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THE RESTORATION:

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« Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution
OP ALL things."— Actb 3 : 21.

Rev. HEKRT A. RILEY,
Late Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Montrose, Pa.

INTRODUCTION,
Br Eev. J. A. SEISS, I>.Jk,
PHII.ADEI.FEI A.

PHILADELPHIA:
SMITH, ENGLISH & CO.,
No. 23 North Sixth Street.
New York : SHELDON & CO. Boston : GOULD & LINCOLN.
Cincinhati : G. S. BLANCHARD & CO.
1866.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866,
Br HENRY A. RILEY,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Eastern District of PennsylTania.

8a7

PREFACE.

One of the subjects proposed for consideration,
at the " Annual "Week of Prayer," in January,
1863, had respect to the Jews. At that time the
writer took occasion to remark that he believed
that God had special and gracious purposes to ac
complish, in reference to that remarkable people ;
that he fully anticipated their literal restoration
tp.the land of theirfathers ; when they would be
distinguished amid the nations of the earth and
recognized as the Lord's "covenant people;" al
ways remembered . and . eared for, during these
centuries of dispersion, judicial blindness, and
judgment. It was further remarked that as time
would not then permit any more than this bare
allusion to the subject, it would, perhaps, be made
the theme of future discussion in the pulpit. Ac
cordingly three discourses were prepared and de
livered, on the present condition and future pros
pects of the Jewish people.
Having fulfilled this engagement, the writer's
mind was deeply impressed with the importance —
(iii)

IV PREFACE.
the duty he may say — of presenting to his charge
some of those great affiliated truths, so intimately
associated with the subject discussed; to which
he had been led, himself, to give attention, and
in which he had become deeply interested. He
accordingly delivered several discourses, purport
ing to give a sketch of the prominent doctrines
of Millenarianism ; hoping, without fully discussing
the subject, to awaken an interest in the study of
the prophecies, now in the process of fulfilment,
or soon to be accomplished.
Recently the hand of the Lord was laid upon
the writer. Prostrated by severe indisposition,
during which for some days it was doubtful what
might be the issue, his thoughts were much upon
these great themes, which came to his remem
brance with delightfully refreshing influence, as
he thought he might be passing through "the
dark valley." And it was at this time, with pro
found gratitude to God and with great comfort
to his spirit, that he remembered that, before
closing a pastorate of five-and-twenty years, he
had been led to present to his people what he now
feels, most fully, to be the truth, in reference to
some subjects, which, in his earlier ministry, were
not, he thinks, correctly apprehended, and hence
Mot scripturally exhibited.

PREFACE^ V
It moreover became with him, in his eoffljvales-
cence, a serious question whether he should not
give to the public what had, during his illness,
been to him the cause of much thankfulness and
of much comfort, with the hope that some, there
by, might be induced more carefully to "search
the Scriptures whether these things were so."
"With these impressions, although aware that
the subject as presented is very imperfectly ex
hibited, he sends' forth this little volume,, it being
the substance of the sermons given to his people,
but somewhat modified in its arrangement. It is
divided into chapters, with the omission of por
tions which were more especially appropriate to
discourses publicly delivered, than to' discussions
of important subjects to be read and carefully
pondered. Those who heard the discourses will
find, on reading the volume, the addition of some
topics of special interest.
And now, all that is requested, is a candid,
careful and prayerful examination of the subject,
notwithstanding any seeming difficulties- it may
at first present, and notwithstanding its antag
onism to preconceived and long and fondly cher
ished views of a spiritual coming and reign of
Christ, and of a Millennium of the Church without
and before His glorious "Epiphany." l*

VI PREFACE.
If these things are not in accordance with the
teachings of divine truth, they should be, with
out hesitation, rejected. But if they are, in
verity, the revelations of the Holy Spirit, it is
of the utmost importance that we should know
it, and embrace them and yield to their practical
influence. It will not do to assume it as a settled fact that
they are erroneous, because we have been taught
so from our earliest childhood; for momentous
personal interests may be involved^ as there cer*
tainly are involved interests of incalculable im
portance to the Church and to the world. There
fore should every reader^ and especially every
commissioned teacher of holy things — every minister
of Christy-make diligent inquiry; Can we in these
latter days meet our responsibilities without a careful
investigation of this subject?
" Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear
the words of this prophecy ^ and keep those things
which are written therein; for the time is at handi"
(Rev. 1 : 3.)
H. A. R.
Montkose, Pa., December, 1865.

INTRODUCTION*

'I'he history of this book is given in the Pre
face, and its scope^ in the Table of Contents; Each
reader will, of course, form his own opinion con
cerning it. But a word of introduction may not
be out of place.
It is the work of a sober, mature, and candid
mind, conscious of having something important
to communicate. It treats. of the purposes and
promises of God, as they are revealed to us in the
Scriptures. It is a book on unfulfilled prophecy ;
just that department in which books and sound
instruction are most needed, in these days. It
ably deals with the great questions of the course
of future Providence, and the consummation for
which our religion teaches us to hope. It makes
no pretensions, but is full of important truthj
fairly deduced, popularly presented, and suitably
enforced. It is "meat in due season," from a
faithful steward, and a workman who neSd not
be ashamed. It deserves a respectful, unpreju
diced and devout examination. The honest seeker
after the truth, who has not found it on these
topics, will find this book a valuable help to
satisfy and settle his mind, and to open to him
the proper grandeur and joyousness of the " Re*

Vlll INTRODUCTION.
demption that is in Christ Jesus." We welcome
its appearance, and heartily commend it to the
Christian public.
Popular and satisfactory books of this sort, are
scarce in this country. "We need more of them.
People have not encouraged the publication of
them as they should, nor given them the atten
tion which the importance of the subject de
mands. They have not sufficiently cared to know
what God has given for our learning, concerning
what must shortly come to pass. It is to be hoped
that this state of things will not continue. The
stir and cry; " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh !"
are becoming too intense to be any longer dis
regarded with safety. If there are any wise vir
gins, they have no time to lose, nor opportunities
to waste. They have need to arise, trim their
lamps, review their ground, adjust their views to
God's literal Word, and look up, wait and watch.
And it is time for all to awake out of sleep ; the
night is far spent, the day is at hand, the judg
ment is near. Any hour may bring us to the re
surrection of the dead. This present generation
is the one which is to witness the Lord's return.
Then "let people beware, post themselves thor
oughly in what the Scriptures foretell, and be
ready, as the Saviour has enjoined ; for " He that
shall come, will .come, and will not tarry."
Philadelphia, December, 1865.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

A crisis at hand — The Jews involved in it — A widely soattered and
afflicted people — Their nationality preserved — A Divine Provi
dence securing the accomplishment of a divine purpose — Jerusa
lem trodden down of the Gentiles — Judea a barren land — A pro
blem for infidelity to solve — The land to be restored to its former
fertility— Wherefore  17-38
CHAPTER II.
Restoration of the Jews — Who are the Jews? — Judah and Israel —
The lost ten tribes — Jews cherish the expectation of a literal
restoration — Wailing-plaoe at Jerusalem — Their iniquity the ac
knowledged cause of their afflictions — Constant readiness to
depart  39-65
CHAPTER III.
Restoration of the Jews not spiritual — Restoration and conversion
distinct — Their iniquity oulminating in the rejection of their
Messiah the oause of all their judgments— Their predicted
repentanoe — Time of restoration — Time and fulness of the Gen
tiles  66-82

CHAPTER IV.
The theocracy restored — The incarnate Jehovah the literal Ruler —
" The kingdom not of this world" — Throne of David — Enemies to
be destroyed — This kingdom not the Gospel dispensation — " Thy
kingdom oome." ... .... 33-100
(«)

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

Error of the Jews — A Millennium— Introduced by Christ at his
coming — Not the result of the gradual spread of truth and right
eousness—Slow progress of the Gospel— Teachings of Providence
—Teachings of the Scriptures— The Gospel to be preached "for
a witness' ' — Election of grace  101-130
CHAPTER VI.
Doctrine of the pre-millennial advent no novelty — Views of the early
ehurch — Of subsequent ages —At the Reformation and subse
quently — Whitby's "new hypothesis" — The doctrine growing in
favor — Prof. Shedd refuted — Christ will come for judgment on
the nations.. . ... ... 131-151

CHAPTER VII.
Destruction of the earth — Baptism of fire — Two special objects con
templated — Occupants of the new earth — Two resurrections — The
first resurrection.  152-187

CHAPTER VIII.
Several dispensations — Mixed character of the present — Moral condi
tion of the world — This a season of discipline — Mixed character
to continue — Election of grace — The Gospel preached "for a wit
ness" — Satan the god of this dispensation — Son of man to be
revealed before the Millennium — The Day of Judgment — Two
pre-eminently marked acts of the judgment. . . 188-211

CHAPTER IX.
Things unrevealed not proper subjects of speculation — Study of un
fulfilled prophecy a duty and a privilege — Objection considered —
Nature of Christ's second coming— A spiritual, a providential,
and a literal and personal coming — Prophets anticipated it —
Christ's twofold character — Scriptural expressions for second
advent — Time of second advent, relative and specific — Practical
bearing of the doctrine — Death not the scriptural incentive to
holy living — Professor Hackett's testimony — Specimens of Scrip
tural appeals. .  212-246

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER X.
Watching, an enjoined duty — Coming of the Son of Man not death —
How is the duty of watching consistent with unfulfilled prophe
cies — Two classes of texts revealing Christ's second advent — Two
stages of the advent — One u, secret manifestation to raise the
pious dead— It may be silently done — The last trumpet, what is
it — The dead cannot hear — An interval between the stages of the
advent — A solution of the difficulty  247-257

CHAPTER XI.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
Summary of Millenarian doctrines — The subject demands conside
ration — Impropriety of rejecting it without investigation — Some
inexplicable difficulties — Millenarianism clears up many obscure
passages — The duty of watching  258-278
General Index  279
Index of Texts  285

THE RESTORATION.

CHAPTER I.
THE JEWS.
A CRISIS AT HANI — THE JEWS INVOLVED IN IT — A 'WIDELY
SCATTERED AND AFFLICTED PEOPLE — YET EVER PRESERV
ING THEIR DISTINCT NATIONALITY — A DIVINE PROVIDENCE
SECURING THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OP A DIVINE PURPOSE —
JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN OP THE GENTILES — JUDEA A
BARREN LAND — A PROBLEM FOR INFIDELITY TO SOLVE —
THE LAND TO BE RESTORED TO ITS FORMER FERTILITY —
AND WHEREFORE ?

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led
away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the
Gentiles become in. — Luke 21 : 24 ; Bom. 11 : 25.

The future of our world is big with startling
incidents. Can any one read the Sacred record,
and note the significant signs of the times, with
out the conviction, that there is a grand prophetic
era approaching, involving the interests of the
Church of the living God, the destinies of the na
tions of the earth, and the Kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ ? Never, perhaps, in the history of
the race, have events seemed to be so rapidly
3 (17)

18 THE RESTORATION.
hastening on a most momentous crisis as in these
very days in which we live. And careful students
of the prophecies reach the conclusion that these
events, startling in their nature as they are, effect
ing, or threatening to effect signal revolutions
amid the nations, are but .the providential pre
monitions of the near advent of the grand scenes
which are to close the present period, and which
were foreseen and made known by Daniel, by
Isaiah, by Jeremiah, by Ezekiel, and by other
inspired seers of the former dispensation; by St.
Paul, by St. John, and by Jesus, the divine
Teacher himself.
Prophecy presents to us a picture of the future
of most absorbing interest, whatever be the mode
of interpretation adopted. But especially is it so
with those who believe, that the predictions of the
"Word of God are to be literally and not spiritually
understood; that is, that the predicted Millennium
is not the expansion and universal diffusion of the
Gospel, resulting in a season of unprecedented re
ligious prosperity, — the consummation of the pre
sent evangelical dispensation, and to be brought
about by the instrumentalities now employed and
by the efforts now put forth by the Church — but
a new dispensation, to be miraculously introduced
at the personal advent of Christ, which is to be a
new and glorious development of Almighty power
and grace and justice; when the saints of all past
ages shall return with the Son of man to the earth,
and with their resurrected bodies shall live and
reign with Him, who, personally, literally present,

THE FUTURE OF THE JEWS. 19
as Zion's glorious Prince, shall administer His
blessed Kingdom of universal righteousness and
peace. Intimately associated, with the commencement
of this state of things — immediately preceding,
accompanying, or directly following the advent of
the Redeemer, will be a series of other wonderful
events, changing entirely the aspect of the social,
political, and moral condition of existing nations.
Prominent amid the actors of these scenes will
be the Jews, that remarkable nation, whose pro
phetic history of the future, in at least one of its
particulars, is the special subject of our discus
sion. We refer to their predicted literal restoration
to the land of their former sojourn — the land pro
mised to their forefathers for a perpetual occu
pancy. Agreeably to the declaration of Scripture, they
were to fall by the edge of the sword, and to
be led away captive, or reduced to a most de
pendent, oppressed condition, among the king
doms of the earth. Jerusalem was to-be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gen
tiles should be fulfilled, and blindness in part
was to happen to Israel, until the fulness of the
Gentiles should come in ; evidently implying that
at the fulfilment of that time, redemption should
be their blessed experience. That they are to
look on Him whom their forefathers have pierced
and mourn in bitterness of soul, is the assurance
of the prophet. They are thus to be led to re
cognize in Jesus Christ, their long-expected Mes-

20 THE RESTORATION.
siah, and, by that acknowledgment, to secure to
themselves again the manifested favor of their
Lord, under whose frowns they have spent many
wearisome centuries of anxious but fruitless an
ticipation of the advent of their Deliverer.
This recognition of Jesus of Nazareth as their
Messiah, and their consequent conversion to
Christianity, it is supposed, by one class of inter
preters, are to be brought about while they are in
their present widespread dispersion, and by direct
missionary efforts of the Church to evangelize
them. It is to be done, it is thought, by the
gradual diffusion of Gospel truth by instrumen
talities now employed. It is by all expected that
many of them will be brought to a saving know
ledge of Christ Jesus in this way. Numbers are
thus rejoicing in a discovered Saviour in our day,
and many more may thus be blessed. These consti
tute, however, perhaps, what is termed by St. Paul,
the "election of grace;" and of these the Apostle
thus speaks in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle
to the Romans, and in immediate connection, it
should be noticed, with the declaration of their
rejection as a nation : "Even so then at this pre
sent time also there is a remnant according to
the election of grace." . . . "What then? Israel"
(that is as a nation) "hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for;" (namely, their promised
Messiah,) "but the election" (some of the people)
"hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded;" and
to be blinded, the Saviour himself declares, until
some future period, called the "times and the

ABRAHAM CALLED. 21
fulness of the Gentiles." But not to anticipate a-
fuller cbesc^tfcn of this subject we may particu
larly note, as bearing directly on our theme, and
needful to its proper understanding :
First. — That the Hebrew people are literally a
widely scattered nation, and have been a distinct people
from the earliest period of their history to the present
time, now upwards of three thousand years.
This fact presents one of the most remarkable
phenomena in the history of the world. The
first prophecy relative to the Jewish nation, dis
tinctly as such, was that to Abraham at Ur of
the Chaldees, as he received the call to leave his
country and his kindred, and to go to the land
that should be shown unto him. "I will make
of thee," saith Jehovah, "a great nation." (Gen.
12 : 2.) A solitary traveller, crossing the Eu
phrates, not knowing whither he went, but obey
ing the Divine voice which called him from
among idolaters to become the father of a new
people and of a purer faith, he repaired to Ca
naan. His grandson Jacob, " a Syrian ready to
perish," went down into Egypt with a few in
dividuals, where his descendants, during several
years of prosperity, and several centuries of cruel
bondage, became a nation, great and mighty —
signally distinct from their oppressors — until de
livered by a special interposition of Heaven. "We
then trace them in their wilderness wanderings,
and see them gaining possession of Canaan, with
their peculiar social and. political and religious
institutions — a separate people. In their degene-
3*

22 THE RESTORATION.
racy they incurred the displeasure of their Ruler,
and were given, successively, into the hands of
Pagan enemies, whom they were compelled to
serve. Still they were kept separate. "When they
called upon the Lord, He raised up special de
liverers for them in the Judges, who brought them
out of all their distresses, but without any inter
nal change in their national constitution. They
called for a regal government, and God gave them
a king. Thus they continued for ages; a portion
indeed rebellious against rightful authority, but
the nation retaining its distinct existence amid
the surrounding peoples. Reduced to captivity
in Babylon, because of their sins, there, away
from the sepulchres of their fathers, and deprived
of their wonted religious privileges, they still re
mained a separate community, until their return
to repossess and rebuild their desolated homes.
Pour or five centuries were to intervene between
their return from Babylon, and the advent of the
Messiah. They were called to pass through va
rious and trying scenes. Their city was captured
by Alexander of Macedon, who sought by flatter
ing privileges to seduce them into compliance
with Pagan practices. It subsequently fell under
the tyranny of Antiochus EpiphaneS, a Syrian
prince, who razed to the ground its walls, and
, attempted, by bitter persecutions, to force them
into idolatry. He sacrificed swine, the especial
abomination of the Jew, upon the holy altar,
erected new altars for the obligatory worship of
Olympian Jupiter, burnt the Hebrew Scriptures,

THE MACCABEES — MESSIAH REJECTED. 23
prohibited circumcision, and made every act of
opposition a capital crime, to be punished with
extreme cruelty.
Under the Maccabees they recovered their in
dependence, which they enjoyed for a brief period,
when, sinking into comparative insignificance in
the political world, they were conquered by the
Romans. To them they became tributary, as
a vanquished nation, while yet they continued
rigidly to maintain their distinguishing peculiari
ties, remaining a separate people, socially and re
ligiously, until the birth of Christ. Then, indeed,
a great change was to be wrought in their condi
tion. Jerusalem had been a special bond of union.
There, except during the seventy years' captivity,
and during the bitter persecutions of Antiochus,
they could meet for their religious observances.
And, as their cherished memories and their
warmest affections clustered around that sacred
spot, it seemed the more closely to unite the na
tion in sympathy and in interest.
But for their iniquity, now culminating in the
rejection of their Messiah, their city was to be
laid waste and trodden down of the Gentiles, for
many generations, and they were to be scattered
to every quarter, even the remotest portions, of
the globe. And we follow them in their wander
ings for eighteen centuries, until, in our day,
We find them so widely scattered that there is
scarcely a known country on earth where they
are not to be found; And the remarkable fact of
their absolute separation, as a peculiar people,

24 THE RESTORATION.
remains as strongly marked as at any previous
time. In their social habits, in their religious
observances, in their very cast of countenance,
in all of the peculiarities which in ages past dis
tinguished them, they are still a distinct people,
although brought directly in contact, politically
and in business transactions, with those with
whom they reside. Milman thus speaks of them :
" Refusing still to mingle their blood with any
other race of mankind, they dwell in their dis
tinct families and communities, and still maintain
the principles of national unity. Jews in the in
delible features of the countenance, in mental
character, in customs, usages and laws, in lan
guage and literature, above all in religion, in the
recollections of the past and in the hopes of the fu
ture, with ready pliancy they accommodate them
selves to every soil, every climate, every gradation
of manners and civilization, and every form of
government. With inflexible pertinacity they
practice their ancient usages, very rarely form
matrimonial connections out of their own com
munion, and observe the fasts and festivals of
their church. Denizens everywhere, rarely citi
zens. Even in the countries in which they have
been the longest and most firmly established,
they appear, to a certain degree, strangers or so
journers. They dwell apart, although mingling
with their neighbors in many of the affairs of
life. For common purposes they adopt the lan
guage of the country they inhabit ; but the He
brew remains the national tongue in which their

JEWISH NATIONAL IDENTITY. 25
holy books are read and their religious services
conducted."1 The number of existing Jews is supposed at
least to equal that of the most prosperous days of
their history. It has been variously estimated
from five to fourteen millions; and these, al
though for ages scattered among the various na
tions of the earth, existing under every climate,
in every region, and under every form of govern
ment, retain their identity as a people, resisting
all the influences calculated to merge them in
and make them one with the people among
whom they live. They present one of the most
wonderful and interesting of all phenomena in
the history of man. In this one particular, they'
stand alone. No other people under heaven have
remained distinct for any length of time, even
with but a tithe of the influences which are around
them to cause them to lose their identity.
A few ages since, swarms of the northern na
tions overran the more southern parts of Europe.
"Where are they now to be found? The Gauls
went forth in great bodies to seek their fortunes
in foreign parts. "What traces or footsteps of them
are remaining now anywhere ? But we need not
specify. The records of all past generations may
be challenged to produce anything like this fact
in the history of the Hebrew people. And the
more especially wonderful is it because, we repeat,
of the strong inducements they have had to merge
1 Milman's History of the Jews.

26 THE RESTORATION.
themselves in the nations among whom they have
lived, and where they still reside, and thus to lose
their distinctive peculiarities. This separate, dis
tinct position which they have occupied, has been
to them the cause of almost incredible evils.
Read the curses for disobedience, as recounted
in the 28th and subsequent chapters of Deutero
nomy, and then note the literal infliction of them
upon this devoted people, many of them continued
to our own day : " The Lord shall scatter thee
among all people, from one end of the earth even
unto the other. . . . And among these nations shalt
thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy
foot have rest." Most literally verified has been
the prediction. The history of this people is the
history of severe persecutions, inflicted upon them
by almost every nation among whom they have
lived. And all this oppressive treatment have
they received because of their rigid adherence
to the faith, the usages, and the hopes of their
fathers. This they have known and keenly felt.
And they know as well that it is because of their
fathers' sins that they are thus under the frown
of heaven.
Recently, there stood up in the Henry Street
Synagogue, New York,1 a young preacher, who,
with fervid eloquence, thus addressed his people :
" My brethren, it was indeed a dark day in the
history of our nation when we sinned against God.
No step could have been more fatal ; no folly more
1 New York Observer. January 1; 1863.

A RABBI'S ADDRESS. 27
disastrous ; no act as pregnant with misery and
suffering. God alone can tell how swift, how just,
and how terrible has been the retribution. Long
years of misery, anguish, and suffering have been
ours. For ages have we been wanderers upon
the face of the earth, a byword and a reproach
among the nations with whom our lot was cast.
The iron heel of persecution has trampled us in
the dust. The finger of scorn has pointed us out
as the vilest of the vile. Our homes have been
desecrated, our cities pillaged, our synagogues
defiled. The hell-hounds of bigotry and super
stition have pursued us with unrelenting hate
from place to place. The torture, the Btake, and
the scaffold have ever been before our eyes. The
iron of bitter anguish has ever been entering our
souls. Hated, scoffed, despised, accounted as the
veriest scum of the earth, incarcerated in filthy
dungeons, starved, tortured, murdered, slain, un
til the pent-up agony of our souls, bursting from
its care-worn fetters, almost* compelled us to ex
claim, like Cain of old, ' My punishment is greater
than I can bear !' "
Thus spake the preacher with the emotions of
deep conviction. Strong as this language is, it
fails to picture fully the reality of the sufferings
of this remarkable people. The strongest of
earthly inducements have been held out to them
to lead to an abandonment of their peculiarities
and their exclusiveness. But all in vain. "With
wonderful tenacity they have maintained their
separate existence.

28 THE RESTORATION.
This continuance of the Jews as a distinct com
munity, amid their wide dispersion among the
uations of the earth, is a most remarkable pheno
menon, of which we may not lose sight, and the
more especially because of the predicted future
of their history.
A noteworthy prophecy, uttered 1400 years
before the Christian era, foretold this state of
things. Said Balaam, as he looked down upon
the camp of Israel when he was bidden of Balak
to curse : " How shall I curse whom God hath
not cursed, or how shall I defy whom the Lord
hath not defied ? For from the top of the rock I
see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo !
the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned
among the nations." (Num. 23 : 8, 9.) How literally
has this prediction, uttered three thousand years
ago, been verified ! How literally has it its ful
filment in our own day !
Now, upon what principle is it to be accounted
for, that, contrary to all observation and experi
ence in every other case, this people should be
preserved in its absolute unity, in its distinct and
separate existence, for so many centuries, and in
the face of so many powerful influences calculated
to destroy it? Infidelity has attempted a solu
tion ; but it fails to meet the question. There it
stands, a fact, without a parallel, to provoke in
quiry; a problem, without- explanation by worldly
wisdom. It surely is not by mere chance that it
is so. It cannot be ascribed to accident. In no
thing can we find an answer but in the direct, imme-

JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN. 29
diate agency of God — a divine providence securing the
accomplishment of a divine purpose. The hand of
God is as signally manifested in this thing, as in
any miracle of former days. And is this anything
less than a miracle, continued in its operation from
generation to generation, an abiding testimony
to the truthfulness of the prophetic Scriptures, a
palpable and lasting rebuke to skepticism ? But
why is this people thus preserved by a direct Di
vine providence ? An answer to this inquiry we
may find before we close our discussion.
A second fact demanding serious consideration
is, that Jerusalem is to be trodden down of the Gentiles
during this dispersion of the Jews. It was so pre
dicted by ancient prophets, and so foretold by the
Saviour himself. " And, accordingly, Jerusalem
hath never since been in the possession of this
people; but constantly has it been in subjection
to some other nation. First to the Romans, after
wards to the Saracens, then to the Franks, sub
sequently to the Mamelukes, and now to the
Turks," whose crescent has taken the place of
the ensign of the tribe of Judah. It has been
literally trodden down of the Gentiles for the last
eighteen centuries.
The words and feelings of Jeremiah are the
appropriate expression of the sorrowing Christian
heart in our day; as scoffing ones " pass by and
clap their hands at her; they hiss and wag their
heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, ' Is
this the city that men call the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth ?' "
4

30 THE RESTORATION.
Dr. Fisk, who, a few years since, visited Jeru
salem, remarks: "Many a time has the question
been asked me, What is the precise impression
that Jerusalem made and left upon your mind?
The most carefully graphic and elaborate answer
that I feel capable of offering, would fall far short
of that which is given by Jeremiah in the book
of Lamentations, in every sentence of which one
seems to trace the trickling of a tear, the breath
ing of a deep-drawn sigh — the tear and the sigh
hopeless and heartless — of Jerusalem, for the
glory that is departed." Doubtless the prophet
depicted Jerusalem as he saw her when the
avenging hand of Jehovah first laid her honor in
the dust. But he did more than that. With a
prophet's vision he foresaw the utter desolation
which impended, in times which should be big
with the most disastrous events towards her,
when Jerusalem should become " heaps," and be
finally, as she is now, trodden down of the Gen
tiles. And all that Jeremiah foretold as a pro
phet, and everything he recorded as an historian,
is at any moment to be traced in the present as
pect of the Holy City and her miserable popula
tion. Exaggeration is almost impossible upon the
condition of the Jews at the present day. And
what is said of Jerusalem, is true of the whole
land of Palestine. By Moses it was described
as " a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and depths that spring out of valleys
and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines,
and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil,

THE DESOLATION OF PALESTINE. 31
olives and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat
bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack
anything in it." (Deut. 8 : 7-9.) By the Lord
himself it was called " the glory of all lands."
But this land, once most remarkable for its
fertility, is now but little more than a barren
waste ; and as the traveller looks over the scene
of sterility, he inquires, Can these stony hills,
these deserted valleys, be indeed the land of pro
mise, the land once flowing with milk and honey ?"
"Above all other countries in the world, it is now
a land of ruins."1 Evidences of former fertility
are said to abound on every hand, while they ap
pear but in noted contrast to its present wretched
condition. "The more," writes Paxton, "I see
of Palestine, the more I am persuaded that it was
once one of the finest countries in the world."
Now poverty, wretchedness and barrenness are
its general characteristics. This state of Jerusa
lem and this condition of the land, once the luxu
rious residence of a favored nation, are but the
literal fulfilment of prophetic declarations.
One who but recently looked upon these very
scenes of desolation writes: "The numerous pro
phecies concerning Canaan have been so literally
fulfilled that they may be used as actual history.
It is now under the curse of God, and its general
barrenness is in full accordance with prophetic
denunciation." "Your land," said Jehovah to
his people, when warning them against disobe-
1 Stanley.

32 THE RESTORATION.
dience, "Your land shall be desolate and your
cities waste." (Lev. 26 : 33.) Jeremiah speaks as
one looking upon a scene of sadness actually
spread out before him, so vividly before his eye
was Canaan's coming desolation depicted. " They
have destroyed my vineyard. They have trod
den my portion under foot. They have made
my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They
have made it desolate. The whole land is made
desolate." (12 : 10, 11.)
Thus we have before our minds, as scenes
actually existing in our day, the wide dispersion
of the Jewish people, and their separation from
the land of their fathers ; their present wander
ings in every quarter of the globe ; their bitter
persecutions and severe sufferings, and injurious,
ignominious treatment, for successive centuries ;
the destruction of their holy city, and its contin
uing desecration by Gentile feet and by Gentile
usages; and the utter desolation of the land
where their ancestors dwelt as in the heritage of
the Lord — then a land of fertility and plenty.
And all this in exact fulfilment of prophecy.
The question now arises, is this condition of
things always to exist? Are these millions of
Jews — once the honored, favored people of God
— always to remain in their dispersion, retaining
still their peculiarities and their identity and
oneness as a people? Or are they yet to be
come merged and lost in the various nations
among whom they are so widely scattered ? Are
they to lay aside their distinctive character,

PALESTINE FOR THE JEWS. 33
and then to be brought to the knowledge of
Christ and His salvation, and become one with
the Gentile Church, by the gradual diffusion of
the Gospel? If such is to be their condition,
after eighteen centuries of a national separation
from the different governments under which they
have lived, and a preservation of their oneness as
a people, without a parallel in the annals of the
world — a preservation most clearly bespeaking
the hand of an overruling Providence — then truly
does their continued separate existence become a
mystery ; a mystery, indeed, admitting of no so
lution ! Why, on this supposition, have they
been thus preserved ? Why so miraculously
watched over and cared for ?
But are they, in very deed, to pass thus silently
from our view ? Are they, in all their peculiar
ities, gradually to melt away and disappear like
the morning hoarfrost, leaving no trace behind
them ? Are they to become thus quietly extinct?
And is their holy city, the place of their fathers'
solemnities, a spot made most sacred by the thou
sand hallowed memories which cluster around its
sacred temple, its palaces, its altars, and its walls,
always to be trodden down by Gentile feet, and to
be deseciated by the godless mosque of Omar?
And is that once fair land — bequeathed to the
chosen people as an inheritance, a perpetual in
heritance, a land of luxuriance under the foster
ing smiles of the Lord Jehovah — ever to remain
the seared and desolate region which now it is,
and which it has been for generations past ?
4-

34 THE RESTORATION.
Hear what Isaiah says, giving utterance to feel
ings which are as much the experience and the
cry of the Jewish people in our day as they were
of any generation past : " Be not wroth very sore,
OLord! neither remember iniquity forever ; be
hold, see ! we beseech Thee : we are all Thy peo
ple. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a
wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and
beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee,
is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things
are laid waste. Wilt Thou refrain Thyself from
these things, O Lord? Wilt Thou hold Thy
peace, and afflict us very sore ?" (Is. 64 : 9-12.)
Such is Jerusalem, as trodden down of the Gen
tiles. Note, now, the subsequent declaration — -a
fitting response to this bitter cry : " Be ye glad and
rejoice forever in that which I create : for behold!
I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a
joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in
my people ; and the voice of weeping shall be
heard no more in her, nor the voice of crying."
"And they shall build houses and inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of
them." (Is. 65 l 18, 19, 21.) A prediction far from
being met, in its prophetic import, by the rebuild
ing of the city after the captivity at Babylon, for,
as the context shows, it looked forward to the
more glorious times of the second advent of the
Messiah. And so Zechariah, speaking of the same
anticipated time, says ; " It shall be in that day that
living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, . » *.
and the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In

JERUSALEM REBUILT. 35
that day shall there be one Lord. All the land
shall be turned as a plain, from Geba to Rimmon,
south of Jerusalem, and it shall be lifted up and
inhabited in herplace, from Benjamin's gate unto
the place of the first gate, and men shall dwell in
it, and there shall be no more utter destruction,
but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." (14:
8-11.) Of this passage, Dr. Scott says: "Jeru
salem, which has long been trodden doT.vn of the
Gentiles, will be raised up from that debased
condition, and rebuilded to the whole of her for
mer extent, and inhabited throughout. It shall
no more be devoted to utter destruction under
the -awful curse of God, but it will become a se
rene and peaceful habitation."
" Behold," says Jeremiah, " the days come that
the city shall be built to the Lord. . . It shall not
be plucked up nor thrown down any more." (31 :
38,40.) "I will call," writes Ezekiel, "for the
corn and will increase it, and I will multiply the
fruit of the tree and the increase of the field."
»  " And they shall say, this land which
was desolate is become like the garden of Eden."
(36 : 29, 30, 35.) " The Lord shall comfort Zion :
He will comfort all her waste places. He will
make her wilderness like Eden and her desert
like the garden of the Lord." (Is. 51 : 3.)
And never yet have the glowing words of
Isaiah, as recorded in the sixtieth chapter of his
prophecy, met with anything like their fulfil
ment. They anticipate the glorious results of
Christ's mediatorial work to be witnessed here on

36 THE RESTORATION.
earth ; and in the midst of his enrapturing state
ments, he declares: "And the sons of strangers
shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall
minister unto thee. For in my wrath I smote
thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee.
Therefore thy gates shall be open continually;
they shall not be shut day nor night." (60 : 10, 11.)
Thus have we the assurance that Jerusalem, long
forsaken, desolate, and trodden down, shall be re
stored to more than her former grandeur, and the
land, now laid waste and blighted, shall regain
its former fruitfulness. But wherefore these
changes ? Why — for what purpose — shall now
debased Jerusalem be rebuilt ? and for what pur
pose, and by whom, the desolate land be made
once more to bloom and blossom as the rose ?
These predictions, it should be remembered,
were given to the Jewish people. Were these
prophetic declarations of the rebuilding of their
loved and honored city, of its restoration to
grandeur and safety, and becoming a place of
habitation, and of the returning luxuriance and
fertility of the land, meant to mock their misery
and to add to their humiliation in their wide dis
persion — as most grievously they would if they
were no more themselves to look upon the reno
vated glory of the one, and to enjoy the fruitful
ness of the other ?
In answer to the question, " Wherefore these
predicted changes?" we remark that it is all in
anticipation of the re-occupancy of Jerusalem, and
the land promised to Abraham and his seed, by

PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED. 37
the still outcast, wandering children of Israel, who
are, if we read the prophetic record correctly,
to be literally restored to the inheritance of their
fathers, to worship again at Jerusalem, and to
possess the land which is theirs by covenant en
gagement. If the prophecies in reference to the
desolation of Palestine, the destruction of Jeru
salem and its defilement by Gentile feet, and the
wide dispersion of the Jewish people, their mul
tiplied sorrows, and hardships, and persecutions,
and their remaining a distinct, separate people in
the very midst of their persecuting foes, who
have sought to amalgamate them with the people
and to- induce them to cast aside their offensive
peculiarities — if these prophecies have, in a most
remarkable manner, met their exact literal fulfil
ment, by what process of reasoning, or by what
law of interpretation, can we reach the conclusion
that what of prophecy remains unfulfilled, touch
ing the restoration of the Jews, is not to be as
literally verified ? If the former have been real
ized, will not the latter ? And if the first have
had a literal fulfilment, must not the second have
the same? Can we look abroad over the dis
persed Hebrew people, and be struck with the
truthfulness of God as manifested in the precise
verification of the words of the inspired pro
phets, and of Jesus himself — and then read the
predictions, in reference to the same people, yet
to be fulfilled, and say that our principles of inter
pretation are to be entirely changed, so that what
appears to be a declaration literally to be accom-

38 THE RESTORATION.
plished, must have a spiritual import ? Are we.
thus to read the sacred record ? And yet there
are those who believe that all that is said in refer
ence to the return of the Jews, and their restora
tion to their own land, and the recovery of the ten
lost tribes, with their reunion and re-establish
ment with the two tribes, as one nation, in Pales
tine, in more than the pristine glory of the The
ocracy, is a mere allegorical description of their
conversion and absorption into the Church while
remaining in the lands of their dispersion ;. and
this to be in connection with the ingathering of
the Gentile nations into the fold of the Redeemer ;
all of which is to be accomplished by the gradual
spread of evangelical truth, and by the means
and efforts now put forth by the Church for this
end ! It may be that the word of God, correctly
understood, will lead to a different conclusion.
Our present discussion touches one definite point
bearing on this general subject, namely, the literal
return or restoration of the Hebrew people to the
land of Palestine — an event most intimately con
nected with, and being, indeed, itself one of a
series of manifestations of divine power and glory,
which, it is thought, are to mark the closing of
the present dispensation, and which will be the
theme of subsequent inquiry.

CHAPTER II.
THE JEWS, CONTINUED.
RESTORATION OF THE JEWS — WHO ARE THE JEWS? — JUDAH
AND ISRAEL — THE LOST TEN TRIBES — JEWS CHERISH THE
EXPECTATION OF A LITERAL RESTORATION — WAILING- PLACE
AT JERUSALEM — THEIR INIQUITY THE ACKNOWLEDGED
CAUSE OF THEIR AFFLICTIONS — CONSTANT READINESS TO
DEPART.

I say, then, hath God cast away his people 9 God forbid. God
hath not cast away his people w/iom he foreknew. — Romans,
11 : 1, 2.

Those here spoken of and designated the people
of God, " his people" are the Jews, and with pecu
liar propriety and.significancy are they thus styled,
inasmuch as they were constituted a peculiar, se
parate people, by Divine appointment, and for
many generations watched over and directly go
verned by Jehovah, as their immediate Head and
Ruler, as they were made the recipients of mani
fold favors — the depository, indeed, of the bless
ings of the true religion, and a people with whom
a covenant had been made of abiding mercy:
" Who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God,
and the promises." Rom. 9 : 4.
" The world having been visited with the signal
judgments of heaven, because of man's increas-

40 THE RESTORATION.
ing iniquity, Noah became the second progenitor
of the race ; and we find, in the history imme
diately following the deluge, mention made of
three distinct lines of descent — one from each of
the patriarch's sons, Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
After the dispersion of the people from Babel,
one hundred years subsequent to the deluge, the
descendants of Shem are again introduced, and
carried down to the family of Terah. Ham and
Japheth are lost sight of in the history for a
season, and Shem is taken. All the other de
scendants of Shem are then lost sight of, and
Terah is taken ; and all the sons of Terah are lost
sight of, and Abraham is taken; and on him and
his posterity the whole attention of the reader of
the sacred record is concentrated."1
Receiving a divine call, Abraham repaired to
Canaan, and became the father of that remarkable
nation, whose history had been fraught with such
peculiar interest, and whose destiny had been most
intimately and manifestly interwoven with all the
purposes of infinite wisdom, up to the time the
Apostle penned his letter to the Romans. They
had become an exceedingly degenerate people, and
for their sins they had been severely punished ;
and now, as a nation, for their rejection of their
Messiah, they were shut out from the special ma
nifestation of the Divine favor, and the blessings
of salvation were bestowed upon the Gentiles.
With Abraham and his immediate descendants the
1 McNeile.

ISRAEL'S HOPE. 41
Lord had entered into a gracious covenant, promis
ing not only a numerous posterity, but rich, dis
tinguishing mercies, of which they were never to
be dispossessed. As these covenanted promises,
in the full extent of the assurance, had not been
realized to them, so to the future were they to
look for the verification of all that God had
spoken. In the 11th chapter of his Epistle to the
Romans, St. Paul states that judicial blindness
was, for a season, to remain on this nation, be
cause of their unbelief, during which they were
to be under the manifested displeasure of their
offended Ruler ; a people scattered amid the na
tions of the earth, frowned upon and outcast.
The purposed period, however, being accom
plished — the fulness of the Gentiles having come
in — the vail is to be taken from off their minds,
and the blessings of the covenant, made with
their ancestors, and which could not be annulled
" (for the gifts and calling of God are without re
pentance)," are to be theirs, in rich and full expe
rience. As the past history of the Jews has been
most intimately associated with the hopes of an
apostate race, so is all that is cheering and hope
ful and blessed in the future as intimately con
nected with God's dealings with them. They are
to bear a most important part in those startling
scenes which are to close the present dispensa
tion, and to usher in that period when the prophe
cies of the second advent of the Son of God, pre
vious to the millennium, of the resurrection of the
pious dead, of the destruction of the Antichristian

42 THE RESTORATION.
nations, and the reign of Christ on earth, are to be
literally verified. At that time they are to dis
cover their error and sin in rejecting the Messiah,
and to turn to him whom they have pierced, with
bitter lamentation and confession, and yet with
exultant hearts, at finding him of whom Moses and
the Prophets did speak. Preceding this change,
they are to be gathered from their wide disper
sion among the nations, and restored to the actual
possession of Palestine, in fulfilment of the co
venant engagement made with Abraham, and in
accomplishment of innumerable predictions of the
prophets. This is the special subject of our dis
cussion. As preliminary to a consideration of the proof
of it, attention has been directed to a few facts,
one of which was the actual dispersion of the
Jewish people among the nations of the earth,
a fact arresting the notice of the most heedless
observer; for wherever the explorer goes, amid
whatever people he sojourns, in every clime,
under every government, there, in greater or less
numbers, are to be found representatives of the
Hebrew race. This is but the literal fulfilment
of prophecies, uttered centuries before there was
the slightest reason, from their condition, to anti
cipate such an event. But what renders it a fact
of special interest, and of most wonderful signifi-
cancy, is, as we have noticed, the maintenance of
their absolute individuality among and separa
tion from the various peoples amid whom they
live in their dispersion. This fact has been suffi-

WHO ARE THE JEWS? 43
ciently illustrated. It is a constantly perpetuated
miracle, showing a Divine agency, and a signal
providential care over them. We have also seen
how literally the predictions in reference to Jeru
salem and the once luxuriant land have been ful
filled; the former, their Holy City, being wrested
from their hands and trodden down of the Gen
tiles; and the latter having become a barren
waste, blighted, seared, desolate, under the frown
ing providence of God. The city, however, is to
be rebuilt, and restored to its former glory ; and
the land is again to be blessed with its former
fertility. So the voice of prophecy distinctly de
clares; and the emphatic question is suggested,
For what purpose has the providence of God been thus
exercised? The only satisfactory solution may be
found, perhaps, in the prediction touching the
return of this people to their city and the land
of their fathers, and their actual possession and
enjoyment of it, agreeably to the covenant made
with Abraham of old. Many are the prophecies
bearing upon this event, and nothing but a fulfil
ment of them, as literal as that in reference to
their dispersion and their preservation, and the
destruction of their city and land, can solve the
question. But who are we to understand by the Jews ? Who
are they who are to be restored?
Jacob, after having wrestled successfully with
the angel-Jehovah at Penuel,1 was called Israel, a
' Gen. 32:24; Hos. 12:4.

