Signs of the Times and Expositor of Prophecy [Himes], vol. 5
August 9, 1843
Vol. V.—No. 23. Boston, Whole No. 119
Joshua V. Himes
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
AND EXPOSITOR OF PROPHECY.
Terms,—$1,00 per Vol. (24 Nos.) in advance Office No. 14 Devonshire Street, Boston. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.1
J. V. Himes, J. Litch, and S. Bliss, Editors
Dow & Jackson, Printers, Boston. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.2
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES on which the SECOND ADVENT CAUSE IS BASED
I. The word of God teaches that this earth is to be regenerated, in the restitution of all things, restored to its Eden state as it came from the hand of its Maker before the fall, and is to be the eternal abode of the righteous in their resurrection state. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.3
II. The only Millenium found in the word of God is the eternal state of the righteous in the New Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.4
III. The only restoration of Israel yet future, is the restoration of the saints to the New Earth, when the Lord my God shall come, and all his saints with him. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.5
IV. The signs which were to precede the coming of our Savior, have all been given; and the prophecies have all been fulfilled but those which relate to the coming of Christ, the end of this world, and the restitution of all things. And HST August 9, 1843, page 177.6
V. There are none of the prophetic periods, as we understand them, that extend beyond the year 1843. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.7
The above we shall ever maintain as the immutable truths of the word of God, and therefore till our Lord come we shall ever look for his return as the next event in historical prophecy. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.8
REVIEW OF Dr. Jarvis’ Sermons.—No. 3
“For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.9
After so summarily disposing of the “seven times,” the Doctor attempts to disprove the argument based upon the 2300 days. In the following remarks we fully concur. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.10
“The profoundly learned Joseph Mede, who has thrown the same light upon prophecy which Sir Isaac Newton did upon the solar system, has laid down a rule with regard to the Revelations of St. John, which is equally applicable to all prophecy. It is to be ‘considered—as if it were a history and no prophecy—without supposal of any interpretation whatever. This is the first thing to be done—as a foundation, ground, and only safe rule of interpretation; and not interpretatin to be made the ground and rule of it.’ For if ‘the order, method and connection of the visions, be framed and grounded upon supposed interpretation, then must all proofs be founded upon begged principles and human conjecture.’” 29 p.40. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.11
The Doctor then adds: HST August 9, 1843, page 177.12
“Now here is the root of all Mr. Miller’s errors. He makes a ‘supposed interpretation’ the frame-work on which he erects ‘the order, method and connection of the visions’ of Daniel. He has jumbled all these visions together in the most inextricable confusion, as if they constituted but one vision. Then, taking parts of one and parts of another, he has combined them all; putting a patch here and there from the Revelations of St. John, and from St. Paul’s prophecies, according as he fancies the language to be applicable; and thus he dresses up a prophecy of his own creating, almost as monstrous as the terrific animals described in the visions. Thus, from one vision he takes 70 weeks or 490 years; from another vision, 2300 days or years. Then, assuming that the 490 years are the beginning of the 2300 years; that the 490 years ended at the crucifixion; and that the death of our Lord took place in the year 33 of the common era; he has collected all the materials necessary to erect his superstructure. He then triumphantly looks around and asks, ‘Can any man in his senses deny my interpretation? Do not 490 and 1810 make up 2300? Do not 33 and 1810 make up 1843? And is there not here the most certain proof that the world will come to an end in 1843? My dear hearers, are you prepared for it? Have you made your peace with God? Any one who does not believe me is like those who did not believe Noah or Lot; and all such will, as sure as they live, be consumed with fire before the 21st of March, 1844.’ No wonder that they who have never studied their Bibles are affrighted and bewildered by such language. Mr. Miller tells them that he has been studying the prophecies for seventeen years, and as they cannot contradict him, they think he must know. The only wonder is that they who have studied their Bibles should have done it to so little purpose, as to be carried away with all this noise, and confidence, and vain assumption of knowledge.” p. 41. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.13
Had Doctor Jarvis given us the proof that Mr. Miller “has jumbled all these visions together” in the manner described, he would have written more fairly than he has. But as he has offered no proof of such “jumbling,” the above can only pass for his assertion. If he would first give Mr. Miller’s works a careful examination he might be forced to acknowledge, as he has in another place, that here he “has censured Mr. Miller in too unmeasured terms.” See Preface, p. 4. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.14
We are glad to find that there is no Neology, as had been supposed, in this work, and that Dr. Jarvis agrees with the Newtons in the length of the vision of the 2300 years. He says “the vision is the whole vision of the ram and he-goat.” p. 45. Instead however of offering any argument to disprove Mr. Miller’s calculations, or show that Mr. Miller does not date correctly when they commence, he contents himself with saying, HST August 9, 1843, page 177.15
“We are not to take in any time which preceded it; consequently we cannot reckon the 70 weeks as a part of the 2300 days; because the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem preceded the earliest date of this vision. We are not to take in any territory beyond the limits of the four kingdoms denoted by the four horns; or any events which have not reference to the subject of the vision. Consequently we cannot interpret it by the history of Europe in general, or of the Latin church in particular, or by any events unconnected with the conversion and restoration of God’s ancient people. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.16
If these rules of interpretation be correct they give the finishing stroke to all Mr. Miller’s calculations. If we date even from the rushing of the Goat upon the Ram in the fury of his power, the first invasion of the Medo-Persian Empire, the 2300 prophetic days will not end till the year of our Lord 1966. I do not mean to be understood as asserting this. I would rather imitate the caution of the learned Mr. Mede with regard to the times of the great Apostasy, ‘and curiously inquire not, but leave unto him who is the Lord of times and seasons.’ I mean only to say that, for aught Mr. Miller can show, there may yet be more than a century to come before the 2300 days shall be ended. Nay, Sir Isaac Newton goes further, and supposes that the time of their beginning was not earlier than the reign of Vespasian and the destruction of the second temple. ‘Daniel’s days,’ he observes, are ‘years; and these years may perhaps be reckoned either from the destruction of the temple by the Romans in the reign of Vespasian, or from the pollution of the sanctuary by the worship of Jupiter Olympias, or from the desolation of Judea made in the end of the Jewish war by the banishment of all the Jews out of their own country, or from some other period which time will discover.’ Observe the modesty with which this great man ventured to speak of the future; and then ask yourselves which is preferable, the modesty of a Newton, or the presumption of such a man as Miller. The prophecy is not yet fulfilled; for the sanctuary has not yet been purified. Till that event takes place, it is impossible to know when the 2300 years began.” HST August 9, 1843, page 177.17
That the vision did not commence before 457, B. C. is proved by time, for had it commenced before that event, it would have terminated before now. Dr. Jarvis is too modest to hazard an opinion when the 2300 days commence, but he has also been too modest to give any reason why they do not commence with the 70 weeks. As he has presented no arguments on this point, there is nothing to reply to. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.18
When Doctor Jarvis will show that the vision did not commence with the meridian glory of the Medo-Persian kingdom, or that that kingdom was not at its greatest height at the commencement of the 70 weeks, we will reply on those points. Or if he will show that the 9th of Dan. is not an explanation of the 8th,—that the angel did not come to make him understand the vision of the 8th,—that when Daniel says the man Gabriel was the one he had seen in the vision at the beginning, he had no reference to his interview with him, in the vision of the 8th, and that the 70 weeks are not cut off from some other period of time; he will have done something to disprove Mr. Miller’s position. But he has left all those points untouched, as well as every point upon which Mr. Miller relies for evidence, and has nothing worthy of a refutation. HST August 9, 1843, page 177.19
We therefore proceed to his third and last divison, “that the present year completes the six thousandth of the world.” HST August 9, 1843, page 178.1
One would infer from the argument of Dr. Jarvis that he supposed Mr Miller claimed that such was the exact age of the world, and that he relies upon that as proof of the end in 1843. Mr. Miller, however, makes no such claims, and does not thus rely on his chronology as such evidence. The whole matter is simply this. A tradition has long prevailed that at the end of six thousand years from creation, this world would enter upon a different state of things. Such a belief is found in the writings of the Fathers, and among the Jewish Rabbins. Some have believed that period would wind up all the affairs of this world; while in this last age of the world, others have supposed it would usher in a temporal millennium. According to Archbishop Usher, the modern standard in chronology, this world is only 5846 years old. If that is the true age, and the world must continue six thousand years, it would be an argument against the advent in 1843. Accordingly in 1840, it was presented as evidence against the truth of Mr. Miller’s position by those who could find no evidence against it from the Bible. When this was suggested, Mr. Miller felt that it was an argument against his view of the prophetic periods. He thought the matter over, and resolved to examine the chronology of the Bible for himself. After examining the Bible for three days, and taken the literal reading of the various texts, he found to his surprise, that taking the chronology of the Bible as far as that would carry us, and then taking the common chronology, that we must be at or near the very end of the six thousand years. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.2
