contradicts the early writers. Even the year-
day theory, the most modern and most assailable out-
work of the Protestant system, was recognized, in the
two main pillars on which it rests, thirteen centuries
ago, and perhaps longer; and its slow development is
a necessary result of the hypothesis itself, rightly under-
stood. We have further the direct warrant of Scripture
for preferring, on this particular topic, the judgment of
the later ages of the Church; and for seeking the true
exposition among the persecuted, rather than among
the persecutors (Dan. xii. 10). Finally, in Dr. Todd's
attempt to set aside this weighty argument, the far
greatest part is entirely irrelevant; his first alternative
is conclusive against his own theory; and in the second,
his version is inconsistent with the context, his para-
phrase inconsistent with his own version, and palpably
untrue.
IV. THE STUDY OF HISTORY REQUIRED is a further
objection which Mr. Burgh produces against the com-
C
+
?
1
1
I
י
26
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
[CHAP. I.
mon view of these prophecies. Mr. Maitland (Attempt,
&c., p. 20) presents it in the germ; but in Mr. Burgh's
Lectures it is formally unfolded :-
"But are we so without rule and measure of interpretation?
Is the word of God no rule or measure for its own interpretation?
-the word of God, honestly taken, compared with itself, made
its own interpreter? We are told that we must resort to the
foreign aid of history-that none are qualified to interpret pro-
phecy who are not deeply read in history-and that the Chris-
tian most thoroughly furnished with knowledge of the Scriptures
must here go to commentators. But if I were called on to name-
one advantage more than another which the system for which I
contend has over that which prevails, I would say it is its main-
taining THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE. The interpreter of pro-
phecy must be read in history—yea, truly, in the history of the
Bible; for where are the prophecies, the fulfilment of which we
can only ascertain from history-of the fulfilment of which the
Scripture history does not contain the record? I say, the ful-
filment of which can only be ascertained from history; for of
many which have been fulfilled, the fulfilment is matter of noto-
riety, ascertainable by observation." (Lect. Adv., pp. 133, 134;
second edition).
It is difficult to reply gravely to so bold and strange
an objection as this. If it be just and solid, one of these
alternatives must also be true. First, that whenever
God has given a prediction in his word, he has pledged
himself to give us, after the event, a fresh revelation
to announce its fulfilment: or else, that he has bound
himself to utter no prediction, the fulfilment of which
is not self-evident, without search or inquiry, to the
whole Church in every following age. Now what is
this but to charge God with contracting his own all-
perfect revelation, that he may encourage the indolence-
of his people, and justify them in a careless neglect of
the lessons of his providence?
Very different is the real nature of the all-sufficiency of
Scripture. We have there given to us the express com-
,
1
CHAP. I.]
27
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
mand, “Ask now of the days which are past, which were
before thee, since the day that God created man upon
the earth." And to those who neglect this duty, which
Mr. Burgh accounts so needless, the Spirit of God ad-
dresses the severe warning, "Because they regard not
the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of his
hand, he will destroy them, and not build them up.'
39.
In a second edition Mr. Burgh endeavours to remove
the objections which Mr. Cuninghame had brought
against these statements, by the following explication:
"He gives only three examples, and what are they? First, the
destruction of Nineveh; with respect to which I have quoted
his words above, which, he says, 'has been accomplished so
literally, that the place where Nineveh stood is now unknown.”
And if so, I ask, need we go to history to ascertain that it has
been destroyed? Secondly, the rise and partition of Alexander's
empire, predicted Dan. viii. 21, 22; and believing, as Mr. C.
does, that the he-goat, which forms the burden of the prophecy,
and which some have said denotes Popery, others Moham-
medanism, is the Roman empire in the East, he is greatly in-
debted to history for the proof that the prophecy has been ful-
filled. I, however, believe that the person denoted by this
emblem (for a person, and not an empire, I believe it to denote)
has not appeared, and that the connection he shall have with the
kingdom of Alexander is as yet non-apparent: and this being
so, I cannot feel myself much indebted to history for telling me
that Alexander's empire is no more, if indeed I need its informa-
tion at all for this notorious fact. And, thirdly, the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans; and here again I quote his
words: He might as well deny that the sun shines on the
earth;' and 'we appeal to desolated Jerusalem and history to prove
their fulfilment ;' with which I agree, with this exception, that I
think desolated Jerusalem, without history, is sufficient, evi-
dence." (L. Adv., second edition, p. 135).
Now, surely, it is quite as difficult for the unlettered
Christian to travel to the site of Nineveh or Jerusalem,
as to read a few books of authentic history. What ad-
vantage, then, is gained by this empty and unnecessary
c 2
28
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
distinction? If the unlearned Christian, unless he tra-
vel over half the world, must be thrown upon credible
testimony, as to the present state of Tyre and Nineveh,
why not resort to the like testimony in the case of past
events? Next, if “information of the notorious fact
of the division of Alexander's kingdom" can be gained
without the help of history, as Mr. Burgh appears to
assert, by what means is it to be acquired? Is it to be
gained by intuition? or are we perhaps to receive it by
a supernatural revelation? But if both these supposi-
tions are absurd, then, without the aid of history, how
can the fact be notorious, or even known at all?
But "desolated Jerusalem, without history, is suf-
ficient evidence." Now, first, it is a curious notion of
the sufficiency of Scripture, that it may borrow evi-
dence from books of travels, and none from works of
general history. Apart from this objection, however,
there is another of equal weight. The assertion is un-
true. The prophecy announces, not merely the desola-
tion itself, but the means by which it should be effected,
the invasion of hostile armies, with many other cha-
racters of the judgment. Desolated Jerusalem, there-
fore, without history, is not sufficient evidence; and the
defence fails in every point.
But besides the absurdity of the general principle
advanced, Mr. Burgh falls into two other great mis-
takes in this short passage; though, since it is a note
added to correct and explain his first statements, we
might expect here, if anywhere, to find marks of com-
mon accuracy in his statements and reasonings. First,
he asserts that commentators have explained the he-
goat to be Popery, Mohammedanism, and the Roman
empire in the East. But this statement is most in-
accurate. All commentators, I believe, except Dr.
Todd and himself, give the same exposition of the he-
}
}
CHAP. I.]
29
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
goat-the Medo-Persian empire. The variety is not in
the interpretation of the goat, but of the little horn.
Next, when he asserts that the connexion of the he-
goat with Alexander's kingdom is non-apparent, he
contradicts himself. Within thirty pages after this
very remark (pp. 158, 161, 165, second edition), three
times repeatedly he applies the prophecy, in express
terms, to that kingdom. Writers who are so free in
denouncing the fancied mistakes of others, and so bold
in setting aside nearly all the labours of their prede-
cessors, should take rather more pains to be accurate
and consistent themselves.
In truth, this whole objection, besides the contradic-
tion and absurdity which it involves, springs from a
low and contracted view of the inspired word of God.
It is a poor and petty conception to allow that the
Scriptures stoop to the weakness of the dull, or the
ignorance of the unlettered disciple; and to deny that
they also wake into exercise the widest attainments of
learning, the largest knowledge of God's providence,
and the noblest efforts of profound and patient reason.
The Protestant interpretation of prophecy recognizes
both these excellencies of the sacred volume. It justly
refuses to treat the word of God as less comprehensive
than his providence; and therefore lays all history
under contribution, to explain the fulness of truth in
these mysterious visions.
V. THE EXAGGERATION OF PASSING EVENTS is
fifth objection on which Dr. Todd especially insists.
See Lect. II., pp. 46, 49; iv., p. 182. The following
are his words :-
"There is, in truth, an evident tendency, in the great majority
of those who have explained these prophecies, to apply them to
their own times, or at least to interpret them of events, which,
by their relation with other events contemporary with the expo-
:
•
30
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sitor, assume, from their proximity alone, an importance dispro-
portioned to their real influence on the destinies of mankind, or
their actual place in the counsels of the Almighty......... We are,
perhaps, in no case judges of the relative importance, even of
past events, in the designs of Providence; nor can we tell how
far it is necessary to the ends for which prophecy is given, that
any one particular event, whatever its magnitude, should be fore-
told. We cannot, therefore, reason as some have done........
that a given prediction must be interpreted so as to square with
the event which we have beforehand fixed on for its accomplish-
ment. We cannot, without presumption, take upon us to de-
termine whether prophecy is to predict the destinies of man in
chronological order, without gap or omission; or whether it may
not suit the inscrutable designs of the Most High to pass over
without notice ten or twenty centuries, and to crowd into the
events of a few short years the fulfilment of all that is foretold.
To determine questions such as these, is to assume that we have
been admitted into the secret counsels of God, and that we are
acquainted with all the ends he had in view in the revelation of
futurity to man." (pp. 46, 47).
So on Dan. xi., Lect. iv., p. 182:-
Again, I conceive that great violence is done to the latter
part of the chapter by the various theories which suppose it a
chronological prediction of the Roman power. These interpre-
tations all have their origin, more or less, in the prejudice which
gives to the events, of which we have been eye-witnesses, a fic-
titious importance, and leads us to expect they must have been
foretold; and hence the only question with which commentators
concern themselves is, how best to discover in the prophecy
events which they have previously determined shall be found
there."
Seldom has any writer made so large a demand on
the unquestioning credulity of his readers as the lec-
turer has done in these and similar statements.
For what is the real question? Dr. Todd maintains,
that the whole of Daniel and the Revelation is future,
and to be fulfilled in the course of a single generation
before the second advent. This he openly affirms with
CHAP. I.]
31
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
L
regard to the longest vision (Dan. xi., Lect. Iv., pp.
184-186), and the views which he maintains make it a
necessary inference in the case of all the others. Again
he affirms," that it is natural, nay, more, our express
duty, to assume that the coming of the Lord is near at
hand." Either, then, he is habitually sinning against
his own conscience, or else he must be expecting the
fulfilment of all these prophecies within a single gene-
ration from the present time. The Protestant view, on
the contrary, supposes them to spread, in nearly equal
proportion, from the times of the prophet down to the
still future advent. Yet the lecturer ventures to affirm
that this latter view "arises from the natural prejudice
of magnifying the events of our own days." His own
scheme, on the other hand, remedies this grand mistake
of the Protestant interpreters, by grouping all the pro-
phecies within the possible reach of his own life!
Surely a bolder inversion of facts than this never
occurred before, even in the annals of religious con-
troversy.
I
It is true that the tendency which Dr. Todd blames
has existed, and may be traced, by a careful eye, in
every age of the Church. But then it has worked in a
way the exact opposite of what he affirms. Its effect
has been, that expositors have referred too large a por-
tion of the prophecies to the then present or next com-
ing generation. In this form it may be seen in the first
disciples (Luke xix. 11, Acts i. 6)-in Sulpitius Severus
(Elzev. p. 96)-in Jerome and Theodoret-in Joachim,
Brightman, and others, down to the present day. In all
these cases, however, the distorting effect was partial
in Dr. Todd's own scheme it is total and entire; unless
it be mitigated in practice by that scepticism which he
denounces as a sin, and which puts off to a distant pe-
riod the expectation of the Lord's coming.
32
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
With regard to the other charges of wilfully pervert-
ing Scripture, which Dr. Todd brings against nearly all
previous interpreters, a far stronger prima facie pre-
sumption lies against himself. The practical reasoning
of the Donnellan Lectures, so far as I can trace it, is of
the following nature. First, the Church of Rome must,
at all hazards, be cleared from prophetic censure. There-
fore it is too perilous to admit the fourth kingdom to
be the Roman empire; for that would bring the latter
part of the visions into dangerous proximity to the
Roman Church. Therefore the consent of nearly all
ancient and modern interpreters must be cast aside, and
Mr. Maitland's slight pamphlet of twenty pages is to be
made the text-book of interpretation. Some decent
excuse, however, must be found for deserting the com-
mon conviction of all ages of the Church. Therefore,
since boldness is profitable in controversy no less than
in war, the expositors who apply to events two thousand
years ago the same prophecies which Dr. Todd applies
to his own or the next generation, must be charged
with "magnifying the events of their own days," and
for this end "perverting, rather than interpreting, the
word of God!" Such a view of the Lectures can plead
many strong presumptions in favour of its truth; while
the charge which Dr. Todd has brought against the
Protestant system is contradicted by the plain facts of
the case, and utterly groundless.
VI. A sixth objection urged against the received
interpretations is THEIR UNSUITABLENESS FOR THE
CONVICTION OF INFIDELS. This occurs so often that
it would be tedious to quote the passages. See the
Attempt, &c., p. 20; First Enq., pp. 83-85; Second
Enq., pp. 89, 90; Reply to Strict., p. 8; Burgh's Lect.
Adv., p. 22; Lect. Apoc., p. 44; Eluc., p. 76; Latter
Days, p. 14.
+
CHAP. I.]
33
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
A
very
short answer will here be enough. There is
no doubt that many prophecies were designed for the
conviction of unbelievers by their fulfilment. But in
those of Daniel and St. John we have no scriptural
warrant for such an expectation; at least, not till the
close of their accomplishment-that eventide of the day
of grace, in which there will be light. In that day, it
is true, even those who were spiritually deaf shall hear
the words of the book. But until the last act of that
great drama of Providence, we are warned concerning
these prophecies, that "none of the wicked shall under-
stand." But indeed, so far as relates to the earlier parts
of the visions, the alleged fact cannot be proved. It is
plain that Porphyry, in the third century, and Gibbon,
in the eighteenth, were driven by the evidence of his-
tory to the desperate subterfuge of post-dating the pro-
phecy, or else compelled to admit its inspiration; and
this, too, in the very parts which Mr. Burgh and Dr.
Todd would persuade us are unfulfilled. With regard
to the rest of the visions, the warning holds true. To
make the conviction of unbelievers a test of their fulfil-
`ment, is to contradict the plain testimony of the Spirit
of God.
This truth is still clearer in the case of the Apoca-
lypse. Its opening verse teaches us its true purpose—
"to show unto God's servants the things which must
shortly come to pass." We might hence infer, that the
predictions would be given in such a form that only
God's servants would understand them. And this would
be confirmed by the words of our Saviour: « Unto you
it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God; but to them that are without they are in parables."
No part of God's word has so much claim as the Apoca-
lypse to be viewed as "the mysteries of the kingdom;"
none has more of the character of a series of divine
Firt
c 3
34
[CHAP. I.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
parables; and hence the words of Christ apply to it in
their fullest sense. The objection thus recoils upon its
authors. The view of the Futurists brings down the
servants of God in every age to the level of the unbe-
lievers, with regard to true knowledge of the prophecy;
and, by a wretched alchemy, turns all their most patient
and prayerful researches into one pile of laborious
blunders. This reason alone, with every thoughtful
Christian, should be enough to convict their system, as
a system, of utter falsehood.
It may be rejoined, perhaps, that the discordance of
interpreters is of itself a proof of common error, whe-
ther or not the anti-Protestant system be true. But
this would be a most sophistical argument. If the Fu-
turists are right in their main principle, the whole of
the historical interpretations, throughout fourteen cen-
turies, are pure delusion, with scarce one redeeming
particle of truth. On the opposite view, while many
discrepancies are admitted to exist, they are only so
many oscillations around the centre of truth, and so
many successive approaches to the full and just sense of
the divine prophecy. Each of them, on this view, may
embody much that is solid and edifying, though inter-
mingled with error; and a gradual advance may be
seen in them towards a just, and enlarged, and spiritual
comprehension of the whole course of God's wondrous
providence. Until the mystery of God is nearly finished,
we have no reason to expect full concurrence or perfect
clearness. But it is a privilege to trace the gradual
progress of light, to see one misconception after an-
other taken away, one truth' after another established,
one step of Providence after another explained—till at
length the smoke will be rolled away from the temple,
and the ark of the covenant, steadfast through the course
÷
+
CHAP. I.]
35
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of ages, will stand revealed, in its divine and wondrous
beauty, to the whole Church of the living God.
Such is the view of past interpretations which the Pro-
testant system permits and encourages us to entertain.
On the opposite system of the Futurist writers, all is one
dark and cheerless succession of unmingled error—a
scene of humiliation and sorrow to the devout Chris-
tian, and the natural and almost the fitting object of the
unbeliever's scorn.
3
1
H
CHAPTER II.
',
ALLEGED PRESUMPTIONS FOR THE FUTURIST THEORY.
AFTER removing the objections of the Futurists to the
Protestant interpretations, I proceed to examine the
presumptions which they allege in favour of their own
theory. The chief of these are :——
The NATURE OF PROPHECY AS DEALING IN CRISIS.
The tradition of the early Church; and
The simplicity which results from their own view.
I. The first of these is hinted, rather than asserted,
in Mr. Maitland's Attempt, &c., p.
3:-
"I believe (he says) that the prophetic Scriptures do not, un-
less incidentally, throw any light on the state of things, either in
the Church or the world, previous to the breaking out of the
apostasy. The main subject I believe to be the great and final
struggle between the destroyer and the Redeemer of man, be-
tween Christ and Antichrist."
Mr. Burgh and Mr. Tyso, however, dwell on it more
at length, as in the following paragraph, Lect. Adv., p.
93:
"But as to the argument from a blank occurring in the pro-
phetic notice of events, this, I would remark, is rather in agree-
ment than otherwise with the character of prophecy, which,
generally speaking, is found to be occupied with crisis, rather
than consecutive history and regular detail. Much of our mis-
conception, particularly of the Apocalypse, arises from viewing
it as a connected history of the future; beginning from the
Christian era, instead of regarding it as having for its burden the
consummation of the Gentile apostasy."
So again p. 126:-
"One answer I have already given to this question, that pro-
phecy deals in crisis, and that its great burden from the days of
CHAP. II.]
37
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Enoch, even to the last prophet, who speaks of 'the great and
dreadful day of the Lord,' has been the overthrow of the last
enemy."
And Mr. Tyso, Elucid., p. 69:—
"Some persons may inquire-Have all the mighty battles and
revolutions which have occurred since the close of the second
canon been unnoticed, except the destruction of Jerusalem? I
think so the theme of the prophets is crisis, rather than con-
tinuous events. All the destructive wars and mighty conquests
have been but the fightings and usurpations of wicked men, to
gratify their lust of dominion; and there is no revolution worthy
of prophetic notice, but that which will subvert the antichristian
powers, or establish the reign of Christ."
The same argument is often used in conversation
by the disciples of this school, and calls for a distinct
answer.
We have here a fact alleged, and an inference drawn
from it. The allegation is, that prophecy in general
deals only in crisis; and the inference, that the visions
of Daniel and St. John have the same character.
Even, if the allegation were true, we might fairly dis-
pute the inference. The two prophecies in question
are unlike most others, in their symbolic form, in the
close connexion of the parts, and the multitude and
variety of the separate predictions. Now there is
scarcely an instance of a prophecy certainly known to
relate to a crisis, where there is a distinct and succes-
sive detail of many particulars. The inference, therefore,
would be unsound, if the allegation were true.
But what if the allegation itself be entirely false?
The argument will then fall to pieces; or rather, will
change sides, and become a strong presumption against
the Futurists, in favour of their adversaries. The sim-
plest test will be, to take the leading prophecies in order
from the first, and to observe the length of the con-
tinuous period over which each of them extends. For
38
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
simplicity, the common dates will be adopted; but the
conclusion will be the same, in substance, with any
other scheme of chronology.
1. Gen. iii. 15. From the death of Abel to the judg-
ment, a continuous period of seven thousand years.
2. Gen. vi. 3. The striving of God's Spirit before the
Flood, an interval of one hundred and twenty years.
3. Gen. ix. 25-27. The curse on Canaan, B.C. 1451
(Zech. xiv. 21), a period of three thousand three hun-
dred years.
The blessing on Shem, B.C. 2348 (John iv. 22), two
thousand five hundred years.
The enlargement of Japheth, A.D. 41 (Acts ix. 18;
xxviii. 28), one thousand-eight hundred years.
The whole prophecy, continuous through four thou-
sand years.
4. Gen. xiii. 14-17. The possession of Canaan, B.C.
1451—a.d. 70, one thousand five hundred years.
5. Gen. xv. 13-16. The servitude of the Israelites,
&c., four hundred years.
6. Gen. xxii. 16-18. The multiplying of Abraham's
seed, B.C. 1872-A.D. 30, one thousand nine hundred
years.
The blessing of the nations by Christ (Acts iii. 25,26),
two thousand years.
The whole prophecy reaches from B.c. 1872, to a
time still future, through a space of four thousand years.
7. Gen. xlix. 3-27. The scattering of Levi in Israel,
B.c. 1544-587, one thousand years.
The continuance of Judah's sceptre, B.c. 1056—a.d.
30, one thousand one hundred years.
The gathering of the people to Christ, a period of
more than one thousand eight hundred years.
The whole prophecy comprehends three thousand
years.
CHAP. II.]
39
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
8. Ex. iii. 7-12. The exodus and entrance of Ca-
naan, a space of forty years.
9. Lev. xxvi. The victories, desolation, and return
of the Jews, a long period of three thousand years.
10. Num. xxiv. 17-24. The star smiting Moab and
Edom, B.C. 1056-890 (2 Sam. viii.; 2 Kings xlviii. 22),
a period of two hundred and sixty years.
The ships from Chittim, &c., B.C. 169-A.D. 70, a
space of two hundred and forty years.
11. Deut. xxxii. 7-43. Verses 7-20. The history of
Israel in their own land, through a period of one thou-
sand five hundred and thirty years.
Verses 21-29. The dispersion of the Jews, &c., a
period of one thousand eight hundred years.
Their repentance and restoration in the future mil-
lennium, one thousand years.
The continuous range of the whole, about three
thousand two hundred years.
12. Deut. xxxiii. 5-11. Levi's service at God's altar,
B.C. 1444—A.D. 70, an interval of one thousand five
hundred years.
This list from the Pentateuch might be easily pro-
longed from the later books of the Old Testament. It
will be seen that, with scarce a single exception, the
events predicted range continuously through the stated
interval, and that the intervals themselves are from forty
to four thousand years, and three-fourths of them ex-
ceed a whole millennium.
❤
A plain appeal to Scripture thus enables us to reverse
this assertion of the Futurist school, brought forward
with careless haste as an excuse for their novelties.
We may substitute this maxim in its place, that, with
few exceptions, THE NATURE OF Scripture PROPHECY
IS TO OCCUPY A CONTINUOUS RANGE OF DIVINE PRO-
VIDENCE. And if this be true, as we have seen, of the
40
[CHAP. IL
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
prophecies in general, the presumption is doubly strong
that such is the case with the symbolical and detailed
visions of Daniel and St. John.
II. THE TRADITION OF THE EARLY CHURCH is the
second presumption alleged by these authors. Mr.
Maitland, indeed, uses it rather in self-defence, to meet
the charge of entire novelty brought against his opinions
by some incautious opponents.
Still he more than
once employs it as a distinct arguments. Dr. Todd and
Mr. Tyso follow him with greater boldness and less dis-
cretion. The latter asserts that the year-day theory
was totally unknown to the Church for fifteen centuries
after Christ (p. 68)-a statement plainly false, and
which does not need refutation. A passage from Dr.
Todd on the subject has been already given.
Now here, again, a full induction of facts will prove
the best help to a correct judgment on the whole ques-
tion.
The writers of the primitive Church almost unani-
mously contradict the Futurists, and agree with the
Protestant interpreters, on the following points :-
1. That the head of gold denotes the Babylonian
empire, not the person of Nebuchadnezzar, or Babylon
and Persia in one.
2. That the silver denotes the Medo-Persian empire.
3. That the brass denotes the Greek empire.
4. That the iron denotes the Roman empire.
5. That the clay mingled with the iron denotes the
intermixture of barbarous nations in the Roman empire.
6. That the mingling with the seed of men relates to
intermarriages among the kings of the divided empire.
7. That the lion denotes the Babylonian empire.
8. That the eagle wings relate to Nebuchadnezzar's
ambition.
9. That the bear denotes the Medc-Persian empire.
CHAP. II.]
4.1
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
10. That the rising on one side signifies the later
supremacy of the Persians.
11. That the leopard relates to the Macedonian em-
pire.
12. That the four wings denote the rapidity of Alex-
ander's conquests.
13. That the fourth beast is the Roman empire.
14. That the ten horns denote a tenfold division of
that empire, which was then future.
15.* That the division began in the fourth and fifth
centuries.
16. That the rise of the ten horns is later than the
rise of the beast.
17. That the vision of the ram and he-goat begins
from the time of the prophecy.
18. That the higher horn of the ram denotes the
Persian dynasty, beginning with Cyrus.
19. That the first horn of the he-goat is Alexander
the Great.
20. That the breaking of the horn, when strong, re-
lates to the sudden death of Alexander in the height of
his power.
21. That the four horns denote four main kingdoms,
into which the Macedonian empire was divided.
22. That the three kings (Dan. xi. 2) are Cambyses,
Smerdis, and Darius.
23. That the expedition against Greece is that of
Xerxes, B.C. 485.
24. That the mighty king (verse 3) is Alexander the
Great.
25. That the king's daughter of the south is Bere-
nice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus.
26. That the one from the branch of her roots is
Ptolemy Euergetes.
27. That the sons of the king of the north are Seleu-
cus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great.
42
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
28. That the battle (ver. 11) is that of Raphia.
29. That the battle (ver. 15) is that of Panium.
30. That the daughter of women (ver. 17) is Cleo-
patra, daughter of Antiochus the Great.
31. That the expedition (ver. 18) is that of Antiochus
against Greece.
32. That the prince (ver. 18) denotes the Roman
power.
33. That the death of Antiochus is predicted in
verse 19.
34 That the raiser of taxes is Seleucus Philopator.
35. That the letting power (2 Thess. ii.) is the im-
perial power of Rome.
36. That the Apocalypse begins from the time of St.
John.
37. That the first seal relates to the early triumphs
of the Gospel.
On the other hand, the early writers agree with the
Futurists, and differ from the Protestant interpreters,
on these points :—
1. That the ten toes of the image denote individual
persons.
2. That the ten horns of the fourth beast denote the
same.
3. That the little horn (Dan. vii.) is an individual king.
4. That the time, times, and half of Daniel are three
years and six months.
5. That the period (Dan. viii.) is two thousand three
hundred literal days.
6. That the one thousand two hundred and ninety,
and one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days,
are to be taken literally.
7. That the man of sin (2 Thess. ii.) is an individual
person.
8.* That the forty-two months are three literal years
and six months.
CHAP. II.]
43
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
9.* That the one thousand two hundred and sixty
days are literal days.
10.* That the two witnesses are individual persons.
11. That the beast and false prophet are two indi-
vidual apostates.
12. That the ten kings (Rev. xvii.) are individual
persons.
The points omitted in this list are those on which the
early writers seem to differ from both the rival systems,
and in those marked with asterisks their concurrence is
only partial. Thus the little horn (Dan. viii.) was ap-
plied to Antiochus rather than Antichrist; the wilful
king to both; the five months of the first woe-the
time of the second woe-and the time, times, and half
of Rev. xii., were taken indefinitely.
Such is, I believe, a correct outline of the testimony
of early tradition; and we may gather from it the fol-
lowing conclusions.
First, the Protestant system has three times as many
points of agreement with the early writers as the rival
theory.
Secondly, the harmony between the Protestant
writers and those of the first ages relates almost wholly
to events then past or present; while that between the
Futurists and the early Church relates almost wholly to
events which both suppose to be future.
Thirdly, this agreement of the Futurists with the
early Church is in those parts which are expressly
stated to be closed up and sealed till the time of the end,
or else in others which are parallel with these in point
of time.
Te result of the whole inquiry is very clear. It is
not an over-statement, when we take into account the
nature as well as the number of the particulars on each
side, to affirm that the Protestant interpreters have ten-
1
44
[CHAP. II,
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
fold as full a warrant of early tradition on their side, as
those writers who so boldly claim it for their own novel
theories.
III. THE SUPERIOR SIMPLICITY OF THEIR OWN
VIEW is the last argument which the Futurists allege in
their own behalf, or, at least, of those which seem to
require notice. It appears indeed to be a very favourite
topic. Thus Mr. Maitland, in the "Attempt," p. 22:-
"Surely it is time that the common sense of the Christian
Church should be aroused, to seek after some interpretation
which may do less violence to the word of God."
And in the "Second Enquiry," p. 78 :—
"I believe that opinion (of the early Church) would never
have been departed from, if some of the Reformers, with more
zeal than knowledge, had not determined that the Pope must be .
Antichrist; and as the Pope did not suit the prophecy, they re-
solved that the prophecy should be so interpreted as to suit the
Pope."
Mr. Burgh, again, in his "Advent Lectures," p. 121:-
"A thousand-fold more intelligible, I am bold to say, are these
visions in prospect, and considered as unfulfilled, than viewed in
the retrospect of the fulfilments now made for them, where all
is indeed uncertainty and conflicting testimony."
And in the "Lectures on the Apocalypse," p. 44 :—
"Do we, indeed, part with certainty, when we leave exposi-
tions that are thus palpably uncertain and discordant? I answer
not. No uncertainty could be greater than that which already
exists on the supposition of their being fulfilled; and I trust
that a few words will convince you, that, far from parting with
certainty, the utmost clearness characterizes this vision, if we
suppose it yet unfulfilled."
So again, p. 54:-
I do
"I regret to think that, as far as I know, I stand alone in these
suggestions, but I am not intimidated by this reflection.
not on that account doubt the truth of what I advance, feeling
1
CHAP. II.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
45
that I have a much better warrant than any of the expositors
with which I am acquainted. I have the integrity of Scripture
language preserved......depart from this, and you plunge into a
chaos of allegorical and mystical interpretations."
In like manner, Mr. Mac Causland, in his Preface:—
"The generally admitted inconclusiveness of the expositions
(of the Apocalypse), evidenced by their number and diversity,
and the firm and unshrinking conviction of his own mind, as to
the general correctness of his view, confirmed by a host of pas-
sages, and contradicted by none, have impelled him to send forth.
the result of his inquiries. The sole object has been to unfold
the simple truth as concisely as possible, while the erroneous
views of other commentators have been left to sink, undiscussed,
beneath what he considers the stream of true construction."
And again, p. 313 :—
"Under the management of the commentators who have dealt
with the prophecy before us as for the most part accomplished, it
has brought forth nothing but thorns and thistles, useless and
unprofitable; while, under our treatment of it, as a prediction of
things yet to come, we have found it a fertile region, from which
the richest produce of monition and comfort may be extracted,
and in the consistency of which with the sacred histories and
prophecies a forcible evidence of its own and their inspiration is
to be traced.”
And in pp. 121, 136, on the prophecy of our Lord:-
“In addition to the direct evidence......the commonly received
exposition involves us in inextricable difficulties and irreconcile-
able contradictions, which are all smoothed away by our inter-
pretation, which, as we shall find, presents all the parts of the
prophecy, harmonizing and consistent...... Thus we see that, in
our interpretation, all the evangelists harmonize, and all the dif-
ficulties which have embarrassed expositors vanish."
To pass by Mr. Tyso, Dr. Todd repeats the same
assertion in several places, as in the first Lecture,
p. 13 :-
"In fact, I am persuaded that the difficulties and obscurities
i
46
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
complained of in the prophecies have a sufficient cause, in the
wrong methods of interpretation that have been followed, in the
false and unscriptural principles that have been assumed, and in
the wrong spirit in which a subject so sacred has been ap-
proached. We shall be enabled to detect the erroneous conclu-
sions that have resulted from the efforts of commentators to
elucidate difficulties with which they were not prepared to
grapple, or to distort, for party purposes, the plain and ob-
vious import of the sacred words.”
So again, in the fourth Lecture, p. 186 :-
:-
"In opposition to these various theories, I would adhere to
the literal and obvious meaning of the prediction. I believe that
individual kings are undoubtedly intended that the same indi--
vidual kings are spoken of throughout the prophecy—and that
the division of the kingdom 'toward the four winds,' the con-
tinued contest of the kings of the north and the south, and the
power of the wilful king, are all to come....... If the prophecies.
have been employed as weapons of theological warfare-if, for
this purpose, lax principles of interpretation have been adopted,
and the sacred words of holy writ explained away, or compelled
to yield to preconceived hypotheses--then assuredly the incon--
sistencies and contradictions to be found in the popular interpre-
tations are the natural results of an error common to the op-
posing systems the error, that the prophecies have been, or are
now, in course of being accomplished."
Certainly, from the strong statements of these expo-
sitors, and from the supercilious tone which one of
them, at least. assumes towards previous writers, we
should naturally expect remarkable clearness, simpli-
city, and harmony in their own views :—
"Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione querentes ?"
At present I shall bring to the test, not the absolute
truth, but the mutual harmony of these theories, which
are advanced with so much confidence. The discre-
pancies of Protestant interpreters are drawn from writers
nearly four centuries apart, and of several countries and
various sections of the Church; and they include the
A
CHAP. II.]
47
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
application of the prophecies to the events of three
thousand years. On the contrary, those which I shall
adduce are the variations of only five or six contempo-
rary writers, partly in communication with each other,
working on a common principle, as they profess, of ex-
treme clearness and simplicity, with no facts to test
them, no chronology to hamper them, no application to a
wide range of Providence; but the events, so to speak,
invented at will, as may best suit the theory. They are
also the discrepancies of those who make the discordance
of previous interpreters a conclusive and sufficient argu-
ment for rejecting them all, and who are thus doubly.
bound to be consistent themselves. The only materials
for comparisonare, on Daniel, Mr. Maitland's "Attempt"
(22 pages), Dr. Todd's "Lectures on Antichrist," one
chapter of Mr. Burgh's "Lectures on the Second Advent,"
and part of Mr. Tyso's " Elucidation." On the Apoca-
lypse, we have Mr. Burgh's Lectures, Mr. Tyso's " Elu-
cidation," Mr. Mac Causland on the "Latter Days,” and
more recently, Mr. Govett's "Revelation Future and
Literal." The following is the result of the collation
1. The head of gold :—
The empire of Babylon (Elucid. p. 13).
Nebuchadnezzar in person only (Adv. L. p. 102).
Probably Babylon and Persia in one (Attempt, p. 5)..
Undoubtedly Nebuchadnezzar himself (L. Ant.
p. 48).
It"maybe" Babylon and Persia (L. Ant. p. 78, note).
"High authority" for it being Babylon only (L..
Ant. p. 80, 81).
2. The silver :-
The Medo-Persian empire (Elucid. p. 13; Adv. L.
pp. 100, 181).
Probably the Greek empire (Attempt, p. 5; L. Ant.
p. 78).
48
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
3. The brass :-
The Greek empire (Elucid. p. 14; Adv. L. p. 100).
The Roman empire, probably (Attempt, p. 6; L.
Ant. p. 78).
Uncertain, probably not the Roman (L. Ant. pp.
81, 82).
4. The iron:
The Roman empire, its division past (Elucid. p. 20).
The Roman empire, its division future (Adv. L.
p. 181; Tract No. 83).
A future kingdom (Attempt, p. 6; L. Ant. p. 84).
5. The four beasts :-
The same kingdoms as before (Elucid. p. 15).
Have a “marked identity" with the parts of the
image (Adv. L. p. 102).
Has "some doubt" that the three first are different
from those of the image, but "does not know
that we are warranted in asserting it" (Attempt,
p. 89).
They "cannot be identical" with the former-
there are "two fatal objections" (L. Ant. p. 76).
6. The order of the four beasts :—
Successive (Elucid. p. 15.; Adv. L. p. 102).
Possibly" arise contemporaneously (Attempt,
p. 8).
66
Plainly asserted" to be contemporaneous (L.
Ant. p. 78).
7. The first beast:-
The Babylonian empire (Elucid. p. 17; Adv. L.
p. 103).
"Not impossible" it is still future (Attempt, p. 8).
Certainly future (L. Ant. p. 76).
8. The second beast:-
The Medo-Persian empire (Elucid. p. 17; Adv. L.
p. 102).
>
CHAP. II.]
49
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Possibly or certainly future (Attempt, p. 8; L.
Ant. p. 76).
9. The third beast:
The Macedonian empire (Elucid. p. 19; Adv. L.
p. 102).
Future, as before (Attempt, p. 8; L. Ant. p. 76).
10. The fourth beast:
The Roman empire (Elucid. p. 21; Adv. L. pp.
100, 181; Tract No. 83).
Still future (Attempt, p. 8; L. Ant. p. 76).
11. The opening of the vision of the ram:-
The time of Cyrus the Great (Attempt; Elucid.
Adv. L.; Latter Days).
Still future (L. Ant. p. 127).
12. The he-goat:-
The empire of Alexander (Attempt, p. 11.; Adv.
L. p. 147; Elucid. p. 18; Latt. Days, pp.
111, 115).
Still future (L. Ant. p. 127).
13. The notable horn :-
A future king (L. Ant.)
Alexander the Great (Adv. L.)
14. The four horns of the he-goat:
Four kingdoms of Alexander's successors (Attempt,
p. 11; Adv. L. p. 147; Elucid. p. 19; Latter
Days).
Future-perhaps the same with the four beasts
(L. Ant. p. 126).
15. The little horn of the he-goat :-
The Mahometan power (Latt. Days, p. 111).
The same as in Dan. vii., and still future (Attempt,
p. 10; Adv.L. p. 147; Elucid. p. 23; Lect.iv.)
16. The transgression of desolation :—
The same as the "abomination of desolation," Matt.
xxiv." (Adv. L. p. 145).
D
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50
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Entirely distinct (Latt. Days, p. 111).
17. The seventy weeks :-
Proved by the event to be four hundred and ninety
years (First Enq. p. 5; Adv. L.; Latt. Days).
Not sure they are not future (L. Ant. p. 191, note).
Not sure we are justified in taking them for years
(Id.).
Certainly four hundred and ninety days, and future
(Elucid. pp. 25-37).
18. The seven weeks:-
Forty-nine years, and past (First Enq. p. 5).
Weeks of years, and future (Adv. L., first edition).
Weeks of years, and past (Adv. L., second edition).
Probably future, perhaps weeks of days (L. Ant.
p. 191).
Weeks of days, and future (Elucid. pp. 25-37).
19. The three kings of Persia :-
Fulfilled (Adv. L. p. 147; Elucid. p. 47; Latt.
Days, p. 115).
Still future (L. Ant.; Lect. iv.)
20. The fourth king :-
Fulfilled in Xerxes and his invasion of Greece
(Adv. L.; Elucid; Latt. Days).
Still future (Lect. iv.)
21. The four kingdoms :-
Divisions of Alexander's kingdom (Adv. L.;
Elucid.; Latt. Days).
Still future, the same with the four beasts (L. Ant.
p. 186, 126).
22. The prophecy, Dan. xi. 1-21 :—
Proved fulfilled, by the "universal consent of
interpreters" (Latt. Days, p. 112).
Proved unfulfilled, by their great discordance
(Lect. iv.)
23. The king of the south (v. 5) :-
CHAP. II.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
51
Seleucus Nicator (Latt. Days, p. 115).
A future predecessor of the king, v. 41 (Adv. L.)
Future, the same as in v. 41 (L. Ant. p. 186).
24. The king of the north, v. 5:—
Ptolemy Lagus (Latt. Days, p. 115).
A future predecessor of the wilful king (Adv. L.)
A future contemporary of the wilful king (L. Ant.
p. 186).
25. The king of the north, v. 15-19 :-
Antiochus the Great (Latt. Days, p 115).
A second future predecessor of the wilful king
(Adv. L.)
The same future contemporary of the wilful king
(Lect. p. 178).
26. The vile person, v. 21-30 :-
Antiochus Epiphanes (Latt. Days, p. 115).
The wilful king (Elucid. p. 47; Adv. L. p. 146
Att. p. 13; Lect. iv. pass.)
From these harmonious expositions of Daniel, let us
turn to the Futurist expositions, not less convincing
and harmonious, of the Book of Revelation.
The works of Mr. Burgh, Mr. Tyso, Mr. Mac Caus-
land, and Mr. Govett, the last of which has only just
appeared, will furnish the materials of comparison,
with a few incidental remarks of the other Futurists.
Since the exposition on the "Latter Days" closes with
the eleventh chapter, I will confine myself to the same
limit. The following are the results of the comparison :
1. The twenty-four elders :-
Spirits of a celestial order (Elucid. p. 118).
The twelve apostles and twelve patriarchs (Ivo
Apoc. p. 10.; Rev. p. 19).
The redeemed Jewish Church alone (Latt. Days,
p. 23).
2. The seven lamps of fire:—
··

D 2
52
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
-
E
The perfections of God (Elucid. p. 119).
The Holy Spirit (L. Apoc. p. 12).
They include "the spirits of the just made perfect”
(Latt. Days, p. 25).
3. The four living creatures :—
The highest order of angels (Elucid. p. 120).
The Church of the first resurrection (L. Apoc.)
Perhaps the redeemed animal creation and man
(Rev. p. 19).
The restored Jewish nation (Latt. Days).
4. The sealed book:-
The Apocalypse itself (Elucid.)
The book of the inheritance of the world (L. Apoc.;
Latt. Days; Rev.)
The Old Testament autograph (Adams, sealed
book).
5. The time of the first seal :-
The beginning of the Gospel (Elucid.)
Before the twelve hundred and sixty days, c. xi.
(L. Apoc.; Rev.)
After their close (Latt. Days).
6. The nature of the first seal:-
The first spread of Christianity (Elucid.)
The second coming of Christ to judge (L. Apoc.
p. 46).
The preaching of the Gospel in the last times, or the
coming of Christ in judgment (Rev. p. 44).
The pleading of Christ with the Jews at their
return (Latt. Days, p. 303).
7. The bow and arrows of the first seal:-
The word of the Gospel (Elucid.)
The judgments of the three following seals (L.
Apoc. p. 49).
The bow, Judah; the arrows, Ephraim (Latt. Days,
p. 77).
CHAP. II.]
53
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
8. The second seal:
The Papal hierarchy (Elucid.)
A judgment on the world at large (L. Apoc. p. 49).
A judgment on the Jews only (Latt. Days, p. 88).
9. The third seal:-
Mohammedanism (Elucid.)
Literal famine in the world (L. Apoc.; Rev.)
Famine on the Jews only, uncertain whether literal
(Latt. Days).
10. The fourth seal:-
Infidelity, or the Greek Church (Elucid.)
Literal pestilence in the world (L. Apoc.; Rev.)
Pestilence on the Jews, whether literal uncertain
(Latt. Days).
11. The martyrs of the fifth seal :—
The martyrs of the whole dispensation (Elucid.
p. 141).
The martyrs of the last times (L. Apoc. p. 52;
Rev. p. 49).
The Jewish martyrs before the first advent (Latt.
Days, p. 93).
12. The sixth seal :-
Literal signs at the second advent (Att.; L. Apoc.;
Elucid.)
Political convulsions of the Jewish state (Latt.
Days, p. 98).
13. The sealed tribes:—
Jews of the last time, an indefinite number (Elucid.)
Jews of the last time, a definite number (L. Apoc.)
The faithful Jews of the Old Testament (Latt
Days).
14. The palm-bearing multitude :—
The happiness of the Millennial Church (Elucid.
p. 148).
Gentile sufferers of the last times (L. Apoc.; Rev.)
Jewish martyrs alone (Latt. Days, p. 152).
54
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
15. The half hour's silence :—
Time of prayer after the seals and before the
trumpets (Elucid.; L. Apoc.)
Time of the four first trumpets (Latt. Days, p. 162).
Time of the seventh trumpet (Rev. p. 88).
16. The fire cast on the earth :-
Literal fire from heaven before the trumpets
(Elucid.)
The wrath of God in the trumpets (L. Apoc. p. 77).
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon earth (Latt.
Days, pp. 163, 166).
The judgment of the last trumpet (Rev. p. 88).
17. The time of the first trumpet :—
Successive to the sixth seal (Elucid.; L. Apoc.;
Latt. Days).
Parallel to the fourth seal (Rev. p. 88).
18. The nature of the first trumpet:—
Literal hailstorm or fire (Elucid.; L. Apoc.; Rev.)
Destruction of carnal pride in the Jews (Latt.
Days).
19. The second trumpet:—
Burning mass, like a meteor, falling into the sea
(Elucid.; L. Apoc.; Rev.)
Consumption of worldliness in the Jews (Latt.
Days).
20. The third trumpet :-
Electric fluid, like a star, giving an unpleasant
taste to the waters (Elucid. p. 155).
A literal star falling on the rivers (L. Apoc. p. 80).
The destruction of the works of the Devil (Latt.
Days, p. 179).
A condensed comet (Rev. p. 108).
21. The fourth trumpet :-
Miraculous darkness of four hours (Elucid. p. 155).
Extinction of one third of Jewish rulers (Latt
Days).
CHAP. II.]
*55
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Literal stars cast down by Satan (Rev. p. 114).
22. The star of the fifth trumpet:-
An angel, resembling a star (Elucid. p. 158).
A literal falling star (L. Apoc. p. 80).
An apostate Church (Latt. Days, p. 188).
Satan himself (Rev. p. 122).
23. The smoke of the abyss :-
Literal smoke, like a blight (Elucid. p. 158; Rev.
p. 126).
Spiritual darkness (Latt. Days).
24. The locusts :—
Literal locusts, bred in the smoke (Elucid. p. 158).
The human army of Antichrist (L. Apoc. p. 84).
False doctrines, or their disseminators (Latt. Days).
Demons in the shape of locusts (Rev. p. 124).
25. The king of the locusts :-
The Devil, or Satan (Elucid.)
The last Antichrist (L. Apoc.; Latt. Days).
Antichrist, or perhaps Apollo (Rev. p. 126).
26. The five months of the woe :-
Five literal months (L. Apoc.; Elucid.; Rev.)
An indefinite period (Latt. Days).
27. The horsemen of the sixth trumpet:-
A multitude of good angels (Elucid. p. 166).
A power hostile to the Jews, from Euphrates (L.
Apoc. p. 90).
The returning ten tribes (Latt. Days, p. 230).
Demons of a form like horses (Rev. p. 132).
28. The four angels:
Four good angels (Elucid.)
Four companies of the ten tribes (Latt. Days).
29. The period of the second woe:-
A literal period of thirteen months (Elucid.; L.
Apoc.)
..
-1
.
1
-་
56
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
An indefinite time (Latt. Days, p. 21).
30. The angel clothed with a cloud :—
A created angel (Elucid.; L. Apoc.)
The Church, from Abraham onward (Latt. Days,
p. 238).
The Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. p. 143).
31. The little book :-
A prophecy of events under the seventh trumpet
(Elucid.; L. Apoc.)
A prophecy of events under the fifth seal (Rev.
p. 145).
History of the Jews from the time of St. John
(Latt. Days).
32. The measurement of the temple :—
A
"
particular account" taken of the temple
(Elucid. p. 181).
Preservation of faithful Jews in the last time (L.
Apoc. p. 100).
State of unbelieving Jews since their rejection
(Latt. Days, p. 246).
33. The Gentiles who tread down the city :-
The Turks, Egyptians, &c. (Elucid. p. 181).
The army of the last Antichrist (L. Apoc. p. 100).
True believers of the Gentiles in time past (Latt.
Days, p. 248).
34. The twelve hundred and sixty days:
The time of the last Antichrist (Elucid.; L. Apoc.;
Rev.)
Whole time of Israel's desolation (Latt. Days).
35. The outer court unmeasured :—
Jerusalem wasted by Antichrist (L. Apoc. p. 100).
Extension of the Church under the Gospel (Latt.
Days).
36. The two witnesses:-
CHAP. II.]
57
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Two eminent ministers, or a king and a priest
(Elucid. p. 182).
Moses and Elijah (L. Apoc. pp. 107-109).
The law and the prophets (Latt. Days).
Elijah and Enoch (Rev. p. 159).
37. Those of the kindred and nations:-
The army of Antichrist (L. Apoc. p. 111).
The Jews who cling to the dead forms of religion
(Latt. Days).
38. The resurrection of the witnesses :-
Literal, of Moses and Elijah (L. Apoc.)
Spiritual revival of the Jewish Church (Latt.
Days).
Such is the boasted harmony of the Futurist system,
before which Protestant interpreters of the older school
must hang down their heads and blush with shame for
their own discordance. The disagreement in these novel
theories is not partial but universal. It extends, with
scarcely one exception, to every main point on which
their labour has been bestowed; to those on which the
Protestant interpreters agree, as well as to those on
which they differ; nay, to those in which Protestants
agree with Roman Catholics, and even Infidels with
Christians. The reckless fever of innovation, the shal-
low and sceptical spirit which is prompt at starting
difficulties, and impatient of their solution, has left not
one pillar standing in this temple of divine truth.
It would be easy to enlarge the list of these discor-
dances from the later chapters of the Apocalypse; but
the catalogue already given may be enough to prove
that the boasted simplicity, harmony, and clearness of
the Futurist interpretation, exist nowhere but in the
fancy of its authors. Surely, to borrow their own
words, "it is time that the common sense of the Church
:
D 3
58
[CHAP. II.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
should be aroused," to seek for principles of interpre-
tation more sound than those which hurry us into
universal doubt, and for expositors more sound and
cautious than those who contradict each other at every
turn; nay, who often contradict themselves, while they
exclaim loudly against the disagreement of previous
writers.
CHAPTER III.
ON THE FOUR EMPIRES.
The
Or the various presumptions which the Futurists urge
against the Protestant interpretations, the two first have
been proved to be groundless, and all the others furnish
strong arguments against their own theories.
necessary clearness of all fulfilled prophecy, which
forms the basis of their assault, is a fiction without
warrant either in reason or in the word of God. The
objection of novelty brought against the obnoxious
system is equally groundless. In all its main founda-
tions the Protestant exposition has the full consent of
antiquity; and in those parts of it which are really
modern, we have the direct authority of Scripture for
preferring the judgment of later times. The disagree-
ment of different authors is not greater than might be
expected, when the number of their writings, the dif-
ficulty of the prophecy, and the wide field of history
embraced, are taken into view. The study of history
which those interpretations require is authorized, and
even expressly commanded, in the word of God, and
forms one main element of its divine glory. The exag-
geration of events close at hand is falsely charged upon
the Protestant system, and really belongs, in its most
unnatural form, to that of the Futurists themselves.
The unsuitableness, also, of the common expositions
to convince infidels, as regards some parts of them, is
entirely untrue; and with regard to the rest, is accounted
for by open declarations of Scripture; while the scheme
.,
!
י
60
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
of more than one of the Futurists outstrips the infidels
themselves in its superlative scepticism, and yields them
fresh pretexts for unbelieving scorn.
Nor are these writers more happy in the reasons
which they allege in behalf of their own theories. They
assert, with one voice, that the prophecies of Scripture
are mainly occupied with the crisis; and the exact re-
verse proves to be true, that they are commonly long
and continuous periods of time. They allege the autho-
rity of early tradition; as the latest of them, for instance,
informs us that "Mr. Burgh has restored the system
advocated by the ancient commentators." Yet that
tradition, in reality, gives its weight, by a tenfold pre-
ponderance, against their theory. And while they
magnify the discord of the Protestant interpreters, and
extol the simplicity of their own scheme, the boasted
system itself, when closely examined, proves to be one
vast pile of enormous contradictions.
The way is now open for a direct examination of the
prophecies, the true meaning of which is in debate.
And here it is most desirable to bear in mind, from the
first, their momentous importance. They are not sub-
jects of a transitory nature, but the deep counsels of
the eternal God. They involve the grand outlines of
His providence for near three thousand years; and on
their right determination, the welfare and safety, or the
apostasy and ruin, of the visible Church mainly depends.
It was a blind ignorance, or perverse distortion of the
word of prophecy, which brought on the ruin of the
Jews; and we have no security in our own case that
the same causes might not produce effects equally fatal
and disastrous. To treat any part of that word, not
merely with open irreverence, but even with a hasty
and careless precipitance and rashness, is treason against
the highest interests of the Church of Christ. Here, if
CHAP. III.]
61
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
anywhere, there is an urgent and imperative call for
seriousness and calmness-for caution and accuracy of
statement, strictness of reasoning, and a tone of deep
and pious reverence. No one can read either Mede, or
Vitringa, or Bengelius, or many other leading interpre-
ters of our own Church, without seeing that these features
are eminently conspicuous. How far these excellencies
are to be found in the writings of the new school, will
appear more plainly in the course of this inquiry.
The subjects in debate may be arranged in three
classes. First, those in which the early Church, Ro-
manists and Protestants, all agree, and are opposed, in
some by two or three, in others by all the Futurist
writers. Of this kind are the following:
1. The meaning of the four prophetic empires.
2. The history of Persia and Greece (c. viii.)
3. The history of the kings of Persia, Syria, and
Egypt (c. xi.)
4. The prophecy of the seventy weeks.
5. The prophecy of our Lord (Matt. xxiv.) in its
main outline.
6. The Catholic scope of the Apocalypse, as reach-
ing through the whole Christian dispensation.
Secondly, those in which a general assent of Pro-
testant writers is opposed, sometimes to a partial,
sometimes to a general assent of the Romanists and
Futurists; and also diverges, more or less, from the
expectations of the early Church. Such are the fol-
lowing:-
1. The prophetic use of kings to denote ruling dy-
nasties.
2. The little horn of the fourth beast (vii. 20-47).
3. The abomination of desolation, &c. (xi. 20-35).
4. The prophecy of the man of sin.
5. The apostasy of the latter times (1. Tim. iv. 1-6).
62
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
!
6. The ninth, thirteenth, and seventeenth chapters of
the Apocalypse.
7. The year-day theory of prophetic times.
A third class will include those points on which the
best Protestant expositors vary widely from each other.
But these it seems needlesst to specify. The present
volume will be chiefly occupied with the more elemen-
tary subjects which belong to the first of these divisions.
I. THE FOUR EMPIRES.
The visions of the great image and of the four beasts,
in every age of the Church, and with a consent
almost universal, have been referred to the same four
kingdoms of history-the empires of Babylon, Persia,
Greece, and Rome. Here the early fathers, the writers
of the Roman Church, and Protestants, all agree.
Thus St. Jerome speaks of it as "perfectly plain,” and
"the common opinion of ecclesiastical authors." Mal-
venda, one of the most laborious of the Roman exposi-
tors, calls it a doctrine "certain and fully received
(certum ac pervagatum) by all professors of the Chris-
tian name." Especially, he says, of the application of
the fourth to the Roman empire, "no one can be
found who contradicts it" (nullus qui contradicat re-
periri quibit). And Mede, the most distinguished,
perhaps, of Protestant interpreters, declares the consent
to be so general, that he deems it "all but an article of
faith" (tantum non articulus fidei). Most of the Fu-
turists themselves own, on this point, the weight of
reason and authority, and concur in the generally re-
ceived view. Mr. Maitland and Dr. Todd stand alone
in their rejection of this first basis of all sound interpre-
tation.
I. THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE for this common ac-
ceptation of the empires may be summed up in the fol-
lowing propositions:-
CHAP. III.]
63
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1. The four empires in c. vii. are successive in their
rule. For in the symbols, the second, third, and fourth
are plainly asserted to appear in succession. And the
distinct stages of the first and fourth are successive
also. "I beheld, until the wings were plucked." "I
considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among
them another little horn." There can be no reason,
then, to doubt that the second succeeds the first; the
only point not expressly stated.
Again, that the second arises after the first is clearly
implied in the words “ And, behold, another beast, a
second." Since it is first described as another, the only
reason why the further epithet "a second" should be
added, is because it is really the second in the order of
its dominion.
Further, the spirit of the contrast in vv. 17, 18, shows
that the rule of these four kingdoms occupies the whole
space till the time of the dominion of the saints and the
visible kingdom of Christ. The whole force of the pas-
sage is lost on any other view. They must, therefore,
be successive.
Again it is said-" The fourth beast shall be the
fourth kingdom upon earth." Let us compare vv. 3,
7, 17, and it will be plain that this means fourth in
order of succession of the four kings or kingdoms just
named by the angel. Any other exposition is either a
mere tautology, or involves a greater absurdity.
From all these reasons, the four empires of the se-
cond vision must be successive in the time of their rule.
2. The four empires are the same in each vision.—For
the last of the four, in each, is immediately followed by
the visible kingdom of Christ. It must hence be the
same in each. The third, in each vision, is that main
ruling kingdom which next precedes the fourth, and
must also be the same. And so of the second and the
4
:
first.
64
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Again, the head of gold is the kingdom of Babylon.
But the lion is the same-first, because that was the
kingdom in actual rule at the time, and therefore the
most natural commencement; secondly, because the
eagle wings answer to the record of Nebuchadnezzar's
ambition, and the subsequent weakening, to the history
of Belshazzar's fall. The sameness of the three others
is then proved as before.
This is confirmed also by the intervening history.
Nebuchadnezzar is called the head of gold, and must
therefore, for the time, be a representative of the whole
image. Presently he is set before us degraded to a
senseless and bestial state, and dwelling with the beasts
of the field. In the next vision, instead of a fourfold
image, we meet with four ravening beasts of prey.
What can we naturally infer, but that the same four
kingdoms then symbolized by the image are now exhi-
bited under the more suitable emblem of four wild
beasts, after the false splendour of worldliness has been
cleared away and their moral debasement been re-
vealed?
The objection from v. 17, the only one which has any
appearance of weight, will be presently removed, and
found to yield a further proof that the same empires
are designed.
3. The first empire is that of Babylon. This is plain
from the two clauses of the interpretation :-"Thou art
this head of gold," &c.; "And after thee shall arise
another kingdom."
4. The second empire is the Medo-Persian.—This was
evidently the next in point of time; and it is a distinct
empire-first, because it is symbolized by a distinct
and complete emblem, the ram, even while the empire
of Babylon continued; secondly, because the prophet
himself tells us, that the kingdom of Babylon was num-
J-
CHAP. III65
1..
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
]
bered and finished with Belshazzar; thirdly, because
the Spirit of God, by Jeremiah, twice fixes the close of
the empire to that same time (Jer. xxv. 11-14, xxvii.
4-7).
It is also a single empire. For first we are told, “the
ram having the two horns are the kings of Media and
Persia ;" and, secondly, the breast and arms were sil-
ver, and made up the second empire. The proof of
unity drawn from the symbols is thus complete.
5. The third empire is the Grecian.-For this fol-
lowed next after the Medo-Persian; and it is one
single empire, as is plain from the symbol of the goat
and its interpretation-" The rough goat is the king of
Grecia." It cannot therefore be confounded with the
Medo-Persian, or broken itself into two successive em-
pires. For by universal consent, the prophecy of the
he-goat reaches at least to Antiochus, and must there-
fore include Alexander's successors.
6. The fourth empire is the Roman.-For this again
followed next after the Grecian; and it is recognized
in Scripture, no less than in profane history, as the
next great ruling empire (Luke ii. 1, Matt. xxii. 17-21,
John xi. 48, xix. 12, Acts xxv. 10). The fourth empire
is most fully described in the prediction; and the
Roman empire is that which has the longest, closest,
and fullest connexion with the Church of Christ. And
further, prophecy expressly teaches that the dominion
of Rome reaches from the first to the second advent.
"The woman which thou sawest is that great city
which reigneth over the kings of the earth." And yet
immediately after its fall it is added-" The marriage
of the Lamb is come, and his bride hath made herself
ready." The fourth empire, then, which occupies the
same limits of time, is proved by this also to be the em-
pire of Rome.
66
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Such is a compressed view of the internal evidence.
The external is so full that it is needless to quote the
authorities at length. They include the Chaldee para-
phrase on Zechariah (v. 6) in the century before
Christ, Josephus in the first century, the Apocryphal
Esdras (2 Esdr. xii. 11), Justin Martyr (Dial. Tryph.
§32), Irenæus (Adv. Haer. v. 21), Tertullian (De
Resurr. p. 61, Apolog. p. 869), Hippolytus, Cyprian,
Lactantius, Victorinus, Methodius, Athanasius, Euse-
bius, Chrysostom, Isidore of Seville, Sulpitius Severus,
Jerome, Theodoret, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, Au-
gustine, Primasius, Aretas, Andreas, a host of later
times, and the Rabbinical writers. The list may be
closed with two modern witnesses. Pererius the Jesuit
observes-"This fourth beast, as all interpret, and as
the matter speaks for itself, is the Roman empire." And
the sceptical, but learned Gibbon-" The FOUR EM-
PIRES are clearly delineated; and the invincible arms of
the ROMANS described with as much clearness in the pro-
phecies of Daniel, as in the histories of Justin and
Diodorus."
To this array of proofs and authorities there stand
opposed the doubts of Mr. Maitland and Dr. Todd's
bolder charges of "a presumptuous perversion of the
divine oracles," and "the absence of all reason what-
soever. Let us examine their objections in order.
""
II. THE IDENTITY OF THE EMPIRES IN THE TWO
VISIONS is doubted by Mr. Maitland, and by Dr.
Todd it is positively denied. St. Hippolytus, indeed,
in the third century, affirms-"The prophecy will con-
vince all that have any judgment in them, that the four
kingdoms in the two visions are the same." In this
opinion the whole Church has acquiesced for sixteen
centuries. But Dr. Todd has at length discovered two
fatal objections.
CHAP. III.]
67
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1. "The four beasts are all spoken of as denoting events still
future, 'four kings which shall arise out of the earth.' It follows
that the first cannot be identical with the golden head of the
image."
This palmary argument is open to one serious objec-
tion-that it proves a great deal too much, as the fol-
lowing examples will show:-
(1). The whole vision of the image, without excep-
tion-is described three times—“what shall be in the
latter days"—" what should come to pass hereafter".
"what shall come to pass." The argument will there-
fore prove the head of gold to have been future, as well
as the eagle-winged lion, and will convict the prophet
himself of giving a false interpretation.
(2). St. Paul declares that " in Christ all shall be made
alive" (Távτes (woπoineηoovτai). The words are more
distinctly universal than those of Daniel's vision. But
St. Matthew tells us that " many bodies of the saints
which slept" had already risen, before the time of the
apostle's statement. By the help of Dr. Todd's objec-
tion, an infidel may prove either that St. Paul is a false
prophet, or St. Matthew a faithless historian.
(3). The same apostle tells us further, that when the
fulness of the Gentiles is come in, "all Israel shall be
saved." Yet who would infer from his words that no
one of the children of Israel has been saved before?
Many other passages might be adduced of the same
kind. The future tense, indeed, is constantly employed
when the main part of the events spoken of are future,
or even simply to denote a future completion. Instances
exactly similar are of daily occurrence.
The verse in question, therefore, really confirms the
common view of the prophecy. By comparing it with
chap. ii. we find that the future terms do not include
the present existence of the first of those four kingdoms.
68
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
And since the former vision, in the reign of Nebuchad-
nezzar, began with his kingdom, it is natural to think
that this vision will commence with the empire of Baby-
lon, but present it to us chiefly as it existed under Bel-
shazzar. Accordingly, the first distinct action in the
vision is the plucking of the eagle wings; which strictly
corresponds to the political features of Belshazzar's
reign, when this prophecy was given.
2. A second objection follows :-
"After the fourth beast was slain, the other three still con-
tinued to exist (vii. 12). This has no parallel in the vision of
the image, where the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold are ex-
pressly said to be broken to pieces together. But if we suppose
that by the three first beasts are meant the Babylonian, Persian,
and Greek empires, it will be incumbent on us to suppose those
empires to be still in existence; nay, that they will actually sur-
vive the extinction of the Roman kingdom."
A more confused and confusing argument has seldom
been framed: it is a perfect rival to the Grecian dilemma.
The objection has two parts which destroy each other,
and each of them separately is untrue.
The first argument is to this effect :—the brass, silver,
and gold are destroyed along with the fourth beast; but
the three former beasts survive that event; therefore they
cannot be the same. The second is of this nature. The
three first beasts are not yet destroyed; but the Babylo-
nian, Persian, and Greek empires are extinct already;
therefore, again, they cannot be the same.
Now since the prophet declares plainly that the head
of gold is the empire of Babylon, these two objections
contradict and destroy each other. The same thing is
assumed as true in one premise and as false in the other.
But to waive this contradiction, let us consider the
argument in itself. A few words will explain its real
force.
CHAP. III.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
69
First, both parties agree that the judgment of the
fourth beast coincides with the destruction of the image.
But Dr. Todd maintains that the three other kingdoms
bear rule at the same time with the fourth; while in the
common view they rule previously, and in successive
order.
Now if Dr. Todd be right, the prolonging in life of
the three beasts must be after the time when the fourth
is destroyed. But in the former vision, the brass, the
silver, and the gold are destroyed together with the
iron, and the stone then becomes a mountain which fills
the whole earth. There seems no place left for the
prolonging of the three other kingdoms, whether con-
temporary with the fourth, or ruling before it. The
difficulty on either hypothesis is the same. On the
common view, the three kingdoms precede the fourth.
Their prolonging in life may then be after the time of
their own rule, and not after the judgment of the fourth
beast. This is the view of Sir Isaac Newton; and in
this case is the simplest construction. There is, then,
not even a shadow of contradiction between the two
visions.
The fatal objection, therefore, is of the following
kind: Dr. Todd's theory compels him to an explanation
of the twelfth verse, which seems, on either hypothesis,
to contradict the former vision: and it entirely excludes
a simple and natural explanation which the common in-
terpretation suggests, and which is free from all dif-
ficulty whatever.
By such weighty arguments is the consent of eigh-
teen centuries to be overthrown, and this too by pro-
fessed restorers of antiquity!
Dr. Todd's arguments are now exhausted, but not
his errors. And when a writer assails so rudely the
very foundations of prophetic truth, it becomes a duty
70
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
to exhibit his logical incompetence for the work of de-
molition.
3. We have first a surprisingly false exposition, bor-
rowed from Mr. Maitland :-
"There can be no question of the identity of the fourth beast
with the iron legs of the image, because it is expressly said, in
obvious allusion to the preceding prophecy, the fourth beast shall be
the fourth kingdom upon earth.”
And again :-
"I am disposed to believe that the three first beasts are not
identical with the gold, silver, and brass, although the fourth
beast is undoubtedly the iron, or fourth kingdom."
:
The interpretation here advanced is anything but
obvious indeed, the exact reverse will be evident to
any patient observer of the sacred text. The prophet
has just seen four beasts arise in succession from the sea.
The fourth had peculiarly fixed his attention as diverse
from all that were before it. The angel tells him that
these four beasts are four kings, or, as the next words
explain it, kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth.
He then inquires the meaning of the fourth beast, and
the angel answers:-" The fourth beast will be the
fourth kingdom (or, a fourth kingdom) upon earth,
which will be diverse from all kingdoms." What could
the prophet understand, but that it was the fourth in
order of time, of the four which he had just seen, and
which the angel had that moment expounded? To refer
the word "fourth" to a vision fifty years past, and to
a series of things quite distinct from the four beasts, is a
fancy so strange and unnatural that it is hard to imagine
how any writer of common sense could ever have pro-
posed it. We might as well assert that the words
(Dan. xi. 2)," and the fourth shall be far richer than
they all," denotes that the fourth king of chap. vii. will
be richer than the three kings of Persia.
CHAP. III.]
71
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Since, however, the identity of the fourth kingdom
in the two visions is still allowed, why is this violence
offered to the plain sense of the passage? The reason
is clear. The lecturer's aim, throughout, is to divert
all the prophecies, which have been applied to the
Roman Church, to future events; and for this end to
free his speculations from all troublesome connexion.
with past history. His theories shrink from every his-
torical fact as from the spear of Ithuriel. Hence the
novel course which he adopts is to begin by expounding
the close of each vision, while confessedly uncertain
what is the true sense of its beginning; like the archi-
tect who proposed to build from the roof downwards.
A great facility is gained for this venturous course, if
the sameness of the fourth kingdom in both these visions
could be established without reference to the other
three. Hence recourse is had to an exposition which
does violence to the first lessons of common sense: and,
indeed, what can be expected from a method of inquiry
so lame and impotent, but errors and mistakes without
end?
4. We have next a complete misrepresentation of the
reasoning of previous expositors :—
"If the fourth beast be identical with the fourth kingdom of
Nebuchadnezzar's dream, then (say the commentators) the first,
second, and third beasts are the same with the first, second, and
third monarchies, and are the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek
empires respectively.”
Not one, I believe, of the commentators is guilty of
this absurd reasoning, which Dr. Todd ascribes to them
all. First, he makes them found their argument on his
own mistake about Dan. vii. 23, which no one, perhaps,
ever dreamed of till within these few years; and next,
he ascribes to them a syllogism, which would prove the
three first apostles and the three first evangelists to be
72
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
..
the same persons: and all this without one syllable that
I can find in any author to justify the statement. The
lightest censure of such a style of controversy is, that
those who adopt it should at least be more moderate in
their exclamations against the "bold and weak reck-
lessness" of others.
5. We have, thirdly, a direct mis-statement with re-
gard to the prophecy itself:-
"It seems very plainly asserted that the four kingdoms symbo-
lized are to exist contemporaneously, and that the three first are
to survive the fourth; but this phenomenon is not explained, so
far as I know, of any of the common interpretations, and is
wholly inconsistent with the hypothesis that the fourth beast
is the Roman empire."
This short sentence contains four statements, and
every one of them is untrue. First, it is plainly as-
serted that the kingdoms are not contemporaneous, but
successive, in their rise and dominion. No less than
eight terms importing this succession occur in the vision.
In a certain sense, indeed, they are contemporary, since
the former ones exist after their rule has ceased. But
this cannot be the lecturer's meaning; for it is allowed
by all expositors, and makes nothing for his argument.
Next, the prophecy does not plainly assert that the
three beasts survive the fourth, but only that they sur-
vive the time of their own dominion. And if this were
asserted, it is just as consistent with the common expo-
sition as with that of the lecturer, and could therefore
yield no argument in his favour. Lastly, the surviving
fourth would not be
of the three kingdoms after the
inconsistent with the application of the fourth to the
Roman empire. It could only be so, by assuming that
Babylon, Persia, and Greece are, in the prophetic sense,
entirely extinct. Now a glance at the former vision
shows that this is not true even of Babylon, the earliest
CHAP. III.]
73
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
in time; for the gold is broken to pieces, either at the
same time with the iron, or somewhat later (ii. 45).
To sum up this first subject, the identity of the four
kingdoms: Of Dr. Todd's two fatal objections, the first
is a grammatical subtlety, which is confuted both by
reason and by Scripture usage; and the second is made
up of two contradictory arguments, and the only part
in it which is true tells exclusively against his own
theory. Besides these we have nothing, except a most
unnatural exposition of the twenty-third verse, an un-
warrantable ascription of his own mistake to previous
writers, a complete misrepresentation of their argu-
ments, and two statements entirely erroneous concern-
ing the prophecy itself.
III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE THREE FIRST
EMPIRES is the next point assailed. Mr. Maitland's
hypothesis, borrowed in part from Lacunza or Ben
Ezra, is, that Babylon and Persia form one single
empire; that the second is the Grecian, the third the
Roman, and the fourth still future. His arguments are
these :-
1. "The Babylonian empire was not destroyed, or
essentially altered, when Darius the Mede and Cyrus
shook off the yoke of Belshazzar, and obtained posses-
sion of the capital."
The argument consists of two parts. The first denies
the fact of any essential alteration; and the second re-
quires, to constitute a fresh empire, the total destruction
of its predecessor. Now to these two statements I reply:
(1). The kingdom of Babylon was numbered and
finished, as the miraculous hand-writing shows; and
therefore, if not destroyed, was at least essentially
altered.
(2). The head of gold is not destroyed when the
silver kingdom succeeds, nor till the stone smites the
E
74
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
-.
image. Nor, again, is the first beast destroyed when
the second or third receives dominion. The second
premise in Mr. Maitland's argument is refuted by the
symbols alone.
(3). It is also refuted by history, on Mr. Maitland's
own hypothesis. The kingdom of Persia was not phy-
sically destroyed when Alexander obtained possession
of the capital, and became king of Babylon and Persia,
as Darius had been; though Mr. Maitland himself
regards this as the beginning of a fresh kingdom. Nor,
again, was the kingdom of Greece destroyed when the
Romans conquered Macedon, and proclaimed Greece
to be free, at the Olympic games.
In short, Scripture teaches us that, after the seventy
years of the captivity, the service of the nations to the
king of Babylon was at an end, and the king and people
punished (Jer. xxv. 12-14); that under Belshazzar “the
very time of the land was come, and many nations and
great kings would serve themselves of him" (xxvi. 6, 7);
that the kingdom was numbered, finished, and divided,
and given to others (Dan. v.); that Media and Persia
formed a separate empire even before Babylon fell
(Dan. viii. 20); and that the conquest by Cyrus is the
most complete type of the final overthrow of the world's
kingdoms (Rev. xvi. 12). What fuller evidence of
distinctness could the most captious disputant require ?
In order, then, to set history and the prophecy at
variance, Mr. Maitland distorts both. He exaggerates
the change required by the symbols, extenuates the
facts of history, and stultifies his own hypothesis of the
succession of the two following empires.
2. "Darius became king of the Chaldeans, as Bel-
shazzar had been; and so Daniel calls him (xi. 1).
And Nehemiah, who was cup-bearer to his successor a
hundred years after, calls him simply the king of
CHAP. III.]
75
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Babylon." To strengthen the objection, I may add
Ezra v. 13, where Cyrus is styled the king of Babylon,
and Ezra vi. 22, where Darius Hystaspes is termed
the king of Assyria.
And now what do these facts really prove? About
thirty times the title, king of Persia, is given in Scrip-
ture to the sovereigns of the new dynasty; four times
that of king of Babylon, Assyria, and the Chaldeans,
while Babylon was an actual province of the monarchy,
and tributary to its rulers. Even the fourth, or, as Mr.
Maitland would call it, the third kingdom, has the name
Babylon applied, in the New Testament, to its seat of
empire. What can we infer, but that the regular and
constant title marks the distinctness of the Persian as the
second kingdom; while the rare and occasional title,
like the use of the word "Babylon" in the Apocalypse,
serves to remind us of the prophetic unity of the whole
image?
3. "Babylon was not destroyed; Cyrus and his suc-
cessors continued it as their seat of government." The
latter statement seems groundless. Xenophon asserts
that Susa and Ecbatana were at once made the seats of
supreme power; and though Babylon, from its position
and importance, was retained as a third, it was with this
great difference, that Babylon was subject to tribute,
while the Persians were free.
But besides this error, the argument itself is futile.
Neither Babylon nor Susa was destroyed when Alex-
ander conquered Asia; nor Pydna, Pella, Sparta, or
Athens, when the Romans subdued Greece.
4. "The Persian empire never was less, but equal to,
or greater than, the kingdom of the Chaldeans founded
by Nebuchadnezzar. But the Grecian empire, founded
by Alexander, answers this characteristic of inferiority
to the first."
...
E 2
76
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
This objection is made up of two errors. First, it is
a well-known fact that Alexander's empire included
Egypt and all Asia, as far as the Hydaspes and Indus.
It comprised, therefore, all the Persian dominions, be-
sides adding Greece and Macedonia. The empire was
therefore greater, and not less in size than that of Persia.
If Mr. Maitland's exposition of the words were true,
it would refute his own hypothesis, as more false than
the common interpretation.
But the exposition is false. The word "inferior"
does not mean less in territorial extent, as Mr. Maitland
expounds it. For, first, this is historically untrue, on
every hypothesis. Next, the breast and arms of silver
were not less in size than the gold, but greater; they
were inferior only in preciousness and in relative posi-
tion in the image. Further, the term strictly answers
to the symbol. From its derivation it might be ren-
dered "earthward;" and thus denotes inferiority, not in
size and extent, but in dignity, splendour, and politi-
cal cohesion. Hence, as the construction allows and
the symbol requires, it must be applied to the third.
empire, as well as the second, in comparison with the
first.
5. "The character of the third empire, of which only
it is declared that it shall bear rule over all the earth,
does not apply to the Grecian, but does apply, with
peculiar propriety, to the Roman empire.”
F
.
Here again two of the three assertions are not true.
First, the Greek empire was larger than the Per-
sian, and, consequently, than the Chaldean, which yet,
is called universal by the prophet himself. The cha-
racter does apply, therefore, to the Greek empire.
Next, universal rule is not asserted of the third em-
pire only. It is distinctly applied to the first (Dan. ii.
37, 38) and to the fourth beast, which Mr. Maitland
CHAP. III.]