44 THE RESTORATION.
name subsequently given to his posterity, em
bracing the twelve tribes who were known as
Israelites. And thus it continued until the revolt
of ten of the tribes, at the instigation of Jeroboam ;
when these, the rebel portion of the people, estab
lished an independent government, with their seat
at Samaria, and were known as the Kingdom of Is
rael; and' the remaining loyal tribes of Benjamin
and Judah, with their seat at Jerusalem, were
known as the Kingdom of Judah. Thus they con
tinued for three centuries; the two kingdoms
being governed by independent rulers.
For their sins, both were carried into captivity;
first, the kingdom of Israel to Assyria, and then
that of Judah to Babylon. At the expiration of
the predicted seventy years' captivity of Judah,
permission was given them to return, rebuild
their desolate city, and repossess the land. But7
it is a noticeable fact, that but very few of the ten
tribes, or the kingdom of Israel, were united with
them in this enterprise.
As a body they were not restored, and so it was
foretold. It was declared that they should be out
cast, totally cut off from all visible interposition
in their behalf, differing thus from the predicted
dealings of God with Judah. They have passed en
tirely from view; and are known as the lost tribes.
Having totally revolted from God to the wor
ship of golden calves, and having been guilty of ex
cessive abominations, they were suffered to remain
in the land of their captivity. It was a matter of
special importance that Judah should remain in its

ISRAELITES — THE LOST TRIBES. 45
distinct and separate condition, as a tribe and as
families, until the coming of the Messiah, as He
was to be of the tribe of Judah and of the family
of David. The kingdom or commonwealth of
Israel being destroyed, or utterly broken up, and
the tribes constituting it being lost sight of, and
those who returned to Palestine being mainly
merged in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, all
were known as Jews. And in the New Testa
ment, the name of the whole nation in its earlier
ages, from Jacob to Rehoboam, is restored, and
used generally to designate the Hebrew people.
They were all Israelites. Paul calls himself an
Israelite, in the same sentence in which he speci
fies the tribe of Benjamin as his paternal tribe.
" I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin." (Rom. 11 : 1.)
Those whose remarkable separation from the
nations of the earth among whom they are scat
tered, who, in so wonderful a manner, are kept
distinct, with the comparatively few of Israel
who have become amalgamated with them, con
stitute the kingdom of Judah. Of these it was
predicted that they should never lose the distin
guishing badge of their identity as a separate
people — the worshippers of the God of Abraham.
Whereas, the ten tribes are lost to the eye of man,
and were so several centuries before the advent
of Christ; and by some it is maintained they are
never to be found. Diligent search has been
made for them, and some ingenious conjectures
hazarded ; but the search has been in vain, and

46 THE RESTORATION.
the conjectures are without confirmation. Their
present condition, as withdrawn from the mani
fested, recognized scene of God's providence, is the
fulfilment of prophecies respecting them. But,
although man cannot find them so as to identify
them, the eye of the Omniscient is upon them,
and from their seclusion they are to come forth to
the glorious vindication of Jehovah's veracity;
for both Israel and Judah are embraced in the
coming restoration. Thus we find it written by
Isaiah, in the glowing prophecies contained in
the eleventh chapter, which has reference to the
millennial times : " It shall come to pass in that day,
that the Lord shall set his hand again, the second
time, to recover the remnant of his people which
shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam,
and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the isles of the sea; and he shall set up an ensign
for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah,"
— that is, the whole Jewish nation, — "from the
four corners of the earth. The envy also of Eph-
raim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah
shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not vex Ephraim  And
there shall be a highway for the remnant of his
, people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as
it was to Israel in the day that he came up out
of the land of Egypt." (Isaiah 11 : 11-16.) This
surely has not yet met with its fulfilment.
In Jeremiah 31: 15, it is said : "A voice was

RACHEL'S LAMENTATION. 47
heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weep
ing; Rachel, weeping for her children, refused
to be comforted for her children, because they
were not." Who were these children of Rachel,
whose loss she lamented so bitterly? They
were the ten tribes, or the kingdom of Israel,
who, with Judah, were to be restored to their
former possessions. To them the prophecy mainly
refers, as appears from the repeated allusions
to Ephraim, the head of these tribes; as also
from the mention made of the mountains of
Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom, and of
the watchmen upon Mount Ephraim, who are
represented as calling upon the people to go up
to Mount Zion for worship. Both kingdoms, the
Jews, and Ephraim, or the ten tribes, are repre
sented as already in possession of their own land,
with all their former divisions healed. These ten
tribes were those for whom Rachel thus bitterly
wept. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, and the
mother of Joseph and Benjamin. And Ephraim
was the youngest son of Joseph. From him de
scended a very large proportion of the kingdom
of Israel. These had been carried into captivity
a century or more before this prophecy was ut
tered. The sepulchre of Rachel was between
Ramah and Bethlehem. By a bold figure, she is
represented as rising from the grave, and as
looking round, and, seeing none of her offspring,
is inconsolable in her sorrow, supposing them all
utterly extirpated. But were they so ? And were
they never again to possess their former homes ?

48 , THE RESTORATION.
Note how her lamentations are met, and with
what words the Lord is pleased to comfort her :
" Thus saith the Lord : Refrain thy voice from
weeping and thine eyes from tears ; for thy works
shall be rewarded, saith the Lord. And they shall
come again from the land of the enemy, and there
is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy chil
dren shall come again to their own border." (31:16,17.)
Has this promise yet been verified? Surely, if the
word of Jehovah be worthy of confidence, then
a future restoration of these lost ten tribes is
certain. Turn now to Ezekiel, 37: 15: "The word of
the Lord cam-e unto me, saying, Moreover, thou
son of man, take thou one stick and write upon
it,/or Judah and for the children of Israel his com
panions ; then take another stick and write upon
it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the
house of Israel his companions; and join them one
to another into one stick. And when the children
of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, ' Wilt
thou not show us what thou meanest by these?'
Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God : ....
Behold! I will take the children of Israel from
among the heathen whither they be gone, and
will gather them on every side, and bring them into
their own land; and I will make them one nation
in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one
king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no
more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two
kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile
themselves any more with their idols, nor with

JUDAH AND ISRAEL RESTORED. 49
their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions ; . . . they shall be my people, and
I will be their God. And David my servant shall
be king. over them, and they all shall have one
shepherd, they shall also walk in my judgments
and observe my statutes and do them. And
they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt;
and they shall dwell therein, even they and their
children and their children's children forever. And
my servant David shall be their prince forever."
Does not this prediction most evidently look for
ward to the future for its fulfilment ? Has any
thing in the past history of the Jews even approx
imated to an accomplishment of it? The two
kingdoms of Judnh and Israel have never been
united, as is here foretold by the significant join
ing together of the two sticks. Israel as a people
did not return from its captivity with Judah when
the latter returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.
It remains still, as the lost ten tribes, to be gath
ered home to Jerusalem, by the promise of God,
when with Judah it shall constitute one nation,
again blessed of heaven. And there, as one na
tion, they are to be governed by one king, and that
king shall be David. We need scarcely remark
that Christ is most obviously meant by this title,
as a descendant of David. Moreover, it is a fact
beyond dispute, even on the supposition that on
their release from Babylon they became one king
dom, that they have never yet been governed as
one nation, by any king to whom the name of

50 THE RESTORATION.
David could be given. " On their return from
Babylon, no descendant of David, nor any line
of kings of the family of David, ruled over the
nation, but a series of governors, of whom the
most remarkable are known to have been of other
families. The Maccabees, who commenced their
career of patriotic and religious heroism during
the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, about
one hundred and sixty years before the Christian
era, and under whose services the kingdom en
joyed a brief period of independence, were Le-
vites, concerning whose tribe neither Moses nor
any other prophet speaks anything of royalty."1
They are, moreover, to dwell in their own land,
and there to be governed by David, or Christ,
forever. They are also to be purified from all
their sins, and to be a holy people unto the Lord.
Need we undertake to show that these predictions
must be met by the future condition of the Jewish
nation, if ever met? Note, again, the particulars
of the prediction. The people are to be scattered
among the nations of the earth ; Judah and Israel
are to be gathered from their dispersion ; they are
to be united as one people ; to constitute one king
dom, never again to be divided into two king
doms; they are to be brought to their own land,
the land of their fathers, a land given to them by
covenant engagement; there are they to dwell for
ever; they are to be separated from their trans
gressions, and made a holy people; David, or
1 McNeile.

JUDAH AND ISRAEL RESTORED. 51
Christ, a lineal descendant of David, and often
called by this name, is to reign over them, and
his reign is to be forever; and the sanctuary of
God is to be in the midst of them forevermore.
The simple question is, Is there anything in the
past history of the Jews to answer to these state
ments ? If so, where is it to be found ? Their
return from Babylonish captivity does not meet
it, as already stated; nor will this and similar
predictions admit of a satisfactory spiritual inter
pretation; an interpretation which makes the
land to mean the Church, the restoration to mean
the conversion of the Jews to 'Christianity; the
two kingdoms to mean Jews and Gentiles in one
church ; the one king to mean Jesus Christ, of
the lineage and house of David, exercising spirit
ual dominion over all believers.
The prophecy was addressed to the Hebrew
people, and obviously has exclusive reference to
them ; and as the prediction touching their wide
dispersion, their separate existence amid the na
tions of the earth, the desolations of their land,
the defilement of their holy city by Gentile feet
and by Gentile usages, have all been fulfilled to
the very letter, and as we have reason to believe
from prophecy that Jerusalem is to be restored,
and the land again blessed with even more than
its former fruitfulness, shall we hesitate to say
that these predictions, just as plain and positive as
the others, are not to have as literal a fulfilment ?
The predictions are continuous, have respect to
precisely the same people, specified by name.

52 THE RESTORATION.
Shall, then, all that is past be literal, and all that
is future be figurative and spiritual ? But what
say other prophecies ? Look for a moment at the
declaration of Moses (Deut. 27 and 28 chh.), when
at the command of God he set before the divided
tribes, on Gerizim and Ebal, the blessings for
obedience and the curses for disobedience. Read
the list of these fearful curses. Then behold the
spectacle the providence of God at this moment
actually presents, and see how literally they are
in our day, as they have been for generations past,
in process of actual fulfilment. Their wide dis
persion among the nations was a part of the
threatening. Hear, now, the words of Jehovah, as uttered
upon that memorable occasion, three thousand
years since, and say whether or not the declara
tion has yet been verified. "And it shall come
to pass when all these things are come upon thee,
the blessing and the curse which I have set before
thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all
the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven
thee; and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and
shalt obey his voice, thou, and thy children, with
all thine heart and with all thy soul ; that then the
Lord will turn thy captivity, and will have com
passion upon thee, and will return and gather thee
from all the nations whither the Lord thy God
hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven
out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence
will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence
will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will

ISRAEL'S RESTORATION YET TO COME. 53
bring thee into the land which thy fathers prepared,
and thou shalt possess it." (Deut. 30.) Has this
assurance yet been verified to this people ? If so,
we again inquire, and with emphasis, when, and
where ? From the uttermost parts of heaven, and
from all the nations of the earth, they have never
been gathered since their first dispersion. And is
the prophecy that of a figurative or spiritual resto
ration and gathering ? Is the predicted wide dis
persion literally fulfilled ? we once more inquire ;
and is not the restoration to be the same ? Can we
possibly understand it otherwise ?
Read, now, in Isaiah 43 : 5, 6. " Fear not, for I
am with thee : I will bring thy seed from the
east, and gather thee from the west. I will say
to the north, give up ; and to the south, keep not
back : bring my sons from far, and my daugh
ters from the ends of the earth." Here is the gra
cious assurance that this people, once highly
favored, now under the Divine displeasure, shall
be collected " from the north, and from the south,
and from the east, and from the west, even from the
ends of the earth;" and the context shows, that it
is that they may again inherit their fathers' land.
When returning from Babylon, they only came
from the north. From the south, the east, and_the
west, they were not gathered. Of similar import
is the declaration of Amos 9 : 9, 14, 15 : "I will not
utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of
Israel among all nations, . . and I will bring again the
captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build
6

54 THE RESTORATION.
the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them.
And I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no more be pulled up out of their land which
I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."
And Jeremiah is equally explicit: "Behold, I
will gather them out of all countries whither I
have driven them in mine anger and in my fury,
and I will bring them again unto this place, and
I will cause them to dwell safely, and they shall
be my people, and I will be their God, and I
will give them one heart and one way, that they
may fear me forever ; and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, that I will not turn away
from them to do them good. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good, and I will plant them
in this land assuredly with my whole heart and
with my whole soul." (32 : 37-41.) " And I will
cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of
Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
There shall be heard in this place, which ye say
shall be desolate, without man and without beast,
even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem, that are desolate, the voice of joy and
the voice of gladness." (33 : 7, 10.) Ezekiel writes :
"Thus saith the Lord God: I will even gather
you from the people and assemble you out of the
countries where you have been scattered, and I
will give you the land of Israel." (11 : 17.)
Upon the rich treasury of truth, upon this in
teresting theme, we will make but one more. draft.

ISRAEL'S RESTORATION YET TO COME. 55
It is the testimony of one whose prophecy was
Tittered after the return from Babylon, and must
consequently refer to the then future restoration.
Zechariah prophesied several years after the cap
tivity. He presents us with some of the most
striking predictions of the Jewish people. Read
as a specimen : " Thus saith the Lord; I am re
turned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called a city
of truth ; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts,
the holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ;
There shall yet old men and old women dwell in
the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his
staff in his hand for very age. And the streets
of the city shall be full of girls and boys playing
in the streets thereof." (8 : 3-5.) A glowing pic
ture of prosperity, peace, and enjoyment. But
was not the prophet describing scenes then before
him, or which were to be in the immediately suc
ceeding period ? In reply, we need but inquire,
Was Jerusalem then, or has it since been, a " city
of truth" — "the holy mountain?" Surely not.
Note, moreover, a verse immediately following,
where reference is plainly had to a restoration yet
to be accomplished. " Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, Behold I will save my people from the east
country, and from the west country, and I will
bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of
Jerusalem; and they shall be my people; and I
will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."
(8 : 7, 8.) That this passage has reference to a
yet coming period, is again fully apparent from

56 THE RESTORATION.
the closing verses of the chapter, where we find
a description of scenes which, we think, no one will
say have yet transpired. Thus, then, are the Jew
ish nation to be restored to the land promised to
Abraham for a perpetual inheritance. And this
restoration we find to be a favorite subject with the
inspired seers. " It is, indeed," one well remarks,
"the leading theme with the Jewish prophets. The
original grant to Abraham is never lost sight of.
It is the climax of every song of triumph, the key
note in reference to which every strain is set."1
It is worthy of special note, that to the hope of
a literal restoration have the Jews, in all their
wanderings, amid all their persecutions, under
all the obloquy and contempt that have been so
shamefully heaped upon them, clung with cher
ished fervency of spirit. So they read the pro
phecies given to- their fathers ; and the prospect
comes to cheer their hearts, and to nerve them to
more patient endurance of the wrongs inflicted
upon them. " It is impossible," remarks Dr.
Russell,2 " not to be struck with the aspect of that
grandest of all moral phenomena which is sus
pended upon the history and condition of the
sons of Jacob. Nearly, if not quite as numerous
as when David swayed the sceptre of the twelve
tribes, their expectations are the same; and on
whatever part of the earth's surface they have
their abode, their eyes and their faith are all
pointed in the same direction, to the land of their
1 McNeile. » History of the Jews.

HOPE OF RESTORATION. 57
fathers, and the holy city where they worshipped.
Although rejected by God and persecuted by man,
they have not once, during eighteen hundred
wearisome years, ceased to repose confidence in
the promises made by Jehovah to the founders of
their nation. And though the heart has often
been sick and the spirit faint, they have never re
linquished the hope of that bright reversion to the
latter days, which is once more to establish the
Lord's house on the ' top of the mountains,' and to
make Jerusalem the glory of the whole world."
" The land of promise was the inheritance hoped
for by Abraham and all his descendants; and that
is the hope divinely begotten in the heart of every
Jew; and wherever you find one of Abraham's
scattered children, you find this hope occupying
a prominent place in his bosom, and his eye and
his affections are turning to that land of promise
and of hope. He everywhere considers Judea as
his proper country, and Jerusalem as his metro-
.politan city." " This recollection of country is un
paralleled. The Jew has not lost it, and will not
lose it, and he fondly transmits it to his posterity."1
Wilde, in his " Travels in Palestine," remarks:
" Were I asked what was the object of greatest
interest that I had seen, and the scene which
made the deepest impression upon me, during
my sojourn in other lands, I would say, that it
was a Jew mourning over the stones of Jerusa
lem. And what principle, what feeling is it, it
1 Harkness. 6*

58 THE RESTORATION.
may be asked, that can thus keep the Hebrew,
through so many centuries, still yearning towards
his native city; still looking forward to his resto
ration and the coming of the Messiah? Hope.
Hope is the principle that supports the Israelite
through all his sufferings. With oppression for his
inheritance, sorrow and sadness for his certain lot,
the constant fear of trials, bodily pain and mental
anguish; years of disgrace and a life of misery;
without a country and without a home; scorned,
robbed, insulted, and reviled; the power of man,
and even death itself, cannot obliterate that feel-
ing." In Poland, when an independent nation, the
Jews existed in large numbers, and were, it is
said, formed into armies of the finest soldiers in
Europe, and commanded by officers of their own
nation. They were accustomed, frequently, to
meet in their synagogues for fasting, humiliation,
and supplication to the God of their fathers, with
their faces towards Jerusalem and the, ruins of
their Temple, under a deep impression that the
years, of their long dispersion were hastening to a
close ; and that their God would soon turn again
the captivity of his people.1
A lovely Jewish maiden, of superior mind, is
represented as saying, a few years since, in anti
cipation of soon visiting Jerusalem, " Oh, that
lovely place, whence I look for the revelation of
Messiah, Ben David, my hope, and the hope of
1 Thorp's Destinies of the British Empire.

APPEAL OF LEIPSIC JOURNAL. 59
Israel ! Oh, that He were come, that all ungodli
ness might be turned away from Jacob ! I shall
see the lovely mountains which surround my
city, as the Lord surrounds his people. I shall
stand upon the holy spot where our Temple once
reared its majestic front; a place wondrously
beautiful and blessed, even in its present ruin.
But how glorious will it be when Jehovah will
gather us together again, with tender mercies,
and, remaining with his people, be their King
forever more ! How glad shall I be to lay my
lips against the stones which remain of the wall
that surrounds the beloved city ! With what rap
ture shall I breathe over them my humble prayer
for succor and deliverance I"1
An influential journal at Leipsic, Germany, con
ducted by a learned Israelite, contained, a few
years since, a stirring appeal to the Jews, with
reference to their return to Palestine, in which
the writer says, " The day of the Lord will ap
pear : His wrath rests not forever on the unhappy
seed of Abraham ! For ages he has led us through
the wilderness of privation and woe; but the trial
is coming to an end. Already dawns the day of
redemption from the east, from the land of our
fathers, the loss of which we weep with tears of
1 " Leila Ada" may be, as some are disposed to think, a work
of mere fiction. But these, no one may doubt, are the throb-
bings of the spirit of many a Jew and Jewess in.our day, who,
realizing the sadness and privations of their disinherited con
dition, look with longing desire to the time when the " glori
ous things spoken of Zion" shall become actual verities.

60 THE RESTORATION.
blood. Our inheritance, rent from us by the de
stroying sword of the Romans ; laid waste and
desolate by inundations of Arabs, Seldshucks,
Monguls, and Osmans, is expecting its lawful pos
sessors to rise from annihilation to the eminence
which David, the ruler of Jerusalem and Damas
cus, once conferred upon it  We have a
country, the inheritance of our fathers, finer and
more fruitful, better situated for commerce than
many of the most celebrated portions of the globe.
.... The power of our enemies is gone ; the
angel of discord has long since mown down their
mighty hosts, and yet ye do not bestir yourselves,
people of Jehovah! What hinders? Nothing
but your own supineness ! No Pharaoh will pre
vent our pilgrimage ; no legions stop our course.
.... Our probation was long in all countries,
from the north pole to the south. People of Je
hovah, raise yourselves from your thousand years'
slumber ! The rights of nations will never grow
old. Take possession of the land of your fathers !
Build the third time the Temple on Zion, greater
and more magnificent than ever ! Trust in the
Lord, who has led you safely through the vale of '
misery thousands of years — He will not forsake
you in your last conflict."1
For the very stones of their former Temple,
this people, at Jerusalem, are said t6 cherish a
sacred veneration. One converted from Judaism,
remarks, "Their veneration is beyond descrip-
1 Berg's History of the Jews.

WAILING-PLACE AT JERUSALEM. 61
tion. They never venture to approach the stones
with shoes upon their feet. Prayers are offered
before them on every Friday ; and many of them
are actually worn from kissing."1
At the base of the wall which supports the
west side of the- Temple area, is a place visited
by every traveller at Jerusalem. It tells a sad
tale, and presents a melancholy spectacle. It is
the " wailing-place" of the Jews ; and Dr. Thom
son2 assures us that no sight meets the eye more
sadly suggestive, than this wailing of the Jews
over the ruins of the Temple. This place is ap
proached only by a crooked, narrow lane, terminat
ing at a wall in a very contracted space, where,
sheltered from observation, on the eve of their
Sabbath, they meet to chant in mournful melody,
with trembling lip and tearful eyes, the lamenta
tions of their prophet : " Be not wroth very sore,
O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever : be
hold ! see ! we beseech thee. We are all thy
people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Jeru
salem a desolation : our holy and beautiful house,
where our fathers praised Thee, is burned with
fire, and all. our pleasant things are laid waste."
And then,3 with something like a dawn of hope,
they cry, as an eye-witness declares,
" Lord, build — Lord, build —
Build thy house speedily.
In haste 1 In haste I Even in our days,
Build thy house speedily.
1 Bib. Repository, 1840, p. 193. a The Land and the Book.
* Hugh McNeil's Lectures on the Jews.

62 THE RESTORATION.
" Lord, build — Lord, build —
Build thy house speedily.
In haste I In haste ! Even in our days,
Build thy house speedily.
In haste I In haste ! Even in our days,
Build thy house speedily."
Dr. Wolff gives the following affecting service,
as used, some years ago, by the Karaite Jews,1 at
Jerusalem, the Rabbi and the people speaking
alternately :
" R. On account of the palace which was laid
waste, P. We sit lonely and weep.
R. On account of the temple which was de
stroyed, P. We sit lonely and weep.
R. On account of the walls which are pulled
down, P. We sit lonely and weep.
R. On account of the precious stones which are
burned, P. We sit lonely and weep.
R. On account of the Priests who have stum
bled, P. We sit lonely and weep.
1 The Karaites are a sect of the Jews, claiming, and not
without reason, a great antiquity. They mainly differ from
the larger body of the nation in the rejection of all traditions,
and their rigid adherence to the letter of the law. At the
time of Dr. "Wolff's first visit to Jerusalem, he mot them there
in considerable numbers. At a later period, however, he
found them reduced to a very few, and apparently soon to dis
appear from the holy city.

KARAITE SERVICE. 63
R. On account of our kings who have despised
Him, P.- We sit lonely and weep.
R. We beseech Thee, have mercy upon Zion.
P. Gather the people of Jerusalem.
R. Make haste, 0 ! Redeemer of Zion.
P. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem.
R. May beauty and majesty surround Zion,
P. And turn, with mercy, to Jerusalem.
R. Remember the shame of Zion.
P. Remember again the ruins of Jerusalem.
R. May the royal government shine on Zion.
P. Comfort those who mourn at Jerusalem.
R. May joy and gladness be found upon Zion.
P. A branch will come forth at Jerusalem."
Such are the feelings ; such the bitter remem
brance of their sins, which caused the Lord to
withdraw his favor from them ; such their lamen
tations, and such their fondly-cherished hopes.
They do not live in expectation of being always
thus scattered to the ends of the earth, a byword
and hissing to every nation. With the , prophe
cies of Moses, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Ezekiel,
and of Amos in their hands, they turn, with en
during hope, to Jerusalem and Palestine, feeling
assured that as it was the promised inheritance
of Abraham forever, so it will be theirs and their
descendants', in very deed. And the providence
of God seems to be keeping them not only in a
state of expectancy, of hope, and longing desire,
but in one of readiness to return; for it is a fact,
to be noticed, that their possessions are usually

64 THE RESTORATION.
such as may be easily taken with them, or readily
converted into that which may be. But, compa
ratively, very few are to be found anywhere as
large landed proprietors or agriculturists. Their
intercourse with, and their relations to those
among whom they live, are more like those of the
wanderer, or mere sojourner, whose abode may
be changed on the morrow. Having no dominion,
no settled country, and usually no fixed property,
there is nothing to detain them anywhere, when
the favorable, set time for their restoration shall
arrive. The Rev. James Hamilton remarks,1 " There is
a city whose case is quite peculiar : captured,
ravaged, burnt, razed to the foundation, dispeo
pled, carried captive, its deported citizens sold
into slavery, and forbidden, by severest penalties,
to visit their native seats again ; though eighteen
centuries have passed, and strangers still tread its
hallowed soil, that city is still the magnet of many
hearts, and awakens, from time to time, pangs of
as keen emotion as when its fall was recent. Ever
and anon, from all the winds of heaven, Zion's
exiled children come to visit her, and with eyes
weeping sore, bewail her widowhood. No city was
ever honored thus ; none else receives pilgrimages
of affection from the fiftieth generation of its out
cast people. None else, after centuries of disper
sion, could at the first call, gather beneath its
wings the whole of its wide, wandering family ;
1 "Destination of the Jews."

AFFINITIES OF JEWS AND JERUSALEM. 65
and none but itself can now be re-peopled with
precisely the same race which left it nearly two
thousand years ago  And now, why, when
all other scattered nations mix and mingle — why
is it that like naphtha in a fountain, or amber
floating on the sea, this people, shaken hither
and thither, are found, after all their tossings and
jumblings, separate and immiscible ? And why,
again, when every other forsaken city, after an
age or two, is forgotten by its people — why has
Jerusalem such strong affinities for its outcast
population, that the city refuses any other perma
nent inhabitants, and the old inhabitants refuse
any other settled home ?"
Thus have we clearly revealed to us, in the
Scriptures of truth, the purposes of God in refer
ence to this most remarkable people, touching at
least the question of their actual restoration to the
land of their forefathers. This fact is worthy of
investigation by every one. But to the Christian
it is one of commanding interest, because of its
most intimate relation to other events immedi
ately preceding, accompanying, or following it,
involving the destinies of the world, and ushering
in the momentous scenes which close the present,
and commence a coming dispensation of divine
glory, power, and grace.

CHAPTER III.
THE JEWS, CONTINUED.
RESTORATION NOT SPIRITUAL — RESTORATION AND CONVER
SION DISTINCT — THEIR INIQUITY CULMINATING IN THE
REJECTION OF THEIR MESSIAH, THE CAUSE OF ALL THEIR
JUDGMENTS — THEIR PREDICTED REPENTANCE — TIME OF
RESTORATION — "TIME" AND "FULNESS" OF THE GEN
TILES.

Glorious things are spoken of thee, O City of God. — Ps. 87 : 3.

Jerusalem is the subject of the Psalmist's fer
vent address. . Of that city prophets had indeed
spoken glorious things. Pleasant for situation,
and magnificent in its buildings, Jerusalem was
the joy of the whole earth. There was the royal
residence of the kings of Judah ; there was the
Temple, and the Ark, and the glory; and the
King of Heaven, dwelling in the midst of her.
Her streets were honored with the footsteps of
the Redeemer of men ; there He preached, and
there He died, and rose again ; thither He sent
down His spirit, and there He first laid the foun
dations of His Church. But at the time these
latter events transpired, Jerusalem, as a city, had
lost its glory. The Jews, who occupied it, and
who still were permitted to worship where their
(WJ)

PROPHECIES FULFILLED ON JERUSALEM. 67
fathers worshipped, had become a degenerate
people; now subject to a Gentile power, to whom
they were obliged to yield an ignominious trib
ute. And soon the measure of their iniquity
being full, in the rejection of the Messiah, the
doom of the city and the nation was sealed. On
Olivet, the Redeemer, with the doomed city full
in view, and looking over its once favored palaces,
wept as He thought of its approaching desolation ;
and gave expression to those significant words
which sealed the judicial blindness of a people
from whom the things which made for their peace
were now to be hidden.
In a few hours, that weeping, commiserating
Jesus was a fully-rejected, persecuted, murdered
man, hanging on the cross, just outside the walls
of the city over whose doom He had so recently
wept. The predicted judgments of heaven slum
bered not; and the words of the Saviour spoken
in the earlier period of his ministry, were hasten
ing to their fulfilment ; when the walls of that
once glorious city should be laid prostrate, the
Temple utterly destroyed, and all trodden down
by Gentile feet ; and when the people should be
scattered among the nations of the earth.
We have seen how literally fulfilled have been
the prophecies uttered not only by Jesus, but by
holy, inspired seers of previous days, in reference
to this remarkable people and the inheritance of
their fathers, their city and their land. We have
also seen with what feelings of special interest
and of hope these Hebrews, in their world-wide

68 THE RESTORATION.
dispersion, continue still to look towards "the
City of the Great Prince." It is true that the
nation anticipates the future coming of their Mes
siah at Jerusalem, at their restoration ; and that
advent so long looked for, with its accompanying
and following events, is in their estimation to
constitute the glorious things spoken of by David.
But with no less interest may the Christian anti
cipate the full realization of all that the Psalmist
meant. The Spirit of the living God who put
these words into the mouth of His servant, looked
far beyond all that should make Jerusalem of
note, up to the offered sacrifice of Calvary. It
embraced, we have reason to believe, more glo
rious things as connected with the City of God,
than have yet transpired on earth. These have
reference to the promised second advent of the
Son of God : not to offer Himself up a second time,
a sacrifice for sin, but to reign the ever blessed
King of Zion — the predicted "David" of Jere
miah, of Hosea, of Ezekiel, and other prophets.
Thither to the City of God, and to Palestine, will
the scattered outcasts of the Jewish people be
gathered when, the times of the Gentiles being
fulfilled, the blindness which now, for centuries,
has been upon their minds, shall mercifully be
removed. As we have reason to believe, from
the Scriptures of truth, that we, the descendants
of Gentiles, are as deeply concerned as are the
Jews, in the fulfilment of these predictions ; so
does it become us prayerfully to study the sacred
Word touching these matters, that we may intel-

LITERAL NOT FIGURATIVE FULFILMENT. 69
ligently understand some of the glorious things
spoken of the coming kingdom of the Redeemer.
There are still some things connected with the
present condition and the restoration of the Jews,
demanding consideration. No one, perhaps, who
has examined the predictions already referred to,
and kindred ones to be found on almost every
page of the prophets, can doubt but that they are
to have their special fulfilment in a time yet to
come. There are, however, those who admit a
future fulfilment of them, who think they are not
to be literally verified, but that they are figurative,
and admit of a spiritual interpretation. But as
already remarked, it is impossible to see by what
principle of correct interpretation of the prophe
cies, the already fulfilled, or now fulfilling pre
dictions touching the condition of the Jews, should
have been, and still continue to be, accomplished
most literally ; and the yet unfulfilled predictions,
having reference to the same people, and given
in immediate connection with the former, should
not be as literally accomplished. The idea is,
that the land specified by the prophets means the
Christian Church; and that the return of the
Jews to Jerusalem, and their restoration to Pales
tine, simply means their conversion to Christi
anity in this their state of dispersion, and their
adoption into, or intimate union with, the con
verted Gentile nations.
But if this mode of interpreting prophecy,
where there is no symbol and no figure, but a
plain revelation, be adopted, then have we no cer-
7*

70 THE RESTORATION.
tainty of the literal fulfilment of any prediction.
No one doubts a literal season of prosperity and
blessedness to the church, a literal second advent
of Christ, a literal resurrection of the dead, a lite
ral judgment, a literal experience of misery with
the ungodly, and a literal state of heavenly bless
edness for the people of God. But why not give
a spiritual meaning to the predictions revealing
these things, and thus change entirely the charac
ter of the events which the words appear so
plainly to imply ? Must not the same principles
of interpretation be applied to both classes of sub
jects ? But to make this still more evident, let
us for a moment refer again to the " sure word of
prophecy." We find, in Ezekiel, that the restora
tion of the Jews to their land, and their conversion and
sanctifcation, are stated as two distinct things. In the
36th chap. , 24th-28th w, we read, " I will take you
from among the heathen, and gather you out of all
countries, and will bring you into your own land."
There is One event definitely stated: " Then," at
that time, " will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean ; . . . a new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ;
and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." Here
is another and a totally different thing, as defi
nitely stated. The two cannot mean the same
thing. Again he writes, " I will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments and do them."
Here again is a definite statement. He proceeds,

THE GATHERING OF ISRAEL. 71
" And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to
your fathers." The two things are as distinct in
meaning as they are in statement. It is worthy
of note, again, that their restoration is to be by a
migration or journey from many countries to one.
It is not a mere change from captivity to freedom,
from spiritual blindness to light, to take place in
the land of their dispersion. Some of the coun
tries, moreover, from which they are to return,
are specified, as is that to which they are to go.
They are to come from the North and from the
South, from the East and from the West, from
Assyria and from Egypt, from Pathros and from
Cush, and from the Islands of the Sea. The modes
of their conveyance to Palestine are designated :
Some are to be borne on arms, and some carried
on horses, and mules, and in chariots ; and some
are to proceed by sea:— Is. 11:11; 49:22; 66 : 20,
&c. Frequent allusions to these and other modes
of conveyance are to be found in Isaiah. Are
these specified modes of conveyance symbolical ?
Are we to understand by them various methods
of bringing the Jewish people to Christ ? What
can a ride on the several animals specified, or in
a chariot or litter, represent spiritually ? What
spiritual blessing can a voyage up the Mediterra
nean in a ship of Tarshish, symbolize ? Is there
any possible analogy between them and conver
sion ? The question seems at once to suggest its
appropriate and only answer.
But no longer to dwell on a point which must
be sufficiently established, we proceed to remark,

72 THE RESTORATION.
that the rejection of the Jews, their present blindness,
and wide dispersion, was because of their iniquity, cul
minating in their unbelief, and rejection of their Mes
siah. The curses which were pronounced from
Ebal, in the time of Joshua, were threatenings of
judgments in case of disobedience. These judg- »
ments embraced their being scattered among the
nations of the earth, and the endurance of the
manifold evils to which they have been subjected .
for many centuries. And so the cause, definitely
stated by later prophets, for the visitation of these
sorrows, was their iniquity. This is admitted by
the Jews themselves. They recognize the hand
of a sin-avenging God in these evils. Thus spake
the impassioned Hebrew preacher to his breth
ren •} "It was indeed a dark day in the history
of our nation when we sinned against God. It
was indeed a day portentous of calamity and un
told sufferings. ' Let that day be darkness ; let
not God regard it from above ; neither let the
light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow
of death stain it ; let a cloud dwell upon it ; let
the darkness of the night terrify it.' No step
could have been more fatal, no folly more disas
trous, no act as pregnant with misery and suffer
ing, as that of transgressing against the great and
mighty God of Israel ; and when God in His wrath
averted His face from us, when the light of His
gracious countenance no longer smiled upon us,
fearful indeed was our punishment ! God alone

1 See

THE ENGLISH RABBI. 73
knows the enormity of our offence. God alone
can tell how swift, how just, and how terrible has
been the retribution."
A venerable Rabbi, longing for the appearance
of the Messiah, a few years since, is said to have
stood on an eminence on the coast of England.
At his side was a beautiful girl, the daughter of
the Rabbi's host. Pointing in the direction of
Jerusalem, he said, " Yonder, my dear daughter,
yonder lies the beloved city ; we know ivhat excludes
us from it ; and blessed be the Eternal ! we know
the remedy. Standing here, let us now stretch
forth our hands in prayer. It may be, that the
Holy One will hear, and. hearing, will forgive."
Thus is the conviction resting upon this people,
that their existing calamities are the merited pun
ishment for their sins ; while yet they fail to see
the crowning sin of all — that which filling up the
measure to its fearful overflowing, immediately led
to the full expression of the displeasure of their
offended God. Their favorite prophet, Isaiah, in
glowing language, reveals it ; but they fail to un
derstand his allusions : " He is despised and re
jected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from
Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."
(53 : 3.) It was the rejection of their Messiah —
the crucifixion of their prince — that filled up the
cup of their iniquity. Paul, writing to the Thes-
salonians, says, " They both killed the Lord
Jesus and their own prophets, and have perse
cuted us, . . . to fill up their sins always ; for the

74 THE RESTORATION.
wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." (1
Thess. 2 : 15, 16.) And in his Epistle to the Ro
mans, he expressly states, "Because of unbelief
they were broken off." (11 : 20.)
Another point deserving special notice is the
predicted repentance of the Jewish nation. This is
intimately connected with their restoration to their
own laud. They are not to be brought out from
amid the nations of the earth as Jews ; restored
to Palestine as Jews, and there ever to continue
as Jews, persisting in their iniquity, and in the
rejection of Christ Jesus as their Messiah.
With deep repentance are they to mourn over,
as they confess, their sinfulness. Read again in
Deut. : " And it shall come to pass when all these
things are come upon thee; the blessing and the
curse; and thou shalt call them to mind among
all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath
driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy
God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that
I command thee this day, thou and thy children,
with all thy heart and with all thy soul; that then
the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, . . . and
gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord
thy God hath scattered thee." (30 : 1-3.) Here the
condition of their restoration is stated to be their
calling these j udgments tamind as the punishment
of their iniquity and their consequent repentance.
Again, in Leviticus, by the mouth of Moses, the
Lord says: "If they shall confess their iniquity,
and the iniquities of their fathers, with their tres
pass which they trespassed against me, and that

ISRAEL'S RETURN AND REPENTANCE. 75
they have also walked contrary unto me ; ... if
then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and
they then accept of the punishment of their ini
quity; then will I remember my covenant with
Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also
my covenant with Abraham, will I remember,
and I will remember the land." (26 : 40-42.) So
by Hosea, He saith : " I will tear and go away : I
will take away, and none shall rescue him: I will
go and return to my place, till they acknowledge
their offence and seek my face." " Come, let us re
turn unto the Lord, for he hath torn and he will
heal us, he hath smitten and he will bind us up."
(5:14, 15; 6:1.)
Thus, it appears that there is to be a national
penitence for iniquity, immediately connected
with their restoration. But that penitence is not to
embrace a recognition of their sin in the rejection
of Christ Jesus. Such repentance is, beyond all
doubt, to be intimately connected with their in
gathering from the nations; but it will be subse
quent to their re-establishment in Palestine. Thus
by their prophet Zechariah the Lord says: " Jeru
salem shall be inhabited again in her own place,
even in Jerusalem. . . . And I will pour upon
the house of David and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication;
- and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one
mourneth for his only sou, and shall be in bitter
ness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
first born." (12 : 6, 10.) Ezekiel also says : " I will

76 THE RESTORATION.
take you from among the heathen and gather you
out of all countries, and I will bring you into your
own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon ,
you, and ye shall be clean." (36 : 24, 25.)
When the humble acknowledgment of sin, and
the apparent penitence of the recent fervent
speaker in the Synagogue of New York, and that
asserted of the venerable Rabbi in England, be
come the acknowledgment and the experience of
the nation, we may expect the speedy fulfilment
of the predicted restoration of Israel. And then
shall the time and the fulness of the Gentiles be
fulfilled. Thus we are led briefly to inquire, When shall
these interesting predictions be fulfilled? When will
Israel's restoration come ? and when the impor
tant events associated with it, the glorious things
spoken of the City of God, transpire ?
Purposing to examine more fully the subject
of the time of the second advent in a subsequent
chapter, we now desire to consider the restora
tion of the Jews merely in relation to the " time,"
and " the fulness of the Gentiles." What are we to
understand by the " time," and " the fulness of
the Gentiles," which being fulfilled, Jerusalem is
no longer to be trodden down, nor is blindness
any longer to be the condition of Israel; nor are
the scattered people any longer to continue in
their dispersion? "Blindness in part is hap
pened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in." (Rom. 11 : 25.) "Jerusalem shall
be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times

"THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES." 77
of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21 : 24.)
Here is specified a definite period, the accom
plishment of which insures the removal of the
blindness from Israel. There can be no ques
tion but that these passages — one uttered by the
Saviour himself, and the other penned by the in
spired apostle — have reference to the same thing,
" the times of the Gentiles," and " the fulness
of the Gentiles." What are we to understand
by them ? Those who give a spiritual interpre
tation to these unfulfilled prophecies, teach that
"the fulness of the Gentiles" means the complete,
general conversion of the Gentile nations to the
religion of the Cross. " The times," are those
when the Gospel shall be spread throughout the
world, and all the heathen nations, having aban
doned their false religions and their abominations,
shall be found the sincere worshippers of the only
true and living God, within the pale of the Chris
tian Church. It will be the full expansion and
wide extension of the kingdom of Christ, em
bracing every kindred, and tribe, and people.
But, it would seem, with one exception, and that
is worthy of special notice. Every kindred, and
tribe, and people are to be gathered into the king
dom, except the Jews, God's favored covenant
nation ; for blindness in part is happened to Israel
until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. If
this be the correct understanding of the passage,
then the whole Pagan and Antichristian world are
to be converted, while yet the Hebrew people
remain among them, in all their degradation, in
8

78 THE RESTORATION.
their dispersion and their blindness; an idea re
futed by the apostle in the immediate context,
where he says, " If the fall of them be the riches
of the world, and the diminishing of them the
riches of the Gentiles, how much more their ful
ness." (Rom. 11 : 12.) If by their unbelief the
Gentiles have the Gospel offered unto them, how
much greater to the Gentiles will be the benefit
of their restoration; " for if the casting away
of them be the reconciling of the world, what
shall the receiving of them be but life from the
dead?" (Rom. 11:15.) "Life from the dead"
to an astonished Gentile world ! It is the as
surance of greater, far richer blessings accruing
to the nations, as a direct consequence of the
restoration and conversion, or the reingrafting
of the Jews, than had previously been enjoyed
by them. This event, the change in the con
dition of the Jews, precedes the other, the ex
perience of the richer blessings of the Gospel
by the nations of the earth. So the Apostle
clearly teaches. What are we, then, to under
stand by " the times and the fulness of the Gen
tiles," if it be not their general ingathering into
the fold of Christ? Jerusalem has now been
trodden down of the Gentiles for eighteen cen
turies. During this period, God has been gather
ing from among these nations a people to praise
Him. Many such, in apostolic days, were made
the subjects of the grace of God; and ever
since (though at some periods to a greater ex
tent than others) has the work of salvation been

"THE ELECTION OF GRACE." 79
going on among those who, in distinction from
the Jews, are known as Gentiles ; embracing no
minally Christian lands as well as Pagan nations.
And this work is to continue until certain pur
poses of God shall be fulfilled, not in the thorough
evangelization of these nations and the universal
spread of the Gospel, constituting what we have
been accustomed to call the Millennium ; but rather
in gathering in from these nations, and from, or
"out of" every people, the election of his grace.
Note now the words of St. James, delivered at the
council of the apostles at Jerusalem, immediately
following the address of Peter, the appointed mes
senger to the Gentiles. " Simeon hath declared
how God, at the first, did visit the Gentiles, to
take out of them a people for his name." Take out
from among them a people. Such is the original.
Not to make of them all a people, but to take out
" from among" them a people. " And to this,"
continues St. James, " agree the words of the pro
phets, as it is written, After this" — After what?
After a people shall be taken out from among
them, " I will return and build again the taber
nacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will
build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up;
that the residue of men might seek after the Lord,
and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is
called." (Acts 15:14-17.) Here is declared the
design and the issue of the mission to the Gen
tiles. It was to select from among them, or to
take out of them, a people for the Lord. This
selection has been going on ever since; for at no

80 THE RESTORATION.
time, manifestly, has there been a universal ga
thering of any tribe, or nation, or kindred. And
it is to continue yet for a time.
"After this." That is, after the selection, to
its purposed fulness, shall be made by Christian
effort to save the perishing, the Lord will return
and build dilapidated Jerusalem; one object of
which, as stated, is "that the residue of men might
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon
whom the name of the Lord shall be called."
Notice now the answer of Jesus to the question
of the apostles, When the end should come?
" This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and
then shall the end come." (Matt. 24:14.) The
destruction of the temple may have been "the
end" in the unenlightened minds of the inquirers;
but it had a much more important and far-reach
ing significancy and application in the mind of
Him who gave the answer. It was to the end of
the present dispensation, when these startling
events, embracing the personal, visible advent of
Christ, are to transpire, that the Redeemer mainly
referred. So the words, in their connection, seem
to imply. Thus we see that the preaching of the
" Gospel of the kingdom in all the world for a
witness unto all nations," had not reference merely
to its promulgation to the then known world, in
anticipation of the overthrow of the Jewish polity
by the destruction of Jerusalem; but especially
did it look through the then undefined period of
mercy allotted to the Gentiles, stretching over

PREACHING THE GOSPEL FOR A WITNESS. 81
many centuries. Thus, too, the angel whom St.
John saw flying in the midst of heaven had the
everlasting Gospel to preach unto them who dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice,
"Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour
of His judgment is come." (Rev. 14 : 7.) Inti
mating very clearly that the general proclamation
of the Gospel was to be a warning and a witness
to the people ; and its being made to every nation,
was to be the accomplishment of the purpose of
God ; and the commission to proclaim it would
be the completion of the time, which would close
with the hour of His judgment.
Thus it appears that "the times of the Gen
tiles" is that period of mercy granted to the na
tions, during which the Gospel of the kingdom is
to be preached to them; and to be preached for a
witness; and when fully preached, or preached to
all nations and people; when all shall have heard
of Christ ; or, when what is meant, in the Divine
purpose, by " for a witness," be fully accomplished,
then shall come the long-promised period of Israel's
release from captivity, their restoration to their
fathers' land, and the removal of blindness from
their eyes. During this period, however, a great
and glorious work is to be accomplished among
the Gentiles. As the Gentiles inherited the bless
ings when Israel was disinherited, or as they were
"grafted in" when Israel was "cut off," so are
multitudes of them to be brought to a saving
knowledge of the Redeemer. During this period,

82 THE RESTORATION.
the period now in progress, there are to be taken
out from among the Gentiles " a people for his
name." The elect people of God are all to be
gathered into the fold, from these nations; a work
worthy of the utmost missionary zeal and effort
of the Church; and then, this gracious purpose
being accomplished, and the Gospel having been
preached to all the nations, the predicted time
will be fulfilled, and Jerusalem shall be no longer
trodden down of the Gentiles.

