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•7 J"^
'in i;
a
Tm OF Ti PlOPiTS.
J?
(Bcprinted from the Loiuloii Times, of N'oveiiiber 1, i^)f).)
TO WHICH IS ANNKXKli
f few (^hscrrafiojis OH fhr sfniw Sahircf
hrityj
S i: II 31 N
i'REAllHEU IN ST. PAUL'S CHIRCII, IIALU'.W,
Oil ilit 9tli o/.TnuuoTii. 1S«50.
REV. GEORGE W. HILL, M, A.
( ri; A r k
rUBLISHED BY REQUEST.
HALIFAX, N. S.-JOHN JJ. STRONG,
UOLUS STREET.
AND TO BE HAD OF ALT. nOOKSELLEl'.:^.
18G0.
II
THB
SCHOOL OF THE PROPHETS .♦
There has arisen cliirin*; the stirrino; years which slill
run their cour.-*e a very wide.-'pread atteniion to the study
of unfulfilled prophecy. Books on the subject are in preat
demand, and the PU{)ply appnrently meeis the demand.
It is not unnatural to expect this. The last 10 year^ dirt-
infr their beginning at the great European convukion of
1848, have, without doubt, witnessed so many national
complicationg, social changes, and individual sufferings —
event has so rapidly thundered on event, and scene flash-
ed on scene — so altered have the face of Europe and the
relations of Cabinets become, and so unsettled is the Eu-
ropean sky at this hour, that intelligent and sober-mind-
ed men, with no spice offanaUci»m in their nature, have be-
gun to conclude that the sublime predictions uttered on the
JMount 1}<00 years ago are being daily translated into mo-
dern history. Students of prophecy allege that they see
the apocalyptic " vials" pouring out, and hear the " seven
trumpets" uttering their voices and pealing in reverbera-
tions throufih Christendom.
From the earliest times there have been students of
prophecy. Bishop Newton, Bishop Horsley, lilede, and
others, ar€ names familiar to every reader. In reeent
times the authors of I/orce Apocali/ticce, The Great Tii-
hulation, and many others have at least awakened an in-
terest on this subject in the popular mind. The last, and
not the least noteworthy student is Lord Carlisle, the
present Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. He has translated.
"tiora Apocalyptkcr. By the Rev. E. B. Elliott, A. M., late Fellow of
Trinity t'ollcRe, Cambridge. 4 vols. Seele5'8.
8 Tke Qrtat TnAulation; or, Ihimet Coming on tiU EartJi. By Rev. Lr.
CUiDHuiig. Beniley. / » «.
« o« names or w,„k, „e have referred to In h" n i
,f n . "?"'''"' '■"' belief tl,at «e arc now on "he vlr^e
recorued in history and m the daily journals
Many people denounce all prophetic investigation as
«pr<i„ unnecessary and injurioul-. This is hafdl fair
.V s",:,'Z''!r "'"• '^'T- ^"""" "'•» Procesta^t
f i h l • ^'^' "'"" "•'■>'"■« ""« I'roleetant rule of
to studv ,„ 1^ '? , ^'"'■"' '""'''« "'■e entitled
>;t f slf" "' "" '^'""■""'•-■'- ""-'y l'»^e i" eo'innon
I e- .;r ?("-■' '""' "'"■'^'' '' -declared to he -pioliia-
■ose h' m""; '''7'"' i''''^^^'"" renounced in ,l!ein o".
ii'o»H tl .It read and understand Ihem.
do in "f.f", '"" '/""'' """ ™''™''' i-'lerpreters of prophecy
ZZ^ltZ "■'"''"' '"' "f "■'' '"•"?■■'«». They
C ""■'""" '■"'J"'"' "'•■"' ""e-npt to foretell
aoneastlie.r only premises, and leave to lliei- readers
o ac, see „,. „ e,„,i,e in ,„eir deductions, 'fhe; prl
tend to no interior inspiration. They mav he mis
teMli?:;"-"!^ "'^^ "- "»' fa„iics""''Ti!:i.e" ;•
few and T„ 1 ".""''"^"■■•s- A fe«— and these very
-i'a ttleliook nfT''"','""'" ^""^ "f Revelation, and
"(Nero T . ''""""•>" »««»" fulfilled fh the days
It i\ero. J his theory is discarded by every rational w, i
-p Ted to u^: H?''^'^^p .^r^^" -^^ .hetredr
more numln ? ^'^^^^'^^^ I'^Jl'ott. A second class-far •
Tf .InttirA 7'*^' 'r*^ intelligent-incline to be-
ed Ind r ^ Apocalypse has not yet begun to be fulfil-
led, and that in a very short time all its oronheHP. xvii
•l'-\<lojtc llit'in<''lvcs iu porltTilou.- |.ioj».)riiuii.> wh iln
Mtu^o of Ktiropean Christendom. This Rystem, whirh i-^
jjoiiif; out or r<3ceiving many luodifn-ations, assumci! that.
the whole period of 18U0 years, rejihMo with nioral ami
social and reliirions phenomena of no ordinary nature, i •
wholly overlooked and ignored in a prophecy written in
the first century, and proclaiming itsell" to Le the record
and hi.story of things that are and " tl.inu's that are to he.