Upon this Dr. Jarvis says, HST August 9, 1843, page 178.3
“It appears then that the thought never occurred to him till 1840, and then only when it was suggested to him as an objection to his theory. He spent three days upon it! Three days! How wonderful! three whole days in determining questions which have exercised the most gifted and well-furnished minds not only for a whole life, but for a series of lives! Mr. Miller appeals from Archbishop Usher to the Bible, as if Archbishop Usher had not founded his computations upon the Bible; or as if Archbishop Usher could not weigh all questions on these difficult points better than Mr. Miller; or as if Mr. Miller’s three days thrown into one scale would make the whole lives of Petavius, Usher, Marsham, and a host of others, in the opposite scale, kick the beam! Shall we laugh, or shall we weep, over such folly? HST August 9, 1843, page 178.4
But what is the result of this mighty discovery, this glorious revolution of three days? Mr. Miller finds out that the world is 154 years older than Archbishop Usher made it; both, be it observed, appealing to the Bible as their authority.” HST August 9, 1843, page 178.5
One would suppose from the above, that Mr. Miller had no right to appeal to the Bible; and that what Petavius, Usher and Marsham, may say, must be received by us in all humility. If those men are not infallible, then possibly they are liable to a mistake; and we find that Dr. Jarvis dissents from all of them on some points. He however can be permitted to appeal from them, but not Mr. Miller. If the Bible sheds any light upon this subject, Mr. Miller has surely as good a right to search for light as any other man. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.6
Now it should be remembered that the great point of difference between Mr Miller and Usher, is, with regard to the time of the Judges,—to the anointing of Saul as king. The only light that can be thrown upon this period, is that obtained from the word of God, as it is covered by no ancient veritable chronology. It is a question therefore that every reader of the Bible can examine for himself, and which Mr. Miller is as competent to decide, as Archbishop Usher. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.7
This, according to the literal reading of the Hebrew text, by the addition of the length of each judge and each captivity to the time of Samuel was 446 years. The evidence of this we shall give in a future number. But Dr. Jarvis, by lapping one period on to another, reduces it to 356, p. 91. Dr. Jarvis thus states the question. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.8
“In the first book of Kings (chap. 6., 5:1) the sacred historian records the important fact of the foundation of Solomon’s Temple in the following solemn manner: “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.” If, then, we take from this sum of 480 years, 40 years during which the nation was in the wilderness, 40 years for the reign of Saul, 40 years for that of David, and the fourth year of Solomon, it leaves only 356 years from the entrance into the promised land to the establishment of the monarchy. This includes the government of Joshua and that of the Judges till the time of Samuel. But St. Paul, in his speech to the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia, states that God “gave unto them Judges about the space of 450years until Samuel the prophet.” Mr. Miller contends that there is a contradiction here, and because the larger number is more favorable to his purpose, he chooses to take what he considers as St. Paul’s testimony, and rejects the passage in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this way he makes the period from the departure out of Egypt to the building of the temple not 480 but 621 years; and thus he gains at once for his object 141 years. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.9
But Mr. Miller does not take into his account the very great difference in the nature of this testimony. The passage, 1 Kings 6:1, is a formal official record of the most exact and decisive character; the language of St Paul a passing and merely incidental remark. The historian meant to establish an epoch; the orator had not the least thought of settling points of chronology. The historian wrote in Hebrew for his nation. He could not be mistaken; and there are no various readings which can throw doubt over the integrity of the text. St. Paul, on the other hand, was addressing himself in Greek to Jews who lived in a Greek province, whose vernacular language was Greek, and who used the Greek translation. They were doubtless more familiar with the Greek chronology than with the Hebrew, and their prejudices were in favor of the larger numbers in the Greek Scriptures, because a more remote antiquity would favor their national vanity. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.10
Would it not have been unwise in St. Paul to shock their prejudices on a point which had no connection with his principal design? Mr. Miller might just as well argue that because St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans quotes from the Greek Psalms a number of verses which do not exist in the Hebrew, therefore the Hebrew is wrong; or because St. Luke inserts in the geneology of our Savior a name which occurs only in the Greek translation, that we must therefore give up our Hebrew Bibles and implicitly receive the Greek! HST August 9, 1843, page 178.11
But there is a text in the book of Judges which Mr. Miller seems never to have thought of, but which effectually overthrows his calculations His period of 621 years assumes that the number of years from the departure out of Egypt to the government of Jepthah, was 402. Whereas Jepthah himself expressly states that the land, conquered from Sihon king of the Amorites in the 40th year after the departure from Egypt had been held by the Israelites at the time when he became Judge 300 years. Here then is at once a miscalculation by Mr. Miller of 62 years.” pp. 53, 54. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.12
That Paul had no intention of settling points of chronology is a mere assumption; or that he should have any fears of exciting the prejudices of the people, and to avoid it, tells a falsehood, cannot be reconciled with the character of St. Paul. The text in Judges that he refers to, is this. The children of Ammon demanded of Jepthah the land that the children of Israel took from them when they came out of Egypt; and Jepthah said, Judges 11:26, “While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years, why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?” This period could not begin till the division of the land under Joshua, seven years after they came out of the wilderness, which was 353 years. Any one can see that Jepthah is only speaking in general terms, and not giving an exact period. He does not say they had dwelt there just 300 or only 300 years; and as he says they dwelt in the land, it would imply that they were well settled; and not just beginning to dwell in the land. Thus, according to Mr. Miller, from the end of the elders and anarchy to the captivity from which Jepthah had delivered them, was 301 years. It is therefore no evidence against our computation, for if they had been in the land 360 years, Jepthah would be as likely to express himself in round numbers as to give the definite number of years. On the contrary St. Paul asserts positively that they were under judges about the space of 450 years. Josephus also agrees with Paul. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.13
If either is incorrect, it would be much more likely that the text in Kings should have been corrupted in the earliest copies, as the whole mistake might consist in one word; than that many mistakes should have been made, as there must have been, in the history of the Judges, and in St. Paul and Josephus. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.14
We have before us a chronology prepared by the Rev. A. B. Chapin, A.M., Mem. Conn. Acad. Arts, and Sci.; Mem. Yale Nat. Hist. Soc; Minister at James church, N. Haven, Ct. a gentleman of great chronological and historical research, and as we understand, well versed in oriental literature, so that, for aught we know, he could speak his way to the walls of China. This chronology was first published in the Quarterly Christian Spectacle, Nov. 1838; and during this period of the Judges, agrees with Mr. Miller in every particular. We have also a similar chronology published in the “Chronicle” and said to be from the pen of Dr. Brownell, the bishop of Dr. Jarvis, which also agrees in the length of the Judges with Mr. Miller, but we suspect it is also from the pen of Mr. Chapin. The Chronicon Paschale computes 634 years from the departure from Egypt to the building of the temple thirteen years more than Mr. Miller. And many writers give a similarly long period. HST August 9, 1843, page 178.15
We again quote from Dr. Jarvis. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.1
“The poet has well said, that HST August 9, 1843, page 179.2
‘A little learning is a dangerous thing;’ HST August 9, 1843, page 179.3
But Mr. Miller makes a merit of his own ignorance, and glories in that which to the interpreter of the Bible is a shame. But I cannot so easily acquit him when he comes to the succession of the kings of Judah. Here, in his eagerness to make out his scheme, he absolutely falsifies the language of the Bible. He makes Jehoram to have reigned five years, where the Scripture positively says he reigned eight; and between Amaziah and Azariah or Uzziah, he introduces an interregnum of eleven years, for which he has not even the shadow of an authority in the Bible. He quotes, indeed, chapters fourteen and fifteen of the second book of Kings; and this may be sufficient for those who are ready to take his opinions upon trust. But if you examine the chapters to which he refers, you will be astonished to find that there is not in either of them one word upon the subject. By these various methods of interpolations he gains in the history of the Jews at least 150 years.” pp. 55. 56. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.4
