Signs of the Times and Expositor of Prophecy [Himes], vol. 3
August 31, 1842
Vol. III.—No. 22. Boston, Whole No. 70
Joshua V. Himes & Josiah Litch, Editors. Office No. 14 Devonshire Street, Boston
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
AND EXPOSITOR OF PROPHECY.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
BOSTON, AUGUST 31, 1842.
Littleton campmeetlng.—This convocation of the friends of the Bridegroom closed on Tuesday, the 23rd inst. It was a season of deep interest to the great mass who attended; and, to very many, a time of glorious refreshing from the Lord’s presence. Many sinners were awakened to a sense of their sins, and sought and found mercy of the Lord, and are now rejoicing in a Savior’s love. Backsliders, in great numbers, confessed their wanderings, and returned to God. Believers received the large, rich effusions of the Spirit, crucifying them to the world, and causing them deeply to feel and labor for the salvation of souls; while they themselves lifted up their heads with joy in view of the speedy appearing of Christ. The conviction of the truth, or at least the strength of evidence in favor of the Second Advent doctrine, was very general among the candid part of the congregations who attended; while many who came to scoff, remained to pray. In short, the meeting has been a great and good one, but how good, will only be known when the Lord makes up his jewels. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.1
We owe it, also, as a debt of gratitude to God, and the authorities and good citizens of Littleton, to record the wonderful care and providence of our Heavenly Father, in shutting the mouth of the evil beasts of the people, certain sons of Belial, who would gladly have done us harm; and the kindness of the above named friends, who gave us the whole weight of their influence in preserving the good order of the meeting, by day and by night. May they be remembered for good in the day of the Lord Jesus. The communion season was marked with the peculiar melting presence of the great Master of the feast. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.2
The closing scene will not soon be forgotten by those who witnessed it; but the parting, however, was only for a very short time, before we hope to meet in the great congregation of the saints, on the sea of glass, to sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.3
New England Conference.—We have received a communication from Rev. P. R. Sawyer, one of the candidates for ordination and full admission into the New England Conference, at its recent session in Springfield, complaining of the charge made by Bro. S. Palmer of their swallowing the gag. He feels himself agrieved by such a charge, and thinks his former course is enough to vindicate his character from it. And we confess ourselves of “the same opinion. We believe, from our knowledge of him, if bro. S. was, convinced of the truth of the Second Advent Doctrine, he would fearlessly declare it, without stopping to consult any Conference. He denies, also, that any gag was offered any of them by the Conference, in the sense in which that term has been used among us. The letter, for reasons which we deem sufficient, we decline publishing. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.4
Open and Restricted Communion.—It is but justice to our readers and ourselves to say, that the article which appeared in our paper, some weeks since, on this subject, was inserted in the absence and without the knowledge of either of the editors. We regret its appearance. We of course have our own views on this subject; but we did not undertake the publication of this paper for its discussion. Nor do we think, at such a moment as the present, that there is any time to be lost, or Christian charity to be destroyed, by the meddling with that bone of contention. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.5
Look at this Correction.—The following item appeared in No. 20, and the 300 years were erroneously printed 3000 years; we now give it again, corrected. Our readers will perceive by it, that the great reformer did not look for a millennium before the Judgment, nor did he think the Judgment far off. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.6
Martin Luther’s Opinion. I am persuaded that verily the day of Judgment is not far off, yea, will not be absent above 300 years longer, for God’s word will decrease and be darkened for want of true shepherds and servants of God. The voice will soon be heard, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!” God neither will nor can suffer this wicked world much longer; but must strike it with his judgments of the day of wrath, and punish the rejection of his word. [Luther died A. D. 1546.] HST August 31, 1842, page 169.7
The Return of the Jews
Many are looking with fond anticipations to the restoration of the carnal Jew, to the land of his fathers; where that race will again be the subject of especial favors, and peculiar privileges; and thus making a difference between the Jew and Gentile, contrary to the declaration of St. Paul. Entertaining such a belief, it must necessarily in their minds delay the coming of our Savior; and that if it is false, and such hopes are contrary to Scripture, the tendency of it is to make them sleep over the question of our Lord’s return, and to be unprepared for his coming. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.8
The fourth number of the letters of the Rev. G. S. Cox is an able article on that subject. He argues in proof that no such return is promised in the Scriptures. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.9
1st. That the main body of them were never departed from their country of the Babylonish captivity; and that those of the ten tribes, who were pleased, did return with the Jews from that captivity, and have never since existed as a distinct people. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.10
2nd. That all the prophets who have been supposed to predict their return, lived and wrote prior to that captivity, and their predictions were fulfilled in that return. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.11
3rd. That such a return is inconsistent with the express declarations of the gospel, the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile being broken down, to make of the twam one new man—and the hour having come when they are neither to worship in this mountain, or in Jerusalem, but where true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; For he seeketh such to worship him. And HST August 31, 1842, page 169.12
4th. That the Jews, as Jews, have no more title to the land than have the Gentiles, because the promise was made to Abraham before circumcision; and to his seed—not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith, and that promise being an everlasting inheritance to both him and his seed, it has never yet been fulfilled, but must be in the new earth: for he and they “all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,” “there being some better thing reserved for us, that they without us should not be made perfect:” and had that been their rest, there would not have been another rest promised to the children of God. The question may therefore be considered as settled by his argument that the Scriptures of the Old Testament do not promise a restoration of the carnal Jew to the land of Palestine. HST August 31, 1842, page 169.13
Many however suppose that their restoration is promised in the 11th of Romans, in the New Testament. My object will therefore be to show that the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, is to be continued till they are consumed and destroyed; and that as Jews they are never to return. The texts which are supposed to prove their return in the 12th, 15th, 23rd—25th verses of the 11th of Romans, viz. “Now if the fall of them be the riches of this world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness?” “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?” “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins.” HST August 31, 1842, page 169.14
We argue first, that the Israel of whom all will be saved, is the true Israel of God; otherwise every individual Jew will be saved; which none will claim. “That the “Israel” spoken of is not the Jewish nation, is clear from the fact that some of that nation will be cast out; and in that case all Israel could not be saved. The apostle also assures us, that, “he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” “For there is no difference between the Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” “For they are not all Israel that are of Israel, neither because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they all children.” “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise, and counted for the seed.” “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” HST August 31, 1842, page 169.15