CHAPTER IV.
THRONE OE DAVID— THEOCRACY RESTORED.
THE THEOCRACY RESTORED — THE INCARNATE JEHOVAH THE
LITERAL RULER — "MY KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD" —
THRONE OF DAVID — ENEMIES TO BE DESTROYED — THIS
KINGDOM NOT THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION — " THY KINGDOM
COME."

" Thou shalt call His name JESUS. Be shall be great, and
shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord God shall
give unto Him the throne of His father David : and. He shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom
there shall be no end." — Luke 1 : 31-33.

The literal restoration of the Jewish nation to
the land of their fathers, is but one of a series of
events of transcendent moment, which are the
subjects of prophecy, and which deeply affect the
interests of the Church and the destiny of our
world. Are they to be as literally accomplished?
Let us address ourselves to the inquiry, with the
earnest prayer that the Spirit of all grace may
guide us in our investigations, for it is most cer
tainly a matter of great moment that we know
the truth as God has revealed it.
A very important subject is suggested by the
words of the angel, addressed to the virgin Mary
(Luke 1 : 31-33), announcing the fact that she was
(83)

84 THE RESTORATION.
to be the honored mother of the promised Mes
siah : " Thou shalt call His name Jesus," &c.
The subject suggested is,
The Restoration of the Theocracy.
" The form of government appointed for the
tribes of Israel, and for the land given them of
God, was, from the time of their exodus from
Egypt, purely theocratical. God claimed for Him
self the prerogatives of an absolute king over
them. As an earthly king resides in his palace,
among his people, gives his commands, punishes
the transgressors of his laws, administers justice,
and provides in various ways for the well-being
of his empire; so God dwelt in the tabernacle,
by the symbol of His glorious presence, above
the Ark, where the Cherubim, with outstretched
wings exhibited, as it were, the royal throne; and
where rested, the shekinah or cloud ghttering with
fire."1 Jehovah was subsequently virtually re
jected when they demanded a king in imitation
of the surrounding nations. From this is to be
dated the commencement of that series of events
which resulted in their rejection and their present
dispersion. But that theocracy is, certainly in
some form, to be re-established. Of this no one
has a doubt ; and if we understand the words of
Gabriel aright, and the predictions of holy seers,
that theocracy, or God-government, is here again,
on this very earth, literally to exist. The Lord is
1 Hon. Joel Jones.

Christ's spiritual and literal reign. 85
again to occupy the throne; and here, in the per
son of the Redeemer — God incarnate — is He to
reign over a ransomed, sanctified, and ever blessed
people ; ''for the Lord shall give unto Him the throne
of His father David, and He shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever."
The important question is, How are we to un
derstand this prediction of Gabriel? Does he
mean that Christ Jesus shall occupy a veritable
throne — the throne of David — and as a visible
king, personally reign here on earth over His
Church? Or, are the words to be interpreted of
a purely spiritual dominion in the hearts of be
lievers ?
The Millennium, according to some, is to con
sist of this latter or merely spiritual dominion.
It is to be simply a period when the hearts of all
will be brought into submission to the will of God;
when all that is wrong in the existing govern
ments of earth shall be rectified; when every sys
tem of delusion, and superstition, and error shall
come to an end, and righteousness shall univer
sally prevail ; a period of peace, and prosperity,
and joy, to be followed by the visible second ad
vent of the Son of God in judgment. It is thought
that the idea of this spiritual dominion exhausts
this prophecy of Gabriel and that of others equally
explicit. Of a spiritual reign of Christ over the hearts
of his people no one doubts. But in connection
with this, the Scriptures seem most clearly to re
veal the fact, that this season of millennial glory

86 THE RESTORATION.
is to be ushered in, and not to be followed by the
literal coming of the glorious Son of God; here,
personally and literally, to reign, the Prince of
Zion. Both views cannot be correct. It is of
importance to learn, if we can, which is in accord
ance with the teachings of the word of God. Let
us examine the subject without prejudice, and
with the docility of children desirous of instruc
tion. Christ is revealed most clearly in the Bible as
sustaining the threefold character of Prophet,
Priest, and King. As such, He was the subject
of prophecy. Personally, literally, has He ap
peared as our Prophet, the great and blessed
Teacher of the Church, as here, on earth, " He
spake as never man spake." Personally, literally
has He also appeared as our great efficient Priest,
asi here, on earth, He offered up the atoning sac
rifice for a lost world. Has He personally, liter
ally appeared as King ? Ancient prophets spoke
of Him in His twofold condition. They clearly
predicted the advent of a lowly sufferer — a perse
cuted, rejected, murdered one. Of His humilia
tion as a man of sorrows they distinctly prophe
sied. But no less clearly did they exhibit His
regal dignity. He was spoken of as Israel's De
liverer, Prince, and King; as one who was to
reign ; to have a universal dominion, and a king
dom that should never end. He was to be upon His
throne, the Sovereign over the nations. All this
was as clearly foretold as was His lowly condition
as a rejected man of sorrows. The idea of His

CHRIST ON DAVID'S THRONE. 87
royal character was seized by the nation of the
Jews; and not mindful of the fact that He must,
according to prediction, first be an humble, suffer
ing man ; and clothing their Messiah with all the
dignity, and power, and glory of a king, they re
jected the lowly Nazarene who claimed to be
their Deliverer. Had the Jews received Jesus as
their Messiah, we have reason to believe that the
kingdom of Christ would then have been set up,
and Jesus would then have received the throne
of David. The kingdom did come nigh unto
them. It was "within" or "among" them. It
was the burden of the Baptist's and the Saviour's
preaching. The great error of the Jews was in
losing sight of all that the prophets had predicted
in reference to a suffering Messiah, and in looking,
exclusively, at what was said of Him in His regal
condition as Israel's promised King.
The prophecies in reference to the Saviour's
lowly suffering condition have been all literally
fulfilled. Have they been, or are they yet to be,
as literally fulfilled in reference to His reigning as
King upon the throne of David ? His predicted
prophetic and sacerdotal offices have been all
literally verified here on earth, so far as they
could be verified below. Is His royal office to
fail, or is it to receive an entirely different verifi
cation, even a spiritual or figurative one ? Is there
not suggested here a strong presumption that
Christ Jesus is yet to be the literal, personal, visi
ble Ruler of His people; that He is to set up His
throne, and here to reign ? But the mention of

88 THE RESTORATION.
this thought may suggest to some mind a declara
tion of the Saviour, which would seem of itself to
settle the question — " My kingdom is not of this
world. If my kingdom were of this world, then
would my servants fight, that I should not be de
livered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from
hence." (John 18 : 36.) Christ's kingdom is not
of this world. The truthfulness of the Saviour's
words is not to be called in question. But what
does he mean to teach? The phrase translated
" not of this world," is literally " not from or out of
this world;" implying that this kingdom is not of
human origin, but heavenly, or of or from heaven,
and not of or from man. Jesus once propounded
the question : " The baptism of John, whence
was it; from heaven or of men?" (Matt. 21 : 25.)
This inquiry has undoubted respect to the origin
of his baptism. Is it heavenly, or is it human ?
Is it of or from heaven ? or is it of or from men ?
Now note, the word is the same in the other pas
sage, " of this world," and, obviously, refers to the
origin of the kingdom. It is not of this world any
more than was the baptism of John of men. It
was heavenly, and not to be established by the
might of armies in the flesh, or upheld by human
power. " If it were," said Jesus, " then would
my servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews." In a very important sense is the
kingdom of Christ not of this world; a sense
which is no way at variance with the position,
that He will literally appear to reign on the throne
of David. Krummacher says of this passage : " He

THE JEWISH KINGDOM. 89
does not deny that He came to establish a king
dom. He only repels the groundless suspicion of
His having intended to overthrow the existing au
thorities, and to establish a new political state."
As intimately connected with this subject of a
restored theocracy, it is of interest to note the
proceedings of Jehovah at the death of Saul, the
king granted to the rebellious people in answer
to their special request, that they might have a
regal government, to correspond to the nations
around them. It might be supposed that their
experience under his administration would lead
them to desire to return to the immediate super
vision of the Lord, and that God would, after
permitting them to try their chosen experiment,
restore again the administration of the Judges.
Instead of this, however, and without a renewal
of the demand on the part of the people, we find
Him, by a very special arrangement, selecting
another king for them. And what demands our
marked attention is, that He was graciously pleased
to enter into a covenant with David, the selected
Prince, embracing most important provisions and
glorious assurances.
This covenant has a very special bearing upon
the theocracy yet to be established. The assur
ance of the prophet was that the successors of
David upon the throne should be of his seed, and
that his kingdom should be established. This
was literally fulfilled. For although because of
the sins of Solomon the kingdom was divided by
the revolt of the ten tribes, yet the family of
9

90 THE RESTORATION.
David ruled over Judah until the Babylonish
captivity in the family of David. But this fur
ther assurance was given : " Thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established forever 
Thy throne shall be established forever." (2 Sam.
7 : 16.) This promise became the theme of grate
ful remembrance and of praise with David as he
made mention of the faithfulness of the Lord,
who declared, " I have made a covenant with My
chosen ; I have sworn unto David My servant.
Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy
throne to all generations. . . . My covenant will I
not break. . . . His seed shall endure forever.
And his throne . . . shall be established forever."
(Ps. 89.) At the captivity, the authority and king
dom of David was interrupted : the throne was
vacated; and thus has it continued unto the pre
sent hour. Has the Lord then falsified his word?
Has He indeed violated a covenant which He de
clared should never be broken ? If that throne is
not to be restored; if David's kingdom and rule
are not to be re-established, then must the coven
ant fail. But hear the words of Peter on the day
of Pentecost, as he expounds the meaning of the
covenant. " God had sworn with an oath to him
[David], that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne."
(Acts 2 : 30.) And so said Gabriel : " God shall
give unto Jesus the throne of David, and He shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there shall be no end." This is all to
be literally fulfilled, to the glory of Jehovah's

CHRIST AS DAVID. 91
truthfulness and honor, at the coming of the Son
of man. A fact which it is our purpose to attempt
to make manifest.
In the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, where, after the
predicted union of the tribes, represented by the
significant emblem or symbol of the joining to
gether of the two sticks, it is said : " Behold, I
will take the children of Israel from among the
heathen, . . . and I will make them one nation
upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be
king to them all; . . . and David My servant shall be
king over them. . . . And they shall dwell in the
land that I have given unto Jacob ; . . . and they
shall dwell therein forever; and My servant David
shall be their Prince forever"' AH this has re
ference to the establishment of the Hebrew people
in Palestine, with Jerusalem as their restored
metropolis. How similar to this declaration qf
the prophet is the assurance of Gabriel to Mary ?
" The Lord shall give to Him the throne of David,
and He shall reign over Jacob." We have seen
that the restoration must be a literal restoration;
and by what admitted law of interpretation are
we permitted to say that the kingdom is a spirit
ual and not a literal kingdom? If one be lite
ral, does it not appear that the other, mentioned
in immediate connection, must also be? The
predicted King is, here and elsewhere, called
David, and the throne to be occupied is the
throne of David. By which is obviously meant
a descendant of David ; and none other but Jesus
the incarnate Son of God is designated by the

92 THE RESTORATION.
term, as the words of Gabriel explicitly affirm.
Jeremiah, in the 23d chapter of his prophecies,
writes: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch;
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth. In
his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell .safely; and this is His name whereby he
shall be called, The Lord our righteousness."
Isaiah-declares : "Unto us a Child is born; unto
us a Son is given ; and the government shall be upon
His shoulder. ... Of the increase of His govern
ment and peace there shall be no end; upon the
throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it
and to establish it with judgment and with justice,
from henceforth even forever." (Is. 9 : 6, 7.) That
the King spoken of in these and the many passages
of the prophets, of which these are quoted but as
specimens, is none other than the anticipated
Messiah, is beyond all question. The angel, we
again remark, declares it to be so ; for he assures
Mary that to Jesus the promised throne should be
given, the throne of David, and that He should
reign over the house of Jacob forever. Isaiah
again declares; " The Lord shall reign in Mount
Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients,
gloriously." (24 : 23.) Thus is there to be a king
dom. This no one may doubt. And the only in
quiry is, will that kingdom be a literal kingdom?
Will Christ, in very deed, personally occupy the
literal throne of David? Or, is it all to be under
stood as a spiritual reign in the hearts of God's

LITERAL reign of THE RISEN CHRIST. 93
people? Is this language, so plain and emphatic
in its import, met by such an understanding of it?
David's throne was a literal throne. His king
dom was not a spiritual kingdom in the hearts
of others. He lived and reigned over subjects in
the flesh, personally, visibly present to them.
And this throne is to be given to Jesus. It is
the throne of David. Hear now again, and more
fully, the words of Peter, on the memorable day
of Pentecost, and mark them carefully: "Men
and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of
the patriarch David  Therefore, being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with
an oath to him, that, of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne. He seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Christ." (Acts 2 :
29-31.) Here was declared to be an intimate
connection between the occupancy of the throne
of David and the resurrection of the body of Jesus.
It is the humanity of Christ that is spoken of;
and His humanity, He who was " of the loins of
David according to the flesh," was to be raised up,
that He might sit upon His throne. Will this
admit of a spiritual interpretation ? Christ reigns
by His Spirit in the hearts of His people; but His
resurrected humanity is to have a throne ; and must
it not have a different throne than the hearts of
men, whereon to sit? That there is to be a literal
kingdom over which Christ Jesus is to rule, ap
pears, moreover, from the declarations of Daniel.
9*

94 THE RESTORATION.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a dream
of a great image, the head whereof was of fine
gold; his breast and his arms of silver; his belly
and thighs of brass ; his legs of iron ; his feet,
part of iron and part of clay. These several parts
represented four successive kingdoms, as Daniel
himself assures us. They were those of Babylon,
the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman.
These arose, one after the other, each on the ruins
of its predecessor. The fourth, or the Roman
kingdom, was the last. That, according to Da
niel's interpretation, being part of potter's clay
and part of iron, should be a divided kingdom, as
symbolized by the toes of the image. That king
dom was divided, and remains<in its divided con
dition to this day, mainly on the continent of
Europe. All this is a matter of absolute history.
Shall this fourth empire continue ever ; or is it to
share the fate of its predecessors ? Mark the pro
phecy. Said Daniel to the king : " Thou sawest
till that a stone was cut out, without hands, which
smote the image upon his feet of iron and clay, and
brake them to pieces. . . . And they became like
the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the
wind carried them away, that no place was found
for them. And the stone, which smote the image, be
came a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."
J2 : 31-35.) Now what is the meaning of all this?
The prophet himself answers : " In the days of
these kings," — the kings of this divided empire,
the very state of things now existing — "In the
days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a

CHRIST'S LITERAL KINGDOM. 95
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. And the
kingdom shall not be left to other people : but it
shall break in pieces, and consume all these king
doms, and it shall stand forever." (v. 44.) And
what is the character of this last kingdom which is
to supplant and destroy the rest? Is it a spiritual
kingdom? It is far from being so stated. But if
it be such, by what law of HHBinterpretation, we
again inquire, are we led to this conclusion ? " It
is not of this world," we may be told. Truly, it
is not ; for the stone which overthrew the image,
and became, in the prophet's sight, a mountain,
was cut out " without hands." It was not of or
from this world. Its origin was divine. The
four previous monarchies were literal, veritable
monarchies, having their literal existence on
earth, as their prophetic history foretold, and the
providence of God subsequently made manifest.1
They had their literal rulers or kings, who oc
cupied the throne; their literal government and
defined territories. Each had its subjects, over
whom it reigned, and enemies whom it conquered
and destroyed. All these were upon the earth in
visible form, succeeding one another, and each
becoming more powerful than its predecessor.
If, then, four of these monarchies were literal, as
is well known from history that they were, and
also from the still existing remains of the fourth,
under the emblem of the ten toes, what can the
inference be but that the fifth shall be of the same
1 Harkness.

96 THE RESTORATION.
nature? Why understand the four to be literal
kingdoms, but the fifth spiritual in its nature ? It
surely will be a kingdom with its visible organi
zation, its visible Ruler, its subjects, and territory,
and yet " a kingdom whose foundations are laid
by infinite wisdom and in absolute righteousness;
divine in its origin, divine in its principles, divine
in its laws and government. But who is to be the
ruling Prince, the Sovereign of this new kingdom?
Again, Gabriel answers the question in his mes
sage to the virgin mother." It is Jesus. Daniel
also solves the problem. In the vision of the four
beasts, designed to symbolize the same great
truths which the vision of Nebuchadnezzar did,
the prophet says : " I saw in the night visions,
and behold, one like the Son of man came, with
the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of
days, and they brought Him near before Him.
And there was given Sim dominion, and glory, and a
kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should
serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting domi
nion which shall not pass away; and His kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7: 14.)
There is nothing in this statement to imply a mere
spiritual dominion in the hearts of God's people.
That such a dominion exists, and ever will exist,
is a blessed truth. This spiritual kingdom is the
entire subjection of man's spirit to the will of
God. But is this all ? The whole man is to be
subject to Christ; the material, the glorified body,
as well as the spiritual part of his being. And
provision is made for this in the resurrection state,

LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. 97
and in that kingdom over which Christ is to
reign. This kingdom cannot be the Gospel dis
pensation, because the prophecy calls for an abso
lute, literal, and visible kingdom, which this dis
pensation is not. " The rule of the Gospel in the
heart," as William Newton well and forcibly re
marks, "is altogether a spiritual rule. It has
nothing to do with visible dominions. It sits
not down in the high places of power. It sways
not the sceptre. It wields not the sword. It lays
no scheme for the overthrow of thrones. It is
not, therefore, the kingdom pointed out by the prophet.
Of the four kingdoms which have already come,
the second displaced the first; the third over
turned the second; and the fourth built up its
throne on the ruins of the three which had gone
before it. So the kingdom of God is to take the
place of all other kingdoms, and as a kingdom to
fill the whole earth !" It is to be done, remember,
by breaking in pieces and consuming all these
kingdoms, and driving them away as the wind
does the chaff of the threshing-floor ; whereas the
rule of the Gospel is, " Peace on earth, good will
to men." It has nothing to do with the imagery
of destruction, with garments rolled in blood;
with the onset of armies and the putting down of
thrones. Its mission is to tell the story of the
crucified. Its plea is " the love of Christ." Its
weapons are not carnal, but spiritual; and all its
conquests are wrought by " the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God." It is scarcely
possible to conceive of a contrast greater than that

98 THE RESTORATION.
pointed out between its triumphs and those of the
kingdom of which the prophet speaks.
You observe, that it is "the Stone" which
smote the image on its feet. Now as Christ is
this stone, this smiting is clearly to be done by Him.
It is not a spiritual smiting by His truth. That
never breaks and subdues kingdoms, and scatters
them as chaff before the wind. Christ Himself,
in "the brightness of His coming," and not His
truth, " will be the destruction of His banded
foes. Nothing less than this will satisfy the de
mands of the prophetic word."
The advent of the predicted King, to whom is
to be given the throne of David, it is repeatedly
declared, will be attended with the signal destruc
tion of his persistent enemies. Read in the second
Psalm, where David says, as he anticipated coming
events, " Why do the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing; the kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his Anointed. . . . He
that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord
shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak
unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore
displeasure. Yet have I set My King upon My holy
hill of Zion. Ask of me, and I shall give Thee the
heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron. ' Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (2 : 1-9.)
Such is the language employed by Jehovah to
Him who is to sit as King upon the holy hill of

KINGDOM ESTABLISHED AT HIS COMING. 99
Zion. Is this breaking of enemies with a rod of
iron, this dashing of them to pieces like a potter's
vessel, figurative language meant to express the <
peaceful influences of the truth in overcoming
the prejudices of men, and bringing them under
the spiritual dominion of the Gospel ? Is it not
doing violence to language thus to understand
the words ? The heathen, or the nations, are to
be given to Christ as an inheritance, and the ut
termost parts of the earth for a possession.
But it is not to be accomplished, it would ap
pear, by the gradual peaceful conquests of the
truth. The stone is to smite the image and destroy
it. Christ Jesus is to break in pieces all the com
binations of His enemies, by an absolute and sud
den and remediless destruction. And all this is
to be effected at His predicted second coming.
It is worthy of note that the restoration of the
dispersed Hebrew people is declared to be amid
startling revolutions and signal judgments upon
the enemies of God.1 That restoration and these
judgments will be when the throne of David is
given to Jesus, or when the Lord shall set His King
upon His holy hill of Zion — when He shall come
in the clouds of heaven, as was declared by the
celestial messengers on the Mount when Jesua
ascended up on high. Then will the Theocracy be
established. Jehovah, in the person of the incar
nate Redeemer, will reign over the house of Ja
cob, and over a ransomed earth; for great voices
shall be heard in heaven, saying, " The king-
1 See chap. 6.

100 THE RESTORATION.
doms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of His Christ;" or, as is thought to
be the more correct rendering, the kingdom, the
rule or dominion, of this world is become the king
dom or dominion of our Lord and of His Christ.
(Rev. 11 : 15.)
For the advent or coming of that kingdom we
are directed by the Saviour ever to pray, " Thy
Kingdom come." A spiritual dominion is now ex
ercised over the hearts of believers. He rules
and reigns among His people. He is ever with
them; ever with His Church, in this present dis
pensation. But the kingdom for which we are
to pray is a kingdom yet to come. " Thy kingdom
come," when the will of God shall " be done on
earth, even as it is done in heaven." A period
surely not yet arrived.
Thus this spiritual dominion, the kingdom now
existing, and which has existed since the first
regenerated soul became a subject of the grace
of Christ, appears not to be the kingdom here
referred to; nor that of which Gabriel spoke; nor
that which Ezekiel in prophetic vision saw; nor
that which was the theme of Isaiah's glowing
utterances as he predicted a season of universal
blessedness here on earth. The advent of that
kingdom will be the commencement of the Mil
lennium. The administration of that kingdom
under Christ will be the blessedness of that sea
son of righteousness. And it will be ushered in
by the second advent of our Immanuel Prince.
Let us then earnestly pray, " Thy Kingdom come."

CHAPTER V.
PRE-MILLENJSIAL ADVENT.
ERROR OF THE JEWS — A MILLENNIUM — INTRODUCED BY
CHRIST AT HIS COMING — AND NOT THE RESULT OF THE
GRADUAL SPREAD OF TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS — SLOW
PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL — LESSONS OF PROVIDENCE —
TEACHINGS OF THE SCRIPTURES — THE GOSPEL TO BE
PREACHED FOR A WITNESS — ELECTION OF GRACE.

And he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jeru
salem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should
immediately appear. He said, therefore, A certain nobleman
went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and
to return. — Luke 19 : 11, 12.

Jesus, as He uttered these words, was at Jericho,
on His way to Jerusalem, there, in a few days, to
be crucified. He was attended .not only by His
immediate disciples, but by a large multitude,
who, attracted by His wonderful works, and ani
mated by their cherished hopes, with joyous accla
mations followed Him. Different were the greet
ings He now received from those which were
uttered by many of the same persons a few hours
subsequently. Now, they hailed Him as their
Prince ; then, they clamored for His punishment
as an impostor. Now, they cried, " Blessed be the
10 .(101)

102 THE RESTORATION.
king who cometh in the name of the Lord; peace
in heaven and glory in the highest." Then, they
cried; "Crucify him! crucify him!" The Jews
were anticipating the establishment of the king
dom predicted by their prophets. Their Messiah
was to be a king, and He was to have a veritable
kingdom. They, in their subjection to Gentile
rulers, longed for deliverance; and, as has been
remarked before, losing sight of the priestly office
of the Promised One, in the execution of a part
of which He was to be an humble sufferer, they
thought solely of His royal dignity, as their pro
mised King and Deliverer. And believing at this
time that Jesus was He of whom the prophets had
spoken, and for whom they were looking, they
persuaded themselves that He was now on His
way to Jerusalem, the predicted metropolitan
city, there to erect His throne and commence
His reign; "for He was nigh to Jerusalem, and
they thought that the kingdom of God should
immediately appear."
Their expectation that such a kingdom was in
very deed to be established, was not their error.
In this they were correct. Their nation had be
lieved it; for inspired men had predicted it. And
the Saviour admits the correctness of their belief
in the very parable which He uttered to correct
what was their mistake, namely, that the king
dom should immediately appear. They considered
it as near at hand, indeed to begin now, on His
entering Jerusalem. Said the Divine teacher;
" A certain nobleman went into a far country, to

THE PREDICTED MILLENNIUM. 103
receive for himself a kingdom, and to return ;"
to return, most obviously, to establish the king
dom thus given him. The whole parable was
designed to correct their error, and to impress
upon them the importance of improving the ta
lents intrusted to them, in anticipation of the
account to be rendered when the nobleman should
return with his kingdom.
This introduction to the parable suggests, first,
a kingdom to be established; second, the return'
of the nobleman; third, the relation of his advent
to the kingdom; or, to drop the phraseology- and
imagery of the parable, —
1. The Millennium. 2. The Second Advent of
Christ; and, 3. The Relation of the Second Ad
vent TO THAT PERIOD OF PREDICTED BLESSEDNESS.
We consider, first, the Predicted Millennium,
" a Kingdom to be received."
The term Millennium, although not used in
the Scriptures, is derived from the 20th chapter
of the Revelation, where it is predicted that Satan
should be bound a thousand years,1 and that the
pious dead — the risen saints — should reign with
Christ during these thousand years. It is admit
ted that there is in store for the people of God a
season of prosperity and blessedness, such as the
world has never known. The very term, Millen
nium, is not simply expressive of a period of a
thousand years ; but common usage now gives it
the import of a period of unprecedented felicity,
1 Mille Annorum.

104 the restoration.
without reference to the Scripture season or to
duration. That the Church is justified in the
expectation of such a time, no one doubts. It
was the all-animating theme of the prophets of
old, and its anticipated advent has been the sub
ject of prayer, and the consolation of the saints
in every generation. The god of this world is
not always to rule; nor is iniquity always to
abound; nor will the misery and wretchedness,
the oppression and violence, the corruption and
ungodliness of the nations continue forever. The
time will come when a gladsome voice will be
heard in Zion, saying ; " Arise, shine, for thy light
is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee  Violence shall no more be heard in thy
land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ;
but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy
gates Praise  The Lord shall be thy everlast
ing light, and the days of thy mourning shall be
ended. Thy people, also, shall be all righteous.
They shall inherit the land forever." (Is. 60 : 1,
18, 20, 21.) Nor will this season of rejoicing be
limited to the experience of restored Israel, to
whom it was originally assured. For it will be
a time when the kingdom or dominion of this
world will have become the kingdom of Christ.
Such is the period as foretold; as anticipated;
as prayed for. All rejoice in the prospect of it.
The Church is anxiously, yet joyfully waiting for
it. Every one believes it who believes the Bible.
A millennium of glory, of peace, and righteous
ness, is then to be the experience of our earth.

SCRIPTURAL NAMES OF SECOND ADVENT. 105
That millennium is the kingdom of Christ. His
administration of the kingdom is to be the bless
edness of the millennium. But if this be the un
questioned opinion of the Church, so is there as
certain an expectation of a personal second advent
of the Son of man at some period. The first advent
of the Messiah was not more clearly and fully
foretold by the Old Testament seers than is the
second. But it is, perhaps, more especially re
vealed in the Scriptures of the New Testament.
" Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied,
saying; Behold! <£he Lord cometh with ten thou
sand of his saints." (Jude 14.) The angelic mes
sengers declared to the astonished disciples, on
the mount of ascension; "This same Jesus which
is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
(Acts 1 : 11.) " Hereafter," said Jesus Himself,
"shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea
ven." (Matt. 26 : 64.) And St. Paul affirms; " The
Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God." (1 Thess. 4 : 16.) But not to
multiply passages, of which the Bible is full, we
remark, that a plain, undoubted reference to a
literal, personal second coming of Christ Jesus to
our earth occurs not less than 120 times in the
New Testament Scriptures. It is spoken of as a
" revelation of Christ;" an " appearing," or manifesta
tion; a "coming;" a "descending;" the " presence ;"
" the day of the Lord;" " the day of His coming."
10*

106 THE RESTORATION.
Thus it is clearly predicted, that He who was
once on earth, a man of sorrows, the rejected
Nazarene, Will revisit the scenes of His humilia
tion. But He will come the second time on a very
different mission from that on which He came at
first. He is the Nobleman who has gone into a
far country " to receive a kingdom, and to re
turn." Am I told that He will, indeed, come at
the end of the world — the end or destruction of
our globe — in judgment, to reward his saints and
to inflict punishment on the ungodly, and that all
this will occur at the close of^the predicted mil
lennium — when it is thought, by those who hold
this opinion, that this world's history will end —
time's drama be positively finished ? This is the
important question demanding now our careful
examination. Christ is certainly to appear. Will
His coming be before or after the thousand years?
Will He come to spend a brief period in judgment,
destroy the earth, and then pass away again? Or,
will He come before the millennium, here to esta
blish His kingdom, here personally to reign, His
very presence and dominion constituting millen
nial glory ? Will He come, with His saints, to
introduce this period of righteousness? or, will it
be brought about by agencies now in operation?
Will it be the result of the gradual extension
of the Gospel, until all nations shall be subdued
by its peaceful, saving influence ? Shall the thou-
N sand years of paradisical purity and happiness,
during which He is to reign, precede or follow the
second advent? For an answer to these inquiries

LESSONS OF GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 107
we may consult both the teachings of Divine Pro
vidence and the lessons of Scripture.
I. The teachings of the Providence of God.
What says the history of centuries past, and
what the present aspect of our. world, in reference
to the coming millennium being the result of the
gradual spread of Gospel truth by instrumentali
ties now employed? What reason have we to
believe that the nations of the earth r.re thus to
be won to Christ, leading to a spiritual reign
universally, in the hearts of men? The Gospel
is to be preached " for a witness" to the nations, or
for a testimony against wickedness, and for judg
ment to come; a testimony or witness of gracious
offers of reconciliation, the preaching of which
will result in multitudes being made the subjects
of the grace of God; and who will thus be taken
out from among the nations to be a people " for
His name." But will anything more than this be
accomplished? Will the whole world be in this
way evangelized-, and the nations made the willing
subjects of the Prince of Peace ? How does the
providence of God respond to this inquiry ?"
Upwards of eighteen hundred years has the
Gospel been proclaimed. We can trace the his
tory of its results to the present hour; and it is a
fact beyond the possibility of refutation, that while
some have been truly converted, wherever the
truth has been made known, the rejecters of the
Gospel have ever very greatly outnumbered those
who have savingly accepted it. We speak of the
1 See cbap. 8 for further remarks on this subject.

108 THE RESTORATION.
advance of the Gospel from generation to genera
tion; of its spread from country to country; of
uations becoming nominally Christianized. But
does it amount to anything more than that the
Gospel is merely a witness to the nations? For
where is the instance to be found, even in nomin
ally Christian nations, where the vast, overwhelm
ing majority are not confessedly the enemies of
the Most High ?
The professed people of God have always been
greatly in the minority, and the body of true
believers always a "little flock." It has been
estimated that pure Christianity, after eighteen
centuries, prevails even nominally with only about
80,000,000, out of the vast population of the globe;
of these 80,000,000 there are but 15,000,000 who
profess to be the disciples of Christ; as appears
from the "-communion statistics" of all the various
branches of the Church throughout the world.
And this number must, we fear, be very consider
ably reduced, if we seek the truly regenerated sub-
j ects of the grace of God. But making it as large
as Christian charity can possibly warrant, the num
ber of those who belong to the true spiritual fold
of the Redeemer is, confessedly, most lamentably
small. It is a little, a very little flock. If the
world is to be converted by the gradual advance
of Gospel truth, should we not expect to find a
result far different from this after a lapse of more
than 1800 years? It is a sad lesson the provi
dence of God is teaching us. Sad as respects the
moral picture of the race, and sad as respects the

AGGRESSIONS OF ROMANISM. 109
anticipations of many; and yet a lesson which
should lead to a serious inquiry as to the revealed
purposes of the Most High.
Dr. Duff, whose praise is in all the churches,
says : " Notwithstanding all the efforts to propa
gate the Gospel, there are more heathen upon the
earth now, than there were in the days of our
Saviour." We sometimes hear of aggressions
upon Romanism — of its waning power. There
is, indeed, in these last days, some modifications
of the external relations of this system of ini
quity, and some change of policy and of tactics.
But will not facts justify the statement of Mac-
aulay, the historian, who says; "During the past
250 years, Protestantism has made no conquests
worth speaking of. Nay, we believe, as far as
there has been a change, that change has been in
favor of the Church of Rome."
Look at this subject in the light of the most
favored portions of Christendom, and what is the
result? In the city of London, the metropolis
of the most Christian nation of the Old World,
the great fountain-head of benevolent enterprise,
the provision which is made for church accommo
dation, or church sittings, falls 1,888,000' below
the actual population, these being but 800,000 in
a population of 2,688,000 ! And no one need be
informed that these sittings are not all occupied.
It may be safely estimated that not more than
two-thirds of them are habitually filled; so that
but about 520,000 are attendants upon the means
1 See Newcomb's " Harvest and Reapers."

110 THE RESTORATION.
of grace. Thus in that one city, the source and
centre of moral influences greater than any other
of the eastern world, there are 2,168,000 who need
to feel the power of Gospel truth as much as do
the millions of Pagan lands ! These are startling
facts for the nineteenth century of the Christian
dispensation. But let us come nearer home. In
thirteen of the principal cities of the United
States, with a population, a few years since, of
2,048,785, church sittings were provided but for
852,436, leaving a deficiency of accommodations
of 1,200,000. And according to the above esti
mate of actual occupants of the sittings provided,
the number of habitual neglecters of the means
of grace, and who, as a class, are, if not in their
social habits, yet in their religious character, semi-
heathens, is not less than 1,480,000 out of a popu
lation of 2,048,000, living in the very heart of
Gospel influences.
In 1854, an estimate was made of the result of
missionary labor in heathen countries. So far as
could be ascertained, there were connected with
Christian congregations, 1,572,000. Comparing
this number with those who are living in the city
of London without giving any heed to the subject
of religion, we find the latter to exceed the former
by 596,000 ! Five hundred and ninety-six thou
sand more persons who are habitual neglecters of
religion in that great city of Christian enterprise,
than are to be found numbered among the nominal
converts from heathenism, of all evangelical deno
minations ! It may be that some of the above esti-

STATISTICS OF NEW ENGLAND. Ill
mates are not exact. We do not claim that they
are. , All we need, in order to show what is the
power of Gospel truth in this wicked world, as
touching these particular localities, is to know
that the estimates are proximately correct.
But let us look a little further. Nowhere, per
haps, has the Gospel been more fully, more faith
fully, and more successfully proclaimed than in
our own favored New England States, the early
home of the Puritan fathers.1 For 200 years has
the Gospel there been preached, and to every in
dividual has the truth been fairly offered. An
immense amount of ministerial and other labor
has there been expended. Extensive revivals of
religion have been enjoyed; and there the mis
sionary enterprise has arisen, and with what re
sult ? A few years since the estimated population
was 2,800,000, and the professed disciples of Christ
connected with all the evangelical religious deno
minations were but411,000, it being but about one-
seventh part of the people. And there are many
portions of these very States where the Gospel has
been preached with more or less fidelity for, per
haps, half a century, and not one-twelfth part of
the population are either professors of religion or
habitual attendants on public worship. If such
be the fact in the most favored portions of Chris
tendom, are we not constrained to think that the
preaching of the Gospel is designed to be merely
a witness to the nations ; gathering some, yea mul-
1 Lord's Journal, vol. vi, p. 666.

112 THE RESTORATION.
titudes into the fold of Jesus, but not savingly
reaching the masses ? Has not the Lord, in gene
rations past, been gathering from amid the nations
solely an elect people? And have we any reason
to suppose that it will be different in the years to
come preceding the predicted end ? Was not the
solemn assurance of the Saviour meant for the
whole period of this dispensation; "Many are
called, but few are chosen?" (Matt. 22 : 14.) And
will it not always be true, until the revelation of
the Son of man, that the body of the true dis
ciples is " a little flock ?" Is the world actually
becoming better ? Is it, year by year, assuming
more and more the character of the anticipated
and predicted season of righteousness and blessed
ness ? Is the age in which we live a purer age than
those which have gone before it ? Is iniquity less
daring? Is infidelity less defiant ? Is corruption
among men and in government less manifest?
Is it so in our own land ? Is it so anywhere on
the face of the earth? It surely is not difficult
for any one to answer these questions in the nega
tive, who looks abroad upon the world.
God, in His providence, is indeed, in these latter
days, opening up the way, and, in some instances,
in a remarkable manner, for the preaching of the
Gospel to benighted nations; but have we not
reason to believe, from the history of the past,
and from the existing state of things, that this is
that the Lord may gather unto himself His own
elect? Is it not that the Gospel may be preached
" for a witness," in anticipation of the hastening

THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 113
on of the period when the times of the Gentiles
will be fulfilled, and the end of this present dis
pensation shall have come? (Matt. 24:14.) We
sometimes try to persuade ourselves that the
Gospel is making decided progress, outstripping
error, and superstition, and sin, giving promise of
its speedy and complete conquest. But is it really
so? we again inquire. Will facts warrant this
conclusion? Take the last fifty years of our
world's history; years during which far more has
been done to spread evangelical truth, perhaps,
than during any other half century since apostolic
days, and has the progress of truth and righteous
ness outstripped the progress of error and ini
quity ? Has the Church of Christ actually gained
upon the increasing population of our earth ? The
Church as well as the world has been in an un
settled condition from the very time of Christ's
ascension to this hour; and there is no more pros
pect now that Christianity will settle all these
things, by its enlightening and suasive influence,
than there was 1800 years ago. Not a solitary
kingdom of earth has as yet been recovered from
the dominion of the god of this world.1
But may we not hope that the Lord is now
preparing the way for richer displays of His power
and mercy to the world? May we not hope that
far greater efficiency will attend the efforts to
spread the Gospel, and that thus religion will, ere
long, outstrip the progress of iniquity and error,
i Duffield. 11

114 THE RESTORATION.
and, finally supplanting them, introduce the mil
lennium, characterized by universal holiness ?
Neither the experience of eighteen hundred
years, nor, as we believe, the Scriptures, warrant
the anticipation, for, if we read the word of God
aright, this wicked world will increase in wicked
ness. The god of this world will put forth more
and more decided effort, and manifest more and
more positive influence for evil, as the end ap
proaches (Rev. 12 : 12) ; that end which will re
sult in his discomfiture, as'he will be bound a
thousand years ; and when the Lord shall come to
terminate sin by the destruction of Antichrist and
all His enemies, and to establish His kingdom of
peace and righteousness on earth.
We will open the word of God, to see if its
teachings corroborate the suggestions of Provi
dence, and to learn whether the second personal
coming of Christ will be to introduce the millen
nium, or to close it. We now consider,
H. The lessons of Scripture.
Some of the objects of Christ's coming, as stated
in the word of God, would seem to furnish an an
swer to the question. The establishment of the
throne here on earth, on which Christ Jesus is to
sit, has been argued, and if the reasoning to show
that it must be a literal kingdom was sound, then
does it follow that His coming is pre-millennial;
for that kingdom is to be established at the time
of the restoration of Israel. And that kingdom
is the millennium.
We have now before us two facts, which no one

CHRIST TO COME BEFORE MILLENNIUM. 115
doubts. First, that of the personal appearance
of Christ, and his actual visible return to our
earth, at some time, preceded by the signs of His
coming; and, second, that of a season of unpre
cedented glory to the Church. Now this latter
day glory for the Church is the time to which
patriarchs, prophets, disciples, apostles, martyrs,
and godly men in every age, have looked forward
with the deepest interest; and in describing it,
holy seers have indulged in their loftiest strains,
their most enraptured and glowing descriptions.
And, surely, if that dispensation of righteousness,
and peace, and power, and grace, and blessedness,
were immediately to precede the advent of Christ,
have we not reason to believe it would have been
mentioned as the most prominent and noticeable
6ign or indication of His coming? Could it have
been omitted in the enumeration ? But what is
the fact? No allusion whatever is made to it as
a sign of His advent; and the legitimate inference,
the only way, indeed, in which we may account
for the omission, is that the coming of Christ in
the clouds of heaven is to be before and not after
the millennium. He is to receive a kingdom, and
to return, that He may establish it. We here may
propound the inquiry: If the return of the " no
bleman" is not to be until after the millennium,
and at the closing up of all terrestrial things, as
many in these days affirm — then what becomes
of the " kingdom" he had gone to receive, and
which on his return he is to bring with him, or to
establish, as the statement of Jesus most plainly

116 THE RESTORATION.
implies ? At the period referred to, " Christ is to
deliver up the kingdom unto the Father." What,
then, becomes of the kingdom He has gone to
receive, we again inquire ? It is not a spiritual
kingdom in the hearts of the regenerate; for that
is already set up, even during the absence of the
Redeemer. To secure this He left His disciples,
that He might send the " Comforter," the " Holy
Ghost." We leave the question for solution with
those who deny the pre-millennial advent of our
blessed Lord.
It is maintained that the Scriptures clearly re-'
veal the fact, that, instead of a gradual improve
ment in the moral condition of our world, to be
consummated by the millennium before the com
ing of Christ, the same condition of evil for the .
world and of tribulation for the Church, as in
days past, will be continued until the ending of
the present dispensation, and the opening of an
other of great glory, by the appearance of the
Son of man. Intimations of this truth are clearly
given in the Old Testament Scriptures. But we
may confine our examination, just now, to the
New. Read carefully the 24th chapter of the
Gospel by Matthew. It is the reply of Jesus to
the anxious inquiry of His disciples, in reference
to the destruction of Jerusalem and His antici
pated second advent. "Tell us," said they,
"when shall these things be, and what shall be
the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the
world ?" By the end of the world is not meant the
destruction of the globe, or the physical, material

THE END OF THE WORLD. 117
world. It is important here to note, and we shall
have occasion frequently to refer to it, that, there
are two Greek words, each of which is translated
in our version by "world," and yet having very
different meanings. The one, " kosmos" (an order
or arrangement), has respect to the physical earth,
the globe on which we live; the other, " aion,"
means age, or period, or dispensation. This lat
ter is the word used by the disciples: "What
shall be the sign of Thy coming, and the end of
the world," the end of the " aion," the age, or
. period, or era, the present, the existing state of
things ? In the answer of the Saviour, reference
is had to both inquiries, or that which has respect
to the destruction of the holy city, and that which
has respect to the end of the world, or the present
age or period. All commentators agree in this.
Now read the answer of Jesus, and do it with the
remembrance that, as some think, there is in
store a thousand years of peace and blessedness
before the coming of Christ, and see what confir
mation the thought receives. I use the words of
another •} " It begins with the ruin of Jerusalem,
and ends with the second coming. The whole of
it is a picture of storm and gloom. It is written,
all over, with lamentation, and mourning, and
woe. The time which it describes is one of evil
throughout; a time of sin — a time of calamity.
No gleam of sunshine, no interval of calm relieves
the heavy scene in any part, still less towards the
1 " Proofs of Pre-Millennialisia." II*

118 THE RESTORATION.
close of the era here defined. Clouds thicken
and darkness deepens, as the ages roll away.
.... Pesus gives many minute and palpable
signs of His coming; yet they are all dark and
fearful. Wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences,
tribulation, persecutions, martyrdom ; . . . but
no days of prosperous gladness for a weary earth
and a harassed Church, a^ the forerunners of His
advent. Not a word respecting a whole millen
nium of blessedness before His coming, which
would, beyond all question, be the brightest and
most vivid sign — a sign which could occur but
once — a sign beyond the possibility of mistake.
Is it conceivable that He could have failed to
mention this as one of the signs, if it were really
to occur before His advent? .... And how,
moreover, could the evils mentioned be signs of
His coming, if they were all to pass utterly away,
and be forgotten for a thousand years? . . . Thus,
according to the Lord's own words, the period or
era, from the day He uttered the prediction con
cerning it up to His second coming, was to be a
period of evil, not of good ; of darkness, not of
light, throughout."
In the parallel passage, in St. Luke, we find the
significant statement: "Jerusalem shall be trod
den down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gen-
'tiles shall be fulfilled, then shall they see the Son
of man coming in a cloud, with power and great
glory." (21 : 24.) The period of the treading down
of the Gentiles, as has already been shown,1 is the
1 Chapter 3.