After Dr. Jarvis had preached this and shown its monstrous absurdity, in his own pulpit, at Middletown, in Portland, Ct. and in the city of New York, and was proceeding to print it, he suddenly found that Mr. Miller was right with regard to this very interregnum, and he himself wrong. In his preface he was therefore obliged to make the following confession. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.5
“In the Appendix, as the reader will perceive, a system of chronology is formed which differs, in some respects, from that by which the author was governed in the examination of Mr. Miller’s theory. He trusts that the analysis there given will sufficiently explain his reasons for the change. But it may not be equally obvious why he did not, in publishing the Sermons, alter the chronology so as to adapt it to the following part of his work. It will be seen, too, that, in speaking of the curtailment of the reign of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat from eight to five years, and the introduction of eleven years of interregnum between the reigns of Amaziah and Uzziah, he has censured Mr. Miller in too unmeasured terms. These particulars he is bound to explain. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.6
It would certainly have been easier, and perhaps more advantageous to the author, to have made the alterations silently, and omitted the censure. But would it have been equally honest? HST August 9, 1843, page 179.7
In preparing the Introductory volume of his Ecclesiastical History, he had carefully avoided reading modern writers on chronology, for fear of being biassed by their systems. For this reason he had never read the learned work of Dr. Hales; and though familiar with Petavius, Usher, and Marsham, a good while had elapsed since he had consulted them on the parts of history connected with the prophecies. Butthese great writers being entirely silent as to any interregnum in the kingdom of Judah, the existence of such an interregnum was entirely a new idea to him. Mr. Miller quoted 2 Kings 14, 15. without mentioning the verses from which he drew the inference; and it was not till the author had read Hales’ Analysis, that he saw the correctness of that inference. If this admission gives Mr. Miller any advantage he is fairly entitled to it. We cannot for one moment suppose that he knew anything about Dr. Hales or his work. As a plain unlettered man, his perspicuity in reading his Bible, and his Bible only, is much to his credit; and we ought to consider it as giving additional force to the reasons assigned by Dr. Hales, that an ignorant man, as Mr. Miller confessedly is, should, from the mere examination of the Bible, have arrived at the same conclusion. The censure, however, in the sermon, holds good with regard to the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, 2 Kings 8:17; 2 Chronicles 21:5, but being equally applicable to Archbishop Usher, should not have been laid particularly at Mr. Miller’s door. A departure from the Bible is to be condemned, whether the author of such departure be learned or unlearned. Mr. Miller was misled, probably by the marginal notes in both places, inserted by Bishop Lloyd, doubtless on the Archbishop’s authority, that Jehoram reigned “in consort with his father.” But this is said without any authority from the sacred text; and it only increases the difficulty of synchronizing the first period of the kings of Judah from Rehoboam to Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, with that of the kings of Israel, if the period be made less than 95 years. This, upon examination, will be obvious. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.8
The author must not conclude without observing that the greater part of the Appendix having been written during his absence from home, he could not, till his return, consult the original text and the several versions of 2 Kings 14:17, 23; 15:1; 2 Chronicles 25:25, to see if any various reading in the Hebrew text, or any difference as to numbers in the ancient translations, might be found affecting the subject. He therefore mentions here, for the satisfaction of the English reader, that there are no such diversities; and consequently we must, on the authority of these passages, admit that there was a minority of 11 years, between the fifteenth and the twenty-seventh years of Jeroboam II. of Israel occurring in Judah, between the sole reigns of Amaziah and Azariah or Uzziah.” pp. 4, 5, 6, HST August 9, 1843, page 179.9
It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Miller, with all his ignorance, was able to discover a point, that Dr. Jarvis with all his learning could not see, even after Mr.Miller had referred him to the chapters giving the information; and all because Mr. Miller did not give the verses containing the inference. It is not till some learned man points it out, that he can see it. As he has found by a close examination that Mr. Miller is right, and he is wrong, on a point where he had averred there was not the shadow of authority in the Bible, and that it falsified Scripture: the iuference is, that if he would examine his other points of difference, he would also find Mr. Miller right and himself wrong. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.10
With regard to the reign of Jehoram being only 5 years after his father’s death, the evidence is this. We find that in 2 Kings 16:17, Jehoram the son of Jehosaphat of Judah, began to reign while his father was yet king, in the fifth year of Jorarm the son of Ahaziah of Israel; and that he reigned eight years. But as we give the whole of his father’s 25 years, we must give the length of Jehoram’s reign only from his father’s death. We find by 2 Kings 3:1, that Joram of Israel began to reign in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat; consequently the end of Jehoshaphat’s 25 years, would reach to the 8th year of Joram of Israel. And as Jehoram of Judafr began while his father was king, in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, he must have reigned 3 years with his father and only 5 alone. There is no falsifying of Scripture here; and the reason Dr. Jarvis did not see it, is probably because Mr. Miller did not mention the verses containing the inference. Shall we laugh now? No, let us weep. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.11
With his remarks on chronology where the Bible leaves it, we have no difficulty. He has given us a very learned treatise on that portion of chronology in his Appendix. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.12
In the following remarks of Dr.Jarvis, there is some justice, some things applicable to Dr. Jarvis’ own work, and some bigotry. He says, pp. 57, 58. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.13
“It has been with unfeigned reluctance that I have undertaken the labor of exposing Mr. Miller’s errors. Nothing but your desire to know my views with regard to his scheme of prophecy, could have induced me to devote the time and patience which were necessary for that purpose. I have not the vanity to suppose that I shall be extensively quoted as an authority; or that any thing I can now say will have any influence over Mr. Miller or his followers. HST August 9, 1843, page 179.14
But there is another source of sorrow in my heart which relates to Mr. Miller personally. I do not know, and probably have never seen him. I can therefore judge of him only by his writings; and the experience of ages has proved, that such judgment is often deceptive. Notwithstanding all I have said of his unwarrantable perversion of the Scriptures, I believe that, by some ingenuous process of his own mind, he has convinced himself that he is right. I look upon him therefore as sincere, though ignorant, and as well-meaning, though fanatical. In the examination of his books, I have been often struck with the strange mixture of good sense and absurdity scattered through them, and have been often edified by his excellent and pious observations on the necessity of being in readiness to meet our Judge. The “Lecture on the Times and its duties,” and that” on the parable of the ten virgins,” are of this sort. With small exceptions, they are excellent; and, taken apart from his theory, may be read with profit. The feelings therefore with which I regard the man, are as mingled as his writings. I attribute much that is censurable in him to the influences under which he has lived. He was, as I understand, a respectable farmer; and during the leisure which God grants the fanner at times to enjoy, he applied himself for about seventeen years to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and especially the prophecies. In doing so he did well, so far as the naked fact extends; and if he had been brought up in the sober-minded habits of a churchman, he would have contented himself with applying to his clergyman or his bishop to unravel difficulties, and” in patience and comfort of God’s holy Word,” would have gone on in his Christian course, quietly and rejoicing. But the fatal licentiousness of private judgment, and the rash contempt for God’s institutions which are working such mischief in our country, have prompted him to run without being sent, and to become the founder of a short-lived sect, instead of a lively stone in the Temple of God’s building.” HST August 9, 1843, page 179.15
We would merely remark on the above, that had Dr. Jarvis been Mr. Miller’s bishop, Mr. Miller would have been misled by his bishop with regard to the interregnum. He would have been in the right, and his bishop in the wrong. But has it come to this, that in Protestant America, a man has no right to ascertain what his Bible means without going to his bishop? Tell it not in Spain, publish it not in the streets of Rome, lest the residents of the Vatican rejoice, and the Pope triumph. As well may we go to our bishops to eat for us, as to have them think for us. The word of God is a revelation to men, and not to bishops in particular. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.1
He closes his discourse with a sad philipic upon the evils which will be produced by this doctrine—the result of the fatal “licentiousness of private judgment.” He doubtless supposes these evils are real. But he has thus far found it much easier to mourn over, than to point them out. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.2
We shall close this series with a chronology of the world in our next. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.3
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
“The Lord is at Hand.”
