Signs of the Times and Expositor of Prophecy [Himes], vol. 2
July 1, 1841
VOLUME II.—NO. 7. BOSTON, WHOLE NO. 31
Joshua V. Himes
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
AND EXPOSITOR OF PROPHECY.
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
“WORK WHILE IT IS DAY.”
Up ve Christians, up—and sleep’s! thou still?
Daylight is glorious on the hill;
And far advanced, the sunny glow
Laughs in the joyous vale below;
The morning shadow, long and late,
Is stretching o’er the dial’s plate.
HST July 1, 1841, page 49.1
And are thine eyes, sad waker, say,
Filled with the tears of yesterday?
Or, lowers thy dark and anxious brow
Beneath to-morrow’s burden now?
New strength for every day is given.
Daily the manna fell from heaven!
Link by link the chain is made,
Pearl by pearl the costly braid;
The daily thread of hopes and fears
Weaves up the woof of many years;
And well thy labor shall have sped,
If well thou weav’st the daily thread.
HST July 1, 1841, page 49.2
Up Christian, up! thy cares resign!
The past, the future, are not thine!
Show forth to day thy Savior’s praise—
Redeem the course of evil days;
Life’s shadow, in its lengthening gloom,
Points daily nearer to the tomb!
HST July 1, 1841, page 49.3
VIRTUE
No radiant pearl that gleams around,
No harpers sweet, melodious sound,
No voice that wakes the morning dawn,
No beauties ‘mid the velvet lawn,
Tell of those sweets that virtue owns,
Emerging from the eternal zones;
No royal robe that monarchs wear,
No empty crowns with golden stars
Tell of that worth, that joy, that fame
Enwreathed around fair virtue’s name.
It strews life’s path with joy divine,
And lives anew in heaven’s clime,
While earth’s delights that charm, decay,
This lives to bless in endless day;
While mortal scheme in ruin lies,
This lives to bloom beyond the skies. W.
HST July 1, 1841, page 49.4
Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ about the year 1843, and of his personal reign of 1000 years, first published in 1833. By Wm. Miller. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.5
CHAPTER III
History of Bonaparte, 1290 days
Concluded from page 42. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.6
40. “And at the time of the end.” What may we understand by the end? I understand the end of the 1260 years which Anti-Christ was to reign over the kings of the earth, and tread the church under foot: or the end of the power of the character which Gabriel had been describing in the four last verses. Which years and power ended, as we shall presently show, in the year A. D. 1798: but we will follow the angel in his prophecy.” HST July 1, 1841, page 49.7
40. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him, like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” It will be necessary for the reader to observe, and for me to remark in this place, that the inspired writers, in their description of kingdoms, or principal governments, use the pronouns, he or him, instead of naming them, as in the preceding description of anti-christ, or as Paul uses it in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, and many other places might be named. Therefore, I understand the pronouns in the above named 40th verse and those following in the chapter to refer to the same kingdom, or principal ruler in said kingdom, and that the angel has reference to the principal kingdom of the ten kingdoms into which the Roman was divided when anti-christ arose, which “shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her and burn her with fire.” Revelation 17:12-16. I this is correct, then France is intended by he or him in this prophecy. In order then to give my view, the reader will permit me to paraphrase these few remaining verses. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.8
40. And the time of the end (of Anti-christ,) shall the king of the south (Spain) push at France (Vendean war) and the king of the north (Great Britain) shall come against France, like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and the French (or Bonaparte the principal ruler;) shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.9
41. “Bonaparte shall enter also into the glorious and (Italy) and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of Bonaparte’s hands, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon,” Ottomans and eastern nations. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.10
42. “Bonaparte shall stretch forth his hand also upon the contries; and the land of Egypt shall no escape.” HST July 1, 1841, page 49.11
43. But Bonaparte shall have power over the treasuries of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Sybians and Ethiopians shall be at his steps. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.12
44. “But tidings out of the east and north (holy alliance) shall trouble Bonaparte: therefore he shall go forth with great fury (to Moscow) to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” HST July 1, 1841, page 49.13
45. “And Bonaparte shall plant the tabernacles of his palace (be crowned king) between the seas (Milan) in the glorious holy mountain; (Italy) yet Bonaparte shall come to his end and none shall help him” In this passage of holy prophecy, the history of the times from 1798 for twenty years are so clearly delineated, especially that of Bonaparte and he French nation, that it seems as though we cannot be mistaken in the application to these vents. After the French Revolution in 1793—4, the Vendean war broke out, in which the papal States, Spain and England combined against the French; yet the French conquered and subdued almost all the nations of Europe, in a very short time; except Great Britain, and the success that followed the armies of the French, is without a parallel in history, after humbling Spain, and conquering Italy, Bonaparte went into Egypt, and is supposed with an intent to press his way through to the British East India possessions, “but these,” said he angel “even Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon, shall escape out of his hands.” After the conquest of Egypt, Bonaparte marched into Syria, where, after gaining some advantages, he was defeated before St. Jean d’Acre. The combinations of the holy alliance, as it is called, his campaign into Moscow, the loss of a large share of his troops, his being crowned king of Italy at Milan, he total defeat at Waterloo, his captivity and death, are all foretold with that precision, that the fulfilment of this prophecy is but very little doubted by skepticism itself. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.14
We will now review the 12th chapter of Daniel. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.15
1. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” This part of the verse has been fulfilled in the pouring out of the Spirit of God; and in the conversion of many, to the faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in this passage called Michael the great prince, since A. D. 1798. “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” This prophecy is a parallel to that in Revelation 16:18-21, also Hebrews 12:26, 27. Matthew 24:15, and has already begun. Witness the convulsions in the political world; and the divisions and subdivisions of the churches, also the pestilence that is spreading terror and dismay through our world. “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” The people of God will in these troublesome times be delivered from the grave, the power of death, the thraldom of sin, the force of temptation, and the persecution of the world; in a word, from all their enemies all of them whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.16
2. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life; and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This brings us to the resurrection, and mentions two resurrections, the resurrection of life, and the resurrection of damnation. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.17
3. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmanent; “that is, all that believe in Jesus, shall God bring with him, and they shall live and reign with Christ; for they shall awake in his likeness.” “And they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” These are those who have taught the way of salvation in truth and soberness, they shall be stars on the crown of his Church. See Revelation 12:1. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.18
4. “But thou O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” In this verse Daniel is commanded to shut up the words, not hide them; but to write them in a book, and then shut it up; that is, close his prophecy, write no more; but what he had received, and then place his seal to the word of God, that is, make it sure, for at the vision many missionaries or teachers would run to and fro, and his vision would be understood, when they should see its fulfiment. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.19
5. “Then I Daniel looked, and behold, other two (angels) the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.” (Hiddekel) see Daniel 10:4. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.20
6. “And one (of the angels) 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?” The man clothed in linen, is the same as in Revelation 10:5; Daniel 10:5, 6, and is Christ standing as a mediator between God and man, and one of the angels inquires how long to the end of these wonders? which shows us, my reader, that it is not presumption for us to follow up the inquiry. To the end of these wonders, means to the end of the reign of anti-christ, the beast that the world wondered after. Revelation 13:3. 17:6. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.21
7. “And I heard the man (Christ) clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, & swear by him that liveth forever, that i shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he (anti-christ) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things (wonders) shall be finished.” The answer here given is the same time is in Daniel 7:25. Revelation 11:2, 3. 12:6. 13:5, and is 1260 years. See our explanation in the first chapter in this work of time, times, and a half. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.22
