■ I 
 
FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/prophetOObona 
 
PROPHETICAL LANDMARKS. 
 
" I am one of those old-fashioned people who believe the doctrine of the 
 Millennium ; and that there will be two distinct resurrections of the dead ; 
 first, of the just, secondly, of the unjust; which last resurrection of the repro- 
 bate will not commence till a thousand years after the resurrection of the 
 elect. In this glorious interval of one thousand years, Christ, I apprehend, 
 will reign in person over the kingdom of the just." — Toplady, Works, vol. iii. 
 p. 470. 
 
 " The Eevelation teaches (agreeing perfectly with the statements of our 
 Lord and the Apostles) that a period will come in which the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ should not only prevail in secret, but should also gain the victory 
 externally, and found a kingdom of peace and righteousness upon earth. 
 With the arrival of the reign of peace there will be connected, on the one hand, 
 the appearance of Jesus Christ and a resurrection of many saints ; and, on 
 the other, a previous mighty struggle on the part of evil. The principal idea 
 is the perfect return of the supremacy of good, the restoration of the lost 
 Paradise to an earth which has been laid waste by sin." — Olsdausex on the 
 Gospels, vol. i., p. cviii. 
 
PROPHETICAL LANDMARKS; 
 
 xf ' ,; ''^/; 
 
 DATA FOR HELPING TO DETERMINE OCT S 
 THE QUESTION OF 
 
 CHRIST'S PIIE-MILLEMIAL ADVENT. 
 
 BY 
 
 HOKATIUS BONAR, D.D., 
 
 KELSO. 
 
 my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?" 
 
 Dan. xii. S. 
 
 €&ic& Edition, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. 
 
 M.DCCC.LX 
 
edinburgh : 
 
 printed by bai.lantyne and company, 
 
 Paul's work. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY, 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY, 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF GOD, 24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TWO CENTRES, 30 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE INTERVAL, 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE ADVENT, 64 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PROOFS OF A TRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT, . . . 81 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES, 11G 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY, 134 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS, . . . .149 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE PROPHETIC STYLE, 162 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE TYPES, 194 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ISRAEL, 228 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ANTICHRIST, 286 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SIGNS, 304 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I do not mean this volume for a controversial one. 
 It touches, no doubt, upon controverted points, and to 
 that extent must partake of this character. But I have 
 striven to avoid the attitude of disputation as much as 
 possible, and to treat with respect the judgment of 
 brethren in Christ who differ from me. 
 
 I have read most of the works written against the 
 system here maintained. They are very few in num- 
 ber. What may be the reason of this, I do not under- 
 take to say. I have not referred to any of them by 
 name, nor quoted their language ; but I have endea- 
 voured to state fairly the substance of their argu- 
 ments. 
 
 In reading these, I have been struck with the pecu- 
 liar method of reasoning which they adopt. Their 
 object is rather to disprove our hypothesis than to 
 prove their own. They take for granted that if Mil- 
 lennarianism be overthrown!, then their system must 
 come in its place as a matter of course, without any 
 further proof. They do not build up nor fortify their 
 
VU1 PEEFACE. 
 
 own system so much as they try to overturn that of 
 their opponents. Hence their theory does not stand 
 upon direct textual proof from Scripture in its favour, 
 but upon the supposed absence of proof for the op- 
 posite. 
 
 Assuming that Millennarianism is in its very nature 
 impossible, and therefore not capable of being proved, 
 they endeavour to turn the edge of Millennarian expo- 
 sitions, and to shew that a different sense is possible. 
 But surely this is not all that is needed. Millennari- 
 anism may have no foundation in Scripture ; but still 
 Anti-Millennarianism may be equally baseless. What 
 I desire of our opposing brethren is, that they would 
 produce the direct positive texts on which they ground 
 their theory ; not on which they rest their opposition 
 to our theory, but on which they build their own. All 
 the length they have advanced as yet is, that our sys- 
 tem is false, and that theirs may be true. It remains 
 that they prove from Scripture that theirs must be 
 true. They have not done this. But surely, both 
 logically and theologically, their reasoning is at fault 
 till they do so. 
 
 Besides, in reference to most of the disputed pas- 
 sages, the ground which they take up appears to me 
 very narrow and insecure. Our position is, that the 
 texts in question must be interpreted in a certain way, 
 and do not admit of another sense. We may be wrong 
 in this; but such, at least, is our position. What, 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 then, is the counter position ? Only that they may be 
 interpreted differently ; that certain doctrines (sup- 
 posed to be in jeopardy) demand a different sense, and 
 that the passages themselves admit of it. Now, these 
 passages are the hinges of the whole question. They 
 can have but one true meaning ; a meaning to be 
 determined not by general inferences from collateral 
 doctrines, but from the examination (textual and con- 
 textual) of the words themselves. If, then, we main- 
 tain that the principles of sound interpretation compel 
 us to adopt the literal view, why do our brethren not 
 take up the opposite position, and say that these same 
 principles compel them to adopt another sense ? Why 
 do they stop short of this, and merely say that they do 
 not feel constrained to adopt our meaning, for that the 
 passages admit of another ? Why do they not oppose 
 their "must be" to our "must be?" If their theory 
 be thoroughly invulnerable, and ours as thoroughly 
 feeble, why do they not venture upon a more positive 
 method of interpretation ? 
 
 Let me illustrate my meaning by reference to a 
 passage which I have taken up at length in the seventh 
 chapter. I mean 2 Thess. ii. 8. It is one of the most 
 conclusive that has been adduced in the discussion ; 
 not only because it is clear and pointed in itself, but 
 because it occurs in a plain epistle, and not in any 
 book of figure or symbol. Its testimony to a Pre- 
 Millennial Advent appears to me irresistible. Our 
 
X PEEFACE. 
 
 position respecting it is, that, if there be certainty in 
 language, consistency in statement, and coherence in 
 argument, the expression "bkightness of His com- 
 ing " must refer to the literal Advent. How, then, is 
 this met ? Not by shewing that it cannot do so, or by 
 proving that it does not imply this, but simply by try- 
 ing to shew that the words may mean something else. 
 This surely is a very feeble and indirect way of meet- 
 ing our statements. Nor do I think it the fair method, 
 either logically or scripturally. Respecting such an 
 important passage, something more decided and direct 
 ought to be produced. It should at least be shewn 
 that our interpretation is wrong, and not simply that 
 another is possible. For what is this but an admission 
 that the natural sense of the passage is on our side, 
 and only the non-natural on the other ? * And if the 
 natural and probable sense be ours, and only the non- 
 natural and possible be theirs, can we hesitate in decid- 
 ing which of the two is according to the mind of the 
 Spirit ? 
 
 The general line of argument adopted by Anti-Mil- 
 lennarians appears to me both unsound and unsafe. 
 They argue that Millennarianism is in itself so carnal, 
 so absurd, so inconsistent with other doctrines, that it 
 
 * No Post-Millennialist has attempted to shew that our interpre- 
 tation of this passage is false, or unlikely, or unnatural. All they 
 assert is, that another is possible/ And thus they "get over" the 
 difficulty. Would it not be better to yield to it ? 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 cannot be believed. Hence they approach Scripture 
 with such a bias, that one can scarcely ex])ect a calm 
 and thorough examination of the passages under dis- 
 cussion. But even though the bias were not so inju- 
 rious, still the method of procedure is inadmissible. 
 If the question be one purely of Scripture interpreta- 
 tion, then no previous ideas of our own as to the 
 nature of the doctrine ought to be allowed to weigh 
 with us. Our inquiry simply is, What has God writ- 
 ten ? It is unfair, it is illogical, nay, it is deeply sin- 
 ful, to come to the consideration of an important doc- 
 trine w T ith minds so pre-occupied ivith the conviction 
 that it cannot be proved, that the weighing of evidence 
 is altogether unnecessary. If the case is one of evi- 
 dence, let us either fairly and scrupulously weigh that 
 evidence, or else decline to enter on it. But let us not 
 undertake to weigh it when we have previously, and 
 upon other grounds, settled the whole question. 
 
 It is most unsafe to make our ideas of the possible 
 our standard in measuring Scripture. It is clear that, 
 in such a case, we are dictating to God, and not sub- 
 mitting to be taught by Him. I know not a more 
 melancholy instance of this than Dr Bush, of America, 
 in his recent work upon the resurrection. He sets out 
 in the same track which many Anti-Millennarians have 
 adopted, viz., that the doctrine in question is an im- 
 possibility. " The physiological fact," he writes, " of 
 the constant change which our bodies are undergoing, 
 
XU PKEFACE. 
 
 is irreconcileably at war with the tenet of the resur- 
 rection of our bodies/' * Commencing by an attempt 
 to prove that resurrection cannot be, he then goes on 
 to shew how those passages which speak of it are to 
 be interpreted, so as not to teach it. The replies to 
 his work which we have seen, at once assail him here 
 as most illogical in the arrangement of his argument. 
 They tell him that he is no judge of what is possible 
 or impossible. They admit the difficulties implied in 
 a resurrection, (difficulties far greater than any which 
 Millennarianism contains,) but they leave these in the 
 hands of God. Is anything too hard for Him ? They 
 tell him, also, that the object of his book is to recon- 
 cile Scripture to a preconceived theory of his own. 
 Such are precisely our answers to Anti-Millennarian 
 works, most of which set out with similar assumptions, 
 and go over nearly the same ground as the American 
 Professor. We say that such a method of reasoning is 
 unsound and untenable ; that man is no judge of the 
 possible or the impossible ; that difficulties are nought 
 to God ; and that nothing can be more dangerous than 
 to attempt to reconcile Scripture to a theory of our 
 own. We see to what lengths this method of arguing 
 has conducted Dr Bush, and we ought to be upon our 
 guard against applying that method to any revealed 
 doctrine whatsoever. 
 
 There is another American Professor to whom I 
 * P. 390. 
 
PREFACE. X11L 
 
 would refer, in connexion with some of the above re- 
 marks ; I mean Moses Stuart, of Andover. He has 
 recently published a very elaborate Commentary on 
 the Apocalypse. In it he is compelled, as a critic, to 
 admit that the first resurrection, spoken of in the 
 twentieth chapter of that book, is a literal one, and 
 that the words do not admit of being spiritualised. 
 But to compensate for this singular admission, he gives 
 us his opinion very freely upon the merits of Millen- 
 narianism. He calls it " a gross conception ; N an 
 " impossibility," having no " foundation but in the 
 phantasy of the brain." He speaks of " the dreams of 
 men ; " " visionaries of ancient and modern times ; " 
 " phantasies of lively imaginations ; " " enthusiastic 
 visions ; " " idle, yea, worse than idle, fancy dreams ; " 
 " dreams of phantasies of ancient and modern Millen- 
 narians, who make a worldly and sensual kingdom." * 
 I do not cite these expressions to complain of them, 
 far less to retort them. Neither do I refer to them as 
 
 * See vol. ii. pp. 361, 362, 374, 479, 480. I have been struck 
 with the resemblance to Jerome in these expressions. He is per- 
 petually recurring to the Millennarians, and never fails to bestow- 
 some hard epithet upon them ; at the same time he acknowledges 
 that very many (plurima multitude*) even in his day held that doc- 
 trine, — so much so that he tells us that he foresees "the fury which 
 he is likely to raise against himself" in opposing it (ut prcesagd 
 mente jam ccmam quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit). — Jerome, 
 Proem to the Sixty-fifth Chapter of Isaiah. The reference to this 
 passage in Kitto's " Cyclopaedia " is inaccurate, and the translation 
 is second-hand ; but the article on Millennarianism is good and fair. 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 evidences of an unbecoming and uncandid spirit in the 
 Andover Professor; of this I leave others to judge. 
 Nor do I feel aggrieved by the epithets bestowed upon 
 Millennarianism ; they have not tended to persuade 
 me that I am wrong, nor convinced me that I am an 
 enthusiast or a dreamer. I cannot suppose that they 
 will weigh much with any calm and thoughtful mind. 
 If I can only hold fast, and defend what God has 
 written for the instruction of His Church, I shall not 
 be offended at these reproaches ; — reproaches which 
 both in Britain and America are but too common 
 among the assailants of the derided system. The rea- 
 son I have quoted Professor Stuart is, because his 
 method of dealing with the subject is a specimen of 
 the mode of reasoning which is too much indulged in 
 by Anti-Millennarians. They tell us that our theory 
 is visionary and impossible, and that, therefore, it can- 
 not be scriptural. Now, did it not occur to the learned 
 Professor that this is precisely the false position which 
 Unitarians adopt, and which he and his fellow-Trini- 
 tarians condemn ? No one knows this better than he ; 
 and we might well be surprised at his adoption of 
 principles in one case which he would condemn in 
 another. I was struck, too, when I remembered the 
 calm manliness with which he argued the question of 
 the Divinity of Christ against the Unitarians, and 
 could not help wondering why he should speak more 
 kindly to the cleniers of his Lord than to his brethren 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 in Christ. When he was arguing with the former, he 
 stood upon the broad ground of Scripture, refusing to 
 be moved away from this by their oft-repeated charges 
 of impossibility and absurdity. When reasoning with 
 the latter, he both loses sight of his former principles, 
 and leaves behind him his former spirit. He does not 
 meet us calmly, and prove that his system is scriptural 
 and ours unscriptural ; but he assumes throughout 
 that Millennarianism is a silly fable, and that, there- 
 fore, all texts which seem to favour it must be explained 
 away. This, surely, is indefensible ; for, however un- 
 worthy of his grave notice we may be, yet the peril of 
 admitting such a principle ought to have deterred him 
 from the course he has pursued. Would that he might 
 be persuaded to return to his former position, and take 
 up the present question calmly on the direct scriptural 
 grounds ! Of this, however, I have little hope. He 
 has entered upon devious paths, and studied too ad- 
 miringly the German school. His work on the Apoca- 
 lypse is, notwithstanding its scholarship, a fearful ex- 
 hibition of Eationalistic irreverence for the inspired 
 Word of God. 
 
 I intended to have devoted a chapter to the history 
 of Millennarianism. Tins, however, I have since re- 
 solved not to undertake. To do it thoroughly, would 
 have occupied more time than I can at present afford ; 
 for though there are many sketches of this in various 
 works, of which I might have availed myself, yet most 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 of these are second-hand ; and having, in the course of 
 reading, noted down many things, both in the fathers 
 and in later divines, I could not have satisfied myself 
 with a brief sketch, and I had not the leisure, nor 
 had I sufficiently digested my materials, to prepare 
 a full history. But the conclusions to which all in- 
 quirers upon this subject have come, in reference to 
 the early history of the doctrine, is, that during the 
 three first centuries it prevailed universally, its only 
 opponents being the Gnostics. This is now an acknow- 
 ledged historical fact, a fact which we may well ask 
 our opponents to account for, a fact which we believe 
 cannot be accounted for, save upon the supposition 
 that Chiliasm was an article of the Apostolic Creed* 
 But I do not mean to enter further into its history. 
 And one of my chief reasons is, that I have no wish to 
 to prop up the system by human authority, even of the 
 most ancient and universal kind. I would not that 
 our faith should " stand in the wisdom of men, but in 
 
 * " The doctrine of the Millennium, or the reign of saints on 
 earth a thousand years, is now rejected by all Roman Catholics, 
 and by the greatest part of Protestants ; and yet it passed among 
 the best of Christians, for 250 years, for a tradition apostolical, and 
 as such, is delivered by many fathers of the second and third cen- 
 tury, who speak of it as the tradition of our Lord and His Apostles, 
 and of all the ancients who lived before them, who tell us the very 
 words in which it was delivered, the scriptures which were then so 
 interpreted, and say that it was held by all Christians that tvere 
 exactly orthodox." — Whitby's Treatise on Traditions. "Whitby, it 
 is well known, was a Post-MUlennialist, so that his testimony is the 
 more striking. 
 
PREFACE. XVli 
 
 the power of God/' If it cannot be unequivocally 
 maintained from Scripture, I will not even attempt to 
 call in human witnesses, however numerous and how- 
 ever venerable. Let it stand or fall by the Word of 
 God alone. Yet it would be well if our opponents, 
 when casting reproach upon us, would remember that 
 some respect is due to the honoured names that have 
 been associated with it from the days of the apostles to 
 our own. 
 
 As to the difficulties which are said to adhere to the 
 system, and to render it incapable of proof, let me say 
 a word. Previous to the fulfilment of every prophecy, 
 there have always been difficulties connected with it, by 
 which faith has been proved, and over which unbelief 
 has stumbled. The predictions concerning the first 
 Advent contained an amount of difficulty, perplexity, 
 and apparent impossibility, which completely over- 
 shadows everything of that nature in the present case. 
 Man's reasoning with regard to difficulties has been 
 thus entirely overthrown. It has been shewn that he 
 is no judge of these, and that when he attempts to 
 estimate them, and to mould God's Word according to 
 them, he is sure to err. We have been made to see 
 how very careful we ought to be in pronouncing upon 
 these, and how unbefitting our position it is, as finite 
 learners, to insist upon weighing a doctrine in the 
 balance of our difficulties, rather than in the balance of 
 
 the sanctuary. We seem to take for granted that the 
 
 b 
 
XV1U PREFACE. 
 
 harmony of Divine truth must be so necessarily and 
 immediately perceptible by us in all its parts, that if 
 there appears to us any dislocation or incoherence we 
 are entitled to strike out the doctrine that seems to 
 introduce the discord, previous to any consideration of 
 the amount of scriptural evidence in its favour. Our 
 difficulties are reckoned sufficient to place it beyond 
 the circle of evidence altogether, and to justify us in 
 at once throwing it out of our system upon the inter- 
 nal evidence of its own incongruity. But such a mode 
 of adjusting systems is inadmissible, — especially seeing 
 that all these systems contain in them many things 
 which we cannot reconcile or link together in our 
 present state. Were this method of reasoning lawful, 
 the Jews might well have excused themselves in dis- 
 believing the incarnation ; and Unitarians might main- 
 tain the field successfully against the asserters of the 
 Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nay, we ourselves 
 should be thoroughly baffled in our attempt to prove 
 the resurrection of the body ; for, beyond all question, 
 that doctrine presents to us difficulties altogether in- 
 soluble by us, difficulties so formidable that there is 
 absolutely no escape from them, save by a direct ap- 
 peal to what God has written, and to what God is able 
 also to perform. 
 
 Instead of being staggered by the existence of diffi- 
 culties, ought we not to feel that nothing else could be 
 expected ? Had there been none such, should we not 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 have been inclined to say that the doctrine was of 
 man, not of God ? Man may construct a scheme of the 
 future, as a child draws a map of the stars, in which 
 there shall appear no difficulties, no incongruities. 
 But is God's system of the future likely to be as 
 smooth and comprehensible by us? It is a future 
 which is all His own ; a future where there are ten 
 thousand movements to adjust, and ten thousand con- 
 flicting forces to calculate ; a future in which there are 
 new truths to be evolved, and, hence, new links to be 
 formed for knitting the whole together. Surely, then, 
 it is no great demand which God' makes upon us, to 
 wait in patience for a little while, and not to prejudge 
 His system, because the links # are not visible, and the 
 order not in keeping with our ideas of harmony. The 
 points in which it now appears dark or even disjointed, 
 may be the very parts where there has been most 
 of Divine wisdom expended; and the cause of the 
 seeming difficulty may be the vastness of the truth 
 revealed, so far transcending the lowness and nar- 
 rowness of human thought. How often does that 
 part of a picture on which the artist has bestowed, 
 most pains, and into which he has cast his whole soul, 
 appear a blemish to the unpractised eye ? So it is with 
 reference to the things of God ; and hence the exceed- 
 ing danger, not to say irreverence, of testing a doc- 
 trine by the difficulties connected with it. These are 
 not for us to decide upon. We are very likely to 
 
XX PREFACE. 
 
 pronounce falsely upon these, or to reason improperly 
 from them. 
 
 All this is especially true when the system in ques- 
 tion is not only occupied with the future, but with 
 that future in a very peculiar way. Let us, for 
 example, assume, for a moment, that the Millennarian 
 hypothesis is true ; then, all that it involves is con- 
 nected with a period after the coming of Christ. 
 That coming must, of necessity, introduce many 
 changes, — changes which make any calculation of ours 
 as to the state of things then, still more difficult and 
 hopeless. Even were we able to arrange the events 
 and measure the difficulties of a future which was the 
 natural and unbroken continuation of the present, still 
 that would be no reason for our venturing to pro- 
 nounce upon the difficulties of a system which is not 
 to be developed till after Christ has come and taken 
 into His own hands the reins of government. If our 
 theory refer to the order of things after the Advent, 
 then we are entirely precluded from the consideration 
 of these difficulties. Are we at liberty to affirm, that 
 what may seem difficulties just now, will be so then I 
 Are we prepared to maintain that the Advent will 
 introduce nothing new in God's administration of the 
 world, and that what appears to us incongruous now 
 will really be so then % May not what is new in that 
 future order of the world, be the very things which 
 shall adjust all these fancied dislocations, the very 
 
PKEFACE. XXI 
 
 tilings which were awanting to fill up that which now 
 appears incomplete, — to knit together that which now 
 seems loose and broken ? 
 
 There is a remark of Dr Owen on another subject 
 which may very fittingly be quoted here : " A truth, 
 well-established and confirmed, is not to be questioned, 
 much less relinquished, on every entangled sophism, 
 though it should appear insoluble." Were this state- 
 ment weighed, and carefully applied to the doctrine 
 under discussion, in the same way as sound divines 
 have applied it to other truths, there would have been, 
 if not a total abandonment of position, at least a 
 greater moderation of language, and perhaps some 
 abatement of self-confidence, on the part of those who 
 have entrenched themselves behind certain fancied 
 difficulties, as if they formed a bulwark against Millen- 
 narianism, which must prove absolutely impregnable.* 
 
 The present volume consists properly of two parts. 
 The first ten chapters contain what I have called the 
 landmarks of prophecy, and the data for ascertaining 
 the position of the Advent. The remaining five are 
 devoted to an inquiry into the principles of interpreta- 
 
 * There are two classes of " difficulties," — the direct, or scriptural, 
 and the inferential, or rational. If the objections adduced by our 
 opponents were of the first class, they would be legitimate, even 
 though ultimately overruled by stronger evidence. But almost all 
 of them belong to the second class, being inferences of human rea- 
 son, which can only be taken up after positive evidence has been 
 disposed of. 
 
XX11 PREFACE. 
 
 tion, with some suggestions as to the predictions re- 
 garding Antichrist, and a brief glance at those " signs," 
 which are the outriders of the approaching King, sent 
 forward to warn the world, and to prepare the Church 
 for His speedy Advent. I am aware that the work is 
 far from being complete. I have done little more 
 than set forth a few principles for the more exact 
 exposition of the prophetic Word, and indicate the 
 line of argument which I conceive ought to be pursued 
 in all attempts to determine the position of the Advent. 
 I do not profess to have enumerated, far less to have 
 exhausted, the proofs in favour of the doctrine here 
 advocated. It would require many volumes instead of 
 one, to open up and illustrate what is written in Scrip- 
 ture concerning the coming and the kingdom of the 
 Lord. They greatly err who suppose that our doctrine 
 on these points is based on a few knotty and doubtful 
 texts. The passages on which it rests, and on the 
 strength of which we ask the reader to hesitate before 
 he rejects it, are neither few nor ambiguous. They 
 give forth no uncertain sound, no feeble, no inarticu- 
 late utterance. Their testimony is not scanty and 
 infrequent, but full and oft-repeated. No other doc- 
 trine can produce a larger, more distinct, and more 
 vigorous testimony in its favour. Many of the truths 
 which we receive as incontestable, are built upon a 
 basis by no means so solid or so broad as this. Its 
 witnesses are very numerous, and worthy of being 
 
PREFACE. XXI 11 
 
 listened to. It pervades the whole Word of God, from 
 Genesis to Eevelation. It is not confined to the figu- 
 rative books ; it declares itself with equal fulness, in 
 narrative and epistle, as in symbol or type. Like a 
 thread of gold, it runs through the whole web of reve- 
 lation, crossing and re-crossing it everywhere, and im- 
 parting the richest brilliance to the whole texture. It 
 is the burden of all prophecy. It is the summing up, 
 as well as the unravelling of all history. It is the 
 final and grand solution of the mystery of God's deal- 
 ings with this world of ours. It is the germ of Israel's 
 types. It is woven into all their ordinances, and rites, 
 and festivals. It is the theme of many a psalm ; the 
 heart of many a symbol ; the subject of many a 
 parable ; the end and point of many a promise ; the 
 seal set to the " Gospel of the grace of God," as the 
 " Gospel of the kingdom," that is, the good news con- 
 cerning the open gate for sinners, into that kingdom 
 prepared from the foundation of the world ! 
 
 It has been the hope of the Church through many 
 a starless night, when other hopes had gone out one by 
 one, like beacons shattered by the tempest, leaving her 
 disconsolate and helpless. It is now again, in our day, 
 pressed upon her notice, as her strength in " the hour 
 of temptation, which is coming upon all the world," — 
 the only light which cannot be quenched, and by which 
 she will be able to steer her perilous course through 
 the gloom of the thickening storm. 
 
XXIV PEEFACE. 
 
 It is no dream of carnal enthusiasts, enamoured of 
 materialism, and anticipating a paradise of gross de- 
 lights. It is the calm belief of spiritual men, resting 
 upon God's sure promise, and looking forward to a 
 kingdom of "righteousness and peace and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost." It is no hasty conjecture, no novelty 
 of a feverish age, rashly caught up, without consider- 
 ation and without evidence. It can produce the testi- 
 mony of ages in its behalf ; and they who have held 
 it in our day, have been men who have studied their 
 Bible on their knees, and have come to their conclu- 
 sions after long, deliberate, and most solemn investiga- 
 tion. It is no fable of romance ; it is sober, scriptural 
 reality, though far beyond what fancy ever painted. 
 It is no vision of the politician ; yet it shews us 
 how, ere long, shall be exemplified that which earthly 
 Governments have been vainly striving to realise, — a 
 peaceful and a prosperous world. It is no creation of 
 the intellect ; the wisdom of this intellectual age rejects 
 it as foolishness, and rationalism resents it as one of 
 the exploded fancies of unenlightened criticism* It 
 
 * Several of the opponents of Rationalism have embraced the doc- 
 trine of the Pre-Millennial advent and reign. I have already quoted 
 Olshausen, I may here quote a sentence from Gess. " The dead 
 saints, at the appearance of the Christ, are to be organised again 
 with the material bodies. This is to take place a thousand years 
 
 before the awakening of the other dead They are to 
 
 reside again upon earth, and to live and reign with Christ for a 
 thousand years." — The Revelation of God in His Word, pp. 227, 228. 
 
PREFACE. XXV 
 
 is no popular theory of the many ; there are compara- 
 tively few throughout the Churches who receive it, — 
 few who will even concede to it a place among the 
 things which deserve serious study, or are accessible 
 to proof. Yet all are concerned in it ; and it comes 
 abroad proclaiming itself alike to the Church of God 
 and to the heedless multitude, as the consummation 
 towards which the various lines of prophecy are 
 rapidly converging, as the glorious issue of all the 
 confusion, the sin, the change, the death, that have 
 made earth so long a wilderness, as the only cure for 
 those deep and manifold evils under which men are 
 groaning, and which they are so earnestly, yet so vainly, 
 striving to remedy. * 
 
 Kelso, January 1847. 
 
 * Having occasionally been called to take up some prophetical 
 points in one of our periodical s, I have not scrupled, in the present 
 volume, to avail myself freely of what I have written, 
 
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 In revising this volume for a second edition, I have re- 
 frained from any material alteration. A few verbal 
 changes have been made, and some notes added in dif- 
 ferent places, chiefly in the way of quotation from 
 writers of note, such as that in p. 124 from Dr Owen, 
 respecting Christ's intercession. 
 
 Objections have been taken to some expressions in 
 my preface, as if I had misstated the position and 
 arguments of Post-Millennialists. I am not persuaded 
 that I have done so. I did not mean to assert that 
 they have not gone beyond a " may be " in their con- 
 clusions ; or that they have not come to a " must be " 
 in regard to their system. Nor did I mean to suggest 
 that they did not think their position stable, or their 
 arguments conclusive. I merely maintained, and do 
 still maintain, that in order to reach this conclusiveness 
 and certainty, they have to call in the aid of general 
 systems and inferences from systems, and that it is by 
 mea.ns of these that they raise their " may be " into a 
 "must be/' 
 
XXV111 P^FACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Take, as an example, the twentieth chapter of the Re- 
 velation. I have no doubt that Post-Millennialists have 
 come to the conclusion, that the prediction there must 
 refer to a spiritual, and not to a literal resurrection. 
 But how did they reach this inference ? Was it by the 
 simple examination of text and context? No. The 
 examination of these brings them only to this, that the 
 passage admits of a figurative interpretation. In order 
 to demonstrate that the words cannot be understood 
 literally, general conclusions from systems and doc- 
 trines are brought to bear upon them ; so that the 
 " must be " is not educed from the language itself, but 
 from other sources entirely, which are made use of in 
 order to make the prophet speak in a more decided 
 (not to say a different) tone than he seems to do of his 
 own accord. 
 
 Or take the prediction in Isaiah xxv. 8, "He will 
 swallow up death in victory." The words, in their 
 natural sense, distinctly point to the resurrection ; and 
 the Apostle Paul quotes them in this sense. So that 
 we have two things determining the literality of the 
 promise, — first, the words themselves, — and secondly, 
 an apostle's interpretation of them. But, then, if this 
 be admitted, the Pre-Millennial advent and resurrection 
 must be admitted too. In order, therefore, to avoid 
 this, a figurative meaning is sought for these words ; 
 and it is maintained that the passage may point to a 
 figurative resurrection. Here, again, it is plain that 
 
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. XXIX 
 
 the natural sense of the passage is the literal one ; but 
 the attempt is made to shew that it may admit of a 
 figurative one ; and then when this " may be " has been 
 proved, it is elevated into a " must be " by means of 
 inferential considerations. 
 
 Or take the prediction in Daniel xii. 2, " Many of 
 them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 
 some to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever- 
 lasting contempt." This seems very plainly to refer to 
 the resurrection of the body, like the previous passage 
 from Isaiah. The words themselves are so explicit, 
 that it is difficult to fasten another meaning upon them. 
 A figurative meaning, however, has been foimd for 
 them. But, then, all that can be said is, that such 
 may be the meaning of the words. In order to arrive 
 at the "must be," various collateral inferences, apart 
 from the passage itself, must be made to bear upon 
 them. And is not this just saying, that, but for the 
 danger of Pre-Millennialism, the literal meaning of the 
 prophecy ought to have been adhered to ? 
 
 Or, lastly, take the expression in the fifth chapter of 
 the Revelation, "We shall reign on the earth." Post- 
 Millennialists think the figurative meaning of these 
 words the only true one. But the question is, How 
 did they arrive at their " must be " here ? Not from 
 the words themselves ; for the utmost that can be said 
 of them is, that they may admit of a figurative sense. 
 The w must be " is derived from other quarters, and is 
 
XXX PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 the result of general conclusions from systems and doc- 
 trines. 
 
 But can this be called a safe and warrantable pro- 
 cedure ? Are we not to take the words of Scripture 
 just as we do the words of our Confession of Faith, in 
 their natural sense ? And is it not wrong to bring in 
 our own inferential difficulties as a reason for prefer- 
 ring the non-natural sense ? Why should we not do 
 with the words of God just as we do with the words of 
 man ?* 
 
 Kelso, December 1847. 
 
 * In using the term Millennarian, as descriptive of the opinions of 
 those who hold the literal advent and reign, I do not mean to cast 
 reflections upon our opponents, as if they did not believe in a millen- 
 nium. I merely use the word in the sense in which it has been 
 almost universally used for the last half century, and in which the 
 Fathers used Chiliasm. Indeed, both of these words seem to have 
 been originally terms of reproach, (like Methodism,) given by their 
 adversaries, and afterwards finding their way into general use. 
 
PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. 
 
 I feel glad at being able, through means of this third 
 edition, to renew the testimony of past years, to the 
 prophetical truths contended for in this volume. Each 
 year seems to add fresh confirmation to them, and to 
 bring out more fully the deep Scriptural foundations 
 on which Pre-Millennialisin rests. 
 
 Kelso, February 1860. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 Man's thoughts about the future and the unseen are 
 of little worth. They are at best but dreams ; no more 
 than the blind guesses of fancy. They approach no 
 nearer to the truth than do a child's conjectures re- 
 garding the history of some distant star, or as to the 
 peopling of space beyond the outskirts of the visible 
 creation. 
 
 But the thoughts of God respecting the future are 
 precious above measure. They are truth and certainty, 
 whether they touch upon the far-off or the near, the 
 likely or the unlikely. They are disfigured with no 
 miscalculations, for they are the thoughts of the great 
 Designer regarding His own handiwork. They are 
 the thoughts of an infinite mind ; and they are the 
 thoughts of that mind upon a subject utterly inac- 
 cessible to us, yet entirely familiar to Him who sees 
 the end from the beginning, and whose wisdom has 
 prearranged the whole. 
 
 These thoughts of God about the future are what 
 we call 'prophecy ; and, in studying prophecy, we are 
 studying the thoughts of God, the purposes of His 
 heart. Of these His secrets, He is not unwilling that 
 
 A 
 
 
Z THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 we should be partakers ; nay, He has spread them out 
 before us, He has recorded them for our use ; and deep 
 must be the guilt, as well as incalculable the loss, of 
 those who turn aside from such a study ; who will lis- 
 ten with some interest, perhaps, to mans ideas of 
 what is coming to pass upon the earth, but never think 
 of inquiring what is the mind of God. 
 
 With what breathless interest will a company some- 
 times gather round a sagacious observer of the times, 
 who has seen much, and noted much of what is passing 
 in the various circles, outer and inner, of this ever- 
 moving world ! How eagerly will they catch up and 
 repeat his opinions as to coining events, though all is 
 conjecture and uncertainty ! But, let a hint be cast in 
 of what God has spoken, how coldly is it received! 
 As if human uncertainties were better than Divine cer- 
 tainties ; the guesses and dreams of man more worthy 
 of being listened to than the sure revelation of God. 
 When the prophet is man, all men listen ; when the 
 prophet is God, they turn heedlessly away. 
 
 Yet that future, with all its vastness of interest and 
 of moment, is mans future, we may say, more than 
 God's. It is a future in which all human destinies are 
 wrapt up ; and to discover what that future is to be, 
 is worth the most profound and painful inquiry. If 
 that future be my future, and not a future of shadows 
 but of realities, how deeply does it concern me to 
 know whether these are to be the realities of an end- 
 less night, or the realities of an everlasting day ? It 
 is not enough that my own individual lot for eternity 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 3 
 
 be made sure ; so that, in believing the record which 
 God has given of His Son, I know that I shall never 
 die ; I cannot help looking around me upon this miser- 
 able world, and asking, What is its future history, its 
 final destiny ? Is it light, or is it darkness ? Is it but 
 a prolongation of its present wretchedness and sin, or 
 is it a restoration to blessedness and glory ? Should 
 it not, then, be with deepest and most thankful joy 
 that we learn that God has drawn aside a slight fold of 
 the curtain, and given us a glance into the long vista 
 of events on which we and our world are so soon to 
 enter ? Should not everything that God has revealed 
 concerning our future be welcomed, both for its inter- 
 est and its certainty? Should it not be studied and 
 searched, that we may stand and survey that future, 
 somewhat in the position and from the point in which 
 God surveys it, and may in some measure be enabled 
 to enter into His mind respecting it ? 
 
 For we are not one, but many ; or, rather, I should 
 say, we are not many, but one. We are members of 
 one household, and our household interests should not 
 be absorbed in our individual ones. We belong to 
 one world ; we are the tenants of one star ; and our 
 inquiry should be, not merely, How shall I escape 
 from the calamities of which all its inhabitants are the 
 heirs, and wing my way to some brighter orb on which 
 darkness and the curse have never alighted ? but, What 
 is to be the destiny of this my native planet, and of 
 that race which has peopled it for six thousand years ? 
 
 All creation lies in ruins. The garden of the Lord 
 
4 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 has become a wilderness ; and that which rose up into 
 beauty under the blessing of Jehovah, is now withering 
 away beneath His curse. Its falling leaves, its dying 
 flowers, its clouded skies, its stormy deep, its swollen 
 rivers, its crumbling rocks — all tell us this. These are 
 its weeds of mourning; these are the groans of its 
 travail and bondage. But what is to be the issue of 
 all this blight, and change, and death ? God alone can 
 inform us ; and He has done so in His prophetic word. 
 The destiny of the earth is written there, and He calls 
 on us to read what He has written concerning it ? 
 
 The whole world lieth in wickedness. Kighteous- 
 ness has fled ; and, with righteousness, all peace and 
 order. Kingdoms rise and sink, like the rising; and 
 sinking surges of the ocean. There is no stability, no 
 compactness, no coherence, either in themselves, or 
 with each other. Misrule, tumult, and change, are 
 rocking them to and fro ; the reins of government lie 
 broken upon the necks of a hundred nations, either 
 overstrained by the ruler, or cut asunder by the ruled. 
 How is this to end ? Prophecy alone reveals the con- 
 summation. Let us welcome so sure a light in this 
 " dark place/' 
 
 The Church is rent and feeble, with much of earth, 
 little of heaven about her, to declare her high parent- 
 age and destiny. Few in numbers, with persecution as 
 her portion, and sorrow as her heritage below, she 
 passes the time of her sojourning here in fear, breath- 
 ing an atmosphere altogether uncongenial, — an Israelite 
 in Babylon, hanging her harp upon the willows. Who 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 5 
 
 shall tell what is to be the end of all this ? Who shall 
 foretell the issue of her pilgrimage, and the recompence 
 of her sore oppression ? The Lord himself has done 
 it ; He has forespoken the things concerning her in 
 the latter day, and she is invited to contemplate these 
 " glorious things/' 
 
 Israel is an exile, scattered and bleeding, without a 
 city, a temple, a home ; she traverses the plains of 
 earth, or dwells in its cities, — yet still an outcast, for 
 whom no man careth, with whom no man will share 
 his honour or his influence, and to whom, in death, no 
 man will build a monument. Her land is a desola- 
 tion ; her vineyards are trodden down ; her cities are 
 a ruinous heap. Is it always thus to be ? Is there to 
 be no restoration, no rebuilding for her? Has not 
 God recorded " thoughts of peace " for her, in the ap- 
 pointed time ? Let us search and see ; prophecy alone 
 can tell us. , 
 
 Antichrist gathers strength. Like a spectre from 
 the abyss, he rises, overshadowing the earth, and going 
 forth to write his name upon the forehead and the 
 hand of his myriad worshippers. " Even now are there 
 many antichrists," each of them like a demon from the 
 pit, all of them banded together against the saints of 
 the Most High. What is to be the career and what 
 the end of these hosts of darkness, especially of their 
 great head and captain ? God has revealed the things 
 concerning him, lest the hearts of His saints should fail. 
 The same word of prophecy makes known his doom ; 
 swift and speedy as his exaltation. It is our wisdom 
 
6 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 to inquire what has been written concerning him. How 
 shall the Church know her great adversary, and pre- 
 pare for his onset, if she do not set herself to study the 
 prophetic picture in which God is holding him up to 
 her gaze ? 
 
 Objections have, however, been taken to the study 
 of the prophetic word, and Satan has done his utmost 
 to give force and colour to them. Fearing for his 
 kingdom, and knowing how mighty a weapon the word 
 of prophecy is against himself and his devices ; especially 
 against the great Antichristian device in which all 
 his craft and power are concentrated ; he has laboured 
 to discredit such studies by connecting them with un- 
 soundness in the faith. 
 
 It is certainly to be deplored that error and fanati- 
 cism have in some cases accompanied prophetic studies. 
 God has been thereby dishonoured, and His Word 
 profaned. The lips of scoffers have been opened in 
 taunt, while timid believers have kept silence, as if 
 unable to reply. 
 
 We need not keep silence. Let us admit the fact 
 on which the mockery is founded, and there let it rest. 
 It will humble us ; it will inspire caution ; it will teach 
 us wisdom ; but it will do no more. It will not deter 
 us from such studies, nor will it lead us to impeach 
 the Word of God for consequences in which man alone 
 is the delinquent. It will not lead us to join in the 
 fears of the over-prudent, respecting the perilous nature 
 of these investigations, nor to relinquish the field as 
 either impracticable, or barren, or injurious. Because 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 7 
 
 visions of futurity, drawn professedly from Scripture, 
 have, with unholy fire, kindled some burning fancies 
 into the wildness of a frenzied enthusiasm ; because 
 some who have soared to these unearthly heights have 
 flung the past from their memory and the present from 
 their consciousness, living the fervid expectants of a 
 golden futurity, or the frantic denouncers of woes 
 without name or number; are we, therefore, to shut 
 up the prophetic record, and turn away our eyes from 
 pages stamped so broadly with the seal, and encircled 
 so brightly with the blessing of God ? Are the pro- 
 phets to be treated as if belonging to the kindred of 
 the sybils, and their books to be buried out of sight? 
 Nothing more profane has ever been uttered against 
 Scripture, than that the study of any part of it is fitted 
 to unhinge the mind, or raise its temperature beyond 
 the point of calm and solemn inquiry. No Eomanist 
 ever promulgated an idea so indefensible as that any 
 region of Scripture is unfruitful or forbidden ground, 
 to be employed merely as a field out of which a casual 
 text may be culled, as taste or fancy may incline ; that 
 whole chapters and books of Scripture are wrapt in 
 such studied mystery that the very endeavour to under- 
 stand them betokens rashness and folly. 
 
 " Secret things belong to God/' says an objector. 
 Most certainly ; and whosoever insists on prying into 
 God's secrets will only proclaim his own pride, and 
 plunge himself into profouncler ignorance. But pro- 
 phecy is no secret thing ; it is a thing revealed. It is 
 not one of the things over winch God has drawn the 
 
8 THE CALL TO PEOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 veil. It is just the opposite. It is that from which 
 God has withdrawn the veil, on purpose that we may 
 know it, and profit by it. The very name of the chief 
 prophetic book is a declaration of this, and a call on 
 us to " come and see." What does the Apocalypse or 
 the Revelation mean, but the book which reveals, the 
 book which takes the veil or covering from the future, 
 and presents that future to our gaze ? Into what is 
 not written we may not search, but into all that is 
 written we may and must. Necessity is laid upon us. 
 Yea, woe is unto us if we turn away our ears from the 
 voice of God speaking to us concerning things to come. 
 We are not, indeed, to be of those who add to the Word 
 of God by their fanciful glosses or Talmudic reveries, 
 yet we are not to be of those who "take from" its 
 truths by refusing to study and interpret what God 
 has set before us. 
 
 We hear much of the difference between things 
 essential and things non-essential ; but who will under- 
 take to draw the severing line ? Or who will venture 
 to affirm that the prophetic portions of the Word are 
 its non-essentials ? Do not such truths as the advent, 
 the resurrection, the judgment, form some of the chief 
 scenes of prophecy ? And are these non-essentials ? 
 Strange, that man should make such a division of the 
 Word of God ! Stranger still, that he should make it 
 for the purpose of excusing himself for the neglect of 
 so large and precious a portion of revelation. Is not 
 the fact of its being revealed enough to shew us that 
 God thought it essential ; or if not essential absolutely 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. i) 
 
 and with reference to salvation, at least essential rela- 
 tively and as pertaining to holiness ? If a man will 
 persist in calling it non-essential, surely he will not 
 irreverently pronounce it unimportant ? And if it be 
 admitted to be important, then surely all farther argu- 
 ment is at an end. It must be studied. We dare not 
 overlook or postpone the duty. 
 
 Never did we more require such a light to guide our 
 uncertain steps, and to strengthen our wavering faith, 
 broken down with overflowing iniquity, sick and weary 
 with the long disappointment of hope deferred. Never 
 did futurity wear so wild an aspect, never did God's 
 ways seem so strange and intricate, never were the 
 Church's prospects more perilous and perplexed, or 
 " the world's turn so slippery" as now. Above all, never 
 was there a time when events developed themselves 
 with such rapidity. This seems especially one of the 
 characteristics of the last days. As the world moves 
 onward, it appears to accelerate its speed, and precipitate 
 itself with headlong recklessness and feverish haste. 
 Events, alike the evil and the good, though specially 
 the former, seem to ripen before their season, as if 
 Satan were in haste to carry through his devices, know- 
 ing that now he hath but a short time. The crisis 
 comes ere we are well aware of the commencement. 
 Speed, whirlwind speed, is the order of the day. All 
 things are now conducted upon a larger scale, and cast 
 in a more commanding mould. There is less of the 
 commonplace, and more of the startling ; less of the 
 gradual movement, and more of the sudden shock and 
 
10 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 convulsion in the events of the age — an age which is 
 destined, we believe, to concentrate in its history more 
 of the terrible and the calamitous than has ever hereto- 
 fore been witnessed, or shall be witnessed hereafter. 
 
 What, then, are our prospects ? Some would paint 
 them bright, others gloomy. All indeed are full of 
 expectation as to the glory that is yet to brighten over 
 the earth, the peace that is yet to gladden it. But as 
 to what that glory is, how it is to be introduced, and 
 how present events are making way for its arrival, men 
 are divided. The fond idolaters of science and reason 
 are hailing the day of triumph, as if its dawn were 
 already brightening in the east ; as if, in the march of 
 intellect, every one might discern the progress of right- 
 eousness and truth. Some in the Church, not so un- 
 scriptural in their optimism, nor trusting so vainly to 
 human intellect, see the gospel gradually leavening the 
 world, and all things advancing onward resistlessly to 
 their glorious issue. There are others, however, who 
 see the shadows gathering deeper and broader every- 
 where, and darkness, denser than Egyptian, settling- 
 down upon Christendom, and who look for no triumph 
 till there has been a time of trouble such as never was 
 nor shall be. 
 
 Which of these opinions is right, prophecy alone 
 can inform us. This is our only guide. It is our 
 watch-tower, into which we must betake ourselves, in 
 order, on the one hand, to note the troubled scenes 
 that are passing below, and on the other hand, to 
 watch for every token of the ascending dawn. On 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 1 1 
 
 the early morn of jubilee, men were stationed on the 
 eastern hills about Jerusalem, to catch the first gleam 
 of sunshine, silvering the cloud or the mountain-top 
 afar off, that they might announce it to the priests, 
 waiting in the temple, with their silver trumpets, to 
 proclaim it to the expecting city, from which the tid- 
 ings, caught up by the watchmen of the surrounding 
 hills, were echoed from mountain to mountain till all 
 Judea hailed the welcome note. So are we to take 
 our stand on our prophetic watch-tower, that we may 
 catch the earliest glimpse of approaching glory, and 
 proclaim it over earth as glad tidings of great joy to a 
 groaning creation, and a sorrowing Church. Woe be 
 to us if we keep the world in ignorance of what is 
 coming, so that when the day arrives, it may turn 
 round on us in reproach, and say, "We never heard 
 of all this ; they who professed to know it kept silence ; 
 no utterance of warning from their lips ever reached 
 our ears." 
 