BOSTON, AUGUST 9, 1843.
If the Vision tarry, wait for it
It would seem from various portions of scripture, that while the end will surely be at the time appointed; and will not tarry; yet that there would be a delay beyond the time, when those who took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, should first expect him. Without this seeming delay it is impossible to reconcile many passages of scripture. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.4
It is no where said that the day and hour shall be known. The prophetic day—year—is alone predicted. That which the wise were to understand, at the time of the end, can only have reference to that which was revealed and sealed up—the prophetic day. The prophet Habakkuk says, Habakkuk 2:1-4. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up, is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” HST August 9, 1843, page 180.5
That the tarrying of this vision is the tarrying of the Bridegroem, and has reference to his coming at the end of the world, is evident, from the apostle’s thus applying it. In the epistle to the Hebrews,Paul assures us that Abraham, and they of whom the world was not worthy, all died in faith, but received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. He also assures us in another place that this promise—a crown of righteousness, will be given him, and all that love Christ’s appearing, in that day—the day of his coming to judge the quick and the dead. Then, speaking of the receiving of this same promise, he says, Hebrews 10:36. “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” He then quotes from this passage of Habakkuk, showing that he understands it to apply to Christ’s coming, verses 37, 38. “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” What Habakkuk calls the vision, Paul calls He—Christ, the Bridegroom: and that he is quoting this prophecy, is evident from the expression, “the just shall live by faith,” which occurs in both. Who will not exclaim with St. Paul, verse 39, “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” HST August 9, 1843, page 180.6
Our Savior also, in the 25th of Matthew, assures us, that at his coming the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.7
It is customary on the occasion of a marriage in the east, for the female unmarried friends, the neighbors of the Bridegroom, to go forth to meet him as he returns with his bride to his dwelling, after the marriage ceremony is performed, to weir come them home. Each virgin is accompanied with a small lamp in the top of her staff: and it is so small that it is necessary often to replenish it with oil, which is carried in a small vessel for that purpose. Thus equiped, they go forth to meet the Bridegroom, when the time has arrived when they can begin to look for him. If they knew the precise moment when the Bridegroom would return, they would not go forth to meet him until that time and the oil in their lamps would be sufficient. But often the Bridegroom tarries beyond the time first expected, when the lamps of those who carry no oil in their vessels for such an emergency go out. They that are wise therefore, who are determined to look for the Bridegroom till he comes, take a supply of oil in their vessels sufficient to last even till midnight, if the Bridegroom should tarry till that last moment of the day. Those who take no oil in their vessels, supposing the Bridegroom will come at an early hour, and that they shall not be at all detained when the coming is thus delayed, find when it is too late to go and buy, that their lamps are going out-as it reads in the margin; and as they cannot enter with the Bridegroom without their lamps burn brightly, they are anxious to obtain a supply of those who were more wise. These have none to spare, and while the foolish go to buy, the Bridegroom comes, and they that are ready enter in to the marriage feast which the Bridegroom makes for his friends; and the door is shut against all who may after seek to enter. Those who go forth to meet the Bridegroom when he thus tarries, are sometimes overcome with sleep, so that they are startled from their slumbers, by the cry of the Bridegroom cometh; and if their lamps are not trimmed and burning, well replenished with oil, they have such a poor miserable light, that the Bridegroom would be ashamed to number them among his guests, and so they are shut out. For this reason we find our Savior warning his disciples to be always ready, Luke 12:35-38. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” HST August 9, 1843, page 180.8
We find that the words of our Savior, that the kingdom of heaven should be thus likened, have proved true. As the time draws nigh, we find that thousands have taken their Bibles—the lamp of our feet, and the light of our path—and with the oil of faith have gone forth to meet the Bridegroom, who is now expected to return with his bride—ten thousand of his saints, the church triumphant, and all his holy angels, a most splendid retinue. Many we trust took oil in their vessels with their lamps. A few took no oil in their vessels. They expected Christ at an early period in the evening; and if he did not come then, they would not wait for him; and when their time passed by, their lamps went out. But those who had oil in their vessels, who went forth determined to wait till the Bridegroom shall come, even if he does not come till midnight, the last hour of the day, find that their lamps burn more and more brilliantly as time continues. Such went forth to meet the Bridegroom; and not to wait for him till a certain hour should pass by. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.9
Our Savior told us that “while the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept.” He thus implied that the Bridegroom would tarry to a late hour in the night, past the time he should be first expected. Thus we find he has delayed as he must have done to have fulfilled every jot and tittle of his word. And as soon as the time first expected passed by, and the vision seemed to tarry—not in reality—all did for a few weeks slumber and sleep. But bless the Lord we find that those who have oil in their vessels are again trimming their lamps, and the prospect now is, that we shall have another glorious refreshing from on high, and the salvation yet of some poor sinners. Soon they that are ready will enter in, and the door will be shut; and there is no promise that any will enter in but those who go forth to meet the Bridegroom with a plentiful supply of oil. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.10
It is while the Bridegroom tarried that they were to use this, proverb in Israel, Ezekiel 12:22. “Saying the days are prolonged and every vision faileth.” We are told however that they will use this proberb but a little while, 12:23-25. “Tell them there fore, thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor pattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.” HST August 9, 1843, page 180.11
We thus find that had the Lord appeared in the early part of the year, as some expected, the whole of prophecy would not have been fulfilled; and that to those who were waiting for him, and to those who consider themselves of the house of Israel, there must have been a seeming delay. But as these have now been fulfilled, we have not to wait longer therefore We have only to live with our lamps trimmed and burning; and if the glorious Bridegroom should not come till midnight, we will be at our posts, ready to enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb, for the Bride hath made herself ready. HST August 9, 1843, page 180.12
Tent in Buffalo—great meeting in Ohio
Brother Himes writes from Rochester, July 28th, that the Tent meeting will commence in Buffalo the 5th of August. The Tent is to be pitched in Cottage Garden, one of the most beautiful spots in the city. He says,— HST August 9, 1843, page 181.1
“The prospect for a good meeting is very encouraging. I intend to distribute four or five hundred dollars worth of books in that city and the surrounding country,—on Canal boats—Rail Road Cars—Steam-boats, vessels, etc. etc. We mean that the west shall have light, if we spend the last farthing we possess. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.2
The meetings will be continued in Talman Hall, in this city, and the depot of books and papers will be kept open at 17 Arcade, for the present. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.3
Meeting in Ohio
Our next general move will be in Ohio. Probably in Cincinnati or vicinity—or where the brethren may judge best. We intend to publish a paper there for a time, which will contain the reasons of our hope. It will be similar to the Glad Tidings. We hare a large lot of publications there now, and shall send more. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.4
We intend, if, permitted, to meet our brethren in that part of the country, to distribute about $2,000 worth of publications, in that portion of the union. We shall supply every town with a Library, as far as practicable. We intend also to furnish all the ministers, who will read on the subject, with publications. If they cannot furnish themselves, we will furnish them. They shall be left without excuse. We hope and expect to see one mighty gatheriug in the west. Several efficient lecturers will be there, to lay before the people the strong reasons we have for our glorious hope. We hope to be able to commence our meeting in Ohio about the 10th of September. Notice will be given hereafter. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.5
“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” Isaiah 53:11
No portion of Scripture has been more perverted than the above, when quoted to prove the conversion of the world. Those who thus misapply it, take the ground that our Savior must be satisfied; and that he will be satisfied with nothing short of the conversion of the world; the Universalists say all the world, and Neologists say about all. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.6