THE TARES AND THE WHEAT. 119
period of Gentile supremacy, the period of Jewish
degradation and dispersion. This period being
accomplished — the Gospel of the kingdom being
preached to every nation " for a witness" — an
elect people gathered out from among them —
" then shall they see the Son of man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory." The present
condition of things is, then, to continue until
brought to an end by the Lord's coming. Is not
such the positive prediction ; and can it be ful
filled, if the existing degradation and the wide
dispersion of the Jews are to end, and be ex
changed for glory and restoration, a thousand
years before the Redeemer shall come? Does it.
not appear that the statement of Jesus Himself
settles this important question ? I confess I know
not how to escape the conclusion, that we must
look for the Saviour's glorious appearing before
the world will enjoy the millennium promised.
The same truth is taught in several of the para
bles. By that of the Tares and the Wheat. (Matt. 13. )
We are informed that a characteristic of the pre
sent state of things is that the false and the true, the
evil and the good, are inseparably intermingled.
Are they always thus to continue ? If the parable
have meaning, they are thus to continue until the
" harvest." Will no thousand years of righteous
ness intervene to change this condition of things ?
No ! verily; for thus is it to be until " the Son of
man shall send forth His angels, and they shall
gather out of His kingdom all things that offend,
and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them

120 THE RESTORATION.
into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."
(13 : 41, 42.) Here we are instructed that things
are to continue, without amelioration of evil, as
they are, until the Son of man shall come to de
stroy the evil, and to glorify and to bless His
Church. This is to be at the time of the harvest,
and the harvest is to be the end of the world — the
end of the " aion," age, dispensation, period.
The parable of the " Net" gathering every kind,
the evil and the good, teaches the same truth pre-
v cisely. (Matt. 13 : 47.) The " end of the world,"
in this parable, is in the original the same as that
of the last; " aion," this present period.
It is worthy of special notice, that nowhere in
the Scriptures is the world's wide-spread wicked
ness said to be terminated by the arrival of the
millennial age ; but in numerous passages in the
parables and elsewhere is that wickedness said to
be judged, avenged, and swept away by the com
ing of the Son of man.
In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, St. Paul
makes frequent mention of the coming of the Lord
Jesus. He speaks of them as " waiting for the Son
of God from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead."
" What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at his coming?" (2 : 19.) " To the end he
may stablish your hearts unblamable in holi
ness, before God even our Father, at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all His saints."

ST. PAUL'S TEACHINGS. 121
. . . . " For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout; .... and the dead in
Christ shall rise first ; . . . . for yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night." From these representa^-
tions, or in some other way; (it may have been, as
some suppose from the context, from a forged
letter,) the Thessalonians had been led to think
this predicted second coming of the Saviour was
immediately at hand. This impression the Apostle
wishes to correct. And how does he do it? Is it
by stating that they had misunderstood his words,
and that they were not to expect the coming of
Christ ? Is it by instructing them that this com
ing was figurative, and to be spiritually under
stood? Is it by informing them that a Millen
nium of prosperity and joy was to intervene?
Read his significant words, and judge; " You who
are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels ; in flaming fire taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of His power; when
He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and
to be admired in all them that believe in that day.
.... Now we beseech you, brethren, by the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon
shaken in mind, .... as that the day of Christ
is at hand." He would have them understand

122 THE RESTORATION.
that, before that should occur, a certain event
must take place, and which they were overlook
ing. Was this the glorious Millennium ? Hear
the response of the Apostle : " Let no man de
ceive you by any means; for that day shall not
come except there come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
He then states that this mystery of iniquity was
even then beginning to work, but should be
restrained for a season, in its full development
into the last Antichrist. But when this restrain
ing influence should be taken out of the way,
" then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the' Lord
shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of His coming." The same
great, formidable power of iniquity — the man of
sin — the Antichrist, is symbolized by the little
horn on the head of the beast, in Daniel's vision,
who should " speak great words against the Most
High, and should wear out the saints of the Most
High." (Dan. 7 : 25.) He is to exist for a season,
and then, declares the inspired prophet ; " The
judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the
end." And this is to be done by one " like unto
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven."
By the mystery of iniquity, which was beginning
to work in the days of St. Paul, we believe to be
meant the Papal apostacy, then in its embryo ex
istence, which increased in subsequent ages, and
became the formidable, gigantic antagonist of pure
religion, although itself wearing the garb of Chris-

ANTICHRIST. 123
tianity, and which shall culminate, as the period
of the second advent shall approach, in the "man
of sin," the Antichrist', who is to be consumed by
the Spirit of the Redeemer's mouth, and destroyed by
the brightness of His coming. Some seem really to
expect that this mighty system of evil — this grand
hierarchy of Satanic origin — is to waste away
under the gradual extension of the Gospel ; and
that even this " man of sin" may be, at least par
tially, " consumed" by the truth I A popular com
mentator on the words, "whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of His coming," says;
" The meaning may be, that one of the grand
agencies for destroying this antichristian power,
is the truth spoken or revealed by the Saviour;
that is, His pure Gospel  It cannot be de
nied, however, that the most obvious interpreta
tion is that which Refers both clauses in the sen
tence to the same period, — that of the second com
ing. Still, it is not improper to suppose that it
may be implied that his power may be weakened
and diminished by the influence of the Gospel,
though it' may not be wholly destroyed until the
coming of the Saviour. . . . The words, ' by the
brightness of His coming,' would naturally har
monize with the idea that there wouM be a some
what gradual process, under the operation of
truth, toward the destruction of the man of sin ;
but that the complete annihilation of his power
would be by some more manifest exhibition of
the personal glory of the Saviour." Now, when

124 THE RESTORATION.
is this " exhibition" to be made? It is answered,
" brightness" means an appearing, and refers to
the manifestation of the Saviour when He " shall
come to judge the world." And when shall this be?
Not until the Millennium shall have passed !
Hence is this " man of sin" the great opposer of
the Gospel — the Antichrist — he who " shall speak
great words against the Most High, and shall
wear out the Saints of the Most High;" to exist
in and to continue through the Millennium, al
though he may possibly be somewhat softened in
the malignity of his character by the previous
influence of the truth — waiting his " destruction"
by some signal visitation, at what is supposed will
be the judgment at the end of this world — the
end of all that pertains to our earth ! Can such
possibly be the case ? Is the existence of such a
power, during millennial blessedness, at all con
sistent with the scriptural representation of that
period? By this "man of *sin," however, it is
thought by some, is meant " the Pope of Rome;
not a single Pope, but the succession." This sys
tem, then, with the Popedom continued, is to
remain (under a form, it may be, somewhat mo
dified by the gradual progress of Gospel truth,
before the Millennium) during these thousand
years of blessedness, to be overtaken and de
stroyed by the judgment of the Lord at the last
day. We cannot so read and so understand the
Scripture record.
One thing is- very clearly revealed, which is,
that this gigantic system will continue (and so far

LITERAL PRE-MILLENNIAL COMING. 125
as we can find from the word of God, not with
less, but with increased opposition to the Gospel,)
until the coming of the Son of man. And if we
cannot suppose that its existence can be compati
ble with the predicted condition of things during
the thousand years, then must the coming of our
Lord be before the Millennium. It is important
to note that it was a literal and personal coming
for which the Thessalonian Christians were look
ing. There can be no doubt of this. The lan
guage is too plain to permit a question of it. It
was a literal personal coming, which the Apostle
says would not occur until a certain event should
transpire. It was a literal personal coming which
is spoken of in every passage, no less than twelve
in number, in these two epistles. It was a literal
personal coming to which the whole of the Apos
tle's argument refers. The reign of this apostate
power is then to be during the whole period of
the "nobleman's" absence, and only to end when
he shall " return." Can there be a Millennium
before the advent of the Son of man ?
St. Peter, in his second epistle (3 : 1-4), would
stir up the minds of his readers to the remem
brance of important truths, which he had de
livered unto them ; on one of which he seems to
lay peculiar stress, " Knowing this first, that there
shall come, in the last days, scoffers, walking after
their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise
of His coming ? For since the fathers fell asleep
all things continue as they were from the begin
ning of the creation?" It would appear that
12

126 THE RESTORATION.
these scoffers are prompted to the inquiry by an
awakened interest on the subject of Christ's se
cond advent; and they are led, with scornful
sarcasm, and in expectation of refuting these
anticipations of the glorious " epiphany," and of
putting those who believe it to shame, to declare
the promise of His coming to be a lie, inasmuch
as all things have continued without change, in
this respect, from the beginning of the creation.
" Where is the1 promise of His coming?" is their
taunting inquiry.
The inspired penman comforts the minds of his
readers by showing the fallacy of their reasoning,
as he exposes their wilful ignorance, and by refer
ring to the fact that " with the Lord a thousand
years are as one day." He then gives a reason why
the coming of the Son of man was somewhat de
layed. It is because of His long-suffering patience
towards the wicked, even towards such impious
scoffers as these. " The Lord is not slack con
cerning His promise [this promise of His com
ing], as some men count slackness ; but is long-
suffering to us ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Then with emphatic assurance he says, " But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fer
vent heat." Now, these scoffers, we are told, will
be found in the " last days," and will continue to
be found, until startled from their impious apathy
by the occurrence of the very fact they had so

DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS. 127
sneeringly ridiculed. Where, we now inquire, is
there room for a thousand years of millennia]
blessedness? Could the writer have had a con
jecture, or deemed it possible, that such a period
should intervene between the time of these scoff
ing skeptics and the fulfilment of the "promise?"
And if the inspired man of God had no such
thought, may we venture to say it is verily so ?
To only one more of many passages we may di
rect attention. " As it was in the days of Noah, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They
did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were
given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, and the . flood came and destroyed
them all. Likewise, also, as it was in the days
of Lot ; they did eat, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they builded. But the
same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained
fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed
them all : even thus shall it be in the day when the Son
of man is revealed." (Luke 17 : 26-30 ; Matt. 24 : 37,
38, 39.) Now, this coming or revelation of the
Son of man must be either, 1, A spiritual coming
at the Millennium; or, 2. A coming in judgment
at the closing up of the drama of our earth's
history (Rev. 20); or, 3. A providential coming
in judgment upon the Jewish people; or, 4. A
veritable personal coming, at the end of the present
dispensation, and before the Millennium. Is it
1, a spiritual coming? We answer in the nega
tive, for two reasons. First, the word rendered
" coming," (Matt. 24,) will not admit of such an

128 THE RESTORATION.
interpretation. It is " parousia," which means a
personal appearance. Robinson renders it, "the
being or becoming present, presence or coming,
advent;" and Donnegan, " an arrival." Secondly.
On the principle of those who consider the com
ing of the Son of man at the Millennium to be a
spiritual coming, to reign in the hearts of His
people, no such scene as that here described can
possibly exist at the time. The Millennium is to
be brought about, we are told, by agencies now
employed, and the gradual, moral improvement
of the world, resulting in a season of universal
righteousness. If so, can there be at the time
predicted a state of society like that of the " days
of Noah" and " the days of Lot," as here de
scribed — a season of prevalent wickedness, and
worldliness, and sensuality? But may not the
coming be, 2, the Lord's coming in Judgment?
That coming which is described, at the close of
the 20th chapter of the Revelation, a coming to
wind up the affairs of time and of our world?
We think not. His coming then will, indeed, be
a "parousia," a personal advent. But under what
circumstances will His appearing be? It will be
amid scenes of dreadful commotion. The confe
derate hosts of the enemies of God, collected by
Satan, now loose for a season, will be gathered
together for battle, and not for peaceful carnal
indulgence, and in perfect indifference, as were
the antediluvians and the inhabitants of Sodom.
Surely reference cannot be had to that season of
fearful interest, when the foes of Jehovah being

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF CHRIST'S COMING. 129
destroyed and Satan cast into the burning lake,
the Judge shall be seen upon His great white
throne, to pass sentence on the wicked dead now
raised. May it not be, 3diy, a providential coming,
referring especially to the Jewish nation, as the
destruction of the city and the dispersion of the
people? We think not. And that, first, because
the context seems most clearly to point to some
other and more startling important event. That
visitation of affliction, which continues through
the whole period of their dispersion — " the times
of the Gentiles," — up to the very end of the dis
pensation, is spoken of by the Saviour, and He
then declares that, immediately after the tribula
tion of those days, there should be various phe
nomena, well calculated to arrest attention, and
which should be as " signs" of the eve of some
grand exhibition of glory and of power. " And
then shall appear the sign of' the Son of man in
heaven  And they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory, and He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
His elect .... from one end of heaven to the
other;" and at that time " shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn." This assuredly looks to some other
scene than that witnessed when the providence
of God visited Jerusalem and the Jewish people
with judgments. But, secondly, the coming is,
we have seen, a " parousia," a personal appear
ance, which was not the case when Jerusalem
was destroyed. Thus it was not a providential
12*

130 THE RESTORATION.
coming of which the Redeemer spoke these em
phatic words. Are we not absolutely shut up to
the conclusion, 4th, That nothing less is meant,
than, that when Christ shall come, in person, at
the end of this present order of things, the social
condition of the world, and the state of heedless
indifference, will be as they were in the days of
Noah and of Lot? and if so, must not that pro
mised " parousia," or coming, be before the Mil
lennium ? Such a state of things — such indiffer
ence and prevailing worldliness, and general wick
edness, could not exist on any other supposition
but that Christ will come to introduce, by his judg
ments on the wicked, the season of millennial
blessedness* As " the flood came and took away"
that wicked generation, and as it " rained fire and
brimstone from heaven on the guilty inhabitants
of Sodom, and destroyed them all, even thus shall
it be when the Son of man is revealed." It will
be a fearful scene to the ungodly ; but one of re
joicing to the children of God, who shall be wait
ing for His coming.
These references to the unerring word of truth
are sufficient to show what we believe to be the
uniform teaching of the Scriptures on this grand
subject, the Pre-Millennial Advent of the Son
OF MAN, THE NOBLEMAN WHO HAS GONE INTO A FAR
COUNTRY TO RECEIVE FOR HlMSELF A KINGDOM, AND
TO RETURN.

CHAPTER VI.
MILLENARIANISM NOT A NOVELTY— DESTRUC
TION OF THE UNGODLY NATIONS.
DOCTRINE OF PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT NO NOVELTY —
VIEWS OF THE EARLY CHURCH — OF SUBSEQUENT AGES —
AT THE REFORMATION — WHITBY'S "NEW HYPOTHESIS" —
THE DOCTRINE GROWING IN FAVOR — PROFESSOR SHEDD
REFUTED — CHRIST WILL COME FOR JUDGMENT ON THE
NATIONS.

We have not followed cunningly devised fables. — 2 Pet. 1 : 16.
When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven . ... in
flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. — 2
Thess. 1 : 7, 8.

The statement of the Apostle, in his Second
Epistle to the Thessalonians, is a dark and pain
ful one* But we are not left without relief. That
to which reference is had is not to be a scene of
exclusive judgment — for " He shall come to be
glorified in His saints, and admired in all them
that believe." This is not a cunningly devised
fable. It may be proper just here to meet an
objection which some may make, or to soften and
remove a prejudice which some may have, which
is based on. the supposition that this doctrine of
the personal coming of the Son of man before
(131)

132 THE RESTORATION.
the Millennium, and the interesting facts which
are associated with it, are the crude fancies of
these latter days; that they are the doctrines of
modern times; unknown to or rejected by the
Church in the days of the Apostles and in subse
quent centuries.
This is, undoubtedly, an age of novelties. It
is an age of wonderful discoveries, and of remark
able inventions. And as truly is it an age of
strange delusions and of vain speculations. And
some may, some indeed do, consider these views
as entertained by the literalists (so called) or the
Pre-millennialists, or Millenarians, as crudities
whose very novelty should condemn them, or, at
least, cast upon them a deep shade of suspicion.
Are they not to be classed with the unauthorized
speculations of Millerism, or with the wild ex
travagancies of Mormonism, or the delusions of
Spiritualism ? Whether they deserve to be thus
classed and condemned or not, it becomes us to
ascertain, as, otherwise, we may, without inves
tigation, possibly be rejecting as false what God
has revealed as eternal truth. One thing is very
certain, that they are not to be rejected and dis
believed, nor looked upon with suspicion, because
of their novelty or supposed first suggestion, in
this age of speculation ; or because they have not
been received and cherished by the orthodox
church, in apostolic and subsequent ages. No
fact is better established than that these doctrines
were held by the Jews previous to and at the
advent of Christ. It was a belief derived obvi-

MILLENARIANISM OF EARLY CHURCH. 133
ously from the revelations of their Old Testament
Scriptures. So they read their own prophets.
That they were the teachings of the Saviour and
His Apostles, has been abundantly shown in the
preceding pages. And that they were the received
doctrines of their immediate successors, and of the
whole Church, until the beginning of the third
century, is susceptible of satisfactory proof. At
that time, Origen introduced his allegorical mode
of interpreting the Scriptures, in place of the lite
ral, which had previously received the sanction of
the fathers of the Church. This was followed by
the increasing development of the " mystery of
iniquity," which, at the opening of the fifth cen
tury and onward, was found to be materially
modifying, changing, and perverting the usages,
and corrupting the doctrines of the primitive
Church. It soon controlled almost universally
the belief and practice of nominal Christendom.
The millenarianism of the early. Church, and
with it the Apocalypse itself, was repudiated and
rejected as an article of faith. Nor was this with
out a reason. The fearful judgments threatened
against this growing iniquity, and to be inflicted
at the second coming of- our Lord, made the Pa
pacy the more ready to deny the important doc
trine. And, moreover, the coming of Christ to
establish His kingdom and personally to reign
on earth, being found to conflict with the usurped
vice-gerency of him who declared himself the
Supreme Head of the Church and the Vicar of
Christ; and the doctrine interfering materially,

134 THE RESTORATION.
in other respects, with the interests of this apos
tate hierarchy, the whole subject was Ignored :
and as a prominent Papal historian1 declares, " re
jected everywhere, and derided by the learned
with hisses and laughter." Thus the doctrine
passed from the accredited creed of the Church.
Bishop Newton, whose work on the prophetic
Scriptures has given him an imperishable reputa
tion, says, " Wherever the influence and authority
of the Church of Rome hath extended, she hath,
by all means, endeavored to discredit this doc
trine, and indeed not without sufficient reason —
this kingdom of Christ being founded on the
ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist. No wonder,
therefore, that this doctrine lay depressed for
many ages. But it sprang up again at the Re
formation, and will flourish together with the
study of the Revelation."
At the Reformation it was revived. The most
distinguished of the Reformers were, mainly, pre-
millennial in sentiment. Just emerging from the
abominations of Popery, the attention of the early
reformers was particularly directed to that special
subject, the corruptions of Romanism; and the
idea of a thousand years of millennial triumph
for the Church having been treated with obloquy
for ages, they made very little reference to it.
But it is a fact that many, if not all of the im
portant truths which are embraced in the scheme,
were almost universally entertained by them and
1 Baronius.

REFORMERS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS. 135
their early successors.1 The revival of mille
narian doctrines was, however, more especially
the work of the English Reformers, as Latimer,
Ridley, &c, who were decided and avowed advo
cates of the belief. The doctrine was held by the
immediate successors of the Reformers. A ma
jority of the members of the Westminster As
sembly of Divines,2 at which were drawn up a
" Directory of Public Worship," the " Confession
of Faith," the "Larger and Shorter Catechisms,"
of the Presbyterian Church, adopted millena
rian views.3 Thus it continued. ' The most dis
tinguished divines, the brightest luminaries of
the Church and general literature, for genera
tions, so understood the Scriptures. A host of
illustrious names might be given. Among them
we find those of Bishop Latimer, Bradford, Meade,
Usher, Charnock, Milton, Cowper, and Sir Isaac
Newton. The name of Sir Isaac Newton, it has
been well said, " is sufficient of itself to shield
the doctrine from the charge of weakness or fana
ticism, or of being supported by insufficient evi
dence. He gave his powerful mind, for two whole
years, to the study of the Prophecies, and has
avowed his belief in the pre-millennial advent of
Christ."4 It is a noteworthy fact, admitting of ample
1 Duffleld. a 1643.
* Robert Bailie, a member of the Assembly, and himself
strongly opposed to the doctrine, says, " Most of the chief
divines here . . . are avowed Chiliasts" (Millenarians).
* Duffield.

136 THE RESTORATION.
proof, that anti-millenarian views, as at present
entertained by many, are themselves but of recent
date. Dr. Daniel Whitby, who died in 1726, was
the first to revive Origen's spiritual interpretation
of the prophecies. He wrote a Commentary on
the Apocalypse, appending to it a treatise on the
Millennium ; denying the distinctive features of
the ancient millenarian faith, and spiritualizing
the restoration of the Jews, the coming of Christ,
and the first resurrection. He himself calls his
views " A New Hypothesis ;" thus declaring them
to be different from those held by his predeces
sors. And well has he termed it an hypothesis,
which, according to Webster's definition, is a sys
tem or doctrine founded on theory, or on some
principle not proved.
The early divines of New England, the Cottons
and Mathers, and their contemporaries, knew no
thing of such a Millennium as that advocated
by this commentator. They were decided and
avowed Millenarians. Some, however, promi
nent in the Church, subsequently adopted his
views, and this gradually increased until the pre
valent sentiment became adverse to that which
was held for ages following the Apostles, and
which many of the Reformers and the Church
for centuries maintained. But the faith of the
early Church, and of' the Reformers and their
successors, is revived. Many have, within these
latter days, and especially within the last thirty
or forty years, been led, by careful investigation
of the Prophecies, to believe that many of the

MILLENARIANISM INCREASING. 137
glorious things spoken of Zion have been lost
sight of, by giving to the Scriptures a spiritual
and not a literal interpretation. And it is a fact
worthy of special attention, that, with but few ex
ceptions, modern students of the prophecies, who
have published on the subject, are the avowed, un
compromising advocates of these views. In Scot
land and England, Millenarianism has gained an
extended prevalence, and the belief is constantly
increasing; as it likewise is in our own land.
Many high in the several evangelical churches,
and of extensive reputation for usefulness and
careful investigation, have fully adopted these
opinions. Macaulay, the historian, in his essay on the
Jews, remarks, " The Christian believes, as well
as the Jew, that at some future period the pre
sent order of things will come to an end. Nay,
many Christians believe that the Messiah will
shortly establish a kingdom on the earth, and
reign visibly over all its inhabitants. The num
ber of people who hold it is very much greater
than the number of Jews residing in England.
Many of those who hold it are distinguished by
rank, wealth, and ability. It is preached from
the pulpits both of the Scottish and English
Churches. Noblemen and members of Parlia
ment have written in defence of it. They expect
that before this generation shall pass away, all
the kingdoms of the earth will be swallowed up
in one divine empire."
That this belief in these things has been held
13

138 THE RESTORATION.
since the days of the Apostles, might be sh&wn,
were it needful, by a reference to historic record:1
The late Bishop Hopkins says; " The fact is, that
the commonly received opinion of a spiritual
Millennium, consisting in an universal triumph
of the Gospel, and the conversion of all nations
for a thousand years, before the coming of Christ,
is a novel doctrine, unknown to the Church for
the space of six hundred years. We may safely
challenge its advocates to produce one distin
guished writer in its favor, before the commence
ment of the eighteenth century."2
Because most of us from our childhood have
been taught to give a spiritual meaning to these
prophecies yet to be fulfilled, the suggestion of a
strictly literal interpretation, naturally strikes the
mind, at first, as something strangely new ; and
conflicting, as it is supposed to do, with the re-
1 Professor Shedd, of the New York Union Theological
Seminary, in his " History of Christian Doctrines," having
examined the claims of Millenarianism to attention, sums up
the results of his investigations with the following state
ments : "1. Millenarianism was never the ecumenical faith
of the Church, and never entered as an article into any of the
creeds. 2. That Millenarianism has been the opinion of indi
viduals and parties only, some of whom have stood in agree
ment with the Catholic faith, and some in opposition to it."
(II, p. 398.) For a triumphant refutation of these positions,
and for a correct historical statement of the doctrine, as held
from the days of the Apostles, and for a correction, also, of
the false positions of Dr. Hatfield, in his papers on the Mes
siah's second advent, as published in the " American Presby
terian and Theological Review," April and July, 1864, see
Shimeall's "Second Coming of Christ."
2 Quoted by William Newton.

PRE-MILLENNIALISM SCRIPTURAL. 139
ceived belief of the Church in all past time,
should be rejected as an opinion not worthy of
adoption, if, indeed, worthy of serious examina
tion. But so far from this being the case, the
doctrine, as we have seen, was held by the Church
in its purest and best days; and the charge of
novelty lies, with all its weight, against those who
give to the prophecies a spiritual and not a literal
interpretation. With all prejudice arising from this source —
the novelty of these doctrines — removed, we may,
with more probability of reaching the truth, ad
dress ourselves to the teaching of the word of
God. If the advent of Christ, spoken of by Paul
(2 Thess. 1 : 7-10), be before the Millennium, as
the context seems plainly to teach us that it is,
then will that second advent be accompanied by
signal judgments upon the enemies of God, even
" them that know not God, and obey not the Gos
pel of our Lord Jesus Christ;" giving us thus the
additional proof that there is to be no universal
spread of Christianity — no general conversion of
the nations before the personal coming of the Son
of man. The parable of the tares and the wheat,
already examined, and that of the net, gathering
both good and bad, plainly indicate that such is
to be the case. " The Son of man shall send forth
His angels, and they shall gather out of His king
dom all .things that offend, and them which do
iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of
fire." They are to be utterly destroyed. This is

140 THE RESTORATION.
to be done at the end of this " aion," world, age,
or dispensation.
It is clearly revealed, that at the coming of
Christ the world, generally, will be in a state of
, perfect peace and quietude, as respects any appa
rent impending judgments, or as respects any
apprehensions of evil — as was the case in the
days of Noah and of Lot. The evil are to be taken
absolutely by surprise, and to be filled with con
sternation and dismay at the sudden coming of
our Lord in judgment upon them. As shown in
the preceding discussion, this visitation of judg
ment must be before the Millennium.
In the twentieth chapter of the Revelation
mention is made of the Millennium; the binding
of Satan for a thousand years; the resurrection
of the saints, and the reign of Christ. In the
nineteenth chapter — that is in immediate con
nection with it — we find these emphatic words,
giving a statement of what is to precede the
thousand years of blessedness. The representa
tion is symbolical, but the general import is ob
vious. " And I saw the heaven opened, and be
hold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
He doth judge and make war; .... and He was
clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and His name is
called the Word of God. And the armies which
were in heaven followed Him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of
His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He
should smite the nations; and He shall rule them

CHRIST TO COME TO DESTROY THE EVIL. 141
with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the winepress
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And
He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name
written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. . . .
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth,
and their armies gathered together to make war "
against Him that sat on the horse and against His
army. And the beast was taken, and with him
the false prophet who wrought miracles before
him, with which he deceived them that had re
ceived the mark of the beast, and them that wor
shipped hk image. These both were cast alive
into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And
the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that
sat upon the horse." (Vv. 11-20.)
Symbolical as this language is, we repeat there
is no mistaking its general meaning. It clearly
represents the Son of God coming to execute
judgment upon the ungodly, immediately pre
ceding the thousand years of peace. The passage
forcibly reminds us of the words of Isaiah, refer
ring to the same eventful period ; " Who is this
that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah? This that is glorious in His apparel,
travelling in the greatness of His strength ? I
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save !
Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel and
Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-
fat ? I have trodden the wine-press alone ....
for I will tread them in Mine anger and trample them
in My fury ; and tlieir blood shall be sprinkled upon
My garments; and I will stain all my raiment. For
13*

142 THE RESTORATION.
the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year
of My redeemed is come; ... I will tread down the
people in Mine anger, and make them drunk in My
fury." (63 : 1-6.) This passage is, not unfrequently,
very strangely applied to the Lord Jesus Christ,
at His first coming to make an atonement for sin.
The language will not admit of such an applica
tion. He then came to shed His own blood, not
to be stained with that of His enemies. Then He
came to manifest His loving kindness and tender
mercy towards His oppressors, making interces
sion for them in the very agonies of a cruel deafli —
by them inflicted. Here He treads them down in
His anger, and tramples them in His fury. At
that time all was peace and love and proffered
pardon. Here He has a " day of vengeance in His
heart." It is fearful language, and surely is sig
nificant, and cannot have been verified when He
came the compassionate Redeemer — the predicted
" Lamb of God." It must anticipate that coming
which is to be so startling to the slumbering na
tions of the earth, when He shall say concerning
His enemies, who would not have Him to reign
over them,1 " Bring them forth and slay them be
fore Me."
Hear again the words of the same prophet in
the 24th chapter; "Behold the Lord maketh the
, earth empty, and maketh it waste and turneth it
upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabi
tants thereof. .... And it shall come to pass in
that day that the Lord shall punish the hosts of
the high ones that are on high, and the kings of

CHRIST TO COME AT THE RESTORATION. 143
the earth upon the earth." And to what day
has the prophet reference ? He himself responds ;
" When the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients
gloriously." (v. 23.) " Let the earth hear and all
that is therein, . . . for the indignation of the
Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all
their armies. . . . The sword of the Lord is filled
with blood. ... It is the day of the Lord's ven
geance, and the year of recompenses for the con
troversy of Zion." (34:1-8.)
The Scriptures, moreover, clearly reveal the
fact that this destruction of the guilty nations will
be at the restoration of the Hebrew people,1 and
this, as already stated, will immediately precede
the Millennium, and be connected with its intro
duction. " Therefore fear thou not, Omy servant
Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, 0
Israel : for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy
seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob
shall return, and shall be in rest, and in quiet,
and none shall make him afraid. -For I am with
thee, saith the Lord, to save thee : though I make
a full end of all nations whither I have scattered
thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee."
(Jer. 30 : 10, 11.) " Behold I will make Jerusa
lem a cup of trembling unto all the people round
about  And in that day will I make Jerusa
lem a burdensome stone for all people : all that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces."
1 See chap. 6.

144 THE RESTORATION.
(Zech. 12 : 2.) The time when Michael the prince
shall stand up for Daniel's people, and cause their
scattering to cease, shall be " a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation, even
to that same time." (Dan. 12 : 1.)
Besides the idolatry, infidelity, impiety, oppres
sion, injustice and general depravation of man
ners which are mentioned by the prophets as the
procuring causes of these exterminating calami
ties, the cruelties inflicted by the nations upon
the house of Israel are particularly distinguished.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; "In those days
when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah
and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations
.... and will plead with them for My people,
and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scat
tered among the nations, and parted My land.
.... Behold I will raise them out of the place
whither ye have sold them, and will return your
recompense upon your own head." (Joel 3.) This
third chapter of the prophecy of Joel is of start
ling interest in its reference to the judgments to
be inflicted on the nations at the last day. A
challenge is publicly proclaimed to the enemies
of God to gather themselves together and prepare
for a deadly conflict. The harvest being ripe, the
avenging agents are bidden to thrust in the sickle
for the dreadful work of destruction. " The whole
visible creation is thrown into the most violent
commotion, as if the final dissolution of all things
had come." Amid these direful calamities, Jeho
vah is declared to be the hope and strength of

EVIL OPPOSING GOOD TO THE END. 145
His people. And they are thus encouraged to
confide in His protection. The energetic lan
guage of the prophet has surely had nothing to
meet it in anything that took place between the
captivity and the birth of the lowly babe at Beth
lehem. It is to be verified, in its solemn import,
at a time yet future. Scott remarks, " Almost all
the prophets foretell the same final victory over
all the nations, about the time when the Jews
shall be restored to their own land ; and just be
fore the Millennium, when the kingdoms of this
world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord
and of His Christ." Events preceding the Mil
lennium are evidently intended — " Although," he
says, " the sublime description cannot but lead
the reader to think of the end of the world, the
day of judgment and the heavenly Jerusalem."
Here as elsewhere, it is clearly revealed that
there shall be a mighty combination of the powers
of the earth at that time. They consult togethei
to overthrow His cause. They band themselves
together to fight against it. It will be such a
gathering as earth has never seen. They will
" rage and the people imagine a vain thing. The
kings of the earth shall set themselves, and the
rulers take counsel together against the Lord and
against His Anointed. But He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them
in derision  Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a
potter's vessel." (Ps. 2.)
The heathen shall indeed be given to Christ for

146 THE RESTORATION.
an " inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for a possession." But it will be accom
panied or preceded by these exterminating judg
ments upon the ungodly, anti-christian, infidel,
opposing nations of the earth. Those who shall
have risen up in avowed hostility against Christ,
saying ; " This man shall not rule over us," will
be visited with fearful calamities. And the rest
shall be spared and given to Christ for an inheri
tance, the subjects of His Kingdom.
Thus are the predicted events of the closing
of the present dispensation, to be amidst startling
revolutions. The Stone, cut out of the mountain
without hands, is to smite the image and destroy
it; and then, we are taught, great voices shall
be heard in heaven, saying ; " The kingdoms [or
the dominion] of this world are become the do
minion of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall
reign for ever and ever."
Fearful, indeed, are the coming judgments;
The words of St. Paul will be fully verified ! The
Lord will come " in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God and obey not the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess. 1 : 8.)
This, it is thought by some, will be at the judg
ment of the " Great Day," at the end of all things.
Whereas it will be the commencement of the
predicted judgment of the nations — not to be after
a thousand years of millennial blessedness, but to
introduce them. Great commotions and mighty
revolutions are to characterize this eventful
period.

PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS. 147
How impressive are the utterances of Jeremiah.
The prophet was commanded to take a wine cup
and make the nations drink. They were all to
drink, and after naming them, He sums them all
up in these words ; " And all the kings of the
north, far and near, one with another, and all
the kingdoms of the world which are upon the
face of the earth [shall drink of them]. . . . And
it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine
hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them ;
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, ye shall certainly
drink  Ye shall not be unpunished ; for I
will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of
the earth, saith the Lord of hosts." (Jer. 25.)
We may with these assurances of the Word of
God, in reference to* the judgments to be inflicted
upon the guilty nations of the earth, before us, be
enabled the better to understand a scene depicted
in the 25th chapter of Matthew, and which is
generally referred to a very different period,
" When the Son of Man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him
shall be gathered all nations, and He shall sepa
rate them one from another as a shepherd divideth
the sheep from the goats ; and He shall set the
sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left." The judgment passed is one of joyous in
vitation to the blessedness of the Kingdom for the
one class ; but to the other a sentence of banish
ment to everlasting fire.
It is usually supposed that this implies a uni-

148 THE RESTORATION.
versal, promiscuous resurrection of the dead and
a simultaneous judgment of the race at the very
end of all earthly things.
An examination of the passage may tend to
correct this impression! It is stated that before
the Son of Man, now come in His glory, shall be
gathered all nations. The word " nations" is never
used in the Scriptures for dead, but for living com
munities. The word in the original always means
the population living at the period to which the
expression, in which it is employed, refers. The
dead are not known as nations. And there is not,
moreover, the slightest allusion in the narrative
to a resurrection from the dead. Those who are
gathered together are there as nations, not as indi
viduals. The judgment is a judgment of nations,
and it has exclusive reference to the treatment
which the people of God have received at their
hands. This is the ground of condemnation or
of acquittal. The treatment which the followers
of Christ shall have received is virtually the treat
ment He Himself shall have received. Those na
tions which shall have persecuted the Jews, who
have been scattered all over the earth, and those
which shall have oppressed and persecuted the
Church of God, are the goats which the Judge
will give to destruction. *><-- ^v v-, x.
A careful examination of the passage will lead
to the conviction that it is" but one of those pre
dictions of which the Scriptures are full, which
speak of signal judgments to be inflicted on the
anti-christian nations of the e,arth at the coming

SALVATION OFFERED THOUGH REJECTED. 149
of the Son of Man to introduce the Millennium.
Painful indeed is the thought that such direful
calamities, in vindication of the honor and truth
fulness of God, and for the interests of Zion, must
be experienced.
" Go ye into all the world and preach the Gos
pel unto every creature," was the merciful com
mission of the Great Head of the Church. " Re
pentance and remission of sins are to be preached
in His name, among all nations." " And ye,
saith the Lord, are witnesses of these things."
Thus are these glad tidings of mercy to be pro
claimed abroad, and salvation, in the name of
Christ, to be offered unto all. A fair and full
opportunity is to be given to the nations to yield
to the righteous dominion of the Prince of Israel,
the incarnate Jesus. Many have accepted and
many will yet accept the terms of life. And a
host will thus be gathered out from among the
Gentiles for the praise of God; while yet the large
majority, we fear, will continue as they ever have,
to reject the proffered mercy. The god of this
world or age, will, for a season yet, exult in his
dominion. The Gospel will be preached, though
disregarded — salvation offered, though rejected.
And the time will come, and it seems to be com
ing on apace, when severest judgments must over
take the ungodly. The Gospel of the Kingdom
shall " be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations, and then shall the end come."
Painful as the prospect is — dark and distressing
as the scene may be, we may not, to free our
14

150 THE RESTORATION.
hearts from sadness, turn from it, if God has so
revealed it. It becomes us to know the truth,
and well to ponder it, for our dearest interests
and the interests of the Church of God, are inti
mately interwoven with it.
We may have looked with admiration upon the
scene the skilful artist has spread upon the can
vas. The foreground of the picture is the repre
sentation of ruin, calamity, and woe; with a mas
ter's hand, but with dark pencilling, he has spread
before us scenes of startling desolation. The low
ering cloud surcharged with all the enginery of
destruction, hangs its dark, portentous folds over
all. There is nothing in this foreground to re
lieve the eye. It is dark, comfortless, dreary,
confused, startling. It is, however, but the fore
ground of the picture. That dark cloud is tinged,
you see, with light, and beyond the scene of deso
lation shine ^orth the brightest, most gladsome
conceptions of the artist's mind. It is a paridisiac
scene of loveliness.
So is it with the inspired limners of the scenes
before us. If prophecy reveals these coming ca
lamities, these seasons of startling revolutions,
and upheavings of the nations of the earth, there
are beyond them all, or associated with them,
visions of transcendent glory. For if " the Lord
Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven, with
His mighty angels, taking vengeance on them
that know not God," He will also come "to be
glorified in His saints, and admired in all them
that believe," thus verifying to the Church the

CHRIST'S KINGDOM. 151
glorious things promised to Zion. If He comes
to destroy and. remove what has opposed His
righteous government and left its blight upon
the earth, it will be that on the earth, renovated
and made pure, He may establish His own ever
blessed Kingdom — gather together His ransomed-
people and banish the arch-enemy of man to the
bottomless pit, and introduce a Millennium of
unprecedented glory.

CHAPTER VII.
A RENOVATED, NOT A DESTROYED EARTH—
THE EIRST RESURRECTION.
DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH — BAPTISM OF FIRE — TWO SPE
CIAL OBJECTS CONTEMPLATED — OCCUPANTS OF THE NEW
EARTH — TWO RESURRECTIONS — THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

A new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. — 2 Pet. 3 : 13.
The dead in Christ shall rise first. — 1 Thess. 4: 16.