8. “And I heard but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord what shall be the end of these things? Daniel was not yet satisfied; and therefore made till inquiry concerning the end. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.23
9. “And he said, go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” This has the same meaning as the fourth; that is, Daniel is informed that his prophecy is finished, closed up, and that it reaches to the end, when the angel standing on the sea and on the land, will swear that time shall be no longer. HST July 1, 1841, page 49.24
10. “Many shall be purified and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” This verse shows us, that until the close of Daniel’s vision, the righteous shall be in a state of trial, and that the wicked should do wickedly. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.1
11. “And from the time the daily sacrifice should be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” By this verse I understand that from the taking away of the first abomination, which may properly be called “the daily sacrifice abomination,” to the end of the last abomination that maketh desolate, should be 1290 years, being 30 years more than the last abomination, should reign over the kings of the earth (or Roman government) and tread the church under foot. The said 30 years being the vacancy between the taking away the one, and setting up the other. This taking away the first, agrees with what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth (or hindereth) will let, (or hinder,) until he be taken out of the way.” HST July 1, 1841, page 50.2
12. “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” HST July 1, 1841, page 50.3
13. “But go thou thy way until the end be for thou shall rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” In these verses the angel informs Daniel that those who wait and come to the 1335 days should be blessed; did he mean those who lived until that day, should all be blessed? No, for the wicked would yet do wickedly, and it is very evident, that when Christ comes, he comes to take vengeance on the wicked, and those that obey not the gospel. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.4
What could the angel then mean? It is obvious he meant that those who had a part in the coming of Christ, or as it is expressed in Revelation 20. “Blessed and happy are they, who have part in the first resurrection,” should at that day, (namely 1335 years after the sacrifice abomination should cease) be raised “and stand in their lot,” as the angel expresses himself to Daniel in the last verse: “But go thou thy way until the end be, for thou shalt rest, (die) and stand in thy lot, (be raised from the dead) at the end of the days,” (1335 years.) HST July 1, 1841, page 50.5
We will now review what we have proved, and if we have a right understanding of Daniel’s vision, it is proved that from the pushing of the ram, in the reign of the fifth king of Persia, when the decree or commandment was given to Ezra to go up to build the walls of Jerusalem, to the first resurrection; to the coming of Christ; or ancient of days, when the judgment should sit; the books should be opened; the church justified; should be 2360 years, that in 70 weeks of those years, which is 490 years, Christ should be crucified, which leaves 1810 years after his crucifixion, and will end us in 1843 after his birth. It has likewise been proved that antichrist should reign 1260 years, or from the taking away pagan Rome to setting up papal, would be 30 years, making the 1290 “years, and if pagan Rome was to continue 666 years; as has been mentioned, and which we shall endeavor to prove hereafter; then pagan Rome becoming the fourth kingdom in 158 years before Christ would cease, 508 years after Christ, to which add the 30 years, and it will bring us down to the rise of antichrist A. D. 538. Then add the length of his reign 1260 years, would end in 1798, or add the 1290 to A. D. 508, would be the same 1798. Now add the remainder of the 1335 over and above 1290 which is 45 to A. D. 1798, and it will end in A. D. 1843, or add 1335 to A. D. 508 when pagan Rome was destroyed, or the daily sacrifice abomination was taken away, and you have the same A. D. 1843. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.6
2300 years from 457 years before Christ, Daniel’s vision will end. 490 years from the same 457 B. C. Christ was crucified and the 70 weeks ended. The fourth kingdom and the last of all earthly kingdoms, was divided into two parts, the first began 158 years B. C. and lasted 666 years to the end of the pagan daily sacrifice abomination, which was 508 A. D. The last number given in Daniel (viz.) 1335 carries us down to the resurrection and will end A. D. 1843. In this last number is included the reign of antichrist, 1260 years beginning in A. D 538 and ending A. D. 1798; also the 1290 beginning A. D. 508 and ending A. D. 1798. The remaining 45 years are for the spread of the gospel, the resurrection of the two witnesses, the church to come out of the wilderness, the troublesome times, the last great battle, and the second coming of Christ, to raise his people, and reign with them personally the thousand years following. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.7
THE FIRST RESURECTION AND REIGN OF THE SAINTS
To the coming of Christ, and the resurection of the saints, the eyes of the church of God should be constantly directed, as the grand period when their happiness and glory shall be consumate in perfection. Until then Satan shall work, the people of God on the earth shall suffer affliction and tribulation, and the bodies of all who have fallen asleep in Jesus, shall remain under the power of the grave, and in the bondage of corruption. But what are all the afflictions which the church has undergone from the beginning, when contrasted with the eternal weight of glory to be enjoyed at the coming of Christ, and the first resurrection? “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” Romans 8:18. The chapter from which this beautiful Scripture is taken contains a history of the church of God, in the time past, the present, and the time to come. It was involved in sin, and under the curse of the law. Being chosen in Christ and predestinated unto life and immortality, he stooped under the load of guilt, “was made sin for his people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him.” For them he was made under the law, for them he fulfilled the law, for them he was made a curse, for them he satisfied the demands of justice, paid their debt, and so brought out the prisoners from the prison. Being in Christ, they are delivered from condemnation, and “are passed from death unto life;” and being made free from sin, they are become servants to God, have their fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the present they are in a suffering state; and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. There is no possible way of evading the cross, but by making a compromise of its doctrines. But will the Lord’s peculiar people be always exposed to tribulations? shall their sufferings never end? Blessed be God, although the afflictions are many, there is a happy period at hand, when he shall deliver them out of all. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God,” Romans 8:19. “The manifestation of the sons of God” will take place at the coming of Christ; according to that which is written, “Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know, that, when He shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see Him as he is,” 1 John 3:2. When Christ shall appear his people shall be made manifest in his likeness and for this the creature waiteth in earnest expectation or looking for, as with the neck stretched out, and the head thrust forward. This ear nest expectation of appearing in the likeness o Christ, is grounded upon the promise of God and is most intimately connected with that son ship which the creature, or creation, has obtain ed in Christ. The creation has received the spirit of adoption, and can cry, Abba, father “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together,” Romans 8:15, 17. The creation then has the full assurance in the promise, and in the sonship of all that they so earnestly look for. The sufferings to which they are exposed are as a third ground of hope, and a strengthening their expectation of being glorified together with Christ. “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,” Romans 8:20. The sufferings of this present time, when com pared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, are light and trifling; and seem, in this verse, to be called vanity or light, when weighed the balance, and compared with an eternal weight of glory, which is to follow. The amount of the sufferings, which shall fall to the lot of God’s children and heirs, have been reckoned by their hevenly Father; who in his wisdom (both for his own glory and their good,) has thought well of subjecting them thereunto. Their sufferings are regulated by a wise Providence, and tempered with a fatherly love. The portion that has fallen to their lot, they shall bear, and his grace shall be sufficient for them: but one scruple shall not be added to the weight, that he hath determined, by all the malice and power earth, and of hell. Thus much shall they endure, and no more; and here shall their miseries be limited. The new creation in Christ Jesus, was made subject to vanity, or the sufferings of this present time, not willingly. No man is willingly subjected to suffering; or to endure contempt and reproach. This appears very evident in the case of Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. The thorn in the flesh, embraced all the reproaches and afflictions, which the apostle should suffer for Christ’s sake, verse 10. The reason assigned, wherefore he was given the thorn in the flesh, was, “lest he should be exalted above measure.” God then has a reason for subjecting children to suffer. In this case, it was designed to keep the man of God humble: “lest being lifted up with pride, he should fall into the condemnation of the devil” But as the Lord had a reason for exposing his people to sufferings, so he has contrived to keep them from sinking under their trials, having “subjected the same in hope. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.8