To this last assumption, we reply that it is not for man to say what will satisfy the Savior, only as it is revealed in his word. And from that we can suppose he would be satisfied with nothing less than the fulfilment of every jot and tittle of the written word. One thing we know, that he who controls all things will not be dissatisfied with the result of his own mission to this world. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.7
With regard to the first point, there is no allusion in the text to any satisfaction which our Savior would receive from the result of his mission. The chapter contains a prediction of the atonement of Christ, which was to satisfy the demands of justice for the sins of the world. Man could not atone for his own sins, and without the atonement of Christ could have no hope of salvation; nor could he with the atonement of Christ, if his atonement were ansatisfactory. We have however the satisfaction of knowing that a full and free atonement has been made, so that whosoever will, may not perish, but have everlasting life. Our Savior met the demands of the law, and justice was fully satisfied. The Father saw of the travail of his soul and was satisfied. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.8
The context shows that the above is the true meaning of the text. The prediction was, that our Savior was to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. He was to be wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was to be upon him; and with his stripes, we, who like sheep have gone astray, are healed; and the Lord was to lay on him the iniquity of us all. He was to be stricken for our transgression, to make his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. It would please the Lord to bruise, to put him to grief, and to make him an offering for sin. And he would see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.9
All this has been done. When he agonized in the garden and died upon the cross bearing our sins in his own body, God looked down from heaven; he saw the agony of the Savior’s soul, and was satisfied. We therefore have hope in his death. None need perish who will come to God in the name of the dying, yet risen Jesus. And because, he lives, we may live also. In that sufficient atonement our souls were ransomed from the power of sin. He broke the bands of death, and in his second coming, he will give us the victory over the grave, remove the curse from the earth, and destroy all the works of the devil, for which cause he was manifested. This he will do in the restitution of all things—the end of the great plan of redemption, which angels have desired to look into, and God has revealed unto us. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.10
A Millerite before his Bishop.—At the Maine Conference, a few days since, a brother was accused of “Millerism;” but had liberty to speak for himself. Then he stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.11
“I think myself happy, bishop, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Methodists; especially, because I know thee to be expert in all customs which are among the Methodists: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.12
My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation in Maine, know all the Methodists, which knew me from the beginning, (if they would testify,) that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Methodist. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.13
And now I stand, and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:” unto which promise our whole churches, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, bishop, I am accused of the Methodists, Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead in 1843? I verily thought within myself, that I ought to do many things contrary” to the doctrine of Christ’s second coming, which thing I did in Maine, and persecuted them in all our churches, and was exceeding mad against them. hereupon, O bishop, I saw in the way a light from God’s holy word, above the brightness of the sun, shining round me and them that journeyed with me. And when I was prostrated by the force of evidence, my conscience accused me for thus persecuting the Adventists, and being convinced that I was kicking against the pricks, I said this must be the truth as it is in Christ Jesus; and remembering that he had made me a minister and a witness both of those things which I had seen, and of those things which will shortly appear to all to whom he had sent me; to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ Jesus. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.14
Whereupon, O bishop, I was not disobedent unto the heavenly vision; But showed first unto them of—and at—, and throughout all the coasts of Maine, and then to the unbelievers that they should repent and turn to God and do worked meet for repentance. For these causes the Methodists caught me, and went about to accuse me. Having-therefore obtained help of God I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” HST August 9, 1843, page 181.15
And as he thus spake for himself, on motion, it was voted that he be admonished. Whereupon the presiding bishop arose and spake: By vote of the conference, it has been made my duty to admonish you. You will therefore consider yourself admonished. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.16
The Rev. editors of the Olive Branch take exception to the article called the “Celestial RailRoad,” published in this paper a few weeks since. Whether they fancied any allusion to themselves, in the clerical gentlemen brought to view in the article; or supposed the writer of it, in describing the engine with its conductor, had his eye on the Olive Branch for its original, we know not. We can assure them that however striking a resemblance there may be, there was not the least personal allusion to them whatever. They might have noticed that its last stopping place was not Vanity Fair. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.17
Campmeeting at Groten. Our friends in its vicinity will seethe notice in another column. A general rally is expected. May all, who can, go up to the Feast of Tabernacles. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.18
Brothers Clapp writes us that brother Chittenden has returned to Hartford, from the west, in good health. We should rejoice to hear from him. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.19
J. Sanborn wishes us to say that the story of Bishop Hedding charging brother Cox not to speak in the name of the coining Jesus, is incorrect, Was he not charged to preach no more of his coming in 1843? HST August 9, 1843, page 181.20
ADVENT CAMPMEETING
Near Morrisville, Vt. There will be, by leave of Divine Providence, a Campmeeting, to commence in Morristown, Vt. Aug. 29, to continue a week. All the friends in that vicinity, who can, are requested to attend with their tents. Brethren Cole, of Lowell, and Shipraan, of Vermont, are expected to be there. Per order of Com. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.21
Morristown, Vt. August 4, 1843. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.22
Mid. Cry please copy. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.23
A SECOND ADVENT CAMP-MEETING
Will be held, the Lord will, in the “Tent” or grove at Boylston Springs, N. Y. to commence Aug. 25th, and continue about ten days. Several efficient speakers are expected. And all who love the appearing of the Lord are solicited to attend, and as many as can to bring their tents. Conveyance can be had directly from Albany and Troy, to Baltstown, by railroad. J. Marsh. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.24
Union Mills, N. Y. Aug. 2, 1843. HST August 9, 1843, page 181.25
The Testimony of our Opponents,
That the doctrine of the Advent has not yet reached its destined height. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.1
We copy the following from the “Millennial Harbinger,” published in Bethany, Va. It denies the time of the Advent, and nature of the kingdom. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.2
“As time advances, the doctrine of the Secone Advent in 1843 gains new interest, and grasps with a stronger hold the minds of all who assent to its strong probability. This is just what we expected and predicted since first we heard its annunciation. Excitement keeps pace with every new convert, and consequently has not yet reached its proper height. The ardently pious and strongly imaginative proclaimers of the world’s immediate end, in their untiring efforts to propagate the opinion, in such a community as this cannot fail to influence thousands, and to inflame their zeal to the highest enthusiasm. What topic more sublime, more soul-subduing, more delightful to the Christian than that of the Lord’s glorious return to judge the world, to reward his friends and punish his enemies! Talk they of sublime themes! Methinks the most sublime of all that earth and time afford, are the veriest common-places compared with this. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.3
Many sincere and conscientious spirits are already enrolled amongst its advocates, and some of them are not only sincere, but pure, and noble, and amiable Christians. These are the great Apostles of the theory, to whose virtues and excellencies the cause is mainly indebted for its comparative success. Its temples are festooned with Christian charity. Its alters are covered with the garlands and wreaths of piety and humanity. Its priests wear the coronal of elevated sanctity, and its votaries are from necessity all more learned in the symbols of prophecy than those who oppose them.” HST August 9, 1843, page 182.4