77
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
admits to be the same with the iron kingdom. Three
out of four have the character plainly assigned them.
But, in reality, universal rule is ascribed to the
second, as well as to the other three. For the clause,
"which shall bear rule over all the earth," may be
joined, in construction, with each of the two kingdoms
named in the verse. And the homogeneous nature of
the image, the propriety of the symbol, and the facts of
history on every hypothesis, prove that this is the true
construction.
<
6. "The fourth empire is to exist till the ancient of
days' come. But the Roman empire has long ceased to
exist. Those who are hard pressed by the exigency of
system may attempt to make a show of a nominal em-
pire, and, by long habit, the writers and readers of com-
mentaries have come to give and receive very marvellous
interpretations with great gravity; but surely the Roman
empire, the empire founded by Romulus and ruled by
Augustus and Constantine, has passed through a regular
decline and fall to absolute extinction.”
This objection will have to be separately considered,
as Dr. Todd unfolds it more at length. One single
remark, however, is enough to prove its emptiness.
The brass, silver, and gold are broken and destroyed at
the same time with the iron. Now, on Mr. Maitland's
hypothesis, these are the Babylonian and Persian, the
Greek, and the Roman empires. How easy, then, to
retort his own objection threefold, and say, " Mr. Mait-
land gives, and Dr. Todd and others receive, very mar-
vellous interpretations with great gravity; but surely
the kingdom ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus,
and that ruled over by Alexander and his successors, as
well as that of Augustus and Constantine, have passed
through their decline and fall to absolute extinction."
Mr. Maitland's argument has, therefore, three faults.
78
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
First, it tells more strongly against his own hypothesis
than against the truth he is opposing. Secondly, it
directly contradicts the statement of the inspired pro-
phet with regard to the continuance of the head of
gold. And lastly, with unwise sarcasm, it treats that
view of the prophetic language as marvellously absurd,
which, either on his own or any other hypothesis, has
the express and plain sanction of the Spirit of God.
III. THE APPLICATION OF THE FOURTH EMPIRE
TO THAT OF ROME is more fully and boldly contra-
dicted in Dr. Todd's Lectures. His objections are of
three kinds the imputation of false maxims, assertions
of the discord of interpreters, and direct arguments
from the characteristics of the fourth kingdom.
1. False maxims imputed.
(1). "The application is a remarkable example of
the tendency to magnify the events of our own times,
and give them a disproportionate importance" (pp. 46,
48).
This is the exact reverse of the truth. Dr. Todd's
own system is the climax of this error, from which the
common exposition is entirely free. He contracts within
the next twenty or thirty years the prophecies which the
Protestant interpretation spreads evenly over two thou-
sand four hundred years. This is a somewhat bold com-
mencement.
(2). "We are no judges of the relative importance
of past events, and therefore the Roman empire may
have been omitted.”
We are judges of the relative importance of the birth,
passion, and resurrection of our Lord, and of the spread
of his Gospel. To deny this, would be either gross ig-
norance or direct profaneness. Now all these happened
under the Roman power, and are closely connected with
it by the Scriptures themselves. The objection, there-
CHAP. III.]
79.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
fore, recoils against its author, and becomes a strong
presumption for the common view.
(3). "The prediction has been made to square with
events before fixed upon."
The origin of this charge is soon explained. Inter-
preters in general have, with much reason, viewed each
prophecy as a connected whole. The meaning of one
part, when clearly ascertained, would thus involve ne-
cessary inferences as to the meaning of the rest. They
have sought to reconcile the prediction, not with events
which they had fixed on, but with those which the pro-
phecy itself had fixed and determined. Dr. Todd, on
the contrary, would make not only every prophecy, but
every clause of the same prophecy, of private interpre-
tation. The second empire is to be independent of the
first, the third of the second, and the fourth of all the
three. In short, he resolves the visions into a chaos of
unconnected particulars, and then quarrels with others
for reasoning from their evident connexion. Except
for this grand error, the charge would be absurd. The
early writers, who explained the fourth kingdom to be
the Roman empire, had only one plain and simple fact
to ascertain what empire next followed that of Greece.
(4). "We cannot tell whether the prophecy is to be
without gap or omission; and whether it may not suit
the inscrutable designs of the Most High to pass over
ten or twenty centuries without notice."
In other words, a statue of human shape and propor-
tions, composed of four metals that weld into each
other, is the fit symbol for an empire of seventy years,
a "gap" of two thousand years, and three other empires
lasting thirty years more; or for three empires lasting
four hundred years, a "gap" of two thousand years, and
one short empire of thirty years. Also, "a second
kingdom" may fitly denote the fifth or sixth in succes-
'
80
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
sion, and “the fourth kingdom" may be the tenth, or
even the ten thousandth, in successive order. To deny
such monsters of interpretation is, in Dr. Todd's view,
"to assume that we have been admitted to the secret
counsels of God, and that we are acquainted with all
the ends he had in view in the revelation of futurity."
Such an argument, in defence of so monstrous an hy-
pothesis, seems little else than a grievous taking of
God's name in vain.
(5). "The expositors who, influenced by such rea-
sonings, have explained the fourth to be the Roman
empire, have perverted, rather than interpreted, the
oracles of God."
What, then, is Dr. Todd's own "interpretation," the
clear evidence of which emboldens him to bring this
heavy charge against hundreds of consenting inter-
preters of every age? The reader shall judge for him-
self. The vision, as the lecturer teaches, must be ex-
pounded thus, in its four main parts
1. Babylon and Persia-Greece-Rome-a "gap
of one thousand four hundred years-and afterwards
the fourth future kingdom (p. 80). Or else,
2. Babylon-Persia-Greece-a "gap" of two thou-
sand years—and afterwards the fourth kingdom (p. 80,
second par.) Or else,
3. Babylon-the Medes-the Persians-a "gap" of
two thousand one hundred years—and afterwards the
fourth kingdom (p. 81, l. iv.) Or, finally,
4. Babylon-any two kingdoms whatever-a "gap
from fourteen to twenty-one centuries—and then the
fourth kingdom (pp. 81, 82).
This happy variety of "gaps" and alternatives is Dr.
Todd's exposition, which, by its internal evidence and
simplicity, convicts the fathers of the Church, and
almost every expositor since, of "perverting, rather
CHAP. III.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
81
*
than interpreting, the oracles of God." This seems a
considerable improvement on the maxim of the Coun-
cil of Trent—“ Cum enim ecclesia duarum expositionum
ubertate gaudeat, non esse eam ad unius penuriam
restringendam." But what a building of sand must those
expositions be, of which this chaotic medley is the basis
and foundation!
2. Asserted discord of interpreters.
<<
(1). Many of the ancient Christian writers made
each a particular application of the vision to the Roman
empire, as it existed in their own times; and most of
these particular applications are now, of course, refuted
by the event."
Simply and entirely erroneous. Not one early writer so
applies the prophecy, as a mere inspection will prove.
(2). "The same expositors referred it to the Roman
empire, in its particular state, as it would exist at the
second advent."
Simply and entirely erroneous, as before; and not only
so, but a flat contradiction of the former statement.
(3). "Commentators now, who cling to this state-
ment, are, some of them, led by it to limit the prophecy
to the first advent."
Here again the opposite is true. The mistake of
the expositors who make this limitation, far from
being a consequence of their applying the fourth em-
pire to Rome, has led most of them to deny that
reference, and to adopt Porphyry's application to
the Seleucidæ; as Broughton, Junius, Hayn, and
L'Empereur.
(4). "The others are obliged to maintain that the
Roman empire still bears rule, notwithstanding its ap-
parent decline and fall.”
The obligation is merely the conjoint testimony of
history and prophecy, punctually and exactly agreeing
"
.
E 3
82
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
!
together. Both alike teach us that there is a distinct
and revived form of the same empire, with the same
seat and centre, but with a nominal head merely, and
with the power diffused through the separate kingdoms.
(5). “The ancient writers, who referred the vision to
the Roman empire as it was in their time, are unfairly
quoted as agreeing with the moderns."
The agreement is as full as was possible, unless the
ancients had been prophets as well as interpreters.
Both ancients and moderns refer the undivided fourth
kingdom to the undivided Roman empire; and this
was past or present to both. Both refer the divided
state of the fourth kingdom to a like state of the
Roman empire; and the later ancients agree that this
began in the fourth or fifth century. The only dif
ference is, the ancients, to whom that state was future,
expected it to be short; and the moderns, to whom it is
mainly past, have seen it to be long.
(6). "The ancient opinion was in strict accordance
with the letter of the prophecy (i. e., of the image),
when it assumed that the fourth kingdom was not to
come into the divided state till just before the second
advent; while the modern opinion does violence to the
plain words of holy Scripture."
This is utterly untrue. The prophecy in question
(Dan. ii.) does not contain one syllable to confirm the
opinion that the divided state was to be short; but it
does offer two presumptions for the opposite view.
First, it seems plain, from verse 43, that the divided
state must continue, at the least, two generations. Next,
so far as the space it occupies in the prophecy may
serve as a guide, we might expect it to last three-
fourths of the time of the four undivided empires-that
is, for seven or eight centuries. One can scarcely con-
demn too strongly the reckless boldness of statements
CHAP. III.]
83
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
like these, the very reverse of the plain fact, on a sub-
ject of such immense importance.
3. The characters of the fourth kingdom.
The alleged disagreement between these and the
Roman history is all that Dr. Todd has to sustain him
against a connexion of the prophecy almost self-evident,
and a consent of interpreters all but universal. And
here also, instead of disagreement, most writers see, or
fancy they see, a remarkable and impressive corre-
spondence. Not only Protestants, but Jesuits and In-
fidels declare, that "the matter speaks for itself;" and
that the Roman power "is as clearly described as in
the pages of Justin and Diodorus." Here, then, we
have a right to look for clear, strong, and plausible
objections, and some show, at least, of strict reasoning.
Yet, strange to say, no part of the Lectures is more con-
fused, vague, and inconsistent, than that which is occu-
pied with this vital argument.
Dr. Todd first states four characters of the fourth
kingdom-great strength, subsequent division, mingling
with the seed of men, and sudden destruction at the
second advent. To these we may add a fifth, really the
first in logical order-that the kingdom is the fourth, or
next in succession to the third.
The first and second of these characters, Dr. Todd
admits by his silence, are fulfilled in the Roman empire.
The third he judges to be inexplicable; yet ancient
and modern writers, with general consent, explain it, in
a very natural and obvious sense, of intermarriages
among the rulers of the divided kingdom; and this
has had a striking fulfilment in the European kingdoms
of the revived Roman empire. The fifth character can
apply only to the Roman power. Four characters,
therefore, out of five, plainly agree with the Catholic
interpretation.
84
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
+
The sole objection, then, remaining is the absence of
the fourth prophetic character-sudden destruction at
the second advent: and since this relates to a future
event, it resolves itself into the assertion, that the
Roman empire is, in the prophetic sense, extinct al-
ready. This alone is to outweigh the almost universal
consent of interpreters, the connexion of the prophecy,
and the striking agreement of all the other features.
The following is a correct summary, without omission,
of Dr. Todd's reasoning; and the reader will be able to
judge how far it warrants his conclusion.
(1). First, he refutes the hypothesis, that the stone
becoming a great mountain and filling the earth, de-
notes the past extension of the Church and spread of
the Gospel. This is an easy task, and convicts Mr.
Palmer, in his book "On the Church," of an egregious
wresting of prophecy. But this confirms the applica-
tion to the Roman empire, rather than disproves it. In
fact, the hypothesis refuted is inconsistent with the
common view of the fourth kingdom, instead of forming
one of its elements. Most of those who have renounced
the Catholic exposition have done so from their attach-
ment to this error, which Dr. Todd has been at the
pains to disprove; as Junius, Hayn, and others. This
first argument is for, and not against, the common
interpretation.
(2). Dr. Todd next endeavours to refute Mede's hy-
pothesis, that the stone was cut out at the birth and
ascension of Christ, but does not smite the image, or
become a mountain, till the second advent. His rea-
sons are these:—
First, "Mede's theory deprives expositors of all the
advantage they derived from the gradual growth of the
stone, as denoting the gradual progress of Christianity."
In other words, it loses the great advantage of asserting
CHAP. III.]
85
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
what both Mede and Dr. Todd believe to be a demon-
strable falsehood!
Secondly, "It assumes the Roman empire to be still
in existence." So that Dr. Todd's reasoning is of this
kind. First, the Roman empire is non-existent, there-
fore Mede's theory is false; and next, Mede's theory is
false, therefore the Roman empire is extinct, and can-
not be the fourth kingdom.
Thirdly, "There is nothing in the prophecy to inti-
mate so long an interval between the cutting out of the
stone and its smiting the image." But there is nothing
to intimate the reverse: and the objection is clearly
futile, in a vision where the image comprehends twenty-
five centuries, and yet appears complete before the eye
of the prophet from the first.
Fourthly, Mede is charged with giving a different
sense to the word "kingdom" (in ver. 4) from that
which it bears in the rest of the prophecy. This too
is almost entirely erroneous. The kingdom there de-
scribed is what Mede calls "regnum montis," which is
visible no less than the others; though Mede considers
the preparation for its establishment as taking place in
the days of the four kingdoms; and this he calls "the
kingdom of the stone," rather from the language of the
New Testament than from the direct words of the pro-
phecy.
The refutation of Mede is thus an entire failure.
But even if it had been as solid as it is really empty, it
could not affect the application of the fourth empire.
Rome might equally be the power intended, if the
cutting out of the stone were future, as well as its fall
on the image. Yet the force of these considerations,
Dr. Todd affirms, compels him to renounce the appli-
cation to Rome, though confirmed by the consent of
atl
ages, and by the obvious agreement of all the other
86
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
features of the prophecy. Can loose reasoning and
boldness of assertion be carried farther than this?
(3). After some remarks on ch. vii. the argument is
resumed as follows:-
"To the reader of history no fact seems more certain than
that the Roman monarchy is extinct. To maintain the contrary
is a use of words so far from ordinary apprehension, as to be of
itself a sufficient condemnation of any theory that requires it.
In such a sense the kingdom of Belshazzar, as well as that of
Augustus, might be said to exist to this day.”
The objection supplies its own answer. The head of
gold, Dr. Todd allows, is the kingdom of Babylon,
that is, "the kingdom of Belshazzar." Yet the vision
tells us, in plain terms, that the gold is broken to pieces
when the stone smites the image-that is, as Dr. Todd
agrees, at a time still future. Therefore, a use of words
far remote from Dr. Todd's opinion of what is natural,
stands legible and conspicuous on the very face of the
passage. If the prophecy clearly speaks of "the king-
dom of Belshazzar" as still in existence, it may with
equal propriety speak of that of Rome as still bearing
rule. The word of God is surely a better expounder of
its own style than our private fancies.
But the objection further involves a double suppres-
sion of the truth. The prophecy and the history are
made to seem at variance, only because one half of the
testimony is suppressed in each case. The word of
God speaks, it is true, of the fourth kingdom, in its last
stage, as a continuance of the same empire; but also de-
scribes it as a distinct and revived form, severed from
the other by a marked separation-the beast that was,
and is not, and is just at hand. In like manner, history
teaches us, that although the empire of Charlemagne
was distinct from the old empire of Rome, it was still a
revival of it in a new form. The very exclamation used
CHAP. III.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
87
at Charlemagne's coronation seems as if purposely de-
signed to refute Dr. Todd's objection-" Long life and
victory to Charles, the most pious AUGUSTUS, crowned
by God the great and pacific EMPEROR OF THE RO-
MANS." And Gibbon, the very authority to whom Dr.
Todd refers, says, in striking correspondence with the
prophecy," Europe dates a new era from his RESTORA-
TION of the WESTERN EMPIRE." In the middle ages
the schools of civil law "resounded with the doctrine
that the Roman emperor was the rightful sovereign of
the earth, from the rising to the setting sun.
The con-
trary opinion was condemned, not as an error, but as
an heresy, since the Gospel had pronounced, there
went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the
world should be taxed.' Nay, Bellarmine, the most
able champion of the Romish Church, stakes his whole
defence of the Pope, from the charge of being antichrist,
on that continued existence of the Roman empire, to
which Dr. Todd and Mr. Maitland object so loudly in
the Protestant interpretations.
""
It is curious and instructive to contrast these two op-
posite lines of defence for the Roman see, chosen with
equal confidence by the learned Jesuit and the Anglican
divine. Dr. Todd argues thus :-The fourth kingdom,
in all its stages till the advent, is one and the same
empire. But the Papal empire is quite distinct from
that of Augustus; therefore Rome is not the fourth
empire, and the Papacy is not antichristian. Bellarmine
secures the same conclusion, but by reversing both the
premises. The beast from the sea, or antichrist, he
argues, must be quite distinct from the previous stages
of the Roman power, as it were a fresh kingdom. But
the emperorship is one and the same under Cæsar and
the Pope-crowned emperors; and therefore the anti-
christian stage of Rome is still future. The natural
88
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
conclusion to be drawn from this singular contrast will
be evident without a long comment. The prophecy and
the history each of them announces two features in the
later stage of the Roman power-its marked unity and
yet its striking contrast with the previous stage. Take
half of these facts and combine them crosswise, and a
special pleader may then exhibit a plausible show of dis-
cordance to prove the prophecy misapplied. But the two
apologists of the Roman Church unhappily disagree in
their selection; and their premises, when combined,
establish that very application which each of them, by
suppressing half the evidence, has attempted to refute.
(4). One last objection remains.
"The Romans were remarkable for moderation, toleration, and
gentle government of the nations that submitted to their sway.
Not the extermination of the conquered, but their civilization
and incorporation into the Roman name, was the ultimate end of
Roman government. But the fourth kingdom is the very re-
verse of this picture: extermination shall be the object of its
conquests-death and destruction the characteristics of its sway."
* But for some preoccupation (he adds), commentators must
have seen the total contrast."
This fresh instance of the boldness with which Dr.
Todd flings charges of gross error against wiser and
more learned men, rivals all that have gone before.
Let us dissect the statement, and its entire groundless-
ness will appear.
First, "not extermination, but incorporation into the
Roman name, was the end of Roman government."
And what else does the prophet teach us, when he says
of the fourth beast, "it shall devour the whole earth ?”
How else, but by this process of "devouring," could
the incorporation take place? To allege these two
things as a contrast is to do violence to common sense.
Next, "extermination shall be the object of the fourth
CHAP. III.]
89
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
kingdom in its conquests." To tread down, break in
pieces, and stamp under foot, are not the emblems of
extremination, but of entire subjection. And this was
the constant object of the Roman power. The pro-
phecy describes their conduct to those who resisted,
and Dr. Todd confounds it with their treatment of
those already subdued. The contrast, however, is
marked by their own poet, who gives the Roman
maxim :-
"Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.”
"They were remarkable for moderation, &c., to those
who submitted to their sway." But the question is,
their conduct to those who resisted. Does this bear out
Dr. Todd's contrast? Let us hear one or two witnesses.
"The
First, let us listen to the remarks of Gibbon upon the
Roman moderation and gentleness in conquest,
Romans (he says), who so coolly and so concisely men-
tion the acts of justice exercised by the legions, reserve
their compassion and eloquence for their own suffer-
ings." He then adds, in striking agreement with the
prophet, "Observe with how much indifference Cæsar
relates, that he put to death the whole senate of the
Veneti, who had yielded to his mercy; that he laboured
to extirpate the whole nation of the Eburones; that forty
thousand persons were massacred at Bourges by the
just revenge of his soldiers, who spared neither sex nor
age!"
A second witness shall be Plutarch, on the capture
of Athens by Sylla. "The soldiers flew with drawn
swords through the streets, so that the number of the
slain could not be reckoned; but even now the multi-
tude of those slaughtered is measured by the place to
which the blood flowed. For, to pass by those who
were slain in the other parts of the city, the blood
€90
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
.
4
which was shed in the forum deluged all the Ceramicus,
as far as the Dipylon. Many add, that the blood,
passing through the gates, flooded the very suburbs ! ”
After such testimonies, whatever Dr. Todd may
affirm of Roman gentleness towards the vanquished
will do little to disprove their prophetic character-de-
vouring cruelty towards those who resisted their sway.
The censure of Dr. Todd upon his predecessors
recoils, then, in full weight, upon himself. And it is
curious to notice again that the symbols which he
thinks so unsuitable, Gibbon, though believing the pro-
phecy to be a forgery, adopts as the most suitable of all
to describe the Roman conquests. "The arms of the
republic advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates,
the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images
of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent
the nations and their kings, were successively broken
by the IRON monarchy of ROME."
To sum up the whole :-Of the five characters in the
prophecy, four clearly apply to the Roman power. Of
Dr. Todd's objections, drawn from the future destruc-
tion of the empire, the first confirms the received view;
the second is a pile of errors, and, if true, would be no-
thing to the purpose; the third is refuted by the plain
words of the prophecy, suppresses half the historical
truth, and is refuted by the ablest advocates of Rome
themselves. The last, from its peculiar concentration
of errors, seems to defy summary.
IV. Before closing this important subject, it may be
useful, now that all the objections of the Futurists on this
point have been exposed in their weakness, to add a few
general remarks, and to confirm and establish still further
this grand basis of prophetic truth. The brief summary
already given should be more than enough to convince
every candid mind; but there are several indirect con-

CHAP. III.]
91
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
firmations which have been in general little noticed, and
which throw further light on the same truth.
1. The time at which these prophecies were given is a
strong indication of their true nature. They reach
from the second year of Nebuchadnezzar to the third
of Cyrus, through the seventy years' captivity. With
Nebuchadnezzar that subjection of Judah began, which
has continued ever since. The return under Ezra was
only "a little reviving in their bondage." And this
subjection continued to the time of our Lord. "Whose
is this image and superscription? They say unto him,
Cæsar's." The rule of Judah began, therefore, at this
time, its long suspension of more than two thousand
four hundred years; and the first seventy, in which
these prophecies were given, was an earnest, and in
some sort a type, of the whole period. But other pro-
phets had announced fully the glory of Israel at the
close of that long rejection. It remained only, now the
time of "indignation" was begun, to exhibit, for the
benefit of the Church of God, the grand outlines of
God's providence during the time of Gentile rule. It
would plainly be of the highest importance that the de-
pression of the people of God should be seen to have
an appointed limit, and that the succession of their per-
secutors and oppressors was strictly bounded and de-
fined. Such accordingly is the clear purpose of these
two first visions. They show that only four grand
ruling empires were to intervene before the coming of
Messiah's kingdom. To deny the continuity and strict
succession of those empires is, therefore, no less than
to make void and defeat the main object for which the
visions were clearly given. They are a compressed
summary of God's providence in the government of the
world, given to the Church at that very moment when
92
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENts of prophecy.
it began to be permanently subject to Gentile domi-
nation.
2. The successive degradation of the parts of the
IMAGE is another evidence of the same truth. This
striking feature of the prophecy has clearly a deep
moral significance. The head is of gold, the most pre-
cious of metals; the feet are mixed with clay-miry
clay and the declension is gradual, not abrupt or
sudden. It is clear that all the kingdoms are worldly-
that is, such as reject, oppose, or corrupt the truth of
God. It is also clear that the close intercourse of the
visible Church with the Gentile kingdoms began with
the dispersion of the captivity. The symbol plainly
intimates that nations brought into contact with divine
truth, and not heartily embracing it, become the more.
debased the longer that rejection of truth continues.
The Gospel is a savour of death unto death to those
who despise it. The ruling kingdoms of the world (the
faithful among them excepted), by their contact with
the Church for two thousand years, are successively de-
grees from the gold to the miry clay. The brilliance
and glory of the natural man sinks into the miry,
sensual debasement of the Socialists and scoffers of the
last days. Such being the main purpose of the symbol,
it follows at once that the four empires are successively
continuous; for the debasement is gradual, from gold
to silver, from silver to brass, from brass to iron, from
iron to the miry clay. There is no room for "gap" or
omission, without destroying the faithfulness of the
moral portrait, and emptying the symbol of all its divine
beauty and wisdom.
3. The peculiar use of the ordinals is a further decisive
proof of continuity in the four kingdoms. Even were
they used simply, they could naturally bear no other
CHAP. III.]
93
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
7n-i
construction. But in each vision one of them is so
employed as to fix their significance beyond a doubt.
Thus, chap. ii. ver. 39, we read, "Another third king-
dom of brass;" and in chap vii. ver. 5, "Behold, another
beast, a second." Had the ordinal stood alone, it might
have been possible to explain it away, as merely de-
noting another. But this gloss is now expressly ex-
cluded, and the Spirit of God plainly teaches that the
terms of order have their full and proper meaning, and
denote the real order of the four empires.
4. The remarkable correspondence of the symbols, on the
common view, is a further argument. This, indeed, has
no novelty, but it may be useful to place its various.
particulars before the eye at one view.
these as the chief.
We
We may notice
(1). The breast and arms of silver, answering to the
twofold character of the Medo-Persian empire.
(2). The brass, corresponding with the well-known
title of the Greeks, “xaλкoxiτwves ;" and with their
distinguished eloquence (1 Cor. xiii. 1).
(3). The iron, corresponding no less with the uncon-
querable firmness and warlike prowess of the Romans.
(4). The eagle wings, with the account of Nebuchad-
nezzar (chap. ii. 4).
(5). The man's heart, with Belshazzar's terror and
late repentance (chap. v.)
(6). The bear raising itself on one side, with the later
superiority of the Persians above the Medes.
(7). The three ribs, with the three successive con-
quests of Lydia, Armenia, and Babylon.
(8). The four wings of a fowl, with the speed of
Alexander's conquests.
(9). The teeth of iron and nails of brass, with the
double connexion of the Roman power with the Greek
empire of brass and the Latin kingdom of iron.
I
1
¿
I
i
.
.-
94
[CHAP. III.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
So many exact coincidences prove convincingly that
the common interpretation of the kingdoms gives the
true sense of the prophecy.
the reverse.
5. The silence of the New Testament as to a future
kingdom distinct from that of Rome is a further and
crowning argument. Neither in the Gospels, nor the
Epistles, nor the Revelation, have we any hint that a
new and entirely distinct kingdom was still to arise be-
fore the advent. The expressions used plainly teach
"The woman which thou sawest is that
great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
"The beast which thou sawest was, and is not." Both
these expressions, occurring in the explanation of the
visions, teach us that it is the same ruling kingdom
from the time of St. John to the last overthrow of
worldly powers. At the same time, the various and
distinct states of that kingdom, so clearly expressed,
remove all semblance of truth from the historical ob-
jection, that the Roman empire has perished already.
It is so in one sense; but in another sense, equally intel-
ligible, the empire has been revived, and is in existence
still, though its power is now shared among its separate
kingdoms.
I have now cleared away the Futurist objections to
this grand foundation of the Protestant exposition :
and I think it is now manifest that Dr. Todd's asser-
tion, “There exists no reason whatsoever for supposing
the fourth beast to be the Roman empire," is an instance
of reckless boldness of statement and of contempt for
overwhelming evidence, almost without a parallel in the
history of interpretation.
It is, indeed, much to be regretted that both Mr.
Maitland and Dr. Todd were not more careful to com-
pare the prophecy closely with itself before they at-
tempted to elucidate it-to study the elder commenta-

CHAP. III.]
95.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tors, instead of ridiculing their "amusing simplicity"
and "marvellous interpretations." They might then,
perhaps, have escaped the series of errors into which
they have fallen, perversions of history, distortions of
the prophecy, and reasonings which are conclusive only
against themselves. They would not then have in-
curred the risk of unsettling, on frivolous grounds, the
faith of superficial Christians, of encouraging infidels in
a-contempt for the divine prophecies, and of paving the
way for a relapse of our own Church into the idolatrous
embraces of the mystic Babylon.
CHAPTER IV.
THE VISION OF THE RAM AND HE-GOAT.
AFTER the Four Empires, the next subject in order is
the prophetic history of Persia and Greece, as contained
in the former part of two visions (Dan. viii. 1-8, xi.
1-20).
These two passages are so closely related to each
other that they may be viewed as one; and perhaps,
of all the predictions of Scripture, this is the most con-
vincing and full. No other prophecy presents, without
the veil of symbols, so many events in distinct histori-
cal succession, and with a minuteness of description
that rivals history itself. No Christian writer, ancient
or modern, varies in any important particular as to the
events which fulfil the prophecy. The Jewish writers,
from Josephus down to the present day, agree in the
same application. The most learned infidels, from Por-
phyry to Gibbon, allow that the same events are de-
scribed, and make it their chief argument against the
genuineness of the prophecy, that it is too clear for a
prediction, and must have been forged at a later period.
To use their own words, Daniel is, in these narratives,
too exact for a prophet. One even of the Futurists them-
selves admits that, in this part of the prophecy, "the
universal consent of mankind guarantees the truth of
the fulfilment." Finally, according to Josephus (Antiq.
ii. 8), these prophecies were set before Alexander him-
self by the high priest, and the clear prediction of his
conquests contained in them was the cause of peculiar

CHAP. IV.]
97
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
favours which he bestowed on the Jewish nation. From
the conquests of Cyrus down to the accession of Antio-
chus Epiphanes we have a clear, succinct, and almost.
unbroken narrative, confirmed by all the best contem-
porary historians.
Two, however, of the Futurists, Mr. Burgh and Dr.
Todd, are found bold enough to contradict this univer-
sal conviction of Christians, Jews, and Infidels. With
a scepticism which throws Porphyry and Gibbon into
the shade, they deny the manifest and clear corre-
spondence between the events of past history and the
words of the inspired prophet. Yet even here there are
degrees of rashness. Mr. Burgh admits the historical
sense, as far as to the division of Alexander's kingdom:
while Dr. Todd, always foremost in the race of innova-
tion, maintains that not even one syllable of the pro-
phecy has been fulfilled.
I shall reserve a few general observations upon this
strange and startling theory till the close of this inquiry.
The simplest course is to take the two passages in suc-
cession, and, after first summing up the proof of their
fulfilment, to expose the emptiness of the objections
which have been raised, and then to illustrate, by
further remarks, the connexion and meaning of the
prophecy.
THE VISION OF THE RAM AND HE-GOAT.
Of this vision the eight first verses, by universal
consent, describe the history of Persia and Greece,
from Cyrus to Alexander's successors. Nearly twenty
particulars are mentioned in regular order, all answer-
ing to the well-known facts of profane history.
I. THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF FULFILMENT
may be presented in the following brief summary.
1. The date of the vision is the first argument to fix
F
98
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
its application. This was the third year of Belshazzar,
B.c. 553, six years after the accession of Cyrus, and
seven years before his conquest of Lydia (Clinton Fast.
Hellen., vol. ii., B.C. 559, 546). The vision would, there-
fore, most naturally begin with the rise of the Persian
empire and the conquests of Cyrus, especially as that
monarch had already been singled out for an express
mention in the word of prophecy; and such precisely
is the fact, according to the usual interpretation. The
object of the vision corresponds fully with its date. Let
us only realize the state of things when the prophet
wrote, and it will be at once felt utterly absurd to refer
the whole vision to events not yet fulfilled.
2. The scene of the vision is a second argument. The
prophet, apparently in vision only, was "at Sushan, the
palace, in the province of Elam, by the banks of the
Ulai." Now Susa, it is well known, was the metropolis
of the ancient Persian empire, as may be seen through-
out the book of Esther. So in the Persæ, Darius
describes the calamity of Xerxes:-
“ τόδ' ἄστυ Σούσων εξεκέινωσεν πεσὸν.”
The obvious inference is, that the vision begins with
describing the ancient history of Persia, in the times
which immediately followed those of the prophet, and
while Susa was still the metropolis.
3. The first object in the vision was a ram having two
horns. And this is directly explained: "The ram
having two horns denotes the kings of Media and
Persia." Clearly, from the former use of the symbol
of a beast, and from all natural propriety, the phrase
must signify, not two personal monarchs, but the com-
bined kingdom. We meet with the same twofold cha-
racter in the breast and arms of silver, which have been
proved to symbolize the Medo-Persian empire. This
CHAP. IV.]
99
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
compound empire was, at the time of the vision, actually
rising under Cyrus; but the race and name of the Medes,
as a separate people, has long been extinct. The vision
cannot then be all still future; it must commence with
the times of the prophet.
The symbol is also the more aptly descriptive of the
ancient empire of Persia, as it was employed by the
Persians themselves. "Travellers have observed that
rams' heads with horns, the one higher and the other
lower, are still to be seen sculptured on the pillars of
Persepolis." (Sacr. Cal. ii., p. 114; Chandler's Vind.,
ch. i. 4).
4. The two horns of the ram, of which the higher came
up last, answer exactly to the history of the Medes and
Persians in the time of Cyrus. This may be proved
largely from profane history, but the testimony of
Scripture will suffice. We there learn that Babylon
was taken by Cyrus the Persian, and yet that Darius
the Mede (or Cyaxares) took the kingdom, as having,
during his lifetime, the superior power. But after his
death, with the accession of Cyrus, we have a series
of Persian, not of Median, kings. The whole of the
"Cyropædia" is based upon the same notorious fact.
So also, as before, Eschylus in the Persæ: "For
the Mede was the first commander of the people; and
another, his son, accomplished the work; for his under-
standing guided his zeal: and the third from him, Cyrus,
reigned, that prosperous hero, and established peace for
all his friends; and conquered to himself the people of
the Lydians and Phrygians; and drove out by force all
Ionia." In other words, "the two horns were high,
but the higher came up last."
5. The three directions of Persian conquest are another
proof of the historical sense. The ram was seen pushing
"westward, and northward, and southward." So, too,
3
F 2
100
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Within
the main conquests of Cyrus lay westward.
seven years from the date of the vision, "Olympiade
octavâ et quinquagesimâ victor Cyrus intravit Sardes."
(Solin. i. 112). From this celebrated warfare and
victory of Cyrus, Herodotus begins his history, and
four chapters of the "Cyropædia" are occupied with
the same subject.
But the ram was seen also pushing northward. So,
in the "Cyropædia," we have mention of the conquest
of Armenia, and of the Chaldæi, or Chalybes, in the
mountain country bordering on Armenia; besides the
Hyrcanians, the Sacæ and Cadusii, whom Xenophon
represents as submitting freely. And whether we re-
ceive or reject the account, in Herodotus, of the death
of Cyrus in an expedition against the Massagetæ, the
conquest of Hyrcania, Bactriana, and Sogdiana, towards
the north, must be viewed as clearly implied; else
Cambyses would scarcely have immediately turned his
thoughts to the more distant conquest of Egypt.
Thirdly, the ram was seen last of all pushing south-
ward. And immediately after the death of Cyrus, his
son Cambyses added Egypt to the empire, as described
in the third book of Herodotus. The history, then, in
these three respects, exactly accords with the prophecy.
6. The greatness resulting from these conquests is
next described. "No beast could stand before him, nor
any deliver out of his hand; but he did according to
his will, and became great." The title, "Cyrus the
Great," is a record of the fact unto this day; and the
current name among the Greeks for the Persian king,
" péyas Baoiλèvs," is a still fuller proof. Xenophon
also describes the kingdom of Cyrus in these remarkable
terms: "Over these nations then he ruled, which were
of various tongues; and yet he was able to range over
so vast a territory by the fear of his name, so as to as-
CHAP. IV.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
101
f
tonish all, and so that no one assailed him; and ruled so
many tribes, that it is difficult to traverse them, in what-
ever direction we set out from the royal palaces, whether
east, or west, or north, or south." And so Herodotus :
"In whatever direction Cyrus determined to march, it
was impossible for that nation to escape." (i. 204).
7. The he-goat from the west is a further corre-
spondence with the history. "The rough goat is the
king of Grecia, and the great horn is the first king."
The name of the Macedonians, geadæ, or the goat
people, the name of their city, Ægæ, and of Alexander's
son, Alexander Ægus, have been, with much reason,
alleged, to show the aptness of the symbol. It seems
needless to pursue the correspondence through the two
following verses, in the details of the history, as it will
come before us in a review of Dr. Todd's objections ;
and that writer himself, who appears to be the only
sceptic on this point, admits that there is "a striking
coincidence."
What, then, are the difficulties which are to outweigh
these clear and manifold proofs of fulfilment, and to
snap asunder this unbroken chain of authorities?
are as follows:—
They
II. OBJECTIONS TO THE HISTORICAL APPLICATION.
1. "The angel declares, at the time of the end shall be
the vision; and I see no reason why this should be re-
stricted to a part of the vision only. I have already ex-
pressed my opinion, that by the time of the end the
prophets denote the future period, which is to succeed
the restoration of the Jewish people. It will follow
that the powers represented by the ram and he-goat are
all future."
This argument has two premises-that the whole vision
takes place at or in the time of the end; and that the
time of the end is still future. I believe that even the
-:
102
[CHAP. LV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
latter statement is incorrect, and that the phrase has, in
Daniel, no such exclusive meaning. The first premise,
however, is plainly untrue, for the following reasons :-
(1). The Hebrew preposition is more frequently
to be rendered for, or unto; in Greek, eɩs; and in
Latin, usque ad, ob, or de; as the Septuagint renders
twice in this very passage: εις καιρου περας.
So, for
instance, in Proverbs: "The Lord hath made all things
for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil."
Hence the most natural sense of the words is, either
the vision reaches unto the time of the end, or else is
designed for the time of the end-that is, for the special
instruction of the Church in those days.
(2). The same preposition in this chapter never
occurs in the sense at, or in, but often as unto. Thus,
at the close: "The vision shall be unto many days." The
sense at would here be evidently absurd. So again:
"Toward, or unto, the four winds of heaven".
"Unto
that certain saint which spake"-" Make known to this
man the vision."
(C
(3). The same sense is commonly given to the pre-
position in this book: "The tree reached unto heaven."
Thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven.”
And elsewhere, in direct connexion with the words of
time (as Deut. xvi. 4), “ Shall not remain all night, until
the morning."
(4). This is further proved to be the meaning by the
nineteenthverse: "I will make thee know what shall be
in the aftertime, of the indignation, because it (the vision)
will be unto the time of the end." The indignation is
clearly that on the Jewish people, and begins, at latest,
with the fall of the second temple. Now, if the time of
the end succeeds the restoration of the Jews, and the
whole vision is at, or in, that time, the angel would not
fulfil his promise. But if we expound the words in this

CHAP. IV.]
103
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sense, that the main purpose of the vision is to describe.
what occurs during the future anger of God on the Jews,
and that for this purpose it reaches unto a time remotely
future, the whole verse is consistent and harmonious.
(5). Where events are to be described as included
within a specified season, a different preposition (1) is
always used. So, in connexion with this very phrase
(xi. 40): "At the time of the end the king of the south
will push at him." And again in Dan ii. 28. This
effectually refutes Dr. Todd's interpretation of the
clause.
(6). Lastly, even where the preposition is one that
denotes proper inclusion, the reference is only to the
main part of the vision. So, in Dan. ii. 48, the vision,
we are told, is what shall be in the latter days. But the
beginning of the vision was of events not merely close
at hand, but already present. Waiving, then, both the
evidence of history and the true meaning of the prepo-
sition, we have still a strong reason why the whole vision
should not be placed at the time of the end.
The sandy nature of the argument is now clear.
First, if the proper version were in, or at, the time of
the end, scriptural analogy would require us to expound
it of the main purpose of the vision. Next, the prepo-
sition most properly and usually denotes unto, or until,
as appears even from the context alone. Thirdly, the
exclusive sense which Dr. Todd assigns to the time of
the end is incapable of proof (Dan. ix. 26; Matt. xxiv.
14; 1 Cor. x. 11). And, lastly, the facts of history
prove that this vision begins, like the two former ones,
from the time of the prophet.
2. "The common interpretation seems to fail in ex-
These horns, we
plaining the two horns of the ram.
are expressly told, are the kings, not the kingdoms, of
Media and Persia; and, although there are some striking
coincidences between the career of Alexander and the
104
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
great horn of the goat, it must be remembered that Persia
had swallowed up Media before either was invaded by
Alexander; and, therefore, the ram should have had but
one horn when vanquished by the goat."
:
This statement is made up of errors.
We are
not expressly told that the two horns are the kings
of Media and Persia. The words of the angel are," the
ram having the two horns are the kings of Media and
Persia." The difference is vital to the argument.
First, it disproves at once the distinction attempted to
be set up between kings and kingdoms; for what can
be plainer than that, by the ram, two personal kings are
not symbolized, but two united dynasties with the sub-
ject kingdom? Next, it refutes the objection that one
horn should have been wanting at the time when the
ram is overthrown: for the body of the ram symbolizes,
the angel tells us, the composite kingdom; and, there-
fore, the horns have then only a retrospective meaning,
like the seven heads of the Apocalyptic wild beast,
which all are continued in the emblem, even after the
time of their rule. The whole objection rests merely
upon a direct misquotation; and, when that is exposed,
it vanishes entirely.
Again, Media was never, in any strict sense, swal-
lowed up by Persia. After the fall of Smerdis-the
latest event which could answer the description—we read
still of the seven princes of Persia and Media, which sat
the first on the kingdom (Esth. i.); and, again, of the
chronicles of Media and Persia. The royal line was of
Median as well as Persian descent. In classical writers
Tà Mŋcià is the regular term to denote the invasion of
Xerxes. The uprooting of the first horn would only
have detracted from the historical exactness and pro-
priety of the symbol.
3. "It would be easy to show that the division of the
empire of Alexander into four kingdoms, after his death,
CHAP. IV.]
105
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
is a fact of which no satisfactory historical evidence has
ever been produced: for it was divided into many more
than four petty sovereignties, which continued in a state
of change for many years; and it would have been as
easy to have produced twelve or more, had so many
been required by the prophecy.”
A separate Appendix, of near twenty pages, chiefly
taken from Venema, is devoted to the same argument.
It also occupies four pages of the following Lecture, so
that Dr. Todd plainly attaches to it a great importance.
Now it might be enough to remark, with Mr. Faber
-first, that the prophecy speaks of four conspicuous
horns; and, secondly, that where the main outlines of an
interpretation are clear, it is contrary to every maxim
of sound judgment to reject it because of difficulty in
subordinate details. There is no need, however, to
rest in this general reply, since a close examination will,
as usual, turn Dr. Todd's objection into a fresh argu-
ment, for the truth of the common view.
We may, doubtless, fancy to ourselves a fourfold di-
vision-instantaneous, permanent, and mathematically
complete, like the quadrants of a circle; and not finding
this in the history, many reject the application on that
account. This, however, would prove nothing but our
own rashness. It is enough to prove that the event ac-
cords fully with the division, as implied in the prophecy
itself, in its theatre, its date, and its continuance. A
few remarks will then clear away all these mists of
learned confusion.
(1). The theatre in which we are to look for this
division is not the whole of Alexander's conquests: for
the gold and silver co-exist with the rule of the third
kingdom; and the two former beasts have their life
prolonged after their time of rule is past. We must
exclude, therefore, Babylon, Persia, and
Media, or
F 3
106
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the regions beyond the Euphrates, as well as Western
Europe. Sir Isaac Newton well observes :-
"All the four beasts are still alive, though the dominion of the
three first be taken away. The nations of Chaldea and Assyria
are still the first beast; those of Media and Persia the second;
those of Macedon, Greece, and Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and
Egypt, are still the third; and those of Europe, on this side
Greece, are still the fourth. Seeing, therefore, the body of the
third beast is confined to the nations on this side the Euphrates,
we are to look there also for the divisions of the third beast; and
therefore, at the breaking of the Greek empire, we include no
part of the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians, because they be-
longed to the bodies of the two first beasts."
These remarks have a transparent clearness worthy
of the writer, and are firmly based on the prophecy
itself. Hence more than half the sub-divisions which
swell Dr. Todd's Appendix are at once excluded.
(2). The date of the prophetic division is clearly implied
in xi. 4, which Dr. Todd admits to refer to the same
event. The kingdom was to be divided towards the
four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity. This
teaches, first, that the posterity of Alexander was
speedily to be extinct, or cut off from royal dominion.
And how strikingly was this fulfilled! But we learn
further, that the fourfold division in the prophecy is not
to be looked for while the kingdom was administered
in the name of Alexander's children. This mark, drawn
from the vision itself, excludes every one of the lists
from Raderus, which fill about six pages of the Ap-
pendix. It also excludes three out of the four divisions
in Venema; for the third of them was made, as he tells
us, “until Alexander, the son of Alexander by Rhoxane,
should come of age." The inquiry is, therefore, now
brought within a narrow compass.
(3). The history of the actual division, at the point of
time and within the theatre which the prophecy as-
CHAP. IV.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
107
signs, minutely answers to the prediction. The fairest
way seems to be to quote Venema at length. His own
object, I may just observe, was to detect a tenfold divi-
sion, but his accuracy is undoubted :---
"New troubles presently arising, after the house of Alexunder
was extirpated, and a war springing up between the allies, Cas-
sander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus on the one side, and
Antigonus and his son Demetrius on the other. After Demetrius
had defeated Ptolemy with great slaughter, and taken Cyprus,
Antigonus, elated with his success, first assumed the diadem,
and placed it on Demetrius; which, when the allies presently
imitated, six kings suddenly appeared on the scene, Antigonus,
Demetrius, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Cassander, and last Seleucus,
who had now enlarged his kingdom through the East. This was
B.C. 306. The war was then renewed on both sides with greater forces ;
and a decisive battle being fought at Ipsus, in Phrygia, Antigonus
was vanquished and slain, and his kingdom extinguished, B.c.301,
To use the words of Plutarch (in Demetrio), the victor kings
divided among themselves the whole kingdom of Antigonus and
Demetrius, like a great carcase torn in pieces, and joined it to
their own provinces. By this fourth and last division, Ptolemy
retained his kingdom, and added to it Cœlo-Syria, Phenicia, and
Judea; Lysimachus, besides Thrace, received Bithynia and other
regions on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont and Bosphorus ;
Cassander obtained Macedonia and Greece; Seleucus the rest of
Asia, so that from that time he founded the Syro-Macedonian
kingdom."
From this account, given us by Dr. Todd's own
authority, we may draw these evident conclusions :—
First, that until after the three former divisions, neither
was the house of Alexander extirpated, nor the title of
king assumed by his generals. These have none of them
any claim, therefore, to be the division in the prophecy.
Secondly, that when the house of Alexander was extinct,
and six kings first appeared, there was at the time a
fierce war raging between them, and nothing like a for-
mal or fixed division. Thirdly, that after the battle of
Ipsus, B.C. 301, there was a division by mutual consent,
108
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
which Venema calls the fourth and last, but which was
the only royal division after Alexander's posterity were
cut off; and this division was strictly fourfold. Lastly,
that these four conspicuous kingdoms were evidently
toward the four winds of heaven-Cassander in the west,
Lysimachus in the north, Seleucus in the east, and
Ptolemy in the south.
Hence, amidst a chaos of perplexing changes, we find,
on examination, a minute and punctual fulfilment of the
prophecy, within the precise theatre and at the exact
point of time to which the visions themselves lead us.
(4). But it is urged that "this statement omits
altogether the Indian provinces; it omits also the Gre-
cian states, that were at this time independent; and,
what is more important, it takes no notice of the power
of Demetrius, who retained no inconsiderable empire in
Alicia, and two years after possessed himself of Athens,
and ultimately Macedon."
seen, by a
The objection, in this form, requires an historical
microscope; but let us examine it in detail. First, the
Indian provinces are excluded, as we have
mere comparison with the former visions. Next, with
regard to the independent cities of Greece, Venema says
expressly, "Cassander Macedoniam et Græciam con-
secutus est." The temporary freedom of a few cities
does not interfere with the completeness of this allot-
ment, any more than the resistance of Tyre, near thirty
years after (Ez. xxix. 17), interfered with the prophet's
description of the first kingdom (Dan. ii. 38). Again,
Demetrius had no kingdom, properly so called, left in
Asia. The words of Plutarch, given by Dr. Todd's own
authority, are express: «Totum Antigoni et Demetrii
regnum diviserunt inter se, suisque provinciis adjunxe-
runt." His subsequent occupation of Athens and
Macedon gave a fresh head to the first of the four
kingdoms, but did not affect their number. And
CHAP. IV.]
109
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
besides, the phrase "four conspicuous horns" removes
all semblance of truth from these two last objections.
4. The next objection is drawn from chap. xi. ; but, as
it relates to the same event, it is better to remove it at
once. It is, in short, that the king of the north (chap.
xi.) ought, in propriety, to be the king of the northern
division; while yet commentators expound it to mean
the king of the eastern section, or Syria.
The simple explanation is, that two of the king-
doms, the northern and eastern divisions, shortly coa-
lesced into one. This, as I will show presently, is
implied in the prophecy itself. After this union, the
compound kingdom is called, in preference, the kingdom
of the north, for three reasons-from its local position
with regard to Judea, in contrast with the king of the
south, and by way of distinction from the kingdoms east
of the Euphrates. For the fact itself we have only to
refer again to Venema: "Lysimachus lost both his life
and kingdom in a decisive battle (against Seleucus) in
Phrygia, at the plain of Cyrus, ь.c. 281.”
5. The short continuance of the fourfold division is the
sole difficulty that remains.
"Even with this modification it must be admitted, that within
a period of twenty years the very semblance of a fourfold empire
was at an end; and it is surely difficult to conceive that an event
so obscure, and which, after the utmost concessions, was of such
short duration, can have been the fulfilment of a characteristic so
prominently marked in three successive prophecies.”
Here again the visions themselves supply us with a
complete answer. What do we there learn of the con-
tinuance of these four kingdoms? First, in chap. viii.,
one only of the four continues prominent to the end of
the vision. Next, in chap. xi., two only have their
history detailed-Egypt and the kingdom of the north.
If the horn from which the little horn springs be the
same with either of these, we shall have a twofold
!
110
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
division; if it be distinct from both, a threefold division.
In either alternative, the prophecy itself implies the short
continuance of the fourfold state. The latter view is that
which I believe to be correct, and the vision will then
exhibit the four kingdoms as presently resolving them-
selves into three. Now let us hear Venema's further
account:
"From these continual waves of war, stirred up by Alexander's
captains, there emerged three most eminent kingdoms, propagated for
a long series of years the Macedonian, which Ptolemy Ceraunus
possessed after Seleucus, and which then lasted some time in the
house of Demetrius; the Syro-Macedonian (xi. 5), founded by
Seleucus Nicator; and the Egyptian (xi. 5-8), which Ptolemy
Lagi founded and transmitted to his posterity."
Thus the short continuance of the fourfold division is
implied in the prophecy itself; and the division that
succeeds, if we adopt the simplest hypothesis as to the
little horn, precisely accords with the facts of history.
6. The other part of the objection contrasts strangely
with Dr. Todd's line of argument in the second Lecture.
There his object was to set aside at once all the his-
torical interpretations of eighteen centuries, and his
reasons were the following:-
"We cannot without presumption take upon us to determine
whether it may not suit the inscrutable designs of the Most High
to pass over without notice ten or twenty centuries, and to crowd
into the events of a few short years the fulfilment of all that is fore-
told. To determine such questions is to assume that we have
been admitted into the secret counsels of God, and that we are
acquainted with all the ends he had in view in the revelation of
futurity to man. Need I stop to point out the danger and pre-
sumption of such reasoning? Need I say that the writers who
have adopted it have perverted, rather than interpreted, the
oracles of God?” (p. 47).
Here his object is to multiply objections against one
particular point in the received interpretations, and the
argument is suddenly reversed:-
CHAP. IV.]
111
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
A
"Within a period of twenty years the semblance of a fourfold
empire was at an end; and surely it is difficult to conceive that
an event of such short duration can have been the fulfilment of a
characteristic so prominently marked in three successive pro-
phecies." (p. 175).
This "prominent characteristic," in all the three
prophecies together, occupies just fourteen words of the
sacred text. Let us now contrast these two statements.
First, according to Dr. Todd, twenty years are a space
of "so short a duration," that it is difficult to conceive
fourteen words of the prophecy can have been fulfilled
in them.
But, secondly, a few short years are an ample space for
the fulfilment of all that is foretold. What is "difficult
to conceive" in the case of fourteen words, becomes
quite easy and natural in the case of twice that number
of chapters. If, in this latter instance, we express any
doubt or scruple, Dr. Todd does not think it needful
to spend one moment in refuting our dangerous pre-
sumption and conspicuous folly!
Surely every unprejudiced mind will exactly reverse
the lecturer's conclusions. It is very easy to conceive
that three short clauses, scarce amounting to a single
verse, may have been fulfilled even within twenty years;
and yet it must be highly improbable, and, without the
strongest direct evidence, quite incredible, that the
whole range of inspired prophecy in two whole books.
of the canon should be crushed and contracted within
the same narrow bound. This would make it entirely
overleap the grand outlines of God's providence upon
the earth.
The words of Bossuet, slightly modified, apply strongly
to such inconsistent objectors: "Their reason, which
they take for their guide, offers them only conjectures
and difficulties: the mistakes into which they fall, in
denying the fulfilment of the sacred visions, become
112
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
.
more intolerable than the truths whose vastness op-
presses them; and, to avoid realizing the inconceivable
grandeur of prophecy, they run one after the other
into inconceivable absurdities."
I have now examined every objection, and the final
result may be thus stated. The first of them relates
to the time of the end; and of three premises on which
it rests, two are demonstrably false, and the third doubt-
ful. The second relates to the succession of Media
and Persia, and its sole basis is a direct misquotation
of the prophecy, and a groundless view of the history.
The third consists of a long and learned Appendix, to
disprove the fourfold division of the Greek kingdom ;
and a close examination of the very authorities alleged
proves the entire exactness of the prophetic description.
The fourth relates to the title, King of the North; and
another clause from Dr. Todd's own Appendix supplies
a complete answer. The fifth and last objection is the
short continuance of the four kingdoms, a fact implied
in the prophecy itself; while the objection is based on
an open contradiction of the lecturer's own assertions
in another passage.
III. I will now close with a few general and less
obvious remarks, which may help to illustrate the
opening of this important vision.
1. The change in the dialect is the first remarkable
feature in this prophecy. The preceding visions were
in Chaldee, but in this and the following chapters the
Hebrew is once more employed: and as nothing in
the word of God is without a meaning, it is natural to
inquire what light this change is designed to throw
upon the object of the vision.
Now the former prophecies were not only given
during the captivity, and one of them to Nebuchad-
nezzar himself, but their direct object was the history
of the Gentile kingdoms until the reign of Messiah.
CHAP. IV.]
113
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Hence they were naturally given in Chaldee, the tongue
of the ruling nation of the world. There is nothing in
them which of itself has any peculiar reference to Israel.
But with these remaining visions the case is different.
We have mention in all three of the daily sacrifice and
the sanctuary, and direct allusions to the history of the
Jewish nation. The resumption of the Hebrew tongue
is in full accordance with these features. We may infer
that in these three last visions the history of God's pro-
vidence is unfolded in special relation to the Jews and
the land of Palestine. Accordingly, while the former
visions follow the course of religion, civilization, and
worldly power, from the east westward, these last have
for their main theatre Palestine and the surrounding
countries.
2. The point of departure is the next point observable.
The first vision took place in the height of Nebuchad-
nezzar's power, and the prophecy begins with the empire
of Babylon, described as universal. The second vision
was in the first year of Belshazzar, and its first pro-
phetic event is the plucking of the eagle-wings, which
fitly denotes the shorn ambition and diminished power
of the empire under that monarch. This third vision is
in the third year of Belshazzar, which was the seventh
of Cyrus in Persia, when that conqueror had just begun
his career of victory. His wonderful conquests are
accordingly the first event described. Thus, in each
case, the prophecy begins with the leading event of the time
at which it is given. And, indeed, no other point of
departure is so reasonable in itself, or so accordant with
the great design of these inspired predictions, to show
unto God's servants the things which must shortly come
to pass. Once let us admit other points of commence-
ment, at least, without very full and express evidence,
and we plainly turn the prophecies into a chaos which
114
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
it is impossible to interpret with any certainty or as-
surance of truth. For if we admit that ten or twenty
centuries may pass before one clause is fulfilled, how
shall we be assured, by any resemblance of a few events
at that time, that the seeming correspondence is not
delusive, and that twenty or thirty centuries more have
not to elapse before the true fulfilment? Where sound
reason and ascertained facts teach the same lesson, we
may safely lay down the following rule-Every symbolic
prophecy is to be viewed as commencing from the time
when it is given, or at least from the nearest main event,
unless some strong reason to the contrary can be
assigned.
3. The character of the symbols is another instructive
feature in this prophecy. The empires of the world
were first presented to the Gentile monarch as an image
of terrible brightness-a fit emblem of their aspect to a
worldly eye, and which conveyed also a secret warning
of their idolatrous departure from the truth of God.
Next to the inspired prophet the same empires are
exhibited as beasts of prey, to denote the cruelty,
ambition, and persecuting spirit by which they would be
characterized to a fearful extent, until the redemption
of the world's kingdoms and Messiah's visible reign.
But now the second and third of those empires are
represented by fresh animals, the ram and the goat-not
beasts of prey, but animals for sacrifice. The main
reason seems to be, that both these empires are here
directly introduced as favouring the Jews, and restoring
or promoting the temple sacrifices. With regard to
Cyrus, whose conquests are mainly prominent in the
history of the ram, this is plain from Scripture alone,
and applies also to Darius and Artaxerxes, his succes-
sors. And with regard to Alexander, who is equally
prominent as the notable or conspicuous horn of the
CHAP. IV.]
115
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
goat, the same appears from Josephus (Antiq. ch. 8).
The passage deserves to be quoted, as it illustrates the
whole subject. After mention of the dream of Alex-
ander, in which he saw a person, habited like the high
priest, inviting him to the conquest of Asia, it proceeds
thus:-
"When he had said this to Parmenio, and had given the high
priest his right hand, the priest ran along by him, and he came
into the city. And when he went up into the temple, he offered sacri-
fice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and mag-
nificently treated both the high priest and the other priests.
And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel
declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of
the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended.
And as he was glad therewith, he dismissed the multitude for the
present, but the next day called them to him, and bid them ask
what favours they pleased of him; whereupon the high priest
desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and
pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired;
and when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in
Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly
promised to do what they requested.”
It is clear that the present vision was the prophecy
referred to, since this alone contains the direct state-
ment: "The rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the
great horn is the first king." We have, therefore, both
the evident seal of God's providence attesting the ap-
plication to Alexander, and a simple explanation why
the emblems here adopted are animals of sacrifice.
4. The main outline of the vision, as revealed to the
prophet by the angel, should also be carefully observed.
The empire of Babylon was already in its decline, and
Daniel had twice been shown that another was to suc-
ceed. The name of Cyrus had been predicted as the
deliverer of the Jews from Babylon, in prophecies with
which he was familiar, and must by this time have risen
116
[CHAP. IV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
into threatening notoriety at the court of Belshazzar.
When the vision, therefore, described the conquests of
the ram, and the angel expounded it of the kings of
Media and Persia, the prophet would at once perceive
what power was denoted by the breast and arms of
silver, and the second beast like a bear, and apply the
words to their true and immediate object-Darius the
Mede, and Cyrus, with the conjoint empire which they
were actually rearing.
Again, at the date of this vision the temple was in
ruins, and its offerings had long ceased. The words of
the heavenly dialogue would therefore plainly teach him
that there was to be a time of restitution, followed by
a second desolation, at the close of which the sanctuary
was to be finally cleansed. The prophet might, however,
be slow to apprehend the fact of such a renewed indigna-
tion of God against his favoured people. Hence all the
words of the angel are adapted to impress this truth on
his mind. Understand, O son of man, for the vision
is until the time of the end." "I will make thee know
what shall be in the future time of the indignation; for
it will be unto the time of the end." "Shut up the vision,
for it will be for many days." The part of the prophecy
which relates to the second dispersion, till the first re-
storation was completed, and national sins were again
threatening to bring down repeated and still heavier
judgments, was naturally to be shut up till a latter time.
Such is the clear and simple explanation of the words of
Gabriel to the prophet; and it is plain how far they are
from giving any countenance to the strange theory of
the lecturer.
To sum up the whole inquiry, there is perhaps no part
of God's word, the true meaning of which is established
by a stronger and fuller combination of internal and ex-
ternal evidence than the verses I have now examined.

CHAP. IV.]
117
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
The authority of every age of the Church; the consent-
ing judgments of Infidels, Jews, and Christians; the
full evidence of profane and sacred history, and signal
mercies conveyed through the prophecy to God's ancient
people, all combine to seal the reality and truth of the
fulfilment. To assail an interpretation established on
such solid evidence with rash and frivolous objections,
is no light offence against the cause of our holy religion.
Its certain tendency will be, to spread through the
Church a habit of superficial and presumptuous scepti-
cism, and to prepare thousands and tens of thousands
for open apostasy from the faith, in that approaching
hour of temptation "which is coming upon the whole
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
CHAPTER V.
SUPPLEMENTARY OBJECTIONS.
BEFORE proceeding to the next vision, there are two
further objections which it seems desirable to remove;
though, since they are drawn from the later part of the
previous visions, they properly belong to a further stage
of this inquiry. These are the alleged identity of the
two little horns, and the use of the word kings as equi-
valent to kingdoms. I will now examine them in succes-
sion.
III. THE TWO LITTLE HORNS.
The following extract will show the nature of Dr.
Todd's argument :----
"But, as we have already seen, there exists no reason what-
soever for supposing the fourth beast of the former vision to be
the Roman empire; nor have commentators been able to dis-
cover in the Roman power the marks attributed in prophecy to
the predicted kingdom. The more legitimate process of reason-
ing, therefore, would seem to be to invert the argument, and to
say, that since the identity of the two prophecies appears from a
comparison of the prophecies themselves, and since it is expressly
declared in one of them that the kingdom from which the little
horn is to spring is not the Roman empire, therefore the king-
dom from which the other little horn is to spring cannot be the
Roman empire either."
The credulity of scepticism is proverbial, and the
above paragraph is an instance. The application of the
fourth beast to Rome, besides the concurrence of all
ages of the Church, has been shown capable of strict
demonstration from the sequence of the prophecy and
from the words of Scripture alone. Dr. Todd, by his
CHAP. V.]
119
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
silence, admits the accordance of every feature, save
one or two at the most; and the objections on these are
such as a child might answer. Therefore" there is no
reason whatsoever for believing it." But the two little
horns, out of ten or twelve features in each, have three
or four in common. Therefore, although the Fathers,
Romanists and Protestants, have almost without ex-
ception held them to be distinct, their identity is to
be assumed as nearly self-evident, and made the basis
of the whole scheme of exposition!
But let us examine the argument for this identity,
as Dr. Todd presents it in his third Lecture. First, he
counts seven characters of the little horn of the fourth
beast-diverseness from the other kings, blasphemy,
destruction because of blasphemy, persecution of the
saints, continuance for three times and a half, changing
of times and laws, and consumption at the second ad-
vent. Next, he traces the marks of correspondence in
the second little horn. It waxed great in three direc-
tions, as the first subdues three kings; it magnifies itself
against the prince of the host-a mark of blasphemy;
"the last end of the indignation is plainly spoken of
as the period when its kingdom shall come to an end."
"There can be no question that persecution of the
saints is ascribed to him," when it is said, "By him the
daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his
sanctuary cast down ;" and this is made still more une-
quivocal by the words, "He shall destroy the mighty and
the holy people." "From these considerations (Dr.
Todd infers) it would seem that the same persecuting
power is intended in both prophecies; for it is not to
be supposed without good reason, that two powers so
exactly similar should exist together, perform the same
actions, and meet with the same destruction."
A more exact analysis of the visions will show at once
the weakness and futility of this argument.
120
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
1. First, the account of the first horn involves at
least ten particulars: its rise from the fourth beast; its
co-existence with ten kings, and its subjugation of three;
its eyes as of a man, and a mouth speaking great things,
and its judgment by the Ancient of days; diverseness
from the other kings; blasphemy against God; persecu-
tion of the saints; changing of times and laws; and con-
tinuance for a time, times, and dividing of a time.
2. Next, the description of the second horn also in-
cludes at least twelve particulars: its rise from the he-
goat, or Grecian empire, in one of its four divisions; its
great increase of size and power, and the three directions
of its conquests; its trampling on the stars of heaven;
its opposition to the prince of the host; removal of the
sacrifice and casting down of the sanctuary; the time,
two thousand three hundred days, of its continuance, or
of some related events; its might, not by its own power;
its fierceness of countenance; its understanding of dark
sentences; its triumph by policy; and its destruction
without hand.
3. The correspondence, then, of four characters, out
of ten on one side and twelve on the other, is the proof
of identity on which Dr. Todd relies. By such an argu-
ment almost any two reigning monarchs of the present
time might be proved to be the same. This meagre and
scanty proof is, however, in reality, more shadowy still.
(1). Two of the common features named are per-
secution of the saints and blasphemy. But these have
applied to at least fifty characters well known in history,
and may apply to fifty more. As a proof of identity
they are quite worthless.
(2). A third mark of sameness alleged is, that the
first horn subdues three kings, and the second waxes
great in three directions. To subdue three kings, how-
ever, out of ten, and to wax great in three directions out
CHAP. V.]
121
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of four, will seem, to most plain understandings, a proof
of diversity rather than of sameness.
(3). The fourth correspondence alleged is, destruc-
tion at the second advent. Now, if this were certainly
true, the identity supposed would by no means follow;
since at that time "the iron, the brass, the silver, and
the gold, are broken to pieces together." But the proof
of the fact, in the case of the second horn, is entirely
wanting. First, the last end of the indignation is as-
sumed to be synonymous with the judgment of the
Ancient of days. But the phrase is properly "the
future time of the indignation," and plainly denotes the
season of vengeance and desolation of the Jews (Isaiah
x. 5, 20-25, xii. 1; Dan. xi. 30, 36). Again, the words,
"he shall be broken without hand," would clearly have
applied to the fall of Pharaoh, or Sennacherib, or Herod ;
and cannot therefore prove the time to be that of the
second advent.
(4). Further, the persecution even of the saints by
the second horn is asserted on insufficient grounds.
Titus, it is plain, took away the daily sacrifice, and cast
down the sanctuary; but this did not constitute him a
persecutor of the saints, who thereby were relieved
from persecution rather than persecuted. The words,
"he shall destroy the mighty," are not less inappli-
cable. And even those," he shall destroy the people
of the holy ones," may be applied, with at least equal
probability, to the Jewish nation, in contrast with
Christian believers.
(5). Lastly, the marks of distinction, when collected,
seem greatly to outweigh the points of resemblance.
The first arises from the fourth, which has been proved
to be the Roman empire; the second from the third
empire, or that of Greece. The first co-exists with ten
horns in the same political body; the second with three
G
122
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
at the most. The first continues little; the second waxes
great. The first is symbolized with eyes and a mouth;
no such emblems appear in the other. The first has no
express connexion with the land of Israel; the second
waxes great towards the pleasant land, and casts down
the sanctuary. The season of the first is three times
and an half; of the second, if any be expressed, one
quite distinct. The second alone is said to cast down
the stars of heaven, or to be mighty by a power not its
own. And it must be remembered that, in this kind of
argument, one clear mark of difference has more weight
to prove the distinctness of the objects compared, than
twenty resemblances to prove their sameness.
It seems a waste of time to refute at length Dr. Todd's
strange notion, that the four horns of the goat are the
same with the four beasts of the previous chapter. Not
to speak of its utter violation of all symbolical con-
gruity, and of that law of successive development which
runs through these divine prophecies, it is already re-
futed by the proof I have given that the four beasts
rule in succession, and involves other absurdities of the
most evident kind.
From the whole of this inquiry it appears that no-
thing can be more futile than Dr. Todd's attempt to dis-
prove the common interpretation of the fourth empire,
by assuming the identity of the two little horns. The
reasoning of Mr. Faber, which he condemns, is quite
legitimate; the argument which he would substitute
himself makes a false and groundless assumption the
lever with which to overthrow a clear and well esta-
blished truth.
IV. THE PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF KINGS.
This subject, in the natural order of discussion, would
come later; but as I wish to leave no unanswered ob-
CHAP. V.]
123
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
jection behind me, and Dr. Todd has applied it to per-
plex the meaning of the vision of the ram, I prefer to
examine it here before proceeding to the next prophecy.
It may be useful also to show already, that even where
Protestant writers deviate from several authorities in the
early Church, and have most of the Futurists and
Romanists united against them, both reason and Scrip-
ture evidence may prove sometimes to be clearly on
their side.
The objection is urged by Mr. Burgh and Mr. Tyso,
as well as Dr. Todd. Not to disguise its force, I quote
their remarks at length. Mr. Burgh writes as follows:
“From this difficulty, attention to the wording of the vision
would have saved them, as it is said 'in the days of these kings,'
not kingdoms. It will be said, does not a king imply a kingdom?
Yes, but with this difference, that ten kingdoms might co-exist
for many generations beyond the lifetime of the ten kings who
first ruled them; while, if the days of these kings be specified,
then are the kingdoms established and destroyed under the same
kings, and within one generation. A most important distinction
this, and still plainer in the Apocalypse; but even here we have
proof that king and kingdom are not equivalent; for was it to
Babylon as a kingdom that the head of the image applied? No,
but to Nebuchadnezzar, the then king, and the kingdom only as
under him Thou art this head of gold'" (Lect. Adv. p. 102).
The passage is curious, from the confidence with
which Mr. Burgh would prove other commentators to
be wrong, by an argument which irrefragably proves
them to be right. But let us next hear Mr. Tyso:
"The ten horns pertaining to the beast seen by John cannot be
kingdoms. The interpreting angel says, "They are ten kings,
which have received no kingdom as yet.' It is very indecorous
for a fallible man to contradict an angel, or so to interpret his
words as to make him talk nonsense; and where is the sense of
saying they are ten kingdoms, which have received no kingdom as
yet ?"
It is equally indecorous for Mr. Tyso to represent
G 2
124
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
a series of learned divines as turning Scripture into
sheer nonsense, merely because he has never taken the
pains to understand their meaning. Let us now hear
Dr. Todd upon the same argument :—
"Another leading error is the liberty assumed by expositors of
taking the word king, wherever it occurs, as synonymous with
kingdom. This is a liberty that could hardly be ventured on in
any other ancient writer, without good and convincing reasons.
Let it be granted that by a king the prophet does sometimes
mean a kingdom; will it follow that the rule is general, or that
the word may mean either king or kingdom, wherever it occurs,
just as commentators please? Thus, where the four beasts are
called in one place 'four kings that shall arise,' and in another
the fourth beast is called a kingdom, it may perhaps be true that
a king is synonymous with a kingdom; because, admitting the
word king to be the true reading, there is a plain reason in the
prophecy for so interpreting it. But is it fair to make this dis-
puted reading the basis of a general rule? Would it be fair,
even if the reading were indisputably genuine, to argue from a
single instance, that in other cases, where no such reason can be
given, the same interpretation should be adopted? Is it fair to
assume this license in a prophecy where the words king and
kingdom are used in manifest contradistinction: as Dan. vii. 23,
24; viii. 22, 23? These prophecies speak of kings and king-
'doms in the same sentence, and therefore in contradistinction to
each other. A king, it is true, implies a kingdom, and a king-
dom usually implies a king; but it will not therefore follow that
in prophecy, any more than in history, a king and a kingdom are
synonymous. For however convenient to commentators the
assumption of such a principle, that may be true of a king which
is not true of his kingdom; and we may be greatly deceived
when we take upon ourselves to expound of kingdoms what the
prophecy has foretold of kings" (pp. 124, 125).
"The general adoption of this erroneous canon has led to the
neglect of a remarkable feature in the prophecy of the ram. The
ten horns of the fourth beast are explained to be ten kings; but
the four horns of the goat, we are told, are four kingdoms. Hencë
I am disposed to suggest that the kingdoms represented by the
four horns of the goat may perhaps be the same as those before
presented under the emblem of the four beasts” (126).
CHAP. V.]
125
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
"The horns, we are expressly told, are the kings, not the king-
doms, of Media and Persia" (p. 127).
"These three erroneous principles have perplexed, one or
more of them, all the modern, and many of the ancient, com-
mentators—that the Roman empire is the fourth kingdom; that
the little horn of the fourth beast is a different power from the
little horn of the goat; and that we are at liberty to consider the
kings spoken of in the prophecy, not as individuals, but as king-
doms" (pp. 130, 131).
These passages are enough to show the nature of the
objection, and the confidence with which it is pro-
pounded. The two last show further its connexion
with the meaning of the vision just examined, of the
ram and the goat. Of the three principles which Dr.
Todd boldly denounces as erroneous, I have proved
that the first admits of overwhelming demonstration,
and that the fancied refutation of the second is a com-
plete failure-a string of unwarranted assumptions. It
remains for us to see whether the arguments upon this
third point are more solid than on the two others. For
this end the question at issue must be first defined, and
then tried by the double test of reason and Scripture
evidence.
1. The word king, according to the Futurists, is used
throughout these prophecies in a sense strictly personal,
and means a single individual, the person who, at some
particular point of time, wields the sovereign power.
Only in Dan. vii. 17, Dr. Todd, and perhaps the others,
admit doubtfully of one solitary exception. By a king-
dom, they understand either the country, or the sub-
jects, in contrast to the king, or kings, who may rule
over them.
It is clear that the two words thus ex-
pounded are too distinct in their meaning to admit of
interchange.
On the other hand, the word king, according to the
Protestant interpreters, is used in an official sense, and
t
126
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
e
denotes, not an individual monarch, but a dynasty or
ruling power, "¿ àeì Baoiλévwv." Its unity consists, in
their view, not in the personal life of the ruler, but in
the [sameness of the state ruled, or the continuance of
the same regular succession and ruling power. The
word kingdom, again, they interpret sometimes of kingly
dominion or authority, abstractedly considered, as in
Dan. vii. 14-27; Matt. vi. 13; Luke xix. 12-15; or else
of the collective state and body politic, whether inclu-
sive or exclusive of the ruler, who is its natural head.
A king and a kingdom are thus distinguishable, as the
head is from the body to which it belongs; and yet
the former term may often be used as equivalent to the
latter, without either obscurity or inconvenience.
2. Let us now inquire, on grounds of reason, which
use of the term is more likely to obtain in these visions.
Both senses of the word occur in common language—
under what circumstances is each of them employed?
When we speak of events limited, within a few years, or
individual in their very nature, we use the term in its
individual and personal sense-as the visit or the King
of Prussia to England, or the exile of the late King of
France. But when we refer to events properly national,
relating to laws or constitutions of state, or which may
be presumed to last through a long course of years, we
use the same term, just as naturally and regularly, in its
official and wider sense. Such is its meaning in ex-
pressions like these:-The King of Prussia is the most
powerful Protestant monarch on the continent; the
Emperor of Austria is the main support of the Church
of Rome; there have been long and bloody wars between
the kings of France and of England. The context, or
the nature of the event, thus decides, in every case, the
true meaning of the term.
Let us apply the principle to the present subject.
CHAP. V.]
127
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
The first lesson in the study of prophecy is taught us by
St. Peter, that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day." Our concep-
tions of time need here to be expanded, if we would
rightly appreh end the vast range of the Divine coun-
sels. Thus each of the visions already examined has
been found to reach from the time of the prophet to
the second advent. In passages so brief, and which
yet have so wide a range, reason and common sense
prescribe to us that we should take the word king in its
wider and larger meaning, wherever there is no distinct
mark of a merely personal character to limit and restrain
its full significance.
Again, in three visions out of four, the word only
occurs as the explanation of a symbol. The four parts
of the image and the four beasts confessedly denote four
kingdoms. Whether, then, is it more natural to sup-
pose that a toe of the image or a horn of a beast de-
notes an individual person, or a kingdom with its official
ruler? The answer is self-evident. Indeed, it is very
like an absurdity to say that the great image, which in
its four parts has denoted in succession four mighty king-
doms, historically terminates in ten individuals alone,
to the exclusion of the kingdoms over which they rule.
But if the kingdoms are included, and are represented
in their rulers, we have clearly reverted from the per-
sonal to the official sense, and no law of reason or of
usage suffers us then to bind down the term to the
person of one individual. The à priori argument is
therefore, on both accounts, entirely in favour of the
Protestant acceptation.
