[HG38]
SOPHISTRY.

False reasoning on this "natural" or animal plain, by those who cannot discern spiritual things; is leading many other, than Christadelphians, into darkness. I will give a sample of their way of reasoning: The words Satan, and Devil, says the above book, means accuser, or adversary; and are only Bible synonyms for sin.

Ergo.

It was a Bible synonym for sin that contended with the archangel about the body of Moses. "Mary," is a synonym for bitter; ergo: It was the principle of bitterness that took Christ to be the gardener. "The words that I speak, they are spirit;" that is, a principle of power. Christ is the Word, (John 1:14); ergo: Christ is a principle, and not an entity. Holy Spirit [pnuma] is an element of power, electricity. "God is a spirit [pnuma]." Ergo: God is electricity.

A man becomes my enemy, he is an adversary, therefore he does not exist, he is a synonym of opposion. Granting that such a being as the Devil does exist, will some of these Sophists please tell what he could have been called? If he had been named Peter, they would have insisted that he was only a stone.

Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat, said Christ. A principle desired to have Peter. If Bible language were clay, designed to be shaped by every reader to suit himself, these men might be right.

There is ten times the evidence of the existence of fallen angels, familiar spirits, "wicked spirits in heavenly places" [margin]; "the rulers of the darkness of this world;" and of their chief, the "prince of the power of the air;" that there is of the existence of Michael the archangel, with whom the Devil contended about the body of Moses, (Jude 9). And the same kind of sophistry that will explain away fallen spirits, will also explain away the existence of angels who are "ministering spirits." Angel means a messenger or servant, Satan means an adversary. And both are applied to more than one order of beings. I am thankful they do not desire to prove that angels are mere principles in nature; since it would be such an easy task. And if they really set about it, as the Christadelphians do, they can explain away the Holy Spirit. And the same reasoning, carried to its legitimate conclusion, can also dispose of both Christ and the Father. How pertinent then becomes the query, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

PLAN OF REDEMPTION.

An Outline.

The plan of salvation is progressive, and has required ages for its development. A "seed" was promised (Gen. 3:), and that promise was renewed to Abraham, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.... And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed (not seeds), and heirs according to the promise," (Gal. 3:16, 29). "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed," (Rom. 9:8). Hence, the "seed" means, not Christ alone, "the firstborn from the dead," but "the church of the firstborn" complete: Christ and his body. And not until the "marriage" when Christ and his bride are made one, will the promised "seed," which was to bruise the serpent's head, be perfected. While the blessing which is to flow to the world through that seed, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18), does not come before its development, but follows it.

The promise in Eden was very dark, a mere germ of a great tree. Centuries passed; a whole world were born and died, and a new world came into being before that promise began to be realized. Then it was renewed and enlarged with a little increase of light. But not until the law was given from Sinai did the light begin to shine so as to point to the true Seed, and then only through the dark imagery of types. Why did God permit one whole world, and many generations of another, to go down in death with little or no effort to bring them to a knowledge of the one and only great plan of redemption? "Death reigned from Adam to Moses." The exceptions being Abel, Enoch, and Noah; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nothing but the fact that there is to be a restitution, that "as in Adam [HG39] all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive," can account for this apparent neglect in the slow development of a plan for the salvation of mankind.

God's love for the world, and the fact that he is no respecter of persons, can be reconciled by no other view. Nor can the statements that Christ "tasted death for every man;" that he is the "true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world," be harmonized with the supposition that almost the entire race from Adam to Christ, perished without being brought to the knowledge of the truth.

During the Mosaic dispensation the whole world, excepting that one nation, were left in darkness; and it was not "lawful" to give them light. Nor, after his advent, would Christ permit his disciples to go to the Gentiles. Clearly because the time to begin to save Gentiles had not come. Hence, it can be seen, a definite plan was being developed; and that plan is not yet complete, since countless millions, during the gospel dispensation, have died without being enlightened by "the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. " Without a restitution of all who have thus died, facts and Bible cannot be reconciled; for even if the gospel were to continue until the world's conversion, the dificulty with respect to this class who continue to die unenlightened, would only be increased. But in the real plan of redemption, as it is revealed; these difficulties find a solution. When the "seed" is complete; when Christ and his body are perfected; when the gospel to the Gentiles, which was "to take out from among the Gentiles a people for his name "(Acts 15:14), is ended; then all who have died in Adam will be made alive in Christ; "and all the nations which thou hast made shall come and worship before thee;" "and in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

To prove a restitution in one case, of such as have died in their sins, is to prove it in all cases (only of that class who, having sinned against the Holy Spirit "shall be forgiven neither in this aion (age), nor in the aion to come." [Some teach that none who die can be forgiven in the aion to come]. This exceptional class, among whom are those who have persecuted the saints, live not again until the aion to come (" the thousand years") are ended.*

* That Rev. 20:4, 5, refers to a class, and not to all mankind, is clear; or else none but the martyrs under the gospel, will reign with Christ. Neither "the beast," referred to, nor its "image." existed in the days of David, or the patriarchs. And surely they are not to be rewarded for not worshiping it. Those of whom the Revelator is there speaking are, evidently, the martyr church and those who put them to death. The rest of this class live not again &c.

The word here translated "rest," is the same as that occurring in the last verse of the previous chapter, [remnant]; "and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse."

Those who had worshiped the beast, and its image, and put to death God's saints; the class referred to in 2 Thess. 1:6-9; the troublers and betrayers of the body of Christ; who, like Judas, would have been better off had they not "been born;" this class, having come in contact with, and opposed the truth; have no share in the restitution. If the language here used, cannot be made to cover all who are to live and reign with Christ, and it certainly does not include the prophets and saints of other ages, but simply of the gospel Church, how can the "remnant," of whom he speaks, mean all the human family? And to insist upon such a forced construction in opposition to the whole tenor of Scripture in relation to the work of restitution and judgment, is not demanded by the language. [See "The Divine Plan of the Ages," Chapter 14, pp. 288-289.]

That the Sodomites died in their sins, none will question; or that they would have repented, if they could have had the chance offered the Jews: "If the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, they would have repented long ago." But they were destroyed; not one escaped. Hence, there is no remnant left alive; and if ever they are restored, it must be from the captivity of the enemy death. Let God be true, though theology may be found at fault. Ezek. 16 clearly teaches that they are to be restored to their former estate, and given to Judah for daughters by a new covenant. And in language which cannot be made to mean any thing else. Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, and Jerusalem and her daughters, are all to be brought back, not to judgment merely, and then to heaven or hell, but to their "former estate:" "And I will give them unto thee (Jerusalem] for daughters, but not by thy covenant," (Eze. 16:61).

Read Eze. 16:53-61, and make up your mind whether you will believe it, or whether you prefer your old theology. There are those who admit this Scripture is true, but claim that it is not until after the next age is ended that the Sodomites are to be restored. And yet these same theologians maintain that the Jews will be restored immediately after the second advent of Christ. That the Jews are to be restored at the end of the gospel age, if ever, I presume all will admit. That the Sodomites are not yet restored, I need not stop to prove. But what I can prove, is that " when Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou [Jerusalem] and thy daughters, shall return to your former estate," (Eze. 16:55).

And least you misinterpret it, read also the 53rd verse: "When I bring the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, [HG40] .. . then will I bring the captivity of thy captives, in the midst of them. " There is but one restitution [yet future] promised to Israel, dead or alive; and when that transpires, Sodom will also have a restitution. And as certainly as the Jews are to return to Palestine immediately after the close of this present gospel dispensation, so certain is it that "the restitution of all things," begins at that time.

That the restitution of the Sodomites is from death is certain, and how any one, after reading Eze. 39 can hold the unscriptural position that only those among the Jews who are living at the appearing of Christ, are to be restored, puzzles me.

The latter part of verse 23, reads, "Therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies, so fell they all by the sword." Now read Eze. 39:27, 28; which end thus, "But I have gathered them into their own land, and have left none of them any more there." First they are scattered and fall by the sword in their enemies land; then he brings them into their own land, and leaves none of them there; and also in Eze. 37 he states positively that it is from the grave he brings them, and yet, many Age-to-come people deny that any but the living Jews, will ever be restored.

JUDGMENT, TRIAL, PROBATION.

Will the saints be brought to trial?

Perhaps no subject of revelation is so little understood as is that of the judgment.

Probation and judgment, mean one and the same; viz. a trial. Probation, says Webster, is the act of proving; a trial, or examination. In the M. E. Church, converts are placed on probation; that is, on trial for six months; and if they pass through this trial successfully they are admitted to full membership. During this six months trial they are expected to learn the ways and doctrines of that church.

The day of judgment is the day of trial, or probation for eternal life.

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." That is, all mankind must pass through a trial or probation under him, in order to determine with them the question of eternal life, or eternal death. Christ himself submitted to a trial, won the victory, and became the "firstborn from the dead." And "now is the judgment of this world; now is the prince of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted up will draw all unto me, (John 12:31). The Greek here for judgment is the same word as in Matt. 11:24, and that class of texts; and evidently refers to the final and decisive judgment.

The final judgment of all mankind, then, began with the head of the Church; who, of course, passed his trial triumphantly. And thus abolished, or conquered, death; and commenced the process which shall cast out the prince of this world, or him that hath the power of death. Prior to this, their probation was for an earthly inheritence, and a fleshly kingdom; and had been a total failure. But now "He sends forth judgment [trial] unto victory," (Matt. 12:20); and life and immortality are brought to light by his own successful probation.

After Christ, the next to pass through the judgment, [probation, or trial] is "the church of the firstborn," or house of God; "whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end," (Heb. 3:6). That is, if we pass the trial successfully.

Having seen that the judgment of this world began with our Lord; we will now show that the judgment on his Church also transpires in this life. In other words, judgment [not the sentence, but the TRIAL] transpires during probation; here on the church, hereafter on the world.

"For the time is come [says Peter in his first epistle] that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if first at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God"?

As judgment means trial, it follows that where probation ends, the judgment ends.

With the gospel church it ends at death; and with the world it will end with their time of trial.

The objection may be urged that judgment comes after death: "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment." This is true only of mankind in general; but the gospel church is an exception. "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasling life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life," (John 5:24).

The word "judgment," which in this text is rendered condemnation, is krisis, the same as in Heb. 9:27; and also in Matt. 12:36; "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment" [krisis]; and clearly means the final great decisive day of trial. Those who accept of Christ here, have their trial, or judgment in this life, and "have passed from death unto life," that is, the sentence of [HG41] life is pronounced, and they "shall not come into judgment," or another trial; are the words of the Master.

Judgment is not executed until after the trial, but the trial is the judgment, and with the saint ends at death. So that with the apostle he can say, "I have finished my course; I have kept the faith; [I am not going to another trial; I am not going to judgment; the sentence of eternal life has been already awarded] and a crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which he, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only" &c. If sentence had not been pronounced at the end of Paul's probation, and he has yet to stand a trial to decide whether a crown of righteousness is laid up for him, then the Holy Spirit was premature in passing sentence. "He that believeth on him that sent me is passed from death unto life, and shall not come into judgment," Hence all the future judgment for the saint, is its execution, or the receiving of the reward: "Sown a natural body; raised a spiritual body." Which second birth, is the crown of life; "neither can they die any more."

Thus "the judgment of this world," which Christ said began with himself; who was tried in all points; has, thus far, been a probationary trial for life. And there is abundance of evidence that the great judgment day is designed and set apart expressly for the purpose of placing the world on a probation or trial for life. It is certain the mass of mankind, from Adam to the present time, have not had probation in Christ, the only name given under heaven or among men, whereby they must be saved. And no one can escape, either in this age, or the next, of standing a probationary trial for his life at Christ's tribunal, "For to this end Christ both died, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. For we shall all [either while living, or after death] stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God," (Rom. 14:9-11).

"Marvel not at this, for the hour [time] cometh, when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment," (John 5:28). [Krisis, is translated judgment thirty-nine times, and is the word used when speaking of the day of judgment; and yet in this, and two other cases it is, for no other than a theological reason, rendered damnation]. "It is appointed unto man once to die, and and after this damnation," (Heb. 9:27); this is the same word, and the same rendering. But our Lord teaches in this, as in other texts, that one class are raised to life, sentence being already passed, so that they "shall not come into judgment; while the others are raised to probationary trial. If it be otherwise, and he has no good for them, but they are raised only for punishment, how is it that every deed "whether it be good or whether it be evil, is to be rewarded? " Whosoever [this is a big word, and takes in men of all characters] shall give you a cup of water to drink, in my name because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward," (Mark 9:41).

From the general teaching of Scripture it appears that the probation of the next age will differ from that of this age. Here it has been under grace, and exclusively for the "Church of the firstborn. "No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him." These are judged in Christ; and hence appear only by proxy.

That this class do not appear in judgment we know, for those who believe on him " shall not come into judgment, but are passed from death unto life." The sentence of a crown of righteousness laid up for them, is already passed, and it is to be given in that day. But with the world it is not so. They must answer for themselves, and receive a reward for every deed, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. And this includes all who are raised to judgment. Another proof that the saints who are forgiven, are not raised to judgment. A queer forgiveness, if we have still to answer for every deed. In the judgment of the world, they will be rewarded for every good deed they ever done in their life, if it was only the giving of a cup of cold water to help a disciple of Christ, as surely as they will be rewarded for their evil deeds. And it is thus, they can now "make to themselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness." For "he that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him again." And he has appointed a day in which these things will be adjudicated. But their rewards and punishments will be proportioned, not by the magnitude of the deed merely, but by a righteous judgment: "The servant who knew his lords will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes; while he who knew not, but did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few." And "where there is no law [not even that of consciencs], sin is not imputed."

In this gospel age, there is no law to one who walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. But in that age mankind will be subject to law, and not to grace. And those laws will be enforced with rigor: " Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron."

The age of judgment is the time of separation as brought to view in Matt. 25:31''. The sheep and goats, of that parable refer to the good and bad of that age. And those who are finally saved will surely inherit the kingdom. The scene is at the time he sits on "the [HG42] throne of his glory," and therefore at the time "the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations." And Christ reigns during the restitution age which is a thousand years duration. "For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." But this end is not reached until all classes are raised; "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order." Though the apostle gives the "order" of the resurrection only so far as it relates to the Church of the firstborn, still the statement is, that all are to be raised, "then cometh the end; when he shall have delivered up the kingdom. As one order of the dead "live not again until the thousand years are ended;" we know where the "end," of which he speaks is due, viz. When all the dead are disposed of, and the last enemy, death, is destroyed.

And as there can be no trial for life, after there is "no more death," it follows that probation must end with the thousand years.

There is no third death mentioned; hence we may assume that men will not die in that age, unless they die the "second death," which is eternal. Therefore, as they come to maturity, the good will be translated, or "delivered from this bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God," without tasting death; as we may suppose would have obtained, had man not sinned. This would be a perfect restitution. "But the sinner being a hundred years old, shall be accursed."

That is, in the restitution, when men are once made alive in Christ, they will no longer die in Adam, or else Christ's work is made of none effect; but the soul that sinneth the sin which is unto death, shall die.

When all the human family who have died in Adam, have had probation for life, that is, have been brought to Christ's tribunal, and there is no other name by which they can obtain life, then those who have committed the unpardonable sin, in this life, and "live not again until the thousand years are ended," are raised, and, with the nations who are left, after the good have been taken out, are brought to the final executive judgment; as given in Rev. 20:9, 10; which is the end, to which Paul refers.

Rev. 20:11-15, is, I apprehend, a mere recapitulation of the whole scene from the setting of the judgment, Rev. 4: to the end.

Tell the whole world these blessed tidings, Speak of the time of rest that's near; Tell the oppressed of ev'ry nation, Jubilee lasts a thousand years.

Chorus – A thousand years earth's coming glory – 'Tis the glad day so long foretold: 'Tis the bright morn of Zion's glory, Prophets foresaw in times of old.

What if the clouds do for a moment Hide the blue sky where morn appears; Soon the glad sun of promise given, Rises to shine a thousand years.

Haste thee along ages of glory, Haste the glad time when Christ appears – Oh, for the faith of ancient worthies; Oh, for that reign of a thousand years.


BIBLE CHRONOLOGY.

Although there is no direct evidence that at the end of six thousand years from the creation of Adam, the "second" Adam should begin the new creation, or restitution of all things; still there is much indirect evidence. Enough, at least, to make the subject of the age of the human family one of great interest, to those who are investigating the subject-matter of this book.

The chronology by Bishop Usher, as found in the margin of our English Bibles, is one hundred and twenty-four years too short. That is, direct Scripture can be adduced giving that number of years over and above what is found in his chronology. For instance: instead of four hundred and fifty years, he gives but three hundred and fifty, for the time of the judges, and shortens the reign of the kings of Judah six years, in his efforts to harmonize them with the reign of the kings of Israel; and begins the seventy years captivity, or rather, the seventy years of desolation, during which the land was to enjoy her Sabbaths, (2 Chron. 36:21), eighteen years before it was thus made desolate. That is, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, instead of at the end of Zedekiah's reign, who was the last king of Judah. Thus, in these three places, making the chronology one hundred and twenty-four years too short. Hence, although according to Usher, the six thousand years do not expire until A.D. 1996, the facts are, that they ended with the Jewish year which began in the autumn of A.D. 1872, and we are, therefore, already in "the great day of the Lord;" or, seventh thousand.

To the reader of this book, I need not dwell on the importance of understanding Bible chronology. The [HG43] mass of evidence which synchronizes with the fact that the six thousand years are already ended, is absolutely startling, to one who will take the trouble to investigate. And if the reader really means to know what the Scriptures teach in relation to the great events of the ending of the gospel, the separation of the "tares and the wheat," the glorification of the church, and the introduction of the millennial age, he must become thoroughly acquainted with Bible chronology.

No one need make the excuse that this is a difficult subject. If you can read and add up figures, you can understand this whole subject just as well as the best historian that ever lived. No man can, nor does any one claim to measure the age of the human race, back of the historic age, only as he draws his information from the Bible; and you can read what that says, just as well as can Bishop Usher, or any other person. And if the Scriptures, in the English tongue, are not fit for you to rest your faith on, and must be interpreted only by those who have a thorough theological education, then the place for you is in the Roman Catholic church, since they, and they only, carry out the above idea to its full and legitimate conclusion.

One evening spent with Bible, paper and pencil, added to a thorough determination to know just what it does teach, will enable you to master the whole subject, and measure for yourself, the six thousand years to their termination in 1873; and having done this, you will be able to understand all the evidences which prove that we are now in the midst of the greatest changes this world has ever experienced since men were upon the earth. A morning of joy, and a night of weeping. "The morning cometh, and also the night." The morning to the church of the first born the Ecclesia, and a night of weeping to those who are shut out of the kingdom, as "many" will be, according to the words of the Master. "The wise shall understand;" and you may be sure you cannot understand these things, and the day of the Lord will come upon you as a thief, and you will loose your "crown," no matter what your professions may be, unless you are willing to make an effort and search for truth as men search for silver. And also possess the spirit, not of the haughty Pharisee, but of the little child.

If you have the spirit of a little child, you will please get a large piece of paper, your Bible and pencil, and begin with Gen. 5:3. Let me urge you, a few months and "The harvest will be passed, the summer ended." Again I say, this chronology is the basis of all that can throw present light on the prophetic Scriptures. If you once get interested, the chances are that you will be led into such a flood of light as you never dreamed could be found in God's precious book. "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."

You will now please begin, pencil in hand: "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son and called his name Seth (Gen. 5:3).

Place this 130 at the top, and near to one side of your paper, and make your figures even and distinct, so that you can add up a long column. With the remainder of Adam's life we have nothing to do. "And Seth lived one hundred and five years and begat Enos," (Gen. 5:6). Put this 105 under the 130; and so on. "And Enos lived ninety years and begat Canaan," (Gen. 5:9). See also Gen. 5:12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 28; at which you reach the birth of Noah. And Noah was six hundred years old to a day when the waters of the flood were dried up (Gen. 8:13). Place this six hundred at the bottom of your column, and add them up. If you have made no mistake, the total will be 1656 years from the creation of Adam to the day the flood ended.

Place this 1656 off by itself, as you will have a number of similar totals, to add to it, to complete the six thousand. [Those familiar with figures will please excuse this minute direction, as I am writing for some who require it]. The next period is from the flood to the death of Terah, Abraham's father. "Shem begat Arphaxad two years after the flood," (Gen. 11:10). Begin a new column with the 2 years.

"And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years and begat Selah," (Gen. 11:12). Place this 35 under the 2; and see Gen. 12:14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 32. The total of all these is 427 years from the flood to the death of Terah. Place this under the 1656.

At the death of Terah all regular chronology ceases until the Exodus from Egypt, and we have to arrive at it by a system of reasoning, "comparing Scripture with Scripture." But do not be discouraged; indirect evidence is sometimes as strong as direct, which, in the present case, I think you will be ready to admit.

Our next period is one of four hundred and thirty years. "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass, at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the self-same day, it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt," (Exo. 12:40, 41). Here is all the chronology we have, to reach from the death of Terah to the Exodus, and, as you see, there is not one word as to where, or when this four hundred and thirty began, while the day it ended is very positively stated. It is true Abraham's age is given, and Isaac's, and Jacob's, but there it stops. Joseph's age, when he dies in Egypt, is given, but his father's age, at Joseph's birth, is not given, so that no light can be had from that direction. And at the death of Joseph, all reckoning ceased until [HG44] they came out of Egypt. Hence, this 430 is our only hope, and we will try what comparing Scripture with Scripture will do towards connecting this apparent break.

At the death of his father Terah, God called Abraham into Canaan, and made him the promise of the land – "Unto thy seed will I give this land," (Gen. 12:7), and this occurred when his father died, (Acts 7:4, 5). The promise of the land was the covenant; "which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting possession, saying: Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance," (Psa. 105:9, 11). This promise, made when Abraham came into Canaan, was not only "the covenant," as you see, but it was the covenant confirmed of God in Christ. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made; He said not, And to seeds as of many, but as of one; And to thy seed, which is Christ," (Gal. 3:16). The very words used in Gen. 12:7, "Unto thy seed, will I give this land."

We have now learned that the covenant which was confirmed of God, in Christ, was made with Abraham when he came out into Canaan, and also, that he came out at the death of his father Terah. And it was at the death of Terah our regular chronology stopped. And yet we have the statement in Exo. 12:41, that at the end of four hundred and thirty years, which years began somewhere, they came out of Egypt. "Now this I say, the covenant that was confirmed before, of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect," (Gal. 3:17). Hurrah! Victory! The breach is closed, and the 430 have a beginning, viz: where the 427 ended at the death of Terah, and you now have the chronology unbroken, from Adam, to the Exodus from Egypt. For the law began the very night in which they left Egypt; in the passover, that glorious feature which pointed to the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

There are difficulties in chronology, as you see; but, thus far, the Scriptures have contained, within themselves, the means for overcoming them; and so it will prove to the end.