“Every thing in society is now favorable to the rapid propagation of the new theory. The prevailing ignoranee of the Bible, and especially of prophecy, on the part of many who declaim against “Millerism,” and the unfortunate essays of learned men in their zeal for old opinions, so far transcending the oracles of reason and the canons of common sense, have contributed no little to advance into public favor the doctrine of “the Second Advent near.” Amongst these essays may stand first that of Professor Stuart, whose high attainments in biblical learning I highly appreciate. That essay already trumpeted by a thousand voices, republished in various forms by distinguished preachers and writers from Boston to Cincinnati—by the Colvers, the Stows, and the Mahans of this land, has greatly aided “the signs of the times” and “the midnight cries” of the, new school of prophetic expositors. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.5
But more than any other individual cause, have the profane scoffings, falsehoods, and caricatures of the religious and political press, in opposition to the doctrine of “the Second Advent near,” contributed to confirming the minds of the initiated in the pleasing hope, and to the furnishing of their preachers with new “signs of the times” in arguing the certainty of their opinions. If Noah, Daniel, and Job had re-appeared in the person of friend Miller, and uttered the oracles of the Lord, they would have been derided, slandered, misrepresented, and denounced as disturbers of the peace of the world’s giddy dance, and troublers of the modern Israel in her one hundred and one factions of orthodox prescription, just as Mr. Miller and his party have been. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.6
Another reason of the assurance of the faith in the minds of those who are true believers of the doctrine, is the delightful state of mind into which they feel themselves inducted through the new theory.—Every righteous man must feel an exquisite pleasure in the strongly anticipated immediate return of his Lord. What possible event could be hailed with such overwhelming joy as the end of this sin-distracted and convulsed world, and the beginning of a new creation, in which, as Christians, all hope to participate! New heavens, illumined with an unsetting sun of ineffable glory, spangled with stars brighter far than our present sun; a new earth, surrounded with an immortal atmosphere, filled with unfading freshness, sweetness, and beauty, decorated with charms incomparably superior to those of Eden and its ancient Paradise, animated too with the presence of Nature’s eternal and immortal King and his celestial train, the eternal home of the saints’ where “sin and sorrow, pain and death, are felt and feared no more.” I say, who would not gladly exchange a sin-emaciated face, a shattered constitution, sown thick with the seeds of death, for a spiritual and immortal frame, a shipwrecked earth, filled, with unquenchable fires, convulsed with interminable agonies, and covered with floods of water that have washed and drenched its deeply furrowed face with a thousand mountains and valleys, for a new earth never to be trodden by the profane foot of a solitary prodigal, nor marred by the unsanctified touch of a rebel hand during the ceaseless ages of eternity! HST August 9, 1843, page 182.7
None on earth are more to be envied than those happy spirits who are wrought up, or have wrought themselves up, to the full persuasion that in one short year, a little less or more, and they shall most certainly realize all this. Methinks to such the year 1843 will pass along with dreams of felicity and sweet antepasts of blessedness, whose remembrance will in years to come be as the delightful oasis in a parched desert—as the vision of a Paul caught away into the celestial Paradise, into the purer climes of the third heavens. And all this, too, without even the parting pang which nature feels when “shuffling off this mortal coil,” and bidding a long adieu to those we leave behind. For in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, perhaps during some prayer or song of praise, while in the midst of a monosyllable, one half uttered in time, the other in eternity—the first accent from a mortal, the second from an immortal tongue, crystallized into a gem in less than time’s shortest mark or minutest point, we have passed the bourne of mortality, and are found dwelling not in houses of clay founded in the dust, but in a house from heaven, spiritual, incorruptible, immortal, and glorious. And all this, too, I repeat, without the pain of parting from one we love. We cast not one “longing lingering look behind.” None are left we care any thing about. Nature, flesh, and all earth’s associations, are forever left without one single feeling that time or sense endear. What a mysterious, delightful, ineffable moment that, in which mortality is swallowed up in life; in which we obtain beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; in which we part from sin, and sorrow, and woe, and find onrselves at home in the presence of the Lord, in the bosom of his love, surrounded with all the sons of light, with the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem temple, thronged with the great hierarchs and kings of all the dominions of Eternity. Who of the Christian family would not rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, that in a few months all this should transpire, and that without the least of all the agonies of death—perhaps fall asleep some night and awaken glorified in the presence of the Lord, hearing with an immortal ear the last echo of the grave-opening, body-reanimating, soul-transforming sound of the archangel’s trumpet! HST August 9, 1843, page 182.8
No doctrine, then, more cheering than that of “the Second Advent near;” no opinion produces a more delightful state of mind.” HST August 9, 1843, page 182.9
Speaking of Prof. Stuart, he says, p. 293, HST August 9, 1843, page 182.10
“Our good brother Scott, of Carthage, has written a very hansome refutation of Professor Stow’s version of Professor Stuart’s version of some of the German Professors’ interpretations of prophetic times. He has fully exploded the whole Neologistic notion of making all prophetic days literal days. I never was more disappointed in reading any treatise on prophecy, than in perusing that of Professor Stuart. The first part of the book propounds useful rules of scripture interpretation, for history, poetry, and didactic instructions; but in the end he applies them all to symbolic imagery. This is the radical error of Stuart’s treatise. He lays down good rules; but afterwards, as I conceive, misapplies them. Besides ail that, brother Scott has said in exposition of the error of applying to symbols grammatical rules, the Professor’s argument places the Prophets Daniel and John in rather an eccentric attitude—nay, according to Stuart, Stow, etc. the spirit of revelation gave to Daniel some three and a half, or, at most, seven years of the history of the Jews; and to John about the same period of the church, so far, indeed, as her wilderness condition is contemplated. What a singular aberration from common sense for so distinguished a man! To present Daniel and John as chiefly engrossed in writing the prophetic history of from three to seven years of all time, regardless of the rest. How true the saying—“Great men are not always wise!” HST August 9, 1843, page 182.11
The Signs of the Times
The following we copy from the Christian Lady’s Magaziue, July No. 1843—published in England. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.12
“We have also a more sure word of Prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise.”—2 Peter 1:19. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.13
The inveterate blindness of the professed people of God, which refused to perceive the manifest tokens of His first Advent, wrung tears of anguish from Incarnate Deity; “O that thou hadst known,—in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!” And it was one of the sternest rebukes administered to the hypocritical Scribes, that while they were skilful to perceive and to prognosticate atmospherical phenomena, they could not “discern the signs of the times.” Are those then guiltless in our day, upon whom the ends of the world are come,—who, enveloped in mid-night slumber, are all unconscious of the still, more palpable and significant tokens of His second approach, and refuse to be awaked? It has been the fashion to “despise prophesyings:” but this is in effect to despise the wisdom of God who inspired them, and set them up on high as a beacon for times of danger and doubt, a light in a dark place. And surely the present times are dark enough to need this light! Beset on all sides with peril, the foundations of men’s faith rudely torn from beneath their feet, we need every help, every support, to prevent our making shipwreck of faith. O what do they miss, who lose the comfort of the Prophetic Word! They who most study it, know best how strong is the consolation derived from the consciousness of having an Omniscient Guide. Storm-tossed upon an ocean full of dangers, how cheering is it to possess amidst the loweriug tempest an infallible chart, and to descry amidst the deepening gloom the lights of the sheltering haven! Yes: “the floods lift up, the floods lift up their voice; the floods lift up their waves:” but we with annointed eyes look up and see “the Lord on high mightier, than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” The devil hath great wrath, but thanks be to God, it is because “he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The cloud gathers thick and black around the murky horizon, and begins to mutter its threatening thunders; but we joyfully point to its gilded edges, that give token of a glorious firmament beyond it. The night indeed is dark, and seems to be deepening into a still more intense obscurity; but we exult to know that the blackest shades of the starless midnight shall suddenly break into more than meridian brightness; that even without a dawning the glorious Sun shall burst upon our astonished eyes in the full effulgence of eternal day. And what a day!—our sun shall no more go down, neither shall our moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended. HST August 9, 1843, page 182.14
