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The following diagrama llluatrate the method: Lea cartea, planchaa, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmto i dea taux de reduction diffArenta. Loraque le document eat trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un aeul ciichA, il eat fiimA A partir de Tangle aupAriaur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'imagaa nAceaaaire. Lea diagrammea auivanta iliuatrant la mAthode. »y errata ad to int ne pelure, i9on A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 -» o /* : \ :MS^. bl3 4 ^.^.^.^.^..^......^.^.^.^.^.^.^.-..^.^.^..K.^.^.^.^'a' Ai^i^iili PREMILLENNIALtSM -. ,v READ BEFORE THE TORONTO MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION ON 6th FEBRUARY, 1882. , IN RELATION TO REVELATIONS XX. : MO. ,v. >• > ■"^v:;--}^*;^ «''•■'. .^ ., J BY V- .'v- .vvAS-5;^;v-; WILLIAM' MAOLAREK, vK,' -•: PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THE(>LOGY, KNOX COLI K<;K, IORONTO, " I ■ ■ • *■'■ , ■'"•- ; . w - ■ .J ' r ■*. '■ 4- ■'->■ " /.s >,'•).-?■.■ JAUE8 B^ 3 ';.>•,,-;• "■•",•., *ir 'KINSST.WCSTl'i j^V? ^V^ p.; /,_ ,,.-: .- >■ , ■. f . • ■ .i ■:■■ '.^ flW»»MTO. ■-•*t ■,■.'■ ..1 -> / . -1 > ■i'j« > ; "i^- .yH "i 1 .]k 'A ■1 V!' |iiiii n iyiiiiii»ipi^ n pii n g n ii»itiyi>ifiyi»i»i»ifi i ipii n fi i ifi»ifiifipi»< '-.n. -•d'. \u.' -J -v ,■•' ^ ,■'■.' < x;- !• ,'■ jli'\i- ■ .,• ■•-<" .1..-. , ..,V:'- '■!'■: ' - - '■* »' '"! siJ«MES BAIN & SON, '* Publishers, Booksellers I Stationers • <■'•;■, 51 KINO STREET EAST, TORONTO. ;; -> ^ ■J' * British and American Stationery ^ li ■?!:; JTj^ Commercial and Job Printing^, , „ Printing:.>y. -i^.-'>- ■■•n^^';- 5S^?^> ■ % Magazines and Periodicals regularly supplied. •^ ;'• Communion Rolls. $1 and $1.2^ each. ::^ ' iJ^-^^^' ;^ ' . .; .;'•> ^.i^^ "•-.'; ^--V- vt' Baptism Registers, 75c., $1 and $1.25 each. ,y*. ;f V, A'-.i' Marriage Certificates, in books, 30c., 50c. and 90c. i^i^ y Certificates of Membership, in books, 50c , 75c., and $1. ';'^> ^> . .-^^.J■■ v> J^cto iSession, Presbytery and Synod Records, from $1 up. ■ ^^K^'^'^'Stt : :i^H Sermpn Paper, $2, $2.50, and $3 per Ream. Weekly Offerings Ledger, $1.50. ',i^:' /^- >':^^ v,^-..-- ..• :^.- . . .. . Sabbath School Attendance Books, Catechisms, Tickets ''^' '---^-'MfX^^.. -:..-....:. . . .....a;-;-and Prize Books. ,v.--^.s. ■■..•,,«' ../' 'V .0 ;*' ■fi- ->">>:-i '■■< f ■ I^ISP"^ INTERNATIONAL LESSON SHEETS, 60 Cents r-v 100. .-w- *.-*>">' .1. ■ A' - V n" \ • ■■'.'- ■ \ '-^r .*" ' — ^T^ — ■ . — ,.. ... X 'j,/- ■;»; v.- •■. • .'.'-SYS''. :li^'&^iV''?^>^' C^^^'-S^ BATEMAWS; SANKEY'S, AND :':^^0:^^i^:j§\,;.^'^u, 'W ^ ,-^>^^- CANADA PRESBYTERIAN HYMN BOOKS. vSiWv AGENTS t^OR PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, f ■ ■. 1.' ■ ..*. PREMILLENNIALISM IN RELATION TO REVELATIONS XX. : MO. ^ f »l>fv HEAD BEFORE THE TORONTO MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION ON 6rH FEBRUARY, 1S82. BY WILLIAM MAOLAREIN*, PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THE(>LOGY, KNOX COLLEGE, lORONTO. TORONTO ; JAMES BAIN & SON, 53 KINO STREET EASI'. 1882. '1 Toror terest which profiti who I seen its pi sentei no ca frank read, sentii think whicl addu they Wor( scrip Advi of SI For, have Prer wha PREFATORY NOTE. The following paper was read before a large meeting of the Toronto Ministerial Association, and was discussed with much in- terest at two successive meetings by the brethren. The interest which the topic excited has led me to think that a wider circle might profitably have their attention directed to it. Several of the brethren who heard the paper read, and others from a distance who had seen it noticed in the daily papers, have expressed a desire for its publication. I have therefore revised it, and added a few sentences to bring out my meaning more clearly. I have seen no cause, in any case, to modify the views originally expressed. The frank interchange of opinion which took place after the paper was read, gave every opportunity for brethren po differed from me in sentiment, to point out what was unsatisfact*. / in the paper. But, I think, it mist have been apparent, even to themselves, that nothing which seriously touched any of the positions, I have laid down, was adduced. I send forth these pages with increased confidence that they are fitted to aid in elucidating an important passage of God's Word, and that they are adapted to help enquirers in attaining more scriptural views, both of the time and of the object of Christ's Second Advent. The ground covered by this paper is verj' small, but it is of such vital moment, that it goes far to settle the whole discussion. For, if the literal interpretation of Rev. xx : i-io fails to teach, as I have endeavoured to show, what is essential as a foundation for the Premillennial theory, there are no other passages which can supply what is here lacking. Toronto, loth March, 1882. Rev. XX: i-io and Premillennialism. Premillennialism is bound up with the literal interpretation of this passage. This is the only place where the Scriptures even seem to speak of two resurrections, separated from each other by a length- ened period, and here alone is there reference to a reign of Christ with his saints, limited to a thousand years. 