liereafter. The most ahlc and laborious school consi.-t.^
of those who believe that the Apocalyp.*- is a continuous
prospective history of Christendom from the days of
St. John to the close of this present <""", or dispensation, o\
rourse — necessarily not so clear as history. These divines
hold that the seven seals already broken and done witl..
are a history in symbol of the fourth Great Kingdom, or
Roman Empire, in its Pagan and persecuting character,
down to the Conversion of Constantine, — the depression,
if not entire annihilation of Paganism, and the elevation of
Christianity to national place and power. The "horsf-"
which is the basis of each seal-symlx)l as sacred to Mars,
is regarded as the representative of the Proles Mavortin
just as in Daniel the Persian Empire is represented by a
ram, and the Macedonian by a he-goat, and the color ol'
each horse denotes the material condition oi the etiipire
in historical succession. The " white" describes the pros-
perity of the empire from A. D. 9(j to A. D. 180 ; the
" red" bloodshed from A. D 11)2 to 284 ; the" black" de-
noting famine, and the "pale horse" representing plague
and pestilence and death. It would be impoy?ilile, with-
in a short space to show the very rcmnikable coincidence
between this interpretation and the historic faet^- recorded
by Gibbon. The one almost seems the literal translation
of the other. The infidel but brilliant historian is made
tlie unconscious amanuensis of Providence writing out the
historic facts that respond to the inspired prophecy as
echo to sound. IJe the system true or false, the coinci-
dence is striking. The second seric^' of Symbols consists
of the "Seven Trumpets.'
Those writers whose interpretations appear beyond
comparison the most plausible, say, the iirst trumpet was
fulfilled when Alariethe Goth burst upon the Roman Km-
>.;•./> rtrmwi i> iTpii !>p/i i>lri/-ifl ;" tliof flif" qeooTul lifter AlarK!
01 Hie last irimippi ii,. " • .""''. •" "" I" llic «,iin,ii„»
•■."■nc-ous for our pace ^J T'"' ',''", '""""'^ '-"" oo
'o,^r:;,t';n'- '"■^fr™"''" ''■-":;'':: f^'
„, «t^neraliy considered
prf|mr«) tl».' war U>v " Kitig.i of \U<' Ka.->t," liforallj
• ,1 itiaru/i
liwrii
iii« buu rising-!.
Ih
lu rising-^. ihvsc Kuyal per-
bunagcM— Kllioit, Binkt-fstetli, Cumtning, und othert<, un*
(]LM>taivl to be Iho .Jow>, Dio ancient nation of " Kings
and I'rii'Sfs,." und that the recent s)in|)utliics felt towards
the Jt;\v, his gradual emi-rgeuce lioiu oppression and iho
growin;^' interest which he und we eheriah in regard to
Palestine are the stirriii,'^ of national Iffe in the hSirt of
that race. As soon us tiic Mo.-lem recedes from l*ales»
tine the best writers on thid subject believe that under a
finpernatural inspiration the subliniedt exodus of the Jew*
will begin und Jerusalem be again their capital and •• the
beauty and joy of the earth." It is during the action of
the " sixth vial" that '• three unclean spirits like frogs go
out to deceive the nations to gather them'' to a great and
sanguinary battle which, when it comes, U the aTarm bell
of the close of this economy. It would be impossible to
enter minutely into this matter here. The prophetic
writers before us understand by these " unclean spirir*"
one or otiier of Infidelity, Popery. Lawlessness Tracta-
rianisrn, Mormonism, Spirit-Rapping, and every other
'* ism" except Calvinism to which most of them incline.
Mr. KUiott lixes the charcter of each "spirit'' from tho
character of its^otirce, and does not hesitate toname them
asUomunib'm,TracfarianisQi, and Sceptecism, each" frog"
comprehending in its bosom many tadpoles. These sys-
lems gathered lorce from the first French Revolution, or
rather from 1821 down to the last revolution in 1848.—
The dregs of them still exist. Occasional spasmodic
struggles prove alike their vitality and their dyin.^. It ia
u singular fact on which Mr. Elliott particularly* dilates
that the ancient arms of France were not ihe Jleur delis
or the tricolour, but three frogs, and on this ground it ia
argued that France is to be most conspicuous in gather-
ing the nations of Europe to this great war, and hence
the writers before us daily expect u European war kin-
dled by our ally across ihe Channel.
• No man, whether he accepts these prophetic interpreta-
tions or not, can fail to nark the stormy nature of the po-
litical sky, or to expect from existing complicatione Bom.»
gigantic outburst. Every Cabinet in Europe is agitatdd.
-•;- i»ii.-^ ;;;;- ;;;, iijiiiii oil uia cWOru hli(, j)lfttesmen'«
-arts- literally I'ail tiicm fov It-ar ol ih..
'Ilia's coiimig OP,
tlio earth at the present hour.
Dr. Ciimmin;^ states in his recent work.— 77/e Grent
rr'balatlon—Wmt the 7th vial was in all probability
].oured out in 1848, that its beinor "poured into the air"
denotes the u.iiversality of its influence— atfecting physi-
cal, social and meal interests— its physical effects mani-
looting themselves in the morbific miasma prevalent dur-
ing the last ten years, in unprecedented intensity and
arc.'j, and showing its force in the pr^ato, the vinecholern,
and an altered normal condition of human heahh and die-
case. He also regards the " Great Earthquake" with
which u begins its action, og that "shaking" ctu.,o.