3. Let us next consider the à posteriori evidence,
and examine the usage of Scripture in every instance in
succession.
(1). The first is in Dan. ii. 37, 39. It is there said to
128
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Nebuchadnezzar, "Thou art this head of gold. And
after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee."
It is plain that, since the silver denotes another kingdom,
and the brass a third kingdom, the head of gold denotes
a kingdom also. Yet it is twice declared "Thou art this
head of gold-another kingdom inferior to thee." It is
as clear, then, as words can make it, that Nebuchad-
nezzar is viewed, not personally as an individual, but
officially, as the existing ruler, as indeed verse 37 teaches
throughout. Therefore, his son or grandson, on suc-
ceeding to the kingdom, would equally represent the
head of gold during the time of his rule. In fact, the
prophet gives his reason for applying the title to Nebu-
chadnezzar, his actual possession of the supreme power,
vv. 37, 38. This first instance, then, is decisive for
the official sense: and it is an extreme case, for it is
not merely the term king that is employed, but an indi-
vidual who is singly addressed as by name; and yet the
context proves beyond doubt that he is viewed as repre-
senting the kingdom, and that the same words include
his successors in their turn. Yet this is the very pas-
sage upon which Mr. Burgh grounds a lecture to all
the Protestant commentators, for their negligence in
overlooking the self-evident contrast it presents between
kings and kingdoms. "Was it (he asks) to Babylon
as a kingdom that the head of gold applied? No, but
to Nebuchadnezzar, the then king, and to the kingdom
only as under him." Such an argument refutes itself.
If the words apply strictly to Nebuchadnezzar in person,
then clearly they exclude "the kingdom as under him,'
just as much as they exclude the empire of China. But
if they refer to him officially, which they plainly do, as re-
presenting the empire of Babylon, then they must include
also his successors in their turn, who represented the
same empire. It is, therefore, Mr. Burgh, and not the
CHAP. V.]
129
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Protestant expositors, or Theodoret, who needs to give
"attention to the wording of the vision." The spirit
of rash innovation seems to bring the curse upon its
disciples of being most confident and censorious when
most demonstrably wrong.
(2). A second instance, from another prophet,
strengthens and illustrates the first. Jeremiah writes
thus of the empire of Babylon (xxv. 9, 12):-
"I will send for all the families of the north, and Nebuchad-
nezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and bring them against
this land...... And this whole land shall be a desolation and an
astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
seventy years. And when seventy years are accomplished, 1 will
punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord."
Here we see again how distinctly the unity of the king
of Babylon, the head of gold in the former vision, is
recognized through the whole course of the seventy
years.
(3). A third instance of the same kind, and still more
remarkable, occurs in chapter xxvii. of the same pro-
phet:-
"And now have I given these lands into the hand of Nebu-
chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of
the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations
shall serve him, and his son and his son's son, until the very time
of his land come; and then many nations and great kings shall
serve themselves of him.
In this passage not only Nebuchadnezzar is named,
but his son and grandson. And yet the final overthrow
of Babylon is spoken of as if it were the fall of Nebu-
chadnezzar himself—" shall serve themselves of him."
The official unity of the king of Babylon swallows up
the distinction of the three generations of rulers.
(4). A fourth passage, closely related to these, occurs
in Isaiah xxiii. 15:-
G 3
130
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be for-
gotten seventy years, as the days of one king."
The prophet here, like Jeremiah, views the king of
All
Babylon as one, and continuing in his successors.
these four passages illustrate each other, and fix their
common meaning beyond a doubt.
(5). The next instance occurs near the close of the
vision of the great image :—
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's
clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided...... And as
the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, the king-
dom will be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou
sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave to one another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these
kings," &c.
By the words these kings, the rulers of the divided
fourth kingdom seem plainly meant. Now it is obser-
vable that at the first mention of them they are called
these kings, as if they had been mentioned before. In
short, they are first defined as the parts of the divided
kingdom, and then receive the title of kings.
parts of the kingdom
The passage yields us, then, a double argument for
the official sense of the term. First, the toes of the
feet are directly expounded as
(ver. 42)" the kingdom shall be partly strong and
partly broken." But the toes are clearly the same as
the horns of the fourth beast; and these are called ten
kings. Therefore, the ten kings are ten parts of the
divided kingdom, represented by their rulers, as the
head of gold was the first kingdom represented by Ne-
buchadnezzar, its ruling head.
Again, the toes of the feet are said to be parts of
the kingdom, and yet "they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men.........and in the days of these
CHAP. V.]
131
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
[
kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom." The
two phrases, kings and divisions of the kingdom, are
therefore used as convertible, and the former must be
employed in its official sense.
In both the passages, therefore, where Mr. Burgh
charges the Protestant writers with a want of “atten-
tion to the wording," he merely gives a fresh instance
of the ready and superficial haste with which the Futu-
rists accuse more exact reasoners of faults which belong
only to themselves.
(6). The sixth instance is in Dan. vii. 17, 23. “These
great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall
arise out of the earth......... Thus he said, the fourth
beast will be the fourth kingdom upon earth."
This passage is so clear, that Dr. Todd himself ad-
mits it as an exception to the distinction which he would
draw, and that kings are here equivalent to kingdoms. At
the same time he suggests to his readers his doubt whe-
ther it be the genuine reading. These are three times
repeated, but no reason for them is assigned. No autho-
rity to which I have access gives a hint of any variation
in the text. It is true that Theodotion, the Arabic, and
the Vulgate translate the word as kingdoms: but the
Syriac agrees with the Chaldee text; and since, by
common consent, kingdoms are intended, nothing is
more natural than for a translator so to expound it in
his version. There is no reason for doubting the
genuineness of the reading that can bear a moment's
examination. So Rosenmüller annotates-"By kings
are here meant whole series of kings succeeding in the
same kingdoms in turn, or kingdoms, as appears from
verse 23, where it is expressly said that the fourth
animal signifies the fourth kingdom.”
"The
(7). The seventh instance is in Dan. viii. 20.
ram which thou sawest having the two horns are the
132
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
kings of Media and Persia." A comparison with Dan.
v. 28-31, Isaiah xiii. 17, and the date of the vision,
can leave no doubt that the Medo-Persian kingdom,
then rising, is the subject of the prophecy. Hence, if
the word kings were personal, Darius the Mede, and
Cyrus, must be designed. But this is absurd in itself,
and refuted by the prophecy, as they both died long
before any Grecian invasion. The kings of Media and
Persia must therefore denote the two dynasties com-
bined in one, or the Medo-Persian kingdom.
The congruity of the symbols compels us to the same
conclusion. The four beasts in the former vision de-
noted kingdoms; and by parity of reason the ram must
denote a kingdom also.
(8). An eighth instance follows in the next verse.
"The rough goat is the king of Grecia." The former
reasons both apply here also. And there is a third, in
the evident distinction between the " king of Grecia
and the "first king." Here again, therefore, a king
denotes a ruling power or dynasty, and is nearly equiva-
lent to a kingdom. What, indeed, can be more absurd
than to speak of "four kingdoms as growing out of
the person of an individual monarch?
same verse.
(9). The last passage is in the latter part of the
"The great horn between his eyes is the
first king." This is an apparent exception, and only
apparent. For, first, the principle of an official sense
of the term is recognized in this same verse—“ the
rough goat is the king of Grecia.” Next, the ex-
pression "first king," being partitive as compared with
the former clause, naturally suggests the meaning of
an individual monarch. When a succession of kings
are spoken of as one king, the term in the former case,
by contrast, seems restricted to a succession of personal
rulers in the one monarchy. Thirdly, the two meanings
CHAP. V.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
133
here coincide, because both history and prophecy teach
us that Alexander's kingdom was "not for his pos-
terity." The dynasty really expired in his person.
Lastly, Alexander is not viewed merely as an indi-
vidual, but as the official head and ruler, representing
the Macedonian dynasty; for it is said, "four kingdoms
stood up for it: for it came up four notable horns.”
Now certainly four kingdoms may replace an united
kingdom with its ruler, but cannot replace merely the
person of the ruler, taken alone.
I have thus examined every passage of Scripture
which bears directly on the subject, omitting those
only (Dan. vii. 24; viii. 23) which are immediately
under dispute: and the conclusion I gather is this-
the Protestant acceptation of kings for ruling dynasties,
though decried so loudly by the Futurists as an unwar-
rantable license, is required even by the common laws of
language, when applied to events which occupy so wide
a range as these visions; and is confirmed by the un-
deviating usage of Scripture, as tested in every case by
the internal evidence of the prophecies themselves.
4. There remains only the passage in the Apocalypse,
which needs a short notice. Mr. Burgh thinks the dis-
tinction here "still plainer;" and Mr. Tyso asks trium-
phantly, "where is the sense of saying, ten kingdoms
which have received no kingdom as yet?"
quiry involves a double misapprehension.
The in-
First, Mr. Tyso plainly views the word "kingdom"
(xvii. 12) as denoting a country or people ruled over in
contrast to the person of the ruler, the individual king.
But this is an entire mistake. The word means here
"kingly power," or dominion, in the abstract, as Matt.
vi. 13, Luke xix. 15. Otherwise we shall be driven
to the absurdity of supposing that the ten kings in
person were alive in the time of the apostle; and,
134
[CHAP. V.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
since Mr. Tyso thinks their reign to be future, he must
conceive them to have been waiting near two thousand
years for the countries over which they are to reign.
Next, he imagines that the Protestant interpreters
view a king, in the prophetic sense, and a kingdom as
strictly synonymous. But this is not the case. They
only assert them to be so nearly allied in meaning as to
be generally convertible with each other. They inter-
pret the word king simply in its legal and constitutional
sense-the official ruler, or the reigning dynasty, inclu-
ding each successive monarch in turn.
There is, then, no difficulty in the words upon which
the objection has been raised. The Protestant accep-
tation of the term gives as simple an explanation as that
of the Futurists: "The ten horns are ten ruling dynas-
ties, which as yet have received no actual rule, but
obtain dominion the same hour with the beast." There
is nothing here either strained or absurd, which is all
that seems necessary to prove in this stage of the in-
quiry.
I have now examined the two supplementary objec-
tions which Dr. Todd has brought from the later part
of the visions to disprove the fulfilment of the earlier
portions of the prophecy. Both of them have been
shown to be deceptive and untrue. Especially the
charge which the Futurists bring against the Protes-
tant writers, of doing violence to the words of Scripture
when they expound kings of dynasties rather than of
single persons, has been fully refuted; and the Protes-
tant view has been established by the joint evidence of
reason and of the word of God.
:
CHAPTER VI.
THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH.
THE history of Persia and Greece, which has been
given briefly in the vision of the ram and he-goat, is re-
peated, with further details, in another prophecy. I now
proceed to examine the strange novelties, by which every
maxim of common sense has been violated, in a recent
interpretation of this last vision.
V. THE PROPHECY OF THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH.
This prophecy, more than all the rest, has obtained for
Daniel that remarkable censure of our infidel historian,
that he is too exact for a prophet. The prediction, down
to the thirtieth verse, is indeed uncommonly minute
and full. As far as this point, there has been scarce any
variety of sentiment among expositors with regard to the
historical sense. But as the last ten verses have been
sometimes obscured by a supposed double reference
to Antiochus and to a future antichrist, I now confine
myself to the first nineteen verses. On the meaning of
these there has been an almost unbroken harmony of
consent in every age of the Church.
I will first give a brief summary of the evidence for
their fulfilment, and then examine Dr. Todd's theory.
I. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE of fulfilment.
1. The prophecy opens with these words-" Behold,
there will yet stand up three kings in Persia, and the
fourth will be far richer than all; and by his strength,
through his riches, he will stir up all against the realm
of Grecia."
The three kings are plainly the three next successors
136
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
*
of Cyrus, who was reigning at the time of the vision.
The word yet proves this decisively. And these succes-
sors were Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes,
as we learn from Herodotus: "Now, when Cyrus was
dead, Cambyses, son of Cyrus and Cassandane, took
the kingdom" (ii. 1)." The Magus, therefore, when
1).—“The
Cambyses was dead, ruled securely under the title of
his namesake, Smerdis, the son of Cyrus" (iii. 67).—
"Darius, the son of Hystaspes, was then received as
king" (iii. 88).—"After Darius was dead, the kingdom
passed to his son Xerxes" (vii. 4).
2. The riches of Xerxes, and the vastness of his
expedition, require no proof. Herodotus continues:
"Xerxes in this manner assembled the army, searching
every region of the continent: for, after the recovery
of Egypt, four full years he was preparing the armament
with its needful provision, and in the fifth he marched
with an immense force. And indeed, of all armies that
have come to our knowledge, this was far the greatest ;
so that neither that of Darius against the Scythians,
nor of the Scythians against the Medes, seems anything
in comparison. For what tribe of Asia did not Xerxes
bring against Greece? What stream did not fail in
supplying his army, except the great rivers? The
number which each nation sent I cannot recount
exactly; but the number of the whole land army was
shown to be one hundred and seventy myriads.”
He then enumerates sixty nations who composed
the army, and ten or twelve more in the naval forces
of Xerxes. What a strict fulfilment was here of the
angel's description!" By his strength, through his
riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.”
3. The "mighty king," in the next verse, plainly is
Alexander: for it must be observed that the fourth
king of Persia is not described as the last, but as the
CHAP. VI.]
137
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
height and solstice of the empire. The expedition of
Xerxes was indeed that crisis, after which Persia began
to decline, and Greece to prevail. That a king of
Greece, and not of Persia, is here meant, is put beyond
a doubt by the former vision. He is clearly the same
with the notable horn of the goat, or "the first king" of
Grecia.
The history of Alexander exactly corresponds. In
the words of Diodorus, "this king in a very short time
did great things, and excelled all the princes that were
before him in his wonderful achievements; for he con-
quered a great part of Europe, and almost all Asia,
within twelve years, so that his fame was advanced to
such a height as to surpass in glory all the heroes and
demigods. The particular relations will sufficiently
evidence his greatness, and the fame and glory of his
name."
4. The division of Alexander's kingdom, and failure
of his posterity, have already been shown to agree ex-
actly with the prophecy. I will here add the words of
Dexippus : "After the death of Alexander, Aridæus
his brother, surnamed Philip, and Alexander, his son by
Rhoxane, receive the kingdom of the Macedonians.
But Olympias, having destroyed Aridæus, along with
his wife, in the seventh year, is herself soon after de-
stroyed by Cassander. Now she began to reign over
the Macedonians with the two sons of Alexander—Her-
cules, son of Barsine, and Alexander, son of Rhoxane
-whom also Cassander destroyed, and, casting out
Olympias, even without burial, proclaimed himself king
of the Macedonians." Thus the divided kingdom of
Alexander was "not to his posterity, nor after his
dominion."
5. The king of the south was Ptolemy Soter, son of
Lagus. "In Asia, Ptolemy, one of those who had a
-
138
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
•
share in the division, without difficulty possessed him-
self of Egypt...... Thus the Cyrenians and neighbouring
cities lost their former liberty, and became subject to
Ptolemy......He put strong garrisons into all the con-
venient places of Egypt, and succeeded, for the most
part, in everything he undertook" (Diod. xviii. 2).
"He enjoyed Egypt as a conqueror; and, casting his
eye on Coelo-Syria and Phenicia, used his utmost endea
vour to possess their cities. To that end he made Nica-
nor general, who brought all Syria under his power,
gained the cities of Phenicia and put garrisons in them,
and returned to Egypt" (c. 3). "About the same time
(B.c.306) Ptolemy, coming with a well-appointed army,
reduced all Coelo-Syria to obedience." At this point
the history of Diodorus breaks off, just before the battle
of Ipsus. Justin continues the narrative: "Ptolemy, in
Egypt, by wise industry, prepared great forces; he had
enlarged the bounds of his empire by the acquisition of
Cyrene, and had now grown so great that he had not
so much cause to dread his enemies as to be dreaded by
them "(xiii. 6). "The war being ended, Ptolemy dies
with great glory, on account of his exploits" (xvi. 2).
6. One of his princes, stronger than himself, was
Seleucus Nicanor. "Seleucus, fearing the worst, fled,
with fifty horse only in his company, to Ptolemy, in
Egypt, whose kindness towards all that came to him
for protection and shelter was praised everywhere.
When he was got safe into Egypt, he was entertained
by Ptolemy with all expressions of kindness and affec-
tion. While Antigonus was thus employed, Seleucus
came, with an hundred ships, out of Egypt" (Diod. xix.
4). "In a council of war, Ptolemy's generals agreed
that Seleucus and Menelaus, staying in Cyprus, should
bear up against their enemies." "Seleucus, after the
rout of Demetrius, at Gaza, receiving from Ptolemy eight
CHAP. VI.]
139
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
hundred foot and two hundred horse, marched towards
Babylon with confidence...... Having by these means
obtained a powerful army, he easily brought Media and
Susa under subjection, and sent word to Ptolemy how
he had succeeded, having now the full royal power and
majesty in his hands" (c. 6).
7. The dominion of Seleucus was to be “a great
dominion." So Dexippus: "Seleucus, going up to
Babylon and conquering the barbarians, reigned thirty-
two years; wherefore he was called Nicanor. In the
thirty-second year of his reign, having driven Lysima-
chus from Macedon, and being elated by the victory,
he was slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus, when about to rule
over the Macedonians." It thus appears that both the
northern and eastern divisions had come under his
power, and that he was on the point of obtaining the
western also. Hence Appian calls him "the greatest
of the kings after Alexander.”
8. "In the end of years they will join themselves
together." The words imply some considerable inter-
val. Accordingly this intermarriage took place about
sixty years after the accession of Seleucus, and thirty
after his death, between Antiochus Theus, his grandson,
and the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the son of
Ptolemy Soter. The marriage and its results are thus
described by Appian: "When Seleucus was dead, the
following received the kingdom of Syria in succession,
the son from the father: first, Antiochus, called Soter,
from his expelling the Gauls, who had invaded Asia,
out of Europe; and, secondly, Antiochus, who was sur-
named Theus by the Milesians, because he removed
their tyrant Timarchus. But his own wife slew this god
by poison; for he had two, Laodice, and Berenice the
daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus: and Laodice slew
him, and with him both Berenice and the infant of
140
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
].
Berenice; but Ptolemy, the son of Philadelphus (v. 7),
avenging these things, both slew Laodice, and invaded
Syria, and marched as far as Babylon."
We see, then, that Berenice, her father, her child, the
women her attendants, and Antiochus her husband, all
died almost at the same time; and that her brother, “a
branch from her roots," came against Syria to avenge
his sister's murder.
9. "He shall enter into the fortress of the king of the
north." So we learn from Polybius (v. 5): “Seleucia
had been possessed by an Egyptian garrison from the
time of Ptolemy Evergetes. For this prince, in his
anger because of the death of Berenice, had entered Syria
with an army, and made himself master of this city."
"It is surrounded by broken rocks and precipices. In
the plain are the markets and suburbs, which are strongly
fortified. The city also is enclosed with walls of uncom-
mon strength and beauty......the capital of the kingdom,
and their sacred seat of empire." How exact, in every
point, was the fulfilment of these words of the prophecy !
10. "He shall carry captive into Egypt their gods
and their precious vessels." So we find that Ptolemy
"brought from Syria forty thousand talents of silver,
and an immense number of gold and silver vessels, and
two thousand five hundred statues, among which were
many Egyptian idols, which Cambyses had carried into
Persia. These, on his return, he placed in their ancient
temples, and thereby gained from his subjects the title
of Evergetes" (Univ. H., viii., p. 133).
11. "He shall continue more years than the king of
the north." So we find that Seleucus Callinicus died
Ol. 138. 2, or about August, B.C. 226; and Ptolemy
Evergetes, by the astronomical canon, N.E. 527, or
about November, B.C. 222, being rather more than four
years later.
CHAP. VI.]
141
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Thus
12. “But his sons shall be stirred up."
Appian: "After Seleucus Callinicus, reigned his two
sons, each according to his age, Seleucus and Antio-
chus; but Seleucus being weak and poor, and his army
mutinous, his friends conspired against him with poison,
and he reigned only two years."
13. "One will certainly come and overflow and pass
through." Antiochus succeeded on the death of his
brother; and after an unsuccessful attempt on the passes
of Libanus, "advanced to the Euphrates, passed the
Tigris in three bodies, and, passing beyond the Oricus,
arrived at Apollonia." After defeating Molon, and
recovering Media and Susiana, he "passed beyond the
Zagrus," and subdued the Atropatii," a kingdom which
had never been subdued by Alexander (Polyb. v. 5).
"2
The words of the prediction appear somewhat ob-
scure; but this arises from the strangeness of the event,
that a king should first overflow in foreign conquest,
and then have still to recover the fortress of his own
kingdom. The event, however, solves the enigma and
removes all the obscurity, while the words receive their
simplest and most natural meaning.
14. “ And he will return and be stirred up, even to
his fortress." "Antiochus directed his course back
again to Syria......It was resolved to begin the war by
attempting to take Seleucia, which had been possessed
by an Egyptian garrison from the time of Ptolemy
Evergetes." The fortress was taken, and Antiochus
"secured by a sufficient garrison the port and the cita-
del." He then took several towns of Syria; and, after
a short truce, renewed the war, and invaded Egypt"
(B.C. 217. Polyb. v. 6).
15. The battle of Raphia is the one designed in the
eleventh verse. The great multitude of Antiochus is
fully described by Polybius: "His army was composed
142
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of five thousand light-armed troops-Daians, Carma-
nians, and Cilicians; twenty thousand men selected
from all parts of the kingdom; a phalanx of twenty
thousand men, commanded by Nicarchus and Theo-
dotus the Hermionian; two thousand Agrianians and
Persians, with bows and slings; a thousand Thracians;
five thousand Medes, Cissians, Cadusians, and Carma-
nians; ten thousand from Arabia and the neighbouring
countries; five thousand Greek mercenaries; fifteen
hundred Cretans; a thousand Neocretans; a thousand
Cardacians; and five hundred Lydian archers. The
number of the cavalry was about six thousand. Thus
the whole army of Antiochus consisted of seventy-two
thousand foot and six thousand horse, with one hundred
and two elephants" (v. 8).
16. "But the multitude shall be given into his hand."
"Antiochus saw what had happened, and ran back in
haste to the place of battle; but, as the troops were
now completely routed, he was forced to retreat to
Raphia......He had lost in the action scarce fewer than
ten thousand infantry, with more than three hundred
horse;
above four thousand also were taken prisoners"
(Polyb. v.8).
17. "His heart (the king of the south) will be lifted
up, and he will cast down many ten thousands."
On Philopator's return from conquest, "puffed up
with pride and insolence," he resolved to enter into the
holy place; and being hindered, returned to Egypt with
bitter threats" (3 Mac. i.) "Being grievously incensed
against the Jews, he commanded that they should be
collected with all haste, and put to a bitter death.” The
"Chronicon" of Eusebius states that forty thousand
were put to death in this persecution.
18. "But he shall not be strengthened by it."
So Justin writes: "Factâ pace, avide materiam quietis
CHAP. VI.]
143
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
-
arripuit, inque luxuriam revolutus, occisâ Eurydice
uxore eademque sorore suâ, Agathocleæ meretricis
illecetris capitur. Atque ita, omnem magnitudimem no-
minis ae majestatis oblitus, noctes in stupris, dies in
conviviis consumsit, nec quisquam in regno suo minus
quam rex ipse poterat." And Polybius, to the same
effect: "He embraced peace with immoderate haste,
and fled again to that repose to which his indolence and
habitual vices forcibly inclined him......Not long after,
he was engaged in war against the people of his own
kingdom. In arming the Egyptians against Antiochus
he acted wisely for the present; but the measure was
attended with most pernicious consequences: for the
people, elated with the victory at Raphia, began to re-
ject with haughtiness the orders of the king, and only
waited for a chief to their revolt, which not long after
was carried into execution" (v. 8, 9).
19. “The king of the north will return after certain
years."
After the battle of Raphia (B.C. 217), Antiochus
was long employed in reducing Achæus, and sub-
duing Media, Parthia, Hyrcania, and Bactria. But
at the decease of Philopator, and the accession of
Ptolemy Epiphanes, at the age of five years (B.c. 205),
he resumed his designs against Egypt. Thus Justin in-
forms us:
"On the death of Philopator, king of Egypt,
despising the weakness of his infant son, who, though
left to the expectation of the kingdom, was a prey even
to his own domestics, Antiochus, king of Syria deter-
mined to seize on Egypt" (xxxi. 1).
20. "He shall come with a great army and much
riches."
Polybius, in an imperfect fragment, tells us that
he returned from Upper Asia with one hundred and
fifty elephants; and "the expedition secured to him
the obedience of those provinces, and of all the maritime
144
CHAP. VI.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
cities and princes also, on this side of Mount Taurus;
protected his own kingdom from invasion; and gave
all the highest opinion of his courage."
21. "Many shall stand up against the king of the
south."
"As soon as Ptolemy was dead, and had left an infant
son, Philip and Antiochus, whose duty it was, according
to the laws of nature, to maintain the child in the
possession of his kingdom, combined together to share
his dominions, and to destroy the helpless orphan"
(Polyb., xv. frag.). "On the death of Philopator, the
Alexandrians sent ambassadors to the Romans, entreat-
ing that they would undertake the guardianship of the
king, to defend the kingdom of Egypt, which Philip and
Antiochus had covenanted to divide between them"
(Justin, xxx. 2).
22. "The robbers of thy people will exalt themselves
to establish the vision; but they shall fall."
So Polybius, as quoted by Josephus: "Now Scopas,
the general of Ptolemy, went in haste to the upper
part of the country; and, in the winter time, overthrew
the nations of the Jews."
23. "The king of the north shall cast a mount, and
take the city of munitions; and the arms of the south
shall not withstand."
So again Josephus informs us: "Not long after,
Antiochus defeated Scopas in a battle at the fountains of
the Jordan, and destroyed a great part of his army."
Jerome gives us further information: "He shut him
up, with ten thousand of his troops, in Sidon. To set
him free, Ptolemy sent famous generals-Eropus, Meno-
cles, and Damoxenus; but they could not raise the
siege; and at length Scopas, overcome by famine,
surrendered."
24. "He shall stand in the glorious land, which by
his hand shall be consumed."
CHAP. VI.]
145
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
The words may be rendered more exactly—" He
shall stand in the land of the beauteous ornament, and
it will be perfected by his hand." The Septuagint,
Theodoret, and Grotius prefer this version of the latter
clause, and make it refer to the land of Israel; but, by
comparing the passage with verse 41, and with Ezek.
vii. 20, I am convinced that NATZEBI must here denote
the temple itself. "As for the beauty of his ornament,
he set it in majesty." And the same verb which occurs
here is used to express the completion both of the
tabernacle and of the first temple (Exod. xxxix. 32;
1 Kings vi. 38). The letter of Antiochus on this sub-
ject is given in Josephus, and is in almost verbal agree-
ment with the prophecy.
"In the first place, we have determined to bestow on
them, as a pension, for their sacrifices of animals that
are fit for sacrifice, for wine, oil, and frankincense, twenty
thousand pieces of silver and six artabræ of fine flour,
with one thousand four hundred and sixty medimni of
wheat, and three hundred and seventy-five medimni of
salt......I would also have the work about the temple
finished, and the cloisters, and if there be anything else
that ought to be rebuilt. And for the materials of wood,
let it be brought them out of Judea itself, and the other
countries, and out of Libanus, tax free; and the same
I would have observed as to those other materials which
will be necessary, in order to render the temple more glori-
ous." And again he adds, in a second decree, “It shall
be lawful for no foreigner to come within the limits of
the temple round about; which is forbidden also to the
Jews, except to those who have purified themselves.
And he that transgresseth any of these orders, let him
pay the priest three thousand drachmæ of silver.”
In
this remarkable manner was the temple, the beauteous
ornament, perfected by this monarch's hand.
H
430
146
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
..
25. "He shall also set his face to enter with the
strength of his kingdom, and equal conditions with
him; and he shall give him the daughter of women.'
So we read in Livy, xxxv. 13: “ Antiochus the king
that winter, at Raphia, gave his daughter in marriage
to Ptolemy, king of Egypt." And in Josephus (Ant.
xii. 4): "After this, Antiochus made a friendship
and league with Ptolemy, and gave him his daughter
Cleopatra to wife; and yielded up to him Coelo-Syria,
and Samaria, and Judea, and Phenicia, by way of
dowry."
26. "But she shall not stand on his side, neither be
for him."
"Ambassadors came from Ptolemy and Cleopatra,
kings of Egypt, to express their joy that Acilius, the
consul, had expelled Antiochus from Greece, and ex-
horting them to lead over their army into Asia" (Liv.
xxxvii. 3).
27. "After this he shall turn his face toward the isles,
and take many."
"Antiochus, having in the former summer reduced
all the cities of Ptolemy in Coelo-Syria under his own
power, had wintered at Antioch, but did not afterwards
keep quiet. For, using all the strength of his kingdom,
after he had prepared great forces, by land and sea, in
the early part of spring, having sent his two sons with
the army, and commanded them to meet him at Sardis,
he set out himself with a fleet of one hundred decked
ships, and two hundred lighter vessels” (Liv. xxx. 19).
Returning to his fleet, he set out with forty covered
and sixty open ships, and two hundred transports fol-
lowed with all kinds of warlike provision. He first took
the island Imbrus; then he passed over to Sciathus.
Since the king possessed the key of Euboea, the other
cities of the island did not refuse his authority; and he
CHAP. VI.]
147
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
thought that he had made an excellent beginning of the
war, when so large an island and so many cities had
come under his power" (xxxv. 51).
28. "But a prince on his own behalf shall cause the
reproach offered by him to cease; without his own re-
proach he shall cause it to turn upon him."
Antiochus was routed at Thermopyla by the consul
Acilius. "The king, collecting first at Elatia the few
who had escaped from the battle and the rout, betook
himself to Calchis with a very small band of half-armed
soldiers; nor did any one of the whole army escape,
except five hundred who were around the king" (Liv.
xxxvi. 19). He was soon after defeated a second time
at Magnesia (B.c. 190). "Fifty thousand infantry are
said to have been slain, and four thousand horse; four-
teen hundred were captured, and fifteen elephants
with their rulers. Antiochus, fleeing with a small num-
ber, as more gathered to him in his flight, reached
Sardis near midnight with a small body of soldiers"
(xxxvii. 44). The conditions of peace were severe-
"To abstain from Europe, to abandon all Asia on this
side of Taurus, and to pay fifteen thousand Eubœan
talents for the expenses of the war.” Thus was the
reproach which he had offered made conspicuously to
turn upon him.
29. “He shall stumble and fall, and not be found.”
The event, as told by Justin, corresponds: "Mean-
while, in Syria, King Antiochus, since he was loaded
with heavy tribute after his defeat by the Romans,
either compelled by want of money or urged by avarice,
and thinking he might commit sacrilege with more.im-
punity under pretext of the tribute, assailed by night,
with an army, the temple of Elymæan Jove. But the
matter being discovered, he is slain, with all his army,
by an assault of the inhabitants" (xxxii. 2).
H 2
148
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
30. “Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of
taxes, in the glory of the kingdom."
Seleucus Philopator succeeded, who reigned, as Appian
says, "both idly and weakly, in consequence of his father's
calamity." To raise the tribute imposed by the Romans
on Antiochus was almost the only employment of his
reign. After plundering the temple at Jerusalem, "he
died through the treachery of Heliodorus, one of his chief
ministers," the same who had been employed in the
sacrilege, after a short reign of twelve years. Thus in
a few days he was "destroyed, neither in anger nor in
battle," but by the deliberate treachery of an ambitious.
servant.
31. “ And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to
whom they will not give the honour of the kingdom."
So we read in Livy: "About this time Antiochus, son
of Antiochus the Great, who had long been a hostage
at Rome, on the death of Seleucus, his brother, seized
on the kingdom of Syria......Obtaining the throne by
the help of Eumenes and Attalus, he was received with
such favour of the people that they surnamed him
Epiphanes...... Nor was he wanting in warlike skill and
vigour of mind; but he was so depraved and reckless
in the whole course of his life and manners, that soon
after, changing the surname, instead of Epiphanes (the
Illustrious), they called him Epimanes (the Madman)”
(Liv. xli. 19).
It is needless at present to trace the correspondence
between the ten following verses and the history of
Antiochus. The facts which have been presented in a
compressed form, and almost entirely in the words of the
original authorities, make a comment superfluous to
prove the accurate fulfilment of the prophecy, even in
its minutest details. There is not one prediction, it
may be safely asserted, in the inspired writings them-
CHAP. VI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
149
selves, which approaches to this in the number of dis-
tinct and connected particulars, manifestly accom-
plished in the same order-not one which yields suck
overwhelming evidence of the divine foreknowledge.
Yet, wonderful as it may seem, this very prophecy,
and every verse of it, Dr. Todd denies to have been
fulfilled. Not satisfied with the sceptical rashness which
thus strikes off at one blow a third part of the Chris-
tian evidence, the evidence of prophecy, he even charges
a bishop of our Church with the fraud of garbling his-
tory, and the folly of confessing it, only because he
asserts the singular clearness of that accomplishment,
which, as a fact, infidels themselves have been constrained
to allow.
II. OBJECTIONS ALLEGed.
The fourth Donnellan Lecture is occupied almost
entirely with Dr. Todd's objections to the received in-
terpretation of this prophecy. These I will now ex-
amine in order, without offering any remarks on the theo-
logical phenomenon which they exhibit, and which, to
those who can trace principles to their necessary results,
is of itself a fearful and disastrous omen to the Church
of Christ.
1. The authority of Jerome seems to be the first ar-
gument.
His words are selected as a motto for the
Lecture. “What Daniel prayed for, he merits to hear
from God, what was to happen to the people of Israel,
not in times near at hand, but in the last days, that is,
in the end of the world."
This first objection may serve for a pattern of the
worthlessness of those which follow. St. Jerome's
authority is totally and decisively in contradiction to
the Lecturer's theory. That Father refers all the
verses now in question, without the least doubt or
hesitation, to past events. He remarks on the third
150
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
1
verse:
"This plainly relates to Alexander of Mace-
don." In terms still more decisive, he observes on
the 20th verse: "Thus far the order of the history
proceeds regularly (se sequitur), and there is no dis-
pute between Porphyry and those of our own religion." To
claim Jerome, then, for a witness in favour of this new
theory, is uncommonly bold. His words plainly stamp
it with its true character, as a fancy, unknown alike to
Christians and Infidels before the present day.
But perhaps the principle of St. Jerome is alleged, to
refute his own interpretation. If so, this is a plain im-
peachment of his common sense, that he should lay down
a maxim, and proceed at once to contradict it flatly,
and with persevering diligence, through several pages.
But St. Jerome is guilty of no such absurdity. His
words were meant, it is quite evident, inclusively, and
not exclusively, that the prophet was favoured with a re-
velation, even of remote events, affecting the people of
Israel, and not merely of such as were near at hand.
The remark is clearly aimed against Porphyry, who re-
stricted the whole prophecy to the times of Antiochus
Epiphanes. As aimed against him, it is just and con-
clusive; in the meaning which the Lecturer would force
upon it, it is contradictory and absurd. Now if even
the comment of Jerome can be so entirely perverted, it is
not surprising that the text itself should suffer a like fate.
2. The disagreement of interpreters forms the next
objection against the fulfilment of the prophecy.
"The most eminent theologians of ancient and modern
times have laboured on it, and laboured, as their dis-
agreement proves, in vain. This disagreement is a
convincing proof that the prophecy is not yet fulfilled.
......I would argue from the widely discordant systems
proposed, and the great difficulties commentators have
experienced in attempting to find the counterpart in
CHAP. VI.]
151
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
history, that the events to which it refers are as yet
altogether future" (pp. 136, 137).
This assertion, like most others in this Lecture, has
at least one merit, that of boldness. Let me confront
it with a few testimonies, drawn from sources of the
most various kind. The inquiry relates to the first
twenty verses, which the Lecturer, without a single
precedent, maintains to be unfulfilled.
First, St. Jerome, as we have seen, remarks on the
twentieth verse: "Thus far there is no dispute between
Porphyry and those of our own religion." This was the
notable disagreement of early times.
Secondly, on the fourth king named in the second
verse, Cornelius à Lapide writes: "All agree that this
is Xerxes." And Maldonatus, to the same effect, on vv.
29, 30: "Of this passage one consentient and most
true explication is given by all, concerning Antiochus
Epiphanes." This may be enough to show the disagree-
ment of the Romish commentators.
Thirdly, Bishop Newton may serve for a witness of
the sentiments of Protestant writers. He remarks on
the thirtieth verse: "Thus far commentators are in the
main agreed, and few or none have deviated much out
of the common road." This testimony is more cau-
tiously worded, but not less decisive, when we bear in
mind that it includes eleven later verses, besides those
under immediate discussion. Such is the great and
wide discordance, of which the Lecturer speaks, among
Protestant interpreters.
Fourthly, even among the Futurists themselves we
may find a testimony point-blank against this prodigious
assertion. Mr. Mac Causland writes as follows: "This
prophecy, commencing with the reign of Cyrus, unfolds
the vicissitudes of the Medo-Persian, Grecian, and
other empires which grew out of their ruins, with such
152
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
precision and accuracy, that, when compared with the
parallel train of events recorded in history, the universal
assent of mankind has been accorded to the interpretations.
The light of past events has converted the prediction
into history; and the unanimous concurrence of com-
mentators, as to the preceding portion of the prophecy,
(xi. 1-31) guarantees the truth of its fulfilment" (Latt.
Days, p. 114).
Finally, the words of Gibbon, when referring to this
very prophecy, scarcely need to be repeated. Daniel,
he says, is "too exact for a prophet;" the narrative is
"as perspicuous as the histories of Justin and Diodorus;"
and "from such a perfect resemblance, the artful infidel
would infer that both alike were composed after the
event."
After such witness of the concord among Fathers,
Romanists, Protestants, Futurists, and even Infidels,
both in the earliest and the latest times, I may dismiss
the Lecturer's assertion with one single remark-that
the hypothesis of Gibbon's "artful infidel" requires far
less scepticism, and admits of far more common sense in
those who maintain it, than the theory in behalf of
which that assertion has been made.
3. The words of the revealing angel give rise to a third
objection. The text undergoes exactly the same mis-
construction as St. Jerome's comment upon it has done
before.
"We have the express declaration of the angel, that
the whole prophecy-for there is no reason to suppose
any part excepted-relates to what shall befall the peo-
ple of Daniel in the latter days" (p. 169).
In these words, joined with their context, there are
two assumptions-one, that the latter days denote ex-
clusively the times at, or just before, the second advent ;
and the other, that the whole prophecy, without ex-
CHAP. VI.]
153
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
ception, is included in those latter days. Let us ex-
amine them in order.
(1). First we have to ascertain the true sense of the
term "the latter days." It occurs first in the blessing
of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 1). Among the events there
ascribed to the latter days is the dispersion of Levi
among the other tribes: and this began with the divi-
sion of the land under Joshua.
The next passage is in the prophecy of Balaam
(Numb. xxiv. 14). In this second instance, it plainly
includes the victories of David over Edom and Moab,
and the times of the Assyrian captivity.
The third is Deut. iv. 30. Upon this we have an in-
spired comment in the first chapter of Nehemiah, which
proves that it began to be fulfilled, at latest, with the
return from Babylon.
The fourth is Deut. xxxi. 29.
"Evil will befall you
in the latter days." The chapter of Daniel which goes
immediately before clearly shows that this also had
begun to be fulfilled.
Five instances next occur in the prophets (Isa. ii. 1
Ez. xxxviii. 8, 16; Hos. iii. 5; Mic. iv. 1), where it refers
to the future time of Israel's restoration; and four in
Jeremiah (xxiii. 20; xxx. 24; xlviii. 47; xlix. 39),
where the time is not evident. Besides these, the word
acharith alone is often used, to denote a remnant, residue,
or posterity; as in Job xlii. 12, where it signifies all the
remainder of the patriarch's life after his affliction.
The evident conclusion from the whole is, that the
phrase denotes simply future days, or times to come, but
that some degree of remoteness or distance is also com-
monly implied. There is no warrant whatever in
Scripture for restricting it to the time of the second
advent.
(2). The first premise is quite groundless; let us next
H 3
J54
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
examine the second. "There is no reason to suppose
any part excepted" from the application to the last
times. Two arguments in reply will be sufficient.
First, the whole vision of the great image is said to
be "what shall come to pass in the latter days." Now
the prophet himself expounds the first part of that vision
to denote the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, the actual
ruler of Babylon: and it is plain that the vision pro-
ceeds from that point of time, in regular order, to the
second advent. The phrase here is exactly the same.
We have thus the best of all reasons for rejecting Dr.
Todd's exposition of the phrase, and that reason is, an
inspired comment supplied by the former prophecy.
In the next place, the words of the angel are clear
and express:
"There will stand up yet three kings in
Persia." The expression admits only of one meaning,
without direct and evident perversion. It must denote
the three kings next in succession to Cyrus, who was
then reigning. It is not only an enormous license, but
a flat contradiction of the text, to suppose that three
and twenty centuries intervene.
Further, by comparing verses 13, 20, and 21 of chap. x.
with verses 2 and 3 of chap. xi., it will be plain that the
earthly warfare in the opening of the prophecy is viewed
as a direct result of the heavenly or spiritual conflict
there revealed. Now this had already begun. It fol-
lows that the earthly events of the prediction must also
follow close on the time when the prophet wrote.
Both the premises, then, in this third objection, are
equally untrue, and opposed to the plain and repeated
statements of holy writ.
4. The description of the mighty king is made the next
difficulty. "It should be observed (Dr. Todd remarks)
that the mighty king is not said to be a Grecian poten-
tate; for aught that appears, he may be a fifth king of
CHAP. VI.]
155
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Persia; and the opinion which seeks to identify him
with Alexander rests altogether on the supposed analogy
between this prophecy and the vision of the ram and the
goat, where the power symbolized by the great horn of
the goat is expressly said to be the first king of Grecia"
(p. 170).
This objection is in the worst style of controversy, as
if the sole aim of the writer were to perplex the subject,
and not to ascertain the truth. "The opinion rests
altogether on a supposed analogy." Does the Lecturer
deny the analogy to be real? Far from it. Does he
even think it doubtful? No; he speaks of it elsewhere
as very certain. Has he forgotten his own admissions ?
They form the very basis of his own arguments in part
of this same Lecture. "We may observe (he says) a
very remarkable correspondence between the structure
of this prophecy and the vision of the ram
The great
horn of the goat represented in the vision a powerful
king, &c. In the angel's prophecy an exact parallel is
found for these facts. A mighty king, we read, shall
stand up, &c. The circumstance last mentioned is par-
ticularly to be noted, as supplying a minute and remark-
able point of coincidence between the two prophecies
Thus, then, it appears that the same general outline
of prophetic history is very plainly given in the two
predictions" (pp. 140-142).
The supposed analogy, then, Dr. Todd himself being
judge, is a very remarkable correspondence, an exact.
parallel, a minute and remarkable coincidence, a very
plain proof of identity. The objection to the common
exposition is, in fact, that it explains the prophecy in
exact agreement with what the Lecturer owns to be
its unquestionable meaning.
5. The mention of the fourth king supplies another
difficulty. "The unbiassed reader would naturally infer
from the words of the prophecy, if we date its com-
156
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
i
¡
mencement from the time when it was, given, that,
between Cyrus and the mighty king, four kings only
were to sit on the Persian throne. Yet the murder
of Xerxes, the fourth, took place more than a century
before the accession of Alexander, and in this interval
there reigned no less than nine sovereigns" (p. 171).
There is a curious feature of self-contradiction in
most of Dr. Todd's objections. Before, when he was
expounding the vision of the image, the four ordinals, all
given at length, were so pliable, that they would allow a
gap of two thousand years in the midst of the succession ;
and the fourth kingdom might denote the fortieth, or, if
needful, the four hundreth, in actual order. Now, one
single ordinal is grown so expressive as not only to fix
its own place, but to exclude the very existence of a fifth
or sixth king. Such slippery reasoning does not deserve
a refutation.
But, in fact, it is not the unbiassed, it is only the
superficial reader, who will draw the inference of which
the Lecturer speaks from this passage. The empire of
Persia is described to us as at its height of prosperity
and greatness under the fourth king, and not as close
upon extinction and ruin. The natural inference of a
thoughtful reader would be, that other kings were to
follow, but that their reigns would be inglorious, and
the empire in a rapid decline. For perhaps none of the
great empires which appear in history, except that of
Napoleon, ever passed from its height of power to a
total overthrow within the lifetime of one sovereign.
6. "St. Jerome (it is further objected) assigns an
awkward reason for the omission of these nine kings—
that the prophetic spirit was not careful to follow the
order of history, but to touch on each principal event..
This is a most dangerous rule to lay down in the inter-
pretation of prophecy."
What a fatality is here of self-contradiction. No one.
CHAP. VI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
157
commentator, perhaps, uses, or rather abuses, this prin-
ciple to such an extent as Dr. Todd himself.
His own
free license in this respect throws Jerome completely
into the shade; for he makes gaps and omissions in the
prophecies, not of one century, but of two thousand
years, and maintains that the spirit of prophecy does not
even care "præclara quæque perstringere." If the
rule of Jerome be dangerous, what term shall describe
the practice of his censor?
Even in the restricted form, however, in which Jerome
presents it, the admission is overstated. The order of
history is strictly observed: and even the seeming
break disappears, when we regard this prophecy in its
true light, as an inspired comment on the vision of the
ram; for in that vision there is no break, but the con-
tinuity is preserved. The other character, of “touching
on the principal events," is shared by the inspired pro-
phets with every human historian.
But "it would not be easy, on such a principle, to
explain why Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius were
mentioned, rather than some who are left out." I reply,
first, that no commentator is bound to explain every-
thing; and, besides proving that the prediction agrees
with the events of history, to explain why that prediction
itself was not more brief or more full. In the present
case, however, there is a reason conspicuous enough.
The three first kings are mentioned to fix the place of
the fourth and the expedition of Xerxes is singled
out for notice because it was the climax of the Persian
empire, and the crisis from which it began to fall; and,
perhaps, too, the most celebrated event in all profane
history.
7. The division of Alexander's kingdom has been
already considered. There is one note, however, on the
subject, in this Lecture, which requires some remark, and
158
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
which would have seemed more in place in the pages
of Voltaire :-
"In the mean time I shall only say, that the discrepancies and
deficiencies of the original historians have made it less difficult
for commentators to shape the history to their peculiar interpre-
tations of the prophecy. This, Bishop Newton unwittingly
confesses, with amusing simplicity. There is not (he says) so
concise and comprehensive an account of their affairs to be found
in any author of those times. The prophecy is really more per-
fect than any history. No one historian has related so many
circumstances, and in such exact order, as the prophecy has
foretold them; so that it was necessary to have recourse to
several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish and Christian, for
the better explaining the great variety of particulars.' In this
way the prophecy has been used to give a colour to the history;
and the history is then employed as evidence for the interpretation
of the prophecy."
The study of prophecy is indeed brought to a strange
pass, when a Christian divine can boldly ridicule a
bishop of his own Church for refusing to be more
sceptical than infidels themselves. For what are al-
most the next words of the bishop's statement? “This
exactness (he adds) was so convincing, that even Por-
phyry could not pretend to deny it." The abilities of
Porphyry, however, are here far surpassed by the
Donnellan Lecturer. He can ridicule the bishop for
"amusing simplicity because he asserts that corre-
spondence of the facts and the prediction which both
Porphyry and Gibbon were compelled to own.
"
But let us analyze the assertion. "The discrepancies
of the historians have made it easier to shape the events
to the interpretation." The statement is utterly baseless
and unwarrantable. The historians of those times are
come down to us chiefly in fragments; but their
testimony, so far as it survives, is in almost unbroken
harmony with each other and with the prophecy. For
CHAP. VI.]
159
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
nearly every main fact, we have two or three cousenting
witnesses.
But, again, each commentator has "a peculiar inter-
pretation." This statement is nearly as groundless as
the last. The differences are few and slight where they
exist, and on two-thirds of the particulars traced above
I find no discordance whatever.
But "the bishop confesses, with amusing simplicity,
that the prophecy has been used to give a colour to the
history." The bishop does nothing of the kind. His
next words show the real meaning of the statement
which is thus perverted. "We have been particularly
obliged (he says) to Porphyry and Jerome, who enjoyed
the advantage of having those histories entire, which
have since been in whole or in part destroyed. They
had not only Polybius, Diodorus, Livy, Trojus Pom-
peius, and Justin, parts of whose works are now remain-
ing; but likewise Sutorius Callinicus, Hieronymus,
Posidonius, Theon, and Andronicus Alypius, historians
who wrote of those times, and whose works have entirely
perished."
In fact, the range of the prophecy, down to the
thirtieth verse, occupies the interval from B.C. 534 to
B.C. 160. The range of each classic historian, so far
as he illustrates this subject, is as follows:-Herodotus,
B.c. 534-477; Diodorus, B.c. 534-302; Polybius, B.C.
387-220; and Livy, b.c. 200-168. The work of Justin
is a mere summary, and Josephus confines himself
mainly to the affairs of the Jews.
.
The reason, then, why various authors are consulted
is now plain. It is not to choose out the most conve-
nient among conflicting statements, but simply to com-
plete the broken thread of history, and thus fill up the
comprehensive outline of the prediction. The insinu-
ation against the bishop is as superficial as it is ungene-
160
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
rous. The simplicity of faith, when it restson such
firm evidence as here, can be amusing only to those who
have been unhappily infected with the spirit of the
scorner.
8. The interpretation of kings as kingdoms is used for
another argument:-"In the first place, commentators
assume the privilege of supposing kings in the prophecies
to mean kingdoms or dynasties; yet they are less con-
sistent here than elsewhere in the adoption of this
principle. For the kings of Persia, in the first part of
the prophecy, are generally understood to mean literal
kings, and Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius, and Xerxes are
named as the individuals foretold; but in the remainder
of the chapter the word is supposed to signify, sometimes
an individual, sometimes a long succession of kings, and
even an infidel democracy” (p. 177).
This paragraph is one tissue of errors, which need to
be disentangled one by one.
(1). First, I have shown already that the use of kings,
in the symbolical prophecies, for ruling dynasties, rests
on a solid reason in the nature of the subject; and is
confirmed by the usage of Scripture in every instance
which can be tested by proof. It is Dr. Todd himself
who "takes the serious liberty" with the sacred text, of
misquoting the words in one place (p. 127), and throwing
doubts on the unquestioned reading in another (p. 124),
in order to evade the strength of their evidence.
(2). Secondly, commentators do not interpret verse 2
on a different principle from all the rest of the prophecy.
Their personal exposition of the word kings extends uni-
formly through thirty verses of the chapter. Perhaps
the eighteenth verse may seem an exception, as the
prince is commonly expounded of the Roman power.
But the term there is entirely distinct, and leaves the
main question unaffected. The inconsistency, then, if
CHAP. VI.]
16
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
it be such, instead of including every verse but the first,
is confined to the ten last verses, and even there to some
commentators only.
(3). Thirdly, the writers who elsewhere expound kings
to be ruling dynasties, are not inconsistent, when they
explain them in this prophecy of individual monarchs,
for two reasons. First, the principle is drawn from
induction and supported by reason, in the symbolical
prophecies alone. Two or three examples of it do occur
indeed elsewhere, but they are not general. But in this
chapter no symbols occur. Next, the official sense of
the term passes, of course, into the personal, where events
distinctively personal are interposed; as birth (v. 7),
death (v. 18), or accession to a vacant throne (v. 20, 21).
(4). Again, if the commentators were all of them
inconsistent in their exposition of the ten last verses,
this would be an absurd objection against the fulfilment
of the former part, which they all expound on the very
principle which Dr. Todd maintains to be universal.
(5). Finally, the charge is groundless, even when
confined to the ten closing verses, for several reasons.
The official sense of the word king does occur, though
more rarely, in prophecies not symbolical. In those
verses, also, no acts distinctively personal are interposed.
And lastly, it is natural that, in the remoter parts of the
narrative, just as in a landscape, the distinction of indi-
vidual lives should be merged and lost in the general
scope of the prophecy.
9. "Commentators consider themselves at liberty also
to assume, that by the king of the north is not meant any
particular individual, but any one or more of the kings
of Syria; and by the king of the south any one or more
of the kings of Egypt. This has been forced upon them
by the necessity they have created for themselves of
discovering, in the history of Alexander's successors, the
162
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
fulfilment of this prophecy: and the convenience of such
a principle must be obvious; for by means of it any of
the kings of Egypt, from Ptolemy to Cleopatra; or
of Syria, from Seleucus to Pompey, who can be found
to have performed actions at all resembling any part of
the prediction, may be set down as having so far accom-
plished it. But I cannot persuade myself to believe so
great a license warranted by the words of Scripture ;
on the contrary, I think it must be evident to every
unbiassed reader, that the same individual king of the
north and of the south are spoken of throughout the
prophecy."
A writer who can gravely propound such a statement,
in the teeth of the plainest evidence, and of the judg-
ment of every other divine, is almost beyond the pale of
serious reasoning. The grossest absurdities, however,
when gravely asserted, are often mischievous to a class
of thoughtless readers. It may, therefore, be useful to
analyze this indescribable passage.
"Commentators, then (Dr. Todd observes), think
themselves at liberty to assume, that by the king of the
north is not meant any particular individual, but any
one or more of the kings of Syria; and so of the kings
of Egypt." Most readers also have "thought themselves
at liberty to assume" that the king of Egypt who ex-
alted Joseph, the king of Egypt who drowned the
Israelites' children, and the king of Egypt who was
himself drowned in the Red Sea, were not the same
"particular individual." The novel argument of the
Lecture will prove this last opinion an error no less than
the first; for the marks of succession in the prophecy
are as clear as in the history. "This has been forced
upon them by the necessity they have created for them-
selves," &c. True, just as Christians have "created for
themselves the necessity" of finding in the Gospels the
CHAP. VI.]
163
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
fulfilment of the prophecies concerning Messiah's suffer-
ings. Incredulity has its privileges, whether its object
be the predictions of Daniel, or those of David and
Isaiah. Yet few Christians, it is to be hoped, will
shrink from receiving one truth of God's word because
it involves the happy necessity of believing many others.
But "the principle is convenient; for thus any king, who
has done anything at all resembling any part of the pro-
phecy, may be viewed as so far fulfilling it." The mis-
representation in these words is really monstrous. Not
one inversion of the historical order is needed or prac-
tised by any commentator. The correspondence, there-
fore, of the facts with the prediction, is rendered far
more convincing, from its including the actions of many
kings in succession. In the seventh, ninth, and tenth
verses, for instance, how remarkably exact are the
descriptions of the prophecy, when compared with the
events! Only in two places is there any interval of
moment, and in both of these it is either expressed or
implied, in the words of the prophecy alone.
But, again, "it must be evident to the unbiassed
reader, that the same kings are spoken of throughout
the chapter." The kindest construction which can be
put on this statement is to suppose that the Lecturer
has never read the chapter through, which he professes
to expound. How else could he state what is not
merely so plainly untrue, but so utterly absurd? The
angel distinctly mentions two kings of the south, and
implies at least one other. He not less distinctly ex-
hibits to us four kings of the north. Even Mr. Burgh,
who comes nearest to Dr. Todd in venturousness, and
reckons all future from the fifth verse, has too much
common sense remaining, not to recognize a succession
of kings. The twenty-first verse, he says, "introduces
the last king of the north." One thing only must be
164
[CHAP. VI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
evident by this time to every unbiassed reader, that the
controversial assertions of the Donnellan Lecturer are
as little trustworthy as his reasonings.
One excuse alone is offered, in a previous foot-note,
for this asserted sameness. The expression, he shall not
be found, as we shall see presently, does not imply the
utter destruction of the king of the north; for he ap-
pears again in the prophecy (v. 40). The further
proof never appears. The whole, then, resolves itself
into this singular argument: Pharoah, "king of Egypt,"
was cast into the Red Sea; but this does not imply his
utter destruction, for he appears again in the prophe-
cies of Ezekiel. Or "the king of England" stumbled
and fell, and was not found, at the battle of Hastings;
but this does not imply his death, for he appears once
more in the history of the French Revolution.
10. The want of homogeneity in the kingdoms fur-
nishes a tenth argument.
"A reader who had no theory to support would conclude that
the kings of the north and south, mentioned at the beginning of
the prophecy, must, at all events, whether literal kings or no, be
the same kings of the north and south who are spoken of towards
the close of the chapter. But this principle has not been adopted
by commentators. At the end of the prophecy two very different
powers are generally believed to be intended-the Saracens and
the Turks."
This paragraph, again, is studded thickly with errors.
(1). First, as applied to literal, or rather personal
kings, the assertion is the exact opposite of truth.
Christians of all classes, Jews, and even Infidels, nay,
express words of Scripture, all unite to convict it of
utter falsehood.
(2). Next, when limited to the sameness of the king-
doms, the statement is still most deceptive. Through-
out the first thirty verses, all commentators, with ong
CHAP. IV.]
165
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
or two solitary exceptions, interpret the words of the
kings of Syria and Egypt. As an argument against
the fulfilment of this part, the great point which Dr.
Todd attempts to disprove, the objection is idle and
worthless. If it could prove anything, it would be that
commentators are right in their exposition of the first
thirty verses, and wrong only in a few verses at the end
of the chapter.
(3). Thirdly, the incongruity, if it be really such, is
not generally adopted. The early writers of the Church,
all the Romanists whom I have seen, and many Protes-
tants, including Mr. Faber and other living expositors,
while they agree in the fulfilment of the parts now in
debate, regard the six last verses as still future, and
refer them strictly to Syria and Egypt.
(4). Lastly, the incongruity, even in Mede, More,
Newton, and the others, who apply the last verses to the
Saracens and the Turks, is more apparent than real.
For Egypt was the first conquest of the Saracens, and
northern Syria of the Turks, by which they entered on
the theatre of the Roman empire. The excuse which
Bishop Newton offers is therefore superfluous, and the
objection vanishes altogether.
11. The symbolical construction given to the prophecy
is a further objection. "It is hard to conceive (it is
said), without better proof than commentators have in
this case given, that the interpretation of symbols
should be no less symbolical than the symbols them-
selves" (p. 184).
There is only one reply to be made to such arguments,
namely, that there is not a particle of truth in the im-
plied assertion on which it rests. Not one clause, I
believe, of the whole chapter, and certainly not one.
single verse of the first twenty-nine, is explained as sym-
bolical by any one expositor who has come in my way.
166
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. VI.
To be specific, I may name, among others, Jerome,
Theodoret, Melancthon, A Lapide, Maldonatus, Mede,
More, Wintle, Venema, the two Newtons, Cuninghame,
and Faber.
12. The last objection forms a climax to all the rest.
The Lecturer thinks that "no unprejudiced person
would conclude that the wars described in the prophecy
were to extend beyond a period which might be the
natural lives of individuals;" and he "adheres to the
literal and obvious meaning of the prophecy, that the
same individual kings are spoken of throughout the pre-
diction, and that the kings of the north and the south, and
the wilful king, are all as yet to come" (pp. 185, 186).
The reasoning of this extract may be stated in a
plainer form. The angel begins the history, in express
terms, with the three kings of Persia, who next followed
Cyrus, and should yet stand up; and extends it, just
as plainly, to the resurrection. Therefore "every un-
prejudiced reader will conclude" that it is comprised
in a single lifetime. The angel, again, tells us that the
king of the south is succeeded in his own estate by a
branch from the root of his daughter, after the father
that begat her has been destroyed. Therefore "every
unbiassed reader" will infer that the same king of the
south is meant throughout the vision.
The angel
further informs us that the king of the north being
more short-lived than the king of the south, his sons
will renew the war; that one of them will continue
it with all the power of the kingdom; that the king
of the south will fight with this son, the king of the
north; that this last-named king of the north will
stumble and fall, and not be found; and that a raiser of
taxes will rise up in his estate, in the glory of the king-
dom. Also, that a vile person succeeds the raiser of
taxes in the same estate, and will obtain the kingdom
CHAP. VI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
167
by flatteries. Therefore Dr. Todd "adheres to the
literal and obvious meaning, that the same king of the
north is spoken of throughout the whole prophecy,"
and to the view, equally literal and obvious, that the
vile person is not a king of the north at all! Can the
credulity of ignorant readers be more wretchedly abused
than by such assertions? Can trifling with the words
of God be carried further than when such follies are
published as expositions of a sacred prophecy?
I have now examined all the Lecturer's objections,
which embolden him to reject the common belief of
Christians from the earliest times. It is difficult, with-
out a seeming breach of courtesy, to describe them as
they deserve, and I willingly omit the unpleasant task,
since every reader has the means of forming his own
judgment. One remark only I will venture to make, in
the full assurance both of its truth and of its practical
importance. The only light which the present Lecture
can throw upon the meaning of prophecy must be of a
reflex kind. For if assertions, utterly untrue in them-
selves, and which undermine the foundations of the
Christian evidences, can thus be advanced and received
without scruple; if reasonings and principles, more in-
credulous than those of infidels themselves, pass without
censure, and even gain currency and approval in the
Church, there will be a proof, far stronger than any
direct arguments which the Lectures supply, that the
reign of open infidelity is, indeed, near at hand.
CHAPTER VII.
THE SEVENTY WEEKS.
THERE are two points which still remain to be consi-
dered in this first part of the inquiry into the Futurist
interpretations of Daniel. These are, the, prophecy of
the seventy weeks, and the general conclusions which
result from the previous steps of this examination.
VI. THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS.
There has been a very general consent, among Chris-
tian interpreters of all ages, on the leading objects of
this prophecy. It is viewed by them as a chronologi-
cal prediction, expressed in weeks or sevens of years,
and which has for its leading events the first appearance
and crucifixion of our Lord, and the fall of Jerusalem
under Titus and the Roman power.
The precise adjustment of its parts, however, has
given rise, from the earliest times, to great diversity of
opinion. St. Jerome enumerates seven expositions of
the ancients, and Mr. Faber twice as many of the mo-
derns. The second of these lists might be very greatly
increased. Yet there are three principles in which
perhaps all of them, without exception, agree. First,
that the two main subjects foretold are the first advent
and death of Messiah, and the destruction of the Jewish
polity. Secondly, that the periods are to be reckoned
as weeks, not of days, but of years. And, thirdly, that
sixty-two, sixty-nine, or seventy such weeks were to
elapse between one of the Persian decrees named in

CHAP. VII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
169
Scripture, and the birth, appearance in the temple, bap-
tism, or crucifixion of our Lord.
These three maxims are also recognized by most of
the Futurists themselves. Mr. Maitland, however scep-
tical with regard to the four empires, and Mr. Burgh,
with regard to the Syrian and Egyptian kings, are here
content to abide by the old landmarks. Dr. Todd, Mr.
Tyso, and Mr. Govett, are the only dissentients. The
Lecturer, indeed, offers his doubts with some degree of
hesitation; and as they are confined to a single note, it
is needless to dwell upon them further. But Mr. Tyso
rejects boldly every one of the principles which have
been commonly received. He contends that the period
consists of weeks of days; and that the first advent
and the fall of Jerusalem are not once mentioned, but
that the whole is still future. Views so preposterous
might, perhaps, at any other time, have been safely passed
by, as not deserving a refutation; but there seems at
present to be a theological influenza of prophetic scep-
ticism; and since more than twenty pages of the “Eluci-
dation" are occupied with this argument, it may be
useful to expose the real emptiness of the reasoning they
contain.
I. The first aim of the writer is to set aside the refer-
ence of the prophecy to the first advent. "I believe
(he says) that the primary reference is to the second
advent, and that the weeks are common weeks, con-
sisting of seven days." The expressions of verse 24
are applied, without much difficulty, to the actual
reconciliation and righteousness of the Jewish nation
in times to come; but the words in verse 26 are har-
der to explain away. Mr. Tyso, therefore, proposes
a new translation, without the sanction of any Hebrew
scholar. "After the threescore and two weeks, Messiah
shall be made a covenant." His reasons are these. The
I
1
170
[CHAP. VII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Hebrew verb to cut is regularly used by them in the
phrase, to make a covenant. Now, in eleven places
(1 Sam. xi. 2, xx. 16, xxii. 8; 1 Kings viii. 9; 1 Chron.
xvi. 16; 2 Chron. v. 10, vii. 18; Neh. ix. 38; Ps. ev.
.9;
Is. lvii. 8; Hag. ii. 5), Mr. Tyso alleges that it is used
alone, without the word berith, in the same meaning.
Hence he infers that there is no reason why it should
not be used in this sense in the passive form.
This argument admits of a very short answer.
1. First, the verb occurs in Kal about eighty-seven
times in the phrase, to make a covenant, and about thirty-
five times in the primary sense, to cut off. But in the
passive or niphal, it occurs near seventy times in the
sense, “to be cut off," and never once in the proposed
meaning, "to be made a covenant." Scripture usage
is, therefore, decisive against this original version; and
no one can be allowed to tamper with the word of God,
by introducing a new translation, without any warrant of
Scripture or of sound criticism, purely to serve a turn.
2. Next, where usage is so constant, every thoughtful
person will naturally suspect that there is a reason for
this contrast between the active and passive form. And
such a reason evidently exists. The Hebrew verb in
the active form can only acquire the sense, to make a
covenant, by an ellipsis of the word berith. Hence, if
the phrase were to appear in the passive form, the same
word berith would necessarily appear as the subject of
the verb. But this is never the case, here or elsewhere.
The proposed rendering is, therefore, without a shadow
of warrant, either from reason or Scripture usage. The
reference to the first advent, and to the cutting off or
death of Messiah, is thus demonstrably certain.
II. The want of historical exactness in the interval,
on the hypothesis of weeks of years, is made the next
argument. The four decrees of Cyrus, of Darius, and
CHAP. VII.]
171
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of Artaxerxes, to Ezra and Nehemiah, are each of them
in error, Mr. Tyso maintains, by forty-six, twenty-eight,
thirty-two, and forty-five years, which he reckons from
their date to the vulgar era of the nativity. This objec-
tion, however, involves three or four surprising mis-
takes of a very obvious kind.
1. The errors are here reckoned by the interval to
the vulgar era. But there is no ground whatever for
assuming this standard, since all chronologers agree that
the true date of the nativity is from two to five years
earlier.
2. Next, it is assumed that the seventy weeks are ex-
pressly declared to terminate at the coming of Christ.
But, even if we grant that the birth of the Saviour is
the limit intended in the twenty-fifth verse, it is plain that
the interval must be seven, sixty-two, or sixty-nine
weeks, and not seventy.
3. It is objected further, that "commentators have
reckoned unto the death of Messiah the Prince; so that,
according to their theory, his advent predicted in this
verse takes place at his departure !"
This objection is equally groundless. The resur-
rection, or ascension, which occurred within a few days
after the crucifixion, is a natural date for the Princedom
of Messiah, if not the most natural. It is expressly
described as such in Scripture (Acts v. 31). Nor does
the prophecy close the seventy weeks by the coming of
Messiah, but by the reconciliation for iniquity, and the
bringing in of everlasting righteousness.
4. Again, the objection assumes that the natural
meaning of the words "until Messiah the Prince" is
the same as “until the birth of Christ." But this is by
no means clear. The words bear a more natural inter-
pretation, "until Messiah be Prince”—that is, until he
shall visibly assume the office of a leader. This is the
1 2
172
[CHAP. VII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
i.
..i
view which most commentators adopt, and which seems
the true interpretation.
III. Another difficulty alleged is the want of cor-
respondence between the Persian decrees named in
Scripture and the words of the prophecy. The decree
of Artaxerxes, it is affirmed, was only for the service
of the temple, and not for the rebuilding either of the
temple itself or of Jerusalem.
This objection arises entirely from the neglect of a
more close consideration of the prophecy. The exact
rendering of the words in the twenty-fifth verse, is "from
the going forth of a command to cause to return, and
to build Jerusalem." Now the Jerusalem which is
caused to return cannot be the stones or outward struc-
tures, but must be the people its inhabitants, who are
so frequently called by that name (Isa. i. 21, iii. 8;
Lam. i. 7, 8). The rebuilding of Jerusalem must, there-
fore, be explained in the same manner, and refer mainly
to the people and civil polity, not to the material dwell-
ings. This is confirmed by the mention afterwards of
the street and rampart, as if to show that external
restitution would accompany and complete the civil
restoration. Now, in this sense, to which the prophecy
clearly leads us, the decree of Artaxerxes will be found
to answer most minutely to the description. No words
could more punctually and fully express a rebuilding
and restoration of the civil polity of Jerusalem.
IV. Mr. Tyso further objects that only seven weeks
are stated in the prophecy to elapse before the coming
of Messiah the Prince. He argues that the accents
require us to place a full point before the sixty-two
weeks, and quotes Dr. Stonard and Sir Isaac Newton
for authorities. Two reasons are urged in favour of
this change the Hebrew accents, and the strange mode
of numeration, if sixty-nine weeks are described as seven
CHAP. VII.]
173
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
weeks and sixty-two. But these reasons are both very
insufficient, though advanced by so distinguished a writer
as the last. The Hebrew accentuation was fixed after the
second dispersion, when Jewish hostility to the Gospel
was at its height; and, therefore, on such a passage as
this, can have no weight. On the other hand, the early
versions, Theodotion, Symmachus, Aquila, and the Sep-
tuagint, the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Vulgate, all
agree in the punctuation of the English Bible. The
strangeness of the numeration disappears entirely, if the
seven weeks and the sixty-two are immediately connected
with distinct and characteristic events, as appears to be
the case from the following words. And, besides these
clear reasons for retaining the actual punctuation, the
change will turn the prophecy into an inexplicable
enigma, either on the hypothesis of Mr. Tyso, or any
other.
V. But, finally, the discrepancies of interpreters form
the palmary argument which is to prove the whole pro-
phecy unfulfilled. Mr. Tyso produces for this end a
formidable list of twenty-two varieties, proposed by
different authors.
This table, however, is surprisingly inaccurate and
delusive. Several authors are described as varying in
their dates of the periods, who, in truth, entirely agree.
Thus Sir Isaac Newton and Mr. Habershon are given
as two distinct varieties, when the latter professedly
adopts Newton's period without a change. The case is
exactly the same with Dean Prideaux and Mr. Faber,
whose views entirely accord on the date and extent of
the main period.
Again, writers are introduced who have no claim
whatever to appear, The first name is that of “Mara-
mensis," an anonymous writer in the Investigator, and
a Futurist; who, to compensate for making all the
Į
174
[CHAP. VII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
other prophecies future, is pleased to turn the weeks
into jubilees, and date them backward from the Exodus.
Next follow three or four Jewish opinions, which involve
on their face an error of mere chronology, amounting
to more than a hundred years. When this rubbish
is cleared away, and the inaccuracies rectified, among
the seventeen authors who remain, there will be found
only three distinct hypotheses. This is no very marvel-
lous diversity in so complex and difficult a prophecy.
VI. The weakness of these various objections is now
apparent. But, since the minor discrepancies of the
best interpreters tend very much, with hasty observers,
to cloud the evidence of the main outlines of the pro-
phecy, from their being mixed with points which are
more doubtful or obscure, it may be useful to add a
few direct observations on this deeply interesting vision,
which may help to preserve simple-minded Christians
from being staggered by the objections of rash and
hasty minds.
1. There is one conclusive argument, which, without
involving any question of detail, seems at once to prove
that the weeks in this prediction must be interpreted as
periods of seven years.
The prophecy, then, contains three main periods of
sixty-two, sixty-nine, and seventy weeks. It dates also
from some decree to restore Jerusalem, the earliest pos-
sible being the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 536, and the latest
event to which we can refer it, on the same general by-
pothesis of a past fulfilment, is the close of the sacred
history, about B.C. 410. Now, if we apply the shortest
period to the earliest date, and the longest period to the
latest date, we obtain for its close the limits B.C. 102;
A.D. 80. These are the boundaries within which the
main periods of the vision must close on every variety
of interpretation. Now these limits clearly include all
CHAP. VII.]
175
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the events of our Lord's first appearance and of the
Jewish war: they also include one previous century,
on which other prophecies give no light, and wherein it
was eminently the purpose of God to awaken in the
Jewish people, an expectation of the speedy coming of
Messiah. The intervals of the prophecy, on this view,
are adjusted in exact harmony with its double purpose,
to announce beforehand the time of Messiah's appear-
ance and the judgments then to ensue, and awaken
and keep alive the hopes of the Jewish Church, until
the fulness of the appointed time should be come.
Indeed, it seems very probable that our Lord himself
referred to this prediction in that first opening of his
message—“ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
heaven is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel."
2. The general application of the prophecy, and its
fulfilment in weeks of years, is thus fixed by two de-
cisive arguments. First, its words clearly announce
the death of Messiah, and a desolation of the city and
temple which would shortly follow; and, next, the
time of its close, taken in the widest possible limits,
exactly corresponds with the facts of history, and with
the further design of all prophecy, to awaken hope
when the fulfilment is drawing nearer.
But, secondly, the objection from the variety of inter-
pretation is illusive. Its true source is to be found in
the difficulties of sacred chronology, far more than in
the words of the prophecy. This is a remark of great
importance in the present inquiry. If the date of every
event in the Gospel history, and in the return from
Babylon, had long ago been fixed certainly, and placed
out of dispute, and yet twelve or more various theories
had arisen, to explain the fulfilment of this prediction
and its concord with the events, there might then have
been some strong ground for suspicion that it was mis-
applied. But, in fact, the variety in expounding the
176
[CHAP, VIE
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
J
words of Daniel is scarcely so great as the diversity
of judgment upon the actual dates of the evangelical
history.
For instance, the three main events, to which we
most naturally look in interpreting the seventy weeks,
are the birth, the baptism, and the crucifixion of our
Lord. The dates commonly assigned to these are B.C. 4,
A.D. 26, and A.D. 33. The two writers, however, who, of
late, have bestowed most pains on the Gospel chronology,
are Mr. Cuninghame and Mr. Greswell. Each of them
has prosecuted the inquiry with laborious diligence,
and the latter with no common share of discursive
learning: yet each of them departs from the common
view, and in a different manner. Mr. Cuninghame
adheres to the received date of the crucifixion, but
departs from those of the nativity and baptism of our
Lord, which he refers to the years B.C. 2, and A.d. 28.
Mr. Greswell, on the contrary, retains the common
date of these two events, but places the crucifixion
three years earlier, A.D. 30. Now, when such, even at
the present time, is the debated and obscure nature of
the chronology in its minuter details, it is no cause for
surprise or doubt that the same varieties should reap-
pear in the expositions of the prophecy.
3. It would be unsuitable to the elementary nature
of these remarks to enter at length into the whole ques-
tion either of chronology or interpretation; yet it may
be well to add a few observations, which will show the
substantial basis on which the common application
rests, and the narrow limits of the questions which may
still be counted open to debate, and require deep and
close research for their full decision. The following
maxims seem to be firmly established; and Dean
Prideaux, Mr. Faber, and Mr. Greswell, all of them,
I believe, agree in their truth.
(1). Of the four Persian decrees named in Scripture—
•
CHAP. VII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
177
those of Cyrus and Darius and the two of Artaxerxes-the
second and fourth are not distinct and independent, but
only continue and confirm the first and the third. The
decree of Cyrus, again, does not properly relate to the
rebuilding of Jerusalem, but only of the temple. The
decree of Artaxerxes is, therefore, the most natural date
of the prophecy.
(2). The accession of Artaxerxes is fixed, by classical
authority, to the end of the Julian year, B.C. 465.
Hence the first month of his seventh year will be nearly
April, B.C. 458, and the year which follows to the close
of the book of Ezra, April, B.C. 458-457, will be the
most natural date of the weeks in Daniel.
(3). The limit designed by the words, "until Messiah
the Prince," must be either the birth, temple-presence,
baptism, or resurrection of Christ, assuming the general
correctness of the application. But of these the baptism
seems the most natural: for neither at our Lord's
birth, nor on his appearance, when twelve years old, in
the temple, could he be said to have properly appeared
as the Prince or Leader. At his resurrection, again,
he had both appeared and been rejected by the Jews.
And our Lord's baptism is also connected with the
most distinct and only direct note of time in the Gospel
history.