From leaving Egypt, to the crossing of the Jordan, was forty years; and from the crossing of the Jordan to the division of the land, six years. But of this six years there is no direct measurement. From the sending of the spies, to the division of the land, was forty-five years, (Josh. 14:7, 10). That would leave one year to fill the time from leaving Egypt, to the sending of the spies; and it can be proven to have been a period of less than two years. Thus: They left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month, (Num. 33:3). They started from Sinai, for the wilderness of Paran, on the twentieth of the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt, (Num. 10:11, 12). It was from Paran the spies were sent, (Num. 13:3); and from Kadesh-barnea, in Paran, (Num. 32:8). Here is one year, and an unknown fraction of a year between leaving Egypt and the sending of the spies.

It can be shown to have been thirty-eight years and a large fraction of a year, between the sending of the spies, and the end of the "forty years in the wilderness." Because the time from leaving Kadesh, after the return of the spies, up to the day they passed through the coast of Moab, was thirty-eight years, (Deut. 2:14, 18); and this must have been many months before the forty years ended; since Moses was then alive, and they had not, as yet, conquered any of the territory given to the two and a-half tribes on that side of Jordan. Hence there was, first: the forty days, during which the spies were absent, (Num. 14:34); this thirty-eight years; all the time they consumed in conquering the territory on that side of Jordan; [which was accomplished before the death of Moses], the thirty days they were mourning for Moses, (Deut. 34:8), and some little time after that, between the sending of the spies, and the crossing of the Jordan, or end of the forty years.

Hence, although the time from leaving Egypt to the sending of the spies was a little more than one year, it certainly was considerably less than two years. And this fraction of a year is not counted because out of the seven fractions of years occurring in the whole chronology, they exactly, or almost exactly balance each other, and could, therefore, in no way make a difference of one whole year, in the total out-come. Hence, you may put the 40 years in the wilderness, under your 430; and the 6 years under the 40, and you have the chronology from Adam to the division of the land. "And when he had destroyed seven nations, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel, the prophet. And afterwards they desired a king; and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David, to be their king," (Acts 13:19-22).

From the division of the land, to David, is another dark place in chronology, as it is left in the Old Testament. For instance: "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life;" and yet no measure of that time is given. But here are two spaces of time; the first, reaching from the division of the land to Samuel; the second, from that, to David; and unless this is the true measure of that time, Bible chronology is imperfect, [HG45] since there is absolutely no other connected measure of this long period to be found.

If it was certain that it was the design of the Spirit to teach chronology, in the above language of the apostle, there would be no room for doubt, and we might pass on without further investigation. But was that the design of the Spirit? I think it can be proven that it was. But as this period from the division of the land to David, or rather to the forty years given to Saul, has been and is considered the most obscure and difficult of any part of chronology, it will not do to pass it over without collecting all the evidence the Bible furnishes for its measurement.

And first, as a very important fact, I will state, that this time from the division of the land, to David, and that from the covenant to the law, are the only two periods left obscure in the chronology of the Old Testament, and the only portions of chronology in any way referred to in the New Testament. Why did the Spirit put it into the mouth of the apostle to name that definite period in Gal. 3:17?

Clearly because chronology would have been imperfect without it. The same four hundred and thirty years were given in Gen. 12:41, it is true, but they were given in such a way that, to all appearance, they had no connection with the death of Terah. Hence, it was necessary for God to reveal, in his own way, it is true, but still to reveal the fact that they began where the thread was dropped in Gen. 11:32. Why did the Spirit cause the apostle to name these two periods, the one of four hundred and fifty, and the forty of King Saul? [The forty years in the wilderness is so often named in all parts of the Scriptures, that the fact of the apostle referring to it here, or elsewhere, has no such significance as has the other two]. It is true, the four hundred and fifty years for the judges, are to be found in the Old Testament; but, as in the other case, they are so given as to make it impossible to have determined that they began, or were designed to measure from the division of the land, the place where the chronological thread had been dropped, without this testimony from the apostle.

The chronology as given in the judges is as follows: Jud 3:8, gives 8 years; Jud 3:11, 40 years; Jud 3:14, 18 years; Jud 3:30, 80 years; Jud 4:3, 20 years; Jud 5:31, 40 years; Jud 6:1, 7 years; Jud 8:28, 40 years; Jud 9:22, 3 years; Jud 10:2, 23 years; Jud 10:3, 22 years; Jud 10:8, 18 years; Jud 12:7, 6 years; Jud 10:9, 7 years; Jud 10:11, 10 years; Jud 10:14, 8 years; Jud 13:1, 40 years; Jud 16:31, 20 years; 1 Sam. 4:18, 40 years, under Eli, the last of the judges, before "Samuel the prophet."

These all together, make a total of 450 years. But the judges did not cover all of this space of time; they were merely scattered over most of it. There were times between the judges, when their enemies ruled; and part of these nineteen periods measure the rule of those enemies. Hence, Paul could well say, "And after that he gave to them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel;" although the time itself, from the division of the land, had been just that number of years.

As this chronology stands in the Old Testament, there are three difficulties; one at the commencement, one in the middle, and one at the end of this four hundred and fifty.

Between the division of the land and the first eight years, (Jud 3:8), there is a break, a period covered by the statement found in Jud 2:7, but having no direct measurement. Then in the middle of this period there is a lap of 20 years during the judgeship of Samson. His time is given, (Jud 16:31), as a part of the chronology, just like all the others. But, in another place, we learn that his judgeship was in or during the forty years of the Philistines (Jud 15:20), which had just been counted. And yet it takes all that is given in Judges, this twenty included, to make the 450 mentioned by Paul. The third difficulty is with the terminus, "Until Samuel the prophet," is a very indefinite ending. Samuel was with Eli, the last judge, when a mere child; and he was contemporary with king Saul during nearly all of his reign; and even anointed David as king. But, notwithstanding all these difficulties, we think the apostle has used just the language to set everything right, connecting each end, and taking out the tangle in the middle.

To my mind; the fact that only in this, and the one other difficult place, is the subject of chronology introduced in the New Testament, and that without such assistance, we should have been entirely at fault, is satisfactory evidence that the design was to impart light, and I accept it as such, with far more satisfaction, than I could take Bishop Usher, or any other chronological writer, who gives these Bible statements the go-by, as being too difficult to master, and take the easier course of appealing to Josephus, to help them over these difficulties. For he had only the Jewish sacred books from which to draw his information; and he is so universally careless in all his chronological statements, that seldom, if ever, is he in harmony with his own Scriptures. For instance; he says the children of Israel remained for thirty days after they left Egypt, on the shores of the Red sea before crossing over. Which is in direct opposition to the statement in Exo. 16:1. And his chronology is generally faulty. [HG46] The following diagram will illustrate the whole position, at a glance: Here the chronology stands, just as it is given.

We had reached to the division of the land, with no break.

Now follows a period during the remainder of the life of Joshua, and the elders who outlived him, of the measure of which the Old Testament is silent. Then, after a long period under various judges, the lap of the twenty years of Samson occurs, followed by the last judge, Eli, then king Saul, before we reach the time of David, where the regular chronology begins again.

Samuel was contemporary both with Eli and king Saul; and nowhere is the age of a prophet associated with chronology; hence Samuel's age is not given. Although there is no doubt that considerable time transpired between the death of Eli and the crowning of Saul. Still there is no measurement covering this, only as it is included in the two spaces of time named by Paul, which seem to cover all from the division of the land until Samuel, and, from that, to David. And the time named, "four hundred and fifty," is exactly what Paul, who was familiar with the Scriptures, must have found given in the Judges, as its measurement. Nor could he have been ignorant of the break during the life of Joshua, or of the lap, during the judgeship of Samson. And yet he says, "He divided unto them their land by lot, and after that he gave judges, about the space of four hundred and fifty years, ... and afterwards they desired a king and and he gave them Saul, the son of Cis, by the space," or in the space, [the preposition "by" is not in the original], "of forty years."

Place the 450 years under the 6; but the forty years for Saul, will be reckoned among the kings, in the next period, as follows: Saul, 40 years, Acts 13:22.) David, 40, (1 Chron. 29:27.) Solomon, 40 (2 Chron. 9:30.) Rehoboam, 17, (2 Chron. 12:13.) Abijah, 3, (2 Chron. 13:2.) Asa, 41, (2 Chron. 16:13.) Jehoshaphat, 25, (2 Chron. 20:31.) Jehoram, 8, (2 Chron. 21:5.) Ahaziah, 1, (2 Chron. 22:2.) Athaliah, 6, (2 Chron. 22:12.) Joash, 42, (2 Chron. 24:1.) Amaziah, 29, (2 Chron. 25:1: Uzziah, 52, (2 Chron. 26:3.) Jotham, 16, (2 Chron. 27:1.) Ahaz, 16, (2 Chron. 28:1.) Hezekiah, 29, (2 Chron. 29:1.) Manassah, 55, (2 Chron. 33:1.) Amon, 2, (2 Chron. 33:21.) Josiah, 31, (2 Chron. 34:1.) Jehoiakim, 11, (2 Chron. 36:5.) Zedekiah, 11, (2 Chron. 36:11.) Total, 513 years. Place this 513 under the 450.

With the "end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive," (Jer. 1:3), we reach the end of the kingdom. And it is here the diadem was removed to be no more until He comes whose right it is, (see Eze. 21:25-27). Then follows the seventy years captivity, or rather desolation of the land, (2 Chron. 36:21). Place this 70 under the 513, and you have reached the end of inspired chronology.

This seventy years terminated in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, (2 Chron. 36:21).

At about this point of time the Medo-Persian empire takes its place as the second universal monarchy, Babylon having been the first. And it was at about this era, that history has its birth. Prior to this, the most civilized nations, Babylon and Egypt, used only hieroglyphics, a method of picture writing by which dates and details of history could not be recorded. This, we know is true in relation to Egypt, and also to the Babylonians, or Chaldeans, since specimens of the Chaldean hieroglyphics are now on exhibition in the British museum. But from the beginning of the Persian era, the alphabet and a written language has been used by these nations. Hence, as far back as the first year of Cyrus, history is full and clear, while beyond that, it immediately drops off into twilight and the darkness of fable. And, outside of the Hebrew language, there is no pretension to accuracy further back than the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

As soon as a written word-language was used, the date of battles, eclipses, &c., were recorded, from which fact it is now in our power to determine dates with absolute accuracy. And when we can help [HG47] ourselves, God ceases to do for us. From the first year of Cyrus, or, indeed, from the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, which was nineteen years before the seventy years captivity of Jerusalem, (see Jer. 52:12), there is no essential difference between the different chronological writers. The first year of Cyrus being B.C. 536, in which year the seventy years ended. Place this 536 under the 70, and add 1872, A.D., and you will have a total of 6,000. Thus: From death of Jacob to leaving Egypt 98 years

(The following chart originally appeared on this page in "The Three Worlds.")

In the wilderness 40 " To the division of the land. 6 " Space of time for the Judges 450 " Under the Kings 513 " Captivity, while the land enjoyed her Sabbaths. 70 " To beginning of the Christian era. 536 " To the death of Christ, 32 " Total, 1845 years.

(The following chart is what appeared on this page in "Harvest Gleanings.")

Adam to the end of the flood 1656 years Flood to the covenant 427 years Covenant to the Law 430 years In the wilderness 40 years To the division of land 6 years Under the Judges 450 years Under the Kings 513 years The captivity 70 years To Christian era 536 years This side of the Christian era 1872 years Total 6000 years

The six thousand years did not end in 1872, but in the autumn of 1873. Thus: The seventy years desolation of Jerusalem, began in the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, as we have seen, (Jer. 1:3). The king Zedekiah, was taken, and the city broken up in the fourth or fifth month of his eleventh year, (Jer. 52:1-12); but the cities of Judah were to be desolate "without an inhabitant," (Jer. 34:22), which seems to be what God meant, by "making the land desolate, that it might enjoy its Sabbaths," (2 Chron. 36:21). And it was thus made desolate, and without an inhabitant, (Jer. 44:2). When Zedekiah was taken, in the fourth month, the land was not desolate, for the Chaldeans left "certain of the poor of the land for vine-dressers and husbandmen," (Jer. 52:16); and so long as they remained, the prophecy was not fully met; for the land was not yet enjoying her Sabbaths; but soon after, they all left and went down into Egypt, (Jer. 43:5, 6). And this occurred in the seventh month of that year, (see the whole story as told by Jeremiah, beginning with chapter 41). Hence, the 70 years desolation, in which the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, did not begin until the seventh month after Zedekiah was taken. Nor did the 70 years desolation end when they received permission to return; for the land was still desolate until they actually got back again into their cities. This also occurred in the seventh month of the first year of Cyrus, the year they started to go back, (see Ezra 2 in which he gives the number of those who went back; and it seems they got back so as to be in their cities again in the seventh month; Ezra 2:70; 3:1).

As this seventy years did not end until the seventh month of the year B.C. 536, it follows that five hundred and thirty-six full years from that would not end until the seventh month, (Jewish time, which is always at about the autumnal equinox), of the year one of the Christian era. And 1872 years this side of the autumn of A.D. 1, would end in the autumn of 1873, since one year from the autumn of A.D. 1, would not end until the autumn of A.D. 2, and so on.

It was in the autumn of 1873, the present hard times, financial trouble, &c., & c., began, as all will remember. And there it was "the day of the Lord" began. "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry then bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress," (Zeph. 1:14). And this time of trouble which began in the autumn of 1873, though but a ripple, is gathering headway, and will engulf all business, all order, all government, all society; until at last, every man's hand will be against his neighbor; and there shall be no peace, "and no hire for man, nor hire for beast," (Zech. 8:10). These are the true sayings of God, and it is only in the word of God these great events upon which the world is entering, find their true solution.

"THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES."

"And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." – Luke 21:24.

Though the earth is now given up to the undisputed dominion of the Gentiles, the time was when God had a kingdom on earth. "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation," (Exo. 19:6). "And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king, instead of his father, David," 1 Chron. 29:23). "And ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hands of the sons of David," (2 Chron. 13:8). But the Lord permitted his kingdom to be subdued by the Gentiles.

Zedekiah was the last of the line of David, who reigned, and from his head the diadem was removed and the kingdom overthrown, but not forever. For it was said to him, "Thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, [HG48] take off the crown, this shall not be the same, exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is, and I will give it him," (Eze. 21:25).

During this interregnum in God's kingdom, between Zedekiah's reign and that of Christ, the four Gentile kingdoms, as foretold by Daniel, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia and Rome, were to have their day. It was at the beginning of the seventy years captivity of Jerusalem, that God's kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to Babylon, the first of these four universal Gentile kingdoms. And to Nebuchadnezzar it was said: "Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory; and wheresoever the the children of men dwell, the beasts of the fields, and the fowls of heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made three ruler over them all," (Dan. 2:37).

So long as God had an organized reigning kingdom on earth, there could be no universal Gentile kingdom. But when his kingdom was broken up, and he gave all to the Gentiles, "the times of the Gentiles" began; and the times of the Gentiles will end only when God shall recognize his kingdom and subdue them. "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever," (Dan. 2:44); is the language used in reference to this second great change to occur at the end of the times of the Gentiles.

It is true the nationality of the Jews was maintained until after the first advent of Christ, for such was the prophecy, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver, [from his loins, lit.], until shiloh come, and unto him shall be the gathering of the people," (Gen. 49:10). And although Jerusalem was in the hands of the Gentiles, and had been troden down by them since its total overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar, it was not entirely destroyed until after the advent of Christ.

The four Gentile kingdoms are called "four great beasts that came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings; I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon its feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it."

This will be better understood when we see what Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon has to pass through, as a type of the human family, in its fall and rising again.

"And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear and it raised itself up on one side, and three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise and devour much flesh."

This one represents Medo-Persia, and the "three ribs," the three kingdoms it subdued.

"After this I beheld and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; and the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it."

The wings doubtless represent the rapidity of its movements under Alexander the great, its first king. And the four heads are explained in chapter 8:8, to be four divisions of the empire, after Alexander's death.

"After this I saw in the night visions; and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." (Dan. 7:3-8).

This fourth beast is the embodiment of both pagan and papal Rome, the beast under which the gospel church has suffered, the one under which Christ himself was put to death. And if Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia, could be fairly represented by the lion, the bear, and the leopard; only such a terrible nondescript could represent Rome. And the human family were to be given up to the control of these beasts during "the times of the Gentiles." That is the nations are compared to what God, in these symbols, calls "wild beasts." And they have glutted themselves to the full with war, blood, rapine, and murder, which has been their pastime, and their glory, until history is one continuous stream of the details of "man's inhumanity to man."

God has chosen that this world's history, as foretold by his prophets, should be pictured out by types. If he would fortell the captivity of Jerusalem, he has his prophet portray a likeness of the city, lay siege to it, eat his bread with trembling, and go through with all the paraphernalia of a siege, captivity, &c. If there was a Babylon, there must be a mystic Babylon; a river Euphrates, also a mystic Euphrates. A Jerusalem earthly, has its antitype in a heavenly, or spiritual Jerusalem. An earthly kingdom is followed by a heavenly kingdom, which "flesh and blood cannot inherit."

"Howbeit that which is spiritual is not first, but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual." Type and antitype, runs through the law and the prophets, "see thou make everything after the pattern shown thee in the holy mount." Abraham was a type of God, the Father, and Isaac, the seed of promise, of Christ; and as God freely offered his Son, so Abraham offered his. Job was the type of the [HG49] restitution, hence, the book of Job is first a loss, then a long and severe trial, ending with a complete restitution. Nebuchadnezzar was a type of the natural man, the first Adam and his race. Hence, as dominion was given to Adam, it was conferred on Nebuchadnezzar in almost the identical language used to Adam.

Compare Gen. 1:28, and Dan. 2:25. As mankind have degraded themselves to the level of the beasts of the earth, so Nebuchadnezzar had his heart changed from man's, and a beasts heart was given him.

In the type, Dan. 4: "Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree root, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule." But before he learned this lesson, he had to be driven out. "They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and let a beasts heart be given him, and let seven times pass over him." All this came upon the king; but at the end of the days, his understanding returned, his heart was again changed, and he honored the God of heaven, and his kingdom was restored with additional majesty and glory. The "stump of the tree root," was left, that the tree might sprout again; that is, that there might be a restitution of the kingdom. That root was the life-giving principle left to the tree. Although the human "tree" has been cut down, and death passed upon all, yet the tree root still lives, "the root and offspring of David," is to be the bright and morning star; and as in Adam all die, so in Christ; "the root out of dry ground," shall all be made alive, "and the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints of the Most High." And man will have his beasts heart changed, and learn war no more.

"Let seven times pass over him, until he shall have learned that the heavens do rule; and at the end of the days his understanding returned." Time has its type and antitype, like every other part. If God would have the children of Israel wander forty years in the wilderness, he has the spies wandering in their search of the land, forty days. If He would have Israel suffer captivity three hundred and ninety years, he has the prophet in the type, confined that number of days. "A day for a year," (Eze. 4:1-8). And in all symbolic Time, God has arranged for a day to represent a year, as in the seventy weeks of Dan. 9:24; the persecution of the church, (Rev. 12:6,) and other places.

Seven literal years, or "times" (Hebrew), passed over Nebuchadnezzar, and seven prophetic times or years, is the measure of the "times of the Gentiles." "I will punish you seven times more for your sins," (Leviticus 26:18). As in Dan. 4, this period of "seven times," is four times repeated, (Dan. 4:16, 23, 25, 32), so in Leviticus 26, it is four times repeated of God's people, thus: "They that hate you shall reign over you," (Leviticus 26:17), which we know was the Gentiles, and he would punish them "seven times," &c., in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28.

As in Nebuchadnezzar's case, although repeated four times it was the one period of seven years, so in this case, these "seven times," are but the one period of seven prophetic years. And it is a fact that Jerusalem has been trodden down of the Gentiles ever since the end of Zedekiah's reign. But the fig tree begins to bud, and there are many indications that the restoration of the Jews will not be much longer deferred.

Seven prophetic years, a day for a year, represent 2,520 years, The authority for using a day to represent a year, comes from God himself; that is, He has made the application. The Bible teaches truths, not directly, but by parables, dark sayings, and symbols. For instance: We are informed in Dan. 7, that a "horn" when used as a symbol, represents a kingdom. Now if I find a "beast" used as a symbol in the Bible, having two or more horns, I have the right to assume that those horns represent kingdoms, although in that particular case it might not be so stated. I grant you, that one who chooses to oppose, and is only desirous of pulling down, and is not searching for light has the privilege of demurring, and saying, as it does not say in this special case, that this horn means a kingdom, he will not accept of the application. But I care nothing for that man or his opinion. I have found a Bible precedent for such an interpretation, and choose to accept it. Others will do as they please. Now, I can produce a God-given precedent, for making a day stand for a year when it is associated with symbols. A symbol is anything used to represent another thing, no matter whether it be a beast, a picture, a type, or a parable. The particular case to which I now refer, may be found in Eze. 4:1-8, in which case the time used to measure the symbol, is itself symbolic, and each day, in such a case, represents a year.

I do not expect, nor do I desire to prove anything from the Bible in such a way as to convince a man against his will. God himself does not undertake such a work.

When, in the book of Daniel, or the Revelator, I find time used to measure symbols, whether it be a "woman," a "horn," a "beast," or any other thing, I have the right, from one God-given precedent, to assume that the time itself, is symbolic; and if so, that a day represents a year. Then if the facts of the case demand such an application. I am fully warranted in accepting it.

That the "seventy weeks," or seventy sevens, of Dan. 9:24, represent that many years, the facts in relation to the coming of the Messiah, clearly support. [HG50] That the vision of Dan. 8:, which is called the "vision of the evening and the morning," (Dan. 8:26), or the vision of the "days," giving it the same rendering as in Dan. 8:14, "Until two thousand and three hundred days," (Hebrew, evening morning, see margin), means a day for a year, is self-evident. The vision embraces three empires, Medo-Persia, Grecia and Rome, and is called "the vision of the days." [The Hebrew word here is boh-kar, and is the same in verses 14 and 26.] And Daniel called it the vision of the boh-kar; and when asked how long the vision? the saint answers: "until two thousand and three hundred days," and a little something to follow, viz: the cleansing of the sanctuary. And this we know, that a little more than six literal years, bears no proportion to the duration of what the vision embraces; and as the time there is used to measure symbols, unity demands that the time should be symbolic also.

Thirty days is the Bible measure for one month, (see Gen. 7:11, 24; 8:4). The fountains of the great deep were broken up on the seventeenth day of the second month, and the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days and the ark rested, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day. And this one hundred and fifty days was exactly five months, thirty days to the month. And in Rev. 12, the woman, [church], fled into the wilderness for 1260 days, (Rev. 12:6); and in Rev. 12:14 it is called "a time, and times, and half a time." And in Rev. 13:5, the power from which she suffered had power to continue "forty and two months."

Forty-two months are three and a-half years, or " times; " and 42 times 30 are 1260. Hence, as three and a half "times," represent twelve hundred and sixty years, so " seven times," represent twice twelve hundred and sixty, or 2520 years.

The seventy years captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus, which was B.C. 536. They therefore commenced seventy years before, or B.C. 606. Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God's kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606, will end in A.D. 1914, or forty years from 1874; and this forty years upon which we have now entered is to be such "a time of trouble as never was since there was a nation."