With an earnest desire to awaken and to promote the spirit of Christian watchfulness, and to confirm the faith of believers, I shall endeavor to enumerate the chief of those signs which mark the present age; varying of course in the clearness of their manifestation, but, together, testifying with a voice which cannot be mistaken, “The Lord is at hand!” HST August 9, 1843, page 183.1
I. The events of the Sixth Seal.—Most modern expositors agree that the horrors of the French Revolution, and the attendant political changes in Europe, formed the Earthquake of the Sixth Seal; but as that Seal has now been opened fifty years, we may reasonably expect the Seventh: before this, however, the redeemed of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, shall be beyond the reach of sufferiug, before the Throne. We are now living in that state of preternatural repose described in Revelation 7:1., which has strangely prevailed among the nations of Europe for nearly thirty years amidst constant and imminent threatenings of war: and which cannot be broken till the servants of God are sealed and saved. The international peace of Europe, under such circumstances, is, then, the first Sign. HST August 9, 1843, page 183.2
II. The cessation of the Sixth Trumpet.—Still more unbroken is the unanimity of commentators that the letting loose of the Turks upon the Eastern Empire was the Woe of the Sixth Trumpet. But, as we shall presently see, the reverberating echoes of that Trumpet are fast dying away: the Second Woe is al-almost past. Before the Seventh Trumpet however shall sound, the Lord’s witnesses shall have ascended to heaven in a cloud, and the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. HST August 9, 1843, page 183.3
III. The effusion of the Sixth Vial.—As the Sixth Trumpet was the establishment of the Ottoman Power, so the Sixth Vial is its dissolution; effected not by sudden conquest, but by gradual decay, “broken without hand,”—“dried up.” And who can look upon the present state of Turkey and the astonishing decay of its vitality for the last twenty years, without acknowledging, “this is the finger of God!” At the beginning of the present century, Turkey was a powerful empire; but when the withering vial of God’s wrath was poured upon her, her resources began to dry up till but “the shadow of a name remains.” The loss of Greece, Wallachia, Moldavia, Egypt and, Servia the battle of Navarino, the humiliating concessions made to Russia, the defection of the fleet, with the unprecedented desolations of fire and plague, have enfeebled the mighty Ottomon empire till her very existence seems to depend on the forbearance or jealousy of the European cabinets. The “King of the South” has already “pushed” at the Wilful King, and the “King of the North” is even now making unreasonable demands enforced by the bayonets of 80,000 men, ready to cross the Daunbe at an hour’s notice, and entering into his countries, “overflow and pass over” them. This is not the place to discuss the chronological prophecies, but I cannot avoid mentioning the remarkable fact that Turkey has entered upon the 1259th year of the Mahometan era, as may be seen by the dates of any Eastern documents. The statesman and the traveller, the infidel and the Christian agree that the end of the Porte cannot be long delayed: the vial is evidently near the dregs:—but before the Seventh is poured, we hear the monitory voice of the King, “Behold I come as a thief!” HST August 9, 1843, page 183.4
IV. The state of Israel.—After ages of hopeless desolation the dry bones which have so long lain scattered at the grave’s mouth, or spread abroad in the open valley, begin to give promise of life; and though as yet there is no breath in them, yet surely there is “a noise and a shaking,” of most cheering augury. In our own and other lands, a spirit of free inquiry extensively prevails among the sons of Abraham: many are freeing their minds from the fetters of tradition; and though too often they plunge into the mazes of scepticism, yet even the painful suspense of universal doubt is a preferable state of mind, at least in their circumstances, to the torpor of a mindless superstition. But liberty does not in all cases merge into licentiousness:—the separation of the West London Synagogue is a noble instance in our own metropolis of a large body of Jews forsaking the glosses of men, and yet trembling at the word of Jehovah. The fig tree is putting forth its leaves. But besides the spirit of inquiry, there is also a wondrous spirit of expectation upon Israel It is true that with many it has no well defined object; and some are content to expect but civil and political privileges in the lands of their dispersions; but others not a few, particularly in Poland and Russia, confidently loookingfor Messiah their king, and the repossession of their glorious land. HST August 9, 1843, page 183.5
V. The proclamation of the Gospel.—“And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come.” And if Paul could say that this had been done in his day, “to every creature which is under heaven” (Colossians 1:23.) in how much greater fulness of meaning may we take up the past tense, in speaking of the fulfilment of this sign. What “nation” has not heard the proclamation of Christ’s gospel, in this day of Bible Societies, and Missionary labors? How much further He may see fit that the offer of it may be prolonged to these nations, before He has “filled up the number of His elect,” we cannot say: but it appears that the prophecy has already received a sufficient accomplishment to justify the truth of God, if the dispensation were closed to-day. HST August 9, 1843, page 183.6
VI. The activity of the spirits of superstition, atheism, and anarchy.—This is a darker sign: here fall the shadows of the picture. Yet holding forth the prophetic torch, we can feel our hearts bound with joy, as we trace the workings of these “unclean spirits” of darkness. In our own land, heretofore so highly favored, these foul demons are peculiarly, active: the spirit of Popery has succeeded in infusing its poison into an overwhelming majority of our national Church; while the other two evil spirits have, hand in hand, seized upon the lower classes of our population. Anarchy and insubordination are indefatigably preached to misguided multitudes by furious demagogues with startling success: and blasphemy and atheism are no less industriously diffused by the ribald publications of the Sunday press. Yet I cannot see any prophetic warrant for expecting with many students of prophecy, that the true church of Christ will again be subjected to a terrible persecution, even from all this array of Satanic malice; but I do see in these things, the elements, which, when “the salt of the earth” is once removed, will hurry the moral world into a horrible state of putrefaction with fearful rapidity. HST August 9, 1843, page 183.7
Among other signs of the present age which, because somewhat less definite, I will not dwell upon, may be mentioned,—the two given by Daniel, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased;” and truly it would be difficult to characterize this age more aptly than as an age of rapid and universal travelling, and of widely and cheaply diffused knowledge. Then there is the Czar, the exact counterpart of the description in Ezekiel, “Gog (the crafty one) prince of Ros, Mosc, and Tobl,” perfectly ready from situation, power, and known policy, to act the part of the last invader of the Holy land. Add to these the “distress of nations with perplexity;” the unprecedented loss of life by shipwreck, “sea and waves roaring,” the unexpected appearance of the late Comet in our system, like a flaming sword;—the “earthquakes in divers places,” which have marked the current year, young as it is; and he must indeed sleep soundly who cannot hear in these things the solemn cry, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!” HST August 9, 1843, page 183.8
We look, however, for still more remarkable and terrifying tokens of his approach, as the time draws near. Wondrous celestial phenomena are predicted as the precursors of the Advent, which we yet await to see. The prophet Joel tells us that “the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come:” and Christ confirms the prediction; “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall, not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens.” Let none however flatter themselves with the thought, that when these unequivocal manifestations; take place, it will be time enough to turn their attention to the coming King; for it appears highly probable that these things will be so immediately preceding the revelation of Him, as to be rather the attendant circumstances of that great event, than premonitory tokens of it. It will not force itself upon the attention of careless men beforehand; abundant as is the evidence of its approach to those who in childlike humility seek to know His will, to the many it cannot, and will, not be divested of the character of extreme and overwhelming suddenness; like the flood of Noah, like the fire on Sodom, like the sanare upon a bird, like a thief in the night! “Watch therefore! for in such an hour as ye, think not, the Son of Man cometh.” HST August 9, 1843, page 183.9
Hackney, May 13th, 1843. P. H. Gosse. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.1
Foriegn News to July 19th
England.—The “Rebeccaites” continue their alarming outrages in the neighbourhood of Carmarthen and Swansea. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.2
The receipts of the Church Missionary Association, during the past year, have been L115,000.The Archdeacon of Coventry, in his recent visitations, passed a marked censure upon Puseyism. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.3
In the House of Commons on Friday night, the Home Secretary denounced the repeal agitation as treasonable. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.4
