Prophetic Expositions, vol. 2

TIME OF THE END, CONTINUED—CHRIST’S REGIN BEGAN—THE SAINTS GLORIFIED

Chapter 12, verse 1. “At that time shall Michel stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” PREX2 114.1

“At that time.” The time here spoken of, is not the fall of Bonaparte, but “the time of the end,” mentioned verse 40, of the eleventh chapter. The time of the end is not the end itself, but a period to precede it, and terminate in the end itself, with the glorification of the saints. This is clear from the circumstances of the events which are to take place during that period-events which must take place in time, because they relate to the history of earthly governments, and require time for their accomplishment. PREX2 114.2

But before it terminates, and after the fall of Napoleon— PREX2 114.3

“Michael shall stand up.” Who is Michael? it is asked. I answer, Jesus Christ. PREX2 114.4

“Michael.” The first time this word occurs, we believe, is in Daniel 10:13: “But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.” PREX2 114.5

On this text, Bishop Horsley remarks: “Now Daniel calls him ‘one of the chief princes,’ or ‘one of the capital princes,’ or, ‘one of the princes that are at the head of all;’ for this I maintain to be the full, and not more than the full import of the Hebrew words. Now we are clearly got above the earth into the order of celestials; who are the princes that are first, or at the head of all? Are they any other than the three persons in the God-bead? Michael, therefore, is one of them. This is not left in doubt. Gabriel, speaking of him to Daniel, calls him, ‘Michael, your prince,’ and, ‘great prince which standeth for the children of thy people;’ that is, not for the nation of the Jews in particular, but for the children, the spiritual children, of that holy seed, the elect people of God; a description which applies particularly to the Son of God, and to no one else; and in perfect keeping with this description of Michael in the book of Daniel, is the action assigned to him in the Apocalypse, in which we find him fighting with the old dragon, the deceiver of the world, and victorious in the combat. That combat, who was to maintain-in that combat who was to be victorious but the seed of the woman? From all this, it is evident that Michael is the name of the Lord himself, in his particular character of the champion of his faithful people, against the violence of the apostate faction and the wiles of the devil.” PREX2 114.6

Jude uses the term in the phrase, “Michael the archangel.” PREX2 115.1

On the import of this word, Bishop Horsley says, “The word, by etymology, clearly implies a superiority of rank and authority in the person to whom it is applied. It implies a command over angels; and this is all that the word of necessity implies.” But who is the Lord of angels? Hebrews 1:6: “When he bringeth the first-begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him.” Christ, then, is clearly the Lord of angels. Once more: 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” It is clear, from this text, that the archangel’s voice will call forth the saints from their dusty beds. But Christ (John 5:25, 28, 29) claims this prerogative for himself: “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth.” The archangel, therefore, whose voice will call forth the dead when the Lord descends, is the Son of God. PREX2 115.2

“Stand up.” This term, as used in this prophecy, signifies the exercise of kingly dominion. See chapter 11:2: “There shall stand up yet three kings in Persia.” Verse 3: “A mighty king shall stand up.” Verse 4: “And when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken.” Verse 20: “In his estate shall stand up a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom etc. These texts all clearly show the import of the term to be, the exercise of kingly dominion. Jesus Christ shall then commence his reign. It is the same event which was shown Daniel in vision, in the 7th chapter and 13th and 14th verses; also, the same event foretold in Revelation, (11:15)-the last trump. PREX2 116.1

“And at that time,”—when Michael begins his reign,-“thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” The kingdom of God, according to Daniel 2:44 is to break in pieces and consume all earthly kingdoms That kingdom will be formed when Christ gathers his saints from the four winds, on the sea of glass, preparatory to the pouring out of the seven plagues. [See this subject in Vol. I] PREX2 116.2

When thus organized, the vials will be poured out, and the great battle will be fought; and this will constitute the great “time of trouble.” It will continue until all the enemies of Christ are exterminated from the earth. But the people of God have nothing to fear at that dreadful period. They will be in a place of safety before the storm descends. PREX2 117.1

They will be delivered,-1. From the bondage to the Gentiles, under which the church is now placed; and they shall reign with Christ independently of the world. 2. They shall be delivered from all the evils and imperfections of the fall, under which the best of men now groan, “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” 3. They shall be delivered from the temptations of the devil, who shall be chained and cast into the bottomless pit, and be shut up until the final resurrection; and even then can have no power on those who have part in the first resurrection. 4. They shall be delivered from pain and death, into the glorious and immortal likeness of Christ, and reign with him forever in the kingdom of God. 5. They shall be delivered from all the evils which are to come on the ungodly in the day of retribution. PREX2 117.2

Verse 2. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” PREX2 117.3

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” The “many” who shall then awake are the just; for the doctrine of the Bible is, that there is to be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust; that they that have done good, will come forth to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation. There will, ultimately, be a resurrection of all men, but not at one time. What the order of the resurrection is to be, is a matter which must be determined from the general testimony of the Bible on that point, and not from any single text. But the principle which harmonizes the whole class of texts on that point, must be the true one. The distinct testimony of Revelation 20th chapter, is, that there will be two resurrections; and that a thousand years will intervene between the first and final resurrection. The “blessed and holy” have part in the first resurrection. There are two orders only, “the just and unjust;” “the resurrection of life,” and “the resurrection of damnation.” The resurrection of life is the first,-for on those who have part in it the second death hath no power; while those who have not their names in the book of life, will be cast into the lake of fire,-it will be the resurrection of damnation. It does not follow, then, from the fact that the text declares “some shall come forth to shame and everlasting contempt,” that they will come forth at the same time with hose “many” who shall come forth to everlasting life. That would contradict a plain principle of God’s word. No theory can harmonize the Bible on this point, except that of two resurrections; that does harmonize every text, and must be the true one. To deny that this text teaches a literal resurrections, is to take the part of the Sadducees against the Pharisees. For if this passage does not teach that doctrine, then there is no one in the Old Testament which does it; for there is not another which has half the clearness on that point which this has; and the Sadducee must carry his point. Again; to say, as all expositors do, that the whole prophecy of the 11th chapter, of which this text is a concluding clause, is literal; and then without the least hint of a change to the figurative style, pass to it, and couch the prophecy in such terms that it is clearer and more natural, understood literally, than in any figurative sense, is unreasonable and absurd. We cannot, therefore, without doing violence to common sense and all sound rules of interpretation, explain the text under consideration in any other than a literal way. PREX2 117.4

Verse 3. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” PREX2 119.1

“They that be wise.” They that be pious, according to Professor Stuart. PREX2 119.2

“Shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;” they shall be glorified with Christ, and shine in glory. “And they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.” They will shine in glory, as did Christ, Moses, and Elias, on the mount of transfiguration, forever and ever, to all eternity. Their glory will never grow dim, never end. If the glory of the redeemed is not here foretold, then it is nowhere found in the word of God. If the eternity of that glory is not here asserted, then the Bible nowhere teaches it. And if the resurrection of the just and the eternal glory of the saints is here described, then Bonaparte, and not Antiochus Epiphanes, is the concluding subject of prophecy in the 11th chapter. PREX2 119.3