He has given them “hope,” which, “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, enters into that within the vail.” Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God,” Romans 8:21. This is the hope that bears up the children of God, under all their tribulations and afflictions, which they endure. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain (together until now; and not only they, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit; even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our body,” Romans 8:22, 23. I come now to inquire, what is the creature or creation mentioned in the verses quoted? and I answer in a word, that it is the new creation in Christ Jesus, and this I maintain from what is spoken of them in the passages themselves. First, they are said to be earnestly looking for the manifestation of the sons of God, Secondly, they are said to have a hope, and a hope too, by which they are saved, verse 24. Thirdly, that they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and introduced to the enjoyment of the glorious liberty of the children of God. HST July 1, 1841, page 50.9
Fourthly, that they all have the fruits of the Spirit. And fifthly, that they are waiting for the adoption, (the Spirit of which they had already received, verse 15.) the redemption of their body. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.1
Now there is not one of these particulars true, if applied to the wicked, or the ungodly world. Is the ungodly world looking for the coming of the day of God: or have they an earnest expectation of being with Christ, and like him at his coming? Have they that hope, which is an anchor of the soul? Shall they be delivered from he bondage of corruption, and enjoy the glorious light and liberty of God’s chosen? Have they the fruits of the Spirit, or are they waiting for the redemption of their bodies? But the creation embraces only the children of God: in its connection, it embraces no others. Believers in Christ, are a new creation. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them,” Ephesians 2:10.; But let us consider more attentively, “How the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.” Romans 8:22, We have much information on this subject in another part of the apostle’s writings; in which he says, “For in this (tabernacle) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; if so be, that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be uncloathed, but cloathed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.2
The earnest expectation and desire here expressed is, not to put off the earthly house of this tabernacle, but to put on the house which is from heaven; to be clothed upon with a glorified body, and to appear in the likeness of the glorified body of Jesus. And for this, the whole new creation waiteth, “and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit:” not only the poor Gentiles, and the remnant of the Jews, who have been turned unto God, and have obtained the fruits of the Spirit, Romans 8:14-16. Not only do they groan, being burdened with the body of this death, and pressed down under the weight of reproaches and afflictions; “but ourselves also,” even we Apostles, “who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” Romans 8:22, 23. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.3
As the whole creation of God in Christ Jesus, are resting upon the Divine promise, and in hope wait for the redemption of their bodies, they shall not be ashamed of their hope. “Behold I shew you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible shall put on (or be clothed) with incorruption: and this mortal shall put on (or be clothed with) immortality,” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.4
This chapter speaks of the resurection of the saints exclusively, being the first, resurection: and it embraces the whole church. It is not a spiritual resurrection, but a glorious one that is spoken of: when the mortal body shall be clothed upon with immortality. There is not one word spoken in this chapter of the resurection of the ungodly; nor could the circumstances mentioned be true, if applied to the wicked. Shall they, when raised, be clothed upon with incorruption, glory, and immortally? Will they, when raised up, be able to sing, “O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? Shall they obtain victory through our Lord Jesus Christ? Shall their bodies be raised spiritual, and be transformed into the likeness of the glorified body of Jesus, as shall the bodies of the saints? The first resurection includes the saints of God alone. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.5
The church of God at Thessalonia, was likewise looking forward to that glorious period; as is evident from the contents of the first Epistle written to them. The apostle says, “Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come,” 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” 1 Thessalonians 2:19. And again, “To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness, before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints,” 1 Thessalonians 3:13. The minds of this church were greatly occupied with the doctrine of the return of their Lord from the temple, wither He was gone to prepare for their reception unto himself. That they were yet ignorant of many things relating to his coming, is very reasonable to suppose; and this epistle was written to inform them on such subjects, and to correct the erronious opinions which they had formed. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.6
Having fallen into the error, that such of their brethren in Christ as had fallen asleep were deprived of a participation in the enjoyment of his glory and kingdom, when he should come, and mourning for the loss which they had sustained, the apostle writes, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him,” 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14. Here is double consolation administered, with wholesome Advice. They who have fallen asleep in Jesus are entered into glory, and, at his coming in his kingdom, he will bring them with him. “For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, & with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.7
When the first resurection takes place, at that moment, the saints found alive on the earth shall be charged and glorified, and both shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. They shall be caught up in incorruptible and immortal bodies; and so shall escape the day of vengeance, that shall come at that moment on all the ungodly left behind. For “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power: when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, in that day,” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. Thus it appears that he shall come for a two-fold purpose—to take vengeance on his enemies, and “to be glorified in his saints:” so that it shall be the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompence, Isaiah 34:8. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.8
The destruction of the earth, with all its ungodly inhabitants, at the second coming of Christ, and the glory to which the redeemer shall be advanced at that day, was foretold by Isaiah, in the 24th and 25th chapters of his prophecy. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.9
The windows from on high are opened, the Son of God is revealed in flaming, fire and the foundations of the earth tremble. In an instant, “the earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage: and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not raise again,” Isaiah 24:18-20. Because “the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof,” it shall be destroyed with them. And as we look for a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, we have here the promise, that the curse or transgression shall not rise again; and so, in that glorious earth, “there shall be no more curse.” It shall be completely renovated, and “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” Habakkuk 2:14. Into it sin shall never enter, neither any thing that defileth. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited,” Isaiah 24:21, 22. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.10
Previous to the general destruction of the earth, with all its ungodly inhabitants, we have seen that the elect were gathered together to meet their Lord in the air. The sinners are swept from the earth: they are gathered, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and are shut up in the prison. At the same time, shall Satan himself be cast out. For, as the Lord Jesus shall come down in his glory to destroy the mystic Babylon, with all transgressors, and to root them out of the earth, so also shall be cast out the usurper. “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that, he must be loosed a little season,” Revelation 20:1-3. The angel who comes down from heaven is beyond all doubt, the Son of God, the Angel of the covenant. He only has the keys of hell and of death, Revelation 1:18. He is the seed of the woman, who thus comes in glory to bruise the serpent’s head. Not only is the serpent himself cast into the pit at the coming of Christ, Revelation 20:3, but all the wicked destroyed from the earth, Isaiah 24:22. And as it is promised that the serpent shall be loosed from the bottomless pit for a little season, so it is foretold that the wicked shall be visited after many days. But more of this afterwards. HST July 1, 1841, page 51.11