As the Thessalonian Christians had misunder
stood the instructions of St. Paul, and were led
to think that the advent was immediately at hand,
or had already come; so it is evident that, among
those to whom St. Peter addressed his epistle,
there were some who totally ignored any such
event as a second coming of our Lord. St. Paul
corrects the error of the Church at Thessalonica
in his second epistle; and St. Peter gives an em
phatic assurance, that the doctrine was not " a
cunningly devised fable," a fiction invented by
designing men, but a solemn, indisputable fact.
And most evidently is it such; and one which, in
the period of its occurrence, and in its imme
diately antecedent, accompanying and following
(152)

A RENOVATED EARTH. 153
events, should be carefully and devoutly studied.
Much, in reference to these things, is made
known in the word of God; while other things,
about which an awakened curiosity may pro
pound a variety of questions, are only to be
known hereafter ; as no solution of the question
is given. It is with the facts, as revealed, we
have to do ; and these are not to be discredited
or disregarded, because all that may be asked in
reference to them cannot be readily answered.
Bearing this in mind, we continue our discussion ;
and pass to consider,
1. A Renovated Earth.
2. The First Resurrection.
L A Renovated Earth.
The fact of a kingdom to be established here
on earth has been argued; a kingdom of which
Christ Jesus is to be the reigning Prince. And
we have, maintained that this is to-be a literal
kingdom ; one over which the Redeemer, in per
son, as its visible Head, is to rule; and not solely
or exclusively a spiritual dominion in the hearts
of believers. But how can this earth be the scene
of this glorious government, the place where Christ
will personally reign, with his risen saints, over his
ransomed Church, in their natural bodies, inas
much as the Scriptures speak of the " end of the
world," and the destruction of this earth by fire?
This is the point now to be considered.
It must be borne in mind, as has been stated in
the previous discussion, that there are, in the ori
ginal Greek of the New Testament, two words of
14*

154 THE RESTORATION.
very different import, but both rendered, in our
translation, by "world." One, "kosmos," means
the order and visible arrangement of the earth.
The other, " aion," means age, era, dispensation,
period, always having respect to time — duration.
Now, " end of the world" is a scriptural expres
sion; but it never is found, we believe, in a single
instance where the word rendered "world," is
that which means the material earth. It is, in
every case, that which embraces the idea of time
or duration, and expresses a period, or age, &c.
(Matt. 13 : 39, 40 ; 24 : 3 ; 28 : 20.)
Strong, indeed, and startling is the language
used by inspired men to designate the change
this material earth is to undergo at .the second
advent of the Son of man, whenever that advent
shall occur, whether before or after the Millen
nium.1 By many of those who suppose that the
coming of the Son of man in the clouds of hea-
1 It is maintained by some, that although there will be a
renovated earth at the Millennium, the universal conflagra
tion — the sweeping desolation by fire spoken of by the Apostle
— will follow and not precede the Millennium. It is thought
that there are to be two acts of judgment, two conflagrations,
entirely separate and distinct in their order of time, as well
as in their extent. So that the " new heavens and earth" pre
dicted by Isaiah 65 : 17-20, and 66 : 22-24, the result of the first
partial visitation of fire, are the renovated "heaVens and
earth," at and during the millennial period; and that the
" new heavens and earth" of 2 Pet. 3 : 7-13, and Rev. 21 : 1-5—
the result of a second more general conflagration — are post-
millennial — a thousand years or more intervening between
the two. See this subject argued in Shimeall's " Second Ad
vent of Christ." 204-216.

THE EARTH TO ENDURE. 155
ven is not to be -until the predicted period of a
" thousand years" shall have ended, it is thought
that He will then come to call the* dead of all
preceding ages from their graves to judgment;
which past, this earth will be annihilated — totally
destroyed by fire. By those who maintain that
the coming of Christ for judgment, and for the
establishment of His kingdom, will be before and
to usher in the Millennium, it is believed that
there will, at His coming, be a fiery expression of
the Lord's indignation against His enemies, and
an essential change wrought upon this material
world; purifying and making it the fit habitation
of a blessed, ransomed race, under the dominion
of the visible King of Zion and His glorified
Church. If it can be shown that the earth is to
be absolutely destroyed by fire — annihilated —
put out of existence, or made positively unfit for
habitation, at the coming of the Son of man, then,
obviously, is the question of His personal reign on
earth, during the Millennium and subsequently,
forever definitely settled. Such a reign would
be an utter impossibility. Hence the importance
of learning, if we can, what the expressions mean.
The Psalmist declares — and his words are quoted
by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews—" Of
old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, .
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They
shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea all of
them shall wax old like a garment. As a ves
ture shalt thou change them, and they shall be
changed." (Ps. 102 : 25, 26.) St. Peter, alluding

156 THE RESTORATION.
to the deluge, says, " The world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished; but the
heavens and the earth which are now, by the same
word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men  The day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night, in the which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned
up. . . . Looking for and hastening unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens,
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat." (2 Pet. 3.)
Here, if anywhere, are we taught the total ex
tinction and removal of our globe, at the coming
of our Lord. The language, we admit, is strong;
but is this the import of the record ? The Psalm
ist, quoted by the Apostle, speaks of the perishing
of the heavens and the earth; but he seems im
mediately to explain his meaning, as he says, " as
a vesture shalt thou change .them, and they shall
be changed." A material change shall be wrought,
but not destruction. St. Peter says, " The hea
vens and the earth are kept in store, reserved
unto fire. When the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, and the earth be burned up." This
reads very much like a destruction, such as, abso
lutely, to unfit it for habitation, if, indeed, it be
not its total annihilation. But you note that he
alludes to this same world having perished when
overflowed with water ; and he compares the re-

THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH. 157
suit of the baptism of fire to the effect produced by
the flood. He refers, obviously, to a change, and
not to an utter destruction; except so far as there
was then, and is to be, at the second coming of
Christ, a destruction of the wicked — the perdition of
ungodly men — for which, he states, expressly, " the
earth is kept in store, reserved unto fire against
the day of judgment." The world perished by the
flood, the world of the ungodly. So will the world
of the ungodly perish under the inflicted judg
ments of the Son of man ; for he is elsewhere said
to be coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance, or
righteous retribution, on them that know not God.
That such is the probable meaning of the strong
language of St. Peter, appears, moreover, from
the Words which immediately follow them. Hav
ing spoken of the heavens passing away with a
great noise, and the elements melting with fer
vent heat, and the earth being burned up, he adds
— words worthy of our special notice — "Never
theless we, according to His promise, look for a
new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right
eousness." This is a gracious promise. Isaiah
declares, " Behold, I create new heavens and a
new earth ; and the former shall not be remem
bered  For as the new heavens and the new
earth which I will make, shall remain before me,
saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name
remain." (65:17; 66:22.) This was the vision
which greeted the eye of St. John : "I saw a new
heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away." (Rev. 21 : 1.)

158 THE RESTORATION.
Now, whatever may be the purposed mission of
this fiery element, to be executed at the coming
of Christ, it is very clear that it cannot be the
destruction of the world. Note the words of Da
vid : " The world, also, is stablished that it cannot
be moved." (Ps. 93:1.) "Who laid the founda
tions of the earth that it shall not be removed for
ever." (Ps. 104 : 5.) Solomon declares, " The earth
abideth forever." (Ec. 1 : 4.) Assurances which will
surely be verified.
This comparison of the Scriptures seems clearly
to show that the effect of the fiery visitation, at
the coming of Christ, will not be the absolute de
struction of the earth. We have indeed the assu
rance that the effect to be produced, in one respect
at least, will be less destructive than that of the
Deluge. The Lord gave to Noah, and thus to us,
the promise "I will not again curse the ground any
more for man's sake, neither will I again smite any
more every living thing as I have done." (Gen. 8:21.)
This is the declaration of the unerring Jehovah.
And we may not call in question the veracity of
His word, by saying that this earth is to be totally
destroyed ; or that it is to be made uninhabitable,
or that such a conflagration, as that predicted,
must be destructive of all life — for He " will not
again smite any more every living thing." It will
indeed be the destruction of the pre-eminently
wicked; but multitudes of the race, we have
reason to know, will survive the judgments; and
these will become the subjects of the Kingdom
to be established.

THE MIRACULOUS RESTITUTION. 159
It appears, moreover, much like presumption
for any to affirm, as some do, that in such a con
flagration as that described, all on the earth must
perish ; and hence that the doctrine of the esta
blishment of a literal kingdom must be a fallacy.
We ask whose judgments are these which are to
be inflicted ? By whose power and at whose com
mand are these scenes to be enacted? Cannot
He who is " wonderful in counsel and excellent
in working," secure the accomplishment of His
purposes, even though it should require miracu
lous interposition ? Can He not preserve the lives
of those He wills to save, even though everything
else should be swept from the face of the earth ?
Shall we thus venture to limit the Almighty?
What He has said He certainly will haye power
and means to execute. If He has said this earth
shall abide forever, shall ive say it cannot be ? If
• He declares He will establish His visible King
dom here, shall we say that it is an impossibility ?
Those who make these objections seem entirely
to ignore the fact that these stupendous effects
are to be brought about by supernatural agency.
The power and immediate management of the
Almighty One will be manifest in them all. The
predicted " restitution of all things" will be secured
by a series of miracles, we have reason to believe,
such as the world has never witnessed. The ad
mission of the fact of a divine agency, and we
presume no one will question it, meets every diffi
culty which we, in our finite understanding, may
not be able to clear away, making, what appears

160 THE RESTORATION.
to some, an improbability — nay, an impossibility
— an absolute certainty, if the Word of God has
so declared it.
It is thought by some that the changes which
are to be wrought by the agency of fire, will not
be effected at one specific time, either at the com
mencement or at the close of the millennium. It
is indeed certain that what is said, at least, of the
destruction of the wicked enemies of the Lord by
fire, embraces two distinct events, separated by a
period of a thousand years ; as is manifest by a
comparison of 2 Thess. 1 : 8, and Rev. 20 : 9, in
each of which passages a fiery judgment is pre
dicted; one at the beginning, the other at the
close of the Millennium.
We remark, furthermore, that while the pas
sages which speak of this fearful visitation of fire,
are shown, by a comparison of Scriptures, not to
mean the real destruction of the earth in the or
dinary acceptation of the word; neither does the
language used by the sacred penman necessarily
imply so extensive an effect as many ascribe to it.
The result of an examination by competent exposi
tors, is that it all may be legitimately and properly
rendered without producing the impression which
a bare reading of our translation makes on the
minds of many.1 " The heavens," it is written, " are
to be on fire." By the " heavens" we are to under
stand the air, the atmosphere around us, the region
1 Daniel Lord; Jos. H. Seiss, D.D., &c. ; Robinson's Lexi
con.

THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS AWAY. 161
of clouds, &c. Thus is the word frequently used
in the Bible, and their " being on fire" may simply
mean inflamed, made fiery, or, according to Pro
fessor Robinson, "tried with fire, purified, in
flamed," " and may be considered as having its
import, in this place, exhausted by a condition of
the atmosphere in which it is heated, filled with
fiery, volcanic emissions, and lit up with light
nings." " They shall pass away with a great noise."
The literal meaning of the verb is " to pass along
by." "So that no man might pass by that way."
(Matt. 8 : 28; Luke 18 : 37.) It indicates motion,
and here with its connection, expresses violent
commotion of the wind — the rushing by, like a
tornado, or whirlwind, or furious blast like that
from a volcanic eruption. The heavens (air, at
mosphere) are to " be dissolved." The word ren
dered " dissolved" is to let hose, to unbind, untie,
as the Saviour said of the colt, "Loose (untie)
him." (Mark 11 : 2.) "Doth not each one of you
loose his ox." (Luke 13 : 15.) It here refers to
the letting loose of those influences which now
bind the world in quiet; or the giving freedom to
agencies or elements which, rushing forth in unre
strained fury, would produce violent commotion;
as the projection into the atmosphere of the con
tents of a burning volcano. The " elements are to
melt with fervent heat." This expression occurs in
two closely connected verses. (2 Pet. 3 : 10 and 12.)
In the first the word rendered " melt" is the same
as that used in verse 12, where the heavens are
15

162 THE RESTORATION.
spoken of as being " dissolved," loosened, un
bound. See Luke 3 : 16. In the second the word
is somewhat stronger in meaning, " melt or make
liquid." But its import may be determined by
the parallel expression of verse 10. " With fervent
heat," is the participle of a verb meaning to be set
on fire, inflamed ; and the " elements" are certain
elementary substances of an inflammatory nature,
which shall become " loosed or set free," by being
heated and set on fire, as is illustrated in every
volcanic eruption. Again, " the earth and the works
that are therein shall be burned up." We remark on
this passage that " earth" does not necessarily
mean the entire globe. In many places it has a
restricted and limited application. (Matt. 9 : 31 ;
Mark 6 : 53.) And- there is no reason why we
may not here limit it to that part or to those por
tions where signal destruction is to be visited
upon the ungodly, and where the Son of Man
shall especially manifest His presence. The ex
pression " burned up" would seem to imply entire
destruction. But although the word in the ori
ginal often has this meaning, yet it has sometimes
that of simply burning without the idea of de
struction, or burning up totally. That this par
tial meaning belongs to it here, appears from
what has been said of the analogy between the
destruction by the deluge and that which is to be
by fire.
This understanding of these several expres
sions, which seems perfectly legitimate, strength
ens the conviction in reference to -the extent and

VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN HAWAII. 163
nature of the fiery catastrophe, derived from a
comparison of Scriptures. That these judgments
will be terrific, there can be no doubt, especially
to those upon whom the fearful desolations will
be visited; and great will be the changes pro
duced. But we find nothing to warrant the be
lief that the earth is to be made uninhabitable, or
to meet with that destruction which some pre
dict. Reference has been made to volcanic action,
and it is supposed that the phenomena of erup
tions illustrate!!! the meaning of the language of
the Apostle, which we have just considered. And
hence it may be worthy of note that there are
stored away in the bosom of our very earth, all
the elements and materials -for the full accom
plishment of these predictions without the exer
cise of miraculous power. All that is needful is
for Him who now restrains the action of these in
ternal fires to " loosen," or unbind them, or give
them vent, as now to a limited extent He does in
volcanic eruptions, and all that is represented by
the graphic statement of the Scriptures will be
verified. We remember the accounts published
of the magnificent but terrific scene in one of the
Sandwich Islands, in 1840; and we need but ex
pand the phenomena to have all that the predicted
conflagration embraces. No- account could do
justice to the actual exhibition. " The lava, like
an overwhelming flood, sweeping forest, hamlet,
plantation, and everything before it, rolled down
with resistless energy to the sea, where, leaping a

164 THE RESTORATION.
precipice of forty or fifty feet, it poured itself in
one vast cataract of fire into the deep below, with
loud detonations, fearful hissings, and a thousand
unearthly and indescribable sounds. The scene
was terribly sublime. Two mighty agencies in
collision. Two antagonist and gigantic forces in
contact, and producing effects on a scale incon
ceivably grand ! The atmosphere in all directions
was filled with ashes, spray and gases, while burn
ing lava as it fell into the water, was shivered into
millions of minute particles, and, being thrown
back into the air, fell in showers of sand on all
the surrounding country. . . . Hills were melted
down like wax, by the stream of fire ; ravines and
deep valleys filled up; and majestic forests disap
peared like a feather in the flames  Night
was converted' into day on all eastern Hawaii.
The light rose and spread like the morning upon
the mountains, and its glare was distinctly visible
for more than one hundred miles at sea ; and at
the distance of forty miles, fine print could be
read at midnight  On the leeward side of
the stream as it flowed, no one could live within
the distance of many miles, on account of the
smoke, the impregnation of the atmosphere with
pungent and deadly gases, and the fiery showers
which were constantly descending and destroying
all vegetable life. " During this fearful exhibition
a class of the people are described as being in the
very condition of those before the flood, and the
guilty residents of Sodom who were living in per
fect indifference while the judgments of Heaven

VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN HAWAII. 165
impended. Some indeed "spent most of their
time in prayer and religious meetings — some flew
in consternation away from the all-devouring ele
ment; others wandered idly along its margin,
While another class still, coolly pursued their
usual avocations, unawed by the burning fury.
They ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, builded,
apparently indifferent to the roar of consuming
forests, the sight of devouring fire, the startling
detonations, the hissing of escaping steam, the v
rending of the earth, the shivering and melting
of gigantic rocks, the raging and dashing of fiery
waves, the bellowings, the murmurings, the un
earthly mutterings coming up from a burning
deep. They went carelessly on amid the rain of
ashes, sand and fiery scintillations, gazing va
cantly on the fearful and ever-varying appearance
of the atmosphere, murky, black, livid, blazing,
the sudden rising of lofty pillars of flame, the up
ward curling of ten thousand columns of smoke,
and their majestic roll in dense, dingy, lurid or
parti-colored clouds. All these moving phenom
ena were regarded by them as the fall of a shower,
or the running of a brook ; while to others they were
as the tokens of a burning world, the departing heavens,
and a coming Judge."1
Such was the scene exhibited; and well may we
suppose that these fires, now restrained — except
as we see them in these occasional, partial, and
yet fearful manifestations — only wait the mandate
1 Titus Coun's Letter, Missionary Herald, July, 1841.
15*

166 THE RESTORATION.
of Him who now holds them in abeyance, to come
forth to do His work of fiery vengeance on an
ungodly world. The thought that they will be
called into requisition at the great day of Christ's
appearing, receives corroboration from what is
deemed by many to be the correct rendering of
2 Pet. 3:7; " The heavens and the earth which
now are stored with fire," or, as it may be rendered,
" treasured up for fire against the day of judg
ment and perdition of ungodly men."
These are some of the startling scenes before
us. The result will be a regenerated — a purified
earth. It must be renovated, changed, purified,
before it can be the fitting abode of the righteous,
under the government of our Emanuel Prince.
And such a renovation, and such a change, and
such a purification, we believe it will experience.
And that appears to be what is meant by the
language of the Psalmist and the Apostle. Then
will there be a new heaven and a new earth,
wherein righteousness shall verily dwell; an earth
to be inhabited, we are expressly told, by the
saints. Then, too, will be fulfilled the words of Paul,
in the eighth of Romans. A passage which has
given commentators trouble, and which is not,
we think, to meet with a satisfactory explanation,
except in view of the renovation of this material,
sin-cursed earth at the coming of Christ. " The
earnest expectation of the creature [or creation,
this material world], waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of God  For we know that the

THE EARTH TO CONTINUE. 167
whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain to
gether until now; . . . because the creature [creation]
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of cor
ruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
The period spoken of is the same as that alluded
to elsewhere, where it is said, a new and reno
vated earth shall be given to the people of the
Most High. No longer shall it groan under the
yoke of corruption. The blight that has been
upon it, since for man's sake it was cursed, and
which is on it still, will be removed. It is in
bondage deep and bitter. It groaneth and tra
vaileth in pain under the heavy pressure laid
upon it, and pants to be delivered. The hour of
its deliverance will come, and then with man —
both redeemed from the curse — will it rejoice for
evermore. Yes, there is to be a renovated, puri
fied earth — an earth blessed, perhaps, with more
than the beauty and loveliness of Eden — the fit
abiding place of the ransomed Church and her
glorious Head.
The continuance of the earth is, moreover, ap
parent from the fact, that it is to be the- inherit
ance of the saints. Frequent are the assurances
which the Scriptures give us of this. " The meek
shall inherit the earth, . . . and their inheritance
shall be forever. . . . Those that wait upon the
Lord, they shall inherit the earth. . . . The right
eous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for
ever. . . . Wait on the Lord and keep His way,
and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land : when
the wicked are cut oft*, thou shalt see it." (Ps. 37.)

168 THE RESTORATION.
These promises are thus often repeated in a single
psalm, and the assurances of this heirship of the
saints is scattered through the prophecies. Some
may consider it derogatory to the promised glory
of the saints to dwell, and that forever, on this
earth, and they may refuse to give it credence.
But in the mind of God it is evidently a theme
of commanding interest, and the Holy Spirit has
recorded, ia varied terms, the promise, for the
encouragement and consolation of His people,
who feel that now they have no inheritance here.
Nor would they have while the heavy curse and
blight of sin remains. " But they desire a better
country, that is, an heavenly,". as this shall be at
the coming of our Lord, when "the kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High." (Dan. 7 : 27.) This very
earth is to be the place where Christ shall establish
His Kingdom, and where His redeemed shall dwell
with Him forever. But it will be, we repeat, a
renewed earth. The words of the prophet and
those of the apostles will be verified. There will
be a fearful, fiery visitation to destroy the ungodly
and to purify the earth. This is a fact we may
not attempt to explain away by any figurative in
terpretation. Nor may we, anticipate the annihi
lation of our globe. The catastrophe is compared
to the flood. That was a literal fact ; so will this
be a literal occurrence. The world perished when
deluged by the flood. So will it perish when de
luged by the flames. The world was destroyed

THE EARTH NOT TO RE DESTROYED. 169
by water ; so will it be by fire ; and yet in neither
case annihilated — only changed. This earth will
put on a new phase, of loveliness at its baptism
of fire.
Thus two objects, especially, are to be attained
by this startling, yet sublime visitation. One is
the destruction of the eminently and persistently
ungodly, the avowed enemies of Christ, the con
federated, anti-christian, infidel nations existing
at the period of Christ's second coming, which is,
we are told, to be " the perdition of ungodly men."
The other object is to secure " a new heaven and
a new earth," for the display of Jehovah's glory,
and for the blessedness of the righteous. How
ever some may repudiate the thought that this
world — even if regenerated and made a scene of
surpassing blessedness — shall ever become the
inheritance of God's people and their dwelling-
place, yet so the word of the Lord declares that
it will be. It is not to be annihilated and blotted
from existence, nor would we desire that it ever
should be.
Dr. Seiss, speaking of the supposed total de
struction of our earth, says, " I have no idea that
God will ever unmake His own creation, or that
He will blot out the world whose dust His only
begotten Son wore upon Him, or that He will
destroy the planet which was the birth-place and
the tomb of Him in whom He was so well pleased.
Redemption cannot involve the destruction of
what existed before redemption was necessary,
or consistently repeal any existing laws which

170 THE RESTORATION.
were ordained before man fell."1 Dr. Cummings
remarks; "The antecedents of our globe are the
most brilliant; the historic traditions of our world
are the most thrilling ; and it seems to me as if it
would be an awful catastrophe, if a world, with
such antecedents, and such a history, covered
with such magnificent footprints, should ever be
expunged, or 'annihilated, or disaj>pear from the
orbs and record of the universe. But we know
it will not. Its sin will be eliminated, and it will
be reconsecrated by the footsteps of its present
Lord. . . . This earth has antecedents — historic
associations, blessed reminiscences, that will make
it the loveliest and the most interesting, and the
most beautiful of all the orbs of the sky; and I
thank God that I was born, not in Jupiter, nor in
Saturn, nor in Mars, nor in some unfallen orb,
but in this fallen, but redeemed, and one day to
be — regenerated earth."
But who are to possess the earth ? Who are to be
the occupants of a renovated world? No one who
admits the truthfulness of the Bible, for a moment
questions the fact of a resurrection both of the
righteous and the wicked. But there is a great
difference of opinion as to the time when it will,
at least in part, take place. Some think — and it
is the current opinion of the day — that there is
to be no literal resurrection until the Millennium
shall have ended; and that then Christ shall come
in judgment; call the slumbering dead of all
1 Parable of the Ten Virgins.

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 171
classes, simultaneously, from their graves; assem
ble them before Him, and, having passed sentence
upon each, shall appoint them to their respective
and appropriate abodes for eternity, and bid His
consuming fire to annihilate the earth. Others
cherish a very different view; finding, as they are
satisfied they do, reference made to two distinct
resurrections, that of the righteous and that of
the wicked, separated by an interval of more
than a thousand years. This is the specific ques
tion now to be subjected to a scriptural test. It
is the question of,
II. The First Resurrection.
On opening the word of God, we meet with
certain precious promises, which are assuredly to
have their fulfilment. They have been already
in part referred to, for another purpose, which
was to show that the earth was not to be annihi
lated, because, in its renewed condition, it was to
be the perpetual inheritance of the saints. Now
we are to inquire, who are these saints by whom
the earth is to be inhabited, as either associated
with Christ in the judgment or government of
the kingdom, or as subjects of it ? Thus it is said
by the Psalmist, "Evildoers shall be cut off; but
those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit
the earth." (37:9.) "The meek shall inherit
the earth, and shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace." " Mine elect shall inherit
it, and my servants shall dwell there." (Is. 65 : 9.)
This inheritance is to be " forever ;" for " the

172 THE RESTORATION.
Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their
inheritance shall be forever." (Ps. 37 : 18.)
This idea of an inheritance for the saints is
fully developed in the New Testament Scriptures,
where we read of an " inheritance among them
that are sanctified." (Acts 20 : 32.) That this in
heritance has respect to a state of blessedness,
hereafter to be enjoyed, in all the fulness of its
possession, when Christ shall come to establish
His kingdom here on earth, would appear from
what the inspired writers say of it. Thus St. Paul,
in his Epistle to the Galatians (3 : 18) : " If the in
heritance be of the law, it is no more of promise ;
but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Now
what was the inheritance promised to Abraham?
Whatever else it embraced, the possession of the
land was assuredly a part. In him were all the
nations of the earth to be blessed. Christ was to
be his lineal descendant, and in Him was the.bless-
ing to be realized. But not only so; but as truly,
in the verification of the promise that he should
inherit the earth. " The Lord appeared unto
Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this
land." (Gen. 12 : 7.) " For all the land which
thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed
forever. ... I will give it unto thee." (13 : 15,
17.) The promise was repeated to Isaac (Gen.
26 : 3), and to Jacob (28 : 13, 14). These assur
ances are yet to be verified.
St. Peter writes; there is "an inheritance incor
ruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,"
reserved, indeed, we are told, " in heaven," but

RISEN SAINTS TO INHERIT THE EARTH. 173
to be " revealed in the last time." (I. 1 : 4, 5.) And
this last time St. Paul declares (2 Thess. 1 : 7-10)
to be " when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven, . . . taking vengeance on them that
know not God ; ... to be glorified in His saints,
and to be admired in all them that believe." This
inheritance is to be given to the saints " who are
kept by the power of God, through faith unto
salvation." It is, then, a reserved inheritance.
And is it not the same which was promised to the
Old Testament saints? They were to inherit the
earth. And no argument is needful to show that
the promise has not yet been fulfilled to them,
nor to their seed, nor to any of the saints. In no
satisfactory sense can it be said that they now
" inherit the earth."
But how are they to inherit it hereafter ? The
promise surely contemplates their literal existence
here on earth as the inheritors of the land. And
can it be in any but their resurrected state? They
are not to inherit the earth and to inhabit it in
their spiritual and disembodied natures. No one
supposes this. It is to be, if at all, in their glori
fied humanity. But how can this be ? Do the
Scriptures warrant any such anticipation ?
There is a passage in the First Epistle of St.
Paul to the Thessalonians, well calculated to fill
the people of God with joyous expectation, and
with great present comfort. "If we believe that
Jesus died and rose again," even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
16

174 THE RESTORATION.
that we which are alive and remain unto the com
ing of the Lord, shall not prevent [precede or go
before] them which are asleep. For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
. . . and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up to
gether with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
(4 : 15-17.) This wonderful scene is to be enacted
at the coming of the Lord. At that period are the
pious dead to be raised from their slumber of
months, or years, or centuries, and to be made
complete in their humanity, by the reunion of
their sanctified spirits with their glorified bodies;
while the living saints, beholding the wondrous
event, with exultant praise, shall, themselves now
glorified, be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet, as they hail with rapturous
joy, their coming Lord. But wherefore will these
risen dead and these glorified living saints be
thus lifted up ? Will the Saviour have come to
bear them away to some distant place, there
eternally to dwell; as He shall call upon the
fiery desolation to sweep over this our earth, and
blot it forever from existence ? If so, what be
comes of the promise that the saints shall inherit
the earth, and that forever? Theyjpass up to be
with Him in the clouds, gathered safely there
under His blessed pavilion; while He visits His
enemies with " fiery vengeance," sendingforth the
melting heat to execute its mission of change, of
purification and of renovation upon the earth, that

TWO RESURRECTIONS. 175
it may be prepared for His glorious kingdom,
and the joyous abode of His people in millennial
blessedness- — the promised inheritance of His
people. We find in this passage no mention
made of the resurrection of the wicked — not the
slightest allusion, directly nor by implication, to
it. The resurrection is confined to the dead in
Christ. " The rest of the dead" live not yet, nor
are they called to their final, fearful recompense,
as subjects of the resurrection.
St. John, in the twentieth chapter of the Reve
lation, narrates a vision in which we are all deeply
interested, and in which reference is distinctly
made to two resurrections. "I saw an angel
come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, that^
he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years should be fulfilled. . . . And I
saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg
ment was given unto them. And I saw the souls
of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus and for the word of God, and which had
not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their fore
heads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed

176 THE RESTORATION.
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrec
tion  Such shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand
years." (1-6.) This statement is in immediate
connection with the predicted coming of Christ to
destroy His enemies, as recorded in the preceding
chapter. It is the second advent of the Redeemer,
come to banish Satan from the earth, and to in
augurate the long-desired Millennium. And men
tion is made of one class of those who shall enjoy
the blessedness of that season; they are the sub
jects of the first resurrection. And who are they,
but those who are spoken of by St. Paul in the
passage already considered, — the dead in Christ ?
They, the Apostle says, "will rise first."
Thus, we maintain, there will be a twofold re
surrection, — one, that of the righteous, at the
commencement of the Millennium, which is called
the first resurrection; the other, after the expira
tion of the thousand years, when Satan, having
been loosed for a season, and again discomfited,
the wicked shall be raised from the dead, and
made to stand before the great white throne for
judgment, condemnation, and banishment to the
" lake of fire." This is the second death. These
two resurrections, as they are to be widely sepa
rated, so will they greatly differ in the subjects
of them. The one class are to live and reign
with Christ a thousand years; the other, who live
not again until the thousand years are finished,
rise but to everlasting misery. The words of the
Revelation seem to be very explicit; while yet

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 177
what appears to be their obvious import is de
nied by some, and a spiritual interpretation is
given to them, so as to make the " first resurrec
tion" merely mean a revival of the martyr spirit,
or principles, in the days of the Millennium. But
how will the context support such an interpreta
tion ? They of whom St. John speaks are to reign
with Christ. They are to be priests unto God, and
on them the second death shall have no power. Can
these things be predicated of a martyr spirit or
of martyr principles ? Can "principles" be made
" priests" unto God ? And can they be said, with
any propriety of language, or any intelligible
meaning, to be exempt from the power of the
second death, which is the " lake of fire." This
word translated " souls," occurs more than one
hundred times in the New Testament; but never
is it used to denote characteristics, or attributes,
or principles. And this passage we cannot reason
ably believe to be an exception. But further
more, if there be an allusion to any literal resur
rection in the chapter, as all admit there is at the
close, then we see not how we can with any con
sistency escape the conviction that there is to be
a literal resurrection of the righteous — a first re
surrection — separated from that of the wicked by
an interval of a thousand years. The expression,
" the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were fulfilled," most plainly inti
mates that some of the dead did live before that
time. The conclusion is attempted to be evaded,
or at least the argument in favor of a literal resur-
16*

178 THE RESTORATION.
rection weakened by the supposition that the
expression, " rest of the dead," does not refer to
the wicked in distinction from the righteous of a
first literal resurrection. " The phrase," we are
told, " most naturally refers to the same general
class which was before mentioned, the pious dead.
The meaning is, that the martyrs would be hon
ored as if they were raised up and the others not;
that is, that special respect will be shown to their
principles, their memory, and their character.
In other words, that special honor would be shown
to a spirit of eminent piety, during that period, above
the common and ordinary piety which has been
manifested in the Church."
" The rest of the dead" are not to live again
until the thousand years be finished. And so
declares the commentator in another connection,
where, in explanation of the preceding verse, he
speaks of the honor to be conferred upon those
possessing this revived " martyr spirit." " This,"
it is said, "would not occur in respect to the rest
of the dead — even the pious dead, for their honors
and rewards would be reserved for the great day
when all the dead should be judged according to
their deeds." But in apparent contradiction to
this, he affirms ; " The rest of the dead — the pious
dead — would indeed be raised up and rewarded, but
they would occupy, comparatively, humble places.
As if they did not partake in the exalted triumphs
when the world should be subdued to the Sa
viour." Now, if by " the rest of the dead" we are
to understand a spirit of less exalted piety which

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 179
is to live after the thousand years, then, as a conse
quence, there wil} be, after the Millennium, a
lowering down of the standard of pre-eminent,
exalted piety which shall have characterized that
period, by the intermixture of a piety more com
mon and ordinary which is then to live. Are we
indeed to be driven by a proper understanding
of the passage to such a conclusion ?
Much stress of opposition, however, is laid by
some to the doctrine of a literal resurrection, on
the fact that St. John uses the word " souls," in
stead of " bodies," when speaking of those whom
he saw, " to live and reign with Christ." " 1 saw
the souls, and they lived." The language, how
ever, is in strict conformity with the Scripture
usage, by which the word soul is very frequently
put for the person — body and soul — sometimes
for the body alone. "Let my soul live and it
shall praise Thee." (Ps. 119 : 175.) "They smote
all the souls that were therein with the edge of
the sword." (Josh. 11 : 11.) " And the same day
there were added unto them about three thou
sand souls." (Acts 2 : 41.) " And we were, in
all, in the ship two hundred and threescore and
sixteen souls." (Acts 27 : 37.) " Jacob and all
his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls." (Acts
7 : 14.) " God will redeem my soul from the
power of the grave." (Ps. 49:15.) Thus is it
that the word " soul" is often used for the per- '
son or animated body; and hence there is not,
from this consideration, the shadow of a founda
tion for an objection to a literal resurrection of

180 THE RESTORATION.
the saints at the coming of Christ in millennial
glory. St. John saw the persons of those whom
he describes. These he saw sitting on thrones,
and they were to live and reign with Christ.
Surely he does not speak of the resurrection of a
martyr spirit or of martyr principles, but veritable
persons. If what he says of the final resurrec
tion may have a spiritual interpretation, so may
all that is said in connection with it ; and thus the
idea of a thousand years of peace and prosperity
may be explained away, as may the resurrection
subsequently spoken of, and all that is said of the
final destiny of the wicked, at the close of the
chapter/ If one statement be figurative we see
not why all must not be.
Professor Moses Stuart, late of Andover Semi
nary, a bitter opposer of millenarian views,1 in
general, admits that Rev. 20 clearly teaches a two
fold resurrection.2 And he declares, moreover,
that the doctrine of a first resurrection, as taught
by St. John, "was not novel to the men of his
time." "I have my doubts," he says again,
" whether the assertion is correct that the doc
trine of the first resurrection is nowhere else
(than in Rev. 20) to be found in the Scriptures."
Such a concession from such a source is worthy
of special note.
There is then, we have reason to believe, to be a
first resurrection, or that exclusively of the pious
1 See Hints on Prophecy, and Duffield's Reply.
2 See Commentary.

A TWOFOLD RESURRECTION. 181
dead, to occur a thousand years before the second, or
that of " the rest of the dead" — the wicked. It
is true that there are passages where the resur
rection of both classes is spoken of together, as in
that solemn declaration of Christ, " AH that are
in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come
forth; they that have done good to the resurrection
of life, and they that have done evil unto the resur
rection of damnation." (John 5 : 28, 29.) This is
the announcement of a grand principle in the
moral government of God — the statement of a
positive event to occur. All are to be raised from
the dead. But when or in what order — how re
lated, as to time — are the two classes to be raised ?
These questions are not answered by the state
ment ; nor was it designed to refer to anything
but the grand fact, that all would, at some time
or times, be called from their graves. St. Paul in
the fifteenth chapter of his First Epistle to the
Corinthians, states that " every man shall rise in
his own order," or in his own band- or rank, as the
word means. " Christ the first fruits; afterward
they that are Christ's at His coming." (v. 23.)
Olshausen, a celebrated German commentator,
says, " This passage is one of those from which
we may undeniably conclude that the New Testa
ment acknowledges and accepts the Jewish doc
trine of a twofold resurrection ; namely, that of
the righteous and a general one." In the four
teenth chapter of Luke is found a parable, in
which the Saviour speaks of those who should be
" recompensed at the resurrection of the just," on

182 THE RESTORATION.
which the same writer remarks ; " The mention
of the resurrection of the just, without any occa
sion to call it forth, is an evident indication that
the distinction made by the Jews between the
first and second resurrection — a resurrection of
the just as separated and distinguished from that
of the ungodly, was acknowledged by our Lord
as correct; while other passages show that the
apostles themselves had also embraced the same
distinction. In the book of Revelation the
whole conclusion of the work would be entirely
unintelligible without it. The rationalistic ex
positors were unprejudiced enough to acknow
ledge that the doctrine of a twofold resurrection
was supported by the New Testament. But they
employed it to prove that the apostles — and in
fact, the Sayiour Himself — were entangled in
Jewish prejudices, or accommodated themselves
to such errors." " The distinction," he remarks,
" between the two resurrections, stands in closest
union with the whole circle of doctrines respect
ing the final issue of all things, and, only when
we adopt it, do many passages of Scripture ac
quire their true meaning."
In Matt. 22 : 24, we find the cavilling Sadducees
attempting to confound the'Saviour by propound
ing a question, an answer to which must be, they
thought, the refutation of the doctrine of the re
surrection. They inquired whose wife she would
be at the resurrection, who should have been
married to seven brothers in succession. -The
Lord's reply was ; "Ye do err not knowing the

THE CONTINUANCE OF THE RACE. 183
Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the re
surrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage." Here would seem to be a denial of
the marriage relation, and consequently of the
increase of the race after the resurrection alluded
to; whereas the prophet affirms that the race
should be continued, increasing under the reign
of the Messiah. (Is. 59 : 21; 65 : 20, 23; Zech. 8 : 5.)
Are the words of the Saviour and prophet
contradictory? They are so if we reject the
doctrine of the first resurrection. "Indeed,"
remarks Olshausen, "it does not appear how
this contradiction is to be reconciled without the
supposition of a twofold resurrection." Two
things are noticeable here. First, those of whose
resurrection He speaks, are not to marry nor be
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God ;
like them, it may be, in this respect; while yet,
secondly, the race is to be propagated. Now we
are taught that those who are to share in the first
resurrection — the children of the resurrection —
are in their glorified bodies to reign with Christ.
(Rev. 20.) They are not the special subjects of His
Kingdom. And these are those to whom the Sa
viour refers. They will not marry. There will
be others, not the children of this first resurrec
tion — who shall escape the righteous judgments
of Heaven at the coming of the Son of man, who
shall be the subjects of His government. These
will marry and be given in marriage, and thus
meet the assurance of the prophet. This inter
pretation of the passage receives confirmation

184 THE RESTORATION.
from the Saviour's words, (v. 31,) " The resurrec
tion of the dead," which is the resurrection out
of, or from among the dead, a form of expression
frequently found, and which " would be inexpli
cable if it were not derived from the idea that out
of the mass of the dead some would rise first."
We refer but to one more passage. St. Paul
speaking of his zeal in the cause of Christ, and of
his great sacrifices for His sake, and of his vigorous
efforts in " pressing toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," says;
"Ifby any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead." (Phil. 3:11.) Two things here arrest
our attention ; first, the earnest desire and the perse
vering effort of the apostleto attain the resurrection
of the dead. Must he not have had his mind on
some peculiar resurrection ? Did he not know —
did he not everywhere proclaim — often in the very
face of ridicule and persecution, the resurrection of
the dead — of all the dead ? and did he not conse
quently know that he himself would be raised ?
He surely had reference to a resurrection distin
guishable by special characteristics; one which
would be of marked blessedness, and a partici-
pancy in which would be a most desirable privi
lege, and consequently worthy of every effort?
If by any means he might attain unto it. Can we
doubt that it was this first resurrection which so
occupied his thoughts, and so greatly enlisted his
energies? This appears the more certainly to
have been the case; Secondly, from the fact that
here also " the resurrection of the dead" is the re-

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 185
surrection out of ovfrom among the dead; showing
that it was not to a general, promiscuous resurrec
tion he referred. " If I might attain unto the
resurrection from among the dead." But, it is in
quired, may not the apostle simply have reference
to the blessedness of the righteous at the resur
rection of all, both good and bad? He antici
pated, we are. told, a marked difference in the
condition and treatment of the two classes at the
great day of Judgment, when all should stand
before the great white Throne ? Is not the
strong language he used merely that of one vigor
ously striving after' salvation — the portion of the
righteous? We think not. The peculiar expres
sion " from among," seems to forbid such a con
clusion. And, moreover, he himself assures us ;
" I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which I have com
mitted unto Him against that day." (2 Tim. 1 :
12.) It was not then merely a desire and effort
after salvation that prompted his strong emphatic
words. His soul was already stayed on Christ
as he penned the words. To a special, peculiar
resurrection he looked, and it was, we think,
nothing less than that of which the Revelator
speaks — the first resurrection.
Thus the several classes, those that are Christ's
and those that are not, will all arise, but at differ
ent times. The closing words of the angel-mes
senger to Daniel, were; "Thou shalt rest and
stand in thy lot at the end of the days." And so
17

186 THE RESTORATION.
will all the resurrected saints stand each in his
own " lot" or rank. " Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with Him a thousand years. But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished." (Rev. 20 : 5, 6.)
Thus we have statedan^ answer in part to the
question propounded — who will be with the glori
fied Redeemer here on earth when He shall have
established His Kingdom? They are those who
are living at the time, and who shall be in Christ
at His coming; and the innumerable hosts of the
departed saints of all past generations, from the
days of Adam onward to the blessed appearing
of the Son of man ; all now with bodies like unto
the glorified body of the Saviqur, and prepared
to spend an eternity of joy with Him who hath
redeemed them out of every nation, and kindred,
and tribe ; and with them the ransomed, gathered
children of Abraham, His chosen nation now re
stored to favor.
To these, as occupants of the earth in its re
newed condition, will be added a multitude of
the nations of the earth, who shall have been
spared the judgments inflicted upon the open and
avowed enemies of Jesus. These gathered from
every quarter, shall swell the number of those
who will hail our Lord as their glorious, gracious
Prince. Then shall be verified the precious as-

MILLENNIAL GLORY. 187
surance " that the heathen shall be given to Him
for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for a possession." Then also will be real
ized the enrapturing visions of favored prophets,
and all the glowing, graphic descriptions of holy
seers as they looked into the then distant future,
and saw the heavenly scenes of millennial glory.

CHAPTER VIII.
CHARACTER OE THE PRESENT DISPENSATION—
PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT— JUDGMENT.
"DISPENSATION," WHAT? — SEVERAL DISPENSATIONS — MIXED
CHARACTER OF THE PRESENT — MORAL CONDITION OF THE
WORLD — THIS A SEASON OF DISCIPLINE — MIXED CHARAC
TER TO CONTINUE — ELECTION OF GRACE — GOSPEL TO BE
PREACHED FOR A WITNESS — SATAN THE GOD OF THIS DIS
PENSATION — SON OF MAN TO BE REVEALED BEFORE THE
MILLENNIUM — THE JUDGMENT WHAT? — TWO PRE-EMI-
NENTLT MARKED ACTS OF THE JUDGMENT.

Let both grow together until the harvest. — Matt. 13 : 30.