"^of the nations" which has spread over lndia° China,
liussia, the Crimea, France, Spain, and Austria, and
that each new complication issuing in ;i new conflict is an-
other shock of the same earthquak(^
He also thinks that the great panic in the commercial
norld m 1857, call at that date by The Times "acommer-
<;ial earthquake," when houses old and prudent as well
as rotten fell, and bank exploded after bank in over-
whelming crashes, was another heave or shock of the same
earthquake. lie thinks England for reasons it is unne-
cessary to enumerate, is to emerge from the " great tri-
bulation" and her sun not to disappear till lost in the
grcafer splendour in which "there will be no need of the
Ihe leading article m 2Vie Times of Thursday records
an actual and visible fact which ttudents of prophecy have
been expecting for years : —
" I.^^ojjr:-- a condition of profouud peace.' Certr.iiiiy not. WeliavoiK.f
dime w.w; Jiuiia. In Cliiiia all our work is to he done again.' we have
Miiuu.icd on anew race and lor aught we know on foreign and more
c:\ivi/(.(l nnxiliiuie-). .Vo, one may pretend to place limitsi on the war
'.yh.c I has bioken out, or on its bearings upon onr P'uropean alliances.—
A liacti.in ol tlie Aincncaii,^ in. as u>ual, provoking a quarrel, which tlieir
...xceiifive inny not bo able to avert There is something amiss going on
onposite Oibrallar. We are calU-d in to as;ist in restoring peace to Italy
liihturbed t>v our good neighbors. At home ten thousand poor simpletons
are Ftriig^rliii:: and i.eri-bin;; w th tli<'ir wives and ehildrcn tor an •• idea '
I isere are some niicoinfoi table things whi^it. like distant thunder, are felt*
rather tnan heard or seen We U\\k. and < ilk. and talk about rille Corps
mtuining the navy. Coast defences, new g .ns, and floating batteries. Of
e,mr.^e Hie tal!; i-^ not 'vJUiout occa-ion, but the things are not done. On
the wlio'e It must be said there is an nncdintbrtablt- foi'Iiii^r e,.mi.fi,i..^r
lA.i tn*. disur-^ vi nuUv'!;^ uku'.- Iivnits failing thj-ni for I'ear
h U \\\fw a vi'iy 'Z'^rK.'ral beli<''" •luif 'vo an; on the vcrv
verge of a gigantic struggle; ♦hut France is to origi-
nate, ride, and if able, overrule ti»e storm ; that England,
because of her free thought, free speech, and free press
and Protestant religion the spring of them all, is to have,
directed on her the concentrated fire of Europe ; and we
must do them the justice to add they patriotically urge,
on their ground, and from their point of view, what sane
politicians uphold on theirs, an instant and powerful pre-
paration on our part at any expense to defend Old Eng-
land's shores. In The Great Tribulation the writer ob-
serves : —
" France the great ac<or in the prophetic ontHne flushed with her Itali-
an Conquests, is reposing in her snort bivouac, in order to enter on tlie
arena refreshed and strong as a giant to fulfil her destiny. Austria, furi-
ous at defeat and disappointment, longs to avenge her wror.gs, and trie a
by sacrifice to conciliate Hungary. Italy is one huge volcano, still, per-
haps, making ready to receive into her fiery bosom the papacy with all
its spoils ofplundered nations, and injured kingdoms, and violated rights,
and all its sins and its crimes inexpiable for ever.
" Our own beloved land may soon be girdled with a belt of rre. Her
freedom, her faith, her prosperity, her accessible asylum for the refugees
and the oppressed, her g-igantic power, her outspoken independence, her
treasures, and her triumphs ari the hate of despots, the envy of courts,
and the provocatives of hostility on the part of nations that remember r^r
past superiority, and long to measure swords with her once more. No
ordinary events are looming up from every point of the European hori-
zon, like strange birds ofevM omen. All the ten year* that have passed
away, and the seven that still remain of the era of the "Great Tribula
tion" will cover a time of trouble unprecedented since there was a nation.
It is the time when there "shall be great distress of nations, with per-
plexity," political, social, commercial, and moral,— the disinte^'ration ot
political party, the distrust of trade, the derelection of moral obligations,
confusion of principles, and collision, of passion, the sea and waves roar-
ing. There also shall be fulfilled and felt what is written.
The lull that now exists among the nations of Europe is very much like
that of 18.")1. It is the eve of more terrible disturbances, and the time ot
preparation for it. Science and art, and national resources are tasked in
all directions in order to make the most formidable weapons lor oflensiyo
and defensive war. The discoveries of modern science, as embodied in
the iron rail, the ocean steamer, and the electric telegraph, will lead to
euch military gatherings, such concentrations of troops, such lightnin"-
like rapidity of action, such shocks of arms, as never were equalled m t j
history of the world. Everything seems to make ready for no common
crisis, no ordinary issue. In the words of Daniel, ' There shall be a time
of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; in the words oi St.