We have seen that the first resurection included all the Lord’s chosen people, who died from the beginning. They are to be visited and raised, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. “But the rest of the dead (namely, the ungodly,) lived not again, until the thousand years were finished.” “The thousand years” are appointed for the reign of Christ, as man and mediator, with his glorified saints, on the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. And that there shall be one thousand years, during which the saints shall triumph with their Lord and king, was shewed in vision to the apostle, and this too after the coming of Christ, the destruction of the wicked, and the bruising of the serpent’s head. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” Revelation 20:4. As I wish closely to examine this passage, I shall consider, 1st. Where were the thrones, upon which they sat, whom the apostle saw in vision? The thrones were in the holy city, which is described, in the following chapter, as having come down from God out of heaven. This holy city comes down to the new earth, which, according to the description given, is a meet residence for the glorified church, Revelation 21:1, 2. It is to the new earth that the holy city descends, and not to the present earth, defileth with sin. And as the New Jerusalem, the beloved city, comes down to the new earth, the beloved and holy city, is on the new earth during the “one thousand years.” For, when Satan is loosed out of his prison, and, with all the wicked, under the emblem of Gog and Magog, ascends up out of the pit, wherein they were shut up, “they went up,” it is said, “on the breadth of the earth”—“and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city,” Revelation 20:9. But, if the beloved city were not on the earth during the “one thousand years,” how could Satan be represented as going up with the ungodly to encompass it about? In this beloved city, which shall come down, shall stand “the throne of God and the Lamb,” Revelation 22:3. And in reference to this, the prophet says, when writing about that city of which glorious things are spoken, “For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David,” Psalm 122:5. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.1
2nd. My next inquiry is, Who are they that shall sit upon these thrones? To this I answer, all the saints of God redeemed from among men. “To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne,” Revelation 3:21. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” Now, “judgment was given unto the saints of the Most High,” Daniel 7:22; therefore the saints of the Most High shall sit upon these thrones. But the apostle says, farther, “and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God.” Among the blessed company, he recognized the martyrs of Jesus, from Abel, even unto the last child of promise who died for the faith of Christ. But here it might be objected, that the bodies of the saints were not yet raised,—mention being only made of “the souls of them that were beheaded.” Yet I scarcely can coneive of such an evasive argument, from any who are acquainted with Scripture phraseology. For the information of those who are not in the habit of attentively looking into such scriptural forms of expression as this, I shall refer them to one or two. The first is from the Old Testament. “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls they had gotten in Haran,” Genesis 12:5. The next is from the New Testament. Speaking of the destruction of the world, and the preservation of Noah and his family in the ark, it is said, “Wherein few, that is, eight souls. were saved by water,” 1 Peter 3:20. As I have no fear of any man undertaking to prove that Abraham’s servants were mere spirits, without bodies, or that the people saved in the ark had not bodies with them, as well as souls, I shall not notice this objection farther. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.2
Lastly, the apostle saw all who had not submitted to the power and influence of the man of sin, neither had worshipped his image or received his mark; and all these “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” HST July 1, 1841, page 52.3
3rd. What is meant by—“and judgment was given unto them?” Daniel had a vision of the coming of Christ, and of the kingdom that was given unto him, after the earth would be visited with the fiery indignation of God. After which he says, “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom,” Daniel 12. Here we see that judgment given to the saints, means that they obtained dominion, and glory, and a kingdom. All this the saints shall enjoy, in union with their Saviour and King, on his mediatorial throne. “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years,” Revelation 20:6. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.4
The glorified church shall reign with her glorified King, on the new earth, when this earth, with all its inhabitants, is destroyed, and Satan cast into the bottomless pit. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned to meet her husband,” Revelation 21:1, 2. The new heavens and new earth commence with the thousand years, mentioned in the former chapter. It is expressly said here, that the New Jerusalem, the holy and beloved city, comes down to the new earth. Then the new earth must be in existence from the beginning of the one thousand years; for to the earth on which the beloved city is found, Satan shall go up when loosed. The description of the New Jerusalem, in the 21st and 221 chapters of this book of Revelation, is that of the beloved city, in which are the thrones spoken of in the 20th chapter, and where the people who have part in the first resurection live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. The hope of reigning with Christ, in this his glorious kingdom, caused the church, from the beginning, willingly to suffer and endure the loss of all things, and, that they might have part in this first resurrection, suffer to be stoned, sawn asunder, and tortured, Hebrews 11:35. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.5
The commencement of the “thousand years” is the beginning of the saints’ everlasting rest. He who, as Mediator, executed the offices of Prophet and Priest to his church, shall reign as mediatorial King. The church, which is now militant, shall then triumph over all her enemies, and the powers of darkness shall be put under her feet. The commencement of the period of one thousand years, and the reign of Christ, is called the marriage of the Lamb, when his bride, the church, is arrayed in his righteousness, and puts off the mortal body for one fashioned like unto his—spiritual, glorious, and immortal, Revelation 19:6-9. Now, what is the description of the glory of the church, in the two last chapters of this book, but the same, in another form and under other images, which is given in the 19th and 20th? When the thousand years commence then is set up “a kingdom which shall never be destroyed;” even the kingdom of Him who “shall reign over the house of Jacob or over, and “of which there shall be no end,” Luke 1:32, 33. “Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of host shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously,” Isaiah 24:23. When that glorious and happy period arrives, then shall be fulfilled these predictions “For the Lord shall comfort Zion. he will com fort all her waste places, and he will make he wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness shall be heard therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody,” Isaiah 2:3. “And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the holy. One of Israel.” “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within the borders; but thou shall call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day: neither for brightness shy the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work my hands, that I may be glorified,” Isaiah 60:18-21. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.6
And again, “In that day the Lord shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them, at that day, shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them,” Zechariah 12:8. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one,” Zechariah 14:9 HST July 1, 1841, page 52.7
All who have part in the first resurection are blessed and holy; and on such the second death hath no power. As the King of Zion is God-man in one person, so heaven and earth shall then be one. The saints shall sit down with Christ on his throne, and he shall make all things new. The new heavens and new earth made ready to receive the New Jerusalem. The city is the bride, the Lamb’s wife. In the midst of it shall dwell “the true tabernacle; which the Lord pitched, and not man.” The former things shall pass away; sorrow, crying, death, and pain. Every thing known to us as valuable excellent, and glorious, is brought forward represent the state of the church triumphant. She has the glory of God, and her light is like unto a stone most precious: even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Her streets are pure gold, her walls salvation and her gates praise. Exalted to inherit this glory by the merits of Christ alone, they shall cast their crowns before him, and ascribe glory, and honour, and praise to him, as their redeeming God. The fruit of the tree of life shall be the food of the citizens, and the river of God shall supply them with gladness and rejoicing for evermore. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of the city, and its light. “Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord shall bind up the breach of his people, and heal the stroke of their wound,” Isaiah 30:26. This glory and blessedness shall be uninterrupted and eternal. Although nature and art have lent all their beauties to paint the glories of the church of the first-born, yet eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that love him; and which shall be brought unto them at the appearing of Jesus Christ. HST July 1, 1841, page 52.8
—“So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign;
Under her own weight groaning, till the day
Appear of respiration to the just,
And vengeance to the wicked; at return
Of Him so lately promised to thy aid,
The woman’s seed; obscurely then foretold;
Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord;
Last, in clouds, from heaven to be revealed
In glory of the Father, to dissolve
Satan, with his perverted world; then raise
From the conflagrant mass, purg’d and refin’d,
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date,
Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love;
To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.”
Milton.
HST July 1, 1841, page 53.1
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
BOSTON, JULY 1, 1841.