The above most conclusively proves, that as a nation, the Jews will hereafter receive no peculiar favors. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.1
Again; “the fall” and the “diminishing of them,” and “the casting away of them,” could not be their dispersion as a nation, for it was spoken of as something already taken place before the nation was dispersed; so that their “fulness,” and “the receiving of them,” could not be their restoration, as a nation, to Judea. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.2
Again, their “fulness,” (pleroma,) is not to be “until the fulness of the Gentiles become in;” for till then, blindness in part had happened to Israel. And as all the Gentiles are not to be converted, the fulness of the Gentiles must be the full number of them who are to be saved, and which will not be till the end of the world; at which time also the fulness of the Jews, or the full number of them who are to be saved, will have come in; so that all Israel, in the most literal sense, according to Paul’s definition, will be saved, and St. Paul might well ask, “what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?” and in the very manner as described in Ezekiel 37:12-14, “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves; and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land, then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” Neither is there any proof that the Jews are to be converted as a nation. It is no where expressly asserted, but only conditionally, for “if they abide not still in unbelief, they shall be grafted in;” and it also follows that if they do abide in unbelief, they will not be grafted in—the if being as much a condition as when Christ said, “if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee.” Those of the Jews who believe, will not be come a new olive tree; but will be grafted in to the old olive tree: so that they will cease to be Jews There is therefore nothing in the restoration of the true Israel, which can in any way delay the coming of our Lord. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.3
In addition to the above argument, the question is most conclusively settled by the 28th chapter of Deut. that after the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, they were never again, as a nation, to receive either civil or religious privileges. The covenant which God made with that nation was a conditional covenant. If they should serve the Lord their God with all their heart, to do all his commandments, and should diligently hearken unto him, they were to be blessed above every nation, and were to be forever the chosen people of God; but if they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God, to observe and to do all his commandments, and his statutes, they were to be cursed above every nation, until they should be finally destroyed. In the other predictions of their various dispersions, they were promised that if they would return unto the Lord their God, that the Lord would have compassion upon them, and would turn their captivity, and gather them from all nations whither he should scatter them. And we accordingly find that he was faithful who promised; for as often as they repented in their various captivities, he restored them to their own land. But in the chapter referred to, Moses evidently looked forward to the time when their waywardness and folly should be fully proved, when all the mercies and judgments of God should be found to be of no avail in restraining them from utterly rejecting the Lord their God, and walking after the evil imaginations of their own perverse hearts; and when it would seem that there was nothing more which God could do for his vineyard, which he had not done for it, so that he should cast them off forever and leave them to their own hardness of heart and blindness of minds, until they should perish. That the dispersion here predicted was their dispersion by the Romans is evident from the nation that was to be brought against them, and from the complete fulfilment of that prediction, in the destruction of Jerusalem by that nation. “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue men shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young.” This could be no other than the Roman nation. “And he shall beseige thee in all thy gates until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trusteth throughout all thy land.” “And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the [original seige and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: so that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children, which he shall leave, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the seige and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee, in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tender dess, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,” “and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things, secretly, in the seige and in the straitness wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee in thy gates.” HST August 31, 1842, page 170.4
Josephus shows a literal fulfillment of all this in the affecting description which he gives of the misery and distress to which the Jews were reduced in the destruction of their city. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.5
From this dispersion there is no promise of a return, as though all their restorations having been of no avail, they were now to be entirely forsaken. Moses also expressly says that the “Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thy hand to do, until thou be destroyed; and until thou perish quickly.” “And they shall pursue thee until thou perish.” “It shall come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” “And thou shalt be oppressed and spoiled evermore; and no man shall save thee.” “And thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway.” HST August 31, 1842, page 170.6
“Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations, whither the Lord shall lead thee.” “And shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.” “The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low.” “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed.” And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and a wonder, and upon thy seed forever. “And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he shall have destroyed thee.” “And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth, even unto the other.” And among all these nations shalt thou find no case, neither shalt the sole of thy foot have rest, but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind, and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night; and shalt have none assurance of thy life.” “And ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond men, and bond women, and no man shall buy you.” The duration of these evils is given in plain and positive language, and in the whole of this, Moses fifth discourse, there is no intimation of any further mercies till they are finally destroyed. It therefore follows that in Moses, other discourses, and in the various predictions where a restoration to their own land was promised, that there could be no allusion to their dispersion by the Romans; but only predictions of other dispersions and restorations, all of which must have been fulfilled previous to the dispersion here spoken of. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.7
That Jerusalem is never to be rebuilt, is plain from Daniel 9:26, 27, where the angel informs Daniel that after our Savior’s crucifixion, “the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and sanctuary;” “and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation; and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate,”—on “the desolation,” as it reads in the margin; which must be to the end of time. Our Savior, also, in Luke 21:24, declares that the Jews “shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” The times of the Gentiles will not be fulfilled till the end of time; so that the express declaration of our Savior, with all the other evidence which has been presented upon this question, it would seem, must forever settle the question, that the Jews, as Jews, have nothing farther to hope for in this world: and that those only of them can be saved, who renounce their Judaism, and by faith as individuals, like the Gentiles, are grafted into the original olive tree, from whence through unbelief they have been broken off. B. HST August 31, 1842, page 170.8
Several important articles are omitted to make room for the “Great Crisis.” HST August 31, 1842, page 170.9
THE GREAT CRISIS. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED FORTY-THREE
No. 1. BOSTON, JULY 4, 1842. Vol. I. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” [From the Second Admit Reports, No. I.]
Reasons for believing the Second Coming of Christ in Eighteen Hundred Forty-three, from the Chronology of Prophecy
by william miller.