And during this forty years, the kingdom of God is to be set up, (but not in the flesh, "the natural first and afterwards the spiritual)," the Jews are to be restored, the Gentile kingdoms broken in pieces "like a potter's vessel," and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and the judgment age introduced.

These are some of the events this generation are to witness. But the manner of accomplishing all these things, as well as the time of their fulfillment, are where the church are to stumble and fall as did the first house of Israel, "Because they knew not the time of their visitation."

The very fact that Jerusalem has been trodden down of the Gentiles, nearly all of this 2520 years, and that the indications are unmistakable that forces are at work to prepare the way for their restoration, is of itself, a powerful argument in favor of the correctness of the above application. It may be said, granting that in the main, you are right, still you do not know but you may be a few years, more or less, out in your calculation. Supposing I admit that, is that a good reason for you to turn your back on the whole thing, and again sink into the world, and become overcharged with the cares of this life?

But I am not willing to admit that this calculation is even one year out. Not from dogmatism, for I am ready to admit that my opinion, or my reasoning, may be as faulty as that of many others; and if, in the present case, there was but this one argument, I should say, it is quite possible errors may be found arising in some unexpected quarter. But there is such an array of evidence. Many of the arguments, most of them, indeed, are not based on the year-day theory, and some of them, not based even on the chronology; and yet there is a harmony existing, between them all. If you had solved a difficult problem in mathematics, you might very well doubt if you had not possibly made some error of calculation. But if you had solved that problem in seven different ways, all independent one of another, and in each and every case reached the same result, you would be a fool any longer to doubt the accuracy of that result. And this is a fair illustration of the weight of evidence that can be brought to bear on the truthfulness of our present position.

Forty years, or now, about thirty-eight years before the times of the Gentiles end, is none too much time, for the accomplishment of the many wonderful events that must transpire during their continuance. If our calculation showed that they were to end this year, or even during this decade, doubts might well arise as to the possibility of this being true. But there seems to be time enough, since events move rapidly in this age of the world.

After the saints are taken, and the gospel, dispensation ended; the "fullness of the Gentiles," who are to compose the bride of Christ, having come in, blindness is to be turned away from the Jews. "And God will set his hand a second time to restore the [HG51] remnant of Israel." But after this remnant, that is, the living Jews of this generation have made their way back to Palestine, and the "waters of the Euphrates are dried up," that is, the Christian nations of Europe, the kings of the East, and of the whole world are to be brought up to Jerusalem to battle, and the city is to be taken, as described in Zech 14. Then the Lord shall appear with all his saints, and his feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives, which is a-half mile to the east of Jerusalem, and overlooks the city. And the Jews, who have been worsted in the battle, will cry out, "Lo, this is our God! we have waited for him, and he will save us." "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations," and the battle of the great day of God Almighty takes place. This state of things, however, may not, and evidently will not, obtain for many years, probably near the end of the forty years. For the Lord will make a short work on earth when he takes it in hand. "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paren.

Before him went the pestilence, and burning diseases (margin) went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth; he beheld, and drove asunder the nations."

After the "seven last plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of Almighty God," are poured on this generation, and the battle of the great day is ended, the times of the Gentiles will terminate, and Jerusalem no longer be trodden down by its enemies. Then comes the completion of the restitution of, not a " remnant," but of " the whole house of Israel. "" Behold! O, my people, I will open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." The present remnant of the Jews, may go back in railroad cars, if they take time enough; but when the whole house of Israel go back, the few railroads in the east will be of little account; and they will go in litters, on dromedaries, and other swift beasts, and be helped in every way by the Gentiles, who will then acknowledge that God is among them, (see Isa. 66:20). And the Gentiles will go up from year to year, to keep the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem. And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.


THE TWO COVENANTS: Or, Jewish and Gospel Dispensations.

A clear and comprehensive Time argument can be drawn from these two dispensations. One being the exact counterpart of the other, by measuring the first we are enabled to get the duration of the second. And we shall show that Zion's warfare was to be "double;" that is, in two equal parts, and that there are two nations; the one representing the people and kingdom of God on the plane of the flesh, and which was purely typical; the other representing the people and kingdom of God on the plane of the spirit, and is therefore in its nature eternal.

That as the first man, Adam, was of the earth, earthy; so in the order of God, the seed, the people, the kingdom, and all that pertained to the first covenant, was of the earth, earthy. That as the second man, Adam, is the Lord from heaven, so the seed, the people, the kingdom, and all that pertains to the kingdom and the inheritance, are spiritual, or heavenly. That one was designed as a pattern of the other, "see thou make everything after the pattern shown thee in the holy mount," and what a wood pattern in a foundry, is to a casting made with precious metal, so is the first covenant, the natural, to the second covenant, the spiritual. Hence, in one, we have the measurement of the other.

I will state a few points in which the similarity is strongly marked: The one was from twelve tribes; the other from twelve apostles. They were both children of Abraham, the one after the flesh, the other after the promise. Each have their warfare, the one with flesh and blood, the other against spiritual powers. "We war not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers in heavenly places." Both are overcome and taken captive, the one by Babylon, and the other by mystic Babylon, the mother of harlots. The one were children of the earthly, and the other of the heavenly, Jerusalem. To one Christ came in the flesh, "a body hast thou prepared me;" to the other he comes in a spiritual body, for description of which see Rev. 1:12. Hence, the apostle could say, "yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, henceforth know we him no more." Both were to be a kingdom of priests; "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation," (Exo. 19:6). "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth," (1 Pet. 2:9, and Rev. 5:10). Did the first covenant have its temple and sacrifices? so have the second. "Ye also, as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices," (1 Pet. 2:5). Did they have the tabernacle made with hands? we also have one "not [HG52] made with hands." Did they have their holy place into which the high priest entered to make the atonement? we also have a High Priest "who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and who entered in beyond the vail, "that is the flesh." Incense was offered under the first covenant; "and he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail; and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he die not," (Leviticus 16:12).

"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God, out of the angel's hand," (Rev. 8:3). "Full of incense beaten small. " Long prayers made to be heard of men, "have their reward," and never reach that golden censer before the throne.

Each dispensation also ends, not only with an advent of Christ, 'but with a harvest, (compare John 4:35, and Matt. 13:39). In the first harvest the reapers were men in the flesh, in the second harvest "the reapers are the angels." Thus the two dispensations are double, in every particular.

Paul makes this clear in Gal. 4:22. "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-maid the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman, by promise. Which things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar, ... and answereth to the Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all.... Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.... Nevertheless, what saith the Scriptures? Cast out the bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and not be again entangled with the yoke of bondage." Fleshly Israel are the real sons of the real Isaac, the seed of promise. But all this, on the plane of the flesh, the first Adam, is but an allegory. And fleshly Israel never has, and never will, represent the real kingdom of God, any more than Isaac represented the real seed of promise. "The promise was unto thy seed, which is Christ," says the apostle. So the first covenant simply represents what the second is in reality.

These things being true, is it strange that God has carried these parallels a little further, and that the measure of the two should also be equal? That there is no direct measurement of the gospel age, between the lids of the Bible, we are fully convinced. In fact, the gospel dispensation is thrown in, as it were, in a parenthesis, as if the children of the flesh having failed, every thing in the regular order of events had stopped, until this wonderful process of developing a seed on a higher plane should be accomplished. Prophecy, in the Old Testament never speaks of two advents of Christ; and almost always, if not invariably, associates the works of the first and the second together, as if they were one and the same.

Read Isa. 9:10. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders," &c. Where in that, can the first advent, to suffer, and the second advent, to reign, and the long years between the two, be distinguished? Read Luke 1:31-33, "Thou shalt call his name JESUS, and he shall be great, and shall reign over the house of Jacob forever." Where could Mary see the whole gospel dispensation, between the beginning and end of that sentence?

Compare also Isa. 61:2, and Luke 4:19. "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God;" at the word "and," between "Lord" and "thee," in the above prophecy, the gospel parenthesis comes in; also see Zech. 9:9, 10. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the ass, he speaks peace to the heathen, and his dominion is from sea to sea; all of which, except the riding into Jerusalem, belongs to the restitution age.

From the above, many suppose that the reckoning of time stopped between the two advents, so far as prophecy is concerned. Hence, they feel at liberty to place the last week of the "seventy weeks" of Dan. 9 somewhere in the future, while admitting that sixty-nine of those weeks ended at the coming of "Messiah the prince," when he came to his own, after the preaching of John, and count the gospel age a blank, and connect the other week with the second advent. But although events found in close connection in prophecy, may, in the fulfillment, be wide apart, time never ceases, either in prophecy or otherwise.

The gospel church is referred to in prophecy, if at all, only in types and dark sayings, and all the prophecies concerning the work of the first and the second advent, would read just as smoothly if the restitution age, when Christ takes the kingdom and reigns, had followed the Jewish age, without the introduction of a gospel dispensation.

God has certainly promised a restitution and a [HG53] glorious future to Israel in the flesh; and it is only in the New Testament we learn that these same prophecies are also to be fulfilled, in a higher sense, to spiritual Israel. For the children of the promise are counted for the seed; "and the children of the bond-woman shall not be heirs with the children of the free woman," nevertheless there are great promises in store for them, because, like Ishmael, they are the seed of Abraham.

It is between the casting off of fleshly Israel, and their restoration, that the gospel dispensation to the Gentiles, to take out from them "a people for his name," comes in, "I would not have you to be ignorant of this mystery, that blindness in part, is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." And here, during the period in which they were to be cast off, is where we find the measure of the gospel age. For blindness cannot be turned away from them, until the gospel to the Gentiles shall end.

When they have received "double" for all their sins, "their appointed time will be accomplished, and their iniquity pardoned." Double means two equal parts, and if God has thus divided their chastisement, so that the two parts are distinctly marked, and we can find the measure of the first part, of course the length of the other half will be determined. "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God: speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare [margin, appointed time] is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received at the Lord's hand, double, for all her sins," (Isa. 40:2).

From the beginning of their history until the coming of Shiloh, or Christ, they held a peculiar relation to God. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." During the time Christ was in the loins of Judah, their relation to God remained unchanged, although they were continually being chastised. But when Christ had come, offered himself to fleshly Israel, and was rejected, "and put to death in the flesh," they lost that relationship; since which he has been taking out a people "for his name," by a new process, begotten and born of the Spirit, and "not of the flesh, nor of the will of man;" and Israel in the flesh has been utterly forsaken of God, and their "house left unto them desolate." This was certainly the turning point in their history, for from that day to this, their relationship to God has remained unacknowledged, and they, left to their blindness, "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."

The idea may be a little startling, but in the spring of 1878, a point in their history will be reached when this latter half will be just equal to the former. In other words, the measure of the period during which they held a peculiar relationship to God, and the measure of this time during which they have been utterly cast off, will be equal. Double, means two equal parts; and in the spring of 1878, they will have received " double for all their sins." Will not the comforting message then go forth? and the work of their restitution commence?

This prophecy of Isaiah concerning the "double," or their chastisement in two equal parts is not alone; we find it in Jeremiah. And in Zechariah we find the very day the double, or last half began.

In Jer. 16:13-18, there is a clear statement that he would cast them off " where he would not show them favor," which did not occur until they rejected their Messiah; and this is followed by a promise of a restoration back to their own land.

"And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double," (Jer. 16:18); and in Zech. 9:9-12, the prophecy of Christ's riding into Jerusalem, and the statement occurs, "even today do I declare I will render double unto thee," (verse 12); and it was that very day he wept over the city, left their house desolate, and the second half, which makes the double, began.

These are all strong points, and to me they do not appear far fetched; while the facts of their history, and the probabilities that they are on the eve of a restoration to Palestine, also lend their support to this view.

The argument from the prophecies leaves the last half of this double period a blank; but there is a second argument drawn from the types in the law, which touches the gospel church that was to fill this latter half, and makes the Jewish and gospel dispensations equal, not merely in duration, but in all those parallels we have named.

If you ask, can you prove your present position so absolutely that one who is opposed to the whole thing, will be compelled, in his own mind, to acknowledge its truth? I answer, no! I am not trying to reach that class, but am writing for those who are hungry for truth, and are willing to search for it in this direction.

These two covenants were represented by the two cherubim over the mercy seat, each cherub had its wings extended so as to touch the walls of the house; that is, the one on the one side of the mercy seat had its wings extended from the one wall to the center, over the mercy seat; and the other, from the other wall to the center, and their faces were turned inward toward the mercy seat. The Jewish covenant looked forward, in all its sacrifices, to Christ. The gospel looks back to the Rock from whence it was hewn; and these cherubim were to be "of equal measure and of equal size," (see Exo. 25:22, and 1 Kings 6:23) The mercy seat, where "I will meet with thee," [HG54] (Exo. 25:22), represents Christ. The Greek for "mercy seat," is hilasteerian, and occurs but twice in the New Testament. "And over it the cherubim of Gold, shadowing the mercy seat," (Heb. 9:5). The other text is in Rom. 3:25. "The redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a hilasteerian through faith in his blood." The cherubim looked, the one forward, and the other back to the mercy seat; and we know the Jewish covenant looked forward, and the gospel back to Christ. The cherubim spanned the house, temple, or church of God; and we know that the church complete, is to be made up from the two covenants; "and thou shalt make them of equal measure and of equal size."

We have not exhausted the evidence to prove that these cherubim represent the two covenants, or testaments, it is the same word; for to do so, involves the introduction of the " two witnesses," of Rev. 11, for which we have no space in this chapter; but will add that the evidence from this source, that the two are to be of equal measure, is fully as strong as from the prophetic argument.

The measure of the first dispensation, under the twelve tribes, was 1845 years, as we will show. That dispensation began at the death of Jacob, and ended at the death of Christ. Prior to the death of Jacob, the one-man age obtained; that is, one man represented God's church. Abraham was alone, as was Noah. Isaac was the only son chosen; then Jacob. Until Jacob's death his children were not recognized as the twelve tribes of Israel, but simply as the sons of Jacob, and brethren of Joseph. At his death a radical change occurs. It is no longer one man, but the twelve tribes of Israel, that represent God's people. And they continued so to do until Shiloh came, and with him, the one man age began again. Christ and his body, "all members of the one body," &c. Between the death of Jacob and the death of Christ, events occurred in their history, such as the exodus, the giving of the law, "which was added because of transgression," their entrance into the promised land, captivities, &c., but no change occurred; the twelve tribes remained the twelve tribes, and the representatives of God's church, through all their ups and downs. And on the death bed of Jacob, it was said, "The seeptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall be the gathering of the people," (Gen. 49:10). And it was then they were first recognized in these words: "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel," (Gen. 49:28). The chronology from the death of Jacob to the death of Christ, is as follows: The death of Jacob occurred 232 years after the covenant was made with Abraham; for at that time Abraham was seventy-five years old, (Gen. 12:4). Isaac was born 25 years after, or when Abraham was a hundred, (Gen. 25:5). Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born, (Gen. 25:26) Jacob lived 147 years, (Gen. 47:18). 25, and 60, and 147, make 232. As from the covenant to the day they left Egypt was 430 years, and from the covenant to the death of Jacob was 232 years, the time from the death of Jacob, to the day they left Egypt, was 198 years.

The Measure.

From death of Jacob to leaving Egypt 198 years In the wilderness 40 " To the division of the land. 6 " Space of time for the Judges 450 " Under the Kings 513 " Captivity, while the land enjoyed her Sabbaths. 70 " To beginning of the Christian era. 536 " To the death of Christ, 32 " Total, 1845 years.

This 32 years comes thus: Christ was crucified in the spring of A.D. 33, on the day after the evening of the Passover; and hence, on the fifteenth day of the first month, Jewish ecclesiastical time; and as the Jewish ecclesiastical year begins in the spring, He was, therefore, crucified fifteen days after the Jewish year, corresponding to A.D. 32, ended. Hence, only 32 years and fifteen days, (Jewish time), had passed on this side of the Christian era, at his death. There is good evidence that Christ was thirty in the autumn of A.D. 29, or six months before our A.D. 30 began. Hence, in the spring of A.D. 33, he was thirty-three years and six months old.

It was remarked in the early part of this chapter, that the Jewish dispensation ended with a "harvest." "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. . . I send you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor," &c. And as proof that this harvest was the closing work of the Jewish age, and belonged exclusively to them, we give Christ's testimony that he was sent "but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" and further, he would not permit his "reapers" to go to any other; "Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not." As proof that this age also ends with a harvest, I refer you to Matt. 13 or the parable of the "tares and wheat." "Let both grow together until the harvest."..."

[HG55 ] The harvest is the end of the world." "And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares."

A harvest is the time of gathering fruit, but the work of the gospel is sowing seed.

Hence, you are not to mistake, and suppose that the end of the world, aion, or age, has been the gospel itself. The end of the Jewish world (aion), came at the first advent of Christ; "now once in the end of the world, (age), hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," (Heb. 9:26); and the end of the gospel aion, comes at the second advent of Christ. "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matt. 24:3). "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, as a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come," (Matt. 24:14).

The harvest to the Jewish age, was the three and a-half years of Christ's ministry; and the harvest of this age is also one of three years and a-half, to transpire during the personal presence of Christ; not in the flesh, but in the character, in which he comes to his " spiritual house." And all the details of the closing up of that age have their parallels in the closing up of this age. And, as from the death of Jacob, to the death of Christ, was 1845 years, so from the spring of A.D. 33, to the spring of A.D. 1878, will be 1845 years, at which time they will have received "double," and when blindness begins to be turned away from them, the fullness of the Gentiles will have come in, and the gospel dispensation close.

But we must now drop this subject, as two or three other lines of argument must first be presented, before this part of the "double" can be understood by the reader.

THE JUBILEE.

"Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled, (Matt. 5:18).

In this argument we purpose to show that the system of sabbaths inaugurated as a part of the law, are not yet fulfilled; that they point to the great jubilee, or restitution age. And that as they are not yet fulfilled, they cannot pass away. The system of counting the sabbaths, and each succeeding jubilee, was a part of the law; hence, that system of counting cannot pass away "till all be fulfilled;" and that system of counting, continued to the present time, proves that the great jubilee, or "times of restitution of all things," (Acts 3:19), began on the 6th of April, A.D. 1875.

The " times of the restitution," mean the whole restitution age, which will be at least one thousand years, and possibly three hundred and sixty thousand; and the fact of their having begun, involves nothing more visible to us than the [parousia], presence, of Christ, and the progression of the work of the harvest of this age, And as the coming of Christ and the harvest of this age is a preparatory work of the restitution of all things, it follows that these two ages, must lap, one on the other, as the law and the gospel lapped, at the first advent. Since the work of Christ was both a closing work to the Jewish age, and a preparatory work of the gospel. That the Jewish age did not end until Christ, who came to his own, had offered himself to them and been rejected, and finally left their house desolate, all will admit. Christ was "born under the law, circumcised the eighth day," and during his ministry and their "harvest," taught them to keep the law; "The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do," (Matt. 23:3); and yet Christ came, " preaching the gospel," (Mark 1:15). Hence, you must not be surprised if the gospel age, and the age of the restitution also, lap a little.

Each feature of the law is fulfilled in that to which it points; the mere keeping of it having nothing to do with its fulfillment. For instance: If the Jews had continued to keep the feast of the paschal lamb down to the present time, that would not have fulfilled it; it pointed to Christ; and must be fulfilled in him.

Some have the idea that the law was all fulfilled at the first advent, because of the following: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill," Matt. 5:17). But he no more fulfilled all the law, than he did all the prophecies. He fulfilled all connected with the sacrifice and shedding of blood, and nothing connected with the kingdom . Even the passover was fulfilled only so far as the slaying of the lamb; the eating of its flesh has been going on all through the gospel dispensation; and the passover itself, which followed the eating of the flesh and sprinkling of the blood, (see Exo. 12:1-13), is not yet fulfilled; but is to be, in the kingdom of God, (Luke 22:15, 16).

As the law is fulfilled in that to which it points, and all of the law foreshadows "good things to come," and there is a sabbath of rest remaining to the people of God, the sabbatic system which points to that which is [HG56] to come, has not passed away. Hence, we are on a sure track, and if we carry out the system correctly to its final conclusion, we shall reach a true result, as surely as that heaven and earth would pass, easier than this system of sabbaths prove defective.

The Jews kept six kinds of sabbaths; the seventh day, Exo. 31:15; the 7th week, Deut. 16:9; the 7 x 7 and 50th day, Leviticus 23:15, which was the day of Pentecost, and was fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:. They also kept a sabbath, beginning on the 7th month, Leviticus 23:24; the 7th year, Leviticus 25:4; and the 7 x 7 and 50th year, Leviticus 25:10.

This last was a "jubilee," which means a reverting back, or restitution. "In the year of jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession," verse 13. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began," Acts 3:19-21. It seems that these times of restitution of all things, have been spoken of by every prophet, either directly or indirectly. But did Christ speak of this restitution? for he was a prophet; "and Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things," Matt. 17:11. Then there is to be a restitution of all things; the Sodomites, Indians, Hottentots, Jews, in fact, everything lost by the fall. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive; " because there is to be a restoration of all things. And so important is this restitution that God has spoken of it by every prophet since the world began. But did Daniel speak of it? Yes; I answer. First, in the type of Nebuchadnezzer, who was made to represent the restitution in all its phazes. He lost his dominion, was driven out with the beasts of the field, and at the appointed time had a restitution of all that he lost, with an addition of glory and majesty. Daniel also speaks of this restitution of all things, where he teaches that "the kingdom is to be given to the people of the saints of the most high;" and that the lost dominion is to be thus restored. Was Job a prophet? then he speaks of the restitution of all things. And how? The whole book teaches a restitution. God speaks in symbols, parables, and dark sayings; and the whole book of Job is an allegory, teaching a restitution of all things, with an increase of glory. Does he not lose all that he has, and the end with him, was a "restitution of all things?" But Moses was a prophet, and has he spoken of the restitution? Aye! and in tones of thunder. A whole sabbatic system organized and carried out to teach it. Read Leviticus 25 where we learn that the system of sabbaths which culminated in the jubilee, leads to a full and complete restitution of both person and inheritance.

The law provided six sabbaths, terminating in a jubilee or restitution; but being only a shadow of good things to come, and not the very substance, only pointed to the great and final restitution, to which they failed of attaining. Therefore, there remaineth a restitution, "and a keeping of a sabbath to the people of God;" and if we follow out its teachings, we shall surely arrive at the substance.

The system of sabbaths was a system of multiples; The fiftieth day was reached by multiplying seven sabbaths; "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven sabbaths shall be complete; even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath, shall ye number fifty days," Leviticus 23:15. And the jubilee was also thus reached; "And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee; seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound," &c., Leviticus 25:8.

The whole system of sabbaths was one continuous round of cycles, and multiplying one into another; and we have positive instruction that it points to something to come, in which it is to be fulfilled, and that it cannot pass away until all be fulfilled. Hence, these sabbatic cycles must in some way continue in active operation; otherwise they have passed away, and passed without a fulfillment.