Matthew, 'There shall be a great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time ; no, nor ever shall be. "
It is under the action of Vial 7, according to the views
we are now dealing with that " Great Babylon" in the
words of the sacred text *' comes into remembrance to
give her the cup of indignation." Certainly this was
never so intensely true as oX this moment. Fio Nono
stands shivering in his slippers* holding in his trembling
hand a cup of no common bitterness. The waters on
10
through^ his epIscoDarrur^ ^' S^*' """ «"'""'<"•'
Brigade to hi! hein nI "^ u '" ^'^"^^'"^ "" I"*''
in so trouWed wate?; oHt^T' ""' '•' "^"^ "^ ^t. Peter"
It is durin^the fnfluen^P nf f, ^P- ^ '? greater distress.
ero hail" burst on Ch" tendom ""J' ''"f ^"g-=" """h-
the students of proDhecv a» T'p '^'n'^rpreted by
rope, as indicated*^ brcoliaterairZ :'^^'^.»' "".E""
and in all probabilit/in con rn' iorw'it. F^^ca ;"';"'
still strongly suspeclcTtrbXt ' '*"" "'" "'''" '"
jeWeVrhe'uc dltr'"'""^''''^ ""^ <"'«"-" ^"^■
la-=iritCteSSS^^^^^^^^
pressed in various formulas Om ?"!%« ^PO^^'^PSe ex-
half a time-'— that isT^rl^nl !• ^'"'^' '™^'' *"'*
years and half a ptophetiryet "r ^11"",^'°^'"="'=
Another form of the^satne p^erlod is 42 lomhf Th'"'"
c^ulfr^feP^K""'' .""' ''^ eolmelm f s th^dffl'-
uoms ana at the runnmo' out of thp<?P I9nn ,, .u^.
apostasy is steadily to beffin its deorv Tu ^'ff ^M
the folWint'^^'sw °' "'»'"'• 0"« remarkaTplf ;
11
To this period of 1200, ending, we assume, in 1702
Daniel adds a period of 30 years. This would bring us
down to 1822. Then, also, and that very year, was tin;
beginning of a great change in Eastern Cliristendo n,
" The drying up of Euphrates" or progressive decay of
Mahommedanism at its fountain. What goes far to con •
firm this is the fact that another period given by Danieh,
called 2,300 years, on the end of which the "■ cieansin-
of the sanctuary" i. e., the preparation of Palestine i'jv
its people, was to begin. Puing this period at what has
been, if not clearly, at lea^jt probably assigned befor"^
Christ 478, we find its termination in A. D. 1S22. To
this period, Daniel adds another of 4o year.'*. This brings
us down to 1867. Daniel says he is specially " blessed'"
who arrives at 18G7.
Supposing this correct, 18G7 would be in the words of
Lord Carlisle, " the close of this dis{)ensation '• and, re-
cording to others, the restoration of all things, the baj)-
tism of the earth, and the regenesis of nature.
Another class of interpreters date the 1260 years at
ths decree of Phocas in 607, which they think was tl e
real transformation of the Western Church into a coi por-
ateapostacy. If so, they would end in 1867. The same
writers also hold that Daniel's great epoch, ending in the
restoration of the Jews, began before Christ 433, and
ends therefore in A. D. 1867, and that then, as they be-
lieve, the crescent in the east and the 2rucifix in thj
west will both disappear, and Christianity, the light of a
few, be then the glory and the gladness of all mankind.
What casts some light on this subject is the ancient,
and as Bishop Russell has shown, almost universal belief
that the week of Creation was in brief the type of the great
week of the world — that is that the six working days of the
Creation-week correspond to the 6000 of working years
of the world and that, as the former ended in the Sab-
bath day rest, the latter will culminate in the Sabbath of
a 6,000 years — what St. Paul calls " cTaMurtauoj, the rest
that remaineth for the people of God.*'
Now, the question occurs — have these 6,000 years
neaiiy lUu out r xiccoruirig
4.1-
>,<J iliU
« uiciu*
cm xjnOmj^y ,
they are short of their end by at least 140 years. But
Fyne8 Clinton, followed by otherB, has proved to demon-
i
12
.he year «f .'e r^d r/CnHa ^/^,!°™"'' '»
brought out with ;,«™ ""^unui ^i^j^. Ihisisreallv
i.ia?orrec" " 1 we 7"'.° ""t""" '" "» "kelihooj
» the close of thrw^riflT'" ''.f?''^'" -Jown ,o 1867,
of its ma'-mRceutZTl "T"'^'"" "eek.and theeve
Dr. Cumming "„?e" ii hf/r'^'l''''' "»'»"ial Best
him in looking forward to l«fi7\'T^' •"'"' «'»'='"• "'"»
ed,prophecyi„'g tl^^end of the wfrld?' 'S-o^-'ly eharg-
a testing crisi3^in.er,ec?ed hi .i. ^ "•' " S'*"' ""'«!«—
phetic dates.-I, appeals from', .'■«':an<>''s ""es of pro-
on prophecy have hS 1 ,h^o k ""i' ']""' "•««« "^'e™
others .real; geologr chemttrv ?'''' "^ '""^''ga'ion «»
legitit»ate subject of researeh^h' '^'""""^J- 1' " »
and chemists do r,o?^rw'mi2, "'"^ "^ g^'^gists
speclive fields and wp i7 ? '*'^ 'g''"'^' their re-
terpreters of pophecy should h.'*L"''-V''* "">"»' '"-
ignoring what is dSit b, ? S' •'',"**'' *" * "»»»" fo''
our study. We drnot duf "'^ /^<=°«"°«"de'J to
works on^rophecyretredT'^TT' ''"?'"'"'"' '" ".e
guard themselves aStn^tJ- ^^t ""'^" constantly
the cla.--ns of the prXtln^ "'"■"•'•"''''"' '«P>"Jiating
of the student Some oHheirwoT-^ °°'' "«' ^''"'^
The J9&r« of Mr eX?? ^„ j''' *™ ""? 'earned.