This is recognized as part of the instructive
parable of " the tares and the wheat." A man is
represented as sowing good seed in his field, and
a malicious enemy as stealthily casting tares in
among them. In due time both spring up. When
it is discovered that bad plants are intermingled
with the good, the servants ask if they shalt go
and gather out the noxious weeds? "Let both
grow together until the harvest," is the response.
Then the separation would be made, and the
tares be bound in bundles and burned up. The
parable was designed to show the present state
( 188 )

MORAL CONDITION OF THE "AGE." 189
of things, and what is to be its ending; as plainly
appears from the explanation given by the Divine
Teacher Himself, and which will be made mani
fest by a consideration of,
I. The Moral Condition of the Present Age,
or Dispensation;
H. The Coming of the Son of man to Effect
a Change; and
HI. The Judgment.
I. The Moral Condition of the Present Age,
or Dispensation.
By the term " dispensation," as used in this
connection, is meant a particular form of the
Divine administration of the " Church and of the
world, in relation to the Church, or the scheme
or plan of God's dealings With men." The
past six thousand years, or nearly that, of our
world's history, presents us with several dispen-
sations> each bearing its distinctive characteristics.
" These dispensations/' remarks the late Hon.
Joel Jones, " are among the grandest themes of
the Bible* They are stages or parts of an infinite
scheme^ which join on to others^ yet hidden deep
in the Divine mindv (Ephes* 2 c 7.) They were
all appointed and arranged by God the Son.
They are upheld and unfolded by His power for
the ever increasing display of the Divine attri
butes. '* There are, strictly speaking, two great
dispensations.1 The first is that of which we
1 Dr. Cummings enumerates six different dispensations, (more
properly seven,) each ending in specific judgments. 1. The
17*

190 THE RESTORATION.
have but a brief notice, whiqh was very limited
in its duration, but which was marked by the
perfect absence of all physical and moral evil. It
was the' dispensation of Paradise, during which
the great Creator looked with complacency on
the work that He had wrought. It was marked
by a particular mode of the Divine administra
tion adapted to the existing state of things. How
long this continued we are not informed. It was
brief, however, in duration, and was ended by
Adam's fearful apostacy. Sin, at the instigation
of Satan, was introduced, and the whole aspect
of our earth and the whole character of man,
and consequently the Divine administration, was1
essentially changed. A curse fell upon the earth
for man's sake. It became subject to vanity and
corruption, and with man, now degenerate and
depraved, with the frown of insulted heaven
upon his soul, it was made to groan and travail
in pain even to this present hour. This has
been aptly termed the dispensation of the fall,
or curse. It covers several subordinate dispensa
tions.1 Such as the patriarchal, which, embracing
Adamic, which ended in retribution, as Adam and Eve were
driven from Paradise. 2. The Antediluvian or Patriarchal,
terminating also in j udgment at the Deluge. 3. The Noachian,
ending in the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. 4. The Abra-
hamic, ending in judgments upon Egypt and the overthrow
of Pharaoh. 5. The Mosaic, closing with the destruction of
Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish nation. 6. The
present, to end with the coming of the Son of man in judgment
upon the wicked. And we may add, 7. The Millennial.
1 Jones.

DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT. 191
the whole family of man, continued from Adam
to the flood, and subsequently to the flood on
ward to the time of Moses; and which, indeed,
continued to be the dispensation under which
all the nations were placed, except the divinely
chosen descendants of Jacob. " In respect to the
posterity of Jacob, this [the Patriarchal] economy
ended, at their exodus from Egypt, under the
leadership of Moses, and the giving of the law at
Mount Sinai. That people were then brought into
new covenant relations with God ; and thenceforth
were regarded as a peculiar and elect people;" and
the divine administration over them had its dis
tinguishing characteristics. That was the Mosaic
or Jewish dispensation, established over but a
small portion of the human family, and continu
ing until the death of Christ, when, at that mys
terious rending of the vail in the Temple, as the
dying sufferer exclaimed, "It is finished!" the
intimation was given that another dispensation
had commenced; a dispensation still existing,
and known as that of the Spirit. These former
subordinate dispensations have been remedial in
their nature, as is the present; having more or
less direct reference to the curse of sin and its
removal. Each was preparatory to the other;
each was introduced by miraculous demonstra
tions ; each was closed with Divine judgments ;
and each successive one unfolded more and more
of the Divine purposes of mercy, touching the
redemption of the earth and its occupants from
the curse. The dispensation under which we

192 THE RESTORATION.
live is that of the fall or curse, while it is that of
the Spirit in its subordinate division.
These subordinate periods, the Patriarchal, the
Mosaic, and that of the Spirit, differing in many
things (each having its characteristic features of
God's dealing with, or administration over those
living under it), have, notwithstanding, in com*
mon, one prominent feature, belonging to the
dispensation of the fall. It is the character of
mixed or intermingled good and evil, with a sad
preponderance, however, of the element of eviL
It is of much importance that this feature of the
existing dispensation be Well considered, inas'
much as it has a direct bearing upon another-^
a coming dispensation of a totally different cha»
racter, but to which it is preparatory. The ex*
pression of the parable, "Let both grow together
until the harvest," has primary reference to the
righteous and the wicked, the children of God
and the children of the evil one, intermixed under
the present economy, intermingled in all the re*
lations of life, intermingled indeed in the visible
Church. But it embraces, also, the good and the
evil of individual character — the inconsistencies,
and imperfections, and sins of believers — coexist
ing with holy affections and a life of godliness.
And, also, the varied experience of the good and
evil, the joy and sorrow, the hopes and fears, the
peace and anxiety, the lights and shadows of
every-day life, constituting the sum of earthly en
joyment and the sum of earthly trial. This life
is a checkered scene. In the wise but mysterious

THE GOSPEL OPPOSED BY SATAN. 193
providence of God, when man fell from his ori
ginal state of purity and bliss, by which was ended
the dispensation of Paradise, Satan, through whose
immediate agency the ruin was effected, and by
whom sin was introduced into our world, was per
mitted to usurp authority, such as to entitle him
to the emphatic and significant designations of
"the god of this world;" "the prince of this
world;" "the prince of the power of the air;"
" the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience." By the fall of man, Satan, in a sense, gained a
signal triumph. It was permitted in the wisdom
of God that it might be overruled to His greater
glory. Satan has ever striven to retain the as
cendency. And here again has he been permit
ted to succeed, so far as to render but very par
tial the influences instituted, in the mercy of God,
to remove and banish sin and sorrow from the
earth.1 Eor nearly six thousand years have good
and evil coexisted. " Christianity," it has been
Well remarked,2 "does not exist alone in the
world. It stands in the midst of rival religions,
the inventions of Satan or of men instigated and
controlled by him." There exist^ two great op
posing powers, the Spirit of the Living God, and
Satan ; and two controlling systems, the Gospel
of Christ, and false religion in its varied forms.
" The Church of Christ does not stand alone as
an organized body, striving to draw all men to
1 See chap. v. 2 D. Lord.

194 THE RESTORATION.
itself to make them partakers of its faith and
sharers in its hopes. It is surrounded, on every
hand, by antagonistic organizations, which are
endeavoring to extend their sway, or to maintain
their dominion over the . minds and the hearts of
their deluded subjects. Satan has a kingdom in
this world as well as Christ, and he is allowed to
exert his gigantic powers in efforts to maintain it,
by drawing to his side vast crowds of evil men — f
in making human governments his instruments,
and in rendering learning, art, worldly science
and wealth subservient to his cause. And he has
carried his conquests into the Church itself. Evil
is as predominant as it was fifteen centuries ago.
It has as deep a hold on the human mind; it enters
as largely into the institutions of society ; it has
as numerous and powerful engines at work in
sustaining and extending its sway, relatively to
the evangelical Church, as at former periods."1
At every step in its attempted onward progress,
the religion of the Cross meets with correspond
ing opposition. The devil's grand purpose is ut>
terly to destroy the beneficent, saving influence
of the Gospel, if perchance he can; or, if not
daring presumptuously to anticipate such a re
sult, his effort is to impair and check that influ
ence to the utmost of Satanic ability. It is his
aim and settled purpose not only to prevent, if so
he may, by any artifice or power, the extension
of the Gospel among men, but also to check the
1 See chap. v.

CONFLICT OF GOD'S SPIRIT AND SATAN. 195
increase of godliness, and to mar the beauty of
holiness, and to stay the spiritual enjoyment of
individual Christian experience. Hence the cease
less temptations to which believers are exposed.
Hence the need of constant, prayerful watchful
ness against the wiles of the adversary.
The Christian's present life is emphatically a
conflict ; and although ultimately successful, yet
subject to repeated discomfitures, as Satan gains
temporary advantage. This is' a system of trial
and of discipline. It is designed, in part, to be a
test of character, and it is for the development of
Christian character, good and evil, under the in
fluence, on the one hand, of the Spirit of God,
and on the other, of Satan, the prince of dark
ness. Man, under the trials to which he is sub
jected is led to act out his real principles — to
develop his dispositions — to show just what is
the true character of his affections towards God,
and to prove his fitness or unfitness for the King
dom of righteousness. " And the result of this
experiment is the demonstration, on a vast, ap
palling scale, of the utter indisposition of men
spontaneously to return to God, and the hopeless
ness of their redemption, unless it be under an
administration in which the great agents which
now tempt them to evil, shall be precluded from
exerting on them their deluding, maddening
power, and the Spirit of God take exclusive and
absolute possession of their hearts." Thus in the
condition and character of the world, and in the
individual experience of the people of God, is the

196 THE RESTORATION.
present dispensation one of commingled good and
evil — one of wheat and tares growing together.
" Let both grow together until the harvest."
A time is predicted of the Church and of the
world, when a grand change shall be effected,
touching character and condition, when there
shall no longer be permitted the intermingling
of good and evil — when every baleful, sinister
element shall be taken out from that which is
good, and when influences shall be exerted, unin-
terfered with and. unimpaired, to make the sub
jects of them- truly blessed and perfectly holy.
A time it will be — when Satan, the author and
instigator of all this evil, shall be bound, so that
he can no more, for a predicted period, work out
his purposes of mischief — a time when this earth,
renewed and freed from the thraldom under
which it shall have groaned since the curse first
fell upon it, will be made an appropriate dwell
ing-place for the risen, ransomed, glorified saints,
and the Church of the Living God, under the im
mediate government of the Redeemer. In the
meantime, or up to that period, the second ad
vent of Christ, this intermixture of good and evil,
with, it would appear an increasing preponderance
of evil, seems to be the predicted character of the
dispensation under which we live. Our earth is
not gradually becoming more and more freed
from the dominion of the god of this world. The
subjects of his government are not becoming re
latively smaller in number as the months and
years and centuries advance. For it is worthy

GOOD AND EVIL TO THE END. 197
of special notice that the tares are not to be re
moved from the wheat by any gradual process.
The prevalent teaching on the subject of the
Millennium would seem, however, to imply that
the tares are actually to be gradually converted
into wheat, rather than separated from them that
they may be " burned." For the promised state'
of righteousness is to be brought about, we are
told, by the gradual spread of Gospel truth, sub
duing all hearts to itself, changing the evil into"
the good — the tares into wheat ! Such is far from
being the doctrine of the parable. In the time
of harvest, or at the end of the world or dispen
sation, the Sou of man shall send forth His angels,
and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all
things that offend, just as the reapers are to ga
ther the tares and burn them in the fire. Satan
will hold his full supremacy until the descent of
the angel from heaven, having the key of the bot
tomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and
laying hold of the arch apostate, will bind him
and cast him into the abyss.
Although he is to retain his dominion Gere until
that period comes, he cannot frustrate the grand
purpose of the Lord — a purpose of mercy, for
which especially, it may be, the present dispensa
tion is perpetuated yet a little; a dispensation
which is to gather in , from the nations of the
earth His elect people — the chosen heirs of ever
lasting life. This has been the gracious proce
dure of God since the time the first soul was re
generated. Although the earth was blighted and
18

198 THE RESTORATION.
the race of apostate man ruined by sin, yet all
were not ultimately to perish. And from Adam
to our own day has He been gathering into His
fold the subjects of His elective love. At all
times has He had a seed to serve Him — a people
brought out from amid His enemies, and drawn
by sovereign grace and love to Himself.
To St. Paul, yielding to despondency, and seem
ingly about to abandon his post of duty, as he la
bored amid Corinthian opposers, the Lord spoke
in a vision and said; "Be not afraid, but speak, and
hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people
in this city." (Acts 18 : 9, 10.) These subjects of His
elective love, these " much people" were pagans
at the time, but they were to be gathered in, and
to this end Paul must speak to them the words
of eternal life. It is said of the divine Redeemer,
as upon one occasion He was about to go from
Judea into Galilee ; " He must needs go through
Samaria." (John 4:4.) And wherein consisted
the " needs be" or the necessity to pass that way?
This was not the usual route between the two dis
tricts. Indeed, it was generally carefully avoided,
because of the enmity existing between the Jews
and Samaritans. They were accustomed to cross
over Jordan near Jericho, and passing up the river
on its eastern side, recross into Galilee after get
ting beyond the territory of the hated Samaritans.
Wherefore then must Christ needs go through
Samaria ?
In the purposes of Heaven it was designed that

THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. 199
a certain woman of that place, and some of her
countrymen, should be made subjects of redeem
ing love. They were of the election of grace.
This was the purposed time of their salvation, and
Christ Jesus was to bear them the tidings of
mercy. Hence must the divine Teacher " needs
go through Samaria." An Ethiopian eunuch, a
man high in authority under Candace, the queen,
was returning from Jerusalem, whither he had
gone to worship at the feaBt. He was also a
chosen subject of Heaven's eternal love, and
hence must be ^brought to a knowledge of the
truth. Philip was commissioned by an angel of
the Lord to go down from Jerusalem towards
Gaza, thus to accomplish the divine purpose.
Overtaking the distinguished man as, riding in
his. chariot, he read Esaias, the prophet, he made
known unto him Him of whom the prophet wrote.
The eunuch in faith received Him — was baptized,
and went on his way rejoicing, and no doubt
anxious to communicate the glad tidings of sal
vation to others in the spiritually benighted land
to which he went.1 (Acts 8.)
The Apostle Peter (Acts 15 : 14) declared that
"God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them
[or from among them] a people for His name;"
and -said that he was chosen to preach to the
Gentiles, that he might select out, or rather, that
1 In Ethiopia, a region south of Egypt, Christianity existed
at an early period, and tradition gives to this converted eunuch,
the credit of introducing it there; Neander, however, ques
tions the correctness of the tradition.

200 THE RESTORATION.
the grace of God, through his instrumentality,
might bring out from among the sinful pagan
nations, His chosen ones. Thus has it been to
the present time, and more especially in these
latter days, is the proclamation of the Gospel
made, as never before, so that alreadyit has been
heard by almost every nation under heaven ; and
vast multitudes at home and abroad, have been
made the trophies of redeeming grace. They are
the Lord's elect children, and must needs be
gathered into the fold. But while all this is in
the process of accomplishment, the wheat and the
tares grow together as heretofore. The dispensa
tion does not change its characteristic feature.
Good and evil continue intermingled — the rela
tive proportion of tares not diminishing. It re
mains a dispensation of trial and of discipline^ — a
season of conflicting interests — one of opposing,
antagonistic powers and influences. And thus
the Scriptures teach us will it be up to the very
close of the dispensation. As Satan is now, so he
will be "the god of this world," even unto the
end. His influence is to be predominant. Now
mark the expression, " god of this world." The es
sential difference between the words in the origi
nal of the New Testament, both of which are
rendered in our translation, "world," has 4»een
already noticed. They are " kosmos," the mate
rial, physical earth in its visible arrangement, an,d
" aion," period or age. The word in this passage
is the latter. Satan is the god of this period or
dispensation — a time of limited duration, during

THE GOSPEL FOR A WITNESS. 201
which he is permitted to mingle the evil with the
good. And he will remain such even to its close,
when bound by the angel, he will be imprisoned
in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. And
as a consequence the present dispensation of com
mingled evil and good will be succeeded by one
of righteousness and joy. The wheat and the
tares are to remain until the harvest, when the
reapers shall be bidden to gather, first the tares
and bind them in bundles to burn them, and the
wheat shall be gathered into the garners of the
Master. But what is meant by the harvest ?
The field is the world, " kosmos," this material
world or earth on which we dwell. The enemy
who sowed the tares is the devil. The harvest is
the end of the " aion," the end of the age or dis
pensation. And then, at the harvest, shall be
gathered out of His Kingdom all things that
offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall be
cast into a furnace of fire.
The advent of that time is intimately associated
with the fulfilment of another assurance given by
the Saviour; " This Gospel of the Kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations ; and then shall the end come." (Matt. 24 : 14.)
The Gospel, shall be preached to all nations, not
for their universal or general conversion, but for
a very different purpose. Nowhere in the Word
of God, is the conversion of the nations said to be
the object of the great commission to preach the
Gospel to every creature. It shall be preached
" for a witness." It shall be proclaimed in testi-
18*

202 THE RESTORATION.
mony of God's infinite mercy, in the provisions
of His grace, and then, this having been accom
plished, shall the end come. And what end ? The
end of the times of the Gentiles — the end of the
treading down of Jerusalem — the end of Satan's
dominion — the end of the present dispensation.
And that will be at the time of the promised se
cond advent of the Son of man.
We have already had occasion to consider, to
some extent, the question of the time of the per
sonal coming of Christ, in its relation to the Mil
lennium, and whether this glorious era is to be
brought about by the gradual spread of Gospel
truth, or to be inaugurated by the Redeemer in
person, as He shall come to destroy all evil from
the earth and make it a blessed abode for the
righteous. The signs of the times appear plainly
to indicate that this great question is soon to have
its full solution in the actual accomplishment of
predicted events; and the importance of them
will warrant a brief reference to it again, as it is
bo intimately connected with the subject just dis
cussed. As stated in a previous discussion, all
expect a personal second advent of our Lord.
The Scriptures are full of assurances to this effect.
But when will He come ? Will it be before or
after the Millennium ? We will consider then as
proposed,
H. The Pre-millennial Advent of Christ.1
If we are taught by the Word of God that the
1 Chapters 6 and 9.

CHRIST TO COME BEFORE MILLENNIUM. 203
present state of things — the existence, and even
the predominance of evil in our world is to con
tinue — if the tares and the wheat are not to be
separated until the end of this world or dispensa
tion — if Satan is the god of this world or age, im
plying the continuance of his dominion and wide
spread influence until its close, then surely are we
to look for the predicted coming of the Son of
man before the Millennium, inasmuch as these
evils must be removed before that period can be
enjoyed, and their removal is to be effected by
the advent of the Saviour, and by the binding of
Satan at His coming. If the man of sin, the anti
christ, the offspring of a combination of the papal
mystery of iniquity with atheistic powers, is to be
destroyed before the Millennium can ¦ commence,
then must Christ come before that time of blessed
ness; as it is by the brightness of- His coming, or
by the fiery manifestation of His appearing, that
this gigantic evil is to end. If, as Daniel in his
seventh chapter declares; One like the Son of
man is to come with the clouds of heaven to receive
dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, na
tions and languages should serve Him ; whose do
minion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not
pass away ; and whose Kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed; and if that Kingdom is to be
established on the destruction of the fourth beast,
or the fourth kingdom, (the Roman empire still in
its divided condition on the Continent of Europe),
and if that fourth kingdom is to end before the
Millennium, then must this coming of- one "like

204 THE RESTORATION.
the Son of man with the clouds of heaven," be
before the Millennium. If there, is to be a resur
rection of the holy dead at the commencement of
the thousand years, and if, as Paul assures us,
the dead in Christ are to rise first, at the coming
of the Lord, and if these risen saints are to live
and reign with Christ a thousand years, then the
visible, personal coming of the Son of man must
be before the thousand years. If the children of
Judah and of Israel are to remain in their wide
dispersion, under the manifested displeasure of
their covenant God, with their holy city trodden
down, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;
and if the restoration to their forfeited blessed
ness, the repossession of their lost inheritance,
and the destruction of their enemies, are to pre
cede and to usher in the Millennium ; then will
the coming of Christ be before that period, be
cause, as the inspired evangelist informs us, the
redemption of this people, Israel, is to take place
at the time of Christ's coming. That redemption
is to be amid scenes of fearful commotion. And
" then shall they see the Son of man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory. And when these
things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up
your heads, for tour redemption draweth nigh."
(Luke 21 : 27, 28.) Thus we are taught to expect
this glorious event, the second coming of the
Son of man, before the Millennium, and for it are
ever to watch, and in the anticipation of it are
ever to rejoice. With ten thousands of His saints
shall He come, to execute judgment upon the

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 205
wicked, and to be glorified in His saints. This
will be the commencement, or the morning of
that grand eventful period known as
HI. The Day of Judgment.
The period which this covers and the idea that
it expresses, are very different in the minds of
those who are looking for the speedy and per
sonal advent of the Saviour, from those main
tained by such as have no such anticipation.
The latter refer it to the closing up of all human
things — the ending of time. They teach us that
it is, exclusively, the scene described at the close
of the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, when
the Judge is to come, seated on His great white
throne; is to have gathered before Him the risen
dead of all generations, and of every character ;
and when they shall be rewarded according to
their respective deserts ; the righteous to be ac
quitted and glorified ; and the wicked to be con
demned, and with the devil, the beast, and the
false prophet, and everything that offends, to be
" cast into the lake of fire." And it is by such
believed that the period embraced is very limited
in duration, if it be not confined to that of a literal
day of twenty-four hours. The former believe it
to be a protracted period, having its opening scene
at the visible coming of the Son of man at the
beginning of the Millennium, to continue through
that season, and to close with the trial, condem
nation, and punishment of the then risen wicked
of all past centuries, together with Satan and his

206 THE RESTORATION.
confederates in wickedness. This is the im
portant question we are now briefly to consider.
It is of moment to decide between opinions
so widely at variance. What are we, then, to
understand by the " day of Judgment?" Many
readers of the Bible know the somewhat painful
perplexities they have experienced in anticipating
this eventful "day;" as they supposed it to em
brace the period of a natural day, or one at most
of very limited continuance. They have been led
to inquire ; How can these stupendous events, the
individual trial and judgment of the myriads of the
family of Adam, and the host of angelic beings,
fallen and unfallen — of all, indeed, who shall have
passed a season of probation, be crowded in so
brief a period ? True is it, indeed, if such be the
revelation of the Most High, we may safely leave
the solution of the difficulty with Him. But all
perplexity is at an end, when we adopt what we be
lieve to be the true scriptural import of the phrase.
What is meant by " day" in this expression ?
We believe it to be a period of very protracted
duration. It is hardly necessary to dwell upon
the fact, that the term is thus very frequently
used in the word of God. It is a well-known fact,
that many of the most eminent geologists ascribe
to the several " days" of creation a period of
indefinite duration. Each day covers thousands
and thousands of years. We moreover read of the
" day of vengeance," "the day of salvation," (the
protracted period of offered mercy,) " the day of
visitation," &c. And thus are we accustomed to

MEANING OF THE WORD "DAY." 207
use it in ordinary conversation. It is used to de
signate periods characterized by the existence of
persons of marked distinction and influence, as
well as to designate characteristic periods in the
history of a particular people or the world. Thus,
what is more common than to speak of Crom
well's day, of Washington's day, of Bonaparte's
da$ — referring to the times in which these lived,
and embracing a more or less protracted period.
We also speak of the " day of despotism," the
"day of freedom," the "day of barbarism," the
" day of refined literature;" each also embracing
a period of more or less duration — it may be
of years, or even centuries. Thus no objection
lies against the interpretation we put upon the
word in this connection, "the day of Judgment."
We believe it to imply a period of at least one thou
sand years. What, then, is the Judgment? Are the
acts of trial, of acquittal, of condemnation, of re
wards and punishment, to be continued through
this extended period? We answer, no; and state
that the inquiry is based on a fundamental error,
as we understand it, of the scriptural meaning
of " Judgment." The ordinary conception of the
term has been that of trial and of sentence, before
and by a judge seated on his tribunal in court, or
at an assize. This idea, in reference to proce
dure in human governments, is transferred to the
Divine administration. Whereas the scriptural
idea of a Judge is very different. It is not so much
that of a Jurist on the bench as that of a Ruler.
He is a King, or one in authority to govern and

208 THE RESTORATION.'
to rule, to deliver and protect his people, and to
avenge them of their enemies. This character and
office of such Rulers is clearly exhibited in the his
tory of " The Judges," raised up by the Lord for
deliverers and avengers. When the people de
manded a King, it was not with a view to change
the nature of the office; but impiously to cast off
the recognition of their immediate dependence on
Jehovah, and to be like the surrounding nations.
Their demand was, "Make us a King to judge us."
" We will have a King over us, that we also may
be like all the nations, and that our King may judge
us, and go out before us and fight our battles."
(1 Sam. 8 : 19, 20.) The Scriptures, speaking of
judgment, very frequently connect with it the
idea of general government and control. " Oh,
let the nations be glad and sing for joy-; for Thou
shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the
nations upon earth." (Ps. 67 : 4.) And so is it in a
passage having direct reference to the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. " Unto us a Son is given, and
the government shall be upon His shoulder. . . .
Of the increase of His government and peace there
shall be no end upon the throne of David, and upon
His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with
judgment and with justice forever." (Isaiah 9 : 6.)
" Behold, a King shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth." (Jer.
23 : 5.) Such is the import of judgeship in the
Bible. It is that of government or rule, and the
administration of justice. It is the management
of affairs under the control of a ruling prince.

TWO MARKED ACTS OF JUDGMENT. 209
Hence, when the Scriptures speak of the " Day of
Judgment," they speak, as we understand it, of
the administration of our Lord, as Ruler during"
the whole period of the Millennium, and onwards
to the closing scene of Rev. 20 : 11. It will be
commenced at His promised visible appearing as
Avenger and Judge of His people. It will be
continued through the predicted period of a thou
sand years, during which the government shall
be " upon His shoulder," as supreme Judge or
Ruler. And then the last effort of Satanic and
human wickedness will be put forth ; which, issu
ing in the utter overthrow of the conspirators,
will lead to the final act of retributive justice — to
the eternal expulsion of Satan and his host from
the earth — to the passing of the sentence, and
infliction of punishment upon the risen wicked
dead of all preceding ages, and the establishment
of the eternal state of peace, glory, and felicity
for the righteous.
Thus there will be two pre-eminently marked acts
of the Judgment. The one will be at the end of
the present age ; and is that foreshadowed by the
" harvest" in the parable of the " tares and wheat,"
when the Son of man shall send forth His angels to
execute His judgments upon the living wicked,
and when " the righteous shall shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matt. 13.)
Scenes foreshadowed, also, by the parable of the
" net," and by the gathering together, also, of the
existing nations for judgment, as described, Matt.
19

210 THE RESTORATION.
25. Then, moreover, will be verified the assur
ance of the Apostle: "The Lord shall be revealed
from heaven, .... in flaming fire, taking ven
geance on them that know not God, and that
obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall be punished with everlasting destruc
tion  And when He shall be glorified in
His saints, and admired in all them that believe."
(2 Thess. 1 : 7.)
This first act of the eventful drama will consist
of two distinct scenes. The first embracing the
judgment of the righteous — the risen pious dead
of generations past, and all who, living at the
time, shall be prepared to meet their Lord in
peace. The second scene — between which and
the first there may be, for aught we know, some
considerable period of time1 — will be the Judg
ment of the living nations as described in Matt.
25. The second grand act in the process of Judg
ment to which we alluded, is referred to at the
close of the twentieth chapter of the Revelation,
and of the scenes of which we have just spoken.
Thus this " Day of Judgment" will have its morn
ing and its evening, like any other day. Its morn
ing will be ushered in by the coming of the Son
of man ; and the dawning of that morning will
be the appearance of the significant " signs"
which are to precede His advent. Its evening
will be the period when Satan, death, the risen
wicked, and all that shall have disturbed and
1 See chap. 10.

SATAN'S LAST EFFORT. 211
polluted the earth, shall be given over to the
" second death." The twilight of that evening
auguring its fearful coming, will be the last effort
of Satan, with his confederate host, against the
" saints and the beloved city."

CHAPTER IX.
SECOND ADVENT — ITS NATURE — TIME — AND
PRACTICAL BEARING.
THINGS UNREVEALED NOT PROPER SUBJECTS OF SPECULA
TION — STUDT OF UNFULFILLED PROPHECY A PRIVILEGE AND
A DUTT — OBJECTION CONSIDERED — NATURE OF CHRIST'S
SECOND COMING— A SPIRITUAL COMING — A PROVIDENTIAL,
A LITERAL AND PERSONAL COMING — PROPHETS ANTICI
PATED IT — CHRIST'S TWOFOLD CHARACTER — SCRIPTURAL
EXPRESSIONS FOR SECOND ADVENT — TIME OF SECOND AD
VENT, RELATIVE AND SPECIFIC— PRACTICAL BEARING OF
THE DOCTRINE — DEATH NOT THE SCRIPTURAL MOTIVE TO
HOLT LIVING  PROFESSOR HACKETT'S TESTIMONY — SPECI
MENS OF SCRIPTURAL APPEALS.

A more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed.— 2 Pet. 1 : 19.
This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. —
Acts 1 : 11.
All Scripture is profitable for righteousness. — 2 Tim. 3 : 16.

Not only are the truths revealed in the Bible
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they are
designed for our spiritual good. It is through the
truth that we are sanctified. Error is always in
jurious in its tendency. All Scripture is profit
able. There is nothing contained in these divine
oracles which may not be made available to our
(212)

PROPHECY GIVEN FOR OUR STUDY. 213
spiritual welfare. Some truths are of a more
decidedly practical nature than others; but 'all
are to be received and studied, that they may
produce their legitimate results, in moulding mo
ral character, and fitting us the better for duty
here, and for the experience and enjoyment of -
what is to be revealed hereafter. Mere specula
tion or conjecture can be of but little profit. Much
time may be spent in endeavoring to unravel
mysteries; much in striving to comprehend or
discover what lies beyond the reach of our com
prehension, or what is not properly within the
range of our investigation, and which cannot be
discovered,, because it has not been revealed. All
such time and effort are vainly expended. There
is much in the future hidden' from our view; and
it is not for man to strive to penetrate^ or to uplift
the vail Which shuts out from vision these unre-
vealed portions of God's wise and wondrous plan.
Patiently must we wait for their revelation, as He
shall unfold and develop His purposes, more and
more clearly, for the admiration and blessedness
of His Church. There are, however^ things per
taining to the future, which the Lord has been
pleased clearly to make known. Prophecy is a
prominent feature of the Bible record, and it is
given to us for our edification and study. Much
of the prophetic Scriptures has already met with
its literal fulfilment, and much remains yet to be
fulfilled; while each day, as it passes by, presents
us with predictions in the actual process of accom
plishment. 19*

214 THE RESTORATION.
Prophecy, already fulfilled, confirms our confi
dence in the truthfulness of the Scriptures and in
the faithfulness of God. It is a standing proof
of the truth of the religion of the Bible, which infi
delity vainly strives to gainsay, or to successfully
resist; and it is the assurance, moreover, that what
remains unfulfilled will as certainly be verified.
But is the study of unfulfilled prophecy a profit
able study ? Is it a subject of legitimate investiga
tion? May we not be benefited by what is already
accomplished, and leave what is future without
special inquiry or care, and especially so because
of the conflicting views of professed interpreters
in regard to many of these predictions? So some
reason, and so some regulate their course, per
suading themselves that the study of what is not
fulfilled is not for edification or instruction. This
is not, however, in accordance with the Spirit,
or the teachings of the word of God; for all Scrip
ture is not only given by inspiration, but is also
"profitable." The prophets, in former days, carefully studied
the predictions they were bidden themselves to
deliver. " Of which salvation the prophets have
inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ,
which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory
that should follow." (1 Pet. 1 : 10, 11.) K they were
thus employed, wishing to understand the import
of their own words, surely the prayerful exami-

ALL ARE INTERPRETERS OF PROPHECY. 215
nation of what the Lord declares to be yet in re
serve for the world and the Church, is not only a
duty but a privilege; inasmuch as scenes far more
glorious and startling than have ever transpired on
earth are before us, and it may be not far removed.
A special blessing is pronounced on those who
make these coming events the subject of inquiry.
The volume of inspiration closes with the most
extended and intricate portion of the prophetic
writings ; and at the very opening of the " Reve
lation" we hear the inspired Apostle saying, as it
were in anticipation of any objection to the study
which might be raised, and for the encouragement
of the inquirer; "Blessed is he that readeth, and
they that hear the words of this prophecy and
keep those things which are written therein; for
the time is at hand." (Rev. 1 : 3.) Thus would
the Spirit of the Lord lead us to examine those
things of the future which have been made the
subjects of revelation. It is to be done with a
docile, prayerful, unprejudiced spirit, if we would
secure the promised blessedness.
It should be remembered, moreover, that all
are actually interpreters of predictions not yet ful
filled. Even those who are disposed to question
the expediency and profitableness of the study of
unaccomplished prophecies have their several sys
tems of interpretation, in reference to the pro
minent events of the future. How the great
question is, whether or not these systems be cor
rect — whether or not their interpretations be
legitimate ? And the inquiry is of greatest im-

216 THE RESTORATION.
portance, and it is just that to which we earnestly
desire to draw attention.
Thus our belief of a Millennium—of the resur^
rection — of the Judgment— of the personal comb
ing of Christ— of an eternity of blessedness for
the righteous, and of misery for the wicked, is
from unfulfilled prophecy. We believe these
things because the Scriptures declare they shall
be. They are the subjects of prophecies yet to be
fulfilled. How the great question, we say, has
respect to the correctness of our interpretation*
Thus we believe in a coming Millennium; but
are our views of that Millennium scriptural? Is
it to be secured by the gradual diffusion of light
and truth; and that by instrumentalities now
employed, until all nations shall be brought into
subjection to the cross? Or is it to be preceded by
great and startling revolutions and commotions,
the world being still under the dominion of the
demon god of this dispensation, until by signal,
Divine manifestations of Almighty power, sudden
destruction shall come upon the opposing nations
of the earth, and upon all that shall be found
arrayed against the Gospel of Christ Jesus— thus
ushering in the day of millennial glory? How
does the word of God decide this question ? Is
our cherished interpretation on this point cor
rect? All evangelical Christians believe in a
resurrection. We thus, again, interpret unfulfilled
prophecy. But are our views on this subject scrip
tural ? Is that resurrection to be a simultaneous,
promiscuous uprising, from their resting-places,

LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE. 217
of the bodies of the dead, both righteous and
wicked, of all generations past, embracing every
dispensation — the thousand years of promised
blessedness, and all time up to the supposed com
ing of Christ, who then, at the closing of earth's
drama, will appear in judgment and annihilate
the globe? Or, is there to be a resurrection of
the pious dead, known as the fir st resurrection, at
the commencement of the Millennium, while " the
rest of the dead" are not to live, or be raised, until
the thousand years shall be passed, when the des
tiny of the ungodly will be finally and forever
sealed? What is the scriptural doctrine on this
subject ? Which interpretation of unfulfilled pro
phecy will stand the test of careful investigation ?
We believe that the kingdom of the Redeemer is
to be established here below, and that Christ
Jesus will, at some time, personally and visibly
return to this very earth. This we believe, be
cause prophecy, yet to be fulfilled, clearly reveals
it. But is the kingdom of the Redeemer, which
is here to be set up, to be an exclusively spiritual
kingdom, He reigning, by His Holy Spirit in the
hearts of believers, but not to appear personally
until that kingdom of a thousand years shall be
closed, when He will come to judge and to declare
the destinies of men? Or will He visibly come
before the Millennium, to reign here personally
with His risen, glorified saints, establishing His
kingdom, not only spiritually in the hearts of His
people, but personally to rule over the ransomed
nations of our world? These are some of the

218 THE RESTORATION.
questions to be settled. Hot whether or no we
will give attention to unfulfilled prophecy, for this
we already do ; but whether or not the interpre
tation we do actually give to the predictions is
correct? A question only to be answered by a
careful and candid examination of the Scriptures,
and one, confessedly, which involves interests of
the greatest importance.
Prominent amid the subjects of inquiry is that
of the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have already, in our previous discussions,
taken occasion frequently to refer to it. Our pre
sent object is, although briefly, yet more particu
larly than we have done, to consider it :
I. In its Nature.
n. In its Time ; and
HI. In its Practical Bearings.
I. As to its Nature.
There is a spiritual coming of Christ spoken
of in the Scriptures. Said the Saviour, "If a
man love me, my Father will love him, and we
will come unto him, and make our abode with
him." (John 14:23.) "Behold, I stand at the
door and knock: if any man hear My voice and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup
with him and he with Me." (Rev. 3 : 20.) This
is, unquestionably, a spiritual coming, and it is
one in which every regenerated soul has a special
interest. So may there be said to be a providential
coming of Jesus. Every providence that affects
our weal or woe — every startling incident of life,

BOTH CHRIST'S COMINGS LITERAL. 219
may, in a sense, be said to be the coming of Him
whose ordering it is. So the solemn warning to
the church at Sardis ; " If, therefore, thou shalt
not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee." (Rev. 3:3.) But these, the spiritual and
providential comings of Christ, are not what are
meant by the emphatic and repeated assurances
of the " coming of the Son of man."
The prophets of old, in gloriouo strains, spoke c
of the advent of the Messiah — Israel's Prince and
Deliverer. And ardent were the anticipations
which these animating predictions awakened.
The character of the predicted One was twofold.
He was described by Isaiah as a suffering victim
of bitter persecution — " A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief; despised and rejected of
men." He was also described as a ruling Prince,
a gloriously exalted King upon His throne, whose
dominion should extend over the earth, and whose
dominion should know no end. There was to be
given unto Him, as Daniel declares, " dominion,
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages should serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom that which shall not be de
stroyed." Thus the range of the prophet's vision
embraced more than the advent of Christ eighteen
hundred years since, when as the helpless babe, at
Bethlehem, He appeared the incarnate One who
came on His mission of mercy to our perishing
race; and when, as man's atoning sacrifice, He

220 THE RESTORATION.
hung, a murdered Nazarene, upon the cross. This
was His state of humiliation and of suffering; and
was the verification of only a part of the predic
tion. That prediction extended onward for many
centuries, and embraced a second coming, when
should be realized the visions of a glorious Prince
in possession of a dominion and a kingdom over
all people, and nations, and languages — a do
minion that was to be everlasting, and a kingdom
"without end." The prophecy had respect to a
reigning Prince, as well as to a suffering victim.
As one part of the prediction did not mean a
spiritual coming, but a personal, literal advent to
suffer and to die, so neither does the other — or
that yet waiting its fulfilment, which regards Him
as a ruling Prince on earth — admit of a spiritual
or figurative interpretation. It is to be a visible,
personal advent, as certainly as was that when
eastern Magi offered their gifts in the lowly abode
at Bethlehem; or when the diseased and demon-
possessed of Jerusalem knew His healing power;
or when scoffing priests reviled the sufferer on the
cross ; or when wondering disciples saw Him pass
from their vision, as they gazed up from Olivet
into the opened heavens. " This same Jesus which
is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."
So spake the angels to the disciples, and their
words will assuredly be verified. He was seen to
go into heaven, and so will he be seen to come
again. " This sam.e Jesus;" and in like manner, as
he went will He return. Here can be nothing less

APOKALUPSIS — EPIPHANIA. 221
than a personal, visible advent. Nor are the words
to wait for their literal fulfilment until the Millen
nium be passed.
It may be a matter of some interest to note the
manner in which the Scriptures are wont to speak
of the second advent of Christ. This will give us
additional proof that such advent cannot be a
spiritual or a figurative coming. This coming is
represented by at least twelve different words or
expressions, and these occur about one hundred
and twenty-five times in undoubted reference to
this great event. The import of three of these
words would seem to settle the question touching
the nature of the advent of the Redeemer. The~
first is a word which gives the title to the last book
of the Scriptures, " The Revelation," sometimes
called the Apocalypse of Christ — the Greek word
" Apokalupsis," meaning revelation or manifesta
tion. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" is the
beginning and the title of the book, because His
personal coming, the revelation or manifestation
of Himself, is its grand, prominent subject.1 The
word occurs in 1 Cor. 1:7, "waiting for the com
ing [the revelation, as the original is] of Jesus
Christ." " When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven." (2 Thess. 1 : 7.) "At the appear
ing [revelation] of Jesus Christ." "Hope for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 1 : 7, 13.) A
second word is " Epiphania," and means appear
ance—personal appearance. It occurs in 2 Tim.
1 W. Newton. 20

222 THE RESTORATION.
1 : 10, in reference to the first coming of our Lord
in the flesh, and in 1 Tim. 6 : 14, to His second
coming, " until the appearing [epiphania] of our
Lord Jesus Christ." " Who shall judge the quick
and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom,"
" unto all them that love His appearing." (2 Tim.
4 : 1, 8.) " Looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the Great God and (even) of
our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Tit. 2 : 13.) The third
word used is " Parousia," which embraces always
the idea of personal presence, " arrival" (Donne-
gan). It is found four times in Matt. 24, in refer
ence to the second advent of Christ. " What shall
be the sign of Thy coming" [parousia] ? " So shall
the coming [parousia] of the Son of man be." " As
the days of Noah were, so shall the coming [parou
sia] of the Son of man be." St. Paxil thus uses
the word " They that are Christ's at His coming."
(1 Cor. 15 : 23.) " Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming." (1 Thess.
2 : 19.) " At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
with all His saints." (1 Thess. 3 : 13.) " We which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord."
(1 Thess. 4 : 15.) Such are some of the passages
where these words are used. In other places we
find them in reference to other objects or per
sons, but never to denote a spiritual or figurative
revelation or appearance or advent or presence.
Always where it is an object of sense, a literal,
personal, visible appearance is meant.
Thus nothing, surely, is more clearly revealed
than the visible second coming of the Son of man

THE TIME OF CHRIST'S ADVENT. 223
to this very earth. On almost any page of the
Bible is there reference, more or less direct, to it.
It runs through the New Testament, as a golden
thread, giving significancy and interest to every
part, as it falls from the lips of the divine Teacher,
or as it is spread out upon the pages of the epis
tles of the inspired apostles to the several
Churches they addressed.
II. But, WHAT IS TO BE THE TIME OF HlS ADVENT ?
This is our second inquiry.
We have, in previous discussions, several times
alluded to the coming of Christ as related to the
Millennium ; a frequency of reference justified by
its paramount importance. We now again briefly
consider it, preparatory to an examination of the
question in reference to the more definite period
of His advent.
In the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thes-
salonians, mention is made of "the man of sin,"
or the " antichrist," whose destruction is to be ef
fected by the "brightness of the Lord's coming."
It so happens that the brightness and the coming of
this passage are, in the original, two of the words
just referred to, each of which expresses the per
sonal appearance of Him whose coming is spoken
of. If neither of them when used singly can de
note a spiritual advent, much less can they when
conjoined; and if each of these, when employed
separately, indubitably, means a personal and cor
poreal manifestation and presence, much more
must they when united. The destruction of anti
christ then is not to be a spiritual destruction, nor

224 THE RESTORATION.
to "he accomplished by any mere spiritual mani
festation of his Destroyer. But his is to be a
literal overthrow, effected by the brightness of
the coming, or by the " appearance of the pre
sence" of the Son of God in judgment on His
enemies. There is also mention made in the
same place, of the " mystery of iniquity," which
was already working at the time St. Paul wrote
his epistle. This " mystery," having its rudi
ments even in apostolic times, became under the
development of subsequent ages, in its full mani
festation, the formidable despotism which over
shadowed Christendom, and was known as the
all-controlling power whose seat was on the seven
hills. It was the " scarlet clad woman," " the
mother of abominations," the Romish hierarchy.
The " man of sin" or the " antichrist," emphati
cally such, who is to appear in his full proportions
immediately preceding the coming of Christ, is to
be intimately related to this " mystery of iniqui
ty." Now are " antichrist," the formidable " man
of sin," and this power, impiously assuming the
name of Christianity and the prerogatives of
Christ — this gigantic evil — this grand antagonis
tic system of Satanic origin — to continue, as we
have inquired once before, through the Millen
nium, and onward to a distant period — then to be
destroyed at the predicted advent of the Lord
Jesus, as He comes to judgment and to a world's
annihilation ? If not, then must that advent be
before the Millennium. Both are to be destroyed
at the "revelation" of the Son of God.