But as they cannot thus pass away, they do continue. Still it may be said, neither Jew nor Gentile, have recognized them for nearly three thousand years. This is true, and can be explained thus: This system of cycles in its very nature enlarges; even in its typical character, the increase was from a cycle of one week up to that of fifty years; and while the smaller cycles would naturally be brought to their continual notice, the larger ones would be of less immediate interest, and the one of fifty years would pass over thousands, who would never expect to see it consummated, and, although their inheritance might have fallen into the hands of aliens, they would look forward to its restitution merely for their children. A multiple of the sixth sabbath or fiftieth year, into itself, is an immense cycle; and notwithstanding God has promised to bring them back to their own land, "that they shall be restored to their former estate," &c., &c, yet so large has been this cycle, that the Jew, himself, has lost his reckoning, and in the hardness of his heart, forgotten to count. But though the watchmen have slept, He that keepeth Israel will not slumber. Heaven and earth may pass, but one jot of [HG57] the law shall in no wise pass, till all be fulfilled.

Though fifty times fifty is a large cycle, the restitution, spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets, the sabbath of rest that remaineth to the people of God, will surely come; since this feature of the sabbatic law, must have a fulfillment; and there is no other way of continuing the jubilee cycles. If they ceased, some thousands of years ago, then the jubilee cycles passed away without a fulfillment.

But they did not pass away, no matter how much men may have been in darkness.

The inheritance lost to the Gentile "beasts" of the earth, is to be restored, and the great jubilee cycle has been running its round, and we are now, both the fleshly and the spiritual children, in the midst of the events connected with its termination. The "harvest" of the world has come; the transition period from the gospel to the "times of the restitution." The "fig-tree is putting forth its leaves," and the shadow of coming events can be seen by those who are walking in the light.

It does not seem to me possible that the whole Bible has been arranged so that the law, the prophetic numbers, and the chronology of the six thousand years, should all appear to end just where the two parts of Zion's warfare happen to be equal; or even that a plausible argument could be found bringing a harmonious ending, from so many sources, unless there was some truth in these things. If it be asked how do you know the sixth sabbath, or fiftieth year, should be multiplied into itself, to reach the next great jubilee, my answer is, I do not know it. I only know there seems to be no other way of continuing the cycles, which certainly were a part of the law, and that God has arranged the scriptures so that we can get the starting point; that is, the end of the last jubilee under the law, where this great cycle must begin, if anywhere, and get it with absolute certainly, on the same chronology that brings every thing else to this harmonious termination; and also, that there are two entirely distinct ways of tracing this reckoning through more than three thousand years; and by each, the same day, the 6th of April, 1875, is reached; and I cannot believe such absolute accuracy could come by chance; therefore, I have to believe it comes from God.

In order to get our data for reckoning the cycles, so that we can advance with precision and certainty, we have first to determine where the system of sabbaths to the land began, and where it ended; for where the typical cycles ended, the antitypical began, else there would be a break, when neither would be in process.

And we have authority for this reckoning, since the 7 x 7 and fiftieth day was so fulfilled. Although the jubilees ceased, when they lost the title to their land, at about the time of this seventy years captivity; the sacrifice, the passover, the offering of first fruit, &c., &c., were maintained until they were fulfilled, in Christ. This explains why the Jews were kept in the condition in which they could offer sacrifices for so many centuries after they lost their landed possessions. If the sacrifice had ended at the Babylonian captivity, they would have passed away before they were fulfilled; since they were fulfilled in Christ, the great sacrifice to which they pointed. And as they were a continual service, not merely coming at the end of cycles of time, they had to be kept up until they were fulfilled, because heaven and earth could pass easier than any part of the law fail, until it was fulfilled. But when their dispensation was about to end, and the last lamb which God could recognize had been slain, their house was left desolate, the vail of the temple was rent, and the antitypical Lamb "cried, It is finished; and bowed his head and gave up the ghost." And from his resurrection, early on the first day of the week, the counting the antitypical 7 x 7, or fiftieth day began, and was consummated in the descent of the Holy Spirit. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place; and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind," &c. (Acts 2:1), And as the antitype of the fiftieth day was fulfilled before those cycles passed away, we must look for an equally perfect fulfilment of the larger cycles: From all which we gather that where the type ceases, the antitype must begin; else the system would, for the time, pass away. Hence when the typical jubilee cycles ended, the antitypical must have begun.

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years shalt thou sow thy field," &c. (Leviticus 25:2). Here is where the sabbaths to the land began, and they were to begin to count the cycles. And this was at the end of the forty years, at the time they crossed the Jordan.

Having learned when the system began our next inquiry is, at what time did their last jubilee cycle terminate? We know they have not continued this side of the Babylonian captivity, for it was at that time God gave all the earth into the hands of the first universal Gentile kingdom, and they still hold it. Hence, the Jew has had no restitution of his inheritance since then. But for this calculation it is necessary to have the exact year of their termination. From entering the land, each forty-nine years would complete one cycle, when the fiftieth, or jubilee year, would be added. Thus, each fifty years, would cover a sabbatic cycle with its jubilee. And as the time from entering the land, to the [HG58] captivity, was [see the chronology] 6 years to division of the land; 450 for the space of the judges; 513 under the kings, making a total of 969 years, we can soon find out how many jubilees they had. 50 goes in 969, 19 times, and 19 years over.

Therefore, their last jubilee ended nineteen years before the captivity. And this you will find was a marked year in their history, since it was the beginning of the carrying away of Jerusalem captive by Nebuchadnezzar, who came against Jerusalem in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, (Dan. 1:1); at which time Daniel and a large part of the nation were carried away. But Jehoiakim was permitted to reign, by paying tribute. And as he reigned eleven years, his last eight, and Zedekiah's eleven, would make nineteen. Hence, it seems God permitted their captivity to begin as soon as the last typical jubilee ended. But not until the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar which was the eleventh year of Zedekiah, (Jer. 52:12), was the land made desolate so that it could enjoy the foretold "seventy years" of sabbaths. Here is one of the mistakes made by Bishop Usher, in his chronology. He, supposing the seventy years were simply a measure of their captivity, instead of the desolation of the land while it should enjoy its sabbaths, very naturally began this "seventy years," at the time Daniel and the greater part of the nation were carried to Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; and therefore, eighteen years too soon, or eighteen years before the land was made desolate.

In order to continue their system of jubilee cycles until its fulfilment, there must needs be a larger cycle, since the smaller ones have long since ceased; and as the fifth sabbath, or seventh year was multiplied into itself, 7 x 7, to bring them to the sixth sabbath, or typical jubilee; so there is no other way to measure the seventh, the final great jubilee sabbath to which all the others point, but to multiply the sixth or jubilee sabbath, into itself.

Fifty times fifty, is two thousand and five hundred; and measuring from their last jubilee or nineteen years before B.C. 536, would terminate in A.D. 1875. But it may be said we have no positive instruction to carry out this system of sabbaths to its fulfilment. This I grant; but positive instruction always ends with the letter of the law; what the law teaches, is something beyond the mere letter. We all understand that the slaying of a lamb on the evening of the fourteenth of the first month, was designed to teach something beyond the letter; and that the spiritually minded Jew was supposed to see his Messiah in those types. Here is just where the Jews failed. "The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard;" "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief; Let us, therefore, fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you shall seem to come short of it," (Heb. 3:19, and 4:1, 2). The Jew in his unbelief, saw only the letter, and nothing to which the law pointed. In other words, he saw nothing that, in and of itself, was of any value. Hence, it did not profit him. And would you, too, "fall after the same example of unbelief?" If so, you will, in the present case, stop with the typical jubilees. I shall look forward to what those sabbatic cycles were designed to teach; and thus "labor to enter into that rest." And, as I am sure the system of jubilees were designed to teach the great final jubilee, or restitution of all things; and also am sure the system of multiples, which was not only a " jot," but a big part of the law, cannot pass away until it is so fulfilled; I shall, and do, plant my faith, not on the law, but on what the law and the prophets teach. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." " Search the Scriptures, for they are they that testify of me;" and they testify of him, not so much in the letter as in their true meaning. The lamb, testified of Christ.

The jubilee, or restitution, testifies of him, whom "the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things." Think not that by merely honoring the name of Christ, you can enter into that rest, while harboring in your heart the very unbelief that shut out the Jew. It is not your church record, but God's word that shall judge you in the last day.

As the last typical jubilee ended nineteen years before the seventy years desolation began, you will readily see that by adding the 19, 70 and 536, to A.D. 1875, you get 2500, the total of 50 x 50. Hence, by this argument, we have already entered "the times of restitution of all things," at which time the return of Christ is due. For we learn that when Christ had ascended into the Holy Place, "the heaven must retain him until the times of restitution of all things," (Acts 3:21). And if his return is due, the "harvest" of the earth is due. "But as the days of Noah were so shall the [parousia] presence of the Son of man be," (Matt. 24:37) We had better not be too certain that among all the mistakes of both the Jew and Gentile church, [who were both to stumble, "for he shall be for a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel;" that is, the house after the flesh, and the house after the promise], that there has been no mistake in relation to the manner of his coming now as well as at his first advent.

Our next argument, or as we will call it, the other half of this, is drawn from prophecy. For the law and the prophets are one and inseparable in spirit. Hence, [HG59] truth in all these glorious subjects, is double, or like a "two edged sword."

When the above argument, as drawn from the jubilee cycles, was first seen by the writer in the spring of 1874; it was not the result of a long course of investigation, like most of these arguments, but of a sudden happy thought, or, had it been on some more common theme, I should have said "inspiration." But at the same moment that the idea occurred that from their last typical jubilee, to the antitype, should be a cycle of a multiple of their largest and last sabbath; the idea also occurred that as the "seventy years," commonly called the captivity, were designed of God for the purpose of permitting the land to enjoy its sabbaths, and that their captivity was only a secondary matter, not even measured by the "seventy years," since Daniel and the greater part of the nation, were carried away eighteen years before the seventy began. The idea occurred, I say, that as this "seventy years" was "that the land might enjoy her sabbaths," it ought to be the key to the whole sabbatic system. I knew God had said "the land did not enjoy her sabbaths while they dwelt upon it;" and that it had not enjoyed its sabbaths since it had been "trodden down of the Gentiles." And yet God claimed that it had enjoyed them; that he had made it desolate till it had enjoyed them; and that he had made it desolate seventy years for that very purpose, (see 2 Chron. 36:21).

Hence, the very natural suggestion, that seventy, should in some way be a measure to the system of sabbaths to the land; and the question immediately presented itself, will not the time from entering the land of promise, where this system of sabbaths began, to A.D. 1875, prove to be just seventy of these cycles? I was in the street, some distance from my office, when these two lines of argument, both new, presented themselves. It was in the evening, and, as I could not see to add up the figures until reaching the office, I immediately turned my face homeward; I walked fast, but walking was too slow; I ran through the streets of the city, eager to get to paper and pencil; and O, the thrill of joy when I found the result, viz: that from their last jubilee, a jubilee of jubilees, or, on the other hand, seventy cycles, measuring from where the system began, would in either case terminate on the 6th of April, 1875, then some six months in the future.

The great flood of light that is now shining on "the end of the world," was obscure at that time, and from the force of old traditions, I naturally expected more in the spring of 1875, than these arguments warranted. Indeed, I then supposed the great changes at hand, would, in some way, be carried out on the plane of the flesh; and that all the world might see and know what was going on; forgetting that "as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man;" and that they were to go on planting, building, and marrying, and know not.

In the part of this argument based on the law, you will notice the cycles are all carried out in exact accordance with the law. That is, each of these fifty cycles are complete, the forty-nine years with their jubilee year added. But 50 x 50 would thus include fifty jubilee years; and, as we are measuring to a jubilee, the last year of the last fifty must be left off, since the great jubilee takes the place of the last one; otherwise two jubilee years would meet; and there is no case in the law where two sabbaths of the same nature come together. Indeed, in the fulfillment at the first advent, the antitypical Lamb took the place of the typical lamb, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month; and their system ended, and they were rejected, five days before, or when Christ rode into Jerusalem, the day the typical lamb should have been taken up, (see Exo. 12:3). Hence, the beginning of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, in 1875, was the beginning of the antitypical jubilee, or "times of restitution." The Jewish ecclesiastical year begins with the first new moon after the spring equinox, and by consulting an 1875 almanac, you will see that this was due on the 6th of April, the Jewish year ending with the 5th.

Unlike this argument which is based on the law, the one we are about to present, based on prophecy, carries out these cycles not according to the law, but according to the actual facts in the case; since prophecy describes events, not as they ought to be, but as they actually are.

So long as jubilee years occurred, these cycles were fifty years each; when jubilees ceased, the cycles went on, having but forty-nine years, (Leviticus 25:8), to each cycle. Hence, we find the nineteen cycles, which passed while they were in possession of the land, have the jubilee, or fiftieth year, added; and the fifty-one cycles, which have passed since the typical jubilee ended, are cycles of only forty-nine years each.

Seventy is the key; 19 and 51 make 70. Hence, from where the system began, we should find nineteen complete cycles, and fifty-one incomplete; and thus counted, they should measure from the end of the forty years in the wilderness, when they crossed the Jordan on entering the promised land, to the spring of 1875. This is a long time, and if there are mistakes in the chronology, such absolute accuracy as is here demanded, in order that the law and the prophets shall agree, ought to develop such mistakes.

Nineteen complete cycles, or 19 times 50, is 950 years. Fifty-one incomplete cycles, or 51 times 49 is 2499; and together, make 3449 years. Hence from entering the promised land, which was in the spring [HG60] [on the tenth day of the first month, Josh. 4:19], to the spring of A.D. 1875 – that is, the end of 1874 – should be 3449 years. See chronology on page 47; From the end of the forty years at which time they entered the land: To division of land, 6 years.

Under the Judges, 450 " Under the Kings, 513 " The captivity, 70 " To Christian era, 536 " This Side of the Christian era, 1874 " Total, 3449 years.

It will be noticed that six thousand years of the chronology, ended with 1872 full years this side of the Christian era; and some may wonder why these cycles should not terminate with the six thousand. I answer: God consumes time in all his work; "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament. And the evening and the morning were the second day. But, Lord, why not have made it all the "first day?" you may ask. God is a God of order, and although we might desire that all the prophetic periods shall terminate in one and the same moment, accompanied with a crash of worlds and a wreck of matter, that is not his way.

"The harvest is the end of the world; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn."

Again you may ask, but why not gather the "wheat" at the same time? There are no two prophetic periods ending at one and the same time. But we are now in "the time of the end," when Dan. 12:4, is being fulfilled, and the seal of that book broken.

The careful reader will observe that as these subjects unfold, the lines are being drawn closer and closer. And if you have the will, and desire to walk in the light, you cannot much longer doubt that from a Bible standpoint, we are living in a grand and glorious epoch of the world's history; no less a time than the dawn of that "Sabbath of rest that remaineth to the people of God;" when the church, the real body of Christ, will be made like unto his glorious body, and Zion "put on her beautiful garments;" "and hast made us unto our God kings and priest, and we shall reign on the earth." But remember the church, the true seed, are to be in the light. "Ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." "For surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets."


THE HOLY PLACE.

Although there is no prophetic period pointing directly to the second coming of Christ, yet the means are not wanting to determine when he was due to leave the Holy Place, and about the time of his return to earth. But his leaving the Holy Place and his return to earth, are not necessarily due at the same time. On the other hand, there is evidence that considerable time intervenes between these events. In Acts 3:21, we learn that "the heaven must receive him until the times of restitution of all things," which has been proven by the jubilees, to have begun April 6th, 1875; and we are now about to prove that he must have left the Holy Place on the tenth day of the seventh month, occurring October 22nd, 1874; or six months before the "times of restitution" began.

According to the law, (Leviticus 16:29, 30), the atonement must be made – that is, finished or completed – on the 10th day of the seventh month; and this occurred once every year. "But Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, the figure of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor yet that he should have offered himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then he must often have suffered, since the foundation of the world. But now, once in the end of the world [aion, or age] hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; and unto them that look for him, [to no one else], shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation," (Heb. 9:24-28).

Here, as well as elsewhere, the apostle clearly shows that Christ has been filling this feature of law, and the time, that is, the fact that the atonement must be made on the 10th day of the seventh month, is made more prominent in the law, than is any other feature of the atonement. And for the high priest to have attempted it on any other than the 10th day of the seventh month, would have been death to him.

Hence, this "jot," or rather this prominent feature, must be fulfilled. The events at the first advent, the suffering of Christ on the exact time for the slaying of the lamb; the resurrection and the counting off of the fifty days to the Pentecost before the Holy Spirit was sent, all prove that the element of Time is as carefully observed in the fulfiilment of the law, as is any other part.

Whether Christ entered into the Holy Place on the [HG61] 10th day of the seventh month, we have no means of knowing. His resurrection and ascension, at which time he entered into the "tabernacle not made with hands," was in the spring. But in the pattern of the true, "there was a tabernacle made; the first wherein there was a candlestick, and the table and the shew-bread, which is called the sanctuary. And after the second vail the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all," (Heb. 9:2, 3). And whether holiest of all, before the 10th day of the seventh month, we have no means of knowing, only for the high priest to have done so, would have broken the law. But whether Christ entered in on the 10th day of the seventh month or not, entering in, is not making the atonement, which from the following, appears to mean finishing it: "And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make the atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made the atonement," (Leviticus 16:17). Hence, according to the law, not one jot of which can fail, Christ must complete the atonement and come out on the 10th day of the seventh month.

And the one occurring October 22, 1874, was the last one prior to the beginning of the "times of restitution," when the heaven could no longer retain him. But there is another line of prophecy, making the resurrection also due, to have commenced in the spring of 1875, some fifty days before the "times of restitution" began; from all of which evidence, we are compelled to believe that Christ left the Holy Place, on the 10th day of the seventh month occurring in October, 1874.

But, as before remarked, his coming out of the Holy Place, and his return to earth, may not be immediately related. He ascended to heaven in the spring, and yet, according to the law he should not have entered the Holy Place, that is, the tabernacle, beyond the second vail, until the set time, and would therefore wait from spring to autumn. So now his coming out of the "holiest of all" was due in the autumn of 1874, while his return to earth was not due until the following spring.

In dealing with these lofty subjects it becomes us to walk carefully, and make no statements beyond what is written, for we are treading on holy ground.

Nevertheless, "he that hath my words, let him speak my words" for when God sets watchmen on the walls of Zion they must not hold their peace.

When claiming that Christ has come the second time, we do not wish to be understood as claiming that he is here walking the earth in an earthly body; indeed there is no proof that he comes to the earth at all, until he comes "with all his saints," at the battle of the great day; and then "his feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives." But, on the other hand, we do not wish to be understood as claiming that he has come only in a spiritual sense. He has never left the earth in a spiritual sense, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." "Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I, in their midst." But we wish to be understood as claiming, from clear Scripture evidence, that he has come in a spiritual body, to his church, who are to be made like him; as literally as he came the first time in a body of flesh, to Israel in the flesh; and that the gospel dispensation is as truly ending, as was the Jewish dispensation, at his first advent.

The coming of the "day of the Lord," and Christ's coming to the mount of Olives, are not the same. The day of the Lord comes, when men are saying "peace and safety;" but when Christ comes to the earth, it is at the time all nations are assembled against Jerusalem to battle.

There was nearly a parallel case of a spiritual being, having a work to do, and remaining on earth for years, at the restitution of the Jewish church from Babylon, and Christ is now about to take his people out of "Babylon." Read the account as given in Dan. 10: and being a prophet, and God designing to record the circumstance, Daniel was permitted to see him. "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. . . And there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption. . . And he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. " Again Daniel looses his strength. "And there came again and touched me, like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me; and said, O, man greatly beloved, fear not; be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened. Then said he, knowest thou [or thou knowest] wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And there are none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael, your prince. Also I in the first year of Darius, the Mede, even I stood to confirm [HG62] and to strengthen him."

In order to get a clear idea of the state of things, I will observe that this revelation was made to Daniel in "the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia," (verse 1). That Darius, the Mede, was the father-in-law of Cyrus and had reigned two years before Cyrus took the throne: hence, this glorious personage before whom Daniel had continually to be strengthened, in order to retain the power to stand, was with Darius five years before; he was also with Cyrus, who withstood him one and twenty days; and after making a revelation to Daniel, he returns to fight with the prince of Persia; and Michael, "the archangel," was his only attendant. Read the description of Christ, "he who was dead, and is alive for ever more," as John saw him, (Rev. 1:12), and you can hardly fail of recognizing the same personage here.

He laid aside his glory when he took upon himself the form of a servant and became flesh; but when he had conquered death, he took upon him the glory he had with the Father "before the world was." Hence, Daniel and John both saw him; and the apostle could say, "Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, henceforth know we him no more."

But how did he fight with Cyrus, and how did Cyrus withstand him so long? Let God be his own interpreter: "Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation," concerning the return of Israel from Babylon, (2 Chron. 36:22). Cyrus must be subdued to the will of god; the prophet had said that he shall let Israel go, and God had to bend his will until he was in harmony with that prophecy. And man, being a free agent, has the will-power to withstand everything but the infinite.

This, I apprehend, was the fighting that was done. "The wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder he will restrain ." But that Cyrus or Darius, saw that glorious personage, and openly and boldly withstood him until assistance came from Michael, the archangel; when Daniel falls as dead before his presence, even when on a mission of peace, of course no one could believe, Spiritual beings are not visible to men in the flesh without a special revelation. Hence, there is not the slightest scriptural ground to oppose the fact that Christ is again present, and that Michael, his assistant, has also again returned to earth. The "time of trouble," is already begun; the times of restitution also have commenced; and again Babylon is to be withstood, and "come out of her, my people," to be accomplished; "and at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth for thy [Daniel's] people; and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, and many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," (Dan. 12:1).

We are clearly in the midst of these great changes, and why men will let prejudice stand in the way of their investigation would seem wonderful, if we did not know that no man can come except the Spirit draw him, and that "the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand."

During his stay on earth, that forty days after his resurrection, his whereabouts, except at the few brief interviews with his disciples, was as unknown as at the present time; and when he did appear to them, the, I understand that he appeared under the vail of flesh. But that now he has no occasion to thus appear; then he did appear in the secret chamber, "the doors being shut;" and in the wilderness of Galilee, but now "if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chamber, believe it not, for as the lightning, so shall the Son of man be," &c. Nor is there any evidence that we shall see him, until we are like him, and "see him as he is."


THE RESURRECTION.

We now purpose to show that the time was due, and therefore the resurrection began, in the spring of 1875. Not the resurrection of the great mass of mankind, who are to be raised in the flesh, with the earthy, natural, or animal body; but the resurrection of those who, "sown a natural body, are raised a spiritual body;" and therefore, as invisible to us as the angels, or as Christ himself. This is what we understand to be the "second birth," viz: an entrance into a second and higher life.