15ut these points are so essential to the Premillennial theory that, as any one who reflects can perceive, there can be no Premillennialism without them. Premillennialists, however, maintain that this passage teaches there shall be two distinct resurrections, separated from each other, by, at least, a millennium, and that the saints shall rise in the first resurrection and reign with Christ, on earth, for a thousand years. After that, the wicked shall be raised up and judged. It is undeniable that these points are not definitely taught in any other portion of the Word of God, and it is not, we think, over- stating the matter to say, that many other Scriptures seem, according to their natural sense, entirely inconsistent with the truth of these positions. It is claimed, however, by Premillennialists that two resurrections and the literal reign of Christ and his risen saints upon earth for a thousand years, are so distinctly revealed here that they must be accepted as facts, and must rule our interpretation of all prophecy, and also govern our views of many plain didactic portions, of Scripture. Mr. Birks, speaking in reference to this passage, says, " It is enough that one clear statement should be given, before the inspired volume closed, which might serve as a key to all the other prophecies, and brighten into fuller and fuller evidence, when the time of the fulfilment should be drawing near." Birks, however, is not the only author of this class who regards Rev. xx : i-io, as the key to interpret prophecy. Some time ago, there came into my hands a small tract, of a few pages, by an author who has written somewhat largely on prophecy. It is entitled " A K ey to Open the Main Lock of Prophecy," and the first page is adorned with the representation of a key so large in proportion to the whole produc- tion, as to suggest the thought that, if this key were in a vigourous hand and did not happe'^ to fit the wards of the lock, the lock might receive a terrible wrench. In glancing over this rather minute trea- tise, I soon discovered that the potent key which is to unlock the entire range of Old and New Testament prophecy is the passage to whicli I have ventured to call your attention, or rather, to speak more exactly, the Premillennial interpretation of it. I could never see any reason why these verses sSould have such a commanding influence assigned to them in the interpretation of Scripture. It has alawys appeared to me a more natural procedure to interpret the utterances of a comparatively obscure, symbolic book by the plain statements of other portions of the Word of God, than to invert the process, and to interpret the clear by the obscure. Be this as it may, there can be no question that in the hands of Premil- lennialists, this key is made to work marvellous changes in the views which ordinary Christians gather from the plain teachings of other portions of the Bible. To illustrate : it has been the common faith of the church of Christ, from the beginning, that the Scriptures teach a second personal advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is evident to ordinary readers of the Bible, that Christ " shall come a second time, without sin unto salvation." And this exhausts their faith on the topic. But the Premillennialist, with the aid of this key, has dis- covered no less than three advents of Christ, yet future. He shall come a second time/^r his saints, a third time, with his saints, and a fourth time after the millennium, to judge the wicked from the great white throne. To affirm, as some Premillennialists do, that these three future Advents, demanded by their theory, are only different stages of " the whole return " of Christ to the earth, is to abuse lan- . guage, in order to conceal the unscriptural features of the theory. If three Advents, each having appropriated to it a distinctive work, and separated by lengthened periods of diverse character, can be counted as one, then we can see no reason why the First and Second Ad- vents of Christ should not be reckoned as different stages of the same coming of our Lord. It is to be feared that writers of the school to which we are adverting, often impose both on themselves and on their readers, by confounding together the three future advents in- volved in their theory. Rev. Dr. J. H. Brookes, in a paper which he conirib.ites to '• Premillennial Essays," quotes no less tlian one //////int is supplied by an earlier chapter of the Apocalypse itself. In chap, xi, 7-12, the death and resurrection of the two witnesses is described in language which demands a literal interpretation quite as clearly as Rev. xx, i-io, yet the great majority of the best commentators, including many Premillennialists, like Elliott, do not believe that the literal death and subsequent resurrection of two individual witnesses is there foretold. Some explain it of the