the age. Othe« ak "ery PODulaTT;-'" '^« '•""""gy of
in rash and reckl^o „ri,f T l^ " "o'- therefore, fair
if mistaken s^^e^s 7a'" alVTexT "wi!^^^ "-
enthusiasts. «» S^ana text with fanatics and
theristirt-TttEret^fy-?^^^^^
At
O
SKKMON.
"And thpy shall fall by tlio (-d?o of fli.> sword, and shull bo b-d away
captive into all nations ; and .Ionisal.-iu siiall be troddon down of the Gen-
tiles, until tho times of the CiMitib's be fullill(>d."— St. Ltke, xxi. M
Tt is a o;re:it iiiistako to snpjwsc tliat tlio Old Testament,
alone eontains itrujihetic declarations. Tlie New abounds with
them. Our Lord Ilimsidt". and His Apostles. St. Paul an I St.
Peter, St. Jude and St. John, foretold" tlie future of the ^\ jrld,
announcing some events tliat have since transpired, and many
that are yet to come.* Strange things were pictured by our
Jjord. as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, eighteen hundred
years ago : the overthrow of the temple — the destruction of
Jerusalem — the dispersion of the Jewish nation, and His own
sul)sequent return to restore all things, and once more replace
those foundations of the earth for so long a period "out of
course." The falling away from Christ and the usurpation of
.Antichrist. — the fearful errors and damnable heresies which
should creej) into the Chundi of Christ, — even the peculiar
marks which should characterise the enemies of the Lord Jesu.s
were delineated, as with a sculptor's chisel, l)y the x\postle of
the Gentik's.f when the Spirit spake expressly to him of the
latter days. The purifsMng process through which the material
world should pass, — the regeneration of the earth, poisoned bv
the serpent's breath and l)lighted by the ancient curse, — the
restitution of all things to their primeval beauty and their early
purity, — are described by the Ap<^)stle Peter, | as though he
had been transport<?d forward to that day, and viewed from some
lofty height the universal conflagration, when the heavens passed
away with a great noise, and the elements melted with fervent
heat, and the earth also, and the works that were therein were
burned up. St. Jude § took a retrospective glance, and, look-
* Matt, xxiv., Mark xiii., Luke xxi.
t 1 Tim. iv. 1. 3 ; 2 Thegs. ii. 1, 12.
t 'i Pet«r ill. $ Ep. Jude.
I
inf! I'ack over the «-iJe wat.-i-- „,• ,|„. o , ,■
war,l, ul..o, ,;, s,„„o of ,1, . , „ " " ''"l"'"~ I'l' l"ol<e.l fo,-
ungoclly ,„„„„ , , f „„,;;''''"' '•■^i"''-' all ll„„ are
his Saviour's iMoast. „ , 1,^^"'' f'^^'''' "I"' l«a"o;i upon
*l.inss whi,.|, ,i„.„ „-,r' . 1 ' !' • '■''"■'"•'.■■I''' was jfraute, of
f H-. Tl,a, stra,,.,. 1 .ok , ,; "'l«r "''"'' "''""''' '"' <l'ere-
'•--• Pi-"?-a, or,l,n-,. „ "■■' '•':'- -""<"<""■ - to speak,
a ioa,ly .nu.spired, a,„l > ';i';v;,"''^- ^ '' "'"'I' ''"™
^«t only ,|„i., i, ,;„, II ' ."'"'.•"■" .V"t tr, tak,. place.
^■<..r„ of ...sus ,o M,e;„'f !■,"';,!'".'"•' "f ''" tl.in,si-tl,e
n,e„t_l,u, ,h,nr.s an o,uiiu e , f ,' "r?"- ■""'""''»'"""<-
P-i-l then ,..vis,i„o. .low, ' its 1. ; : ,""'■''' "r '''-•"'■■>■ '•'■""• the
tion of Jesus ('Ink, whiel ™l" *• ,'/ "'''^ 'I"' ''"vela-
Hi« servants thiuos wl 1,1" slSTl" '""'" '"'" '" ^''^'^ "»"'
>s lie that .-eadetlCan,! 1 ev t , t ^ Vl "'""' '." ''"*• ■•^l"^*''
-j/;:^i..-..^..t,.i„,sti.:t^t:!^i:;:t-;;';;f;!;;f.^^^^^^
forp^pt" "Z' havelSCV'"';-"' '" "'^ «!'' Te.stau,ent
wc possess this .n-eat .KlV,nt . If"'''""'™ in the New. And
that we know f;,;L rJ ; ; S T''"' T, "'"™" *^ ^^™-
furetold in it had eome tolfa the"*' "r? ""'"^^ '^''''^1^ ""^
m other words, we have ZXtt "" °'^""''' """«»«« ; or,
<.ur re,„.l,, a,„l of J^J^^^^ZTT'"^'"^ "V ''''"' "'""in
i""l'''"'-- «•- l.a^■e son.. Hffi" k^" ""« "' "f •■.""^•ie"t seer's and .