In so small a compass as this book, and at so late a day, I cannot stop to systematically attack every error that has crept into theology. But in relation to the second birth, will simply observe: The Bible appears to me to teach but two births. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old"? That the natural birth, is one of the two referred to, is unquestionable. But what is the other? the great portion of theologians understand it to be experiencing religion. And while admitting that this is a necessity as a preparation, I [HG63] feel certain it is not the birth. "Sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body." The body, of the saint, is of the earth, earthy; and bears the image of the first Adam; but at the resurrection, will be raised "a spiritual body," bearing the image of the "second man, the Lord from heaven." "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit;" and in the resurrection, being a " spiritual body," pray what is it born of? That the resurrection is a birth, is proven from the fact that the resurrection of Christ was a birth, "who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead," (Col. 1:18). He was born of the flesh, and " born from the dead," hence, he was "born again." And as he bore the image of the earthy, at his first birth, so from his resurrection, he has borne the image of the heavenly – not morally, but spiritually. And that we are not recognized as being born again, until we bear the image of the spiritual, is clear from Rom. 8:29; "For whom he did foreknow he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he [the Son] might be the first-born among many brethren. " And "As we have borne the image of the earthy, so [in the resurrection] we shall bear the image of the heavenly."

"Gennao," is rendered begat, or begotten, forty seven times; and born, forty one times; as in Matt. 2:1; and Heb. 1:5. As the same word is used for the beginning and the consummation, we must learn which is meant, by the context.

That conversions is often referred to when speaking of the second birth, I admit, since it is the beginning of that work, viz: " being begotten by the spirit." And God, who "speaketh of those things that are not, as though they were," often speaks of those things which are begun, as if they were already accomplished. But beyond all contradiction, the resurrection is a birth. Hence, if conversion is also a birth, a man must be born three times in order to inherit the kingdom of God. But Jesus was born the second time, and yet we can hardly be expected to believe that he met with a change of heart, or was converted. "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth whore it listeth, and thou heareth the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and, whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit," (John 3:7). Hence, although we shall prove that the resurrection is already commenced, with this class who are raised "spiritual bodies," here is positive Scripture that they cannot be seen of mortal man. Christ, as our forerunner, as the first-born among many brethren, passed through all the trials and the changes, even to the second birth, through which we have to pass, and after his resurrection, illustrated just what I am now maintaining, that a spiritual being can thus go and come. Did he not appear in their midst, "the doors being shut"? Did he not "vanish out of their sight"? Nor could they tell "whence he came, or whither he went." And what I claim is that the resurrected prophet, or saint, has the same power; and that if the necessity existed now, as then, could as easily appear in any human form they chose.

Hence, if I can prove that the resurrection is now due, although it does not all occur at one and the same time, but "every man in his own order," the fact that they have not been seen, has no bearing on the subject. Of course we do not expect the "natural man," and the church is full of that class, and their prominent mark is lofty professions of Godliness, and what they have done and are doing for Jesus; and Christ says they will even make that claim to him; "have we not done many wonderful works in thy name." I say we do not expect any of this class to see or believe these things; "for they are foolishness to them." But we do believe these present truths are the sifting truths of the " harvest; " and that in the providence of God, they will reach the "little flock," the spiritually minded, and thus separate the "tares from the wheat." All of which work under the supervision of the angels, is to be done " in the time of harvest. "" And from the time the daily shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days," (Dan. 12:11-13).

The 12th of Daniel opens with the time of trouble, and the resurrection of many who sleep in the dust of the earth, and the above text, beyond all question, points to the resurrection of Daniel the prophet; and all of that class, as every man is to be raised "in his own order," band or company. And although "the words were closed up and sealed until the time of the end," (Dan. 12:9;) still they were to be understood at the appointed time; "the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand," (Dan. 12:10). And I shall show that these "days" cannot reach this side of Feb. 14th, 1875, and hence, are already ended. But instead of taking up the subject in all its connections, especially with chapter 11, I shall confine the investigation principally to the measurement of the time.

Christ refers to this abomination as yet future in his day; "When ye therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in [HG64] the holy place [" who-so readeth let him understand," a caution that the meaning is deeper that at first appears], then let them that be in Judea flee unto the mountains, ... for there shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this same time, no, nor ever shall be, (Matt. 24:15-21), To the superficial reader this may appear to apply exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem. But remember the caution Christ gives, and remember his teachings were "in parables and dark sayings." Prophecy is given in type and antitype.

Compare what is said of Babylon in Isa. 13:, and Jer. 51:, and read its application by John the Revelator, to mystic Babylon, taking the references from one to the other in the margin, and you will learn that language is used to all appearance applying directly to the type, but of two lofty a nature to be thus fulfilled, and really belonging to the antitype. Jerusalem was but a type, an allegory. There was no "holy place," in which the abomination could be set up, at the destruction of Jerusalem. God had left their house desolate, and the vail of separation had been rent from the holy place at the death of Christ. But granting that the tabernacle within its walls had been the holy place; the Roman army did not enter it; the Jews set fire to the temple before the Romans entered the city. But unless you can discern between the letter and the spirit, you will fail here. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost." The church is the holy place, the temple of God; and "the man of sin did get into the holy place, "sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," and "exalting himself above all that is called God." Pope Gregory maintained, and the Roman Catholic church have ever claimed, that " it is given to the pontiff to create God, the creator of all things, and offer him a sacrifice for sin. " And in the mockery of the "holy wafer," they profess to carry out that blasphemous claim. Is not the creator greater then the thing created?

The abomination that maketh desolate can be fixed on the Roman church, as follows: The woman, sitting on the scarlet colored beast, having seven heads, [governments], and ten horns, [divisions], Rev 17 had the name written on her forehead. And the Roman Catholic church, fills the picture. No other church was ever carried by the great Roman empire; "the peoples and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, on which the woman sitteth."

A harlot, in Bible language means a church, the bride of Christ, married to the world, or a union of church and state. The Roman church was in this sense the first or mother church, and she has many harlot daughters, church-state organizations, which have come out from her. These harlot churches, mother and daughters, are called the "abominations of the earth," (Rev. 17:5). This mother-church was "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," (Rev. 17:6); hence, she was not only an abomination, but "THE abomination that maketh desolate;" and when that woman took her seat "on the the beast," the abomination was "set up." From which time these, "days" measure to the end. "Go thou thy way to the end," i. e. the "harvest;" "for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. " The woman taking her seat on the beast, implies, and facts support the view, that the beast was more or less controlled by the woman. And it is well known that the Roman empire, once a purely political power, became, to a certain extent, an ecclesiastical power, and acknowledged the supremacy of the church; and that this state of things obtained all through the dark ages. But now the supremacy of the church of Rome has ceased to be thus acknowledged. Therefore, the woman who was once seated on the beast, has lost her seat, and this part of the prophecy, at least, is fulfilled. When did she take her seat? How long did she hold it? and when was she unseated? Who is there at this time that claims to understand these already fulfilled prophecies? Not many! And yet God has never yet left himself without witnesses; and the light, the true light, has always been in the the church.

Those teachers who admit they do not understand, are not the ones likely to impart light on these things; and yet the church of God are to have the light. "Ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should come upon you as a thief." It does not read: Ye brethren are so good that if you are in darkness in relation to the coming of the day of the Lord, it will be well with you. Here is the rock on which many will make shipwreck. You think that because good and earnest Christians of generations past, have lived and died with no knowledge of these things, and it certainly was well with them, that you can walk in the good old way your fathers trod, and it will be well with you. These truths were not due in their days, hence, they could not share the responsibility of accepting or rejecting them. You are living when they are a present truth due to the church, and you cannot shirk the responsibility, or settle down on the laurels of your fathers. They had responsibilities you have not, while you have your own responsibilities, and must stand or fall for yourselves.

In the application of a prophecy, there is but one question to take into account: Do the facts meet the requirements of the prophecy? For instance: If a prophecy clearly belongs to a certain power, and its measure is given in "days," and yet it required just that many years to fulfill it, we are clearly justified in [HG65] understanding a " day " in that case, to symbolize a year. And that the people of Rome and Italy acknowledged and submitted to the supremacy of the papal church, from A.D. 538 to 1798, is clearly supported by the facts of history. Prior to 538, the Roman church never held the supremacy. The Greek church at Constantinople, had taken the lead, and so far from holding supremacy in Rome, the papacy, for sixty years prior to the above date, was not the acknowledged religion of the ruling power or people of Rome, since the Goths, who were Arians, and opposed to catholicism, occupied the peninsula of Italy. And it was not till about the above date, that Bellisarius, a general of Justinean, the catholic emperor of the east, broke their power in Italy. Gibbon't Rome, London edition, 1834, page 701, says: "Bellisarius entered Rome Dec. 10th, 536, and the city after sixty years servitude, was delivered from the yoke of the barbarians," "The Goths, however, assembled in vast numbers for the defense of their country, and early in the spring besieged the city, which siege was maintained for one year and nine days," (page 707). "The Goths raised the siege of Rome March, 538, and the Gothic army, lately so strong, were now reduced to the walls of Ravenna, and some fortresses, destitute of mutual support." And after giving some more of the details of the breaking of the Gothic power in Italy, he adds, as a fact occurring in the midst of these troubles: "The provinces of Italy had embraced the party of the emperor." When the civil power in Italy, embraced the party of the emperor, who was fighting for the catholic church, they renounced arianism, and supported the church of Rome. And from that time until the spring of 1798, the people of Rome and Italy maintained their allegiance to that church.

The setting up of that woman, or "abomination," does not necessarily imply a great accession of power. The catholic princes of their own free will, set her up, and maintained her in her seat, the former "seat of the dragon." Papacy, for many centuries, had no power only what was thus delegated to her by the "ten kings," the divisions of the empire. "These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast," (verse 13). It is true the church element became so strong in time, that it "subdued three kings," – Lombardy, Romania, and Ravenna – and took their crowns, and has since worn the three-crowned hat. The prophecy, both in Daniel and Revelation, demands that this power should continue to hold, "times and laws," 1260 days, or a "time, times, and half a time," or "forty-two months;" all of which are used in Rev. 12 and 13, as one and the same. In 1798 the time expired, the 1260 years were ended. And what follows? French Revolution, by Christopher Kelly; Lon. Edition, vol. 1, pps. 243-4, read: "The Roman republic was proclaimed on the 15th of February, 1798. The pope, however, made one additional effort for the continuance of his temporal existance, by sending an embassy to Berthier, who was encamped outside the walls. The general refused to admit any other deputation than that of the people of Rome, thus dissipating the last hope of the holy father. The arrival of the French army, and the proclamation of the general, had given the fatal blow to the papal sovereignty."

Dan. 7:26, in referring to this same power, says: "And he shall think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times and the dividing of time, but the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." And how true this latter part has been fulfilled is known to all. His dominion taken away in 1798, was restored in March, 1800, but in quite another character, as "the image of the beast," and has since been undergoing this gradual consumption "unto the end."

In Daniel 12, "the time of trouble" is foretold, the deliverence of Daniel's people, the resurrection of many that sleep in the dust of the earth; and also the fact that the book was to be closed up and sealed until the " time of the end. " Then follows a question, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" (verse 6). And the answer given seems to have a reference to what was to follow, the "abomination that maketh desolate;" the great central figure of the prophecy, both of Daniel and John. Daniel had already learned something of this monstrous nightmare of the prophetic page. For in the 7th chapter, under the symbol of "the little horn having eyes, and a mouth, 'he had seen it wearing out the saints of the Most High, and had learned that it was to continue to hold " times and laws for a time, times, and the dividing of time;" but "the judgement should sit and they should take away its dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And yet, notwithstanding they should take away its dominion, he had learned that the same horn should make war with the saints, and prevail, up to the time the saints took the kingdom.

And the heavenly visitor, holding his hands up to heaven, "swore by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a-half, [a period we now understand to be 1260 years], and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished," (verse 7).

The scattering, evidently extends to the end of the time of trouble, which was the first of the "wonders" named, and is the one which includes all the others. And this "time of trouble," extends some thirty-eight [HG65] years into the future, even now; since it reaches to the end of the times of the Gentiles, or to A.D. 1914. And with present light we can see how comprehensive was the answer to that question. For in Zech. 14, in the day of the Lord, after that day has commenced, God will gather all nations against Jerusalem, and the city shall be taken, and a part go into captivity.

It is Daniel's people referred to in chapter 12, and to whom the scattering applies.

"At that time shall thy people be delivered, every one found written in the book," (verse 1). The attempt has been made to apply this to the gospel church; but if you look at Dan. 9:24, you may read, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city." This certainly refers to the Jewish nation. If "thy people" of Dan. 9, belongs exclusively to the Jews, it is exceedingly arbitrary to say "thy people," of Dan. 12, has no reference to the Jewish nation; nor is there the least foundation for such a claim. "Every one found written in the book," clearly refers, not to John the Revelator's book of life, but to Ezekiel's "writing of the house of Israel;" "and mine hand shall he upon the prophets that see vanity and divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of my people; neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel; neither shall they enter the land of Israel," (Eze. 13:9). And not until this prophecy of Zech 14, is fulfilled, which belongs to the "day of the Lord," will he have accomplished the scattering of the power of the holy people. Daniel's people are the only people referred to in the Old Testament as "the holy people." And Jerusalem must be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

Why cannot everybody see that the times of the Gentiles extend far into the day of the Lord? Jerusalem is to be surrounded and taken by them in the day of the Lord; and half of the city is to go into captivity, in the day of the Lord; and he will not have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people until Jerusalem ceases to be trodden down of the Gentiles.

The answer, in verse 7, did not satisfy Daniel, for he could not understand it. And he puts the question in another form, but is told to go his way, for the words are closed up and sealed, till the " time of the end;" and is further informed that the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. This was equivalent to saying that he could not be answered in what he wished to know concerning the scattering of his people, the Israel of the flesh. But a further revelation was made touching himself, and as we now know, with the light of the New Testament, a class of whom he knew nothing, viz: The true seed, and heirs of the kingdom. For God has arranged that the prophets, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are to share in what Daniel's people, as a nation, cannot have. For they are to "see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out;" "for the children of the bond-woman shall not be heirs with the children of the free woman."

With verse 10, and onward, the prophecy has reached the gospel church; "the royal priesthood" after the order of Melchizedek. "And from the time the daily sacrifice shall be taken away." [Daniel had been informed in the ninth chapter, that seventy weeks were all that could be given to his people]. And the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand," &c. Here is a period belonging to a new people. For with the end of the daily, or continual sacrifice, which could not be taken away until it was fulfilled, the priesthood, and even the heirship of Daniel's people, was to end. Hence, what is said to Daniel after the seventh verse, after he says, "I heard, but I understood not," is equivalent to the following: You have heard all that can be revealed in reference to your people, "go thy way," say no more about it, "the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." But I will reveal to you what concerns yourself. At the end of a definite period of time, you shall stand in your lot. And through the light given by our Savior, we learn that God has cast Daniel's lot in with the children of the free woman; and what concerns him concerns us. [The "end" to which he is referred, "go thy way till the end," proves to be the end, or "time of harvest," of this new people with whom Daniel's lot is cast]. From the time the daily is taken away and the abomination you have heard about, (see Dan. 11:31), is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days; blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. For thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

These periods can have no relation to Daniel's people, but are the measure of the gospel church, in the wilderness, and after its exit. That the abomination that maketh desolate is the Roman catholic church we have proven. And that organization is referred to both as man and woman; "the man of sin," and the drunken woman, because of its double character, church and state; and as such, was to hold "times and laws" for 1260 years and it is a historic fact that no government was established in Rome, except the papal, that was accepted by the people, from the time the Gothic power was broken in 538, until the republic of 1798.

It is true Justinean, the emperor of the east, after driving out the Goths, which was not fully [HG67] consummated until A.D. 553, claimed to be emperor of Rome, while permitting the popes to exercise civil power in collecting their own revenues, appointing their judicial officers, &c. It is also true, that at a later date, Pepin of France, claimed and exercised more or less authority over the papal power. And so, during most of that 1260 years, have other of these "ten kings," or divisions of the empire. But it will be remembered the prophecy does not demand that the papacy should be an independent power. These ten divisions of the empire were "to agree and give their power and strength unto the beast, until the words of God were fulfilled." And all the world know that the catholic princes of Europe, did maintain the papacy in Rome with more or less civil power, during that 1260 years. But when the time was fulfilled, they were to " hate the harlot, and strip her, and make her desolate and naked," and consume her substance "unto the end."

The exact day on which that 1260 year period ended, was February 15th, 1798.

That was the day the papal civil power ended, and the republic was declared from the capitol in Rome. [See any history of the French revolution]. But the exact date of the setting up of that, "abomination" is not so clearly marked. Still the year 538 is clearly marked as the end of the Gothic sovereignty in Rome, not but what they still strove to regain their loss, until the death of their last king in 553; but they strove unsuccessfully, for during all that fifteen years the provinces of Italy, who had declared in favor of the catholic party, maintained their allegiance, notwithstanding Rome was sacked some four or five times. Dating from 538, in round numbers, "the thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days," would reach to A.D. 1873, as you may see by adding 1335 to 538. Hence, 1873 – the year the six thousand ended, and the day of the Lord began – was looked forward to with much interest; and every part seemed to fit. From the time the abomination was "set up," or from 538, there shall be a thousand years, with two hundred and ninety added. Then a blessing is pronounced on those who wait and come to the thousand, clearly the same thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days. From 538, a 1000 reaches to 1538, a date clearly marked in history, as a shortening of the days of tribulation spoken of by Christ, in Matt. 24. It was in 1538, the "holy league," between the Archbishop of Strasburg, the Archbishop of Mentz, the Duke of Bavaria, George of Saxony, Henry of Brunswick, supported by Francis of France, Henry of England, and other northern powers – was formed, (see Church Hist. by Charles Hase, New York Ed., A.D. 1855, page 391). The object of this "holy league," was to stop the papal persecution and aid the reformers. And the end of the two hundred and ninety, are also clearly marked. It was at that time the advent movement began, or a special waiting for the ending of the longer period.

With present light we have learned that a round number of years from 538, was not accurate enough to determine the exact ending of those "days." God requires something more earnest, and deeper digging to get the exact truth. We have but one absolute date from which to determine the other two. The end of the 1260 period is fixed to Feb. 15th, 1798, beyond all question. Feb. 15th, 538, would be just 1260 years, the period the "abomination of desolation" was to hold "times and laws." But it is not true that it was "set up," as early in 538 as Feb. 15th. It was not until March, 538, that the Gothic power was broken, and the exact date of the setting up of "the abomination," or the woman taking her seat on the beast, was when "the provinces of Italy" embraced the catholic cause. That is, when the civil power of the Roman states gave in their allegiance to the church party, which, from the best authority we can find, was about one year after, [the exact date is not given].

And it is from where the abomination was "set up," the thousand, three hundred and five and thirty days are to measure. If you begin the 1335 years one year later, of course they terminate a year later. But the condition of the prophecy must be adhered to. That power was to maintain its seat 1260 years, and yet we know it ended Feb. 15th, 1798; and that it was not set up in Feb. 538. Still facts and prophecy must agree, or the application of the prophecy be given up. This dilemma staggered me at first; to give up the application of this prophecy, would be to give up the plainest fulfilled prophecy in all the Scriptures; and doing that, we might as well give up all prophecy, and like the mass of the churches, settle down at our ease and take our chances about the day of the Lord coming on us "as a thief." But the reward, if we "hold fast his works to the end," is so great, and the loss, if we "draw back," so infinite, that I, for one, dare not cease may investigations.

On further searching I found just one Bible precedent for calling a period of time a definite number of years when it was nearly a year short, thus: "Zedekiah reigned eleven years in Jerusalem," (Jer. 52:1). Zedekiah did not reign in Jerusalem but ten years, three months and nine days, (see Jer. 52:5-11); and yet the statement that he reigned eleven years is three times repeated – here, and in 2 Chron., and in 2 Kings. And the fact that he did not reign but ten years and a small fraction of a year, is also three times repeated.

Then the application of the 1260 years, although they were not that many full years, is not weakened. [HG68] And from the best evidence we can get, the provinces of Italy did not change their allegiance from the Arian to the Catholic church for a full year after the spring of 538. And this 1260 year period, ending as it did, Feb. 15th, 1798, was only 1259 years, and something of another year; a day or an hour will do; but it must have been more than 1259, or it could not be called 1260. Doubtless there are those who, glorying in their own indifference to these Bible truths, and satisfied to walk carelessly themselves, will call this close figuring, "special pleading," and try to dispose of the whole subject in that loose, off-hand way. But when Paul figures close, "The promise was not unto thy seeds, as of many, but unto thy seed," they do not call it "special pleading."

Measuring from the spring of 539, the 1335 years reach to the spring of 1874. But the days could not end, and Daniel and the whole order of prophets have a resurrection, until the " end; " for he was to "go his way till the end." And we have other arguments proving the end, or "harvest," could not begin until the tenth day of the seventh month of 1874. Here was another dilemma. Give up the application of the prophecy we could not, and yet those "days must reach to the end. Again we searched. "More special pleading," some may say. However, we found another precedent. Just one solitary case, where a similar licence is used to prolong a period of time. "David reigned over all Israel; and the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years," (1 Chron. 29:27). This also is three times repeated; and the fact that he reigned more than forty years is three times repeated, as in 2 Sam. 5:4,5. Then the 1335 "days," beginning almost a year late, may be prolonged any part of another year. They must not be 1336 full years, but may be 1335, and any fraction of another year, and the Scriptures not be broken.

Hence, they can be carried beyond the 10th day of the 7th month in 1874, and may be prolonged even to Feb. 14th, 1875, without violating the conditions of the prophecy, and for this there is a clear Scriptural argument. But the "days" have ended, they are in the past; and the special interest which attached to Feb. 14th, 1875, is also past, and is only one link of a chain of evidence. And the proof that they ended on that special day is not now of sufficient importance to demand a full explanation here. All that is of vital importance to these arguments, is to show that they reached to the end, or "harvest" of the world, on which a future chapter will dwell more in detail.

ELIJAH THE PROPHET,

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse," (Mal. 4:4, 5) The coming of Elijah must precede the day of the Lord; but his work belongs to that day. Jesus says, "Elias truly shall first come and restore all things," (Matt. 17:11). And the restitution of all things does not begin until the return of Christ "whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things," (Acts 3:21), Hence the work of Elijah does not begin until after the personal advent of Christ, the event that ushers in the day of the Lord.

At the first advent Christ came, ostensibly, to establish his kingdom with the fleshly house of Israel, to whom alone, he was sent. But, "In the day thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed." (#Mic 7:11). The kingdom of God was taken from them, and the other half of Zion's warfare comes in.

The "walls" referred to, was their salvation; "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." But this will be realized only in that city "which hath foundations."

In the shadowy sense in which the kingdom was offered to the children after the flesh, in just that limited sense, John the Baptist was the Elijah. Christ in speaking of John, says, "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come," (Matt. 11:14).

Here it is clearly made conditional; If ye receive it, this is the Elias; if not, he is not the Elias. And they did not receive it, hence, when asked, "Art thou Elias"?

John could truly say, "I am not," (John 1:21).

That Elijah [the names are the same, one is from the Hebrew, and the other the Greek], was only a mere type, and that the prophecy does not point to him in person, is clear from the fact that conditionally, John was the Elijah. And yet John, even if they had received him, was still the son of Elizabeth. But Gabriel, in Luke 1:16, makes it clear; "He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers," &c. Hence, the real Elijah, who, or whatever he may be, will be the antitype of Elijah the prophet. This, like many other prophecies, points in the letter of the text, to the type, and in the spirit, or real meaning, to the antitype. And it can be shown that the [HG69] "church of the firstborn," Christ and his body complete, is the true antitypical Elijah.

