The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

IV. Gauntlett-Expounds Apocalypse Weekly for Two Years

HENRY GAUNTLETT (1762-1833), vicar of Olney, Bucks, was born in Wiltshire and schooled at West Lavington. Ordained in 1786, he became a curate at Tilshead. He filled a number of curacies until 1811, when he became vicar of Olney. He was a close friend of Roland Hill and, with John Newton and Thomas Scott, strongly supported the evangelical revival in the English church. Gauntlett tells, in the preface of his Exposition of the Book of Revelation (1821), ⁶⁵ how in 1817 he was asked to substitute for a scheduled speaker on the prophecies before the Society for the Promotion of Christianity Among the Jews. As the result, his own interest was deeply aroused in prophecy, and this in turn led to a series of forty-four discourses on the Apocalypse to his own congregation, throughout 1819 and 1820-a most unusual and significant occurrence. PFF3 429.4

Gauntlett firmly believed that the larger portion of the prophetic outlines “have now actually been fulfilled,” and that the remaining portions, “of the highest interest and consequence to the Church, are undoubtedly on the eve of their completion.” ⁶⁶ He urged that the Apocalypse be studied by statesmen as well as by clergymen. An extraordinarily representative list of subscribers is appended to his book-about a thousand in all-nearly half of whom were clergymen of prominence, and the rest writers on prophecy, educators, and men of affairs in the national life. PFF3 430.1

1. 1260-YEAR REIGN OF PAPAL ANTICHRIST

Gauntlett views “the popish hierarchy as Antichrist,” believing this to be the chief burden of the Apocalypse. He declares: PFF3 430.2

“Protestantism considers Popery as anti-christianity and believes that the popish hierarchy is consigned to perdition by the great Head of the Church, after it has held its destined usurped reign of 1260 years.” ⁶⁷ PFF3 430.3

2. SEVEN TRUMPETS ENFOLDED IN SEVENTH SEAL

A summary of Gauntlett’s entire exposition is given in a six-page “Brief Outline ... noting the chapters, verses, and chronology.” ⁶⁸ The first six seals he believes to be confined to the first four centuries, to the time of Constantine, ⁶⁹ with the seventh seal expanded into the seven trumpets. The first trumpet he allocates to the Gothic invasion, the second to Attila and the Huns, the third to the Vandals, and the fourth to the “extinction of the imperial and other subsequent forms of government in the western empire.” ⁷⁰ The fifth, or first woe, trumpet he assigns to the Mohammedan imposture, beginning in the seventh century, and the sixth trumpet to the Ottoman Turks from 1281 onward. ⁷¹ PFF3 430.4

3. MAKES TWO-HORNED BEAST SAME AS LITTLE HORN

The 1260 years Gauntlett places between 606 and 1866, embracing the period of the Two Witnesses and the church in the wilderness. ⁷² The ten-horned beast of Revelation 13 is interpreted as the “papal persecuting Roman empire,” by which the anti-christian church has all along been supported, with “the two-horned beast of the earth denoting the Roman hierarchy, or papal church.” ⁷³ This he holds to be the same as the little horn of Daniel 7, only given as a separate symbol by John. ⁷⁴ PFF3 431.1

4. SEVENTH VIAL AFFLICTIONS UNDER FRENCH REVOLUTION

Gauntlett begins the angelic messages of Revelation 14 around the time of the Reformation, and extends them to the great con summation. ⁷⁵ The seven vials are applied to the afflictions under the French Revolution, from 1789 onward, with the sixth vial, having “reference to Mahomedism and the Turkish nation,” as “yet future.” ⁷⁶ PFF3 431.2

5. FIFTH TRUMPET, 612-762; SIXTH TRUMPET, 1281-1672

Gauntlett’s premise all the way through is that Rome is the fourth prophetic empire, divided into ten parts, or nations, with the papal Antichrist following. ⁷⁷ But popery, the “western anti christ,” opened the way for Mohammedanism, the “eastern anti-christ.” ⁷⁸ The five prophetic months, or 150 years, of the fifth trumpet, he places from 612 to 762, or from the time Mohammed “publicly propagated his imposture.” ⁷⁹ As in all prophetic time, the day stands for the year, and this is the period selected by most prophetic writers. ⁸⁰ The 391 years of the sixth woe Gauntlett dates from 1281, “the first conquest of the Turks over the Christians,” to 1672, “the last success by which they extended their dominions.” ⁸¹ He follows Bishop Newton in saying that if they only knew the exact date of the first event, “the exactness of the fifteen days might be found.” ⁸² PFF3 431.3

6. SEVEN FORMS OF GOVERNMENT; TEN KINGDOMS

Gauntlett is not clear on the earthquake of Revelation 11, but the dragon of chapter 12 is clearly pagan Rome, with the seven heads as the commonly accepted forms of government, and the ten horns as the nations into which the empire was later divided. ⁸³ He believed that the seven vials would be poured out before the termination of the 1260 years, which he had placed in 1866. So he begins the seven vials with the French Revolution, in 1789. ⁸⁴ PFF3 432.1

7. PAPAL SYMBOL OF Revelation 17

The “great whore” of Revelation 17 refers “without doubt,” he asserts, to Rome papal. ⁸⁵ He notes the seven hills, or mountains, of Rome ⁸⁶ as prefiguring the seven forms of government, ⁸⁷ which are discussed at much length. PFF3 432.2

8. DESTRUCTION OF POPERY AND MOHAMMEDANISM PRE CEDES MILLENNIUM

Gauntlett does not attempt to date the millennium, but alludes to those who attempt to extend the close of the 1290 and 1335 years beyond the terminus of the 1260 years. If this papal period be dated from 606 to 1866, then the added seventy-five years would lead to 1941, he remarks. ⁸⁸ But he gives no endorsement to this view. Gauntlett, as a stanch pre-millennialist, holds that before the millennium begins, popery and Mohammedanism are to be destroyed. ⁸⁹ He also holds that the conversion of the Jews is involved. At the close of the millennium, Satan is loosed for the little season. Such was the scope of Gauntlett’s unusual Sunday evening sermons, covering the years 1819 and 1820. PFF3 432.3