“BRETHREN, LOVE ONE ANOTHER”
This exhortation of the beloved John was generally and faithfully regarded by the disciples of Christ until the falling away of the third century. During all that period, it is acknowledged even by infidels, that these disciples were always looking for the actual coming of Christ again with his kingdom from heaven to judgment. But now, and for a century at least, gone by, the church about as generally has been looking for and desiring more than a thousand years of peace and prosperity on earth before the promised coming of their Lord. And see the contrast. Now, instead of loving one another as but one band of brethren, as in primitive days, see them alienated from each other into three hundred schisms, or parties. See them smiting each other even “with the fist of wickedness,” in their bold declarations of “My Lord delayeth his coming.” And see those also, of the same sect, frequently engaged in severe hostilities among themselves, and dividing assunder of the smallest branches. And many times such individuals would live together peaceably before professing to follow Christ who soon become sadly alienated, on uniting themselves with conflicting sects. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.2
And now, brethren in the faith of Christ and his kingdom at hand, let us all constantly imitate the primitive saints, not only in the looking for the soon coming of the Lord, both theirs and ours, but in their firm union and christian affection among themselves. It is hoped, that the time it at hand, when this exhortation will not be needed among us, though in the present apparent weakness of the faith of some on this subject, no doubt it is appropriate and somewhat needful. I venture this remark, from perceiving, as I have thought, a disposition with some, not to co-operate with entire cordiality with their brethren of like faith in their efforts to raise the midnight cry, “Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” This backwardness is understood to result from the circumstances, that though in the main, their views are alike, they differ in some of the minor points of the subject, or events to transpire before the advent at hand. But why should this hinder their christian affection and union of effort to pull as many as possible out of the fire during the short period in which they agree they will have time to dispatch the work? If our own dear children were asleep on the rail way, in the darkness of night, and we were agreed that the engine was coming so near that its wheels and bell were heard, and its sparks seen, sure we should co-operate in our efforts to rescue them as soon as possible, without a moment’s hindrance because not agreed as to what other things will take place before the cars arrived. J. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.3
CHRISTIAN UNION
Another Convention was recently holden on this subject at Apulia N. Y. The following resolutions were passed. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.4
1. Resolved, That the unity of the saints is as clearly taught in the Scriptures as the doctrine of regeneration—and ought to be regarded as no less essential to the existence of Christianity. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.5
2. Resolved, That the present sectarian organizations are intolerant and despotic, and subversive of the glorious principle of Gospel Liberty, and hence, should receive the unqualified disapprobation and condemnation of every true believer in Jesus Christ. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.6
2. Resolved, That a union of the sects, as such, would be taking the sin of sectarianism, now existing in detail and by engrossing it, give it a more fearful and ruinous effect upon the cause of religion. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.7
4. Resolved, That as all the true children of God possess one common parentage, and have all the same glorious birth-right, and are entitled to equal and undivided privileges—therefore, for an individual or any number of individuals, to assume the right to dictate to their brethren in matters of faith, or to usurp authority over them, is nothing less than an attempt to lord it over the heritage of God. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.8
6. Resolved, That it is the highest folly for a professed enemy of religious sectarianism to hope to effect any thing toward the removal of that evil, while he or she continues to remain in and act with the existing sects. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.9
7. Resolved, That Christian Union, as taught by our Savior and his apostles, is a fundamental element of the gospel: hence, to propogate its principles and spirit, is nothing less than directing our influence to the promotion of the kingdom of our glorious Redeemer. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.10
8. Resolved, That sectarianism places the disciplines, confessions, rules, creeds and forms of men, in the position which the pure word of the Lord should occupy in relation to the theory and practice of all Christians. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.11
Eld. Alexander Cambell on the Second Coming of Christ. Brother Cambell, who publishes a monthly periodical called the Millennial Harbinger, is now giving a series of very able articles on the subject of the Second Advent, as connected with the Millennium. I wish that my limits in the Signs of the Times would permit me to give them entire; though I dissent from his theory on the subject. His fifth article in the May number of the Harbinger contains a review of the Report of the General Conference. It will be found entire in another part of this paper. Remarks hereafter. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.12
GATHERING OF THE JEWS
There are two able articles under this head, in the Methodist Quarterly Magazine for 1839, written by the Rev. Wm. Scott, of the Canada Conference. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.13
The following extract will be read with interest. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.14
“To those who are disposed fully to investigate this subject, we would suggest the adoption of a plan of inquiry something like the following:— HST July 1, 1841, page 53.15
I. Let the prophetic writings be carefully examined in chronological order, following the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, with a view to define which of the prophecies have or have not been fulfilled. It may be well in this branch of inquiry to ascertain whether any intimations of a literal gathering are to be found in any predictions which may have been known after the reformations carried on in the Jewish state by Nehemiah. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.16
II. Let the New Testament writings be examined with a view to the inquiry, Whether the literal gathering of the Jews to their own land is consistent with the genius of the Christian dispensation, which is the perfection and consummation of every other divinely appointed system of religion. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.17
III. It may not be amiss in the farther prosecution of the question, to compare the writings of various commentators and critics, to see how far their assumptions in favor of a literal gathering are consistent with their own modes of interpretation and criticism. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.18
We are convinced that the plan of inquiry here suggested would, if fairly carried out, have a tendency to bring the case of the Jews more clearly before the public. We shall, however, content ourselves at this time with the discussion of a few of those passages of Scripture which have been selected as decidedly favoring to a literal gathering of the Jews. By showing their parallels, some tolerable idea may be obtained as to the amount of evidence corroborating that notion. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.19
We may be allowed two other preliminary remarks:—First. In the interpretation of Scripture prophecy, it is absolutely necessary to exercise a spirit of caution, reverential awe, and humble fear. As the Rev. Richard Watson well observes, “There is a moral necessity that prophecy should be surrounded with a certain haze and indistinctness.” Perhaps no prediction was ever properly understood until its 16 accomplishment. So the ancient prophets are represented as “searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify.” Our ignorance of what has passed, and our greater ignorance of what is future, should guard us against extremes in the application of certain rules of interpretation. It is possible to literalize and spiritualize so as entirely to lose the sense of Scripture. Those are in great danger who have adopted an hypothesis, and are determined to make every thing subserve its purpose. Now in reference to the case of the Jews, we candidly confess, that such are the complicated intricacies of the various predictions and histories relating thereto, that an hypothesis for or against their literal return may be supported with considerable show of argument and reason. Yet, after all, this is not a subject of mere fancy or speculation, but for the above reasons demands unbiased and calm investigation—close and sober thought. It is connected with facts and dates, and the well authenticated histories of many nations. Such being our convictions, we have conscientiously endeavored to avoid the whirlpool of mysticism, as well as the shoals of an exclusively literal interpretation. HST July 1, 1841, page 53.20
The second remark we wish here to make is in reference to chronology. In order to a right understanding of the prophecies, chronological accuracy is very essential. We should know as nearly as possible when the several prophets flourished, and what were the circumstances of the Jews at that time. In all the predictions respecting a captivity and restoration, it is necessary to ascertain the time of their delivery, and whether the revoked tribes, or the loyal tribes of Judah and Benjamin be referred to; or, whether both in their associated capacity are to be understood. The literal and primary meaning of prophecy can only be ascertained by chronological accuracy. Now, it must have been remarked by every reflecting person, that the writings of the prophets are not arranged as they were delivered. The several books do not stand in chronological order. And in very many instances the chapters do not present a continuous succession of historically prophetic incidents. Jeremiah says, the word of the Lord, contained in the twenty-first chapter, came unto him when Zedekiah was king. But the contents of the forty-fifth and forty-sixth chapters were delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. This was at least eight years before Zedekiah came to the throne: so that, in a proper arrangement of Jeremiah’s writings, the forty-fifth and forty-sixth chapters should precede the twenty-first. This may serve to teach us the necessity of great care in the application of certain texts and passages, since they may or may not refer to Judah and Israel separately or collectively. Many other remarks might be made in reference to this, especially as ignorance of chronology has been the fruitful source of error. However, as Bickersteth, in his Practical Guide to the Prophecies, remarks: “The mistakes of others should lead us to more caution and diligence and prayer in our researches, and more diffidence in our conclusions. But having now the advantage of a more lengthened manifestation of God’s mind from the past history of the church,” (we may add, the world,) “we have with this, greater light for the true interpretation.” HST July 1, 1841, page 54.1