"He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children; and the hearts of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Here is the alternative, if the Elijah brings about this happy reunion of the family, a blessing results, but if he could, or should fail, as John the Baptist failed, then a curse must result. And that this turning of the hearts, &c. refers to something more than the Jewish nation, is evident from the extent of the curse, in case of failure. But it is written, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Hence, the real Elijah "shall not fail nor be discouraged till he hath set judgment in the earth."

Of John it was said, "But I say unto you Elias has come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them, (Matt. 17:12). But to the antitypical Elijah they will not do as they list; "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord, shall have them in derision.... Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion."

As the restitution is to result in the good of the human family, and it is only through the restitution, that all families of the earth are to be blessed in Abraham and his seed; and this work restoring all things is the Elijah work: it follows of necessity, that the Elijah, and "the seed," are one and the same. And that Christ, head and body, the one perfect seed, is alone competent for the work, and that it belongs to him, no one can doubt. Hence, all ideas of a personal Elijah are from some other than divine origin. "And the least in the kingdom of heaven [that is of that body which is to constitute the real Elijah] is greater than John the Baptist."

But, it may be asked, If the gospel church, with Christ as its head, is the real antitypical Elijah, who is to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children; and the children to their fathers;" and " restore all things;" is not that work being accomplished during the gospel dispensation? Let Christ answer: – "Suppose ye that I am come to send peace on earth? I tell you nay ! but rather division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father." But when he has perfected his church, he comes not to bring division, not to set the fathers and children at variance, so that "a man's foes shall be they of his own household;" but to speak peace; "and of the increase of his government, and of peace, there shall be no end."

As Elijah was a type of the gospel church, there should be a correspondence, as there always must be between type and antitype.

Was the church endowed with the power of miracles? "And Elijah said, See, thy son liveth." Has the gospel church been persecuted and compelled to flee, by a woman who sat as queen, (Rev. 18:7); and is called Jezebel. (Rev. 2:20)? "Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as one of them. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life." Did the church, when fleeing from the woman, find shelter in the wilderness, "where they should feed her a thousand two hundred and threescore days? Then Elijah did according to the word of the Lord; ... and the ravens brought him bread and flesh, in the morning, and bread and flesh, in the evening." When the church came out of the "wilderness," after her flight, did the "famine, not of bread, nor of water, but for hearing the word of the Lord," cease, by a copious outpouring of "the latter rain? And the word of the Lord came unto Elijah, in the third year, [at the end of "three years and six months," Jas. 5:17] saying, Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." Is the church to end its career by translation: – "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." "For the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air." "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind; that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal," (2 Kings 2:1).

Why should Elijah be translated? he was no better than his fathers, (1 Kings 19:4)? Because being a typical character he represents the body of Christ in all its humiliation, and final victory. But the parallels are not complete, when he starts for translation. His movements from leaving Gilgal until he crosses the Jordan, have their exact parallels under the midnight cry movement, the one in which the church is represented as going to meet her Lord (Matt. 25:6-12) Even the meaning of the names of each point visited by Elijah, in which he started from Gilgal for Beth-el, and from Beth-el to Jericho, and then for Jordan, crosses the Jordan, and still goes on, all have their antitype here, in this movement now ending with the "harvest" message.

It does not follow that because all the church have not taken part, that they are not represented; all the church did not flee into the wilderness. And often a minority is made to represent the whole, as is doubtless the case in the parable of the "ten virgins."

This movement is related to, and we might almost say based on, the very unpopular Advent movement of [HG70] 1843-4. Since all the rules of interpretation then adopted, are fully carried out in this present movement The '43 movement ending as it did, in disappointment and fanaticism, has been a great reproach. Prior to that, the pious in all the churches would both sing and talk of the second advent. But now the bare mentioning of the subject is frowned upon. This movement started some fifteen years after, and out of the very sink of that reproach; not only, indorsing the prophetic applications then made, but indorsing the movement itself, as the fulfillment of Matt. 25:1-5.

Gilgal means, "rolling away the reproach," (Josh. 5:9). With the evidence now before us, we must believe that translation is near; and, assuming that these arguments are true, Will it not roll away the reproach of the '43 movement? for if that filled the conditions of Mat. 25:1-5, this movement completes the parable.

And the midnight cry movement being the one that ends with the coming of the Bridegroom, and the "going in of those who were ready;" ought to be the antitype of the Elijah translation scenes.

When the Lord would translate Elijah, he started from Gilgal, for Beth-el. Beth-el was the place where Jacob's ladder stood; and received its name in consequence of that vision. Our object-point, when this movement started, was 1873; where the six thousand years ended, the day of the Lord began, and the special light now shining on the nature of the closing events of the age, began to develope. And we trust that this "ladder," resting on that platform, will stand secure, until the topmost round is scaled. But Beth-el was scarcely reached by Elijah, before the Lord sent him to Jericho; which means "his month, or moon." And we had but just reached our object-point in '73, when the light shone on the evidences, as now given in this book, that Christ was due to leave the Holy Place on the "tenth day of the seventh month," in 1874; to which we immediately began to look. That, clearly answering to Jericho, the second object-point of Elijah.

But "the Lord said go to Jordan." And, without giving it up, or any apparent discouragement, he started for Jordan; which is, judgment. He not only went to, but crossed the Jordan; entering in and coming out on the other side, dry shod.

When we reached the seventh month of 1874, there was no time for discouragement, as the light on the 1335 "days," showing that they could be prolonged to Feb. 14th 1875, came out at that time. And also that between Feb.

14, where the resurrection would be due to commence, and April 5th, the end of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, at which time the Jubilee, or "times of restitution" would begin, was just fifty fifty days. Which could not occur again until the new moon should come again on April 6th, and that April belong to a leap year. Which would require the return of many, many cycles.

The special point in this fifty days, is that from the resurrection of Christ, "the firstfruits," to the descent of the Holy Spirit, "the earnest of the inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph. 1:14), was also fifty days.

Although we did not look for translation on the 14th of February, we believed then, as now, that the resurrection began at that time, and with the "order" of the prophets, the order to which Daniel belongs. But we did expect translation between that, and April 6th. Hence, with those two object-points in view when we started from the "seventh month" of 1874, they answer to the passage between the banks of the Jordan. And as we journey on a little further, deliverance may come any time between this and the end of the "harvest," in 1878. And now, as then, "the sons of the prophets stand afar off. "(2 Kings 2:7).

These things may look small, as indeed they are, and foolish to the world. And so do many of the little details of the law: Why should Christ ride into Jerusalem five days before the passover, instead of six? Why should he be betrayed on the evening of the 14th of the first month? Go to Exo. 12 and learn why. A lamb was taken up, and a lamb was slain, at those set times. Type and antitype are a feature in all of God's work, even from the six days of creation, to the end of the great plan; "For, said he, See thou make every thing after the pattern shown thee in the holy mount."

THE HARVEST Its Beginning and Its End.

"The harvest is the end of the world; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn." – Matt 13 There was a harvest to the Jewish age, to which we have already referred; and that harvest began and ended with them, during Christ's personal presence; and hence, continued during the three and a-half [HG71] years of his ministry. The harvest of this gospel age, which is also the end of this age, measures three and a-half years as we will show. As the harvest at the first advent did not begin until Christ came, that is, began his work, for he did not come in this sense until after John's baptism, (see Acts 13:24), so this harvest begins with Christ's personal presence.

"And I looked, and beheld a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out of the temple, saying, with a loud voice: Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe," (Rev. 14:14, 15). It is true this is symbolic language, and so is the parable in Matt. 13, but there we have the explanation that it means gathering the fruit of the gospel age. Then follows another angel, who gathers the "clusters of the vine of the earth," "and cast them into the great winepress of the wrath of God."

It will be observed there is order here, as in all of God's works. First, one like the Son of man "reaps the earth." "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day," (John 6:40). It is the dead in Christ, that he gathers, while angels are to gather the tares. "Although an angel can not waken one sleeping saint, or bring him from the tomb; a legion of angels cannot keep him there."

The order of the harvest can be gathered from Christ's teaching in Matt. 13, and this, "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." Here we find the harvest begins with Christ's own personal work. "The dead in Christ shall rise first." And before "we who are alive and remain" are taken, the "vine of the earth" is gathered, to be cast into the winepress of his wrath. "I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn." Then, after the separation of the tares and wheat is complete, the "wheat" is gathered – "caught up together with" the dead in Christ, who have been raised before, "to meet the Lord in the air."

The above being the order of events, it will be seen that the harvest could not have begun, until Christ left the Holy Place; which, as has been shown in a former chapter, was due on the tenth day of the seventh month, occurring in October, 1874. This fact, that the end of the aion, age, was due to begin in the autumn of 1874, was reached before the " time of the harvest" was seen. In the chapter on the equality of the two covenants, it has been shown that the time from the death of Jacob, to the death of Christ, was 1845 years; and that the two covenants, or dispensations, were to be of equal measure, and therefore, from the death of Christ to the end of the gospel dispensation, must measure 1845 years. And from the crucifixion in the year A.D. 33, to the spring of 1878, will be 1845 years.

But the point I wish to show is, the parallels between the harvests of the two dispensations. And, let it be remembered, these arguments on the prophetic periods, which determine these various dates, were reached before the fact was seen that the harvest held any place in the arrangement of these time arguments.

As the first dispensation measured 1845 years, and ended with a harvest of three and a-half years, the duration of Christ's ministry; it follows that from where that dispensation under the twelve tribes began, to where the harvest began, was 1841 years and six months; to which we add the three and a-half years of that harvest to complete the 1845 years. Now is it not a strange coincidence that precisely the same measurements should occur here? That is, from the spring of A.D. 33, where the dispensation of the gospel to all nations began, to the autumn of A.D. 1874, the exact point where this harvest should begin is also 1841 years and six months?

This bare coincidence alone, possibly might have been a matter of accident, but when all the other parallels named in the subject of the "Two Covenants," are remembered, and also the abundant evidence there is, that they were to be of "equal measure, and of equal size;" to find a continuation of such wonderfully exact measurements, is mathematical demonstration that seems almost irresistible.

As from the spring of A.D. 33, to the autumn of 1874, is 1841 years and a-half, so from the autumn of 1874, to the spring of 1878, where the 1845 full years of the gospel dispensation end, is three and a-half years, leaving the harvest of equal length with the one of the Jewish dispensation.

Again: Thirty years before that harvest began, Christ was born. Prior to that event, there had been a general expectation, and as you remember, old Simeon had the witness that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's anointed. And there was in Israel a decided advent movement, culminating in the birth of Christ, and the wise men of the east coming to worship, &c. Thirty years before this harvest began, there had been an advent movement. It began perhaps with Wolf, who preached through Europe and Asia, but was mainly in this country, and culminated in the tenth day of the seventh month of 1844, just 30 years prior to the autumn of 1874.

Again: About six months prior to that harvest, there was a message to make manifest to Israel, the coming of Messiah, (John 1:31). Six months before this harvest began, the jubilee arguments came out, to make [HG72] manifest to " the Israel," the coming of Messiah the second time. How is it, that every feature of the one has its exact parallel in the other, unless they are, indeed, to be "of equal measure, and of equal size"? It will be remembered that the Jews stumbled at the manner of the coming of their Messiah. They were expecting manifestations of quite a different character, something open, grand and glorious on the plane of the flesh, and they had abundance of Scripture to support their ideas. Even Gabriel's declaration to Mary, had they have known it, would naturally sustained their conception of the character of his advent. "Thou shalt call his name JESUS, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end," (Luke 1:31-33).

This was just the Messiah they were looking for. But how could they see any of this picture fulfilled in "Jesus of Nazareth," the man of sorrows. "He shall be great;" and yet his teaching to his disciples, both by precept and example is, "He that would be great [in the kingdom] let him be the servant of all." Their Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem, and yet the Lord had the infant Saviour carried to Nazareth, "that he might be called a Nazarene." And you may follow the whole history of the Nazarene, and you will scarcely find a single feature of his life in which the Jew could recognize his Messiah. The fact of his having miraculous power, was no proof of itself. Miracles were common in that Dispensation.

Prophets, before Christ, had healed the sick and raised the dead. Hence, they stumbled, and you can hardly wonder at it. Indeed, God spoke "in dark sayings and parables, lest they should see;" and there is to be a parallel here. This second house is to stumble, and for the same reason, viz: because of the manner of his coming. You may smile at this, and say, He is coming in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see him, and think you know all about it. So could the Jew smile, and say, He shall be great, and shall sit upon the throne of his father David.

Nevertheless, they stumbled, and so will this generation. But you are a good church member, and honor the name of Christ, and have no fear of being rejected.

Neither had the Jew any fear of being rejected. He feared God and honored the law. But they were rejected as a body, and so will be the church of the present day.

There were certain prophecies being fulfilled at, and during their harvest. The mere man, Christ Jesus, being present, did not prove him to be their Messiah. But there was an immense array of Scripture fulfilled just at that time. They failed of seeing it. There is an immense array of Scripture being fulfilled just now; but the church as a body, do, and will fail of seeing it; and they are just as much in the dark in relation to the events of this harvest, as were the Jews at the end of their age. But if the church, as a body, are to come short and fail of being saved, what has the gospel dispensation amounted to? If the Jewish nation as a body, failed, what did the Jewish dispensation amount to? I will answer both questions: were each a necessary part of the plan for developing first, the typical, and then the real "seed of the woman" that "is to bruise the serpent's head." "Many are called, but few are chosen." Do you want to share in the kingdom? Then there are responsibilities for you, which John Wesley, or any of the early reformers, did not have; and hence, for you to live as earnest a Christian life as did John Wesley, is not enough. Did not the generation of Jews, on whom the end came – the generation who saw, or might have seen, the fulfillment of the Scriptures centering in the first advent – have responsibilities their fathers did not have? and were they not judged accordingly?

It is not the world, but the church, who are guilty for being in darkness in relation to the fulfillment of the great amount of Scripture centering in this harvest.

You are right in expecting Christ to come in the clouds, openly and visibly, so that every eye shall see him. But you are not right in rejecting all that is to precede those open manifestations. You are right in claiming that He comes in all his glory, and with all his holy angels; but you are wrong in denying that he comes as a thief. You are right in claiming that men will call for rocks and mountains to hide them from him that sitteth upon the throne. You are wrong in denying that in the days of the Son of man, during his parousia, his presence, it will be as it was in the days of Noah; that men are to continue at their ordinary business, buying, selling, marrying, &c., during the "days of the Son of man," just as they did during the days of Noah.

The Christian church is teaching a great deal of truth, and so did the scribes and Pharisees, who sat in Moses' seat. But when, in the fullness of time, a change of dispensation was taking place, they were not prepared to advance with the advancing light of God's word; hence, their fall. The fact of Christ being there in person, was no evidence to them. They were judged because Scripture was being fulfilled, and they knew it not.

So the church is guilty today, because the Scriptures are being fulfilled, and they know it not. And, like the Jews, upon whom God poured out his wrath to the uttermost; so upon the Christian world, the seven last [HG73] plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of God, are soon to be poured out.

Have you not noticed in the great majority of denunciations by our Lord, and also by the apostles, that they are aimed at professed Christians. Those rejected by him, claim to have done many wonderful works in his name. The world has no such claim to make. And with the apostle, those who were heady, high-minded, scoffers, &c., were those having the form of Godliness. And it is the Laodicean church, the last of the seven that have filled the prophetic page from the apostolic days to the present time, who are complained of as being "blind and naked," and who are to be spued out of his mouth, (Rev. 3:14-22).

There are other parallels between the ending of this age and the one at the first advent, that seem almost wonderful. From the beginning of their harvest, to their final and complete destruction, was forty years. That is, from A.D. 30, to A.D. 70. But as Christ began to preach when he was thirty, in the autumn of A.D. 29, it was really forty years and six months, to the destruction of Jerusalem, in A.D. 70. From the beginning of this harvest, at the end of A.D. 1874, to the end of the times of the Gentiles, and therefore, to the end of this time of trouble coming on the Christian nations, is forty years – or, really, as the harvest began in the autumn of 1874, forty years and six months. And what is yet more wonderful, the first six months of that harvest was almost a blank. The time for Christ to really begin, was at the spring Passover. Hence, at Cana, of Galilee, he says: "Mine hour has not yet come, (John 2:4). And next to nothing was known of this harvest until the spring of 1875, and the first six months were passed.

Again: At the first harvest, five days have a place. That is, Christ rode into Jerusalem five days before his death. Compare John 12:1 and verse 12. And it was at that time their fate was sealed and their house left desolate. There is a period of five days made prominent here also. That is, as that harvest ended five days short, so to speak; this one begins five days early. From the death of Christ, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the next day after the Passover, (Matt. 17:1), to the tenth day of the seventh month in 1874, lacks five days of being full time – that is, from the fifteenth day of the first month, to the fifteenth of the seventh month, would be six full months. But as the high priest leave the holy place on the tenth day of the 7th month, He starts from heaven; five days before the fifteenth; as when going to Jerusalem.

These parallels between the two dispensations, beginning with the twelve tribes, and the twelve apostles, and ending with all the little details of the harvest, have in them a weight of evidence that is unanswerable; and the fact that this age is to end with a harvest, is the word of Christ. And that the "wheat," or "children of the kingdom," are to continue at their ordinary avocations through the time of the harvest; and that when taken, they are found in the mill, field, &c., is also a clear statement of our Lord. And that the angels will have been here gathering "the tares in bundles," before the wheat is gathered, is his own statement.

[Gathering the tares in bundles, is separating the two classes. Not literal binding as grain is bound; And this separation is now being consummated. Wherever this present light comes, all who accept it are driven out from organized bodies; and its opposers are left to themselves. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed, "(Isa. 66:5).] The above needs no comment. When he appears, there must be these two classes.

It does not appear to me very fanatical to suppose that the work of the harvest is an unseen work, and that those conscious of its presence, become so, by light eminating from the Scriptures. And this is in harmony with the spirit of all that is said of the day of the Lord coming as a thief on one class, while another class are in the light. "How else can the days of the Son of man be, as the days of Noah?

How else can the presence of the Son of man be as the days of Noah? "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the parousia of the Son of man be," (Matt. 24:37). Why will men be so tenaciously blind, because it is taught that he comes in the clouds and all will see him, as to deny every other feature of the advent.

Can he not gather his saints, unbeknown to the world, and then come in all his glory, just as well as "Behold, thy king cometh, meek and lowly," could be fulfilled after the harvest of that age? But our consolation is, "we have this seal; the Lord knoweth them that are his;" and that before the harvest ends, every child of his, will be in the light. "Ye brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should come upon you as a thief."


THE FIVE KINGDOMS, AND THEIR LOCALITY.

Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome, and the kingdom of God. The first four of these were seen by Nebuchadnezzar as a beautiful image, with head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet and toes of mixed iron and clay; while the fifth, the kingdom of God, appeared to him as a stone, or barren mountain. Daniel also had a vision of these five kingdoms; and to him the first four appeared as wild beasts, a lion, bear, leopard, and the terrible beast with iron teeth; while the fifth alone appeared beautiful to him.

Each of these in turn, are represented as subduing the whole earth. Of the first, represented by Babylon and her king, it was said: "Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom; and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and a third kingdom of brass, that shall bear rule over all the earth; and a fourth kingdom that shall break in pieces and subdue all these." Then he represents the God of heaven as setting up a kingdom which shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever, (Dan 2).

Of the first four represented by the four beasts, Sir Isaac Newton observes: "All the four beasts are still alive, though the dominion of the first three be taken away.

[This corresponds with Dan. 7:12, where, in speaking of the destruction of the fourth and last, it says: "As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." It also agrees with Dan. 2:35, when the "stone" smites the image on the feet and toes which were of iron and clay. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together."] "The nations of Chaldea and Assyria are still the first beast. Those of Media and Persia are still the second beast. Those of Macedonia, Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, are the third beast. And those of Europe on this side, are still the fourth beast. Seeing, therefore, the body of the third beast is confined to the nations on this side of the river Euphrates, and the body of the fourth beast to the nations on this side of Greece, we are to look for all the four heads of the third beast on this side the Euphrates, and for all the eleven horns of the fourth beast among the nations on this side Greece ; and therefore, in the breaking up of the Greek empire into four kingdoms, we include no part of Chaldea, or Media and Persia, in these kingdoms, because they belong to the body of the first two beasts.

Nor do we reckon the Greek empire, seated at Constantinople, among the horns of the fourth beast, because it belongs to the body of the third."

The above, by Sir Isaac Newton, appears sound. And more especially as it is supported by facts, as well as by Scripture. If the first three beasts live until the fourth one is destroyed, and are all destroyed together, as the prophecy states; and retains, each its own individuality at the time of their destruction, neither of them can have been absorbed or lost in the other. Hence, all the divisions of the fourth empire must be looked for on its own territory, and not on the territory of the others. The "lion" did not become the "bear," nor was the leopard transformed into the fourth beast; for the gold, the silver, and the brass, are all found as such, at the destruction of the image.

Those who have not noticed this positive statement in these prophecies, and that each and all of these "beasts," live and retain their distinct individuality to the end, have supposed that five of the horns of the fourth beast must be looked for on the Grecian territory. In other words, that five of the horns of the fourth beast must be found growing out of the head of the leopard, or third beast.

This strangely loose idea of the prophecy, has come from the fact that the image of Dan 2, has two legs; and that men have been pleased to call Constantinople "eastern Rome." But prophecy nowhere gives the slightest intimation of the fourth empire being divided into two parts; nor does it recognize any such arrangement.

"The legs of iron," represent the fourth empire. In the image of a man there are two legs it is true; but in the head of a man there are two eyes, and two ears; shall we, therefore, demand a double division of Babylon? On the arms of a man there are two hands and ten fingers; Do we look for so many divisions of the Medo-Persian empire? If the two legs demand a double division of the fourth empire, the two sides, or two thighs, also demand such a division of the third empire.

Prophecy recognizes a double empire in Medo-Persia, by the arms of the image, the sides of the bear and the two horns of the goat, (Dan. 2:7, 8). How is it that this division of Rome is made to appear only in the 2nd chapter of Daniel? for certainly [HG75] there is no reference to it in either of the visions of Daniel or John; while the ten divisions are made to appear in both the toes of the image, and the horns of the beast.

To call Constantinople Rome, and talk of five toes on each leg, sounds pretty enough; but as prophecy nowhere recognizes a double Roman empire, I think in applying it, our safest course is to keep to what the prophecy itself teaches. Those who wait until they see five of the horns of the fourth beast, on the head of the third beast, before looking for the setting up of the fifth kingdom, will probably have a long time to wait.

That Rome, and Rome alone, represents the fourth empire, is also taught in the fact that all the "seven heads" of the fourth beast, had their seat at Rome, viz: The consular, or triumvirate government, which existed in Rome at the time it conquered Grecia; the Imperial, the Gothic, the Papal, the Republic of 1798, the restored papacy, or " Image " of the forty and two month beast, and the present government, under Victor Emanuel. These seven, are the "seven heads of the beast ;" and none of them were located on Grecian, Persian, or Chaldean territory.

