The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

III. Tyng Endorses “Bible Companion” Prophetic Exposition

Prophecy was inwrought into nearly every Bible study volume of the day, for at this time prophecy was regarded as a vital part of Scripture. Thus the pocket Bible Companion was designed for Bible class, family, and personal study, as an inexpensive substitute for the large and costly commentaries. It was reprinted in America with a hearty Introduction by the well-known Episcopalian clergyman, DR. STEPHEN H. TYNG, SR., ³⁷ of Philadelphia, and carried his clear endorsement. (Portrait appears on p. 331.) In the analysis of the book of Daniel this covering statement appears: PFF4 342.2

“His [Daniel’s] predictions are the most extraordinary and comprehensive of all that are found in the prophetical writings: for they include the general history of the world, as well as that of the church of God under the Jewish and Christian dispensations, from the period in which he lived to the final consummation of all things; and he alone, of all the prophets, foretold the exact time when the Messiah should appear and finish the great work of human redemption.” ³⁸ PFF4 343.1

Two of Daniel’s special features are given as: (1) “The prediction of four universal empires, the rise and fall of which Daniel describes, and the division of the last, which was the Roman, into ten kingdoms;” and (2) the “seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, reckoned from the seventh year of Artaxerxes,” when “Ezra was commissioned to restore the Jewish polity,” to “A.D. 33, in the very month and year in which Christ suffered for us.” Thus Tyng helped to popularize the misconception that Christ died at the end, instead of in the “midst,” of the 70th week of years. ³⁹ PFF4 343.2

Discussing the “prophets” in general, the Companion says these writings pertain both to the church and to “the several empires and nations of the world, down to the end of time,” as they were or will be connected with the church of God and with the unfulfilled portions “attended with obscurities,“ which time alone, and fulfillment, can remove. ⁴⁰ In the analysis of 2 Thessalonians, two points are made: The end of the world was not at hand in Paul’s day, but “must be preceded by a great apostacy, in which the ‘man of sin’ would ruin many, and sink himself into perdition” and identifying it as “the prophecy respecting the Romish antichrist, under the characters of ‘the man of sin,’ ‘the son of perdition,’ and ‘the mystery of iniquity.’” ⁴¹ PFF4 343.3

This finds its fulfillment in “the succession of popes, with the Romish priesthood,” the corruption of Christian doctrine, the worship of angels, saints, and the host, the selling of pardons and indulgences, the exalting of itself to receive worship and assume authority over kings, the deposing of kingdoms at pleasure, the sitting in the temple of God, and the assuming of the titles of God. Bishop Newton is cited for detailed application. ⁴² Paul’s prediction, in 2 Timothy, of the great “declension and apostacy” to mar the Christian faith, is noted, and also that in 2 Peter, the coming of false teachers and the scoffers who would ridicule the “expectation of Christ’s coming.” ⁴³ The book of Revelation, it says, “has of late years awakened much attention, and many students have set themselves to find a coincidence between its prediction, and events now taking place in the world,” with “apparent success” it adds, citing Croly on the Apocalypse and Keith’s Signs of the Times” ⁴⁴ PFF4 344.1

The Bible Companion has a large section on fulfilled prophecies concerning the Arabs, Jews, Judea, Idumea, Egypt, Nineveh, and Babylon. There is also a corresponding portion on “Unfulfilled Prophecy” the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, the great day of God, the preaching of the gospel to all nations, the increase of knowledge of the plan of God, the flying angel hastening to every nation, and the establishment of the mountain of the house of the Lord in the top of the mountains. All these and others will be “perfectly fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ PFF4 344.2

The little treatise includes a terse “Index to the Symbolic Language of the Bible.” Thus, “Apolyon” means the Mohammedan powers by which the Christian churches of the East were oppressed, citing Revelation 9. “Adultress, or Harlot,” is an apostate church (Revelation 17). “Beast” is a heathen power (Daniel 7), and also the “papal antichrist” (Revelation 13, 17). “Day” stands for “a year” in prophecy (Revelation 11, 12). “Earthquake” means a political revolution. “Gog and Magog” are infidel nations in the last days. The “harvest” is the end of the world, and a “horn” is a royal power (Daniel 7). “Image of gold, silver, brass, and iron” here are the “four universal monarchies” (Daniel 2). “Moon” stands for the Jewish ecclesiastical state, and “mountain,” the kingdom of Christ’s church (Daniel 2:35). A prophetic “week” is seven years, and 70 weeks of years, 490 literal years. “Winds” represent general destruction (Daniel 7:2), and “woman,” the church of Christ or of Antichrist (Revelation 12, 17). ⁴⁶ PFF4 345.1

Near the close is a chronological index of “principal events” in A.M. and B.C. time, giving 538 B.C. as when the first world empire, Babylon, gave way to Persia; 330 B.C., when the second, Medo-Persia, was suppressed by the Grecian; 65 B.C., when the third, or Grecian, power is followed by the Roman fourth world power. ⁴⁷ So this little pocket Bible Companion, introduced to the American laity by Dr. Stephen Tyng, turns out definitely to be a compend on prophecy, in which prophecy is recognized as an inseparable part of Bible study. PFF4 345.2