A PERIOD OF SUSPENDED JUDGMENTS. 225
The same truth is revealed in the seventh of
Daniel. We are, moreover taught, as has already
been seen, that Satan is the " god of this world,"
or the god of this period {aion) or present dispen
sation ; and here will he continue, by divine per
mission, to have the pre-eminence until the time
shall have come for his being bound and cast into
the abyss, previous to which the tares and the
wheat are to remain intermingled, until the "har
vest," which is .the end of the world (aion) — the
present dispensation or age, and then the Son of
man shall come to make the grand separation, and
to destroy the wicked, and to establish His King
dom, which is to be the anticipated, longed-for
thousand years of millennial blessedness. (Matt.
13:39; Rev. 19 and 20.) The Gospel of the
Kingdom is to be preached "for a witness unto all
nations," in order that the Lord may take out of
them — or out from among them — His elect peo
ple — " a people for His name ;" and that every
nation may have an opportunity to say, whether
or not they will yield to the dominion of the
Prince of righteousness.
Thus is the present period a period of sus
pended judgments — one of forbearance towards
the guilty nations of the earth. But when the
angel, bearing the everlasting Gospel, shall have
accomplished his circuit of the globe, the time of
forbearance shall cease — "the end shall come."
" And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
20*

226 THE RESTORATION.
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great
glory. And He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather to
gether His elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other." (Matt. 24: 30, 31.)
But the question as to the time of the second
advent admits of, and seems to demand, a more
definite answer ; and we may consider,
1. The relative period:
2. The specific or chronological time.
Whatever may be thought and said by some
of the presumption of those who venture to spe
cify a particular "hour or day," or even year,
wherein the Lord shall appear, we are, assuredly,
warranted, yea, it is our enjoined duty so to con
sider the " signs" of His coming as at least to
judge of our proximate nearness to the event;
else the injunction is without meaning. " When
these things [these signs just enumerated by the
Saviour] begin to come to pass, then look up and
lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth
nigh." (Luke 21 : 28.)
Various " signs" are specified, by which we
are to judge of the near approach of the predicted
period. And, if careful observers and attentive
students are not greatly at fault in their calcula
tions, based on these " signs," the'time is near at
' hand, when a heedless world and a slumbering
Church will be startled from their apathy by the
cry ; " Behold ! the Bridegroom cometh Go ye out to
meet Him." We are taught that these" "signs"
will be so clear a demonstration of the immediate

SIGNS OF THE LORD'S COMING. 227
coming and Kingdom of Christ, that we can know
His coming is at hand, just as we know that sum
mer is nigh when the trees begin to put forth
leaves. (Lu. 21 : 30 ; Matt. 24 : 33.) We are not
only taught to believe that we can know it, but
we are as positively commanded to know it as we
are to believe that Jesus- is the Son of God. (Matt.
24 : 33; Ma. 13 : 29; Lu. 21 : 28, 31.) Among these
"signs" immediately to precede this glorious
event — the coming of our Lord — and by which
we are to judge of its proximate nearness are :
1. The Gospel is to be preached to all nations of
the earth "for a witness." "This Gospel of the
Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end
come." (Matt. 24 : 14 ; Acts 1 : 8.)
2. A general apostasy from the faith in nominal
Christendom. " Nevertheless when the Son of man
cometh shall He find faith on the earth?" (Lu.
18 : 8 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 3 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 1-5, 4 : 3-4, &c.)
3. A great prevalence of iniquity in the world. " As
the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming
of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:37; 2 Thess.
2 : 11 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 13 ; Jude 17-19, &c.)
4. National and political revolutions and great dis
turbances. " There shall be upon the earth dis
tress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and
waves thereof roaring ; men's hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the
Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and

228 THE RESTORATION.
great glory." (Lu. 21:25-27; Heb. 12:27; Rev.
8 : 1-13 ; Is. 2 : 10-22, &c.)
5. Numerous unusual physical phenomena, and
portentous forebodings of nature. " Great earth
quakes shall be in divers places, and famines and
pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs
shall there be from heaven. And there shall be
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars ; and upon earth distress of nations. And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a
cloud." (Lu. 21:11, 25, 27; Acts 2 : 19, 20; Micah,
7:15,16.) 6. An unusual awakening of interest and inquiry
among the true followers of Christ respecting His se
cond coming. " At midnight there was a cry made.
Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet Him." (Matt. 25 : 6 ; Hab. 2 :-l-3 ; Dan.
12:4, 9.)
7. Unprecedented manifestations of the power and
malice of the devil in the Church and in the world.
" The devil is come down unto you, having great
wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time." (Rev. 12 : 12 ; Matt. 24 : 24 ; 2 Thess.
2:8, 12; 1 Tim. 4:1, 3, &c.)
These and other signs are clearly indicated, and
if we fail to look out for them, and to be influ»
enced by them in our conclusions as to the ap
proaching nearness of the grand event which they
are designed immediately to anticipate, may we
not meet with the displeasure of our Lord, and
render ourselves obnoxious to the rebuke He ad
ministered to some of old ; " O ye hypocrites, ye

SPECIFIC TIME OF CHRIST'S COMING. 229
can discern the face of the sky ; but can ye not
discern the signs of the times ?" (Matt. 16 : 3.)
But this opinion of the rapidly approaching
period is not founded solely on " the signs" pre
dicted ; which leads us briefly to consider,
2. The specific {chronological) time of the Second
Advent. There are certain chronological predictions
which have direct reference to this event; and
which have not, surely, been given in order
merely to awaken a curiosity never to be grati
fied, and to lead to vain and profitless speculation.
If in ages past no satisfactory solution of these
predicted times has been reached, it is but the
fulfilment of prophecy. A celestial messenger said
to Daniel (10 : 14), ft I am come to make thee un
derstand what shall befall thy people in the latter
days." In the twelfth chapter we read, " 0 Daniel,
shut up the words and seal the book even to the time
of the end." And again: "Then said I; 0 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. . . .
And none of the wicked shall understand, but the
wise shall understand." Thus are we informed
that a time would come when, howsoever obscure
and unintelligible to the wicked these predictions
should be, "the wise should understand them;" for
" at the time of the end" are these seals to be
broken and the words understood. And we ask,
who will say that the " time of the end" may not
now have come ? Within these thirty or forty

230 THE RESTORATION.
years much attention has been given to the inves
tigation of these " signs" of the times, and to the
study of the chronological prophecies ; and these
investigations have been conducted by some of
the most sober-minded, the most learned, and the
most godly of the Church; and it is a very note
worthy fact that, with scarcely a single exception,
the conclusion is reached, that within a few years,
three, or five, or ten, these predicted events will
transpire, or begin to be verified. All the lines
of prophetic interpretation, the result of indepen
dent and of varied methods of investigation, seem
most remarkably to converge to these very years
now just at hand. It is thought, and with many
it is a conviction, that within the period specified,
the long anticipated second coming of the Son of
man in the clouds of heaven, to glorify the saints,
and to be glorified of them; to execute judgments
upon His enemies; to establish His kingdom, and
thus to inaugurate the Millennium, will occur, or,
at least, that " the beginning of the end" will be
most manifest. In reference to any specific, defi
nite time when these events will transpire we wish
to speak with caution. We have no opinion to
express as the result of independent examination
of the chronological prophecies. We refer to the
conclusions which others have reached. A short
time will test the correctness of these conclusions.
They may prove fallacious. But those who en
tertain them think they have, after patient study,
all-sufficient reasons for their belief. We do not
give here the data on which their conclusions are

OBJECTIONS TO PROPHETIC STUDIES. 231
founded, nor the varied investigations leading to
them, but the simple result to which they have
come; and this assuredly demands most serious
consideration. For if it be legitimately reached,
we are indeed standing on the very verge of that
tremendous crisis, in which all the prophecies
centre in regard to the interests and the destinies
both of the Church of God and the nations of the
earth, at the time of the great " harvest," at the
end of the world, or the "times of the Gentiles."
We know that all attempts to fix definitely the
time of these stupendous events is by many most
strenuously opposed, and it is thought that there
is decided scriptural warrant for the objection.
Many of those who make it have no expectation
of a literal kingdom with Christ, in person, the
reigning Prince, ever being established here on
earth. We have already noticed the intimation
given to Daniel, that at " the time of the end"
the seal of the book containing these mysteries
should be broken, and the " wise should under
stand." We may now refer to some declarations
of the Saviour, which to many are the assurance
that the time is not to be known by any until
the event shall be actually upon us.
Jesus said to the inquiry of the disciples, " Wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel?" "It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons which the Father hath put in His own
power." (Acts 1:6, 7.)
It is of some importance here to note, that so far
from this response being a denial of His purpose

232 THE RESTORATION.
to establish that kingdom which they expected
would be here on earth, with Him as their Prince,
it is a virtual admission that it would, be so estab
lished. The Saviour would only remind them
that it was not for them to know the time when it
should be done. It is not for you to know — you
of this generation, and it may have embraced
many .subsequent generations. It was in the
Father's power. But if they were not to know the
time, it does not follow that a knowledge of that
time was always to be withheld from prayerful
inquirers. It was in the Father's power not only
to establish the kingdom, but to make known, if
so He should be pleased to do, the time when it
should be done; and especially as the period
should arrive when, according to Daniel, "the
wise would be made to understand" the contents
of the sealed book; and when the " signs" of the
times should clearly indicate the near approach
of the great event. We see not that the response
of the Saviour is to bar or to discourage inquiry
on the subject.
A second passage which to some appears to be
even more conclusive, as to the futility and im
propriety of endeavoring to ascertain the time of
the second advent, is the declaration of Jesus to
His disciples as recorded, Mark 13 : 32 ; " Of that
day and that hour knoweth no man ; no, not the
angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but
the Father." Not designing to make a special
point of the fact that reference is here made not
to the year, but to the day and hour of His coming,

THE TIME NOT FOREVER HIDDEN. 233
it is yet worthy of some note, inasmuch as the
specific day and hour are not embraced in the cal
culation of any. But even if they were, we see
not that this utterance of the Saviour forbids the
hope of ascertaining them, much less does it pro
hibit positively or by implication, an endeavor by
the study of chronological prophecy to discover
what may be the year, proximately at least. Jesus
declares that neither man nor angel, nor the Son
of man "knoweth" the day and hour. And the
truthfulness of the declaration no one may ques
tion. But who is the Son of man, and what is
the date, and what were the circumstances of the
utterance ? The Son is the same One precisely,
of whom it is said, He " increased in wisdom and
stature and in favor with God and man." (Luke
2 : 52.) The same One who was, undoubtedly,
in ignorance of some things , and it may be even
of the time of His second coming, until the hour
of His death. Christ was possessed of a two
fold nature. He was perfect man as He was per
fect God. How the human nature of Christ, in
intimate union and sympathy with the divine, thuB
closely associated with Omniscience itself, could
be limited in its knowledge, is not for us to ex
plain. It is a mystery which we believe neither
the writer nor the reader may comprehend. Still
it is a fact, beyond question, that of some things,
Christ, when in the flesh, was absolutely igno
rant. 0 f the time of His predicted advent He was,
when He spoke the words, as ignorant as was man
or angel. But was He always to remain in igno-
21

234 THE RESTORATION.
ranee of that time ? Can He be ignorant of it as
we write the sentence, or as the reader's eye may
rest upon it ? No one surely will affirm that now,
as events are drawing to a crisis ; now that the
God-man is ordering His providences for the
grand consummation, He knoweth not the time.
" No man knoweth." This was said eighteen hun
dred years since. This was then the state of
knowledge on the subject. If the Son now knows
the time, may not angels have learned it also?
Has it not yet been revealed to those who are so
intimately associated with that second coming?
The Son of man is to come with " the holy
angels." Are they yet to be apprised of this fact
or of its nearness of approach, yea, of its definite
period ? While to these inquiries no absolutely
positive answer may be given, it is, we affirm, a
probability, approaching closely to a certainty,
that it is a matter of absolute knowledge. And
although " man " knew it not in the days of
Christ's sojourn on earth, may he not learn it be
fore the very time shall arrive, " lest that day
come upon him unawares ?" (Luke 21 : 34.) For
an answer we refer again to the command to
Daniel to seal up the prophecy " even to the time
of the end," and the subsequent assurance that
the seals should be broken and " the wise should
understand;" (Dan. 12:4, 10;) and to the testi
mony of St. Paul, who declares that " the children
of light are not in darkness that the day should
overtake them as a thief." (1 Thess. 5 : 4, 5.) The
great Reformer may not have been very presump-

THE TIME WISELY CONCEALED. 235
tuous in His belief that, " God would yet raise up
some one who should be able to reckon up the
times, and with certainty hit upon the very day."1
Is there, we ask, anything in the word of God
to forbid our hope and expectation that the Lord
will, if He have not already done it, imbue some
diligent students with "wisdom," so that at this
"time of the end" they may "understand" the
import of these predictions ?
Nor may we be at a loss to discover why it was
that the definite time was not made known to the
immediate disciples of Christ, and why it was with
held from many subsequent generations. The
wisdom and the goodness of God are manifest in
this divine arrangement. " I find in this conceal
ment," remarks Dr. Seiss,2 " the great unsearch
able wisdom of the Author of salvation, in so
arranging what He has said about the time as to
secure the same practical effects for every age, with
out confining the promise to any." And Bicker-
steth3 remarks, in answer to the question, " Why
did He withhold the time ?" " Look back. You
stand on the eminence of eighteen centuries. See
what these centuries have been. Generation after
generation, apostles, martyrs, fathers, confessors,
and reformers, have lived and died. Mark all the
conflicts through which the early Christians at
tained their triumphs, their labors, sufferings,
persecutions, and martyrdoms. Go on to the rise
of Popery and Mohammedanism ; see the dark
1 Luther; see Dr. Seiss's " Last Times," p. 260.
* "The Ten Virgins," p. 30. » " Time to Eavor Zion."

236 THE RESTORATION.
ages ; mark the struggles of infant Protestantism,
and its subsequent decay. Look at the present
spread of infidelity among professedly Christian
nations. Had the Apostles been told, all this
must previously take place — all this corruption
must spread over the world — what needless des
pondency and heart-sinkings must have over
whelmed them ! Eighteen hundred years of de
ferred expectation ! — eighteen hundred years of
Israel's dispersion and desolation! — eighteen
hundred years yet to remain of the Gentile
monarchies — and eighteen hundred years of the
treading under foot of Jerusalem ! With that
wisdom and love which marks all the Lord's prov
idence to His Church, this dark scene was kept
back." Thus we see the wisdom and the good
ness of the Saviour's answer to the questioning
disciples ; " It is not for you to know the times
or the seasons which the Father hath put in His
own power." He would have His people, in
every age, reap the spiritual benefit of a cher
ished expectation of His coming. The animating,
purifying, and heavenly hope of that event He
would have them ever enjoy. Hence they were
to watch for it; to anticipate it; to rejoice in it.
There was to be a season of waiting. A know
ledge of how long it was to be protracted He
kindly withheld from them ; that thus they might
feel the power and influence of His oft-repeated
injunction, "Watch; for ye know not when the
Son of man cometh."
But it still may be asked, as it often has been ;

INFLUENCE OF THE ADVENT DOCTRINE. 237
"Wherefore dwell on these unfulfilled predictions ?
What profit are we to derive from the study of
them ?" Much every way, is the unhesitating reply
of those who wait for and love Christ's appearing,
as did the aged Paul when he anticipated the crown
of righteousness, which he was to receive at the
coming of his Lord.
We may now consider briefly —
III. The Practical Moral Bearing and In
fluence of the Doctrine of Christ's Second
Coming. If this doctrine of the personal coming of
Christ before the Millennium be true; if this ad
vent is (as we believe the Scriptures declare) to be
preceded by, attended with, and followed by most
stupendous events ; if the Son of man is to come
to raise from their graves the bodies of His saints,
constituting " the first resurrection," " the resur
rection of the just;" and if living believers, who
shall be waiting for His coming, at the time, are
to be caught up to meet Him in the air ; if He is
¦subsequently to appear in glory "with all His
•saints," visible to every eye, to take vengeance
on His enemies, and to renovate this earth, puri
fying it by fire, and making it the fit abiding-
place of His ransomed ones ; if He will thus, at
His coming, establish His kingdom in righteous
ness, and here personally with His risen saints
judge or rule during the millennial period; and
if we are to "watch" for this advent as for that
which may occur at any time; then, surely, all
21*

238 THE RESTORATION.
will admit that the doctrine should have a direct
salutary moral influence upon our lives and our
feelings. It should operate most decidedly to
make us more holy in conversation and more
heavenly-minded. It should stimulate to the cul
tivation of every Christian grace. If with any
who profess to embrace the doctrine, it does not
bring forth these fruits of godliness, the reason
must be looked for in other causes than the ten
dency of the belief. It is the testimony of those
who fully, without wavering or doubt, receive this as
the revelation of our Lord, that in their own ex
perience there are realized powerful incentives to
holy living — that they may be ready, with lamps
trimmed and burning, and with oil in their ves
sels, to enter into the marriage feast, when the
Bridegroom, for whose coming they are looking
and praying, shall make His appearance. " For
myself," remarks Ryle, " I can only give my own
individual testimony; but the little I know, ex
perimentally, of the doctrine of Christ's second
coming, makes me regard it as most practical
and precious, and makes me long to see it more
generally received. I find it a powerful spring
and> stimulus to holy living; a motive for pa
tience, for moderation, for spiritual-mindedness;
a test for the improvement of time, and a gauge
for all my actions."
This result is just what the whole tenor of the
word of truth would lead us to expect. If atten
tion has not been particularly drawn to the sub
ject, it will, perhaps, be a matter of surprise to

DEATH NOT THE SCRIPTURAL MOTIVE. 239
find that the prominent, we had almost said the
exclusive motive to repentance, and to Christian
diligence, and heavenly-mindedness and holiness
of life, as urged in the Scriptures, is this very
fact, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
other considerations are presented, this stands
pre-eminent as the one incentive and stimulus to
duty. Death is that to which attention, in our
day, is mainly directed as a motive to prepare for
future retribution. It is, certainly, well calculated
to arouse the attention of those who have but a
brief probation here to spend. Death is the seal
ing of the destiny of the soul, as there is no fur
ther opportunity for repentance; and yet it is a
fact well deserving serious reflection, that very
seldom is any allusion made to death by the
Saviour, in His discourses, or by the Apostles
in their letters. We cannot recall a solitary in
stance where the sinner is exhorted to repentance,
or the believer to diligence and holiness, in view
of this event, so certain to all, so uncertain as to
the time of its occurrence, and so momentous in
its immediate and in its ever continuing conse
quences. It is not the motive urged home upon
the conscience as a stimulus to effort. We do not
mean to say that this may not be presented as a
consideration well calculated of itself to make a
deep impression. What we desire, particularly, to
enforce, is, that it is not the scriptural motive — that
which the Holy Spirit has presented as pre-emi
nently the most effective. In every epistle, except
the brief ones, the Second and Third of John, and

240 THE RESTORATION.
that to Philemon, there are allusions — and in seve
ral, very many allusions — to the second coming of
Christ, as a motive to a holy life ; whereas not one
solitary reference, it is believed, is to be found to
death as an incentive to the impenitent, or a sti
mulus to the believer. And, furthermore, it is
worthy of note that the uniform testimony of the
ministers of Christ is that there is scarcely a sub
ject, if there be one, which is urged upon the
attention of their hearers with so little permanent
benefit as death. For upwards of thirty years has
the writer preached the Gospel, and has sought
for motives to urge the sinner to forsake his sins,
and the Christian to increased devotedness; and
many have been his appeals, at funerals and upon
other occasions, based on the certainty of death,
its solemnities and results, and he is constrained
to declare that, so far as memory, serves him, in
but two solitary cases, and these doubtful ones,
has he had evidence of any lasting benefit as
the result of these appeals. Now why is it so ?
Death, wherever it occurs, makes a present so
lemn impression, awakens serious thought, and
sometimes urges to resolutions of amendment
But where are to be found the permanent good
results ? They are confessedly but few. Do not
men coolly discuss their plans of business and of
pleasure even as they follow the corpse to the
tomb ? yea, often indulge in levity of feeling, and
in the most trifling conversation? Why is it that
these solemn admonitions, on the doings of death
and in the very presence of the destroyer, so very

DEATH NOT THE COMING OF CHRIST. 241
generally fail to secure any abiding impressions
for good? Why are our exhortations, and our
warnings, in view of the opened grave, so barren
of results ? Can we find an all-sufficient, satisfac
tory answer in the thought, that the frequency of
the occurrence so familiarizes the mind to the
scene that susceptibility to salutary impressions
is entirely or almost wholly lost ? We think not.
This may have, and undoubtedly has, its effect ;
but a solution of the question we must find in the
fact that, agreeably to the Divine arrangement,
as made known in the Scriptures, death is not the
subject of appeal. Everywhere it is the second
coming of our Lord.
But it may be inquired, as it has often been, is
not death, to him who experiences it, to all intents
and purposes, the same as the advent of Christ ?
And may we not understand by the expression,
" The coming of the Son of man," where it is pre
sented as a motive for watchfulness, this very pro
vidence ? To both inquiries we are constrained
to give an emphatic negative. Death and the
coming of Christ are, in the Scriptures, widely
contrasted. Death is the coming of the "king
of terrors." It is in part the penalty of sin, a
positive evil in itself, the result of Adam's apos
tasy. True, to the believer, it is, by the mercy
of God, shorn of its terrors, and made a " gain ;"
only so, however, because of what sin hath
brought upon our blighted earth. A " gain"
only because we live in a world laboring under
the curse ; where life is a probation, a discipline ;

242 THE RESTORATION.
and where no direct communion with Him who
is the believer's hope and joy, and blessed
ness is had, except by faith. It is " gain" to de
part and be " with Christ." Death is, of itself, a
positive evil, whereas the coming of the Son of
man is represented as a glorious event. Nowhere
is death presented as the object of watchfulness,
and by no legitimate reasoning can we substi
tute the " coming of the Son of man" for it. At
death, moreover, Christ does not come to the be-:
liever, but the believer goes to Him. He " departs"
that he may be with Christ. At death " the dust
[the body] shall return to the earth as it was;
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
(Eccles. 12 : 7.) Death is a present visitation, set
tling, it is true, the question of the soul's futurity.
The advent of Christ is. a predicted event ; when
the believer, as to his body, shall be raised from
the grave, and a consummation of glory, not real
ized at death, will be his blessed experience; and
when the sinner, knowing no joyous resurrec
tion, will wait in " hades," or the intermediate
state, with harrowing anticipations of the full in
fliction of his dread penalty at the closing act of
the Judgment. (Rev. 20 : 12.1) The exhortation
to " watch for the coming of the Son of man,"
embraces much more than to watch for the ap
proach of death. The mind is to be fixed on the
stupendous, startling scenes which are connected
with the second advent; and which are so inti
mately related, not only to the interests of indi-
1 See p. 209.

CHRIST'S COMING THE GREAT MOTIVE. 243
viduals, but to those of the whole Church, and to
the destinies of all nations. Read the comfort
ing assurance of the Saviour to His sorrowing
disciples. " In my Father's house are many man
sions ; if it were not so I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and pre
pare a place for you" — what then ? Is it " I will
come to you at death that you may enjoy it?" Ah
no ; "I will come again and receive you unto Myself,
that where I am there ye maybe also;" referring
them to His predicted second advent, as the time
when this blessedness would be fully realized.
Nothing is more obvious than the marked prom
inence given in the New Testament to the prac
tical moral bearing of the doctrine of the second
advent. Professor Hackett, of the Newton Theological
Seminary, (who is not a millenarian,) a candid
and distinguished commentator on the Acts of the
Apostles, bears this testimony (p. 80) ; " The final
coming of Christ was the great consummation on
which the strongest desires of the souls of the first
believers were fixed, and to which their thoughts
and hopes were habitually turned. They lived
with reference to this event. They labored to be
prepared for it. They were constantly, in the ex
pressive language of Peter, looking for and (in
their impatience, as it were) hastening the arrival
of the day of God  The Apostles, as well as
the first Christians in general, comprehended the
grandeur of that occasion. It filled their circle
of view ; stood forth, to their contemplation, as

244 THE RESTORATION
the point of culminating interest in their own and
the world's history; threw into comparative insig
nificance the present time, death, all intermediate
events, and made them feel that the manifestation
of Christ with its consequences of indescribable
moment to all true believers, was the grand object
which they were to keep in view, as the end of
their toils, the commencement and perfection of
their glorious immortality. In such a state of
intimate sympathy with an event, so familiar to
their thoughts, they derived, and must have de
rived, their chief incentives to action from the prospect
of that future glory. As we should expect, they hold it
up to the people of God to encourage them in affliction,
to awaken them to fidelity, zeal, and perseverance;
and on the other hand, appeal to it to warn the
wicked and impress upon them the necessity of prepa
ration for the revelations of that day." "If modern
Christians," he continues to say, " sympathized
more fully with the sacred writers on this subject,
it would bring both their conduct and their style
of religious instruction into nearer correspondence
with the lives and teaching of the primitive ex
amples of our faith."
This emphatic statement is fully confirmed by
a reference to the Scriptures themselves. A few
passages in illustration may be presented.
As an appeal to ministerial fidelity and diligence,
hear St. Paul to Timothy; "I charge thee, there
fore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge the quick and the dead, at His ap
pearing and His Kingdom, preach the Word ; be

SCRIPTURE APPEALS. 245
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." (2
Tim. 4 : 1, 2.) So St. Peter; "The elders which
are among you I exhort, .... feed the flock of
God, .... and when the Chief Shepherd shall ap
pear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away." (1 Pet. 5 : 2, 4.)
Are careless sinners to be aroused? "What is
a man profited if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul ; or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man
shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels;
and then He shall reward every man according
to his works." (Matt. 16 : 26, 27.) " Whosoever
shall be ashamed of Me and My words, of him
shall the Son of man be ashamed when He shall
come in His glory." (Luke 9 : 26.)
Are men called to repentance ? " Repent ye, there
fore, and be converted, that your sins may be blot
ted out, when the times of refreshing shall come
from the presence of the Lord, and He shall send
Jesus Christ .... whom the heavens must receive
until the times of restitution of all things." (Acts
3 : 19, 21.)
Are saints exhorted to holiness of life and spirituality
of mind ? ' ' When Christ who is our life shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Mor
tify, therefore, your members which are upon the
earth." (Col. 3 : 4, 5.) "Denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in this present world; looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
22

246 THE RESTORATION.
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Tit. 2 : 12, 13.)
"And now, little children, abide in Him; that,
when He shall appear, we may have confidence,
and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
(1 John 2 : 28.)
Are patience, forbearance and long-suffering under
persecutions and trials enjoined ? " Seeing it is a
righteous thing with God to recompense tribula
tion to them that trouble you ; and to you who are
troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus Christ
shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, . . . when He shall come to be
glorified in His saints." (2 Thess. 1 : 6-10.) "Be
patient, therefore, unto the coming of the Lord. . . .
Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts, for the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (James 5 : 7, 8.)
Is the advanced pilgrim to be cheered with the pros
pect before him? "I am now ready to be offered
and the time of my departure is at hand. I have
fought a good fight. I have finished my course.
I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord
the righteous Judge shall give me at that day ; and
not to me only but unto all them also that love
His appearing." (2 Tim. 4 : 6, 8.)
Such are specimens of the many instances
where the practical efficiency of this doctrine is
presented. It stands forth in the Word of God,
unequalled in its power to arouse the careless, to
comfort the mourner, to incite to holiness of life,
and to exalt the Saviour and His cross.

CHAPTER X.

A DIEFICULTY AND ITS ATTEMPTED SOLUTION
—WATCHING CONSISTENT WITH UN
FULFILLED PROPHECY.
WATCHING AN ENJOINED DUTY — COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
IS NOT DEATH — HOW IS THE DUTY OF WATCHING CONSIST
ENT WITH UNFULFILLED PROPHECIES ? — TWO CLASSES OF
TEXTS REVEALING CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT — TWO STAGES
OF THE ADVENT — ONE A SECRET MANIFESTATION TO RAISE
THE PIOUS DEAD — IT MAY BE SILENTLY DONE — THE LAST
TRUMPET : WHAT IS IT ? — THE DEAD CANNOT HEAR — AN IN
TERVAL BETWEEN THE STAGES OF THE ADVENT — A SOLU
TION OF THE DIFFICULTY.

And what I say unto you I say unto all; Watch. — MARK 13 : 37.

There is nothing, perhaps, more frequently, and
certainly nothing more emphatically, enjoined by
the divine Teacher, than constant "watching"
for His second coming. "Watch; for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come  There
fore be ye also ready ; for in such an hour as ye
think not the Son of man cometh." (Matt. 24:
42, 44.) " Watch; for ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
(Matt. 25 : 13.) " Take ye heed, watch and pray ;
(247)

248 THE RESTORATION.
for ye know not when the time is." (Mark 13 : 33.)
" Watch ye and pray always, that ye may be ac
counted worthy to escape all these things that
shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of man." (Luke 21 : 36.) In perfect harmony with
these solemn injunctions of the Saviour, are the
frequent allusions to the subject by the inspired
apostles. " Waiting for the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 1 : 7.) " The Lord direct
your hearts .... into the patient waiting for
Christ." (2 Thess. 3 : 5.) "Looking for and hast
ing unto [or hastening] the coming of the day of
God." (2 Pet. 3 : 12.) " Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Tit. 2 : 13.)
Now this "watching," this "waiting," this
" looking for" the Son of man, whatever else it
may embrace, does most assuredly imply expec
tation, anticipation of the event, as one which
may be near at hand ; one indeed which may oc
cur at any moment. This no one will dispute.
Nor can we admit that figurative interpretation of
this " coming of the Bridegroom" — the " return
of the Nobleman who had gone to receive a King
dom," which would fritter down the grand, com
manding fact of the literal coming of our Lord to
the visitation of one's death. Nowhere can these
expressions have this meaning ; at least there is
nothing connected with them which gives the
slightest plausibility to the conjecture. And no
one, we think, without an object to secure, or a
special difficulty to escape, would ever conclude

WATCHING — UNFULFILLED PROPHECIES. 249
from the narratives connected with the injunc
tions, that such an explanation was tenable. No
one, surely, can prove such to be their import.
We consider it as wholly gratuitous.
The early disciples were commanded to watch,
and so are we, with greatly increased and ever
increasing emphasis, in these latter days. It is
our duty constantly to watch — constantly to be
waiting and looking for the personal coming of
the Son of man. Now just here, is originated in
some minds, a difficulty. We teach that certain
grand events are to transpire before the full in
auguration of the Millennium, or before the com
ing of Christ Jesus. Such as the full development
and manifestation of " the man of sin," the anti
christ; the literal restoration of the Jews to Pales
tine; a season of unparalleled tribulation, &c.
And it is inquired, and we admit the inquiry to
be perfectly natural and legitimate — how can we
be " watching" and "waiting for," and thus con
stantly expecting, as an event which may at any
time occur, that which, it is predicted will not take
place until these other prophecies are fulfilled?
That we may find a solution of the difficulty, let
us now look at these passages which speak of the
second coming of our Lord. And if we do not
greatly err in judgment, we shall find two classes
of texts, having a marked difference of allusion.
Thus ; " Watch, for ye know not what hour your
Lord doth come. But know this — that if the
good man of the house had known in what watch
the thief would come he would have watched."
22*

250 THE RESTORATION.
(Matt. 24:42; Luke 12:39.) "For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night." (1 Thess. 5:2.) " The day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." (2
Pet. 3:10.) "Behold I come as a thief" (Rev.
16 : 15.) Here is one class of texts. Now read
again ; " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man
.... coming in the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26 : 64,)
" Ye men of Galilee, . . . . this same Jesus ....
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him
go into heaven." (Acts 1 : 11.) " Them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." (1 Thess.
4 : 14.) " At the coming of our Lord with all His
saints." (1 Thess. 3 : 13.) " When the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that
know not God." (2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8.) " Behold He
cometh with clouds^ and every eye shall see Him, and
they also which pierced Him ; and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of Him." (Rev. 1 : 7.) Here
is another class of predictions, all looking to the
same grand event. Now does it not most plainly
appear that there are to be two comings of the
Lord, or rather, two separate, distinct stages, or
manifestations of that coming? The one like
"a thief" as it were; secretly, silently and in
visible to the world at large. The other a visible
manifestation of the Son of man in the clouds of
heaven, when " every eye shall see Him," and when
He will be attended by " His saints ?" But how
will this be effected ? When and how will He
have gathered to Himself "His saints" — His

first stage of the advent. 251
Bride — that they may come with Him ? A solu
tion of the question we have in the first class of
passages. It will be at the first stage of His ad
vent. This first stage may be a somewhat pro
tracted period, during which the Lord may be
secretly taking from their graves the slumbering
dust of His saints, and then translating, it may
be, some of His prepared and waiting ones ; for
we are told " one shall be taken and the other
left;" the whole scene perhaps, closing \v\fh what
may possibly be a more open exhibition of divine
power and glory as described by the Apostle;
" The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven,
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ
shall rise first. Then we which are alive and re
main shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess.
4 : 16.) There are those who think that both the
resurrection of the righteous, and the translation
of the living, waiting ones; will be in part at least
by gradual process, and silently carried on, and
that this Will meet all the statements of the Scrip
tures touching these deeply interesting facts. Dr.
Seiss1 remarks ; " I suppose that the resurrection
of the saints will conform to that of their Lord,
and not Occur visibly to men in the flesh. ... So
far as we know, nobody saw Christ rise. And it
would seem as if the same stealth was to attend
the translation of the saints  It was so that
1 "Day of the Lord."

252 THE RESTORATION.
Enoch seems to have been stolen away from the
earth." William Newton1 remarks; "From the
midst of the occupations of daily life they shall be
taken. No sudden outburst of power — no cir
cumstances of terror and of grandeur shall attend
the taking. An invisible hand shall be stretched
forth to take the living saint out of the midst of
his unbelieving companions. In a moment it
shall be done. In the twinkling of an eye."
" But," he adds, " it will be asked, is not the
sounding of the last trumpet to be the signal for the
rising of the dead ? How then can we speak of
it as silently going on ?"
The Bible does speak of the trump of God. But
we are not to suppose it to be a material trum
pet, nor the sounding of it any more an audible
noise than were the six. previous trumpets of the
Apocalypse, material instruments and their sound
ing attended by an audible noise. " These trum
pets are symbols, and their sounding symbolized
the occurrence of the events that were to take
place under them. Six of the trumpets have al
ready sounded; one yet remains — that is the last.
It symbolizes a given event, that is the going forth
of Almighty Power to arouse His sleeping dead."
That this sounding is figurative, may, moreover,
be inferred from the fact that it is to be heard by
the dead. " The dead shall hear the voice," &c.
The very fact of the dead hearing the sound, would
seem clearly to intimate that it indicates the
1 " Lectures on Daniel."

"THE TRUMP OF GOD." 253
exercise of power to produce the effect rather than the
literal arousing, by an audible sound, of what
cannot in any sense be said to have the faculty of
hearing. But it may still be urged, cannot God
cause the dead bodies of His saints to hear ? We
answer no? And we do not feel that we are
limiting the power of the Almighty in the slight
est degree by this response. . He cannot do an
inconsistent or impossible thing. Can He, we
inquire, cause the solid rocks literally to hear?
Hearing is a faculty exclusively of an animated
being. A dead stone cannot hear, nor can a dead
human body. And all the passages where the
dead are said to hear His voice, or where hearing
is implied, mean nothing more than that, by the
exercise of His power, the same effect is produced
as would be did they actually hear, and hearing,
obey His will. The sounding of the trumpet,
therefore, is not, as many teach, the sending
forth of an audible sound, but the exercise of a
power to secure the result. Here the rising of
the dead in Christ will be the proof that the arch
angel is fulfilling his commission. This last trump
may be silently sounding for months and for years,
as it was with the six preceding ones. It will
sound until the last of His sleeping dead shall
have arisen. This being done, we see how the
Lord may be, subsequently, openly revealed for a
very different purpose, which is to execute His
judgment upon His enemies, bringing His saints
with Him — that is His risen saints.
Here, then, we have these two distinct, separate

254 THE RESTORATION.
stages of the coming of the Son of man. Now
we inquire who will venture to declare how long
or how short an interval may intervene between
these two manifestations ? That there is an in
terval of some duration is obvious. But we are
not aware that the length of it is anywhere re
vealed, nor do we know of any circumstance
from which we may draw an inference that it is
very brief. If any assert that one is immediately
to succeed the other, we ask for the proof of it,
and where the necessity ? We know not wherein
consists the one, nor where to find the other. For
aught that the word of God declares, may there
not be an interval of days, of months, of years ;
yea, an interval sufficiently long for the fulfilment
of all the predictions which are to be verified be
fore the Millennium? If no valid objection to
this view of the subject be found, then have we a
satisfactory solution of the difficulty in reference
to the duty of watching. The first stage of the
Lord's coming may be at any time — at any mo
ment. He may, indeed, have already come?
Who can assure me that no grave has been va
cated of its occupant? Who can be sure that
the Lord has not, as a thief in the night, already
taken to Himself some of that precious dust over
which He has watched for years or centuries?
While we know not that He has, we dare not say
that He has not.
Let us remember, that whether this or any
other attempted solution of the difficulty be or be
not satisfactory, one thing remains. It is our

IMPORTANCE OF THESE DOCTRINES. 255
duty carefully to watch for the coming of the Son
of man. The duty is ours, and any seeming diffi
culties that exist, we may rest assured, will be
cleared up by Him whose word we are to obey,
and who hath in His own hands the ordering of
all these events. We may possibly not know how
to meet fully all the objections of the skeptic in
reference to the great events immediately before
us ; but there is One who does know how to con
found the " wisdom of the wise," and to put to
shame the scoffing taunts of those who impiously
inquire, " Where is the promise of His coming?"
And in the mean time let us " receive with meek
ness the engrafted word, which is able to save our
souls," (James 1 : 21,) and be found with our loins
girt about and our lamps trimmed, waiting for
the coming of the Bridegroom.
"It has been well remarked,1 in reference to the
revelations of the Scriptures touching this one
graajl, central truth, the coming of the Son of
man : " All the holy prophets, since the world
began, have borne their testimony to this great
truth. Indeed, the first and second coming of
Christ stand out as mountain peaks on the plain
of God's word. They catch the first and last rays
of His light. The earliest beams of His truth
play upon them ; and the latest rays from heaven
linger and glow on their summits. , Long before
the plain between them receives the light ; long
before the truths which are intermediate to them
1 W. Newton on Daniel.

256 THE RESTORATION.
are revealed, they are made known. The living
sunlight of revelation brings them distinctly out,
while yet other truths, and great, practical, and
glorious truths too, are in the dark. The prophe
cies, in reference to the first, have long since been
fulfilled. And now all the predictions turn to the
second as the one living hope of the Church.
Preparation for it is our instant duty. It gives
power and point to every appeal. It underlies
every hope. It urges to and quickens in every
duty. It is the consummation of the first; the
harvest of the world; all before it is but a pre
paration. "Well, brethren," he inquires, "what is all
this to you? This coming of the Lord of glory?
What is your relation to it? This is just the
one question infinitely more momentous than
any other. Gather together all the interests of
earth ; place them in the light of this truth : and
how utterly worthless they appear. Its ri«hes,
and honors, and pleasures; what are all these?
Will they avail you at that hour? Will the
honors of the great man, and the wealth of the
rich man, and the wisdom of the wise man, profit
him then? He may have wielded earth's might
iest sceptre. Armies may have moved at his
command; or senates thrilled with his eloquence;
or nations trembled at his power. But what will
all this avail ? The wisdom of this world gives
no answer to the question, 'Who shall stand
when He appeareth?' "
And, surely, He will appear. The roll of

DUTY OF WATCHING. 257
Heaven's grand purposes is unfolding fast. Men
may close their eyes to the impending scenes,
and their ears to the prophetic intimations; but
the Lord is carrying on His grand, His mighty
preparations, with a steady hand and a deter
mined will; and foolish, slumbering virgins in
the Church, and scoffing skeptics without; both
of whom may have laughed to scorn the truth,
with the inquiry, " Where is the promise of His
coming?" will be startled from their fancied se
curity, as the cry shall go forth with an emphasis
no one may disregard; not, it may be, "Be
hold, the Bridegroom cometh!" but, "Behold, the
Bridegroom has already come!" for the signs of
the times which betokened His coming they shall
have wilfully disregarded.
" What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch ; for
ye know not when the hour cometh. Watch,
therefore. Blessed is that servant whom the
Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing."

23

CHAPTER XI.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
SUMMARY OF MILLENARIAN DOCTRINES — THE SUBJECT DE
MANDS CONSIDERATION — IMPROPRIETY OF REJECTING IT
WITHOUT INVESTIGATION — SOME INEXPLICABLE DIFFI
CULTIES — MILLENARIANISM CLEARS UP MANY OBSCURE
PASSAGES — THE DUTY OF WATCHING.'

Now of the things which we have spoken this is tlie sum.
Heb. 8 : 1.

It has been our purpose, in the preceding pages,
to present the prominent teachings of Millenari
anism, with a portion of the scriptural evidence
by which the views are believed to be established.
It may not be unprofitable, before we close the
discussion, to pass in brief review these several
topics, in their connection, and to consider a few
themes naturally suggested by them, and which
are worthy of most serious reflection.
We have traced the Jewish people from their
origin, onward through successive generations;
showing the exact fulfilment of prophecy, in the
repeated changes they have experienced, up to
their present wide-spread distribution amid the
nations of the earth. We have noted the wonder-
( 258 )

JERUSALEM FOR THE JEWS. 259
ful phenomenon, perfectly unique in its nature,
of their retaining their distinct nationality, not
withstanding their wide dispersion, and the mul
tiplied influences designed and well calculated to
merge them in the various nations among whom
they have been scattered. Living, often, inti
mately among them, and yet, in their social and
religious views and habits, most widely separated.
The peculiarities of their condition find no possi
ble solution, but in a special divine providence
Which has most signally watched over, guided,
and preserved them, for the accomplishment of a
divine purpose. That purpose is their regather-
ing from amid the nations, and their literal resto
ration to the land of Palestine — a land secured to
them by positive covenant engagement. Their
fondly cherished hopes are to be realized, and the
truthfulness of Jehovah vindicated by their return
to the abode of their fathers. This inheritance
of which they are to become possessed, has been
as signally preserved for them as they have been
preserved for it. "Jerusalem has long been
'trodden down' of the Gentiles; but no one set
of Gentiles has been, allowed to tread it for any
length of time. It has been successively occupied
by the Romans, the Persians, the Saracens, the
Turks of the Seleucian race, the Egyptian Ca
liphs, the Latin Christians, the Egyptian Caliphs
a second time, the Mamelukes, and the Turks of
the Ottoman race. And by this ceaseless change
of occupants, it has been very plainly hinted
that all were intruders and usurpers, aiid that the

260 THE RESTORATION.
rightful owner had not yet appeared  Chris
tians and Infidels, Papists and Mohammedans,
Franks and Saracens, Turks and Egyptians, have
all fought for the Holy City, and possessed it by
turns ; but never have any of them been able to
keep it long. And whilst, in their struggles for
its custody, the Gentiles have trodden Jerusalem
down, the persecuted people, whose it is, await in
calm assurance the day when the Lord himself
shall put them in perpetual possession."1
This restoration is to be preceded by a national
repentance; and to be followed by a recognition
and acknowledgment of the crowning sin of their
ancestors, and one which they themselves, by
their course, have fully sanctioned and indorsed,
— the rejection of their Messiah eighteen centu
ries since. Established in Palestine, with Jeru
salem their metropolis, they are again to enjoy,
and in a degree never previously experienced,
the benediction of the Lord. Their recognized
Messiah is to be their Prince and Sovereign ; and
He is graciously to rule not only over them, but
the dominion of the whole earth is to be given
unto Him. Thus, as immediately connected with
the restoration of the Hebrew people, will be the
predicted and long-anticipated second coming of
our Lord to establish His Kingdom, over which
He will literally and in person reign, the incar
nate God-man, Christ Jesus. He will occupy the
throne of David, fulfilling thus the predictions
1 Rev. James Hamilton.