 Viewing the subject even thus generally, we not 
 only find strong reasons urging us to the study of 
 prophecy, but we see also how profitable and how 
 practical that study is. There are many circum- 
 stances, however, at present, fitted to call our keenest 
 attention to its predicted scenes, and to invest them 
 with a profounder interest. When the heavens are 
 gathering blackness, and the night is deepening its 
 gloom ; when the earth is labouring and convulsed, 
 reeling to and fro like a drunkard, and every thing is 
 out of course ; when Infidelity, like some universal 
 
12 THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 solvent, is dismembering and levelling the national and 
 social systems ; when every thing seems starting from 
 its long-rooted base, as if gravitation itself had given 
 way ; when the Church is sore pressed and straitened, 
 seeing traitors admitted within its camp, and the 
 enemy's ranks augmented by desertions from its own ; 
 when Popery, Infidelity, and Liberalism, firm leagued 
 together in well-pleased confederacy, are maddening 
 against her with infuriated zeal ; when the kings of the 
 earth and the governments of the people are taking 
 counsel against the Lord and His Anointed ; — how 
 intense the interest which the Church ought to feel in 
 the " sure word of prophecy ! " how earnestly ought she 
 to take heed to it as to a light shining in a dark place, 
 until the day dawn and the day-star arise ! 
 
 What, then, is the duty of every saint in an hour of 
 darkness like the present? Is it to sit idle like the 
 worldling, saying, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow 
 we die?" Is it to sigh with the sentimentalist over 
 the disastrous blight of this world's beauty, the wrecks 
 of its ancestral might and glory ? Is it to lament like 
 the sensualist, because the new wine mourneth and the 
 vine languisheth ; or with the merry-hearted, because 
 all joy is darkened and the mirth of the land is gone ? 
 Is it to scoff with the Infidel, saying, " Where is the 
 promise of His coming?" Is it with the panic-smitten 
 statesman to grow pale with looking after those things 
 that are coming on the earth ? Or is it with a careless 
 Church to say, " 'My Lord delayeth His coming/ why 
 should I alarm or vex myself with such distractions ? " 
 
THE CALL TO PROPHETIC STUDY. 13 
 
 No. But to give far more earnest heed to the one 
 guiding lamp of Scripture ; and, watching the parellel 
 progress of event and prophecy, to mark the signs of 
 the times, that she may be able to tell each inquirer 
 "what of the night." 
 
 "We are fallen upon evil days and perilous times. 
 Iniquity abounds, and the love of many is chilled. 
 And shall not this awaken us to watchfulness ? Shall 
 it not lead us to trim our lamps and gird up our loins ? 
 The storms that during the last half century have burst 
 over the nations, wrecking the goodly fabrics of the 
 olden time, have left us but a few remaining fragments ; 
 and as we stray along the shore in this the dull evening 
 of time, marking their decaying remnants, we are filled 
 with foreboding doubts of the future ; and seeing the 
 heaven still clouded, we cannot help believing that the 
 storm is still unspent. Woe be to us, if it overtake us 
 unawares, and encompass us in a moment with its fury, 
 unsheltered and unprepared ! 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 We believe that much of the present indifference to 
 prophetic study has arisen from the want of unity 
 among Christians. The " communion of saints " is 
 neither known nor prized. It may be admired in 
 theory, but the fellowship itself is little understood. 
 The Churches sit apart, looking coldly, perhaps 
 enviously, on each other. The desire for union, as 
 hitherto expressed, has in it more of the sentimental 
 than the scriptural. We seem to reckon ourselves 
 merely individual possessors . of a common faith ; not 
 living, sympathetic members of one body. 
 
 The result of this has been, that those parts of 
 Scripture only have been studied which, as indivi- 
 duals, we could feed upon, while those portions which 
 address the Church as a body have been neglected ; 
 and as prophecy especially addresses the Church cor- 
 porately, not in fragments, its profit has been under- 
 valued, and the study of it slighted. But let us be 
 brought back to concern ourselves about the Church 
 as a body, to shake off this false idea or feeling of 
 isolation, to realise the communion of the saints ; then 
 
THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 1 5 
 
 shall we begin to look about us for some inspired 
 information respecting the character, the condition, 
 the posture, the prospects of the Church. And so it 
 always has come to pass, that, in times of trouble and 
 persecution, when cast off by the world, and drawn 
 together by the sympathies of a common interest, a 
 common suffering, and a common hope, the eye of the 
 Church has been turned to the prophetic page, and 
 from it has gathered that strength and guidance which 
 no other part of Scripture could so fittingly supply. 
 At present, we are too much at ease, resting securely, 
 in league, or at least at truce, with the world. Thus 
 we forget our Gommon interests, and think solely of 
 our individual concerns. The prophetic chart is thrown 
 aside ; the prophetic lamp is allowed to burn on un- 
 heeded. But should a day arrive when the world's 
 slumbering hostility shall awake and burn red against 
 us, when our long dream of peace shall melt away, 
 and darkness overcloud us ; then shall we turn with 
 no careless eye to the " more sure word of prophecy," 
 dwelling with deeper delight upon its glowing visions, 
 longing more anxiously for the day of promised rest, 
 praying more fervently for the shortening of the time 
 of tribulation, the coming of the kingdom, and the 
 arrival of the long-expected King. 
 
 And as unity in the Church would lead to the study 
 of the prophetic Scriptures, so the study of these 
 Scriptures would lead to still greater unity. Friends 
 who dwell far asunder, with a continent, or perhaps an 
 ocean, between them, have often agreed to gaze each 
 
1 G THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 night upon some bright star of the firmament, and 
 have felt how much this tended to keep awake their 
 warm affection, and to strengthen the tie that bound 
 them to each other's hearts. So the Church of Christ, 
 fixing her eye upon the " bright and morning Star/' 
 and keeping before her the hope of the glorious Advent, 
 is strength enino; the bonds of love between all her 
 members. The steadfast contemplation of a common 
 hope and a common inheritance, with the mutual con- 
 verse of united hearts about the expected glory, cannot 
 fail to draw together more closely the divided members 
 of the body. 
 
 It has been sometimes strangely said, that such 
 studies are unprofitable, and though some ought to 
 give heed to them, yet Christians in general may find 
 some safer and more useful employment. But pro- 
 phecy is not designed for the mere gratification of 
 curious men ; it is the nourishment of part of our very 
 nature. We should be but half -fed without it. We 
 are by nature as instinctively prospective as retrospec- 
 tive creatures. Our eye was formed to glance forward 
 with as intense and eager an interest into the uncer- 
 tainties of the future, as to hold intercourse with past 
 and present realities. We cannot help this. It is in- 
 stinct. It may often be in a state of diseased extra- 
 vagance, but still it is our nature. We cannot help 
 our anticipative propensities any more than we can 
 extinguish memory. We are formed to look into the 
 future; and we feel that nothing can be more natural; 
 for the sunshine or the shadows of that future are has- 
 
THE USE OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 17 
 
 tening on to us apace, and we shall soon be "compassed 
 about with them on every side. 
 
 Our picture of that future, then, must be filled up 
 either with shadows — phantoms of our own creation — 
 or with the revelations of inspired prophecy. We 
 cannot help speculating and conjecturing, either to 
 " cast the fashion of uncertain evil/' or to spread before 
 us the vision of " scenes surpassing fable." The past 
 is all fixed and gone ; the present may be restless, still 
 it is within our grasp ; but futurity is too full of our 
 destinies to allow us to smile at its uncertainties. 
 Every moment comes loaded with fresh arrivals from 
 the unknown shore, compelling us to vigilant fore- 
 thought ; so that fear and hope must be utterly torn 
 from our breast, and the future forbidden to cast for- 
 ward its shadows, and hang out its portents, ere we 
 can lie down at ease, absorbed in present realities, and 
 torpidly indifferent to all which that future may in a 
 moment let down upon us from its mysterious and in- 
 accessible eminences. 
 
 We speak not of the vain curiosity that would fain 
 sink the insipid monotony of present duty in the rest- 
 less anticipations of change and novelty ; but that wise 
 and needful concern about the future which our Lord 
 did not condemn when He said, " Take heed : behold, 
 I have foretold you all things ;" which Peter cherished 
 when he said, "Ye have a more sure word of prophecy; 
 to which ye do well to take heed, as to a light shining 
 in a dark place ;" and which the Old Testament saints 
 exercised when they " searched what, or what maimer 
 
 B 
 
18 THE USE OE PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did 
 signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of 
 Christ, and the glory that should follow." 
 
 Besides, the soul of man is not so narrow and simple 
 a thing that the belief of one truth can mould it into 
 the form desired. Every part, every principle, every 
 faculty and feeling, must have truths presented to 
 them precisely adapted to their nature and exercise, 
 else they must remain undeveloped, or if developed, 
 remain unsanctified. Our reasoning faculty must be 
 addressed, or it must wither up by remaining unculti- 
 vated ; and accordingly there is ample scope in Scrip- 
 ture for its energies to work upon. Our propensity for 
 imitation, observation, and acquisition of experience 
 must be addressed, and it is met by the graphic nar- 
 ratives of Old and New Testament history. Our finer 
 and higher feelings must be touched, and, we have the 
 poetic richness of seer and psalmist to attract and 
 improve them. Our prospective propensities must be 
 guided and moulded, or else they will grow rank over 
 fields of their own luxuriant but unhallowed creation ; 
 and the prophetic Word must be spread before us that 
 these cravings may be sanctified. Most mercifully, 
 most marvellously, has God framed His revelation, that, 
 by its largeness and variety, it may compass our whole 
 nature, and adapt itself to every part of our being. We 
 have not to cut down and contract the manifold in- 
 stincts of our soul, in order to bring it into the likeness 
 of Christ. We have not to strike off one affection, nor 
 leave one desire to waste unnourished, so fixing our- 
 
THE USE OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 19 
 
 selves in a state of unnatural constraint, and concentrat- 
 ing into a single point the various outgoings of our 
 nature ; but, on the contrary, every principle within is 
 provided with a corresponding truth without, by which 
 it may be controlled and purified. 
 
 If, then, we are to be wholly sanctified only by a 
 belief of the whole truth, and if every truth neglected 
 be so much injury to our souls, how can we palliate the 
 guilt or slight the danger of those who wilfully neglect 
 one truth of God, one chapter of His revelation ? To 
 overlook any section of the Word of God, is just to 
 say either that we do not desire to be wholly sanctified, 
 wholly cast into the Divine mould, or that that section 
 of the Word is unnecessary for our holiness and trans- 
 formation. To complain of obscurity in the prophecies 
 is an attempt to palliate our own guilt by fastening 
 blame upon the Scripture. To plead this fancied ob- 
 scurity as an excuse for omitting their study, is strange 
 obliquity of logic as well as of conscience. It makes 
 the very circumstance which in everything else is 
 deemed the strongest argument for doubling the inten- 
 sity of thought and appliance, a reason for indifference 
 and pretermission in this. To say that these obscure 
 ])arts cannot be so profitable as the rest, is to maintain 
 that God has written difficulties in His Book which 
 will not repay the labour of investigation, even when 
 successful. Surely there is no part of revealed truth 
 so unimportant as that we should grudge the toil of 
 searching it out ! And if " the testimony of Jesus be 
 the spirit of prophecy ; " that is, if He be the theme 
 
20 THE USE OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 and burden of all its visions ; can we count any effort 
 a toil which is put forth to understand that testi- 
 mony ? 
 
 How shall we look for "the blessed hope," if we 
 know not from prophecy what that hope is ? How 
 shall we become pilgrims and strangers here, if we 
 have not made discoveries of the inheritance which is 
 incorruptible, undefined, and that fadeth not away? 
 How shall we prepare to meet the Bridegroom, if we 
 know not what the prophets have forespoken concerning 
 His arrival, and concerning the signs of His approach ? 
 How shall we put on the bridal dress, if we know not 
 the dress, nor have heard of the marriage-supper of 
 the Lamb ? 
 
 The attitude of the Church ought to be one of 
 watchful expectation. " What I say unto you, I say 
 unto all, "Watch ! " " When ye see these things come 
 to pass, lift up your heads ; for ye know that your re- 
 demption draweth nigh/' That expectation and watch- 
 fulness must be founded upon and regulated by pro- 
 phetic truth ; and how, then, is it possible that the 
 Church can maintain her attitude, if she turn away 
 from such a guide ? How can she steer her way amid 
 clouds and billows, if both her chart and her com- 
 pass be set aside as useless or unintelligible ? The 
 position of the Church, then, must be shifted, and her 
 posture reversed, ere she can withhold her vision from 
 the future ; or else she must be watching for she knows 
 not what ; a something which cannot be the object of 
 any definite, substantial, soul-sustaining hope. 
 
THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 21 
 
 Is she not like some beleaguered fortress, round 
 •which stretch, gloomy and far, the hostile encampments 
 of the prince of this world ? It is well that she is 
 versant in all the tactics which her perilous post de- 
 mands. It is well that she has the experience of many 
 a siege to perfect her skill and discipline. Yet of what 
 unspeakable moment to be put in possession of her 
 enemy's schemes and counsels ; to know the changeful 
 progress and final issue of the long and exhausting 
 conflict ; to calculate upon every movement of the 
 enemy ; to understand his well-feigned retreats, am- 
 buscades, and endless stratagems, not merely as prac- 
 tised against each individual in her army, but against 
 herself as a body; to stand upon her watch-towers, 
 marking each distant sign, and, comparing every event 
 with her prophetic chart, to ascertain how near she is 
 approaching the day which is to be the last of her 
 struggles, the first of her triumphs; when the great 
 Deliverer shall arrive, and when, upon the field of vic- 
 tory, she shall ungird the sword, the helmet, and the 
 shield, to exchange them for the palm of conquest, the 
 sceptre of royal dignity and dominion ! 
 
 Most Christians, we fear, content themselves with 
 very vague and general views of prophecy. They have 
 caught up some of the prominent statements of Scrip- 
 ture regarding the future ; such as that there will be 
 a millennium, a resurrection, and a judgment-day ; 
 and with these, or very little more, they are satisfied. 
 Here they consider that their prophetic creed ought to 
 terminate. They shrink from all minuter invest iga- 
 
22 THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 tion, condemning it as presumptuous, or at least refus- 
 ing it as barren speculation. 
 
 With regard to such details of the future as we speak 
 of, there are two sorts of inquiries ; inquiries into what 
 God has revealed, and inquiries into what God has not 
 revealed. As to the latter, I would hand them over 
 freely and without scruple to the unsparing condem- 
 nation of all who love the truth. With these the stu- 
 dent of prophecy has no concern at all. But so long- 
 as our investigations relate to the former only, so long- 
 are we in the clear path of duty, from which it is at 
 our peril if we step aside. Nay, the very example of 
 these timid friends refutes their own arguments. They 
 have gone a certain way along the same path ; and all 
 that we want is that they should go a little further ; 
 but still only so far as the road lies open and as God 
 gives light. We would not have them move one step 
 beyond that. They have fixed, certain landmarks of 
 prophecy ; and all we desire is, that they should gather 
 up the information that Scripture gives, in order to 
 fill up the spaces between. 
 
 We know how sadly many are fettered with preju- 
 dice upon this subject, and haunted with the idea of 
 the presumptuous nature of the study. But the fact of 
 prophecy forming part of the Divine revelation is quite 
 sufficient to satisfy us of the lawfulness, nay, the duty 
 of studying even its minutest details. " Blessed is he 
 that readeth, and they that hear the words of the pro- 
 phecy of this book/' are the words of encouragement ; 
 and though we had not another such text in Scripture, 
 
THE USE OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 23 
 
 that single one would be enough. The prejudice is as 
 irrational as unscriptural ; for no one can maintain 
 that the mere futurity of a thing renders it unprofit- 
 able, and stamps with the charge of rashness any 
 attemj:>t to investigate it minutely. Yet this is the 
 only conceivable meaning of the objection. And if so, 
 how foolish, how sinful is it, when calmly weighed I 
 For the unlawfulness or unprofitableness of our inqui- 
 ries into any such subject consists not in the matter 
 being either past, present, or future, but simply in its 
 not being revealed. It would be just as wise to bar all 
 minute search into Scripture history on the ground of 
 its being past, as it is to inhibit all minute inquiry 
 into prophecy because it is future. The fact of God 
 having revealed so many particulars regarding the 
 future settles the whole question as to the duty of 
 every believer to examine these. It is plain that no 
 investigation, however minute, can be called presump- 
 tuous, so long as it restricts itself to what is written ; 
 nay, the more minute, the more accurate it is likely to 
 be, and therefore more accordant with the mind of the 
 Spirit. The presumption is all the other way. It is 
 the presumption of closing the ear against the voice 
 of God ; the presumption of professing to decide how 
 much of God's Word may be studied with safety, and 
 how much ought to be neglected as mysterious and 
 unprofitable.* 
 
 * See Isaiah xlv. 11; Matthew xvi. 3, xxiv. 25; Mark xiii. 23; 
 Luke xxiv. 25; 2 Peter i. 19, iii. 17; Rev. i. 3, xix. 10, xxii. 7, 10. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PUEPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 1 The purpose of God is self-manifestation. This 
 lias been His design from eternity, and it has been shew- 
 ing itself since the first creating word was spoken. In- 
 deed, of necessity this always must be His purpose, and 
 that just because He is God. It includes within it other 
 purposes ; but it is itself the chief and the ultimate, to 
 which all others are pointing, and in which they shall 
 find their completion. Let me explain what I mean. 
 
 I take that small seed which the winds are sporting 
 with, and I bury it in the ground. I water it, and 
 watch over it to mark its progress and see what it con- 
 tains. Ere long it shoots above the soil, putting forth 
 its fresh verdure to the sun. Then, in the progress of 
 time, it strengthens itself and rises upwards, spreading 
 out its branches into a waving tree. In other words, 
 that particle of vital dust which we call seed, has 
 opened itself out, and displayed the amazing treasures 
 which were lying in it undeveloped and unknown. 
 This is self-manifestation. 
 
 I take that unsightly root which is lying at my feet, 
 and I carefully lodge it in the soil. Soon it springs 
 up and opens out its treasures, disclosing the lily in its 
 
THE PUEPOSE OF GOD. 25 
 
 fragrance and beauty. Who could have imagined that 
 hues so bright, and fragrance so rich, had all been 
 wrapt up in that shapeless form ? Yet it was so ; and 
 the lily, in all its loveliness, was but the unfolded root ! 
 This is self-manifestation. 
 
 These are but poor illustrations of the great truth 
 we set out with announcing. They refer to objects of a 
 lower scale ; unconscious and involuntary in all their 
 processes of self-development ; yet still they are suffi- 
 ciently exact to make our meaning known. For that 
 which all creation is doing, according to its creature- 
 laws, for the glory of the Creator, is that very thing 
 which Jehovah is doing in regard to Himself, and for 
 His own glory. 
 
 God's purpose, then, is self -manifestation, or self- 
 revelation. It is to bear testimony to His own char- 
 acter. Creation in every form, animate or inanimate, 
 is God's witness; the utterance of His mind and heart. 
 His design is not merely to make known that He is, 
 but what He is ; to exhibit Himself the I AM, the 
 Being of beings, in whom all being is wrapped up, and 
 from whom all forms of being spring ; to unbosom and 
 reveal Himself fully and perfectly ; not partially and in 
 glimpses, but completely and abidingly ; by bringing 
 forth into view and making visible all that is glorious, 
 as well as all that is gracious, in the infinite and in- 
 visible Godhead. God does not create a world simply 
 because He can do so, and wishes to put forth His 
 power, but because He desires to bring out to view 
 those riches of His own being and character wlrich had 
 
26 THE PUEPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 otherwise been hidden. Again, God did not create 
 this earth of ours a fair and happy world at first 
 simply because He loved to see a fair world inhabited 
 by happy creatures, but because, in that beauty and 
 blessedness, His own character was most fully revealed, 
 and His own glory most brightly reflected. 
 
 How He did this before man was created we know 
 not, or at least we know but little. It was through 
 the medium of another order of creatures, and in 
 another region than this of ours. Angels were the 
 creatures through whom He manifested Himself ; and 
 it was in heaven that this manifestation was given. 
 They were the eldest-born of creation, and their abode 
 the very palace of the Eternal One. From that centre 
 the first ray of self-manifestation shot forth, and the 
 Invisible and Incomprehensible began to make pre- 
 parations for making Himself seen and known. 
 
 Whether He may be at this moment manifesting 
 Himself by means of other races inhabiting those orbs 
 that, like the dew-clrops of the morning, lie scattered 
 over infinite space, as if to catch and reflect at least 
 the material glory of heaven ; whether other processes 
 of self-manifestation may be going on in regions far 
 beyond our vision or thought, we know not. He has 
 given us no intimation that any such process is now in 
 action ; nor have we the slightest evidence to prove 
 that as yet there are, in these starry regions, races of 
 intelligent creatures existing, or that as yet there are 
 any races in existence save those of angels and of men. 
 That such will be the ultimate issue ; that every atom 
 
THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 27 
 
 of creation throughout the universe shall subserve the 
 mighty purpose of Divine self-manifestation, we doubt 
 not ; but it would appear that, meanwhile, God is con- 
 fining His operations to one special region of His 
 dominions, concentrating His thoughts upon one par- 
 ticular i^rocess, out of which His one vast, original, 
 all-corn j)rehensive plan of a God-manifesting universe 
 is to be evolved. It is on the soil of this small planet 
 that He is sowing His seed, and raising, as in a nur- 
 sery, those plants which are yet to clothe a glad uni- 
 verse with their everlasting verdure. It is out of the 
 mountains of this planet that He is hewing the stones 
 with which He is yet to build for Himself a temple in 
 every star of the firmament. It is here that He is con- 
 structing the materials, and sketching the design for 
 His palace. It is here that He is weaving and adorn- 
 ing His robes of royal state with materials furnished 
 by this orb. It is of the gold of this earth that He is 
 fashioning a sceptre for the hand, and a crown for the 
 head of Him who is to be Sovereign of the universe. 
 It is from among the lowly dwellers of this narrow 
 region that He is choosing for that King a Bride to 
 share His glory and His love ; nay, it is out of this 
 very earth that this King himself is to arise, or rather, 
 we should say, has arisen ; for He who is to have 
 dominion hereafter as King of kings and Lord of lords, 
 is an inhabitant of this planet, the native of a Judean 
 village, Jesus of Nazareth, the woman's seed ! 
 
 But, without entering further on the question as to 
 the existence of other spheres and other processes of 
 
28 THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 self-manifestation, there can be no doubt that this earth, 
 in the meantime, is the special one. It is here that 
 this process is going on just now, and it is here that 
 preparations are making for larger and brighter scenes 
 of self-manifestation than eye hath yet seen or ear hath 
 heard. God has been carrying on this process step by 
 step for these last six thousand years. The work 
 is still advancing ; the plan is not yet consummated ; 
 but the rudiments of it lie all before us ; the stones 
 of the fabric lie scattered around ; and prophecy 
 unfolds to us much regarding the coming consumma- 
 tion, and presents to us in no faint colours the picture 
 of the glorious reality which from the beginning God 
 has had in view, and which shall, ere long, be given to 
 the gaze of the universe, as God's own perfect represen- 
 tation of Himself. For, though storms and darkness 
 must intervene, yet still it is a bright issue to which 
 prophets point, and towards which all things are tend- 
 ing! Beyond that saddening gloom, beyond these 
 dreary wastes, there presents itself, in the prophetic 
 picture, an infinite ocean of unimagined splendour, over 
 whose surface shall be spread out in all their various 
 fulness the perfections of manifested Godhead in ever- 
 lasting sunshine, for holy beings to gaze upon, and for 
 Jehovah himself to delight in, world without end ! 
 Then shall the wilderness and the solitary place be glad ; 
 and then shall the " primal eldest curse," which has 
 sterilised the soil and covered every region with its 
 blight, flow back from off earth's surface ; the creature 
 shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and 
 
THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 29 
 
 this world stand forth again a beautiful creation, more 
 glorious than when it sprang from the fiat of God. 
 
 The purpose of self-manifestation develops itself 
 chiefly in connexion with two great events, the first and 
 second advents of Christ. Round these two points all 
 other events cluster. From these two foci all light is 
 radiating, and round them all events revolve. It is 
 only by keeping our eye on these that we can under- 
 stand the mighty scheme, and enter into the mind of 
 God respecting it, giving to each event its proper place, 
 order, connexion, and value. If we either overlook 
 these or choose other centres, we cannot fail to perplex 
 ourselves and misunderstand the scheme. They are 
 God's centres ; and none which man may fix inpon or 
 deem more important can supersede them. They may 
 not be those that man would naturally choose ; but still 
 they are those on which God has hung everything ; 
 and man can gain nothing but confusion and darkness 
 by rejecting either, or elevating other points to their 
 level. 
 
 Such questions as the following naturally occur : To 
 what extent was this manifestation made at creation ? 
 What was the exact design of man's fall in connexion 
 with it? How much has been brought out and dis- 
 played from the Fall to the first coming of Christ ? 
 How much was manifested at that advent ? What 
 have been the extent and mode of manifestation from 
 the first to the second advent ? What is that second 
 advent to bring to light? What are the events 
 subsequent to it to reveal? These are not queries 
 
SO THE PUEPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 of vain curiosity. They are weighty and solemn, de- 
 manding the most strenuous and prayerful thought; 
 the most patient and profound study of the Word of 
 God. They are questions pointing totally in a different 
 direction from that which the efforts of philosophy 
 have ever taken, questions which philosophy has never 
 thought of putting, questions which philosophy cannot 
 solve. 
 
 Into the investigation of these points I do not mean 
 to enter. They are wide and vast, needing treatises 
 and volumes, not mere pages or chapters, for their elu- 
 cidation. They may, however, suggest themes for the 
 Bible student, which may lead to a fuller understand- 
 ing of the mind and ways of God. 
 
 The object of the Scriptures is to tell us of God, 
 His character and His doings ; and, in declaring these, 
 they introduce man the sinner, making known also his 
 character, his doings, his connexion with God. All 
 the recorded actions of man the sinner bring out his 
 own character in various aspects. All God's actions 
 and words in dealing with man display His charac- 
 ter in its manifold aspects. At each step, something 
 new of God is seen. And all the evil that has been 
 brought to light in man has only been the means of 
 bringing to light the good that is in God. At every 
 point the evil has been met by the good, and overcome. 
 The depths of the former are inconceivable ; the re- 
 sources of the latter, which have been drawn forth to 
 meet these, are still more so, being truly infinite and 
 divine. The history of these past six thousand years 
 
THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 31 
 
 is rich in these deep lessons. It is our wisdom to study 
 them thus. 
 
 But the Bible discoveries of God and of the creature 
 do not merely keep pace with the present moment of 
 our history. They go far beyond the present. To say 
 that all the past is full of these displays ; to say 
 that each day's events are continuing to develop them 
 more and more, is not to tell the whole truth. God 
 has furnished us with hints as to the future develop- 
 ments which we are to expect, and into the meaning of 
 which we may in some measure enter, though the wide 
 compass of the visions, the glory, and the grace which 
 they are intended to exhibit, can only be fully com- 
 prehended by those whose eyes shall look upon them. 
 
 We call them hints, for, in truth, they are no more. 
 But they are not conjectures or dreams ; they point to 
 " scenes surpassing fable, and yet true." Man, in look- 
 ing to the past, thinks he has uttered a profound 
 apophthegm in saying that " truth is strange, stranger 
 than fiction;" but the days to come will illustrate this in 
 a way such as we have never yet imagined. God has 
 arrows in His quiver, sharper and more wasteful than 
 those which for so many melancholy ages have been 
 piercing the hearts of the King's enemies ; the last still 
 the sharpest and most destructive. He has " bright 
 designs," deep-treasured up in His " unfathomable 
 mines of never-failing skill ; " the last still the brightest 
 and most glorious ! These prophetic hints are but 
 glimpses of coming splendour ; yet what a splendour ! 
 What a future do they disclose ! What a universe S— 
 
32 THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 bright all over with the effulgence of manifested God- 
 head ! Perfection everywhere ; perfection all the more 
 perfect because coming forth from previous imperfec- 
 tion and ruin ! 
 
 God has thus not only manifested Himself by telling 
 us what He has done in this world of ours, but by 
 making known what He yet intends to do. He has not 
 hidden from us what He designs to accomplish, but, by 
 admitting us into His counsels, has made us more fully 
 know Himself, and see, even now, somewhat of those 
 features of His character which shall yet come into 
 visible development in the ages to come. How much 
 may we learn of God even here, standing afar off, and 
 looking into the distant future, of which we can only 
 have the dim outline presented to us ! But how much 
 more shall we learn hereafter, when we shall see these 
 things as they are, and Him as He is ! 
 
 The history of the past is not written with great 
 minuteness of detail. It did not seem fit to the wis- 
 dom of God to do so ; neither would this have been 
 practicable or profitable. What is given us in Scrip- 
 ture is not a full narrative, neither is it an abridgment ; 
 it is what has been called selective history. It is en- 
 tirely episodical ; but then the episodes are of God's 
 own selection. The events and characters singled out, 
 and recorded as worthy of memorial, are such as God 
 saw to be most expressive of His purpose ; most fitted 
 to carry out the original design He had in view. God 
 is the selector of these, and He is at the same time the 
 Being for the illustration of whose character these 
 
THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 33 
 
 fragments have been chosen and preserved. Now, 
 what is true of the historical record, is equally so of the 
 prophetic. It is even more strictly selective and epi- 
 sodical ; and it is so for the same reasons and upon the 
 same principles as in the former case. It is God him- 
 self, the self-manifesting, self-revealing Jehovah, that 
 we also there behold.* 
 
 As both history and prophecy are written upon this 
 principle, we mean that of selection, there is peculiar 
 care required for their right understanding. There are 
 so many chasms everywhere, so many links wanting, 
 that the tracing of a complete and correct outline be- 
 comes a matter of extreme difficulty, and calls for 
 minute and patient scrutiny. 
 
 There are various plans for connecting these links 
 which God has seen fit to leave thus separate. It is 
 plain that man's reason can help us but little, for it 
 cannot enter into the mind of God : " the world by 
 wisdom knew not God." Nor will the completest 
 theological system carry us over the difficulty ; for 
 systems are, at the best, imperfect, and at so many 
 points leave us helpless, running us up at once to the 
 purpose of a sovereign God. Besides, we are too apt 
 to stretch systems beyond their legitimate end, and, 
 instead of bringing them into contact with the Word, 
 to be moulded into more accurate and perfect form, 
 we bring the Word into contact with them, that it 
 may be interpreted according to their laws ; instead 
 
 * See, on some of the above points, the able " Lectures on Pro- 
 phecy," by the Rev. James Kelly. 
 
 c 
 
34 THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 of fashioning the human according to the form of 
 the divine, we too often cast the divine into the mould 
 of the human, making texts to bend to systems, instead 
 of systems to texts. 
 
 The true way of getting at the connected view of 
 God's purposes, as spread out before us in these pro- 
 phetic selections, is to keep our eye upon His design, 
 to get hold of His idea. What is it that makes the 
 vast and intricate machinery of the manufactory intel- 
 ligible ? It is being acquainted with its principle and 
 object. The knowledge of God's leading purpose is the 
 real key to all the apparent discordances of His Word. 
 Keeping that purpose before us, we shall be able to 
 see the unity and connexion of events which otherwise 
 seem hopelessly perplexed and corrupt. Man's systems 
 are strait, awkward, angular, sure, in many cases, not 
 exactly to fit many texts, if too rigidly applied. But 
 THE idea which they contain, in so far as it is really 
 God's, will admit of a much more perfect application, 
 without violence done to any portion of His Word. 
 Even with reference to the past, schemes and systems 
 will often be found at fault ; much more in reference 
 to the future. They are often insufficient measuring- 
 rods for Genesis, and much more for Ezekiel or the 
 Apocalypse. 
 
 We do not dislike system. Far from it. We count 
 it right and useful. And could we get hold of Jeho- 
 vah's system, all would be well. In so far as our 
 systems approach to this, they are good and helpfuL 
 But then, in so far as they fall aside from it, in so far 
 
THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 35 
 
 as they are dissimilar to it, to that extent they not only 
 obscure our views of it, but prevent our understanding 
 of Scripture, nay, pervert our interpretations. A per- 
 fect system would harmonise with every jot and tittle 
 of the Word of God, but an imperfect one will neces- 
 sarily be found at variance with many portions of it. 
 In proportion as our system approximates towards 
 God's, in that proportion will such dissonances cease, . 
 and the whole system be in unison with the whole 
 "Word. But unless w r e are prepared to maintain that 
 our system is complete in every joint and ligature, as 
 w T ell as entirely accurate in the symmetry of its struc- 
 ture, we shall find how perilous it is to set it up as 
 our infallible standard, by which we are to weigh or 
 measure the meaning of each passage, pronouncing 
 interpretations sound or unsound according to their 
 agreement with or opposition to our scheme. 
 
 Begin at the lowest in the scale of systems, the So- 
 cinian. It fits in to so few passages of Scripture, and 
 is at variance with so many, that its meagreness and 
 unscriptural nature soon become apparent. Whatever 
 man's reason may think of it as a system, still it is 
 at war with such a mass of Scripture that either it 
 or the Bible must give way. The only idea in it 
 that is worth, is that God is ONE. This is what it 
 professes to maintain. And the unity of God is a 
 scriptural truth. But there Socinianism halts. That 
 idea will carry us a certain way; but what light does 
 it cast upon those passages wdiich speak of the Son 
 being God, and the Holy Spirit being God? None 
 
36 THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 There it gives way. And the moment we begin to 
 apply the system to such passages as those alluded 
 to, its lameness is felt. It is palpably and grossly 
 defective. 
 
 Ascend a higher level. Take Arminianism. It 
 will fit in to a far wider range of passages than So- 
 cinianism, but then it is still at war with many. It 
 has purged itself of the grosser blasphemies of the 
 other, but still it has retained so many imperfections 
 that, when brought into contact with a numerous class 
 of texts, either it must be greatly modified, or they 
 must be explained away. Its range is too narrow for 
 the infinite compass of Scripture. It has not a little 
 of truth in it ; some of its ideas are scriptural : 
 but it is so sadly imperfect in many points, that it 
 gives way when brought to expound Scripture. It 
 is not the mere shape and mould of the system that 
 is defective. That would be of less importance. But 
 some of the ideas which it embodies are inconsistent, 
 not only with special texts, but with God's great per- 
 vading idea and purpose, self-manifestation. It fails 
 to express this mighty idea. It stammers grievously 
 and incurably in attempting to utter this grand, origi- 
 nal, eternal purpose of the Triune Jehovah. 
 
 But rise to a loftier level still. Look at Calvinism. 
 It is, in its connected shape, man's system ; yet we 
 believe it to be a system containing and giving ut- 
 terance to more of the great ideas of the Bible than 
 any other that has ever been chiselled out by the 
 hand of man. In its leading ideas it is divine; in 
 
THE PTJEPOSE OF GOD. 37 
 
 its formulas for expressing these, it is human. In 
 the former respect we may call it complete ; in the 
 latter we may safely admit its imperfection, an im- 
 perfection necessarily arising from man's efforts to 
 express in his own words and develop in his intel- 
 lectual forms the thoughts and purposes of the eternal 
 Jehovah. With the former, we believe no text will 
 ever really be found at variance ; with the latter, not 
 a few, peradventure, may be so found. The former 
 we would carry with us everywhere in our researches 
 into Scripture, assured that thus there mil be light 
 shed upon our path ; the latter we require to apply 
 more cautiously. For we may with all confidence 
 say, that while no passage of the Bible will be found 
 at strife with Calvinism, some passages may be dis- 
 covered not perfectly harmonising with Calvinistic 
 formulae. 
 
 There is no system that gives so free and rich an 
 utterance to that grand purpose, that mighty idea 
 of God, self-manifestation, as what is called Cal- 
 vinism. Every part of it is built upon this, and 
 brings forth this into conspicuous view. And it is 
 just because this system never loses sight of God's 
 great original idea, that it is so useful and so in- 
 valuable as our guide to the exposition of the Word 
 of God. Whatever part of Scripture you are seeking 
 to expound; historical, preceptive, doctrinal, or pro- 
 phetic ; take it with you, and you will find the steady, 
 accurate light which it casts even upon hard passages, 
 as well as the satisfactory way in which it furnishes us 
 
38 THE PURPOSE OF GOD. 
 
 with links for connecting together what appears some- 
 times isolated and disordered. 
 
 Prophecy no less than doctrine receives light from 
 this system. The future as well as the past bears its 
 impress in every part. From the beginning to the 
 end of God's workings in His universe, the same prin- 
 ciples are acted on, the same idea is developed, the 
 same purpose is unfolding itself — self-manifestation. 
 In the ages to come, God is the same all and in all, 
 and man the same nothing, that they have been in the 
 generations that are past. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TWO CENTRES. 
 
 It is in Christ, as we have already said, that Jehovah's 
 purpose of self-manifestation centres, Its origin, its 
 progress, its consummation, are all directly linked with 
 Him. " He is the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, 
 and the express image of his person." He is the 
 Word — the utterance of Jehovah's mind, the witness 
 of His character, the exponent of His purposes. God- 
 head is in Him represented and revealed. 
 
 It is, however, round two great centres that this 
 manifestation is made to revolve. The two Advents 
 of Christ are the two periods, or events, or stages, in 
 which the Divine purpose is specially displayed. And 
 it will be found that as all historic truth bears in some 
 way or measure upon the First Advent, so all prophetic 
 truth is connected with the Second. The thoughts of 
 God gather themselves round these. For these thoughts, 
 like the orbs which He has lighted up and hung in the 
 firmament, have their centres and their orbits, their 
 revolutions and their periods. Or rather, we should 
 say, that the outer and visible world, with all its move- 
 ments, and with all the laws which regulate these 
 movements, is but the image of an inner and invisible 
 
40 THE TWO CENTRES. 
 
 world; even as the earthly tabernacle was formed after 
 the pattern of heavenly things, which the Lord shewed 
 to Moses in the Mount. 
 
 These two Advents, then, are the two foci of that vast 
 ellipse round which all things are revolving. To the 
 Church of Christ at first, these two events seemed but 
 as one undivided event; for she stood at the extreme 
 end of the axis, looking along the line. But as she 
 advanced onwards, a distinction became more visible. 
 At length she reached the first of them, and then, 
 beyond it, she saw the second, quite separate from the 
 first ; but how far, she could not say. Many events 
 seemed to cluster round ; but the order in which they 
 were to occur was somewhat uncertain. But as she 
 travelled onward, and as century after century elapsed, 
 events began to spread themselves out, and to marshal 
 themselves more exactly than before. And as we near 
 the consummation, we may expect yet clearer light, 
 and more accurate insight into the order, as well as the 
 nature, of those mighty events that are coining on the 
 earth, and for which, whatever may be the slumber or 
 intoxication of the world, it becomes the Church of 
 Christ to be fully prepared, lest the "hour of temp- 
 tation " overtake her unawares. 
 
 The events for which the Church is called upon to 
 look are many. The Advent of her Lord towers pre- 
 eminently above all the rest ; yet still, in connexion 
 with it, there are other events not a few. There is 
 the resurrection of the just. There are the rise and 
 fall of Antichrist. There are the sore judgments and 
 
THE TWO CENTEES. 41 
 
 fierce wrath which are to overtake the world. There 
 are the restoration and salvation of Israel. There is 
 the conversion of all kindreds and nations. There 
 is the glory of the millennial state. These are some 
 of the events which cluster round the Second Advent: 
 and just as His first coming was specially self-manifes- 
 tation in grace, so His second coming is self-manifes- 
 tation in glory. Both grace and glory are in each of 
 these coinings ; but in the former grace predominates, 
 in the latter, glory. 
 
 Most of the prophecies touch, however briefly, the 
 whole history of the Church. Their chief burden may 
 be some particular part of that history ; but they seldom 
 stop there. They generally take in the whole, though 
 giving but a glance at events or objects not directly 
 included in their theme. More or less, we find all 
 the prominent parts of God's purpose referred to in 
 every prediction, and the two centres invariably come 
 up to view, whatever be the burden of the prophet. 
 To the second of these two centres we find the greatest 
 prominence given ; and all predictions run on to it as 
 to their common terminus. " It is spoken of by all 
 the holy prophets since the world began." Not that 
 there is vain repetition anywhere; but each seer utters 
 his vision, and closes it with some word or figure, as a 
 link to fasten it on to the consummation, or coming 
 of the Lord. It is no minute Church-history of the 
 future that he is commissioned to deliver, but simply 
 a chapter, a section; oftentimes a mere fragment; yet, 
 however small, it contains something which, while it 
 
42 THE TWO CEXTEES. 
 
 shews us that the whole was present to his view, makes 
 known the true place of the particular vision in the 
 series, and reveals its relation to the final crisis towards 
 which everything from the beginning has been pointing, 
 and into which all events are to flow, as the river, with 
 its hundred tributaries, pours itself into the ocean. 
 
 Nor is there aught of imperfection about this mode 
 of utterance. It is, in truth, both natural and artistic 
 perfection. Any other method would have rendered 
 these prophetic sketches like Chinese pictures, without 
 perspective and without proportion. But this is accord- 
 ing to the exact laws of art, which, in so far as they are 
 true, are copies of nature. Each prophet paints a par- 
 ticular scene or fragment of the mighty landscape. 
 His foreground is always the spot on which he stands, 
 — it may be the wulderness, it may be Babylon, it may 
 be Lebanon, it may be Jerusalem. Then the particular 
 scene he wishes to depict is drawn with minuteness and 
 fulness. Then, in the far background, we have — dim, 
 perhaps, and apparently insignificant, but necessary to 
 the completeness of the scene — the distant hills which 
 circle in the whole prophetic field, on whose well-known 
 summits there rests the calm brightness of that bound- 
 less day, on which, when these intermediate scenes of 
 change and storm are past, the Church is to enter, with 
 her Lord, as her inheritance of rest and joy. 
 
 The first promise given, ere Adam left Eden, is the 
 briefest, but most comprehensive history of the Church 
 to be found in the whole Bible. The two centres are 
 there ; the one predicted as the bruising of Messiah's 
 
THE TWO CENTEES. 43 
 
 heel, the other as the bruising of Satan's head. This 
 promise was, as it were, the fixing of the two centres, 
 round which all after-events were to revolve. It was 
 marking out the two chief eminences from which the 
 history of the world and of the Church might be best 
 surveyed. The second promise, I mean that of Enoch, 
 is exclusive in its reference to the second centre. It 
 takes for granted, of course, a long previous state of 
 wickedness on the earth. It assumes, also, the re- 
 demption of a remnant, " ten thousand of His saints/' 
 or, more literally, "His holy myriads ;" but still, the 
 vision is not of the First Advent at all, but of the 
 Second alone. Even when proj^hesying long before 
 either the first or second comino-s, and looking alono; 
 the line, it is rather the terrible glory of the Second 
 Advent that fixes his eye, than the grace of the First. 
 
 It would be interesting to note each successive pro- 
 phecy, as, age after age, it came forth to man; and to 
 mark at what point the seer stood, and which of these 
 two centres is most prominently brought out to view; 
 but this is impossible here. Only a few specimens can 
 be given. Take " the last words of David :" — * 
 
 " David the son of Jesse said, 
 Even the man who was raised up, said, 
 Concerning the Messiah of the God of Jacob, 
 The sweet burden of the Psalms of Israel: 
 The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, 
 And His word was on my tongue. 
 Spake the God of Israel to me, 
 Spake the rock of Israel ! 
 There shall rule over men a Just One, 
 
 * 2 Samuel xxiii. 1. 
 
44 THE TWO CENTRES. 
 
 He shall rule in the fear of God. 
 
 And as the light of morning shall He arise, 
 
 The sun of an unclouded morning, 
 
 Shining after rain upon the tender grass of the earth. 
 
 Though my house be not perfect with God, 
 
 Yet an everlasting covenant has He made with me, 
 
 Ordered for all time and sure. 
 
 Surely it is all my salvation and all my desire ! 
 
 But the sons of Belial shall not grow, 
 
 As thorns to be cast out are they all ; 
 
 Though not by the hand shall they be taken, 
 
 But the man touching them shall be wounded as with iron and 
 
 the shaft of a spear, 
 And with fire shall they be utterly consumed upon the spot." 
 
 This is a vision of the Second Advent, yet com- 
 mencing with, though touching slightly upon, the First, 
 when referring to the " Anointed of the God of Jacob." 
 Then the Righteous Kino: is set before us, with all the 
 blessings of His beneficent reign — a reign established 
 upon the destruction of Antichrist and his hosts. 
 
 Or take a Psalm, the sixty-seventh, the prayer of 
 the Jewish Church, the same as that of the Bride, 
 "Make haste, my beloved:" — 
 
 " God be merciful to us and bless us, 
 Cause his face shine on us." 
 
 And what shall be the effect of such blessings to 
 Israel? It shall be knowledge and salvation to the 
 Gentiles ; " for Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill 
 the face of the world with fruit : " — 
 
 " That thy way may be known upon the earth, 
 Thy saving health among all nations." 
 
 The prayer then proceeds with still greater enlarge- 
 ment and fervent urgency: — 
 
THE TWO GENTSES. 45 
 
 "Let the people praise thee, God; 
 Let all the people praise thee; 
 let the nations be glad and sing for joy." 
 
 Why all this gladness and exultation throughout the 
 earth ? Because now misgovernment and oppression 
 are at an end. The Righteous King has come, the 
 true Melchizedek, and all the earth rejoices under His 
 just and peaceful sway : — ■ 
 
 "For thou shalt judge the people righteously, 
 And govern the nations upon the earth." 
 
 Again the prayer ascends; or rather, I should say, 
 there is heard a loud summoning of the nations to lift 
 up the voice of praise : — 
 
 "Let the people praise thee, God; 
 Let all the people praise thee.'' 
 
 And why this redoubled call for gladness? Why 
 this loud summons to the nations to unite in praise? 
 Because all things have been made new. The curse 
 has been removed and fertility restored : — 
 
 " The earth shall yield her increase, 
 God, our own God, shall bless us; 
 God shall bless us, 
 And all the ends of the earth shall fear him." 
 
 In all this it is more especially the second coming 
 of the Lord on which the Church has her eye fixed. 
 It is round the second of the two centres that she sees 
 these glorious events revolving. 
 
 Or let us take the eighty-second Psalm, a psalm 
 which singles out a particular scene or class of objects 
 and dwells on them. The objects are not in them- 
 selves directly connected with either of the Advents ; 
 
46 THE TWO CENTEES. 
 
 but the seer, in his closing words, links them on to the 
 Second, and there the curtain falls. It is the mis- 
 government of the earth during the absence of its true 
 King that is the psalmist's theme. They who have 
 been intrusted with kingly power are seen utterly per- 
 verting it, and employing it only for oppression and 
 selfishness. God interposes. He summons the poten- 
 tates of the earth, who are here called by the name of 
 "the mighty," and "gods:" — 
 
 " God standeth in the assembly of the mighty, 
 He judgeth among the gods." 
 
 Princes are here called " gods," especially the Jewish 
 rulers, on whom God bestowed the name, as one of 
 peculiar honour. And when they are thus gathered 
 round Him, He expostulates : — 
 
 "How long will ye judge unjustly 
 And accept the persons of the wicked? 
 Defend the poor and fatherless, 
 Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 
 Deliver the poor and needy, 
 Eid them out of the hand of the wicked." 
 
 But expostulation is vain. They refuse to hear the 
 voice of God. They persist in their tyranny and 
 wickedness : — 
 
 " They know not, neither will they understand, 
 They walk on in darkness." 
 
 And what are the effects of this mismanagement 
 and injustice ? Just what might have been expected. 
 Disorder fills the earth. Everything is shaken and 
 uptorn: — 
 
 " All the foundations of the earth are out of course." 
 
THE TWO CENTRES. 47 
 
 Nothing remains, then, but that God should inter- 
 pose. He must judge and avenge the cause of the 
 oppressed. He must cast down and sweep away those 
 whom He had raised up and honoured : — 
 
 " I have said,, Ye are gods, 
 And all of you children of the Most High ; 
 But ye shall die like men, 
 And fall like one of the princes." 
 