We now proceed to the examination of a few selections from prophecy, which have been considered as proving a future literal return of the Jews:—In Amos 9:11-15, we have these words: “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will build up his ruins and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen that are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land, which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” We have quoted this passage at large, to save the trouble of immediate reference. HST July 1, 1841, page 54.2
Amos prophesied in the days of Uzziah; and it appears also that he did so while Jeroboam, the son of Joash, was king of Israel. It is highly probable he prophesied in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; first in Israel, from whence he was requested to depart by Jeroboam, to whom Amaziah the high priest had brought a charge of conspiracy against this prophet, chap. 7:10. The prophet, however, boldly declares the word of the Lord, and affirms, “Israel shall surely go into captivity,” chapter 7:11-17. Being obliged to leave Bethel, he takes up his abode in a small place named Tekoa, where he continued to receive the Spirit of prophecy. The captivity threatened against Israel was that of the Assyrian: this is agreed on all hands. Home, on this part of the prophecy, says, “The carrying of the Israelites into captivity beyond Damascus into Assyria is explicitly announced; see its fulfilment 2 Kings 15:29, and 17:5-23.” Dr. Clark’s note on chap. 6:14, reads thus: I will raise up against you a nation—The Assyrians under Pul, Tiglathpileser, and Shalmaneser, who subdued the Israelites at various, times, and at last carried them away captive in the days of Hosea, the last king of Israel in Samaria.” In Amos 2:5, we read, “I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” In Amos 1:2, the prophet says, “The top of Carmel shall wither.” Now Carmel was a very fruitful mountain belonging to the tribe of Judah; and these two passages show that, in addition to prophesying against the kingdom of Israel, Amos is commissioned to threaten Judah. The frequent incursions of neighboring nations against Judah may be incidentally described, but it is probable their captivity under Nebuchadnezzar is more particularly alluded to. This is the opinion of Dr. Clark; see his note on Amos 2:4. It seems quite certain that both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and their captivities, are included in the prophetic annunciations of Amos; because in chap. 3:1, we read, “Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt.” No one ever imagined that the dispersion of the Jews under Titus Vespasian is here the subject of prophecy; but all agree that the punishments threatened against Israel and Judah for the crimes they were then committing were fulfilled in the sufferings they endured in Babylon and Assyria. But, though the prophet thus menaces the Jews, he is permitted to look through the dark vista of future ages, and represents them as being again prosperous and happy—brought again from their captivity, and again established by the Lord their God. “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen.” See above. HST July 1, 1841, page 54.3
Some of these words are susceptible of a literal interpretation, some of them are not. As for instance, “The mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” The restoration of the tabernacle of David is referred by all Christian commentators with whom we are acquainted to the establishment of the gospel dispensation, by Messiah, David’s royal descendant. Benson says, “This prophecy must be extended to the days of the Messiah, and to the calling of the Gentiles to the knowledge of the true God.” Some portions of this prediction, then, it is clear, have a spiritual import. This is placed by the Holy Spirit beyond a doubt when the apostles were assembled in council Jerusalem respecting the admission of Gentiles into the Christian Church, St. James quotes these very words of Amos, showing that it was the will of God that, under the Christian dispensation, both Jew and Gentile should enjoy equal religious privileges. That portion of the prophecy which can be understood literally was accomplished, as we shall hereafter show. As by the captivities Israel and Judah were deprived of their possessions, and the fruit of the labor of their hands, so when they were restored and returned they were to enjoy, as they did, the results of their own enterprize. Whatever spiritual or temporal blessings are promised to Israel in the passage under consideration, it is very clear that the “remnant of Edom, and of the heathen that are called by” the name of the Lord, are to enjoy the same; and therefore, if the still future return of the Jews is therein promised, the Gentiles, or, at least, those who are converted, shall accompany them. But this is absurd and unreasonable; and therefore the literal gathering of the Jews to their own land is not taught by the Prophet Amos. The follow are parallel passages: Hosea 3:4, 5; Joel 3:18-21. HST July 1, 1841, page 54.4
EXTRACT FROM KING EDWARD’S CATECHISM
published by royal authority, in the year 1653
Master. The Sacred Scripture calls the end of the world the consummation and perfection of the kingdom and mystery of Christ, and the Renovation of all things. Thus speaks the Apostle Peter, 2 Epistle, chap. 3—” we expect new heavens and a new earth, according to God’s promise, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” And it seems agreeable to reason that the corruption mutability and sin, to which the whole world is subject, should at length cease. Now, in what way, or by what kind of circumstances those things shall be brought to pass, I desire to heat of thee. Auditor. I will declare as well as I can—According to the testimony of the same Apostle, the heavens shall pass away as in a storm, the elements boiling (astuantia) shall be dissolved, and the earth, and the works, therein shall be burnt up. As if he should say, The whole world as we see happens with gold, shall be purged with fire, and brought back to its original perfection; imitating which, that lesser world, man, shall likewise be delivered from corruption and change. And so on man’s account for whose sake this greater world was at first created, being at length renewed, it shall assume an appearance far more pleasant and beautiful Master. What then remains? Auditor. The past and general Judgement. For Christ shall come, at whose voice all the dead shall rise entire in soul and body, and the whole world shall behold him sitting on the throne of his glory. Then, after the searching of the conscience of each, the last sentence will be pronounced. At that time the sons of God shall perfectly possess that kingdom of immortality and eternal life, which was prepared for then before the laying of the foundations of the world, and shall reign with Christ for ever. But the ungodly who have not believed, shall be cast into eternal fire, decreed for the devil and his angels.” HST July 1, 1841, page 54.5
REVIEW OF BIBLE READER ON MILLER’S VIEWS OF THE MILLENNIUM. NO. V
I shall now proceed to the paragraph numbered two in Bible Reader’s remarks. (Signs of the Times p. 156. Vol. I.) “The Scriptures plainly reveal to us the only reason why satan is bound a 1000 years, viz: ‘That he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years pe fulfilled.’ Revelation 20. According to Mr. Miller’s views, there is no sense in binding satan, as there will be none upon earth but saints shining in glory and immortality, who are beyond the power of deception. Is not here again a violation of rules 1st and 4th?” HST July 1, 1841, page 55.1
The point at which Bible Reader aims in the above papagraph is, to show Mr. M.’s theory on the binding of satan to be senseless and absurd, and a violation of his own rules. His argument is this: 1. The only reason why satan is to be bound, is, that he should deceive the nations no more for a thousand years. 2. But according to Mr. M.’s views there will be no nations on earth during the thousand years but saints shining in glory and immortality who are beyond the power of deception. 3. Therefore Mr. Miller’s views are absurd and senseless, and a violation of his own rules. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.2
The fallacy of this argument lies in the assumption that the saints shining in glory and immortality are beyond the power of all deception. That they will not be deceived and fall I admit, because the Scriptures teach it; but that they might not be deceived, if the tempter were permitted to have access to them, is not revealed. Were the angels shining in glory and immortality thrust out of heaven because they kept not their first estate, but sinned? and were Adam and Eve, while shining in glory and immortality, bearing their Maker’s image, tempted, deceived and driven from paradise? then what assurance has Bible Reader, if a tempting devil was permitted to have free access to “the nations of them that are saved and walk in the light” of the holy city, they might not be overcome? But God has promised to “appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.” Isaiah 26:1. “And when the enemy would come in as a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” HST July 1, 1841, page 55.3
And again: If Bible Reader can shew that “the nations,” means exclusively the wicked nation?, it will not follow that the theory of the binding and shutting up of satan in the “bottomless pit” a thousand years to keep him from those nations, although dead, is senseless and absurd: for the Bible does not teach that the spirits of the wicked shall be shut up in the “bottomless pit,” where satan is to be bound a thousand years. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.4
The place where departed spirits are confined between death and the resurrection is not “Gehenna” rendered “hell” Matthew 5:29. Nor “Abussos” rendered bottomless pit, Revelation 20:3., but “Hades” rendered hell, Luke 16:23, and Revelation 20:13. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.5
The doctrine of Revelation 20., therefore, is, that during the thousand years millennium, satan will have no access to any part of the human family, and have no power to deceive them until the thousand years are finished. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.6
It will not answer for Bible Reader to say that the bottomless pit and hell (Hades) are one and the same place, for the Bible does not teach it. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.7
J. LITCH
From the Millennial Harbinger.