The following article is given in this cheap form for general distribution. 39 Read and circulate. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.1
When we read in divine inspiration a class of texts like the following, Acts 3:21, “And he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began;” 24th verse, “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days;” again, Acts 17:26, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” and 31st verse, “Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead;” Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets;”—I say no man can read these texts, and the like, of which the Scriptures abound, without being convinced that God has set bounds, determined times, and revealed unto his prophets the events long before they were accomplished; and having thus revealed himself, has never failed in time and manner to fulfil all things which, by his prophets, have been spoken or written. He has it his word revealed the times in different ways; sometimes in plain language, by telling the exact number of years; at other times, by types, as the year of release, the jubilee, and the sabbaths; in other places by figurative language, by calling a year a day, or a thousand years a day; again, by analogy, as in Hebrews 4:10, showing, that, as God created the heavens and earth, and all that are in them, in six days, and rested on the seventh, so Christ would be six thousand years creating the new heavens and earth, and would rest on the seventh millennium. I will now present a few cases where time has been revealed in the above manner, and fulfilled so far as present time will allow. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.2
I. In plain lanuage, by years, months, or days, as the case may be. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.3
1. Seven days before the flood began, and the forty days the rain continued, were prophesied of, and literally fulfilled. See Genesis 7:4. “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” These days were literal days, and so fulfilled. 10th and 12th verses: “And it came to pass after the seventh day that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.” “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” HST August 31, 1842, page 171.4
2. Abraham was informed by God that his seed should be afflicted in a strange land four hundred years, which, including his sojourn, would make 430 years. Genesis 15:13. This was literally accomplished. See Exodus 12:40, 41. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.5
3. The butler’s and baker’s dreams were interpreted to mean three days, by Joseph, and were exactly fulfilled. See Genesis 40:12-20. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.6
4. The dream of Pharaoh, as explained by Joseph, meaning seven years’ plenty and seven years’ famine, was literally completed. See Genesis 41:28-54. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.7
5. The forty years in the wilderness were prophesied and fulfilled literally. See Numbers 14:34. Joshua 5:6. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.8
6. Three years and a half Elijah prophesied that there would be no rain, and there was none until the time was finished. 1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.9
7. Isaiah prophesied that within sixty-five years Ephraim should be broken, so that they should not be a people; Isaiah 7:8; and in the sixty-five years they were broken and carried away by Esarhaddon, king of Babylon, B. C. 742—677. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.10
8. The seventy years’ captivity, prophesied of by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 25:11, were fulfilled between B. C. 596 and 526. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.11
9. Nebuchadnezzar’s seven times were foretold by Daniel, and fulfilled in seven years. See Daniel 4:25, and Josephus. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.12
10. The seventy weeks which Gabriel informed Daniel would “finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy,” which Daniel had before of the four kingdoms of the earth, that should finally be destroyed by the kingdom of the “stone cut out without hands,” and “to anoint the Most Holy.” Who can read this prophecy of the seventy weeks, and the history of Ezra, Nehemiah, the Jews, Romans, John and Jesus Christ, and not be convinced of its exact fulfilment in 490 years? And I would ask, How can it be possible that men who believe the Bible, and who have seen the exact fulfilment of all prophetic chronology thus far, can say with any degree of propriety, these seventy weeks are indefinite? Where are their proofs? Not on the records of divine inspiration. For, here we find no sample. Here is no time given, that has not been literally fulfilled according to the true intent and meaning of the prophecy. Why not, then, settle this one point forever, among believers in the divine authority of the Scriptures: that the chronology of prophecy is to be received with an equal faith with the chronology of history? Why not believe the declarations of God concerning the future, as we do concerning the past? Who denies that God created the heavens and the earth, and all that are in them, in six days? None but the Infidel, say you. What better then is he who denies that God will accomplish what he has said he would perform in a given period? Well may the Infidel charge home upon us hypocrisy, when we refuse to believe the latter as well as the former. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.13
All these cases which I have brought forward as proof of prophetic chronology, were once prophecies; and would it have been right in Noah, the patriarchs, and prophets, to have rejected the time given, any more than the manner? I answer, it could not have been faith to have rejected either. Then let us have faith to believe the chronology of the future, as well as of the past. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.14
The seventy weeks were evidently fulfilled in the year A. D. 33, beginning 457 years B. C., it the going forth of the commandment to Ezra to restore the law and the people to Jerusalem. See Ezra 7:10-13. I need not stop to argue this point, as very few can be found who have the hardihood to deny the seventy weeks as being a definite time. One reason, out of the many, may be here presented. Why should the man Gabriel be so particular in defining the beginning and the end of the seventy weeks, if indefinite time only is meant? And why did he name the events so particularly as to divide the seventy into three very unequal parts, and yet in all three parts include the whole? Surely, no mortal can account for this agreement of numbers, and yet call it indefinite. There was much more ambiguity in the prophecy to Abraham, concerning his seed sojourning in a strange land four hundred years, (see Genesis 15:13, 14,) than in this of the seventy weeks. Yet that was exactly accomplished on the self-same day predicted. Exodus 12:41. And, in me, it would be the very height of folly, to believe otherwise concerning these seventy weeks of years, than as an exact fulfilment, on the self-same day. God has not changed, that he will not be as particular now as in the days of Abraham. He surely will, and when men, through cowardice or unbelief, charge God with thus tampering with his word, they must, sooner or later, find it to their cost to make such a solemn charge. HST August 31, 1842, page 171.15
II. I will now bring forward. some prophecles which remain to be fulfilled, or which have recently been accomplished. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.1
The seven times
1st. Moses’ prophecy of the scattering of the people of God among all nations “seven times.” See Levit. 27:14 - 46. It is evident, that these “seven times” were a succession of years, for their land was to lie desolate as long as they were in their enemies’ land. And the people of God have been scattered, and are now a scattered and a peeled people. These “seven times” are not yet accomplished, for Daniel says, “When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished.” The resurrection and judgment will take place. Daniel 12:6, 7: “And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half: and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” HST August 31, 1842, page 172.2