 Though He himself dignified them with such a title, 
 giving them His own name, yet He would not spare 
 them. They shall die the common death of men, and 
 fall like any of the princes of the heathen to whom no 
 such name of honour had been given. Having pro- 
 nounced their sentence, there is a pause. God stands 
 silent. The whole assembly is dumb. Then the voice 
 of His saints is heard appealing to Himself, calling 
 upon Him to take to Himself His great power and 
 reign : — ■ 
 
 " Arise, God, judge (or, rule over) the earth, 
 For thou shalt inherit all nations." 
 
 And thus the closing words connect the scene with 
 the second coming of the Lord, shewing how all present 
 misgovernment is to end in that day when God shall 
 cast down the wicked from their throne, and Himself 
 assume the seat of royal power. 
 
 It is to be feared that prophecy has too often not 
 been studied with reference to these centres. Yet 
 they are God's centres. They are the two leading 
 points to which the Lord directed the eye of His 
 disciples when He said, '-'Ought not Christ to have 
 
48 THE TWO CENTKES. 
 
 suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?'"' 
 and in which the Apostle Peter sums up all prophecj-, 
 " The sufferings of Christ and the glory which should 
 follow/' And our right understanding of the pro- 
 phetic Word will be in proportion as we keep these in 
 view, and arrange events according to their connexion 
 with the one or the other. Neglect of this has led to 
 much confusion; and there has been sad entanglement of 
 passages and predictions, as well as dislocation of scenes 
 and misarrangement of times. Associations have been 
 formed which are not easily undone ; ideas have been 
 connected with words and figures, which are not to be 
 corrected in a day ; the past and the future have been 
 carelessly mixed up together. This want of classification 
 and system has been a grievous hindrance, a hindrance 
 which only of late years has been begun to be recog- 
 nised and provided against. While science was classi- 
 fying and arranging its facts, making thereby prodi- 
 gious strides, Biblical study has overlooked this secret 
 of true progress and solid exposition. The treasures 
 of gold and gems which cover the prophetic page have 
 been allowed to remain in bright disorder; admired, 
 but not arranged ; examined, but imperfectly classified 
 So long as prophecy is perused in this spirit of 
 incurious indolence ; so long as it is looked upon as a 
 field of nearly uniform sameness throughout, so long 
 will its real riches remain unknown. To the vigilant, 
 accurate eye, that can arrange as well as appreciate its 
 stores, it will appear bright with an endless yet well- 
 ordered variety. Viewed thus, it spreads out before 
 
THE TWO CENTRES. 49 
 
 us, like a broad, well- watered plain, various yet regular, 
 profusely wild, it may be, yet not disorderly in its 
 beauty. Viewed in the drowsy fashion we have re- 
 ferred to, it stretches out into an untamed wilder- 
 ness — a mere chaos of verdure. Not more diverse do 
 the heavens appear to the practised eye of the astrono- 
 mer and to the ignorant gaze of the peasant, than does 
 the starry firmament of projihecy, with which Jehovah 
 has overcanopied His Church in this dark midnight of 
 the world, appear to the thoughtful, classifying exposi- 
 tor, and to the indolent glance of the prejudiced or the 
 careless reader. The midnight arch of heaven appears 
 to the ignorant gazer nothing but an azure roof inlaid 
 with stars of various lustre — a wilderness of bright 
 disorder — a chaos of orbs flung together by chance, 
 and coursing to and fro without path or law ; while 
 to the skilful eye of science it stands forth as a fair 
 array of God's well-marshalled hosts, each star poised 
 upon its own centre, pursuing its own orbit, and ful- 
 filling its appointed times. So is it with prophecy. 
 To hasty, superficial readers, there appears much that 
 is beautiful in the inspired records of futurity, but that 
 is all. For more than this they think not of searching. 
 The general reflection from its surface is all that they 
 see, and with it they are contented. To those, on the 
 other hand, who, believing that such a method of 
 reading prophecy is irreverence and presumption, have 
 sought to bestow upon it, as upon all parts of God's 
 Word, no less care and thought than upon the most 
 condensed geometrical demonstration, or the most 
 
 D 
 
50 THE TWO CENTEES. 
 
 intricate algebraical process — to them the page of 
 prophecy unfolds itself into a series of minute but 
 most orderly details, and presents a surface infinitely 
 diversified, yet bearing every where the marks of per- 
 fect regularity and exact design. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE INTERVAL. 
 
 The two centres being recognised, the question occurs, 
 What is written concerning the interval between ? 
 
 This interval is called in Scripture the " last time/' 
 or the "last days." It began with the first coming of 
 the Lord, as is evident from the words of Peter, when 
 he quotes Joel's prophecy concerning the last days, 
 and applies it to his own time ; and as is also evident 
 from the words of the Apostle John, " Little children, 
 it is the last time." Thus, then, we learn its com- 
 mencement. I do not mean as to precise date of day 
 or year, but in a wider, though still definite sense. 
 We can at least say this — the last days had begun in 
 the time of the apostles. 
 
 But when do they end ? Here also we have inspired 
 testimony. The Apostle Peter, in the third chapter of 
 his Second Epistle, points out their termination, and 
 tells us that they end in the second coming of the 
 Lord. I need not cite the verses at length. The 
 perusal of that chapter will satisfy any reader as to this 
 statement. 
 
 Thus, then, we have discovered both the beginning 
 and the end of the interval, an interval often alluded 
 
52 THE INTERVAL. 
 
 to by the apostles. We see that the period called " the 
 last days " begins with the First and ends with the 
 Second Advent. How far on the Church may now be in 
 this period, — how near the close of the interval, is not 
 the object of our inquiry. A most interesting one it 
 is, no doubt, — no mere curious question, but an in- 
 tensely solemnising one, — yet it is not ours at present ; 
 so we pass it by, remarking merely that it is the long- 
 est period of the kind that the Church has yet enjoyed, 
 and, with eighteen centuries behind us, we may be 
 looking out for some signs of its close. 
 
 But what is the nature of this interval ? What pur- 
 pose is it designed to serve ? It is called " the accept- 
 able year of the Lord." It is "the accepted time," 
 the time in which God is sending forth His messages 
 of peace, making -known the method of a free accept- 
 ance. It is " the day of salvation," — the day in which 
 God is presenting salvation to the sinner through Him 
 who came to seek and to save that which is lost. It is 
 the era of grace. God is now bearing testimony to His 
 own gracious character, that men, believing that testi- 
 mony, may turn to Him and live. Yet in spite of the 
 gracious nature and design of this period, " there are 
 few that be saved." "Many are called, but few are 
 chosen/' The world is not converted ; nor does God 
 ever speak of its being converted before the coming of 
 His Son from heaven, at the " times of the restitution 
 of all things/' The dispensation is, then, emphatically 
 one of election, — a "choosing of men out of the world," 
 — a " taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name." 
 
TOE INTERVAL. 53 
 
 And the eighteen centuries that have gone by have 
 borne decided enough witness to this truth. They have 
 fully interpreted the design of the interval, and illus- 
 trated most clearly the meaning of such expressions as 
 " the remnant/' " the election," " the little flock/' 
 
 But, further, we inquire what is the character of this 
 interval ? Is it good or evil ; bright or dark ? Scrip- 
 ture answers, Evil, not good; dark, not bright. 
 
 1. With reference to Israel, it is evil, it is dark. 
 " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
 until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;" and then, 
 to shew that these times and this down-treadino- were 
 not to end till the Lord should come, it is immediately 
 added, " And there shall be signs in the sun, and in 
 the moon, and in the stars; . . , . And then shall they 
 see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and 
 great glory."* Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, are full 
 of predictions regarding Israel's long and sore calamity ; 
 a calamity which, though it may be said to have com- 
 menced at their first captivity, yet did not descend upon 
 them in full measure till after the sack and rasure of 
 Jerusalem, when they went into total dispersion and 
 exile among the nations. Daniel thus describes the 
 termination of their woes: — "At that time shall 
 Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth up 
 for the children of thy people (Israel) ; and there 
 shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since 
 there was a nation even to that same time : and at 
 that time thy people shall be delivered, every one 
 
 * Luke xxi. 24-27. 
 
54 THE INTERVAL. 
 
 that shall be found written in the book."* And, to 
 prevent doubt as to the time when Israel's sorrows 
 were thus gloriously to end, it is added, "Many of 
 them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," 
 — shewing us that it is the morning of the resurrec- 
 tion, and therefore the coming of the Lord. 
 
 2. With reference to the Church, the interval is 
 evil, not good ; dark, not bright. During all this 
 period she is a little flock, — a lily among thorns. 
 Her lot is tribulation, persecution, shame, and tears ! 
 As an oppressed widow, she cries against her adver- 
 sary day and night, "How long, Lord ! how long?" 
 Satan rages on every side, seeking to devour her. The 
 world, like a flood, circles her about with its swelling 
 waves. The haters of the Master are haters of the 
 servant too. Nor does time soften the hostility or 
 abate the persecution. The evil increases, the dark- 
 ness thickens into deeper darkness as the crisis ap- 
 proaches. Satan pours forth his fiercest, fullest rage 
 when the time of his binding draws near. And, be- 
 sides all these, the absence of the Bridegroom keeps 
 her sad and weary. So long as He is not with her, 
 earth must be a wilderness, even though no enemy 
 threatened, no sorrow wounded, and no tempest wasted 
 her. Nothing but His return can satisfy her. 
 
 3. With reference to the world, the interval is evil, 
 not good; dark, not bright. "Evil men and seducers 
 shall wax worse and worse." " In the last days peril- 
 ous times shall come."f "There shall come in the 
 
 * Daniel xii. 1. f 2 Tim. iii. 1. 
 
THE INTERVAL. DO 
 
 last days scoffers, saying, Where is the promise of His 
 coming?"* "When the Son of man cometh, shall he 
 find faith on the earth ?"-f* Besides these passages, 
 there are other considerations equally explicit. In the 
 Apocalypse, all the successive stages of the different 
 visions are from bad to worse. In the seals, the 
 trumpets, the vials, we see this. Wickedness swells 
 on and up like a flood, and each succeeding judgment 
 is heavier and more terrible than its predecessor. I 
 do not now attempt to date the commencement of 
 these visions. But, date them early or late, it matters 
 not. They all end in fiery judgment. They land us 
 by successive stages of wrath and gloom in the coming 
 of the Lord. It is plain, then, that the whole interval 
 up to the Advent is evil for the world. But, again, 
 the Apostle John thus writes, " Little children, it is 
 the last time : and as ye have heard that antichrist 
 shall come, even now are there many antichrists ; 
 ivhereby we know that it is the last time."X The 
 mark or characteristic of the last time was to be 
 the prevalence of antichrists. This began to ap- 
 pear in primitive times. It has since become more 
 visible. And, as the time runs on, it is to prevail 
 more widely. Paul tells us that in his day the evil 
 had begun, and that it was to go on working and 
 rising until the Advent; "then shall that wicked one 
 be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume by the spirit 
 of his mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his 
 
 * 2 Peter iii. 3, 4. f Luke xviii. 8. 
 
 X 1 John ii. 18. 
 
5G THE INTERVAL. 
 
 coming."* We may remember, too, that our Lord, 
 when giving the signs of His appearing, makes men- 
 tion of nothing but wars and rumours of wars, storms 
 and earthquakes, without interval or cessation, up till 
 the day of His arrival. Nay, so far were these from 
 subsiding as ages rolled away, they were to grow worse. 
 Iniquity was to abound, and the love of many to wax 
 cold. 
 
 4. With reference to the earth, the interval ivas to 
 be evil, not good; dark, not bright. Since the day 
 that the curse came down on account of Adam's sin, 
 creation has groaned. But its groans deepen and 
 louden as man's sin and oppression grow heavier. 
 " The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 together until now/'-f* This is its ruined condition. 
 But we also know that " the earnest expectation of the 
 creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of 
 God." And we are told when this groaning is to 
 cease : it is in " the day of the redemption of the body " 
 — (ver.se 23,) — that is, the resurrection, which we know 
 is at the coming of the Lord. Creation is thus to 
 continue under the curse till the sons of God are mani- 
 fested ; that is, till they " shine as the sun in the king- 
 dom of their father," j till they rise from the dead and 
 receive their immortal bodies, when the voice of the 
 archangel and the trump of God summon them from 
 their lono- dwelling in the dust. The earth is to remain 
 under the power of Satan, and oppressed by the curse, 
 until the resurrection and the coming of the Lord. 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii. 8. + Romans viii. 22. J Matt. xiii. 43. 
 
THE INTERVAL. 57 
 
 Thus, then, we have the interval set forth under four 
 different aspects ; with reference to Israel, to the Church, 
 to the world, to the earth or material creation. The 
 state of these four is described as evil, not good ; dark, 
 not bright ; up till the Advent of Christ. There is no 
 hint given respecting any break towards the close, — a 
 thousand years' interruption of the evils, — a period of 
 blessedness, brightness, peace, — before the arrived of 
 Him who comes to deliver Israel, to glorify His Church, 
 to destroy Antichrist, and to renew the face of the earth. 
 If, then, He comes in order to accomplish these things, 
 how is it possible that the millennial rest can be pre- 
 vious to His advent ? 
 
 The only way to meet this is by taking up the 
 position, that Israel is delivered a thousand years be- 
 fore He comes; but then what becomes of Daniel 
 xii. 1 ? — that His Church is to be raised and glorified 
 a thousand years before He comes ; but then what be- 
 come of I Thess. iv. 1 5 ? — that Antichrist is to be 
 destroyed a thousand years before He comes ; but then 
 what becomes of 2 Thess. ii. 8 ? — that the earth is to 
 be renewed a thousand years before He comes ; but 
 what then becomes of 2 Peter iii. 13? — I ask post- 
 millennialists manfully to take up this position, if 
 they can, and to demonstrate it from Scripture. It is 
 not enough that you demolish our theory ; you must 
 demonstrate your own. Merely to negative our •doc- 
 trine is nought, and cannot satisfy. Grant that you 
 have disposed of all our proofs, — that you have shewn 
 that Scripture can be so interpreted as not to testify 
 
58 THE INTERVAL. 
 
 in our favour, — is that any demonstration of your 
 theory % What I ask from you is positive evidence from 
 Scripture that the millennial kingdom is to be before the 
 Advent. I have endeavoured to establish the opposite 
 directly from Scripture. I may be at fault in my 
 evidence ; I may have misunderstood the Word. But 
 still such is the line of proof I have attempted. May 
 I not ask you to adopt the same ? May I not say, you 
 have hitherto contented yourselves too much with 
 merely picking flaws in our evidence ; try something 
 more direct and positive. You have asserted that the 
 Millennium is to precede the Advent : bring forth your 
 positive demonstrations from Scripture ; adduce your 
 positive texts. Have you any passages which explicitly 
 and by themselves prove that Christ is not to come till 
 after the Millennium? Quit your mere negative in- 
 ferential standing, and advance to something more 
 direct, and unequivocally textual. Of what avail is it to 
 prove that we are wrong, if you do not prove that you are 
 right ? 
 
 But let your proofs be bond fide scriptural ones. 
 It is vain to say to us, there are such difficulties in 
 your system that we are compelled to pronounce it 
 unscriptural. For what is that but setting up your 
 own judgment as the standard of doctrine ? What is 
 it but saying, that however plainly the doctrine had 
 been revealed, you could not have believed it ? It is 
 equally vain to say there are fewer difficulties in the 
 post-millennial system. Granting that such is the case, 
 is not that a poor reason for believing it ? You think 
 
THE INTERVAL. 50 
 
 there are fewest difficulties in your system, and there- 
 fore you receive it ! Is this simple-hearted faith ? 
 What would Abraham have said to this ? What would 
 aged Simeon have said to it, when he clasped a helpless 
 infant in his arms and worshipped it as God? But, 
 besides, I think that your system has many more dif- 
 ficulties than ours, and these far more serious and 
 insuperable. The obstacles that stand in our way are 
 the objections of human reason, which calls every 
 thing a difficulty which it cannot grasp. The difficul- 
 ties in your way are the plain words of God. To 
 drive through these is a more arduous task than to 
 surmount all the objections of reason or education or 
 prejudice. You have two things to do : you have first 
 to shew that these plain words of God which we ad- 
 duce are not against you ; and you have, secondly, to 
 shew that there are words equally plain and full on 
 your side. You have often attempted the former; 
 but the latter you have left unattempted. 
 
 I have pointed out four separate lines of events, 
 each one of which preserves throughout the same char- 
 acter of evil, evil augmenting, not diminishing with their 
 progress. These four terminate in the Advent. They 
 maintain the evil until Christ at His coming removes 
 and reverses it. The point and force of this demon- 
 stration it is not difficult to comprehend and appreciate. 
 I may, however, illustrate it. Four vessels left the har- 
 bour to proceed upon a long and adventurous voyage. 
 One who knew the seas they were to traverse, who 
 could truly foresee both the weather and the course, 
 
GO THE INTERVAL. 
 
 from the outset to the landing, gave instructions to each 
 of their crews. He told them that the voyage would 
 be an important one, though how long He said not. 
 He told them that the way was perilous throughout. 
 He especially told them that from the beginning to 
 the end of their ocean-journey they would be swept 
 over by the breaking tempest ; a tempest which would 
 continue without cessation, and would rage with fiercest 
 fury just towards the close of their course. He told 
 them, moreover, that there were no peaceful islands 
 out at sea, where they might repose from the rage 
 of the driving hurricane. They must proceed right 
 onward, till the Son of the Sovereign of the realm 
 they were bound for should meet them, just as they 
 were about to be utterly sunk and broken. He would 
 say to the winds, " Peace, be still ! " and there would 
 be a great calm ; He would bring them to their desired 
 haven. What should we think if the crew or the pas- 
 sengers, still more if the captain, were to maintain 
 that the latter half of their voyage was to be calm and 
 prosperous, — that when they had reached within a thou- 
 sand miles of their destination the storm was entirely 
 to cease, and they were to linger and rest in certain 
 " islands of the blest," at which they would then arrive ? 
 The storm was not to cease till the King's Son came 
 to hush it ; and how could they imagine that they were 
 to have a calm, bright sail of a thousand miles before 
 they came within sight of the kingdom or saw the 
 Prince ? 
 
 But what is the object of the interval ? 
 
THE INTERVAL. Gl 
 
 1. To shew what sin really is, how hateful, how ma- 
 lignant, how terrible. Had the scene closed up at the 
 First Advent, or shortly after, how little would have 
 been known of its horrid blackness ! But we have 
 seen that there is no extremity to which sin will not 
 proceed. It aims at nothing less than the dethrone- 
 ment, or rather the annihilation of Jehovah. This has 
 been amply proved already. It is to be more fully and 
 fearfully proved in the last mighty crisis and conflict 
 of evil. 
 
 2. To shew the nature and extent of human wicked- 
 ness. Man's heart is laid bare before us, and exhi- 
 bited in ten thousand different hues and aspects. What 
 streams of hellish pollution have burst forth from that 
 one source, a human heart ! What hatred of God, 
 what enmity both to His law and to His love, what 
 infinite abominations I Law and love, threatening and 
 tenderness, have availed nothing to check it. The 
 streams are flowing darker than ever, and with a still 
 broader current, Man sinned in Eden. He continued 
 to sin after the penalty had been inflicted for this 
 transgression. He sinned with the warning of the 
 Flood before him, and he sinned with the terrible re- 
 membrance of that Flood behind him. He sinned in 
 view of Sodom and Gomorrah's smoking sepulchres. 
 He sinned under the awful shadow of Sinai. He 
 sinned with the tabernacle of God in the midst, and 
 the bright cloud of glory overstretching him. He 
 sinned in spite of prophets and seers coming straight 
 to him with messages from Jehovah on their lips. He 
 
G2 THE INTERVAL. 
 
 sinned with an incarnate God dwelling beside him : 
 nay, he hated that Divine Saviour, and rested not till 
 he slew Him. He has been sinning with the same 
 desperate deliberation during these ages past. He is 
 seeking out new ways of sin, and new forms of insult- 
 ing and dishonouring God, as if his hatred of Jehovah 
 could never be slaked. And the last outburst of it in 
 the form of Antichrist is to be the embodiment and 
 concentration of all human wickedness from the day of 
 Cain. Such is the exhibition of a human heart that 
 has been made ! There is a still more awful manifes- 
 tation of it yet in reserve at the close of the millennial 
 period. And it will then be seen that even in the 
 visible presence of God and of His glory, man will rush 
 into rebellion ! 
 
 3. To shew Satanic power and wickedness. Sin is 
 not a thino; confined to one order of creatures. In 
 Satan and his angels we have a manifestation of malig- 
 nity, revenge, rebellion, as dark as man's, with this only 
 palliation, that it is not against love such as man has 
 tasted. Very fearful has been the power of Satan, both 
 in the Church and world hitherto, in every age. But 
 the most fearful display of it is reserved for the great 
 Antichristian apostasy, which he is to lead on and ener- 
 gise in the last time, immediately before he is bound. 
 
 4. To bring out the gracious character of Jehovah. 
 "What long-suffering has His been ! Infinite, unutter- 
 able ! Many waters have not quenched, nor have the 
 floods drowned it. It has been slighted, denied, re- 
 jected, yet it wearies not ; and it is long, very long, 
 
THE INTERVAL. Go 
 
 before it gives way, and is exchanged for wrath. There 
 lives not on earth the sinner which it is not longing to 
 bless. There is not one soul upon the surface of this 
 many-peopled soil over which it does not yearn with 
 tenderness unutterable. Had it not been for this long 
 interval of sin, how little we should have known of the 
 infinite heart of God, how little of the heights and 
 depths of love that it contains ! 
 
 5. To gather in a people to Christ. It is now that 
 the members of Christ's body are preparing. It is now 
 that the Father is making ready a Bride for His Son 
 out of the sinners of this fallen earth. And what 
 honour for us to be of those who are thus to share His 
 affection and His throne, to sit down with Him at His 
 marriage-supper, in the day of the gladness of His 
 heart ! 
 
 Such, then, are some of the objects which Jehovah 
 has in view during this interval. They are not only 
 important in themselves, but fitted strongly to enforce 
 our whole argument throughout this chapter. For are 
 not these objects totally inconsistent with the idea of a 
 millennium of holiness before the Advent I If the great 
 feature and characteristic of the interval be Axti- 
 CHRISTIAXITY ; if this began in the days of the apostles; 
 if this is to " wax worse and worse " as time moves 
 downward, — then how is it possible that there can be a 
 millennium of holy blessedness before its close ? 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE ADVENT. 
 
 What a trial the departure of Jesus must have been 
 to His disciples ! His absence was a bitter blank in 
 their circle. How they would miss Him ! He knew 
 this, and prepared them for it. Love like theirs could 
 ill bear the absence of one so dear. No wonder that 
 they delighted in the prospect of His return, and 
 clasped the promise of it to their heart, as their trea- 
 sure and their joy. "I will see you again," was the 
 solace of their souls. They knew that He loved them 
 though absent ; they were made to taste the refresh- 
 ment of His spiritual presence ; their inward fellowship 
 with Him was unbroken, yet to see Him again face to 
 face was what they desired. Without this they could 
 not be satisfied. 
 
 What a trial also must His departure have been to 
 the family that He loved at Bethany ! How often had 
 He been their guest ! How often had He sat at their 
 table, and slept beneath their roof ! How often had 
 they watched Him in the still evening, coming over the 
 brow of Olivet, and slowly descending its shady slopes ! 
 How eagerly they had gone forth to meet Him, and to 
 welcome Him to their quiet dwelling, where no city 
 
THE ADVENT. Co 
 
 hum could meet His ear, and nought be heard around, 
 save the breath of the breeze as it murmured through 
 the palms ! What a blank, then, would His absence be ! 
 How empty, how desolate would their dwellings now 
 appear ! Their loved friend and guest had gone, and 
 left behind Him a vacancy which none but Himself 
 could ever fill. They could not doubt His love ; they 
 had His abiding though unseen fellowship ; but He, 
 the living Jesus, — He, the visible companion, was away. 
 How they would mourn ! How eagerly they would 
 cling to the promise of His speedy return ! It would 
 be to them truly a " blessed hope." 
 
 Such should be the feelings of the Church, such 
 should be the longings of every saint. The Bride- 
 groom is absent, and should not the friends of the 
 Bridegroom mourn ? Above all, should not the Bride 
 lament His absence ? Should she not watch without 
 ceasing, for the return of the beloved of her heart? 
 Until He appear, she cannot be comforted. She 
 must feel the dreary blank. No glory, no prosperity 
 to which she may attain, can satisfy her without 
 His personal presence. A Millennium, without Him 
 in the midst, would be poor indeed. And besides, it 
 is on His return that God wishes her to fix her eye. 
 It is around His return that all her hopes revolve. It 
 is in his return that all the glory she has been promised 
 is wrapt up. It is then that the marriage is to take 
 place, for this is but the time of her betrothment. It 
 is then that she is to receive from His own hands the 
 crown of royal dominion, and be invested with the rule 
 
66 THE ADVENT. 
 
 of the universe as His queen. Till then, sorrow and 
 tribulation are her lot below. 
 
 Some wish to brand all this as carnal. But what do 
 they mean by carnal? Is it sinful, fleshly, corrupt? 
 Do they mean this ? Then I answer it is not carnal ; 
 it is holy, it is spiritual. If by carnal, they mean 
 human, natural, I admit it. It is human, it is natural. 
 God meant it so to be. This was one of the ends for 
 which the Word was made flesh, that God might pre- 
 sent Himself to us in visible form, so that we might 
 have fellowship according to our nature. It was the 
 God who made us that gave us these longings for vis- 
 ible, palpable intercourse, this delight in hearing, seeing 
 handling each other. Without these our nature cannot 
 be satisfied. And just that we might be satisfied, He 
 sent us His Son, in the likeness of an elder brother, 
 bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, to meet those 
 natural and God-oiven cravings of our souls. It is 
 upon this principle of our nature, holy love, and holy 
 desire for personal intercourse with Him we love, that 
 our grief for the absence of the Lord, and our desire 
 for His return, are founded. They are not, then, car- 
 nal ; they are spiritual, they are holy. 
 
 Our union with Christ by faith necessarily leads us 
 to desire closer and more sensible union. Faith can 
 do much, but still it cannot do all ; it is not sight ; and 
 the stronger it becomes, the more does it excite within 
 us the desire for sight. To know that I am His and 
 that He is mine, and yet not to long to behold and 
 embrace Him, is strange inconsistency, nay, it is un- 
 
THE ADVENT. G7 
 
 disguised coldness and estrangement. And to make 
 His spiritual presence a reason for not desiring His 
 actual presence, is to turn a blessed privilege into an 
 excuse for unbelief and unfaithfulness. Was it not the 
 beloved disciple, — he who enjoyed most of His spiritual 
 presence, — he who was most favoured with visions and 
 revelations of the Lord, that has left behind him as 
 the closing words of inspiration, so earnest an expres- 
 sion of his longing for the coming of the Lord ? The 
 well-known voice, addressing him amid the rocks of 
 Patmos, had no sooner said, " Surely I come quickly/' 
 than the full heart of the apostle joyfully responded, 
 "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Each year that passes 
 over us- says, "Surely I come quickly.'' Each pro- 
 phetic sign now proclaiming itself, in heaven or on 
 earth, each convulsion, each famine, each calamity, each 
 rumour of war, says, " Surely I come quickly/' Every 
 event in these last days gives utterance to the same 
 note of promise and of warning. Do we, then, respond 
 with joyful hearts, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus?" 
 
 The Lord likens Himself to "a certain nobleman" 
 who went into a far country "to receive for himself a 
 kingdom and to return." He is now in that far 
 country, and has been sojourning there these eighteen 
 hundred years. But He is not always to remain there: 
 He is to return, having received the kingdom. Before 
 He left, He gave many intimations regarding His return. 
 His instructions were minute and special, implying the 
 great stress He laid upon it, and His anxiety that His 
 Church should at all times be fully prepared for it, 
 
G8 THE ADVENT. 
 
 however sudden it might be. He always spoke of its time 
 as a profound uncertainty, but of the event itself as most 
 absolutely certain, and most abruptly unexpected, over- 
 taking men " as a snare," stealing in upon them with 
 silent foot, as " a thief in the night/' He intimated, 
 moreover, that it was not far off; that the period of His 
 absence would be but " a little while," and that the day 
 of His advent was so hidden that no one could calcu- 
 late it, no one could say, "It cannot be in my day." 
 " Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not the 
 angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." 
 
 Looking to these intimations, the early Christians 
 were ever on the eager watch to hail His Advent. It 
 was the resting-place of their hopes, the strength of 
 their souls, the very life of their joy. They allowed no 
 object to intervene between them and their Lord's 
 appearing ; they were ever waiting and looking for it, 
 as if all between it and them were a dreary, rugged 
 waste. As, in a night of clouds, when no small tem- 
 pest lies upon his vessel, the seaman's eye is ever on the 
 outlook for the star of morning, so were their anxious 
 eyes, amid tribulation and darkness, ever watching for 
 the appealing of " the bright and morning star." 
 
 He did not, however, come in their day. The Bride- 
 groom tarried, the King delayed His return. "Was, 
 then, all their waiting profitless ? Were they as men 
 disappointed, cheated, befooled ? No I their watching 
 was not in vain. Besides its being their Lord's com- 
 mand, it was blessedness unspeakable to them. It sus- 
 tained them, comforted them, gladdened them, sanctified 
 
THE ADVENT. CO 
 
 them in a way such as no other truth, no other hope 
 could have done. Verily they had their reward. 
 
 But are His promises made of none effect by this 
 delay ? Are we to suppose that when He said, " Surely 
 I come quickly," He did not truly mean what He said ? 
 No. He deceived them not : nor did He sjieak at ran- 
 dom, using loose or exao-o-erated lammao-c And though 
 they miscalculated the time implied in the "quickly/" 
 yet that did not prevent their holding fast the great 
 idea involved in it, namely, the suddenness of the 
 Advent, and the entire uncertainty as to its time. If 
 the first age could say, " Ah ! He has not come in our 
 day ; the word ' quickly ' did not apply to our time ;" 
 the second age could take up the welcome promise, and 
 say, " He came not in the first age, indeed, and thus far 
 our ideas of His coming have not been verified ; but 
 His not coming in the first age is all the stronger 
 reason for expecting Him in the second." So also 
 might the third age reason from His not appearing in 
 the second. And thus might each succeeding age most 
 justly argue, concluding from His non-arrival in the 
 preceding age, not that His coming was to be pro- 
 longed indefinitely, and that, therefore, they might 
 cea.se watching and expecting, but that He must be so 
 much the nearer in their day. Take a common instance. 
 A friend promises you a visit "very soon/' His 
 language is such that he may perchance come to- 
 morrow; and accordingly you wait for his arrival on 
 that day. But he comes not. The third day passes, 
 but still he comes not. "What do you infer from this ? 
 
70 THE ADVENT. 
 
 Do you say forthwith, " Oh ! he did not mean what he 
 said ; I must have mistaken him ; he meant that I was 
 to £0 to him, not that he was to come to me." Would 
 you reason thus ? Not if you believed his word, and 
 were assured that no hindrance could stay him. Not if 
 you were really anxious for his arrival, and felt the 
 dreary solitude of absence from him. On the contrary, 
 you would say, " 1 know he will fulfil his promise, and 
 that nothing can hinder him ; and therefore, since he 
 has not arrived to-day, I may be more sure of him to- 
 morrow." Every lengthening day would only make 
 you the surer, as well as the more eager in your ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 Just so ought the Church to reason regarding the 
 Lord's appearing. He came not in the first watch of 
 the night ; but what of that % We may more con- 
 fidently reckon on His arrival in the second. He came 
 not in the second ; but what of that ? We may surely 
 expect Him in the third. He came not in the third ; 
 but what of that ? Shall we weary of watching ? Shall 
 hope deferred make our hearts sick? Shall expecta- 
 tion give way, and our longings be quenched ? Shall 
 we conclude that He cannot come in the fourth ? In 
 that fourth and last watch of the night we seem now 
 to be. And what shall we say? My Lord delayeth 
 His coming? He has been so long behind the ap- 
 pointed time, and has so often disappointed us, that 
 perhaps He may not come at all ? Shall we give birth 
 to such thoughts, or utterance to such words as these ? 
 Nay ; let us lift up our heads, knowing that now our 
 
THE ADVENT. 71 
 
 redemption must be drawing nigh. We are surer than 
 ever that He is near, even at the doors. If this be the 
 fourth and last watch of the night, then beyond that 
 His stay cannot be prolonged, for He comes as the star 
 of morning, the herald of the dawn. He must be nigh. 
 Hs was near eighteen hundred years ago. He must 
 be much nearer now. " He that shall come will come, 
 and will not tarry." 
 
 If the warning words, "Behold, I come quickly," 
 sounded with such solemnising power in the Church's 
 early days, how much more loudly ought they to peal 
 upon us now ! If they broke like threatening thunder 
 upon the slumbers of a careless world in these times, 
 how appalling, how overwhelming now ! If in the 
 primitive age they carried with them such a potent 
 spell to nerve and animate the Church with more than 
 human vigour and endurance ; to fill her soul with 
 more than mortal joy ; to bear her far above this earth, 
 as upon eagles' wings ; to disenchant the jDrincipalities 
 and powers of darkness of all their power to harm ; 
 what ought they not to do now, when the revolution 
 of so many centuries has brought us so much nearer 
 the expected time? 
 
 Are these words of warning, then, consistent with 
 the fact of so long an interval having to elapse before 
 the coming of the Lord ? So far as God is concerned, 
 it is not hard to understand how there should be entire 
 consistency between these two ; for " one day is with 
 the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as 
 one day." But in so far as man is concerned, it may 
 
72 THE ADVENT. 
 
 not seem so easy to establish the consistency. Let us 
 consider the difficulty. It is simply this. A far 
 longer interval has taken place than the words of Christ 
 seem to imply. How, then, could He intend to fore- 
 warn us, and stir us up to watchfulness ? 
 
 On this I remark, that though the word " quickly " 
 is used, the time is not fixed. Had the time been 
 precisely given, and had the interval overpassed the 
 appointed time, then truly we might have wondered. 
 But no date is given. It is merely said, " I will not 
 be long/' How long He does not say. In like man- 
 ner the command to " watch " is to be explained. Sud- 
 denness of arrival is that which it speaks of ; and it is 
 this suddenness that is made the motive to continual 
 vigilance. Had a date been given, however, the idea 
 of suddenness would have been entirely withdrawn. 
 When He says, " Behold, I come as a thief : blessed is 
 he that watcheth ! " He is calling on the Church to 
 prepare for His unexpected return, — a return which 
 would not be long, and would be very sudden. The 
 words, then, which the Lord used were such as to keep 
 His Church ever awake; to prevent her from saying, 
 " He is not near." There was no deception here. It 
 was simply dealing with man according to his finite 
 nature and his limited knowledge, instead of dealing 
 with him according to God's infinite nature and un- 
 limited knowledge. When, for instance, God speaks 
 of our days as an handbreadth, and warns us by their 
 brevity, He is dealing with us according to our igno- 
 rance, and not according to His knowledge. He knows 
 
THE ADVENT. 73 
 
 that yon little child, whom He is calling to consider 
 life's briefness and uncertainty, is to live perhaps to 
 fourscore. Yet He sends him the warning, " Thou 
 mayest die to-morrow." Is there deception here ? He 
 is speaking to him after his nature. He is turning 
 to good account man's utter ignorance of the future. 
 He is shewing us one of the many ways in which it 
 may be made a blessing. This may be called a decep- 
 tions warning, founded on our shortsightedness ; but 
 who is there that feels in his conscience that there is 
 any deception in this matter ? Do we not rather feel 
 that this is the only way in which we could be treated, 
 unless we were to be made partakers of Jehovah's 
 omniscience, and thus cease to be capable of human 
 responsibilities, or acted upon by human motives ? 
 
 It is precisely so with the Church, in reference to 
 the Advent of the Lord. It must be taken for 
 granted that we are ignorant of the future ; and the 
 question is, in what way shall that ignorance be 
 dealt with ? Shall it be removed, and man let entirely 
 into the secrets of God? That would be impossible, 
 as well as inconsistent with his responsibility. If, then, 
 the ignorance is to remain, is it not to be turned to 
 profit? Is it not to be acted upon so as to be the 
 medium of blessing ? Surely it must be so. And this 
 is what God has done. He has addressed Himself, if 
 one may so speak, to our ignorance, and converted 
 that into a mighty lever for acting most beneficially 
 upon our motives and responsibilities. 
 
 But could this have been done had a date been Given, 
 
74 THE ADVENT. 
 
 and a time fixed, on which we could calculate? I 
 answer, No, it could not. A fixed interposing period, 
 made known to us, removes the very fulcrum on which 
 this lever was acting. It puts man in possession of a 
 fact which will enable him to make calculations as to 
 the exact time when preparation will be necessary, and 
 meanwhile to say, " Take thine ease ; eat, drink, and 
 be merry." If it had been said to the primitive Church, 
 Your Lord is to come in the year 1000, would not this 
 have removed all necessity for watching ? I do not 
 say it would have destroyed the necessity for being 
 2^repared, though it would have weakened the motive ; 
 but it would have taken away all necessity for watch- 
 ing. For how is it possible that I can watch for an 
 event which I am positively assured is not to take place 
 for a thousand years hence ? It does not remove the 
 difficulty to say that faith can overleap the thousand 
 years. I know that it can, and that it ought. But that 
 is not the question. The point is, Can faith watch for an 
 event which, it is assumed, shall not arrive for a whole 
 millennium ? Can faith say, " I know that Christ's 
 coining shall not be for a thousand years, but yet I do 
 not know but that it may be to-morrow?" If the 
 word watch means anything, it must mean that the 
 time is not known, that the interval is not ascertained. 
 The moment it is positively ascertained, that moment 
 watching ceases. I can wait in such a case, but I can- 
 not watch. Now, it is not mere waiting for Christ that 
 is demanded of us ; it is not mere preparation ; it is 
 not mere looking for it ; it is not mere longing for it ; 
 
THE ADVENT. 75 
 
 — all these, I admit, are quite consistent with an ascer- 
 tained interval of one thousand years. It is watching 
 that is incompatible with such an interval. To bring 
 it into harmony you must alter the meaning of the 
 word. It is no longer watching. It is simply waiting, 
 but nothing more. 
 
 If so, I ask, How is it possible that the Millennium 
 can precede the Advent ? How can I watch for that 
 which I positively know to be a thousand years dis- 
 tant? And especially if these thousand years be so 
 marked that I cannot mistake either their beginning 
 or end, there can be no watching at all. None just 
 now, for I know that one thousand years must elapse 
 before He comes. None when these one thousand 
 years are closing, for I shall know exactly the day 
 when He cometh. 
 
 There is but one answer to this. It is founded on 
 the apostle's caution to the Thessalonians in his Second 
 Epistle. He tells them that the day of the Lord shall 
 not come " except there come a falling away first, and 
 that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."* 
 It is argued that, as the apostle did not reckon the 
 interposition of this event between him and the Advent 
 to be inconsistent with the command to watch, so the 
 
 * This argument of our opponents takes, of course, for granted, 
 that the day of the Lord spoken of is really the Second Advent. If 
 so, then they must admit that this is the same coming that is to 
 destroy Antichrist ; for the coming is only postponed, if we may so 
 speak, until Antichrist shall arise. That which was " not to come " 
 until the falling away should take place, must be that very same 
 thing which does come as soon as that apostasy has taken place. 
 
70 THE ADVENT. 
 
 interposition of the millennial age cannot be incon- 
 sistent with it. 
 
 On this, I remark that the interposition of an event 
 is very different from the interposition of a period. 
 The latter seems to be incompatible with watchfulness, 
 but not the former; more esj)ecially when that event is 
 declared to be already in progress, as is done by the 
 apostle when he says "the mystery of iniquity doth 
 already work." For thus no time is given, and it is 
 the absence of time that is the foundation of watch- 
 fulness. It is the presence of time, as an element, that 
 destroys the possibility of watching; and it is the ab- 
 sence of that element that produces the watchful spirit. 
 The event which the apostle interposes is one which 
 he declares to be already begun. It is an event which 
 might be consummated within a very short space ; so 
 short, that when known to be commenced, no man 
 could say of it that it might not be brought to a crisis 
 without delay. Time is a thing on which a man can 
 calculate with precision ; an event or a crisis is a thing 
 on which he cannot pronounce. Its development may 
 be with the unexpected suddenness of the lightning. 
 We have, in our own day, witnessed so many instances 
 of the rapid development of events ; events which we 
 should have judged to be the product of ages ; that 
 we, of all others, should be cautious of affirming that 
 length of time must be allowed for an event which is 
 frequently alluded to as one of startling celerity, alike in 
 its "sh ooting forth " and in its passing away. "Behold at 
 evening-tide trouble, and before the morning he is not/' 
 
 It is no answer to this to say, that the development 
 
THE ADVENT. 77 
 
 of the Anticliristian apostasy has already occupied ages, 
 and therefore it is impossible to speak of it as an event 
 of the kind referred to. For Scripture declares that it 
 is just such an event of sudden crisis. Apart from 
 this, however, is it not plain that we are measuring the 
 prophetic aspect of the event by the historical one? 
 We are supposing that because so long an interval has 
 actually elapsed, therefore that interval must have been 
 foreshewn : and that because we now see that the Anti- 
 christian leaven has taken so long to develop, therefore 
 the early Christians must have/o?^seen this with equal 
 clearness. If this could be proved to be the case, then 
 the element of time would necessarily be introduced, 
 and my argument overthrown. But I believe this can- 
 not be shewn ; and until it be so, the argument stands 
 good. And does not the apostle's language seem as 
 if intended to exclude the element of time, and to fix 
 attention upon the event itself, as one which was on 
 the very edge of bursting forth, and which, like a 
 pent-up river, would in an instant burst forth so soon 
 as a certain barrier should be removed ? And further, 
 was it not the intention of the Spirit of God, even in 
 predicting dates, to exclude this element as much as 
 possible ? Was it not for this end that we read always 
 of times, and days, and months ? The shortest periods 
 are selected, as if to prevent man from introducing an 
 element which would have the effect of unim-dino; his 
 loins, and saying, " My Lord delayeth his coming." 
 Are not all the prophecies so worded as to prevent 
 any age of the Chinch from saying, " The crisis cannot 
 be in our day V And does not this peculiar construe- 
 
78 THE ADVENT. 
 
 tion of prophetical language proceed upon the principle 
 that an interposed period must destroy vigilance, but 
 that an interposed event does not ? That event was so 
 predicted, that being known to be already in motion, 
 its crisis might arrive at any time. And thus, while 
 the Church was kept ever watchful for her coming 
 Lord, she was also kept with her eye fixed upon the 
 workings of that apostasy, not knowing but that in a 
 moment the explosive and combustible materials might 
 kindle, and with their hellish blaze wrap Christendom, 
 if not the world, in flame. 
 
 Is not this the position in which we now stand? 
 The apostasy has been working these eighteen hundred 
 years. It has more than once in successive ages ap- 
 peared to come to a crisis ; yet the crisis has not yet 
 arrived. The Papal apostasy is by far the likest thing 
 to the predicted Antichristianity that the world has yet 
 seen ; but there is something beyond it, more fearful 
 than any hitherto : in which shall be concentrated not 
 merely many of the elements of evil that have formerly 
 shot up in other days, but all the different forms of 
 evil, apostasy, rebellion, idolatry, superstition, infidelity, 
 that have broken loose upon the earth since the days of 
 Cain. It is for this that we are now looking. We see 
 the intermingling elements. We mark the rapid fer- 
 mentation. We are startled with the swift career of 
 action in each event, starting from the goal but yester- 
 day, and finishing its race to-night. We are horrified 
 at the giant stature which every form of sin reaches in 
 a single day. It would seem as if some tropic sun of 
 hell were glaring down upon us, ripening evil before 
 
THE ADVENT. 79 
 
 its time ; and preparing for us a vintage of iniquity, 
 almost before " the sour grape is seen ripening in the 
 flower." 
 
 But, besides all this, let us remember, that it is 
 before the last mighty crisis that the saints are caught 
 up to meet the Lord in the air. Christ's first action 
 after leaving the Father's throne, is to raise His dead 
 saints and change His living ones. He comes no 
 doubt to destroy Antichrist, and to pour out the terrors 
 of fiery judgment upon an apostate and blaspheming 
 earth. But in these acts of final vengeance His saints 
 are associated with Him : for " this honour have all the 
 saints;"* and this is that to which our Lord refers 
 when He tells us, that "two shall be together in the 
 field, one shall be taken (caught up) and the other 
 left/'-)- These scenes of vengeance we shall behold; 
 but only afar off. Among them we shall not be. We 
 shall have already entered our chambers and have shut 
 our doors about us until the indignation be overpast. 
 Safe hidden in the clefts of the rock, w T e shall look out 
 and see far beneath us the havoc of the wasting storm, 
 and mark the swellings of the fiery flood as it rolls its 
 red billows over earth, swallowing up city and village, 
 tower and temple, in the advancing current, hushing 
 alike the roar of its tumult and the "noise of its viols," 
 till, as, amid the deep vapour, we discern the smoke of 
 "that great city Babylon," we take up the song of 
 Moses and of Miriam, and call on heaven and earth to 
 rejoice with us over the ruin of that habitation of devils 
 whose power and pomp and glory in one hour have 
 * Psalm radix. G-9. f ^tt. xxiv. 40. 
 
80 THE ADVENT. 
 
 perished, laid waste like Sodom, swallowed up in that 
 abyss out of which no second Babylon shall arise. 
 
 If these things be so, what manner of persons ought 
 we to be in all holy conversation and godliness ? Tor 
 what is there now between us and the coming of the 
 Lord ? What is there to lead us to suppose that He is 
 not nigh, even at the doors ? If, even before the last 
 crisis bursts upon the amazed earth, we are to be caught 
 up out of it and taken away from the evil to come, then 
 it is high time to awake out of our sleep. " The night 
 is far spent, the day is at hand." The Judge standeth 
 before the door. "Watch, therefore, for ye know 
 neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man 
 cometh." 
 
 But a few years, — it may be less, — and we shall be 
 beyond the circle where sorrow enters, beyond the ebb- 
 ing and the flowing of human vicissitude, seeing Him 
 face to face whom not having seen we loved ; our 
 battles fought, our wounds all healed, our toils for- 
 gotten, and our tears all wiped away.* 
 
 * " Would it not rejoice your hearts if you were sure to live to 
 see the coming of the Lord, and to see His glorious appearing and 
 retinue ? If you were not to die, but to be caught up thus to meet 
 the Lord, would you be averse to this ? Would it not be the great- 
 est joy that you could desire? For my own part I must confess that 
 death, as death, appeareth to me as an enemy, and my nature doth 
 abhor and fear it ; but the thoughts of the coming of the Lord are 
 most sweet and joyful to me ; so that if I were but sure that I 
 should live to see it, and that the trumpet should sound and the 
 dead should rise and the Lord appear before the period of my age, 
 it would be the joyfullest tidings to me in the world." — Baxter's 
 Works, vol. xvii. p. 555. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLENXIAL ADVENT. 
 
 This is purely a question of interpretation. The order 
 in which events are to occur depends entirely on God's 
 eternal arrangements ; and our knowledge of that order 
 must depend upon our right understanding of what 
 God has written in His Word concerning it. Mans 
 theories cannot aid us here ; nay, they may hinder us 
 much. We must listen to the voice of God. Let us 
 calmly and simply interpret His Word, throwing aside 
 all bias, and being willing to learn of Him alone. 
 