(4). The whole of the prophecy is expressed by entire
weeks, or periods of seven years, the last half week alone
being excepted. Now, in all reckonings of time, we de
not take cognizance of parts less than the unit, unless
they are expressly named. The prophecy, then, would
be satisfied, if the close be less than seven years, in each
case, from the mathematical limit. We may, indeed,
expect still greater exactness, but this is all that the
words absolutely require, by the usual laws of language.
(5). The seven weeks and the sixty-two weeks make
་
I 3
178
[CHAP. VII.
ELEMENTS of PROPHECY.
:
:
a collective period of sixty-nine weeks until Messiah the
Prince for these two, with the one week afterwards
mentioned, complete the whole period of seventy weeks.
Also, from the order of mention, the seven weeks must
precede the sixty-two; and these last, it is plainly stated,
are before Messiah the Prince.
(6). Let us now compare the prediction with the
history, on either alternative. And, first, let us suppose
Mr. Cuninghame's dates to be correct. From April,
B.C. 458, to April, B.C. 33, the date of the crucifixion, on
this view, will be exactly four hundred and ninety years,
or seventy weeks, without excess or defect: and no
other event could answer better to the assigned limit,
"to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness."
Again, on the same hypothesis, the date of our Lord's
baptism would be A.D. 28. Now this is four hundred
and eighty-five years, or sixty-nine weeks and two years,
from the decree of Artaxerxes: and since the excess
is much less than a half week, the period might be justly
described as an interval of sixty-nine weeks, neglecting
the fraction of the prophetic unit.
(7). Let us next assume the truth of Mr. Greswell's
chronology. The baptism of our Lord took place,
according to him, in the spring, B.C. 27, and the preach-
ing of John began in the previous autumn. Now sixty-
nine weeks of years, or four hundred and eighty-three
years, from the year B.C. 458-7, bring us to A.d. 26-7,
the very year which includes both the first commission
of John and the baptism of our Lord, when the voice
of God from heaven proclaimed Him the Leader and
Commander to his people.
(8). The seven first weeks are marked off for the
rebuilding of Jerusalem with the street and rampart.
Now the last event named in sacred history, which com-
CHAP. VII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
179
pleted the re-constitution of Jerusalem, is the expulsion
of Manasseh by Nehemiah, in the high priesthood of
Joiada, or after B.C. 413. It must, therefore, have
been in the course of the seventh week from B.c. 458,
and probably near its end.
(9). The last week is the part of the prophecy which
has caused the most embarrassment. It is plainly neces-
sary, in its interpretation, to admit either a breach of
continuity in the seventy weeks, or an inversion of the
regular order in the clauses of the prediction. But the
doubt or obscurity which hangs over this part, which
may, perhaps, as Primasius long ago suggested, be
still future, cannot affect the previous clauses of the
vision.
(10). The general coincidence of the prediction with
the events is therefore plain, on either view of the chro-
nology. The improbability of such a double coinci-
dence, as occurs on either hypothesis, is, on a moderate
calculation, more than twelve hundred to one; and
hence both the true significance of the weeks, and the
fulfilment of the greater part of the prophecy, rests on
the most solid and convincing evidence.
It is one strange and mysterious feature of the present
times, that Christian writers should be found who cast
aside the universal judgment of the Church from the
beginning, on passages the most vital to the faith of
Christ; and this apparently from no other cause than
their own inability to explain fully its minor details.
The prophecy of the seventy weeks has, from the first,
been reckoned among the most conspicuous testimonies
to the sufferings of Christ and his rejection by his own
people. The leading outlines of the prediction are
eminently clear, and their correspondence with the
history of our Lord and the calamities of the Jews is
180
[CHAP. VII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
?
!
of the most striking character. To scatter doubts and
suspicions against a truth so evident, because we have,
not the patience to decide on the minuter details of
chronology, nor discernment enough to fix each clause
of the prophecy in its true place, is nothing less than to
overturn the pillars of the Christian faith in order to
rear an altar to our own pride. Such rash speculations
cannot fail to produce the most deplorable effects, if
ever they shall obtain a wide currency in the Church.
Already a large class of divines, in their zeal for tradi-
tion, decry, as rationalistic and presumptuous,all reliance
on the internal evidence of divine truth. A second
class, we have seen, have busied themselves in attempt-
ing to prove that the supposed fulfilments of Scripture
prophecy are deceptive and untrue. Isaiah, Daniel, and
Revelation, and our Lord's own prophecy, are, in their
view, entirely unfulfilled. The plainest correspondence
between the predictions and events can be boldly ex-
plained into the mere effect of dishonest artifice, and
those who are less incredulous derided for their amusing
simplicity. With such principles, what anchor is left
for the faith of the Church? These writers, or most of
them, profess to believe that, in the last days, lying signs
and wonders will be permitted to appear. And what a
fearful preparation have they unconsciously made for
the wide success of those awful delusions, whenever
they may arise! The school of tradition, under pretence
of exploding rationalism, will have cut off all appeal to
moral and internal evidence. The Futurists, on the
other hand, will have done their utmost to sweep away
the evidence of fulfilled prophecy. The evidence of
miracles alone will be left to us; but how should anti-
quated miracles, two thousand years ago, counteract
the present impression of Satanic wonders? Those

CHAP. VII.] Elements of prophecy.
181
who have adopted, on trust, the declamations of the
"Tracts for the Times" against the internal evidence of
the Gospel, and, along with these, the maxims of the
Futurists, will be left as hopeless victims, bound hand
and foot, and surrendered to the spirit of delusion, when-
ever the last Antichrist shall seek to build his empire
on the ruins of the Christian faith.
CHAPTER VIII.
.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
BEFORE passing from the prophecies of Daniel to those
of the New Testament, there are some general maxims
to be drawn from the interpretations already established,
which have a most important bearing on the parts that
remain still in dispute. These laws of interpretation I
will now endeavour briefly to unfold, as they result, by
an easy induction, from the previous steps of this
inquiry.
I. THE LAW OF DEPARTURE is the first of the
maxims which are established by the facts that have
been already proved. It may be thus stated: "Every
detailed prophecy must be viewed as commencing with
the chief present or next preceding event, at the time
when it is given, unless direct proof to the contrary can
be brought forward." The vision of the great image
was given at the commencement of Nebuchadnezzar's
reign, and it opens with the empire of Babylon in the
height of its power. The next vision, of the four
beasts, dates from the first year of Belshazzar; and it
opens with the same empire of Babylon, but its first pro-
phetic action is the plucking of the eagle wings of the
lion. The third vision, of the ram, was in the third year
of Belshazzar, and the seventh of Cyrus in Persia; and it
opens with the triumphant conquests of this latter prince.
The prophecy of the Scripture of truth was in the third
year of Cyrus at Babylon; and it opens with the reign.
of that prince, as successor to Darius, and with a retro-
CHAP. VIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
183
spective allusion to the first year of Darius, which was
only four years previous. Lastly, the prophecy of the
seventy weeks, though it actually commences with the
decree of Artaxerxes, yet begins virtually with the
decree of Cyrus, only two years after its own date.
For it is plain, that before the event, that decree, from
its general accordance with the terms of the prophecy,
and as forming the close of the captivity, would be
viewed by the faithful Israelites as the probable date of
the main term; and, therefore, is practically, if not
strictly, included in the prophecy. And the actual
date itself is only eighty years later than the vision-a
short period when compared with the range of the pre-
dicted events.
•
These five visions of Daniel all concur, therefore, in
suggesting the maxim of interpretation I have given
above and the same conclusion may be drawn from
the reason of the case alone. In fact, if the commence-
ment of an historical prophecy were to be taken in-
definitely, backward or forward, we shall have scarce
any means whatever of fixing its true interpretation.
The correspondence of one single event with the terms
of the prophecy can, in very few cases, be so striking
and decisive as to insure, of itself, the truth of the ap-
plication. We are left in just the same uncertainty
with the pilot who has nothing but the ship's way to
guide him, and yet is ignorant of the place from which
the vessel but last parted. Every reason that can be as-
signed for the revelation of these prophecies to the
Church concurs with the testimony of fact in esta-
blishing this first law of interpretation.
II. THE LAW OF CONTINUITY is the second general
maxim which may be derived from the previous inquiry.
Each prophecy of Daniel, so far as we have at present
traced its certain meaning, proceeds in continuous order,
184
CHAP. VIII.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
without any considerable gap or omission. Thus the
visions of the image and of the four beasts are con-
tinuous, at least for the respective intervals, B.c. 603—
A.D. 320; and B.c. 535—a.d.320; or for eight or nine
centuries in each case. The visions of the ram and of
the Scripture of truth are, in like manner, continuous
through the space, в.c. 553-200, and B.c. 534-160, or
between three and four centuries. It is true, there is
one apparent break in the last of these; but it is ap-
parent only, being supplied by the previous vision, upon
which the other is a comment. The general principle
is very conspicuous throughout, and we may reasonably
gather, from the observed facts, the following inference:
"Each separate prophecy is to be viewed as continuous,
unless when there can be assigned some strong internal
proof that the continuity is broken.”
This same principle, which results from a close in-
duction, so far as we have yet been able to carry it, is
confirmed by reason, when we reflect upon the objects
for which the prophecies are given. These, as respects
the Church of God, are mainly the two following-to
guide her hopes with regard to God's providence in all
that is future, and to strengthen her faith in the Divine
prescience in all that is past. But if we suppose, at
pleasure, breaks of indefinite length in the midst of pro-
phecies apparently continuous, both these great purposes
are defeated. The Church can then gather no certain
anticipations of the future, nor sure conviction of the
fulfilment of what is past. Each vision is thus changed,
from its true character of a compressed, but simple and
comprehensive history, into a chaos of particulars,
which each commentator will be able to mould into a
thousand fantastic forms, and to interpose ages of sepa-
ration between events which are the most intimately
united in the visions.
CHAP. VIII.]
185
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
III. THE LAW OF PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT is a
third principle, which flows naturally from the previous
conclusions. The first vision, of the great image, gives
a short and comprehensive survey of the world's king-
doms, from the time of the prophet down to the esta-
blishment of the visible reign of Messiah. The second.
vision traverses the same space; but the emblems are
more full, and the historical description is more complete.
In the history of the three first empires, features are
introduced which did not appear before-the eagle wings
of the lion, the ribs or tusks in the mouth of the bear,
and the four heads and the four wings of the leopard.
The same expansion is still more evident in the account
of the fourth empire. A strange and mysterious power
is exhibited to us, of which there was no mention in the
former vision.
Again, the third vision of the ram is confined to the
second and third empires; since the first empire was far
gone in its decline when the prophecy was given, and the
fourth has its history mainly reserved for the fuller
predictions of the New Testament. But the second and
third kingdoms are both of them presented here with
a much greater variety of distinctive features than in
the two previous visions. Again, the predictions that
relate to the third empire receive a further expansion
in the last vision, of the Scripture of truth, and are
there unfolded with an uncommon minuteness of historic
detail. The same law, therefore, prevails uniformly in
every part. The Spirit of God seems thus, in the word
of prophecy, to imitate His own operations in the natural
universe. From the seed of the first promise, He unfolds
more and more, in successive predictions, the spreading
outlines of Divine Providence, and thus bestows on the
Church a gradual and evergrowing insight into the
counsels of His wisdom. The same principle which
3
186
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. VIII.
!
obtains in these visions of Daniel will reappear, with
equal distinctness, in the further prophecies of the New
Testament.
IV. THE LAW OF PROPHETICAL PERSPECTIVE is
a fourth principle which may be plainly detected in
these visions. Distant events are described more briefly
in comparison with those which are near at hand. The
revelations of prophecy thus follow the same law with
the natural landscape. In the first vision, the empire of
Babylon, which lasted only seventy years, occupies the
same space with the two centuries of the Persian mo-
narchy. The five centuries of the three first kingdoms
fill nearly the same space with the remaining period of
two thousand years. In the second vision we have a
similar disproportion. The same law is still more ob-
servable in the last chapters. The interval of less than
four centuries, from Cyrus to Antiochus Epiphanes, is of
greater length than the remainder of the history, though
it reaches to the time of the resurrection. The principle
was clearly apprehended, and well expressed by Ben-
gelius. "Prophecy (he says) is like the painting of
some landscape, which, in the foreground, notes distinctly
the houses, bridges, and hills; but, in the distance, con-
tracts into narrow compass valleys, and mountains of
the widest extent; for of such a kind must the prospect
into the future be, on their part who read the prophecy,
and to this the prophecy itself is suited.”
This law, like the former, has an evident basis of
reasons, in the great ends for which the prophecies are
given to the Church. It may be traced from the first
promise in Eden to the latest revelations of the word of
God. In the Apocalypse, for instance, how short is the
space occupied by the more distant millennium, compared
with the description of previous events which were
nearer at hand!
CHAP. VIII.]
187
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
These four maxims, drawn by a strict induction from
the parts of these visions which are demonstrably ful-
filled, and confirmed by every principle of reason, are
an important help towards the sound interpretation of
the remaining portions. They will serve to exclude
many fanciful expositions, and to give unity and steadi-
ness of aim to the course of inquiry. The last of them
alone is an effectual refutation of the novel theories of
the Futurist interpreters. As the one law of the pla-
netary velocities, when ascertained, extinguished for ever
the theory of the vortices, so are these modern exposi-
tions condemned at once by their utter contradiction
of this evident law of the divine prophecies.
V. There is one further remark of some interest,
which, although previously unnoticed, seems to yield an
indirect confirmation of the strongest kind to the general
conclusions which have been already drawn on the
true meaning of the visions.
•
The inquiry, then, may naturally be made, why the
prophecies of Daniel should unfold with such peculiar
fulness the events of history between the death of
Alexander and the retreat of Antiochus (B.c. 301-168).
The fact has already been established. It has even
been made, more than once, a source of infidel objections
to the genuineness of the whole book. Gibbon alleges
that the minuteness of the detail is so unlike the general
character of prophecy, as to form a clear evidence that
the account was written after the events, and falsely
ascribed to the prophet. Now, if a reason can be
assigned, à priori, for this remarkable feature of the
prediction, a fresh character of unity and completeness
will be stamped upon all the previous interpretations.
Such a reason, I believe, may be found in the pro-
phecy of the seventy weeks, combined with the events
of sacred history and the general design of the inspired
188
[CHAP. VIII.
elements of pROPHECY.
1
i
predictions. From the reign of Cyrus down to the time
of Malachi (B.c. 400), the Jews, besides many other
tokens of divine favour, had still the direct gift of
prophecy continued among them. Their faith would,
therefore, have less need of external confirmation. The
outward restitution of their polity was completed by
Nehemiah, and the promise of Messiah's speedy advent
was renewed by the latest of the prophets (Mal. iii. 1).
For one generation, these united influences of memory
and hope might be reasonably supposed to continue
powerful and and efficacious. But hope deferred maketh
the heart sick. The latter half of the fourth century be-
fore Christ would find them in a state of mind that would
eminently call for fresh consolation, and renewed encou-
ragement of their hope in the promise of God. Accord-
ingly, with Alexander's victories, the word of prophecy
renews its light with an unwonted and peculiar clearness.
Again, the earliest date which the Jews could natu-
rally assign to the seventy weeks would be the decree
of Cyrus, B.c. 536. The shortest interval which they
could infer from the prophecy, as having to elapse before
the coming of Messiah to be Prince, would be sixty-two
weeks, or four hundred and thirty-four years. The
earliest date, therefore, which they could assign for his
appearance, deduced from the vision, would be B.c. 102.
To this we may add thirty years for the interval between
Messiah's birth and his public appearance, and thirty
more to include the generation of instant and immediate
hope; and we find that в.c. 160 is the earliest time at
which, from the prophecy, the nation of Israel might
be brought into the attitude of definite and eager
expectation,
Between these two dates, however, there is left an
interval of nearly two hundred years, in which the vivid
memory of past deliverance would have grown feeble,
CHAP. VIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
189
and the echo of the voice of prophecy, in the last of the
sacred company of prophets, would have died away;
while no definite hope of Messiah's speedy appearance
could have dawned upon the nation. In this interval
their faith and hope would be specially exposed to weari-
ness and decay.
Now this period (B.c. 330-160) is the precise interval
on which the visions of Daniel concentrate all the fulness
of their prophetic light. They dwell on its events with
a minuteness of consecutive detail which occurs in no
other part of the sacred visions. The reason of this
distinction seems now to be satisfactorily explained.
The objection of the infidel becomes a fresh proof of
the Divine goodness and wisdom. He, whose name is
the Wonderful Counsellor, knew the time when the faith
of his people would be specially tried, by the waning out
of the old dispensation before the dawning of the new,
and, therefore, provided them with a special support in
the unwonted clearness of the word of prophecy. The
watchers for the morning were thus encouraged to
persevere, by the peculiar and manifest tokens of God's
continued care over his people, and through the last
hours of the weary night were kept still waiting for
the consolation of Israel.
VI. There is a further maxim, which is fully established
by the previous interpretations—the spiritual importance
of the ordinary events of God's providence. It seems
to be imagined by some recent authors, that no events,
but such as are miraculous, are worthy of a place in the
sacred predictions. All the wars and conquests which
have occurred since the fall of Jerusalem are only, it is
said, the quarrels and usurpations ofwicked men, to gra-
tify their lust of dominion, and, therefore, are unworthy
of all prophetic notice. But this reasoning is scattered
to the winds by a simple observation of these inspired
190
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. VIII.
predictions. The conflict of good and evil in the world
does not exist in the days of miracles only. The im-
portance to the Church of a knowledge of God's provi-
dence is the same at all times; or, if there be a difference,
the need of such instruction is the greatest when only
second causes are visible to a worldly eye. The danger
of forgetting the ceaseless presence of Divine power is
then far the most imminent. The testimony to God's
prescience is more complete in events which bear no
outward marks but of mere human agency, than in the
prediction of miraculous changes.
The period between the return from Babylon and the
coming of our Lord was the interval in which all mira-
culous tokens of God's presence among the Jews were al-
most entirely withdrawn. No Urim and Thummim gave
answer in the temple; no glory was seen in the most holy
place; no inspired prophets, for the main part of that time
gave direct messages from God: and yet this was the
period on which the inspired prophecies give the most full
and continuous details. There was thus, in some mea-
sure a spiritual compensation; and, as signs and wonders;
were withdrawn, the prophetic details, and the witness
of God's providence, became more complete. At the
approach of a more spiritual dispensation, the Church
was raised from that evidence of miracles which rested
mainly on the Divine power, to that which illustrated
the higher attribute of prescient wisdom.
Now this fact is of no small importance. It leads us
very plainly to expect that the eighteen centuries under
the Gospel, when the outward evidence of miracles should
be withdrawn, would be marked by a peculiar fulness of
prophetic revelation. If there be any weight in scriptural
analogy, the visions of Daniel yield a decisive proof that
the Apocalypse is a connected and continuous record of
events to occur during the long suspension of the visible
CHAP. VIII.]
191
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
(
.
theocracy, and while the course of Providence has been
moving on in secret, without the direct manifestation of
signs and wonders.
The strangeness, again, of the emblems employed
in these visions of Daniel, when compared with their
demonstrable reference, involves a further lesson of the
same kind. We see plainly that the divine purpose for
which these symbols are used is not to distract the
imagination with some unexampled and grotesque prodi-
gies, but to reveal those moral aspects of the common
and ordinary events of Providence which are unseen
by the worldly eye, and very slowly apprehended even
by the thoughtful Christian. The higher we rise in the
clear perception of the divine law, and the true standard
of all right action in the word of God, the more defective
and even monstrous will those forms of policy and am-
bition appear, which make up the constant outline of
this world's past history. Now this is a practical lesson
of far greater worth than any vague expectation, however
startling, of material wonders. The perverse appetite
for such outward signs, with regard to the moral truths
which address the conscience and heart, was, in the days
of our Saviour, one of the worst symptoms of Jewish
delusion and unbelief. A spirit of the same kind is not
less fatal to the right apprehension of these divine pro-
phecies. Like the grotesque and foolish representations
of Satan, which were common in the dark ages of the
Church, interpretations of this marvel-making character
serve only to obscure from us the deep and solemn
reality of that stupendous conflict of good and evil,
which is ever in full activity in this fallen world. The
kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light are not
confined to short and unknown seasons of crisis and
prodigy. The battle is unceasing, and momentous in
its issues, even when the outward course of Providence
2
1
::
[CHAP. VIII.
192
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
L
seems most quiet and unbroken. Immortal souls are
not less precious in one generation than another; and
every part of the Divine counsels, seen in its true light,
reveals to the spiritual eye strange and monstrous forms
of evil, and a wondrous and supernatural exercise of
Divine love and Omniscient wisdom.
Thus, in whatever light we consider these visions,
fresh proofs arise of the hollow and unsubstantial
nature of the Futurist theories. At the same time, in-
creasing evidence appears of the harmonious connexion
of these sacred prophecies, when we abide by the old
landmarks of interpretation, which the Church of Christ
has received and maintained from the apostolic age.
!
·
CHAPTER IX.
THE PROPHECY OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM.
FROM the visions of Daniel, our present inquiry leads
us next to the prophecies of the New Testament. The
discourse of our Lord on the desolation of the temple
first requires to be examined. This prophecy, from its
importance, is recorded in three of the Gospels. It
forms the natural connexion between the visions of
Daniel and those of St. John; since it directly refers us
to the former prophet, and bears a close analogy to the
vision' of the seals in the other. The same principles
of interpretation which have now been examined in the
case of Daniel's prophecies, have been applied to this
passage also, and call for a careful and deliberate in-
quiry, before its true meaning can be ascertained.
There is, however, an important difference between
this part of our inquiry and those which have gone be-
fore. The fulfilment of Daniel's visions, in the parts
which have now been examined, is so clear and perspi-
cuous, and so strongly confirmed by a nearly universal
assent in all ages of the Church, as to stamp the inno-
vations of the Futurists with a mark of surprising rash-
ness and temerity. In the present instance, on the con-
trary, there is a real difficulty on every hypothesis,
which renders error much more excusable, and makes
peculiar caution needful to secure us from false inter-
pretations. And hence several writers, who in general
differ widely from the scheme of the Futurists, seem
almost ready to adopt their exposition of the present
K
194
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
prophecy. I hope, however, to make it plain that the
error of their views, though less unnatural, is not less
demonstrable in this case than in all the former.
The real difficulty to be here surmounted is of the
following nature. The prophecy of our Lord, from the
time when it was given, and the question to which it is
a reply, seems evidently to begin with the troubles of
the Jews in the apostolic age. From the whole charac-
ter of its close, and the parables which follow, it seems
equally plain that it reaches to the second advent.
And yet both the words of Matt. xxiv. 34, and the
apparent connexion of its parts, seem to confine it within
the limits of one generation. These three principles,
however, are inconsistent with each other, and the ques-
tion arises, which of them must be modified or aban-
doned?
Three answers have been given to this inquiry. The
first, which is that of Bishop Newton and many others,
adopts a figurative construction for the close of the
prophecy, and thus dissevers it from all immediate or
direct reference to the personal advent. The second,
to which Mr. Burgh, Mr. Mac Causland, Mr. Tyso, and
perhaps, all the other Futurists adhere, breaks off the
connexion with the times of the apostles, and refers the
whole to events still future. The third, which is re-
ceived by Mr. Brooks, Bishop Horsley, and Bengelius,
endeavours to establish the fact of a continuation or
transition, in the course of the prophecy, from the days
of Titus to the time of the second advent. On either
of these last views the thirty-fourth verse requires a
separate explication.
The opinion of Bishop Newton is chiefly recom-
mended by its apparent accordance with the verse just
alluded to, where our Saviour declares, “This genera-
tion shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.”
CHAP. IX.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
195
This argument in its favour is, however, greatly out-
weighed by the violent and unnatural gloss which must
then be put upon all the closing part of the prophecy.
It is not one single verse, but nearly one half of the
whole prediction, which needs then to be forced from
its natural meaning. The verses Matt. xxiv. 29-33, 36-
53, cannot, without the most palpable wresting, be
applied to the fall of Jerusalem. We shall, therefore,
by mutual consent, pass over this exposition. The
choice will now lie between the second and the third
methods of interpreting the prophecy.
The former of these, or the Futurist exposition, seems
to be most fully advocated by Mr. Mac Causland in the
"Latter Days." This chapter will, therefore, be occu-
pied chiefly with the examination of his statements,
along with the direct inquiry into the true meaning
of the passage. But, as some of his laws are peculiar
to himself, a reference will be needful also to other
writers.
According to this respectable author, nothing can be
more decisive than the superiority of his own hypo-
thesis to every opposite view. " In our interpretation
(he says) all the evangelists harmonize, and all the
difficulties of construction which have embarrassed com-
mentators vanish. These latter, by adhering to the
commonly received interpretation of the setting up of
the abomination of desolation being the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus, have become entangled in such
mazes of contradictions and anachronisms, that they
have been forced into all manner of absurdities of con-
struction." "The commonly received exposition in-
volves us in inextricable difficulties and irreconcilable
contradictions, which are all smoothed away by the in-
terpretation that we have been tracing, and which pre-
K 2
196
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. IX.
sents all the parts of the prophecy harmonizing and
consistent with each other."
These statements, evidently advanced in all sincerity,
and by a writer who is perhaps the most courteous and
moderate of all the Futurists, might naturally raise the
expectations of the reader very high. But a large deduc-
tion has always to be made from the glowing description
which these writers give of their own theories. The
present instance forms no exception; for the hypothesis
of the author is, I believe, one of the least defensible
which has ever been proposed.
The following is an outline of the theory. The pas-
sage in St. Luke, chap. xxi., is only parallel in part to
those of the two former Gospels, and properly relates to
the fall of Jerusalem under Titus; but the prediction
in St. Matthew and St. Mark relates entirely to the last
times. The abomination of desolation is still wholly
future. All the events there predicted are to take place
in that generation which next precedes the second
advent, to which also the words of our Saviour, in the
thirty-fourth verse, must be tacitly referred.
This solution of the difficulty will be found to diverge
widely from the truth, even in its earliest stage. The
first basis, in logical order, of a sound interpretation, is
that correspondence of the three evangelists, which is
here set aside. An inquiry into the true meaning seems
to be arranged best under the following divisions. First,
the historical parallel between the predictions in the
three Gospels. Next, their common point of departure,
commencing from the apostolic age. Thirdly, the na-
ture of St. Luke's account, as an inspired paraphrase on
the two other evangelists. Fourthly, the true meaning
of the abomination of desolation. Fifthly, the true
place of transition, demonstrable in the prophecy. And,
CHAP. IX.]
197
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
lastly, the explanation of our Saviour's words, "This
generation shall not pass away till all these things be
fulfilled."
I. The first basis of a solid exposition is, THE HIS-
TORICAL PARALLELISM OF THE PROPHECY in the
three Gospels. This truth is so plain of itself, and has
been so universally admitted, that to attempt a proof of
it appears almost needless. It is astonishing how Mr.
Mac Causland could imagine that an exposition, founded
on a contradiction of this first and self-evident princi-
ple, could ever satisfy a thoughtful inquirer. The pro-
phecy in St. Luke, compared with that in St. Mark
and St. Matthew, has every token which can prove it
to be the same. In each case,
In each case, it follows the denuncia-
tion of woe against the Scribes and Pharisees, which
took place on Wednesday in Passion-week, and closed
the public ministry of our Lord. It follows, in each
evangelist, the same commendation of the poor widow.
It was delivered, as each evangelist tells us, soon after
our Lord had departed from the temple for the last
time. It arose, in each instance, from an exclamation
of the disciples on the beauty of the sacred buildings.
The question to which it is the immediate reply is
given almost exactly in the same words by St. Mark
and St. Luke. The whole structure of the prophecy
also, in each account, is precisely the same. No marks
of identity can be more strong and conclusive than
those which the Spirit of God has here brought to-
gether. So plain is the truth, that no harmonist,
amidst their numerous diversities in other parts, seems
ever to have dreamt of separating these passages from
each other.
w
The only reason alleged for this separation is stated
in the following passage (Latt. D., p 130).
"The description (Luke xvii. 20-37) is evidently
198
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
parallel to those in St. Matthew and St. Luke, which
are under consideration; for we have, in each of them,
and in the same words, the warning not to pause or
return for the sake of worldly possessions, and the ad-
monition to beware of the subtleties of false Christs.
In each we have the sign of His real advent conveyed
by the same image of a flash of lightning; and in each,
too, is revealed the locality of His personal presence,
under the figure of the gathering of the eagles......
These remarkable identities of substance and imagery,
none of which are to be found in Luke xxi., lead irre-
sistibly to the conclusion, that the same event is pour-
trayed in all of them; and that the passage in Luke
xvii. (between which and that in Luke xxi. there is NO
ONE POINT of resemblance) is the parallel passage in
that evangelist to the predictions in question from St.
Matthew and St. Mark."
Now, in this reasoning, two things quite distinct are
plainly confounded together. The passage in Luke
xvii. 20-37, may doubtless refer to the same period with
Matt. xxiv. 27, 28. But this by no means proves it to
be a report of the same discourse. On the contrary,
the whole context shows evidently that it was spoken
several weeks previous, during the last journey of our
Lord towards Jerusalem.
This close resemblance to each other, in sayings of
Christ which were spoken at some distance of time, is
of frequent occurrence in the Gospels. There is a wide
difference between these coincidences and that which
exists between distinct reports of the same discourse.
The first is only a verbal, the other is an historical
parallel. The relation between Luke xxi. and Matt.
xxiv. is of this latter kind, and is vital to the right in-
terpretation of the prophecy.
The omission in Luke xxi. of the words recorded in
CHAP. IX.]
199
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Matt. xxiv. 23-28, is easily explained on a similar prin-
ciple. The evangelists frequently omit sayings of our
Lord at the time of their second recurrence, when they
have recorded them already on some former occasion.
Examples of this kind are numerous in the Gospel har-
monies. The argument, therefore, which is advanced
to prove the sameness of the discourse in Luke xvii.
and Matt. xxiv., is altogether baseless; and the histori-
cal parallel between Luke xxi. and the prophecy in the
two other Gospels is demonstrably complete and true.
II. THE TRUE POINT OF DEPARTURE is the next
principle which needs to be clearly ascertained. This,
surely, is not less plain than the former truth. The
whole occasion, and all the attendant circumstances,
prove that the prediction begins from the time of the
apostles themselves. It is not a greater violence to
turn the advent at the close into a mere figure, than to
wrest the beginning of the prophecy from its plain re-
ference to the temple then standing, and to its approach-
ing overthrow.
Where a truth is very evident, it is sometimes diffi-
cult to place it in a clearer light. But, since the whole
of the Futurist exposition depends on this one point, it
is necessary to dwell upon it with more exactness of
detail.
1. First, the previous circumstances give clear evi-
dence that the prediction referred to times close at hand.
Our Lord had just been denouncing judgment, for the
last time, on the Jewish nation. He had made a severe
appeal to their conscience on the guilt of their unbelief.
He had warned them that actually they were then fill-
ing up the measure of their fathers' sins. He had de-
clared solemnly that all the righteous blood shed
from the beginning of the world would be required
1
200
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
L
of that very generation. He had just uttered the warn-
ing-"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!”
To his own disciples he had renewed the statement, and
told them that of those goodly buildings not one stone
should be left upon another. On their inquiry, "When
shall these things be?" he delivers the present prediction,
and announced their own sufferings and trials. Who
can fail to see, from all these circumstances, that His
words refer properly and directly to the troubles which
immediately followed, within thirty years, and cannot
possibly commence at the distance of eighteen centuries ?
2. The question of the disciples is another decisive
proof. Our Lord had declared of that very temple
which they saw, that it should be entirely overthrown.
Their inquiry at once followed: "Tell us when shall
these things be?" Our Lord would have given no an-
swer to their question, unless his words related to the
overthrow of the same buildings of the temple, which
had attracted their admiration just before.
.
3. The words of Matt. xxiv. 8, seem to be another
conclusive argument for the same application. Trou-
bles which should come on the Jews at the close of
eighteen centuries, could with no propriety be called.
the beginning of sorrows. That term would naturally
apply only to the first troubles which came on the
Church, or on the Jewish nations after the time when
the prophecy was given.
4. The whole of the opening part of the discourse
manifestly requires the same construction. It begins
with a practical direction, which must, beyond doubt,
apply to the disciples themselves: "Take heed that no
man deceive you." And this practical warning is con-
firmed by a prophetic statement, which was literally
fulfilled in that generation. The whole scope of this
CHAP. IX.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
201
.
part of the discourse is to inculcate patience under
Jewish persecution, till the judgment should come on
the unbelievers.
5. The words of Luke xxi. 20, demonstrably refer to
the times immediately following the Gospel history.
No compassing of Jerusalem with armies could prove
its desolation to be nigh, except one which should occur
before that desolation had begun and this would be
under Cestius or Titus, but could not be at a later
period.
:
6. The words of Luke xxi. 24, are equally conclusive:
"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." What can be
more evidently absurd, than to refer these words only
to a desolation of three or four years, following and
continuing a longer desolation of eighteen centuries?
The phrase compels us to refer it to the whole period of
the desolation.
7. Finally, the analogy of all prophecy leads us to
the same conclusion. We have seen, in the predictions
of Daniel, that they commence, in each case, from the
time when the prophecy is given, or the next preceding
event which is of a prominent kind. The same maxim
applies here, since no sufficient reason can be given for
supposing this uniform law to be contradicted in the
prophecy before us.
These various proofs are still further confirmed by
the mutual admissions of the Futurists themselves. All
the others who touch upon the subject agree, with the
universal judgment of critics, that the three passages
correspond, and thus condemn the novel hypothesis, by
which, in the "Latter Days," they are severed from
each other. But Mr. Mac Causland, on the other
hand, agrees with the general opinion of commentators,
by maintaining, in the strongest terms, that the pro-
K 3
202
[CHAP. IX.
elements of prophecy.
phecy in St. Luke is "a direct and indisputable an-
nouncement of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus."
These two premises, which, separately taken, are owned
by the Futurists themselves to be undisputably certain,
need only to be combined to disprove and overturn their
whole theory.
On the whole, it seems impossible to read the opening
of the prophecy, in connexion with all the previous
context, without attaining the full and certain convic-
tion that our Lord here refers to the events which
followed in the very next generation after his words
were spoken; and that he never could have designed
his discourse to commence its application after near
two thousand years.
III. The chief difficulty, however, still remains to be
removed; for the close of the prophecy clearly refers
to the last days. Now, it will be a great help towards a
more distinct view of the subject to understand the re-
lation between St. Luke's account, and that in the other
Gospels. This may be viewed, I believe, with much
reason, as AN INSPIRED PARAPHRASE on the words of
the prophecy.
It has been shown already, that the three accounts
are, beyond all doubt, historically parallel. Between
St. Matthew and St. Mark there is also a very general
agreement in the words of the prediction. But in the
account of St. Luke there are much more numerous
deviations. How are these to be explained?
The first solution which offers, is to suppose that
each evangelist has given us only a part of our Saviour's
words. But, when we seek to apply this principle in
detail, it is encumbered with the greatest difficulties.
The discourse, made up by inserting the clauses in one
evangelist supposed to be omitted in another, assumes
an air of tautology, which we cannot reconcile with
CHAP. IX.]
203
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the divine simplicity of all our Lord's sayings. It seems
necessary, then, to allow, in one or other, considerable
verbal deviations.
Now the verbal correspondence between St. Mat-
thew and St. Mark is so full and complete, that either
of them seems to be, with a few omissions, an exact
transcript of our Lord's actual discourse. On the other
hand, the words in St. Luke often differ from both in
those parts where they exactly agree with each other.
And since his Gospel was written some years later than
theirs, and is supplementary in its character, it would
seem that it is designed, in part, as a paraphrase on the
actual words of the prophecy. When two lițeral ac-
counts of that discourse had already been given to the
Church, a narrative, which might serve, in some mea-
sure, the office of an inspired comment, would, perhaps,
be more suited to the purpose of the revelation than a
third repetition of the exact words of the prediction.
And this view would also accord with that gradual un-
folding of truth which has been seen to prevail through
the whole course of sacred prophecy.
This explanation of the peculiar features in St. Luke's
account of the discourse seems greatly confirmed by
one simple remark. There are two points in the pre-
diction of our Lord, as given in the two other Gospels,
which are the most difficult to explain. One of these
is the meaning of the abomination of desolation standing
in the holy place. The other is the nature of the tran-
sition from the first times of the Church to the second
advent. Now these are the two chief points where St.
Luke varies from the other evangelists; and, in each
case, he substitutes a simpler expression for one which
is more obscure. No other explanation than that which
is given above seems to meet all these features of the
different narratives of the three Gospels.
204
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
IV. THE MEANING OF THE ABOMINATION OF DE-
SOLATION is the next main point which needs to be de-
termined. There are few doctrines which the Futurists
press more earnestly than the application of these words
to a future desolation of Jerusalem, when the infidel
antichrist shall take his seat in the restored temple.
That such events will take place in the holy city, from
various other passages of Scripture, I fully believe.
But I think it quite demonstrable that such is not the
direct or proper reference of the present words of our
Lord. It may be well first to assign the reasons which
fix it to the wars of Titus, and then to remove the ar-
guments which have been alleged for an opposite view.
1. And, first, the parallel passage in St. Luke is de-
cisive. The Spirit of God, as we have proved, there
expounds the words of the Saviour. Instead of the
literal expression, "When ye see the abomination of
desolation standing in a holy place," we have this equiva-
lent phrase, "When ye see Jerusalem compassed with
armies, know that the desolation thereof is nigh at
hand." Besides the general reasons given for consider-
ing these words a paraphrase of the former, there are
others which appear on a close examination. The ex-
pression of St. Matthew, at first sight very definite
(EσTWS EV TOTTų aɣy), has previously been exchanged in
St. Mark for the more general phrase "standing where
it ought not." The substitution in St. Luke is of the
same kind, but bears still clearer marks of being a
divine paraphrase: "When ye see Jerusalem com-
passed with armies." Again, the Roman armies, with
their heathen standards, would at all times be an abomi-
nation in the Holy Land; but they would only become
an abomination "of desolation" when the actual com-
mission to desolate should be given to them. And this
truth has its counterpart in those words, "The desola-
Εσ
CHAP. IX.]
205
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tion thereof is at hand." In like manner, the charge of
our Lord to his disciples, "Let him that readeth un-
derstand," is replaced by the command-" Know ye
that the desolation is at hand." There is thus a key to
the precise meaning of that remarkable injunction,
which otherwise would be rather obscure. The parallel
direction in St. Luke, viewed as an exposition of the
parenthesis in the other Gospels, fixes upon it the fol-
lowing sense: "Let him that readeth understand,” when
he sees the "abomination" standing where it ought not,
how truly it is styled by the prophet, "an abomination
of desolation," and that a season of actual desolation to
Jerusalem will presently follow. Every feature is thus
explained by the supposition that the narrative of St.
Luke is, in part, a sacred comment, to explain the ob-
scurer clauses of our Lord's prediction.
•
Now, if this truth be once allowed, the conclusion is
irresistible. The abomination of desolation must then
relate to the armies of Titus, and refer to that long
season of Jewish desolation which has now lasted almost
eighteen hundred years. In short, it must date from
the first commencement of that treading down of Je-
rusalem, which continues till the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled.
2. A second proof, almost equally forcible, may be
drawn from the former Gospels alone. Our Lord had
just before departed from the temple, with that impres-
sive warning, “Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate." He had renewed the warning still more
plainly to his disciples: "Not one stone of it shall be
left upon another." It was this which led them to the
inquiry which is answered in this prophecy, "Tell us
when shall these things be?" Yet, on the Futurist
hypothesis, not one word in the whole passage relates
to that destruction of the temple, which would seem
206
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
naturally to form its main burden: the whole would
relate to events separated by nearly two thousand years
from those which he had just denounced, and which
had awakened the earnest inquiry of his disciples. Such
an interpretation must be utterly unsound; for it vio-
lates the clearest marks of internal connexion which the
word of God can supply to determine its own meaning.
Again, the phrase itself, "the abomination of desola-
tion," corresponds immediately with our Saviour's own
words, uttered a little before," Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate." The disciples, who had heard in that
warning the death-knell of their fondest hopes, would
not fail to see in this fresh prediction an allusion to the
same event. And this forms a strong presumption, that
our Lord himself must have used this latter phrase, as
well as the former, with reference to the fall of the an-
cient temple at Jerusalem.
3. Thirdly, the facts of history, on this view, exactly
accord with the prediction. And where a prophecy
finds a complete counterpart in events, and has served
for a practical warning at the very time when those
events occurred, what further evidence can we need to
prove them a true and proper fulfilment ?
Let us next examine the objections which are advanced
to disprove this interpretation, and to prove a future
reference in the abomination of desolation. There is a
vagueness in most of the arguments adduced for this
purpose, which makes it difficult to give a brief and
distinct reply. I will endeavour to retain the substance
of the remarks in the "Latter Days" without material
omission, and to combine any further difficulties alleged
by other writers.
1. The first argument is of the following kind (p.
104). There were two destructions of Jerusalem then
future, the one under Titus, and the other described in
CHAP. IX.]
207
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Zechariah (xiv. 1-3). The disciples associated the
destruction of the temple with the second of these, and
our Lord answers them accordingly on that supposition.
This argument is clearly made up of assumptions
without any warrant. We have no proof that the dis-
ciples expected two destructions of Jerusalem. We
have no proof, supposing this were true, that they con-
nected the fall of the temple with the second of these;
there is strong reason to believe the exact reverse. We
have no reason to think that our Lord, when a definite
inquiry was proposed, would not answer the question
itself, but describe other events which the disciples
falsely supposed to be equivalent. This would be the
most certain way of confirming them in error, instead
of leading them to the truth. The simple fact remains,
which no special pleading can obscure. The disciples
ask the time when the very temple then standing shall
be destroyed; and our Lord's prophecy is professedly
an answer to that specific inquiry.
2. Next it is urged that the confined sense, which
applies the words of our Saviour to the events of the
Jewish war and the apostolic age, is inconsistent with
the enlarged ideas which ought to be entertained of the
Saviour and his care for his followers, which "embrace
them beyond the expanse of many an intervening cen-
tury."
This objection is singularly inconsistent and self-de-
structive. First, the view, which refers the whole pro-
phecy to the next ensuing generation, is not in the least
more confined than the hypothesis in the " Latter Days,"
which limits the word just as strictly to the last gene-
ration before the advent. And next, the argument may
be reversed when the question lies between Mr. Mac
Causland's exposition and the one which is here main-
tained for, in truth, the former limits the prophecy
208
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
to one generation only, and it is the contrary interpre-
tation which really enlarges ts extent so as to embrace
the whole course of the dispensation.
3. The meaning of the phrase in the prophecies of
Daniel is the next proof alleged. This is composed of
several particulars. The author contends, first, that in
Dan. viii. the abomination of desolation is not mentioned,
and that the Mahometan power is designed. Secondly,
that in Dan. ix. 27, it is the Messiah who is to confirm
the covenant at a time still future. Thirdly, that in
Dan. xi. 31, there is a sudden transition from Antiochus,
mentioned in the previous verse, to the future antichrist,
who shall set up the abomination of desolation in Jeru-
salem, and who is referred to again in xi. 11. From these
premises our author confidently infers, that the inter-
pretation, which refers the abomination to Titus and the
first fall of Jerusalem, is disproved by the direct evidence
of Daniel's visions, to which our Lord himself refers us.
This argument, on a close analysis, will appear one
of the most venturous which was ever framed.
(1). First, if the reference in our Lord's prophecy be
taken with the utmost strictness of verbal allusion, it
must relate to Dan. xi. 31, xii. 11, where alone the abo-
mination of desolation is mentioned in that exact form.
Now the nearest preceding verse (xi. 30), by the writer's
own admission, relates to Antiochus Epiphanes. What
an inversion it is of all sound reasoning to adduce these
words, so connected, in disproof of the reference to the
days of Titus, and as evidence for a future application.
Every maxim of common sense leads to an opposite
inference. Nothing but strong direct proof, that the
abomination there mentioned is still future, can over-
come the presumption to the contrary, drawn from its
connexion with the previous verses.
(2). But the words of our Lord by no means require
CHAP. IX.]
209
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
so narrow and restricted an interpretation. They may
refer to the nature of the fact which Daniel announces,
rather than to the precise form of the phrase employed.
There are four different passages of that prophet where
a desolation is named, in a connexion which clearly
shows that it is attended with pollutions or abomination.
(Dan. viii. 11-13; ix. 26; ix.27; xi.31). Now what data
are given us, from the works of Daniel alone, to fix the
date in each case? This question is best answered by
noting the time of the latest event which precedes, in
every instance, so far as it is beyond dispute. Now, these
dates are, "the latter time of the kingdom" of Alex-
ander's successors, in the first passage, B.C. 160; in the
second and third, the cutting off of Messiah, A.D. 33;
and, in the last, the return of Epiphanes from Egypt,
B.C. 160. A bare inspection of these dates shows clearly
that the visions of Daniel, instead of excluding the
earlier application to the days of Titus, strongly favour
it; and that they can only be reconciled with an oppo-
site view by a violent disruption of one part of the
prediction from another. The whole evidence, there-
fore, drawn from this topic, tends to refute Mr. Mac
Causland's interpretation.
It matters little, then, to the present argument, whe-
ther we confine the reference to the one passage where
the exact phrase occurs, or extend it to others which
are similar. The presumption in favour of the earlier
fulfilment is the same on either supposition.
4. The objection of most apparent weight is drawn
from the expression, "standing in the holy place." Mr.
Mac Causland argues that this must refer to the temple
itself, as in Acts vi. 13; xxi. 28; and that, if the believers
had waited till that event, the warning would have been
useless. Hence he infers, that the flight to Pella was
founded exclusively on the warning in St. Luke, and
210
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
that the direction in Matthew relates solely to the last
times. "Expositors (it is said) have been driven by
the manifest inconsistency to extend the meaning of the
words 'holy place' not only to all Jerusalem, but to all
the country round about it. But for this meaning of
the words there is no foundation; on the contrary, in
the only other two passages of Scripture where it occurs
it cannot be intended beyond the temple. This latitude
of expression is also inconsistent with the usual pre-
cision of our Saviour's prophetic declarations, and with
the clear sense of the phrase in Daniel's prophecies."
The whole force of this objection is removed by one
simple observation. The words in St. Matthew are not
strictly the same as in the two quoted passages; there
is an important distinction between them. In the phrase,
as it appears in the book of Acts, the article is twice
repeated (TÔV TÓTOV Tôν åɣíov). In the words of Mat-
thew it is entirely absent (év Tóπw ayių). It is true
that the omission, after the preposition, does not require
an indefinite translation; but it does certainly make it
allowable, and even the most natural version. And this
is confirmed by a comparison, even with St. Mark alone,
where we have only the general phrase, "standing
where it ought not." The expressions in St. Luke,
proved as they are to be also parallel, raise the evidence
to demonstration. It is the compassing of Jerusalem
with armies which forms the inspired commentary on
the phrase. The argument is thus unsound in its first
basis, and a closer examination establishes that wider
meaning which Mr. Mac Causland rejects as freed and
untenable. Nay, when we remember our Saviour's
words to the Jews-"In this place is one greater than
the temple," and reflect that the Roman eagles were
planted, before the siege, on that very mount of Olives
where the prophecy was given, it can scarcely be said
CHAP. IX.]
211
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
that the phrase is thus lowered in depth of significance..
Olivet and Bethany are as sacred to the believer as
Jerusalem and the temple itself.
The meaning of the phrase in Daniel's prophecies
can furnish no valid objection to this view. For, in the
first place, it is by no means clear that the four passages
of that prophet all refer to the same event. A close
examination will prove that two events, at least, are de-
signed. And next, if this were otherwise, it might suit
the purpose of our Lord's discourse to allude to an earlier
stage of the judgment, which would serve for a warning
to his disciples; and he might, for this very reason, select
a more general phrase " A place that is holy"—"Where
it ought not "—" Jerusalem compassed with armies."
But it is further urged, that "the mere encampment
of the Roman army before the walls, for a political ob-
ject, could not be construed as the enormity, whose
direct and immediate aim will be to abolish a religion
and religious observances, which will be the principal
object of the abomination of desolation spoken of by
Daniel."
These remarks are based on another assumption, for
which the text affords us no warrant. The prophecy
tells us nothing of the motives; it describes the results
alone. We have no right to assume a fact which is not
revealed, and, on the strength of this arbitrary gloss, to
explain away an evident fulfilment of the prediction.
The Roman armies were, in a religious view, an abomi-
nation. They did stand in a "holy place," and be-
came a warning to the Christians; they did, beyond
all question, destroy the city and sanctuary, and thus
became "an abomination of desolation." More than
this the prophecy has not asserted, and all this the his-
tory reveals to us.
5. A last reason which Mr. Mac Causland adduces
212
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
for his interpretation is, that "the inquiry of the dis-
ciples, on the destruction of Jerusalem, is expressly con-
nected by them with the personal advent of our Lord,
and hence must refer to the latter capture of the city."
This, however, is nothing less than to draw an infe-
rence against the plain words of the text. The disciples
inquire when that very temple, on which they had just
been gazing, should be destroyed. The addition of a
further inquiry can never prove that the two questions
mean the same thing, nor even that they falsely con-
ceived them to be the same. From our knowledge of
their previous views, we may be sure that the destruc-
tion of the temple and the coming of Messiah's king-
dom, instead of being confounded together, would form,
in their minds, a total contrast: and the fact that
they propose two distinct inquiries can lead only to
one natural inference, that our Saviour replies to both
in the prophecy. This leads us to the exact view of its
nature which is here maintained.
•
6. There are some further reasons alleged by Mr.
Burgh for this future application of our Saviour's words,
which need also to be examined. The first of them
is thus expressed :—
GE
Though Matt. xxiv. 15, may seem, at first sight, to establish
at once the very general opinion that the standard of the Roman
armies was intended; yet the judgment on Jerusalem, there
predicted, is so interwoven with the second coming of Christ,
that it cannot certainly be said that the chapter has not also a
reference to the siege at that coming. Nay, for my own part,
am fully satisfied that the ultimate and principal reference is to
it, as thereby the whole discourse is rendered more connected,
and freed from much difficulty."
This is a summary method of cutting the knot,
without the trouble of assigning reasons. If the two
events seem interwoven, which are widely distinct, it
CHAP. IX.]
213
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
would appear the natural course to inquire where the
separation comes in; and not violently to transport one
event, like the Chapel of Loretto, through eighteen
centuries, to join it with the other. The difficulty, by
such a course, is not removed, but made insuperable;
and the most vital connexion of all, that with the inquiry
of the disciples, is entirely destroyed.
7. It is further asserted that "the treading down of
Jerusalem (Luke xxi.) being limited to the times of
the Gentiles, which all are agreed are the same with
the time, times, and half, or twelve hundred and sixty
days, we are compelled to look beyond the destruction
by Titus, even according to the supposition of days for
years. The difficulty has, of course, been perceived by
expositors, and Mohammedanism is now generally sup-
posed to fulfil the prophecy.”
This objection is peculiarly marked by that total
want of accuracy which runs through all the writings
of this novel school. First, I am not aware of any
writer who applies the text, Matt. xxiv. 15, to the rise
of Mohammedanism. Such an exposition may, perhaps,
be found in some obscure author; but, far from being
the general view, no one writer of celebrity maintains it.
Next, Mr. Burgh asserts that all agree in affirming
the identity between the times of the Gentiles in St.
Luke xxi. and the time, times, and a half of St. John.
Now I believe that no one commentator, of any cele-
brity, makes this assertion. In its present universal
form, the statement is thoroughly untrue. It is, in my
opinion, very questionable whether any writer whatever
has asserted this sameness. Here, then, is a second
fallacy arising from the same cause with the former-an
extreme carelessness in ascertaining the simple facts
alone.
Thirdly, the reasoning is as empty as the assertion
214
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
is incorrect. Supposing the two periods were the same,
there is nothing whatever in the prophecy of St. Luke
to "compel commentators to look beyond the destruc-
tion by Titus." The prediction asserts that the tread-
ing down of Jerusalem and the times of the Gentiles
end together; but it nowhere affirms that they also be-
gin together. For anything which is contained in this
prophecy, the times of the Gentiles might begin centu-
ries earlier or later than the actual treading down.
Finally, Mr. Burgh is persuaded that the times of the
Gentiles must denote the three and half years which he
assigns to the infidel antichrist. This is a fourth asser-
tion, equally baseless with the rest. There is no con-
ceivable principle by which the times of the Gentiles
can be limited to such a period. It may be variously
expounded-as the time of prevailing Gentile power, or
the time of peculiar favour to the Gentile nations; but
in no way can we extract from the phrase the meaning
which Mr. Burgh would assign it. Such a construction
becomes evidently absurd, when we examine the scope
and connexion of the passage itself in which it occurs.
Thus it appears that the whole argument is composed
of two erroneous assertions, of one false premise, and
one groundless inference. It needs, therefore, no fur-
ther examination.
The remaining objection, drawn from the visions of
Daniel, differs from the one in the "Latter Days"
only by resting on premises still more faulty, and which
have been amply refuted in the sixth chapter. It is
needless, then, to dwell further on its details. The re-
sult of this inquiry shows that the application of our
Lord's words to the past fall of Jerusalem rests on three
solid arguments; and that of the objections brought
against it, some directly confirm its truth, and the others
are made up of misstatements and false reasonings.
CHAP. IX.]
215
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
V. The true PLACE OF TRANSITION in the pro-
phecy is the next question which has to be determined,
and, perhaps, the most important. Our reasonings hi-
therto have all tended to prove that the opening of the
prophecy must be referred to the days of the apostles,
and the close to the second advent. This also corre-
sponds exactly with the twofold inquiry of the disciples,
"Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be
the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?"
But, since the lapse of time has proved that these events
are separate by near two thousand years, our conclu-
sions will again be rendered doubtful, unless it can be
explained how the prophecy passes from the first sub-
ject to the second. This is not plain on the first in-
spection. In that case, there would have been no
temptation, on the one hand, to convert the second ad-
vent, and the sound of the last trumpet, into a mere
figure; or, on the other, to rend violently the opening
of the prophecy from its connexion with the existing
temple and its ruin. Yet a careful scrutiny will, I be-
lieve, supply us with a full and consistent explanation.
1. First, if the prophecy in St. Luke be, as I have
endeavoured to prove, a partial comment on the words
of the prediction, as actually delivered, we must natu-
rally look to this Gospel for the key to our difficulty:
and here the solution meets us at once. There is a
clear transition in the words of the twenty-fourth verse:
"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
The interval of desolation here implied must extend
from the ruin of the temple and the city to the future
restoration of Israel; and therefore will comprise nearly
eighteen hundred years. This is exactly the transition
which was needed, in order to preserve both the begin-
ning and the close of the prophecy in their unforced and
216
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
natural meaning. The prediction will thus be composed
of two parts, which exactly answer to the two questions
of the disciples from which it arose.
apos-
Every feature in St. Luke's prophecy is in full har-
mony
with this view. The previous verses correspond,
in their minutest characters, with the events of the
tolic age. On the other hand, those which follow have
an exact accordance with the descriptions given us in
other Scriptures of the times just before the second
advent. The explanation, so far as this Gospel is con-
cerned, is satisfactory and complete.
2. Let us next compare the two other Gospels, where
alone the main difficulty is found. The verses Matt.
xxiv. 20-28, Mark xii. 18-23, which include the men-
tion of the great tribulation, correspond, in their order,
with the verses of transition in St. Luke. They do not,
however, appear in his Gospel; partly, because he has
already recorded (Luke xvii. 23, 24) a very similar
statement made by our Lord on another occasion; and
partly, because the Holy Spirit seems to have designed,
in St. Luke's Gospel, which was written later, to give a
further key to the Church for the right understanding
of the prophecy. We may hence conclude with a
strong assurance, that the transition in St. Matthew and
St. Mark, from the days of Titus to the time of the end,
is to be found in the mention of the great tribulation.
This is confirmed also by direct reasons:-for the
description of the time of trouble in St. Matthew an-
swers exactly to the verses in Luke iv. 21-23, which
clearly relate to the Jews at the time of their dispersion;
yet it also corresponds to the words of Daniel (xii. 1),
which connect it immediately with the resurrection ;
and St. Matthew himself states that it is followed imme-
diately by the signs of the second advent.
3. The first mode which suggests itself of reconciling
CHAP. IX.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
217
Such a de-
mind, to be
these statements, is to suppose that the tribulation here
described is viewed as extending through the whole
Christian dispensation. But this view, though very
simple, is attended by two weighty, and, I think, insu-
perable objections. First, the whole Christian dispen-
sation can with no propriety be said to be "a time of
trouble, such as never was nor shall be."
scription of it must be felt, by every plain
most unnatural, and even directly untrue.
the emphasis of the phrase perishes, but it may be
affirmed, with more reason, that the times of the Gospel
have been times of assuaged suffering to mankind.
And even if we restrict the phrase to the Jews only,
the peculiar intensity of suffering ascribed to those days
cannot certainly have been fulfilled through the whole
course of eighteen centuries.
Not only all
Next, a comparison with St. Luke shows clearly that
this intense tribulation is not ascribed to the whole in-
terval in question. There is no direct or implied asser-
tion that it lasts while the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilling. It is there connected with the first dispersion
of the Jews, and with the approach of the second
advent, with an implied pause existing between them.
4. We have, therefore, still to seek for a more com-
plete explanation; and this is to be found, I believe,
in one mysterious clause of the discourse, which, from
its peculiar nature and its plain connexion with the pro-
phetic times, at once awakens a suspicion that it may
furnish the true key, when correctly explained. I allude
to that remarkable phrase, "For the elect's sake the
days shall be shortened."
These words occur in the exact point of the discourse
which corresponds to the transition in St. Luke.
They also suggest at once the notion of some interrup-
tion of the natural order and sequence of times, such as
the twofold application of the prophecy seems to require.
L
218
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
There is clearly implied in these words a natural or
regular course of events different from that which will
actually come to pass. If we can form a correct judg.
ment on the scheme of Providence which would natu-
rally ensue, were the days unshortened, we shall then be
able to interpret this singular phrase.
Now there seem only two standards to which reference
can here be made the fixed times of prophetic chrono-
logy, or the unrestrained course of divine equity and righ-
teousness. Let us consider each of these in succession.
First, our Lord had before announced to the Jews
that they were filling up the measure of their fathers,
and that all the righteous blood shed from the begin-
ning of the world should be required of that generation.
The commencement of vengeance on the Jewish people
was thus fixed to a time within a single generation from
the death of Christ. Again, the national deliverance
and glory of the Jews, it will be here taken for granted,
from the evidence of many prophecies, is inseparably
connected with the return of Messiah. The time of that
return, whether or not it be virtually revealed, is certainly
fixed in the divine counsels, and as certainly is not less
than eighteen centuries after the first coming of our
Lord. Now it might be expected, in the regular course
of the sacred chronology, that the whole of this defined
prophetic interval should be filled with the heaviest in-
fliction of wrath on the Jewish nation, whose unbelief
continues unchanged through its course. The whole
has a plain unity in its prophetic character, and it might
have been supposed that it would be marked by the same
uniform and unbroken bitterness of most intense visi-
tation. But this, our Lord's declaration implies, will
not be the case. The woe will begin in its bitterness,
but it shall be maimed or cut short in its course. Instead
of continuous destruction, "they shall be led away cap-
tive into all nations." A lighter burden shall be laid
CHAP. IX.]
219
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
upon them, to afflict, but not to make a full end; and
only enough be reserved at the close to purge away the
obstinate transgressors, and then to bow the stubborn
hearts of the remnant, that in their affliction they may
look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn.
Again, we may conceive the divine righteousness to
be the virtual standard by which the words are ex-
plained. The moral nature of the tribulation is a penal
chastisement for the accumulated sins and stubborn
unbelief of the Jewish people. After their long abuse
of privileges, and their rejection of the Gospel itself, th
natural effect of God's judicial righteousness would be
to send on them unmitigated and severest vengeance, till
they either repented of their guilt, or were completely
destroyed. But such was their blindness of heart at
the time when the judgment began, that, had this course
been pursued, the nation would have perished, and none
have turned to Christ with a godly sorrow. The whole
scheme of mercy to the nation in times to come would
then have failed, and the season of the ingathering of
the elect from the Gentiles would itself have been ex-
cluded. Therefore, for the elect's sake, the days should
be shortened. The woe should be stopped short, be-
fore its severity should have exterminated the whole
people. It should be resumed and completed only when
the elect from the Gentiles should be gathered in, and
when their long dispersion, and the provocation of them
to jealousy by the long course of Gentile privileges,
should, as moral antecedents, have prepared the way
for the conversion and repentance of a large remnant,
when the last dregs of the woe should descend on them
in the last days.
These two explanations, though drawn from distinct
principles, are in substantial harmony with each other.
They both suggest the conclusion, that the shortening
L 2
220
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of the days denotes a suspense, for an indefinite period,
of the severity of judgment upon the Jews, that the
elect Church may be gathered in, and also that the na-
tion may
be brought into a state to profit unto repent-
ance, by the closing acts of divine indignation and
The tribulation is thus one and the same
vengeance.
at the beginning and close of the period, in its moral
and judicial character-"the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled." It would
also be one even in its chronology, were it not for this
express departure from the natural order of Divine
Providence, for a peculiar object, the ingathering and
salvation of the elect people of God. And, in strict
accordance with this view, the interval is styled in St.
Luke, “the times of the Gentiles;" which may denote
equally the times of Gentile domination; and the times
of peculiar favour, when God is visiting the Gentiles, to
take from among them a people for His name.
The great tribulation, in this view, may be defined as
the season of special divine retribution on the people of
Israel-the days of vengeance, which, as the words of
St. Luke imply, are the burden of all the prophecies.
This season has two parts-one in the apostolic age,
when the Jews were destroyed, the temple overthrown,
and the remnant led captive into all nations; the other,
a little before the second advent, when there shall be
distress of nations and perplexity, and men's hearts
shall fail them with fear. These two seasons are mo-
rally one; but in chronology they are widely separate,
through this provision of divine wisdom and forbear-
ance, in shortening the days until the times of the Gen-
tiles be fulfilled. We have probably a similar instance
in the last week of Daniel's vision; which, in conse-
quence of the unnatural guilt of the Jews in the cutting
off of Messiah, is separated from the rest by an unna-
CHAP. IX.]
221
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tural break; and, as was suspected from the earliest times
(Primas. in Rev. xi. 9), may have a second or sole ful-
filment in the last days.
***
There is a further harmony in this explanation of the
prophecy which deserves to be noticed. The flight
described in Matt. xxiv. 16-20, on this hypothesis, re-
lates entirely to the days of Titus. Accordingly, we
know that a flight of the Christians, agreeably to the
warning of our Lord, did take place at that time. On
the other hand, the prophecy of Zechariah, and other
texts that relate to the final siege of Jerusalem, seem
rather to exclude the expectation of a local flight of
believing Jews at that later period.
Again, the verses Matt. xxiv. 23-28 will be referred,
on this view, to the last days, and to a season still
future. Accordingly, they agree to the letter with the
description in St. Luke xvii., which bears the plainest
tokens of a reference to the last times and the actual
revelation of the Son of Man. They also resemble
Matt. xxiv. 5, but with a remarkable amplification.
And this confirms the opinion that they relate to a dis-
tinct season, when similar delusions shall be repeated on
a larger scale, and with more awful intensity. Every
verbal feature of the prophecy seems thus to be satis-
fied by the above explanation. Its beginning and its
close are alike left in their natural connexion and
simple meaning; while the transition from one to the
other is supplied from the words of St. Luke, with the
clearest evidence of its existence and its true place in
the prophetic series.
VI. One important question still remains-the true
meaning of those remarkable words, "This generation
shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.”
Perhaps no text has given rise to a greater variety of
opinions; and its difficulty and importance seem to
1
222
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
make it desirable that each of the principal ones should
receive, at least, a short examination.
1. The simplest explanation of this verse, taken alone,
is doubtless that which refers the whole prophecy, with-
out exception, to the fall of Jerusalem. This is the
exposition of Bishop Newton and many other divines.
But here the difficulty is only multiplied; and in
simplifying the explication of one verse, we perplex and
distort at least twenty others from their plain meaning.
Nor is anything really gained with regard to the inte-
grity of our Saviour's statement in the verse itself. For
if we accept for the fulfilment of his words, events so
totally different as the fall of Jerusalem is from the ap-
pearing of the Son of Man with the attendant angels,
and the gathering of all the elect into His presence;
then the solemn affirmation in the following verse has
it's force quite as much limited or impaired as it can be
by any other solution whatever. We must, therefore,
reject this view as directly opposed to the plain scope of
nearly half the prophecy, confirmed by the second in-
quiry of the disciples, "What shall be the sign of thy
coming and of the end of the world?"
2. The next solution, adopted by perhaps all the
Futurists, renders the words of our Lord-" The same
generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." Or
otherwise, which is nearly the same, it supposes the
words "this generation" to be referred mentally to the
generation living when the previous events occur. Thus
Mr. Mac Causland paraphrases, after attempting to dis-
prove two other interpretations:-
"As surely as ye know that summer shall immediately follow
the budding of the fig-tree, so surely know also, that, when ye
see all these things, the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand; and
that 'this generation,' that is, the same generation of believers
that shall see the commencement shall see the end of the dispen-
CHAP. IX.]
223
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sation and the full completion of the prophecy......The space of
time will be so brief, that the generation which shall witness the
commencement, will be, for the most part, in existence at its
conclusion, and may calculate on beholding it as securely as
they calculate on the approach of summer by the budding of the
fig-tree."
This general solution has been received with sur-
prising facility by several writers, who in general differ
widely from the Futurist system; and on this account
demands a full and exact scrutiny. However plausible
it may appear at first sight, I believe that no one ex-
planation is more unsatisfactory, or loaded with more
insuperable objections.
(1). And first, our Lord is thus made to assert that all
the events of the prophecy shall be fulfilled exclusively
in the last generation of the Church. In other words, the
sentence becomes a solemn assertion, that not one clause
of the prediction relates to the fall of the actual temple,
which was the first great subject of the disciples' inquiry.
The same assertion will also be made concerning the pre-
diction in St. Luke, which even Mr. Mac Causland
refers to the days of Titus. This one reason alone, the
entire frustration of the disciples' inquiry, should be a
sufficient refutation of the suggested version.
(2). Next, the words thus explained directly contra-
dict what we have proved to be the true meaning of the
discourse, and therefore all the arguments already ad-
duced are conclusive against it.
(3). Thirdly, it deprives the words of all practical
use. For, by supposition, the events at the fall of Je-
rusalem, though they correspond exactly with, at least,
the first eight verses, were no real fulfilment of the pre-
diction. Yet no test is given us to know the actual ge-
neration designed, but the fulfilment of the first events
of the prophecy. Therefore, neither false Christs, nor
224
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
wars and rumours of wars, nor famines and earth-
quakes and pestilences, nor persecutions, nor a com-
passing of Jerusalem with armies, can furnish a sufficient
token that “the same generation" is arrived. Nor can
this be supplied by an abomination of desolation on the
very site of the temple; for such has existed long ago.
No event earlier in the prophecy than the appearance
of the infidel antichrist in the restored temple can
thus identify the generation foretold. Hence it follows
that the words of Christ, delivered with such solemnity,
reveal far less than was previously known. For all who
agree in expecting this infidel abomination agree also
in confining its period, on the warrant of other pro-
phecies, to less than four years. How totally unmean-
ing, then, does the statement become. If we refer
it to the first events of the prophecy, it is open to two
fatal objections. Those events are too indeterminate in
their own nature to supply a fixed point of departure ;
and events quite similar have already taken place long
ago, in the apostolic age, without being followed, in im-
mediate succession, by all the other particulars. If,
again, we refer the statement to the first distinctive events
predicted, it will then teach us much less than was re-
vealed in Daniel long before. For certainly "a genera-
tion" offers a much wider latitude than "a half week of
seven years.
99
(4). The allusion to our Lord's warning in the pre-
vious chapter is also destroyed. He had there asserted,
"All these things shall come upon this generation"—¿Tì
týv yeveàv távtyv—(xxiii. 36). The expression here is
directly the same—η yeveà åýτŋ. Now in the former
passage it cannot possibly refer to the last generation of
the Church, on the widest latitude of interpretation.
Therefore it is most unnatural to assign it that mean-
ing in the present verse. Both ought surely to be ex-
pounded in the same manner; for, besides their strict
CHAP. IX.]
225
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
verbal correspondence, they both relate to the same sub-
ject—the retributive vengeance of God upon the Jewish
nation.
(5). Further, the words of the text will not allow of
such a translation. The Greek phrase for "the same
generation" is certainly ἡ αυτή γενεὰ, and not ἡ γενεὰ
avτη. The difference is not merely in the aspirate
though even this would be expressed by a letter in the
early manuscripts, and there is no variety in the reading;
but it consists in the arrangement of the words. No
instance can be found in the New Testament where the
phrases do not keep their proper meaning. The excep-
tions are all of them apparent, and not real, and arise
from a slight inaccuracy of translation.
Again, if we preserve the rendering "this genera-
tion," we have no warrant for explaining it of any other
generation than that of the apostles themselves. There
are, indeed, eight or ten passages of simple history where
the expression “these days" is used for the times which
the writer has just described. But in those discourses
which occur in the sacred narrative, out of nearly forty
passages, there are two only where the word this relates
to the time spoken of, and not the time when the dis-
course itself is given; and these are both of them pas-
sages where no ambiguity could arise (Luke xvii. 34,
xxi. 22). On the contrary, the other demonstrative is
used in such cases above thirty times. The constant
usage of Scripture is therefore altogether opposed to the
suggested version or exposition.
(6). The solution involves a further difficulty. When
the word this is used, even in simple narrative, as Acts
vi. 1, to denote the time spoken of, it always refers to
the events last mentioned. In the passage before us, if
such latitude of interpretation were allowed, it must
therefore refer to the generation when the sign of the
L 3
226
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Son of Man should appear. The words then become
little more than a tautology. No one who believed that
the events predicted would ever occur, could doubt that
the generation who are alive when the sign of the Son of
Man shall be seen, will not pass away until all the pro-
phecy should be fulfilled. And yet the words, on this
rendering, will by no means imply that the same genera-
tion was living when the fulfilment began.
(7). Finally, the contrast between these words and
the thirty-sixth verse is entirely destroyed by the sug-
gested version. The uncertainty in this case would be,
when the predicted generation should begin. When it
is once begun, the coming of the Son of Man would be
fixed within a narrow range. Hence the solemn decla-
ration of concealment would naturally have assumed
the form—“But of that generation knoweth no man.
In its present form, on the contrary, it implies a con-
trast between events which were fixed, and others whose
place is concealed; or else between the certain continu-
ance of the generation intended, whatever is thereby
meant, and the uncertain time of the Lord's advent.
These reasons, and almost any one of them alone, are
enough to disprove entirely this second explanation of
the verse, however respectable the names of those who
have received it.
3. A third solution has been derived from the words
translated "fulfilled" (yevnτa). This is a different
term from that which is usually employed; and hence
has been supposed to denote an incipient accomplish-
ment merely. The words of our Lord would thus sig-
nify that the first events of the prediction would be
accomplished within that generation.
There are serious objections to this view also. First,
the proper term in this case would be different (yivηtai).
Next, the word here used is employed elsewhere to de-
CHAP. IX.]
227
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
note strict fulfilment (Matt. v. 18). Further, the ex-
position is open to the charge of uncommon vagueness.
For where is the distinction between some of the events
and all of them beginning to be fulfilled? If they are
successive, as they are clearly, an incipient fulfilment
must be a partial fulfilment; and the form of the ex-
pression seems unaccountable. Nor is it easy to con-
ceive why a statement so general and undefined should
be attended by so impressive and solemn an asseveration.
4. A more frequent solution than the last is that which
depends on some modified sense of the word (yeveà) gene-
ration. Of this there are two or three varieties. Some-
times it is explained to be the Jewish nation. By others
it has been referred to the Gospel age or dispensation.
It might also, with perhaps more apparent reason, be
applied to the race of unbelieving Jews only.
The first of these views was suggested by Mede, and
has been adopted by several judicious writers. Yet it
may be questioned whether any warrant for such an use
of the term can be found in the New Testament, where
it is always applied in reference to moral character, or
a period of time; or else to a race of men who are all
contemporary with each other. Again, the sentence
thus explained would seem to imply the extinction of
the Jewish nation when these events should be accom-
plished. And besides, no peculiar object can be as-
signed, on this view, for so solemn an averment; for no
one supposed, among the disciples, that the Jews would
be extinct before the promises of their future glory were
fulfilled.
The second form of this exposition is open to the
serious objection, that the word yevea receives a sense
which there appears no authority for assigning to it,
either from the New Testament or from other authors.
The third of these interpretations is, perhaps, the
228
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
most simple and natural, if we depart from the com-
mon sense of the word, as a note of time. Our Lord
continually speaks of the unbelieving Jews under
this title, "an evil generation," and "a sinful and
adulterous generation." It is very much in this light
that, in the previous chapter, He denounces against them
a series of terrible woes. After the events here de-
scribed are accomplished, the whole nation of Israel
will be a righteous nation: the Pharisee and the Sad-
ducee will alike be extinct for ever. But it will only be
after the severest afflictions, and the most terrible judg-
ments, and the appearing of the Son of Man himself,
that their stubborn heart shall be bowed to repentance,
and the obstinate transgressors be purged from the
midst of the nation. There would thus be a sufficient
reason for the emphasis in words of the text, which will
receive the following sense: "This evil and rebellious
generation, the impenitent hearts of unbelieving Israel,
will never cease, or be brought to repentance, till these
heavy judgments shall all have been fully accomplished.
No slighter strokes of vengeance will suffice. The race
of Jewish unbelievers shall not be extinct till all shall
be fulfilled."
5. This last explanation seems the most satisfactory
of those which have yet been noticed: but the verse
has so much the appearance of a note of time, and this
use of the word yeved is so general, that it ought not to
be abandoned without decisive reasons. There is, there-
fore, one other exposition, which scarcely varies at all
from the meaning that the words suggest at the first
view, while it leaves unaltered the evident reference of
the latter part of the discourse to the second advent.
The disciples, we have seen, propose two questions,
distinct in themselves, and separate also in their appre-
hension of them. There was nothing in their views
CHAP. IX.]
229
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
which could lead them to identify the fall of the temple
with the coming of Messiah's kingdom, though, doubt-
less, they might suppose the interval to be very short.
Our Lord replies distinctly to both of these questions,
but blends them so closely that the transition can only
be seen by a minute scrutiny and the key supplied in
St. Luke's Gospel. Now there are, in like manner, two
distinct assertions with regard to the time of the pre-
dicted events: "Verily I say unto you, this generation
shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. ……...
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, but my
Father only." These two statements bear on their face
the clear marks of a designed contrast. The first seems
to convey a simple revelation of the distinct time of the
events to which it refers; the other, a strong declara-
tion of the unrevealed nature of the time of the advent.
They also answer precisely to the two inquiries on which
the discourse is founded. The pronouns used naturally
imply that the events named in the first were nearer,
and that named in the second more distant. The only
difficulty lies in the fact, that the events last mentioned
are the appearing of the Son of Man and the gathering
of the elect by his angels; to which the expression
"these things" would seem grammatically to refer. But it
is well known that the choice of the demonstratives may
depend either on the order of mention, or on the actual
situation of the objects described. Now the disciples
were sitting in view of the temple, surrounded by the
very scenes of the approaching desolation, which our
Lord knew well to be near at hand. On the other hand,
the second advent had reference to a far wider range in
its theatre, and to a remoter period, after the times of
the Gentiles should be fulfilled. Hence the words "these
things" and "that day" would naturally refer to the con-
•
!!
-230
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
trast between these two distinct events, separated by an
undefined interval of the times of the Gentiles.