These four kingdoms, not only have their own individual and separate territory, but in the prophecy, each one is recognized as existing prior to the fall of its predecessor. Thus, Babylon was the first, but Media and Persia were organized before they conquered Babylon. Grecia was an organized kingdom before it conquered Persia. Rome was an organized kingdom before conquering Grecia.

And in Dan. 2:44, after the fourth kingdom is divided into ten parts, as taught by the toes of the image, and the horns of the beast, which divisions are everywhere in Daniel and Revelations called "ten kings," it says: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom; and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms; and it shall stand for ever." Thus the same is said to be true of the kingdom of God, that is true of the others, viz: it is to be set up before the fall of its predecessor.

Now, although we fully endorse the plain teaching of both the Old and the New Testament, that the church, or the people of God, represent the kingdom of God; the first, or Jewish house, representing that kingdom on the plane of the flesh, and the gospel church, the kingdom on the higher, or spiritual plane; still, the kingdom of God has been in a disorganized condition ever since the end of Zedekiah's reign, where God said: "Take off the diadem, remove the crown, I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until He come whose right it is, and I will give it him." And then it was that universal dominion was given to Babylon, the first of these four Gentile kingdoms. Nevertheless, the kingdom of God is again to be "set up;" that is, organized as a ruling power, " in the days " of the last phase of the Roman empire, and before its work of subjugation can begin.

"Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions; thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in picces as a potters vessel," (Psa. 2). This synchronizes with Dan. 2:44: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms."

Not the fourth kingdom only, but "then shall the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, be broken to pieces together." But the locality of the fifth universal empire, like each of the others, is to be on its own territory. Hence, the apostle could say: "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me, [that is, keep me], unto his heavenly kingdom," (2 Tim. 4:18). But the term heavenly, simply means spiritual; and hence, does not designate its locality, but only its character, that it is not of the earth, earthy. "The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ," and the kingdom of God is to be over all. But the kingdom of God is never again to be on the plane of the flesh, as under the old dispensation. "The natural first, and afterwards the spiritual." Hence, men will not say, "lo here, or lo there," "for the kingdom of God cometh not with observation."


ANTICHRIST.

"He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son," (1 John 2:22).

"The papacy has not denied the existence of the Father and Son, therefore papacy is not the antichrist," is the reasoning of a class of Bible expositors, whose name is legion. But we shall show most conclusively that "denying the Father and the Son" can and does mean something quite different from denying their existence.

"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate," (Titus 1:16), Here we learn that men can [HG76] deny God, without denying his existence. "In works they deny him." "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself," "But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith." Denying, means acting contrary to; "Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," is living a Godly life. Has the "man of sin," he who has exalted himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped; he who has applied torture, sword, flame, and captivity to all who have offended him, lived contrary to, and opposed the teaching of him who said, "love your enemies;" "resist not evil;" "if they smite you on the one cheek, turn to them the other also?" If so he has denied the Son. Has he taken vengeance into his own hands? then he has denied Him who saith "vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord."

"Ye have heard that antichrist shall come," says John, "even now are there many antichrists." And Paul says: "The mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth [hindereth] will hinder until he be taken out of the way; and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." The civil power was what hindered; but in process of time the church got control of the empire, and Rome became papal Rome; then "that wicked was revealed."

That church has claimed, and, to a certain extent, exercised all the prerogatives that Christ himself is to exercise in his kingdom. When the church element got the power, and the "woman" was seated on the "beast;" that beast was said to be "in the bottomless pit." And this beast, "having seven heads and ten horns," is the same as "the dragon, having seven heads and ten horns," of Rev. 12. And this beast is to ascend out of the bottomless pit; that is, throw off the control of the church, (Rev. 17:8), and "go into perdition," just as the "dragon," or nations now controlled by the Devil, who is the "prince of this world," are to throw off, or be let loose from the control of Christ, at the end of the thousand years.

"The dragon," of Rev. 12, and the dragon of Rev. 20, are clearly one and the same. "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan," (Rev. 12:9). "And 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," (Rev. 20:1, 2).

As the dragon, the civil power of the nations has been in the "bottomless pit," under the antichrist, so the nations are to be subdued under the real Christ. "Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance;" and "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord." And it will be noticed that what is said of the real Christ, has, in every particular, been counterfeited by the antichrist. "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, least he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little." And has not antichrist demanded the same homage of the kings of the earth? He also demanded kisses, least they perish from the way when his wrath was kindled but a little. As Christ is to be "King of kings, and Lord of lords," so have the popes professed to be. "And on his head were many crowns," (Rev. 19:12). So too, the popes wore the many crowned hat. And as the saints are to be "Kings and priests, and reign on the earth," the Romish church has claimed that dignity for her priesthood. So perfect is the counterfeit, that many have mistaken the false for the true, and really suppose the thousand years reign of Christ and the saints is in the past. But, though the reign of antichrist is over, that of the real Christ is not yet; for "when the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations, all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall come and worship before him."

THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.

"And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound," (Rev. 8:6).

On the subject of the trumpets, I shall say but little: not because the events of each trumpet are not clearly defined in history, but for want of space in the book. I shall confine my remarks mainly to the sounding of the last three, and refer the reader to the writings of Dr. Adam Clark, for the historical application.

The sounding of the seven trumpets, I understand to shadow forth the events by which the dominion of the last of the four Gentile kingdoms was to be broken, overthrown, and finally destroyed. After Constantine, the sovereignty was divided into three parts; hence, the frequent use of the terms, "a third part of men," &c., [HG77] alluding to the third part of the empire which was under the scourge. And here we may notice the distinction in the language of these scourges, and those which are to come under the "seven last plagues." These are confined to a third, while the plagues, which are to be universal, are to be poured out upon all the prophetic earth, instead of a third part.

Under the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th trumpets, these scourges were brought upon the two western parts of the empire. Under the 5th and 6th, the dominion of Rome at the east, at Constantinople, was subverted. While under the 7th, great Babylon will go down to rise no more, the times of the Gentiles end, and "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord."

The first trumpet was fulfilled by the events under Alaric, the Gothic chief, who commenced these scourges on the empire, and styled himself "the scourge of God." The second was brought about by Genseric, whose attacks were mainly from the shores of Africa, and on the water. The third, under Attilla, who first attacked the empire in its eastern possessions, and then suddenly, like a falling star, invades the west. Under the fourth trumpet, "a third part of the sun was smitten," and a third part of the empire was extinguished; and, by these four, the empire was broken into its ten fragments.

The remaining trumpets, the 5th, 6th and 7th, are called woe trumpets; "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound," (Rev. 8:13). The first of these was under the Saracens; the second under the Mohammedans; and the third and last is "the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation," at which time "many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." The measure of the first two woe trumpets, is given in the prophecy, while the duration of the third woe trumpet, or seventh and last of the series, is to be found indirectly, but with almost equal certainty.

The fifth trumpet, and first woe, began under the Saracens when Othman first invaded the Roman empire, July 27th, A.D. 1299, and ended in July, 1449, at which date the independence of the eastern possession of the empire virtually passed away. The date of the fall of Constantinople was two years after, or in A.D. 1451. But at the first named date, the emperor Constantine Deacozes ascended the throne at Constantinople, by asking and obtaining the permission of the Sultan; and this exactly meets the conditions of the prophecy, for the empire of the east was not to be exterminated under that, but under the following trumpet; as, "to them it was given that they should not kill," (verse 5). [This being a symbol, is political, and not literal death]. "But that they shall be tormented five months." Five months is 5 times 30, or 150 days; and as the time given to measure symbols is itself symbolic, it measures 150 years.

During this 150 years, the Saracens murdered, robbed and taxed the people, while the government at Constantinople was too weak to give protection; and yet taxed and oppressed the people for its own maintenance, until at last, the people earnestly desired political death, that their own government might be abolished, and they be permitted to serve only one set of masters. "And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die but death shall flee from them," (verse 6). "One woe is passed, and behold, two more woes come hereafter," (verse 12).

That the empire did not fall, but that the Saracen chief should grant permission to a Christian emperor to ascend the throne at Constantinople, when he had the power to prevent it, seems strange until we look at the facts. The east, had long been urging the Christian nations of Europe to come to their rescue, and save Constantinople from the Turks; and the western nations were continually making promises of assistance, but owing to home troubles deferred sending it. The Saracens, dreading such interference from the Christian nations of Europe, were thus held in check. But the time was at hand when this restraint was to be broken through, when the four angels [or winds) bound in the great river Euphrates, were to be let loose, viz: the restraint of the Christian nations; the waters of the Euphrates, "the waters on which the harlot," – mystic Babylon – "sitteth," was to be let loose or taken off from the Mohammedans, so that the sixth trumpet, or downfall of Constantinople and the east, might be accomplished.

"And the sixth angel sounded; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which held the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men," (verses 13-15).

Under this trumpet, not torment merely, but death – political death – just what the people of the east had been praying for, was to follow. The Mohammedans were enabled to rise above the wholesome dread the Christian nations of the west had exercised over them, and thus the four angels "bound in [or by] the great river Euphrates," were let loose. But I will again refer the reader to the commentary of Dr. Clark for the details of the application, devoting the little space here to the investigation of the duration [HG78] of the trumpet. God has chosen to represent a year by twelve months, and a month by thirty days. And as in symbolic Time a day stands for a year, the measurement is as follows: "An hour," is the twenty-fourth part of a day; and the twenty-fourth part of a prophetic "day," or 360, is 15 days. A " day," is one year; a "month," is 30 years; a "year," is 360 years. Therefore, the sixth trumpet sounded 391 years and 15 days; and commencing July 27th, 1449, should have ended August 11th, 1840. In other words, the Mohammedan powers which fill the sixth trumpet, were to control the east, which fell under their dominion, for the above period of time.

Those who will examine the American Encyclopedia or any history of Europe, as late as August, 1840, will find the following facts: In August, 1840, the combined fleets of the Allies, knocked at the door of the Sultan at Constantinople, and under the penalty of a bombardment of the city demanded his signature to a paper which should transfer the control of the empire into the hands of the Christian nations of Europe. And that paper was signed; since which the "sick man" of the east, has been at the mercy of the European powers. Hence, on that very day, the independence of the Turkish empire virtually ended, and the sixth trumpet ceased to sound.

"The second woe is passed, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly; and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever; and the nations were angry," (Rev. 11:15).

It will be noticed the sixth trumpet ended with the 9th chapter; and the subjects of the 10th and part of the 11th chapters, are introduced before the sounding of the seventh trumpet is described. This seems to be all in order, since the 10th chapter is a prophetic history of the advent message, the proclamation with which the 7th trumpet was to open. While the slaying of the two witnesses of the 11th chapter, had its fulfillment in the terrible scenes of the French revolution of the last century, the closing part of the woe under the 6th trumpet. These statements will doubtless appear visionary to most readers; for there is a weakness of human nature with which they come in contact, viz: So long as prophecy can be applied to men or events far remote from our own times, and the facts of history and prophecy are in harmony, it is all right and can be accepted. But as we approach our own day, the bare suggestion that prophecy can be fulfilled by living men and events now present, is scouted, and considered almost sacrilegious; the idea that prophecy can be fulfilled in our day! And pray why not? If we are entering the day of the Lord, and a change of dispensation is at hand, instead of entertaining so silly a prejudice, we should rather expect the fulfillments to crowd one on the other in rapid succession.

That the two Covenants, the one graven on stone, and the other on the fleshly tablets of the heart; the one on the plane of the flesh, the other on that of the spirit, the old and the new covenant or Testament; are the "two witnesses " of Christ, is placed beyond all doubt by his own words. The Scriptures spoken of by our Lord were the Old Testament. No other was in force and the dispensation of the Spirit, or new Covenant, did not commence until the day of Pentecost. Now hear the words of the Master: "I receive not testimony from man." Is Christ the same yesterday, today and forever? Then how shall man fill the picture of "MY TWO WITNESSES"? (Rev. 11:3).

Jesus names his two witnesses; will you take his word? Or do you prefer the silly interpretations of the day, that make two men, or bodies of men, of sufficient importance to fill that prophecy? Hear his own testimony: "Search the SCRIPTURES, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and THEY are they that testify of me," (John 5:39). Here is one, but where shall we find its mate? "John bear witness to the truth, but I have a greater witness than that of John." And yet John was the "greatest born of woman." Where are the advocates of two personal witnesses to find their men? they cannot be born of woman, and yet be the witnesses to which Christ refers. "The WORKS that I do, bear witness of me," (John 5:36). Is the "New testament of his blood," confirmed by the death of the testator, having Jesus Christ the chief corner stone, and Jesus Christ the cap stone, a record of him and his works? then it is his second witness.

Rev. 11 is of course a symbol, and the time that measures it is symbolic. "And they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth," was fulfilled during the 1260 years of the control of this "man of sin," when these two witnesses were by legal enactments, kept from the people, and under the vail of a dead language. These two witnesses were put to death by a legal enactment, in that great city " spiritually called Sodom and Egypt;" and for three and a-half years, during that great infidel revolution which swept over Europe at the close of the last century, they were abolished by law; immediately after which they were "exalted to heaven." The Bible societies of the present century, have made them a living reality among "all peoples, and tongues, and nations, and languages;" "And their enemies have beheld them." During that terrible revolution [HG79] the tenth part of the city fell, [that is France, one of the "ten"], and in the earthquake were slain of men's names, [margin], seven thousand. All titles, both in church and state, were reduced to the one common name of citizen. "The second woe is passed, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly; and the seventh angel sounded."

The 7th trumpet begins with the proclamation that the time has come; that the kingdoms of this world belong to our Lord and his Christ, and that he is to reign here on the earth, for ever and ever. That proclamation has been sounding for the last 38 years, and many are just beginning to hear and believe it; that the saints are to be kings and priests, and reign on the earth; and that when the kingdom is the Lord's, all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. And the Advent movement, notwithstanding all its mistakes, all its errors of judgment, and all its human weaknesses, has been fulfilling this part of the seventh trumpet. The reproach was because the message itself, necessarily attacks a deep-seated, and fully believed theological error. If the saints are to be kings and priests and reign on the earth forever, the doctrine of dying and going to some other world for our reward and future home, is of course, an error.

Rev. 10, is a prophetic history of the message. The "open book" is the unsealed prophecies; "shut up the words, and seal the book even to the time of the end," (Dan. 12:4). The Advent message claimed the "time of the end" had come, and that the book was open. The eating of the book can be understood. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart," (Jer. 15:16). And to those who love the appearing of our Lord, the message was "sweet as honey." The bitterness which followed, needs no explanation, to such as know the bitterness of the disappointment of the 10th day of the 7th month of 1844. And the last verse of Rev. 10, is now being fulfilled in this midnight cry and harvest message. The two movements, or messages, are also given in Matt. 25: the first one, in which the virgins are represented as going forth to meet the Bridegroom prior to the disappointment, is from verse 1 to 5; and the last, from verse 6 to 12. The one was to end in the bitterness of disappointment, the other in success.

The sixth trumpet ended in August, 1840, and the seventh began to sound. But the "woe," or time of trouble under the seventh trump, is preceded by the proclamation with which that trumpet opens. "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." The world here rendered "are become," is " ginomia," and in Mark 1:17, is rendered "to become." "I will make you to become fishers of men." And in 1 Cor 9:27, "should be," – "Lest I myself should be a cast away." Hence, the true rendering is, "the kingdoms of this world shall be, or are to become, the kingdoms of our Lord."

The seventh trump is divided into two parts; in the first of which this closing message of the gospel was to be given, while the woe, the time of trouble and angry nations, the resurrection and rewards, belong under the latter part. "In the days [years] of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished," (Rev. 10:7).

Mello is the word here rendered "shall begin," and this is the only instance where it is translated begin, or "shall begin." In other cases it is rendered "will," "should," or "shall." "Herod will seek the young child's life." Hence, the true rendering here is, " In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will or shall sound, the mystery of God shall be finished." The mystery of God is evidently the gospel; the taking out of a people to become sons by the mysterious process of being begotten and born of the Spirit, so that the natural sonship of the Jew was of no advantage, and the Gentile can share equally with the Jew. And the apostles claim to be stewards of the mysteries of God, (1 Cor. 4:1; see also Eph. 3:10).

That the advent proclamation answers to the opening message of this trumpet, is clear. The whole burden of that message has been that Christ was coming; that the kingdoms of this world were to pass into his hands. "Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven... and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him," (Dan. 7:13). What is that but the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ? And is it not at his coming " in the clouds of heaven," and not as the " man of sorrows," that these kingdoms become his? Theology must bend to Scripture or it will prove to be poor stuff "in the day that shall try every man's work so as by fire."

With this message the "the mystery of God will be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." And from August, 1840, to the spring of 1878, or 37 and a-half years, will consummate this part of the work. Then look out for "angry nations," "and the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest reward thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them [HG80] that destroy the earth," (verse 18).

The kingdoms of this world become our Lord's, only by conquest. If it was by the conversion of the nations to Christianity, how is it they are angry? "These [ten kings] shall make war with the Lamb," (Rev. 17:14), is not conversion by gospel preaching. "I saw the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together, to make war upon him that sat upon the horse, and against his army," is not a revival of religion, but the battle of the "great day of God Almighty." Why will a drousy church sleep on the edge of a volcano, and dream of smoothly gliding into a millennium, that is only to be brought about by the judgment of the great day?

Whatever the character of this war and conquest, one thing is certain, the nations will be angry, and God's wrath will have come. "God came from Teman; the Holy One from Mount Paren; He stood and measured the earth; He beheld, and drove asunder the nations." "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth," (Psa. 46:8-10). The seventh trumpet sounds from Aug. 1840, until "the time of trouble," or day of wrath is ended. Hence, it doubtless ends with the times of the Gentiles, and this forty years of conquest; and therefore, sounds until A.D. 1914; at the end of which, Babylon the great, will have fallen, and the "dragon" be bound: that is, the nations will be subdued, and "the prince of this world cast out."

"WITH A SHOUT."

"With a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." – 1Thes 4:16.

Here is the seventh trumpet and all we have just been speaking of, brought out in a sentence. "The trump of God," is the seventh trump, as we shall show. The "shout," is the same as "the great voices," (Rev. 11:15), with which this trumpet opens; and the voice of the archangel," is the "angry nations," and "time of trouble."

Because this is from Paul, the idea obtains that it must be a simple statement of literal facts, easy to understand, and many have come to expect a terrible vibration of the atmosphere from immortal lungs, an actual blast from a silver or perhaps golden trumpet, accompanied with a voice from the throat of Michael the archangel, that will waken the dead. But it is the "spirit of Christ that dwells in you, which shall quicken your mortal bodies," and not the blast of a trumpet.

In 2 Pet. 3:16, the apostle, after devoting the whole chapter to the events concerning "the day of the Lord," observes: "Even as our beloved brother Paul, also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which they that are unlearned, and unstable, wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." Then Paul, when speaking of the things concerning the day of the Lord, says things "hard to be understood. " And in Peter's day, and in fact until the seventh trump began to sound, these things could not be understood. But now "the little book is open," and "he may run that reads."

That the "trump of God," the "seventh trump," and the " last trump," are one and the same, can be proven thus:[ The word soluo, rendered trump and trumpet, is the same in each case]. "Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptable," &c.

Here we learn that the resurrection, and the change occurs "at the last trump." The word " at " is here the same as in Matt. 13:30, and 40, where it is rendered in – "and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers;" "So shall it be in the end of this world;" hence, "we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trump," is the proper rendering. " In the days of the voice of the seventh angel," these things are to transpire. We have now learned that the resurrection of the dead in Christ occurs "at," or in the "last trump," and also that it occurs " at the trump of God;" hence, they are one and the same. "For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just," (Luke 14:14). Then we are to be "recompensed," or rewarded, "at the last trump," when the "resurrection of the just takes place." "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices, and the nations were angry, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest reward thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and them that fear thy name small and great." Then the seventh trump of John, and the last trump of Paul, are one and the same; one begins with "great voices," and the other with a "shout;" the one is called "the trump of God," and the other the trump which introduces the events of the day of the Lord. All the trumpets are called the voices of angels. "Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound;" Michael is the archangel, (Jude 7). Hence it is the archangel who attends on the events connected with the trump of God, or seventh trumpet. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, that great prince that standeth for [HG81] the children of my people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, and at that time thy people [Daniel's people] shall be delivered, and many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," (Dan. 12:1).

Then the archangel is connected with the trump of God, and the "voice of the archangel" is of the same character, as the voices of the other, viz: the events that belong to that trumpet; and Paul's "hard to be understood" words are explaining themselves.

The blood of Christ " speaketh better things than that of Abel." And the blood of Abel "cried unto the Lord;" "The heavens declare the glory of God; day unto day uttereth speech; and there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard," (Psa. 19:3) "If they will not believe thee, neither harken to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the latter sign," (Exo. 4:8).

Indeed, almost everything is said to have a voice, and the voice of these trumpets are events. And the voice of the archangel is the loudest of any, for it is those of the great day of God Almighty over which Michael has the supervision. And so Christ comes in the midst of these things which are already transpiring; the proclamation; and the time of trouble; which together constitute the trump of God.

THE SEVEN SEALS.

That the seven seals belong to this time of trouble, the time in which Christ is conquering the nations, and are, therefore, as yet in the future, I think can be clearly proven. Not a few Bible students place the first five, and even a part of the sixth, in the past; and will doubtless, start back from this new position. But "to the law and the testimony;" if we do not prove our position, it will not weaken the other. But if the Scriptures do teach that they all belong to the day of wrath, the truth is better than even old and cherished ideas opposed to Scripture.

The fifth chapter is an introduction to the opening of the seals, and this song is sung before the first seal is opened – "Thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, (verse 9). I think the connection is such that no one can question this. John had wept because no one was found worthy, or able to open the book.

But the Lion of the tribe of Judah, was found worthy; and they sing the above song, "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." Although events are not always recorded in the order of their fulfillment, still it is an attack on the truth of a prophecy to represent it in a way in which it cannot possibly be fulfilled. Hence, to represent a class as saying that something is to be done, which they never can say until after it is done, is a false representation. Therefore, that song must be sung after Matt. 24:14, is fulfilled.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, as a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come." If the gospel of the kingdom was preached as a witness to all nations in the early days of the church, then the end came at that time. If not, the above song was not sung either one, two, or five hundred years ago; and the first seal is yet to be opened.

Again: The events of the opening of the first seal, are identical with those of Rev 19, which occur after the marriage of the Lamb. The first seal is, "I saw, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering and to conquer," (Rev. 6:2). Now compare chapter 19: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together, to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, and both these were cast alive into the lake of fire."

This is certainly in the future. Notice verse 15: He not only smites the nations, but he rules them with a rod of iron, and treads the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God. In applying the first seal in the past, it becomes necessary to make the horse, the rider, the war, the conquering, &c., mean conversion under gospel preaching ; and yet no one does or can make this claim for the 19th chapter; and to apply the same symbols to events of an entirely different nature is unwarranted.

The fifth seal is the only apparent difficulty in the way of all these seals having an easy and natural application to this time of trouble and conquest of the nations.