 How often have human systems perverted the spirit- 
 ual judgment, and unfitted us for listening to what the 
 Spirit saith unto the Churches ! Have they not been 
 used as instruments for corrupting the simple Word, 
 and explaining away its natural meaning? How fre- 
 quently, when departing from the plain sense of the 
 words, has our only reason been, that, if interpreted 
 thus, our system must fall to pieces ! Had the fear of 
 this collision not been in the way, the simpler view of 
 the passage would undoubtedly have been acquiesced 
 in. This abuse of system needs to be guarded against, 
 
82 PEOOFS OF A PEE-MILLEXNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 and nowhere more than in the present discussion. Our 
 appeal is directly to the Word of God. 
 
 In more than one of the previous chapters I have 
 had occasion to touch upon the proof of the pre-millen- 
 nial Advent ; let me now take up the question directly. 
 It is impossible for me to adduce here the hundredth 
 part of the proofs on this point, which lie scattered over 
 the whole of Scripture. 
 
 I. Isaiah xxxiv. — This chapter commences with 
 a summons to all the nations of the earth, announc- 
 ing to them that the great day of God's wrath had 
 come. At the third verse there is a description of 
 the terrible slaughter. Then, in the fourth, we have a 
 picture which cannot be mistaken — 
 
 " All the host of heaven shall be dissolved ; 
 The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. 
 All their host shall fall down, 
 As the leaf falleth from off the vine, 
 As a falling fig from the fig-tree." 
 
 This passage is very easily identified. It so cor- 
 responds in word and figure with Christ's description 
 of His coming, and with Peter's description of the day 
 of the Lord, that it is impossible not to conclude that 
 all three refer to the same day and the same desola- 
 tion. Indeed, this vision of Isaiah is one of the strong- 
 est passages which prophecy contains regarding that 
 crisis of vengeance and despair. If it admits of being 
 explained away, so as to mean nothing but mere natu- 
 ral disasters, such as the overthrow of kingdoms and 
 the calamities of nations, then in truth it might be 
 shewn that there is no such day of judgment at all, as 
 
PSOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. .83 
 
 we have been accustomed to expect. All that is writ- 
 ten of the coming of the Lord, and the accompanying 
 terrors of that day, may be turned into figures signify- 
 ing nothing but national overthrow and slaughter. 
 
 Taking, however, this passage in its obvious mean- 
 ing, until a good reason can be shewn why we should 
 use it in a non-natural sense, let us mark what fol- 
 lows. In this day of the Lord, this day of the dissolu- 
 tion of heaven and convulsion of earth, the awful doom 
 of the adversaries of Jehovah and His people is fore- 
 told, the utter desolation of the people and the land. 
 This occupies the remainder of the chapter ; and then 
 conies the glowing picture of millennial blessedness 
 — " the times of the restitution of all things." " The 
 wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for 
 them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the 
 rose/' I need not quote the rest. It is obviously the 
 conclusion of the whole prophetic burden, and shews 
 us very distinctly the order of events. The millennial 
 scene of the 35th chapter succeeds the Advent scene 
 of the 3-ith. In other words, the millennium follows 
 the coming of the Lord* 
 
 * Lowth, in his notes upon this chapter, states the connexion 
 thus. His interpretation is given in very general terms, but it is 
 very explicit as to the order and connexion of events : — " These two 
 chapters make one distinct prophecy — an entire, regular, and beau- 
 tiful poem, consisting of two parts ; the first containing a denuncia- 
 tion of Divine vengeance against the enemies of the people or Church 
 of God ; the second, describing the flourishing state of the Church 
 
 of God, consequent upon the execution of these judgments It 
 
 seems reasonable to Buppose, with many learned expositors, that 
 this prophecy has a further view to events still future — to some 
 
84 PROOFS OF A PRE- MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 II. Isaiah lxv. 17-25. — The former part of this 
 chapter describes the apostasy and punishment of 
 Israel, the state in which they have been for many 
 generations, and still are. At the close of the 16th 
 verse, the prophet very briefly adverts to the time 
 when these "troubles shall be forgotten;" and then 
 he proceeds to tell us the time and circumstances at 
 large, and to give the reason why all the past shall be 
 remembered no more : — 
 
 " For, behold 1 
 I create new heavens and a new earth : 
 
 And the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. 
 But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. 
 For, behold ! 
 
 I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, 
 And her people a joy." 
 
 Now, here again we have an inspired interpreter to 
 guide us. The Apostle Peter quotes this very passage 
 in his second epistle : " We, according to his promise, 
 look for new heavens and a new earth/' And in the 
 21st chapter of the Apocalypse the same language is 
 used. In Peter, and in the Revelation, there can be 
 no doubt that the new heavens and earth are literal. 
 Indeed, I do not suppose that any one denies this. 
 Moreover, they evidently are not "created" until the 
 second coming of the Lord. And if so, then we can 
 be at no loss to discover the meaning of Isaiah's words, 
 which are the basis of all the others. They cannot 
 
 great revolution to be effected in later times, antecedent to that more 
 perfect state of the kingdom of God upon earth, and soring to in- 
 troduce it." — Lowtii's Isaiah, p. 296. 
 
PROOFS OF A FEE-MLLLEXXIAL ADVENT. Sj 
 
 refer to the first, but to the second coming of Christ. 
 Nay, what follows in the chapter proves this. For 
 none of the blessed events predicted in the succeeding 
 verses have yet been accomplished. They are still 
 future. Jerusalem has not been delivered from her 
 weeping. Longevity has not yet been restored to man. 
 "The wolf and the lamb have not yet fed together."' 
 Nor has the time come when "they shall not hurt nor 
 destroy in God's holy mountain/' These are things 
 for whose accomplishment we still wait. They are to 
 come to pass in the day when Jehovah " creates new 
 heavens and a new earth/' The advent of Christ must 
 then precede the millennium. 
 
 III. Daniel vii. — Here we have a description of the 
 four successive Gentile empires ; Babylonian, Medo- 
 Persian, Macedonian, and Roman. These extend over 
 " the times of the Gentiles/' when Jerusalem was to bo 
 trodden down by them. During the existence of the 
 fourth empire, the little horn, or Antichristian power, 
 is seen to arise. Now, while this empire and the little 
 horn which " came up" were still flourishing, we read, 
 " I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the 
 
 SOX OF MAN CAME WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN, and 
 
 came to the Ancient of Days, and there was given him 
 
 dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
 tions, and languages should serve him. His dominion 
 is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. ' 
 In these words we have the second coming of the Lord 
 predicted. The language is such as cannot be mis- 
 taken. But besides we have an inspired interpreter 
 
86 PROOFS OF A FEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 here also, our Lord himself, who quotes these very 
 words, " Then shall they see the Son of man coming 
 in the clouds OF HEAVEN ;" and, when answering 
 the high-priest's adjuration, He again uses these words, 
 Caiaphas at once understood the reference to the words 
 of Scripture, and accused Him of blasphemy for apply- 
 ing them to Himself. The links in this chain of reason- 
 ing are thus very clear and simple. Daniel predicts 
 that the Son of man was to come and receive His 
 kingdom, while the little horn and the Roman empire 
 were still in being ; nay, that He was to come in order 
 to destroy both of these, and to set up His kingdom. 
 Our Lord quotes these words of Daniel, and applies 
 them to His Second Advent. If so, there cannot pos- 
 sibly be a millennium before Christ comes ; nay, it is 
 expressly declared that the kingdom is to be given to 
 the saints at His coming, not before it. There are 
 other allusions in the New Testament to this passage 
 in Daniel, such as Rev. i. 7, " Behold, He cometh with 
 clouds ;" all of them confirming the application of the 
 prophecy to Christ's second coming. Indeed, it seems 
 difficult to imagine how it can be applied to anything 
 else. What reason can be given for departing from 
 the simple meaning of the words ? 
 
 IV. Daniel xii. — The 11th and 12th chapters of 
 Daniel are one continuous prophecy. The former 
 chapter begins with a prediction of Xerxes, King of 
 Persia, and carries us downwards to the last Anti- 
 christ, whose destruction is announced in the conclud- 
 ing verse. Then the 1 2th chapter begins with pre- 
 
PROOFS OF A PEE-MELLENNIAL ADVENT. 8/ 
 
 dieting Israel's "time of trouble;" a time of trouble 
 " such as there never was since there was a nation ;" 
 and also their deliverance from it by " Michael the 
 Great Prince/' Then it is added, "And many of them 
 that sleep in the dust shall awake/' Here, then, we 
 have the downfall of Antichrist, the deliverance of 
 Israel, and the resurrection, all placed side by side 
 with each other. The inference from this is surely 
 plain enough. There can be no millennium before the 
 destruction of Antichrist, or the deliverance of Israel, 
 or the resurrection. Now, we are sure that the last of 
 these three events, at least, is at the coming of the Lord, 
 and hence we conclude that the Advent must be before 
 the Millennium. We do not see how this can be 
 evaded, save by denying that the second verse refers to 
 the resurrection. But this we hardly think will be 
 attempted by any. 
 
 V. Joel iii. — Twice over in this chapter God pro- 
 claims His purpose of gathering the nations together 
 into the valley of Jehoshaphat, there to sit in judg- 
 ment upon them. He speaks of this as the time of 
 the harvest and of the vintage, and we know the 
 harvest is " the end of the age." (Matt, xiii. 39.) He 
 speaks also of the " multitudes," assembled for judg- 
 ment in the valley of decision. He speaks, too, of " the 
 sun and the moon being darkened, and the stars with- 
 drawing their shining." He tells us, also, that in that 
 day " the heavens and earth shall shake." Now every 
 one of these expressions is quoted in the New Testa- 
 ment, and applied to the time of the second coming. 
 
88 PEOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 As to the harvest, the Lord tells us, that in that day 
 " the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they 
 shall gather out of his kingdom all things that shall 
 offend, and them that do iniquity/' (Matt. xiii. 41.) 
 And this is at His Advent. As to the multitudes 
 assembled in the valley of decision, our Lord also 
 thus speaks of that day of " decision," or separation — 
 " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all 
 the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
 throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered 
 all nations ; and lie shall separate them one from 
 another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the 
 goats." (Matt. xxv. 31.) As to the signs in the sun 
 and moon, I need add nothing to what I have quoted 
 in other parts. As to " the shaking of the heavens 
 and earth," we have the authority of Paul for referring 
 it to the last crisis, as we shall immediately see. And 
 thus it is manifest that it is of the second coming of 
 the Lord, with its attendant signs and judgments, 
 that God is here speaking, by the mouth of His pro- 
 phet Joel. Keeping this in mind, let us mark what 
 follows. " So shall ye know that I am the Lord your 
 God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain ; then shall 
 Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stranger pass 
 through her any more/' The times of the Gentiles 
 are here described as fulfilled. Jerusalem has ceased 
 to be trodden down by the foot of the stranger. Then 
 it is added : V And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the 
 hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah 
 
PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 89 
 
 shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth 
 of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley 
 of Shittim." Such is Joel's picture of Jerusalem in 
 the day when her walls shall be rebuilded, and of 
 Judea in the time when her former fruitfulness and 
 j)lenty shall be restored, or rather multiplied sevenfold. 
 Is not this the millennial state ? Yet it is after, not 
 before, the coming of the Lord, as the passage most 
 plainly shews. 
 
 VI. Haggai ii. — This chapter contains a prediction 
 of the universal shakings which are to lead to the final 
 stablishing of all things. "Yet once, it is a little 
 while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and 
 the sea, and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations, 
 and the Desire of all nations shall come : and I will 
 fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 And again, v. 21, "I will shake the heavens and the 
 earth ; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms ; 
 and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the 
 heathen ; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those 
 that ride in them ; and the horses and their riders 
 shall come down, every one by the sword of his bro- 
 ther/' This prophecy has never yet been fulfilled. It 
 was not so at the First Advent, because that period, 
 instead of being one of shakings, was a time of uni- 
 versa! peace. The kingdoms of the earth underwent 
 no change at all. The heavens, and the earth, and the 
 sea, and the dry land have suffered as yet no con- 
 vulsion, but continue firm and stable. Peace, not war, 
 calm, not commotion, heralded the Saviours Advent. 
 
90 PROOFS OF A PHE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 Besides, we have the testimony of the Apostle Paul, 
 that in his days it was unfulfilled. " Whose voice 
 then (at Sinai) shook the earth, but now he hath pro- 
 mised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth 
 only, but also heaven/' The shaking is to be some- 
 what like the former one, but far more terrible and 
 universal. He contrasts the then and the now ; the 
 hath shaken with the hath promised. Then He 
 actually shook the earth, but noiu, at this present 
 time, we have His promise that He will shake it again, 
 and not the earth only, but also heaven. How dis- 
 tinctly he tells us that, at the time he wrote, there was 
 a promise of a future shaking ! Of course that could 
 have nothing to do with the First Advent. But in 
 connexion with the Second Advent there are numerous 
 predictions of earthquakes and convulsions. 
 
 Let me further observe, that it is after this mighty 
 and universal commotion that the Desire of all nations 
 is to come. The shaking of all things is to precede 
 and prepare the way for His arrival. And, after this, 
 comes the promised " glory " (verse 7,) and the pro- 
 mised " peace " (verse 9) ; Jehovah at the same time 
 as it were putting in His claim to the precious things 
 of earth, the silver and the gold to be used by Him as 
 He shall see fit (verse 8.) Then, as if to give us the 
 loftiest anticipations of coming grandeur, He tells us 
 that great as was' the glory of the former temple, over 
 whose fallen beauty the ancient men of Israel wept, 
 yet far greater shall be the glory of the future house, 
 of which He gives the promise ; or rather, as it should 
 
PROOFS OF A FEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 91 
 
 be rendered, " great shall be the glory of this house, 
 the latter glory more than the former glory," for the 
 comparison is not between a first and a second temple, 
 but between a first and a second glory, as is evident 
 from the third verse of the chapter, where we read, 
 "Who is left among you that saw this house in her 
 first glory ? and how do ye see it now ? " And from this 
 we see that all the temples, beginning with Solomon's, 
 are considered as one, even though they had been 
 levelled and rebuilt. There have been three temples ; 
 Solomon's, Zerubbabel's, Herod's ; but all these are 
 regarded as but one house. 
 
 This promise of glory is a theme often sung by pro- 
 phets. " I will glorify the house of my glory," says 
 Isaiah ; and there are many such visions of future 
 grandeur, which I need not quote. They all concur in 
 predicting the glory of the house and the people of God 
 in the latter day, when Mount Zion shall be the joy of 
 the whole earth, and Jerusalem the city of the Great 
 King. 
 
 There is "peace," however, as well as glory, pro- 
 mised, after these convulsions, and after the arrival of 
 the Desire of all nations. This peace has not yet been 
 'given to any land or city or nation of our troubled 
 earth. But there shall be "peace" upon Israel, and 
 "peace" over all the hills and valleys of this earth. 
 After the tempest comes the calm ; after midnight 
 comes the mom ; after wars and rumours of wars comes 
 the day of universal peace. 
 
 Very distinct, then, is the order of the events here 
 
92 PEOOFS OF A PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 set forth to us by the Prophet Haggai There is first 
 the universal shaking, and "the removing of those 
 things that are shaken as of things that are made, that 
 those things which cannot be shaken may remain/' 
 Then there is the arrival of Messiah. Then there are 
 the times of the restitution of all things, the glory and 
 the peace of the millennial reign. 
 
 VII. Zechariah xiv. — The whole of this chapter 
 points forward to " the day of the Lord/' and the events 
 which are to follow it. I do not lay any stress upon 
 the expression, " day of the Lord,"' though in the 
 original it is different from and stronger than many 
 similar ones. I do not say that this term itself can 
 determine the time here spoken of to be that of the 
 Advent. It is on what follows that I lean for fixing 
 this. 
 
 The second verse predicts a siege of Jerusalem, and 
 paints it very minutely. This cannot be the siege 
 by Titus, nor any other that has yet taken place, for 
 the description is totally unlike anything that has yet 
 befallen the city ; so totally unlike, that it must refer 
 to something yet to come. In the midst of this siege, 
 when the nations are gathered against the city, the 
 Lord appears for its deliverance. " Then shall the Lord 
 go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he 
 fought in the day of battle/' To make this more specific, 
 and to point it out to us as really the Advent, it is 
 added, "His feet shall stand in that day upon the 
 mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the 
 east ; and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst 
 
PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 93 
 
 thereof towards the east and towards the west, and 
 there shall be a very great valley : and half of the 
 mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it 
 toward the south : . . . and the Lord my God shall 
 
 COME, AND ALL THE SAINTS WITH THEE." What Can this 
 
 be but the Second Advent ? " Behold, the Lord cometh 
 with ten thousand of his saints." If these words do 
 not describe the Coining, what language can do it? 
 There is nowhere in all Scripture a more minute 
 and explicit statement regarding the Advent ; and if 
 this do not mean the literal Advent, how shall others 
 mean it ? * What reason can be given for not accept- 
 ing the plain sense of the words ? Why seek another ? 
 Ought we not to abide by the natural meaning of the 
 passage, unless it can be proved that the non-natural 
 is the proper one ? Taking the passage, then, as pre- 
 dictive of the Advent, let us mark what follows that 
 
 * So thought John Bunyan, who thus writes in one of his works: 
 — " The Quakers are deceivers, because they persuade souls not to 
 believe that that Man that was crucified and rose again, flesh and 
 bones (Luke xxiv. 38-40) shall so come again, that very Man in the 
 clouds of heaven to judgment, as He went away— and at the very 
 same time shall raise up all the men and women out of their graves, 
 and cause them to come to the valley of Jehoshaphat — because 
 there will He, that very Man, sit to judge all the heathen round 
 about. I say, they strive to beat souls off from believing this, though 
 it be the truth of God witnessed by the Scripture, (Joel iii. 11, 12, 
 as also Acts i. 10, 11,) ' This same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
 into heaven, shall so come (mark, the very same) in like manner as 
 ye have seen him go into heaven ; ' ' And His feet shall stand in that 
 day (the day of His second coming) upon the mount of Olives.' 
 Where is that ? Not within thee ! but that which is without Jeru- 
 salem, before it, on the east side." — A Vindication of Gospel Truths 
 Opened According to the Scriptures — Works, vol. v., p. 486. 
 
94? PEOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 event. After mentioning the struggle between light 
 and darkness which was then to take place, it is added, 
 " It shall come to pass in that day, that living waters 
 shall go out from Jerusalem ; half of them towards the 
 former sea (Dead Sea), and half of them towards the 
 hinder sea (the Mediterranean) : in summer and in 
 winter shall it be. And the Loed shall be king 
 OVEE ALL THE eaeth : in that clay there shall be one 
 Lord, and his name one. And all the land shall be turned 
 as a plain from Geba to Eimmon, south of Jerusalem ; 
 and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, 
 from Benjamin's gate, unto the place of the first gate, 
 unto the corner-gate, and from the tower of Hananeel 
 unto the king's wine-presses/' I need quote no more. 
 The entire chapter from the eighth verse onward is 
 descriptive of millennial glory and of the blessedness of 
 Messiah's reign. Let the whole of this remarkable 
 prediction be read in succession from the commence- 
 ment of the chapter, and I do not see it possible to 
 avoid the conclusion that the Advent must precede the 
 Millennium. 
 
 VIII. Luke xxi. 24. — "Jerusalem shall be trodden 
 down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be 
 fulfilled/' Now, what follows the fulfilment of these 
 times ? The Advent ; for it is added that " then there 
 shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the 
 stars . . . And then shall they see the Son of man 
 coming in a cloud with power and great glory." No 
 one doubts that our times are the times of the Gen- 
 tiles, — the times of Israel's down-treading. When are 
 
ruc-OFS of a pre-millexnial advent. 95 
 
 these to end ? At the coining of the Lord ; not before. 
 Gentile tyranny and Jewish suffering are to continue 
 till the Lord shall come. How, then, can the Millen- 
 nium be before the coming? Surely during it the 
 Gentile will not tyrannise, nor the Jew be trodden 
 down : and if so, then the Millennium must succeed 
 that Advent, which is to put an end to this misery and 
 oppression, to dethrone these abusers of their kingly 
 power, and to exalt Israel to honour among the nations. 
 
 Besides the proof derived from this verse, the whole 
 chapter in which it occurs is a testimony to the pre- 
 millennial Advent. In it and in the corresponding 
 chapters of the other evangelists, our Lord is enume- 
 rating the signs of His coming. He points to not a 
 few, and on the ground of these He says, Watch — 
 " When ye see these things come to pass, then know 
 that your redemption draweth nigh." Now, had the 
 Millennium preceded the Advent, could He have failed 
 to allude to it ? Would it not have been by far the 
 most prominent, the most striking, the most incontest- 
 able sign of His coining ? It would truly have been 
 the sign of signs, which no man could mistake. If a 
 thousand years' blessedness on earth were to be the 
 forerunner of His Advent, why does He not point to this 
 sign as by far the most notable of them all ? What 
 reason can be conceived fdr its not being enumerated 
 among the many others, save this, that it was to follow, 
 not to precede, the appearing of the Lord ? 
 
 The only answer I have heard to this is, that the 
 millennial state will not be so very different from the 
 
96 PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLENXIAL ADVENT. 
 
 present as to make it a notable sign at all. The bind- 
 ing of Satan is said to mean his having somewhat less 
 influence than he has at present, and " the people being- 
 all righteous" is called an Oriental figure. To this I 
 have no other answer to give than a repetition of the 
 innumerable passages which most broadly and most 
 brightly declare the very opposite. Are these rich vi- 
 sions of glory upon earth a mere shadow ? Is the Word 
 of God to be thus diluted and made void? I cannot 
 but think that there are few who have any real rever- 
 ence for Scripture that would allow themselves to be 
 so blinded by system, as to adopt such principles of 
 interpretation. It is sad that men should deny the 
 literal reign of Christ ; but it is matter of yet more 
 solemn sadness, that Christians should be found, who, 
 in carrying out their spiritualising theory, should have 
 landed themselves in so meagre, so barren a vision of 
 the future. What though it should save their system, 
 and harmonise its parts ? Is that a sufficient reason 
 for representing the glory of the latter age as a mere 
 improvement and slight expansion of what is good in 
 the present day ? When God tells us that Satan is to 
 be bound, does that mean that -he is not to be bound, 
 but still to roam at large ? Incredible ! When God 
 presents to us prophetic pictures of universal holiness, 
 as the very scenes that are yet to gladden the earth, 
 heaping figure upon figure to exalt our conceptions of 
 the universality of millennial peace, does He really 
 mean us to understand that these are exaggerations, 
 mere Eastern figures from which we must make large 
 
PROOFS OF A PBE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 07 
 
 deductions, in order to arrive at the truth ? The pro- 
 2)Jietic scene is certainly very glorious ; will the real 
 scene only be an improvement upon what we see around 
 us every day ? I would not even seem to use the lan- 
 guage of unkindness, but I should be speaking untruly 
 and unfaithfully if I did not say that I regard such 
 dilutions of Scripture with astonishment and alarm. 
 First, we are asked to believe in a Millennium without 
 Christ in person, and then, as if that were not enough, 
 millennial blessedness must be stripped of all its glory, 
 and reduced to a shadow or a spectre ! 
 
 IX. Acts iii. 20, 21. — " And he shall send. Jesus, 
 which before has been preached unto you ; whom the 
 heavens must receive until the times of restitution of 
 all things." Here it is distinctly asserted that Christ 
 is to remain in heaven until " the times of restitu- 
 tion of all things," and then He is to be " sent." The 
 "times of restitution of all things" and the "times of 
 refreshing" explain each other, for they obviously refer 
 to the same period, a period which is to be introduced 
 by Christ in person. This is the natural meaning of 
 the passage. 
 
 It is objected to this that the expression " times of 
 restitution," &c, means " times of «the fulfilling of all 
 things which God hath spoken of by the mouth of all 
 his holy prophets." On this I remark, that this is not 
 the meaning of the word as given in any dictionary. 
 There it is said to mean " the bringing back of things 
 to their former state." And this surely ought to weigh 
 with us. But let us see how it is used in Script ure. 
 
 G 
 
98 PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 The noun itself occurs nowhere else either in the Old 
 or New Testament ; but the kindred verb is found 
 frequently, and means invariably to " restore," not to 
 "fulfil;" — as, for instance, Matt. xii. 13, "It was re- 
 stored whole like as the other;" chap. xvii. 11, " Elias 
 must first come and restore all things ;" Acts i. 6, " Wilt 
 thou at this time restore ao-ain the kingdom to Israel?" 
 Or, turn to the Old Testament — Jer. xvi. 15, " I will 
 bring them again into their land;" Ezek. xvi. do, " They 
 shall be restored as at the beginning." These in- 
 stances are sufficient to shew the meaning of the word, 
 which is uniform in all the passages where it occurs. 
 It never means to fulfil ; there are other words for 
 that in frequent use throughout Scripture. Our trans- 
 lation is, in truth, the exactest that could be given ; 
 all our former English translators, "Wicliff, Tyndale, 
 Cranmer, &c, give the very same sense ; and thus Cal- 
 vin expounds the passage. After translating the words 
 as we do, " the times of restoring," he remarks, " If at 
 this time we see many things confused in the world, 
 let this hope refresh us, that Christ shall once come 
 that He may restore all things." How can anything, 
 then, be more explicit ? And looking at these words 
 alone, though no otficrs were to be found, may we not 
 (to use the words of Bishop Home) " expect Christ's 
 second Advent to restore all things, to judge the world, 
 and to begin His glorious reign ?" 
 
 X. Rom. viii. 19-23. — Here creation is spoken of 
 as being made " subject to vanity," and lying under 
 a curse, evidently the curse which was pronounced 
 
PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLEXNIAL ADVENT. 99 
 
 against it for man's transgression. It " groaneth and 
 travaileth in pain together until now/' But there is a 
 promise of deliverance, — a deliverance which is evi- 
 dently the same as the " restitution of all things/' or 
 the millennial state of blessedness. This, the apostle 
 tells us, (ver. 23,) is to take place at " the redemption 
 of the body" — that is, the resurrection, which Ave know 
 is to be at the coming of the Lord. Thus creation is 
 represented as looking forward for its restoration to 
 that very time to which the saints are looking forward, 
 the resurrection and the Advent. That event is to 
 bring deliverance to them and to the whole creation. 
 Mr Haldane, in his "Commentary" on this Epistle, 
 brings out the sense very forcibly, and at great length. 
 He shews that it can have no meaning but the one 
 given above. Thus he writes : — " The apostle means to 
 say that the creation, which, on account of the sin of 
 man, has, by the sentence of God, been subjected to 
 vanity, shall be rescued from the present degraded con- 
 dition under which it groans ; and, according to the 
 hope held out to it, is longing to participate with the 
 sons of God in that freedom from vanity into which 
 it shall at length be introduced, partaking with them 
 in their future and glorious deliverance from all evil."* 
 The creation, then, is to go on groaning and travailing, 
 the curse still weighing it down, and sterilising the 
 soil, until Christ shall come to make all things new. 
 
 XL 2 Thess. ii. 1-8.— In both Epistles to the Thessa- 
 lonians the coming of the Lord is frequently referred 
 * Vol. ii. p. 285. 
 
100 PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 to, and indeed the whole emphasis and meaning of the 
 Second Epistle rest on the literality of that event. Let 
 us gather out the different allusions to it which are 
 scattered throughout both. 
 
 1. "To wait for his Son from heaven." (1 Thess. i. 10.) 
 
 2. " 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?" (Chap. ii. 19.) 
 
 3. " To the end he may establish your hearts un- 
 blameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at 
 the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his 
 saints."* (Chap. iii. 13.) 
 
 4. " We which are alive and remain unto the coming 
 of the Lord, shall not prevent [or go before] them that 
 are asleep : for the Lord himself shall descend from 
 
 * This passage has been quoted to prove that, after Christ comes, 
 conversion cannot go on upon earth, for all His saints are to come 
 with Him. I confess I am surprised at the stress laid upon the word 
 all, as if it necessarily meant every one. Owen, in his work upon 
 the Death of Christ, after pointing out the many passages in which 
 the "all" has a restricted meaning, thus concludes: — "Therefore, 
 from the bare word nothing can be inferred, to enforce an absolute 
 unlimited universality of all individuals to be intimated thereby." 
 But passing from this, let me observe, that when Christ is said to 
 come with all His saints, it must of course mean all who are saints 
 at the time when He comes. It can mean nothing more. It cannot, 
 of course, mean that He is to come with those who shall be saints 
 after He comes. That is an absurdity. And if this passage simply 
 means all who are or have been saints up to the time of His coming, 
 it of course settles nothing as to future conversions. Tltat must be 
 determined by other passages. To determine it by this is an entire 
 begging of the question. There are many direct texts which prove 
 that there are to be conversions after He has come. But I do not 
 enter on this here. . 
 
PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 101 
 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
 and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ 
 shall rise first." (Chap. iv. 15, 16.) 
 
 5. " The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the 
 night/' (Chap. v. 2.) 
 
 6. " I pray God that your whole spirit and soul 
 and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." (Chap. v. 23.) 
 
 7. " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 
 with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking ven- 
 geance 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 pre- 
 sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his j^ower, 
 when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and 
 admired in all them that believe/' (2 Thess. i. 7-1 0.) 
 
 8. " We beseech you, brethren, by the coining of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto 
 him." (Chap. ii. 1.) 
 
 9. "As that the day of Christ is at hand." (Chap. 
 ii. 2.) 
 
 1 0. " That day shall not come unless there come a 
 falling away first," (Chap. ii. 3.) 
 
 11. " Then shall that Wicked One be revealed, whom 
 the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and 
 destroy with the brightness of his coming." (Chap. ii. 8.) 
 
 12.*' The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, 
 and into the patient waiting for Christ." (Chap. iii. 5.) 
 
 Here, then, are no fewer than twelve passages in 
 which the coming of the Lord is spoken of ; and this 
 
102 PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNTAL ADVENT. 
 
 in two brief Epistles, or eight chapters in all. The 
 Thessalonians could attach but one meaning to all 
 these various allusions, and would never think of un- 
 derstanding them in different senses, and with reference 
 to different events. Besides, we know as an historical 
 fact, that they really did so. Before the apostle wrote, 
 they doubtless, like all the early saints, were looking- 
 for the Lord's coming. His First Epistle confirmed 
 them in this, and awakened yet more fervent expecta- 
 tions. They were now filled with one thought, the 
 immediate Advent. Some one, either belonging to 
 themselves or another church, took advantage of this, 
 and wrote an epistle in the name of Paul, foretelling 
 the instant appearing of the Lord. They were thus 
 "shaken in mind, and troubled." On receiving intelli- 
 gence of their excited state, the apostle wrote his 
 Second Epistle to allay this agitation. In correcting 
 their error, he takes for granted that they were right 
 in waiting for Christ, and also, that when he spoke in 
 his First Epistle of the Advent, he really meant Christ's 
 literal, visible, and personal coming. What, then, was 
 the error which he corrected? That the day of the 
 Lord had arrived* To correct this, he points out 
 an event which must occur before the Advent, — the 
 rising of Antichrist, But this is all. This apostasy 
 was already in action ; it was to go on and exalt 
 itself ; and then, when this Man of Sin had reached the 
 
 * This is the meaning of evtaTrjKev. See Rom. viii. 38 — "Nei- 
 ther things present, nor things to come ; " ovre eVeorcora ovre peX* 
 Xovra. See also 1 Cor. in. 22, vii. 26 ; Gal. i. 4 ; Heb. ix. 9. 
 
PEOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 103 
 
 very pride and pitch of his grandeur, the Lord was 
 to come and smite him to the dust. 
 
 Thus it is very plain that the destruction of Anti- 
 christ and the Lord's Advent must be simultaneous, for 
 He comes in order to destroy him. The apostasy 
 began in the apostles' days. It has been growing and 
 spreading ever since. It is to increase in greatness, 
 "wearing out the saints of the Most Hio-h;" writing 
 the name of blasphemy upon men's foreheads and 
 hands ; prevailing upon all the world to worship it and 
 to wonder after it. Then, when seated most proudly 
 upon the throne of iniquity, the Lord shall descend 
 from heaven and destroy this destroyer of the earth. 
 How, then, can the Millennium be before the Advent? 
 If the Lord comes to slay the Man of Sin, He must 
 also come to begin the millennial glory. 
 
 But must the " coming of the Lord " mean His per- 
 sonal appearing here ? I think it must. What was it 
 that the Thessalonians were looking for ? The literal 
 Advent. Then, by that Advent, Antichrist was to be 
 destroyed. What event was it that was agitating 
 them, and which the apostle tells them was "not to 
 come *' till there " should come a falling away ?" The 
 literal Advent. Then it must of necessity be that 
 very Advent which ivas to take place as soon as the 
 fallincj away had come to i^ss. Otherwise, how un- 
 meaning the apostle's argument! When Paul wrote 
 to the Roman Church that he intended to visit them, 
 only he must first go up to Jerusalem with the contri- 
 bution for the poor saints, did he not mean that when 
 
10^ PROOFS OF A FEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 this errand was discharged, he, the same Paul, would 
 visit them in person ? "Would the postponement of the 
 visit alter the personality, transmuting it from a real 
 into a spiritual visit % In like manner, does the fact 
 of an interval being to take place before the Advent, 
 alter the character of the Advent at the close of the 
 interval, so that that which was understood to be a 
 literal thing before the interval, must evaporate into 
 a spiritual thing on account of that interval having 
 elapsed ? The Thessalonians imagined that there was 
 to be no interval at all, but that the Lord was to come 
 forthwith. The apostle tells them that there was to 
 be an interval, but that, as soon as that was over, that 
 very same event {not another of a different kind) 
 would happen, which they had been looking for. 
 
 But may the words not admit of a spiritual inter- 
 pretation ? The attempt has been made to spiritualise 
 them. Another sense has been given, which is cer- 
 tainly not the natural, but the non-natural. Whether 
 it can stand, we shall see. 
 
 What, then, is the expression which requires to be 
 spiritualised ? It is literally " the epiphany of His pre- 
 
 * I do not think it needful to quote the Greek, as I am not writ- 
 ing a critical treatise : but if any one will carefully consult the origi- 
 nal, he will find the above statements not only verified, but mightily 
 confirmed. I might establish what is advanced here by reference to 
 the ablest critics ; but I merely quote two, as a specimen of the rest. 
 Schoettgen thus translates the expression, " The Advent of Christ, 
 which shall refulgently strike every eye, and whose majesty and 
 glorious splendour no one shall be able to deny." — Hone l/tlmiae, 
 
PROOFS OF A FEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 105 
 
 The two words, " epiphany" and "presence," are fre- 
 quently used separately, to denote the literal Advent ; 
 and surely when they both occur together, we are war- 
 ranted in considering the expression as one of the most 
 explicit that could have been used to denote the literal 
 coming. This double term is certainly the strongest 
 which occurs in these Epistles, and seems used, of pur- 
 pose, by the apostle, to prevent the possibility of its 
 being explained away. There are twelve references to 
 the coming in these Epistles, — eleven are admitted by 
 all to mean the literal coming. Yet all these eleven 
 are lueaker than the one in controversy, which is the 
 twelfth. Is it not, then, most unaccountable, that the 
 weaker should be interpreted literally, and the strongest 
 explained away? Surely there is some bias warping 
 the judgment here. 
 
 But further ; the word " epiphany " occurs just six 
 times in the New Testament. In one of these it refers 
 to the first coming, which we know to be literal. In 
 four others, it is conceded by all to point to the literal 
 second coming. The sixth is the passage in question, 
 and it is stronger than any of the five. They are as 
 follows : — 
 
 1. "Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 (1 Tim. vi. 14) 
 
 2. " Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his 
 appearing and his kingdom." (2 Tim. iv. 1.) 
 
 in he, p. 846. — Again, Kiittner paraphrases it, "The Advent of 
 Messiah, illustrious by its splendour and majesty." — ffypomnemata 
 in Nov. Ted., in loc, p. 465. 
 
106 PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 3. " To all them that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 
 iv. 8.) 
 
 4. "The glorious appearing of the great God and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus ii. 13.) 
 
 A little above we asked, Why, out of twelve passages, 
 all apparently having the same meaning, make that one 
 which is the strongest, and least liable to suspicion, an 
 exception to the rest? So, here we ask, Why, out of 
 six distinct passages, in which the word occurs, make 
 that which (by being coupled with another) is the 
 strongest, an exception to the rest? Why spiritualise 
 the strongest and leave the weakest to stand as it is ? 
 The natural meaning may, no doubt, obstruct or dislo- 
 cate your system ; but will you allow that to be a 
 sufficient reason for inventing a non-natural sense? 
 
 In reply, it is said, that the word " coming " is used 
 " spiritually" in the ninth verse of this very chapter. In 
 reference to this, I crave attention to the following 
 remarks : — 
 
 1. This argument, even when conceded, amounts 
 only to a a may be," and a "may be" set in opposition 
 to the strongest " must be " that I can conceive. What 
 I have already advanced appears to me to amount to a 
 joositive and irresistible "must be/' Of what force, 
 then, is a mere " may be " in opposition to this ? What 
 critic can be content to found his hermeneutics upon so 
 precarious a basis ? 
 
 2. Though a weaker expression may be spiritualised, 
 it does not follow that a much stronger one may be, far 
 less must be, treated in the same way. A general term 
 
PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 107 
 
 may be ambiguous, but that is no reason for a particu- 
 lar and explicit one being equally so. Yet this is the 
 meaning of the objection ! 
 
 3. The terms are not convertible, which they would 
 be, if this argument be valid. If this "brightness of 
 his coming" be applicable to Antichrist equally with 
 Christ, then there would be some force in the objection 
 to our statements. But if this be inadmissible, the ob- 
 jection breaks down. How can we argue thus, — The 
 word coming is applied spiritually to Antichrist, there- 
 fore the words "brightness of his coming" (which 
 cannot be used in reference to Antichrist) may be 
 applied spiritually to Christ? If the words were 
 synonymous, I could understand the argument, but when 
 they are not so, I confess I cannot. If a + b=b, and 
 convertible with b, then whatever b represents, a + 6 
 may represent ; but if a + b be much larger than b, and 
 not convertible, then it is absurd in me to say, because 
 I have discovered that b represents a certain sum, there- 
 fore a -f- b must represent the same. 
 
 4. Our objector seems to forget that he believes in a 
 literal Advent of Christ as well as we, however far we 
 may be asunder as to the time of it ; whereas his 
 reasoning proceeds on the supposition that the Advent 
 of Christ is no more a literal Advent than that of Anti- 
 christ. His syllogism halts grievously. It should run 
 thus : " The word coming, when applied to Antichrist, 
 cannot be literal, because there is no literal Advent of 
 Antichrist; therefore, the same word, when applied to 
 Christ, cannot be literal, because there is no literal 
 
108 PEOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENXIAL ADVENT. 
 
 Advent of Christ" Though Antichrist's "coming" 
 may not be personal, and therefore we may be at 
 liberty to spiritualise the word, is that any reason for 
 saying that we are at liberty to spiritualise that word 
 (or, rather, a far stronger one) as applied to Christ, 
 when we do believe in His literal coming at some time 
 or other? The reason why the liberty was taken of 
 spiritualising it, in the case of Antichrist, was, that we 
 believed he was not to come personally at all. Had we 
 acknowledged a personal coining in this case, we should 
 not have felt ourselves at liberty to do this. How, then, 
 can we feel at liberty to spiritualise the word, as refer- 
 ring to Christ, when our reason for spiritualising no 
 longer exists ? The figurative sense may be admissible 
 in the case of him who is to come spiritually, but 
 is that a reason for saying that it is admissible also in 
 the case of Him who is yet to come literally and 
 personally ? 
 
 5. Of whatever strength this objection may be to 
 those who deny a personal Antichrist, it has no force 
 at all to those who believe in his personality. Now, 
 though I cannot agree with some of the ancient, or 
 others of the very recent, theories on the subject of 
 a personal Antichrist, yet I do believe that the 
 great Antichristian system is to have an individual 
 head or king. This head or king is frequently pro- 
 phesied of both in the Old and New Testaments. He 
 is the representative of the whole vast body of iniquity 
 with which the earth is to be overspread. And, as the 
 head or representative of that body, I, so far at least, 
 
PROOFS OF A PBE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 100 
 
 recognise his literal personality. And if so, then the 
 objection I have been refuting; though entitled to 
 what weight it may have with a denier of Antichrist's 
 personality, has no point or strength at all with a 
 believer in that personality. It may be, perhaps, used 
 as an argumentum ad hominem, but it can be nothing 
 more. 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to fix the interpretation of 
 this passage. I have given what appears to me very 
 strong reasons for taking it in its natural sense; it 
 remains for others to produce their strong reasons for 
 understanding it in its non-natural sense. They ought, 
 however, to be prepared, not only to shew reasons why 
 it may be, but why it must be, or ought to be, so ex- 
 plained. Surely, if their system be strong and cohe- 
 rent, it will be able to abandon mere negative ground, 
 and advance to something more positive and aggressive 
 in the matter of Scripture interpretation, by which 
 alone the question between us can be finally decided. 
 
 XII. 2 Peter iii. 1-13. — The argument from this 
 passage in favour of a pre-millennial Advent, I have 
 already stated. It is simply this, that the " last days," 
 which had begun in the time of the apostles, were to 
 go on, abounding more and more in wickedness, scoff- 
 ing, apostasy, and atheism, till suddenly broken in upon 
 by the coming of the day of the Lord. I do not mean, 
 however, to repeat what I have advanced. I wish 
 merely to notice objections. 
 
 The chief objection is somewhat of this nature : — 
 "This universal conflagration must so burn up and 
 
110 PROOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 destroy every living thing upon the earth's surface, 
 that it is impossible to believe that men can come 
 forth out of it to people the earth, as Millennarians 
 believe." On this let me observe, — ■ 
 
 This is no answer at all to our argument. It does 
 not touch the difficulty. It may prove that there can 
 be no Millennium at all ; but what else can it prove ? I 
 adduce the passage to shew, that wherever the Millen- 
 nium be placed, it cannot be between the present time 
 and the Advent. The objection may very aptly be 
 used to prove that the Millennium in which we believe 
 is an impossibility ; but how can it answer our argu- 
 ment, that any Millennium between this and the 
 Coming is an impossibility, if those words of the apostle 
 be true \ It may compel us to alter our ideas of the 
 nature of the Millennium, but not of the time and place 
 which it occupies. 
 
 The truth is, that the passage presents difficulties to 
 both parties ; and it would be well that, with this con- 
 cession made, they should sit calmly down to consider 
 it. The Anti-Millennarian has to answer the question, 
 How can you, with such a passage before you, believe 
 that there can be a Millennium before the Advent? 
 The Millennarian has to solve this other difficulty, How 
 can you believe that men can exist in the midst of such 
 wide- wasting fire, and come out of it to inhabit the 
 earth ? Leaving the former to escape from his dilemma 
 as he can, I shall try to help the latter out of his ; and, 
 in doing so, I remark that this prediction of the apostle 
 is not an isolated passage, but one of a large class, all 
 
PKOOFS OF A PEE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. Ill 
 
 referring to the same time. I take the first .specimen 
 of these from the Apocalypse. Under the sixth seal a 
 desolation equal to that predicted by Peter is described. 
 What can be stronger than this \ — " I beheld when he 
 had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great 
 earthquake ; and the sun became black as the sack- 
 cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the 
 stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree 
 casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a 
 mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll 
 when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and 
 island were moved out of their places." (Rev. vi. 12-14.) 
 Yet after this we find men inhabiting the earth. 
 Again, at the pouring out of the seventh vial, we read, 
 " Every island fled away, and the mountains were not 
 found ; " yet after this we find men still upon the earth, 
 who have passed through this universal earthquake. 
 Again we read in Isaiah as follows : — " Behold, the day 
 of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce 
 anger, to lay the land desolate ; and he shall destroy 
 the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven 
 and the constellations thereof shall not o-ive their light: 
 the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the 
 moon shall not cause her light to shine. I will make 
 a man more precious than fine gold ; even a man than 
 the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I wall shake 
 the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her 
 place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day 
 of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, 
 and as a sheep that no man taketh up." (Isa. xiii. 9-14.) 
 
112 PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT. 
 
 Can any intimation of destruction be stronger than 
 this ? Yet immediately after it we find men inhabit- 
 ing the earth, who have come out of it. Again, take 
 the 24th chapter of the same prophet. I need not 
 quote it, for I have done so in another place ; but I 
 ask, can any destruction be more complete and more 
 universal, in the widest and most unrestricted sense ? 
 It is not conflagration only, but convulsion, earthquake, 
 dissolution, and every form of most thorough destruc- 
 tion * There is not in all Scripture such a picture of 
 entire, consuming desolation and passing away as there 
 is here. Every wasteful element is introduced. Every 
 annihilating power is brought to bear upon the earth, 
 as if for the purpose of making clean away with it and 
 its inhabitants. Yet out of all this men come forth to 
 dwell upon the face of the earth, after this universal 
 earthquake and conflagration have passed away. 
 
 I need not quote other passages, though they are not 
 a few. I give these as specimens. Now, I ask our 
 objectors what they make of these passages ? I point 
 to these pictures of terrific wide-sweeping ruin, fire and 
 earthquake, lightning and hurricane, all mingled to- 
 gether. I point to the plain statements which follow, 
 as to men surviving these infinite catastrophes. And 
 I ask, if you do not stumble at these, nor count them 
 difficulties, why stumble at another of the same kind, 
 
 * I would notice here that many of the expressions in this pas- 
 sage are precisely the same as in Peter, — only they are repeated and 
 heightened, and magnified by the prophet far beyond those of the 
 apostle. 
 
PROOFS OF A FEE-MILLENNIAL ADYEXT. 113 
 
 and pronounce it insuperable ? Before you ask me to 
 reconcile Peter with my system, I ask you to reconcile 
 Isaiah with yours. The difficulty exists. It exists in 
 both systems. Both, then, are equally concerned to 
 •iiljust or remove it. If it be solved against us, if it be 
 found that we cannot account for such a state of things, 
 then our theory of the Millennium must, of course, break 
 down ; but our first position remains unassailed, that, 
 let the nature of the Millennium be what it may, its 
 place cannot be between us and the appearing of the 
 Lord. No solution of the difficulty touches that 
 position ; and this is all that we adduce the passage 
 to establish. 
 
 But, besides this, there are, I think, allusions to this 
 very difficulty in Scripture, and to the true solution of 
 it. The Church, we are told, is to be taken up out of 
 the midst of that fiery desolation and lodged in the 
 cloud with Jesus, safe from the wasting fire. But 
 even though they remained, could they not be as safe in 
 the midst of it as was Noah amid the swelling billows 
 of the Flood ; or, as the three Hebrew children in the 
 fiery furnace? Israel also, or at least a remnant, is 
 secured from harm. To this there are many allusions 
 in Isaiah : " Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, 
 and shut thy doors about thee, until the indignation be 
 overpast." And, " I have covered thee in the shadow of 
 mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the 
 foundations of the earth," (Isaiah li. 16,) i.e., "I will 
 secure thee, Israel, from evil, while I am engaged in 
 preparing the new heavens and earth, so that those 
 
 H 
 
114 PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLEXXIAL ADVENT. 
 
 calamities which are then to befall the earth shall not 
 come nigh thee." As to the heathen remnant which 
 shall survive that day, I do not find such ex]Dress pro- 
 mises of preservation ; yet as they are spoken of as 
 " the heathen that are left," so it is probable that some 
 method of preservation will be afforded them. And 
 what is to hinder Him, who built the heavens and 
 earth, from preserving for Himself a remnant to re- 
 people the globe when the fiery deluge shall have passed 
 away ? Can He not provide a shelter for as many or as 
 few as He shall please to deliver ? Is anything too 
 hard for Him? Is His hand shortened that it cannot 
 save ? The only question is, has He so purposed and 
 declared? If so, nothing shall hinder it, — fire, nor 
 storm, nor earthquake, nor the terrible hail which "is 
 reserved for the time of trouble, against the day of 
 battle and war " * 
 
 XIII. 1 John ii. 18.—" Little children, it is the last 
 time : and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, 
 even now there are many antichrists ; whereby we know 
 that it is the last time." I notice this passage in pro- 
 ceeding onwards, but I do not dwell upon it, as I have 
 already taken out of it the argument which it contains. 
 It states that the last time was come, that the mark of 
 this time was the prevalence of antichrists, whose power 
 was to increase, as we have seen, until the Lord should 
 come. There is no room, then, for inserting the Millen- 
 nium between the close of this time and the Advent. 
 