The words will, therefore, admit of this easy para-
phrase:-This very generation shall not pass away till
all these events, which answer the first inquiry, shall
be fulfilled. The irrevocable sentence of God is pro-
nounced against the city and the temple. Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but these warnings shall not be
unfulfilled. But with regard to that other day of which
you inquire, and the sign of Messiah's return, no man
knoweth, nor is the Son himself commissioned to de-
clare it. "Watch and pray, for ye know not when the
time shall be."
Let us only place ourselves in the position of the dis-
ciples when our Lord addressed them, and this explana-
tion of the verse will be found both natural and simple.
They had inquired, "When shall these things be?"-
the ruin of the temple and vengeance on the people.
Our Lord reveals the time, and says to them, "Verily
this generation shall not pass away till all these things
be fulfilled." They had further asked, "What shall be
the sign of thy coming?" Our Lord mentions the
attendant signs, but refuses to declare the time: "Of
that day and hour knoweth no man. At the same time
he substitutes a lesson of practical caution: "Watch
and pray, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of Man cometh." These solemn declarations at the
close of the discourse thus answer fully to the inquiry
from whence it arose.
There is one further remark, which may serve to re-
move any ambiguity from the details of interpretation.
The events of the actual generation to the fall of Jeru-
salem correspond, as a brief epitome, with those of the
whole Gospel dispensation. They also resemble, in
CHAP. IX.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
231
many distinctive features, and by a still closer analogy,
the events elsewhere announced in the last generation
before the return of the Lord. From these two facts
has arisen the chief temptation to turn aside this pro-
phecy from its natural meaning. But analogy alone is
a very insufficient proof of sameness; and interpreters
who argue from resemblance merely will involve the
whole scheme of prophecy in endless confusion.
At first sight the words in St. Luke may seem to
create a difficulty in the way of the explanation here
maintained. The verse appears there in this form
"This generation shall not pass until all be fulfilled.”
But, first, it has been shown that the former Gospels
continue, in all probability, the exact words of our Sa-
viour; and that as St. Luke omits the contrasted verse,
relating to "that day and hour," the word these was less
needful. Also, since the distinction between the two
parts of the prophecy is given more clearly in his Gos-
pel, it was needless to mark so strongly what would be
evident of itself. But, further, the omitted word is sup-
plied from the context. "Now when these things begin
to come to pass"-"When ye see these things coming
to pass
"To escape all these things which shall come
to pass." The direct reference in all these three clauses
is demonstrably to the Jewish troubles (Luke xxi. 8-24),
to which the apostles would be actually exposed: and
hence the statement in verse 32 is as truly limited by
the context as if the word these had been retained.
The close connexion of the verse which has just been
explained with the striking declaration of our Lord con-
cerning "that day and hour" suggests a remark upon
its meaning also. It has been maintained, as a self-
evident consequence, by several Futurist writers, and
sometimes in a tone of self-complacent wisdom, that all
research into even an approximate knowledge of the
2.
232
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTts of PROPHECY.
time is here forbidden; that the Church, to the last, can
have no data to fix her expectations; and that all refer-
ence to dates and prophetic eras, in connexion with that
great event, is presumptuous and absurd. Such remarks
are equally rash and superficial. A vain curiosity, in-
deed, is to be condemned here, no less than in every
other topic of sacred inquiry. The arrogant pretension
to certain knowledge on doubtful and uncertain grounds
is also both pernicious in itself and a stumbling-block
to those who are weak in faith. But the strong prohi-
bition and confident censures by which such inquiries
are sometimes scornfully assailed are as empty of solid
reason as they are devoid of all scriptural warrant.
Such censors, in their hasty wisdom, entirely forget two
or three evident facts. First, these words of our Lord
apply to the day and hour, in contrast to the longer in-
terval of a generation. Secondly, the statement, as here
made, is limited to the actual time when the discourse
was given. It is only by inference and analogy that it
can be extended to later periods of the Church; and
the grounds of that inference become weaker as the
advent draws near. The same truth appears from the
emphatic order of the words in that similar statement
in Acts i. 6: "It is not for you to know the times or
seasons." The words apply there also distinctly to the
apostles and their age. Thirdly, the very reason why
the time of the event was concealed when it was really
distant, to increase the watchfulness of the Church, be-
comes just as strong a presumption that approximate
knowledge of it will be given when the time is really at
hand: and the search for such knowledge, in such mea-
sure as God shall be pleased to impart it, is plainly
commended to our imitation, and virtually enjoined to
the Christian, by the example of Daniel and the other
prophets of God (Dan. ix. 1; 1 Pet. i. 11; Amos).
CHAP. IX.]
233
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
In truth, the statement of our Lord must be so inter-
preted as to indicate a decreasing measure of uncertainty
as the time rolls on. In the days of the apostles them-
selves the range of that uncertainty amounted to nearly
eighteen hundred years. The literal day and hour may
continue unknown to the very last. Between these
limits, to those who imitate the holy research and faith
of Daniel, the measure of uncertainty will have conti-
nued to decrease, in proportion as the great event has
itself drawn nearer. The combined evidence of pro-
phetic periods, and of the moral signs of Providence,
will afford growing materials, from age to age, for the
exercise of a sound and spiritual judgment. The sub-
ject is, however, of such practical importance, and has
been so perplexed by rash and superficial censures, that
occasion will be taken to place it in a clearer light in
another part of this volume.
VII. We may now derive a few general conclusions,
from comparing this prophecy of our Lord with those
parts of Daniel, which have had their true sense already
ascertained. The more we compare one part of the
inspired predictions with another, the more traces shall
we find of deep wisdom, and a divine unity of purpose
which unites the whole into one consistent and har-
monious scheme of truth.
1. And, first, THE LAW OF DEPARTURE, which has
been already traced in all the visions of Daniel, equally
obtains in this further prophecy. It begins, like them,
with the first events of importance next to the time
when it was given. The maxim itself, and the inter-
pretation of the discourse just established, in this man-
ner lend each other mutual confirmation, and the divine
unity of wisdom in the sacred prophecies becomes, at
each successive step, more apparent.
2. THE LAW OF CONTINUITY is the next which was
-234
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
observed to hold in all those parts of Daniel which
passed under our review. This maxim, in the present
instance, partly holds good, and in part is modified by
a special cause of exception, or rather, by the still more
full development of that principle of divine perspective
which also prevails in all these prophecies of God.
In St. Luke's Gospel the continuity is plainly un-
broken. The words "Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful-
filled," link the early troubles of the church and the
synagogue, by a plain and full connexion, with the
events of the last days which are afterwards described.
It is true that the interval is stated far more briefly than
the two main events of the prophecy: but this only
illustrates more fully another principle, which will be
shortly considered.
In the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark the
continuity appears broken, and the transition from the
days of the apostles to the last times is more seemingly
abrupt. But here the exception by which the rule was
guarded clearly becomes applicable. The words "for
the elect's sake the days shall be shortened," denote
some interception of the natural and ordinary course
of Providence, and really imply the same interval which
is openly expressed in the other Gospel.
If, however, this law appears less conspicuously
observed, in relation to the times of the Gentiles, it is
exhibited in a different form; for the present discourse
serves to continue the series of Daniel's visions, from
the advent of our Lord to the fall of Jerusalem. In
Dan. xi. the events of Jewish history are detailed con-
tinuously till the time of Antiochus and the entrance of
the Roman power. In the seventy weeks they are
brought by a specific interval to the cutting off of the
Messiah: and here they are continued also, by a full
CHAP. IX.]
235
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
prediction, definite in the time of its fulfilment, till the
very fall of the temple and desolation of Jerusalem.
The Apocalypse, as we shall see hereafter, con-
tinues the whole series in unbroken connexion. And
thus the present discourse of our Lord links the two
main books of inspired prediction into one harmonious
and united revelation of Divine Providence.
3. This prophecy further illustrates the progressive
development of truth in the predictions of God's word.
There are, in the visions of Daniel, several allusions to
that fall of Jerusalem which our Lord here announces.
Especially the words in Dan. ix. seem clearly to refer
to this event: "The people of the prince that shall
come will destroy the city and sanctuary; and the end
of them will be with a flood; and until the end of the
war desolations are determined." But this brief state-
ment is developed in the Gospels into a far more distinct
and complete detail. Those events, which were still
distant in the time of Cyrus, were close at hand when
our Lord had finished his earthly ministry. And hence,
in accordance with the uniform law of the sacred reve-
lations, they are now revealed with a far greater ful-
ness, and presented to the disciples in their continuous
order till the final desolation had begun.
4. But the perspective exhibition of truth is still
more apparent. The object is specially to instruct the
Jewish disciples in the fall of their own church and
nation. Hence the events of the apostolic age, before
the temple was destroyed, and those of the last times,
when the nation will reappear in a covenant character,
like two mountain ranges, are seen blended together;
and the times of the Gentiles, though much longer
than both, are left obscured and almost hidden from
view in the valley between them.
Again, the events of that generation, though less
+
236
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
important, and not longer perhaps in time than those
which are to be fulfilled in the last days, were yet
much nearer at hand. They stood in the foreground
of the divine landscape; and accordingly they occupy
more than three times the space of the others in our
Lord's description.
5. There is a further lesson which may be derived
from this comparison, since it yields us an example of
the degree and manner in which specific knowledge
of the times is connected with the statements of sacred
prophecy.
From Abraham to Moses the Church of God was
both in a state of exile and affliction, and seems to have
enjoyed, in very scanty measure, the living voice of in-
spired teachers. A prophetic period was then revealed
to sustain its hopes-a period doubly fixed, both by
years and generations. From Moses till the captivity
of Babylon there was an almost constant succession of
inspired prophets, teachers, or judges, and the nation
was no longer an exile, but settled in their own land.
Hence, after the sojourn in the wilderness, no chrono-
logical prediction occurs for a long time. In Isaiah
the first traces of it reappear (Isaiah vii. 8), when the
captivity of the ten tribes was just ready to begin.
But when the outward glory had ceased, and the gift of
inspired prophets was beginning to be withdrawn, the
chronological predictions grew more distinct, first in
the seventy years of the captivity of Babylon, and then
in the seventy weeks until the coming of Messiah.
Our Lord, in this discourse, virtually continues the
chronology, by limiting the fall of the temple within
the time of the living generation.
Thus we see that when the Church has been exposed
to outward captivity, and the presence of inspired pro-
phets has been withdrawn, prophetic times have been
CHAP. IX.]
237
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
revealed to her, to give more consistency to her hopes,
and sustain her under the delay of the promise. And
since this has been the exact condition of the Gentile
Church since the death of the last apostle, we have
every reason, from analogy, that a sacred chronology
of times would be given for her use in this later dis-
pensation.
Let us next inquire what measure of light was actually
given, with regard to prophetic times, as some guide to
our own expectations. From the return under Cyrus
to the fall of the temple was about six hundred years,
or one-third of the space which has passed under the
times of the Gospel. Now, had the whole period been
distinctly predicted, it would clearly have had the effect
of deadening the hopes of the Church, and a chilling
fatalism might have extinguished desire in the hearts
of believers. On the other hand, a total absence of all
knowledge of the times, which has deprived them of a
definite ground of present hope, and has left them in
a vague uncertainty, not less fatal to the instancy of
prayer and the perseverance of expectation. Hence
we see that the one period revealed is such as to pre-
clude both dangers. It is less than the whole interval,
which it fills up only in part. Its commencement
might, beforehand, be uncertain to the extent of a
hundred years, and the exact close to a still greater
degree. But still it reaches through the main part
(about three-fourths) of the real interval, and was thus
well suited to excite clear and definite hopes, substan-
tially correct, as to the time of Messiah's advent, even
before he appeared. And, as the close of the Jewish
age was peculiarly important, we have, in this further
prophecy, a distinct note of time, to complete the
former, and to give the disciples a distinct warning of
238
[CHAP. IX.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the period when the Jewish economy should be swept
away.
So far, then, as the actual examples of Scripture are a
guide, the Spirit of God has observed the following
course in the revelation of prophetic times. First, they
are chiefly reserved for periods when the Church has
to pass through danger and exile, and when the direct
gift of inspired teachers is sparingly given or wholly
withdrawn. Secondly, they do not reveal the whole
interval of the events, but the greater part only, when
the period is long, so as to give a definite form to the
hopes of the Church, and yet not to reveal prematurely
the length of the delay. And, thirdly, a fresh and
more distinct light was given, in this case, when the
main period was drawing near its close.
These conclusions, which naturally arise from this pro-
phecy, combined with the vision of the seventy weeks,
are in striking agreement with the Protestant interpre-
tation of those prophetic dates which refer to the times
of the New Testament. And we may, perhaps, safely
infer from them, that the last generation of the Chris-
tian Church, before Israel's restoration, shall have
evidence enough to teach them their own place in the
sacred calendar, and to supply thoughtful believers with
a certain and well-founded hope of the arrival, in their
own days, of Messiah's kingdom. The solemn decla-
ration of our Lord to his apostles, concerning the events
of their generation, was written for our learning; that
the Church, even in the last days, might expect inti-
mations, not less clear, of the approach of the returning
Saviour and the times of his manifested kingdom.
Thus it appears, that the further we trace these in-
spired predictions, and the more carefully we ascertain
their separate meaning, the more clear and distinct are

CHAP. IX.]
239
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
>
the marks which they supply to us of their historical
truth, the unity of design which prevails through their
successive revelations, and the deep wisdom with which
they have been suited to the wants of the Church, and
to the practical object of enlarging the understanding,
quickening the hopes, and sustaining the spiritual desires
of the people of God.
CHAPTER X.
ON THE GENERAL DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE.
THE inquiry pursued in the former chapters has been
confined to those parts of Daniel's prophecies, and of
the discourse of our Lord, which relate to events before
the fall of Jerusalem. The historical accomplishment
of these passages might, in previous controversies on
prophetic subjects, be generally assumed as common
ground, on which all parties were agreed. But in the
present instance the rent has reached to the foundation.
That school of exposition which has arisen of late, by
its bold rejection of truths all but universally received,
has compelled us to submit every part to a fresh exa-
mination, in order to obtain a sure basis on which to
rest, in every step of our further progress. This scru-
tiny has at least the advantage of leading us to detect
relations of mutual harmony in these prophecies, which
might else have escaped our observation.
The true meaning of these earlier predictions has now,
I trust, been established on solid proofs. The view
which has prevailed, in substance, in all ages of the
Church, has been vindicated from those numerous, but
hasty or superficial objections which have lately been
brought against it. The course of inquiry now leads
to a more difficult branch of the main subject-the pro-
phecies which belong to the Christian dispensation.
Here fresh obstacles arise, and stronger prejudices are
brought into play. The other parts of Daniel, the pre-
dictions of St. Paul and St. John, involve ecclesiastical
CHAP. X.]
*241
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
questions of the deepest interest; and their exposition
has a most important and practical bearing on the past
history, the present state, and the future prospects of
the whole Church of God. The discordance of judg-
ment thus begins to be more general and serious. The
utmost caution becomes doubly necessary, with a prayer-
ful and devout humility of research, to preserve us from
error, and guide us to a right and true decision. On
this account it was desirable that the first elements of
prophetic truth, on which the rest depend, should be
placed beyond the reach of doubt, that they might lend
a secure foundation to our inquiry into truths which are
more controverted and obscure.
But there are still two great questions which form a
needful preface to the discussion of the remaining pro-
phecies, and yet, from their general nature, may be con-
veniently ranked with those which have been already
examined. These are like a transition series, from the
primary axioms of fulfilled prophecy which have now
been unfolded, to the whole range of secondary and
dependent truths. These are the general design of the
book of Revelation, and the internal evidence, favour-
able or adverse to the year-day theory. These will com-
plete the list of topics examined in the present work.
The views held, till of late, by the main body of
Protestant divines on these two subjects, have been
rejected with great unanimity by the Futurist writers.
On the first, indeed, they stand almost or quite alone;
but on the second of them they have the countenance
of nearly all the early writers, and of many Roman
Catholic and some Protestant divines. It seems, there-
fore, very desirable to submit them both to a distinct
and cautious examination.
The book of Revelation, by general consent from the
earliest times of the Church, has been viewed as one
M
242
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
comprehensive prophecy, which extends from the days
of the apostle through all the times of the Gospel. No
exception, of which I am aware, can be found among
the writers of fifteen centuries, unless we distinguish
those who turned the book into moral or spiritual para-
bles of doctrine only, and thus deprived it of all pro-
phetic character. But, at the close of the sixteenth cen-
tury, a school arose, of limited extent and influence,
who confined nearly the whole to times adjoining on
the fall of Jerusalem. They are still represented by
one or two expositors of no weight at the present day.
The vast majority, however, of interpreters continued
to adhere to the general principle which had been held
sacred from the first days of the Church.
This principle, however, which has been so generally
received, and made, by most interpreters, a fundamental
maxim, has of late been abandoned and renounced by
several authors. The discordance of previous exposi-
tors has been thought a conclusive proof that all their
interpretations are equally and entirely groundless, and
that the whole prophecy remains yet to be fulfilled.
In the first and second chapters of this volume some
general remarks have been offered on this and kindred
objections. But the importance to the Church of this
holy prophecy, and the serious perplexity of many
thoughtful and candid minds on the first principles of
its interpretation, justify a distinct and fuller inquiry.
It seems the preferable order, first, to remove the chief
objections which have been urged against its application
to past events; and next, to exhibit those scriptural and
internal arguments, which establish the wider and more
extensive range of the prophecy through the whole
course of the Christian dispensation. The objections
urged against the common view of the Apocalypse are
most various in their nature; and some of them have,
CHAP. X.]
243
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
at first, a very plausible aspect. Some of the most
popular shall now be carefully examined.
I. The first objection, and that which has the most
weight of all on a hasty view, is the disagreement and
variety of existing expositions. This has been con-
sidered already, as it is sometimes urged in a more ex-
tensive application to all the prophecies of Daniel and
the New Testament; but it applies with most force to
the book of Revelation, and therefore calls for a dis-
tinct and full solution. Perhaps the most complete and
effective exhibition of it is in Mr. Maitland's "First
Enquiry," pp. 43, 54, to which the reader must be re-
ferred, as the passage is too long for an extract. But
the same argument is of constant recurrence in all the
writers of the same school.
I have shown already that this objection rests mainly
on a false and unreal basis-the opinion that every ful-
filled prophecy becomes at once clear and self-evident.
This notion, however general, is disproved by many
passages of Scripture. The objection, therefore, is
greatly blunted in its force, and resolves itself into the
following inquiry: are the differences of interpretation
so great, as to make the hypothesis of a past fulfilment
clearly unreasonable and unnatural?
Now, first, it must be observed, as a truth admitted
by the Futurists themselves, that the Spirit of God has
ever designed the Church to be in the attitude of ex-
pectation of the second advent. And this would clearly
forbid an early revelation of the whole course of Pro-
vidence still to elapse, while the time was really distant:
But if the Church in early times had known certainly
the arrangement of the prophecy, and seen distinctly
what parts were fulfilled, this revelation would have
been prematurely made. The law of proportion, in
visions so remarkably symmetrical, would have shown
1
M 2
244
CHAP. X.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the distance of the advent, and defeated the purpose of
divine wisdom in its temporary concealment from the
Church. It is only, then, in later times that we could
expect an approach to uniform and consistent historical
explanation.
Again, the prophecy distinctly reveals a mighty cor-
ruption and apostasy in the times to which it refers.
Let it be granted, for the moment, that these are not
future, but mainly past: it is clearly impossible for
those who adhere to the corruptions denounced, or the
fearful apostasy exposed, to admit the true sense of the
prophecy which denounces and exposes them. Hence,
even in later times, only a minority of the visible Church
could be expected to receive its true application; and
these, in all likelihood, would be subject, on this very
account, to obloquy and reproach.
But further, even limiting our view to later times,
and to the minority of the visible Church, we have still
no warrant to expect formal and complete agreement,
for
many reasons.
reasons. First, the predictions are conveyed
by symbols, which need scriptural research and sound
judgment to determine their meaning. Next, the ar-
rangement of the visions is by no means self-evident ;
and while they are only in part fulfilled, it would not
be reasonable to expect a full and exact knowledge of
their relation to each other. From this cause many
partial errors would arise. Thirdly, since the book
forms one connected whole, the cloud which rests on
the parts yet unfulfilled would naturally, in proportion
to the dramatic unity of the visions, reflect some ob-
scurity on those other parts which were actually accom-
plished. The same causes, again, which have filled the
Church of Christ with unceasing debate, on almost every
topic of theology, would operate, with increased force,
in the study of a book so comprehensive and mysterious,
CHAP. X.]
245
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
and affecting, by its interpretation, the spiritual cha-
racter and prospects of every larger portion of the visi-
ble Church. Finally, in every subject we may observe
that the systematic and formal agreement of Christians
is much less than the substantial harmony of judgment
to which they attain.
Now these remarks are quite enough, of themselves,
to explain the actual measure of disagreement among
interpreters of the prophecy. Before the time of the
Reformation, as might have been expected, the histori-
cal insight into its meaning was dim and general. Yet
even then many specific lessons of prophetic truth
were drawn from its pages. The picture set up by
Constantine, and recorded by Eusebius, affords a proof
that the triumph of the Church, in the twelfth chapter,
was actually referred to those times, which most Protes-
tant expositors believe to be its true meaning. The pre-
dictions of chapter xviii. were the main source of those
expectations of the fall of Pagan Rome which are well
known to have prevailed in the first centuries; and that
event, though short of the full meaning, is included in
the prediction, as the less in the greater, by the close
analogy which it bears to the proper fulfilment. The
chapters xii. and xiv. were seen, from the days of
Tichonius and Primasius, to refer to the desolate and
lonely state of the true Church, through "all the times
of Christianity," after its early triumphs. The trumpets,
again, were at least understood to this extent, that they
were seen to be a series of judgments on opposers of
the Gospel, from early times down to the second ad-
vent. Whatever might be the varieties of error in their
precise application, the main practical lesson, and the
consequent insight into the main outlines of God's pro-
vidence, was still secured. And even the seals, the most
disputable part of the visions, yielded three clear and
246
[CHAP. X.-
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
constant lessons of the same kind-the first triumphs
and victories of the Gospel; the strife and conflicts
through which it had afterwards to pass; and the glo-
rious and blessed assembling of God's people, which
was finally to close the dark and mysterious course of
Divine Providence. These truths, with several others
of the same kind, have been derived from these visions,
amidst all the obscurity which rested on them for the
first thousand years.
Again, if we proceed to a second stage of history, the
instruction derived from this book becomes still more
conspicuous. Nearly all the witnesses who arose to
bear testimony against the prevailing corruptions, from
the eleventh to the fifteenth century, drew both weapons
of defence and courage in their profession from the
sayings of this book. Let us make every concession
which can be demanded by the opponent. Let us ad-
mit that the testimony of some was very imperfect;
that in others it might be mixed with heresy; and that
others, who applied the prophecy to their own times,
were still, to a great extent, involved in Papal supersti-
tion. Still, it is a remarkable fact, that wherever a
front was presented to resist the tide of superstition,
there appears along with it a reference to the words and
visions of this prophecy. We see it in the " Noble Lesson"
of the Waldenses, and in the constant charges against
the Albigenses. We see it in the words of Arnulf-in
the declamations of Bernard-and in the laborious ex-
positions of Joachim. However various or imperfect
the form of protestation against dominant error, this
part of God's word is sure to be one of the chief wea-
pons employed. It is not, perhaps, too much to assert,
when we combine these facts with the crushing power
of the idolatrous hierarchy of those ages over the
thoughts and consciences of men, that truth and righ-
CHAP. X.]
247
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
teousness would have become extinct in the visible
Church, and tyranny and superstition would have reigned
triumphant, if it had not been for the strength and
energy which the vivid portraitures of this book sup-
plied to the witnesses of Christ.
When we pass on to the times of the Reformation,
the practical effect of the book of Revelation in pro-
moting that great event, and, still more, in deepening
the steadfastness of the Reformed Churches after the
first shock of separation, is too evident to be denied.
Even those who believe that change to have been a
great evil and a fearful schism, are compelled to see
that its course was accelerated and it sinfluence in-
creased by general conviction among Reformed Chris-
tians, that the Babylon of the Apocalypse was Papal
Rome. In fact, the objection here changes its form.
It is not drawn so much from the disagreement of Pro-
testants as from their harmonious consent. The appli-
cation is ascribed to the heat of polemic excitement,
and is charged with the fault of infusing a fresh bitter-
ness into theological strife. It is, therefore, clear that,
amidst all the diversities of detail, the prophecy did
exercise a mighty influence, and that the uncertainty
which is alleged in disproof of its fulfilment does not
reach to the main outline of those events which it an-
nounces to the Church of God.
But here the objection meets us in another form.
The agreement, it is said, of the Reformers and their
successors, in referring Babylon and the kindred sym-
bols to Papal Rome, and their great disagreement in
every secondary feature of the exposition, is together
a clear proof that this view arose only from the bigotry
of controversialists, and that the prophecy has been
wrested from its true meaning by the blindness of mere
party zeal.
248
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
This explanation, at first sight, appears candid and
plausible; but, when closely examined, it will be found
most delusive and untrue. The substantial agreement,
amidst minor differences, was due to the structure of the
prophecy itself, and not to a foreign bias in the inter-
preters. The local reference to Rome, in the descrip-
tion of Babylon, is too plain to be denied by the Roman
divines themselves, except a small minority. The future
application of the nineteenth and following chapters is
equally clear. The commencement of the visions from
the apostolic age was also admitted, we have seen, from
the earliest times. Now when these three maxims are re-
ceived, adopt almost any arrangement you please, vary
as you will, within reasonable limits, the precise distri-
bution of the parts, and the lot will still fall on the true
Achan; and Papal Rome will still appear the rightful
owner of these predictions of Babylon. It is impossible
to avoid the conclusion, except by violating all natural
proportion, or introducing some enormous gap into the
midst of the prophetic history. This fully explains the
fact, that with various schemes of arrangement, involving
a partial distortion of the prophecy, and, therefore, a
partial confusion of particular emblems, Protestant
commentators of different countries, and the most di-
verse judgments in other matters, are found here in
close agreement. It is not heated controvertists, but
men of the calmest minds, far removed from the imme-
diate stir of debate, and of undoubted honesty, who
have concurred in the general truth.
Nay, even in those minor differences on which the
objection is sometimes made to rest there is more sub-
stantial agreement than can be detected by a cursory or
prejudiced observer. If we reject those expositions
which never obtained any currency, and which are due
to the eccentric fancies of hasty minds, the others may
CHAP. X.]
249
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
be classed, without difficulty, under two or three schools.
The difference of one school from another is not such
as to hinder an important and extensive accordance in
many parts of the prophecy. In the same schools the
variations are still more limited. And just as the astro-
nomer can trace the history of his science, from the
imperfect elements and faulty theories drawn from the
wider observations of Hippocratus and Ptolemy, down
to the minute exactness of the orbits which the skill of
modern observers has determined; a similar progress,
though at present less complete, may be traced in this
more sublime astronomy, which contemplates the secret
and silent course of the divine counsels.
In fact, this whole objection is exactly of the same
kind with those which infidels are accustomed to urge
against Christianity itself. The religion of Christ is a
message of truth and peace. Were the Gospel to ac-
complish its own blessed design, union would banish all
strife, and truth dispel all error. Now the infidel objects
that this has never been the actual result of Christianity.
The visible Church, from the very first, has abounded
in strife and contention, and in countless varieties of
doctrine and judgment. He counts up, without stoop-
ing to classify and distinguish them, the innumerable
sects and opinions which have prevailed among Chris-
tians, and then puts the scornful inquiry, "Is this the
religion of pure truth, when those who profess it cannot
agree on its true meaning? Is this the true Messiah,
whose doctrine was to regenerate the world, when, after
eighteen centuries, the Church itself is full of strife and
bitterness? These differences prove that the whole is
a delusion. The religion of Christ has failed, after
eighteen centuries, to produce universal conviction in
the world, or universal agreement in the Church itself.
Therefore we must look for some future Regenerator.
M 3
250
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
The promise that the world shall be raised to a happier
state is written on the heart of man. But this secret
prophecy must be fulfilled by some other Messiah who
has never yet appeared." Such are the specious reason-
ings of the sceptic, which will pave the way for the last
struggle and paroxysm of infidel violence. Is it safe
for those who dread its approach to copy so exactly, in
this holy prophecy, a style of reasoning so delusive and
pernicious in its wider application?
II. The duty of adherence to the literal meaning is a
second objection, which is advanced almost as often as
the former. The words of Hooker are quoted to con-
vict the great body of interpreters of serious error, and
we are gravely warned of that "licentious and deluding
art, which can make everything of everything, and ends
by bringing all truth to nothing." By this maxim, some-
what hastily applied, the weight of opposing authority
is easily set aside; and in the confidence of superior dis-
cernment, and with all the zeal and hope of youthful dis-
coverers, the Futurists set out on a new voyage of pro-
phetical research.
Here, again, there are two or three observations
which ought to abate the confidence of the youthful
mariners, and to remind them, that even this maxim,
like the natural compass, has its own variation; and
that, if this be forgotten, it may lead them into worse
errors than if they had been content to observe the stars
only.
(1). And, first, the maxim of interpreting literally,
if taken alone, may lead to errors quite as serious as an
opposite maxim of unrestrained and perpetual allegory.
What do we mean by a literal interpretation? One in
which words have the same sense ascribed to them
which they usually bear in daily life. Now this is one-half
of the truth needed for a right interpretation of the
CHAP. X.]
251
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Scriptures. The word of God is a revelation to man.
To be useful to men, it must be definite and intelligible,
and in this sense, literal. But it is also a revelation from
God. Now, to be divine, it must contain higher truth,
nobler thoughts, more full and deep conceptions, than
such as man conveys to his fellow-men. Therefore, in
employing human language, it must exalt and expand
the meaning of the terms which it employs. It belongs
to that kingdom of God which eye hath not seen,
neither hath it entered into the heart of man. Hence
all its messages bear this same character. They are
literal, for they are given to man; they are mysterious,
for they proceed from God. To rob them of their
mysteriousness is just as fatal as to dissipate them into
uncertain allegories.
Now these two elements, which clearly exist in every
part of Scripture, may appear, in different parts, in
very different proportions. Some may be so literal as
scarcely to be distinguished outwardly from a merely
human history: others may be so mysterious as almost
to baffle the profoundest research of the most devout
and thoughtful minds, and the most diligent efforts to
determine their true meaning. The book of Genesis
belongs to the former class, and the book of Revelation,
just as plainly, to the latter. The very efforts of the
Futurists to explain it, and the contradictions in their
own expositions, only place this fact in a clearer light.
These two principles of interpretation have, therefore,
to be kept equally in view, and serve to limit and explain
each other. Those allegories are to be rejected which
have no definite basis, both in the special features of
the text and the general analogy of divine truth.
That literalism is to be renounced which involves a
contradiction to the purified reason, or narrows and
contracts the messages of God below the instincts of a
252.
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
holy and spiritual mind. Errors from one cause are as
frequent and dangerous as from the other. From a
false allegory, on the two swords of St. Peter, Popery
has extracted the doctrine of the universal jurisdiction
of the Roman see, with both temporal and spiritual
power. By a false literalism, it has perverted the
words of Christ into the senseless figment of transub-
stantiation-the main key-stone of all its spiritual delu-
sions.
Now it must be clear to every candid mind, on
tracing the course of the divine revelations, that the
Apocalypse, as it is the last, is also the most mysterious.
Even on this ground alone, the attempt to explain it
merely by the one principle of a strict adherence to the
letter, must be a vain and fruitless effort. No part of
Scripture plainly stands so much in need of a spiritual
eye, an eagle vision, and an expectation of high and
heavenly mysteries, as this last and noblest revelation,
sent to the beloved apostle who bare record of the
Divine Logos, and leaned upon His breast.
(2). But, next, the plea for the literal sense of this
prophecy, as it is commonly urged by the Futurists, is
entirely deceptive, and tends to convey a totally false
impression of the real subject in debate. Had the re-
vealing angel here, as in Dan. x.-xii., directly conveyed
a prophecy of coming events, in ordinary language and
in the future tense, reason would justify the demand for
a literal exposition, however this might be modified by
the general tone of the celestial revelation. But the
case is widely different. The book is properly and
immediately a record of visions which are past, and
not a prediction of events to come. There are, indeed,
predictive clauses or passages interspersed; but these
are exceptions, and in general the grammatical expo-
sition leaves us still in the past, and contains no direct
CHAP. X.]
253
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
account of the future. How, then, is the transition
supplied? Plainly, from the opening words of the title,
which tells us that the book was a prophecy of "things
which must shortly come to pass," and that the angel
conveyed it by signs (conuave) to the apostles. Now
no law of literal interpretation identifies the sign with
the thing signified. On the contrary, the force of
language requires us to distinguish them. In some in-
stances the two may coincide; the thing signified may
be introduced by name, or described in vision, so as to
become its own sign: but this is naturally the excep-
tion, and not the rule. The utmost which the literal
exposition, properly so called, can do, is to place us in
the position of the Seer at the time when the visions
were seen. But to interpret the signs is a deeper
question of spiritual wisdom and scriptural research,
not of grammatical skill. The maxim of literal inter-
pretation here ceases to apply, and the question really
to be answered is the true significance of certain divine
symbols, chosen to prefigure coming events. It is true
that, in some cases, the sign may be the same with the
object signified: but even in such instances the maxim
of adopting the literal meaning has, properly, nothing to
do with our conclusion; which must be drawn, purely
on grounds of general reasoning, from the nature of the
sign employed.
(3). Thirdly, the practical attempts to explain the
book by the exclusive maxim of adhering to the literal
sense, place the insufficiency of that maxim in the
clearest light. The writers who profess to make it
their guide are either hurried into palpable absurdities,
or admit continually anomalous exceptions to avoid
a worse evil; or else they have to commence by such
limitations of the maxim, on grounds of reason, and
direct consideration of the symbols, as virtually to cede
254
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the whole question in debate. Thus Mr. Tyso, who,
perhaps, goes furthest in the grossness of a pseudo-
literal sense, makes the locusts, in the fifth trumpet,
"literal insects, bred in the smoke of the bottomless
pit, as insects are, commonly, in a blight." In like
manner, the woman in chap. xii. is "some pious and ex-
cellent woman, perhaps a queen," who shall exist in the
last times. And, on the same principle, he may main-
tain that the sun and moon shall literally forsake their
orbits to form the wardrobe of this pious woman."
Mr. Burgh avoids these grosser errors, by unexplained
anomalies, almost as unreasonable. The four first
trumpets are to be strictly literal, but not so the eagle
flying through mid-heaven. In the fifth trumpet the
grass and the green things are to be literal, but the
locusts are to be human warriors, who shall form the
armies of the infidel antichrist. So, again, the temple
and all its adjuncts are literal, but the roll or little book
is a figure.
The wilderness is literal, but the woman
who flees into it a figure. All these expositions, where
they deviate from the great body of interpreters, are
justified by the alleged need of adherence to the letter;
and yet the author forsakes the letter at every turn,
when it strikes him at the moment as inconvenient.
There is no trace of any principle to guide his selec-
tion; all is left to the impulse of the moment.
Mr. Govett adopts a more judicious course. He
endeavours first to distinguish, by internal marks, those
portions which must of necessity be treated as sym-
bolical: and these, even by his own admission, are so
large, as already to form a large fraction of the prophecy.
The alleged maxim is, therefore, surrendered and al-
lowed to be insufficient. There is thus a great approach
towards the sounder view of interpreters in general;
but the principle adopted for ascertaining the symbo-
CHAP. X.]
255
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
lical parts is entirely defective. Our only warrant for
abandoning systematically, in any part, the direct sense,
is the fact that the whole book is not a direct prophecy,
but visions significant of future things. The real
question is, therefore, what signs can be reasonably
proved to be identical with the things signified; and
not which of the signs could have a real existence,
without absolute absurdity. If no objects but unna-
tural monsters were used in the types and parables of
Scripture to denote spiritual things, then every emblem
which is not clearly monstrous might be transferred, un-
changed, into the future tense, and taken as the very
event predicted by the vision. But the fact is entirely
different. The types and emblems of the divine word
are borrowed much oftener from real existences, or
natural objects which might exist without a prodigy,
than from monstrous and unreal combinations. The
whole demarkation, therefore, in this most improved
form of the hypothesis, rests on a baseless assumption,
opposed to the whole current of the inspired parables
and emblems.
Let us illustrate by one or two examples. A falling
star, in the popular sense, is a frequent natural occur-
rence; and so are rivers and fountains. Again, a fall-
ing star is plainly used in Scripture (Isa. xiv.) as the
emblem of the overthrow of a mighty monarch, or the
apostasy of a spiritual leader. Also rivers and fountains
are used, sometimes, as emblems of the military force of
the neighbouring countries (Isa. viii.), and sometimes of
public instructors (Prov. pass.) Now, so far as the
text is concerned, in its separate parts, we have no right
to assume that the third trumpet must relate to one of
these, more than another. The text is the narrative of
a past sign. The past sign may, in the abstract, denote
a future event, which shall be its own fac simile; or it
256
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
may denote events such as the examples in Isaiah
would imply. The latter view would have a Scripture
precede the former has none. But when we add,
further, that natural falling stars never descend on rivers
and fountains, but disappear in the sky; that it is im-
possible they should do this without ceasing to be stars,
and becoming simply a different object, a meteoric
stone; and that no meteoric stone could fall on the
third part of all the rivers and fountains without an
evident contradiction; the advantage of the symbolical
interpretation over that which pretends to be literal,
while it is really just as symbolical itself, and is only
petty and unnatural, becomes overwhelming and de-
cisive.
An example, open to more reasonable debate, may
be taken from the sealed tribes. The Jews are, and
always have been, so important an object of Divine Pro-
vidence, that, in the abstract, it can neither be unreason-
able nor improbable that they should be a direct object
of the prophecy, and, since no more appropriate symbol
could be found for them, that they should be, so to
speak, their own emblem. The sealed tribes would
then denote that actual number of Christian Jews,
whether in past times, or in days to come. On the
other hand, the Jewish nation clearly represent and
correspond to the visible Christian Church, and their
outward distinctness, the visible distinction of Christ's
professed disciples. The analogy is complete in most
respects, and of constant recurrence in the New Testa-
ment. It extends even to the temple, and all the con-
nected ordinances of Jewish worship. Either view,
therefore, has strong apparent grounds on which to rest ;
and the decision must depend mainly on a clear per-
ception of the general scope of the prophecy, the rela-
tion of its parts, and the minuter features of the descrip-
CHAP. X.]
257
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
...
2
tion. Those who view the book in general as symbo-
lical, may therefore, without inconsistency, conceive
literal Jews to be designed; while no principle of sound
interpretation can warrant any one in assuming that ex-
position to be self-evident, and denouncing the contrary
opinion as violent and absurd. This would betray a
complete ignorance of the real nature of the evidence
for either view.
It is curious, for instance, to contrast the confident
statements of Mr. Burgh on this point, without one
reason assigned, with the equal confidence of Vitringa
in maintaining the opposite interpretation, and the
distinct and connected reasons which he assigns. Mr.
Burgh speaks as follows:-
....
"On hearing of such expositions we are inclined to ask how
it is that such agreement can exist as to a principle of interpreta-
tion which involves so violent a wresting of the words of Scrip-
ture from their obvious and plain meaning Commentators
supposed it necessary to apply the sixth seal to some of these
events, and it followed that this seventh chapter could not apply
to the Jewish people, but must find its fulfilment in the history
of the Gentile Church.
"Now I do not blame these expositors for being desirous that
their systems should hang together. But what does much surprise
me is, that, when they had come as far as the sixth seal, and
found that it was followed by this chapter, they did not say-
'Here we must stop; here we must give up the principle with
which we set out, and seek some other interpretation; we must
not force the language of Scripture; we cannot set aside nor
accommodate it in such a manner as we now find to be necessary
to the system by which we hoped to explain this book: this
chapter can only refer to the Jewish nation"" (L. Apoc. pp. 61,62).
On the other hand, Vitringa expresses equal confi-
dence in embracing the opposite opinion; but then he
assigns specific reasons, and enters minutely into the
features of the text :—
"The prophecy here declares the character and the number of
258
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
those who are sealed; each, beyond all doubt, to be mystically
and symbolically understood. This all grant, so far as I know,
of the number, but all do not allow it, with equal readiness, of
their character. For, since the twelve tribes of the children of Israel
are here expressly mentioned, and these same twelve tribes, also,
are designated each by its own name, many interpreters are per-
suaded that this prophecy must, by all means, be referred to the
Jews, the offspring of Abraham, properly so called, and not in
figure. Their opinions, however, are divided, some referring
them to the Jews who escaped Pella, and others, as Launacus,
to the Jews to be converted to Christ at the end of time. But
we renounce altogether this hypothesis, which interprets the
passage of Jews properly so called. I am exceedingly surprised
that learned men who have expounded this book should not have
observed here also that it is allegorical: so clear and palpable
are the proofs in this passage, from which it is clear that by these
144,000 sealed, from all the tribes of Israel, are mystically to be
understood the confessors of Gospel truth,' who form the true
Church, opposed to that which is false and antichristian. For,
first, if these words were to be taken in the letter, the number
would equally require to be taken literally. But, since all here
explain the number mystically, we ought, it should seem, to do
the same with regard to the sealed ones themselves. Next, it
is clear, from the whole prophecy, that by the sealed must be
understood the chosen of God, who are to be preserved from a
common calamity, which would heavily afflict the whole world.
And who can assert these to be Jews only, who attends to the
scope of the prophecy and the connexion of the passage?
Thirdly, if the words were not to be understood mystically, the
whole tribe of Dan could not have been omitted in the prophecy.
...... Fourthly, that these words are mystical, and to be taken
allegorically, is very clear from the parallel text, xiv. 1, when
compared with this for in that passage the elect of God are
clearly exhibited, who, in the time of antichristian persecution,
would compose the true Church, and be contrasted with the
multitude of carnal men devoted to Romish superstition."
I will not stay to inquire whether these reasons of
Vitringa are solid and convincing, or whether others
might not be added of equal strength. But they show,
at least, the only way by which particular questions
CHAP. X.]
259
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of interpretation can be justly decided; and they are
a rebuke to the superficial petitio principii, which first
confounds the sign with the thing signified, and then is
astonished that all writers do not adopt implicitly the
same glaring and palpable error.
To conclude this topic, the province of the literal
interpretation in this book is strictly confined to the
task of placing us in the same point of light with the
apostle himself, when the visions were given. If it pro-
fesses to do more than this, it intrudes into an office.
which does not belong to it, and becomes a delusion.
It remains, then, to discover from the signs the events
which were divinely signified. And here we may dis-
tinguish them into three classes. In the first, the thing
signified is its own fittest sign; and conversely, the sign
will be expounded by an object or event like itself, only
ture, instead of past. This may be called, loosely, a
literal interpretation, though, in strictness of speech, it
is really symbolical, like the rest; for a past appearance
in a vision can never be really a literal event in a distant
age. In the second class, the sign contains some feature
of unreal strangeness, which clearly shows, to every
one of spiritual discernment or common sense, that it
denotes something distinct from itself, as well as future
in time. Such are the two beasts, the sun-clad woman
and the harlot, the eagle in mid-heaven, and the serpent-
tailed chivalry. The third class is of an intermediate
kind, where the sign is something possible, and with the
range of natural or supernatural experience. And here
the character of the book, the connexion of the whole
vision, the peculiar features of the passage itself, need
all to be carefully weighed and combined, in order to
obtain a well-founded conviction of the true meaning.
All pretended methods of ascertaining their true sense,
by a shorter course, and without this comprehensive
260
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENts of PROPHECY.
research, must, of their own nature, be an utter delusion;
they can only serve to furnish the superficial with a plea
for despising those labours from which they are them-
selves too indolent or careless to derive instruction.
III. But it is further objected, that the common view
of this prophecy has its source in a lurking unbelief of
all supernatural agency. This argument, in "the reve
lation literal and future," takes precedence of all the
rest. The reader might almost infer that the majority
of interpreters are viewed by the author as little better
than Deists in disguise.
The objection does not need a long answer. It rests
on an entire oversight of the most plain and evident
facts. Most of the commentators against whom it is
brought have helieved, and professed their belief, that
miracles will again occur before the second advent.
The habit of mind which would naturally result from
their views, the continual acknowledgment of a special
providence of God, over-ruling and controlling the ordi-
nary events of history, is the most remote possible from
the sceptical disbelief which rejects the notion of mira-
cles, and says merely with the scorner-“ All things
continue."
These commentators, however, without any repug-
nance to the admission of the miracles in general, might
well shrink from receiving such prodigies as some of the
Futurists have created, by their own mistakes, in con-
founding the sign and the object signified. Such wonders
as appear in these novel theories they may well reject
first, because they have no warrant in any sound laws
of interpretation; next, because they are quite alien
from the character of the real miracles which the word
of God records for our instruction; and, finally, because
they degrade the highest and latest of God's holy reve-
lations into a grotesque patchwork of unmeaning pro-
CHAP. X.]
261
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
digies. These reasons are amply sufficient to justify us
in rejecting them, amidst the fullest conviction that
signs and wonders will yet re-appear.
IV. One further objection may be noticed before
passing to the direct argument for the more general
view of prophecy. The vision of the seals, it is affirmed,
is clearly identical with the opening of our Lord's
discourse in St. Matthew. But this relates to the last
generation before the advent; and hence the whole
Apocalypse must be included within the same limits.
This argument appears in three of the Futurist
writers, and nearly in the same words: and yet each
of the two premises on which it rests is equally ground-
less. Let us examine them in order.
(1). First, let us allow that the two passages refer to
the same time. The effect would be to prove that the
seals were fulfilled long ago, in the apostolic age. Our
Lord's prophecy has been carefully examined in a former
chapter. And the whole connexion in which it occurs,
and the words of the discourse itself, with the clearer
statement in St. Luke, combine to prove that all its
first part refers to the generation which was then living.
The correspondence in the events, also, has been fully
traced by many able writers, as by Mr. Greswell, in his
learned work on the Parables. The argument, therefore,
so far as it has any force, would establish the theory of
Grotius and Hammond, and not that of the Futurists,
which is the other extreme pole of interpretation.
(2). But, secondly, the parallelism between the two
prophecies does not, and cannot, prove more than a
close and striking analogy. This is evident from the
last remark only; for the parallel parts of the discourse
in St. Matthew had been fulfilled before the other
prophecy was given. An analogy is almost equally
262
[CHAP. X.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
close, in the Apocalypse itself, between the trumpets and
the vials; which all the best commentators, and the Futu-
rists besides, hold to be distinct from each other. Again
the principle will require us also to allow the sameness of
the prophecy in Ezek. v.-xi., xiv., although its proper re-
ference is evidently to the times of the prophet and to
the judgments which were then falling on Jerusalem.
In the twenty-sixth of Leviticus is another prophecy,
which has resemblance enough to fix it to the same
time with the seals, if the maxim were allowed that
resemblance alone is a proof of chronological sameness:
and yet it is clearly quite general, and applies to the
whole course of the national sufferings of the Jews.
The source of error in the whole of this reasoning is
apparent. The laws of divine government, in their
main outlines, are constant and uniform. The weapons
of judgment which the Almighty commonly employs
are of a similar kind. The sword, the wild beasts,
famine, and pestilence, are expressly, in Ezekiel, as the
four heavy and sore judgments of the Lord. In every
main period, whether short or long, in which God visits
the nations in anger, we may expect these to appear.
Again, the last generation under the Jewish economy
has a marked correspondence with the last of the Chris-
tian, and each is like an epitome also, on a narrower
scale, of the whole course of Providence through the
whole Gentile dispensation. It is clear, therefore, how
unsafe every conclusion must be which confounds a
remarkable analogy with actual sameness of meaning.
This one mistake would turn every natural science into
one vast heap of confusion; for beautiful and close
analogies between things that differ abound in every
part of the works of God.
These are chief objections, of seeming weight, which

CHAP. X.]
263.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
have been alleged against the wider application of the
Apocalypse to the whole extent of the Christian dispen-
sation. But it is time to consider the direct evidence
of Scripture which bears on this important subject:
and since this involves many particulars, and will
require, from its peculiar interest, a full inquiry, it may
be treated with more convenience in a distinct chapter.
CHAPTER XI.
THE GENERAL DESIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE.
THIS present state of Apocalyptic interpretation is one,
among many features in the actual condition of the
Church, which should lead the Christian to humiliation
and sorrow. That holy prophecy, which was given for
the guidance of believers to the end of time with such
a peculiar solemnity and so repeated a blessing, still
remains, to most Christians, a watchword of silent con-
tempt, a signal for controversy, or a field for conjec-
ture. Few, comparatively, seem to have gained for
themselves an assured conviction even on the main out-
lines of its meaning. The bare fact that a school of
interpreters should have risen, whose aim is to prove
that all before them have quite mistaken even its gene-
ral object, and this after seventeen hundred years have
past, is a most humbling lesson of caution and prayer.
It proves how needful it is, in searching into its mean-
ing, to see that we have sure footing at every step, and
to establish every maxim or principle by the most
cautious and strict comparison of all the evidence which
the Scripture affords for its decision.
It is not too much to assert that, had this plain duty
been fulfilled, the new school would never have ap-
peared. One single objection, very plausible on a hasty
view, but hollow and unsubstantial, has been taken as
conclusive. And hence all the various evidence, which
combines to fix the nature of the Apocalypse, has been
passed over in silent neglect; and a new theory has

CHAP. XI.]
265
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sprung to light, which contradicts, not merely the con-
viction of all Christian divines from the first ages, but
every hint and proof, without exception, which the
word of God supplies, to determine the true reference
of its last and noblest portion.
This evidence it now remains for us to consider.
Some of the elements which compose it are more in-
direct than others; but all of them point, with entire
harmony, to the same conclusion.
I. THE TITLE OF THE PROPHECY is the first and
fundamental argument to determine its true applica-
tion. It is "the Apocalypse," or "unveiling of Jesus
Christ." Let us consider what meaning these words,
in the present instance, are designed to convey.
It has sometimes been imagined that these words
denote simply the second coming of Christ, because that
great event forms one main subject described, and the
very same term is used to describe it in several passages.
But this view is plainly erroneous. No one can read the
three first verses, with a simple mind, and not be con-
scious that such an interpretation involves a palpable
absurdity.
A more general view is, that the words are simply
the name of the book, as it now appears in the canon.
Those who adopt this opinion often identify it with the
sealed book in the fifth chapter.
This exposition is doubtless much nearer the truth,
yet it is not strictly correct. To pass by the further
question of the meaning of the sealed book, the pro-
phecy itself was clearly written down by the apostle, in
the isle of Patmos, as the visions were successively re-
vealed (i. 11; x. 4; xxii. 10). It had no existence as
a book till the last vision had been exhibited and re-
corded, when that impressive sanction was added at its
N
266
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
close (Rev.xxii. 18, 19). And hence the book itself, strict-
ly speaking, was never conveyed by an angel to St. John.
The true reference of the words, therefore, is to
the truth which the book contains, and of which it is
the designed vehicle to the Church. It is a title which
describes the sum and purpose of the whole; just as the
words "the Gospel of Jesus Christ," describe the sub-
stance and object of the record in each of the four
Gospels.
The essential character, then, of the book is sim-
ply-the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It is a removal,
for the instruction of the Church, of that veil which
conceals her Lord now that He is ascended into
heaven.. It is not, in its proper character, an arbi-
trary selection of events, nor yet a separated fragment
of Jewish and local history. It is a divine help to the
Church, that she may behold her Lord, as the angels in
heaven beheld Him, in His gracious attributes, His won-
drous offices, and His unceasing acts of love for the re-
demption of this fallen world.
Now, ever since the ascension of our Lord and His
entrance within the veil, His Intercession in heaven and
His Providence on earth have been perpetual and un-
ceasing. This prophecy, since it removes the veil from
His person, must have the same character. To suppose a
chasm of nearly two thousand years, is either to make it
contradict its title, or else, a virtual denial of the cease-
less intercession and providence of that Lord whom it
unveils.
On the other hand, the words, received in their
simple meaning, suggest a glorious view of the nature
and objects of this book, which is confirmed by the ex-
amination of its separate visions. Each of them pre-
sents to us, in its opening, some distinct view of the per-
CHAP. XI.]
267
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
son of our Lord in heaven, and unfolds some new aspect
of His Providence here below; till at length, when the
mystery of God is finished, all these aspects of His divine
glory are blended together in the brightness of His mani-
fest appearing.
II. THE ANALOGY OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
is a second argument to fix the true character of this
sacred book. This will require to be unfolded rather
more fully, as it depends on a wider range of subjects.
1. The prophecies of the New Testament are almost
limited to the discourse of our Lord, three or four pas-
sages in St. Paul's epistles (2 Thess. ii.; 1 Tim. iv.),
one of St. Peter and St. Jude; and this book of Reve-
lation. Our Lord's discourse has been proved to refer
mainly to the generation then alive. The prophecies of
St. Paul bear evident marks that they refer to the same
time with the Apocalypse itself. So that on the true
application of this book the decision must rest, whether
the New Testament contains any prophecy of events
between the fall of Jerusalem and the future Jewish
restoration.
2. The Christian dispensation, in its whole extent,
corresponds with the Jewish, from the call of Abra-
ham to the coming of our Lord. By a parity of rea-
soning, the book of Revelation, as the prophecy of
the New Testament, corresponds, in its office, with the
collective prophecies from Abraham to Malachi, when
the canon of the Old Testament was closed in words
that exactly resemble the parting sentences of the
Apocalypse.
3. Now the predictions of the Old Testament were
not limited to a few years in the last generation of
the Jewish economy. On the contrary, they include
nearly all the main events from Abraham to Christ.
Among the predicted facts are the four hundred years'
N 2
268
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
sojourn in Canaan and Egypt, with the Exodus by
which it was closed (Gen. xv. 13, 14, and 24; Exod. iii.
8, 12); the forty years' abode in the wilderness (Num.
xiv. 33, 34); the possession of the land, and local dis-
position of the tribes under the judges (Gen. xlix.;
Deut. xxxiii.); the victories of Samson (Judges xiii. 5);
the reigns of David and Solomon (1 Sam. xv. 28;
1 Chron. xxviii. 5), and building of the temple; the
separation of the kingdoms (1 Kings xi. 31); the suc-
cessive famines; the Assyrian invasion and commencing
captivity (Is. x.; Joel i.; Hos. viii. xi.); the time of its
commencement (Is. vii. 8); the reign of Jehu's family
(2 Kings x. 30); the reign of Josiah (1 Kings xiii. 2);
the seventy years' captivity and return from Babylon
(Jer. xxv. 11, 14); the succession of the Persian kings
(Dan. xi. 2); the reign of Alexander, and the wars of
Syria and Egypt (Dan. xi.); the birth, ministry, and
death of Messiah, his resurrection, the spread of the
Gospel, and the fall of the city and the sanctuary (Dan.
ix.; Zech. ix.) Thus we see that an almost unbroken
series of predictions extends through the whole course
of the former dispensation.
Now, if the Apocalypse contain a prophecy of events
from the days of the apostle to the return of Christ, this
analogy is full and complete. But, on the opposite view,
it is entirely destroyed: instead of analogy, we find a
total contrast.
4. The force of this argument can only be removed
by alleging some feature of contrast between the two
dispensations, which might account for such an en-
tire change in the provision made for the wants of the
Church. But no such reason can be given. On the
contrary, every feature of difference between the two
economies would lead us to expect a fuller, and not a
scantier, gift of prophetic instruction. The Church of
ན་
CHAP. XI.]
269
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the New Testament is more widely diffused, and its
changes are on a larger scale: its temptations and ad-
versaries are more various. The direct presence of in-
spired teachers has been entirely withdrawn. The
miraculous tokens of God's own presence have been
equally withheld. The dispensation is, in its very na-
ture, one of higher privilege and more full access to the
divine counsels. The name which the Saviour bears
under it is, the great Prophet which should come into
the world. Every circumstance of distinction, instead
of diminishing, increases the force of the analogy, and
raises it to the strength of a moral demonstration.
5. There seem only two replies which can be
made to this argument, and both are insufficient.
First, it has been asserted that the Church never
has derived such light from the Apocalypse; and
hence, that the analogy, however specious in theory,
fails to apply. But the assertion is untrue. However
partial and defective the light which the Church gained
from this book in the first thousand years, it was fully
as much, in proportion to the events, as the light of the
Jews from the Old Testament prophets. The early
triumphs of the Gospel, the downfal of Rome, the
troubles and temptations which would intervene to the
Church, and the final triumph of Christ's kingdom, were
seen in it from the earliest ages; and as time advanced,
the expectations drawn from it became increasingly
clear and perspicuous. Instances might be given in
later times of interpretations which approach to the
precision and truth of real and direct prophecies.
6. Again, it has been urged that the Church, under
the New Testament, was to be in constant expecta-
tion of the second advent. The whole period was a
parenthesis, and therefore no detailed prophecy of its
270
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
course and duration could have been given. This ar-
gument is sometimes put so strongly as to seem like a
denial of the perfect foreknowledge of God, and the
eternity of His counsels.
The following passage in
Dr. Todd's Lectures has certainly a very heterodox ap-
pearance:-
"For, if we suppose the apostle to have believed that the
apostasy was to afflict the Church for many centuries, the reve-
lation, that such an event was first to come, would have been
equivalent to an express revelation that many centuries were to
elapse between the apostolic age and the day of Christ; and
although the result has shown that many centuries have, in
fact, intervened, yet we have no reason to believe that this formed
any part of the counsel of God. Our Lord's coming may have
been delayed by the continued unbelief of the Jewish nation, by
the existence of that which still, perhaps, withholdeth the
revelation of Antichrist, or by other causes beyond the ken of
man. But to suppose it revealed to the Church, as part of the
immutable counsel of the Most High, that so long a time was
necessarily to elapse before the day of Christ could come, is
manifestly irreconcilable with the numerous passages in which
we are exhorted to watch and pray, because we know not when
the time is " (L. Ant. p. 260).
The words here put in italics contain a doctrine so
evidently unscriptural and false, that it is needless to
enter on their refutation. But the objection itself, when
cleared of the errors with which it has been joined, and
placed in the strongest light, is entirely deceptive. It
is plain, from reason and Scripture alike, that "known
unto God are all His works from the beginning." It
was clearly in His power, had He pleased, to reveal be-
forehand both the events and the times of the Christian
dispensation. The sole impediment lay in the warnings
founded on the ignorance of the Church, and the lesson
!
CHAP. XI.]
271
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
which they imply that such knowledge as would in-
terfere with hope and weaken expectation would be
purposely withheld. The real question is-has the
Apocalypse, on any hypothesis as to its true meaning,
actually produced such effects? Plainly it has not.
The very charge which is brought against the existing
interpretations is a proof. Their authors are condemned
for repeated anticipations of the time of the advent.
Now this is a proof that the Apocalypse, even on the
wider view of its meaning, has not defeated the purpose
of those general warnings. To say that this effect must
have followed, if it had been understood from the first,
is pointless and irrelevant. The objection, to be valid,
must be drawn from the actual results of the interpre-
tation, and not from those which might have occurred
had the revelation been less obscure.
It may be freely granted, then, that the times of the
Gospel are, in one sense, a divine parenthesis, in their
relation to the Jewish promises. But it must also be
allowed that this parenthesis was known and defined in
the counsels of God from the beginning; that its de-
fective cause, the unbelief of the Jews, was foreknown;
and that its direct and true cause, the sovereign grace
of God towards the Gentiles, had its times decreed and
fore-appointed. It must be granted, further, that the
events of this period were a main part of the counsel of
redemption, superior in dignity to those of all former
ages before the coming of Messiah. It was, therefore,
even more natural and fitting that they should be re-
vealed to Christians, than those which had been an-
nounced by the elder prophets, if only this might be
done without a premature revelation of times and sea-
sons. Now this is exactly what the divine wisdom has
effected in the Apocalypse, by the peculiar manner
272
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
in which the times are revealed. The objection, there-
fore, on a closer scrutiny, confirms the wider and more
enlarged interpretation.
7. There is one aspect only in which the present
analogy seems imperfect. The prophecies of the Old
Testament were given by parts, and in succession. The
dates of the predictions, no less than the predicted
events, range through a long interval of time. This
difference, however, is in accordance with the nature of
each dispensation. "The law made nothing perfect."
Under that infant economy it was natural that the light
of prophecy should be given in a more fragmentary and
partial form. The symmetry and completeness of the
Apocalypse answers to the higher nature of the Gospel,
and the more advanced stage of Providence to which it
refers. The same contrast may be seen in human writ-
ings. Books of elements, for children, are commonly
given in successive parts, increasing in difficulty, and
each of them incomplete; but in works of science de-
signed for men we look for the completeness of a regu-
lar system. The contrast between the Apocalypse and
the earlier prophecies is exactly of the same kind.
III. THE SPECIAL ANALOGY OF THE VISIONS OF
DANIEL is a further argument, still more immediate
and decisive. These two books of Scripture, it must be
plain to every one, have the closest resemblance, and
have a character which is shared by no others in the
whole inspired canon. They are alike in their authors-
Daniel, the man greatly beloved; and St. John, the be-
loved disciple. They are alike in their form; for both
of them are symbolical prophecies. Many of the sym-
bols are the same, and appear in both writers. They
resemble each other in the time when they were given.
It was in each case after the fall of the temple, and a
CHAP. XI.
1.] ELEMENTS of PROPHECY.
273
remarkable subversion of the Jewish state.
Several
other features of resemblance might be mentioned, and
more than one instance of direct allusion.
Now the book of Daniel has been proved to contain
a detail of events, in unbroken succession, from the
time of the prophet to the first advent, and more es-
pecially through four centuries and a half which en-
sued from the commencement of the visions. Hence
we may infer, by every law of reason, that the visions
of St. John also reach from the apostolic age, without
break, through the centuries which immediately follow.
The
This argument is strengthened by several collateral
marks, which deepen and confirm the analogy.
book of Daniel, in the parts which were fulfilled before
the times of the Gospel, has one main period of chrono-
logy revealed the seventy weeks; and these form about
three-fourths of the whole interval. In like manner,
the Revelation exhibits one main period of revealed time
before the second advent: and this, on the common
hypothesis, is 1,260 years, or more than two-thirds of
the interval since the prophecy was given.
The visions of Daniel, again, may be distinguished
historically into two parts; those clearly fulfilled before
the times of the Gospel, and those which are later. Now
the book of Revelation exhibits a close resemblance to
these last, and to these only. We have no date, for in-
stance, in the book of Revelation, approaching in value
to the seventy weeks; and no beasts answering to the
three first of those in Daniel. But the period of a time,
times, and half, re-appears, in the very same form, and
becomes a cardinal feature in the new prophecy. The
ten-horned beast appears also; and the horns receive
the very same interpretation. The same remark ap-
plies to the casting down of the stars, and the desola-
N 3
274
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tion of the sanctuary (Dan. viii.; Rev. xi. xii.) These
features are such as must naturally result, if both pro-
phecies are continuous, and present the main outlines
of Providence from the time when they were given.
No other view supplies any adequate explanation.
Every presumption, then, which can be drawn from
the book of Daniel confirms the larger range of the
Apocalypse. No reason, whether internal or external,
can be alleged against the general opinion of its na-
ture, which is not refuted by a comparison with these
earlier visions. These show us plainly that, when the
Jewish economy began to be uprooted, the wisdom of
God at once provided his Church with further light,
and began to exhibit to her, in more complete and
orderly succession, the sea-marks of that long voyage
by which she was at length to be conducted to her
haven of rest. They prove also that common events,
such as are recorded in profane history, are worthy of
distinct mention in the word of God; and that the
Church may learn from them most important lessons of
the divine foreknowledge and wisdom. They remind
us, by the symbols employed, that the ordinary course
of the world, when pourtrayed by the colours of in-
spiration, and seen in the light of heaven, may consti-
tute a series of moral prodigies, not less wonderful, and
more deeply instructive, than those natural signs and
wonders on which a sportive fancy ever delights to
dwell. They warn us, therefore, from reading these
divine symbols, as the Capernaites heard the discourse
of our Lord, in a gross and wonder-making spirit; and
teach us rather to explore, by their aid, those deep and
impressive mysteries of sin and redemption, of human
perverseness and divine grace, by which we are ever
surrounded in the history of this fallen world.
CHAP. XI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
275
IV. THE PROPHECY OF OUR LORD, when compared
with the Apocalypse, gives further help to decide its
true meaning.
It has been shown already that this discourse con-
tains, first of all, a distinct detail of events to occur in
that actual generation, down to the fall of Jerusalem,
and the dispersion of the Jews. It then intimates a
period, without assigning its length, called "the times of
the Gentiles,” and closes with a brief sketch of the signs
which shall immediately attend the second advent.
There is then added a twofold affirmation with regard
to the times the first, that all the events predicted
concerning the fall of the temple should certainly be
fulfilled in that very generation; and the other, that
the day and hour of the second advent was, at that
time, purposely concealed, that the Church might be
ever kept in a state of wakeful expectation.
The angel had briefly announced the same events to
Daniel, in those words of the vision, "The people of
the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary; and the end will be with a flood." But
this short prediction is now expanded by our Lord him-
self; and a note of time is added, to render the expec-
tation of his disciples still more definite and clear. Thus
we see in this further prophecy the three maxims all
illustrated-continuity, progressive development, and
increasing distinctness of prophetic chronology. And
hence we obtain several plain arguments to fix the true
meaning of the revelation.
1. First, the events here predicted by our Lord
come within the range of the Christian dispensation.
Yet the same law of continuous prediction, which has
been traced in Daniel up to the first advent, appears
still in force. There is nothing, therefore, in the na-
ture of the Gospel economy, to abrogate the precedents
276
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
drawn from the visions of Daniel, or to shut up, within
narrower bounds than before, the measures of prophetic
light vouchsafed to the Church.
. 2. Secondly, the first generation of disciples under
the Gospel, Gentiles as well as Jews, had a direct pro-
phecy of the leading events of Providence to take place
in their times. Yet they were privileged with the living
presence of inspired apostles, and had received the first
effusion and miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost. There
is nothing, then, in the spiritual privileges of the new
dispensation, which renders the light of direct prophecy
superfluous or unseasonable. It is through the word,
and not without it, that the promised Spirit guides be-
lievers into all truth. The larger supply of the Spirit,
and a fuller revelation in the written word, do not super-
sede, but accompany each other. And since the first
race of believers were privileged with such a clear
prediction, it is reasonable to suppose that no later
generation would be left entirely without similar gui-
dance, when the absence of inspired teachers would
render it still more needful.
3. The Gospel of St. Luke, which was written later
than the two others, and for the use of Gentile be-
lievers, alone mentions the "times of the Gentiles."
Now on the same principle, when the temple had fallen,
and all the preceding verses been fulfilled, it is natural
to suppose that this phrase, and the period to which it
refers, would be expanded with greater fulness. And
this is precisely the character of the Apocalypse, if we
assign to it the wider meaning.
4. The brief allusion to the interval which would
ensue after the fall of Jerusalem is conveyed in St.
Luke, in these words- -"Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled." In close analogy with these, we read, in the
CHAP. XI.]
277
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Apocalypse, a similar statement-"The court without
leave out and measure it not; for it has been given to
the Gentiles, and the holy city they will tread under
foot forty and two months.” Now the words in St.
Luke relate demonstrably to the whole time of the
Jewish desolation from the fall of the temple. And
since this passage is so clearly referred to, and ex-
panded in the later prophecy, the most natural conclu-
sion is, that the general purpose of the Revelation is to
exhibit the history of the same period which had been
mentioned in St. Luke, but not unfolded. The unity
of design through the whole series of predictions, with
their gradual development at the fittest season, becomes,
on this view, most conspicuous and beautiful.
I
V. A further presumption of the same kind may be
drawn from the Epistles, and the prophetic allusions
which they contain.
If the book of Revelation relates solely to events
which were to occur after the lapse of eighteen centuries,
there must be some unknown reason for which the
Holy Spirit deserts all the former analogies of the Old
Testament, and denies to the Church all insight into
God's providence, except for a few years before the
advent. Such a reason, if it existed, would apply
equally to the notices of coming events in the Epistles
themselves.
Now the fact, on examination, proves to be exactly
opposite. These notices have no such exclusive re-
ference to the time of the end, but relate to all the
times of the Gospel.
The first, if we arrange them by their date, is the
noted prophecy in the second epistle to the Thessa-
lonians. It is needless here to enter on the details of
exposition, or even to assume what evil power is de-
scribed. One thing is evident at sight, that the predic-
-278
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tion of the withholding power, known to the Thessa-
lonians, and of the wicked one to be afterwards revealed,
occupy together the whole course of the dispensation.
The prophecy is, therefore, continuous, from the time
of St. Paul to the second advent.
The next of these notices is in 1 Cor. x. 1-10. In that
passage a prophetic warning is given to the Church of
Christ, from the example of the Jews in the wilderness.
Strong reasons might be assigned for the opinion, that
the five particulars selected compose a divine predic-
tion of successive temptations to which the Church
would be exposed. It is certain that, in other passages,
murmuring is set before us as eminently the sin of the
last times. But this, at least, is evident, that the apostle
here delivers a prophetic warning of the sins and cor-
ruptions of Christians, like those of Israel in the wilder-
ness, and that this warning extends through all the
times of the Gospel. It is also evident, that the forty
years' sojourn in the desert is made the type to repre-
sent the whole duration of the Church. And this re-
mark becomes of great importance, when we remember
how prominent a symbol in the book of Revelation is
the flight into the wilderness.
A third notice of the same kind occurs in 1 Tim. iv.
1-6. This was commonly referred by the early be-
lievers to the Gnostic and kindred heresies. By Pro-
testant writers it is generally applied to the corrup-
tions of the fifth and following centuries; and by the
Futurists, to events still to come. It is enough here to
observe-first, that the expression "later times" has
nothing to fix it to the very end of the dispensation, but
rather the reverse; and next, that the phrase "some
shall depart" seems to be little in accordance with an
apostasy at once universal and undisguised. The strong
presumption then, here also, is against the view which
CHAP. XI.]
279
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
confines the notice to a few years only, just before the
end.
The passage, 2 Pet. ii. 1-12, is still more decisive.
No one can read it with attention, unless under some
strong bias, and not see that it began to be fulfilled
more than a thousand years ago, in the false teaching,
blind superstition, and fearful covetousness which had
infected a large portion of the Christian clergy.
From all these indications we see clearly that the
Epistles do not confine their predictions to the very time
of the advent, or overleap all the intervening centuries.
And this is a proof that no mysterious cause exists to
reverse, in the Revelation, the constant analogy of all the
foregoing prophecies. The conclusion is inevitable, so
far as internal tokens can be a guide, that its range ex-
tends throughout the whole of the Gospel dispensation.
VI. The distinctive character of St. John's writings
also points to the same conclusion. This is an argu-
ment, the apparent force of which will rise or fall, in
proportion as any one is more or less intimate with the
actual course of divine inspiration, and the style pecu-
liar to each of the sacred writers.
For instance, the Gospel of St. Luke and the book
of Acts, as they proceed from the same author, agree
in one common character, by which they are distin-
guished from the other books of the New Testament.
The Epistles of St. Paul, again, have a character of their
own, which clearly separates them from those of any
other apostle. The same is eminently true of the wri-
tings of St.John. His Gospel has, from the earliest times,
been marked by the distinct title (το ευαγγέλιον τὸ κατὰ
Tvevua), the spiritual Gospel. His Epistles share the
same character; the peculiar tone which marks the
Gospel re-appears in them in every part.
The resemblance or contrast, in all these cases, is not
:
į
¡
280
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
verbal merely on the contrary, it extends commonly
to the whole aspect of the truth conveyed. The selec-
tion of the penman seems to be always in strict harmony
with the nature of that message which the Holy Spirit,
by him, would reveal to the Churches.
In the book of Revelation the same law of divine
wisdom may be expected to prevail. Besides the gene-
ral warrant for this expectation, there is another which
is supplied by the opening verses. St. John is there
described by this addition: "Who bare record of the
word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even
all the things that he saw." The words perhaps relate
properly to the triple character of the book, noted just
before. It was the gift of God himself, and therefore
"the word of God." Its subject was the unveiled per-
son of the Saviour, and therefore it was "the testimony
of Jesus Christ." It was signified by an angel in visions,
and thus came under the description, "all things that
he saw." But still the phrase corresponds so closely to
the character of St. John's Epistles and Gospels, that it
seems to include a retrospective allusion. In the open-
ing of both works the apostle eminently bears record
of the Divine Logos-" the Word of God." The phrase
thus serves for a memorial to us of that unity of spi-
ritual character which marks all the writings of this
beloved apostle of the Lord.
If this principle be once admitted-and it is hard to
see on what ground it can be denied-then every dis-
tinctive feature of the Gospel and Epistles will serve
for a direction to the true character of the Apocalypse.
And it will be found that every one mark, without ex-
ception, condemns the novel system of interpretation,
and establishes the larger view which has prevailed from
the beginning.
1. First, the most conspicuous feature of St. John's
CHAP. XI.]
281
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
writings is their spiritual and heavenly character.
Hence the early Church, from their clear perception of
this truth, applied to him the symbol of the fourth living.
creature in the celestial vision, the flying eagle. He
scarcely dwells at all on the outward ordinances of the
Church; but, alike in the Gospel and the Epistles, he
fixes his gaze directly on the pure and eternal truth—on
that which does not vary with the change of dispensa-
tions, but "that which was from the beginning," the
life which is eternal, and the truth which is immutable
and divine.
In all the parts of the Apocalypse of which the sense
is undisputed, the same character re-appears. The
divine titles used, and the forms of truth presented to our
view, are those which are most spiritual and heavenly.
Now if the Futurist hypothesis were true, this re-
markable character will be suddenly reversed when we
turn to the predictions themselves. St. John will have
passed at once from the high region of spiritual mys-
teries, which seems his native sphere, to the opposite
pole of revealed truth, the literal record of external and
material prodigies. We shall have to make at once a
mental transition, not less wide than the hiatus of chro-
nology. In the predictions we have to vault forward
over eighteen centuries; in the tone of thought we have
to recede as far backward, from the latest and most hea-
venly of the Gospels to the opening of Exodus. That
apostle, who scarce records in his Gospel one miracle
of our Lord, unless where it is the occasion of some
heavenly discourse, or is itself transparent with the
divine parable within, will have become the chosen pen-
man to record more sensible wonders than can be found
in all the other pages of the word of God. Doubtless
we must reason with caution and reverence on the ways
of Him, who giveth not account of any of His matters.
*
•282
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
But we are only following in the clear footprints of his
own divine wisdom, when we affirm that the choice of
this apostle for such a message would reverse every
precedent which the canon of inspiration sets before us.
Let us now recur to the older and more general view
of the prophecy, which regards it as a symbolical his-
tory of the whole dispensation. The harmony is at
once restored. The Apocalypse, instead of contrasting
with the Gospel, becomes the highest and fullest exhi-
bition of its grand feature, spiritual contemplation. It
becomes, indeed, "the Gospel after the spirit" of the
ascended Saviour, and differs mainly by ranging over a
longer period. Every object of nature now becomes
instinct with spirit. The radiance of some deep and
imperishable truth gleams out from every metaphor, as
in the discourse on the true Vine, the living Bread, or
the living waters. Nature becomes one treasury of
symbols, Providence one mine of moral wonders, all
centring in the person of the risen Saviour, and illus-
trating the declaration in the Gospel, that "the Father
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand."
2. But there are also special allusions, which link the
Gospel and the prophecy together, and seem also as if
expressly designed for a key to the sacred emblems.
The two works both of them open with that peculiar
title, "the Lamb of God," which occurs once only in
any other book of Scripture. The attendant words in
the Gospel, "that taketh away the sin of the world,"
point out the extent of the salvation of Christ as not
confined to the Jews only. And they are thus like a
key, to show that the vision in the Apocalypse (ch. v.vi.)
must be explained with an equally comprehensive mean-
ing. The first miracle, of the water turned into wine,
is also a clear parable of the richer grace of the Chris-
tian covenant. And it thus, by contrast, illustrates the
•
CHAP. XI.]