But all difficulty even here disappears when we consider the fact that there are two classes of Christians; one to have "an abundant entrance;" the other to suffer loss, and they themselves saved "so as by [HG82] fire." The one, to escape all these things which are coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man." The other class to be left in the midst of these troubles, and "In the day when the Son of man is revealed, in that day he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." (Luke 17:30). The former class to "go in to the marriage;" this latter class to be ready to open to him "when he shall return from the wedding." The former class to stand on the "sea of glass, having the harps of God," before the seven last plagues are fulfilled, (see Rev. 15:1 to the end). The other class are recommended even under the sixth plague, to watch and keep their garments, least they walk naked, (Rev. 16:15, 16). And the " coming " of their Lord, there referred to, is "when he shall return from the wedding."

With this view, that there is a large class of Christians who are to be left in the midst of these troubles, during which they will lose their lives, "in the day when the Son of man is revealed," &c., "he that shall lose his life shall save it," and many seeming conflicting Scriptures can be reconciled; and the loss of life under the fifth seal is all in character.

The having their works burned and themselves saved "so as by fire," while others "have an abundant entrance," is one text which seems to demand two classes. If all are to have the same entrance, changed in the same moment, and meet Christ as his bride, the above would have but little force; and if it is a little flock who inherit the kingdom, the "great company which no man could number," appears out of character. The seven last plagues make the two classes still more apparent as we shall see.

The conquest of the nations is completed under the first six seals, (see Rev. 16), and the seventh is a time of silence. This synchronizes with Psa. 46, where, after the desolations God makes in the earth, by which war is made to cease, he says: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted in the earth; I will be exalted among the heathen." And again: "Let all the earth keep silent before the Lord."

"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, (Rev. 8:1). A prophetic hour, is fifteen days; hence, "about the space of half an hour," might be seven days.

Although John records these visions, not in consecutive order, but begins a subject and runs it through to its end, and then begins back with another subject; still there are occasionally subjects introduced, which seem to break this order.

The 6th seal ends with the 6th chapter; then the 7th chapter, relating to the sealing of the twelve tribes of Israel, is introduced; and the 7th seal follows; and, in the division of chapters, it has been placed at the head of the 8th chapter. This, at first sight may, appear like confusion; but it is far from that. The 144 thousand out of the twelve tribes of Israel, are sealed during the conquest of the nations, and therefore, in this time of trouble, and while the first six seals are being opened.

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth for the children of thy [Daniel's] people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time thy people [the twelve tribes] shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book; [the writing of the house of Israel, Eze. 13:9], and many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," (Dan. 12:1, 2). Let it be noticed, here are two classes, "thy people, and many that sleep."

If the 144 thousand out of the twelve tribes of Israel are delivered in the midst of this time of trouble, as they certainly will be, it may be asked, how then are the winds held that they "hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees," until the servants of God are sealed? I answer, whatever is meant by the earth, the sea, and the trees, may be protected, and the sealing of the Jews be accomplished, even should the "seven last plagues" be in course of fulfillment on the Christian nations; for it is on the "waters of the Euphrates," or Christian nations, who have supported mystic Babylon, the judgments are first to come. It must be remembered that with the "time of trouble" on the nations, Michael, that great prince, is to stand up for the Jews; "and at that time thy people shall be delivered.

"Therefore, "the winds" will be held from blowing in certain directions, until "the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads."

The servants of God, and the bride of Christ, are evidently not the same. "Moses was faithful as a servant in his house; and Christ as a Son over his house, whose house are ye," &c. The service of God is good; but to be "heirs" of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, is better. The "bride," becomes a part of the Deity; begotten and born of the Spirit; and with Christ, inherits all things; they put on Christ, by being "baptized into his name," and are the class represented in Rev. 14, as following the Lamb "whithersoever he goeth, being the first fruits unto God and the Lamb."

Then it may be asked, who are the great multitude? "And after this, I saw a great multitude," &c., (Rev. 14:9). The " many " of Dan. 12:2, I answer. "At [HG83] that time thy people shall be delivered; ... and many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." Under the law, every jot of which is to have a fulfillment, there were two harvests; the first was of the kind of grain from which the first fruits were taken to wave before the Lord at the passover, and this was in the spring, (see Josh. 3:15, and 5:10). This harvest with its "first fruits," represents "Christ, and they that are Christ's at his coming." The other, and great harvest or feast of ingathering, was in "the end of the year," (Exo. 23:16).

This "great multitude which no man could number," are certainly not "the little flock" who inherit the kingdom; nor those who have found the " narrow way," for " few there be that find it." Nor yet are they the class who are "with the Lamb;" for they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful," (Rev. 17:14). And although " many are called, few are chosen." They must be reckoned with the other class, who are to be ready "when he shall return from the wedding;" and are gathered after the return of the Jews. If there are two classes of the living generation, when these things are fulfilled, there must also be the same two classes in their graves; and every one is to be raised, "but every man in his own order; . . they that are Christ's at his parousia, presence," but not at the same moment.

"THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES."

"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God," – Rev. 15:1.

There is a day of wrath in which men are to call for mountains and rocks to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb; "for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand," (Rev. 6:16); and that these plagues, "in which is filled up the wrath of God," belong to that day, is self-evident. The wrath of the Lamb, and the gospel of grace cannot be mixed. Hence, until the day of salvation under the gospel, shall end, the day of wrath cannot begin; and that wrath is complete in the seven plagues, "for in them," not in one of them, but in the seven "is filled up the wrath of God." Hence, like the seals, they all belong under the latter half of the seventh trumpet, the "time of trouble;" and are therefore, future.

For it is under the seventh trumpet, "the nations are angry, and thy wrath is come."

By reading the fifteenth chapter you may notice that before the plagues are fulfilled, a select company are represented as on "a sea of glass, mingled with fire;" and they sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and say, "who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." Here is a company gathered out, who foretell what the nations are going to do. We also learn that before the plagues are fulfilled, the temple is filled with the glory of God, "and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven last plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled," (verse 8).

The temple is the church, "know ye not that ye are the temple of God," (1 Cor. 3:16). Then the church is to be "filled with the glory of God," or glorified, before these plagues are fulfilled; and not until these plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of God are fulfilled, and the day of wrath ended, can any more enter that temple. "For I say unto you, many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able, when once the Master of the house has risen up and shut too the door." But it may be asked, how do you know the door will be opened again? I answer, the very language implies it; no man was able to enter, until the plagues were fulfilled, certainly implies that when the day of wrath is passed, the door will again be opened, so that men can enter. I know this teaches probation after the resurrection; for the resurrection occurs in this time of wrath under the seventh trumpet; and not only do "many that sleep in the dust of the earth, awake during this time of trouble; but "the nations were angry and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged." And under the 7th and last plague, that door is opened again, and, thank God, a false theology can not close it. "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne saying, It is done; and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake... and there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven," (verses 18 to 21). Now read the closing of the 7th trumpet, under which the wrath of God comes, (Rev. 11:18, 19): "The nations were angry, thy wrath is come, the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest reward thy servants the prophets, and the saints, and them that fear thy name small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth; and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail." The voices, and lightnings, and thunders, and earthquake, and hail, [HG84] at the ending of the seventh trumpet, and also during the seventh and last plague, are clearly the same. And the fact that the temple was shut prior to the first plague, and not again to be opened until the seven plagues were fulfilled; and the statement at the ending of the seventh trumpet and day of wrath, that it was opened, synchronize in time and place, too closely not to have reference to the same events. Hence, there is a day of wrath unmixed with mercy; a time when men will call, and God will not answer. And all the world are to pass through this "hour of temptation," while a class are to escape.

"Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." This is said to the Philadelphia church, but of course is true to those who "escape all these things which are coming on the earth, and stand before the Son of man."

In "heaven," may cause some to stumble; hence, I remark, Everything on the spiritual plane is said to be in heaven. "There was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought, and the dragon fought, and his angels." This is a spiritual warfare; not necessarily a warfare of spirits. "We war not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers in heavenly places," (see margin). And "the temple of God in heaven, means his spiritual temple; and the kingdom of heaven, means his spiritual kingdom, which under his saints is soon to be established over all. "For to the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come."

Some of our fellow servants have attempted to locate these plagues, or the most of them, in the past, but here is a fatal difficulty to such an application; for nothing can be more certain than that no man can enter the temple of God, during the pouring out of the seven last plagues. Hence, they cannot begin until "the door is shut."

The nature, and somewhat of the magnitude of these plagues may be gathered from what is known of the trumpets, they being mainly in the past. Let the reader begin with the first trumpet, chapter 8:7, and the first plague, chapter 16:2, and compare them, from the first to the seventh; and knowing something of the terrible scourges on the world under those trumpets, you may multiply the scourge of the corresponding plague by three. For where a third part of men, were slain, tormented, &., under a trumpet, the plague is upon all.

It will be seen, from Rev. 16:15, that under the 6th plague, just before the temple is again to be opened, the class who have to pass through this time of trouble, and who are to be ready, when "their Lord shall return from the wedding," are encouraged to keep their garments, least they walk naked. But I can imagine some asking, Does he come more than once? Yes, I answer; a dozen times. At the first advent, the prophecy "Behold, thy king cometh, meek and lowly, riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass," was fulfilled after he had come, in many different ways. And now, at his second advent, "The Bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut," (Matt. 25:10). And he comes again when he " returns from the wedding." And he comes for his saints, and he comes with his saints. But let us, my brethren, "Watch and pray always, that we may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

I can see his coming judgments, as they circle all the earth,
The signs and groanings promised, to precede a second birth;
I read his righteous sentence, in the crumbling thrones of earch:
Our God is marching on!
Glory! glory' hallelujah.
Glory! glory! hallelujah;
Glory! glory! hallelujah,
Our God is marching on.
THE CHURCH, AND THE WORLD.

Christ and the apostles, almost invariably speak to the church and of the world; hence the personal pronouns ye and you, refer to the church, and they and them, to the world; and almost always the ye, or you refers, not merely to the individuals before the speaker, but to the whole church. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world;" clearly illustrates the idea. And the apostle, in addressing the church, says: "Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump."

Our Lord held no communication with the world, although he sometimes, but rarely, addressed even the Pharisees, who were nominally the children of the kingdom. "I have manifested thy name unto the men [HG85] that thou gavest me out of the world. I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them thou hast given me, for they are thine." "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, it is not given."

Hence, his conversation is of the world, but to the church. Take, for instance, Luke 21:34, where both classes are referred to: "Take heed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts be overcharged with the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares, for as a snare shall it come upon all them [the third person] that dwell upon the face of the whole earth; watch ye therefore, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man." "But of the times and seasons brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly." What do we know perfectly, Paul? That whenever the day of the Lord comes, the world will be in darkness, and be overtaken as a thief; "for the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand." And what more do we "know perfectly"?

That the church will not be in darkness, "for the wise shall understand."

"Yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they [the third person] shall say peace and safety, then cometh sudden destruction upon them, and they shall not escape; but ye brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief; ye are all children of the light, and of the day," (1 Thess. 5). The apostle does not teach that the church are so good that the day of the Lord will not overtake them as a thief. "A thief in the night," comes without being seen by his victims; and the point here, is that the church, being children of the light, will know, and understand the coming of the Lord; while the world being in darkness will not know, and hence, will be overtaken as a thief.

No one can fail to see that in all these Scriptures two classes are represented; and that upon one class it comes unawares, while upon the other class it does not come unawares. "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day he looketh not for him, and in an hour he is not aware of, and shall cut him assunder, and appoint him his portion with hypocrites." But, Lord, shall you come on the good servant in a day he looketh not for you, and in an hour he is not aware of? The world will not see these things, nor will the evil servant. And many in that day, said Christ, will find out when it is a little too late, when the harvest is ended, and the door is shut, and say "Lord, Lord, open to us." "But as the days of Noah were so shall also the presence of the Son of man be; for as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and knew not until the flood came." Had they ought to have known before the flood came? One would think so from the language, "So shall also the coming of the Son of man be." If they ought to have known before Noah went in, "and the door was shut," should we not know before the destruction comes, or not until it come? What think you, reader? With the day of the Lord, "sudden destruction cometh." Should you follow their example, "and know not until it comes?" Or should you take heed "to the more sure word of prophecy, that shines as a light in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your heart," and thus walk in the light?" "But of that day and of that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but my Father only," is used as a screen to hide behind, by those who are content to be in darkness; but it will not serve you; it teaches too much. "Of that day and hour no man shall ever know, is the way you would read it; then add, neither shall the Son ever know, until it is consummated. It teaches nothing of the kind, nor was it designed to teach that the church were to be in darkness on that particular subject, when the time should come for that knowledge to be due to the household. A knowledge of these things could be of no possible advantage to any but the generation who are to experience them. Hence, it was "closed up and sealed unto the time of the end."

And Peter informs us that both the prophets and the angels desired to understand the time in relation to the two advents of Christ, the "suffering of Christ, and the glory which should follow," but it was withheld from them, (see 1 Pet. 11:12); and they were made to minister, not to themselves, but to others. "Go thy way Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end."

A PARABLE.

A mighty king sent forth his armies to destroy a wicked city, which had rebelled against his authority, put to death many of his servants, and held others in cruel bondage. But, willing to spare such as would [HG86] repent, he sent his herald with the following proclamation: The king is about to destroy this city by excavations filled with powder, which, when exploded, will utterly extinguish the city and all within its walls. Let such, therefore, as would escape be on the watch; for when the excavation is complete, a white flag will be hoisted, then know the destruction is near. When the magazines are all prepared, a red flag will be hoisted for a brief space; then let those who are reviled for the good king's sake, lift up their heads and look up, for their redemption draweth nigh. When all is ready a black flag will be raised; then fly to the eastern gate, where means for your escape will be provided. Have all things ready, and tarry not, as you value life, for soon the torch will be applied. What I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch, for ye know not when the time is. For of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the generals of the army; but God only. Watch, therefore, lest, coming suddenly, it find you sleeping. One who believed the good king's herald ventured to ask, How long shall it be to the end of these things? and was told that it should be a certain number of days from an event to transpire, recorded in a book he handed him; but it was closed up and sealed until the time of the end, when the wise should understand. "If therefore, thou shalt not watch, thou shalt not know what hour it will come upon thee." (The herald, who was the king's son, then went back from whence he came.) Watch, what for? the thoughtless bystanders enquire. For the explosion, to be sure! was the still more thoughtless answer. And so the opinion got abroad, that some day, the city would be destroyed; but no one knew when, and the king's son "had expressly declared that no one ever should know. until it came."

Days, months, and years went by. The citizens became absorbed in careless pleasure, and forgot their danger. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, and all things continued as before. Tis true, a few who remained loyal to the king ceased not to watch and pray for their deliverance.

As time went on the white flag, and then the red, was hoisted up, but soon disappeared, and was forgotten. The king's people who were on the watch, saw these signs, and the event from which the " days " given by the herald were to measure; so they began to look up, and lift up their heads, which so provoked the men of the city, that they called them fools and evil prophets, to make so much ado about a common flag; and asked how they could be so foolish as to think they could know the time, when the herald had said, long years before, that NO man knew, not even he himself. And, strange to say, many of those who professed to be of the king's party, when they saw that it pleased the citizens, joined with these scoffers, and said, They had no doubt but what the king would some day destroy the city, but, as to knowing the time, it was impossible; the herald had " expressly said that no man ever should know. " When asked if they had watched for these events by which the wise were to understand the time of their deliverance, they said, No! like other people they were watching for the explosion; when we see that, "the wise " will understand.

And so, many who were fearful of losing cast, with the citizens drew back, and no longer walked with those who had become the despised of the whole city, but said, Go to, let us also build, and organize ourselves into "bundles," and we shall be respected, like other men.

As the number of such as held to their integrity grew less, their faith grew stronger, and their vigilance increased so much the more, lest they should miss the black flag, when it came to view, and so by not enduring to the end lose all.

After a long weary waiting their eyes were greeted by the welcome sight. Now their hearts leaped for joy, they knew deliverance was at hand, and could see the day approaching; and, as they fled for refuge, earnestly entreating others to join them, and seek safety from the coming wrath. A few harkened; and by forsaking all they had were just in time to save their lives. But others heard with scorn, said they had not seen the explosion, but were watching and expecting it every day.

The pilgrims hurried on, nor stopped to look behind them. And as they reached the eastern gate, some were so far behind that the car, let down by the king's engineers to hoist them out, had just started, and was almost out of reach; but some jumped and caught by the railing and foot-board, and others by bits of rope that happened to be hanging down; but those who held on with their hands, had to drop all their precious works, which were burned, and so they suffered loss, having to enter the king's presence almost naked. One poor man in his desperate leap to reach the car, caught by one hand, but lost his wedding garment, and yet he held with the grasp of a tiger, and was taken from the fire, though badly scorched; for the fire broke out before those who arrived in time were fairly seated in the car; and the explosions were heard in all parts of the city. Great clouds of dust were seen to rise from the falling buildings, while the fire leaped from point to point, withering all things in its path. Thousands of people were running hither and thither, to escape the flames and falling buildings. And soon a vast crowd came running towards the eastern gate, which still stood secure, and cried bitterly for help. [HG87] Some with wild hysteric sobs would count their beads, others their good works, how they had been watching for this all their lives; and how often they had warned the people. The answer to these piteous cries was what surprised me most.

Not a word was spoken, but a hissing sound was heard as the flames caught the eastern gate, for the royal car had swung clear, but instead of consuming it took the shape of words which were clearly seen in letters of flame: "And knew not UNTIL IT CAME."

THE TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED DAYS.

There has been much speculation on the application of the two thousand and three hundred days of Dan. 8:14. But, believing as I do, that they are ended, and that all their power is in the past, I shall give but little space to their investigation.

The vision of Dan 8, embraces three of the four Gentile kingdoms, and without doubt reaches to the end of the "times of the Gentiles." Hence, Gabriel says to Daniel, "I will make thee to know what shall be in the last end of the indignation, for at the time appointed the end shall be," (verse 19). The end here referred to, is evidently the end of the indignation, and the 2300 days measure only a part of the vision, because the answer to the question "How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot," is thus answered: "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

The 2300 "days," or years, have, without carefully noting this answer, been supposed to embrace all of the vision; and it is this mistake which has caused so much speculation in relation to their application during the last twenty or thirty years.

The argument proving that they ended something more than thirty years ago, is simple and positive, as we will show; but the "days" do not cover the cleansing of the sanctuary; if time is required for that work, as every one can see: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

This answer is much the same as the one of Dan. 12:7. The question there was, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders"? and the answer was, "For a time, times, and a-half, and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." The wonders there referred to, were the "time of trouble, the resurrection," &c.; and with present light, we understand that the definite time in this case reached to the end of the 1260 years of papal dominion, and therefore ended in 1798; but the completion of the scattering of the power of the holy people, will not be ended until the end of the times of the Gentiles, or in 1914. And so with the 2300 days; "Unto two thousand and three hundred days;" and what is to follow, has reference to the cleansing of the sanctuary.

"To give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot." The host, of course refers to the people, but what is the sanctuary? It is something which has been trodden under foot of the Gentiles, we answer. The Hebrew here rendered sanctuary, is the same word as occurs in Isa. 66:20, where the return of the Jews in "litters, and on horses, and in chariots, and on swift beasts, to my [sanctuary] holy mountain Jerusalem." And the treading down of the sanctuary, clearly refers to what Christ referred to when he says, " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

If the 2300 days do not reach to the end of the indignation, why were they given in answer to the question? may be asked; and in responce I will ask, if the "time, times," and a-half, of Dan. 12:7, do not reach to the end of the wonders, why were they given in answer to that question? And, perhaps we can answer: the "time, times, and a-half," ended in 1798, at the taking away of the papal dominion, and is one of the great landmarks of prophecy. The ending of the 2300 days, something more than thirty years ago, is the great landmark by which the tarrying of the Bridegroom has been made to appear. And the Advent movement, with the message of the opening events of the seventh trumpet, was based on that prophetic period.

The mistake of the 1843 movement, was not in the argument proving that the "days" ended there, but in assuming that they covered all the vision. The tarrying of the Bridegroom, the harvest message, and the two parts to the sounding of the seventh trumpet; that is, the proclamation of the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord, and the time of trouble and conquest of the nations, were all overlooked. But it is just these events which should follow the ending of the 2300 days, since they are directly connected with the cleansing of the sanctuary.

The 1843 argument, which I consider to be true in [HG88] all its essential parts, was that the vision of the 8th chapter was explained in the 9th; and that the vision "concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation," necessarily refers, to the Jews, as far as the daily sacrifices is concerned; and in Dan. 9:21, Gabriel, who had appeared to him "in the vision at the beginning," that is, the vision of the 8th chapter, (see verse 16), refers him back to that vision, and says, "Seventy weeks are determined on thy people, and thy holy city;" i. e. seventy weeks of the vision of 2300 days. "Seventy weeks," are 490 days; then 490 days of the 2300 were determined on the Jews. And what for? "To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy," (see verse 24). All this, was accomplished in Christ's suffering and death. And as seventy weeks were determined on them for the above purpose, it is equivolent to saying, the Jews, your people, must be kept together until the Messiah shall come and accomplish the work for which he is to be sent. "Know therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks," (verse 25). That is 69 weeks unto his advent, leaving the other one week for confirming the covenant, which could not be of force, Paul tells us, "until the death of the testator."

The connection between the 24th and 25th verses, is absolute proof that the seventy weeks, the seven, the threescore and two, and the one week, are all the same period of time; "Seventy weeks are determined on thy people; know therefore," in consequence of that, "that it shall be seven weeks," &c. [Of the silly applications made since those "days" have ended, or within the last thirty years, in which all connection between the seventy weeks and the minor parts which go to make up that number, has been ignored, thus making four distinct periods all separate and independent one of another, we have no space or desire even to notice].

As the above six specific purpose named in the 24th verse, were accomplished at the first advent of Christ, the seventy weeks determined for their accomplishment, of course ended there; and thus 490, of the 2300 days, ended at, or about the time of the crucifixion.

There is some obscurity in relation to the ending of the last "week." The '43 position was that Christ preached seven years; and hence, the last "week" ended at his death in A D. 33. But as that position cannot be maintained, since the evidence is clear that He only preached three and a-half years, it would appear that the last week of the seventy did not end until the conversion of Cornelius, the first Gentile. But for some reason God has left this one week obscure; and neither the Bible or history give any further light on that point. Hence, the exact date of the end of the 2300 days cannot be determined to within the limits of three and a-half years.

As 490 years of the 2300, ended at or about the time of the crucifixion, viz: A.D. 33, the ending of the balance of the "days" can be determined. 490 from 2300, leaves 1810. Therefore, 1810 years after the ending of the seventy weeks, must mark the end of the longer period; and 1810 added to A.D. 33, reach to 1843.

This, together with the strong position that the 1260 days of papal dominion ended in 1798, was the basis of the Advent proclamation, the opening message of the seventh trumpet, or the "trump of God;" and the 2300 "days," as a prophetic period measuring a part of the vision of Dan. 8, has served its purpose. And, as the reader can see, all that pertains either directly or indirectly, to the cleansing of the sanctuary, belongs after the days have ended.