What did the angel mean by time, times, and a half? I answer, he meant three years and a half prophetic, or forty-two months, as in Revelation 11:2, and 13:5: or 1260 prophetic days, as in Revelation 11:3, and 21:6 and 14. He meant the one half of “seven times.” Daniel saw the same thing as Moses; only to Daniel the time was divided. He was informed that the little horn would “speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time, times, and the dividing of time.” This makes Moses’ seven times, for twice three and a half are seven, and twice 1260 are 2520 common years. But you may inquire, are not these two things the same in Daniel? I answer, no. For their work is different, and their time of existence is at different periods. The one scatters the holy people, the other wears out the saints. The one means the kingdoms which Daniel and John saw; the other means Papacy, which is called the little horn, which had not come up when the people of God were scattered by Babylon and the Romans. The first means literal Babylon, or the kings of the earth; the other means mystical Babylon, or Papacy. And both together would scatter the holy people and wear out the saints “seven times,” or 2520 years. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.3
Moses tells us the cause of their being scattered. Leviticus 26:21. “And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me.” Jeremiah tells us when this time commenced, Jeremiah 15:4-7. “And I will cause them to be removed (scattered) into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. For thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward; therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee and destroy thee. I am weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land: I will bereave them of children; I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.” We have the some cause assigned by Jeremiah as was given by Moses, and the same judgments denounced against his people, and the time is here clearly specified when these judgments began, “in the days of Manasseh.” And we find in 2 Chronicles 33:9-11, that for the very same crime they were scattered: “Wherefore the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people. but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the kings of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon.” Here then began the “power (their king) of the holy people to be scattered.” This year, also, the ten tribes were carried away by Esarhaddon, king of Babylon, and Isaiah’s sixty-five years were fulfilled when Ephraim was broken. This was in the year B. C. 677. The seven times are 2520; take 677 from which, and it leaves 1843 after Christ, when “all these things will be finished.” You may wish to know how the “time, times, and a half,” are divided. I answer, the Babylonians bear rule over Israel and Judah 140 years, Medes and Persians 205 years, the Grecians 174 years, and the Romans before the rise of Papacy 696 years; making in all of the four kingdoms 1215 years that the people of God were in bondage to the kings or rulers of these kingdoms. Then Papacy began her time, times, and a half, which lasted until 1798, being a period of 1260 years; which added to the 1215 years of the kings before mentioned, make 2475 years, wanting forty-five years to complete the “seven times.” And then the kings of the earth must consume the papal power and reign forty-five years to complete the “seven times;” which added to 1798, when the last of the ten kings broke loose from the power of Papacy and again exercised their kingly power, (see the holy alliance, Revelation 17:15-18. Daniel 7:12,) ends 1843. Daniel 12:7-13. Thus this forty-five years accomplishes the “time, times, and a half,” which. the kingdoms of the earth were to exercise their authority in, “scattering the power of the holy people,” being 1260 years. And Papacy, or mystical Babylon, accomplished her “time, times, and the dividing of time,” being 1260 years, between A. D. 538 and 1798, in “wearing out the saints of the Most High and thinking to change times and laws.” And both together make 2520 years, beginning B. C. 677; which taken out of 2520, leaves 1843 after Christ, when captive Zion will go free from all bondage, even from death, and the last enemy conquered, the remnant out of all nations saved, the New Jerusalem completed, the saints glorified. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.4
2nd. The next prophetic number to which we shall attend, will be Daniel 8:14. “Unto 2300 days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, or justified.” After Daniel had seen three visions, two of them including the whole “seven times,” he sees under his last vision but the three last kingdoms, Persia, Grecia, and Rome. He then hears a saint speaking, and another saint inquiring, for how long time this last vision should be. Daniel was then informed that it should be unto 2300 days. He afterwards heard a voice commanding Gabriel to make him (Daniel) understand the vision. He came and told him, that the vision would carry him to the end of all indignation, and at the time appointed (2300 days) the end would be. Gabriel then named two of the three kingdoms, i. e. Persia and Grecia, and described the Roman by its acts. Then he left Daniel to consider of the vision. Fifteen years afterwards, while Daniel was praying, Gabriel came to him again, and told Daniel he had come to make him understand the vision. Then he gives him the seventy weeks, and tells him plainly, that the seventy weeks would seal (or make sure) the vision and prophecy. Here he gave him a clue to know when his vision of the ram and he-goat began. He tells Daniel plainly, and shows how those who should live after the seventy weeks were fulfilled might know his prophecy to be true, and what they might understand by days in this vision. If, then, the seventy weeks were a part of the vision of the ram and he-goat, and given, as it is evident, for the express purpose of showing the beginning of the vision, it remains a simple problem. If 490 days were fulfilled in the year A. D. 33, by being so many years, when will 1810 days be fulfilled in the same manner? Answer, 1843. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.5
Twelve hundred and sixty days
Then in the 12th chapter of Daniel, at the 7th verse, we have the three and a half times, which have been already explained in part, meaning 1260 days. See Revelation 12:6 and 14. The woman in the wilderness, 1260 days, which is the same thing as three and a half times. Daniel, in the 7th chapter, 25th verse, mentions the little horn wearing out the saints three and a half times; but in the 12th chapter, 7th verse, it is “scattering the power of the holy people” three and a half times. This was to be accomplished by the kings of the earth. Jeremiah 1:17. “Israel is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away; first the king of Assyria hath devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones.” Also Zechariah 1:18-21. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.6
Twelve hundred and ninety, and thirteen hundred and-thirty-five days
Then in the 12th chapter of Daniel 11th ver. “And from the lime that the daily sacrifice (meaning abomination) shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days.” There is some difficulty in knowing what is here intended by “daily sacrifice” in this text. It cannot mean the Jewish sacrifices, for two good reasons: 1. It has some immediate connexion with “the abomination that maketh desolate,” i. e., Papacy, or papal power of Rome, that is “taken away to set up,” etc. Now all must admit that Jewish sacrifices were taken away about 500 years before Papacy was set up, or exalted. 