283
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
judgments of the Trumpets and the Vials, and the deep
moral significance of the embittered and bloodstained
waters. The words of our Lord to the Jews, "Destroy
this temple," are a further link of the same kind: "He
spake of the temple of His body." And the apostle thus
supplies a secret caution, that when our Lord from
heaven speaks to him again of the temple (Rev. xi. 1, 3),
our thoughts must not rest, like the Jews, in the ma-
terial building, but must interpret the words, like the
disciples afterward, by the light of the resurrection.
The caution to the nobleman, "Except ye see signs
and wonders ye will not believe," applies in all its force
to those, who, under the Christian dispensation, require
miracles as sensible as the Jews in the wilderness, before
they can recognize the real fulfilment of the sacred
emblems. It forbids us to rest in the expectation of
mere outward and material wonders, as if the unveiling
of Jesus Christ in His glory could consist in these; and
bids us rather contemplate the moral grandeur of God's
ceaseless Providence, and its harmony, through every
age of the Church, with the mysterious predictions of
His holy word.
3. A third feature, very remarkable both in the Gospel
and the Epistles, is the entire absence of all special
recognition of the Jews. The key-note is found in that
opening verse-" He came unto His own, and His own
received Him not." Throughout the whole Gospel, the
Jews, as a nation, are tacitly disowned. Their feasts
seem disclaimed as no longer the feasts of God (ii. 13;
vi. 4; vii. 2; xi. 55). The holy name of "the temple
is transferred to a higher object (ii. 19, 21). The special
distinctions of their worship are set aside (iv. 23).
Their national title is applied distinctively to the unbe-
lievers and persecutors (v. 15, 16; vii. 7, 13; ix. 18, 22),
to the murmurers and the contentious (vi. 41, 52). Our
וי
284
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Lord himself is seen to strip them of their title, and to
reserve it for a higher use (viii. 23, 39; xiii. 33; xv.
18, 24). The same feature is carried still further in
the Epistles. They do not contain one single verse
which implies the former privileges, or even the present
existence and future hopes, of the Jewish nation.
It is plain, at once, how entirely this character accords
with the view which sees in the Apocalypse the record
of the Gentile dispensation. This is the precise balance
and counterpoise which we might expect to find, in the
word of prophecy, as in the Gospel covenant, to that
rich profusion of sacred truths and merciful predictions
which had already been clustered around the chosen
people. Because the Church has long been guilty of
neglecting these last, or explaining them away, some
appear now in danger of rushing blindly into the oppo-
site extreme; and would interpret the Scriptures as
though a natural descent from the loins of Abraham
were the main object contemplated in the divine coun-
sels, and almost the same with the boundary wall of the
heavenly Jerusalem. But the above view of the Apoca-
lypse harmonizes the scheme of prophecy, in its bearing
on the Gentiles and Jews, the two sacred divisions of
mankind; while it is in entire agreement with that Ca-
tholic and universal character which marks all the writ-
ings of the beloved apostle. On the opposite theory,
which assigns to the visions a local and strictly Jewish
reference, there is contrast instead of resemblance; and
in the place of a beautiful harmony of character and of
spiritual features, there is introduced a most abrupt and
complete discordance.
VII. THE DATE OF THE PROPHECY yields a further
and very distinct sign of its true meaning. It was re-
vealed to the apostle, as proved by decisive evidence, to-
wards the end of Domitian's reign, and near the close of
CHAP. XI.]
285
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the first century. St. John was then the only survivor of
all the apostles. The temple at Jerusalem was in ruins.
The nation of the Jews were dispersed and in exile. The
Gentile Churches were diffused through every part of
the empire, and exposed to the first strokes of heathen
persecution. The Hebrew Christians were still existing
as a separate community, but sinking into decay. The
voice of prophecy, which had been distinct and clear
down to the fall of Jerusalem, gave only a dim answer
concerning the events beyond. The time was thus ex-
actly suited for a last revelation, which might unfold
the mystery of Providence till its final consummation.
The apostle St. John stood in the very same relation to
the Gentile Church in which Daniel stood to the Church
of the Old Testament, at the commencement of the first
captivity and dispersion. Every circumstance would
indicate a reference to the new economy of the Gospel,
and not to those special Jewish relations which had at
least been put under a long suspension, and in the view
of the early Christians had finally passed away. The
prophecy was not given to St. Peter or St. James, who
were eminently the apostles of the circumcision, but to
St. John; nor to St. John while still residing at Jeru-
salem, but in lonely exile at Patmos, long after he had
forsaken Judea, and fixed his residence as the presiding
apostle at Ephesus, and among the Asiatic Churches.
The place of his abode was that particular Church, to
which St. Paul had most fully proclaimed the mystery
of Gentile adoption, and the cessation of the distinctive
privileges of the Jews. And thus both the time of the
prophecy, and the place where it was given, disprove all
exclusive reference to a Jewish Church in the last times,
and confirm the larger application to the whole course
of the Gospel.
In fact, nothing can be more uniform than the con-
nexion which is observed through the series of prophets,
286
[CHAP. XI
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
between the time when each wrote and the events
from which his predictions take their departure.
Isaiah, who prophesied from the close of Uzziah's
reign to that of Hezekiah, predicts the defeat of
Rezin and captivity of Syria and Ephraim, the in-
vasion of Sennacherib and its defeat, all of them events
which occurred during his own lifetime; and passes
on to the captivity of Babylon, the next main event
of Jewish history. Jeremiah, who began to prophecy
about twenty years before the captivity, first predicts
its arrival and severity, and then assigns the limit.
of its continuance, and announces the return. The
prophet Daniel, one generation later, continues the
chain in regular succession from his own days, through
two intervening empires, to the coming of Messiah.
Our Lord, at the close of His own ministry, prolongs
the series unbroken to the fall of Jerusalem. And now
that St. John, within thirty years after that event, con-
veys to the Church a new prophecy, how can we avoid
the inference that it prolongs still further the sacred
calendar of Providence, in the same continuous order as
those which had been previously given?
VIII. A further mark to determine the general
scope of the Revelation may be drawn from the parties
to whom it was first sent. It was addressed to the
seven Churches of Asia. Now, in every instance where
the inspired books have a direct superscription, they
refer directly and peculiarly to the parties whose name
they bear, or to whom they were first sent. This truth
may
be seen in more than one passage of Isaiah and
Jeremiah. It appears very conspicuous in the first
vision of Daniel, and, indeed, in all those which follow.
The same is true of the various Epistles of the New
Testament. Now, if the Apocalypse records the his-
tory of the Gentile Church, the address to the seven
Churches of Asia is most suitable, and in full harmony
CHAP. XI.]
287
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
with the precedents of Scripture. But it is equally
incongruous, if the main reference of the work be to
Jewish Christians alone, during a few years at the end
of this dispensation. The relation is then destroyed
between the peculiar object of the prophecy and the
parties to whom it was addressed. The Hebrew Chris-
tian Church, under the episcopate of Symeon, had now
returned to Jerusalem, and dwelt among its ruins.
"They enjoyed a profound peace, and kept their solemn
assemblies." And therefore, had the scope of this pro-
phecy been such as has been lately maintained, that
Church was the natural place to which, according to all
precedent, the heavenly gift would have been conveyed.
Not only the selection of the inspired messenger, but of
the parties who were to receive the message, is a plain
and clear token that its great object is to reveal the
history of the Gentile Church.
IX. The direct statements with regard to the time,
which begin and close the prophecy, are a further
evidence of its true meaning. It was sent "to show
unto God's servants things which must shortly come to
pass." The blessing to those who read it is enforced
from this same motive. And it is repeated in that
verse at the close-" Seal not the sayings of the pro-
phecy of this book, for the time is at hand.”
On the Futurist hypothesis, these words are to be
explained by comparing them with other texts, where
the second advent is itself declared to be near. In the
sight of God a thousand years are as one day; and
hence even eighteen centuries must be only a little
time. The prophecy, on this view, may belong entirely
to events still future, without any violence to the true
sense of these expressions.
This solution might perhaps be adequate, if these
phrases stood alone. But the last of them points us
288
CHAP. XI.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
:
directly to some texts, entirely opposite in their tone,
which occur in the book of Daniel. Thus it is said, at
the close of chapter viii.: "The vision of the evening
and the morning, which was told, is true; wherefore
shut thou up the vision, for it shall be for many days.”
And again in chapters x.-xii.: "The thing was true, but
the time appointed was great." "For yet the vision is
for many days." "Shut up the words and seal the
book, even to the time of the end.”
The contrast in the two prophets is pointed and
complete. One vision is to be shut up because it is
for many days; the other is closed with the injunction-
"seal not the sayings of this book, for the time is at
hand." Now it is clear that, in Daniel's vision, the
events were not distant, as measured by a divine scale
of time, but only when referred to that which is ordinary
among men. And hence we may infer that the nearness
of the events in the book of Revelation is to be under-
stood also in the stricter sense.
There are two conclusions which may be drawn at
once from this evident contrast between these passages.
If we adopt the most extreme view of the recent school,
and ascribe both Daniel and the Apocalypse, in every
part, to the time of the end, no such contrast could
obtain between them. The theory, with the largest
admissions, is therefore untenable.
But the argument is really much stronger. The first
portion of Daniel's visions has been proved to relate to
events which followed at that very time. If the Futurist
view of Revelation were just, the texts before us would
need to be reversed. The visions of Daniel, in great
part, at least, would have been “at hand;" and those of
the Apocalypse would all have been "for many days,"
since the nearest would be distant by nearly two
thousand years. The hypothesis is totally inconsistent
with these contrasted marks of time.
CHAP. XI.]
289
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
F
There is one difficulty, however, which must be re-
moved before the real force of this argument can be
fully seen. The visions of Daniel, it has been shown,
commence from the days of the prophet, and continue
without break down to the first advent, although their
final close is at a much later period. How, then, can
so strong a contrast be drawn between their distance
and that of the events in Revelation, even if this latter
prophecy begins with the apostolic age?
The answer to this question is to be found by a
close attention to those words in Daniel where the dis-
tance of the time is affirmed. In the eighth chapter
it is "the vision of the evening and the morning"
which is ordered to be sealed. The event to which this
refers us is "the transgression of desolation, to give
both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under
foot." It is this event, and the desolation which follows,
to which the words of the angel really apply. The
earliest historical fact to which the verse can be reason-
ably applied, is the desolation under Titus; and con-
sequently it falls within the limits of the Christian
dispensation.
Again, in the twelfth chapter, the same distinction
appears. The celestial speaker puts the inquiry—
"Until how long shall be the end of the wonders?"
By comparing with the words of the previous chapter,
where the same expression occurs, we obtain the follow-
ing as the probable sense— "How long will that closing
period of the prophecy last which is occupied or com-
posed of these wonders?" The answer precisely ac-
cords with this view, and so also does the renewed
inquiry of the prophet himself "O my Lord, what
means the closing portion of these things?" The further
revelation of the times proves still more clearly that
neither the question nor the answer refer to the parts
0
i
i
290
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
before v. 31, and which precede the setting up of the
abomination. And here, again, the earliest event to
which that verse can, with reason, be applied, is the
Roman desolation.
In each case, then, it appears that the events to which
the sealing applies are exclusively those which fall within
the times of the Gospel. They were distant by nearly
six centuries from the time of the prophet, and also
belonged to a different dispensation, which was still an
unopened mystery in the counsels of God.
This view is confirmed by the direct authority of St.
Peter, in his first Epistle (ch. i. 10-12). The allusion
there made relates eminently to these texts of Daniel:
and we learn that the cause of the sealing was be-
cause the events predicted had reference to the times
of the Gospel; and the prophecy, in these parts, was
designed for Christian believers, and was to be after-
wards unfolded to them by the Holy Spirit of God.
The nature of the contrast will now be clear. The
events in Daniel, which were sealed, reach from the end
of the Jewish to the end of the Gentile dispensation.
They were sealed for two reasons. Their commence-
ment was still many centuries distant; and they also be-
longed to a distinct economy, which was not to be reveal-
ed before its time. The events predicted in the Revela-
tion also range over the same period; but the dispensation
to which they refer was now begun, and the earliest of
the predictions, instead of being centuries distant, were
close at hand. Hence the emphatic and thrice-repeated
contrast―" Things which must shortly come to pass
"Seal not the sayings, for the time is at hand.”
""
X. THE CHARACTER OF THE OPENING BENEDICTION
bespeaks, in every part, the same reference. The holy
and incommunicable name is now, for the first time,
CHAP. XI.]
291
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
translated out of the Hebrew idiom into the language
of the Gentile Churches. In this new and glorious form
it now recurs throughout the prophecy-" He which
was, and which is, and which is to come." To denote
how eminently the visions belong to the dispensation of
the Spirit, and the symbolical character which pervades
their whole course, the seven spirits, the symbol of the
Holy Ghost, are here, and here only, associated with
the Father and the Son in the benediction of peace.
The continuous nature of the predictions is foreshown
in the titles of Christ which immediately follow. These
refer us, in succession, to His testimony when on earth;
to the time of the resurrection; to that supreme autho-
rity which He assumed on His ascension into heaven; to
the continual redemption and sanctification of His peo-
ple till the kingly priesthood are complete; and to His
final return in the clouds of heaven. The name Jehovah,
which before had been joined with that national title,
the God of Abraham, is not only itself translated into
the Greek tongue, the language of the Gentiles, but is
associated with a name distinctively and entirely of
Gentile origin-"I am Alpha and Omega, saith the
Lord." Every indication thus combines in the same les-
son, and teaches us that the Gentile, and not the Jewish
Church, is the main object of this sacred prophecy.
The words of the seventh verse have sometimes been
alleged as a proof that the Jewish nation form one direct
and chief subject of the visions. But it seems, on a
juster view, to lead us to an opposite conclusion. The
expressions, though not a verbal quotation, have a close
resemblance to the Greek version of Zech. xii., and
hence have been sometimes thought to bear the same
meaning with that striking prophecy. But the inference
is unsound. The words of St. John cannot be limited
and restrained, like those of Zechariah, to the Jewish
o 2
292
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
nation. The words, "every eye shall see Him," are clearly
universal. The following clause, "and whosoever pierced
Him," is equally general. If taken in the letter, it would ex-
clude the Jews themselves; and taken in its spiritual sense,
it includes all sinners alike, whether Jews or Gentiles;
nor is there anything to restrict its meaning. The
phrase, "the kindreds of the earth," although the same
words in Zechariah would denote "the tribes of the
land," cannot be taken here in this limited sense. For
the expression, "prince of the kings of the earth," which
has occurred just before, fixes them clearly to a more
extensive application. Let the verses be read in their
connexion, and the truth of this assertion will be at once
apparent.
The inference to be drawn, then, from this verse, con-
firms all the previous statements, and throws a fresh
light on the visions which succeed. The apostle, guided
by the Divine Spirit, adopts the phrases of a prophecy
which eminently refers to the Jews; but he places them
in a context, where they lose their original and limited
reference, and are fixed decisively to a larger and more
comprehensive meaning. There is thus a key, from the
very first, put into our hands, by which to interpret the
Jewish emblems which occur in the visions. We are
taught, by a striking example, that the Holy Spirit bor-
rows the language of the elder dispensation, in order to
reveal the analogous, but wider truths, of the spiritual
kingdom of God.
XI. THE SPECIAL OCCASION when these visions were
revealed is also very significant of their main design.
The holy apostle "was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ."
It was the season of one of the early persecutions, in
the reign of Domitian. The great conflict had now
begun between the witnesses of Christ and the idola-
CHAP. XI.]
293
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
trous power of Rome.
striking omen of the moral warfare which was to continue
through successive ages. The same parties are seen op-
posed to the last. Rome, the mystic Babylon, is seen, near
the close of the prophecy, drunk with the blood of the
witnesses. And the issue of the conflict is declared in
those words-"These shall make war with the Lamb,
and the Lamb shall overcome them-and they that are
with him, called, and chosen, and faithful."
The exile of St. John was one
This great moral warfare is, therefore, set before us,
both in its historical commencement, in the exile of St.
John, when the vision was given, and in its prophetical
completion in the last chapters of the book. But there
is no appearance of any abrupt transition from the one
to the other. On the contrary, the prophecy contains
no less than nine or ten distinct passages, which exhibit
the same conflict of the witnesses of Christ, and which
seem to lead as, by gradual stages, to the final issue
(Rev. ii. 10, 13; vi. 9; x. 10, 11; xi. 3, 7,11; xii. 11, 17;
xvii. 14, 16; xx. 4). The two extremes are fixed, one
to the exile of the aged apostle, and the other to the
future triumph and reign of the martyrs. And where,
besides this, the intermediate links are so many and
various, what reasonable doubt can there be, even on
this ground only, of the continuity of the whole?
But the time is equally significant with the locality
of the vision. St. John "was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day." There has been of late a very strange attempt,
and not less fruitless than strange, to turn these words
from their natural meaning, as if the Lord's day here
mentioned were no other than the great and final day of
the Lord's advent. This is really to pervert a simple text
into a gross absurdity; and a bare perusal of the two
following verses is a sufficient refutation of the hypothe-
sis. It is clear that the time intended is some particular
*

294
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
2.
Christian Sabbath, or first day of the week; and that
the name is given to it here, and has ever since been re-
tained in the Church, to celebrate the glorious fact of
the Lord's resurrection.
All the visions of the Apocalypse were thus revealed
to the apostle in the course of one "Lord's day," or
Christian Sabbath. And surely this alone is deeply in-
structive as to their true nature. In our Lord's own pro-
phecy to his disciples, the direction occurs—“ Pray ye
that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-
day." It is plain that here the Jewish or seventh-day
Sabbath was intended. The passage shows us that, to
the Jewish believers, the sacredness of the Jewish Sab-
bath was to continue till the fall of the temple. That
ordinance was, in a manner, the keystone of the whole
Jewish economy. The substitution, in its room, of the
first day for the Christian assemblies, was a most dis-
tinct mark that the kingdom of God was being taken
from Israel and given to another people. But until the
fall of the temple, the change was not complete, and the
words of Christ still recognize the sacredness of the
seventh day. Now, however, in this last prophecy,
when the temple had fallen, the Sabbath, strictly so
called, disappears; and the first day is solemnly exalted
in its place, and is dignified, for the first time, with a
new and peculiar name of divine honour. The whole
of the visions were given on "the Lord's day." And
by the choice of this day it is clearly implied to us,
that the Jewish economy has been now suspended, and
that the main reference of the whole is to the mystery
of God, in the calling, guidance, and final salvation of
the Church from among the Gentile nations.
XII. THE EMBLEMS OF THE OPENING VISION are a
further key to the nature of the prophecy. It is surely
natural, in a book so highly symbolical, to consider
narrowly those symbols which are actually explained,
CHAP. XI.]
295
ELEMENTS of PROPHECY.
and to take them for a guide to the meaning of the
others. This is still more reasonable when the ex-
planation stands at the entrance of the prophecy, and is
given to the prophet by the Lord himself.
The first emblem which is thus expounded is the seven
candlesticks, denoting the seven churches of Asia. There
is here an evident allusion to the sevenfold candlestick
under the law (Exod. xxv. 31-40). This last was a type
of the Church of God in its complete unity, at the time
when it was limited to one single nation. In the pre-
sent emblem the seven candlesticks are distinct from
each other. The same general truth is conveyed, but
is modified by the wider character and greater liberty
of the Gentile Church. Each of the seven appears
complete in itself, to show that the Church was now
confined to no local centre, nor placed under one visible
head; but that each of the seven, under its presiding
angel, contained all that was essential to the integrity
of its visible form. With this single change, the type
borrowed from the tabernacle becomes a divine symbol
to represent the spiritual constitution of the Church of
God.
Now, if such be the meaning of the candlesticks, why
should we interpret by a different law the other em-
blems which are taken from the very same source?
Why should the candlesticks be a symbol, and the ark
of the covenant, the inner and the outer court, the altar
of burnt-offering, and the temple itself, be restrained to
an outward and material sense? This appears an entire
contradiction of the principle which is taught us, by the
lips of Christ himself, in this opening vision.
This argument is still more confirmed by a very ob-
vious remark. The passage in Exodus, to which the pre-
sent emblem refers us, closes with that most significant
verse-" See that thou make all things after the pattern
296
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
showed to thee in the mount." St. Paul teaches us,
from these words, that all the ordinances of the taber-
nacle were an example and shadow of heavenly things,
or of spiritual realities, connected with the true Church
of Christ. Now since, in the entrance of these visions,
we are directly referred to this passage, the Holy Spirit
thereby points out to the attentive reader the true key
to the Jewish emblems in the remaining chapters, and
shows that they are adopted as the natural symbols to
describe those spiritual realities which belong to the
whole Church of God. It is clear that this yields a de-
cisive confirmation to the common view of the pro-
phecy, and sets aside the only plausible ground for
restricting it to the last days.
The other emblem, of the seven stars, leads to a similar
conclusion. There are several places in the rest of the
prophecy where stars are again mentioned. In ch. xii.
they form the crown of the mystic woman, and have
plainly a figurative sense. Now since, in the two passages
on which there is no dispute, they are used to denote
living and intelligent persons, what warrant can there
be for preferring a physical sense in the other places
where they occur? Why, for instance, should the star
of the third trumpet denote merely a meteoric stone
falling to the earth, when our Lord himself has de-
clared of the very same emblem-" The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches?" The divine key,
by such an interpretation, is superseded, and a total
incongruity is introduced between the body of the
prophecy and the opening vision.
XIII. THE NATURE OF THE ALLUSIONS TO THE
JEWS, in the first chapters, is another clear mark to dis-
prove the limited and future sense. There are two of
these in the epistles to Smyrna and to Philadelphia.
They both agree in one remarkable character. The
CHAP. XI.]
297
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
unbelieving Jews are expressly denied all right to the
very name "Which say they are Jews, and are not,
but do lie." The phrase is striking in itself, and still
more so from its repetition. There is a clear analogy
with the words of St. Paul-" He is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that which is outward in the
flesh, circumcision; but he is a Jew which is one in-
wardly." The title, in each case, is reclaimed from its
popular use to a higher and more spiritual meaning:
and in this sense it is denied to unbelievers, though of
the race of Israel. But in the Apocalypse this denial
has a peculiar force. It is a plain mark and fingerpost,
standing at the head of the whole prophecy; which pro-
claims its reference to the time of Israel's rejection, while
Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, and while
the Lord himself repeats his warning by the prophet—
"Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”
Now these words are exactly the key which might
have been expected, if the visions contained the history
of the Gentile Church. Such a history would naturally
be conveyed by figures drawn from the Jewish economy,
the treasure-house for all types of spiritual realities:
and hence there would be a danger of confounding the
sign with the truth which it signified, and thus losing sight
of the true object of the prophecy. But these sentences
in the prefatory vision form a divine caution, that the
language of the Jewish economy is here applied to the
true Israel, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus. There is also a clear precedent that
in this book, where Jewish allusions occur, the con-
struction which claims to be most strictly literal, may
only, on that account, be deceptive and untrue. For
the parties here condemned were clearly Jews in natural
descent; yet their assumption of the name is twice
declared to be a pernicious falsehood.
•
o 3
298
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
XIV. THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE EPISTLES
TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES affords us many intimations
of the same kind. These, whatever typical meaning
they possess, are, in the first place, a direct address to
the Christians who were then living in Asia, and a
moral preparative for the succeeding visions. Now
almost every part of them supplies some link, by which
to prove the wide range of the whole prophecy.
1. In the epistle to Smyrna a particular season of
trial is announced " Ye shall have tribulation ten
days." It would be premature to enter here on any
figurative or enlarged sense of these words. Let us view
them simply as a direct and literal prediction. Now
if the spirit of prophecy saw fit to announce one local
and particular trial of the Church of Smyrna, with a
precise mention of its time, and this after Jerusalem
was destroyed, and the last relics of that economy
swept away, what internal cause can be assigned why
the longer and wider periods of trial to the Church,
which have happened since, should not also be foretold?
If we are sure that this prediction, of a ten days' per-
secution, is past, though perhaps no one has assigned
any literal fulfilment, and many would dispute its refe-
rence to Diocletian's persecution, what presumption
can hold against the past application of other prophetic
dates in this book, however their exact place may be
still disputed? The very first instance shows that a
chronological prophecy may relate to the times of the
Gentiles and be already fulfilled, and yet that its exact
date and position may be either disputed or unknown..
2. In the epistle to Pergamos mention is made of
parties who held firmly the doctrine of Balaam. This
allusion to the temptations in the wilderness is repeated
in the promise-"To him that overcometh will I give
to eat of the hidden manna." Now it is clear that the
CHAP. XI.]
299
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
false prophet (Rev. xiii. 14-17, xvi. 13, xix. 20), in the
later chapters, forms a precise antitype of Balaam, both
in the name he bears, his sin, and his punishment. The
rise and spread of this doctrine of Balaam is, in this
second chapter, distinctly pourtrayed in the very time
of St. John. In the nineteenth chapter is the final
punishment of the false prophet himself. Nearly half
way between these limits, in chapter xiii., the deceiver
is symbolically presented to us in his subtlety and power.
What simple mind can fail to see in this the marks
of a regular connexion and sequence, and the entire
absence of all marks of gap and omission? The evil
was actually working, and needed a stern reproof, in
the apostolic age. Midway in the prophecy it is seen
rampant in the height of seeming triumph: at the
close it is judged and sentenced. It is pourtrayed both
in its first rise and final ruin. What reason can be as-
signed why the Spirit of God should deny the Church
all instruction concerning the intermediate stages of its
growth and progress? The double allusion, also, to
the wilderness, throws light on the later chapters. It
proves how unlikely it is that the Spirit of God would
confine that description of the Church to a few years
only at the last, when this epistle extends it so plainly
through the main part of the Christian dispensation.
3. The mention of Jezebel, in the next epistle, has
just the same character, and yields a similar argument.
It must be plain at once that Babylon, the harlot splen-
didly attired, is the true counterpart of the Tyrian
queen. It is also clear that the name is employed in
this passage by way of allusion, and denotes either one
or several seducers in the Thyatiran Church. There is
just the same conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from
these passages as from the former. The seductions of
the figurative Jezebel were already at work. In the
12
*300
[CHAP. XI.
· ་
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
seventeenth chapter, for the first time, we have her full
description. How can we doubt that the intermediate
parts of the prophecy range from one limit to the other
through the whole interval of growing corruption and
degeneracy in the Church of Christ?
4. The local fulfilment of these opening predictions
points to the same conclusion with all the previous-ar-
guments. It has often been shown how exactly the
later history of the seven Churches has answered to
these divine warnings. And this is surely a strong
presumption that the Spirit of prophecy does take cog-
nizance of the successive changes in the Gentile Church,
and that there can be no mysterious bar, which shuts
out one third of the world's whole history from being
shone upon by the light of the prophetic word. If the
later changes of Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Philadel-
phia were thus foretold, the fall of Paganism, the spread
of Mahometan delusion and Papal idolatry were surely
not likely to pass without a record. Such reasoning is
not presumptuous; the presumption lies rather in neg-
lecting and casting aside such clear helps with which the
Spirit of God has supplied us, to fix the true meaning
of these mysterious portions of His word.
XV. THE NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC SCENERY,
as described in the following chapters, would be found,
if possible, still more fertile in evidence of the same
truth. This, however, would lead too far into the details
of specific interpretation to find a suitable place in this
volume: yet there are two or three remarks which will
be evident on a more general view, and which yield us
decisive reasons for abiding by the larger interpretation.
1. And, first, it is clear that the opening of the visions
is eminently symbolical. This is admitted by some of
the Futurists themselves. The living creatures, the
Lamb, and the sealed book, the vials and the odours,
CHAP. XI.]
301
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the lamps of fire, the voices of thunder, all have this
character; and it is plainly continued in the four horse-
men. Now this would be in full accordance with the
opening of the mysterious and heavenly dispensation of
the Gospel but it would suit just as little with the date
which the Futurists would assign, which, however vague,
must, in its nature, have this definition-the cessation of
a period of silent mystery, and the commencement of
one of visible and material wonders.
:
2. Next, all the action of the prophecy is derived
from the opening of the sealed book. And the reception
of this book, and the opening of it which follows, pro-
ceeds directly and entirely from the virtue of Christ's
atoning sacrifice. This truth is manifest in all the songs
of the redeemed. The fountain head, so to speak, of
all these streams of prophecy, is the virtue of the atone-
ment, pleaded and made effectual by the Lord himself
in the courts of heaven. Now if the atonement of our
Lord had been, for eighteen centuries, idle and powerless,
there might be a plausible argument for deferring the
date of the prophecy till after so long a time. But since
the very reverse is true, and the parting words of our
Lord himself (Matt. xxviii. 18), and those of his greatest
apostle (Phil. ii. 8, 9), prove that the whole course of
Providence has been impressed with a new character
by that great and wonderful sacrifice, no reasonable
doubt can remain that the prophecy has the same
extent of range, and reveals the triumphs of the cross
from the earliest times of the Church.
3. But, further, there is no event, between the ascen-
sion of our Lord with his solemn inauguration in heaven,
and his visible return in glory, and especially none in
the last days, which can claim to be the true com-
mencement. To suppose the visions to begin from
such an undefined origin as is done by the new theory.
302
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
7.
་
is to act the part of a voyager, who should take his
departure, not from the main shore, but from a floating
bank of mist. Till the return of our Lord, all is one
continuous dispensation-one ceaseless progression of
Divine Providence, and which, through its whole extent,
is denoted by one expressive title-the mystery of God.
The second advent itself is so far from being the com-
mencement of the prophecy, that it is not described in
the visions till near their close.
This want of any fixed and clear point of departure is
of itself a fatal objection to the new scheme. It becomes
impossible thus to identify any part of the prophecy
with its actual fulfilment, whenever it may arrive. The
first events, on this hypothesis, are war, and famine,
and pestilence. But these have often occurred in his-
tory, and in the same order; and should they recur
again, we should have no proof that the partial resem
blance is not a mere illusion, and that the Church may
not have to wait another eighteen centuries for the real
fulfilment. For, by the same theory, the prophetic dates
throw no light whatever on the approach of the advent,
till the last generation is begun and almost ended.
What view can be more destructive than this to all
lively expectation and hope of the coming redemption?
XVI. THE OATH OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL furnishes
another mark, not less decisive, of the larger acceptation
of the prophecy. "In the days of the voice of the
seventh angel, the mystery of God shall be finished."
The mystery of God, as is plain from many other texts,
is a phrase to describe the period of Israel's rejection,
while the Gentile Church is called in their room. Now
the words of the oath declare plainly that the time of
the six first trumpets falls within the range of this
Gentile mystery, and not after its close. They therefore
disprove at once every exposition which assigns the
CHAP. XI.]
303
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
beginning of the whole to the time of Israel's restoration.
They also contain a strong presumption, that both the
seals and trumpets, if parallel, or the seals, if the two
are successive, begin from the opening of that Gentile
mystery, which appears plainly to be the main object
which they record.
XVII. These reasons might easily be enlarged, if it
were needful, by others drawn from the latter parts of
the book, and by many more which depend on the spe-
cific nature of the symbols. It will, however, be enough
to add one only, of a different kind-the universal con-
currence of the Church for sixteen centuries.
There has been, from the first, a small minority of
interpreters who applied the book chiefly to the times
of the Jewish desolation. There were others, who, by
a vague interpretation, turned it into a history or book ·
of morals, rather than a prophecy. In the seventeenth
century there arose a small school of Romish expositors,
who, after carrying the seals through eighteen centuries,
maintained the rest to be future: but these appear
almost the extreme limits of former aberration. Before
the rise of this school, within the last few years, there
is no writer, I believe, to be found, who has held the
book to be prophetic, and yet fixed its very date in
times still future, except, perhaps, one or two German
authors in the last century.
And surely, unless a direct revelation on the subject
had been given to us from heaven, it is hard to conceive
a fuller combination of evidence, than that which Scrip-
ture has thus afforded us, in disproof of this novel
hypothesis, and in confirmation of that nobler view of
this holy book which has been held from the beginning.
The clear evidence of its own title; the analogy of all
former prophecy, and, most of all, of that book which it
resembles so closely; the time and the place of the
304
[CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
divine gift; the sacred penman employed; the Churches
to whom it was sent; the repeated declaration of the
nearness of its events; the whole character of its in-
troduction, repeated in almost every clause and in the
most various forms; the plain links which connect the
actual state of the seven Churches with the course of the
visions; the reference, confirmed by an oath, of a large
part to the days of Israel's rejection and the times of the
Gentile mystery; and, finally, the consent of the whole
Church for sixteen hundred years, seem to leave no place
for a reasonable doubt, except to the rashness which
overlooks all evidence of design, or to the mere wilful-
ness of innovation.
Let us now, in the light of all these combined scrip-
tural proofs, examine once more the logical weight and
moral features of the new scheme of interpretation.
The great mystery of godliness, in the incarnation, death,
and resurrection of our Lord, was to be followed, in the
deep counsels of divine wisdom, by a space of near two
thousand years, before the decreed time of His return
and the visible glory of His kingdom. The whole of
this long season, the dispensation of the Spirit, was to
be enriched in every part by a glorious manifestation of
the Divine attributes in His counsel of love for the
world's redemption, and to be stored with wonders
which the angels desire to look into. The Church, in
the days of the first advent, was entirely ignorant of this
long interval; a mystery which had been revealed by one
prophet only of the Old Testament, and expressly sealed
at the time. And yet, by all the analogy of God's mercies
to the Church, it was not fitting that she should be left
in total darkness with regard to this long period of her
own course. The Saviour, therefore, after his ascen-
sion, receives this prophecy as a gift from God the
Father, and hereby reveals to His people, in visions, the
CHAP. XI.]
305
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
work which He is carrying on for her sake, till the day of
redemption. Even this measure of knowledge was not
suited to the early times, in which His return was still
distant; and hence the revelation itself is so conveyed
as only gradually to disclose its full meaning in latter
days. And thus one holy book was given to crown the
whole volume of inspiration, and combine all nature, and
providence, and grace into one harmonious revelation
of truth. All the works of nature are here united with
all the types of the law and the truths of the gospel, to
illustrate the varied wisdom and providence of the Most
High, through two thousand years, and in the highest and
noblest stage of His counsels of redemption-a treasury
from which the servants of God were to derive increas-
ing light, till faith should be changed into open vision
by the appearing of the Lord. For sixteen or seven-
teen hundred years, devout and holy students had con-
tinued to advance, dimly and slowly at first, but after-
wards with a steady and discernible progress, towards a
full and harmonious perception of the historical features
and grand moral outlines of this highest, noblest, and
most mysterious part of God's holy word.
At length, when the marks of this progress had been
most clear to an observant and watchful eye, a few wri-
ters discover one fatal objection, which is to disprove all
internal and external evidence which fixes the true na-
ture of the prophecy. It seems to them that an appli-
cation of all nature and all the types of four thousand
years, to explain the spiritual features of Providence for
two thousand years more, in a time called, by emphasis,
the mystery of God, could not fail to be evident, at the
first general glance, to their discernment. They reckon
it quite superfluous to have studied closely the facts of
history, or to have compared the researches of previous
writers. To analyze the prophecy, and decide on its
306
CHAP. XI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
internal marks of arrangement, most of them treat as
equally needless. The bare fact that some hundreds of
authors, taken from various ages and countries, do not
exhibit an agreement on the meaning of the most mys-
terious book of Scripture, such as has never been
realized on any doctrine of the faith, except two or
three of the most plain, or on any book of the New
Testament-this fact alone is to sentence all the
labours of pious and learned expositors, for ages past,
to a verdict of folly and delusion, and is to stand for
a clear proof that the prophecy has revealed to the
Church no truth whatever for seventeen centuries, till
they themselves appeared. It is just as if some shrewd
observer, who has never mastered even the books of
Euclid, were to collect diligently all the disputes of
mathematicians and astronomers for the last century
and a half, and then boldly to pronounce the Principia
to be a mere heap of errors, and the Newtonian astro-
nomy a pure delusion. The four controversies on the
differential calculus, the lunar motions, the inequalities
of Jupiter, and elliptical attractions, would furnish such
an objector, however unable to understand them, with
a list of apparent errors which might fairly rival those
of the Apocalyptic interpretations.
Now such an objection as this, besides its logical
weakness, betrays a most unworthy conception of the
depth and fulness of God's word, and a hasty and self-
confident spirit, the most remote conceivable from
true Christian wisdom. The devout and thoughtful
Christian knows that even the simplest works of God
contain a mystery which transcends all human science.
There is not a blade of grass or a flower of the field
which does involve countless laws of material action,
that surpass the powers of our most subtle analysis and
deepest research to detect and explain them. When

+
CHAP. XI.]
307
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
he passes from the works of nature to those of Provi-
dence, the same truth re-appears. In his own life he
finds a thousand mysteries, of which the key will only
be given him in the life to come. He may sometimes
catch a glimpse of the Divine wisdom, in the changes
of his own little history; but these are dim and few,
compared with the parts which continue mysterious
and unknown. In the word of God he finds the
same character; and that in the midst of its deep
practical simplicity, there are continual marks of a
secret and hidden wisdom that eludes his research.
With such an experience he turns to this latest book of
Scripture, and from its place in the canon alone, he is
led to expect in it the highest forms of divine truth,
which need the most careful study, the most diligent,
serious, and persevering inquiry. He searches for the
internal marks of its general meaning, and he finds them
distinct and numerous, and that all concur to fix its
character as a symbolical history of the Church of
Christ. And that this is its true character is now only
confirmed to him the more, by the partial degree of in-
sight which the Church has attained for ages. He
knows that the very description of our present state is
to see through a glass darkly; and that to compre-
hend, in the light of heaven, the moral outlines of
God's Providence, during the whole absence of the
Lord, would be, in its very nature, an anticipation of
the noblest and highest attainments of the saints in
glory.
The sole objection, it thus appears, on which reliance
has been placed, to overthrow all the scriptural marks
that fix the Apocalypse to its widest meaning, yields, to
the thoughtful and observant mind, a fresh evidence
in its favour, and confirms the view which the Church
has held from the beginning concerning the true sense
of this divine and holy prophecy.
CHAPTER XII.
ON THE YEAR-DAY THEORY.
THE truths which have now been established, and
cleared from the objections lately brought against them,
are the natural basis for the interpretation of the other
parts of these symbolical prophecies. They show that
the rest of Daniel's visions, and nearly the whole of
Revelation, relate to the times of the Gospel, and reach
from the close of the Jewish dispensation to the second
coming of our Lord.
The interpretation of the parts which remain is a sub-
ject of greater difficulty, and has given rise to a far wider
diversity of judgment. This is occasioned, in part, by
the various and complex nature of the symbols them-
selves; but its chief cause is the moral character of the
predictions, and the faithful protest which they bear
against the corruption and degeneracy of the Church
of God. They carry the war at once into the strongest
fortresses of ecclesiastical pride and Christian worldliness.
The prophecies of a Messiah rejected in spirit are as
obnoxious to the Gentile Church, as those of a Messiah
rejected in person were to the unbelievers among the
Jews.
To enter on this difficult subject would, therefore,
be unsuitable to the present work, which is merely
designed to clear away obstructions, and to prepare the
way for a sure and firm interpretation of the word of
the prophecy. But there is one topic so distinct in its
CHAP. XII.]
309
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
own nature, and so much perplexed and obscured by
recent controversy, that it deserves, and almost requires,
a separate consideration. The true meaning of the pro-
phetic times has a close and vital connexion with the
general exposition of these sacred visions. It has been
the general impression of the best Protestant interpreters,
for near three centuries, that a prophetic day signifies
a natural year, and that all the other periods are to be
expounded by the same rule. It will be my object, in
these next chapters, to ascertain the truth or falsehood
of this hypothesis, called, popularly, THE YEAR-DAY
THEORY.
When the new school of interpretation arose, this
theory was almost the first object of attack, as the
least defensible outwork of the Protestant expositions.
The arguments in its favour had never been fully col-
lected, or very clearly stated, and its implicit recep-
tion, for many years, by a large class of readers, made
it be held very loosely, and gave a skilful assailant
many advantages. Several pamphlets, in succession,
from the pen of Mr. Maitland, had a powerful effect
in breaking the spell of mere authority, and compelled
his readers either to abandon the opinion, or to seek
some better reasons for maintaining it than the mere
fact of its extensive prevalence. Several replies ap-
peared; but all of them were partial in extent, and some.
very defective, either in their facts or their reasonings ;
and his rejoinders seemed to leave him in possession of
the field. Hence there is no branch of controversy on
which writers of this school assume a more confident
tone. Dr. Todd assures his readers that the year-day
theory is "an untenable assumption, which an eminent
living writer has so completely refuted, that no theory
built upon it can now be considered as requiring any
further confutation." It is true that any one who reads
310
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
his work with any discernment, will attach very little
weight to the author's judgment on any subject involv-
ing the interpretation of prophecy. But still the fact,
that such confident assertions are made, proves the need
there is for a calm and full review of the whole question,
in order to dispel the mists by which it has been obscured.
The remarks of Mr. Faber on this subject in the
"Provincial Letters," like most-of those which proceed
from his pen, are distinct and forcible. But even these
are confined to one or two topics out of many, and ex-
hibit only a small part of the evidence, from Scripture
and from reason, which may be brought to converge on
this difficult and important inquiry. Two or three
chapters shall therefore he devoted to the argument, in
the hope that, by an orderly treatment, the objections
may be fully removed, and the evidence for the theory
be placed in a stronger and a clearer light than has been
attempted by previous writers.
The simplest arrangement is, first, to define the real
question, removing those objections which have arisen
from the frequent misconceptions of its true nature:
next, to exhibit, under distinct heads, the scriptural evi-
dence, proceeding from the more general to the more
specific arguments: and thirdly, to unfold more clearly
those principles of reason or sacred analogy which con-
firm the same view. I will then, finally, reply to all the
remaining objections, which could not be treated under
the former divisions, and subjoin a few remarks on
popular errors connected with this whole subject of
prophetic dates and sacred chronology.
I. THE GENERAL NATURE OF THE THEORY has
already been, in some measure, explained in the first
chapter. It may be convenient, however, to present it
more fully in that particular form of it which will be
here maintained, and which exhibits, in the clearest
1
CHAP. XII.]
31
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
light, the scriptural basis on which it rests. It may be
summed up in these maxims
1. That the Church, after the ascension of Christ,
was intended of God to be kept in the lively expecta-
tion of His speedy return in glory.
2. That, in the divine counsels, a long period of near
two thousand years was to intervene between the first
and the second advent, and to be marked by a dispen-
sation of grace to the Gentiles.
3. That, in order to strengthen the faith and hope of
the Church under the long delay, a large part of the
whole interval was prophetically announced, but in such
a manner that its true length might not be understood,
till its own close seemed to be drawing near.
4. That, in the symbolical prophecies of Daniel and
St. John, other times were revealed along with this,
and included under one common maxim of interpretation.
5. That the periods thus figuratively revealed are
exclusively those in Daniel and St. John, which relate
to the general history of the Church between the time
of the prophet and the second advent.
6. That, in these predictions, each day represents a
natural year, as in the vision of Ezekiel; that a month.
denotes thirty, and a time three hundred and sixty years.
The first of these maxims is plain from the state-
ments of Scripture; and the second from the actual
history of the world. The third is, on à priori grounds,
a natural and reasonable inference from the two former,
and is the true basis of the year-day theory, viewed in
its final cause. The three following present the theory
itself, under its true limits. Perhaps no simpler method
could be suggested in which such a partial and half-
veiled revelation could be made, than that which the
Holy Spirit is thus supposed to adopt, resting as it does
on one plain analogy of natural times.
312
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Now the mere statement of these axioms removes at
once several main difficulties, which have been used to
perplex and embarrass the whole inquiry.
1. First, it has been urged that this larger interpre-
tation of the prophetic times is inconsistent with the
repeated commands of our Saviour, that the Church
should always be watching for His return. How could
this be possible, it is asked, if it were revealed from the
first that 1,260 years must elapse before that advent
should arrive?
This objection disappears in a moment, when the facts
and the hypothesis are simply compared together. The
very reason for which the times are asserted to have
been given in this unusual form is, that they might not be
understood too early, when they would have interfered
with the earnestness of continual expectation. The two
opposite arguments, indeed, which have been brought
against this view, destroy each other, and help to esta-
blish its truth. One writer condemns it, because it was
unknown for twelve centuries; and others, because, if
it had been understood in those days, it must have para-
lyzed all watchfulness for the return of the Lord. Surely
these objections, when compared together, yield a pre-
sumption in favour of the view they were designed to
confute. They prove that these revelations, as thus ex-
plained, were exactly suited to the need of the Church;
that they concealed the length of the delay, when the
knowledge might have been injurious; and revealed it,
when once it became a help to the faith of the Church
that it should be known.
The only way of sustaining the objection is to assume
that the fact of such a revelation being given made it
the duty of the Church to understand at once its true
meaning. Two duties would then seem to contradict
each other the obligation of continual watchfulness,
CHAP. XII.]
313
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
and the duty of understanding the message, that more
than twelve centuries would intervene before the advent.
But the contradiction is not real. There must either be
a defined measure of light, which the Christian is not
allowed to pass, or else a duty and privilege of unlimited
progress. In the former case, the difficulty ceases, since
there could be no obligation to understand the times
from the first and on the other supposition, the mo-
tive to watchfulness, which was drawn from the igno-
rance of the Church, would be replaced, as her know-
ledge increased, by higher motives, drawn from a lively
sense of the real vastness of eternity.
:
2. Again: it has often been argued that the mystical
interpretation would compel us to lengthen the millen-
nium into 360,000 years. But the principle on which
the theory has just now been founded removes this
objection also. The millennium is not included in that
time of waiting, which made it desirable to conceal the
times under a symbolic veil. There are, indeed, other
internal reasons, which furnish a still more evident war-
rant for the distinction between this period and all the
rest; but that which has now been assigned is sufficient,
even alone.
3. It has been further made a prominent objection
to the year-day, that it was totally unknown for twelve,
or, as some assert, for fifteen centuries. The fact,
however, has been greatly exaggerated beyond its
true limits. And besides, the late period at which
this interpretation was unfolded was a natural and
necessary consequence of the principle on which it de-
pends. Instead, therefore, of being a valid objection, it
forms a remarkable presumption in favour of its truth.
In fact, this exposition appeared first at the very time.
when it must have appeared, if the principles on which
it is founded had a real existence.
Р
..
P
314
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
4. The above maxims enable us, further, to avoid
those loose and vague assertions which have given a
great advantage to the opponents of the theory. The
term, a prophetic day, has been used, till many writers
seem to have lost all clear apprehension of the limited
extent of the principle, and fallen into serious errors in
its application. We have no warrant, either from the
reason of the case, or from direct evidence, for extending
the maxim, as a general law, to all other predictions.
Even Mede is not quite faultless in this respect; yet
it may be not improper to digress for a moment, to
clear him from a charge of gross and inexcusable error,
to which a misconception of his words has given rise.
He had said in his argument on this subject, "Secondly,
let it be shown in all the prophecy of Daniel (or, for
aught I know, in any other of the prophets), where times
of things prophesied expressed by days are not to be
understood of years."
Mr. Maitland replies to this remark in the following
words :-
"I am perfectly amazed at this brave challenge, which I sin-
cerely lament, because I know that bold assertion will generally
carry the multitude by storm, and that comparatively few readers
take the trouble to inquire whether a writer has good ground, or
any ground, for what he affirms with confidence. I answer, that
I know of only these prophecies in the Scriptures which predict
a period in terms of days; and whether any one of them is to be
understood of years, let the reader, judge."
He then adduces eight passages (Gen. vii. 4; xl. 12;
Exod. viii. 10; x. 4; Josh. vi. 4; 2 Kings vii. 1; Jonah
iii. 4; Matt. xii. 40; John ii. 19; Rev. ii. 10); and
subjoins: "I am not aware that any individual has sup-
posed the word day in any one of these passages, except
the seventh and eighth, to mean a year. I would beg
the reader to look again to Mr. Mede's question, and I
CHAP. XII.]
315
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
think he will wonder how a writer so well acquainted
with the Scripture could ever propose it.”
Now the natural inference of the reader, from these
remarks, must be, that Mede is guilty either of great
ignorance, or of a worse fault-controversial dishonesty.
One such blot would go far to damage his reputation,
and cast suspicion on all his other statements. Yet the
mistake is entirely Mr. Maitland's own, in extending the
challenge beyond its evident meaning. Of the eight
examples he brings, the five first are not in "the pro-
phets" at all, but in the historical books of the Old
Testament. The sixth is the message of Jonah to the
Ninevites, which, if meant solely of literal days, was not
fulfilled at all, but averted; and if it were fulfilled, must
have implied, as many have thought, a judgment after
forty years. The next is our Lord's own prediction
(Matt. xii. 40; John ii. 19). This is a clear instance
of literal fulfilment, but does not occur strictly in "the
prophets.' The last is the ten days' tribulation of
Smyrna, of which the literal fulfilment is unknown, but
which many commentators have referred, and with appa-
rent reason, to the ten years' persecution of Diocletian.
There is a further passage (Hos. vi. 2), which Mr.
Maitland has overlooked, and which seems to have both
a literal and mystical fulfilment, though not on the
principle of the year-day.
"J
The words of Mede, then, do not imply the gross
oversight which Mr. Maitland's readers would infer.
Their fault is of a different kind. They aim at an
illusive generalization, for which there are no sufficient
materials. In the prophets there are only two instances
given by Mr. Maitland, one possibly, and the other with
high probability, fulfilled on the year-day principle;
one of them certainly, and perhaps the other, having no
fulfilment in literal days. On the whole, therefore, Mede
P 2
316
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
has more warrant for his assertion, than Mr. Maitland
for contradicting it so strongly. But still the remark is
faulty, because it tends to place the argument on a false
basis. The real contrast is not between predictions in
the prophets and in the historical books, but depends on
a cause of a very different kind.
II. THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE TO BE EXPECTED
must be the next object of our inquiry. This requires
us to notice, first of all, the indictment preferred against
the truth of the theory.
The first and palmary argument of its opponents is
the general duty of adhering to the literal sense. The
words of Hooker are frequently adduced: "I hold it for
a most infallible rule, in the exposition of Scripture, that,
where the literal construction will stand, the furthest
from the letter is commonly the worst. There is nothing
more dangerous than this licentious and deluding art,
which changeth the meaning of words, as alchemy doth,
or would do, the substance of metals, maketh of anything
what it listeth, and bringeth, in the end, all truth to
nothing." If it be replied that these dates occur in the
symbolical prophecies, it is rejoined at once that they
are given in the explanation of the visions. To this
general reason other arguments are added, of much ap-
parent weight. Every prophecy, it is said, except those
in dispute, has been fulfilled literally. Twelve or more
instances occur of intervals predicted in years, which
were all fulfilled in years, and five or six predicted in
days, which have been fulfilled in days. The year-day in-
terpretation was not only unknown for above a thousand
years, but has given birth to many conjectures which
have been successively falsified by time. Finally, the
contrast is drawn between the prophecies whose fulfil-
ment is allowed by all Christians, and the disputable
nature of all the expositions connected with the mystical
CHAP. XII.]
317
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
times. This argument is advanced, not with perfect
correctness of statement, but with much point and force,
in the close of Mr. Maitland's "Enquiry:"
"We point the infidel to the captive Jew and the wandering
Arab; but who challenges him with the slain witnesses? We
set before him the predicted triumphs of Cyrus; but do we ex-
pect his conversion from the French revolution and the conquests
of Napoleon? We send him to muse on the ruined city of David
and to search for the desolate site of Babylon; but who builds
his argument on the opened seals of the Apocalypse? And why
is this? I do not speak hastily, and I would not speak unchari-
tably; but I cannot suppress my conviction, that it is because
the necessity of filling up a period of one thousand two hundred
and sixty years has led to such forced interpretation of language,
and to such a constrained acquiescence in what is unsatisfactory
to sound judgment, that we should be afraid, not only of incurring
his ridicule, but of his claiming the same license which we have
ourselves been obliged to assume" (Enq. p. 34).
The previous remarks seem to comprise the chief
strength of the argument against the year-day system.
Let us now examine more closely the elements of which
it is composed, and we shall find that this imposing
array has only a seeming strength, and will not bear the
test of a strict inquiry.
1. The maxim of Hooker is doubtless important, when
restricted within its just limits; but, without the help
of other principles, it will be found quite insufficient to
ensure a sound and just interpretation. Often as these
words have been quoted, it seems to have been over-
looked, that, in the very instance referred to, Hooker's
own maxim fails him, and the interpretation which he
advocates is just as far from being strictly literal as
that which he condemns. Indeed, it may be questioned
whether the deviation from the exact letter be not
twice as great as in the exposition which he condemns.
Now, if so profound a reasoner could be so deceived in
318
[CHAP. XII
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
.
the application of his own principle in the very instance
for which it is adduced, it must be clear that the greatest
caution is needful in its use at all times. No interpre-
tation can properly be literal which neglects any indi-
cation, whether direct or indirect, of the mind of the
revealing Spirit. If we read no deeper meaning`in a
message from the Infinite Wisdom, than we should
suspect in the same words had they been spoken by a
mere child, we adopt a false maxim, which would freeze
out all the life and glory of the oracles of God. Where
a phrase is distinctly marked out and separated, as con-
taining a hidden sense, the meaning which lies on the sur-
face, and which might otherwise have been counted literal,
ceases to be such, strictly and exclusively, any longer.
The
2. Let us next consider, for either hypothesis, the
circumstances which would indicate its truth. If the
meaning of the times had been designed to be clear
from the first, we might reasonably anticipate that they
would be given in the most usual and customary form.
On the other hand, if they were intended to disclose
their true sense only after the lapse of ages, they would
then be presented in a more ambiguous manner.
true meaning would not then lie on the surface, but
would depend on some combination of indirect evidence,
all pointing to something hidden and mysterious, and
only after close inquiry revealing definitely the exact
sense really conveyed. Evidence apparent at first
sight, or strictly demonstrative in any one part, would be
excluded by the object of the revelation. We might
therefore expect, in this case, that the terms would
suggest a shorter period, and yet bear such marks of
peculiarity and strangeness as to hinder us from rest-
ing with confidence on that outer sense, and to suggest
strongly the existence of a deeper meaning. But if
short periods were really designed, there seems no ima-
CHAP, XII.]
319
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
ginable cause why they should not be stated in the
most usual and simple terms. This remark is of primary
importance to the whole inquiry.
III. THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PASSAGES
THEMSELVES has next to be examined. If these do
really occur, all of them, in the explanation of the visions
-if they are worded in the most simple, usual, and na-
tural terms, to express the intervals which they seem to
indicate at first sight, the presumption will be strong in
favour of the shorter interpretation. But if the reverse
be true--if they either occur in the midst of the symbols
themselves, or bear plain marks of a singular, uncommon,
and peculiar phraseology, or are prefaced by words im-
porting concealment, then the presumption in favour of
some figurative or analogical sense will be no less strong.
Let us now proceed to examine their actual character.
The following are all the passages in Daniel and St.
John to which the year-day principle has usually been
applied :-
(1). Dan. vii. 24-26. " And the ten horns out of this
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another
shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the
first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall
speak great words against the Most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to
change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of a time.
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”
(2). Dan. viii. 13, 14, 26. "Then I heard one saint
speaking; and another saint said unto the WONDERFUL
NUMBERER, which spake, How long shall be the vision
of the daily sacrifice and of the transgression of deso-
lation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be
trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto
320
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
evenings mornings, two thousand three hundred [or,
unto an evening morning, two thousand three hundred];
then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."
"And the vision of the evening and the morning which
was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for
it shall be for many days.”
(3). Dan. ix. 24-27. "Seventy weeks [or sevens] are
determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to
finish transgression, &c.
"Know, therefore, and understand, that from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks.
“And after the threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, and they shall not be his; and the people of
the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary. And the end shall be with a flood, and unto
the end of the war desolations are determined.
"And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one
week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and oblation to cease, and with the over-
spreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation, and that determined, shall
be poured on the desolator."
(4). Dan. xii. 5-9. "Then I, Daniel, looked, and
behold there stood other two, the one on this side the
bank of the river, and the other on that side the bank of
the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen,
which 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, which was upon the waters of
the river, when he held up his right hand and his left
hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever,
that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when
he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the
CHAP. XII.]
321
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I
heard, but I understood not; then said I, O my Lord,
what shall be the end of these things? And he said,
Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end."
(5). Dan. xii. 10-13. "None of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand. And from
the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away,
and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed
is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hun-
dred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way til
the end be, for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at
the end of the days.”
(6). Rev. ii. 10. “Ye shall have tribulation ten days.”
(7). Rev. ix. 5, 10. "And to them it was given that
they should not hurt them, but that they should be
tormented five months; and their torment was as the
torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man.
"And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there
were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt
men five months."
(8). Rev. ix. 15. "And the four angels were loosed,
which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a
month, and a year (évíavrov), to slay the third part of
men."
(9). Rev. xi. 2, 3. "But the court which is without
the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given
unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread
under foot forty and two months. And I will give power
unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophecy a thou-
sand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sack-
cloth. These are the two olive trees and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."
(10). Rev. xi. 9, 11. "And they of the people, and
P 3
322
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead
bodies three days and a half; and shall not suffer their
dead bodies to be put in graves…………..And after the three
days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into
them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell
upon them which saw them.”
(11). Rev. xii. 6. "And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred
and threescore days."
(12). Rev. xii. 14.
"And to the woman were given
two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a
time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."
(13). Rev. xiii. 6. "And there was given unto him a
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power
was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”
2. From a review of these passages, in order, the
following conclusions evidently arise.
In the first passage, the words do not, of themselves,
literally denote three years and six months, but three
and a half times some unit, which is left quite undefined.
The shorter computation is, therefore, not in the least
more literal than the other.
In the second, if we accept the common rendering
in a more exact form, the phrase will be-unto evenings
and mornings, two thousand three hundred. Now,
although this might denote the period either of 1,150
or 2,300 natural days, it is not, on either view, the
natural or usual form in which such a period would be
expressed. The literal expression would be six years,
three months, and twenty days; or three years, one month,
and twenty-five days; and is very different from that
which is actually employed.
But a comparison with the end of the chapter suggests
CHAP. XII.]
323
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
a different version. The angel there tells the prophet,
"the vision of the evening and of the morning is true."
Now, since the words evening and morning before
occurred in the singular, this reference seems to prove
that they ought to be so rendered, and are together
descriptive either of the whole interval, or else of its
close. In every other case in this prophet, the times,
if really plural, are in the plural form. The conclusion
can hardly be avoided that one evening and morning
only is meant in this passage; and therefore the numeral
stands alone, without any specified unit of time. The
reckoning, then, of 2,300 natural days is not at all more
literal than if we expound it of the same number of
months or years.
The third passage is the prophecy of seventy weeks.
The word employed must denote, properly, either com-
mon weeks, or simply sevens. In the one case, the proof
is clear that the literal sense is abandoned for a larger
meaning: on the other hand, if the meaning of the
word be sevens, this is included under the same remark
with the two former; and the longer is equally literal
with the shorter reckoning.
The same remarks apply to the fourth passage as to
the first. The terms employed are exactly similar, and
have the same inherent latitude in their signification.
The fifth passage is the first in which the shorter
period has any just claim to be called the literal inter-
pretation, since days are directly expressed. But there
are three counteracting circumstances, which, on the
most general view, tend to throw doubt on such an ex-
position. First, it is added, like an appendix, to another
period expressed in an indefinite form. Secondly, it is
prefaced by direct assertions that it has a mysterious
meaning. And, finally, the form of expression is en-
tirely different from that which is commonly used, both
!
324
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
་་
in Scripture and elsewhere, to denote that number of
natural days.
The other passages are all taken from the book of
Revelation. All of them, except the first, occur in the
midst of the symbols, and not in explanatory passages.
Two of them are quite indefinite in their significance,
when taken alone, and two others are expressed in a
manner which varies greatly from the most usual form.
The result, then, of the whole examination may be
thus given. Of the five passages in Daniel one must
certainly be expounded on the larger scale of reckoning;
in three of the others the shorter calculation is not at
all more literal than the other; and in the fourth there
are several features which tend to except it from the
literal exposition. The passages in Revelation, several
of them, are indeterminate, like those in Daniel; and all
of them, except one, are found, not in the interpretation
of the symbols, but imbedded in the midst of the em-
blems themselves.
The general argument, drawn from the maxim of
literal interpretation, has already vanished almost en-
tirely. There is not a single passage on which its
advocates can rest a decisive argument. The only one
in Daniel which appears to offer a solid footing is fenced
by a special announcement that its true meaning is
mysterious; and those in the visions of St. John are
so connected with the symbolical language of the pro-
phecy, that it is plainly rash and unwarrantable to
decide, without a deeper search, that they must be
intended in a barely literal sense. It is now time to
examine, more in detail, the presumptions which exist
in favour of an opposite view.
IV. THE GENERAL SYMMETRY OF THE SACRED
PROPHECIES is a first argument against the shorter
acceptation of these numbers. When a declaration of
CHAP. XII.]
325
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
future events is attended also with one of definite sea-
sons, it is natural to expect some degree of correspon-
dence between the two parts of the revelation: and
this presumption of reason is confirmed by a still safer
guide—that of Scripture precedent. The chief instances
of definite times revealed in Scripture, in connexion
with the history of the Church, are the hundred and
twenty years' delay of the flood, the four hundred years
and four generations of sojourning in Egypt, the forty
years' sojourn in the wilderness, the sixty-five years to
elapse before Ephraim's captivity, the seventy years'
captivity of Judah, the forty years of Egypt's desolation,
the seventy weeks before the coming of Messiah, with
its minor portions, the three days of our Lord's burial,
and the seven years to follow on Israel's restoration.
(Ezek. xxxix.) In all of these, except the two last,
there is an evident proportion between the time pre-
dicted and the general of the events announced; and
even in those, the event to which they apply is clearly
expressed, and was plainly limited and brief in its own
nature.
Now here we have twelve or thirteen specified seasons
of time, connected with an interval which extends from
the reign of Cyrus to the second advent. And it is plain
that, by the shorter reckoning of times, all proportion is
lost between the range of the events and the periods
which enter into the predictions. If, indeed, there were
no features on the surface of the prophecy which suggest
the idea of a meaning different from the bare letter, it
would be hazardous to reason from analogy against a
direct statement. But the reverse of this is evidently
true. Even on a general and cursory view of the
passages the balance inclines in favour of some
concealed meaning. And now the analogy has its full
weight. We must reverse the law which prevails in all
326
CHAP. XII.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the other examples of revealed times, before we can
accept the short and contracted interpretation.
The Church before the flood (Gen. vi. 3), the early
patriarchs (Gen. xv. 13), the Church in the wilderness
(Num. xiv. 33, 34), Israel and Judah under their kings
(Isa. vij. 8; Ezra iv. 5), the Jews in their first captivity
(Jer. xxv. 11, 12; xxix. 10), and after their return,
before the coming of Christ (Dan ix.)-all of them had
times prophetically announced, which bore a direct pro-
portion to the season of the delay, or the length of the
trial, and the least of which exceeded the average length
of one generation. It is not easy to conceive that in
these comprehensive prophecies of Daniel and St. John,
which clearly contain so many statements of sacred time,
the Church would be deprived, for the first time, of a
help which had been given her in every main stage of
her former history.
V. THE SYMBOLICAL NATURE OF THE BOOKS in
which these numbers occur is a further presumption of
the same kind. Except in Daniel and the Apocalypse,
no definite revelation of time occurs between the time of
Cyrus and the future restoration of Israel. From the
close of the seventy years' captivity to those seven
years (Ez. xxxix. 9) which follow the final recovery of
the captives of Israel, there is a total blank, with regard
to distinct times and seasons, in all the other prophecies.
In these two books alone, however, there are at least
twenty dates, if each be numbered distinctly, which re-
veal definite periods of time. These dates form, there-
fore, a broad distinction between these books and the
other prophecies; and conversely, the nature of these
books must throw light on the true meaning of the
dates contained in them.
Now the one feature which distinguishes these books
from the other prophecies is their symbolical character:
CHAP. XII.]
327
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Į
an air of mystery pervades them from first to last.
Thus in Daniel, three of the visions are directly sym-
bolic. The three histories which are interposed bear
distinct marks of a typical meaning. And the last
vision, which is the most simple and direct in its form
(Dan. x.-xii.), is closed by expressions which plainly
import concealment and mystery: "Go thy way, for the
words are closed and sealed till the time of the end.”
"None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise
shall understand.”
The same remark applies, in still greater force, to the
visions of the Apocalypse. Even those who attempt
to literalize them the most are compelled to allow that
a large portion is strictly symbolic, and their expositions
of much that remains are forced and discordant. No
one can read the prophecy without being struck for-
cibly by the peculiar mystery which prevails in it.
Since the prophetic dates, then, are found exclusively
in these two books, which possess, also exclusively, this
symbolical and mysterious character, it is a natural
inference that those dates have or may have themselves
a covert meaning. And the clear statements of our
Lord, that the Church was at first designedly kept from
a knowledge of the times and seasons, would coneur.
with this view, and raise it to a weighty presumption
against the short reckoning of these prophetic intervals,
which limits them within five or six years.
The only direct reply to this argument of any weight
is, that these dates occur in the explanations of the
visions. But, in the first place, this is not true, as we
have seen of those in the Revelation, which are the
greater number. In the next place, even the explanatory
parts of these symbolical prophecies retain something
of the same mysterious character with the rest. For in-
stance, Rev. xvii. is the only chapter in the Apocalypse.
328
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of direct interpretation: and there is so much remain-
ing mystery, that the best expositors vary considerably
in the details of its meaning; and Mr. Maitland, while
seeking to explode the more usual expositions, frankly
confesses his entire inability to substitute a better.
Hence it would not be surprising, if even the dates
which occur in the explanatory parts should still be
mysterious, and have their true sense hid beneath the
surface, like the other parts of the prophecy.
VI. THE DISPENSATION TO WHICH THEY BELONG
is a further presumption in favour of the same view.
The dates in question relate, all of them, to the times of
the Gospel and of the rejection of Israel. The seventy
weeks are the only exception, the meaning of which is
demonstrably four hundred and ninety years, and not
four hundred and ninety days. But all the others are
included between the first and the second advent.
This character is expressly noted for us in the word
of God. If we compare Dan. xii. with 1 Pet. i. 10-12,
we shall see a distinct assertion of this peculiar reference
of the times to the Christian dispensation. It was not
for the prophets themselves, but for the Christian
Church, that these mysterious dates were revealed. In
like manner, in Rev. x. Christ solemnly declares that in
the days of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall
be finished. The comparison of other Scriptures shows
that this expression refers to the calling of the Gentile
Church in the place of Israel. (Rom. xi.; Eph. iii.)
The six first trumpets, therefore, and all the numbers
connected with them, including the time, times, and
half, must be contained within the limits of this Gentile
dispensation.
Now the most distinctive character of this dispensa-
tion is, that it is composed of mysterious counterparts
to the literal types and ordinances of the older economy.
CHAP. XII.]
329
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
This truth may be traced in almost every part of the
Christian Church, and every step of the Gospel his-
tories. There is a new and spiritual Israel, in place of
the Jews after the flesh : "As many as walk after this
rule, peace be on them and mercy, even on the Israel
of God." There is a mystical and heavenly Mount Zion,
in contrast to the earthly Jerusalem: "Ye are come to
Mount Zion, the city of the living God." "Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."
There is a spiritual passover, with its distinct paschal
Lamb: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." "Ye
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot." There is
an antitypical circumcision: "In whom ye are circum-
cised with the circumcision made without hands, in
putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the cir-
cumcision of Christ." There is an antitypical Exodus :
“All our fathers were baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea. Now these things happened unto them
for types." There is a feast of spiritual first-fruits :
"These were redeemed from among men, being the first-
fruits unto God and the Lamb." There is an antitypical
harvest and feast of tabernacles (Rev. vii. xiv.) There
is a counterpart to the Sabbath; and the year of jubilee
itself was a type of "the acceptable year of the Lord."
There is also a wilderness sojourn of the Church
(Rev. xii.), answering to the journey of Israel through
the desert from Egypt to the land of promise.
It is in evident harmony with all these analogies, which
link the times of the Gospel with the previous dispensa-
tion, to interpret these dates, in the symbolical prophe-
cies, on a principle of analogy also. Such an analogy,
and one of the simplest kind, is presented by the year-day
system; and there is, consequently, no light presumption
in favour of this, or some similar explanation.
*330
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. XII.
י
•
VII. THE MYSTERIOUS INTRODUCTION, by which
these dates are prefaced in several of the visions, forms
another argument that they are not designed to be taken
for short periods of natural days only.
There is nothing spoken in vain in the word of God.
Every part, as it proceeds from Infinite Wisdom, is suited,
in the most minute particulars, to the special truth which
has to be revealed. Wherever there is a peculiar solem-
nity in the introduction of any statement, there must
clearly be something answerable in the truth which that
statement was designed to convey.
Now, in the case of most of these numbers, this
peculiarity appears very striking in the manner of their
introduction. They are not given in passing, nor as
matters of subordinate importance. On the contrary,
the most various methods are used to point out their
peculiar character, and the deep significance of the
message they contain. It is in connexion with one of
these dates that our Lord receives the title of the
"Wonderful Numberer." Two of the celestial company
are introduced as fresh persons in the sacred drama,
and one of them propounds the question to which this
date forms the reply-a reply given by the Lord himself.
This surely implies some meaning deeper than appears
on the first glance at the words of the vision.
The time, times, and half, exhibit the same character
still more clearly. They are twice revealed to Daniel,
in two visions at an interval of twenty years. In the
second of these they are introduced with peculiar
solemnity. Two saints are again exhibited as the
speakers. One of them inquires the duration of the
predicted wonders. The reply is given by the Lord
himself, with all the solemnity of a direct appeal to God:
"I heard the man clothed with linen, which was upon
the waters of the river, when he lifted up his hand to
CHAP. XII.]
331
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever, that it
shall be for a time, and times, and the dividing of a
time." No words could well be more expressive of
deep mystery, and of the special importance to the
Church of the period thus revealed.
The same character appears conspicuously in the
book of Revelation. The five months, under the first
woe, are twice mentioned. The period named in the
second woe has a singular and unusual form. In the
tenth chapter, as in the twelfth of Daniel, there is a
most impressive oath, the only one of a direct kind
which appears in the New Testament; and here, also,
it is connected with these sacred times. The oral mes→
sage of Christ to the apostle, in the following chapter,
consists mainly in a revelation of chronology. The
same period, again, which has been twice mentioned in
Daniel, and twice under the temple vision, is three
times repeated in the succeeding chapters. And thus,
wherever these sacred numbers occur, there is always
some mark given to us, apparently to lead our thoughts
beyond the surface to a deeper truth which they really
contain.
These general presumptions, against a barely literal
sense of the dates, may be confirmed by several others
of the same kind. They clearly suggest the conclusion
that the words are to be taken in some analogical sig-
nification, which may restore their harmony with the
wider range of the prophecies to which they belong.
Such a principle is found in the year-day system, which
enlarges the scope of these numbers, and yet maintains
the definite and precise character of each interval that
is revealed.
It may just be observed, however, before entering
on this second stage of the inquiry, that the direct testi-
mony of early times to the shorter acceptation of these
332
[CHAP. XII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
dates has often been over-rated. Their mysterious
adjuncts had led to hesitation and doubt as to their being
meant literally, long before the period when the year-
day system could have been understood without injury
to the hopes of the Church. The five months of the
first woe, the period of the second, the twelve hundred
and sixty days, the forty-two months, and, most of all,
the time, times, and a half, were figuratively expounded
by very early writers. Primasius, Ambrose, Ansbert,
and not a few others, explained this last phrase to denote
the whole time of the Church's sufferings. And we
learn from Justin that, before his time, the same expres-
sion in Daniel was commonly supposed by the Jews to
have a century for its unit, and to denote three hundred
and fifty years.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY CONTINUED.
FROM the nine general indications of a figurative mean-
ing which occur in these sacred numbers, let us now
proceed to examine the special evidence for the year-
day system. This also branches into several distinct
arguments, which may be exhibited in succession,
and the objections by which it has been endeavoured to
overthrow them.
1. THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS has
always held the foremost place in the direct arguments
for the year-day system. The reasoning is very sim-
ple in its nature. The word week, or shabua, is used
elsewhere in Scripture to denote seven days; but in
this prophecy it denotes seven years. Hence the
words of time are enlarged beyond their literal or usual
sense, in the proportion of a year to a day. And since
all these predictions of time bear one common charac-
ter, occur in the same prophets, and have the same
general object, they ought to be explained by one com-
mon rule. In the one instance, which is decisively ful-
filled, the proportion holds of a year to a day; and
therefore it must be applied, in consistency, to all the
rest.
Two different replies, and on contradictory grounds,
have been made to this argument. First, Dr. Todd,
with some hesitation, and Mr. Tyso and Mr. Govett
more boldly, deny the fact. They assert that the pro-
334
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
}
phecy is still future, and will be accomplished in weeks
of days. But this view has been already sufficiently
refuted. All internal and external evidence, and the
consent of nearly every expositor, whether Jewish or
Christian, in every age of the Church, unite to con-
demn it as a rash and fruitless attempt to innovate in
this cardinal prophecy of our Lord's sufferings.
Mr. Maitland, therefore, with more wisdom, and Mr.
Burgh also, allows the fulfilment of the prophecy in
terms of years. But he rejects the other premise of the
argument, and maintains that the word shabua is per-
fectly ambiguous, and denotes merely a seven, whether
of days or of years. By this means the argument seems,
at first sight, to be effectually turned aside. Mr. Mait-
land endeavours to strengthen his reply by the further
remark, that the Jews did not commonly employ the
word shabua to denote seven days, but mentioned the
number of days in full; and that the Misnic writers do
employ the same word week repeatedly, without any dis-
tinctive addition, to denote seven years. A collateral
controversy arose with regard to the Hebrew points,
and their influence in determining the true sense; but it
is needless to attempt a summary, since the main sub-
ject was left entirely unaffected.
Now, in reality, it matters very little to the argument
whether we receive or reject the proposed translation..
Let us examine the question on either view.
1. First, let us grant that a shabua, according to its
derivation, may denote equally a seven of days or a
seven of years. Mr. Maitland and Dr. Mac Caul, who
agrees with him on this point, allow that it is used only
as a word of time, and occurs in these two senses alone..
It is also clear, from the nature of the intervals, that it
must have been far more frequently employed to denote
the shorter period; and, in fact, no instance occurs in
CHAP. XIII.]
335
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Scripture, beside this prophecy, where it has any other
meaning.
What, then, will be the state of the argument? Of
the two senses, a seven of days and a seven of years, the
former will be the most frequent and usual-the latter
occasional and comparatively rare. The two differ
from each other in the proportion of a year to a day.
The prophecy rejects the shorter and adopts the longer
reckoning. Now if the terms of the other periods in
Daniel were stated in the usual and literal expressions,
this analogy would not be enough to warrant us in ex-
tending them on the same scale. But this is not true in
one single instance. Their form is such as in every
case to imply a meaning distinct from the bare letter,
and longer in duration. If so, on Mr. Maitland's own
hypothesis, the seventy weeks supply just the key which
is needed, and warrant our interpreting the others on
the maxim of a day for a year.
2. But this reasoning is ex abundanti. For, after all
the laboured efforts of Mr. Maitland to overturn it,
the argument of Mede, repeated by Mr. Faber, con-
tinues unimpaired. The question is "not the etymo-
logy of the word shabua, but its use." In every case
where it occurs elsewhere in Scripture, which is about
ten times, it denotes a week of days. It is clearly
quite irrelevant to say that the sacred writers more
often use the phrase seven days to denote the same
period. The question is not whether shabua or an-
other phrase is more frequently used for a common
week; but whether shabua is employed in the Scrip-
ture for seven years, except in this prophecy. No
such instance can be found. And hence it follows,
that the meaning of seven years, which it bears in
this place, is not by the ordinary rules of grammar,
but by an extraordinary rule of prophetic applica-
336
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tions, in which a miniature period is used as the gram-
matical veil for a larger interval of time.