 XIV. Rev. xviii. and xix. — The eighteenth chapter 
 
 * Job xxxviiL 23. 
 
PROOFS OF A PRE-MILLEXNIAL ADVENT. 115 
 
 describes the greatness and the ruin of Babylon, very 
 minutely and very terribly. And how docs it close? 
 With the marriage-supper of the Lamb. No sooner 
 is the doom of Babylon secured and her smoke seen 
 ascending, than the alleluia of the Bride begins, and 
 she sits down with the Bridegroom at the marriage-sup- 
 per. Now, as all admit that the marriage-supper is not 
 till the Advent and the resurrection, I do not see how 
 it is possible to escape the conclusion that there can be 
 no Millennium till then. Where is there room for it be- 
 tween the fall of Babylon and the marriage-supper ? 
 
 I had marked other passages to be adduced as proofs 
 of the pre-millennial Advent, but I have prolonged the 
 discussion on some of the above to such an extent that 
 I must set them aside. Those already dwelt upon are 
 sufficient. Each of them singly might be enough to 
 determine the question ; how much more the cumulative 
 demonstration afforded by the whole together? They 
 are not mere negative proofs, intended to overthrow an 
 adversary ; they are all positive, designed to build up a 
 system. Would that our objectors would try this more 
 excellent way ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 To a Jew there must have been something very per- 
 plexing in the prophecies regarding Messiah. The 
 description given of Him was apparently most contra- 
 dictory ; and it did indeed require a simplicity and 
 strength of faith far beyond what we suppose, to re- 
 ceive truths which seemed so much at variance with 
 reason, and so irreconcilable with each other. It was 
 not merely to a certain system of his own that they 
 were hostile ; in that case it would have been no great 
 stretch of faith to believe what God had revealed, 
 though* it might appear totally adverse to theories 
 which he had been laboriously constructing, it may be, 
 from the Word of God. But these predictions were so 
 incomprehensible, so staggering to reason, so difficult 
 to harmonise with each other, that we cannot but 
 wonder at the simplicity of faith with which the pious 
 Israelites received these revelations. 
 
 They had to believe that their Messiah was to be God, 
 yet also man ; that His goings forth were to be from 
 everlasting, yet that He was to begin his life as an in- 
 fant ; that He was to come from heaven, yet that He 
 was to be born at Bethlehem ; that He was to be per- 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 117 
 
 fectly holy, yet that He was to be the offspring of 
 a sinful woman upon earth ; that He was to be the 
 Prince of life, yet that He was to die ; that He was to 
 be King of kings, yet that He was to hang upon a 
 cross ; that He was to be fairer than the children of 
 men, yet that He was to be without form or comeliness. 
 These, and innumerable other apparent contradictions, 
 they were called upon to believe. How wondrous the 
 strength of their faith ! Instead of wondering at their 
 unbelief, we are almost inclined to be amazed at their 
 faith. At least, we may well do so when we compare 
 their faith with ours. For we are stao-aerino- continu- 
 ally in unbelief at the predictions regarding His second 
 coming, and the apparent contradictions which they 
 are supposed to involve ; yet all these together do not 
 present us with so many things that seem to us so in- 
 consistent, incomprehensible, impossible, as even one of 
 those others regarding His First Advent. 
 
 There is no argument now used to shew the ab- 
 surdity or impossibility of the pre-millennial Advent, 
 which might not have been urged with tenfold force 
 by a Jew in his day, against Messiah's first coming. 
 What is the sum of these arguments ? Just this ; 
 "We cannot reconcile a personal Advent and reign 
 with the intercession of Christ in heaven. We do not 
 see how Christ can be said to come with all His saints, 
 if there are to be men converted after He conies. We 
 cannot conceive how there can be such an incongruous 
 mixture upon earth as the risen saints, with their glori- 
 fied bodies, and others still in mortal flesh. We cannot 
 
118 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 think of so degrading Christ as to bring Him down to 
 earth to reign/' 
 
 This is the substance of anti-niillennarian arguments. 
 These are conceived to be such insuperable difficulties 
 that, on account of them, we ought to give up the idea 
 of a personal Advent and reign. But what are these 
 in comparison with those which the Jews had to en- 
 counter ? Absolutely nothing. 
 
 We deny that these difficulties are insuperable. We 
 can see much further towards a solution of them than 
 the Jew could towards a solution of his. Nay, we think 
 we can explain them satisfactorily. But even though 
 we could not, are we prepared to make these our 
 reasons for not taking the Word of God in its plain 
 and obvious sense ? Are we prepared to say to an op- 
 ponent, " No doubt, your view of the passage seems the 
 more natural so far as the words and the context go ; 
 but then, it is irreconcilable with my ideas of the inter- 
 cession of Christ, and of the dignity of Christ ; and 
 therefore I am forced to seek another meaning, even 
 though that does not appear so natural." 
 
 What would a believing Jew have said to this before 
 Messiah came ? Would he not say, " Are these your 
 only reasons for turning aside from the literal sense of 
 Scripture ? If these be sufficient, then I have enough 
 of such. I find it written that Messiah is to be born 
 at Bethlehem ; and if I were reasoning as you do, I 
 should say, That cannot be ; and Bethlehem must not 
 be taken literally, for He is said to be from everlasting. 
 Alas ! what fearful havoc I should make in Scripture 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 119 
 
 were I adopting your principles, and making my inter- 
 pretations turn upon my ideas of the possible or the 
 impossible, the comprehensible or the incomprehen- 
 sible. In that case I must either give up my hope of 
 a Divine, or my hope of a human Saviour, for I cannot 
 reconcile them/' Or again, what would an unbelieving- 
 Jew say to such a line of reasoning ? Had Paul adopted 
 it in arguing with his countrymen, what would have 
 been their answer ? Something of the following : — 
 
 " Your whole theory proceeds upon the principle 
 that you cannot admit what appears to you impossible, 
 or at variance with systems of Divine truth. Now, I 
 hold that this doctrine of yours concerning Jesus of 
 Nazareth is a thing incomprehensible ; it is at variance 
 with innumerable texts which speak of Messiah as a 
 glorious King ; it is utterly degrading to Him. Is it 
 not said in Zechariah that when He shall come all His 
 saints shall come with Him; and how can you maintain 
 that there are to be other saints after that ? The thing- 
 is impossible, on your own principles. If you will say 
 that you are prepared to take Scripture just as you find 
 it, whatever be the difficulties which reason or theory 
 may present, then I confess I cannot answer you ; but 
 as long as you make Scripture to bend because it comes 
 into collision with yowr'prineiples, you need not wonder 
 at my wishing it to yield when it comes into collision 
 with mine.'' 
 
 Upon anti-millennarian principles, I do not see how 
 a Jew could have believed in a suffering Messiah. He 
 must either spiritualise the passages which relate to His 
 
120 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 first coming, or be content to admit a difficulty which 
 nothing but the event could fully solve. 
 
 We address an unbelieving Jew, and say to him, 
 " Why do you not believe that Jesus of Nazareth is 
 your Messiah ? Do not all your prophets bear testi- 
 mony to Him?" " Which of our prophets V he might 
 ask. We answer, " Isaiah, for instance, tells us that 
 He was to be born of a virgin; and Jesus was so born/' 
 " But you know (he would reply) that is an impossi- 
 bility, and therefore you must not take the text liter- 
 ally; it must mean something else." Or, we point to 
 the passage which speaks of His being marred more 
 than any man; he still answers, that to take that liter- 
 ally is to contradict other passages, and therefore it 
 must be explained in some other sense. Should we 
 not, in such a case, take our stand upon the plain 
 meaning of the words, and tell him that he was mis- 
 interpreting Scripture, and refusing to receive it because 
 it was inconsistent with his ideas of the Messiah ? We 
 say, " May not your ideas be wrong ? Are you not inter- 
 posing your theory between Scripture and its natural 
 meaning ? May not your system of truth, by which 
 you are measuring every passage, be inaccurate in 
 some respects, or, at least, are you not overstretching 
 it? May not these other texts, apparently contra- 
 dictory, turn out after all to be quite in harmony with 
 the others ? " No. He will admit none of these sup- 
 positions. His system of truth, his theory of doctrine, 
 is the rule he goes by, and in this balance he weighs 
 each text that you adduce. 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 121 
 
 But suppose we were spiritualisers ourselves, and lie 
 were to turn round on us. 
 
 " What do you make," he might ask, " of those pas- 
 sages which speak of Messiah as sitting on the throne 
 of David, and of the whole earth enjoying peace under 
 His dominion?" 
 
 " Oh," we answer, " these are texts which are not to 
 be understood literally. They must be taken in a 
 spiritual sense ; they mean that He is to reign in the 
 hearts of His people, and that there will be a great 
 spread of religion over the earth." 
 
 "A very good meaning, no doubt/' he might reply, 
 " but it certainly is as far from being the meaning as 
 any of my explanations which you deny; and as for 
 this spiritual sense which you speak of, it is precisely 
 the same kind of sense as that which you denounced 
 in me, only you give it a more honourable name. But 
 what reason can you give for rejecting the literal sense? 
 Is it impossible? Is it absurd? Why will you not 
 take the sense which you wish me to take ? Why call 
 me a perverter of Scripture for doing the same thing 
 that you yourself are doing?" 
 
 "Oh, but," we reply, "our system of truth shews us 
 that the literal sense is an impossibility." 
 
 "Your system of truth? And do you mean to 
 measure Scripture by your system, and call me an 
 unbeliever for measuring it by mine?" 
 
 "But our system of doctrine is founded upon the 
 Word of God." 
 
 "But may it not he founded upon the Word of God, 
 
122 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 and yet, as a system, be a very insufficient standard by 
 which to try particular texts ? Is there not a danger 
 of carrying it too far, and imagining contradictions to 
 exist between it and Scripture where none are to be 
 found?" 
 
 " Explain yourself/' 
 
 " Take the passages referred to about Messiah sitting 
 on the throne of David. Is it not possible for our sys- 
 tem to be true, and yet these texts to be literally inter- 
 preted ? I believe that Messiah will reign in the hearts 
 of His people, but I do not see how that prevents me 
 from believing that He is to sit upon the throne of 
 David. But, apart from this, let me ask you how you 
 got this system by which you are measuring Scrip- 
 ture?" 
 
 "Oh, we got it by a careful study of the Word of 
 God/' 
 
 " And in studying the Word to construct your system, 
 did you take it literally or spiritually ? For example 
 did you take the fifty- third chapter of Isaiah literally 
 or spiritually ? " 
 
 " Oh, literally, of course ; the words are too plain to 
 admit of any other sense." 
 
 "Then I think you stand self -judged." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 " Why, you take scripture literally in order to con- 
 struct your system, and then you apply that system to 
 prevent other scriptures from being taken literally." 
 
 Or let me bring the matter to a closer bearing. Let 
 me argue with the anti-millennarian. I ask, " How do 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 123 
 
 you interpret such expressions as 'we shall reign on 
 earth V" 
 
 " Oh, spiritually, of course/' 
 
 "But why of course / What objection have you to 
 take the words in their natural senfe? Can you give 
 a reason for departing from the plain meaning? It 
 seems so plain that I wonder you should ever think of 
 turning it aside. Are we not to abide by the literal 
 unless there be good reasons for quitting it ? " 
 
 * Yes ; but there are good reasons for spiritualising 
 this and similar expressions." 
 
 " What are these reasons ? " 
 
 " The consequences that would result from admitting 
 a literal interpretation." 
 
 " But are consequences deduced by you, and after all, 
 perhaps, very illogically, a sufficient reason for rejecting 
 the literal sense of so many passages of Scripture? 
 Are your ideas of what ' ought to be,' to be your rule 
 of interpretation ? " 
 
 * But I do not take my ideas, I take God's ideas as 
 my rule." 
 
 " Well, but that is begging the whole question ; 
 for are we not inquiring what are God's ideas as 
 contained in this passage? You tell me that the 
 literal meaning cannot be the true meaning, because 
 you can prove that certain consequences must flow 
 from it which are inconsistent with ascertained doc- 
 trine. But ought you not to be very sure that the 
 consequences flow, before you make them a reason for 
 such an interpretation as yours ? Do you not think it 
 
124 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 possible that you may be wrong in your deductions, 
 especially when these are applied to things which are 
 yet to come, — to a state of things of which we can 
 know nothing by experience or history ? M ay I not 
 turn round on ydu and say, Your doctrine may be 
 right, but your inferences must certainly be wrong, for 
 they run directly in the face of the plain meaning 
 of so many passages. They assume the necessity of a 
 non-natural sense of Scripture. I acknowledge, for 
 instance, your doctrine as to the intercession of Christ 
 at the Father's right hand ; but when you infer from 
 this, that intercession elsewhere is an impossibility, 
 and that therefore the doctrine of His reign on earth 
 is a fable, I interpose at once, and deny your inference. 
 I ask you for proof. Your ideas of the nature of that 
 intercession are nothing, if not founded upon Scripture. 
 You say that none can be converted after Christ 
 comes, because His intercession must cease as soon as 
 He leaves heaven. I ask, How do you know that it 
 must cease ? Are you not attaching an importance to 
 a locality which Scripture does not ; an importance 
 which I must call a very carnal one ? I know that it 
 was needful that Christ should go up to the Father's 
 right hand to present His sacrifice and intercede ; but 
 having done that, tell me if it is unscriptural to say 
 that He may carry on His intercession wherever the 
 Father's purpose may require it ? * It was the Father's 
 
 * " Upon supposition of the obedience of Christ in this life, and 
 the atonement made by His blood for sin, with His exaltation 
 thereon, — there is nothing in any essential property of the nature 
 
DIFFICULTIES. ] 25 
 
 purpose that He should ascend up to heaven, there to 
 make intercession for us : and may it not be the 
 Father's purpose that this work should be carried on 
 upon earth when He comes again in His glory? If 
 God has said so, who am I that I should dispute the 
 matter with God? And the whole question is just, 
 has God said so ? If He has, let us believe it. It is 
 an entire begging of the question to say that He cannot 
 intercede anywhere else. If God sees fit, He can ; and 
 the passages in dispute are the very passages which 
 prove that God has told us that He will." 
 
 Besides, let me ask, how were sinners saved before 
 the ascension of Christ? Was it not upon the credit 
 of His intercession when He should ascend ? And if, 
 upon the credit of that intercession, sinners were saved 
 during the four thousand years before He went up to 
 heaven, it is a bold thing to say that none can be saved 
 upon the credit of that intercession for the thousand 
 years after He has left it. But did not Christ inter- 
 cede on earth? And were not His intercessions there 
 just specimens of His intercession in heaven ? Divines 
 have been accustomed to take the 17th of John as a 
 literal and actual intercession. They have supposed 
 that in His words on the cross, " Father, forgive 
 
 of God, nothing in the eternal unchangeable law of obedience to 
 hinder, but that God might work all those things in us unto His 
 own honour and glory, in the eternal salvation of the Church and 
 the destruction of all its enemies without a continuance of the ad- 
 ministration of the offices of Christ in heaven, and all that sacred 
 solemnity of worship wherewith it is accompanied." — Owen's 
 " Christologia," chap. xx. 
 
126 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 them," He literally and truly "made intercession for 
 the transgressors/' They have generally supposed that 
 He interceded during the forty days in which He 
 remained on earth after His resurrection. But if the 
 opinion I speak of be true, all this is an absurdity. 
 He could not begin to intercede till He went up to 
 heaven, and the moment that He leaves the throne, 
 He must cease to be an intercessor ! Is there a word 
 of Scripture for this? Are there not many entirely 
 opposed to it ? And does it not shew a narrow view 
 of what intercession is ? Does it not indicate an over- 
 attachment to a locality, and a complete oversight of 
 the real reason for locality being alluded to in inter- 
 cession at all ? Is there not something degrading in 
 the idea of confining Christ's intercessory power to a 
 particular spot ; as if His influence were a contracted 
 territorial authority, which must leave Him as soon as 
 He crossed the boundaries of heaven ? 
 
 But I must not dwell longer on this point. It is 
 the anti-millennarian stronghold. Whether it be im- 
 pregnable or not, I leave others to determine. To me 
 it appears a setting up of system against Scripture ; or, 
 rather, something worse, a setting up of man's infer- 
 ences from system against the plain words of God. It 
 is theory versus Scripture. There may be difficulties 
 in Millennarianism, but this is a wrong way of attempt- 
 ing to meet them. For, even granting that it relieves 
 us of one class of difficulties, it does so only by raising 
 up another and far more formidable class. It relieves 
 us of systematic or inferential difficulties, only to 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 127 
 
 encumber us with a host of textual and direct ones. 
 If we adhere to such a method, is there not danger of 
 making the Word of God of none effect by our tradi- 
 tion ? Is there not a danger of falling into the same 
 errors with regard to the second Advent into which the 
 Jews fell in reference to His first ? 
 
 It may be easy to contract or elongate a passage 
 according to the measurement of our system, but what 
 if, in so doing, we are corrupting the words of the God 
 only wise? Our object should be to find out what 
 God really meant, not to discover what, according to 
 our system, He ought to have meant. 
 
 We bring the matter to a simple test. Granting 
 Millennarianism to be true, could it have been ex- 
 pressed in different language from what we have in 
 Scripture? Granting that anti-millennarianism is 
 true, then is not the language of Scripture most am- 
 biguous and dark ? In the former we take Scripture 
 simply as we find it ; in the latter we read it through 
 the distorting medium of system. In the former case 
 we are listening directly to what God is speaking to 
 us ; in the latter case, we only hear as much of His 
 voice as our system allows. 
 
 As to another of the difficulties adverted to above, 
 I mean the mixture of the risen saints with the mortal 
 tenants of the earth, I have a few considerations to 
 offer. The objection taken, is wholly founded upon 
 our ideas of what is right and proper, carnal or 
 spiritual. These are, of course, the ideas of men who 
 cannot be expected to understand the harmonv of a 
 
128 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 system still future and undeveloped. We are not in 
 circumstances to pronounce a judgment upon the sub- 
 ject. We may be unable to see the propriety of such an 
 intermixture, yet there may be in it nothing improper, 
 nothing degrading, nothing carnal. Are we prepared 
 to say, that God, for infinitely wise and gracious ends, 
 might not ordain such a state of things, however 
 strange it may appear to us ? We know so little of 
 the details of the coming age that we should be very 
 slow to prejudge these, and very cautious in making 
 the laws of the present a standard of the laws of the 
 future. If ever such an objection could have been 
 taken, it would have been in reference to the incarna- 
 tion of the Son of God, and His sojourning in the 
 dwellings of the children of men. How carnal, how 
 low, how degrading, that intermixture might have 
 been pronounced, — immeasurably more so than the 
 intercourse of risen saints and mortal men. What ! 
 the Son of God become an infant, lie in a stable, be 
 cradled on a woman's knee, grow up as a boy in 
 Nazareth, sit at our tables, dwell under our roofs, eat, 
 drink, weep, sleep, speak, be clothed as we are ! How 
 carnal ! Yet all this took place. Human ideas of de- 
 gradation and carnality were found utterly at fault. 
 And may they notperchcmce be found equally at fault 
 again ? I think it not unlikely that they may. Man 
 has once erred most egregiously when trying to cast the 
 future in his own mould in preference to God's. He 
 may now be erring no less widely and foolishly when 
 again trying his hand at the same process. It is cer- 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 129 
 
 tainly going beyond his dejrth, beyond his warrant, and 
 beyond what the experience of the past is teaching him, 
 to pronounce upon the propriety or impropriety, the 
 carnality or the spirituality of a future condition of 
 things, — a condition, of whose laws, whose ordinances, 
 and whose harmonies he can know absolutely nothing, 
 save from the direct Word of God. 
 
 But all this is mere negative statement. It may 
 silence, but it may not be enough to convince. True. 
 And the positive demonstration lies in the passages of 
 Scripture which make known to us God's order and 
 purpose in the millennial state. On these I do not 
 mean to enter here. I am simply attempting to clear 
 off some difficulties. Apart, however, from these 
 Scripture proofs, on which alone a system can be 
 built, and by which every system already builded must 
 be tried, there are some parts of inspired history which 
 seem to help our understanding of the matter. There 
 has been, ever since man was upon the earth, an inter- 
 mixture of what appears to me a far more perplexing 
 kind. I mean that of angels. I do not refer to the 
 angelic appearances recorded in Scripture. I admit 
 that these fall short of proof in this difficulty. They 
 do not touch the exact point of the objection, viz., the 
 continual intercourse of the two classes of buinus 
 alluded to. But is this all that is revealed of angelic 
 visitation, angelic intercourse, angelic ministry ? " Are 
 they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister 
 for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Do they 
 not continually encompass us about? Are they not 
 
1 30 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 on our right hand and on our left, day and night ? It 
 is only occasionally that they have come forth from 
 their invisibility, and held personal intercourse with 
 men. Yet, though invisible, they are always with us, 
 and, as Owen shews at great length,* watching over us, 
 suggesting good thoughts, preserving us from evil, 
 warding off the assaults of Satan, attending upon us in 
 our going out and coming in. Here is an intermixture 
 which some might pronounce carnal. And if this be 
 going on unceasingly between holy angels and unholy 
 men, why may not the like intercourse be carried on 
 between the perfect saints and imperfect inhabitants of 
 earth ? In this age, angels are God's messengers. But 
 the " world to come " He hath not put into subjection 
 to angels, but to man, even to His own Son and His 
 risen saints. They are to be God's ministers, God's 
 kings, God's priests, to fulfil His purposes among the 
 children of men upon the new earth. 
 
 But there is another intermixture more carnal still, 
 that between angels and devils. As Dr Owen shews, 
 one special end of the ministry of angels is to defeat 
 and counteract the plans and assaults of Satan and his 
 angels. Thus two vast bands are filling the air and 
 roaming the earth together. The armies of heaven 
 and the legions of hell are at present occupying, to 
 a certain extent, the same sphere of operation. There 
 must be a continual mixture, and of a kind so 
 fearful that we shrink from dwelling on it. This 
 mixture will cease in the millennial state. Satan 
 
 * On the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. i. verse 14. 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 131 
 
 will be bound, and his hosts of darkness no longer 
 roam the air and move to and fro upon the earth. 
 Then there will be far less of what is called carnal and 
 degrading. For heaven and earth shall be made new. 
 Angels and devils shall no longer meet together. But 
 the risen saints shall take the government of the world, 
 executing God's purposes and fulfilling His commands. 
 And as heaven is the proper home of angels, whence 
 they are continually coming and going to this earth 
 with messages of mercy or errands of judgment ; so 
 the new Jerusalem, which shall be to earth what the 
 pillar of cloud was to Israel, shall be the habitation of 
 the saints, out of which they shall go forth to bear rule 
 for Christ, and administer the holy government of a 
 holy world. 
 
 It is replied to this, that angels are invisible in their 
 ministry amongst us, and that therefore their case 
 proves nothing as to the difficulty in question. To 
 this I answer, How do we know that the saints in the 
 coming age will be always visible ? Can they not 
 execute their kingly office without the ever-visible 
 pomp and glory of the present kings of earth? But 
 besides, how is it that the visibility can alter the case 
 or make the mixture less carnal ? It is the nearness, 
 the closeness of contact, that makes it so degrading ; 
 and how does the invisibility of angels remedy this? 
 If saints are to be in " the world to come " somewhat 
 as angels are in this, only with a higher dignity and 
 office, then what objection can be raised against their 
 intercour.-e with the inhabitants of earth in that new 
 
132 DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 state of holy blessedness, which may not much more 
 forcibly apply to the ministry of angels now as they 
 attend us day and night, passing to and fro amid the 
 wretchedness and sin of this defiled earth 1 
 
 I have thus noticed the chief difficulties which are 
 said to lie in the way of the Millennarian system. In 
 looking back upon these, I am astonished that there 
 should be so few. In a state of things so new, so unlike 
 the present, so much at variance with what the world 
 has ever seen, we might have looked for perplexing 
 knots and apparent contradictions. But how few are 
 these ! And these few, how trivial ! Had they been 
 tenfold stronger and more numerous, they could not 
 have prevailed to shake the explicit revelations of God. 
 But seeing them so feeble and so few, I both rejoice 
 and am amazed. And oh ! how soon may these jarring 
 elements in prophecy be reconciled, and all apparent 
 discord melt into blessed harmony ! How speedily may 
 the coming age evolve in unquestioned reality, and 
 bring forth in all the perfection of Divine symmetry, 
 that very system which we have now to labour so hard 
 to prove and expound to the objector, — that very sys- 
 tem which some pronounce perplexed, incoherent, im- 
 possible, which others have not scrupled to deride as a 
 misshapen fable, a wild and broken dream ! * 
 
 * A careful perusal of Butler's "Analogy of Keligion" would 
 tend to the removal, not only of the above difficulties, but of the 
 (/round on which they rest. "The things objected against," says 
 the Bishop, "how foolish soever they appear to men, may be 
 the very best means of accomplishing the very best ends." — Part ii. 
 chap. iv. sect. 2. In his sermon " On the Ignorance of Man/' we 
 
DIFFICULTIES. 133 
 
 read, " We may learn with what temper of mind a man ought to 
 inquire into the subject of religion; namely, with the expectation 
 of finding difficulties, and with a disposition to take up and rest 
 satisfied with any evidence whatever, which u real. He should, 
 beforehand, expect things mysterious, and such as he will not be 
 able thoroughly to comprehend or go to the bottom of. To ex- 
 pect a distinct comprehensive view of the whole subject, clear of 
 difficulties and objections, is to forget our nature and condition; 
 neither of which admit of such knowledge with respect to any 
 science whatever. And to inquire with this expectation is not to 
 
 inquire as a man, but as one of another order of creatures 
 
 It,is thought necessary to be thoroughly acquainted with the whole 
 of a scheme, even one of so narrow a compass as those which are 
 formed by man, in order to judge of the goodness or badness of it; 
 and the most slight and superficial view of any human contrivance 
 comes abundantly nearer to a thorough knowledge of it, than that 
 part which we know of the government of the world does to the 
 general scheme and system of it, to the whole set of laws by which 
 it is governed. From our ignorance of the constitution of things, 
 and the scheme of Providence ; from the reference which the several 
 parts have to each other and to the whole ; and from our not being 
 able to see the end and the whole, it follows that, however perfect 
 things are, they must necessarily appear to us less perfect than they 
 are." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 How are we to study prophecy ? First of all, let us 
 study the chronology of the subject. I do not mean to 
 say that this can be done entirely apart from, and pre- 
 vious to, some amount of attention to the details ; but 
 still our first object should be to give most careful heed 
 to the chronological parts, and to make our study of 
 details bear upon this especially. 
 
 In studying prophecy, just as in studying history, 
 we can make but inconsiderable progress without chro- 
 nology, or, at least, without some chronological method 
 to keep us from confusion and entanglement. Many 
 a foolish prophetical interpretation might have been 
 avoided, had this been attended to. We may, perhaps, 
 be able to strike out some ingenious and correct inter- 
 pretations of particular passages or visions, and be able 
 to say that such and such events are, some time or 
 other, to fall out in the future, or have fallen out in the 
 past history of our earth, but how, or when, or in what 
 order, we can with difficulty contrive even to guess. 
 We read of a variety of events which future times are 
 to witness ; of the restoration and conversion of the 
 Jews, the coming of the Son of man. the destruction of 
 
OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 135 
 
 the apostate nations, the downfall of Antichrist, the 
 first resurrection, the kingdom of the saints ; and per- 
 haps we have a tolerably correct idea of them as isolated 
 events. But without some sort of chronology or system, 
 of arrangement, we can have no more. If we would 
 construct our prophetic map with correctness, we must 
 first sketch our outline, and lay down our latitudes and 
 longitudes. Our telescope must be adjusted to its 
 proper focus before we can expect to have a distinct 
 and regular view of the scene to which it is directed. 
 
 The chronology of prophecy ought, then, to have a 
 prominent place in our prophetical inquiries. In pro- 
 j)ortion to the correctness of our views on this point, 
 will be our success in dealing with the details of the 
 subject. Many, we are aware, deny this ; they look 
 upon individual prophecies as dark, and upon their 
 chronology as darker still ; and hence they cannot con- 
 ceive of that which is dark being illustrated by that 
 which is darker. They seem to regard most pro- 
 phecies, especially those which involve chronology, as 
 little better than well-constructed riddles, affording a 
 fair field for ingenious exposition and amusing arith- 
 metical conjectures. They can see little in them but 
 vague, unclassified statements, capable of any meaning 
 or order, according to the ingenuity or caprice of the 
 expositor, and are disposed to think that the best that 
 can be said of them is, that they were not intended to 
 be understood or arranged. They read the Scriptures, 
 but it is with no expectation of thoroughly understand- 
 ing them, and are content to pick up here and there a 
 
136 OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 few bright gems, all the rest remaining confused and 
 shadowy. 
 
 But there is more system in the Bible than these 
 suppose ; not in one part of it only, but in all ; histo- 
 rical, doctrinal, prophetical. It is by no means diffi- 
 cult to trace throughout them the existence of a plan 
 most regular and well constructed. It may astonish 
 some to be told this ; and to be told, moreover, that it 
 would be difficult for a series of prophecies to be given 
 in symbolical language more plain and systematic than 
 those which the Spirit of God has conveyed to the 
 Church in the books of Daniel, the " man greatly 
 beloved/' and John, the " beloved disciple." Any 
 careful reader will see that the prophecies they con- 
 tain are strictly chronological ; and that in two 
 respects ; both because they preserve a regular order 
 and succession of events in all their details, and be- 
 cause, by many hints thrown in here and there, they 
 give us data for fixing the general period within 
 which the specified events are to occur, and for de- 
 termining their commencement, duration, and close. 
 This is one of the advantages we possess in studying 
 the visions of Daniel and John. We have merely to 
 interpret what is already arranged. In other pro- 
 phecies, as those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, 
 there is little order of succession observed. Events 
 are not detailed so regularly one after the other, nor 
 are their several parts always knit together. We have 
 to search about for links by which to fasten them to 
 each other, so that they may be fully classified and 
 
OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 137 
 
 arranged; but in Daniel and John much of this is 
 already done. 
 
 In return for this advantage which the chronolo- 
 gical possess over the detached or irregular prophecies, 
 there is a disadvantage, if we may call it so, connected 
 with the former from which the latter are free ; and 
 this is, that the former are generally conveyed in sym- 
 bolical language, while the language of the latter is 
 more literal, and approaching, in many places, the 
 style of history. In Daniel, for instance, we have the 
 vision of the great image, in which we have concise 
 views of four great monarchies which were successively 
 to appear on the earth, from the times of the prophet 
 to the setting up of the kingdom of the Son of man. 
 In this we have nothing to arrange, for this is already 
 done by the prophet himself ; we have simply to inter- 
 pret ; but then there is a difficulty compensating for 
 this, for the language is symbolical. I do not say that 
 in this particular vision there is much to perplex, for 
 so much of it has been fulfilled that most of the diffi- 
 culties have been cleared away; I give it merely as an 
 instance of the greater difficulties which, previous to 
 its fulfilment, would have attended it from the nature 
 of its language. Let us look into the predictions 
 themselves. 
 
 In the second chapter of Daniel occurs the first of 
 them. It is the vision of a majestic image. Its head 
 is of gold, and denotes the Babylonian empire, of 
 which Nebuchadnezzar was the head, whose throne 
 was in " the golden city;' and with whom began the 
 
138 OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 " times of the Gentiles." Then there are breast and 
 arms, which were of silver, inferior to the first, the 
 kingdom of the Medes and Persians. Then there are 
 the belly and thighs of brass, a kingdom still inferior 
 to the two former, the Macedonian. Then there are 
 the legs of iron, and the feet of mingled iron and clay ; 
 this is the Roman empire, strong as iron, breaking all 
 things in pieces that stood up against it. Such was 
 that empire in its early days, in its Pagan state, at 
 the first coming of Christ. It had not passed into the 
 condition of the " feet and toes " of mingled clay and 
 iron ; that is, it was not then subdivided into ten king- 
 doms, and these entirely diverse and incongruous in their 
 nature. For centuries after the first coming of Christ, 
 it remained undivided in its strength. When the sub- 
 division began, I do not now discuss. It is sufficient 
 to say that there was no vestige of it for two or three 
 centuries at least. And this is demonstration that the 
 falling of the stone upon it could not be the first 
 coming of Christ ; for that coming was not for 
 destruction at all ; and, moreover, the empire had not 
 then attained its divided state, so that the stone could 
 fall upon its feet and crush its clay-iron toes. Beyond 
 all doubt, then, " the stone that smote the image upon 
 its feet, breaking them in pieces, and then becoming a 
 great mountain, filling the whole earth," must refer to 
 some event connected with the second coming of 
 Christ ; as it is written, " In the days of those kings 
 shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall 
 never be destroyed." This is the termination of the 
 
OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 139 
 
 "times of the Gentiles," which began with the reign 
 of Nebuchadnezzar ; and such is a skeleton of the 
 world's history from that day, till the coming of 
 Christ, and the setting up of the better kingdom. It 
 is an unbroken period of Gentile dominion and Jewish 
 oppression till the day of the Son of man. It is 
 obvious, then, that the Millennium or kingdom must 
 be after the Advent, and not before it. There is no 
 room for a thousand years' blessedness between the 
 destruction of the Koman empire and the coming of 
 the Lord, inasmuch as that empire is to be destroyed 
 by the Lord at His coming. 
 
 Take another chronological prophecy, that of the 
 seven trumpets in the Apocalypse. I do not here 
 interpret, I merely sketch. The period occupied by 
 these trumpets is not nearly so long as that of the 
 former vision to which I have been referring. They 
 take up a mere section of history, the commencement 
 of which I do not undertake to determine. The first 
 trumpet sounds, and fiery hail descends, mingled with 
 blood. The second trumpet sounds, and the great 
 mountain of fire is cast into the sea. The third angel 
 sounds, and the great star falls from heaven, turning 
 the waters into wormwood. The fourth angel sounds, 
 and the sun, moon, and stars are smitten, so that the 
 third part of them is darkened. The fifth angel sounds, 
 and the bottomless pit is opened, and the locusts arise 
 out of it to lay waste the earth. The sixth angel 
 sounds, and the four angels bound in Euphrates are 
 loosed for slaughter. The seventh trumpet sounds, 
 
140 OUTLINES OF PKOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 and the kingdoms of the earth become Christ's king- 
 dom, and their many crowns are placed upon His head. 
 This is the time of judgment, the time of resurrection, 
 the time of recompense to the saints, as it is written, 
 Rev. xi. 17 — 
 
 " We give thee thanks, 
 Lord God Almighty ! 
 Which art, and wast, and art to come, 
 For thou hast taken to thee thy great power, 
 And hast reigned ! 
 And the nations were angry, 
 And thy wrath is come, 
 And the time of the dead 
 That they should be judged" 
 
 In all this there is a distinct succession of events in 
 chronological order from the sounding of the first 
 trumpet to the coming of the Lord, the resurrection, 
 and the kingdom. Where, then, is there room for a 
 Millennium before this ? How could it be thrust in 
 between the sounding of the last trumpet and the 
 Lord's coming ? 
 
 Let us select a single specimen of discursive pro- 
 phecies. They take up only sections or portions of 
 history, and are to be regarded as episodes in the 
 chronological prophecies. When we can ascertain their 
 place in that chronology, or at least discover somewhat 
 of their connexion and order, they of course possess the 
 advantages of both kinds of prophecy. The following 
 is such. It is the twenty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. It 
 refers to the last scenes of this present age, which are 
 immediately to precede the coming of the Lord, and 
 
OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 141 
 
 describes the state of earth in those days of darkness 
 and tumult and error. The first ten verses describe 
 the desolation which is to overwhelm the earth because 
 of iniquity. In the midst of this overflowing wicked- 
 ness, there is heard the voice of praise from a remnant 
 in the distant isles, "Glory to the Righteous One." 
 But this is drowned in the abounding iniquity, and the 
 prophet thus proceeds : — 
 
 " 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 ; 
 For her iniquity lieth heavy upon her ; 
 And she shall fall and rise no more." 
 
 Such is the state of the earth as here described, a 
 state which corresponds to that predicted by Peter in 
 the third chapter of his Second Epistle. The confla- 
 gration which is to destroy the wicked and purify the 
 soil, has, as it were, already taken hold of it, and accord- 
 ingly the small remnant spoken of in verse 15, are 
 said to glorify the Lord "in the fires." This proceeds 
 till the earth is " clean dissolved," — till the curse has 
 been burned out of her, and she is ready for being the 
 scat of the perfect kingdom. This chapter is a com- 
 plete answer to the objection usually taken to the Pre- 
 Millennial Advent from the conflagration mentioned in 
 2d Peter. Isaiah's picture of the dissolving earth is 
 far more complete, universal, and minute than Peter's : 
 his expressions also, denoting destruction, — utter de- 
 struction, — are far stronger, yet we find that during all 
 
142 OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 the time of this terrible catastrophe and conflagration, 
 there is a people preserved alive upon the earth, a rem- 
 nant who are kept from the danger, as well as a multi- 
 tude on whom the judgments descend in overwhelming 
 vengeance. The vision then proceeds : — 
 
 "And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 Jehovah shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, 
 And the kings of the earth upon the earth." 
 
 Here then is a twofold vengeance foretold ; first 
 upon the host of the high ones that are on high — that 
 is, the principalities and powers of darkness, the 
 "prince of the power of the air," and the spiritual 
 wickednesses that are in "the high places." Then 
 comes the punishment of earth, its kings and its inhabit- 
 ants, as elsewhere set forth in the second Psalm : — 
 
 " They shall be gathered together, 
 As prisoners are gathered in the pit ; 
 They shall be shut up in the prison, 
 And after many days shall they be visited." 
 
 We recognise at once here the casting of the beast 
 and false prophet into the lake of fire, as described in 
 Rev. xix., and the binding of Satan as given in chap, 
 xx. Isaiah says, "After many days shall they be 
 visited;" and John says, "When the thousand years 
 are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." 
 But let us mark what takes place in the interval, that 
 is, between their being cast into the pit and their being 
 visited : — 
 
 " Then the moon shall be confounded, 
 And the sun ashamed, 
 When Jehovah of hosts shall reign 
 In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, 
 And before his ancients gloriously." 
 
OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 143 
 
 For we know what signs are to be in the heaven 
 and in the earth, in the snn and moon and stars, in 
 that great and notable day. And then comes the song 
 of Israel or of the Church in the succeeding chapter, a 
 song like that of Moses and Miriam after the destruc- 
 tion of Egypt and its chivalry, when they sank like lead 
 in the mighty waters. 
 
 And after this song of exultation over their enemy, 
 they strike the festal note ; a note in unison with that 
 which they sing at the marriage-supper of the Lamb ; 
 a song of festival; a song of resurrection-joy and glory, 
 in the presence of their God and King : — 
 
 " In this mountain 
 Shall Jehovah make for all people 
 A feast of fat things. 
 
 And in this mountain 
 
 Shall he destroy 
 
 The face of the covering cast over all people, 
 
 And the vail that is spread over all nations. 
 
 He will swallow up death in victory ; 
 
 The Lord Jehovah shall wipe away tears 
 
 From off all faces ; 
 
 And the rebuke of his people shall he take 
 
 From off all the earth ; 
 
 For Jehovah hath spoken it." 
 
 These specimens will furnish the reader with some 
 idea of the true way in which prophecy should be 
 studied. After constructing our prophetic chart, at 
 least in so far as the general outlines are concerned, by 
 means of the visions of Daniel, supplemented by those 
 of John, we are then in the true position for viewing 
 and understanding the isolated prophecies of Isaiah. 
 
] 44 OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 We shall find how much Daniel helps us to interpret 
 Isaiah, and again how much Isaiah assists us in under- 
 standing Daniel. They assist mutually in arranging 
 each other. Had all prophecies been chronological, 
 our difficulties in the way of interpretation would have 
 been greater than they are. Had all been discursive, 
 our difficulties in the way of arrangement would have 
 been considerably multiplied. 
 
 It would be useful to turn to Daniel's other visions ; 
 but this would lead us into too large a field of exposi- 
 tion. I have given the outline of the first vision, and 
 this may be regarded as the general calendar, compre- 
 hending all the rest. The other visions of this prophet, 
 with the exception of that of the four beasts, which is 
 identical with that of the image, as well as those of the 
 Apocalypse, are just parts of this great outline on a 
 larger scale. In them certain events are introduced 
 separately, yet so as to be exactly fitted into this great 
 outline. There is, however, a remarkable difference 
 between the first and second vision of Daniel, to which 
 it may be well to advert, because in any chronological 
 sketch these two visions must go together ; the second 
 being supplementary to the first. The first was de- 
 livered to a heathen monarch ; and in it we find little 
 reference to the Church of Christ, till the very close : 
 while in the second, the Church of Christ is introduced, 
 and the things concerning it spoken of at length. Its 
 peculiar history, as a little flock oppressed and afflicted, 
 is painted, and the influence of the Gentile empires 
 upon its history. In the first, the kingdoms were pre- 
 
OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 14o 
 
 sented to Nebuchadnezzar, a worldly monarch, under 
 the form of all that is most prized among men, — the 
 gold, the silver, the brass, and the useful iron. In the 
 second, they were shewn to Daniel, a prophet and a 
 saint, under the emblem of fierce beasts of prey, to be 
 dreaded, not to be admired ; because in this vision the 
 oppression of the Church by these powers was the 
 chief point to which his attention was to be directed. 
 In the former, we have the mere prediction of a suc- 
 cession of monarchs who should occupy the earth be- 
 fore the kingdom of the Son of man ; but the peculiar 
 features of each, and the brutal character of all, were 
 not declared. These things shew us that there is no 
 unmeaning repetition in these two visions, though they 
 run through the same period ; and they account also 
 for the trouble of soul into which the prophet was 
 thrown by the appalling picture brought before his 
 eyes of the suffering saints of the Most High. 
 
 The chief object of the second vision seems to be to 
 set forth the oppression of the saints, and their final 
 exaltation to that supremacy in the earth which their 
 adversaries had held so long. The smTerinffS of the 
 saints are not, however, directly introduced till the 
 time of the fourth beast, when the little horn came 
 up, a king diverse from the former king, " wearing out " 
 stints, and speaking great words against the Most 
 High. The special end of the vision seems to be, to 
 set forth the warfare between the saints and the little 
 horn. 
 
 This power is exhibited as, both by subtlety and 
 K 
 
1 iG OUTLINES OF PROPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 might, doing his utmost to oppress and extirpate the 
 saints, and as having power over them given to him, 
 until the termination of the period there foreshewn. 
 Then the destroyer of the Church and enemy of Israel 
 is consumed by fiery judgment, and utterly destroyed 
 by the coming of the Son of man. After this terrible 
 adversary has been broken and annihilated, the saints 
 enter upon the peaceful possession of their inheritance, 
 and the whole earth has rest. The spoiler is spoiled ; 
 the city of confusion is confounded ; the day of the 
 Church's tribulation has passed away, and her triumph 
 has begun. Till that day, however, we look for no Mil- 
 lennium ; no day of peace. If these visions be true, 
 oppression is to be the Church's lot on earth, till the 
 Lord come. It is but the vanity of a fond fancy to 
 count upon triumph, or even tranquillity, till He comes, 
 who shall say to the wasting tempest, "Peace, be 
 still ! M It is unscriptural to hope till then, to " re- 
 form the face of the whole earth (I use the words of 
 John Knox), which never was, nor yet shall be, till 
 the righteous King and Judge appear for the restora- 
 tion of all things." 
 
 Present times, indeed, are dark ; but the better and 
 the brighter are beyond. God's purposes are evolving, 
 and the world's affairs are ripening to a crisis. Let 
 shadows, then, darken as they may, we can look out 
 from under them with calmness, and anticipate the 
 glories of advancing day. The stone shall smite the 
 image, and grind it to powder. The Man of Sin, the 
 oppressor of the saints, he of the triple crown, shall not 
 
OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 147 
 
 lono; be able to maintain his seat in his fastness of old 
 Rome ; and the Church, of which he calls himself the 
 infallible head, though wondrously revived of late from 
 the blow that had brought her to the dust, and though 
 again " strumpet-dressed in the cast-off garments of 
 Paganism," shall be stripped naked, made desolate, and 
 burnt with fire ; for " in her is found the blood of pro- 
 phets, and of saints, and of all that have been slain 
 upon the earth/' 
 
 I do not speak thus as if I believed that Popery is 
 all the Antichrist we are to witness. There is one to 
 arise out of it, more terrible in its strength and cruelty. 
 Yet I can see many prophetic hints of their mysterious 
 relationship to each other. The latter is to be the 
 offspring of the former ; not a solitary tree shooting 
 up from a root of its own, side by side with its fellow. 
 It was Pagan Rome that gave birth to Papal Rome ; 
 a more monstrous form of evil than its predecessor, 
 yet receiving from her much of her outward form, 
 and rite, and raiment, and seating herself in the same 
 place of power. So out of Papal Rome is to arise 
 Infidel Rome, darker, fiercer, and more Antichristian 
 than she, yet with the same blood in her veins, retain- 
 ing the same ancestral citadel of royal dominion, along 
 with the principles, the features, the robes of her pro- 
 genitor. 
 
 Such is the triple form of wickedness which the 
 last of the four Gentile empires is to bring forth. 
 There is first the "serpent's root;" then there is the 
 "cockatrice;" and, lastly, there is the "fiery flying- 
 
148 OUTLINES OF PEOPHETIC STUDY. 
 
 serpent/' (Isa. xiv. 29.) The last shall tower above 
 the rest in suddenness of uprising, in potency of evil, 
 in hatred of Christ, and in oppression of the saints : 
 but not the less does he belong to that ancient stock 
 of Belial, the princes of the seed-royal of hell. He is 
 but a riper and more essential form of evil. " The 
 child is father of the man." Owning and perhaps pro- 
 fessing every form of religion, he shall yet be devoid 
 of all. Building altars to every god, he " shall magnify 
 himself above all gods." Acknowledging all creeds, 
 he shall believe none. Covering the spectral naked- 
 ness of Atheism with the many-coloured vestments of 
 every various priesthood, he shall stand up in the time 
 of the end, the impersonation of all evil from the be- 
 ginning, Satan's maturest form of wickedness, and 
 truest imao*e of himself, in moulding whom he has 
 put forth all his skill, if so be that he might persuade 
 the whole earth together to recognise as their king 
 one who would rule more entirely as his vicegerent 
 and representative than any heretofore, and through 
 whom he . might receive, what he has all along been 
 laying claim to and striving to compass, -the homage 
 and obedience of the world, in defiance of Jehovah 
 and His Anointed Son I 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 In connexion with the chronology of prophecy, a ques- 
 tion occurs with reference to the length of the periods, 
 and the distribution of events over them. As the first 
 coming was the termination of a long series of predic- 
 tions, so, as we have seen, is the second. It is in the 
 midst of this latter series that we are placed, and it 
 becomes a question of much importance, How are 
 these predictions to be distributed over the intervening 
 space ? Are they to be spread out continuously over 
 the whole interval, or reserved in one dense mass, for 
 its close ? 
 