extinction, through persecu- tion, of two lines of witnesses, and of their practical resurrection when Luther and his coadjutors appeared upon the stage. Moses Stuart is specially emphatic in rejecting the literal interpretation of the prophecy of the two witnesses. He writes : " That literally two and only two witnesses were to appear in these times of peculiar wickedness ; that they were to be literally raised from the dead and to ascend into heaven, etc., we need not strive to disprove in com- menting on such a book as the Apocalypse." Commentary, p. 599. It does seem rather strange that in commenting on the same book, a few chapters farther on, he should have found it necessary to believe that it teaches, in direct opposition to the apparent scope of Scripture, a literal resurrection of the martyrs a thousand years before the rest of mankind. This example of a figurative resurrec- tion in the Apocalypse itself should prepare our minds for accepting it here. We observe : 3. That the sequence 0/ thought in the passage and its context is exactly what the figurative interpretation demands. (i.) In the close of last chapter (xix, iJ-21), we have brought before us a great battle between Christ and his followers, and the beast and his followers. But, however realistic the description of the contest, the battle, in which the armies of heaven and of earth meet, and in which the slaughter is effected by the sword which pro- ceedeth out of Christ's mouth (v. 21), is not an ordinary battle, fought with carnal weapons. It is only in so far as antagonistic spiritual principles bring about, as they often do incidentally, a pliysical conflict, that the physical element can be recognized in this battle. In its distinctive character, it is a conflict between the powers of light and of darkness. The issue of the contest is that the beast and the false prophet are utterly overthrown and cast into the lake of fire, and their followers, who are here styled the remnant ^ 14 (ol AoiTTot), are slain with the sword wliich proceedeth out of Christ's mouth. The cause which they espoused is dead. This is the state of matters when the twentieth chapter opens. (2.) Then follows \.\\q binding of Satan, and his imprisonment in the abyss for a thousand years, in order that he may deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are finished, when he shall be loosed for a little season. It is not necessary, to our present purpose, to decide, or to attempt to decide, the exact realities represented by this binding and imprisonment, which so effectually arrest the power of the tempter. Temptation may be rendered powerless over us, either when removed from us, or when we get such abundant grace and strength that we rise completely superior to its malign potency. Whether this binding is to be accomplished by the fiat of the Omnipotent placing some restraint on the great adversary, or by the bestowal of such abundant grace upon men that his temptations shall everywhere practically lose their power over them, the result will be substantially the same. (3.) When Satan is thus bound, then the martyrs rise and reign. When the foes of Christ vvere triumphant, they were put to death. Now, when the enemies of Christ have been overthrown and slain, and Satan put under restraint, they seem everywhere to came to life and triumph. This is a natural, we might say. almost a necessary sequence, if the resurrection is spiritual, or figurative, but not otherwise. For surely God can raise the dead in spiritual bodies, and render them forever secure whether Satan is bound, or not ! But God cannot raise and render triumphant the cause which the martyrs sustained, without binding Satan practically. And, if the binding of Satan, in the sense of external restraint, is necessary to the highest success of the cause of God, then the binding accord- ing to the figurative interpretation, sustains to what follows the rela- tion of a means to an end, whereas upon the other view it sustains to it no relation save that oi Juxtaposition. But observe : (4.) That the rest of the dead (ot XotToi), live again at the the end of the thousand years. These are the remnant of ch xix : 21. where the same phrase is used in the Greek. When this vision opened they were dead^ but we are led to expect that they will again reviv the < We mille his p vast mak( had lives, rectic visio two one ness the< who ever 15 revive. For we are informed in verse 5, that '* the rest (ol Xoittoi) of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." We are led, therefore, to expect their reappearance at the close of the millennium. This is exactly what we find. Sutan is loosed out of his prison, and goes forth to deceive the nations, and gradually a vast revolution is effected, and open, flagrant rebellion against God makes its appearance. The party which during the thousand years, had disappeared from view, once more comes inio the ascendant. It lives, but its resuscitation is not dignified with the name of a resur- rection. For wickedness, even when active, is a form of death. This vision, extending