A deputation from the Established Church of Scotland is about to visit the metropolis, in order to set their case in its proper light before the public. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.5
The whole of Glamorganshire is equally with Caermarthenshire in a feverish and excited state, and there is a general growing feeling of disaffection and discontent. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.6
There has been extraordinary demand for copies of Dr. Pusey’s sermon. Upwards of 3,000 copies have been sent to Ireland. Two editions of 6,000 each, have been printed; and a third edition, it is expected, is just about to issue. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.7
It is an interesting fact, though not very generally known, that though Dr. Pusey is almost as much a Roman Catholic as Dr. Wiseman himself, he was for many years one of the most zealous of the evangelical clergy. Puseism is still making rapid progress among the clergy. It is said that out of 12,000 clergymen fully 9,000, or three-fourths of their whole number, are more or less tainted by this popish heresy under a Protestant name. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.8
Ireland.—Repeal Demonstration.—The Waterford Repeal, Demonstration took place on the hill of Ballybricken, on Sunday last, and is said to have been attended by 300,000 persons. The procession that accompanied Mr. O’Connell is described as having been five miles in length. A platform was erected capable of containing 3,000 persons. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.9
Scotland.—A very singular phenomenon was observed on Friday the 7th inst. at Leith. At the time of low water the tide suddenly rose about six inches, rushing into the harbor, and in a few minutes it again receded with equal velocity. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.10
Spain.—According to the accounts from Spain, published in the French papers of Friday, only seventeen out of the forty-eight provinces of Spain remained faithful to the Regent, the only important towns amongst them being Madrid, Badajos, Cadiz, Ferrol, and Saragossa. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.11
A letter from Valencia, says the Journal des Debats, dated the evening of the 28th ult., announces that General Narvaez was ready to set out the next morning with 4,600 troops of the line and 300 cavalry to the succour of Teruel, which was surrounder by the Regent’s troops. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.12
On the 11th Madrid was declared in a state of war. The generale was beaten; the National Guards were under arms; the troops of General Aspiroz occupied Galapagar, el Pardo, and the environs. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.13
Turkey.—Extraordinary efforts, it is said, are being made by the Porte, to bring; forward troops to the encampments of Constantinople and Adrianople, and it was expected that within a month 200,000 men would, be collected. The reason for so large a collection of troops, was rather a mystery; the Turkish Governmeut affirming that the sole object was to introduce among the troops a better system of organization. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.14
India.—The cholera was making fearful ravages amongst the military at Madras, at the date of the last accounts. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.15
The news by this arrival shows but little progress in the affairs of Europe. Every thing remains very nearly as it has been for some, time past There is nothing to show any prospect of escape from the fearful storm that is steadily gathering; and the condition of Europe is now very like the calm that precedes the hurricane. Things cannot long thus, continue. Affairs must soon arrive at a crisis. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.16
CAMPMEETINGS
CAMP MEETING AT GROTON
There will be a Camp Meeting about two miles from Groton village, on the main road from Groton to Keene, commencing on Tuesday, August 15th, 1843. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.17
It is expected that there will be a mighty gathering of the Lord’s elect at this convocation. Let all the brethren in the region of Groton and vicinity, spare no pains to be present. Able advocates of the doctrine will be present. Come one, come all and avail yourselves of the benefit of the meeting. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.18
Provisions will be made for the board of strangers at $1,75 per week, or by the day 37 1-2 cents. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.19
Stables will be erected on the ground for horses, charge 25 cents per day. Let the brethren not forget to bring with them their tents. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.20
Committee. Apollos Hale, Ezekiel Hale, Jr. Timothy Cole, Henry Plummer, Walter Dickson, Aaron Mason, Walter Keyes, Luther Boutelle, Daniel Needham, Samuel Heath. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.21
A SECOND ADVENT CAMPMEETING,
At North Springfield, Vt. will commence Tuesday, Sept. 5, in a beautiful grove a short distance from the Post Office. Br. Timothy Cole, of Lowell, will attend, and Br. Miller is requested to. As no other meeting of the kind may be held near this until our Lord shall come, we hope all the friends of the cause will attend, with tents. For Com. I.H.Shipman. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.22
Camp Meeting.—By the leave of Providence, a Second Advent Campmeeting will be held at Plainville, Connecticut, to commence on Wednesday, Aug. 9th, and continue one week or more. It is most earnestly hoped that the friends of the cause, as far as practicable, will generally rally to this feast of Tabernacles. Able lecturers from abroad have been invited, and are expected to attend. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.23
Plainville is situated about thirteen miles southwest of Hartford, in the town of Farmington. Teams are engaged to carry the friends, from Hartford, on to the ground for 25 cents each. Let all that can, come with their tents and provisions for the meeting; for those who cannot, accommodations! will be made. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.24
A SECOND ADVENT CAMP MEETING
Is to be holden at Liberty, Me. commencing on Monday the 14th of Augest, to continue until the Sabbath, and over the Sabbath if thought advisable. Our Second Advent brethren and sisters throughout the region are requested to attend the holy convocation Second Advent lecturers from abroad are requested to attend. Board may obtained on the ground at a reasonable rate. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.25
SECOND ADVENT CAMPMEETING
There will be an advent campmeeting, if time continues, in Exeter, Maine, about 20 miles from Bangor, near the road leading from Bangor to Dexte., on the same ground where it was held, last Sept, to commence Wednesday, Sept, 13th, tents erected on the 12th, to continue a week or more; all those who wish to enjoy the privilege of a second advent, campmeeting, are requested to come and bring their tents, or come prepared to erect them on the ground: those who cannot bring tents, can be provided for on the ground at the rate of $1, 42 per week, or 1 shilling per meal; some of our efficient lecturers of the west are earnestly solicited to attend, and ministers and brethren in general, brother T. M. Preble is requested to attend. Christian Herald please copy. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.26
Committee. Moses Ames, William H. Ireland, Zenas Chamberlain. Thomas Stevens, Lemuel Smith. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.27
Exeter, July 31st, 1843 HST August 9, 1843, page 184.28
Letters from. post-masters to aug. 5
Medford, Motgomery, Vt; Ware House. Point, Ct. $2; Hoosick Falls, N. Y. 1; Long plain, Ms. $1; Mulberry, O. $1; Houston. IIIs; Exeter Orville, Vt; Ervingsville, $2; also $1 in Dec. last. Springfield, $2; Auburn, N. Y. $1; Woodstock, Vt; Sugar Hill, N. H. $1; Portsmouth, N. H; Feltonville, $1; Chesterville, Me; Jackson, Me; Wiekford, R. I; Gardner, Me. $1; Perry Mills, N. Y. $1; Glenville, No. Springfield, Vt; Charlton, N. Y; So. Gardner, Ms. 1,00; New Market, N. H. 1,00; Ballston, N. Y 1,00; Falmouth, Ms. 1,00; Meredith, N. H; Clarence, Mich. 100; Hudson, O. 1,00; Milford; Ms.50 cts; Busti; N.Y. 2,00; Toronto, N. C; Cochester, Vt. 3,00; Wadleys Falls, N.H. 1,00. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.29
No. Fairhaven, Ms. 1,00; Danville. Vt; Ashford, Ct. 1,00; Charlestown; Dexter, Me. 2,00; Groton, N. H. l,00; Montpelier Vt. 2,00; Belfast, Me. 3,00; Brunswick, Me. 1,00; Banger, Me. 2,00; West Boylston, Me. 1,00; New Lyme, O. 1,00; Jackson, Mich. 1,00; Fair Haven, Ms.; 1.00; Richland, N. Y. (was received and paid to end of vol. 5;) Hyde Park, Vt. 1,00; Daysville, III; Bradford, Ms. (all right;) East Newport, Me. 1,00; Hillsborough N H; Brookfield, Vt. 1,00; Claremont, N.H. 1,00; Woodstock Vt. 1,00; Hanover, Ms. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.30
Individuals
Eri Bradley, 1;00, (6 mouths;) G. S. Miles; C. Hurd, and others; J. Morse, 1,00; Elizabeth Lloyd, (England;) Daniel Tinkcom, 1,00; J. H. Brown, 1,00; Jessfe Wood, 1,00 due; Aaron Clapp; E. Phillbrick; Rye, N. H. 1,00; Margaret Warren, Portsmouth, N. H. 1,00; Jno. Downing, 50; Jos. Herald, 1,00. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.31
Jos. M. Thomas, 1,00; Levi Wiswell, 5,00; W. A. Garlick,5,00; David Needham, C. S. Brown, 6,00; Orwin Cone, 12 1-2 cents postage on his letter to inform us he never subscribed for the paper. Josiah Green, Jr. 1,00; R. H. Ford, 50 cents; T. L. Tullock; J. S. White; S. Ayers, S. Stone, 3,00; T.E. Jacobs, 4,25—75 cts. postage; J. V. Himes. Jno. Pierson, 15,00 by brother Billings. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.32
Bundles Sent
T. Cole, Lowell, Ms; S. Stone, Sherburne, Ms. J. V. Himes, 6 Spruce St. N Y; J. H. Lonsdale, Providence, R 1; G. S. Miles, Albany. HST August 9, 1843, page 184.33