ORDER OF EVENTS. 261
of holy prophets, and re-establishing the Theoc
racy here on earth.
This restoration of the Jews will be amid start
ling national revolutions, and Christ will come as
the Lord supreme to execute righteous judgment
upon His persistent enemies, and to manifest
signal favor to His people, the subjects of His
elective love. This will be seen in the overthrow
of all that shall be found to oppose His authority;
the destruction of the wicked nations and the
adherents of all antichristian systems ; and in the
resurrection of the bodies of His sleeping saints
— "the first resurrection" — and the translation
with them of all the then living, who shall have
joyfully waited for His coming, to His pavilion in
the clouds, until the fiery visitation of the Lord's
displeasure upon the wicked shall have passed
away. This earth, thus regenerated, purified,
and freed from its bondage, shall be the fit
abiding-place of the honored subjects of His
kingdom. These will be the days of millennial
glory, during which Satan is to be bound, and
excluded from the earth, where, during this dis
pensation, he shall have exercised his unright
eously usurped authority as the permitted god
of this world (aion) — this age or dispensation.
These thousand years, or the Millennium, will
be a period of universal righteousness and peace.
It will be the promised kingdom of our Lord.
The saints of u the first resurrection," and those
translated at the coming of Christ, will be par
ticipants with Him in the administration of the
23*

262 THE RESTORATION.
kingdom, exercising an authority and occupying
a position which we may not now fully compre
hend, but which will be of peculiar honor. The
subjects of the government will be those who,
living at the time of the " appearing" of Christ,
shall escape the judgments inflicted upon the con
spicuously wicked, and their descendants. These,
we believe, will continue to increase, not only
during the millennial reign, but for successive
generations forever. They will be the blissful
occupants of the new, the purified, regenerated
earth, and will constitute that wondrous host of
the redeemed, which, as to number, like the
" stars of heaven," " the sands of the sea," and
" the dust of the earth," no man may calculate.
Thus the second, personal, visible coming of the
Saviour in glory and with His saints is to precede
the Millennium ; which is, indeed, to be ushered
in, and not followed by it. For this joyously
and long anticipated period is not to be intro
duced by the gradual extension of Gospel truth,
accomplished by instrumentalities now employed
by the Church, until all nations shall be brought
into subjection to the will of God. The moral
condition of the race is to remain much as it now
is. The evil will continue to preponderate over
the good, or, at least, to be intimately intermixed.
The tares will continue to be intermingled with
the wheat until the great harvest. Then the
separation shall be made; and the harvest will
be at the personal coming of our Lord, and not
before. It will be at the " end of the world," —

ORDER OF EVENTS. 263
the end of the age. Id the meantime a great, a
glorious work is to be accomplished by the vigor
ous, untiring missionary efforts of the people of
God, which is to gather from all nations unto
Christ the elect of Heaven's grace. To these
nations the Gospel of the kingdom is to be
preached "for a witness." And then shall the
end come. This period — or that during which
the second advent of the Son of man is delayed —
is the time and the fulness of the Gentiles.
Whilst it continues Jerusalem is to be trodden
down, the land remain a waste, and the Jewish
people scattered and persecuted. The kingdom
of righteousness being established, with Christ
upon the throne of David, and Satan a prisoner
in the fearful abyss, the predicted thousand years
of millennial righteousness will be enjoyed. This
being ended, and Satan loosed for a season, he
will make his last desperate effort to destroy the
Holy City and the people of God; which will re
sult in his discomfiture and overthrow, to be
followed by the closing act of the Judgment
day. This Judgment day will commence with
the Saviour's coming before the Millennium, the
first grand act of which will be the punishment
of the living antichristian nations; the overthrow
of the mystery of iniquity; the destruction of the
fully developed " man of sin," the predicted anti
christ; and " the first resurrection," and the trans
lation of the saints. It will continue, as the rule
or government of Christ during the Millennium,
to close with the overthrow of the confederated

264 THE RESTORATION.
hosts of Jehovah's enemies, the appearance of the
Judge upon the great white throne, the resurrec
tion of the wicked of all past. generations, and
their being cast into the dreadful "lake," the fit
ting abode of the unholy, and the fitting recom
pense of iniquity.
This restoration of the Jewish people, this
second, personal, visible coming of the Son of
man, this resurrection of the pious dead, this
destruction of the wicked, and this commence
ment of the millennial kingdom, are, we have
reason to believe, near at hand. They are to be
preceded by specific signs, which are to indicate
the proximate nearness of the period. These
signs appear to be in th.4 process of development,
and hence we infer, the time of the glorious
Epiphany cannot be far removed. The chrono
logical prophecies, moreover, as interpreted by
candid, diligent, prayerful, sober-minded Chris
tian students, point to a period embraced within
the coming few years, when all that the Church
has hoped and longed for, all that holy seers of
the former dispensation loved to portray, and all
that the inspired Apostles and the Redeemer
Himself anticipated of the " glory that should fol
low," shall begin to be accomplished in the reve
lation from heaven of Him who is to reign in
righteousness. Such are a part of the series of startling but
glorious events which, we believe, are literally to
transpire ; and to commence, it may be, within a
short period ; a period, certainly, we have reason

DUTY OF INVESTIGATION. 265
to conclude, embraced by the lifetime of many,
yea, of most who are now living upon earth,
heedless of the voice which admonishes all to be
ready for the coming of the Bridegroom.
In view of this subject we remark:
First. That if there be but the semblance of
proof from the word of God that these things are
so — nay, even if there be but the thought of a
mere possibility that they may be true, it surely
becomes every one who anticipates coming retri
bution carefully to investigate the subject, inas
much as momentous consequences are involved
in a right understanding of the declarations of
Jehovah touching these great themes. But what
should be the interest awakened, when, as we
unhesitatingly maintain, there is not merely the
Bemblance of proof — not a possibility that these
things are revealed, but an array of evidence,
such that but very few are found to give the sub
ject prayerful and adequate attention, without a
deep conviction of its truthfulness. Surely it calls
for investigation ; so that if it be rejected, it may
be done intelligently, and warranted by satisfac
tory proof of its being a delusion, the suggestion
of fanatical minds. Or, if found to be in very
deed the word of God, it may be embraced, and
the Master thus honored in the joyous looking
for of His appearance. Many, we know, by ex
amining the prophetic Scriptures, have adopted
these views. Many more, and the number is
daily increasing, are now willing to search the
Scriptures to see if these things be so; and are

266 THE RESTORATION.
yielding up their prejudices and long cherished
opinions, before the force of convincing evidence.
We thank God for these indications of good.
But, while we thus rejoice, our joy is intermingled
with much pain, to know that there are those who
are unwilling to give the subject any attention;
satisfied apparently with the conviction, that what
their fathers believed, and what they have been
taught from their childhood to be the truth, must
in very deed be the revelation of the Word. Some
spurn the whole subject as one of idle speculation,
unprofitable, injurious, indeed, to the interests of
the Saviour's kingdom, and hence to be repudi
ated and condemned.
We have no fault to find with any, who, after
a careful, prayerful, thorough investigation, reach
this conclusion; although we see not how they
reach, or upon what basis they found their con
clusion. Still they are to "be honored for their
candid examination, and for their intelligent con
demnation. But to denounce the doctrines with
out investigation — to cry out " heresy," without
knowing, or caring to know, what the heresy,
without caricature, is, and by what proof it is at
tempted to be established, is evincive of a preju
dice, and a perversion of sound principle which
must fall under the ban of severest censure. It
should ever be remembered that we are not to
permit prejudice, and preconceived opinions, and
long cherished theories, to take the place of scrip
tural argument. A subject of this kind, which,
we maintain, is to be established by the Scrip-

THE SCRIPTURES THE FINAL APPEAL. 267
tures, is to* be refuted — if so it may be — only by
an appeal to the same sure word. No argument
is worthy the theme — no argument can be legiti-
matelv used in its refutation, aside from the ex-
plicit teachings of the oracles of truth. And we
must be permitted to insist that those who declare
the pre-millennial advent of the Redeemer, and
its associated truths, to be " a strong delusion,"
to which " God has given over some to believe a
lie," should establish their position by a direct
appeal to the same great fountain of wisdom to
which we profess to appeal for the truthfulness
of the one we occupy. Nothing short of this can
satisfy those to whom these doctrines have be
come so precious. To arguments legitimately
drawn from the oracles of God, all, we may ven
ture to say, who think with us, hold themselves
in readiness to give heed. And with grateful
hearts will they thank those who may, in this
way, reclaim them from their errors, if, indeed,
they be under a delusion. We profess to seek,
and to earnestly desire to know the truth. We
think, in reference to these great themes, we have
found it. It has cost us time. It has cost us
painful mental struggles with prejudices deeply
rooted, with early impressions, and with conclu
sions reached by a partial, one-sided investiga
tion. But the conviction has been reached; and
until evidence from the Scriptures- be adduced
against that conviction, as strong at least as that
we find in its favor, we cannot yield it, although

268 THE RESTORATION.
a host continue to oppose and brand it as fanati
cism. We ask that the Bible be read and understood
as we read and understand any other book. That
there are mysteries which no one may compre
hend; difficulties which no human, if any finite
mind, may fully solve, is freely admitted. And
true is it that there are some particulars touching
these views we have presented, which we may not
explain, and that because the explanation is not
definitely revealed; and some questions which an
inquiring mind and an awakened curiosity may
desire to have answered, to which we can give no
adequate or positive response, simply because the
Lord has left them unanswered in His word. But
the prominent truths, those we need to know, are
clearly stated. And we see not why, in order to
understand them, we should resort to measures
adopted in the study of no other book. Why
should we, in one part of the Scriptures, resort
to a strictly literal interpretation, and in another,
where the statements are as plainly and clearly
made, give to it all a figurative or spiritual im
port? To this question a satisfactory answer
must be given before we admit its validity.
With prayerful, candid minds should we then
address ourselves to this study; willing and de
termined to believe that the Revelator meant just
what His words imply. So that when He assures
us that a specific event shall occur in the future,
we may anticipate its literal fulfilment. If He
assured the early disciples that the Holy Ghost

OBSCURE PASSAGES CLEARED. 269
should be imparted unto them, they were to look
for a literal verification of His words. They were
thus verified on the day of Pentecost. If He
as clearly and as plainly assures us that He will
come again in glory to establish His kingdom,
and to rule in righteousness on earth, are we not
as fully to believe that He will thus come, and for
this very purpose ? If His first advent was anti
cipated by holy. men of old as a literal, personal
advent — they understanding the prophetic inti
mations as not admitting a mere figurative, al
legorical, or spiritual fulfilment — so must we
believe that the prophecies which predict His
second coming, in language as distinct, and plain,
and definite, claim from us a conviction of their
accomplishment in His literal, personal, pre-mil
lennial, second advent. The former predictions
were literally verified ; so will be the latter.
Secondly. Many portions of the word of God,
otherwise more or less obscure, are freed of all
difficulty when viewed in the light of these doc
trines. We have often been delightfully surprised
at thus discovering the import of passages of
which we had sought, but in vain, a satisfactory
explanation. Thus we see how the saints — the people of
God — are to inherit and possess the earth. Thus
we understand more fully, and much more to our
satisfaction, many of the parables, as that of the
Tares and the Wheat; that of the Net, gathering
up both good and bad; that of the Sower, assert
ing the very partial reception of the truth through-
24

270 THE RESTORATION.
out this dispensation; that of the Leaven, grying
to the word a meaning which it has in every other
passage where it occurs ; making it a principle of
evil and not of good. Thus, again, the second
Psalm has a richness of significancy and a speci
alty of reference, which every interpretation, aside
from these views, fails to reach. Thus we under
stand the frequent allusions to the resurrection,
and their particular reference, suGh as, " that they
might obtain a better resurrection." (Heb. 11 : 35.)
" Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just." (Luke 14 : 14.) " If by any means I
might attain unto the resurrection of [or from
among] the dead." (Phil. 3 : 11.) " They are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrec
tion." (Luke 20 : 36.) " The first resurrection."
(Rev. 20-: 5.) The former of these, and similar
expressions, find their special significancy in the
last, " the first resurrection :" clearly indicating
something more and other than a promiscuous,
simultaneous uprising of the righteous and the
wicked. Thus, moreover, the condition of the
moral state of society at the coming of the Sav
iour, comparing it with that in the days of Noah
and of Lot, is perfectly clear to our understand
ing when applied to the condition of things at the
close of the present dispensation, when the Son
of man shall literally come. (Matt. 24 : 37-41 ;
Luke 17:26-37.) Again, Rom. 8:19-23, has to
the Millenarian no obscurity. The creature — the
creation — " Ktisis," this sin-cursed earth, is to be
freed from its bondage of corruption when those

OBSCURE PASSAGES CLEARED. 271
who, " groaning within themselves, and waiting
for the adoption," shall experience " the redemption,
of the body." Again we find a satisfactory solu
tion of the difficulty presented by 1 Cor. 6:2;
Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:29, 30; Rev. 20:4, and
similar passages. " The saints shall judge the
world." " They lived and reigned with Christ."
" Ye who have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judg
ing the twelve tribes of Israel." " I appoint unto
you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed
unto me; that ye may ... sit on thrones, judg
ing the twelve tribes of Israel." It is 'not, the
saints do now judge the world, but they shall judge
it. It is not that the Apostles do now sit on
thrones; but they shall do so; referring most
clearly to a period beyond this life; beyond, in
deed, this present dispensation. We may not
precisely define, nor may we now be able fully to
comprehend what is meant by this judgeship or
rule of the saints and of the Apostles. They are,
we know, to exercise the office under and in con
junction with Christ. It is to be a participation
with Him, in some degree, of His authority and
government, a position typified, it may be, by
that of the judges of Israel of old. Again, the
graphic description by Isaiah of old, of a conquer
ing Prince coming up from Bozrah, with gar
ments sprinkled with the blood of vanquished
enemies (63 : 1-6), has a richness of import which
can alone be apprehended and appreciated by

272 THE RESTORATION.
viewing it as a prediction of the victories which
are to be gained by the Saviour over His enemies
at His second personal advent.
These views, again, clear up a difficulty, which,
we presume, many have found in their attempts
to interpret the scene described by St. Matthew
(25 : 31-46), — a scene so generally referred to
what is supposed to be the winding up of all ter
restrial things subsequent to the Millennium —
at the "day of Judgment." The difficulty of
which we speak lies in the ground of approval and
of condemnation of the several parties. We are
elsewhere assured that, in the judgment of in
dividuals, special attention is to be given to the
secrets of the heart. External actions are to be
judged of in the light of feeling, purpose, motive.
Hidden things are to be brought to light. The
counsels of the heart are to be made manifest.
And the sentence of the Judge will have direct
regard to these, the outward acts being but the
reflection of what exists within. Here, however,
there is no allusion whatever to these motives,
and to this condition of the inner , man. The
grounds of judgment are, exclusively, the per
formance, or the neglect of outward deeds in re
ference to the needy, suffering children of God.
Now, on the principle that this is meant to be
descriptive of what is termed the General Judg
ment, limited to the closing scene of earth's event
ful drama, when all will be judged and recom
pensed according to the individual character, how
are we to account for the fact, that the ground

THE MEANING OF "WATCHING." 273
of condemnation and acquittal is exclusively ex
ternal deportment? Is this in accordance with
the plainly revealed criterion of God's judgment
of individual desert ? But all difficulty is at once
removed when we consider this judgment scene
to be one of il nations," as the text declares it to
be, and not of individuals — living nations, nations
actually existing at the time, and that time the
second coming of Christ to introduce the Millen
nium. Such a judgment must necessarily, in its
decisions and awards, be based on external deeds
of good and evil.
Again, we now may see the propriety, and
comprehend the definite bearing of the Saviour's
repeated command to watch for His- coming. If
that coming or manifestation in glory is not to
be until after the Millennium, the word " watch"
must have been used with a special and important
modification of its meaning. To "watch for,"
most obviously implies expectation, and uncertainty
also as to the precise time when the event or the
person should transpire or appear. Now, if a thou
sand years of millennial blessedness are certainly
to intervene between the time when the Saviour
gave the injunction and the actual coming of the
Son of man, must not the disciples have failed to
see the propriety and force of it, if the word was
to be understood in its ordinary acceptation?
How are we to understand it, if the " coming of
the Son of man" may not be near at hand, and
to certainly occur before the predicted thousand
years shall commence? We confess the expe-
24*

•274 THE RESTORATION.
rience of a serious difficulty in former efforts to
comprehend the meaning of the Saviour's injunc
tion : a difficulty which exists no longer. We
are not much surprised, in view of this cause of
embarrassment, that with those who are unwill
ing to suppose that the Divine speaker meant any
thing less than what the word " watch" suggests
to every mind, there should be the supposition
that by " the coming of the Son of man" is meant
the coming or visitation of death ! An interpre
tation which, we maintain, has no countenance
whatever in the Scriptures; but one to which we
appear to be absolutely driven,' if we reject the
pre-millennial, personal coming of our glorious
Prince. These are a few of 'the passages the ex
position of which is freed from the difficulty and
obscurity of any other explanation. We present
them as specimens.
There remains another subject of marked inte
rest, upon which much light is cast by the views
we advocate, and which is our last topic under
this remark. It is the assured result of the glo
rious work of human redemption. We have
often wondered at>— we have, indeed, not unfre-
quently been greatly perplexed when considering
the plan by which so large a portion of our race
would be lost. For> with the views we enter
tained, we found it difficult to reach the conclu
sion, that if the lost of Adam's posterity were not
actually to be a majority, they would fall but little
below it. We could not well understand how
"the wondrous plan" should accomplish com-

THE FULNESS OF SALVATION. 275
paratively so little in reference to the myriads of
earth's inhabitants. The people of God are now,
ever have been, and, up to the close of the present
dispensation, will, we believe, continue to be, " a
little flock." The vast, the immensely vast ma
jority must be among the eternally miserable.
We have reckoned in the redeemed of the mil
lennial season, and the hopefully saved of the
infant dead, and have thus found partial relief.
It was, however, but partial. For making the
aggregate as large as facts would warrant, the
embarrassing question would be still suggested,
why so large a number — a number, apparently,
almost reaching, if it did not actually reach, that
of the saved — must be lost ! Why does the work
of the devil, in its results, compare so painfully
with that of the astounding work of the incarnate
Jehovah ? No one, it is true, may state the pre
cise relative proportion of the lost through Satan
and the saved through Christ, as enumerated
by those who reject our views. But we again
and emphatically ask, if the minds of many such
do not often painfully labor at any attempt to
settle the question? Not because the definite
number may not be ascertained; but because of
the conclusion to which the calculation seems
fearfully to tend. Can they by any process of
calculation and comparison reach a solution such
as satisfies the Christian heart in reference to the
result of Satanic malice and of the redemptive
scheme ? Do not those who believe that the per
sonal coming of the Son of man in Judgment is

276 THE RESTORATION.
to be at the end of the Millennium, and that that
coming is to close up forever the history of our
earth in its annihilation by a fearful conflagration,
often experience an embarrassment, of which they
would most gladly be relieved ; and of which they
cannot be, but by referring it all to the wisdom of
Him who rules on high ? But while all these mat
ters must be referred to Him, we still may find,
we are persuaded, relief to our burdened spirits,
and great satisfaction in the assurances of the
Bible, as we understand them. The work of
Christ's redemption, in its results touching the
number of the saved, is not to close, it is affirmed,
with the thousand years of millennial blessedness.
This earth is not to be renewed and fitted up for
the occupants of the race of Adam merely during
that joyous period. It is to be for the perpetual
inheritance of the saints. And the work of sal
vation is to go on for an indefinite period, and, as
many believe, and as the Scriptures seem to in
timate, through successive generations forever.
Thus all who are to inherit the earth at the com
ing of the Son of man; or all with so few excep
tions, that, we may say, all who shall occupy it
during the Millennium; and certainly all who
shall, in even increasing numbers, occupy it after
wards, when "the new heavens and the new
earth" of St. John (Rev. 21 : 1) shall be revealed,
will be saved by the precious blood of Christ.
Now does His atoning sacrifice — the glorious
work of the incarnate Son of God in the abso
lutely inestimable greatness of its results — loom

THE DUTY OF WATCHING. 277
up before the mind, casting in the shade the re
sult of Satanic malice, and causing the compara
tive number of its wretched victims to dwindle
down to the merest fraction. It is as finite to in
finitude. Truly, the number of the subjects of
the grace of God shall be, as St. John in pro
phetic vision realized, " a great multitude, which
no man could number." (Rev. 7:9.) The num
ber of the finally lost will admit of computation,
while that of the redeemed will defy the estimate
of human or angelic minds. No such compari
sons as those used to show the indefinite, the ab
solutely incalculable number of the redeemed, are
anywhere used when speaking of the lost. No
finite creature can possibly grasp a number with
out limit! Is not the Saviour thus gloriously
exalted ? Are not the results of the work of sal
vation to be somewhat commensurate with the
incomprehensible greatness and glory of a God
incarnate seeking the redemption of a lost world?
Satan shall have no occasion to glory in his work
of madness. The painfully embarrassed and la
boring mind of the inquirer here finds rest, as,
in anticipation of the issue of a Saviour's advent
to our world, He, in sympathy with the angelic
and holy host, exclaims, " Blessing, and honor,
and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and
ever." (Rev. 5 : 13.)
Third. The propriety and duty of " watching"
for the Son of man are obvious, and are based on
a twofold consideration. The Saviour has posi-

278 THE RESTORATION.
tively and repeatedly enjoined it, and no one may
fail to do it without dereliction of duty to Him
-whose word is law to all His faithful followers.
But, moreover, the very nature of these antici
pated events, and their relation to us personally,
suggest and enforce the propriety of earnest, con
stant watching. The signs of the times indicate
their near approach. It may be at any moment.
Hence we should watch; and more especially be
cause our dearest interests are connected with
the exercise. If the events be of the significant
character of which we speak; if they will be most
grand, and startling, and sublime ; and if the con
sequences of their advent will be so intimately
associated with, not only the destinies of the na
tions of the earth, but with the eternal destiny,
the everlasting weal or woe of individual souls,
then is the exercise of continuous watching not
only a duty, but a blessed privilege. The bene
diction of the Saviour Himself rests upon those
whom He shall find " so doing" at His coming.
That all who read these pages may be thus
" blessed," is the earnest prayer of one who de
sires to keep himself in readiness for the glorious
appearing of the Son of man, and who puts forth
this humble effort with the hope that he may in
duce others to seek and secure the appropriate
readiness, ere it be too late, by a prayerful exami
nation of the subject, and a yielding of the heart
to the influence of the truth.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

A.
Abraham called, 21
Affinities of Jews and Jeru
salem, 65
Age, this, one of vain specula
tion, 132
"Aion," 117, 120, 154, 200
Allegorical, see Interpre
tation.
Angels, are they ignorant of
the time of Christ's coming ?
233
Antichrist, 123, 223
Antiochus Bpiphanes, per
secuted Jews, 22, 50
"Apokalupsis," 221
Appeal, in Leipsic Journal,
59.
Appeals, specimens of scrip
tural, 244 B.
Bailie, Robert, 135
Balaam, prophecy of, 28
Barnes, Rev. Albert, 123
Baronius, 134
Berg's History of Jews, 60
Bible, see Scriptures.
Biblical Repository, 61
Bickersteth, Rev. E., 235
Bozrah, Prince from, 141, 271
C.
Children of the Resurrec
tion, 183, 270
Christ, a literal King as well
as a Prophet and Priest, 86 ;

a King and a Man of sor
rows, 219, 220 ; as David, to
occupy the throne, 91 ; as
man, ignorant of some
things, 232 ; combination
against, 145; in His raised
humanity to occupy the
throne, 93; mediatorial work,
the result of, 274; Prophet,
Priest, and King, 86 ; provi
dential coming of, 127, 218;
spiritual coming, 127, 218;
two comings of, anticipated
by the prophets, 219; two
fold character of, 86,219, 232
Christ, Second Coming of,
anticipated by all, 105; an
ticipated by prophets, 219;
how expressed, 105, 221 ; in
terval between the two stages
of, 254; literal, 115, 125, 219,
221 ; moral influence of the
doctrine, 237; a motive to
holiness, 237 ; it is not death,
241, 274; pre-millennial, 101,
106, 114, 116, 122, 202, 223,
262 ; state of society at, 127,
140, 262 ; the destruction of
the wicked, 94, 97, 139, 261 ;
time of, 223, 226, 229, 264 ;
past ignorance of the time
was predicted, 229 ; study of
the time objected to, 231;
why not revealed to the
early disciples, 235; two dis
tinct stages of, 250
Church sittings, deficiency of,
109; always a minority, 108,
112
(279)

280

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Coan, Rev. Titus, 165
Conflagration of the earth,
154, 169
Conflagrations, two, 154,
160
Crisis at hand, 17
Cummings, John, D.D., 170,
189 D.
David, covenant with, re
specting the throne, 89;
throne of, to be restored, 49,
83, 260
" Day," meaning of, 206
Day and hour, no man know
eth, 232
Day of Judgment, 205; com
mencement and ending of,
209
Dead, the, God cannot make
to hear, 253; meaning of
their hearing, 253
Death contrasted with the
second coming of Christ, 241 ;
how a "gain," 241 ; ineffici
ent, as a motive, 239; not
the scriptural motive, 239;
testimony to its inefficiency
as a motive, 240; not same
as the second coming of
Christ, 241. MB
Devil, has he gained a tri
umph, 197, 275 ; see Satan.
Difficulties, some inexpli
cable, 255, 268
Dispensation, meaning of,
189; of the spirit, 191; the
present, why continued, 197;
mixed character of the pres
ent, 107, 116, 192
Dispensations, various, 189
Duff, Dr., 109
Duffield, Rev. Geo., D.D.,
113, 135, 180 E.
Earth, conflagration of, 154;
two conflagrations of, 154,
160 ; elements of its destruc

tion in its bosom, 163, 165 ;
ever to remain, 157, 169 ; in
habitants of, during the Mil
lennium, 170, 173, 186, 261;
inheritance of the Saints,
167, 171 ; moral condition
of, 107, 116, 189, 262; its
moral condition to be chang
ed, 196; not derogatory to
the Saints to dwell upon,
168; not to be evangelized
gradually, 107, 116, 149,200,
225; to be renovated, 153;
renovation of miraculous,
159
Election of Grace, 20, 79,
112, 149, 197, 263
"Elements," 162
"End" (Matt. 24 : 14), 80, 202
End of the World, 80, 116,
120, 202
" Epiphania," 221
Eruptions, volcanic, 163
Eunuch, Ethiopian, 199
E.
Eisk, Rev. George, 29
G.
Generations, perpetual, 262,
276
Gentiles, design and issue
of missions to, 79, 107, 111,
149, 197, 201, 225, 263 ; time
and fulness of, 76, 263"
" God of this world," 193,
197, 200, 225, 261
Good and evil intermixed in
this age, 192, see Earth
Gospel for a witness, 80,
107, 119, 149, 201, 225, 227,
263 H.
Hackett, Rev. H. B., D.D.,
243
"Hades," 242
Hamilton, Rev. James, 64,
260
Harkness, Rev. J., 57, 95

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

281

Harvest of the world, 119,
201, 262
Hatfield, Rev. E. P., D.D.,
138
Heavens, to be dissolved, 161
Hopkins, Bishop, 138

Whitby's

» Hypothesis, "New," 136 I.
Infidelity, a problem for it
to solve, 28
Inheritance of the Saints,
167, 171, 173, 261
Interpretation, allegorical,
38, 69, 77, 85, 100, 136, 177
Interpreters, all, are of un
fulfilled prophecies, 215
Israel, kingdom of, 44
Israelites, the Jews so called
in the New Testament. 45

Jerusalem, glorious things
spoken of, 68; restored, 34;
trodden down of Gentiles,
29, 259
Jews, a distinct people, 21,
259 ;' captivity of, 21 ; con
version of, 20 ; error of, 87,
102 ; held millenarian doc
trines, 132; history of, 22;
hope of restoration, 56 ; la
mentation of Karaite, 62 ;
origin of, 21, 40 ; persecuted
by Antiochus Epiphanes,
22,50; Polish, 58; preserva
tion of, a divine providence,
28, 43, 259; punished for
unbelief, 72; readiness to
return, 63 ; recognize the
hand of a sin avenging God,
72; rejected Jehovah on de
manding a king, 84; reject
ed for rejecting their Mes
siah, 72; repentance of, 74,
259; first national repent
ance, not in view of a reject
ed Messiah, 75 ; restoration

of, 19, 41, 69, 259 ; restora
tion, allegorical view of, 38,
69 ; amid revolutions, 99,
261; restoration and conver
sion distinct, 70 ; restora
tion not figurative, 32, 37,
69 ; restoration, not return
from Babylon, 55 ; restora
tion of, benefit to Gentiles,
41, 78; proximate time of
restoration known, 76 ;
Scripture declaration con
cerning, 19 ; sufferings of,
26 ; suffer for their sins, 72 ;
wailing-place of, 61 ; who
are the Jews? 43,45; under
the Maccabees, 23; unlike
every other people in their
preserved nationality, 25.
Jones, Hon. Joel, 84, 189, 190
Judah, Kingdom of, 44;
kept distinct, 44 ; never uni
ted with that of Israel, 49
Judge, scriptural import of,
207
Judges, office of the, 208
Judgment Day, 205, 263 ;
commencement of, 209 ;
meaning of, 207 ; a protract
ed period, 205, 263 ; morn
ing and evening of, 210;
two marked acts of, 209
Judgment of "sheep and
goats" premlllennial, 147,
272
Judgments on the nations at
Christ's coming, 94, 97, 139,
147, 261, 272; suspended,
this a period of, 225
Judgeship of the Saints, 208,
271 K.
Karaite Jews, 62
Kingdom of Christ, estab
lished literally, 93, 95; on
the ruins of the four prece
ding ones, 94 ; not this dis
pensation, 96; not of this
world, 88, 95 ; offered to the
Jews, 87; spiritual, 85, 96,

25

282

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

97, 100, 116; spiritual and
literal contrasted, 97 ; sub
jects of, 183, 262 ; it is the
Millennium, 105
Kingdoms of Judah and Is-
pb.p1 44
"Kosmos," 117, 154, 200
Krummachee, 18, 36, 88.

Leila Ada, 59
Leipsic Journal, 59
Life, a discipline, 195
London, moral condition of,
109
Lord, Daniel, 160, 193
Lord's Journal, 111
Lost Tribes, 45
Luther, 234 M.
Macaulay, 109, 137
Maccabees, 23, 50
Man of Sin, the Papacy, 124
Marriage, unknown to the
raised Saints, 183
Martyr Spirit, revival of,
not the Millennium, 177
McNeile, Rev. Hugh, 40,
50, 56, 61
Millennium, 18, 85, 103, 261 ;
not a "sign" of Christ's
coming, 11&; not gradually
introduced, 107, 116, 149,
200, 226, 262; race propa
gated during, 183, 262
Millenarianism, doctrine of
the church for centuries,
133; early New England
divines on, 136 ; believed by
the Jews, 132 ; in Scotland
and England, 137 ; not a
novelty, 132 ; opposed by
Romanists, 133 ; opposed by
Origen, 133 ; opposed by
Whitby, 136 ; Reformers on,
184 ; rejected without exam
ination, 6, 266 ; revived and
growing in favor, 136, 265 ;
should be examined, 5, 266 ;

Westminster divines held it,
135 ; word of God only true
test of it, 267
Millenarians, some modern,
135.
Milman, History of the Jews,
24
Moral Condition of the
earth, 107, 116, 189, 262, see
Earth.
Mystery of Iniquity to be
destroyed, 122, 124.
N.
Nations, judgment of the, 97,
147, see Judgments.
Neander, 199
Nebuchadnezzar, dream of,
93
Newcomb, Rev. H., 109
New England, early divines
on millenarianism, 136; mo
ral condition of, 111
New Hypothesis, Whitby's,
136
Newton, Bishop, 134
Newton, Rev. William, 252.
255
Newton, Sir Isaac, 135
New York Observer, 26
O.
Olshausen, 181, 183
Origen, opposed millenarian-.
ism, 133

Palestine a waste, 31 ; pro,
phecies respecting, literally
fulfilled, 36 ; restored, 32
Papacy, the, Man of Sin, 124
Parables made clear, 269
"Parousia," 128, 129, 222
Paul, despondence of, 198
Paxton on Palestine, 31
Poland, Jews in, 58
Powers, two antagonistic, 193
Practical tendency of doc
trine of the second advent,'
237

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

283

"Proofs of pre-millenni-
alism" quoted, 117
Prophet, Priest, and King,
Christ a literal, 86
Prophets, the, studied their
own predictions, 214
Prophecies, study of, chron
ological, 230 ; fulfilled liter
ally, 37, 51, 66, 87, 95, 268 ;
fulfilled, benefit of study of,
214; unfulfilled, all are in
terpreters of, 215; unfulfill
ed, most modern students of,
become millenarians, 137,
265 ; unfulfilled proper sub
jects of study, 213, 229, 265
Providence, a divine, in re
ference to the Jews, 29, 43 ;
teachings of, as to spread of
the Gospel, 107
Purpose, a divine, in refer
ence to the Jews, 29, 43.
R.
Rabbi, an English, 73; the
impassioned address of a
young, 26, 72
Race, increase of, 183, 262,
276 ; lost of the, a mere
fraction, 276; relative pro
portion of the saved, 274
Rachel, lamentation of, 47
Redemption, results of works
of, 274
Reformers millenarians, 134
Restoration of the Theocra
cy, 84; of the Jews, see
Jews.
Resurrection, the first, 171,
261 ; allusions to the first,
174, 181,184, 270; first may
be silent, 251; children of
the, 183, 270; effort of St.
Paul to attain unto the, 184;
twofold, 176; twofold ad
mitted by Stuart, 180
Robinson, Rev.E.,D.D., 160,
161
„ Roman Empire, 203
Romanism, aggressions of,

109; destruction of, 122, 224;
opposed to millenarianism,
133 ; will only end at the
personal coming of Christ,
123
Russell, Rev. M., 56
Ryle, Rev. J. C, 238
S.
Saints inheritors of the earth,
167, 171, 173, 269, see Earth;
in the Saviour's pavilion
during the conflagration,
174 ; judgeship of, 208, 271
Samaria, Christ must needs
pass through, 198
Sandwich Islands, volcano
on, 163
Satan a kingdom here, 194;
gained a triumph, 193, 275 ;
god of this world, 193, 197,
200, 225, 261 ; grand pur
pose of, 194 ; malice increas
ed as the end draws near,
114, 228; will rule until
Christ comes, 197, 200, 225,
see Devil.
Saul, successor of, appointed
of God, 89
Saved, relative proportion of
the, 274
Scoffers in the last days, 125
Scott, Rev. Thomas, 35, 145
Scriptures all profitable,,213;
lessons of, as to the spread of
the Gospel, 114 ; only judge
of truth, 5, 267 ; some
obscure, cleared up, 166, .
269; specimens of appeal
from, 244; to be read like
other books, 268
Second Advent, see Christ.
Seiss, J. H., D.D., 160, 169,
234,235,251
Shedd, Prof., 138
"Sheep and Goats," judg
ment of, pre-millennial, 147
Shimeall, Rev. R. C, 138,
154
"Signs," duty to study the,

284

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

226 ; to precede second ad
vent, 226, 264
"Souls," meaning of in Rev.
20:5, 179
Speculation, this an age of
vain, 132 ; unrevealed things
not proper subjects of, 213
Spiritual Kingdom, 85, 96,
97, 100, 116
Stanley, A. P., D.D., 31
Statistics of Christianity, 108
" Stone" cut out of the moun
tain, 94, 98
Stuart, Prof. M., admits two
resurrections, 180
Students, candid ones of the
prophecies to be honored
although rejectors of mil
lenarianism, 266
Study of fulfilled prophecy,
benefit of, 214; of unful
filled, a privilege and a duty,
213,265; of unfulfilled, leads
many to embrace millena
rianism, 265 ; of unfulfilled
objected to, 214, 281, 266,
see Prophecies.
Subjects of the kingdom, 170,
173, 183, 186, 262
Summary of Doctrines, 237,
258 T.
" Tares and Wheat," 119
" The Land and the Book,"
61
Theocracy restored, 83, 260
Thessalonians, error of the,
corrected by St. Paul, 121 ;
expected a literal coming,
125
Thompson, Wm. M., D.D., 61
Thorp, Rev. W., 58
" Thy kingdom come," 100

Time and fulness of the
Gentiles, 76, 263
Time of Christ's advent,
223, 226, 264; attempt to
discover the, condemned,
231 ; past ignorance of pre
dicted, 229; why not re
vealed to the early disciples,
235; see Christ, second
coming of.
Tribes, the lost ten, 45
Trumpet, the last, . noiseless,
252; may sound for years,
253
Trumpets are symbols, 252 ;
all noiseless and gradual, 252
Truth, alone can benefit, 212;
of millenarianism only to be
tested by the Scriptures, 5,
267 V.
Volcanic eruptions, 163
W.
Wailing-place of the Jews,
61
Watching, duty of, 247, 273,
277 ; death not the object of,
242, 248, 274; consistent
with unfulfilled prophecies,
249,254; import of, 248
Westminster divines on mil
lenarianism, 135
Whitby, new hypothesis of,
136; revived figurative in
terpretation, 136
Wilde, travels of, in Pales
tine, 57
Witness, the Gospel to be
preached for a, 80, 107, 119,
149, 201, 225, 227, 263
Wolff, D.D., on Karaite
Jews, 62

INDEX OF TEXTS.

Genesis.
Chap. Page
8:21,  158
12:2,  21
12 : 7  172
13 : 15, 17,  172
26:3, . ,  172
28:13,14,  172
32:24,  43
Leviticus.
26:83, ...... 31
26:40-42,  75

Numbers.

23:8,9,

28

Deuteronomy.
27,28: 
28:64,5, 
30: 
30:1 

. 52
. 26
. 53
52,74

Joshua.

11:11,

8:19,20,

I Samuel.
», . . .
II Samuel.

7:16,

Nehemjah.
9:36,57, . . .
Psalms.
2:1-9 
37: 

179

208

90

46

98, 145
. . 167

25

Chap. Page
37 : 9,  171
37:18,  172
49 : 15,  179
67:4,  208
87:3,  66
89:  90
93 : 1,  158
102 : 25, 26,  155
104:5,  158
119 : 175,  179
Ecclesiastes.
1:4,  158
12:7  242
Isaiah.
2:10-22,  228
9 : 6, 7, ... . 92, 208
11 : 11-16, .... 46, 71
14:1  46
24:1,21,23  142
24:23  92
34 : 1 -8  143
43 : 5, 6,  53
49:22  71
51 : 3, '.  35
53 : 3,  73
59 : 21,  183
60:1,18,20,21, . . .104
60 : 10, 11  35
63:1-6, . . . . 141,271
64:9-12  34
65 : -9, ,  171
65 : 17-20, . . . 154, 157
65:18-21,  34
65 : 20, 23,  183
66:20,  71
66:22,  157
66:22-24,  154
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INDEX OP TEXTS.

287

Chap. Page
8: 16,  162
9 : 26,  245
12 : 39  250
13:15  161
14 : 14,  270
17:21,  87
17:26-30, . . . 127,270
18 : 8  227
18:37,  ^ 161
19: 11,12  101
20 : 36  183, 270
21 : 11, 26, 27  228
21:24, . . . '17, 76, 118
21 : 27, 28, . . . 204, 226
21:28-31,  227
21 : 34,  234
21 : 36,  248
22 : 30,  271
John.
4:4,  ,198
5 : 28, 29  181
14 : 2,  243
14 : 23,  218
18:36  88
Acts.
1 : 6, 7  231
1*8 . 227
1:11, '. '. '. 165,212,250
2 : 19, 20  228
2 : 29-31  93
2:30,  90
2:41  179
3:19-21, . . . , . 245
7 : 14,  179
8:  , . 199
15:14,  199
15:14-17,  79
18 : 9, 10,  196
20 : 32,  172
27 : 37  179
Romans.
8 : 19-23, . . . 166, 270
9:4  39
11 : 1, 2,  39, 45
11:6,7  20,41

Chap. Page
11:11-15, ..... 78
11:20,  74
11 : 25  17, 76
I Corinthians.
1:7,  221
6:2  271
15:23, . . . . 181,222
Galatians.
3:18,  172
Ephesians.
2:7,  189
Philippians.
3:11, . . . . 184,270
COLOSSIANS.
3 : 4, 5  245
I Thessalonians.

2 : 15, 16/
2 : 19, .
8 : 13, .
4 : 14, .
4:15-17, 4:16, .
5:2,. .
5:4,5, .

... 74
. 120, 222
120, 222, 250
. . . 250
. 174, 222
105, 152, 251
. . .250
. . .234

II Thessalonians.
1 : 6-10, . 121, 139, 146, 160,
173, 210, 221, 246, 250
1 : 7, 8, .
2:1-8, .

2:3,2:8,. .
2 : 8, 12,
2:11, ,
3:5,. ,

I Timothy.

4:1,3, 6:14,

131
121227 223228227 ?48

228 222

288

INDEX OP TEXTS.

II Timothy.
Chap. Page
1 : 10  222
1 : 12  185
3 : 1-5,  227
3 : 13,  227
3 : 16  212
4:1,2  245
4:3,4  227
4 : 6, 8,  246
4:8,  222
Titus.
2:12,13, . .222,246,248
Hebrews.
8:1  258
11 : 35,  270
12 : 27,  228
James.
1:21  255
5 : 7, 8  246
I Peter.
1 : 4, 6, . . , . . .173
1 : 7, 13,  221
1 • 10, 11  214
6 : 2, 4,  245
II Peter.
1 : 16  131
1 : 19,  212
3:1-4  125
3:6-12,. . . . '. .156
3:7-13, .... 154

Chap. Page
3:7,  166
3:10,12, . . . 161,250
3 : 12,  248
3:13,  152
I John.
2 : 28  246
JUDE.
14:  105
17-19,  227
Revelation.
1:8,  vi, 215
1:7,  250
3:8  219
3 : 20  218
5 : 13  277
7:9,  277
8 : 1-13,  228
11 : 15  100
12 : 12  114, 228
14:7  81
16 : 15  250
19 :  225
19 : 11-20  140
20: . . . 127,140,180,183, 225
20:1-6  175,276
20 : 4,  271
20 : 5, 6  186, 270
20 : 9,  160
20 : 11  209
20 : 12,  242
21 : 1  154, 167

0081