;h<^' lirst advwu. and thoi whi h ' '"•''""" "' "'" "ra •?(
l'hi>- i.^ peeuHarlv 1 1 e ^^ ^i ' ^ "'""'"'"'l with the .second.
the re-toration of-t|,„ Je ,-s tT, tl e r l'"'?'^'-'' *'''^'' "■""' "f
•7"t "f a kinodon, over wh ieh tW Me"s r'^ "'' ""^ ''"^'''^-
of these appear to have Ik"' ve fled f,' '" '" ™'«"- ««"■«
"(■•fiHlal, an,l fenjamin Ton S ™ *'""•''>"••' »f *« trihes
«"h,ylon. \V],,„ ,i, .,1 '? ., , ■ .""■"'P' y""''' '"P'i^i'y in
'«hl. it >nav he as !„;";' ^''''''''^ f 'I"-- t«»plo is fore-
took niaee nn,l„,. y„I." , "; ';'."".™"y enough, by some. fh„t .l,,-.
■ HV' "2^ ""'^''i^'^i 8 direction, — ' ^" * • '''
and durinor the
Rpv. St. J
olin thp Divi
prophet
DC.
3
Haifj^ai'H lite ; aii<l. ;is a bftiuciice, that the^e events are not yet
m tlie future, but live in the history of the past. Practically,
we have iill found this difficulty in rcadin;; the Old Tosfanient,
and iicrhaps have been sunetiiiies a little disheartened l)y the
small result of our effiirts to distinj^uish between those predic-
tions already fulfilled and those stilj to be s(». To turn, then,
from an investio^ation of "the law, the proi)hets, and the psalms,''
to an in(piiry into the pn.phecies of the New Testament, is
almost as if emerging from dim twilight to the meridian blaze of
noon-day splendor.
The important relative position of (Jod's ancient |»eople. the
Jews, towards the Messiaii. and also towards the Gentile nations,
is plainly indicated in the sacred song of Simoon, where he n-pre-
scnts the Lord Jesus in those two aspects suited to the two great
national divisions of the human family — "a light to licfhfen the
Gentiles"; because up to that time they were living iii spiritual
darkness ; but as the glory of God's people, Israel, because they
already had the light of divine truth imparted to them, and that
dawn was one day to swell to a flood of light, according to the
ancient pledge, "My salvation shall not tarry, and I will place
salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory." As there was an inti-
mate connection between the Jews and Gentiles at the time of
our Lord's birth, and as "salvation was of the Jews" — they
being the ordained channel through which mercy was to flow to
the nations of the world at large — so there is an indissoluble
bond between God's chosen people and us Gentile races, until
the time of our Lord's return to earth. So to speak, as we were
once dependent upon the Jews, they are now dependent upon us.
"The restoration of the Jews to Palestine forms the very keystone
to the whole ecclesiastical and political structure of the world,
and is the principal object to be accomplished by the awful events
of the coming years. It is the grand consummation of which
Hebrew prophets spake and Jewish bards sung ; it is emphati-
cally the 'hope of Israel.' and the word of Judah's (iod is
pledged to its accomplishment. " For example, our Lord's words,
occurring in the twenty-first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel —
"And (hey shall fall by the edge (jf the sword, and shall be led
away captive into all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden
d(jwn of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful-
iiiieu iuiCii'ii liie icarnii rrouoie oi liie naliOii, tiieii" WiiuiG-
sale slaughter by the sword, and their thraldom as the fettered
'aptives of foreign pi
swor
ince
But the verse not only announces their
try so ,\d to , . T; '"■"^' " ""■"■ ""'''■ *■'■'"" """ '•"".-,-
i«™i i,v ai ;. ' \ ; ;;n;;' ""■ ■"•^" ■•■-i - .i, ,,„.