THE COMING OF THE LORD—NO. V
I promised in my last, farther evidence of the system of interpretation adopted in the exposition of Revelation 20. Since writing my last yesterday, I have just read the “First Report of the General Conference of Christians expecting the Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, held in Boston, October 14 and 15, 1840: published by Joshua V. Himes.” This Report of 176 pages octavo, is indeed a valuable document on the subject of the immediate personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has a good deal of consistency and inconsistency in it—much strength and a good deal of weakness—much confidence mingled with some doubts—many valuable thoughts and sayings, with others of a very questionable shape and tendency. It is, however, worthy of a calm serious, and grave consideration; and such I have given it, and am thankful to brother Himes for his promptness in sending it to me. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.8
While it oft denounces, in very unqualified terms, certain modes of interpretation, it is nevertheless oft obliged to adopt them; and while decidedly in favor of a literal interpretation of all millenniary passages, it sometimes resorts to the figurative and spiritual. It is to be regreted that it uses the term Millennium in such un-scriptural acceptations and associations, and thereby confounds the understanding of the reader—at one time condemning, and at another approving of the same thing under a sort of double sense. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.9
With me the term Millennium represents neither more nor less than what is described in the single passage where the thousand years are six times named in four periods. It is not the ultimate and eternal state of the church; it is but a thousand years—literally a thousand years. We have had six Millenniums of the triumphs of infidelity, impiety, atheism almost completed; we have the promise of one Millennium of the same endurance, in which the gospel and its friends shall have the ascendancy. While, then, I concur with much that is said in this Report upon the mistaken views, explanations, and reasonings of the last two centuries in their dreams of millennial bliss, I as decidedly dissent from it in its attempts to make the Millennium eternal life and glory in an eternal inheritance. To make heaven and the Millennium identical terms, or two names for the same state, is too sudden and bold an innovation upon the stipulated signs of our ideas, to be received without a demur. I do not confound the Millennium state with the New Jerusalem state described in the next chapter. John makes them two visions, and I cannot make them one. “Jesus and the Resurrection” is my hope, not my Millennium. It appears as though they were both the hope and the Millennium of the authors of the Report. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.10
Indeed, the scope of these documents is on the side of no thousand years reigning of Christ’s party or cause; no general triumph of Christianity at all. The world, in its common acceptation, will terminate in some three or four years, and the day of final and eternal judgment may be expected to commence in the year 1843. Then the world will be just 6000 years old; and instead of a Sabbath day of a thousand years peace and love, we will have an eternity of bliss. For a Millennium the theory gives us more than three hundred and sixty millions of ages of the triumphs of Christ and his people. To all this I have no objection whatever, provided only we can find the word of the Lord for it. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.11
All my hopes are in “Jesus and the Resurrection;” and if in three years hence we are to have these, and the world as it now is be no more, I shall rejoice; although my desires are to see the gospel bless all the families of the earth, and the glory of the Lord to fill all nations with light and salvation—that “all the ends of the earth may remember and turn to the Lord; “and that as the Lord has promised by Malachi, “from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, his name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to his name, and a pure offering for his name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.” This, however, I expect to precede the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But to return to our task:— HST July 1, 1841, page 55.12
Israel, House of Jacob, Tabernacle of David, Mount Zion, Jerusalem, &.c. etc, are sometimes to be interpreted figuratively in the New Testament, just as much as any of the symbols of the Apocalypse. Indeed, most of the promises made to David, Israel, and the Fathers, as well as those concerning Jerusalem, Mount Zion, “the rest of Canaan,” “the seed of Abraham,” referred to by the Apostles, are applied not in their original and literal, but in their figurative and spiritual import. We shall at present adduce a few examples. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.13
1st. Gabriel, in the annunciation of the nativity of the Messiah, thus speaks, “He shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Surely this is not the literal and earthly throne of David, nor is tt the literal and earthly house o Jacob; nor can it be said, even now, that he has received the kingdom and the throne of God on which David sat on earth; that he has reigned over the house of Jacob ever since, much less for ever; nor will he ever in Jerusalem sit upon the throne of David; for the earthly city shall never again be built, nor that throne established either on our hypothesis, or on that of the Literalists of the Boston Convention. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.14
2nd. Paul has taught us to say that “they are not all Israel which are of Israel;” “neither are the seed of Abraham all children;” “not the children of the flesh, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” He has also taught us to say 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 in the heart of the spirit, and not in the letter.” Besides, “we are the true circumcision which worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Thus Israel, the seed of Abraham, a Jew, circumcision, etc., are often used figuratively; and many of the promises concerning them and their restoration must be understood figuratively, and not literally, as the sequel may fully demonstrate. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.15
3rd. Even the earthly Canaan to Abraham himself was rather a type or a figure, than, an inheritance. Paul makes him a spiritualist, rather than a literalist, Hebrews 12:16. Of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob he says, “They confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers in their own land,” because they sought a heavenly country and a city of foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” “They plainly declared that they sought not Canaan, but its antitype the heavenly rest.” This is the land of promise for all the Israel of God, and the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the great King. If Abraham saw Christ’s day, he might see heaven in Canaan, and his spiritual seed in the child of promise. HST July 1, 1841, page 55.16
4th. Once more: The Christian church is by Paul, Hebrews 12:22, called “Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.” Hence we doubt not that many of the ancient promises and prophecies concerning the future fortunes of the seed of Abraham—of Israel—the house of Jacob—of Jerusalem—Mount Zion—and the covenanted land, are accomplished or to be accomplished in those who are the children of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ—the church of God, made up of a remnant of the twelve tribes and of the Gentiles converted to God through the promises announced to Abraham almost four thousand years ago. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.1
We are not arbitrary, then, in supposing that the resurrection, and binding and loosing of satan, etc., spoken of in the Apocalypse, in the midst of symbols, may be figuratively understood as expounded on a former occasion. I discover that our friends of the Convention regard it as inexplicable on their hypothesis, and consider it a “partial Millennium.” They and I agree, perhaps, after all, in what they improperly call a general Millennium, although we may differ so widely in that which is particularly now under consideration. A. C. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.2
Steamboat Commerce, Feb. 23, 1841.