2. If Jewish sacrifices are here meant, then in A. D. 1360 this papal power would have ended her setting up, or exaltation. But Papacy was then at the height of its power. I have come to this conclusion: that this power, called “daily sacrifice,” is Rome pagan abomination; the same as Christ has reference to in Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:21. Certainly Christ could not have reference to papal abominations that maketh desolate until Christ’s second coming, for that was not set up until nearly 500 years afterwards. Of course, it must have been the pagan abomination which would be taken away. This agrees with Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10. “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Here Paul shows plainly, that there was one abomination then at work which would hinder the rise of the last abomination, until the first was “taken out of the way;” then the second would be revealed, whom the Lord would destroy with the brightness of his coming. The question then would be, When was Paganism taken out of the way? I answer, it must have been after the ten horns arose, out of what is called the Western empire of Rome, which were to arise up and rule one hour 40 (a little time) with the beast, pagan: for this little horn was to arise or be “set up” among the ten horns. It could not be until after the year 476 after Christ, when the Western empire fell and was divided into ten kingdoms. It could not come until “they,” the ten kings, had “polluted the sanctuary of strength,” (meaning Rome.) Daniel 11:31. “And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall ‘take away’ the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” Who shall do this? I answer, the ten horns, or kings. Revelation 17:12, 13. “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, (when John saw his vision,) but receive power as kings one hour (a short time) with the beast.” The beast here must mean Rome pagan, for we have been told that beast means a kingdom. Daniel 7:23. “Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.” And as papal Rome had not yet been “set up,” we must of necessity call this beast Rome pagan. Then he tells us, Revelation 17:13, “These (ten kings) have one mind,” that is, one faith, all being converted to the orthodox religion of the Catholic Roman Church, “and shall give their power and strength to the beast,” meaning Rome papal; for now this beast is “set up,” and the ten kings have given their power and strength to the pope of Rome, and the woman or Papacy sits upon the scarlet-colored beast having seven heads and ten horns. HST August 31, 1842, page 172.7
Then the abomination that maketh desolate began his rule in the fourth kingdom, when “the dragon (emperor of the Eastern empire) gave him his power, his seat (Rome) and great authority,” Revelation 13:2; and when the ten kings give their power and strength to him, and he (the pope) uses his authority over the kings of the earth. See Revelation 17:18. “And the woman thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” These several marks, and combinations of events, and circumstances, in my opinion, can nowhere be fulfilled in any manner agreeing with the prophecy, except in the conversion of the pagan kings to Christianity, which happened as soon as A. D. 508; then they “must continue a short space,” Revelation 17:10; which is shown in Daniel to be thirty years, the difference between Daniel 7:25 and 12:11; the last number, 1290 years, beginning at the “taking away” of Paganism, A. D. 508; the first number, 1260 years, beginning at the setting up of Papacy, A. D. 538, when the dragon gave his power, his seat and great authority, and when the ten kings gave their power and strength to Rome papal, and he exerciseth the power of the pagan beast before him. Papacy now killed heretics, as Paganism had Christians before. Then these numbers would end in the year A. D. 1798, allowing a day for a year. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.1
The events which took place in 1798, are strong evidence that my calculations of these numbers are correct. Papacy then lost the power to punish heretics with death, and to reign over the kings of the earth. All must agree that Papacy has no temporal power over any kingdom, except the little kingdom of Italy, one of the horns of which the ten are composed. It is very evident too, that the church is not now in the wilderness, and the times and a half of the church in the wilderness were fulfilled when free toleration was given to all religions in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, etc.; where Bonaparte obtained power and granted free toleration. Also the two witnesses are not clothed in sackcloth, and the 1260 years are fulfilled. No one can doubt for a moment that the Bible was forbidden to the common people, and forbidden to be translated in any common language, after the orthodox put down the Arian heresy in Italy and the West, by Belisarius, the general of Justinian’s troops, sent into Africa and Italy for the express purpose of suppressing the Arian power, and giving the church of Rome the preeminence over all schismatics. Then was the Bible taken from the common people, and remained in a sackcloth state from A. D. 538 until A. D. 1798, during 1260 years. Here we find the prophetic time of days fulfilled in years, by two ways more. And now it remains to show the end, by Daniel 12:11, 12. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days.” Paganism taken away A. D. 508; add 1290, make 1798. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 days: but go thou thy way until the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” HST August 31, 1842, page 173.2
When will the end of these days be? you may inquire. I answer, 1335 years from taking away the first abomination of the Roman kingdom, A. D. 508, to which add 1335, and it makes A. D. 1843, when Daniel will stand in his lot, and all who have waited for the Lord will be blessed. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.3
III. I will now show some proof that days in prophetic chronology are used for years. All must agree, that God has in many places, and at divers times, revealed future things in figures, emblems, types and allegories; and, as I believe, for wise and benevolent purposes. The most prominent is, that, in order to get anything clear, the Bible student must study the whole. And as it respects the matter under consideration, days being put for years: if God had revealed himself plainly, by using plain language instead of figures; if he had said, “Unto 2300 years from the time that Ezra would be sent up from Babylon, to restore the law and captives, etc., to the time when the end of the world should come,” many men of the world would reject the whole Bible because of these words. Again, others, during past ages, if they had known that the judgment day was yet many years to come, would have abused the mercies of God, because vengeance was not executed speedily. Yet God had determined times, and set bounds, and must reveal it to his prophets, or he would deny himself, (Amos 3:7. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing,” etc.,) that that day may not overtake the true believer as a thief, 1 Thessalonians 5:4. It is in the manner of Christ’s parables. Matthew 13:14-16. “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not. understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.” HST August 31, 1842, page 173.4
That God has used days as a figure of years, none will or can deny. With Moses, Numbers 14:34: “After the number of days in which ye searched the land, even forty days (each day for a year) shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years; and ye shall know my breach of promise.” With Ezekiel 4:4-6. “Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Also the seventy weeks in Daniel 9:24-27. These are samples. But you will inquire, How shall we know when days are used for years? I answer, you will know by the subject matter to be performed in the given time. For instance, the seven of the seventy weeks, “the streets and walls of the city should be built again, in troublous times;” every man must know this could not be performed in 49 days, or even in 70 weeks, 490 common days. So we are to look for another meaning to days; and we find it, as above, to mean years. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.5
Again, the 2300 days. This is an answer given, to the question, “For how long a time the vision” of the ram, the he-goat and the little horn “shall be?” Answer, unto 2300 days. Who cannot see at a glance, that these three kingdoms could not conquer each other, rule over the whole world each one separately for a time, and do this in six years and four months? Thus the Infidel rejects his Bible, and the worldly scribe and priest try to explain away, by their own wisdom what God has made plain by his word. “By hearing ye shall hear, and not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” HST August 31, 1842, page 173.6
But apply our rule, “years for days,” and all is simple, plain, and intelligible. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.7