from the fourth verse to the end of the tenth, covers two distinct periods, one long and the other comparatively short, the one a reign of righteousness and the other an outbreak of ungodli- ness. It opens with the resurrection of the martyrs, and closes with the overthrow of the wicked, and with the final destruction of Satan who is c?st into the lake of fire to be '* tormented day and night fur ever and ever," v. 10. . (5.) Then follows, in another vision, vs. 11-15, Xht general resur- rection, where all the dead, the great and the small, stand before God, and the general judgment, where all mankind are judged according to their works. The books are opened and another book which is the book of life, that those written in it may receive their portion. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." v. 15. In chapters twenty-one and twenty-two, there is presented to us, in new visions, the final abode of the righteous, on which John expatiates more largely. It may be said that, if, in the closing vision of the twentieth chapter, we have a representation of the general judgment, of the righteous as well as of the wicked; why are not the rewards of the righteous set forth along with the doom of the ungodly ? This objection overlooks what, at this stage, was presented to the eye of John in vision. " And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them." v. II. Where then could the righteous be sent to enjoy their por- tion ? The earth and the heaven have disappeared from the fore- ground of vision. The lake of fire, seen in the last vision, is still visible, but with this exception, every thing else on which the pro- phet's eye had rested, seems to have vanished. And now the entire prophetic panorama is filled with the great white throne and him who sits upon it, and the countless myriads of the dead, great and :(J small who stand in serried ranks before the Judge. It is not until the opening verse of the next chapter, that the prophetic panorama moves on, and it becomes possible to present to the eye the rewards of the righteou". Then John writes, " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." And immediatt^ly after, ho adds, " And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, oniing down from (iod, out of heaven, pre- pared as a bride adorned for her husband," and then throughout almost two entire chapters he expatiates on the glory of the city and the blessedness of its inhabitants. It is instructive to notice that this view of the passage brings us to the exa :t order of events indicated by the teaching of our Lord in crnnection with the final judgment. According to Premil- lennianism, Christ, at his Second Advent, comes for his saints, and takes them out of the world, leaving the wicked behind. Then, after the Millennium, and after the righteous have, in some way not explained, been judged and blessed, all the wicked are raised up and judged by themselves from the great white throne. You will observe that in the parable of the wheat and the tares, our Lord reverses this order of events in the most express and definite terms, " Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the ^-eapers, gather first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn." Matt, xiii : 30. In the explanation of the parable given by our Lord, the same order is insisted upon. " The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend and do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt, xiii : 41-43. In that striking description of the last judgment in Matt, xxvj: 31-46,* where all nations are represented as gathered simultaneously at Christ's bar, and separated according to their personal character, *The attempts which Preniilleniannists have made to evade the force of the testimony of Matt, xxv : 31-46. to a general judgment, at the Second Coming of Christ, are among the saddest exhibitions which the history of Bible interpreta- tion presents. The favorite mode of bringing this passage into harmony with the theory is to represent it as foretelling a judgment upon the liotng nations. But in what sense are the living nations to be judged ? Is it to be a personal judgment upon each individual, according to his character and works? By no means. It would be just as difficult, upon the Premillennial theory, to find a place 17 and rewarded according to their works, tlie eternal rewards meted out, are executed upon the righteous and the wicked in the same order. " And these shall go away into ereruisting punishmeut, but the righteous into life eternal" Matt, xxv : 46. The order, Ihcretore, to whicii we are conducted by the figura- tive interpretation of Rev. xx : i-io, is precisely that foreshown by Christ himself. The wicked are first separated and cast into the lake of fire, and then " the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." In 2 Thess. i : 6-10, the apostle looking forward to the Second Advent of Christ, and the judgment then to be executed on the righteous and the wicked, arranges the events in the same order as our Lord has done in Matthew's Gospel. And Paul in this one passage repeats the fact of the punishment of the wicked, and the rewarding of the righteous, in the same order, as if to show that it was no fortuitous arrangement he had followed, while the bestowal both of the punishment and of the reward is linked in time with the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven at his Second Advent. It is only necessary to read the passage and mark the order of events as laid down by Paul, to recognize the value of this testimony : "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense, (i) tribula. tion to them that trouble you ; and (2) to you who are troubled rest with us ; when the Lord y^esus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming firey (i.) 