LETTER FROM STEPHEN FORD
Dear Bro. Himes:—I enclose one dollar in payment for the present volume of the “Signs of the Times.” and wish to say that I am much pleased and deeply interested with your paper and desire and pray that God may speed you in the glorious work in which you are engaged. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.3
There are quite a number in this place, who are inquiring on the subject of our Lord’s second coming, and some, who have recently become convinced, partly by reading Brother Miller’s Lectures of the error of a belief in a temporal millennium, an I are expecting the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, to receive his faithful and waiting servants into his glorious, heavenly kingdom. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.4
But there appears to be many, who, though fully convinced that the second coming of our Lord is pre-millennial, are exceeding backward in expressing their sentiments. Truly “the fear of man bringeth a snare.” They seem like those, who, in the days of our Lord’s first advent, though they saw his mighty works—the proofs of his Messiahship—spake not openly of him for fear of the Jews. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.5
The word of God teaches most conclusively, I think, that the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ takes place before, and not after the Millennium; and it seems to be the general belief, among evangelical Christians, that the millennium is near. Not only this, the very events foretold in prophecy as the signs of the great day of God, are fulfilling before our eyes. There have already been signs in the sun in the moon, and in the stars; And upon the earth, within a few years, how much distress of nations, with perplexity. How much roaring of the sea and the waves! And are not men’s hearts failing them for fear—and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth? If so, is not the day near, even at the doors? Possibly brother Miller’s calculations of prophetic times may be incorrect: but what then? Shall the main point, the pre-millennial advent, be given up? Not at all. We will still wait for our redemption. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.6
Yours in the gospel, S. F.
Chaplin, May 13, 1841.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
BOSTON, JULY 1, 1841.
THE GENERAL CONFERENCE
The Conference convened at the Christian Chapel, Lowell, the 15th ult. The Conference was addressed by Henry Jones, of New York, in the morning on “The nature and manner of the second coming of Christ.” In the afternoon, Josiah Litch addressed the Conference on the nature of the kingdom of God, and the evidence of its being near at hand. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.7
Brother Miller, and some others on whom dependance was made, have not yet arrived. As Brother Miller has been afflicted of late with infirmities so as to be unable to preach, we fear he will not be able to attend the Conference at all. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.8
A full report of the proceedings of the Conference may be expected in our next. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.9
Lowell, June 16, 1841. Ed. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.10
NEW ARRANGEMENT
Hitherto we have conducted this humble sheet on our own responsibility. We acknowledge with gratitude, the friendly aid of Brothers Miller, Litch Jones, and others; without which, we should have been unable to have sustained it. We take this opportunity to express our acknowledgements to them who have co-operated to sustain and extend the work. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.11
Having the pastoral care of a church in this city, in connection with the care of the paper, we have not been able to do that justice to it that it deserved and that we anxiously desired. But under all the circumstances we have done the best we could. The time has now come for us to act more efficiently in this department of our work. To accomplish this desirable object we have secured the editorial services of Bro. Josiah Litch, who will hereafter be associated with us in the editorial department. We feel assured that this arrangement will not only be satisfactory to the friends of this holy cause, but that it will also tend to its advancement. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.12
Bro. Litch, has now made his arrangements to devote his whole time to writing and lecturing on the subject of the Second Coming of the Lord at hand. Let him be sustained by the friends of the cause among whom he may travel and preach the kingdom of God. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.13
Another thing; in procuring the labors of brother Litch, the expenses of the paper will be increased. Our only hope of being sustained in this measure, arises from the increase of subscribers. Let every friend of the cause make an effort to increase the subscription list, and all expenses will be met without difficulty. Come brethren, let us now go to work. What we do, must be done quickly. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.14
Notice. Brother Litch will be in Worcester the last day in June, and will spend a week there. He will lecture afternoons and evenings, on the kingdom of God at hand; if Brother Ellis will procure him a place for meeting. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.15
The intolerance of the Romish clergy in Belgium has produced great excitement, and required of the Government, strong military measures. The Liberals affirm, and with good reason, that the Archbishop of Mecklin is the real king of Belgium, although the nominal king is professedly a Protestant. Four hundred consents have been founded, or organized, in Belgium, since 1830. A certificate or commission, from the Romanist clergy, is necessary to every public instructor. The new cabinet has been obliged to appease the clamors of the Papists, by a circular, directed to all the governors of provences, that there should be no public instruction without religious education, and no religious education without the aid of the clergy. Precisely what would be done here, if the Romanists had the power to do so.—Ch. Ad. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.16
AGENTS FOR “SIGNS OF THE TIMES”
Massachusetts
BOSTON—Moses A. Dow, General Agent. 107 Hanover Street.
| Fairhaven | Joseph Bates |
| Assonnett | James Taylor |
| Fall River | P. R. Russell |
| New Bedford | J. H. Smith |
| Mattapoisett | A. H. Averill |
| Lowell | M. M. George |
| Salem | A. G. Comings |
| Salisbury Point | Warren Lincoln |
| Haverhill | Henry Plummer |
| Worcester | Elihu Ellis |
Maine
| Portland | John Pearson |
New Hampshire
| Exeter | George T. Stacy |
| Portsmouth | Richard Walker |
| Newtown | Oliver Tuckerman |
Rhode Island
| Providence | John H. Lonsdale |
| Portsmouth | Samuel Clark |
New York
| Low Hampton, Washington Co. | Wm. S. Miller |
| New York City | Henry Jones. General Agent |
| Union Mills, Fulton Co. | Joseph Marsh P. M. |
Pennsylvania
| Philadelphia | John J. Porter |
North Carolina
| Charlotte, Meclinburg Co. | J. M. Thomas, General Agent. |
Lower Canada
| Stanstead | Dr. James Lull |
The above list is imperfect. It will be perfected by the addition of other names, as soon as responsible persons shall be found who will act as agents in the different parts of the country. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.17
N. B. Post Masters and Ministers of the Gospel friendly, to the objects of this paper, will pleased act as agents. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.18
AGENTS will be allowed every sixth copy, and in the same proportion for a less number. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.19
Important Works on the Second Advent
For Sale At This Office, 107 Hanover St
MILLER ON THE SECOND COMING OF Christ, in one volume, nineteen Lectures; to which is added a supplement, containing a chronological Chart of the prophetic periods, with an explanation. Price 62 cts. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.20
MILLER’S LIFE AND VIEWS, in one volume. This work contains a Sketch of Mr. Miller’s life, his Chronology, the Charts and Expositions, eleven new Lectures, Reviews, Letters,—with a Likeness. Price 62 cts. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.21
BIBLE STUDENT’S MANUAL. This is a little work compiled from Mr. Miller’s other works; designed for a Pocket Note Book and Manual. It contains the Chart, Rules of Interpretation, etc. with 32 pages of blank paper, for notes, etc. Price 25 cents. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.22
Various other works on the Second Advent, may be had as above. Also BLANK BOOKS, PAPER, SCHOOL BOOKS, Steel Pens, and every article usually kept in a Stationer’s Warehouse. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.23
MOSES A. DOW.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Is published on the 1st and 15th of each month, at the Bookstore of MOSES A. DOW, 107 Hanover st. next door to Hancock School House. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.24
Joshua V. Himes, Editor.
Terms.—One Dollar a year, payable in advance. 6 copies for five dollars, 13 copies for ten dollars. All communications should be directed to the Editor, post paid. HST July 1, 1841, page 56.25