 In apostolic days, when faith was simple and love 
 was fresh, men could brook no delay. They could 
 hardly admit of any time intervening between them 
 and the object of their hope. In the fervency of their 
 new affection, they would have the coming of the Lord 
 to be immediate, without any interposing period or 
 event. An apostle had to restrain them, by shewing 
 them that that day should not come, unless there came 
 " a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, 
 the son of perdition/' As time went on, men began 
 to see that God had intended a greater interval than 
 
3 50 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 they had imagined, and that many things were designed 
 to take place which they had overlooked. There was 
 no attempt indefinitely to postpone the Advent, nor 
 was there any idea entertained of placing a whole 
 millennium, and that a millennium of glory, between 
 them and that day ; still there was the belief that the 
 intervening space was longer than at first they had 
 conceived or were willing to allow. 
 
 Seeing this, they naturally began to reason, that if 
 God had purposed that His Church should tarry so long 
 for the day of Christ's appearing, He would not have 
 left them without the " sure word of prophecy " as a 
 light to them, shining in a dark place ; and that there- 
 fore they must carry it along with them at every step, 
 and spread it out over the whole period of the Church's 
 tribulation, and the Bridegroom's delay. This we be- 
 lieve to have been the feeling in early times ; and this 
 we believe to be also the feeling in our own day. It is 
 this, we doubt not, which, along with other reasons, 
 has led the majority of interpreters to distribute over 
 large periods the events and characters described hi the 
 prophetic word, and to spread out the "times" over 
 ages and centuries. 
 
 In order to assist us in settling this point, we natu- 
 rally inquire, What was God's method of procedure in 
 former dispensations? How were the foretold events 
 arranged? How were the prophetic times laid out 
 in other ages of the Church? This seems to me a 
 matter of some importance, and an element of some 
 weight in helping us to settle the question ; a question 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 151 
 
 doubtless attended with considerable difficulties, and 
 not to be rashly and dogmatically pronounced upon, or 
 hastily dismissed. 
 
 In former dispensations we find that the prophecies 
 were not confined to the point immediately before the 
 crisis, but stretched over a much larger field, generally 
 taking up the most striking and pregnant events along 
 the whole line. The times are not limited to a few 
 years before the catastrophe, but range over a long 
 period of years, sometimes of centuries. The Jewish 
 Church was to be for a long period under Egyptian 
 bondage, and prophecy foretold the whole of that 
 time, — her four hundred and thirty years of oppres- 
 sion and sorrow. Her captivity in Babylon was to 
 be for many years, and prophecy gave notice of the 
 whole period of her exile, her seventy years of loneliness 
 and absence from the beloved Jerusalem. The time in- 
 tervening between her return from captivity and the 
 coming of Messiah was to be a long one, and prophecy 
 made known the whole of that interval, the seventy 
 weeks that were "determined to finish the trans- 
 ion and to make an end of sins, to seal up the 
 vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." 
 
 Judging from such analogies, we should be led to 
 expect that the interval between the first and second 
 comings of the Lord should, to a certain extent, be 
 filled up with the events and times of prophecy. Here 
 is a strong presumption in favour of the more pro- 
 tracted scheme of interpretation. It cannot but appear 
 strange and inconsistent that the prophetic page, which 
 
152 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 in all other ages of the world had been at length writ- 
 ten over with the Church's history, should all at once, 
 for eighteen hundred years, become utterly blank, and 
 that during a dispensation the most momentous which 
 has yet evolved. These considerations would lead us 
 to enter on New Testament prophecies with the expec- 
 tation of finding them, like preceding ones, spread out 
 over a considerable period, not crushed together in a 
 point, and expending themselves exclusively upon the 
 last few years of the Church's history before or at the 
 Advent. 
 
 Besides, does it not appear as if the Apocalypse had 
 been expressly written in order to fill up the interval 
 between the First and Second Advents, which the Old 
 Testament had left untouched or barely alluded to? 
 Is it likely that the book given to the Church for the 
 day of her tribulation, should yet bear no reference at 
 all to by far the largest portion of that day ? Are the 
 visions and dates of that book not to commence till at 
 least eighteen hundred years after it was put into the 
 hands of the Church, as the " sure word " to which she 
 was to give heed as unto " a light shining in a dark 
 place?" I by no means say that even in such a case 
 it would have been useless. It would be hazardous to 
 affirm and difficult to maintain this. But we may at 
 least say that it is not easy to see how it could be " the 
 light in a dark place," if it had no reference at all to 
 so long a period of the Church's history. And is not 
 this confirmed by the words of Christ himself in the 
 commencement of the book — " Write the things which 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 153 
 
 thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the 
 things which are to be hereafter ?" (Chap. i. 19.) " The 
 tilings which thou hast seen" refer evidently to the 
 vision of the heavenly glory just described. The 
 " things which are " as evidently refer to the state of 
 the seven Asiatic Churches as then existing. The 
 " things which shall be hereafter," that is, after these 
 others, refer to the state of things in the Church and 
 world following upon the decay and ruin of these 
 Churches. And with these last the remainder of the 
 Apocalypse is occupied. If that verse, then, does give 
 us the three divisions of the whole book, it seems diffi- 
 cult to conceive how the last of the three should take 
 up only the few concluding years of the Church. If 
 the " things that are " be really the condition of the 
 seven Churches, then we should expect that as soon as 
 these " things that are " have passed into the " things 
 that were/' the "things that shall be after these" 
 should commence ; and it is rather incongruous to 
 interpose eighteen hundred years between the one and 
 the other. 
 
 Further, there are some things foretold as taking- 
 place during the well-known period of twelve hundred 
 and sixty days, which scarcely admit of being com- 
 pressed within the space of so many days. The 
 " wearing out " of the saints of the Most High is some- 
 thing which cannot be accomplished within three years 
 and a half. It denotes a long period of* trial, a 
 gradual, continuous oppression of the Church, not the 
 sharp and sudden infliction of calamity upon one gene- 
 
] 54 DISTEIBUTIOX OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 ration of saints. It is true this expression occurs in 
 Daniel, not in the Apocalypse, but the periods are the 
 same, and the expressions made use of in the latter are 
 of the very same import. Again, we read that the 
 dead bodies of the witnesses are to lie unburied for 
 three days and a half, (Rev. xi. 8-10,) that is, three 
 and a half literal clays, if the abridged scheme be 
 correct. And then it is added, that "they of the 
 people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall 
 see their dead bodies, and shall not suffer them to be 
 put in graves."' Now, is it jwssible, that within three 
 days and a half, people of the different nations even of 
 the prophetic earth should be able to come together to 
 the street of the great city, and see these bodies lying ? 
 Or is it possible, that within that short space the in- 
 telligence of their death should be so universally 
 diffused, that men should have time to congratulate 
 each other, and send gifts one to the other in token of 
 their common joy? We can hardly conceive this 
 possible.* 
 
 In answer to all this, it is said, the word " day," 
 which is used in several of these chronological pro- 
 phecies, seems to favour the abbreviated system, if not 
 expressly to establish it. I admit that there is force 
 in this. But still it does not amount to proof. Nay, 
 it falls considerably short of it. For it comes merely 
 to this, that seeing the word " day " is used, it is likely 
 that the literal day is meant. It cannot be said that 
 
 * See also Eev. xvii. 12, — " They receive power as kings one hour 
 with the beast." Does this mean literally an hour, and no more? 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 155 
 
 it mast be meant ; for, even had we no example at all 
 of a day being the representative of a year, who wonlcl 
 say that it might not be so with perfect propriety, 
 especially in a symbolical prophecy ? It is to be noted 
 that these periods occur in the symbolical prophecies, 
 and in them alone, where great things are throughout 
 set forth by small. The expressions also themselves 
 would almost indicate that there was some mystery 
 nnder them, requiring wisdom to discover it. Tor the 
 words "time" and "times" are employed, not "year" 
 and " years ; " and, instead of " half a year," the pro- 
 phet speaks of the " dividing of a time." The term 
 "years/' both in Daniel and the Apocalypse, seems 
 carefully avoided, as if on purpose to prevent us from 
 understanding the words in their literal sense ; while 
 in the more literal prophecies the word " year " is em- 
 ployed. It is no refutation of this to say that " day" 
 and " days," which are the words used in the Eevela- 
 tion, preclude the idea of a lengthened period. For 
 the term " day " is often used very indefinitely ; and if 
 Daniel's expression " time " be a symbolical one, the 
 other must also be so, for they refer to the same 
 periods. 
 
 I do not take up the position that "day" must be 
 symbolical. All I can speak of is the likelihood of its 
 being so in these visions. Nor shall I enter at length 
 upon a consideration of those passages which are gene- 
 rally adduced to prove this. For they only prove that 
 the word is used elsewhere as the representative of a 
 year, and therefore may be so in the Apocalypse. I 
 
156 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 think, however, that the two passages, Numbers xiv. 
 33, 34, and Ezekiel iv. 4-G, do give much countenance 
 to the interpretation. But the three which weigh most 
 with me are Hosea vi. 2 — "After two days will he 
 revive us ; in the third day he will raise us up ;" 
 where I do not see it possible to understand " days " 
 literally : Rev. ii. 10 — " Ye shall have tribulation ten 
 days;" where the term seems to point to something 
 more extended than the literal word implies : and Dan. 
 ix. 24 — " Seventy weeks are determined," &c; where the 
 expression is admitted by all to mean 490 years. In 
 answer to the argument drawn from the last of these 
 passages, it is said that the words " seventy weeks " are 
 literally " seventy sevens/' which may therefore be 
 sevens either of days or of years. But in reply to this 
 it may be confidently affirmed, that wherever the word 
 stands alone, it signifies a week or weeks of days, and 
 in no case whatever a week of years. Lexicographers 
 always give it as a separate noun denoting a week, and 
 Michaelis asserts that it can mean nothing but simple 
 weeks* 
 
 Still, this proves nothing directly or positively. It 
 does not settle the point before us, by shewing that in 
 Daniel and the Revelation the word day is symbolical 
 for year. It gives us scriptural authority for thus 
 interpreting it, if the passage itself or the context 
 demand it, but it does nothing more. 
 
 In proof of the literal meaning of days, it is affirmed, 
 and strongly argued, that the fact of their commence- 
 * Letters on the Seventy Weeks, pp. 32, 33. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 157 
 
 ment being still an uncertain and disputed point, is 
 sufficient to shew that they cannot yet have com- 
 menced. It is supposed, that had they begun, and, 
 still more, had they terminated, and the events com- 
 prised in them been fulfilled, there would be no longer 
 any room for doubt. The fulfilment would be so pal- 
 pable as to declare itself. That this is plausible, and 
 not altogether devoid of weight, I concede ; but that it 
 settles the matter I cannot admit, I point to the ful- 
 filled prophetic times as a proof that this is a statement 
 to be received with much caution. The commencement 
 and termination of many periods, which have been long 
 since fulfilled, are to this day uncertain. The time of 
 the commencement of the Babylonish empire is uncer- 
 tain ; and so of some of the others. The precise date 
 of the captivity and the return from it ; are also un- 
 certain. Even the commencement of the Egyptian 
 bondage is surrounded with difficulties. It is certainly 
 not the commencement which we should have expected. 
 With reference to it one might easily argue, " It was 
 predicted that Israel was to be oppressed in Egypt four 
 hundred years; but Israel was not oppressed there for 
 much above half that period; and to date the beginning 
 of this from Abraham's going down to Egypt, is to take 
 a commencement which does not accord with the pro- 
 phecy/' Yet there can be no doubt that those years 
 did begin with Abraham's going down into Egypt, 
 however unlike in some respects this may appear to 
 the words of the prophecy. This is, I think, a suf- 
 ficient answer to many of the arguments regarding 
 
158 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 the Apocalyptic times and events. When it is main- 
 tained that these must be made so palpable by the 
 fulfilment that they cannot be mistaken, I ask, was 
 it so in regard to former times which are allowed to be 
 fulfilled ? Is it not still a matter of most earnest dis- 
 cussion, when the seventy weeks of Daniel commenced 
 and concluded? Have there not been greater dif- 
 ferences of .opinion among commentators with regard 
 to these than even with regard to later prophetic num- 
 bers ? Yet who doubts that they are fulfilled ? These 
 remarks will, I think, tend to shew the weakness of 
 some of the reasons commonly urged by a certain class 
 of more recent interpreters who contend for the literal 
 periods. At least they may help to moderate the pre- 
 cipitancy with which some are rushing to their con- 
 clusions respecting an unfulfilled Apocalypse. There 
 are one or two other thoughts that suggest themselves 
 in the way of objection to this system. 
 
 I. It maintains that Antichrist is entirely Infidel in 
 his character and doings. This seems at variance with 
 many passages, in which he is set forth as nominally a 
 Christian, or at least an ecclesiastical power. I refer espe- 
 cially to the Apocalyptic predictions regarding him, which 
 do not set him forth as avowedly and entirely Infidel, 
 but under figures descriptive of an ecclesiastical apos- 
 tasy. The harlot character so darkly painted in the 
 Eevelation, corresponds very fully to the similar cha- 
 racter given of the apostasy of the Jewish Church in 
 Ezekiel and Hosea. The Old Testament apostasy was 
 not an entirely Infidel one, however much of thorough 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. lo9 
 
 Infidelity might be mingled with it ; so the New Testa- 
 ment apostasy will not be totally and exclusively Infidel, 
 however much of Infidelity there may be mingled with 
 it. The worst feature of the last days is having- a <; form 
 of godliness, but denying the power thereof;" and if 
 this be the general characteristic of the times, it will, I 
 believe, be exemplified more or less in Antichrist him- 
 self. To maintain from 1 John ii. 22, that he must be 
 a bold and open denier of both the Father and the Son, 
 is to overlook what immediately follows, — " "Whoso de- 
 nieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.'' 
 
 2. It maintains that Popery cannot be Antichrist. 
 Now, I shall not assert that the present form of Popery 
 is the ultimate Antichristian apostasy. I believe it is 
 to wax worse, and be pervaded more with a hellish 
 mixture of Infidelity, which will immeasureably increase 
 the deformity of its horrid features ; but still I believe 
 that Popery is the Antichrist of the day. Every age 
 has had, and will have, its peculiar form of Antichrist ; 
 and I believe that Popery is that form just now. It is 
 no answer to this to say that it is lacking in some of 
 the predicted features of Antichrist, That may be true, 
 and yet it may be no less true that he is the Antichrist 
 of our age. The full-grown Antichrist of the last day 
 will alone exhibit every feature in terrible minute i 
 but still many of the essential features of Antichrist, 
 Popery has ; and every succeeding year, I may say, 
 will continue tc add to them. As Baxter remarks. •• lr 
 the Pope be not Antichrist, he has ill luck to be so like 
 him.'' 
 
1G0 DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 
 
 3. It maintains that the Antichrist of the last day 
 is a power rising up, unconnected with previous apos- 
 tasies, — a power per se, — a lurid star kindled up in a 
 moment, and placed in the firmament by the Prince of 
 hell. Now, the Apostle John tells us that in his day 
 there were many Antichrists. Paul tells us that the 
 mystery of iniquity was already working. Each age 
 was to develop more and more of the Antichristian 
 element, till it reached its maturity in the last days. 
 The last Antichrist is thoroughly identified with all his 
 predecessors, not isolated from them. He and they are 
 viewed as one mighty power of evil, — one gigantic 
 apostasy, which has been gathering strength and size 
 from age to age, till it has reached its perfect stature, 
 and realised every feature of the full-grown man. For 
 is it not said that "in her was found the blood of 
 prophets, and of saints, and of all that have been slain 
 upon the earth ? " 
 
 Having offered these remarks, I would at the same 
 time say, that I feel very strongly the difficulties con- 
 nected with sl fulfilled Apocalypse. I am by no means 
 satisfied with any of those schemes that have been of 
 late propounded. Nay, some of the most recent and 
 most applauded will, I am persuaded, be found wanting. 
 I stand still in doubt, waiting earnestly for further light. 
 The scheme of an unfulfilled Apocalypse lias many 
 plausibilities, but many difficulties. Its expounders 
 have as yet, at least, most palpably failed. It is now 
 evident that they are divided among themselves, even 
 more widely than those whom they condemn. 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMES AND EVENTS. 1G1 
 
 But the subject is worthy of our calmest thought 
 and most protracted study. The mine is deep and 
 rich ; let us not abandon it in despair. It will abun- 
 dantly repay us for all our toil and cost. Each new 
 exposition is contributing something to the work, either 
 in exploding old errors or turning up new truth. And 
 the day is advancing when God himself shall lift the 
 veil, and pour light down into the deepest recesses of 
 that book of mystery, till every verse shall not only 
 sparkle like a new-polished gem, but give forth its 
 radiance like a new-lighted star. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 Were we to set ourselves down to frame conjectures 
 as to what subjects we might expect to find in pro- 
 phecy, we should be led into many extravagances. 
 Each one would view the matter in a different light, 
 and according to the relative importance of different 
 events in his estimation, he would sketch his conjec- 
 tural outline of what topics he thought likely to fill up 
 the page of prophecy. If set to compile a history of 
 the past, from the beginning of the world, according 
 to our notions of what such a narrative ought to deal 
 with, we should each form a different history, a different 
 selection of facts, a different line of narrative. So, in 
 prophecy, our ideas of what ought to be found there, 
 would be widely diverse from each other ; and as 
 different from what we actually have in Scripture, as 
 from each other. 
 
 Suppose that we were commencing the study of the 
 prophetic oracles as a new and unknown book, it is of 
 importance, before entering fairly upon it, to obtain 
 some general idea, or even some loose hint, regarding 
 the nature of the book, and the line of argument or 
 narrative we might expect, as a sort of guide to 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 163 
 
 enable us to make good some footing npon the yet un- 
 trodden territory. As we reject all guidance which 
 depends merely upon our own fancies, we must look 
 to something else for assistance here. We turn, then, 
 to the analogy of the past, as a more sober and trust- 
 worthy guide in this conjectural path. Taking our 
 stand upon the scriptural narrative of the past, we may 
 soberly endeavour to shape out a somewhat similar 
 course in the history of the future, though in a very 
 general way. Here we are upon lawful ground. If 
 asked, then, to form a conjecture as to the probable 
 subject of the prophetic oracles, we should say the 
 likelihood is, that between the history of the future 
 and of the past there will be a strong general analogy, 
 a likeness between the subjects, between the selection 
 of events, between the line of narrative, and between 
 the style of both. We rise from sacred history, and 
 we go to prophecy, expecting to find just a different 
 part of the same general narrative, another page of 
 the same volume. 
 
 What, then, do we find in Scripture history I Its 
 grand subject is, the corporate history of the Church 
 of Christ. We say corporate history, or history of the 
 Church as a body ; because, although we are presented 
 with many individual characters, yet these are generally 
 set before us as representatives of the Church at that 
 period to which they belong ; and the whole bearing 
 of the narrative is upon the history of the Church as 
 a body, its origin and progress, its different stages and 
 dispensations, its straitenings and enlargings, and, above 
 
lG-i THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 all, its connexion with one mighty Personage, who is 
 most mysteriously brought in at every turn, as the 
 centre point round which all seems to revolve. This 
 is the main stream of Scripture history ; but it is not 
 the only one. We have, likewise, the history of the 
 Church's enemies, or rather, in conformity with Scrip- 
 ture language, we should say " enemy ; " as " the seed 
 of the serpent," however numerous, is generally per- 
 sonified, and alluded to under the name of that nation 
 or king who at any particular period happened to be 
 at the head of the enemies of the Lord. 
 
 Turning, then, to prophecy, we should expect to 
 find these same two streams flowing on through its 
 pages, — the history of the Church as a body, and the 
 history of the world as a body, in so far as the latter 
 has any direct bearing upon the former. And so we 
 do find it. There are some, indeed, who, in interpret- 
 ing unfulfilled prophecy, set out with the principle that 
 it is the history of the Church alone which we are to 
 look for there ; and that, with the history of the world, 
 prophecy has very little to do. Now, in opposition to 
 this, I remark, that such an exclusive narrative could 
 not be written. As well might you attempt to write 
 the story of a battle, by relating the actions and 
 achievements of one side alone. Grant that the pro- 
 phetic vision is mainly of the Church ; yet the ground 
 of the picture is the worid ; its scenery is the world ; 
 many of the personages represented must be of the 
 world ; and therefore both must be thrown upon the 
 canvas together. All Scripture history, and all pro- 
 
THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 1 Go 
 
 phecy already fulfilled, establish this opinion. The first 
 piece of history on record is the notice of the serpent 
 (Gen. iii. 1.) There the history of our race may be 
 properly said to begin. The first prophecy is of the 
 serpent as well as the woman's seed. Tracing pro- 
 phecy downward, we observe the same principle acted 
 on. We need only cite the prophecies of Nineveh, 
 Babylon, and Tyre, amid many that might be ad- 
 duced. These are predictions regarding the Church's 
 enemies. In accordance with this peculiarity of struc- 
 ture, we can trace a similiar peculiarity of style. Out 
 of the parallel events in the past history of the two 
 parties referred to, is constructed the language in 
 which their future history is written ; and many of the 
 peculiarities of prophecy can only be fully explained 
 by a minute reference to, and comparison of, these 
 parallel events. Take, for instance, "the Assyrian," 
 spoken of in Isaiah x. 5, — " Wo to the Assyrian, the 
 rod of mine anger ! " The literal Assyrian king is 
 first introduced as the rod of Jehovah's anger against 
 Israel ; but scarcely has the prophet brought him be- 
 fore us, and briefly alluded to the chief occurrences of 
 that period in which he was concerned, than he hurries 
 us past the events of that age, and, under the name 
 of " the Assyrian/' prophesies of his people's enemies, 
 under all their manifold forms, as fit representatives 
 of the pride, oppression, and irreligion of their first 
 Assyrian head. 
 
 Take, as another example, " Edom," and " Bozrah," as 
 alluded to in Isaiah lxiii. 1 : " Who is this that cometh 
 
166 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah V There 
 the event predicted is evidently the second coming of 
 Christ, or, rather, we shonld say, the appearance of 
 Christ in behalf of His chosen people, after the destruc- 
 tion of the antichristian host. Edom is all along, 
 both in history and prophecy, taken for the enemy of 
 the Jewish Church, as Esau (who is Edom) was the 
 enemy of Jacob ; and Bozrah is the capital of Edom, 
 or Idumea. Edom is the representative of the great 
 apostate nation, who, disregarding the brotherly cove- 
 nant, persecutes and seeks to destroy Jehovah's people ; 
 and Bozrah is the representative of the chief city of 
 this persecuting power ; the seat of Heaven's sorest 
 judgment and selectest wrath, where there is the tread- 
 ing of " the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of 
 Almighty God." 
 
 Take, again, Babylon, the name most frequently 
 used in Scripture for the enemy of the Church in each 
 successive age ; the fullest, largest, and most signifi- 
 cant type of this which Scripture affords us ; round 
 the very name of which are gathered images of gloom 
 and grandeur, of glory and desolation, such as her im- 
 perial successor of the West has never yet paralleled. 
 Babylon, the city of confusion, the seat of universal 
 monarchy, the citadel of superstition and tyranny, the 
 capital of Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar, enemy of Je- 
 hovah, persecutor of His Church, raser of His temple, 
 destroyer of His city, enslaver of His people ! It was 
 pitched as Satan's metropolis and temple, right against 
 the city and temple of Jehovah ; and for centuries God 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 1 G7 
 
 permitted it to stand, as a type of His Church's future 
 enemies, to furnish out of its name and history a name 
 and language for them all. Then it was swept with 
 the besom of destruction, tower and battlement, corner- 
 stone and foundation, leaving no fragment of its exist- 
 ence behind it but the memory and name, that its 
 desolation might afford materials for a language to the 
 prophets, in picturing the ruin of a still mightier 
 enemy to come. When God reared for himself again 
 a people and a city in other lands, Satan again upreared 
 his city in defiance, exchanging the Euphrates for 
 the Tiber, the plain of Shinar for the seven hills of 
 Latium. But to shew that this new enemy was one 
 and the same with the ancient enemy of the East, He 
 sent forth His prophets and apostles to inscribe upon 
 the gates and walls of the new city, "Babylon the 
 Great," thereby not merely identifying her with Baby- 
 lon of old, but proclaiming how much she was to outdo 
 her model in all for which she had been infamous. 
 And now she stands before us at this day, true repre- 
 sentative of her eastern progenitor, the mother of har- 
 lots, counterpart to the city of Semiramis, but a more 
 relentless oppressor of the saints, darker prison-house 
 of the Church, truer personification of the evil one, 
 seat of fouler superstition than the Chaldean astrology, 
 of more hateful idolatry than the worship of Bel and 
 Nebo, city of more daring pride, saying, not merely, 
 "I will ascend above the stars of God/' but, " I will be 
 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped : I 
 will sit in the temple of God, shewing myself that I 
 
1G8 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 am God ;" assuming all power above and below, chang- 
 ing times and laws, speaking great swelling words 
 against the Most High, unpeopling earth of God's 
 chosen Israel, and peopling heaven with the sainted 
 pandemonium of Kome ! 
 
 From these instances we may obtain much insight 
 into the method after which prophetical language is 
 constructed. A proper attention to these parallel lines 
 of prophecy in the history of the Church and the 
 Church's enemies, would enable us to discover, not 
 merely the meaning, but the peculiar force and fitness 
 of the historical allusions which are inwoven with all 
 prophecy, and which constitute the basis of its lan- 
 guage, the roots or themata of its vocabulary. We 
 are not to content ourselves with knowing that such a 
 name refers to the Church, and such another to her 
 enemy, that Israel means God's people, and the Assy- 
 rian means her persecutor. We must go closely to 
 the particular events alluded to, and observe the exact 
 condition of the Church, and the exact position of her 
 enemy, at the time and in the circumstances to which 
 allusion is made. For as each new name and period 
 of the Church set her before us in a different posture, 
 so do the corresponding name and period of her per- 
 secutor bring before us a new form of Satan's hostility, 
 a peculiar and distinctive feature of his enmity. And, 
 moreover, as in the former we find the peculiar state 
 of the Church at the time, so in the latter we have 
 the peculiar judgment with which God, for her cor- 
 rection, saw fit to visit her, by letting loose the enmity 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 1G9 
 
 of that power with which she was brought into con- 
 tact. 
 
 We see, then, how much prophecy partakes of the 
 structure, characteristics, and especially of the language 
 of history, and how a right interpretation of prophetic 
 language depends much upon a right knowledge of the 
 historical events which are wrought into its style with 
 such curious art and delicacy of texture. 
 
 But it is maintained, that, even admitting the ana- 
 logy between the structure and style of these two de- 
 partments of Scripture, still prophecy is less definite 
 and less regular in its composition than history. That 
 there are some parts of prophecy of which this is true, 
 I allow ; but we can, on the other hand, point to many 
 a portion of it where the details are as minutely 
 brought out, and where the language is as precise 
 and regular, as in any page of the most exact histor} r . 
 Take, for example, the jDrojDhecy of Moses regarding 
 his nation, in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, in 
 which their whole future history, from his own time 
 down through all their captivity and sufferings, to the 
 time of their restoration, is so minutely and distinctly 
 predicted. Or read the 30th and 31st chapters of 
 Jeremiah, which we may regard as the continuation, or 
 filling up of the prophecy of Moses. It takes up the 
 future story of the Jews at the very time when Moses 
 breaks off — the period of their restoration to their own 
 land from their long captivity. It points to a time of 
 sore trouble still destined for Jacob, (xxx. 7,) out of 
 which he is to be saved triumphantly, and after which 
 
170 THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 lie shall return and serve David his king. It tells us 
 that Jerusalem shall be " builded again upon her own 
 heap/' though of a new compass and extent, " from the 
 tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner," and 
 from "the hill Gareb compassing about to Goath," 
 (xxxi. 38.) All .these events and circumstances it 
 predicts as plainly and definitely as if narrating a past 
 event which had taken place before the prophet's eyes. 
 Many other instances, from Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the 
 minor prophets, might be adduced to the same effect. 
 We might say that at least one half of prophecy is of 
 this definite character. It is not, then, essential to 
 prophecy to be either indefinite or irregular. In other 
 words, indefiniteness and irregularity are not peculiari- 
 ties of the prophetic style. In so far as either of those 
 characters may pertain to it, they do so only in common 
 with other parts of Scripture. 
 
 Then, again, there are some who maintain that pro- 
 phecy is necessarily obscure, if not altogether inexpli- 
 cable. Their statement is, that figurative lanjmage 
 being essential to its structure, obscurity must follow. 
 In some parts, this, to a certain extent, may be the 
 case ; but I am well persuaded of two things : first, that 
 there are many passages where the obscurity is ascribed 
 to the figurative style, in which it can be plainly traced 
 to other causes , — and, secondly, that many of the most 
 highly figurative prophecies are as plain as if they 
 contained no figure at all ; nay, the very figure com- 
 plained of fixes down the meaning with a plainness 
 and precision which shews that its intention was not 
 
THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 171 
 
 to obscure, but to illustrate. I may allow that figures 
 can be employed for the purpose of obscuring a sub- 
 ject ; that this is their usual object, I deny. Their 
 common use is to give force and beauty to the style. 
 
 The chief difference between literal and figurative 
 language may perhaps be said to be the indefiniteness 
 of the latter ; such an indefiniteness, I mean, as does 
 not at once, and by the very name of the word, suggest 
 the one precise idea or object intended, as in such 
 Hebraisms as the following, " cedars of God," i. e., 
 mighty cedars, — " son of the burning coal," i. e., a 
 spark, — " eyelids of the morning," i. e., dawn. Such 
 figures or paraphrastic expressions, of which all lan- 
 guage originally consisted, may to a certain extent be 
 charged with ambiguity, till by familiar usage, or by 
 the substitution of one word to express them, they 
 have established themselves in the dialect and ideas of 
 a nation. They may be called indefinite, till common 
 use has stripped them of all but the precise idea in- 
 tended, has sunk them to the level, and stiffened them 
 into the cold precision of ordinary diction. But then, 
 such an indefiniteness can only be called obscurity 
 when there is no key to the exact meaning; for 
 wherever by any hints of the author, or by the position 
 in which the words occur, their significance becomes 
 plain ; then their very indefiniteness ennobles and 
 adorns the composition, fitting them especially for 
 embodying the sublimity and splendour of prophetic 
 visions, which language less elastic and expansible 
 could not have grasped. A great deal of obscurity has 
 
172 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 been ascribed to the prophets which does not really 
 belong to them, and much that is both unmeaning and 
 untrue has been spoken about the " necessary obscurity 
 of figurative language." The remarks just made will 
 shew the incorrectness of such an assertion, and that 
 figures are generally used for the very purpose of 
 strengthening the style, and conveying the sentiments 
 intended, with more exactness of description and more 
 vividness of colouring. As one illustration, take any 
 two prophecies upon the same subject, the one figura- 
 tive, and the other literal, and see whether the one be 
 less plain than the other. Look at the two predictions 
 in Ezekiel regarding the future condition of the Jewish 
 nation, the one figurative, in chap, xxxiv. 11-29, the 
 other literal, chap, xxxvi. 27; read them together, and 
 see if the figure of the one thrown over it a mystery 
 from which the other is free. 
 
 What liberties do some interpreters take with the 
 prophetic word ' They find in every page almost what 
 they call figurative language, and, under this idea, they 
 explain away wiiole chapters without scruple or re- 
 morse. They complain much of the obscurity of the 
 prophetic language. It is an obscurity, however, of 
 their own creating. If they will force 'figures upon 
 the prophets when they are manifestly speaking with 
 all plainness and literality, no wonder that darkness 
 and mystery seem to brood over the prophetic page. 
 The truth is, there is less figure and more literality in 
 Scripture than many will allow ; and, as a general rule 
 for its interpretation, I know not a safer one than that 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 1 73 
 
 we are to interpret literally until cause be shewn for 
 our departing from it. The literal is the basis of the 
 figurative, and the key to its translation. The former 
 is the rule, the latter the exception. Proceeding, then, 
 upon this principle, that we must take all as literal till 
 we are forced from it by something inconsistent or 
 absurd, we shall find a far smoother and straighta- 
 way through the fields of prophecy than most men 
 will believe. If we take the waters as we find them, 
 we shall enjoy them clear and fresh ; but if we will 
 always be searching for some fancied figure at the bot- 
 tom, or casting in one when we do not readily discover 
 it, we need not be astonished nor complain that the 
 stream is turbid and impure. 
 
 How plain, for instance, is that description in 
 Isaiah xi. 6-9, of the blessed condition of the renovated 
 earth, and the share which even the lower creation is 
 to have in this glad event ! How can any one reading- 
 it not call to mmd the peace of Eden, with all its 
 rejoicing creatures, brought back to the harmony and 
 happiness of their primeval being, or fail to contrast 
 witli that condition, thus foretold, the miserable state 
 in which the apostle paints them, when he tells us that 
 " the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 together until now?" "Who, in reading this plain 
 prophecy, can fail to realise the time when Eden and 
 its scenes shall revisit the earth ; and when, as once, 
 beneath its overshadowing verdure, the new T -born crea- 
 tures took their pastime, and tasted their sinless enjoy- 
 ment ; so again, beneath the shadow of that " Branch 
 
174* THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 which is to grow out of the root of Jesse,* " the wolf 
 shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 
 down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion 
 and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead 
 them?" Yet even this plain passage has been sub- 
 jected to an allegorising process, in order to compel it 
 to yield another meaning. It is said to signify the 
 harmony which will one day subsist between men of 
 the most turbulent passions and discordant disposi- 
 tions ! When we ask, with astonishment, if words so 
 definite and simple can have such a meaning, we are 
 told that it is a far more noble and sublime idea that 
 men of evil passions should be softened, than that the 
 beasts of the field should become harmonious in their 
 natures ! It may be so. It may be a sublime mean- 
 ing, but it will be difficult to prove it to be the mean- 
 ing of the passage. Attempts of this kind to bring 
 out a " spiritual and sublime meaning " from language 
 so plainly literal, destroy the simplicity of Scripture. 
 Instead of elevating, they degrade it, and, moreover, 
 cast over it an air of puerility and feebleness which 
 are ill redeemed by the fancied " sublimity" of the idea 
 extorted from its imaginary figures. 
 
 We see, then, that as figurative language is not 
 necessarily obscure, but the reverse, the charge of 
 obscurity brought by some against all figurative pro- 
 phecy is unfounded. Nay, further, the mystery com- 
 plained of is generally one of their own creating ; and 
 the true cause of their finding so much darkness in 
 that which an apostle calls "a light in a dark place/' is 
 
THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 175 
 
 their peculiar way of forcing a figure upon every chapter 
 or verse where by any possibility they can manage to do 
 so. They proceed upon the principle that prophecy is 
 not to be brought under the rule of interpretation 
 adopted with regard to the other parts of Scripture, but 
 to be considered as almost universally figurative, with 
 occasional but rare exceptions. Now, we maintain 
 that prophecy is to be interpreted upon the same gene- 
 ral principles as we apply to the other books of inspi- 
 ration, and that with it, as with the rest, we are to set 
 out with this simple rule — " literal, if possible.'' 
 
 But are we not to be allowed to spiritualise pro- 
 phecy? In so far as we understand the meaning of 
 this vague expression, we answer, undoubtedly. We 
 may spiritualise prophecy in the same way and to the 
 same extent as we spiritualise history, but no further. 
 In this respect we maintain that prophecy and history 
 stand not merely on an analogous, but on precisely the 
 same footing. The history of the future is to be made 
 available in the same way as the history of the past. 
 To spiritualise history is perfectly allowable, nay, highly 
 profitable, provided you have first interpreted it, but 
 not before. So, to spiritualise prophecy is most proper, 
 most profitable, after you have interpreted it, but not 
 before. Many seem to think that spiritualising is 
 interpreting. I cannot think so. To adopt, or at least 
 to carry out such a system, would soon land us in the 
 dreani3 of Origen, if not in the wild mysticism of 
 Behmen or Swedenborg. As an instance in point, let 
 me refer to Dr Chalmers's noble sermon on " The New 
 
176 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 Heavens and New Earth/' The words of his text are 
 those of the apostle Peter, in his second epistle. " We, 
 according to His promise, look for new heavens and a 
 new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." A common 
 reader would at once gather from these words the idea 
 which the writer most eloquently and conclusively de- 
 monstrates to be the true one, that in the future state 
 there is to be a material earth for our material bodies. 
 Some, however, by means of the spiritualising process 
 we have just described, have endeavoured to extract 
 a meaning by which all reference to materialism is 
 avoided. In the sermon referred to, the writer very 
 graphically depicts, and in the very depicting refutes 
 most effectually, this spiritual meaning. The idea of 
 these interpreters regarding man's future state is de- 
 scribed to be " that of a lofty, aerial region, where the 
 inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously suspended 
 upon nothing ! " And while one class of these inter- 
 preters would thus explain away the words " earth and 
 heavens/' another, not going so far, would yet stumble 
 on the epithet "new," maintaining that it must mean 
 a different o-lobe altogether, forgetting that Scripture 
 speaks also of a "new man," thereby meaning, not a 
 different man, but the same man made new; not one 
 individual annihilated and replaced by another, but the 
 same man made new'; the same individual fashioned 
 aright and purified. 
 
 We freely consent that prophecy should be spirit- 
 ualised, that is, should be made to give forth a spiritual 
 utterance; and not prophecy only, but the whole Bible. 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. I J 7 
 
 Only we would first interpret it. Now here is the point 
 at which so many stumble. They confound spiritual- 
 ising with interpreting Scripture. They think that 
 when they have contrived to wedge in a spiritual obser- 
 vation (often by main force) between every verse or 
 clause, they have succeeded in explaining it. It will 
 generally be found that those who so spiritualise Scrip- 
 ture do little else than graft their own ideas upon it, 
 instead of gathering the meaning of the Spirit from it , 
 they force a sense into it, instead of drawing one out 
 of it. Every verse, from Genesis to Revelation, may 
 be spiritualised, and yet not one be interpreted.* 
 
 Such expositors are in the habit of using the term 
 " spiritual " as synonymous with " figurative," and as a 
 contrast to "literal." Now, a moment's thought will 
 shew any one that a literal interpretation may be as 
 spiritual as any other. The fifty-third chapter of 
 Isaiah is one of the most literal of all prophecies, yet 
 one of the most spiritual of all. The opposition is not 
 between spiritual and figurative, but between figurative 
 and literal ; spiritual is distinct from both, and in 
 addition to both. It may be based upon either, but 
 
 * Jerome's commentaries exhibit many a singular specimen of the 
 above-mentioned plan of exposition. Yet fanciful as he generally 
 shews himself, there are some places in which he betrays his want 
 of confidence in this system, and his approval of something more 
 literal. I quote the following passage from his remarks on Jer. xix. 
 10 : — " Quamquam sibi Judaei auream atque gemmatam Hierusalrm 
 restituendam putent, rursumque victimas et sacrificia et conjugia 
 sanctorum, et regnum in terris Domini Salvatoris; quae licet non 
 sequamur tamen damnare non possumus, quia multa ccclesiasticorum 
 virorum et martyres ista dixerunt." — Opera, vol iv. p. 2/2. 
 
 M 
 
178 THE PEOPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 it cannot be called a language by itself. "We cannot 
 admit such a thing as a spiritual style ; we claim for 
 prophecy just two styles, the literal and the figurative, 
 including in the latter, of course, the symbolical. The 
 literal is the basis of the whole. The figurative rises 
 out of the literal, and the symbolical rises out of the 
 figurative, and seems but a higher degree of it ; and as 
 the literal is the basis of the figurative, so it is the key 
 to its explanation. From the literal we see the way in 
 which what was once figurative sank to the level of the 
 literal, and how what is at present figurative rose 
 above that level. We have in the literal a standard by 
 which we can measure and calculate the variations of 
 language. In the figurative we have the first step 
 above the former, the index of the variable quality; 
 and from these data we can proceed to estimate all the 
 rest. 
 
 We have gained another step, then, in our inves- 
 tigation into the structure of the prophetic style; viz., 
 that spiritualisation is not a peculiarity of prophecy, 
 but belongs to it only in common with all the other 
 parts of Scripture. Now, it is of vast importance to 
 shew that this is not peculiar to the prophecies, because 
 they must thus fall to be dealt with in the same way 
 as the other books of inspiration, and to be interpreted 
 upon the same principles. This will much lessen our 
 difficulties, and clear away a mass of confusion which 
 the opposite idea had heaped up as an almost impass- 
 able obstacle in the way of prophetical students. As 
 Lucke 7 well observes, in his book upon the Apocalypse, 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 179 
 
 "The interpretation of the Apocalypse proceeds essen- 
 tially upon the same hermeneutic principles whereon 
 the interpretation of the other books of the New Tes- 
 tament proceeds. There is no peculiarity of the Apo- 
 calypse obvious and noticeable, whereby the generally 
 sufficient fundamental laws of New Testament inter- 
 pretation can become essentially changed or taken 
 away." To this we would add, that, as prophecy is 
 to be dealt with in the way of criticism as the rest of 
 Scripture is dealt with, so also it is to be dealt with 
 in the way of exposition. All its minute clauses and 
 phrases are to be as closely sifted and precisely ex- 
 pounded as are the minuter expressions of other parts 
 of the Divine record. 
 
 If these remarks be received and proceeded on, they 
 will go far to overthrow the loose ideas which many 
 entertain of the prophecies, that as they are written in 
 the highest style of poetry, and with the boldest 
 figures, therefore we are not to apply to them the 
 more exact principle of interpretation, but must make 
 considerable allowance and deduction for the large- 
 ness of poetical licence, and the laxity of poetical 
 diction. 
 
 Such a view of prophetical Scripture is low indeed. 
 It is a low view even of uninspired poetry, to speak 
 of it as either needing or adopting such a licence ; and 
 any one who has read Milton, for instance, as he ought 
 tu be read, would reject such an idea as an insult to 
 that mighty name, well knowing what an exactness of 
 truth there is preserved in every accidental figure and 
 
180 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 allusion, what fulness of meaning there is condensed 
 into every expression; and that it is only the care- 
 less reader that finds anything superfluous or needing 
 to be accounted for by the idea of poetical licence. 
 It is, we say, a low view even of uninspired poetry, 
 to regard it otherwise than as a finer mould of 
 truth ; but to speak of such a licence as practised by 
 the prophets, is a most degrading view of inspiration, 
 a most irreverent charge brought against the Word 
 of " the God only wise." The rich language, and the 
 exuberant imagery of prophecy are not to take their 
 ]}lace in the rank of loose metaphor and bold hyperbole. 
 There, human language labours for words of fit dimen- 
 sion to contain, and of worthy form to set forth, the 
 conceptions of the Infinite Mind. 
 
 The figures of the prophets are not disposed of 
 according to the taste or fancy of the writer ; but they 
 are the fittest, fullest, exactest forms for containing and 
 conveying Divine truth to man. They may be orna- 
 mental, but they are far more than this. They are 
 not like Gothic projections which adorn but do 
 not strengthen the fabric ; they are like the pillars of 
 Grecian architecture, for support and strength even 
 more than for beauty. 
 
 According to this low view, whole sections of Scrip- 
 ture may be read without any exact meaning being 
 affixed to them. The last eight chapters of Ezekiel 
 are explained by many so as to bring out nothing but 
 one idea, viz., that the Christian Church was to be 
 perfect in all its parts, just as the " fictitious " temple 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 181 
 
 described by the prophet, was exact and complete. As 
 well might they say that the various rules of mea- 
 surement given us by Moses, are only intended to tell 
 us that the Jewish Church was perfect in its kind. 
 Those to whom God has given some reverence for His 
 Word, and who look with awe upon its every jot and 
 tittle as more solid and enduring than the everlasting 
 heavens, will be afraid to deal with it so lightly. Those 
 who, amid the multitude of human works and human 
 words, have been accustomed to prize God's Word, and 
 to search for it as for gold among the sand, will count 
 its every particle sacred and precious. If they under- 
 stand it not, they will prize it still, and hold it fast till 
 God send them a teacher in His own time, which He is 
 never unwilling to do. 
 
 But how are we to obtain the proper insight into 
 these figures, and how are we to open out all their ful- 
 ness of meaning ? The first thing to be done for this 
 end, is to examine the materials out of which they are 
 constructed. The figures of common language are 
 formed out of the objects with which we are brought 
 usually into contact, just as words themselves were 
 originally figures taken from the different objects of 
 nature. But the language of Scripture, especially of 
 prophecy, is of a more hallowed texture ; it, no doubt, 
 in part consists of the common forms of language, but 
 there is wrought into it much of more sacred materials. 
 The objects with which the prophets were brought into 
 contact were of a peculiar nature, and their style, of 
 course, especially its more figurative parts, almost entirely 
 
182 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 took its form and colouring from these peculiar objects. 
 Even common objects, being always presented to them 
 in a peculiar light, and in a peculiar connexion, entered 
 into the composition of their style in a peculiar way, and 
 carrying along with them their peculiar associations. 
 
 It is to the facts and events of Scripture history, 
 the characters of Scripture personages, the records 
 of Scripture places and nations, the rites and cere- 
 monies of Scripture worship, that we are to look for 
 the storehouse out of which the prophets drew their 
 figures and symbols ; and by these we must inter- 
 pret all their peculiarities of style. To the events of 
 Providence and the services of the sanctuary, under 
 the Jewish economy, the prophets seem to resort as 
 furnishing materials for the only language through 
 which they could adequately express themselves. They 
 appropriate Jewish words and allusions ; they embody 
 Jewish history and ordinances in their style, and there- 
 by construct to themselves a peculiar language — a rich 
 and noble dialect — the fullest and most beautiful, the 
 exactest and most expressive that mortal has ever at- 
 tained to. The language of heathen poets has been 
 lauded as exquisite ; and we deny not that it is worthy 
 of uninspired men ; but it is poverty and meagreness in 
 comparison with this. And why ? Not merely be- 
 cause they were uninspired men and pagans, but be- 
 cause they wanted the rich materials to which the 
 prophets had access. Their language embodied merely 
 the common events of life, the common objects of 
 nature, and the fables of a puerile and unclean mytho- 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. ] S3 
 
 logy. The prophets had all natural objects and events 
 to resort to and draw from, but they had more. They 
 had the history and the ordinances of God's people ; 
 which history seems to have been recorded, and which 
 ordinances seem to have been constructed, with the 
 design of furnishing materials for a language to the 
 prophets of Jehovah, by which they were enabled to 
 express ideas, and declare events, which in no other 
 way they could have succeeded in making known. More 
 especially we would say this of the Apocalypse, which, 
 being the latest book of prophecy, has the advantage 
 of all others in this respect. It is written throughout 
 in the language of the Old Testament, both historical 
 and prophetical. All the Jewish ordinances are there, 
 and all Jewish history. It seems as if the whole fabric 
 of the old dispensation had been taken to pieces after 
 it had served its time, in order to have its different 
 parts applied to the building of another and more 
 stately edifice, in combination with new materials. Its 
 worship, its feasts, its sacrifices, its altar, its sanctuary, 
 its high priests, its outer and inner courts, its times 
 and seasons, are all transplanted here. The history of 
 God's ancient people, their Egyptian bondage, their 
 desert sojournings, their possession of Canaan, their 
 capture of its cities, their imprisonment in Babylon, 
 are gathered together, to build up the prophet's style ; 
 all sought out from their various places, and, with ex- 
 quisite art and care, polished and perfected, so as to 
 form themselves into one harmonious composition, one 
 splendid mosaic, from which the various ideas of the 
 
184 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 Divine mind, and the various events of futurity, might 
 fitly be reflected to the eye of man. 
 