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 for such a judgment of the living nations, as for a judgment upon the entire race, at one grand assize. What then is meant by this judgment of the living nations ? It is something of the nature of national judgments. Those terrible visitations which God often sends upon masses of men, or communities, are of this order. Famine, pestilence and war are familiar examples. What are the distinguishing features of //aZ/cwrt/ judgments ? (i.) They are indiscriminate. Within their sphere, they smite all classes of the community. The bad and the good are alike liable to suffer from them. (2.) Their punish- ments are temporal. Nations exist only in this world, and can be punished only in time. Nations have no future life, in which they can either enjoy rewards or suffei punishments. It seems almost incredible that any man can read Matt. xxv : 31-46 and not perceive that what is there described lacks every feature of a national judgment, and possesses the very opposite characteristics. (l) it K discriminating and personal. Men are separated from each other according to their moral character, and their relation to Christ. Then they &-f rewarded according to their works. Each is dealt with personally. (2.) The rewards and punishments meted out are eternal. *' These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." To apply the language of this sublime description to mere national judgments is not ta interpret, but to pervert Scripture. 18 presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power ; when Jle shall come (2) to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them tliat believe," etc. The order of events so definitely taught by Christ, and so dis- tinctly followed by Paul, coinciding so remarkiibiy with the order required by the figurative interpretation of Rev. xx : i-io, should be some evidence for those who value God's word above theory, that we have found the real key to this important section of Scrip- ture. It is also apparent — 4. That this passage is, in various respects, inconsistent with the literal view of the first resurrection. (1). The literal view makes the promise, " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power," v. 6, a mere truism. Surely it is not necessary to assure the readers of God's Word, that those raised up in spiritual and glorified bodies, shall not be cast into the lake of fire, and ex- posed to the pains of the second death, v. 14. But, if the first resurrection points to the possession by multitudes of a certain character and spirit in the present life, then we can discover a mean- ing in the promise, and see its parallel in the announcement, " He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." Rev, li: 11. (2). It makes the limitation of the reign of the saints with Christ to a thousand years seem unaccountable. Christ's kingdom is re- peatedly declared to be an everlasting kingdom. "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." — Dan. vii, 18. See also Is. vii, 7 ; Dan. ii, 44 ; Luke i, 32-33 ; Heb. i, 8. Why then limit their reign with Christ to a thousand years ? If this points to a period during which the Church enjoys marked prosperity, the limitation is easily under- stood ; but if it refers to the reign of the redeemed with Christ, con- sidered in itself, we see no reason why they should be said to reign for a thousand years, when they shall reign with him through eternity. It has been said that the limitation has reference to the persons over whom they reign. The misfortune is that the passage says nothing of their reigning over any body. It afiirms simply that "they reigned with Christ." I am aware it is sometimes said that the very word " reign " necessarily implies persons over whom the saints reign. This, however, indicates an imperfect acquaintance with the usage 7i>hen J/e all them :i so dis- lie order should theory, of Scrip- with the 1 holy is rid death ssary to spiritual and ex- the first I certain a mean- It, "He V. li: II. h Christ m is re- saints of dom for 7 ; Dan. gn with g which ' under- ist, con- eign for lity. It ns over hing of ed with ' word reign. ! usage 19 of that word in the Holy Scriptures. When Paul, in Rom. v, 1 7, says, ** Much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall rei^n in life by one, Jesus