I might here show how God has revealed time by types in his word, by Jewish Sabbaths, by the jubilee, and by the day of rest; 41 but I am warned that I have already trespassed on your patience. May we all apply our hearts unto that wisdom which compares scripture with scripture, and understand “times and seasons,” which God has put within our power, by his revelation unto us. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.8
For the time is at hand “when the wise shall understand; but the wicked shall not understand.” Amen. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.9
SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
and expositor of prophecy
This paper is published weekly at 14 Devonshire street, Boston, Mass. The design of the paper is, to illustrate the prophecies which relate to the second coming of Christ in the year 1843. The sentiments of those who reject the time and the manner of the advent in 1843, are also freely given in this paper, so that both sides of the question are given. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.10
Published at 14 Devonshire Street, Boston. HST August 31, 1842, page 173.11
A BIBLE CHRONOLOGY FROM ADAM TO CHRIST
BY WILLIAM MILLER.
| No. | Names of Patriarchs, King, etc. | Age. | A. M. | B. C. | Book. | Chapter. | Verse. | Remarks. |
| Creation | 1 | 4157 | Genesis | 1., 2. | ||||
| 1. | Adam | 130 | 130 | 4027 | “ | 5. | 3 | |
| 2. | Seth | 105 | 235 | 3922 | “ | “ | 6 | |
| 3. | Enos | 90 | 325 | 3832 | “ | “ | 9 | |
| 4. | Cainan | 70 | 395 | 3762 | “ | “ | 12 | |
| 5. | Mahalaleel | 65 | 460 | 3697 | “ | “ | 15 | |
| 6. | Jared | 162 | 622 | 3535 | “ | “ | 18 | |
| 7. | Enoch | 65 | 687 | 3470 | “ | “ | 21 | |
| 8. | Methuselah | 187 | 874 | 3283 | “ | “ | 25 | |
| 9. | Lamech | 182 | 1056 | 3101 | “ | “ | 28 | |
| 10. | Noah | 600 | 1656 | 2501 | “ | 7. | 6 | To the Flood. |
| The Flood | 1 | 1657 | 2500 | “ | 8. | 13 | ||
| 11. | Shem | 2 | 1659 | 2498 | “ | 11. | 10 | |
| 12. | Arphaxad | 35 | 1694 | 2463 | “ | “ | 12 | |
| 13. | Salah | 30 | 1724 | 2433 | “ | “ | 14 | |
| 14. | Heber | 34 | 1758 | 2399 | “ | “ | 16 | |
| 15. | Peleg | 30 | 1788 | 2369 | “ | “ | 18 | |
| 16. | Reu | 32 | 1820 | 2337 | “ | “ | 20 | |
| 17. | Serug | 30 | 1850 | 2307 | “ | “ | 22 | |
| 18. | Nahor | 29 | 1879 | 2278 | “ | “ | 24 | |
| 19. | Terah’s life | 205 42 | 2084 | 2073 | “ | “ | 32 | |
| 20. | Exode, etc. | 430 43 | 2514 | 1643 | Exodus | 12. | 40, 41 | |
| 21. | Wilderness | 40 | 2554 | 1603 | Joshua | 5. | 6 | |
| 22. | Joshua | 25 44 | 2579 | 1578 | 14:7; | 24:29. | ||
| 1. | Elders and Anarchy 45 | 18 | 2597 | 1560 | See | |||
| Josephus | ||||||||
| 2. | Under Cushan | 8 | 2605 | 1552 | Judges | 3. | 8 | |
| 3. | Othniel | 40 | 2645 | 1512 | “ | “ | 11 | |
| 4. | Eglon | 18 | 2663 | 1494 | “ | “ | 14 | |
| 5. | Ehud | 80 | 2743 | 1414 | “ | “ | 30 | |
| 6. | Jabin | 20 | 2763 | 1394 | “ | 4. | 3 | |
| 7. | Barak | 40 | 2803 | 1354 | “ | 5. | 31 | |
| 8. | Midianites | 7 | 2810 | 1347 | “ | 6. | 1 | |
| 9. | Gideon | 40 | 2850 | 1307 | “ | 8. | 28 | |
| 10. | Abimelech | 3 | 2853 | 1304 | “ | 9. | 22 | |
| 11. | Tola | 23 | 2876 | 1281 | “ | 10. | 2 | |
| 12. | Jair | 22 | 2898 | 1259 | “ | “ | 3 | |
| 13. | Philistines | 18 | 2916 | 1241 | “ | “ | 8 | |
| 14. | Jephthah | 6 | 2922 | 1235 | “ | 12. | 7 | |
| 15. | Ibzan | 7 | 2929 | 1228 | “ | “ | 9 | |
| 16. | Elon | 10 | 2939 | 1218 | “ | “ | 11 | |
| 17. | Abdon | 8 | 2947 | 1210 | “ | “ | 14 | |
| 18. | Philistines | 40 | 2987 | 1170 | “ | 13. | 1 | |
| 19. | Eli | 40 46 | 3027 | 1130 | 1 Sam | 4. | 18 | |
| 20. | Samuel,prophet | 24 47 | 3051 | 1106 | “” | 7. | 2-17 | |
| 1. | Kings—Saul | 40 | 3091 | 1066 | Acts | 13. | 21 | |
| 2. | David | 40 | 3131 | 1026 | 2 Sam. | 5. | 4 | |
| 3. | Solomon | 40 | 3171 | 986 | 1 Kings. | 11. | 42 | |
| 4. | Rehobam | 17 | 3188 | 969 | 2 Chron. | 12. | 13 | |
| 5. | Abijam | 3 | 3191 | 966 | 1 Kings | 15. | 2 | |
| 6. | Asa | 41 | 3232 | 925 | “ | “ | 10 | |
| 7. | Jehoshaphat | 25 | 3257 | 900 | “ | 22. | 42 | |
| 8. | Jehoram | 5 | 3262 | 895 | 2 Kings | 8. | 17 | |
| 9. | Ahaziah | 1 | 3263 | 894 | “ | “ | 26 | |
| 10. | Athalith, his mother | 6 | 3269 | 888 | “ | 11. | 3,4 | |
| 11. | Joash | 40 | 3309 | 848 | “ | 12. | 1. | |
| 12. | Amaziah | 29 | 3338 | 819 | 14. | 2 | ||
| Interregnum 48* | 11 | 3349 | 808 | 15. | 1.2 | |||
| 13. | Azariah | 52 | 3401 | 756 | “ | 2 | ||
| 14. | Jotham | 16 | 3417 | 740 | “ | “ | 33 | |
| 15. | Ahaz | 16 | 3433 | 724 | “ | 16. | 2 | |
| 16. | Hezekiah | 29 | 3462 | 695 | “ | 17. | 2 | |
| 17. | Manasseh | 55 | 3517 | 640 | “ | 12. | 1 | |
| 18. | Amon | 2 | 3519 | 638 | “ | “ | 19 | |
| 19. | Josiah | 31 | 3550 | 607 | “ | 22. | 1 | |
| 20. | Jehoahaz, 3 moths | 3550 | 607 | “ | 23. | 31 | ||
| 21. | Jehoiakim | 11 | 3561 | 596 | “ | “ | 36 | |
| “ | 24. | 2-16 | ||||||
| The 70 years of captivity began here, ended 1st year of Cyrus | 70 | 3631 | 526 | 2 Chron | 36. | 5-10,15-23 | ||
| Cyrus | 6 | 3637 | 520 | Roll in, vol. | 1. page | 354 | ||
| Cambyses | 7 | 3644 | 513 | “” | “” | 366 | ||
| Darius Hystaspes | 36 | 3680 | 477 | “” | 2.“” | 9 | ||
| Xerxes | 13 | 3693 | 464 | “” | “” | “ | ||
| Artaxerxes Longimaus | 7 | 3700 | 457 | Ezra 7. | 10-13 | |||
| Birth of Christ 49 | 457 | 4157 | ||||||
| Add present years, 1840 | 1840 | 5997 | ||||||
| To 1843 | 3 | 6000 |
Second Advent.—Its Practical Tendency
Some inquiry respecting the practical tendency of the Second Advent and its kindred doctrines, was promised in our last. This inquiry we might prosecute by an appeal to different sources of information. We might inquire directly of those who have been in the habit of preaching the doctrines, and be told that they have found them exceedingly powerful in stirring the hearts and bending the wills of men: but it would not, we presume, be generally thought safe to ground a conviction upon the experience of men who may be biased by an over-attachment to a favorite theory. The only proper course, therefore, is to appeal directly to the Word of God, and ascertain what practical use the writers of the Sacred Canon make of the future advent of Christ. If they frequently urge this doctrine as a ground of repentance, and as a motive for calling into exercise a variety of Christian graces and duties, then, as the Spirit cannot err in the adaptation of means to an end, we must admit its great practical importance. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.1
Peter, when addressing the people in the temple, employed this doctrine as a motive to repentance. “Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ,” etc. (Acts 3:19, 20.) St. Paul urges it as a threatening persuasive to love Christ,—“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maranatha;” which, we are told, means, “let him be accursed; our Lord cometh.” (1 Corinthians 16:22.) He also urges it as a motive of love one to another; “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end he may establish your hearts unblamcable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13.) Also as an incentive to the mortification of earthly lusts,—“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify, therefore, your members,” etc. (Colossians 3:4, 5.) “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying all ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:11-13.) In Philippians 3:20, Paul links it very significantly with spirituality of mind,—“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” For every condition, either in the Christian’s or the worlding’s life, this doctrine has a voice of warning, of encouragement, or of exultation. To the careless it utters the language of warning,—“For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27.) To the trembling souls, it says,—“And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28.) To the dead sinner, it cries, with startling emphasis,—“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12.) In the mouth of the humble follower of Jesus, it has a language of triumph, like this,—“We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2, 3.) Few Christian duties can be more important than watchfulness; and as a persuasive to this, the coming of Christ is often urged. Our Saviour, and Paul, and John often press it on the heart with this avowed end in view. We have not space to quote the passages; but the reader will be well rewarded by consulting in this connection, Matthew 24:42-44; 25:13; Luke 12:35-37; Revelation 16:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6; Revelation 22:7. Let him consult 2 Thessalonians 1:4-7, and see with what skill and power this doctrine is employed for the purpose of begetting patience and long-suffering in the Christian heart. Hear the same writer in Hebrews 10:36, 37,—“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise; for yet a little while and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hear James, also, chapter 5:7, 8,—“Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” See likewise, 1 Peter 1:6, 7; 4:12, 13. The reader may also see it pressed as a motive to moderation and sobriety in Philippians 4:5, and 1 Peter 1:13; to ministerial fidelity and diligence in Matthew 24:46; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Timothy 6:13, 14; 2 Timothy 4:1, 2; 1 Peter 5:1-4; and against uncharitable judgment in 1 Corinthians 4:5. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.2