words: ■■ 1- .r r 1, d m:^^ r '""'T-'' '" "'"•" '"-'""'"Mo
"f -i'i» ."y.«.e V fc vo ;,,u di:"'': """. •"■ ^'""■''' '«■ iK ■-"
M. ftw//™ ,.'.,,:'/ •••''''v::;'' '^'t' ,"":/' "''/""''™ '; ■
.ho fi„,e, of th.. G ,;/,, :, ,""''"i"''""l'""'-.i".o.ncM. that
Olio iinotRT. — tlmi nliii ,,„„ . -*^ '"•;•'"'■ are eqiiivalont to
.I.O wliolo tJno, of S i t rr "'•","' ""^ """•'■• l''-^""
•I'o obHTV.tio, of S, ! ' „ '-"l'^"-'"' >• «•'"" wl.at ,,n.eo,ie» •
.Lose c^x,uv.sio„/,, ,,-: I, :■,:",:,?,•"■'•■/•'' •"• ^"""^^^ """
tilo nations i,„ o,n,onnnifv t , , "^ for sning the (,on-
ploted, ,,n,l Go '7 2. .';■■' "" '^fP,'-'' "^"^ '*«" ™"'-
B,„ial S..,. !,.'■; ;„;;7?f'" <l'« .';oan.ifol Coiki i'n the
lonjto,. hanish V , , , , '""-''"'"• "'"' f^>™' «''"" '«> "o
.*od af.,.,- i,i,„. ,1 J ,;:■""' i'";'' "' -^'"•''''"" ="«' w*
will Ik: it.s i.,.„o_t;,, , '•';''■ T ' '"''If P"''I"'»-"'-»-l'at
i-K,oo. ,., ofton ,no.od'i::7 :„d':" '';,fi';:^-^i';' ■■"'' -''*-
Lord shall '„vc.. tho .'ot, .,s , '-' '^"""■'■•'iK'i of tlio
••'I- l<i'.,^'h.mso I," -h;\ iT ''" "',"■';.""' '""•" ^d
'.".•■i .-ii.d .,:• His ( I,,.' "i . ■ ' i "■"""" "" '''"«■'•""» "four
.-i. of .»,■ /.,„.,-/'., ,.„„;,.■„ ,,!:.,;-.,';, HIT' ''"""■■"' "'" •■^-
this assor, ; i, , ,„,. -,,,"' ''"' '"":'"■ "'■'■ "-ti.Monios to
«> >' .litiof,:'':;:,'':;:'^'';.'' '■'""'■ '-'■■' mref,.ro„.o
"•I..-., iho .Son of .^!an ,,,,,,; , '%'•",'"."!",— -V"vo,tl,oloss
<^hristifuis. ]
"• i;n- rroMi say,,,^ tluif all tl.Mi,M,ti!(>s
liiu iiiac-
H^ cxpnwlv >n
ppnvos thnt fli
will ]
'ocome
<' ''"livrrsioti ,,f tl„. .fp
w.-.
will have an important influence in extendinj^ the (iospel anionj^
the Gentiles. "Now, if the fall of them be the ri he-; cf flic
world, and the diminishing of them the riches of th"' Lu'ntiles,
how much more their fullness.'' It is evident, then, tha a the
period of the restoration of the Jews there will he souk; (Joiitdes
yet unconverted, and amongst whom the Jews may laltor. The
*' fullness of the Gentiles" cannot therefore mean the entire sub-
mission of them all to the (Jospel, since the Jews are clearly to
be converted l)efore that takes place, and themselves become
instrumental in their conversion.
To return, then, to the point. The times of the Gentiles
being fulfilled, spoken of by our Lord, and the fuUno>,- of the
Gentiles spoken of by the Ajwstle, must mean the gathcr:n;r out
from the Gentiles a people for Himself. Until this time, "Je-
rusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles." says our
Saviour; until this time, " blindness in part is happened unto
Israel." What are the C(jrroborative facts V Has not the Holy
Land, the sacred city, been in possession of the Gentih> world '!
Is it not an historic truth indelibly mipressed upon the mind
and memory of every youth, that Jerusalem has been the prey of
Turks, Infidels and heretics '.'' Is thei-e a story more prominent
in the world's annals than the wars of the Crusaders '! Who
knows not that the seat of Judah's kings and Jadah's priests
has been the battle ground for almost every people, or that to
this day the lawful owners are excluded from the most revered
spot in their loved and yet far-famed city '( Are not these
things so patent to the world that they are familiar as the lan-
guage which we speak ? and is it not equally true that a total
blindness has happened to a part of Israel ; aye, to the greater
part ; that while some few have acknowledged the man of Naza-
reth as their Messiah ; while a part of the nation — small indeed —
have received Jesus as their Saviour and their King, a com-
plete blindness has taken possession of the great mass t Yes I
these things are just what we should look for, for they are just
what our Lord and His Aj)ostlcs foretold. And so they are to
remain until "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled," or, until
the " fullne.s8 of the Gentiles be come in."
That Jeiiisalem is no longer to be trodden down by other
nations, and ihaL ilie tribes of Israel are no longer to continue in
blindness when this takes place, may not only be inferred but le-
gitimately proved by the simplest process of rea,<!oning on one
6
|);is<a^re already (lUf.led. Our Lord sajs, " thoy shall fall by the
• diro of tho swonl." Let every historian from Josophus down to
tlio liifo Icainod an<l lamented Hallam be cited as witnesses to
Us tiuti, : " Tlicy ,m!iu11 be led a.-ay captive into all nations;"
tail up even the inHdels Gibbon and Hume, and they shall l)ear
iinof|uivoeal thoiij^h unwillinp; testimony that the man of Naza-
rf'th " declared thin^r.s for to come," with a prescienc.' that could
'»nly be divine. " Anrl Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
(-.entdes": ask even children to tell the talc of wild and bar-
barous conflict in the Holy City, or read from the modern press
the unseemly rpuirrels over the so-called sepulchre of Jesus,
which kindled the flame of the Crimean war. Is all this to be
lite-ally understood and the remainder to be spiritualized ? Is it
not unplied in all fairness that these things are only to occur
until a certain period, which period arrived, the exiled captives
shai! return. As surely as they are to be banished while these
events continue, so surely when they cease will their banishment
cease also.
But what Hhrn have we that the times of the Gentiles are near
their fulfilment V Or have we any that the fulness of the Gen-
tiles is well nigh complete, and therefore the restoration of the
Jews not far distant ? There are some which, at least, seem to
be indications ; which, to a devout mind, are solemn warnings.