Christ," there is no implication of persons over whom they reign. See also I. Cor., iv, 8 ; Rev. xxii, 5. (3). The opening of the book of life clearly indicates that those whose names are written in it are then to be made known ; but what can be the meaning of this if a large portion of them have already been reigning with Christ visibly before men for more than a thQusand years ? (4). The language of verse 4 is not, as we have seen, sufficiently comprehensive to include all "the dead in Christ," i. Thess., 4,-i6 ; and the language of verses 12-13 is altogether too comprehensive to refer to the resurrection of only one class of men. There is one objection to the figurative view which Premillenni- alists urge with great vehemence. We are told that if the first resur- rection is figurative, so must be the second. In reply, we may say, (i) that we do not consider the conclusion at all alarming. We have seen that there is good reason to believe that the second resurrection, which is implied in the mention of a first, takes place immediately after the thousand years, when Satan is loosed out of his prison and goes forth to deceive the nations. Then the remnant who were slain (chap, xix, 21) evidently come to life again, animated with the same hatred to Christ and his cause, and acting the same part as of old. Premillennialists, like Dallas and Birks, try to find " the rest of the dead," (01 Xoittoi), in the dead, great and small, who stand before the great white throne. But there is nothing in the language to lead us to imagine that only the wicked are included in the resurrection described in such comprehensive terms in vs. 12-13. This idea is not suggested by the words of inspiration, but by the exigencies of a theory. But we reply (2) that there is nc solid foundation for the position that if the first resurrection is figurative, the second must be figurative also. This is a matter which can be decided only by the scope of the writer and the manner in which the subject is handled. I know of no rule of language to prevent an author from exchanging figurative for literal language in the course of a few sentences, and still less am I aware of any law of language to forbid a prophet presenting us with a figurative resurrec- tion in one vision, and with a literal resurrection in another. Nor have we far to seek for an example of this transition from the figura- 20 i > tive to the literal, provided the first resurrection is accepted as literal. For surely no one, Birks and Lord to the contrary notwith. standing, can seriously believe that the slaughter of ch. xix, ai, which was effected by the sword which proceedeth out of Christ's mouth is to be taken literally. But if we can pass from a figurative slaughter to a literal resurrection, we can pass with equal propriety from a figura. tive to a literal resurrection. All figurative language owes much of its force and beauty to our ability to pass consciously, at oflce, from the literal to the figurative, and vice verm. No one deems a familiar song less intelligible because it passes, in a single stanza, from John Brown's body, which lies mouldering in the ground, to his soul which goes marching on. And to draw an illustration from the writings of the same author who penned the Apocalypse, we find in John v, 25-29, that Christ speaks of two resurrections, but all interpreters are agreed that the first is spiritual or figurative, and the second literal. Our Lord, moreover, declares that we must be born again. The first birth was literal, but it does not follow, as Nicodemus imagined, that a man must enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born. This objection, therefore, need disturb no one. We must now close our examination of this important section of God's Word. We have seen that the passage taken literally does not teach what is essential as a foundation for the Premillennial theory. The resurrection spoken of is not connected with Christ's Second Advent ; it does not include all the saints ; and the millen- nial reign is not said to be on earth. We have seen that the figurative interpretation is commended to us by weighty considerations. Not only does the description occur in a book which is largely symbolic, but the opening statements of the chapter, prepare us for a figurative interpretation. The idea of a revival of God's church or cause, under the notion of a resurrection, was familiar to all the readers of the Old Testament, and is used in the eleventh chapter of this book very much as it is here. And the entire sequence of thought in the passage and its context, is that which the figurative or spiritual view demands, and the order of events, thus brought out, is that foreshown by Christ, and announced by the Apostle Paul. We have also seen that in many points the passage is inconsistent with the literal interpretation. When therefore Premillennialism builds its vast prophetic system on the supposed literal teachings of this passage, it presents the ap. pearance of an inverted pyramid. 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