The argument from the usage of the Misnic wri-
ters is equally unavailing. The Jews have generally
understood this prophecy of weeks of years. And
hence their usage of the word, in later times, would
naturally be affected by the prophecy itself. So a
hundred passages might be found in Christian divines
where the word week is used to denote seven years,
by a phraseology derived from this very passage.
And Jewish writers would be still more likely to fall
into such a mode of expression, from the national ordi-
nance of the shemittahs, or sabbatic years.
The proof seems therefore as firm as ever. The
phrase, had it occurred elsewhere, and by the common
usage of Scripture, would have denoted weeks of days:
but, in fact, it denotes weeks of years. In the one case,
which has been clearly fulfilled, the prophetic sense of
the words of time is larger than their common meaning
elsewhere, in the proportion of a day to a year. Extend
this maxim consistently to the others, and the necessary
result is the year-day interpretation.
3. There is, however, another circumstance, which
seems to have met with no distinct notice, and which
greatly confirms the previous reasoning. Four terms
are employed in almost every nation, in the ordinary
calendar of time-the day, the week, the month, and
the year. These form a natural and ascending series,
by which all periods are most conveniently expressed,
and complete the system of popular and colloquial mea-
surement of time. The case was evidently the same
among the Jews as with ourselves. Now of these four
periods, the day, the month, and the year (Dan. xii. 11;
Rev. ix. 5, xi. 2, ix. 15), occur elsewhere in these dates
of the symbolical prophecies. But the week occurs
•
CHAP. XIII.
.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
337
here only. It is evidently needful to complete the sys-
tem; and being added, it does complete a regular calen-
dar of sacred and prophetic times. But the week, whe-
ther we render it a week or a seven, does not denote a
common week, but a period of seven years. And since
it forms one element in this fourfold ascending scale, it
does, by a natural inference, raise all the others in the
same proportion. The prophetic dates, which other-
wise would remain a heap of disjointed fragments, by
this key become at once united into a consistent and
harmonious scheme, mysterious yet definite, and com-
bining the precision of a human calendar with the mag-
nificent grandeur of a divine revelation.
This gradation of the prophetic periods will be more
apparent, if we subjoin them in regular arrangement,
according to the terms in which they are conveyed.
(1). Three days and a half twice repeated (Rev. xi.)
Tribulation of ten days (Rev. ii. 10).
Twelve hundred and sixty days (Rev. xi., xii.)
Twelve hundred and ninety days (Dan. xii. 11).
Thirteen hundred and five and thirty days
(Dan. xii. 11).
(2). A week and half week (Dan. ix. 27).
Seven weeks (ix. 25).
Threescore and two weeks (ix. 25).
Seventy weeks (ix. 24).
(3). Five months (Rev. ix. 5, 10).
Forty and two months (Rev. xi. 2, xiii. 5).
(4). Day, month, and year (Rev. ix. 15).
A time (xpóvos)—(Rev. vi. 11, x. 6).
A time, times, and half (Dan. vii. 25, xii. 7,
Rev. xii. 14).
[(5). Six hundred and sixty-six, unit undetermined
(Rev. xiii. 8).
338
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Two thousand three hundred, the same (Dan.
viii. 14)].
There are all the marks in this list of a connected
and regular series. And since the weeks are sevens of
years, the conclusion can scarcely be avoided, that the
others also are to be reckoned, consistently with this
pattern, and on the same scale.
II. THE SENTENCE ON ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS
is as econd testimony, equally distinct, to the same prin-
ciple of interpretation. It will be convenient to quote
the passages at length.
Num. xiii. 25. "And they returned from searching
of the land after forty days."
Num. xiv. 33, 34. “And your children shall wan-
der in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whore-
doms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
After the number of the days, in which ye searched the
land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear
your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my
breach of promise."
1. The nature of the evidence contained in this pas-
sage has been placed in a clear light by Mr. Faber, in the
"Provincial Letters." The twelve spies, chosen one from
each tribe, represented in miniature the nation of Israel.
And this explains, it may be added, why the whole con-
gregation are said to have searched the land. That
search, lasting through forty days, represented also in
miniature the forty years of their wandering in the wil-
derness. Each day in the search represented a year
of wandering; and the miniature period was a typi-
cal prophecy of the forty years' journeying which en-
sued.
We have thus, from the lips of God himself, the clear
relation established in this notable instance of chrono-
CHAP. XIII.]
339
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
logical prophecy, that while the spies represented the na-
tion, a day should represent a year. Now the difference
between a type and a symbol lies in this point only, that
a type is a real, and a symbol an unreal or ideal, repre-
sentative of a real object. In the type, the spies, who
were real persons, represented the whole nation; and
the forty days of their search, a real period, represented
the real time of the stay in the wilderness. In the
visions of Daniel or St. John the ten-horned beast, or
the sun-clothed woman, unreal figures, represent an
empire, or the Church of Christ; and twelve hundred
and sixty days, or forty-two months, an unreal period
grammatically suggested, represent the true period de-
signed, of as many years. The analogy, therefore, con-
tained in this Scripture history, is precise and complete.
It supplies us, from the lips of the All-wise God him-
self, with a distinct scale, by which to interpret every
prophetic period which bears the internal marks of a
suggestive character, as a miniature representation of
some larger period.
2. A reply to this argument has been attempted by
several authors, as Mr. Tyso, Dr. Todd, Mr. Maitland,
Wagenseil, and Bengelius. Their remarks are so much
alike, that it is needless to classify them minutely.
(1). First, it is objected (Eluc., p. 73), that in this
case the prophecy is first given in years, and great stress
is laid on the observation. But this is futile in the high-
est degree. The passage is adduced as a divine key
to elucidate others which bear marks of a secret sense,
not visible on their surface, the nature of which must
be determined from other sources. And it is objected,
that the key is not as obscure as the passages which it
is to unfold. Surely nothing can be more irrelevant
than such reasoning.
Q 2
340
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
(2). Next, it is said that in Daniel there is no intima-
tion that days are put for years, as there is in the text
before us (Eluc., p. 66). This is the former objection,
with its parts reversed. It is first argued that the key
is not as difficult as the cipher; and next, that the cipher
is not as plain as the key. It is clear, however, that
such a direct statement would have defeated the very
end for which the periods are supposed to have been
expressed in this peculiar form.
(3). Further, Mr. Maitland and Dr. Todd quote the
argument of Wagenseil, to refute the assertion of Sir
John Marsham-dies pro anno sumi potest, juxta pro-
pheticam loquendi morem. But the whole of the reason-
ing, as Mr. Faber has shown, is wide of the real ques-
tion; which relates, not to the grammatical sense of the
word, but to the representative power of the thing.
The closing remark in the extract virtually yields all
that is maintained-dies ad annum significandum phy-
zice, ut ita loquar, adhibitur, non grammatice. Now for
physically, an obscure phrase, let us in Numbers put
typically, and in Daniel symbolically; and this becomes.
the exact opinion of the Protestant interpreters.
3. The objections are, however, more fully stated by
Mr. Maitland in his "First Enquiry," and his reply to
Mr. Cuninghame. The nature of the argument is so
easily obscured, that it is desirable to examine these
objections in detail. Mr. Maitland reasons as follows:
(1). "I am quite at a loss to understand how passages,
where it is declared and explained that a certain number
of natural days were appointed to represent or prefigure
the like number of natural years, should be called an
express warrant for the mode of reckoning which trans-
lates the word day by the English word year. In Num-
bers and in Ezekiel the phrase is a day for a year, a
<
CHAP. XIII.
341
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
day for a year—a mode of expression which leaves no
doubt of the writer's meaning, and which absolutely re-
quires yom and shanah to be taken in their literal sense
for natural days and years. If the days during which
the Israelites searched the land had been natural years,
and the years which they were to wander prophetic
years as they are called, each consisting of three hundred
and sixty natural years, the analogy would be good
and the warrant express; but what colour is here given
to our interpreting a day or year otherwise than lite-
rally?" (Enq., p. 20).
These remarks imply a strange misconception of the
theory opposed: for its essential character lies in main-
taining, not a direct change in the ordinary meaning of
the terms, but a process of analogical suggestion, by
which a shorter period represents a longer; the context
or other circumstances having first led us to suspect a
hidden sense, and the passage in Numbers forming the
key to its precise character. The reasoning, then, is
completely irrelevant, and does not touch the real ques-
tion in debate.
(2). The real point of the objection is, however, more
visible in the following extract, taken from the other
pamphlet:-
"When my opponent says, 'If the beasts were not
literal, but symbolical, must we not suppose that the
days were not literal, but symbolical?' The proper
answer, I believe, is" What days? When you speak
of the beasts I know what you mean, for you admit
that Daniel saw certain beasts; but when you speak of
"the days," I know not what days you refer to, for your
system admits of no days: you take (if I may so speak)
the word “goat" to mean the thing "goat," and the thing
"goat" to represent the thing "king;" but you take the
342
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
word “day," not to represent the thing “day,” but at once
to represent the thing "year." And this is precisely the
point which distinguishes this case from that of Ezekiel,
which has been so often brought forward as parallel to
it.' The whole matter lies in this, that the one is a case
of representing, the other of interpreting.
"A goat, not the word goat, represented a king. A day,
that is, the word day, is interpreted to mean a year.
“In Ezekiel, a real day, not the word day, represented
a real year. In the Apocalypse it is a mere interpre-
tation of the word day, to mean a year, without any pre-
tence that certain real days represented certain real
years" (Reply, &c., pp. 106-108).
The contrast which it is sought to establish in these
paragraphs, however plausible it may seem, vanishes on
elose examination.
«A
"It is admitted that Daniel saw certain beasts.”
goat, and not the word goat, represented a king." Was
it then a real goat, or were they real beasts?
No one
admits this, or ever once dreamed of such a view, nei-
ther Mr. Maitland himself, nor his opponents. The
goat and the beasts were unreal. They were images
before the eye of the prophet in the night vision, but
had no answering external reality.
Again, "your system (it is said) admits of no days;
you take the word day, not to represent the thing day,
but at once to represent the thing year." Now this
assertion must be understood either mentally, of the pro-
cess of thought, or externally, of their historical reality.
If taken in the former sense, it is manifestly untrue.
The very expression, the year-day system; the fact that
so large a number of writers maintain the literal period
to be the real meaning; the analogies to which the ad-
vocates of the year-day appeal-all prove alike that
CHAP. XIII.]
343
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the word day is interpreted of the thing day, and the
thing day is then viewed as representing the thing year.
But the assertion, perhaps, is meant in the latter
sense; and the days are affirmed to have no external
and historical reality. The reply is self-evident, that
exactly the same is true of the goat and the beasts.
These, too, have no external historical reality. When
and where were they born, and when did they die? or
to what natural species did the ten-horned beast belong?
Clearly they had no other than a mental existence.
There is thus an exact parallel in the two cases, and not,
as Mr. Maitland argues, a total contrast. The beasts
were conceptions visually suggested to the eye of the
prophet, and nothing more; and days, the in like manner,
were conceptions suggested by the words of the vision
to his ear. The only difference is in the sense by which
the mental image is conveyed; for it is plain that a day,
when used as a symbol, must be mentioned, and could
not appear visibly to the eye.
The only reply to this argument of any apparent
weight must be the allegation that the days, &c., occur
in the interpretation of the visions, and not among the
symbols themselves. But in the dates of the Apoca-
lypse the exact reverse is true; they all occur imbedded
in the midst of the symbols. The verses Dan. xii. 11, 12,
are the only case to which the remark applies; and
these are introduced by a double notice that they have
a hidden meaning. "The words are closed and sealed
till the time of the end." "None of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand."
Let us suppose, for illustration, that a merchant,
leaving his family, should put in their hands a note of
instruction for their guidance, to be opened and read
after his departure, and closing with such words as these:
“You will not understand what I tell you for some time
344
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
.
to come. I am sailing to India, and intend to be absent
there ten days, and then to return. The wise among
you will understand." At first this would appear simply
mysterious and unaccountable. But when six or seven
years had elapsed, without further tidings, except of his
safe arrival, it might be natural and reasonable to sup-
pose that he had secretly purposed to remain absent ten
years. The illustration is imperfect, because of the many
casualties which may frustrate the designs of men, but
it may help to explain the warrant in this case for the
symbolical meaning.
The circumstances, then, under which these dates
are given, suggest the notion of some peculiar and re-
condite sense, but give no precise key to its nature.
The passage in Numbers, like the prophecy of the
seventy weeks, supplies the key which was wanting,
and yields a firm basis for the maxim, that a day is used
to represent a natural year.
III. THE TYPICAL SIEGE OF EZEKIEL is a third
main argument by which the year-day theory is sus-
tained. And here, also, it will be desirable to give the
words of the text.
Ezek. iv. 4-9. "Lie thou also on thy left side, and
lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; after the
number of the "days that thou shalt lie upon it thou
shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the
years of their iniquity, according to the number of the
days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear
the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou
hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and
thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty
days; I have appointed thee a day for a year, a day for
a year. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the
siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered,
and thou shalt prophecy against it. And behold I will
བློ་ཎིསྐུ=23842L ? {@=c;!
CHAP. XIII.]
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
345
lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from
one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy
siege. Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and
beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them
in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according
to the number of the days that thou shalt lie on thy
side; three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat
thereof."
The argument from this passage exactly resembles
the last. Ezekiel, like the spies, is a type of the nation
of Israel; his recumbent posture, of their degradation
by national sin; and the days represent an equal
number of years, to be completed before the consum-
mation of judgment. The only difference between this
and the prophetic days is the difference between a type
and a symbol. Ezekiel was a real person representing
the nation; the woman (Rev. xii.) is an unreal emblem
denoting the Church of God. The days in Ezekiel
were actual days, representing the same number of
years; and the days in the Apocalypse are unreal days,
mentally suggested by the letter of the passage, repre-
senting the same number of years. The analogy, in
this as in the former instance, is full and complete ; and
the seventy weeks, as has been shown, point to exactly
the same conclusion.
The objection to this argument is various in form,
but in little besides, and chiefly rests on a total miscon-
ception of the year-day theory.
1. First, it has been roundly asserted (Rev. Lit., p.
xviii.) that the instance is "nothing at all to the
point;" that it was "merely the exhibition of a past
fact;" and that "there is not an atom of prophecy in
this part of the transaction."
This is bold and confident, but, unhappily for the
conclusion, it is quite untrue. The prophecy was in
Q ૩
346
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
!
the fifth year of Jehoiachim's captivity, or about July,
B.C. 594. The three hundred and ninety years, accord-
ing to Usher, whose view Mr. Faber adopts, occupy
the interval B.C. 974-584. Perhaps more exactly, they
reach from the accession of Rehoboam to the fall of
the temple, B.C. 976-587. Hence this prophetic type
was given at least seven years before the completion of
the predicted time. And here it must be observed that
the true object of the prediction was not the events
to occur during the continuance of those years, but
the siege by which they would be finished, and the na-
tion led captive from the land.
The case is just similar with the other type of the
forty days, and the forty years of Judah. They must
either close, like the former, at or just after the fall of
the first temple; or else, which is possible, denote the
interval of forbearance before the fall of the second
temple, A.D. 30-70. In either case, their termination,
the predicted event, was future when the type was
given. It thus appears that the objection itself is, in
fact, entirely devoid of truth.
2. There are next several remarks quoted by Mr.
Maitland from Bishop Horsley, for which the reputa-
tion of the writer claims a notice by no means due to
their own weight or justice :-
"Where shall we find, in any of the sacred writers, one indu-
bitable instance in which day is put for year? Is it when we
are told that the day of temptation in the wilderness was forty
years? or when we are told that one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day? Certainly, it
might be concluded, with more colour of reason, from the first
passage, that a day is forty years; or a thousand years from the
second, than it is inferred from Ezekiel and Daniel that it is a
year."
"How is it to be inferred (from Ezekiel) that a day in pro-
phecy always signifies a year; or indeed ever, except in this in-
CHAP. XIII.]
347
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
stance, where the signification lies not in the word, but in the
action publicly exhibited? It might, as I think, with equal rea-
son, and by the same analogy, be concluded, that the word iron-
plate, wherever it occurs in the writings of the prophets, is to be
understood figuratively of the wall of a city; for the iron-plate
of Ezekiel is as much a type of the wall of Jerusalem, as his forty
days of forty years. Nothing, therefore, can be concluded from
this passage of Ezekiel concerning any figurative sense of the
word day in the prophetic writings, or in any other passage. In-
deed, as a word, it is here used without any figure at all for that
portion of time which we generally mean by a day."
This able and learned, but self-confident author, seems
here to be equally at fault in his assertions and his rea-
sonings.
(1). The whole triumphant inquiry depends on a
misconception, as if a day were said to be grammati-
cally translated by a year. This has been justly and
forcibly exposed by Mr. Faber. In fact, all the advo-
cates of the year-day theory presuppose the mental
suggestion and intervention of days in the interpreta-
tion of the times, just as much as the ideal intervention
of beasts in the prediction of empires. The objection is
thus, in its foundation, a building of sand.
(2). There are three plain instances in which a day
is put for a year, that is, to represent it, one in Num-
bers and two in Ezekiel; besides the not less conclusive
instance of the seventy weeks.
(3). To say that there is more colour of reason for
concluding that a day is forty, or a thousand years, is an
exaggeration quite unworthy of the writer. There are
three instances in the first case, and only one each of the
two others. What is of still more weight, the analogy of
the year-day does not rest on a bare unit, but is exhi-
bited in three numbers of considerable size-forty, three
hundred, and ninety, and forty days. In each of the
others it is a single unit only, where loose metaphors
348
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII.
:
:
!
T
might have a more natural place. It would be more
exact, then, to say that the evidence for the year-day
system is four hundred and seventy times as great as
for either of the others.
(4). The objection is still more unfounded for a
second reason. We have strong scriptural grounds to
believe that a day does in several passages really signify
and represent a thousand years; and this opinion has
prevailed in the Church from early times. The bishop
could, therefore, scarcely have chosen an objection more ·
destructive to his own cause.
(5). The other remarks hardly deserve a reply.
When a passage shall be found in which three hun-
dred iron plates are declared to represent three
hundred walls, or forty iron plates to represent forty
walls, or ten, or five, or even two, in the same manner,
we may bow to the conclusion. We will then freely
consent to the propriety of expounding the word by the
wall of a city, in every place of the prophets where the
bishop requires us-a concession doubly safe, since
not one single passage of the kind is to be found.
[
(6). But "how is it inferred that a day always in
prophecy denotes a year?" I answer, few or none
assert that it does. The assertion is limited to specific
passages, which bear on their face, when compared
with each other and the context, the mark of some hid-
den meaning. Some proofs of this have been offered in
the former chapter, and more will presently be given.
The texts in Numbers and Ezekiel presuppose, in their
application, the general presumptions in favour of some
secret meaning. They then supply us, from two dis-
tinct sources, with a divine pattern of symbolical time,
which exactly corresponds, like a key to the lock, with
the mysterious passages; lends a precise and simple.
rule for their exposition; and, by the triple coincidence,
CHAP. XIII.]
349
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
turns the presumptive evidence into a moral demonstra-
tion.
IV. Another argument may be drawn from the words
of Christ himself, as given in St. Luke's Gospel.
Luke xiii. 31-33. "The same day there came certain
of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and
depart hence, for Herod is seeking to kill thee. And
he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, behold I
cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow,
and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I
must walk to-day and to morrow, and the day following;
for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.”
These words must be explained either in a definite
or an indefinite sense. Taken indefinitely, they teach us
that our Lord was to continue His works of mercy for a
little season longer, in spite of all the malice of Herod ;
and that none could take away His life till He himself
resigned it in the appointed scene of His death, at Jeru-
salem.
But this does not appear to be the whole meaning.
There is a precision in the phrase which in this view
alone would be unexplained. Three days are twice
mentioned distinctly-to-day, to-morrow, and the third-
day; to-day, to-morrow, and the day following. The
words thus repeated clearly leave the impression of a
definite interval of time.
Now the incident occurred in the last journey of our
Lord, but several weeks before His sufferings and resur-
rection. They cannot, therefore, admit a definite sense
with a literal interpretation.
On the other hand, our
Lord's ministry, commencing with a passover, closed
at the passover, after an exact interval of three years.
The words of this passage would therefore exactly de-
scribe the continuance of that ministry: the three
days importing the three years. The completion of the
third was to be marked by the death of our Saviour at
350
ELEMENTS of PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII.
Jerusalem, and His resurrection the time when He was
perfected. And there was thus also a close connexion
between the predicted time and the events; for the third
year would be closed by the passover, which could be
celebrated only at Jerusalem, and was the appointed
season of our Lord's death, without which the types
could not have been fulfilled.
These four examples, of which the three first are de-
monstrable, and the last has at least a high probability,
form a scriptural basis for the year-day theory. Once in
Numbers, and twice in Ezekiel, a day is expressly taken
to represent a year. The principle is continued in the
seventy weeks, where a term, always taken elsewhere in
Scripture for weeks of days, is demonstrably used for
periods of seven years. The analogy is continued in the
last passage, where three days are twice mentioned in
detail, as defining the whole extent of our Lord's minis-
try. Let us now consider the internal evidence to be
drawn from the prophetic dates themselves.
V. THE TIME, TIMES, AND DIVIDING OF A TIME,
are the first of the periods to be considered, and one
which contains many distinct proofs to refute the
shorter reckoning, and confirm the year-day exposition.
1. And, first, its peculiar form must be noticed. If
the short reckoning were true, no reason can be given
why the times should not be expressed in the most cus-
tomary form. On the other hand, the year-day theory
requires that a shorter term should be merely suggested
to the mind in the representation of a longer period, and
suggested in such a way as to hinder us from resting in
the typical phrase as the true meaning.
Now such exactly is the term before us. It doubtless
suggests to the mind, by comparison with other texts,
three years and a half. But it is not the usual or literal
expression for that period. Twice alone does that in-
terval occur elsewhere (Luke iv. 25; James v. 17), and
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
351
in both it is expressed by its natural phrase, three years
and six months. The same is true in every similar case.
St. Paul abode at Corinth one year and six months (Acts
xviii. 11). David reigned in Hebron seven years and
six months (2 Sam. ii. 11). He was with the Philistines
a year and four months (1 Sam. xxvii. 7). The form in
which the periods of time are expressed is thus invaria-
bly the same. And hence, though three years and a
half are suggested to the mind by this phrase, there is
nothing in the words which fixes it to this sense. This
has not, in truth, any more claim to be the literal mean-
ing than one thousand two hundred and sixty years.
2. But, secondly, the fundamental term, a time, im-
plies, rather than excludes, the wider sense. The natu-
ral series of words of time consists of a day, a week, a
month, and a year. The three first are retained in the
prophetic calendar; but the last of them is replaced by
this general expression-a time, which takes the lead of
all the others. It occurs in the first of these dates, and
in two, or rather three others, on which the rest chiefly
depend. Now this substitution could not be without
meaning. It leaves the analogy among the different
periods unbroken; but at the same time it sets loose
this fundamental period, so as to be at liberty, even by
the common rules of language, to receive a larger sig-
nification.
This argument becomes much stronger, when we con-
sider the actual use of this same term in other passages.
It is of frequent recurrence in the Old Testament, and
is employed to denote periods of various lengths, and
even extending to many years. It meets us first in the
narrative of the creation: "Let them be for signs and
for seasons"—where it is distinguished alike from days
and years. It is frequently used to denote the appointed
time of all the feasts of the law (Lev. xxiii. 2, 4, 37, 44 ;
T
f
i
352
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Num. ix. 2, 3, 7, 13; x. 10, xv. 3). It is employed
with regard to the fall of Pharaoh Hophra, and the
restoration of Israel. “Pharaoh hath passed the time
appointed” (Jer. xlvi. 17). "The time to favour Zion,
the set time, is come" (Psalm cii. 13). "The vision (of
the coming of Christ) is yet for an appointed time” (Hab.
ii. 3). In these, and several other passages, an exten-
sive interval is clearly implied; and the fundamental
idea is one which has no respect to the length or short-
ness of the period, but simply to its fixed and determi-
nate character. It is plain how completely these two
marks, that it is at once indefinite and determinate,
make it a suitable term to form the basis of a prophetic
chronology on the year-day system.
3. The different terms used to denote the same period
are a further proof that it cannot denote three natural
years and a half. The same interval occurs seven times
over. Twice
Twice it is mentioned as a time, times, and a
dividing of a time; once as a time, times, and a half;
twice as forty-two months; and twice as twelve hundred
and sixty days. A comparison of these passages will
show that they all relate to the same period. Yet the
expression is varied in this remarkable manner; and in
all these variations is never once expressed by the
natural and literal phrase. How can we explain this
remarkable feature, but by supposing it to indicate a
mysterious and hidden sense? The Holy Spirit seems,
in a manner, to exhaust all the phrases by which the
interval could be expressed, excluding always that one.
form, which would be used of course in ordinary wri-
ting, and is used invariably in Scripture on other occa-
sions, to denote the literal period. This variation is
most significant, if we accept the year-day system, but
quite inexplicable on the other view.
But there is one further circumstance which deserves
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
353
notice in this variation, and which confirms the exist-
ence of a mystical and hidden sense. In the Revela-
tion, the times and the days are used in connexion with
the Church and the witnesses; but the months in con-
nexion with the Gentiles and the wild beast. This
distinction of the periods, measured by the sun and the
moon, just corresponds with the frequent metaphors of
Scripture, in which Christians are described as children
of the light and of the day; and unbelievers as children
of night and darkness. If the expression denoted lite-
ral days, this mystical reference would be heteroge-
neous but if they are symbolical, days for years,
then this moral significance is in harmony with their
general character of sacred emblems.
5. The ambiguity of the phrase, even in its numeral
value, tends to the same conclusion. It is plain, that
a time, times, and the dividing of a time, in point of
grammar alone, might denote four times and one half,
or five times and one half, or four times and one third.
It is only by comparison with the other forms of the
same period in the book of Revelation, that even the
numerical meaning can be certainly ascertained. In
other words, it was impossible to know certainly that
the time, times, and half, denoted 1,260 days, either
natural or prophetical, until the prophecy of the seventy
weeks had been both given and fulfilled, in which weeks
of days represent weeks of years. So that, in fact, the
direct key to the symbolical meaning was provided
before even the number of the contained units in the
period had been distinctly revealed.
VI. THE DREAM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR throws a
further light on the same truth. The prophet tells us
that the monarch "was driven out from among men,
and seven times passed over him;" till at length his
understanding returned to him, and he became a wor-
shipper of the true God.
Ex
I
354
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
:
The seven times in this case, by general consent,
denote seven years. And hence it has often been ar-
gued that the time, times, and a half, must denote
three years and six months. Thus in the "First En-
quiry :".
“In ch. iv. 16, 23, 25, 29, we read of seven times,”
during which Nebuchadnezzar was to be excluded from
his kingdom. Here it is admitted that a time means a
year, and therefore we might naturally expect the three
times and a half should mean three years and a half.
Yet, without the slightest hint of any change of style in
the author, we are to suppose Daniel using the same
word in ch. iv. to signify one year, and in ch. vii. to sig-
nify three hundred and sixty years, and this merely be-
cause, in one case he speaks of an individual, and in the
other of a community" (pp. 13, 14).
However natural this inference may appear at first
sight, a more full consideration of the two passages will
lend us a powerful argument for just the opposite con-
clusion.
1. First, in the case of Nebuchadnezzar himself, how
do we learn that the time of his madness was seven
years, rather than seven days, or seven months, or seven
sabbaths of years? Not clearly from the grammatical
force of the term, which might denote any of these
periods, no less than seven years. It is an inference
drawn conjointly from the context and from the out-
lines of the monarch's history. The length of his reign
and the reason of the case forbid us to lengthen the
seven times into forty-nine years. On the other hand,
the whole scope of the chapter equally excludes the
shorter periods of seven days or seven weeks. Hence
the only interpretations possible are seven months, or
seven years; and the latter is generally allowed to be
the true sense, from no abstract grammatical, but as
most consonant with the majestic grandeur of the
CHAP. XIII.]
355
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
whole description, or for other indirect reasons of the
same kind.
Let us now turn to the second passage, and these
reasons are at once reversed. The same motive which,
in the case of the monarch, compels us to reject the
meaning, seven days, or seven weeks, in the case of
an empire, which has lasted almost, or more than, two
thousand years, compels us to reject also the mean-
ing, three years and a half. This would be, in the
history of the monarchy, less than seven weeks in the
history of Nebuchadnezzar. The just inference to
be drawn, even on this ground alone, is the exact
opposite of that which suggests itself on a superficial
view.
2. But the argument from this previous mention of
the times may be carried a step further. The whole
account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream has clearly a typical
character. The prophet had before said to him "Thou
art this head of gold." Now the great image prefigured
te whole course of Gentile dominion, from the time of
the prophet to the glorious reign of Messiah. Of this
Gentile power Nebuchadnezzar, as the head of gold,
would be the natural representative. Accordingly, the
two chapters of his history which follow bear the
clearest marks of a typical meaning. The worship of
the image and the persecution of God's faithful wit-
nesses have both of them an exact counterpart in the
book of Revelation. (ch. xiii.) The bestial debasement
of the monarch equally answers to the long degradation
of worldly power, the joint effect of idolatry and of am-
bitious bride; until at length the kingdoms of this world
become the kingdoms of Christ. And, in strict har-
mony with this view, the next vision exhibits to us the
four empires under the debased emblem of the beasts of
prey, which before had composed the bright and terri-
ble image.
:
.
356
ELEMENTS of PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII.
2
The dream of the monarch has thus a close connexion,
as a typical history, with the vision of the four beasts.
The king himself represents the succession of imperial
sovereignty, till the kingdom of Christ is come. The
seven times which passed over him must therefore de-
note the whole period of debasement in the Gentile
kingdoms, from the times of Nebuchadnezzar to their
full redemption. The time, times, and dividing of a
time, which in terms is half the length, will evidently
correspond, not to the personal, but to the typical dura-
tion of these seven times. The whole period, from the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the present day (B. c. 606-
561, to A.D. 184), is a little more than twenty-four cen-
turies. And hence, on this ground alone, we might
presume that the time, times, and a half, are more than
twelve hundred years. We are thus led, independently,
to just the same conclusion which flows from the year-
day interpretation.
This inference is strengthened by one further remark.
If the whole interval from Nebuchadnezzar's reign be
divided into two equal portions, the division will fall
A.D. 618-641. The latter half, therefore, falls exclu-
sively within the times of the fourth or Roman empire,
and soon after the time when its division into separate
kingdoms was first completed. This is a pointed
coincidence with the broader features of the prophecy :
for in the vision, also, the time, times, and a half, are all
included in the period which follows after the ten horns
have arisen.
The dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it thus appears, whe-
ther we confine ourselves to the simpler ground of direct
criticism, or extend our survey to the typical import,
yields a decisive argument in favour of the year-day
exposition.
VII. THE VISION OF THE EVENING AND THE
MORNING is the next passage which contains a pro-
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
357
phetic number, and supples fresh evidence for the pro-
tracted reckoning.
1. The text, according to the usual construction of
the words, will be translated as follows:-
"How long shall be the vision of the daily sacrifice
and of the transgression of desolation, to give both the
sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And
he answered, and said, Unto evenings and mornings two
thousand three hundred; and the sanctuary shall be
cleansed."
“And the vision of the evening and the morning
which was told thee is true; wherefore shut up the
vision; for it will be for many days” (viii. 26).
It is plain at once that this is not the usual and literal
expression for a space of between six and seven years.
There are only three instances in all Scripture history
where a period of above forty days is expressed in days
only (Gen. vii. 3; Neh. vi. 15; Est. i. 4). And it is
without any precedent in Scripture, or in common usage,
that periods of more than one year should be thus de-
scribed. When we add to this the peculiar phrase,
evening-morning, or evenings and mornings, the strange
form in which the message is couched becomes still
more apparent. The first idea which it would suggest
to any thoughtful reader would be an inquiry into the
reason of so unusual and singular a phraseology.
Now the test of the two systems has already been
shown to consist in this very point. If short, literal
periods were designed, no reason can be given why they
should not be expressed in the most simple, usual, and
literal form. We might then expect to have found
them three years and six months, three years and seven
months, three years eight months and a half, six years
three months and twenty days. But if terms, which sug-
gest at first sight shorter periods, were used as mental
358
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
emblems of longer intervals, we might expect that the
form of the statement would be peculiar, and bear indi-
cations on its surface of a secret meaning-indications
not so strong as to compel an immediate discovery, but
convincing and powerful when the lapse of ages had
opened the way for a juster view of the divine coun-
sels. The words of the present text are just of this
kind; inexplicable on the literal theory, but deeply
expressive when the explanation of the year-day is
received.
2. A closer observation of the passage appears to
supply a still more direct proof. The words evening
and morning are in the singular number, and precede
the numerals. Now in the Hebrew idiom, when the
noun follows mixed numerals, it may be in the singular,
but when it precedes them it is always in the plural
number. By mixed numerals are meant those of unlike
dimensions, where tens are joined with units, or thou-
sands with hundreds. To this rule, I believe, not an
exception occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures. The words
occur again near the close of the chapter-"The vision
of the evening and the morning (not the evenings and
mornings) which was told thee is true."
The words in question, it would thus appear, are not
plural, but singular, or denote some one period called
an evening and morning, and which must either refer to
the whole course of the vision or to the time of its close..
This last view of its meaning is confirmed by the words
of the prophet Zechariah, where the cleansing of the
sanctuary is described (Zech. xiv. 6, 7): "It shall be
one day, which shall be known unto the Lord, not day
nor night; but it shall come to pass that at the evening
time it shall be light.'
Hence we may infer, with high probability, that the
evening-morning, like the coming of Messiah the Prince
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
359
(Dan. ix. 25), describes the limit or closing term of the
vision, when the sanctuary shall be cleansed.
The nu-
meral 2,300 will therefore stand alone, and require a
word of time to be supplied. And in this case the
laws of common usage forbid us to supply the word
days with so high a number, and require us to interpret
the unit as a year, and the whole period as 2,300 years.
3. But there are other reasons quite independent of
this version, and which would retain their whole force,
if it could be proved erroneous. And, first, the in-
cluded events prove the wider range of the prophecy.
These consist of two parts-the restored daily sacrifice,
and a second desolation afterwards to follow. But the
time of the restored sacrifice alone, before the fresh de-
solation, included several centuries, and hence the whole
period must be a term, not of days, but of years.
The probable reply to this argument would be, that
the whole interval refers to the time of desolation only.
But this is a departure from the direct and natural force
of the expression. For, in the words of the Celestial
Speaker, two distinct subjects are inquired into-the
daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation which
treads down the sanctuary.
4. The connexion with the seventy weeks leads to
the same conclusion. There is plainly a close cor-
respondence between the two visions. The seventy
weeks are said to be cut off for certain distinct objects;
and this implies a longer period from which they are
separated, either the course of time in general, or some
period distinctly revealed. Now the previous date in-
cludes two events-the restoration of the sacrifice, and
the desolation. The first of these is identical in cha-
racter with the seventy weeks, which are a period of
the restored polity of Jerusalem: and hence the most
natural of the cutting off is that which refers it to the
·
360
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
whole period of the former vision. The seventy weeks
are thus separated from the whole interval for the dura-
tion of the restored polity until the coming of Messiah,
upon whose rejection the predicted desolation, the se-
cond part of the main period, begins to be fulfilled.
And since the seventy weeks are thus only a part of the
numeral period 2,300, the unit of time in the latter
must be a natural year.
It may be observed, in passing, as a presumptive con-
firmation of this view, that the excess of 1,810 years
the difference of these periods), reckoned from the usuał
date of the Passion or the fall of Jerusalem, brings us
to the time A.D. 1843-1880; and thus corresponds with
those many signs which now intimate to the Church
the approaching restoration of Israel.
5. The words of the angel, near the close of the chap-
ter, lead to the same inference: "Shut thou up the
vision, for it shall be for many days." These strictly
answer to the former inquiry and its answer-“ How
long shall be the vision? Unto two thousand three
hundred days." The vision inquired into begins with
the numeral period; and the same vision is not after,
but for or unto many days. Hence the many days are
not before, but after the commencement of the numeral
period. This cannot be, if the number denotes less
than seven years; but is exactly fulfilled, if the space
designed by it is twenty-three centuries.
6. There are two or three objections which have now
to be removed. And, first, Mede himself, who applies
the vision to Antiochus, has the following remarks:-
"When the angel (he says) means days, in Daniel, he
expresseth it therefore not by days, for so it were doubt-
ful; but by evenings and mornings (viii. 14), when he
speaks of the persecution of Antiochus."
On this Mr. Maitland observes, with truth, that if
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF prophecy.
361
such were the object, the end has not been answered,
since almost every modern writer does understand the
prophet to mean years. Yet even this mistake of Mede,
when its cause is traced, yields perhaps an indirect con-
firmation of the year-day system.
The basis of that theory lies in assuming that the
dates were not designed to be understood long before
the time of the fulfilment, or so as to impede the lively
expectation of Christ's kingdom. They were to be
helps to a discernment of the times, when the Church
had been long exercised by delay. Now the earliest
date which could be assigned to the twelve hundred and
sixty days would be the Nativity or Passion; and to the
two thousand three hundred days, the time of Daniel.
Hence their earliest close, interpreted as years, would be
at the beginning of the thirteenth and eighteenth cen-
turies. If, then, the numeral period two thousand three
hundred had been expressed exactly in the same form
with the others, it must either have delayed the un-
derstanding of them for five centuries, or have been
itself prematurely revealed, and defeated the wise pur-
pose for which the times had so long been kept hidden.
Accordingly, we find that, from the end of the twelfth
to that of the sixteenth century, the twelve hundred and
sixty days were more and more widely understood as
years, while the other period was still interpreted of
days only. But when the lapse of time had removed
from this date also the temporary cause of concealment,
it began to be expounded consistently with the rest, and
all the prophetic dates were compacted into one com-
mon system, on one simple and harmonious basis of in-
terpretation.
7. The argument for the shorter estimate of this
period is stated with all the force, perhaps, of which it
R
362
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
is capable, by Mr. Maitland, in the "Second Enquiry,”
p. 63 :-
"Let the matter be as contrary as it may to the 'usages of
chronical calculation,' surely the case is not mended by supposing
the days to be years. If it would be strange to find three years
and a half spoken of as twelve hundred and sixty days, surely it
would be stranger still, and more contrary to all known 'usages
of chronical calculation,' to speak of twelve hundred and sixty
years as twelve hundred and sixty days, or forty-two months, or three
times and a half. How long a step the reviewer may wish to take
I really know not; but it must carry him to some point not ob
vious to most readers, if it 'leads' to the substitution which he
maintains. We may generally either make or find a mystery in
plain words, if we desire it; but really it does not seem so very
wonderful that a period of such importance should be stated in
various terms of years, months, and days; and when I find such
masses of time' as one hundred and fifty days, and one hundred
and eighty days, I do not feel incredulous that days may be days,
though the number be twelve hundred and sixty.”
This reasoning has two parts. It is implied that the
mode of expression is in harmony with the usage of
Scripture; and that if it were otherwise, the case is only
made worse by the year-day exposition.
But, in reality, the two passages to which Mr. Mait-
land refers are the only texts in all Scripture where a
period of more than two months is expressed simply in
days. Not one instance can be found of a space longer
than a year so expressed, except the passages in debate.
The form of expression is, therefore, in every one of these
texts (Dan vii. 25, viii. 14, xii. 7, 11, 12; Rev. xi. 2, 3,
xii. 6, 14, xiii. 5), quite unique and peculiar. Except
the five months of the first woe, not one of the passages
involving these dates is expressed in the most usual and
literal manner.
But the year-day, it is argued, only increases the diffi-
culty. The departure from the common forms of lan-
CHAP. XIII.]
363
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
guage then becomes wider than it was before. The
remark is delusive, and only obscures the real question.
The strangeness of the expression being once proved,
our choice lies between a mystery which means nothing,
and a mystery which has a plain and definite cause in
God's providence, and a key not less plain and definite,
and three times repeated, in God's holy word. Who
would hesitate which alternative to choose? In one
case, the departure from the usual form has a sufficient
explanation, a great and important object; on the other
view, it has no explanation whatever which can satisfy
any thoughtful mind.
8. The opinions of Josephus and Aben Ezra have
also been adduced to confirm the shorter reckoning.
The argument, however, is worthless. The same rea-
sons would operate on Jewish as on Christian writers,
to hinder the early apprehension of the true interval.
Yet that the Jews were early impressed with the existence
of some hidden meaning in these dates, is clear from
Justin in the second century. They expounded the time,
times, and half, as if the unit were a hundred years.
Mr. Cuninghame has also shown, from Abarbanel, that
the general consent of Jewish interpreters of a more
modern date is entirely opposed to the opinion of Aben
Ezra. So far as the argument has any weight, it leans,
therefore, to the side of the longer computation.
On the whole, even if we retain the usual version,
there is a concurrence of strong reasons which fix the
true meaning of the period to be, not six years, but
twenty-three centuries; while if the proposed translation
be just and sound, as resting on a constant law of He-
brew idiom, then the question would be decided at once,
and the time cannot be days, but must be years only.
VIII. THE OATH OF THE ANGEL, in the last vision
of Daniel, and all the attendant circumstances, are in
:
-
R 2
364
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
•
fall accordance with the conclusions already drawn, and
offer decisive evidence against the contracted exposition.
1. First, the solemnity of the oath itself almost re-
quires the larger interpretation. It is difficult to under-
stand the purpose of its introduction if the times thus
predicted are not one six-hundredth part of the whole
interval revealed; for the whole stress of the revela-
tion is made to rest on this annunciation of the time.
And it is scarcely possible to trace, on this view, any
reason for so impressive and solemn an introduction to
the message. But when we remember how entirely the
Gentile dispensation was hidden from the Jewish Church,
and what a long and mysterious break it has interposed
before the fulfilment of the great national promises; the
statement, that 1,260 years were certainly to intervene,
would answer to the dignity of the event, and be of such
importance to the Church as might well account for
the grandeur of its introduction.
2. Next, the inquiry which is made, when taken in
connexion with the prophecy to which it refers, implies
the same truth. The vision reaches, demonstrably, from
the time of Cyrus, B.C. 534, to the still future resurrec-
tion. Now when, in connexion with this sacred history,
a celestial spirit puts the question, how long shall it be
to the end of these wonders? there is no reasonable
construction of which the words are capable by which
three years and a half could be the true answer.
very form and aspect of the inquiry shows that it must
refer to some main portion of the included time, and
not to a millesimal fraction of the whole.
The
But the words of St. Peter (1 Pet. i. 12), which seem
clearly to refer to this very passage, make the conclusion
still more obvious. The reason assigned why the mean-
ing was concealed from Daniel is, that it related to the
Christian dispensation. If the period of time here in-
CHAP. XIII.]
365
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tended were three years and a half, there would be no
perceptible connexion between the fact of its conceal-
ment and the reason thus assigned, But if it be a pre-
diction of 1,260 years, to elapse before the close of
Israel's dispersion, the knowledge of its meaning would
have implied an acquaintance with the whole mystery
of Israel's rejection and the calling of the Gentiles.
3. The connexion of these times with the Jewish dis-
persion is another feature which helps to fix their true
meaning. "When he shall have accomplished to scat-
ter the power of the holy people, all these things shall
be finished."
Now it is very conceivable that a short period of three
years and a half might serve to limit and define the
years of Israel's dispersion. But surely it is most un-
likely that a period of eighteen centuries should be
viewed as defining the close of a shorter period of three
and a half literal years. The words of the oath, by
every maxim of common reason, imply that the pre-
dicted times were commensurate with those of the dis-
persion, and formed at least the principal part of them.
The aspect which the statement assumes is that of a
limitation on a time which might else have seemed un-
limited. The strange and mysterious power described
is not to prevail without a bound assigned; the restora-
tion of Israel is to be the signal of its fall, and of the
completion of its appointed dominion. All this agrees
only with the larger interpretation.
4. A still more decisive proof may be drawn from
the words which follow, upon the renewed inquiry of
the prophet: "Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are
closed up and sealed till the time of the end." The
sealing refers plainly to the oath which has just pre-
ceded, and to the revelation of times which it con-
tains. Now the words thus sealed contain the duration
366
[CHAP. XIII.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
of the period, but not the date of its commencement.
And hence the duration implied in the phrase time,
times, and an half, was not to be understood till some
distant age of the Church. This is strictly true on the
year-day theory; but is not true if the words denote
simply three natural years and a half.
IX. THE SUPPLEMENTARY DATES, at the close of the
same vision, are equally distinct in the proofs they fur-
nish of the same general truth. The periods of 1,290
and 1,335 days are the first of the disputed passages
in which the shorter reckoning has any claim to be more
literal than the other; while in all those which follow
the dates occur in the symbolical parts, and not in the
explanations. And here there are no less than four
cautions on the face of the passage, to keep us from
resting in the bare letter. First, the peculiar form, as
already noticed, which is without Scripture precedent,
that periods of such length should be expressed in days
only. Secondly, the words by which they are prefaced:
"None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise
shall understand." The meaning, then, was not to be
evident at first sight, but would require the exercise of
spiritual wisdom. Thirdly, the two periods are a sup-
plement to the times previously mentioned, and which
had already received a key to their true meaning in the
vision of the seventy weeks. Finally, the assurance,
that the prophet should stand in his lot in the end of
these days, naturally implies that those days are them-
selves of a longer continuance than might appear from
the letter of the prophecy.
But these verses supply us with another argument,
which results from a close examination of the periods
themselves.
:
In the first place, both these numbers are extensions
of the time, times, and a half, which, reckoned as in the
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
367
book of Revelation, are twelve hundred and sixty days.
There are thus two successive additions of thirty and
forty-five days.
Now it is difficult to conceive that the Holy Spirit
would overlook the whole course of God's providence,
to reveal the events of four years only. But it is still
more unnatural to suppose that this whole book of
prophecy should close with a prediction of thirty and
forty-five literal days, and this without any event ex-
pressly assigned to them. There arises, on this hypo-
thesis an unavoidable feeling of incongruity, which for-
bids us to rest in such an exposition.
On the contrary, the year-day interpretation restores
these passages at once to their natural dignity, and
invests them with a deep practical importance. The
first interval will then correspond with a natural gene.
ration; and the second, with the space from the Exo-
dus to the first season of rest in the land of promise
(Josh. xiv. 7-11).
There is thus a peculiar and beautiful significance
restored to the close of the prophecy. Just as in
our Lord's discourse the last generation before the
fall of Jerusalem was marked out by an especial
notice, so, on this view, are the two latest genera-
tions in the Gentile Church. And the very same
interval of time, which marked the transition from the
bondage of Egypt to the actual possession of Canaan,
will here be applied to the days in which the Church of
Christ enters on its higher inheritance, and will be linked
with that word of promise—" Blessed is he that waiteth
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty-
five days." The allusion to the lot in the closing words
of the vision, when its connexion is thus traced with
the typical history of Caleb (Josh. xiv. 1-14), shines
forth also with a redoubled beauty.
X. THE CYCLICAL CHARACTER OF THE PROPHETIC
368
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII.
TIMES is a further proof of the year-day system, which
deserves a short notice before passing from the dates of
Daniel to those of the Revelation. It seems to have
been first unfolded by M. de Chesaux, a French writer,
purely as a curiosity of science; but it is Mr. Cuning-
hame who has revived attention to this interesting topic.
Though unable to concur in the whole superstructure
which he has reared on this basis, the first principles, I
believe, are both true in fact, and form a remarkable
and collateral confirmation of the figurative view of
these prophetic times. Two or three remarks will
perhaps make the subject plain to general readers, so far
as it bears on the present argument.
1. On the fourth day of creation it was announced
as the divine purpose in the appointment of the heavenly
luminaries" Let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and for years." The division of time was
one main purpose of their institution as lights in the
firmament. The word rendered seasons is the same
which here denotes the times, and there is consequently
a tacit reference to that original ordinance of God.*
The revolutions of the sun and the moon have thus,
in every nation, formed the basis of the calendar. The
day, the month, and the year, are the first elements on
which it depends. If the natural month and year had
been each a complete number of days, or a simple
fractional part, the calendar would have been quite
simple. But this is not the case, and hence the various
intercalations used to bring them into agreement.
Where the calendar is adapted to the sun only, its
construction is very simple.. The Julian year is a close
approximation, and the Gregorian is practically correct
for some thousands of years.
But in the sacred calendar of the Jews, and those of
Greece and the eastern nations, the motions both of the
sun and of the moon enter into the reckoning. And
CHAP. XIII.]
369
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
hence arise mixed calendars; more natural, since they
are fitted to the motions of both the natural lights of
heaven, but more complex in their adjustment.
The most natural mode of adjustment is by taking the
nearest integer of the lower period contained in the
higher, and making this the unit for the next higher
denomination, intercalating where necessary.
Thus the natural month is nearer thirty than twenty-
nine days. Therefore thirty days will be the calendar
month, and the unit of every reckoning where months
occur.
Again, the year is nearer twelve than thirteen calendar
months. Therefore twelve calendar months will form
the calendar year, and five days are intercalated to com-
plete the whole number.
2. Now just as the day and the month were taken
for the basis of these shorter periods, so may the month
and year be taken as the basis of higher intervals. These
give us cycles, or periods of complete years, which are
almost exactly a complete number of natural months.
The intervals of years which most fully possess this
character, adopting the most exact scientific measures
of the lunar month and solar year, are 11, 19, 30, 49...
315, 334, 353, 687, 1,040 years. After this limit the
increasing accuracy of the series is limited by the moon's
acceleration, and the uncertainty of our measures of time.
Now from this series there result several interesting
conclusions which bear on the present question.
The period of nineteen years, though not directly
recognized in the Jewish calendar, formed the basis of
that used by the Greeks, and was not less an integral
element of it than the month or the year. Now the
very next period to this, in the above series, is thirty
years; which, on the year-day theory, is the prophetic
month, and has thus a real existence as a cycle, no less
R 3
370
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII.
:
than the natural month of thirty days, to which it bears a
close analogy.
The next period is that of forty-nine years; which,
according to the dates in Josephus of sabbatic years,
and the more probable view of the sacred text, is the
interval from jubilee to jubilee; and therefore is funda-
mental in the Hebrew calendar. This will be a se-
cond scriptural instance, like the prophetic month, of
a luni-solar cycle adopted for a higher unit, composed
of a complete number of years.
Let us now pursue the analogy a step further. As
twelve common months of thirty days, form a year
of three hundred and sixty days, which, with five days
intercalated, make the solar year; so twelve prophetic
months of thirty years will form a time of three hundred
and sixty years, exceeding by seven only the very exact
luni-solar cycle of three hundred and fifty-three years;
which forms a kind of natural unit in the series.
Again, a time, times, and a half will compose a period
of one thousand two hundred and sixty years.
And
this is exactly four times the accurate cycle three hun-
dred and fifteen years, and, therefore, partakes itself of the
same cyclical character.
The most perfect cycle, perhaps, which can be cer-
tainly ascertained, in consequence of the moon's ac-
eeleration affecting the higher periods, is one thousand
and forty years. Now, on the year-day theory, this is
exactly the difference between the two grand numeral
periods of one thousand two hundred and sixty and two
thousand three hundred years.
Finally, the highest prophetic period, two thousand
three hundred years, is itself a cycle=1040+4+315, and
is, perhaps, the only secular cycle, composed of centu-
ries only, that is known to exist.
From these remarks it appears that the prophetic
=
CHAP. XIII.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
371
and
month of thirty years, and the time composed of twelve
such months, have a scientific character, though less
distinct, yet of the very same nature with those of the
common month and year. It appears also that the two
main periods of one thousand two hundred and sixty
and two thousand three hundred years are cycles,
that their difference, one thousand and forty years, is
the most perfect cycle certainly ascertained. The in-
terval of one thousand two hundred and ninety years is
also a cycle, and that of one thousand three hundred
and thirty five is defective only by one single year.
These remarks seem to prove that the year-day inter-
pretation, besides its direct scriptural evidence, has a
further and collateral support in the analogies of science.
The same principles of the intersection of the solar and
lunar periods, by which the units of the ordinary calen-
dar are determined, when carried further up the ascend-
ing series of time, produce, even from the abstract
relations of the celestial periods, the larger but corre-
sponding units of thirty and three hundred and sixty
years, or the prophetic month and time.
And surely, in the view which is thus unfolded, there
is a simple grandeur which harmonizes with all the other
features of these inspired predictions. A fresh light is
thrown upon the words of the Psalmist, where the same
word is employed as in these mysterious dates—“ He
appointed the moon for seasons." We are raised out of
the contracted range of human reckonings to a lofty
elevation of thought, and catch some glimpses of that
mysterious wisdom by which the Almighty blends all
the works of nature and of providence into subservience
to the deep counsels of His redeeming love. A divine
ladder of time is set before us, and, as we rise suc-
cessively from step to step, days are replaced by years,
and years by millennia; and these, perhaps, hereafter,
372
ELEMENTS of PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIII
in their turn, by some higher unit, from which the soul
of man may measure out cycles still more vast, and
obtain a wider view of the immeasurable grandeur of
eternity. When we reflect, also, that the celestial
periods by which these cycles are determined, are them-
selves fixed by that law of attraction which gives the
minutest atom an influence on the planetary motions,
what a combination appears in these sacred times of
the most contrasted elements of Omniscient wisdom!
Human science sinks exhausted at the very threshold
of this temple of divine truth. It has strained its
utmost efforts in calculating the actual motions of the
Moon and the Earth; but the determining causes which
fixed at first the proportion of their monthly and yearly
revolutions have altogether eluded its research. Yet
these elements of the natural universe are linked in, by
these sacred times and celestial cycles, with the deepest
wonders of Providence, and the whole range of Divine
prophecy. How glorious, then, must be the inner shrine,
lit up with the Shechinah of the Divine Presence, when
the approaches themselves reveal such a secret and
hidden wisdom!
Every one of the passages in Daniel thus yields
distinct evidence in favour of the year-day system.
And when these various indications are compared to-
gether, and combined with the truth which has just
been unfolded, of the connexion of these numbers with
the natural cycles of science, the proof seems the highest
almost of which such a subject is capable, and forms
little short of the convincing power of a mathematical
demonstration. In the following chapter the inquiry
will be pursued further, in connexion with the Apoca-
lyptic visions.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY CONTINUED.
FROM the numbers of Daniel let us now pass on to
consider those contained in the book of Revelation.
The evidence which they afford has been, in some
measure, anticipated; but there are several arguments
which remain still to be noticed.
I. THE TEN DAYS' TRIBULATION of Smyrna comes
first in order. This, so far as it relates directly and
literally to the Church of Smyrna, has its fulfilment
unknown, and would not come under the range of the
principle in debate. But many writers, with much
apparent reason, have supposed these seven Churches
to be types of the Church Universal, in distinct stages of
its history. In accordance with this view, many have
also interpreted these ten days of the ten years' per-
secution under Diocletian, the most remarkable in the
early times of the Church.
This argument had been stated by Mr. Faber in these
words:-"We find by the event that the Apocalyptic
ten days' persecution of the Church of Smyrna means
the ten years' persecution carried on by Diocletian."
Mr. Maitland replies, certainly with some truth, that
the interpretation is too much disputed, and received
by too few expositors, to be a lawful postulate or basis
of argument. He then states that he has found only
Bishop Newton and Dr. Hales who agree in this appli-
cation; that Dr. Clark speaks of it doubtfully; and that
Grotius, Capellus, Fleming, Doddridge, Scott, Gauntlett,
374
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Junius, Brightman, Brown, Henry, and Guyse, all adopt
some different exposition. He then adds—“ The ques-
tion is, whether the apostle does soclearly and certainly
use the word day for a year in this passage, as to form a
sufficient, though single warrant for our assuming that
he has done so in other places."
These remarks may be conclusive against adopting
this passage as a primary and fundamental argument;
but they cannot hinder us from receiving it as sup-
plementary evidence, for the following reasons.
(1). First, Mr. Maitland has not been fortunate in
the commentators who have fallen in his way, with
regard to the authorities for this interpretation. The
three next whom I have examined, and certainly three
of the ablest and best known writers on the Apocalypse,
Dr. More, Daubuz, and Vitringa, all adopt this refer-
ence to Diocletian's persecution; and Dr. Gill also
prefers the same view.
(2). Next, if once we admit the typical character of
these Epistles, it is hardly possible to avoid the interpre-
tation in question; for the contrast between Smyrna
and the following Churches is one between external
violence and internal corruption. We must view the
Church of Smyrna, then, as a type of the later times of
Paganism. Now the last and most conspicuous of all
the heathen persecutions-the crisis, in fact, of the
Church's history, was the persecution of Diocletian;
and it is notorious that it lasted just ten years. The
presumption, then, in favour of this application is really
of the strongest kind, when the Epistles are once allowed
to have a typical meaning. The argument, though not
fundamental, forms an important supplement to those
which have been already given.
II. THE TIME OF THE LOCUST WOE is the next period
which has to be examined. And this requires a notice
CHAP. XIV.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
375
of the maxim laid down by Mr. Faber in the “Pro-
vincial Letters," in his short but lucid defence of the
year-day theory.
1. The principle which Mr. Faber there assumes as
the basis of the theory is, the systematic employment of
MINIATURE in hieroglyphical symbolization. After this,
as the second step of the argument, the texts in Numbers
and Ezekiel are adduced, with the Seventy Weeks, to
furnish scriptural authority for a specific rate of numeral
reduction.
This second step is quite plain, and is presented with
Mr. Faber's usual point and clearness. But the principle,
however true in itself, is not wide enough to comprehend
all the facts of the case. The true basis, I believe, is
that which has been already unfolded-the express design
of God that the Church should be kept in the constant
expectation of Christ's advent, and the intentional con-
cealment of the times, while still distant, which arose
from this as the final cause.
If now we examine minutely the texts themselves,
the numbers of Daniel do not, in any one instance,
occur among the symbols, but either in direct inter-
pretations, or in visions not strictly symbolical. Even
in the dates of Revelation the principle will not apply
as an universal test; for the ten days of Smyrna, the
forty-two months of the Gentiles, and the thousand
years of the millennium, do not come within its opera-
tion. These might all be literal or all figurative, so far
as this maxim is a guide. However true, then, and
useful, as a subsidiary remark, the principle seems open
to the attacks of a skilful adversary, when laid down
as the fundamental axiom of the whole inquiry.
2. In the period, however, of the locust woe, Mr.
Faber's maxim, for the first time, fully applies. The
locusts are a miniature symbol-insects, for men or
376
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
invading armies. The time of the woe is given in the
midst of the emblems themselves. Therefore it is
natural to suppose that this also would be expressed
in a miniature form. And this is confirmed, if we
remember that five months is a natural and common
period for the ravages of literal locusts; but that the
scourge of conquering or invading armies is seldom
limited to so short a time.
3. This conclusion is strengthened by comparing the
words of the Angel in the tenth chapter. With a solemn
oath He declares that there shall be time no longer;
but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the
mystery of God should be finished." The words clearly
import the shortness of the remaining time of delay,
compared with the interval already past. The other
term of the comparison is the duration of the previous
trumpets, which had not been followed by repentance.
If we take the five months as literal, the four first
trumpets must be still shorter, and the whole space
could not much exceed two years. Now this is a time
much too short to give room for the contrast in the
words of the angel. There could with no propriety ro
emphasis be said to be delay, in severe judgments, six in
number, within the limits of two successive years.
And hence the most solemn oath in the word of God is
robbed of the deep solemnity of its meaning.
III. THE TIME OF THE SECOND WOE affords another
proof of the same kind, but is involved in greater diffi-
culties, from the various readings or versions of which
the text is here capable.
1. The common version is in these words-" The four
angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour, and
a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of
men.'
""
The form of the phrase is here so peculiar as to strike
CHAP. XIV.]
377
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
every reader at once.
and the period is given as an ascending climax, instead
of the usual arrangement. Hence, long before the year-
day theory arose, the terms were often understood in-
definitely, as if they bore the sense, "prepared for any
hour, or day, or month, or year." Even from the
earliest times, what is called the literal sense was far
from being so literally plain as to be received by most
commentators. The other view, I believe, was more
usual.
The common order is inverted,
2. With the actual reading the common version does
not appear to be correct. The words should rather be
translated as is done by Mr. Faber-"The angels pre-
pared for that hour were loosed both a day, and a month,
and a year." But, in my opinion, the reading is pre-
ferable which is adopted by Matthæi, and found in seven
or eight of the best manuscripts (εις τὴν ὥραν και εἰς τὴν
quépav). The translation will then be-" The angels
prepared for that hour, and that day, were loosed both
a month and a year." Two of the very best manuscripts
of Bengelius agree in this reading; and all the five of
Matthæi, of which he says-" Quando hi quinque inter
se consentiunt, de integritate textus vix ullo in loco
dubitare licet."
3. There will now appear, in these words, a striking
confirmation of the year-day theory; for the time,
according to this amended version, a month and year,
or three hundred and ninety days, is the exact period
named in Ezekiel, where the typical use of days for years
is most expressly stated-" I have laid on thee the years
of their iniquity, according to the number of the days,
three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the
iniquity of the house of Israel." This has not the air
of a casual resemblance; it is rather an express mark
supplied us by the Holy Spirit, and directing us to the
וי
378
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
1
true key, by which to interpret these prophetic periods.
The character of the times is also similar. The three
hundred and ninety years in Ezekiel are a time of un-
repenting idolatry on the part of God's visible Church,
the house of Israel, closed by a decisive overthrow and
judgment. The month and year of the second woe have
the same character. They are marked by stubborn and
persevering idolatry (ix. 20), and close with the utter
excision of "the third part of men" (ix. 18). The same
interval of time occurs nowhere in Scripture but in these
two passages. It is difficult, then, to conceive how an
indirect discovery of the true meaning could be more
complete than is here provided in this type of Ezekiel,
and its exact accordance with the features of the second
woe.
IV. THE TREADING DOWN OF THE HOLY CITY, and
the related numbers, have next to be considered. The
passage is as follows:-
Rev. xi. 2, 3. "But the court that is without the temple leave
out, and measure it not; for it has been given to the Gentiles;
and the holy city they will tread under foot forty and two months.
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall pro-
phecy one thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth."
1. The same remark applies here as in former in-
stances, but with increased emphasis. Two distinct
phrases are used to denote the time, and neither of them
is the usual and literal form to express the times, on the
shorter reckoning. The fact that the same interval is
named not less than seven times, and under three various
forms, accords fully with the mystical interpretation, and
with that only.
2. The time announced for the treading down of the
city is forty-two months. Now the literal city of Jeru-
salem has already been trodden down for one thousand
CHAP. XIV.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
379
To restrain the
seven hundred and seventy years.
words, then, to three years and six months of a lite-
ral treading down still future, is to make this note of
time entirely unmeaning. For our Lord's own words
prove that the treading down, which begun under Titus,
will not cease till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
This is certainly not before, but after, the time, times,
and a half. Therefore the treading down of the literal
city is to be continuous, in one unbroken period, for near
eighteen centuries. How, then, could it be defined by a
space of three years and six months? On the other
hand, a treading down of the visible Church for 1,260
years, while not identical with the literal desolation
announced by our Saviour, will bear to it the closest ana-
logy, and range over an interval of time nearly as ex-
tensive in its continuance.
3. The allusion to the type of Elias, in the account of
the witnesses, is a further presumption that the period
is 1,260 years. The time of famine when he prophesied
is twice mentioned in the New Testament under the same
phrase, three years and six months. The reference to his
testimony against Israel is very plain. If the time here
were three natural years and a half, the same term as be-
fore would naturally be used-three years and six months.
But there is a further argument to be drawn from this
reference to Elias. The whole of his history was full of
types denoting spiritual truths. The famine was typi-
cal of spiritual drought; and the abundant rain at its
close, of the outpouring of God's Spirit in the latter
days. The seven thousand who bowed not the knee to
Baal typified the remnant of faithful Christians accord-
ing to the election of grace. Now since the antitype
is nearly always on a larger scale than the type, we
might infer that the time of the witnesses is not literall
three years and six months, but some longer and analo-
gous period.
380
Elements of PROPHECY. [CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS
.
4. The three days and a half, during which the wit-
nesses are to lie unburied, seems not obscurely to in-
dicate the same truth. Too much stress, perhaps, has
been laid on this point by Mede and others; as if the
events predicted were impossible to be fulfilled in so
short a time as three literal days. The reply of Mr.
Maitland on this topic to the statements of Mede is, in
several respects, just and convincing. Reasonings of
this nature, drawn from the impossibility of events,
ought to be circumscribed within the narrowest bounds.
Yet there is one clause of Mede's argument on this
head which seems to me a just and forcible remark,
though Mr. Maitland condemns it as revolting or ab-
surd. "How should the half day (Mede inquires) be
a competent time to distinguish or limit any of the ac-
tions there mentioned? If the Holy Ghost had meant
nothing but days, would He have been so precise for
half a day?" The reasoning here, when explained, is
of that kind which the example of the holy apostles
themselves warrants us to employ. In the case of our
Lord's own resurrection, certainly the fraction of a day
was not considered in the reckoning; else it would rather
have been a day and a half than three days. Now if the
witnesses were individuals, is it natural to suppose that
the Holy Spirit would describe their resurrection by a
minuter scale of time than that of our Lord himself?
The case of Lazarus is exactly in point. There we have
mention that he had been four days in the grave, but no
fraction of a day is recorded. So, too, in the recovery
of Hezekiah, a type of the Saviour's resurrection. In
short, we have about thirty passages in Scripture where
three days are mentioned to define an interval, and four
where four days occur; but nowhere else is the fraction
of a day introduced in such a measurement of time.
The question of Mede is therefore pertinent, and may
be repeated without either irreverence or folly. “If
CHAP. XIV.]
381
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
3
the Holy Spirit had intended natural days only, would
He have used a preciseness in the statement of time,
which is nowhere else employed, in nearly forty exam-
ples, not even in that most important of all facts, the
resurrection of our Lord ?”
V. THE WILDERNESS ABODE OF THE CHURCH is
another topic of argument, equally striking and impor-
tant, and suggests many distinct presumptions for the
year-day, some of them of the strongest kind.
1. The woman here is clearly symbolical, and denotes
the Church at some season of its history. Now the
times occur in close and immediate connexion with this
symbol, and we may naturally infer that they are sym-
bolical also.
2. The woman is a miniature symbol of the Church.
And hence Mr. Faber's maxim fully applies, as in the
time of the first woe. The congruity of the parts in
the hieroglyphic seems to require that the time (should
be presented also in a miniature form.
3. The two distinct phrases employed are another
token of the same truth. We have the time, times, and
a half, and 1,260 days, both used evidently to denote
the same period; each being, as before, an unusual
phrase.
4. The two distinct stages of the flight are a further
proof that the period is far larger than the bare letter
would imply. The 1,260 days, the time, times, and a
half, and the forty-two months in the next chapter, are
three different expressions for one and the same gene-
ral period of time. The previous mention of it is in
connexion with other events, which form the immediate
preparation for the main era.
Now there are two distinct stages mentioned of the
woman's flight into the wilderness. In the first, she
flees simply; in the second, the two wings of the eagle
382
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
are given her that she may fly into her prepared
place. There is no real ground for the prolepsis
which some authors have assumed. On the contrary,
the narrative is more consistent and natural without
any such license. The woman begins to flee into the
wilderness after the birth of the male child, and be-
fore the celestial victory. After the battle is won,
and the dragon is cast down and persecutes afresh,
wings are given to her for her escape, and she flies
into the desert with increased rapidity.
The preparation, then, for her sojourn in the wil-
derness, alone involves nine or ten distinct and suc-
cessive events recorded in the prophecy. If the period
of that sojourn be only three years and six months, the
preparation must be either quite disproportionate to
the event, or the steps of the preparation will be
crowded into the narrowest compass. The spiritual
deliverance, the dejection of Satan, the renewed per-
secution, the protection given to the Church and her
increased rapidity of flight, the flood cast out by the
serpent, its absorption by the friendly earth, and the
persevering rage of the dragon, will all be crushed
into the space of two or three years. This might
perhaps be barely possible; but surely nothing but
the most distinct revelation could make us receive such
an exposition of the true reference of so glorious a
prophecy.
In fact, when we read these successive allusions to
the time of her sojourn, and compare them with the
opening benediction on the readers of this book, we
cannot but conclude that this sojourn is not a transi-
tory event of three years just at the very end, but
conveys some great truth of standing and permanent
benefit to the Church through successive generations.
Such it has been, on the mystical exposition—a main-
CHAP. XIV.]
383
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
stay of the witnesses for truth in times of darkness
and oppression; while, on the other view, it would
teach us nothing that had not been already taught us,
more simply and plainly, by the prophets of the Old
Testament,
5. But there is one further argument to be drawn
from this topic, which is peculiarly striking and impor-
tant. These mysterious times are used here to define
the season of the woman's stay in the wilderness. They
refer us, therefore, at once, to the history of the Jews in
the wilderness, as the type to which they correspond.
The resemblance is further confirmed by two remark-
able passages in St. Paul's writings, where the same
analogy is unfolded. (1 Cor. x.; Heb. iv.)
Now, since the events strictly corresponds it is natu-
ral to look for the same analogy in the period which
defines them. What light, then, is thrown upon this
in the typical history? How was the period of its dura-
tion determined at the first? The answer is found in
that remarkable text which has been quoted before :
"After the number of the days that ye searched the
land, even forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year,
shall ye bear your iniquities, forty years; and ye shall
know my breach of promise."
Thus, in the typical history, the length of the Church's
sojourn in the wilderness was determined, expressly and
openly, by the year-day principle. It was defined and
its limit determined by the divine rule, a day for a year,
a day for a year. The event here predicted is the same
—a wilderness sojourn of the Church. And hence the
Spirit of God seems, as it were, to lead us by the hand,
and to point out to us the true key to decipher these
sacred numbers, by this parallel event of Jewish history.
This proof becomes yet stronger by the addition of
one further remark. There are three main passages
384
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
only where the principle of a year for a day is clearly
and demonstrably affirmed, twice in words, and once by
the evidence of actual fulfilment—the texts in Numbers
and Ezekiel, and the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
Now to each of these there is a direct and pointed re-
ference in the passages now in dispute. The times of
the woman measure her abode in the wilderness, and
refer us directly to the only complete type, that of
Israel in the desert, and to the text which marks out
the time of their wanderings, a year for a day, forty
years.
The time of the second woe occurs in no other
passage of all Scripture, except where Ezekiel lies on
his side three hundred and ninety days, and bears, by
Divine appointment, the iniquity of the house of Israel,
a day for a year, a day for a year, three hundred and
ninety years. The three days and a half of the wit-
nesses' exposure is a broken and fractional time; and
though forty passages and more occur where periods of
three or four days are mentioned, this exact interval
occurs nowhere else in the word of God, except in the
half week last mentioned in Daniel's prophecy (ix. 27),
and where it certainly denotes three and a half years.
This last correspondence, and the interpretation of the
three days and a half to which it leads, was seen and
adopted more than twelve centuries ago. Let us only
combine together these three distinct marks of designed
coincidence; and it is scarcely possible to imagine how
constructive proofs can rise to a higher degree of evi-
dence than is here afforded for the year-day interpre-
tation.
Besides, however, the direct evidence which this com-
parison lends us for the truth of that theory, it also con-
tains a deep spiritual lesson. The delay of the promised
blessing, though foreseen in the Divine counsels, is yet
owing, like the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness, to
CHAP. XIV.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
385
the unbelief and worldliness of the Church of God. It
was unbelief which turned the forty days of search into
forty years of wandering. And the similar unbelief
and corruption of the visible Church has turned the
1,260 days, expressed on the surface of the prophecy,
into those 1,260 years of actual delay and desolation
which lay couched beneath the expression, and have
been slowly fulfilling inthe course of Divine Providence.
VI. THE CLOSE OF THE MYSTERY OF GOD, and the
oath which announces it, supply another proof, less evi-
dent perhaps at first sight, but which, on examination,
is of the strongest kind. The passage occurs in Rev. x.
5-7, and should be compared, first of all, with the paral-
lel text, Dan xii. 5-8, as the following argument depends
mainly on this comparison.
1. The oath in Revelation, on the most general view
of its meaning, denotes the shortness of the delay,
and the approaching close of the mystery of God-
"There shall be delay no longer." Now this implies
that the six first trumpets have been really a time of
long suffering. The natural impression which it leaves
is, that the previous delay, in the course of those trum-
pets, has been of long continuance, and is drawing to its
termination. This, of itself, can accord only with the
larger interpretation of the times.
2. But the oath in the Apocalypse resembles closely
the former oath in the book of Daniel. There is an
evident correspondence between them in every part.
The speaker is the same; for in each case the context
proves decisively that it is no other than the Son of
God. The subject is the same; and there are only two
passages where the solemnity of an oath is connected
with the sacred times. The form of the appeal is the
same; only that in Revelation it becomes still more
august and full than in the former prophecy. Finally,
S
$
i
386
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the substance of the oath corresponds also. In the for-
mer it is" That it shall be for a time, times, and an
half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter
the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished." In the latter the words are "That there
shall be time (or, a time), no longer; but in the days of
the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall
be finished, as he hath declared to the servants, the pro-
phets." The mystery of God is the rejection of the
Jews and calling of the Gentiles (Rom. xi.; Eph. iii.) ;
and hence the closing words of the oath, in each in-
tsance, have just the same meaning. The inference is
clear that the statement in Revelation is chronological
and specific, on less than that which occurs in the former
prophecy.
3. This conclusion results also from the words them-
selves. The rendering, "that there shall be time no
longer," does not harmonize in the least with the con-
text, if expounded in the popular sense, that time shall
be swallowed up' in eternity. Another version has been
proposed "That there shall be delay no longer."
This agrees better with the general drift and purpose
of the announcement; but it evidently does not con-
vey the full meaning of the oath, as appears from two
reasons. First, the declaration would not then be strictly
true, for the narrative of the following chapter implies
some measure of delay, even after this announcement;
and next, the analogy with the oath in Daniel is almost
entirely destroyed. Both these causes require us to
seek for a more correct and consistent version.
4. From these remarks we are led at once to the true
rendering, and the only one which satisfies all the con-
ditions of the text. "He sware by Him that liveth for
ever and ever...that there should be A TIME no longer;
but in the days of the seventh angel the mystery of
CHAP. XIV.]
387
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
God shall be finished." This version restores the full
harmony of the text, both with its own immediate con-
text and with the oath in Daniel, and does not, like the
previous version, involve any license whatever on the
idiom of the Greek language.
5. The use of the word xpovos, to denote specific or
defined intervals of time, is too frequent to require jus-
tification. For scriptural examples it is enough to re-
fer to Luke i. 57; Acts i. 7, iii. 21, vii. 17; Gal. iv. 4;
1 Thess. v. 1. The term, however, being different from
that employed in Daniel, and in chap. xii., there seems
an objection at first against applying to it the same
interpretation. But this difficulty will be removed
entirely by the following remarks.
First, the strict correspondence, in other respects, of
the two oaths, requires us, if the word xpóvos be taken
definitely, to render it by the same word, a time, which
is used in the other passage. In the one, the Angel
swears that it shall be for a season, and seasons, and the
dividing of a season; in the other, that there shall no
longer be a time. Surely this correspondence alone
must teach us that the same definite period is intended
by either term.
Again, these words are so nearly allied in their mean-
ing, that the difference entirely vanishes in our autho-
rized version. Thus xpóvos is translated in thirty-two
places by the word time, and in four others by the word
season; and kaipos, in sixty and fifteen places respec-
tively, by the same terms. A distinction so evanescent
can be no sufficient ground for rejecting the proposed
exposition.
But, finally, the interpretation here offered really
maintains the distinction between these terms. For the
Greek words do not differ by denoting a longer and a
shorter interval, but only in the aspect under which
I
$ 2
388
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the same interval may be viewed. The one denotes the
time in which, and the other after which, certain events
are imagined to occur.
Thus the former is constantly
used to signify an occasion, fit season, or opportunity; as
in Mark xii. 2; Luke xii. 42; Acts xxiv. 25; Gal. vi.