 The whole fashion and texture of the book are 
 Jewish. Its style, its structure, its scenery, are Jewish. 
 Its scenes are laid in Palestine, in the holy city and 
 temple. Each prophetic vista is hung with Jewish 
 drapery, and all the light is transmitted through Jewish 
 transparencies from the seven-branched lamp of the 
 holy place. The scene shifts from the outer court of 
 the temple with its worshipjnng crowds, to the inner 
 court with its priests and incense-altar ; and from the 
 inner court to the Holy of Holies, trodden by the soli- 
 tary high priest, and filled with the Shekinah glory. 
 We have the redemption of the inheritance, the 
 trumpets of jubilee and judgment, the sealed tribes, 
 the feast of first fruits, the palms of the feast of taber- 
 nacles. These are not mere names. They are all in- 
 troduced with consummate art. They are so inserted, 
 as on the one hand to serve as links joining together 
 the different parts of the book in exact order, suggest- 
 ing time, locality, and connexion ; and, on the other, 
 as hooks whereon to fasten the events which form the 
 antitypes, and which thus by the mere mention of the 
 type are fully embodied in the prophecy. 
 
 As one example of this style in the Apocalypse, we 
 may take the fifth and sixth chapters, where " the 
 sealed book " is brought in. A common reader would 
 be content with taking the word " sealed " in its usual 
 acceptation of " closed up/' and the whole vision as 
 meaning merely that Christ was the opener of the 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 185 
 
 events to His Church. But a reader aware of the 
 peculiar style of the book, would at once go back for 
 an interpretation of the symbol, to Jewish rites and 
 history. Knowing the exactness of each symbol, he 
 would conclude, in the first place, that Christ being 
 presented to us as the Lamb, is not to be regarded in 
 the character of revealer, but in that of Redeemer. The 
 prologue to the vision, as given us in the fifth chapter, 
 and especially verses nine and ten, confirms this. There 
 the Church in heaven is represented as rejoicing in the 
 prospect of the Lamb's taking the book and opening 
 'it, as an action preparatory to, and an earnest of, the 
 redemption of the inheritance of the earth. Then we 
 find that the " sealed book " was, among the Jews, the 
 sign of an inheritance, mortgaged by its owner, but 
 not alienated. Christ, appearing here, therefore, with 
 the seven-sealed book, must be regarded in the cha- 
 racter of Redeemer of the inheritance, according to the 
 ordinance of the goel, or redeemer, as described in 
 Leviticus (chap, xxv.), and exemplified in the Book of 
 Ruth, and in Jeremiah (chap, xxxii.) The opening of 
 the seals is the action of Christ as Redeemer, appear- 
 ing with the title-deeds of the inheritance, to dispossess 
 the usurper, and reclaim the inheritance for those to 
 whom He stands in the relation of Redeemer. The 
 seals are, as it were, the bonds upon the estate ; and 
 as they are opened one by one, blow after blow comes 
 down upon the usurper, till the spoilers of the earth 
 are spoiled, the inheritance is redeemed, and Christ 
 " takes to Himself His great power and reigns." 
 
186 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 Connected with these remarks, we would also notice 
 not merely the materials thus collected, and the sources 
 from which they are drawn together; but the exact 
 and appropriate distribution and arrangement of these. 
 Each scene has its appropriate figures, modelled accord- 
 ing to the characteristic features of that scene. To 
 illustrate our meaning, let us take Ezekiel's prophecy 
 of Tyre, at least that part of it embraced by the 27th 
 chapter. Tyre was a commercial city "the merchant 
 of the people for many isles ; " and, therefore, in the 
 prophecy regarding her, she is spoken of as a ship, 
 and the various imagery of the prophet is arranged ac- 
 cordingly, and can only be rightly understood by ad- 
 verting to this idea. As such she is described in most 
 glowing language. Her structure is perfect ; her tim- 
 bers are of the fir-trees of Senir ; her masts of the cedars 
 of Lebanon ; her oars of the oaks of Bashan ; her 
 benches of the ivory of Chittim ; her sails of the fine 
 linen of Egypt ; her awning of blue and purple from 
 the isles of Greece ; the chief maritime cities furnish 
 her with seamen ; her own sages are her pilots ; all 
 nations, near and far, pour in their produce, of various 
 kind, from every various clime. Unrivalled in power 
 and wealth, she floats before us the mistress of the seas ! 
 Around her are gathered the tributary fleets from a 
 thousand shores, loading her with all goodly merchan- 
 dise ; the sea is peaceful ; the winds are at rest ; her 
 moorings are fast ; the splendour of sunshine is over 
 her ; " she is replenished and made glorious in the 
 midst of the seas." In a moment the scene changes, 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 187 
 
 and the stately vessel is seen far from her safe anchor- 
 age and out at sea; her rowers, filled with the mad 
 love of change, hurry her out into the "great waters" 
 to taste the fancied freedom of the deep ; the storm 
 drives over her, the east wind comes up against her, 
 and she is a wreck ! The cry of her pilots is heard 
 afar off, and multitudes crowd the shores, gazing on the 
 sudden wreck, and bewailing her calamity. With all 
 her merchandise within her, with all her pomp about 
 her, she goes down in the mighty waters, amid the 
 wailing of those that stand upon the shore, lamenting 
 and saying, "What desolation is like Tyrus, like the 
 desolation in the midst of the sea ! " 
 
 What an appropriate assemblage of figures ; what 
 completeness of painting ; what unity of design ! Nor 
 is this last illustration at all inconsistent with the pre- 
 ceding remarks, that the imagery of the prophets is 
 Jewish. They are perfectly consistent with each other. 
 The language regarding Tyre is still Jewish language, 
 shaping itself according to the situation and circum- 
 stances of the people addressed. The materials of the 
 web are still Jewish, though the embroidery is Tyrian ; 
 the coinage is still of the fine gold of the sanctuary, 
 though the image and superscription may be struck 
 according to the event or nation which they are in- 
 tended to symbolise. 
 
 The last point upon this subject which I would 
 notice, is what may be called the filling up of pro- 
 phetical language ; a point of vast importance, and the 
 only key to the solution of many of those difficulties 
 
1 88 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 which have perplexed the students of Scripture. The 
 structure of prophetic language is of such a kind as 
 that, while describing some more particular and im- 
 mediate scene, it is capable of expanding to such a 
 compass as to embrace far more extensive scenes of a 
 kindred nature. By this peculiarity, which must at 
 once strike every reader, the mind is continually forced 
 away from the immediate scene, onward to other events, 
 capable of filling up the language to its full and natural 
 extent. The way in which the Spirit has thought fit 
 to present to us the events which prophecy predicts, is 
 different from what many would have expected. Yet 
 it is the fullest and most perfect which could be devised, 
 affording all needful minuteness, yet saving all unne- 
 cessary repetition. Single events are not predicted by 
 themselves, but kindred events are classified; not 
 according to time, but to similarity of character and 
 issue. The prophet does not stand full in front of a 
 long line of events, and describe them one by one ; but 
 he takes his place at the commencing point of a whole 
 series which are stretched lengthways before him, like 
 a long mountain-range. Placed at this point, and 
 looking along the line, he sees event after event rising 
 above each other. He sets out with describing the 
 first of this range, — that which lies immediately at his 
 feet ; he dwells more minutely upon this, as one who, 
 before taking the measurement of the rest, would fix 
 his line firmly in the first ; while at the same time lie 
 takes care to employ such language, and throw in such 
 imagery, as can only be properly applied to the last. 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. ] 89 
 
 The reason of this is very obvious. To a certain extent 
 all these kindred events are the same, and, in describing 
 the first, he strikes off the main features of the rest. 
 All that remains after this, is to bring out that wherein 
 they differ, and wherein the one exceeds the other. In 
 the first event, the initial and rluxionary sign is given, 
 by which all the rest may be calculated. The descrip- 
 tion of the first makes known the genus; those parts 
 of it which cannot be applied to the first, point out to 
 us the species of the others. By means of this ex- 
 quisite art and Divine wisdom, the prophecy suits all 
 ages ; every successive generation can say that it does 
 apply in a certain degree to it ; though all can see that 
 its fulness of accomplishment — the summation of the 
 whole series — is reserved for the last days. 
 
 The prophecies of the Messiah furnish us with a spe- 
 cimen of such progressive prophecy. Each successive 
 age more fully developed the character under which, 
 and the purpose for which, He had been from the first 
 made known, and more fully filled up the language of 
 all prophecy regarding Him. Yet, hereafter, in the 
 day of His glorious manifestation, shall we behold the 
 yet fuller accomplishment of all. Then shall He whom 
 our first father heard of as the Seed of the woman ; 
 whom Enoch foretold as the Avenger ; whom Job knew 
 as the Eedeemer ; whom Abraham rejoiced in as the 
 Promiser ; whom Jacob trusted in as the Angel of the 
 Covenant ; whom Balaam spoke of as the Star of Jacob; 
 whom Joshua worshipped as the Captain of the Host ; 
 whom David sung of in his "last words," as "the 
 
] 90 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 pleasant theme of the Psalms of Israel;" whom Solomon 
 typified as the Prince of Peace ; whom Pilate crucified 
 as " the King of the Jews ; " whom John wrote of as 
 " the Word," and of whom he prophesied as " the First 
 and the Last, the Root and the Offspring of David, the 
 Bright and Morning Star : " then, we say, shall He, — 
 the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, — shew forth the ful- 
 ness of these characteristics, and, recapitulating all of 
 them into Himself, fully make good and manifest His 
 claim to each. 
 
 Again, the predictions regarding Babylon present us 
 with a like specimen. The prophet sets out with de- 
 scribing literal Babylon, as if to affix that as the family 
 name to the whole line of kindred objects which were 
 to be foretold. As he proceeds in his description, his 
 language swells, his imagery enlarges, till his eye is 
 withdrawn from the literal city, and led forward to its 
 kindred successors, — from Babylon literal, to Babylon 
 mystical ; passing from Pagan to Papal, from Papal to 
 Infidel Rome. 
 
 Each age has been contributing its events to fill up 
 the moulds of these prophetic symbols and figures ; but 
 they are not yet full. To shew us that they are not, 
 John, in his last prophecy, was commissioned to take 
 up the theme, and present to us in prospect the more 
 terrible fulfilment of alL He retains the family name, 
 but he invests it with images of deeper gloom. He 
 takes up and embodies the imagery of the old prophets, 
 in their descriptions of the ancient Babylon. He tra- 
 verses all history for materials ; and, after recapitulating 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 191 
 
 and condensing in one awful scene the various burdens 
 of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; after, like some master 
 of his instrument, running through the diapason of 
 prophecy complete, he sums up the whole with joyful 
 thanksgiving for the mighty deliverance, as if to signify 
 that now, at last, the burdens of prophetic judgment 
 were filled up and accomplished. In a moment we feel 
 as if relieved from an oppressive sense of terror, and 
 listen with joy to the voice of solemn praise, as it rises 
 from the multitude, like notes of jubilee — the Nunc 
 dimittis of a worn-out world, the song of completed 
 conquest and commencing triumph — "Alleluia! for 
 the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad 
 and rejoice, and give honour to Him : for the marriage 
 of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself 
 ready/' 
 
 I must not, however, protract the subject. It 
 admits of very wide and various illustration, and is 
 worthy of being far more thoroughly investigated than 
 has yet been clone. "Whether in our mechanical and 
 restless age there may not be many hindrances, many 
 things unfitting us, both morally and spiritually, for 
 appreciating the peculiarities of the prophetic style, 
 and entering with kindred sympathies into its deep 
 fulness of meaning, I shall not undertake to say. Cer- 
 tainly the tendencies of the age are not with us. Its 
 current runs against us. Even its deeper and more 
 thoughtful literature is but poorly helpful. Its mould 
 is unsuitable. The German style of thought is now 
 widely leavening both Britain and America ; and the 
 
192 THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 
 
 issue of this is matter for suspicion and fear, in so far 
 as pure Bible exposition is concerned. It is a style 
 entirely self-revolving, in which, as one of their poets 
 has described it, the soul is 
 
 " Chasing its ovm dream for ever, 
 
 On through many a distant star ; " 
 
 turning in upon its own actings, instead of out upon 
 God's ; making man's interior self the great region of 
 research, not God's manifested self ; dealing with spi- 
 ritual truths as with abstractions or ideas, not as con- 
 nected with Divine personality and life. 
 
 In spite of all the admiration in which it is fashion- 
 able to hold German critics, and with the full admis- 
 sion that their researches have not been unrewarded, 
 their system of criticism, as a whole, cannot but be 
 regarded as a failure, if not something worse. Its 
 results have been inconsiderable for good, but vast for 
 evil. Dwelling in the region of their own thoughts, 
 they have lost the power to grasp, and the taste to 
 appreciate the thoughts of God. They may be inter- 
 preters of words, but they are not expounders of 
 thought, in so far as Scripture is concerned. In the 
 former they excel, in the latter they fail. They have 
 not brought forth the fulness, the richness, the vast- 
 ness of Scripture language; they have rather diluted 
 and emptied it. They have taken their own thoughts 
 as their standard in measuring, their law in interpret- 
 ing the thoughts of God. Hence, in prophecy, where 
 the language is doubly pregnant with the thoughts 
 and purposes of God, they have totally broken down. 
 
THE PROPHETIC STYLE. 193 
 
 Few of their works on prophecy are possessed of much 
 value beyond that of verbal criticism. And it is sad 
 to see their American imitators rapidly coming up to 
 them, if not outstripping them, in the race of irrever- 
 ence and error. 
 
 It is the deep digger into Scripture that is its best 
 interpreter. It is the man who, in studying God's 
 "Word, and entering into His mighty thoughts, is be- 
 coming more entirely assimilated to God himself ; it 
 is he who alone is able fully to expound His Word, 
 especially in its prophetic revelations. The nearer we 
 come to think as God thinks, to feel as God feels, to 
 view all things from the point from which He shewed 
 them to His prophets, the more shall we understand 
 the prophetic visions, and appreciate the prophetic 
 style. To catch up the exact notes of the prophetic 
 harp, to survey with understanding the prophetic pic- 
 ture, needs no depth of self-revolving thought, no 
 exuberant redundancy of classic lore. It needs but a 
 more entire assimilation of soul to the mind of God. 
 It needs but a nicer spiritual ear, a truer spiritual taste, 
 and a finer spiritual eye. 
 
 N 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE TYPES. 
 
 There are strange parallelisms in the different kinds 
 of truth, which, the more they are searched into, sur- 
 prise us the more, alike by their beauty and their 
 exactness. Each separate order of truth seems to have 
 its separate orbit, yet all have but one centre. One 
 mind, one purpose, one law, one principle, may be 
 traced throughout them all. The different orders of 
 truth displayed in the inanimate, the animate, the 
 sentient, the intelligent creation, are instances of what 
 we mean. They are very -widely different from each 
 other, yet they present innumerable points of curious 
 coincidence, and connexion, and likeness. They form 
 so many separate strata, superimposed upon each other, 
 most diverse in structure and formation, yet full of 
 resemblances and indentations the one into the other. 
 
 Man's course is between two of these parallel strata. 
 He walks upon the uppermost of the material, but 
 under the lowest of the immaterial. All the former 
 are under his feet ; all the latter are above or within 
 him. All that is beneath him — the visible, the tan- 
 gible, the sensible — he can grasp, he can name, he can 
 point to, he can discourse of, easily and directly. No 
 
THE TYPES. 195 
 
 intricate process needs to be resorted to ; no complex 
 sign is to be invented. There is nothing required but 
 an equation of the simplest kind. At the most, it is 
 but the adding or subtracting of similar or kindred 
 facts. The earth, the sea, the hills, the woods, the 
 rivers — these are some of the objects of the material 
 strata, which can be easily grasped, and named, and 
 spoken of, by simple signs. The addition or subtrac- 
 tion of certain facts observed in each, enables us to 
 speak of them in whole or in part, according as we 
 desire. If I speak of the sea, I use a word expressive 
 of certain visible or tangible properties observable in 
 the object. If I speak of the Sea of Galilee, I use a 
 word which expresses the subtraction of certain parts 
 from the former object. If I speak of a wave, I use a 
 word which is founded upon the observation of a still 
 greater subtraction from the parts or properties of the 
 original object. All this is so far simple. It is merely 
 the understanding, finding, or inventing a sign for 
 what the senses have observed, and that sign not an 
 arbitrary one, but naturally suggested by the objects 
 themselves. The contact of our senses with these 
 objects has set us a-thinking about them ; and our 
 desire to remember, register, and communicate these 
 thoughts has led us to devise these primary and simple 
 signs, expressive of the material objects around us. 
 
 But all this merely refers to what we have called 
 the lower and material strata of things, on the surface 
 of which man is walking. He has, however, some- 
 thing more to arrest his eye, and occupy his thoughts, 
 
19G THE TYPES. 
 
 and exercise his invention. There is a vast, an infinite 
 world above and within him, and this world is all 
 immaterial and impalpable. It is altogether different 
 from the former. It is not less real or true ; but then 
 it cannot be grasped nor observed by any of his senses. 
 It is far more mysterious and incomprehensible, ap- 
 proaching very near, nay, surrounding him at every 
 point, yet stretching up and away into infinite heights, 
 unsearchable recesses, and unfathomable depths. In 
 thinking and speaking of this inner and upper world, 
 he is brought to a stand. It is so vast, so glorious, so 
 real, yet so inaccessible and so impalpable. In the 
 former case, that of the world beneath his feet, he 
 was like one grasping some sand upon the sea-shore ; 
 a thing easily and simply done. In this, however, 
 he is like one attempting to grasp the mighty rock, 
 whose broad base that sand is circling ; or rather, we 
 might say, like one seeking to lay hold of the thin mist 
 or thinner air. What is he to do ? How is he to 
 fasten his thoughts upon these immaterial objects, so 
 as to lay hold of them, understand them, speak of them, 
 record them and his own thoughts regarding them ? 
 Direct signs are impossible, for these objects are silent 
 and intangible. They and the senses do not come into 
 direct contact, and hold no immediate communication 
 together. 
 
 An interpreter is needed. He must have some in- 
 strument by which he can fix his thoughts upon this 
 solid rock, — some wedge which he can force into its 
 crevices to detach fragments for his use, — something to 
 
THE TYPES. 197 
 
 enable him to understand, to grasp, and speak of this 
 immaterial world with which he is compassed about. 
 
 As he passes along between the two parallel strata of 
 truth, — the one beneath his feet and quite intelligible, 
 the other above his head and altogether mysterious and 
 incomprehensible, — he perceives that at certain points 
 tfyese two separate strata touch each other, and are, in 
 a considerable degree, assimilated to each other. He 
 observes some things common between them ; common 
 facts, common features, common principles, common 
 laws, indications of oneness in certain things, and up to 
 a certain extent. These resemblances he at once seizes 
 on as means for grasping the rest. By means of these 
 he gets an insight into the infinite world, which, stretch- 
 ing out in its invisible and impalpable vastness on every 
 side, seemed to mock every effort at comprehension. 
 By means of that part of truth which he does compre- 
 hend, he learns to lay hold of that which hitherto had 
 been nothing but an undefined region of mysterious 
 majesty. 
 
 An idea of a spiritual or immaterial object is not a 
 thing to be learned at once, or grasped in a moment ; 
 it must enter the mind in parts and pieces, and these 
 parts or pieces make good their passage into the mind 
 under cover of some material fact, or what we call em- 
 blem. This fact is a thing already understood ; we 
 keep it constantly before us ; we fix especially upon its 
 prominent and characteristic points ; we revolve these 
 day by day ; in them there seems to be wrapt up a 
 principle, an idea different from them, yet connected 
 
198 THE TYPES. 
 
 with them, and with which, by reason of this con- 
 nexion, we have become familiar. As we contemplate 
 this idea, it seems to disengage itself from its material 
 inclosure and rise upwards, and we find that in reality- 
 it forms part of a higher circle of truths, and belongs to 
 that very region which we had deemed so entirely inac- 
 cessible. While we knew it only in connexion with the 
 lower order of material facts, we had learned to think 
 of it and speak of it by some particular name or sign. 
 That name or sign we still retain, now that we have dis- 
 covered that the suggested idea belongs to a higher and 
 immaterial order of truths. 
 
 This formation of ideas, this extraction of the spirit- 
 ual from the material, is a process continually going 
 on. It is the natural process in the mind of a being 
 composed of soul and body, and surrounded on every 
 side by the material and the immaterial world. The 
 former is the hand by which he grasps the latter; the 
 ladder by which he ascends from one region of truth 
 to another. Long familiar with certain palpable facts 
 or objects, he begins to perceive or infer certain ideas 
 or principles as suggested by them ; these at length, 
 the more they are contemplated, assume more of an 
 immaterial character, and, as they do so, seem to come 
 out from the materialism which suggested them, till, 
 rising upwards by their own buoyancy, they connect 
 themselves with the superior and spiritual order of 
 truth, and carry up with them the soul, which other- 
 wise had remained linked with the materialism of earth. 
 Though thus transferred to the higher strata, they still 
 
THE TYPES. 100 
 
 retain old material names and associations, and are still 
 spoken of and thought of through their old material 
 signs. 
 
 This process of disengaging the spiritual from the 
 material element, the inaccessible from the accessible, 
 the incomprehensible from the comprehensible, is no- 
 thing else than the way in which the mind advances in 
 its onward progress from infancy. This is the way in 
 which we learn, and know, and expand in mind and 
 soul. The spiritual is at first unintelligible to us ; we 
 learn it by our observations upon the material. The 
 points where they meet and come into contact with 
 each other, the common principles, the common laws, 
 — these, carefully pondered, gradually remove the inde- 
 finiteness of the spiritual ; give them shape and dis- 
 tinctness, till, by degrees, they become equally intel- 
 ligible with their cognates, while at the same time 
 nothing of their spirituality has been parted with. It 
 is not that we have found a material element in the 
 spiritual, but we have found a spiritual element in the 
 material. 
 
 It has been remarked that " the use of natural Ms- 
 is to give us aid in supernatural history ; the use of the 
 outer creation is to give us language for the beings and 
 changes of the inward creation. Every word which is 
 used to express a moral or intellectual fact, if traced to 
 its root, is found to be borrowed from some material 
 appearance ; right originally means straight ; wrong 
 means twisted; spirit primarily means wind; trans- 
 gressions the crossing of a line But it is not 
 
200 THE TYPES. 
 
 words only that are emblematic ; it is tilings which are 
 emblematic. Every natural fact is a symbol of some 
 spiritual fact ; every appearance in nature corresponds 
 to some state of the mind, and that state of the mind 
 can only be described by presenting that natural ap- 
 pearance as its picture. A cunning man is a fox ; a 
 firm man is a rock ; a learned man is a torch ; light 
 and darkness are our familiar expressions for know- 
 ledge and ignorance ; visible distance behind and before 
 us is respectively our image of memory and hope. . . . 
 There is nothing capricious in these analogies, but they 
 are constant, and pervade nature. These are not the 
 dreams of a few poets here and there ; but man is an 
 analogist, and studies relations in all objects. He is 
 placed in the centre of beings, and a ray of relation 
 passes from every other being to him." 
 
 This immaterial element, thus disengaging itself out 
 of material facts, not only furnishes us with a key for 
 unlocking whole ranges of kindred truth, — not only 
 expands the soul, and fits it for comprehending what is 
 spiritual, but unconsciously operates upon the whole 
 man, moulding his character, habits, and feelings. "We 
 not merely extract a positive amount of abstract truth 
 from visible objects ; we are not merely put in posses- 
 sion of a clue which will lead us far into the recesses 
 of many a spiritual labyrinth, but we are brought under 
 an influence which is not the less effective because it is 
 unfelt. Thus we find that races inhabiting mountain- 
 ous regions are peculiar in mind, imbibing a solemnity, 
 a majesty, a tenacity of character belonging to no other 
 
THE TYPES. 201 
 
 race. In like manner, the inhabitants of plains, or of 
 the wilderness, or of the sea-coast, or of rich, flowery 
 expanses, have each their own characteristic, with 
 which they have unconsciously been impregnated from 
 the scenes around them. Their country has spoken to 
 them, and they have listened and obeyed : their moun- 
 tains have spoken, and they have given reverent heed ; 
 their plains have spoken, and they have heard ; their 
 flowery meads have spoken, and they have heard ; their 
 seas have spoken, and their soul has echoed the voice. 
 Each object has a voice which the soul hears and un- 
 consciously obeys. As has been well and eloquently 
 said, " Every natural process is but the version of a 
 moral sentence ; the moral law lies at the centre of 
 nature, and radiates to the circumference. It is the 
 pith and marrow of every substance, every relation, and 
 every process. All things with which we deal preach 
 to us. What is a farm but a mute gospel ? the chaff 
 and the wheat, weeds and plants, blight, rain, insects, 
 sun ? It is a sacred emblem, from the first furrow of 
 spring to the last stack which the snow of winter over- 
 takes in the fields. Nor can it be doubted that the 
 moral sentiment which thus scents the air, and grows 
 in the grain, and impregnates the waters of the world, 
 is sought by man, and sinks into his soul. The moral 
 influence of nature upon every individual is that amount 
 of truth which it illustrates to him. Who can estimate 
 this? Who can guess how much firmness the sea- 
 beaten rock has taught the fisherman ? How much 
 tranquillity has been reflected to man from the azure 
 
202 THE TYPES. 
 
 sky, over whose unspotted deeps the winds for ever- 
 more drive flocks of stormy clouds, and leave no wrinkle 
 or stain ? " 
 
 In further illustration of the ways in which natural 
 phenomena became materials of thought, suggesters of 
 thought, and signs for expressing thought, let us ob- 
 serve the curious manner in which words belonoinsr to 
 one of the senses are interchanged with those belong- 
 ing to another. What apparent connexion has the 
 sense of taste with that of hearing ? yet we hear of 
 words "sweeter than honey." What connexion has 
 the human voice with metals ? yet we read of voices 
 that are "silver-sweet," and of "music silver-clear." 
 Milton speaks of "liquid notes," "melodious tears," 
 "golden days and golden deeds." Architecture has 
 been called "frozen music." A Gothic church has 
 been pronounced "a petrified religion." In these, and 
 numerous others which might be quoted, it is very 
 difficult to state exactly the connexion, or distinctly to 
 enunciate the precise idea conveyed by this mingling 
 of the objects of the different senses together ; yet what 
 reader does not feel the meaning at once, and ap- 
 preciate the beauty arising from this mingling of 
 objects ? 
 
 Such, then, are the ways in which natural pheno- 
 mena are rendered productive and vocal. They are 
 our alphabet, our hieroglyphics, our founts of types. 
 They are our iEolian harps, ever wakeful, and full of 
 heavenly melody ; needing but a breath to call forth the 
 rich stores of music hidden in each wondrous string. 
 
THE TYPES. 203 
 
 All this, however, has reference more especially to 
 an unfallen creation ; but, with the Fall, a new order 
 of things began to open up, — the truths regarding 
 man's fallen estate ; and, with God's design for un- 
 doing the effects of the Fall, another and more mys- 
 terious order still began to be unfolded. 
 
 Creation felt the effects of the Fall, and began to 
 sink into decay. It began to look like a thing with 
 which God was displeased, His frown was every- 
 where. Every object proclaimed the disaster that had 
 come over it ; they spoke of evil, of something alto- 
 gether wrong, of a state of things which God could not 
 bear. The curse flowed over everything, impregnating 
 earth, sea, and sky ; and creation in all its parts began 
 to teach man, in so far as it was possible for it to do, 
 what sin was, and what sin had done. The material 
 world, in its fallen state, was to give forth a new idea 
 to the gazer's eye — the idea of sin and ruin. Hence 
 it was that God did not allow creation to fall into 
 chaos or nothingness. He did not blot it out of being, 
 neither did He permit it altogether to wither away. 
 He arrested its downward progress at the very point 
 where it would most effectually subserve the end in 
 view ; He caused it to retain a vast amount of its 
 former splendour and beauty, that man might see 
 what a world it had been ; what a hideous and horrid 
 thing sin must be that could deface a scene so fair and 
 bright. 
 
 But there is more than this manifest in creation. 
 No one can look upon it without seeing that it is not 
 
204 THE TYPES. 
 
 in a state either of positive stagnation at a certain 
 point, or gradual decay, tending irretrievably down- 
 wards to annihilation. No ; every object seems labour- 
 ing to reproduce itself in its former perfect state, 
 aspiring upwards again, striving to clothe itself anew 
 with its primeval glory and incorruption. Every bud 
 and blossom tells us this ; every spring and summer 
 tells us this. Nor do they less emphatically proclaim 
 this, because autumn and winter follow close behind, 
 ever levelling what was reared, ever corrupting and 
 withering what had been put forth with such goodly 
 promise. And what is cultivation, but man's attempt 
 to regenerate the soil ? — an attempt which shews that 
 he does not consider creation hopelessly blighted, that 
 he sees symptoms about it prophetic of what it shall 
 one day attain to, when the word shall be spoken that 
 shall heal and bless — " Behold, I make all things new." 
 
 Here, no doubt, the question occurs, How can these 
 things really be ? It is easy to see how God, in creat- 
 ing all things perfect, should so construct the material 
 as to make it explanatory and illustrative of the imma- 
 terial. But the Fall has come in and disturbed every 
 thing. All is out of course ; all is discord. How, 
 then, do the objects of a fallen world accomplish God's 
 purpose ? 
 
 Certainly it is marvellous that it should be possible 
 to represent the invisible by the visible, the spiritual 
 by the sensible, the pure and perfect by what is 
 throughout impregnated with the curse, and pervaded 
 with defilement; yet still it is so. Analogies, the 
 
THE TYPES. 205 
 
 most vivid and striking, do exist between the sad 
 realities of a fallen world, and the ideas, promises, 
 principles, and laws of an nnfallen and perfect crea- 
 tion. That these are accidental, who will affirm ? To 
 say that they are so, would only increase the difficulty 
 and deepen the mystery a thousandfold. It cannot be 
 accidental that the natural world should abound all over 
 with such rich analogies and fit similitudes for illustrat- 
 ing the spiritual world. If, in digging amid ruins, we 
 should find numerous pictures exactly corresponding 
 to the scenes and objects around, should we venture 
 to say that the coincidence was accidental? Most 
 manifestly the present state of the fallen world is as 
 perfect and true a part of God's grand original design 
 as the first and unfallen state of creation. And most 
 marvellous is the wisdom that is thus displayed ; so to 
 construct a creation consisting of millions of parts and 
 objects and scenes, that, while in its perfect state it- 
 proclaimed one order of truth, in its decay and disor- 
 ganisation it should proclaim another! Everything 
 was an emblem before ; everything is an emblem 
 still. On the bright, glossy enamel with which the 
 unfallen world was overlaid, truth of infinite variety 
 was written so as to be legible to the unfallen creature ; 
 and when the enamel disappears, and the bright sur- 
 face is stripped off by sin, a new and as infinite variety 
 of truth is found written beneath, legible to the fallen, 
 and suited to his altered state ! 
 
 What explanation of all this can be given, save that 
 God has arrested creation in its fall at a certain point ; 
 
206 THE TYPES. 
 
 a point which we could not have fixed, a point 
 which He only could determine ? By this arrestment, 
 while most of its former features are retained, yet 
 everything has undergone a change, a change in 
 itself, a change in its relations and circumstances ; 
 so that the world, as it has existed since the Fall, has 
 presented that precise amount of change, that exact 
 aspect of mingled light and gloom, beauty and ruin, 
 harmony and discord, which might furnish man with 
 innumerable new truths, and with equally innumerable 
 signs for expressing them. 
 
 But still we have only discovered a little of the mys- 
 tery; the most important still remains behind. Crea- 
 tion, as it now stands, can tell us something of what 
 sin is, and of what God's displeasure against it is ; but 
 it is very little that can thus be told. How shall He 
 teach us fully ? Besides, though creation does suggest 
 the hope that its own restitution and man's regeneration 
 are designed, it can tell us nothing about the way in 
 which this is to be accomplished. But to man this 
 latter is everything. What is God's method of saving 
 him? How is he to know and understand that 
 method? As this was the most important truth for 
 man to know, so it was the first which God began to 
 teach him. But to teach this, He must call in the aid 
 of something more than the mere natural processes 
 and objects of creation ; new symbols must be con- 
 structed, a new alphabet must be formed, and a new 
 fount of types must be cast, for the purpose of teach- 
 ing man God's way of forgiving and restoring him. 
 
THE TYPES. 207 
 
 The first promise made to man contained the enun- 
 ciation of the great truths which were to be afterwards 
 developed. No sooner was God's great idea announced, 
 than immediately symbols were constructed for illus- 
 trating it ; for making man understand it ; for engrav- 
 ing on man's mind the new truth thus so briefly pro- 
 claimed ; and thus the symbol and the doctrine ever 
 went on side by side ; the sacrifice and the promise, 
 the type and the truth, being always displayed to- 
 ff ether. The altar, the fire, and the victim were the 
 visible picture which God presented to the eye ; the 
 promise and the doctrine were the description and 
 explanation placed at the bottom of the picture, that 
 there might be no misunderstanding nor mystery. 
 One ffreat truth, for instance, which God sought to 
 inculcate on man by means of sacrifice, was that of 
 transference or substitution. Of this he could have no 
 idea before, and it could only be gradually brought 
 into his mind by being every day presented to him in 
 a visible form. Thus he was taught that death was 
 sin's wages; that either he must die, or another must 
 die for him; and that God's way of saving was by 
 substituting another life for his. Every time he 
 brought the lamb, he was saying, " I deserve to die ; 
 and I come to God as one that deserves to die, and 
 only as such ; but let this life be counted for my life, 
 this death for my death, this blood for my blood." 
 Such was the symbol, such was the truth, such was 
 the way in which the one explained the other. God 
 constructed the material emblem of the immaterial 
 
208 THE TYPES. 
 
 truth ; the emblem was material, the truth spiritual, 
 yet they both contained the same principle, that of 
 substitution ; and it was this common principle, con- 
 tained in both, that made the one a type of the other. 
 
 The whole sacrificial or ritual system may be said 
 to be one of artificial types. These are composed of 
 things taken out of their natural order and use, and 
 put together in a new order and under new circum- 
 stances, quite different from the natural. The lamb, 
 for instance, in itself, may be taken as the type of 
 innocence, and thus far it is a natural type ; but when 
 led to the altar and there slain, its blood poured out, 
 its parts divided and burnt, then it is an artificial 
 type. But whether natural or artificial, the above re- 
 marks equally apply to both. It is the common prin- 
 ciple or truth developed in them, and in the things 
 they represent, that constitutes them types. Their 
 typical character arises from their containing in them 
 a truth, or the rudiments of a truth, which admit of a 
 far loftier and more extended application. 
 
 These artificial types are very easily distinguished. 
 So long as a being or thing is merely seen fulfilling its 
 natural functions, and occupying its natural position, 
 there may be considerable difficulty in determining 
 whether it be a type or not. But when we see it taken 
 out of its natural place, and made to perform other 
 functions, then it stands forth as a thing marked out 
 by God for a typical purpose. The whole sacrificial and 
 priestly ritual is an illustration of this ; hence there 
 has been comparatively little discussion about these 
 
THE TYPES. 209 
 
 artificial types. They have, no doubt, a natural office 
 or function assigned them, but then tins is not the 
 prominent thing about them. It is the unnatural or 
 artificial part that is the prominent thing ; and it is 
 this that makes an artificial type so much easier to be 
 distinguished. 
 
 In the natural types, however, there is no such artifi- 
 cial marking off of the objects ; all is natural, and 
 hence the difficulty of distinguishing them. They are 
 for the most part persons, presented to us with more 
 or less fulness of narrative in the inspired history. They 
 rise up before us, and take their way across the earth 
 most naturally and simply. Their lives are just the 
 lives of men ; they act, and speak, and move, and die, 
 just as we do. How, then, can we know whether they 
 are types ? 
 
 Now, without professing to answer the question fully 
 here, I have to remark that, as God himself is the his- 
 torian of their lives, we may be quite sure that nothing 
 respecting them is either omitted or narrated save for 
 a special reason. "We are made to see just so much of 
 their character as God wished us to see, and no more. 
 It comes before us exactly in that light in which God 
 wished it to come, and by which He intended it to 
 convey instruction to us. How little, for instance, of 
 Melchizedek's history is it that we know ; and yet how 
 much we should have desired to know ! Yet it is just 
 the small amount of information we have concerning 
 him that may be said to constitute his typical character. 
 It is what God has concealed re^ardin^ him that makes 
 
210 THE TYPES. 
 
 up the completeness of the type. He stands before us 
 as one " without father, without mother, without descent, 
 having neither beginning of days, nor end of life/' 
 Again, in David's case it is entirely the opposite. God 
 has been full and minute in the narrative of his life ; 
 all the chief movements of his life are brought before 
 us. And what a type does this life present us I That 
 which is hidden of Melchizedek, and that which is told 
 us of David, is the thing which constitutes the type. 
 
 But how are we to discover these types? What 
 rules or tests can we apply for their discovery ? We 
 think it has been shewn satisfactorily that we are not 
 to limit the types to those which are actually declared 
 to be so in the New Testament, These are given as 
 specimens ; not to prevent us from proceeding further, 
 but to be our guides in prosecuting the investigation. 
 When, for instance, our Lord quoted on the cross the 
 first verse of the twenty-second psalm, was it to teach 
 us that only that verse was applicable ? Was it not to 
 lead us to apply the whole psalm to Him ? Or, when 
 we find some psalms referred to by the evangelists as 
 fulfilled in Christ, is that to deter us from applying 
 others ? Does it not rather furnish us with a principle 
 of interpretation, and a specimen, in illustration of 
 that principle, that we may carry on the exposition 
 throughout the whole book, to which we have thus 
 been furnished with an inspired key ? 
 
 It is thus that we should proceed with the types, 
 taking those of them that have been Divinely inter- 
 preted to us as our guides to the understanding of the 
 
THE TYPES. 211 
 
 rest. In these we may perhaps sometimes be found 
 erring — fanciful — it may be extravagant ; but still the 
 guide is not only a safe one, however much we may 
 abuse it, but it is the only one which we ought to follow. 
 Much is to be learned in the way of typical exposi- 
 tion from the Epistle to the Hebrews, not merely in 
 reference, to the passages cited, or the events referred 
 to, but respecting a multitude of others to which there 
 is no allusion at alL The apostle proceeds upon cer- 
 tain principles of interpretation recognised among his 
 countrymen. He did not write as one who had dis- 
 covered a new theory of interpretation which he called 
 on them to receive ; but he proceeds upon principles 
 owned by and familiar to them. He takes his stand 
 upon their own application of the prophecies regarding 
 Messiah, and reasons with them upon principles which 
 both he and they acknowledged. To ascertain these is 
 of much importance. They are the principles adopted 
 by the nation to whom the prophecies were addressed, 
 and, therefore, acquainted with the circumstances in 
 which they were spoken ; a nation to whom the lan- 
 guage and dialect of prophecy were as their native 
 tongue, and of whose history every event had been an 
 accomplished prophecy; a nation who had not only 
 prophets to predict, but also to guide them to the 
 right meaning of "what manner of things the Spirit 
 of Christ, which was in them, did signify;'" a nation 
 that in their last days had the Messiah himself to 
 expound to them in all the Scriptures the things 
 concerning Himself, to correct their principles wherein 
 
212 THE TYPES. 
 
 they were false, and to confirm them wherein they 
 were true. 
 
 Paul takes for granted, for instance, that the Jews 
 were right in their application of the Psalms to Christ ; 
 that the sufferings there spoken of were His; that 
 the honour and power there celebrated were His ; 
 that the kingdom and triumphs there sung of were 
 His. The apostle's object was not to shew that they 
 were wrong in their ideas of Messiah, but that in 
 Jesus Christ these ideas had been fully realised ; that 
 the objections which stumbled their faith respecting 
 His sufferings and death were the very things which 
 proved the validity of His claim. They thought that 
 He was immediately to assume the kingdom, and to 
 "reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before 
 His ancients gloriously," and they were stumbled to 
 see Him crucified. Paul shews them that before the 
 triumph there must come the suffering of death. 
 They read in the Psalms that all things were to be 
 put in subjection under His feet, and they were 
 amazed to see that all things were not yet put under 
 Him. Paul shews that there was a reason for this 
 delay, and that when His present service as priest 
 should be accomplished, the predicted subjection of 
 the earth to His sway should take place. He brings 
 no charge against them for holding false views regard- 
 ing Messiah, though he shews that they held imperfect 
 ones. He does not say that they erred in believing 
 what was not true, but in not believing all that was 
 true. They were not so far amiss in their ideas of the 
 
THE TYPES. 213 
 
 kingdom itself, but they were very defective in their 
 notions regarding the manner in which it was to be 
 introduced. Many seem to suppose that their opinions 
 regarding the kingdom were altogether gross and 
 earthly. Herein they charge them unjustly. For 
 carnal as, in some respects, might be their ideas, yet 
 they did not dwell upon the mere outward splendour 
 of the kingdom ; they always conjoined with this its 
 purity, its justice, and equity. What they chiefly erred 
 in, however, was as to the time and manner of its 
 introduction. They expected at once a triumphant 
 Messiah. Paul, following his Master's example, shews 
 them that they were first to have a suffering Saviour ; 
 the cross must be before the kingdom ; that which is 
 unseen and spiritual before that which was visible and 
 glorious. 
 
 The point, however, which I wish chiefly to notice 
 is, that he makes use of certain acknowledged prin- 
 ciples of interpretation. These may seem to us pecu- 
 liar, but they must be true, and if so, of great 
 moment to us. Some have perhaps felt, in reading 
 the quotations from the Old Testament made in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, that there was a difference 
 between the apostle's method of citation and that to 
 which we are accustomed. Hence some of his quota- 
 tions appear to them like ingenious accommodations. 
 They have wondered that he should make such impor- 
 tant doctrines depend upon what appear to them am- 
 biguous passages. They try to get over this surprise 
 by saying that since an inspired writer has asserted 
 
214 THE TYPES. 
 
 such to be the meaning of a particular passage, they 
 must believe it to be so, though they cannot see that 
 such is the case. But is not this just saying that an 
 inspired author is entitled to divert a passage from its 
 true and original sense in order to suit his views ? Is 
 it not maintaining that inspiration gave authority to 
 pervert Scripture, — that an apostle is entitled to draw 
 his conclusions from false premises? And yet is it 
 not obvious that if he wished to convince those with 
 whom he reasoned, he must take the passage in its 
 plain and fair meaning ? So that his application of it 
 does not make a meaning for it, but merely shews us 
 what the true meaning is. 
 
 The proper conclusion for us to have come to 
 would have been, that our hermeneutics were at fault, 
 and that it was the influence of these that had per- 
 verted our modes of exposition, and blinded us to the 
 true sense of Scripture. There is, I fear, too much of 
 the German leaven amongst us. In drawing up rules 
 upon this subject, — canons of criticism as they are 
 called, — we have not consulted Scripture, but have 
 devised rules altogether independent of the principles 
 there exemplified. The inspired interpretations, in- 
 stead of being eagerly laid hold of as models, are dis- 
 regarded, perhaps treated as fanciful and out of date. 
 It is thought that man's reason alone can tell us how the 
 Word of God is to be understood. Now, so long as 
 we proceed in this track, we cannot expect to be ex- 
 positors of Scripture ; at least to attain to the know- 
 ledge of its fulness. Leanness and meagreness of view 
 
THE TYPES. 215 
 
 must be the fruits of such a method. "What we need 
 most in the present day is a pure system of scriptural 
 hermeneutics constructed after the apostolic model, of 
 which we have so rich a specimen in the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 I plead for no mysticism, but the reverse. I advo- 
 cate literal interpretation. And why? Because Christ 
 himself and His apostles interpreted the Old Testa- 
 ment with a plainness and simplicity that amazes us. 
 Many of their quotations are made according to what 
 some of us might be apt to call ultra-literality. This 
 was the system universally recognised then, though 
 not fully acted on by the unbelieving Jews. Hence, 
 in reasoning with a Jew, one had peculiar advantages. 
 "We could take him to his prophets, and shew him how 
 exactly all types, prophecies, and promises had been 
 fulfilled in Christ. We could shew him that his own 
 principles ought to lead him at once to admit the 
 doctrine of an humbled, suffering Messiah. Again, in 
 reasoning with a Christian, who spiritualises what the 
 Jew holds to be literal, we take him to such a passage 
 as Isaiah liii., and ask why he so thoroughly acknow- 
 ledges the literality of that chapter, and yet explains 
 away all the surrounding ones ? Is the Christian in 
 such a case a better or more consistent interpreter 
 than the Jew? No, in no wise. And wherein lies 
 his error? Not in explaining literally what evan- 
 gelists and apostles had taught him to do, but in not 
 carrying out their principles of interpretation ;' in 
 stopping short at the very point where he ought to 
 
216 THE TYPES. 
 
 have proceeded onwards ; in applying different rules 
 to different chapters, according to some latent feeling 
 in his own mind as to what is spiritual and what is 
 carnal ; in adopting the interpretations of inspiration, 
 but not its principles ; in receiving its citations merely, 
 without making its method of citation his own. 
 
 These remarks apply with special force to the subject 
 of typical exposition. In this department the apostle 
 furnishes us with many specimens as our guides. The 
 beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews presents us 
 with the principles of general Scripture interpretation, 
 and the latter part of it gives us sj)ecially those of 
 typical interpretation. And we may wonder much, that, 
 with such helps as these thus afforded us, we should 
 have made so little way in investigating this subject. 
 M any seem to turn away from it as fanciful ; others as 
 puerile ; others as dry and uninteresting, perhaps un- 
 profitable. Types are but too often looked upon as 
 little better than quaint devices ; or perhaps mere relics, 
 curious enough in the estimation of the antiquary, but 
 of little intrinsic value. Christians look with an eye 
 far too cold and indifferent upon these beautiful and 
 pregnant symbols, which set forth in such richness of 
 colouring, or depth of shadow, or vividness of relief, 
 the grace of the gospel, or the glories of the kingdom. 
 How anxiously have the learned of this world been 
 watching the gradual discoveries made in the unriddling 
 of Egypt's hieroglyphics ; yet how careless is the Church 
 about the successful explication of the inspired symbols 
 of the Old Testament ! With what interest are men 
 
THE TYPES. 217 
 
 regarding the labours of those who are toiling; to un- 
 ravel these curious puzzles, in order to discover that in 
 such an age such a Pharaoh lived and reigned or died ; 
 that such a town or district worshipped a calf, a croco- 
 dile, or a leek ; yet how utterly heedless are they to the 
 investigation of the types of Scripture, in which are 
 wrapt up the whole character and story and work of 
 Immanuel, God with us ! Each one of these types has 
 a voice which speaks of Christ, and that with no uncer- 
 tain sound. If we hear it not, it must be that we are 
 not at pains to catch it ; that we are not careful to 
 place ourselves in the spot or the position from which 
 their voice may reach our ear ; for like echoes, which 
 they truly are, they can be heard only when listened to 
 in one particular spot ; and, if we take no pains to 
 place ourselves so that we may hear them, need we 
 wonder that they seem to us silent and unmeaning ? 
 