But in addition to the numerous passages thus brought under the notice of the reader, and showing the practical importance of this doctrine, there are others which attach to it a still higher degree of consequence, placing a love and “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” among the gifts of the Christian calling. Thus St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, thanks God that “they came behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:7.) Of the Thessalonians he says, “that they turned from idols, to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10.) So also to the Philipians,—“For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20.) Paul speaks of a “crown of righteousness which the Lord should give him at that day; and not to him only; but unto all them also that love his (Christ’s) appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8.) And in Hebrews 9:28, he says,—“Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” HST August 31, 1842, page 175.3
Other passages might be brought forward; but let these suffice. The reader, we think, if he has never before given his attention to this subject, will be surprised at the frequency with which the writers of the New Testament employ the Second Advent as a motive to influence human conduct. And we would respectfully ask whether the style of presenting truth at the present day corresponds in general with the Divine pattern thus given in the sacred volume? Do we often hear men urged to repentance and newness of life by the awful consideration that the Son of Man is soon to come again, and that suddenly and unexpectedly, to destroy the wicked, and take vengeance on his enemies? Are the righteous, in the instructions of the present day, frequently exhorted to love the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to long for, and hasten unto his coming? Alas! No. Other motives have been allowed to take the place of this, which the Spirit has so largely honored.—Witness & Advocate. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.4
Prof. Stuart’s Hints on Prophesy
No. 1
This work of one hundred and fifty pages is a new testimony to the interest, importance, and mystery of prophecy. The Prof. has devoted many years to Biblical study, and the results of much learning are naturally expected in his pages. He proceeds to lay down scientific rules for the interpretation of prophecy. Few can be supposed to be more accomplished for this high office in Christendom, than Prof. S. and the task he has finished strikes us precisely like a lamp held up to the sun. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.5
The hints are uttered under three distinct heads; viz. 1st. The double sense of prophesy. 2nd. The concealed sense, never to be discovered until the events intended actually transpire. 3rd. “That each day is the representative of a year.”—And the conclusion to which the learned Professor comes, is, that the English and American commentators are pretty nearly all wrong; for their is neither a double sense of prophesy, nor a mystical sense to be explained by the events itself; nor is there any propriety in taking a prophetic day for a year. And these points are all proved and established to the Professor’s satisfaction; but the sun shines still. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.6
It is one thing to affirm that all prophesy has a double sense, and quite another to affirm that some prophecies have a double sense. But if we understand Prof. S. he denies in every instance the existence of a double sense in prophesy. It is not found in the forty fifth Psalm; it is not found in the twenty fourth chapter of Matthew: it is not found, by Prof. Stuart, in the Bible, except in cases where the Bible so explains itself in explicit terms; and then it is not a double sense, but an original sense put by the spirit on his own quoted words. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.7
This Hint on Prophesy may enable one to see in “the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,” only an image of Nero, the Roman Emporer, or some other Roman god of that age; but then it leaves unexplained the accompanying caution: “who-so readeth let him understand:” for it would seem to be a matter of little importance to the readers of the Gospel to understand, that the Romans bore their eagles, and worshipped their gods, in the seige and desolation of Jerusalem, the same as they did in the overthrow of Carthage, and of Corinth. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.8
Having taken a hint on the double sense of prophesy from Professor Stuart, we the more thankfully receive one from the Bible itself, in the words following, viz. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy.” Revelation 19:10—This hint recognises a spiritual sense in prophesy, pervading the prophetic books, as gravitation pervades all matter, often imponderable, and so imperceptible, but universally existent still. This spiritual, or double sense, is sometimes found both in single words and in sentences. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.9
“Many of the prophesies concerning Babylon, Edom, Egypt, and Tyre, contain such august and magnificent expressions, as, if taken properly, will admit of a very poor and barren exposition: and therefore it must be presumed that the Holy Spirit designed something more, and to lead our minds to the mystical Babylon, etc. In like manner, such grand things are sometimes spoken concerning the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and mention is made of such distinguished blessings being bestowed upon them, as necessarily lead us to look for further and more complete fulfilment.”—Horne’s Introduction, Vol. 2. 644. HST August 31, 1842, page 175.10
“The law is a shadow of things to come.” It was the dispensation by Moses; an actual law by which Israel lived many centuries; and it was a shadow of the heavenly patterns, to be revealed in the day of the Lord Jesus. Thus the Pentateuch by the holy Word is declared to convey a spiritual meaning, and to have a double sense. The passover, the sacrifices and offerings, the Levitical priesthood, & c., are admitted to be typical, and to convey a double sense: and even so the whole law is adjudged by the Word of God, to be typical, or a shadow of things to come: that is, it has a mystical sense, or double sense; as all prophesy, in whatever terms it may be couched, bears spiritual testimony to the Lord Jesus. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.1
We do not say that a rule of interpretation should be adopted for the Bible which is not common to other books; but rather that the Bible, together with every other book, ought to be interpreted in harmony with itself, and on principles recognized by the author in the volume of his works. In reading Milton, it is fair to use a method of interpreting some obscure passage, which method Milton has himself used in another part of his works, to interpret a similar passage: so a prophetical obscurity in one part of the Bible may well be explained on a principle used in another part of the Bible, to explain a similar prophetical obscurity. The New Testament does frequently put a new, a mystical, or a double sense on the language of a text of the Old Testament; and thus leads the student of the Bible to the knowledge of a Bible rule of interpretation. This much for the Professor’s first hint. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.2
The learned Professor’s second Hint on prophesy rejects the notion “that some other prophesies have a meaning which is so concealed and obscure, that it can never be discovered, until the events take place to which they refer.” HST August 31, 1842, page 176.3