9, 10; Heb. xi. 15. And the latter (xpóvos) is used
itself, and especially in its derivatives, with a secondary
notion of delay. The verb derived from it is employed
constantly in this sense, both in Scripture and in classic
writers (Matt. xxiv. 48, xxv. 5; Luke i. 21, xii. 45;
Heb. x. 37). The same period, it is plain, may be
viewed either with reference to events fulfilled in its
course, or the delay it interposes to other events which
will follow on its close. In the former view it is a kaupòs,
or season; and in the latter, a xpóvos, or time.
Now in Daniel the direct object of the oath is to
affirm the continued duration and certain fulfilment of
the desolation, and the power of the wilful king. The
emphasis rests immediately on the times themselves, and
the fulfilment of the predicted events in their season.
The word kaîpòs is therefore employed. But in the
Apocalypse the purpose of the oath is to limit the
delay, or the space still to run out before the expiration
of the whole period. And hence the word xpóvos is used
with equal propriety and distinctness in its application.
6. The way is now clear for a just apprehension of
the argument which this passage supplies. The oath
in Daniel announces solemnly that events there predicted
in the close of his prophecy shall last three times and a
half, and that afterwards the restoration of Israel will
follow. The present oath, at a later period, resumes the
same subject. After the six trumpets have been blown,
and the remnant continue stubborn and impenitent, the
mighty Angel descends, and announces, with a solemn
eath, that not one single time remains to run out before
CHAP. XIV.]
389
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
the predicted season shall be accomplished, and the mys-
tery of the Gentile Church and Israel's rejection shall
be completed, Now, the fact that the whole period is
thus broken into two distinct portions, that it is made
the subject of two distinct oaths, uttered by our Lord
with the deepest solemnity, and that the delay in the
course of the two times and a half is so great, in man's
judgment, as that the Church needs a renewed warning
that it will not be perpetual-all these circumstances
form a moral demonstration that the time is not three
literal years and a half, but that it must comprise the
interval of many centuries.
VII. THE DURATION OF THE SIXTH HEAD OF THE
BEAST furnishes another reason for the longer reckoning,
which is stated by Mede in these words:—
"That king, or state of government of the beast, under
which the harlot should ride him, followeth immediately
on a former, which, in comparison, is said to continue
but a short space (Rev. xvii. 10). But if the anti-
christian state shall continue but three years and a half,
literally taken, how short must that time of sovereignty
be which should occasion the Holy Ghost to insert so
singular a note of difference from that which followeth,
that it should continue but a short space.”
Mr. Maitland, in reply, denies that the words convey
any such implication, and says that if the word short
has any correlative sense, it is more natural to refer it
to the sixth head, whose duration will have been fixed
before the seventh arises.
Let us, however, consider the passage afresh. The
words are these:
Rev. xvii. 9-11. "The seven heads are seven moun-
tains, on which the woman sitteth; and they are seven
kings, the five have fallen, the one is, the other is not
yet come, and when he is come, he must continue a
390
[CHAP. XIV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even
he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into
perdition."
Now the sole requisite to the strength of Mede's
argument is the assumption that these words, being an
explanation, refer to the time of the prophet. This, I
am aware, is disputed or denied by several writers, even
among those who adopt the year-day theory; and if their
view were just, the argument must be waived entirely.
But the arguments of Mede for the other and simpler
view, which refers the explanation to the time of St.
John, appear to me unanswerable. On this hypothesis,
his reasoning from this text is invincible also.
whole time from St. John to the future destruction of the
beast will then consist of three intervals-the remain-
ing time of the sixth head, the whole time of the seventh,
and the time, times, and a half of the eighth which is of
the seven.
The
The three periods, then, together make up nearly
eighteen centuries. The second of them alone is ex-
pressly declared to have a short continuance; and
hence it must be inferred, in all reason, that it is shorter
than either of the others. Unless, then, we assume an
enormous disproportion between the sixth and the eighth
head entirely opposed to the scope of the prophecy, the
time of the latter must be far greater than three natural
years.
It is needless, perhaps, to continue the argument fur-
ther, by a discussion of the chronological meaning of
the number of the beast. This would furnish, I believe,
another link in the chain of evidence, and harmonize all
these mystical dates into one connected system. But the
subject is too difficult, and the significance of that myste-
rious number too various in its aspects, to be suitable for
discussion in this place. More than enough as been ad-
CHAP. XIV.]
391
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
duced to show that the year-day theory rests on a sur-
prising combination of scriptural arguments, some of
which, it is true, are indirect, and some doubtful; but the
reat majority are full, clear, and unambiguous. First
of all, there are four or five distinct and clear presump-
tions of a general kind, that the dates have some secret
meaning. There are, then, three plain and certain, and
one more disputable passage, which supply an express
rule of interpretation, and a key at once simple and
comprehensive, the direct appointment of God him-
self. When we further proceed to examine the pas-
sages in detail, we find that every one, without excep-
tion, yields some peculiar argument in support of this
same view; and several of them furnish us with two
or three distinct proofs. And besides all these internal
evidences for the system, it is found to have a basis
the heavenly révolutions themselves, and to be confirmed
by its manifest harmony with the most exact elements
of natural science.
לי
There is still a distinct class of arguments which have
been left untouched, from the historical nature of the
events with which these times are connected. But this
is too wide a subject for the present work, as it involves
the meaning of nearly every part of the prophetic visions.
The previous remarks may be enough to stir up the
incredulous to a renewed inquiry, and to exhibit tó
those, who may have been perplexed by recent and plau-
sible objections, the solid and firm warrant which the
Scriptures yield to us for this leading maxim of the
Protestant interpretations.
!
CHAPTER XV.
THE YEAR-DAY THEORY CONCLUDED.
THE direct arguments for the larger reckoning of pro-
phetic times have now been briefly unfolded; and many
of the usual objections have been shown, in passing, to
be futile and groundless. But there are several others
which could not be previously noticed, and which de-
serve a short examination. There will then be little or
nothing, I believe, in the writings of Mr. Maitland, Mr.
Tyso, or the other Futurists on this subject, which will
not have received, either directly or indirectly, a suffi-
cient and solid answer.
The objections which have to be examined are drawn
chiefly from the events connected with these times.
Now, in truth, some of the strongest arguments for the
symbolical interpretation of them may be derived from
this very source. To avoid, however, too long and
wide an inquiry, I will confine myself to a few remarks
which may remove the force of those difficulties which
have been alleged to encumber the theory.
I. The first of these objections is the UNCERTAINTY
ABOUT THE TEN KINGDOMS. The times, if they are
mystically explained, must have begun long ago. The
fourth empire must also, long ago, have been parted
into ten kingdoms. But there is the utmost disagree-
ment, it is alleged, in the lists which have been made
out of these ten Roman kingdoms. Almost every ex-
positor varies in his account of them. Mr. Tyso has
CHAP. XV.]
393
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
-
been at the pains to draw up a tabular list of twenty-
nine varieties. And hence it is argued that this divi-
sion must be still future, or else there could not be so
much doubt as to the kingdoms really designed. "Let
the reader only look (Mr. Maitland observes) at the
various lists which have been made by learned men, and
I think he will have no doubt that if the number men-
tioned by Daniel had been nine or eleven, the right
number would have been found among those petty king-
doms, whose unsettled state makes it so easy to estimate
them variously."
1. The temperate statement which is here made may
be owned without difficulty to be true. But the ques-
tion recurs, how far, in this true and moderate form, it
has any real weight as an objection to the fulfilment ?
We must remember that the prophecies are given to an-
nounce actual events, rather than the events fitted to an
independent prophecy. If, then, in the providence of
God, and for wise ends, the division was to be fluctua-
ting and uncertain, though within narrow bounds, did
this put the events out of the pale of inspired predic-
tion? Or if they were to be the objects of prophecy,
was it essential that every minute and passing change,
however temporary, should be noticed, as well as those
broad features which stand out on the page of history?
Or, further, if the prophecy could naturally be expected
to give only the most permanent and obvious features of
the history, can it be asserted that either nine or eleven,
or any other number, would have been a more exact
description than that which really occurs? If a ne-
gative answer be given, as it must, to all these ques-
tions, then the objection is worthless. Its nature con-
sists in arguing from uncertain details against the broad
and evident outlines of prophecy and history, which
clearly accord with each other. History proves that the
!
s 3
394
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Roman empire was divided into about ten kingdoms, at
the very stage of Providence when we might expect it
from the prophecy alone.
2. This explanation, however, may still appear to
some minds loose and indefinite. The number ten, five
times repeated, may seem to them to demand a more
exact and precise fulfilment. There are two further re-
marks which furnish a complete answer, and leave the
objection without any shadow of scriptural warrant.
And, first, let us consider the parallel case of the
twelve tribes of Israel. These, it is well known, are
always described by the same number, twelve. Yet
the Scripture furnishes us with three lists of these, all
different from each other (Gen. xlix.; Num. xiii.; Rev.
vii.) And if we combine the principles allowed in
these separate lists, the number may be reduced to ten,
or increased to thirteen, by excluding Dan and Levi, or
admitting both Manasseh and Ephraim. Yet, notwith-
standing these actual varieties, and the various numbers
which might be assigned, they are always described by
the same number, twelve. For this was not only their
original number, but had evidently a sacred character,
which made it the standing description of the Church,
and appears again in the twelve apostles and in the
symbols of the Revelation.
Now the same reasons will clearly apply to the ten
kingdoms. Granting that the list of them may be made
to vary-may be reduced to nine or eight, or enlarged
to eleven or twelve; still the number ten was the me-
dium in these oscillations, and, according to credible
accounts, the original number. And it is plain, from
the parable of the virgins and other passages, that it is as
peculiarly appropriated to Gentile nations or Churches,
as the number twelve is to the tribes of Israel.
3. But there is a further observation to be made, not
CHAP. XV.]
395
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
less important. The prophecy itself does recognize and
imply these temporary variations of the actual number.
This will appear from two distinct passages; and first
of all from the following text:-
Dan. ii. "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed
with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the
seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay."
The plain meaning of these words is, that the powers
denoted by the ten toes of the image will repeatedly
seek to unite with each other by intermarriage; but
that these temporary alliances should lead to no lasting
union. This implies, as its natural consequence, that
one or more of the kingdoms would for a time be
merged and blended with their neighbours; as, for in-
stance, Portugal with Spain, or France or Spain with
Naples; but that the transitory union would be fol-
lowed by a renewed separation.
The second passage occurs in the seventh chapter,
and is, perhaps, a still more decisive testimony.
Dan. vii. 8. "I considered the horns, and, behold, there
came up among them another little horn, before whom
there were three of the first horns plucked up by the
roots."
Either these uprooted horns are afterwards replaced
by others, or not. If not, the number varies at least
from ten to seven.
But from the renewed mention of
the horns in the Revelation, and always with the same
number ten, even after the time of uprooting must be
supposed to be past, it would appear that the horns are
replaced by others. And this, perhaps, is the meaning
of the word first, as if the horns germinated in succes-
sion, and three of the first were uprooted by the little
horn, and then replaced by some which followed.
Now if this be true, which is the most natural exposi
396
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
seven.
tion, it follows that the reckoning of these horns, accord-
ing to the prophecy itself, would vary from seven to thir-
teen. If they were reckoned after the three had fallen,
and before they were replaced, the number would be only
If the whole number be included, of those
which fall and of those which replace them, they will
amount to thirteen. These limits are wider than those
mentioned above in the objection itself; and the prin-
ciple thus confirmed admits of a still more extensive
application in the temporary changes which might
afterwards follow.
The objection then, in fact, is anticipated by the pro-
phecy, and entirely removed on an exact review of
what is implied in the vision. And thus, instead of re-
futing the larger view of the times, it serves rather to
lend it a fresh confirmation.
II. THE UNCERTAIN DATE OF THE 1,260 YEARS is
a further objection which forms one main topic of Mr.
Maitland's inquiry. The reasoning ought, perhaps, to
be given in his own words.
"If such an event as this (the delivery of the saints into the
hands of a blasphemous and persecuting power) has taken place,
is it possible that the Church of God can be at a loss to decide
when and how it happened? Can there be a difference of opinion
among pious, and learned, and laborious inquirers into the word
of God and the history of the Church? Nay, further, we ask-
Is the Church at this moment in the hands of the blasphemous
little horn, or is it not?' Mr. Faber, and many more, assert
that it is. Mr. Cuninghame, Mr. Frere, and others, are as fully
convinced that it is not. And nine-tenths of the Christian world
stand silent, avowedly unable to give any opinion on the subject.
They may, or may not, be in the hands of the little horn, and he
may, or may not, be wearing them out, for anything they know.
They hope and believe that they are the saints, but whether the
beast is making war with, and has overcome them, they cannot
tell it is a deep, curious, and litigated question, and one on
which, among so many conflicting opinions, they never pre-
CHAP. XV.]
397
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tended to form a judgment for themselves.......... When did the
saints find out that they had been delivered over? Not for ages.
Is this credible? But, in fact, when did it happen? When,
how, and by whom was this great prediction fulfilled? On this
point, too, there is a great difference of opinion…………………….. Is it cre-
dible that the Church has to wander up and down through a
period of three centuries, inquiring when she was delivered into
the hands of a cruel and blasphemous tyrant? Might we not
expect that this solemn act would be known in her assemblies,
registered in her calendar, commemorated in her services, never
lost sight of by her members? But, instead of this, the saints
who were thus delivered up knew nothing of the matter. One
generation after another passed away, and the secret was not
discovered. Centuries rolled on, and the saints knew not that
he to whom they looked as their father and their head was
making war upon them and wearing them out. For ages did
the Church of God follow a hireling, with the mark of perdition
on their foreheads……………………..I leave it to others to explain how a
man can at once bear on his forehead the mark of the beast and
the seal of the living God." (Enq., pp. 53, 76).
1. The objection, when exhibited in this pointed and
epigrammatic form, is well adapted to make a deep im-
pression on general readers. There is, however, one
great defect which vitiates it in every part; it argues
against an hypothesis, by assuming, as self-evident, a
vital and essential part of the hypothesis opposed to it.
It is quite plain that the literal and mystical exposition of
the times involve two views, equally distinct, of the true
aim and final cause of the prophecy. In the one case,
it was given to sustain the faith of the last generation
of the Church only, during a very short, but bitter
season of open persecution. Its whole use is limited to
three years; and it would then be useless, if the Church
could not identify the persecution at once, and fix the
date of its commencement. On the other view, it was
given for the use of the Church through many succes-
sive generations, to unmask a dangerous and subtle de-
lusion, and to throw light on the moral features of
398
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
God's providence through many centuries of time.
Now it is clear that all these purposes might be ful-
filled, even if the true application were not seen for
several generations, and if mistakes of two or three cen-
turies were made at first in the date of the event. The
influx of error and delusion is almost always gradual;
and, although the prophecy itself must refer to some
distinct and specific time, it is clear that the practical
evil would be small in amount, if the commencement
were wrongly placed a century earlier or later than the
true era. All the main features and practical lessons
would still be substantially the same; as the features
and character of a person might be well known, though
we were a few months or years in error as to the time
of his birth.
2. The analogy of other predicted periods shows still
more forcibly the unreasonable nature of this demand,
for an exact and full consent in the date of the pro-
phecy. And, first, let us consider the period of four
hundred years revealed to Abraham for the sojourning
of his posterity. Mr. Cuninghame, in his "Strictures"
(p. 49), has referred to this passage for the same pur-
pose; and his argument has been strangely misunder-
stood by Mr. Maitland, in his reply. "Mr. Cuning-
hame (he says) is the only critic, so far as I know, who
contends that the four hundred years is descriptive of
some shorter period. Most commentators, both Jewish
and Christian, understand the four hundred years as
meaning four hundred years.”
Now Mr. Cuninghame really asserts the very reverse.
He maintains that a period of four hundred years was
really meant; but that the characters prophetically as-
signed to those years, sojourning in the strange nation,
and affliction, were not applicable with equal distinct-
ness to the whole time of their continuance.
"We re-
CHAP. XV.]
399
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
quire it to be shown (he says), that the seed of Abra-
ham did actually serve, and were really afflicted, by the
strange nation during the whole of the four hundred
years." Now the reasoning here is strictly applicable
to the present instance, and parallel in every feature.
A precise period of 1,260 years might be really intended,
and yet, as in the other prophecy, the predicted cha-
racters of tyrannous persecution might be more dimly
and partially realized in the earlier part of the time.
The answer, therefore, to Mr. Cuninghame's arguments
turns on a complete misconception of his reasoning.
3. The shorter period of the captivity is another in-
stance not dissimilar. It is clear, that between Jehoia-
kim's captivity, B.C. 606, and the destruction of the
temple, B.C. 587, even those who had heard Jeremiah's
prophecy might reasonably hesitate as to the correct
date of the seventy years. This interval was more
than a fourth of the whole time, and would corre-
spond to three centuries and a half in the 1,260 years.
The same uncertainty might recur at the close between
the first of Cyrus, B.C. 536, and the fourth of Darius
(Zech. v.), B.c. 517 And yet in the middle period
there could be no doubt of the actual captivity.
4. The prophecy of the seventy weeks is a third in-
stance. This is also adduced by Mr. Cuninghame, and
Mr. Maitland replies as follows:-" The truth is, that
there has been a very general conviction and agree-
ment as to the event by which the prophecy of the
seventy weeks was fulfilled, and that the difference
among interpreters in that case has been chiefly chrono-
logical, which, with respect to the 1,260 days, it is not.
Now the truth is that the difference is exactly of the
same kind in both cases. The question has been, not
merely in what year some known decree was given, or
some known event occurred; but which, out of four
г
[CHAP. XV.
400
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
i
decrees, was the real date of the prophecy; and whether
the birth, or entrance into the temple, or baptism, or
death of our Lord, marked the close of the period. Mr.
Tyso carries out the parallel more fully and correctly.
In his first "table" he exhibits twenty-three dates as-
signed for the seventy weeks; and in his third "table,"
about forty-one for the 1,260 years. The resemblance,
then, is complete. Mr. Maitland's argument proves
either too much or too little. The various dates as-
signed to the seventy weeks cannot, as I have shown,
disprove the strong and invincible evidence of its fulfil-
ment. And hence the argument urged against the 1,260
years on this ground is also worthless.
5. But, further, the idea on which the whole objec-
tion rests, that the time in question must be so distinct
in its features as to be evident at once from the first,
has no solid basis in the words of the prophecy. "They
shall be given into his hand, a time, times, and the
dividing of a time." "He lifted up his hand to heaven,
and sware—that it shall be for a time, times, and a
half." "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the
1,335 days." "It is given to the Gentiles, and the holy
city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."
"That they should feed her there for a time, times,
and a half, from the face of the serpent." "Power was
given to him to practise forty-two months." It is plain
how far most of these expressions are from giving the
impression of a boundary line which no one could mis-
take. The general character of the time is plain; but
the precise nature of the event by which it opens is
rather left to inference and comparison. Even the most.
distinct expression, "they shall be given into his hand,”
is ambiguous; for it might refer either to the saints
themselves, or to the times and laws, which are the
more direct antecedent. In the chronology of the
CHAP. XV.]
401
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
Gospels it is still debated what year is designed by the
fifteenth of Tiberius Cæsar. Some writers date it two
years earlier, and others later; some from his joint
reign with Augustus, and some from his possession of
undivided power. Shall we, then, because this point of
detail is scarce yet determined, deny that John ever
began to baptize, or that Tiberius ever reigned? The
variety in the dates assigned to the 1,260 years is not
much greater in proportion.
The questions in the above extract may therefore be
met by others of greater real weight. Is it more rea-
sonable, we may ask, to suppose that these predictions
were given for the use of many generations, or of one
only? Against which of the two evils would the Church
be in more need of repeated cautions-open and undis-
guised blasphemy and atheism, or subtle and perilous
delusions, veiled under Christian names and titles? And,
lastly, supposing that these times are figurative, what pos-
sible warrant can there be for expecting a greater plain-
ness in the date of their commencement, than in the case
of other prophecies given in the plainest terms?
III. THE REPEATED FAILURES in the predicted close
of the 1,260 years are a third objection against the ex-
position, and the last which it seems needful to con-
sider. It is indeed well suited for popular effect, and is
urged by most opponents of the year-day system, in
some cases with no small degree of exaggeration.
There is a further reason for submitting it to a full in-
quiry, since it is closely connected with a most impor-
tant subject-the true purpose and right use of the
dates and numbers revealed in the word of prophecy.
Perhaps there is no topic on which some of the Fu-
turists have indulged more largely in censure and de-
clamation than this; and yet there is none in which
402
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
their own admissions form a more complete answer to
their assaults on the Protestant interpreters. This will
appear gradually as we proceed.
1. Let us first state briefly the facts. The year-day
theory, as applied to the time, times, and a half, first ap-
peared about the year 1200. From that time down to
the present day various dates have been assigned for
its commencement and close, from the estimates of Ju-
nius (A.D. 34-1294) and Walter Brute (A.D. 130-1290),
down to that of Lowman and other writers, who place it
A.D. 757-2017, or about that time. Several of these
supposed dates were assigned after the close of the time,
as those of Junius and More. But others were sug-
gested before their own close, as, for instance, those of
Mede, Goodwin, and Jurieu. It is the failure in con-
jectures of this kind which forms the basis of the ob-
jection.
2. Now if we refer to the maxims which have already
been stated as the foundation of the year-day system, it
will be plain that these successive anticipations are just
what it was reasonable to expect. Only by this gradual
approach to a correct view of the times and seasons
could the two main purposes have been fulfilled-grow-
ing knowledge of the prophecy, with a constant and un-
broken expectation of the Lord's coming. The fact,
therefore, is so far from refuting the theory, that it
might rather be viewed as a direct corollary from its
truth.
The objection, in reality, assumes that the Church
must either be in total ignorance of the times, or vault
at once into the possession of exact and perfect know-
ledge. Either she must entirely renounce the use of the
prophetic dates, as having no connexion with her past
history, and float in a complete uncertainty concerning
CHAP. XV.]
403
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
her own place in the stream of Providence; or else she
may claim to decide, with unerring exactness, on the
very year in which particular events shall be fulfilled.
Now this is a monstrous alternative to propose. Nei-
ther Scripture nor reason lend it the slightest warrant.
Those who, on such false and foolish grounds, fling out
charges of presumption against all who have attended
to the dates of prophecy, and viewed them as helps and
guides to their expectations, need themselves those re-
bukes for folly and rashness which they administer so
freely to others.
3. But let us examine the subject more closely. And,
first, it must be remembered that most of those who
object to the year-day system, on the ground of these
failures, admit the doctrine that the Church was to be
kept always waiting for the second advent. Their ob-
jections to the year-day are often made to turn on this
very point. Thus, in the "Elucidation," page 84—“If
the 1,260 days be put for years, and their commence-
ment be known, as most commentators suppose, then the
time of their termination may be as certainly known.
What would be the effects of this foreknowledge? To
contradict the Scriptures, and render inapplicable the
exhortation of our Lord, "Take ye heed; watch and
pray; for
know not when the time is."
ye
The view occurs in a still more extreme form in the
following remarks of Dr. Todd (Lect. v., p. 194):---
“One of the most remarkable features of this passage (1 Thes.
iv. 15-18) is, that the apostle has expressed himself as if he and
they to whom he was writing were to be alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord-a circumstance in which commentators
have found great embarrassment, as if St. Paul had put forward
some erroneous or fanatical expectation that the end of all things
was immediately to take place......I cannot bring myself to think
that the literal interpretation of the passage is, after all, so incon-
sistent with the full inspiration of the apostle as has been commonly
404
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
supposed. In the first place, we must bear in mind that he has
elsewhere used very similar language (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52). Nor
is this mode of speaking peculiar to St. Paul: the language of
the apostles, and of the primitive Church for some ages after, was
that of men who believed that there was nothing to prevent the
immediate appearing of the Lord in the lifetime of the Christians
who were then on earth......If we are to take these passages in
their literal signification, the apostles really believed, and taught
their converts to believe, that the second advent of the Lord might,
for aught that was revealed, take place in the course of that gene-
ration. This, indeed, has proved that this expectation has not
been realized; but it does not therefore follow that the apos-
tles were in error...... It was natural, therefore-nay, more, it was
their express duty, to assume that the coming of the Lord was near
at hand…………..No man could surely say that the day of Christ was
not to come in his own lifetime or that of his contemporaries.
The apostle, therefore, in comforting the Thessalonians, takes for
granted that he and they might live to the day of judgment."
Another passage to the same effect, and still more ex-
treme in its statements, has been already quoted. It is
there affirmed, that "although the result has shown that
many centuries have, in fact, intervened, we have no
reason to believe that this formed any part of the counsel
of God. Our Lord's coming may have been delayed
by the continued unbelief of the Jewish nation. To
suppose it revealed as a part of the immutable counsel
of the Most High, that so long a time was to elapse be-
fore the day of Christ would come, is manifestly irre-
concilable with those numerous passages in which we
are exhorted to watch and pray, because we know not
when the time is. The knowledge that the time was
long and distant would be as inimical to this watchful-
ness, as the knowledge of the precise hour at which the
master of the house was to come." (pp. 260, 261).
These views are held, I believe, in substance, by most
of the writers who object to the year-day system, from
the repeated failure of its predicted close. Let us now
CHAP. XV.]
405
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
compare the two principles together, and the total con-
tradiction between them will at once appear.
(1). And, first, the view of these writers falls doubly
under their own censure. Every generation of the
Church, on this hypothesis, have been bound, by an ex-
press duty, to expect the second advent in their own life-
time. Therefore every generation in succession was
bound to believe an error, and to experience a repeated
failure of its expectations. How can that be a con-
clusive disproof of the year-day system, which, by their
own plain admissions, was an imperative duty to the
whole Church at large?
(2). But, secondly, the failures which the Church, on
this hypothesis, was bound to expose herself to, were
both longer in continuance, and larger in degree, than
those which are traceable to the year-day exposition.
These latter have prevailed through twenty generations
at the most, and the greatest error or anticipation has
been five centuries. But the failures on the other view,
necessary failures, the result of fulfilling an express
duty, have lasted through sixty generations, and the
error has reached an extent of nearly two thousand years.
Thus, without a metaphor, the objection lies tenfold
against their own theory; for the error it involves has
been more than three times as great, and has lasted for
thrice as many ages.
(3). But, further, the objection brought against the
year-day by these writers is most destructive to the
very purpose which they profess to keep in view—a sus-
tained and lively hope of the speedy coming of Christ.
The year-day is condemned as worthless, because many
expectations have been formed under it, and all of them
have proved to be premature. Therefore, in the words
of Mr. Maitland, we are to fling this compass overboard
as delusive; to reject all helps from the sacred numbers
:
406
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
in judging of the nearness of the end; and to hold fast
simply by the general declarations of Scripture. But,
for the very same reason, these declarations themselves
must be set aside, or explained away. Taken in the
meaning assigned them by these writers, they have led
to errors greater in amount, to failures more numerous,
to disappointments more lasting and complete, than
the rejected theory. So that the necessary result of the
objection is to place the Church in the position of the
unfaithful servant, or of those scoffers who inquire,
"Where is the promise of His coming?"
4. The whole objection, then, as urged by the Fu-
turists, and made an argument for casting aside all pro-
phetic chronology, is self-destructive and worthless.
But let us proceed further, and inquire whether these
failures, as they are called, do not really afford a pre-
sumption in favour of the year-day system. And this,
I think, by a few remarks, will become evident to de-
monstration, when tested by the principles of reason and
of the word of God.
In the first place, it is clear that there are numerous
passages which enjoin the Church to be ever watchful
for the coming of her Lord. In some of these also her
ignorance of the time is one motive assigned for the
duty. In several, the time is declared to be near at
hand. Yet eighteen centuries have passed, and the
event is not hitherto fulfilled.
The reason for this concealment of the time was clearly
to keep alive and stimulate expectation; and this, in
connexion with the weakness of faith and earthliness of
Christians. A soul which had fully realized the vast-
ness of eternity would require no such veil interposed
to sustain the utmost instancy of watchfulness and desire.
But where the impression of eternal things is so dim and
faint, it is profitable that the view of earthly events to
CHAP. XV.] Elements of prophecyPROPHECY.
407
.
intervene should be contracted and foreshortened, that
it may not thrust the other more entirely from the view.
Now there are three different notions which may be
formed of the possible course which it would please God
to adopt in after times, in the knowledge of the seasons
to be given to the Church. It might please Him to
keep her in total ignorance to the last; or to translate
her suddenly, whether at or before the coming of Christ,
from complete ignorance to full knowledge; or, finally,
to bestow gradually increasing light, till at length the
Day-star should arise in His glory. Let us first examine
which of these is best suited to sustain the lively expec-
tation of the Advent, and agrees best with the analogy
of Providence; and then we shall clearly see the full
vindication which it supplies of the year-day theory
and its imaginary failures.
5. First, let us suppose that the Church was left with
nothing but the general statements for her guide—“ the
time is at hand; behold, I come quickly." Christians
of the first generation might have some reason for ap-
plying the words strictly to themselves, and for sup-
posing that they implied, in their literal sense, that the
Lord, would return while some of themselves were still
alive. But with the first generation this presumption
would have lost its power. Every succeeding genera-
tion which arose would have less and less warrant for
inferring the strict nearness of the advent, in the com-
mon meaning of the term, from these passages alone.
The whole time which had elapsed would form an unit,
always enlarging, by which alone they could form any
conjecture as to the future prospect. If one century
had clearly passed since the time was said to be near,
there would be little reason, from the phrase alone, why
another might not intervene. When ten centuries had
passed, it would be just as reasonable to expect ten cen-
་
408
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
turies more, as before to expect one. They might borrow
a limit to their expectations of delay from some other
source; as, for instance, from a vague impression that
the world would last only about six thousand years. But
this would be a prophetic date, only in disguise; and
therefore a trespass on forbidden ground. So far as the
general warnings alone are concerned, each successive
generation will be warranted in expounding them with
a greater latitude; and these grounds for expecting the
Advent to be really near will be weakened more and
more with the length of the past delay.
Hence it is a clear and certain truth, that if all pro-
phetic dates and collateral light be excluded, that very
ignorance of the times, which tended in the first age to
quicken the expectation of the Church, would tend, by
necessary consequence, in later times, to indifference
and careless unconcern. Now, since the continued de-
nial of all further knowledge would frustrate the very
end for which it was withheld at the first, we might in-
fer from this alone, that in the latter days a fuller in-
sight into the times and seasons would be given to the
Church of God.
6. Assuming, then, that further light would be given,
is it likely that the transition would be sudden and com-
plete? The opponents of the year-day argue through-
out on this supposition. If the times are mystical, then
they must have commenced long ago. The Church
could not fail to be aware of so remarkable an event.
It would doubtless have been distinctly known, and re-
gistered in her calendar. The commencement being
known, the end would be known also. The Church
would therefore be utterly unable to fulfil the direction
"Watch and pray, for ye know not what the time is.”
Such is, in substance, the objection which most writers of
this school bring against the Protestant interpretation.
CHAP. XV.]
409
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
Now those who 'reason in this manner do equal vio-
lence to the evidence of facts, and to sound reason.
It is not true that the 1,260 days were taken for years
at so early an age of the Church as to make the diffi-
culty real. It is not true that, when so expounded, their
commencement was or could be plain at once. The
general effect of them has never been to quench and
extinguish the hope of the Lord's return.
The very
contrary is true. Ever since the Reformation, those
who have most studied the prophetic dates, as an actual
chronology of sacred times, have been the main instru-
ments in awaking the Church to a lively expectation of
the coming of Christ. Every fact, without exception,
contradicts and refutes the objection.
But it is equally opposed to the maxims of sound rea-
son. In every age, and on every subject, the increase
of knowledge has been slow and gradual. This seems
to be a general law of divine wisdom. In the case of
the prophetic times, this truth is even the object of a
separate prediction-" Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased." To require, then, an
interpretation of the prophecy to start forth at once
full grown and complete; and that the Church, after
total ignorance of the times, should be able to fix,
by the year-day theory, the exact time of the end, is a
demand so absurd and unreasonable as to bear the stamp
of its own condemnation. Yet this is the real postulate
assumed by those who would entirely cast aside all pro-
phetic chronology on the ground of these partial failures.
The midnight has not changed suddenly into noon-day;
and hence they deny that any tokens of the dawn
have appeared in the horizon.
7. The increase of light, we may therefore assume
safely, would be partial and gradual. The Church
would not be left in total ignorance under the growing
T
410
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
temptations of a prolonged delay; but would have fresh
tokens by which she might discern the times, and “ see
the day approaching." On the other hand, we could
not expect that full light would be given till the very
time of our Lord's return. Now the history of the year-
day expositions will be found to accord, in the closest and
most striking manner, with these truths. They have been
like successive steps of approach towards the just appre-
hension of the course of Divine Providence.
To understand this clearly, we must remember that
the Church has always been placed between the two
extremes-complete ignorance of the times, and perfect
knowledge. When the end was more than eighteen
centuries distant, an almost entire concealment of its
real distance, with general exhortations to be always
prepared for its arrivals, was the most favourable to
hope and watchfulness. Whenever the advent shall be,
in truth, only two or three years distant, it is plain that a
knowledge of this fact will be an immeasurably stronger
motive to prayer and watchfulness, than the ignorance
which knows only that eighteen centuries have passed,
and therefore as many more may still intervene, before
the fulfilment of the promise.
Between these limits of time, increasing knowledge
would plainly be safe and desirable. This partial light
would place the Church in an intermediate condition.
There will neither be the total ignorance, which thinks
the advent to be possibly within four years, or possibly
at a distance of forty thousand; nor yet the full know-
ledge which can assign the very year, much less the
hour and day. There will be a gradual progress only
from the first state towards the second, as the course
of Providence moves on.
Let us now suppose that the year-day theory is the
divine instrument for conveying to the Church this par-
CHAP. XV.]
411
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
tial light. Every exposition based on it must then
partake of two opposite characters. Compared with
the exciting prospect of the instant coming of Christ, as
in the Thessalonian Church, it would be a protraction.
Measured by the event, or by a full and perfect know-
ledge, it would be an anticipation. It would serve as
ballast to those who were shaken in mind, and troubled,
by a false impression of the imminent nearness of the
judgment; and it would be a wholesome stimulus to the
slothful servant, who should say in his heart, "My lord
delayeth his coming."
Now these, which are the very marks of its practical
worth, form the two counts of the inconsistent indict-
ment which has been laid against it. "It interferes
with the expectation of the advent." That is to say, in
reality, it serves, from age to age, for a partial corrective
of false anticipations, like that of the Thessalonians :—
"It has repeatedly failed in its predictions, ministered
occasion to the scoffers, and thrown discredit on the
study of prophecy." In other words, it has not prema-
turely revealed the whole interval, while the end was
still distant, nor given more light to earlier generations
of the Church than was profitable for them to receive.
It has ministered occasion to the scoffer, and in so doing
has fulfilled the prediction, that none of the wicked shall
understand; while, by the gradual approaches to a just
estimate of the times, it has fulfilled the contrasted pro-
mise, that knowledge shall be increased, and that the
wise shall understand. The opposite objections urged
against it are the very proofs of its adaptation to the
wants of the Church.
These remarks will be made clearer by one or two
examples. Let us take one of the earliest instancés,
that of Walter Brute, in the fourteenth century. He
wrote, as Mr. Maitland tells us, about A.D. 1390,
T 2
412
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
and dated the one thousand two hundred and ninety
days, as years, from the destruction of Jerusalem under
Hadrian, A.D. 118. This reckoning would place the
close of the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five
days about fifty years distant. Now a literal view of
the times might have led him to contract the distance
to five years, and a perfect knowledge to enlarge it to
five centuries. The case of Mede is very similar. His
view of the probable date led him to place the end at
from thirty-five to a hundred and ten years after the
time when he wrote. There was a protraction, when
compared with the instancy of a false expectation, and
yet an anticipation of the true period. The successive
failures, then, as they have been called, are no real
failures in a practical sense. They are only waymarks
in the progress of the Church, from that entire ignorance
of the times in which she was purposely left in the apos-
tolic age, to the full and certain knowledge that the
Bridegroom is at hand, which shall prepare her, like the
wise virgins, to enter in with her Lord to the marriage
feast.
8. Besides, however, this general defence, which fully
disproves the charge of total failure and deception
brought against the prophetic chronology, we may
advance a step further in its vindication. From the
nature of the event, an exact apprehension of the time
of the advent could not be expected until the end
should be really at hand. On this subject, then, dogma-
tical assertions must always have been rash and pre-
sumptuous; and even the modest conjectures which have
often been confounded under the same censure would of
course be defective, though far from being practically
useless. But on subordinate events, if the general out-
lines of a past fulfilment be true, there might be a more
correct judgment. And, accordingly, in spite of all the
CHAP. XV.]
413
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
vague declamation on the total failure of these prophe-
tic times, there are several instances on record of such
anticipations, drawn from the prophecy, which have
proved singularly correct in their main features.
First of all, about the year A.D. 1600, Brightman, in his
commentary, calculated that the overthrow of the Turkish
power would occur A.D. 1696. In the year A.D. 1687,
Cressener renewed the prediction, placing the time a
year earlier, but restricting it to the close of the "Turk-
ish encroachments," or "the last end of their hostilities.”
In almost exact accordance, the year 1697 was marked
by that most signal victory of Prince Eugene over the
Turks, which has proved the final limit to their aggres-
sions upon Western Europe.
Secondly, at the deepest depression of the Protestant
cause in England, and a full year before the Revolution,
Dr. Cressener wrote as follows:-"I make account it is
demonstrable that the true religion will revive again in
some very considerable kingdom, before the general
peace
with the Turks, or eight years at furthest." "The
next year seems, in all probability, to be a year of wonders
for the recovery of the Church.”
Accordingly, only one year after this time, the Protes-
tant Revolution took place in England, and within about
eleven years that general peace of Carlowitz was made
with the Turks, which has proved a fated barrier to their
destructive inroads upon Christendom.
At the same time this writer announced his conviction,
drawn from the prophecy, and especially from the 1,260
days, that before A.D. 1800 Rome would be destroyed,
and "soon after, the chief supports of the Roman Church,
ecclesiastical and civil, would be destroyed also." In
August, 1797, Cacault wrote to Napoleon, "Discontent
is at its height in the Papal states; the government will
fall to pieces of itself. We are making it consume by
414
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
a slow fire; it will soon crumble into the dust." The
next year the Papal government was overthrown, and
an infidel democracy reared on its ruins. "The churches
and convents, the palaces of the cardinals and nobility,
were laid waste. The spoliation exceeded all that the
Goths and Vandals had effected" (Alison iii. p. 558).
Soon after, the imperial title was abolished, and the
Pope deposed and driven into exile. This was surely a
very close approach to an exact coincidence.
Again, Fleming, in his "Discourse on the Rise and
Fall of the Papacy,” A.D. 1700, wrote as follows :—
"Whereas the present French king takes the sun for
his emblem, and for his motto, Nec pluribus impar, he
may at length, or rather his successors and the monarchy
itself, at least before the year 1794, be forced to acknow-
ledge that he is even singulis dispar. We may justly
suppose that the French monarchy, after it has scorched
others, will itself consume by doing so, towards the end
of this century." It is needless to illustrate the fulfilment
of these words by historical extracts, as the events are
so notorious.
Further, Bengelius, on distinct, but similar grounds,
about the year A.D. 1730, stated his opinion, that the
chief period of the dominance of the Papacy would close
in the year 1809. In May and July of that very year the
Pope was stripped of his dominions by the orders of
Napoleon, and transported as a prisoner and exile from
Rome to Savoy; while the Papal states, an event without
precedent for a thousand years, had their government
destroyed, and were annexed to the French empire.
These instances are enough to show how groundless
are the assertions which are often made, of the total and
absolute failure of all predictions based on the year-day
theory and the prophetic times. Examples of a general
accordance between the anticipation and the actual
1
CHAP. XV.]
415
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
events might be easily enlarged; but, in the cases just
given, even the very date assigned has proved exactly, or
almost exactly, true. The charge, then, of delusion and
falsehood, brought against these estimates of the prophe-
tic times, unless advanced with important limitations, is
itself false and delusive. It applies only to those who
dogmatize with arrogant presumption, or pervert the
subject into the fuel of a vain curiosity. But it is pos-
sible to search into the times with reverence, to conjec-
ture with diffidence, and to derive from them, like
Daniel, motives to watchfulness, and incentives to
confession and prayer. Nay, to those who are wise
with a holy wisdom, and who have the promise that
they shall understand, they may even furnish a distinct
and accurate insight into the nature of some of those
events which may be speedily coming upon the earth.
On the other hand, that entire rejection of all pro-
phetic chronology, which follows, of course, on the
denial of the year-day, is most of all to be deplored,
from its deadly and paralyzing influence on the great
hope of the Church. No delusion can be greater than
to expect, by excluding all reference to dates and times,
to awaken Christians to a more lively expectation of
their Lord's second coming. For, in truth, without
reference to such dates, in an open or disguised form,
not one solid reason can be given why the Church may
not still have to wait two or three thousand years, before
the promise is fulfilled. The declarations," the time is
at hand," were true and pertinent, when the event was
eighteen centuries removed. And hence they form no
barrier to the supposition that eighteen centuries more
may have still to intervene. Every sign of the times is
either too vague to direct us; or, in proportion as it
becomes distinct, assumes practically all the characters
of a numeral date, and becomes exposed to the same
416
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
objections. The prophetic times, indeed, when sepa-
rated from the context, and viewed in themselves only,
are a dry and worthless skeleton: but when taken in
connexion with the related events, clothed with histo-
rical facts, and joined with those spiritual affections
which should attend the study of God's Providence ;
like the bones in the human frame, they give strength
to what was feeble, and union to what was disjointed,
and form, and beauty, and order, to the whole outline
and substance of these sacred and divine prophecies.
And now I would conclude this important subject
by a brief review of the whole argument. It is certain,
first of all, that it was the design of God to keep the
Church in the attitude of continual and lively expecta-
tion of her Lord's return. It is equally certain that this
object would be best secured by leaving her in nearly
total ignorance of the times when the advent was remote,
and vouchsafing to her an imperfect but growing mea-
sure of light as the time drew near. This condition is
accurately fulfilled by the year-day hypothesis, but is
entirely wanting to the literal view; and this forms a
first and general presumption for the figurative inter-
pretations. To this general reason there are added
several other general presumptions, from the place and
context of these sacred numbers. Among the chief of
these are, the general proportion and symmetry of the
periods revealed in prophecy, the symbolical nature of
the two books in which alone they occur, the remarkable
and solemn manner of their introduction, clearly im-
porting that they contain some mysterious sense, and
the various forms of expression, all of them unusual, in
which most of them are conveyed.
These general presumptions, which plainly indicate
the existence of some mystery, are confirmed by many
distinct proofs which establish the interpretation of a
CHAP. XV.]
417
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
year for a day. Three of these are typical prophecies,
occurring in two passages of Scripture, and on two
occasions widely remote; and in all of which, by God's
own express appointment, a day was made the type of
a year. Besides these, we have the prophecy of the
seventy weeks certainly fulfilled in years; while the
term, beyond question, is used elsewhere in Scripture
for sevens of days only, and also plainly completes the
series of prophetic terms-days, weeks, months, and times,
equivalent to years. We have also the words of our
Lord to the Pharisees, where it is highly probable that
the three days, twice mentioned, refer to the three years
which were the duration of His whole ministry.
After these succeed the particular arguments drawn
from each separate passage. Of these it is enough to
say, that there is not one which does not present some
peculiar feature, totally unexplained on the literal
interpretation, but which assumes at once a deep
significance on the opposite view. Especially three
of these numeral dates, by a most express and exclu-
sive reference, point us to the three passages where the
substitution of a year for a day has twice been typically
announced and three times historically fulfilled. The
woman's abode in the wilderness refers us to the passage
in Numbers; the time of the second woe to the type in
Ezekiel's siege of Jerusalem; and the three days and a
half of the unburied witnesses, to the prophecy of the
seventy weeks, the only place in all Scripture where
the very same interval is named either in history or
prophecy.
Such is a brief review of the concurrent evidence
upon which the year-day theory is founded; besides that
harmony of symbolical miniature, which applies to the
numbers in Revelation. And I believe no one can
fairly and calmly examine the whole subject, whose mind
T3
418
[CHAP. XV.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
is not imbued with some strong prepossession, or utterly
ignorant of the general depth of Scripture, and the cha-
racter of its allusions, without feeling that these proofs
amount as nearly to a strict demonstration, as the nature
of the inquiry will allow. Evidence so explicit and
simple as to admit of no mistake, and to force conviction
at first sight, is here excluded by the nature of the case ;
for then these times would have been prematurely
revealed. But it is a convincing proof that these tokens
of mystery, and the application of these examples of the
year-day, waited only the bare lapse of time to become
clear and transparent, in the fact, that the times, and
times and half, were expounded mystically, even in the
fifth century; and that the year-day was seen and re-
cognized in the short period of the witnesses' exposure,
long before it could be applied to the whole period of
their prophesying in sackcloth. The separate maxims
of interpretation were all in readiness; and as soon as the
lapse of twelve centuries allowed, they began spontane-
ously to arrange themselves into one magnificent and
harmonious system of revealed times.
And surely, in the present stage of prophetic inquiry,
when the strictest of all reasoners, and the first of all
discoverers, had inferred, more than a century ago, from
"the great successes of interpreters," that the full disclo-
sure of the prophecy was fast approaching, it is indeed a
return to weak and beggarly elements to cast aside all
these previous researches as a heap of delusions, and to
adopt a view which leaves the Church floating, without
a reckoning, on the ocean of time, while it also contradicts
every feature in the terms and context of these sacred
numbers. Yet the severe sifting of truths, once thought
to be firmly established, may be attended with many
useful results; and it cannot well be denied that it was
very seasonable. When reasons could be used in
CHAP. XV.]
419
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
defence of the year-day so utterly absurd and self-
destructive as those quoted by Mr. Maitland from the
"Dialogues on Prophecy," or so much arrogance be
combined with ignorance, as in the article which drew
forth Dr. Mac Caul's able reply, it was high time
that Protestants should either frankly abandon the view
as untenable, or learn to support it in a more modest and
Christian tone, and by more solid and conclusive argu-
ments. The transition from a hollow, hereditary faith,
to a deep and personal conviction of truth, like the return
to gold and silver from a false and fictitious currency,
may have its temporary evils; but it was absolutely
needful, before the Church could attain such a know-
ledge of the divine prophecies as might really sustain
her in the hour of danger and temptation. This change,
there are many reasons to hope, is now begun.
Protestant interpretations, cleared from loose and inac-
curate statements, or devious fancies, will be unfolded in
fuller harmony than before, and serve as a beacon to
the Churches of Christ in those various conflicts which
seem now to be near at hand. If these pages shall only
contribute, in any humble measure, to this great and
blessed end, the chief object for which they are now
offered to the Church will be fully attained. May it
please God, in His infinite goodness, to attend them with
His blessing, that they may help to clear the way for a
more extensive, and deep, and practical inquiry into
every part of the sacred prophecies!
The
CHAPTER XVI.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
THE leading maxims on which the Protestant interpre-
tations of the prophecies are based have now been
examined, and are shown to rest on firm and solid proofs.
The objections urged against them of late, with so much
assiduity and zeal, are found, on a closer search, to be
without any real warrant either in Scripture or sound
reason, and would lead, by a natural consequence, to
universal scepticism and unbelief. The application of
the great image, and of the four beasts, to the empires of
Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome; and the fulfilment,
in past events, of the opening part of Daniel's other
visions, has been clearly established. The true reference
of our Lord's own prophecy, and the Catholic scope of
the Apocalypse, as a history of the whole Gentile dis-
pensation, have also been confirmed by a multitude of
concurrent proofs. And, finally, the year-day theory,
which some recent authors have thought fit to reject
contemptuously, as an antiquated error, is shown to rest
on full and copious evidence, when the direction of St.
Paul is observed; and, instead of resting in a superficial
view, we learn to compare spiritual things with spiritual,
and to search deeply and carefully the whole testimony
of the word of God. The way is thus cleared for the
practical superstructure, by which the remaining part
of these prophecies may be explained on sure grounds,
and applied to the actual instruction and guidance of
the Church of Christ.
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
421
An inquiry, however, like this, confined to first ele-
ments, and the removal of unconnected and discordant
objections, may seem dry and repulsive, and ill-suited
to the real dignity of the whole subject. The words of
Hooker will supply an apology, if such be needed,
for this almost unavoidable defect. "The goodliness-
of houses, the stateliness of trees, when we behold them,
delighteth the eye; but that foundation which beareth
up the one, that root which ministereth life and nourish-
ment to the other, is in the bosom of the earth concealed;
and if at any time it be needful to search them out, yet
is that search more profitable than pleasant, both to
them that undertake it, and also to the lookers on."
These remarks on the first principles of law, human and
divine, apply with equal truth to the fundamental max-
ims of inspired prophecy. The truths previously esta-
blished, however dry and abstract they may at first
appear, are of the deepest importance in the practical
results to which they lead. But besides their connexion
with the other parts of these visions, as the true basis
on which their interpretation must repose, it seems
desirable to point out some of those great practical
lessons which they directly convey, and which clothe
these bare and mountain eminences of truth with a
divine and attractive beauty.
And, first, it may be well to trace the secret spring
from which the erroneous theories, here exposed, seem
to have arisen. A strong leaning towards a modified
Popery, and an instinctive dislike of Protestant truth,
appear, in one or two instances, to be the real motive.
But there are others, and these are the greater number,
in which it would be unjust to offer the same explanation,
and where there is no conscious intention of undermining
the Protestant faith. The error seems to be of a kind en-
tirely distinct, and requires a deeper search to explain its
true nature and origin.
422
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY,
The word of prophecy, then, has a lower and a higher
object. The first relates more directly to man, and has
two main sub-divisions-the conviction of the unbeliever,
and warning or guidance to the faithful Christian. The
latter relates to God himself, and the manifestation of
the divine counsels in their spiritual glory. The former
has reference to the personal interests of man; while the
latter raises our thoughts into the light of heaven, un-
veils to us the scheme of redemption and the glory of
the divine perfections.
In the first of these aspects, the distinction of the past
and the future is of great importance. Man, in his fallen
state, can scarcely pierce at all through the dark veil
which conceals coming events from his view. The
contrast, in this respect, between fulfilled and unfulfilled
prophecy, is complete; and the practical use of each is
entirely distinct. But when we rise to look upon the
prophecies in their higher and nobler aspect, as the
unveiling of Christ, the distinction almost entirely disap-
pears. In the sight of God himself, who is unchangeable,
the past and the future are alike transparent, and form
one harmonious counsel of manifested love. And the
higher the Christian rises in spiritual attainment, the
more does he lose sight of that changing point of time
which severs the future and the past, and views the
whole plan of redemption, reflected in the mirror of
prophecy, in the pure and unchanging light of eternity.
It is, however, the lower objects of prophecy, as
evidence or warning, which have generally been foremost
in the view of Christians. And here there are two
opposite mistakes to which they have been exposed, and
which are almost equally injurious. When the attention
of the Church was awakened afresh to this great subject,
there was, in the mind of many Christians, an exceeding
jealousy of all discussion on unfulfilled prophecy. It
was thought to be speculative and uncertain, adapted to
CHAP. XVI.]
423
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
produce and foster a vain curiosity, and to divert the
mind from the duties of practical religion. Hence arose
a tendency to dwell only on fulfilled predictions, to con-
sider evidence as the main benefit to be derived from
the study, and to proscribe all investigation of the fu-
ture as unlawful and pernicious. These notions were
too defective, and too plainly opposed to the statements
of Scripture, to endure the test of a prolonged inquiry.
Thoughtful minds, however cautious and devout, could
not fail to see that other purposes, of equal or greater im-
portance, were to be answered by these sacred predic-
tions. They saw plainly that warning to the careless,
guidance to the faithful, instruction in the nature and
outline of coming events, and preparation for the great
steps of divine providence, were real objects recognized
by Scripture itself, and which could only be answered
by unfulfilled prophecy. Evidence was seen to be only
a secondary purpose, compared with this direct insight
into coming dangers and mercies, and that spiritual pre-
paredness which is its natural fruit and consequence. The
last and noblest prophecy of Scripture, it was also seen,
was given with this express design, "to show unto God's
servants the things which must shortly come to pass."
There was, from these causes, a natural recoil from
the prevalent doctrine which had proscribed the study
of unfulfilled prophecy as useless and dangerous. But
the correction of this error led, in many cases, to an
opposite extreme. Many seemed to fancy that a pro-
phecy, when fulfilled, had lost nearly all its power to
instruct or benefit the Church. The office of warning
and guidance as to the future was clearly at an end.
The use, as evidence, of revealed truth, might appear
superfluous, in proportion to the depth of their own con-
viction. The higher purposes which it might still an-
swer were overlooked or forgotten. Fulfilled prophe-
424
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
L
cies, as if the precious extract of warning and counsel had
been separated and passed away, were thrust down to a
place of secondary importance. And hence a natural ten-
dency to transfer as many predictions as possible into
the class of unaccomplished prophecies, which might thus
be still available for the guidance of the Church.
Such appears to have been the hidden main-spring of
the new school of interpretation. From this source it
has drawn whatever show of spiritual vitality it may
have possessed. To expose, then, the separate errors, or
deplorable rashness to which it has led, is not enough,
unless we remove this main fallacy, and break this charm-
ed talisman, by which the shadowy structure has been
reared into the semblance of truth. And this cannot be
done while we confine our view simply to the lower
objects of prophecy. Fresh evidence of truths already
known and believed will never appear so momentous as
insight into the coming dangers and deliverances of the
Church. We must rise higher, and take a larger range
of thought, before the balance can be restored, and ful-
filled prophecy appear equally profitable as the unful-
filled, for the great ends of doctrine, reproof, correction,
and instruction in righteousness. But when once we
rise into the nobler view of these sacred visions, we lose
sight of the changeful boundary line which separates at
each moment the past from the future, and we see all to
be alike glorious with the manifested wisdom and love of
the unchangeable God, "who was, and is, and is to come,
the Almighty." Let us endeavour, then, to trace some
of the practical benefits to be derived from the fulfilled
prophecies, in those parts which have already passed
under our review.
There
First in order of thought, though not first in impor-
tance, is their use as evidence of revealed truth.
was once, perhaps, a tendency to dwell on this purpose,
CHAP. XVI.]
425
ELEMENTS OF FROPHECY.
to the exclusion of all the rest; now there seems an op-
posite danger of forgetting it entirely, or greatly under-
valuing its worth. The Christian who is himself tho-
roughly established in the faith of Christ may naturally
deem all fresh evidence superfluous. But this would
be a partial and selfish view of the whole subject. We
might here appeal to the concessions of these writers
themselves. They affirm, almost with one consent, their
expectation of a speedy and vast eruption of open infi-
delity, in times near at hand. With such a prospect in
view, how can it be safe, or lawful, to neglect one help,
whether great or small, which has been provided to
strengthen and confirm the faith of the Church? The
evidence of daily miracles it has pleased God, for wise
reasons, to withhold for many ages. The highest and
deepest proof of Christianity, drawn from the inward en-
joyment and experience of its truths, is confined, in its
very nature, to spiritual believers. The moral evidence,
and the evidence of prophecy, are the proofs chiefly avail-
able for the conviction of the unbelieving. Whatever
contracts either of these into a narrower compass, inflicts
thus a serious injury on the cause of divine truth. It re-
sembles the cursed policy of the Philistines, and robs the
camp of Israel of their weapons of war. What though
we ourselves may have bread enough and to spare, in
that rich provision of evidence which God has made for
his people!—there are thousands and millions who are
still perishing, the present or anticipated prey of infi-
del delusions; and for their sakes the command applies
to us—“Gather up the fragments that remain, that no-
thing be lost." The guilt cannot be small which would
remove one stone from that complete arch of sacred evi-
dence which God has reared to the glory of His prescient
wisdom, in the fulfilled prophecies of His holy word.
Nor even with regard to Christians themselves is
426
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
this character of fulfilled prophecy to be neglected or
despised. Their faith is not so full and strong but
that it admits of large increase. In the sight of God
and the blessed angels it is still only as a grain of mus-
tard seed. And, therefore, every fresh proof of the di-
vine foreknowledge, and of the inspiration of holy Scrip-
ture, is most profitable even for them. They need every
link which may bind their hearts faster and closer to
eternal things. And thus the fulfilment of God's pro-
phecies, in the rise and fall of mighty empires, and in
all the changes of the world's history through a
thousand years, is a mighty help towards a more lively
apprehension of every other message and doctrine of
the word of God.
A further benefit, closely connected with the former,
is the deeper and fuller impression of God's all-con-
trolling providence. This doctrine, it is true, all Chris-
tians profess to believe; but its hold upon their thoughts is
surprisingly faint. The truth overwhelms and oppresses
us by its vastness. In the events of daily life, and even
in the grand and public changes of the world's history,
it is hard to rise into the apprehension of that ceaseless
Providence, which orders all the varying plans and
thoughts of men to the fulfilment of its own deep and
wonderful counsels.
Now these fulfilled prophecies lend a great help to
our thoughts in seeking to attain this holy and divine
elevation. They reclaim the course of the world's his-
tory from that atheist darkness in which it would other-
wise remain skírouded. They reveal to us the outlines
of a divine plan, which gleams brightly upon our view
amidst all the perplexing changes of time. We no
longer seem to be living in a world left to itself, and
forsaken by the divine presence. The Holy One ap-
pears visible to us in all the events of Providence, order-
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
427
ing, directing, and controlling them, according to the
counsel of His own will. History, otherwise a dark and
cheerless ocean, becomes bright with the sunshine of the
divine presence. The influence of these sacred visions,
when digested in the soul by continued meditation, is
like the brightness of the morning sunbeams spread
over the wide landscape of human history, and we can
enter into that song of praise, which forms their divine
and beautiful preface—“ Blessed be the name of God
for ever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And
He changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth
kings and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the
wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
He revealeth the deep and secret things; He knoweth
what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with
Him."
It is difficult to estimate the full importance of these
prophecies, viewed in this aspect alone. That human
history, the main field where the worldly heart delights
to expatiate, should be redeemed from the service of
vanity and pride, and minister to the glory of God, and
the spiritual instruction of the believer, is a benefit of
no common kind. Perhaps there is nothing which
would tend more to give stability to our faith, depth to
our devotion, reverence to our worship, and intense
reality to every truth of religion, than the habit of
reading all the past events of time in the light of these
sacred visions. The Church would thus attain a lively
foretaste of that promised felicity, wherein God himself
shall be all in all.
Another benefit of the same kind may be found in
the sacred associations which are thus thrown around
all the main objects of classical study and pursuit.
The period from Cyrus the Great to the time of Augus-
tus, Vespasian, and Titus, was the golden era of classical
428
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
•
learning. And this is just the period to which these
fulfilled prophecies belong. All the main subjects,
named and unfolded in the classic authors of Greece
and Rome, here meet us in a new and sacred connexion.
And since the diseased woman could say, "If I may but
touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole,"
surely an effect, not unlike, must result from the
contact of this new and sacred element with these
truths of profane history. The conquests of Cyrus,
and his appointment as the minister of vengeance on
Babylon and mercy to Israel; the greatness of the three
kings who succeeded him; the enormous wealth and
vast expedition of Xerxes; the changing forms of the
leopard dominion of Greece; the might, and victories,
and rapid course of Alexander, and the divisions of his
kingdom; the court of the Ptolemies, the abode of art
and science; and the power and fall of Antiochus, are
subjects which meet us everywhere in the standard au-
thors of Greek and Roman literature. Now these are the
facts which the prophecy here singles out for notice.
And surely nothing else could be so effectual a cure
for the moral taint which is so apt to infect the pursuit
of classical learning, as this constant memorial, amidst
the records of heathen history, and the triumphs of
Grecian oratory, and the subtle and deep speculations of
Athenian sages, that One was standing among them
whom they knew not; and that the victories of Ther-
mopyla and Marathon, and the minutest events in those
proud triumphs of Greece and Rome, were revealed links
in that mighty chain of events which was to prepare for
the higher and nobler triumph of the everlasting kingdom
of Christ.
It is not from a few passing sentences that the vast
importance of this connexion can be fully seen. But
when we think how large a share the events and the
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
429
authors of classic times have assumed in the education
of Christian youth, and of nearly all who rise to the
most important stations in every Christian land, it is
hard to overrate the benefit which might arise. A fresh
element of sacredness will thus be infused into their
early studies, while we learn from these prophecies to
write the inscription, not only over the exploits of Cyrus,
but over all the great names of heathen antiquity-“ I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me." Surely
no change would be more adapted to banish atheism
from our national counsels, and to restore to them a
tone of high and holy reverence for the authority of the
King of nations.
But perhaps the most striking and impressive truth to
be learned from these fulfilled prophecies, is the sure
progress of all history towards its consummation in the
kingdom of Christ. When all these visions are loosened
from their connexion with the past, their influence must
be small. We cannot tell how wide a space may sepa-
rate us from the current of those great events to which
they relate. But when we trace the clear accomplish-
ment of all the opening visions, then we are indeed
surrounded by the tokens of God's providence, before
us, and behind, and on every side. We see plainly that
we are embarked in the midst of a mighty stream, which
is hastening onward to the ocean of eternity. We can
mark the steady and onward course of the divine coun-
sels in past ages, at the present hour, and in future
years, till they open out into the immeasurable glory of
the world to come. We are not left to the excitement
of momentary changes, or to say, "Lo! here, and lo!
there," when the kingdom of God, in its steadfast and
ceaseless progress, is manifested before our eyes. Baby-
lon, with its eagle wings of pride, has appeared, and
fallen. Persia, with its twofold dynasty, has succeeded
430
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
in its turn. The mighty invasion of Xerxes has been
fulfilled, and become the theme of poets and orators, a
proverb of history for more than two thousand years.
The empire of Macedon, and the triumphs of Alex-
ander, have appeared on the shifting scene of history,
and vanished away. Rome, the fourth and mightiest
empire, strong as iron, has risen to power, and after
stamping its name deep on the world's calendar, has
been broken, as here announced, and lived on, though
rent and divided, surrounded with the monuments of its
departing glory. And thus, in the steady sweep of Pro-
vidence, we are brought to the verge of that predicted
kingdom, which shall not be given to another people ;
but wherein the dominion shall be given to the saints of
the Most High, and they shall reign for ever and ever. If
such glorious hopes of the triumph of divine goodness
in this lower world dazzle and confound us by their
brightness, when they are set before us in general and
abstract promises, here they are blended in with the
whole range of history; and all the events recorded in
profane historians, and by the orators and poets of Greece
and Rome, become so many pledges to us of that ever-
lasting kingdom which God has promised to them that
love him. Our hopes may thus range freely through
all the magnificent range of coming ages of blessedness,
and yet, all the time, retain a firm anchor-hold upon every
main event of recorded history for two thousand years.
There is thus, in the full provision of divine truth in
these fulfilled prophecies, an unspeakable exhibition of
God's wisdom and love. He knows the weakness of our
faith with regard to all the great blessings He has promi-
sed: and, therefore, by these connected and continuous
visions, He converts every event of Providence, as soon
as fulfilled, into a new and fuller pledge of the mercies
which are still only in prospect; and Babylon and
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS
431
Elements of proPHECY.
Persia, Greece and Rome, Cyrus and Alexander,
Antiochus and Titus, the powers that have oppressed,
or the conquerors that have wasted the Church, become
like sacramental tokens of the sure approach of Messiah's
triumphant and blessed kingdom.
Along with this great lesson we may learn another
truth of scarcely inferior importance-the perpetual
interest of the Church of God in all the events of past
history. It is a mark of spiritual selfishness and nar-
rowness of mind, not of heavenly wisdom, to think all
knowledge of past events, beyond the history of the Old
Testament, entirely useless to the Christian. This is
not the lesson which the word of God itself teaches.
The past is not something extinct and perished for ever;
it remains, so to speak, fixed and stereotyped in the
divine counsels. Its moral lessons are, through eternity,
to be the meditation of the redeemed people of God.
The mystery of wisdom and grace revealed through the
whole course of its generations is one which the angels
themselves desire to look into. Of the millions who
have appeared through the long succession of ages, as
busy actors in the great scene of Providence, not one has
finally passed away from view, nor one action is buried
in oblivion; they are all awaiting the judgment of the
Lord of heaven. It is only the weakness of our faith,
and the dulness of our spiritual senses, which can lead us
to cast aside the records of bygone days, as if they were
utterly useless to the Church of Christ. No, rather the
whole of God's past Providence forms one glorious
mirror, in which, to all eternity, His people shall discern
brighter and brighter reflections of His grace, holiness,
forbearance, and love. If only a few glimpses are now
allowed us, we ought to prize them all the more, and to
account them the precious and delightful earnests of a
clearer and deeper vision which shall be given to us.
hereafter in the kingdom of God.
432
[CHAP. XVI.
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
And this may lead to that further and higher aspect
of the sacred prophecies which regards them as an inte-
gral and essential part of divine revelation. The whole
range of sacred history is divided by our Lord himself into
three portions-the Law, the Prophets, and the kingdom
of God. And the whole ofrevealed truth admits ofan an-
swering division-the Law, the Gospel, and the word of
Prophecy. In these distinct portions, the power and
authority, the love and the prescient wisdom of the
Most High, find each their peculiar manifestation.
The Law and the Gospel are those parts which seem
most immediately practical, and which address them-
selves at once to every child of man. Each of them has
been unfolded in a distinct dispensation. Except in their
divine origin they are contrasted with each other in every
point. The one commands; the other promises. The one
appeals to man, as wearing the image of God, with a will
not subject to outward force, but to the law of conscience
alone; an object of persuasion and moral government,
not of mere physical control. The other appeals to man
as a creature, and therefore dependent on his Creator;
as a fallen creature, and therefore morally helpless and
undone; as a sinful creature, whom grace and free
mercy alone are able to restore. The one convinces of
sin;
the other announces pardon and deliverance. The
one marks out the way of life and holiness; the other
supplies strength to walk therein, and flings around the
pilgrim the bright sunshine of joy and love.
Now the word of prophecy is the link which con-
nects and binds together these two contrasted elements
of divine truth. Here alone they find their true and
appropriate harmony. It was the prophets which, un-
der the legal dispensation, opened to the eye of the
pious Jew the prospect of a dispensation of grace, and
corrected the foul abuses of the law in self-righteous-
ness and ceremonial pride, by full and large earnests of
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
433
evangelical truth and grace. It is the prophecies, in
like manner, of Daniel, St. Paul, and St. John, which
conduct us from the times of the Gospel, in its early
liberty, to the period of its final triumph, when the new
covenant shall be fully accomplished, and grace shall
have written the Law, in all its holy authority, in the
hearts and lives of all the people of God. The Gospel,
in its consummation, will engrave the laws of God upon
the heart of every child of man on the face of the earth.
It is these prophecies which lead our thoughts onward,
from the days of the apostles, to this future kingdom of
righteousness. It is these also which form the grand and
appointed antidote to the abuse of the Gospel itself in
licentiousness and spiritual pride, by revealing the fear-
ful apostasy which would overspread the Church, under a
Christian name, and with high-sounding titles of spiritual
exaltation. In short, the word of prophecy conducted
the saints of the Old Testament, from the letter of the
divine law, to the light of a manifested Gospel; and in
like manner it conducts the hopes of Christians, from
the Gospel in its infant weakness, to the final union of
both these elements of divine truth in the perfected
righteousness and grace of the kingdom of God.
And hence we may learn some of the great spiritual
benefits to be gained from these portions of God's holy
word. There is a deep and real meaning in the phrase,
Catholic truth-the whole deposit of revealed wisdom
given to the Church of God, and successively unfolded,
in various degrees, to its individual members, from age
to age. And there is a meaning, not less deep and true,
in the answering expression, Catholic error. Besides
the tendencies to sin and corruption of each child of
man, and of every particular Christian, there are grand
and collective evils which have their birth in each sepa-
rate dispensation of divine goodness. The Law was a
U
یران
434
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
[CHAP. XVI.
precious gift of God to the Jewish nation. And yet sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in them,
besides the various forms of individual concupiscence,
the grand and unvarying sin of national self-righteous-
ness and ceremonial pride. The Gospel is a still higher
gift, diffused over a larger theatre, in the visible Church
gathered out of many nations. But sin, taking occa-
sion by the grace of the Gospel, has wrought in the
visible Church, besides the corruptions of its several
members, grand and Catholic abuses, which have lea-
vened and infected the whole. A faithful remnant in
each case might escape the infection; but even these
are not free from its influence, while the stifling atmo-
sphere of delusion is around them. Even the apostles
themselves, till after our Lord's patient instructions,
were steeped in the contagious influence of Jewish self-
righteousness.
Now so it is also with the Church under the Gospel.
There are Catholic truths, of which it is the appointed
witness; and there are Catholic errors and corruptions,
to which it is exposed through the whole course of its
history and the whole extent of its visible pale. The
Gospel is a dispensation of free grace and liberty. And
hence the Catholic abuse of slighting the commands of
God, and making them void by the authority and tra-
ditions of men. The Gospel is a spiritual privilege and
gift of unspeakable worth. And hence arises the Ca-
tholic abuse of spiritual pride, shown in proud contempt
of the Jews, and the vain and idolatrous confidence in
sacraments and the external signs of the Christian cove-
nant. The Gospel is not confined, like the Law, to one
people, but designed for all nations of the earth. And
hence also the Catholic abuse and corruption which
would pervert its simple discipline and brotherly liberty
into an universal monarchy, with a visible head, and
CHAP. XVI.] ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
435
enthrone the Bishop of Rome in full and absolute domi-
nion on the necks of prostrate nations. The Gospel is
a divine and wondrous mystery. And hence, finally,
that key-stone in the corruptions of the Church, which
would quench at once the spiritual power and beauty
of a most gracious promise, the testimony of the senses,
and the light of reason, and turns the most blessed sa-
crament of God our Saviour into the foulest idol in the
kingdom of darkness.
One special use of the word of prophecy, under the
Gospel as under the Law, is to meet and expose these
Catholic and universal delusions to which the Church
is exposed. It meets the Antinomian abuse of grace, by
exhibiting the severe judgments of God descending,
from age to age, on the perverters of His goodness, and
the final account which every one must render according
to his works. It beats down the spiritual pride which
has grown with the growth of the Church, and gathered
strength from age to age, by holding up the dark portrait
of its increased apostasy and growing corruption. But,
most of all, it fastens on that visible empire the fruit
of spiritual pride and worldly ambition, which was to
spring up under the name of the universal Church ;
and condenses all its warnings into one stern denuncia-
tion and exposure of this mystery of iniquity, the Babel
of delusion and antichristian pride.
It must be plain, then, to every thoughtful Christian,
how vast is the practical importance of these divine in-
structions to the Church. Against local, or temporary,
or personal temptations, other guards may be and are
provided us, by which to resist and overcome them.
But for these Catholic and standing temptations of the
Church universal, the word of inspired prophecy is the
only full and effectual cure. Here human authority is
silenced by the authority of God himself. Here the
::
:
436
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY. [CHAP. XVI,
dream of perpetual safety is met by the warning, that
the Gentile Church, like the Jewish, has a limited sea-
son of probation, and that soon the faithful members
will be separated, and the rest, however they may boast
in spiritual names and forms, will be visited by the most
searching judgments. Here, also, the contrast is vividly
pourtrayed between the remnant of faithful Christians
and the confederacy of persecutors. The faith and
patience of the saints meet with divine comfort and the
promise of a glorious reward.
But it is not merely in this detection of wide-spread
and dangerous errors that the word of prophecy, under
the Gospel as under the Law, exhibits its unspeakable
worth. It is also the link which unites together
righteousness and grace, which blends the two cove-
nants into union and harmony, and thus forms one
main field for the exercise of spiritual wisdom. The
prophets, under the elder dispensation, clearly prepared
the way, by their warnings, and doctrines, and pro-
mises, from the fuller light of the Gospel. And so also
the predictions of Daniel, and St. Paul, and St. John,
which relate to the times of the Gentiles, are the pre-
paration of the Church for the millennial glory. When
enriched by a clear apprehension of the mysteries of
grace and righteousness herein revealed, the people of
God will have a full view of their coming inheritance,
and will be ready, like Joshua, to go in at once and
possess the land of promise. Here indeed the outlines.
of God's providence, for more than two thousand years,
are laid before us. In so brief a history of events so
wide and vast, every sentence is stored with truth, and
every emblem sparkles with bright mysteries of heavenly
wisdom. The more closely we search, the more deep and.
wondrous will be the truths which it reveals. All nature
will then become a treasury of sacred parables, the
CHAP. XVI.]
437
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
earthly shadows and reflections of heavenly things. All
the events of time will borrow new elements of dignity
and greatness from the majesty of those eternal coun-
sels, which are seen to be fulfilled in them from age to
age. All the divine perfections are also exhibited, re-
vealed as in the bow of the covenant, in all the varied
and harmonious hues of light and beauty. The infinite
grace of the atoning sacrifice, which awakens the loud
songs of praise in heaven to the Lamb that was slain,
is joined with the majesty of supreme dominion, and
tempered by the warnings of severe and righteous judg-
ments. The course, again, of those very judgments, is
stayed and suspended by intervals of forbearance, while
the bow of the covenant beams afresh upon the cor-
rupted Church, and renewed messages are sent of par-
don and salvation. In every part of the sacred visions
there appears this same mysterious harmony of the con-
trasted perfections of the Godhead. Mercy and truth
meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each
other. Spiritual wisdom finds here the noblest field for
its various meditations; and Christian reverence and
love the most worthy subjects for adoration, praise, and
devout thanksgiving.
These few remarks, however brief and scanty, may
assist in clearing away the false impression, which would
lead us to view fulfilled prophecies as effete and worth-
less. On the contrary, there is no part of divine truth
which, if patiently studied, would repay the Church
more richly with spiritual profit and delight. It has
perhaps been too much the case hitherto, that inter-
preters have rested content with tracing, or seeking to
trace, the correspondence of the event and the predic-
tion. It is high time to take a step further onward
in this inquiry, and to explore still further these trea-
sures of divine wisdom. This would be the best and
438
ELEMENTS OF PROPHECY.
[CHAP. XVI.
noblest revenge on those errors which have lately
troubled the faith of the Church, and threatened to bring
her back to universal scepticism on this part of revealed
truth. If the passive and hereditary faith of past gene-
rations has been rudely, and in many respects causelessly
assailed, this is the voice of Providence speaking to
her from heaven, and bidding her to lay the founda-
tions still deeper, to clear away the rubbish which
surrounds them, and to raise the building higher than
ever in the historical development and spiritual appli-
cation of these sacred and mysterious visions. Such,
it may be hoped, through the over-ruling goodness of
God, will be the actual result of the recent contro-
versies. But for this end, the thoughts and labours
of many Christians, in prayer and patience, with strict
and cautious reasoning, and fervour of living faith,
and the calmness of heavenly meditation, will be
eminently needed. The present volume is a humble
attempt to clear the way, by removing the main ob-
jections and stumbling-blocks from the first principles
of prophetic truth, like the rubbish from the walls of
the temple. May it please God, before the troubles
of the Church set in, to awaken His servants to the
far nobler work which remains undone to raise the
whole building afresh, from the foundations to the very
topstone. Then will these visions of prophecy be un-
folded to her view, in all their mysterious grandeur, as
the "unveiling of Jesus Christ," the revelation of God's
eternal counsels, and the temple which He has reared
himself, in these latter days, to be the everlasting monu-
ment of His own wisdom and love.
W. E. Painter, Printer, 342, Strand, London.
·
ERRATA.
Page 78, line 9, for III., put IV.
85, line 15, for prephet, read monarch.
line 29, for of, read to.
92, line 21, for degrees, read degraded.
105, line 28, for many, read may.
107, line 6, read a war sprang up.
line 22, read Coele-Syria. Also pages 138, 146, twice.
108, line 27, read after the vision of the image.
131, line 18, read doubts.
143, line 34, read illecebris, ac, and magnitudinem.
164, line 5-8, read “ The expression.prophecy (v.40).”
184, line 29, omit the comma.
211, line 1, read lessened in its.
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