No doubt, strange things have before occurred in the world, —
plagues and pestilences, famines and earthquakes, wars and
rumors of wars, distress of nations and perplexity, together with
men's hearts failing them for fear,— all these things have been,
and have aroused the attention of thoughtful and the fear of timid
men. But the Christian student of prophecy i6 looking now not
to these things alone, although more prevalent in their combi-
nation than ever before, but, in connection with them, to certain
defined truths in reference to the spread of Christianity, or more
guardedly to express it. the preaching of the Gos])el, and to cer-
tain marks of time specified in Holy Writ, by which he thinks
that he at least approximates the truth.
As It would answer, perhaps, no especial purpose to follow in
the ordinary and Ijeaten track in order to show the fulfilment of
prophecy in general, (a subject so frequently handled of late in
religious periodicals as to be tolerably familiar, ) I will confine
my observations to two central points ; first, to the fact of the
U^ospel being preached for a witness unto all nations, and second-
ly, to the chronology of the prophet<«.
Ill (rontinnation of the first prodit'tion In'ing near its ciiri-
plotion. we liav«' the testimony of in«st crrdililc witncs-cs. Tiu-
gigantic! efforts of our own branch of the ('h\irch of (Mirist to ful-
til its saere<l mission, press themselves ujxin our notice liy every
mail from Knghiml. That parent of all such in>titutions, wIki.-o
labors are so con>o!iant with its name, " The Society for the
Propagation of the (iospel in Foreign Parts," is leavitig no effort
unusetl to usher into India a hand of (Uiristian heralds to j)ro-
claim (Jod's message of men y, to preach the (i(»sj)el for a savor
of life unto life, (»r of death unto death. The Church Missionary
Society keeps pace in the noble cause. The (^hristian zeal and
enthusiasm of the O.xford and Cambridge Mi.s.si(»n to Central
Africa, opened up by tlie labors of the intrepid and unw(;aried
Livingstone, speak in loudest terms the love of (Jod she<l aiiroad
in the heart by the Holy (ihost. The many devices for making
known th'' way of salvation, and the solf-ilenying labors of a host
of servants for Christ in the great cities, the provincial towns and
the country villages, are manifestations that " knowledge is in-
creased." The open-air preaching, the 'sits to the long-neg-
lected and obscure in the hidden haunts of vice, the schools of
industry and the houses of relief, the multiplication of churches
and religious schools, are sweeping away the cause of the
unbeliever's sarcastic censure, that while the heathen abroad are
cared for, the heathen at home are left to perish.
The display of Bibles in 147 languages at the Great Exhi-
bition held in London in 1851, and the Annual Reports of all
the Missionary Societies, unite their testimony to the great truth
that the glad tidings of salvation are already well-nigh proclaimed
as a witness to all the nations of the earth.
In calling attention to the chronological dat;i, permit me to
refer to the above article, reprinted from the Times, of Nov. 3d,
1859. The fact of that confessedly greatest periodical of the
age devoting its columns to a discussion on the study of prophe-
ay, is in itself one of the most remarkable signs of the times.
The essay is a brief review of three books which attracted more
than ordinary notice, written by men whose names are well-
known to the world — Elliott, Gumming, and Lord Carlisle — the
first two clergymen, the last a layman. " The Great Tribu-
lation," by Dr. Gumming, has not yet reached this country,
(except perhaps some private parties), and we, therefore, know
nothing of it but that which is to be gleaned trom papers and
magazines. The " Horae Apocalypticae," however, by the Rev.
K. B. Kllinft. A. M., of which the fourth edit
in 1 K.")l , lias Ihtii for
soiiif years wi
II k
ion was |iultli>,hi'il
iiown 111 this l'r(<viii(;<'
And it may 1." well to state for those who are imt already aware
of tho fact, that the •' Apocalyptic Sketches " hy the lid. .luh
Cuminiii;;. I). D.. ;„•,. simply an epitume of this jVarnwd and eeh
ohn
brat od work. Tl
lOH' Wl
tU'iV.
w
hid
lo cannot |>iocure tlie • Ilora' Apocalyj
1 (•oii>isfs of four frcod-,si/ed voim
lie.-.
•h
ich liaise ot
which re(juires yery dose appli<-ai;oii of the mind, will find in the
Sketch
es
alhide(l to. a mo.-t
icciirate outline or condcn>ation
who liaye rea<
of that profound and elaliorate f eat;-e. All
('umiiiin^r's popularly-rendered lectures in K.xetor Hall. will, if
they hay(! time, take the deeper interest in .Mr. l':iriott'> learned
ros«.'arches.
It is to he ardently hoped that more attention than eyer will
be tinned to this insjiiriim- subject. — the study of prophecy. It
may indeed be that t
le eyennii!: o
f tl
le woi
hi
draws on
apace.
It IS po.vsd)Ie that we haye entered upon the last projihetic week
— the last seyen years of this disj)ensati(m. How solemn and
yet how eheerinnj the thounjht that the day (.f Christ's Adyent is
so clo.se at htnid 1 " Behold, I show you a my.stery : we shall
not all sleep, but wo shall all l-e chani;ed, in a' nit)nient, in the
twinklin^r „f an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be ehanoed."
N. B. That portion of the article in the Times which treats
of the Chrr,n(dogy of Prophecy, was read at the close of these
remark
s.