This is strange, that a man of great erudition and of exemplary piety should deny the obscurity of prophesy in some cases to be such that only the event makes it plain.—The Professor would seem to teach that men ought by the words of the prophet always to have a clear conception of the event foretold before it comes to pass. Were it theoretically so, we find it practically far otherwise. In the fulfilment of the most important prophesies from that of the seed of the Woman in Eden, to that of the coming of the Lord Jesus in Revelation, many prophesies appear to have been very imperfectly and confusedly understood, until the event has made them plain: and from the confident and contrary interpretations put on those which remain to be fulfilled, it is not too much to infer that some of them will never be understood before the event explains them; as the rising from the dead, and many other prophesies of our Lord, were not understood by his Apostles, until after the events had made their meaning incontrovertible. Is it said, the Apostles might have understood, for the language was plain? The holy Word replies: “They understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” Luke 18:34. Here ends our notice of the Professor’s second hint. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.4
For the third Hint on Prophecy rejecting the notion of any other than literal time in the words of prophesy, and maintaining that a day means only one revolution of the earth on its axis, and that 1260 days, or three and a half years, mean no more than days and years of the earth’s revolution not around the sun, but on its own axis, see our next paper. H. D. W. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.5
“In the Earth, distress of Nations with Perplexity
Listen for a moment to one of the popular political editors of the day. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.6
“Consternation begins to seize upon the friends of the Union and of republican government, that we are on the verge of a civil war—on the brink of a disunion of the States—and that the bloody drama which has so long crimsoned the South American republic has at length begun in those of the North. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.7
But what do we see around us? Lynch law in various parts of our country—the General Government without power or authority, and the Chief Magistrate treated by both parties as a vagabond—Congress demoralized and useless, arising from the conflicts of faction, of duelists, and of fanatics—half the banks in the country disregarding the sacred obligations of justice, and violating the law as they please.” HST August 31, 1842, page 176.8
Within a few years past, the following, (given as a few among the many,) political omens have occurred in our own country, and recorded in political papers. During a late session of the Congress of the United States, the chandelier in the Senate chamber, weighing about 1500 lbs, and said to cost $5,000, fell and broke to atoms. It is said, also, that the scroll held in the talons of the Eagle, placed over the chair of the presiding officer of the Senate of the United States, and bearing upon it the motto of the Union—E Pluribus Unum—fell to the earth; and on the same day, the hand of the figure representing the goddess of Liberty, standing in front of the Capitol of the U. States, holding in it “our glorious constitution,” broke off, and came tumbling down. It was said by papers friendly to him, that when the late Chief Magistrate of the nation, set “out for the Capitol, an earthquake shakes the earth.” He crosses the mountains and arrives at Baltimore, and an explosion of the Banks in that city and Philadelphia—the “great regulator of the currency” taking the lead—salutes him! During the imposing celebration, at his inauguration, in a style of gorgeousness which Royalty itself might envy, a cord stretched across the broad Avenue, leading from the Presidential Mansion to the Capitol, with the banners of the several States, breaks in the centre, and the State emblems, dividing to the North, and to the South, are thrown upon the ground and dragged in the mire.” A few days subsequent, and the Chief Magistrate himself dies! HST August 31, 1842, page 176.9
What is the character of the present Congress? In the language of a shrewd politician and observer of men and things, and a man who entertains far too high an estimate of the permanency of American Institutions,—on an inspection of the present Congress, exclaims, “God has about done with the American Congress!!”—American Millenarian. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.10
Second Advent Camp Meeting
at taunton, mass.
There will be a Second Advent Camp-Meeting, to continue one week, commencing September 6th, in Taunton, Mass, on the land owned by Mr. Myrick, near Myrick’s depot, on the Taunton and New Bedford railroad, six miles from Taunton Green, twelve from New Bedford, three from Assonet Village, and twenty from Plymouth, on the main road from Plymouth to Fall River, in a beautiful grove fitted for the occasion. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.11
The object of this meeting is not discussion, but to give the Midnight Cry—to present the truth plainly and strongly to those who wish to hear, on the subject of the Second Coming of Christ at hand, and to wake up the sleeping churches and ministry to the important subject and work of sanctification, and preparation to meet the Lord, without distinction of parties or denominations. We hope, therefore, that all of every name, and order, who love the Lord’s appearing, will come up to this great feast of tabernacles. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.12
The kind and gentlemanly superintendent of the Taunton and New Bedford railroad, has contracted to carry those, who attend the meeting, from Boston and back at $1,25 cents; from Providence and back $1; from New Bedford and back 75 cts; from Taunton and back 25 cts; from Mansfield and back 75 cts. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.13
All who can, are requested to provide themselves with tents and provisions. Those who cannot thus provide themselves, can be accommodated at the boarding tent at $2 per week for board and lodging. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.14
HENRY PLUMMER,
APOLLOS HALE,
TIMOTHY COLE,
JAMES TAYLOR,
JAMES M. PHILLIPS,
JOSEPH BATES, Com.
Taunton, Aug. 9th, 1842.
HST August 31, 1842, page 176.15
Second Advent Camp-Meeting
AT CASTINE, ME. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.16
There will be a Second Advent camp-meeting at Castine, Me. Providence permitting, to commence Tuesday, Sept. 6th, on the farm of Mr. Charles Perkins. The steam boats will leave passengers within about three miles of the meeting Brother A. Bridges of Newport superintends the arrangements. There will be Second Advent Conferences held at the following places as follows, viz; at Prospect, Me. Sept. 14. At Atkinson, Me. Sept. 21st. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.17
A. Bridges,
J. Daman,
S. H. Horne,
A. Hale,
Y. Higgins,
J. W. Atkins,
J. Hamilton, Com.
HST August 31, 1842, page 176.18
SECOND ADVENT CAMPEETING AT EXETER, ME
We are requested by a large committee, from Exeter and vicinity, to give notice that the General Meeting and Conference, at Exeter, Me., will be turned into a Campmeeting, to begin the 28th of September. The grove prepared for the meeting is on the farm of Mr. John Lethens, near Capt. Dole’s farm, in the neighborhood of Kendrick’s Mills. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.19
The “Christian Herald,” and “Morning Star,” will please copy, by request of Committee. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.20
LARGE TENT
| Money paid out for tent and fixtures, etc | $615,34 |
| Money received by subscriptions, etc. | $374,34 |
| Amount due the Committee, | $241,00 |
The friends who have subscribed for the tent are requested to hand in their subscriptions as soon as convenient. E. HALE, Jr. for Com. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.21
CORRECTION
Joseph Currier paid Thirty Dollars for the distribution of Books, instead of five, as stated in our last report. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.22
Signs of the Times
Is published weekly, at No. 14 Devonshire Street, Boston, by JOSHUA V. HIMES, to whom all letters and communications must be addressed. HST August 31, 1842, page 176.23
Terms,—One Dollar per Volume of 24 Nos. (6 months)
dow & jackson, printers.
HST August 31, 1842, page 176.24