 One would have supposed that in these last days, 
 when the Holy of holies is no longer an unapproachable 
 or forbidden shrine, it would be a saint's delight often 
 to turn aside for the purpose of visiting its hallowed 
 courts ; to survey with untiring interest its innermost 
 recesses ; to linger amid its consecrated relics ; to in- 
 spect and handle its venerable furniture, so curiously 
 devised, and of such perfect workmanship ; to tread its 
 solemn floor, hitherto traversed only by the yearly step 
 of the solitary high priest ; to mark the cherubim and 
 palm-trees figured on its golden walls, all exquisitely 
 wrought ; to stoop over and look into the ark of God, 
 with its tables of the law, and Aaron's budding rod ; 
 
218 THE TYPES. 
 
 to gaze with awe upon the place where, between the 
 cherubim's outstretched wings, rested the fiery emblem 
 of Jehovah's presence and majesty. Yet it is not so ; 
 and though God has certainly, by the lips and pens of 
 some of His servants, been calling more attention to 
 these subjects, still they command too little of our interest 
 and thought. They form not, as they ought, the saint's 
 true picture gallery, his cabinet of gems of the antique, 
 his storehouse of divine emblems, each one of which 
 contains in it some heavenly truth, some thought of 
 God, which may be matter of meditation for eternity. 
 
 All these remarks, however, are but general prin- 
 ciples ; the basis of interpretation, but not the interpre- 
 tation itself. We have not been expounding the types, 
 but merely shewing of what materials they are con- 
 structed, in what mould they are cast, and how they 
 ought to be interpreted. Minute or special expositions, 
 however, would quite overstretch the space we can afford 
 here, so that all we can do in this department must be 
 very brief. 
 
 Almost all the types, no less than the promises, point 
 forward to the kingdom, and from none of them can 
 we extract any hint of a Millennium before the Advent. 
 Many of them have long since begun to be fulfilled, but 
 of few can it be held that their fulfilment is completed. 
 This is reserved for the days of Messiah the Prince. 
 In Him, at His first coming, most of them began to be 
 verified ; but it is His Second Advent that is to be the 
 time of their filling up. It is then that He is to shew 
 how truly all these were but the shadows of "good 
 
THE TYPES. 219 
 
 things to come." Of these good things we have the 
 earnest now ; but the full reality remains to be brought 
 forth at the appearing of the Lord. The instrument 
 has been prepared, — a many-stringed instrument such 
 as David used, — its chords have already been touched, 
 and found in tune ; and oftentimes there comes forth 
 from it rich music to cheer our pilgrimage and give 
 us songs in the night : yet in this " strange land," by 
 these rivers of Babylon, its sound is feeble and its 
 harmony incomplete. But when our David comes, Ho 
 shall take into His hands this ancient harp, prepared 
 for Him aforetime, and striking its varied chords, shall 
 draw forth from it such a full strain of all-perfect 
 harmony as earth has never heard. 
 
 Adam stands before us as the first type. In part, 
 this was fulfilled when Jesus came to be the Head of 
 the Church, the redeemed family ; for regarding Him, 
 as such, it is written, " As by one man's disobedience 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
 shall many be made righteous/' But the largest portion 
 of it remains as yet unverified. It is at His second 
 coming that He is to take possession of the better Eden, 
 and have dominion over a renovated earth, with all 
 things therein. Noiv " we see not all things put under 
 Him," as under Adam, but then we shall. God's pur- 
 pose from the beginning was to rule this earth by a 
 man. The first man sinned at the very outset of his 
 reign, and proved himself incompetent to fulfil God's 
 design. But still that purpose must stand. Man's 
 rebellion shall not frustrate it. It has been for a 
 
220 THE TYPES. 
 
 time, indeed, deferred, but only that preparations may 
 be completed for carrying it out in the Man Christ 
 Jesus, " the Word made flesh/' the second Adam, who 
 is the Lord from heaven. The government of earth 
 shall be put into His hands, and He shall execute 
 righteous judgment. By Him shall earth be made to 
 flourish anew. Under Him, that fruitfulness in evil 
 to which the soil was doomed for the first man's trans- 
 gression, (Gen. iii. 18,) shall be removed ; and that 
 barrenness in good, which was inflicted on it for the 
 blood shed on it by the first murderer, (Gen. iv. 12,) 
 shall be exchanged for sevenfold fertility and beauty. 
 Under Him and the true Eve — His Bride, the Church, 
 taken from His wounded side — shall the whole earth 
 rejoice.* 
 
 In Cain and Abel we have the types of the two great 
 classes which had just before been predicted ; the seed 
 of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. Their 
 characters, their principles, their actings, are placed 
 
 * " None ever saw this world as it was in its first creation, but 
 only Adam and his wife; neither shall any ever see it until the 
 manifestation of the children of God, that is, until the redemption or 
 resurrection of the saints. . . . Adam, therefore, as a type of Christ, 
 reigned in the Church almost a thousand years. The world, there- 
 fore, beginning thus, doth shew us how it will end, viz., by the 
 reign of the second Adam, as it began with the reign of the first. 
 These long-lived men, therefore, shew us the glory that the Church 
 (shall have in the latter day, even in the seven thousandth year of 
 the world — that Sabbath when Christ shall set up His kingdom on 
 earth. According to that which is written, ' they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years.' . . . Hence, therefore, in the first 
 place, the dragon is chained for these thousand years." — BURTAN 
 on the First Chapters of Genesis. 
 
THE TYPES. 221 
 
 before us, as if for the purpose of introducing us, at 
 the very outset, to those two mighty divisions of the 
 race which were to be kept up, irreconcilably, till the 
 appearance of the great Deliverer for the final crushing 
 of the serpent's head. In their history we see the 
 meaning of these awful words — "I came not to send 
 peace upon earth, but a sword/' — a sword which is not 
 to be sheathed till He come who sent it. In Abel we 
 see a sinner saved by grace, and washed in blood ; one 
 who is "from above, not from beneath," and whom, 
 therefore, the world hates and seeks to slay, roused to 
 murderous anger by the sight of Jehovah's acceptance 
 of him and his offering. In him we see the persecuted 
 Church, the worn-out saints, the slain witnesses, whose 
 blood ceases not to cry, " How long, Lord, holy and 
 true ! wilt Thou not judge and avenge our blood on 
 them that dwell upon the earth ? " In Cain we have 
 the despiser of the blood, the rejecter of the Saviour, 
 the enemy of righteousness. He stands before us as 
 the representative of the various wickedness that was 
 to pour itself out upon the earth. In him we see the 
 son of Belial, Eclom, Babylon, Borne, Antichrist, the 
 Man of Sin, the foe of Israel, the malignant destroyer 
 c f those whom Jehovah favours and blesses, the breaker 
 of the brotherly covenant, thirsting for the blood of the 
 martyrs of Jesus ; and who, when he has fulfilled his 
 time and ripened his malice, shall hear sentence pro- 
 nounced against him as a "fugitive and vagabond," — 
 " Depart from me, thou cursed, into everlasting fire ! " 
 Enoch rises before us as the type of the last genera- 
 
222 THE TYPES. 
 
 tion of the Church, who "shall not sleep, but be changed." 
 The bitterness of death is not for him, as it was for 
 righteous Abel. The world, doubtless, sought to slay 
 him ; but he was taken out of their hands. He over- 
 leaped the grave prepared for him, and was caught up 
 beyond their rage, to be for ever with the Lord. Ere 
 he had traversed the third part of his weary pilgrim- 
 age, when wickedness is ripening, and judgment making 
 haste to descend, he is taken away from the evil to 
 come : true type of those who shall be found walking 
 with God, in the day when the last vengeance over- 
 takes the world. 
 
 In Noah and his family we have the type of that 
 remnant, who, belonging to many nations, Jew and 
 Gentile, shall be safely hidden from the swellings of 
 the last flood of fire ; of which the first flood of water 
 was but a figure. In some hiding-place prepared of 
 God, some cleft of rock, some ark, some covert from 
 the tempest — we know not what — they shall brave the 
 fury of the fiery blast, and, coming forth from between 
 the waves of that red sea of flame, shall repeople a 
 purged world. In that day, like Noah and his family, 
 they shall build their better altar, and present to God 
 their thank-offering of deliverance for a sweet-smelling 
 savour ; receiving in answer the gracious promise, " I 
 will curse the ground no more;" and beholding above 
 their heads the " emerald rainbow," — true sign of crea- 
 tion's restitution, and pledge of a joyous spring, with 
 all its unwithering verdure, to the green earth for ever. 
 
 In Melchizedek we discover the type of Messiah, 
 
THE TYPES. 223 
 
 the King, King of Salem and King of Righteousness. 
 In his double character of priest and king, he is one 
 of the fullest types of our Royal High Priest ; of Him 
 who is to be a Priest upon His throne. We wait for 
 the filling of this type, in the day of the appearing of 
 the Lord. Then, when the slaughter of opposing kings 
 shall have been consummated by the descendants of 
 Abraham, who are to be His " battle-axe and weapons 
 of war," He shall come forth to bless the triumphant 
 host out of the better Salem, His own more glorious 
 city. 
 
 In Abraham we have the type of the Church in the 
 present dispensation. She has been called out of a 
 present evil world, and made to forsake kindred and 
 country at the command of the God of glory. She 
 has become a stranger and a pilgrim on that very earth 
 which has been promised to her for an everlasting 
 possession. He had but his altar and his tent below, 
 and his covenant God above ; so has she. It is her 
 all. It was enough for him ; and she finds it enough 
 for her. He looked for the city which hath founda- 
 tions ; and so does she for the city of the " twelve 
 foundations/' garnished with all manner of precious 
 stones. (Rev. xxi. 14.) 
 
 The dream or vision of Abraham, recorded in Genesis 
 xv. ] 2-1 8, is a most significant type. The component 
 emblems are a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, 
 passing between the divided pieces of the sacrifice. 
 As expounded by God himself, (verses 13 and 14,) these 
 are designed to symbolise Israel's history, and, doubt- 
 
224 THE TYPES. 
 
 less, also that of the Church of Christ. Egypt was 
 the first verification of the " smoking furnace :" for 
 she is expressly called by the name of the " furnace of 
 iron." (Deut. iv. 20.) The deliverance under Moses 
 was the first fulfilment of the " burning lamp." The 
 whole book of Exodus might truly be called the story 
 of the "smoking furnace" and the "burning lamp:" 
 no title could be more appropriate. And what was 
 Israel's history in succeeding ages, but a continual 
 repetition of these two in succession? Where, then, 
 is Israel now ? Where has she been these many gene- 
 rations? In the smoking furnace. But what does 
 this type foretell of her future story ? She is yet to 
 be seen as the burning lamp ; " The righteousness 
 thereof shall go forth ' as brightness, the salvation 
 thereof as a lamp that burneth." (Isa. lxii. 1.) And 
 when is this to be ? In the day when it shall be said 
 to the daughter of Zion — 
 
 " Behold, thy Salvation cometh ! 
 Behold, his reward is with him, 
 And his recompense before him ! " 
 
 Then shall this lamp be kindled, no more to grow dim 
 or be quenched, but to shed its holy brightness over 
 all the earth. 
 
 In Moses we have the type of Him who is to be the 
 true " King in Jeshurun," a " leader and commander to 
 the people;" who, in the day of Israel's second and 
 more glorious exodus, shall go before them for their 
 deliverance and salvation. In Him we have also the 
 " Prophet like unto Moses," no less than the mighty 
 
THE TYPES. 225 
 
 King. And as in Melchizedek we have the union of 
 priest and king, so in Moses we see the union of pro- 
 phet and king — the type of the true Prophet-King by 
 whom Israel and the whole earth are yet to be ruled 
 and taught. 
 
 In Aaron we have the full type of the great High 
 Priest, in his person, his office, and his work. The 
 blood of atonement has been shed, and, to present it, 
 our Aaron has gone within the veil. There He now re- 
 mains, appearing in the presence of God for us. Mean- 
 while His Church waits around, expecting Him to come 
 forth to bless her, as Aaron did the assembled thou- 
 sands of Israel. His work of blessing and intercession 
 is not confined to the Holy of holies. When He leaves 
 it, His lips are opened in words of still fuller blessing, 
 carrying on the mediatory work which He had gone 
 into the holiest to begin. He has been eighteen hun- 
 dred years within the veil. We may therefore look for 
 His return without delay. And as He departed from 
 Olivet in the attitude of blessing, so to Olivet He shall 
 return in the same attitude, to complete that which 
 was then left half unspoken. 
 
 In Joshua we have the type of the Captain of the 
 Lord's host, leading Israel into Canaan, and planting 
 them there in peace and order, casting out their ene- 
 mies from before them. 
 
 In Samuel we have a striking type of Him who was, 
 in His own person, to fulfil the threefold office of Pro- 
 phet, Priest, and King. 
 
 In David we have the " Man of War/' breaking his 
 p 
 
226 THE TYPES. 
 
 enemies in pieces, and ruling over Israel as their Shep- 
 herd and King. 
 
 In Solomon we see the true Prince of Peace, who 
 "shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the 
 river unto the ends of the earth." 
 
 But I must close these sketches. They might be 
 greatly multiplied. And it would be found how fully 
 they embody fragments, each in its own degree, and 
 according to its nature, typical of that higher order of 
 truth, for the illustration of which they were originally 
 constructed or recorded. Divine truth is what man 
 but slowly learns, in spite of all God's pains to teach 
 him. It enters his mind only in fragments, — fragments 
 which lie scattered over all Scripture, but which are re- 
 capitulated or summed up in Him who is Himself the 
 sum of truth, — the undivided Truth. It was for the 
 foreshadowing of Him that these types were fashioned. 
 Each is but a fragment ; for, as a mere finite piece of 
 creation, it could be no more : and hence it requires a 
 multitude of such fragments to make up the image of 
 the Infinite One. But when these innumerable gems 
 shall be brought together and adjusted, it will be seen 
 how fully and how richly they set forth His person 
 and His work, in all the grace that has already been 
 manifested, and in all the glory that is yet to shine 
 forth upon the world. 
 
 Thus in type, as well as in prophecy, God's great 
 original purpose may be clearly traced. Not only per- 
 sons, but actions, objects, rites, times, festivals, — all are 
 typical, all are framed to give utterance to the things 
 
THE TYPES. 227 
 
 concerning the King, and pointing, not only to His 
 cross, but to His crown ; not only to His shame and 
 death, but to His coming glory and righteous kingdom ; 
 all of them exquisitely polished and set, as precious 
 stones in which His beauty may be seen; all of them 
 telling the same story of God's everlasting purpose; all 
 of them parts of the same God-manifesting universe, 
 every atom of whose dust shall yet be made to praise 
 Him for ever ! 
 
CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 ISKAEL. 
 
 This chapter must needs be of considerable length. 
 The importance of the subject calls for it ; for Israel's 
 history, both past and future, occupies no narrow 
 region, either in the purposes of God or in His written 
 Word. Besides, the prophecies concerning Israel are 
 the key to all the rest. True principles of interpreta- 
 tion, in regard to them, will aid us in disentangling 
 and illustrating all prophecy together. False prin- 
 ciples as to them will most thoroughly perplex and 
 overcloud the whole Word of God. In addition to 
 these reasons, however, there are others which need 
 not be hidden. A large class of expositors, both in 
 America and Britain, are setting themselves against 
 the literal application of the prophecies to Israel. 
 Even some who preach the near advent of the Lord, 
 and hold fast " literality," make no scruple to spiritu- 
 alise all that the prophets have forespoken concerning 
 the children of Abraham according to the flesh. In 
 these circumstances, a minute and somewhat protracted 
 examination of the whole subject, even at the risk of a 
 slight apparent repetition, will not, I think, be judged 
 either superfluous or misplaced. 
 
ISEAEL. 229 
 
 No one maintains that all Scripture is literal, or 
 that all is figurative. It is at once admitted by all 
 that it contains numerous instances of both of these 
 kinds of writing. Hence we see the weakness, as well 
 as unfairness, of a method of arguing which has been 
 practised by the disputers on both sides. I mean that 
 of charging each other with the absurdities which 
 would ensue if either of the systems were pressed to 
 an extreme. The argument may sometimes be brought 
 to bear with effect upon the interpretation of particu- 
 lar passages ; but it ought to be set aside as a useless, 
 and often mischievous element in the discussion of 
 the general question. If the literalist be entitled to 
 say to his opponent, " What absurdities your principles 
 would educe if carried through ! " his opponent is, on 
 the other hand, perfectly entitled to point to the incon- 
 gruities which would ensue from the literal system 
 pressed to an extreme. 
 
 All admit that there is much that is literal, and 
 much that is figurative, in Scripture. From this ad- 
 mission, all reasoning on this matter ought to start. 
 Proceeding from this, two great questions meet us : 
 first, How are we to ascertain what is literal and what 
 is figurative ? secondly, How are we to interpret what 
 is ascertained to be figurative? I do not mean to 
 examine and answer these questions minutely; I con- 
 tent myself with a few hints towards their solution. 
 
 According to the original formation of language, the 
 figurative may be said to be the basis of the literal, as 
 I have shewn in another chapter ; but, with language 
 
230 ISRAEL. 
 
 well moulded and matured, the opposite may be 
 affirmed. The literal is the common and natural style 
 employed in communicating with each other; the 
 figurative is a departure from that style. This devia- 
 tion is, of course, not adopted save for special reasons, 
 such as enforcing, illustrating, or even, it may be, in 
 some prophecies, for veiling the subject. Thus it is 
 the literal that is the basis of the figurative, — the point 
 from which we start in estimating the nature and 
 extent of the figure employed ; and, conversely, the 
 figurative is interpreted by tracing it back to the 
 literal, by observing how it rose out of and was grafted 
 upon it. The literal, then, is the rule, and the figura- 
 tive is the exception ; and, of course, before an excep- 
 tion can be admitted, reasons must be given for 
 departing from the rule. Even the Rationalists of 
 Germany, who have no great liking to the literal 
 understanding of Scripture, take this for granted. 
 Ernesti, in his " Institutes," expressly says, " The 
 natural meaning is not to be departed from without 
 evident reason or necessity/'* And Amnion, his an- 
 notator, a more thorough Neologian than himself, 
 remarks, "We are not to quit the natural meaning 
 unless it be frigid, ridiculous, or contradictory. "+ 
 
 In all cases, then, we are bound to adhere to the 
 literal, until we can shew reasons for departing from 
 
 * "Non sine evidenti causa aut necessitate proprietatem dese- 
 rendam." 
 
 t " A sensu proprio non recedendum est, nisi extat frigidus, ridi- 
 culus, aut contradictorius." 
 
ISEAEL. 231 
 
 it. These reasons ought to be well weighed and found 
 sufficient before we venture to disturb the plain mean- 
 ing of God's own words. For instance, the Unitarian 
 departs from the literal meaning of those passages 
 which speak of our Lord's incarnation and divinity, 
 because he cannot understand how such a sense is 
 reconcilable with other Scripture statements respecting 
 the unity of Godhead. But is that a valid reason 
 for turning those passages into figures ? The common 
 sense of a man tells him that this is perverting, not 
 expounding Scripture. If all strong expressions are 
 to be set down as Orientalisms, which may be inter- 
 preted as we please, what becomes of inspiration ? 
 
 But I am told that the literal sense is often so 
 carnal that it must be departed from. Perhaps in 
 some cases it may be so ; but every passage must 
 first be brought separately to the test. A literal ful- 
 filment is often just as spiritual as any other ; and it 
 is a strange misapprehension of the true scope of 
 Scripture to suppose that because some interpret liter- 
 ally, therefore they do not interpret spiritually. Be- 
 sides, with the comparative value of the spiritual over 
 the literal, we have, in the first instance, nothing to do 
 in interpreting Scripture. We have simply to ascer- 
 tain the real meaning of the words, whether that 
 meaning be literal or spiritual. Take the prophecies 
 regarding the incarnation of Christ. Before that event 
 took place, there might be a controversy as to whether 
 they were to be literally fulfilled or not. A Jew might 
 have argued with much apparent force against a literal 
 
232 ISRAEL. 
 
 meaning. What ! Is God to take upon Himself the 
 form of a man ? Is Jehovah to become an infant of 
 days, nay, to be born of a creature, to be a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief, to die and be 
 buried, as men die and are buried ? Impossible ! the 
 very idea is carnal beyond endurance. These pro- 
 phecies cannot be interpreted in their literal sense ; 
 they must have some figurative, some spiritual mean- 
 ing. So might a Jew have argued before Messiah 
 came ; and truly, when we think what it was that he 
 had to believe regarding his Messiah, we could not 
 have wondered had he found much difficulty in receiv- 
 ing such prophecies as literal ; our wonder is at the 
 strength of that faith which, in spite of difficulties so 
 vast, could take in the idea, and believe in the reality 
 of that stupendous fact which the literal interpretation 
 of prophecy involved. The fact, the glorious but stu- 
 pendous fact, made known in the fulness of time, 
 proved not only that the literal was the true sense of 
 these prophecies regarding Messiah's first coming, but 
 also established tills truth, that the literal interpreta- 
 tion and fulfilment may be the more truly spiritual 
 of the two. Take, as another illustration of the point 
 in hand, the doctrine of the resurrection. That doc- 
 trine appeared to some, in the first ages, such a carnal 
 doctrine, that they denied the literal accomplishment 
 of those Scriptures which speak of it. Of these were 
 Hymenseus and Philetus, mentioned in the Second 
 Epistle to Timothy. They maintained that a literal 
 resurrection was such a carnal thing, that those pas- 
 
ISRAEL. 233 
 
 sages which refer to it must mean something spiritual, 
 — the resurrection of the soul from sin. They " erred 
 concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection was 
 past already." Here, also, the literal was the more 
 spiritual of the two interpretations. 
 
 We have no objection to the spiritual, provided the 
 literal be found untenable; but till it be found so, we 
 shall continue to hold by it. Not that we object to a 
 spiritual application of these predictions : all we ask is, 
 that such a spiritual application be founded upon a 
 literal interpretation. We should spiritualise and apply 
 prophecy just as we should history ; that is, we should 
 first interpret it. We should deal with the Book of 
 Isaiah as we should do with the Book of Chronicles. 
 We might admit that there was more of figure in the 
 former than in the latter, though not so much more as 
 many suppose ; but we should still maintain that the 
 language was essentially the same, and that, therefore, 
 the same grammar and lexicon would do for both. The 
 question would turn out to be one as to difference in 
 degree, not in kind. There are figures in Chronicles as 
 well as in Isaiah ; and the same principle which shews 
 us what is literal and what is figurative in Chronicles, 
 will also shew us what is literal and what is figurative 
 in Isaiah. It seems often taken for granted that those 
 who assert the literal interpretation of the blessings 
 promised to Israel, thereby exclude the spiritual They 
 do not. They assert the literal blessing, because they 
 believe that God has promised it ; but they maintain 
 the superiority and necessity of the spiritual as firmly 
 
234 ISRAEL. 
 
 as do the others. They believe that Israel will be con- 
 verted, and they rejoice in this as the glorious issue 
 towards which the prophets point. But they believe 
 more ; they believe not only that they will be con- 
 verted, but that they will be restored to their own land. 
 But does their literal restoration take from them one 
 single spiritual blessing ? Or does it prevent the Gen- 
 tile nations from enjoying one of those innumerable 
 blessings which are given to them for an inheritance ? 
 Every word of prophecy is big with meaning. Hence 
 it must be most carefully and exactly interpreted. To 
 attach a general meaning to a whole chapter, as is fre- 
 quently done, shews not only grievous irreverence for 
 the Divine Word, but much misconception of the real 
 nature of that language in which it is written. Yet such 
 is often the practice of many expositors of prophecy. 
 They will take up a chapter of Isaiah, and tell you that 
 it refers to the future glory of the Christian Church ; 
 and that is the one idea which they gather from a 
 whole chapter, or sometimes from a series of chapters. 
 Their system does not admit of interpreting verse by 
 verse and clause by clause, and affixing an exact and 
 definite sense to each. Bring them to this test, and 
 their system gives way. It looks fair and plausible 
 enough, so long as they can persuade you that the 
 whole chapter is one scene, out of which it is merely 
 designed that one grand idea should be extracted ; but 
 bring it to the test of minute and precise interpreta- 
 tion, and its nakedness is at once discovered. Many 
 prophecies become in this way a mere waste of words. 
 
ISRAEL. 235 
 
 What might be expressed in one sentence, is beaten 
 out over a whole chapter ; nay, sometimes over a whole 
 book* 
 
 These expositors think that there is nothing in pro- 
 phecy, except that Jew and Gentile are all to be 
 gathered in, and made one in Christ. Prophet after 
 prophet is raised up, vision after vision is given, and 
 yet nothing is declared but this one idea! Every 
 chapter almost of Isaiah foretells something about the 
 future glory of the world ; and every chapter presents 
 it to us in some new aspect, opening up new scenes, 
 and pointing out new objects; but, according to the 
 scheme of some, every chapter sets forth the same idea, 
 reiterates the same objects, and depicts the same scenes. 
 Is not this handling the Word of God deceitfully ? If 
 these expositors oppose a literal interpretation, surely 
 they cannot object to a minute one. Though insisting 
 on a spiritual interpretation, they will surely allow us 
 to insist on a definite understanding of each clause, 
 however spiritual that may be. Their spirituality is 
 surely not inconsistent with definiteness and precision. 
 I should like to see a regular paraphrase upon the 
 Prophets, constructed upon their system, and going 
 
 * " The latter chapters of Ezekiel, describing the erection of a 
 certain temple, are involved in so much obscurity, that it seems 
 difficult to arrive at any determinate conclusion respecting the 
 import of that mysterious prophecy. It is certain that the attempt 
 to spiritualise it produces little besides perplexity and confusion; nor 
 have ice any example in Scripture of an allegory so perfectly dark and 
 enigmatic as it must be confessed to be, on that supposition.." — Robert 
 Hall, Works, vol. iv. p. 405. 
 
236 ISRAEL. 
 
 over each chapter, verse, and clause. I suspect there 
 would be found some difficulty ; and that just because 
 of the loose ideas which are entertained with regard 
 to the language of Scripture, and especially to the lan- 
 guage of prophecy. 
 
 The patriarchs and prophets, and members of the 
 Jewish Church, understood spiritual things much about 
 as well as we do. I do not speak of the clearness of 
 their light ; I simply speak of their apprehending reli- 
 gious worship as a spiritual thing, and religious wor- 
 shippers as spiritual men, just as we do. They knew 
 what was spiritual in religion, and what was not ; and 
 therefore they could express spiritual ideas, or spiritual 
 objects, in plain and natural words, as we do. They 
 could speak of a spiritual community as we would do, 
 and find no lack of words ; and we know that they 
 often did so. The prophets often did so. The apostles 
 did so. They spoke of the Church of God in plain 
 and natural language — language evidently familiar to 
 their hearts. When James wrote to " the twelve tribes 
 which are scattered abroad/' he just meant the twelve 
 tribes of Israel, and not some indefinite community. 
 He took it for granted, that though he wrote after the 
 calling of the Gentiles, words had the same meaning 
 as they had before, and therefore he simply addressed 
 his epistle to the twelve tribes. But if, as some seem 
 to hold, Scripture language has undergone a spiritual 
 transmutation since the calling of the Gentiles, James 
 cannot mean his fellow-countrymen of Israel, but some 
 spiritual community. 
 
ISRAEL. 237 
 
 Both prophets and apostles could express spiritual 
 things in natural and precise language. They have 
 done so in many instances where no figure is to be 
 seen. If this be the case, we come to a very different 
 conclusion from some with regard to their design in using 
 the language of Jewish history in their predictions. In 
 many cases, perhaps in most, they employ it just be- 
 cause the events spoken of are literally to be accom- 
 plished, and therefore no other language could have 
 been used. But, further, they use it in those cases, 
 and in others also where there may be more of figure 
 in it, because that language, founded as it was upon 
 events and rites well known to all, brought out, with 
 a fulness and exactness of minute description, those 
 individual scenes which they predicted, such as no 
 other language could have expressed. They laboured 
 for words to express the vast ideas with which they 
 were filled, and to depict the glowing scenes which 
 were opened to their gaze ; for words of sufficient 
 power and vastness to set forth those ideas and those 
 scenes, yet, at the same time, of such precision and 
 minuteness, that every line and stroke of the picture 
 might convey a definite idea. No language but that 
 constructed in the way we have referred to (con- 
 structed by the Holy Spirit out of Jewish history and 
 rites) could have accomplished this design, and attained 
 these two objects at once. The language of prophecy 
 is such, that to generalise it is to deprive it of its real 
 and distinctive character, to empty it of its richness, 
 and to rob it of its power. It has a fulness and a depth 
 
238 ISRAEL. 
 
 which are altogether lost when it is interpreted in any- 
 general way. Each word calls up a picture, and there- 
 fore demands the closest scrutiny. 
 
 So far, then, from conceding the opinion that the 
 prophets used language of the peculiarly Jewish, or, 
 as we might call it, Mosaic cast, because they had no 
 other by which to convey their representations of the 
 future glory of the Church, we maintain just the oppo- 
 site. We maintain that they could have expressed 
 those general ideas which are supposed to engross their 
 pages, in common language, and that in several places 
 they have done so. The reason for which they used 
 their peculiar style was, because it was the fullest, 
 richest, and most exact that could be adopted; nay, 
 because it was especially constructed by God to express 
 that vast variety of ideas which prophecy unfolds, with 
 a correctness, and, at the same time, with a power, of 
 which common language did not admit. Its difficulty 
 of interpretation lies in its being so full and so minute ; 
 so that every clause and every word require to be 
 studied and analysed, and compared with the events 
 in history to which they allude, and on which their 
 true and exact interpretation so much depends. 
 
 We cannot admit that the man who generalises, or 
 as he may call it, spiritualises the prophets, has any 
 better ri<xht to do so to them than to the historians of 
 the past. They who spiritualise the history of the 
 Fall and such Old Testament narratives, do it on the 
 same principles as the spiritualisers of prophecy. 
 Nor do we see how one who turns prophecy into a 
 
ISRAEL. 230 
 
 figure, can stop short till he has turned history into 
 the same. 
 
 When it is declared regarding Israel, " The Lord thy 
 God will turn thy captivity, and gather thee from all 
 the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered 
 thee ; " what are we to infer from the juxtaposition of 
 the scattering and gathering ? That they are both of 
 the same kind. Both were future events at the time 
 tins prophecy of Moses was given ; both, therefore, 
 would be understood in the same way at the time. 
 The one of these has now become a matter of history. 
 It has, by the event, been proved to be a literal pro- 
 phecy of the dispersion of Israel. Are not, then, the 
 presumptions very strong in favour of the other being 
 of the same kind ? If, before either was fulfilled, the 
 presumption was that both were literal, how much 
 stronger now, when history has shewn one of them to 
 be really so ! And when we are told by some that 
 these prophecies are not to be literally fulfilled, may we 
 not reply, that the very same reasons which prove the 
 future history of the Jews to be spiritual, will prove 
 their past history to be the same ? If prophecy, where 
 it speaks of their gathering, means merely their con- 
 version, then, of course, history, when it declares their 
 dispersion, means merely that they were left uncon- 
 verted ; for it is quite evident, that the future gathering 
 of Israel, whatever that may be, is a gathering from 
 the very dispersion which has taken place. The 
 gathering must of necessity correspond to the scatter- 
 ing, else the language of prophecy is confusion and 
 
240 ISRAEL. 
 
 uncertainty. If the gathering be only spiritual, the 
 dispersion must have been so too. And, therefore, for 
 aught that history tells us, the Jews may be still in 
 their own land, and not driven out among the nations, 
 for the words " scattering/' &c, were mere figures of 
 the historian, to denote their unconverted state ! 
 
 But this leads us to consider another point which 
 here suggests itself, namely, whether the literal accom- 
 plishment of the prophecies in regard to the literal 
 Israel be consistent with the gospel. It is said, " All 
 are one in Christ Jesus, therefore there can be no 
 national distinction of the Jews, no national restoration, 
 no national pre-eminence." I am unable to compre- 
 hend the ground or force of this reasoning. I cannot 
 discern the very shadow of inconsistency between the 
 two things ; nor can I understand how the national 
 distinctness, or even national pre-eminence of the Jews, 
 should prevent their being one in Christ Jesus with 
 their Gentile brethren. 
 
 Some have surely a strange notion of what is meant 
 by being " one in Christ," when they make that spirit- 
 ual oneness depend upon the uniformity of external 
 circumstances. What a low idea of Christian oneness ! 
 What a poor thing must it be if it can be so easily 
 infringed upon or broken up by national differences ! 
 They charge us with carnal views because we insist 
 upon the future distinctness of the Jewish nation ; but 
 it appears that the charge of carnality applies to them, 
 not to us ! We believe in the literal accomplishment 
 of the prophecies regarding the Jews, in which there 
 
ISRAEL. 24-1 
 
 appear to be many promises of temporal blessings as 
 well as spiritual ; but we lay no further stress upon 
 these than the Word of God lays ; we admit spiritual 
 blessings to be the highest and noblest. Our oppo- 
 nents, however, lay such stress upon external cir- 
 cumstances, as to insist, that if these exist the oneness 
 in Christ is gone. We had always understood Scrip- 
 ture as telling us, not that there were no national 
 distinctions, but that, in spite of these, there was a 
 oneness which bound together all believers ; a oneness 
 so spiritual, so divine, so unearthly, so unapproach- 
 able, as not to be in the very least affected by tempo- 
 ral distinctions of time, or place, or rank. 
 
 The apostle's statement is this ; " There is neither 
 Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is 
 neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ 
 Jesus." In this statement, so far from denying the 
 distinctions here specified, his argument takes for 
 granted that they all exist ; and the greater the dis- 
 tinction, the stronger does his statement appear. He 
 does not mean to say that such differences are to cease 
 under Christianity ; he plainly assumes that they do, 
 nay, that some of them must always exist In point 
 of fact, we know that they have not ceased. The Jew 
 has still been recognised by the same national name 
 after he has embraced the gospel, and so has the 
 Greek ; the slave lias still remained a slave ; the free 
 still free ; the distinction between male and female is 
 still the same. The apostle's object was to shew that, 
 let these distinctions be what they may, there is com- 
 
 Q 
 
242 ISRAEL. 
 
 mon ground on which, notwithstanding these, all stand 
 united. He maintains that these differences, even when 
 magnified to the uttermost, cannot interfere with the 
 perfect, the absolute, the universal freeness of the gos- 
 pel, nor mar the glorious unity into which all are 
 brought who have put on Christ. It is only when 
 viewed in this way that we see the bearing of such a 
 statement upon the apostle's argument in the passage 
 cited. He does not mean to say that the Jew was no 
 longer a Jew when he embraced the gospel, the Greek 
 no longer a Greek, the slave no longer a slave, the free 
 no longer free, the man and woman no longer distin- 
 guished from each other, but simply that these distinc- 
 tions could not interfere, as many supposed, with the 
 freeness and universality of the gospel. 
 
 It is not, then, the man who maintains the perpe- 
 tuity of these distinctions that contradicts the spirit of 
 the gospel, but the man who lays such stress upon 
 them as to say that, if they still subsist, all men can- 
 not be one in Christ. We therefore charge those who 
 argue in the above manner with maintaining a prin- 
 ciple inconsistent with the gospel. It is they, not ive, 
 who are chargeable with such error. We retort the 
 charge, which has been so often made against us, upon 
 those who have so inconsistently endeavoured to fasten 
 upon others the very errors upon which they were act- 
 ing themselves. Their ideas of the gospel must be 
 straitened and low indeed, who can assert that the 
 highest earthly distinctions, the mightiest national pre- 
 eminence, could in the least interfere with the spiritual 
 
ISRAEL. 243 
 
 privileges which that gospel brings to all who by faith 
 receive it. Carry out their inference from the above 
 passage one step further, and in what absurdity are 
 they landed ! If the freeness of the gospel be incon- 
 sistent with national distinctions, it must be as incon- 
 sistent with distinctions of ranks and sexes, which are 
 classed under this same head by the apostle. 
 
 In this argument, however, two things are generally 
 confounded, which yet are distinct from each other — 
 the national distinctness and national pre-eminence of 
 the Jews. I believe in both, because I find that both 
 are predicted. But still they are not inseparable. 
 They are in themselves quite different ; and therefore, 
 even though some of the arguments of our opponents 
 were much stronger than they are against the latter, 
 the former might be still untouched. Even though 
 the principle combated above, regarding the oneness 
 which the gospel brings, did tell against Israel's pre- 
 eminence, it would be a thing of some difficulty to 
 make it tell against Israel's national distinctness. 
 
 What, then, we ask of our opponents, is this ; to tell 
 us definitely and precisely hoiv the literal fulfilment of 
 the prophecies respecting Israel is inconsistent with 
 the nature and spirit of the gospel. It is easy to 
 assert this, but to shew how and why is a different 
 thing. Let them examine into the real state of the 
 question, and then they will perhaps find that it was 
 some old prepossession that has hitherto kept them at 
 a distance from the true point at issue, which made 
 them think it quite unnecessary for them more minutely 
 
244 ISRAEL. 
 
 to investigate a matter which, from childhood it may 
 be, has always appeared too plain to be denied, or even 
 doubted. If the literal fulfilment could be plainly and 
 unquestionably proved to be inconsistent with the gos- 
 pel, then we should be staggered. We should then be 
 led to seek some other interpretation ; we should then 
 be forced from the literal exposition. But till we are 
 in some such way compelled to abandon the plain 
 meaning of the word, we shall continue to hold it fast. 
 Nor shall we give it up for any mere probable infer- 
 ences. By none of the plausible suggestions of reason, 
 or the natural improbabilities that lie in our way, or 
 our own inability to trace distinctly its practical bear- 
 ings ; by none of these things shall we be persuaded 
 to abandon the natural and unsophisticated interpreta- 
 tion of God's Word We hold every jot and tittle 
 sacred ; we must take it as we find it ; we must inter- 
 pret it simply and naturally ; nor can we consent to 
 adopt that system which, instead of taking the living- 
 water with which every verse overflows, would distil, 
 perchance, one drop from a whole chapter ; as if that 
 were all. It matters not though that drop be pure as 
 the light, and brilliant as the rainbow, refreshing to 
 the taste, and sparkling with manifold lustre ; God 
 meant us not to draw it in that way, and from that 
 place, and therefore we must lay it aside in the mean- 
 time, and seek it afterwards at another source. It is 
 not enough to say that such an idea is true; we must 
 further know if it be the very truth for the declaration 
 of which the Spirit indited that particular passage. 
 
ISRAEL. 245 
 
 Men may say, " Is not a spiritual more excellent than a 
 literal meaning?" Let it be so; still that is not the 
 question ; otherwise we might overturn all history by 
 elevating it from a literal to a spiritual sense. The 
 question simply is, ''"What has God said?" not, "Which 
 is, in our esteem, the more dignified meaning 1 " Men 
 may also say, as they have often said, " You literalists 
 are always searching into things secret and hidden ; 
 your principles lead you to this ; you ought not to 
 study things not revealed." Of course, common sense 
 teaches us that we cannot do what is impossible. If a 
 moral necessity will not prevent us from attempting 
 what is unlawful or irreverent, a physical necessity 
 will surely prevent us from doing what is impracti- 
 cable. This is a simple truism. But to study Scrip- 
 ture is to study what is revealed, not what is secret. 
 And who is the man that will say that there is aught 
 of irreverence or presumption in searching into every 
 letter of Scripture ? Where is the Christian that dare 
 do otherwise? To know more of God, and more of 
 the mind of God, is the saint's daily endeavour. Every 
 verse of Scripture reveals more of His mind, and 
 gives us a nearer and fuller insight into His vast 
 designs. In passing from verse to verse, we seem as if 
 passing from chamber to chamber of the King's palace. 
 Scene after scene presents itself, wonder after wonder 
 opens up on the right hand and on the left, all new 
 and all divine ; all in different ways fashioned, and 
 set in order for disclosing to us " the manifold wisdom 
 of God."' 
 
246 ISRAEL. 
 
 Having endeavoured to answer the chief objections 
 brought against the literal interpretation of the pro- 
 phecies, I have now to consider the evidence for that 
 literal view. Before stating this, however, I have three 
 remarks to make. 
 
 1st. That the burden of proof lies properly on those 
 who depart from the natural meaning of the words. 
 We hold that, without a decided reason, no man is at 
 liberty to do so. To take for granted that the spiritual 
 is the true meaning in any part of it, is to confound all 
 language and interpretation. The opposite proceeding 
 is the only legitimate one. We must assume that the 
 literal is the true and sole meaning, till we can find 
 some reason for departing from it. It is upon the 
 validity of these reasons that every spiritual interpre- 
 tation must stand or fall. 
 
 2d. We remark that, in so far as prophecy has been 
 already fulfilled, that fulfilment has been a literal one. 
 Take the predictions regarding the Messiah. His being 
 born of the house of David ; of a virgin ; at Bethlehem ; 
 being carried down to and brought up out of Egypt ; 
 His healing diseases ; His entering Jerusalem on an 
 ass ; His being betrayed by one of His disciples ; His 
 being left by all His familiar friends ; His being smit- 
 ten, buffeted, spit upon ; His side being pierced ; His 
 bones unbroken ; His raiment divided by lot ; His re- 
 ceiving vinegar ; His being crucified between two 
 thieves ; His being buried by a rich man ; His lying- 
 three days in the tomb ; His rising on the third day ; 
 His ascending up on high, and sitting at the right hand 
 
ISRAEL. 2 1-7 
 
 of God ; these, and many others, have all been fulfilled 
 to the very letter; far more literally than we could 
 have ever conceived. And are not these fulfilments 
 strong arguments in favour of the literality of all that 
 yet remain behind ? Nay, do they not furnish us with 
 a distinct, unambiguous, and inspired canon of inter- 
 pretation? Take, again, the prophecies which concern 
 the heathen nations ; Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, Moab, 
 Amnion, Edom, Egypt, Have not all these been 
 literally fulfilled ? Or, lastly, take the predictions re- 
 garding Israel. Have not all been literally verified? 
 Captivity, dispersion, exile, misery, contempt, and 
 oppression, have been their history to this very hour. 
 And was there one particular of all their wondrous his- 
 tory which prophecy did not foretell ? Up to this hour 
 all has been literal fulfilment in their case. And shall 
 the curse pronounced on them be fulfilled to the very 
 letter, but not the blessing ? 
 
 But, 3d. We would remark upon the ambiguity with 
 which spiritual expositors interpret the names Israel, 
 Judah, and such like. These w r ords may have three 
 meanings. They may mean the literal Israel, or they 
 may mean the visible Church, or they may mean the 
 real spiritual children of Abraham. Now, what we re- 
 mark is, that many expositors mix up these three 
 meanings, so that sometimes one of these is said to be 
 the true one and sometimes the other, according as it 
 suits their views. They lay down no rule for fixing the 
 signification of these words, so as to determine exactly 
 when they mean one thing and when they mean 
 
248 ISRAEL. 
 
 another. Prophecy, under such a system, is mere 
 confusion and uncertainty. To say, as is often done, 
 that, when the predictions refer to the Christian Church, 
 they must be spiritually interpreted, is such a begging 
 of the question, that we wonder how any one could 
 seriously advance such a statement ; for the very point 
 in dispute is, whether they do refer to the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 How are we to rid ourselves of the inextricable 
 confusion in which we are involved by not knowing 
 what Israel really means? When we quote some 
 strong passage of the prophets in proof of the restora- 
 tion of the literal Israel, we are met with two explana- 
 tions. At one time we are told that such a passage 
 does not refer to the restoration, but to the conversion 
 of the Jews : and, again, at another time, we are told 
 that these prophecies do not allude to the Jews at all, 
 but to the Christian Church. In this manner, Scrip- 
 ture is recklessly tossed about from one interpretation 
 to another, till the infidel scoffs at men pretending to 
 confute him from prophecy, who yet do not themselves 
 know whether the prediction refers to Jew or Gentile. 
 Some, however, seem inclined to fix the meaning of 
 most passages to the Christian Church ; not to the 
 merely visible Church, but to the really spiritual Israel. 
 But here we do feel at a stand. These prophecies speak 
 of the conversion of those called Israel, that is, of the 
 conversion of those who are already converted ! They 
 were entitled to the name of Israel because they were 
 believers, or converted men ; and yet of these it is fore- 
 
ISRAEL. 249 
 
 told that they shall be converted in goodly numbers in 
 the latter days. What a maze ! 
 
 The expression, " the throne of David," often occurs 
 in prophecy ; and it is difficult to understand exactly 
 what the spiritualists make of it. According to them, 
 so far as we can see, David's throne might mean any 
 throne, David's kingdom any kingdom ; or rather, it 
 must mean every throne and every kingdom. But 
 surely David's throne was not in heaven. His king- 
 dom was not in heaven. His throne was not in the 
 hearts of men. His reign was not a mere reign of prin- 
 ciples. We are not here contending for a literal and 
 visible occupation of David's throne by Messiah in 
 Jerusalem ; all we are now maintaining is, that what- 
 ever it means, it must at least mean, the peculiar 
 sovereignty of Messiah over the literal Israel. It ap- 
 pears to us, that Christ's being to receive the throne of 
 His father David, must refer to the peculiar dominion 
 which He is to exercise over the tribes and land over 
 which David ruled. 
 
 That "the throne of David," and such like expressions, 
 have the literal meaning we have stated, is, we think, 
 evident from many passages of the Old and the New 
 Testament Scriptures. I might ask for evidence that 
 it means a throne in men's hearts, and leave the matter 
 there. But I would at the same time point out at least 
 one passage which appears to me very strongly in 
 favour of the literal view, and that is, the answer of 
 our Lord to His disciples when they questioned Him 
 regarding the kingdom, as it is recorded in the first 
 
250 ISRAEL. 
 
 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. They asked, 
 " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to 
 Israel ? " Now, we know well what they meant by 
 " the kingdom," and by its restoration to Israel. They 
 understood restoration to that dominion and pre-emi- 
 nence which Israel had enjoyed in other days, accord- 
 ing to God's promises to Abraham. Not that they 
 excluded spiritual blessings. There is no reason for 
 supposing that they ever did so, amid the many carnal 
 ideas which they entertained ; but they believed that, 
 in addition to these, external prosperity and deliverance 
 were to be vouchsafed. Holding these opinions regard- 
 ing the kingdom, they put the question above quoted 
 to their Master. And what was His reply? Did He 
 shew them the impropriety and carnality of their views ? 
 Did He tell them that their interpretations of restored 
 supremacy to Israel were vain and worldly ? No ; He 
 took for granted that their expectations were correct, 
 and merely cautioned them against searching too 
 eagerly and impatiently into the times and seasons. 
 He did not put a different meaning on the words king- 
 dom and Israel from what they did ; He only re- 
 minded them that the Father kept the times in His 
 own hand. He thus admitted that the kingdom was 
 to be restored to Israel ; and His declaration is no 
 answer to His disciples' question, unless it mean this. 
 Nay, it was fitted to mislead them, if their ideas of the 
 restoration of the kingdom were wrono;.* 
 
 * " Christ did never absolutely deny His having such a visible 
 glorious kingdom upon earth, as that which His disciples looked 
 
ISRAEL. 2.5 1 
 
 It is of great moment to remember for what end the 
 prophets wrote, and what were the circumstances of 
 Israel at the time. Almost all their burdens begin 
 with denouncing Israel's sin, and proclaiming Israel's 
 judgment. The nation itself, the people, the land, the 
 cities, the mountains, the priests, and, above all, the 
 city, the mountain, the temple, are the objects against 
 which God's indignation is announced. These scenes 
 of apostasy and judgment furnish the gloomy fore- 
 ground to almost every prophetic picture. Bright as 
 are the visions which open up to us of future blessed- 
 ness in reserve for this wretched earth, yet almost all 
 of these take their rise in some picture of judgment. 
 Take that scene of coming gladness described in the 
 conclusion of the thirty-third chapter of Isaiah. It is, 
 indeed, one well fitted to comfort and confirm the 
 drooping spirit ; a scene of most majestic tranquillity, 
 of rich and resplendent loveliness. " Look upon Zion, 
 the city of our solemnities ! Thine eyes shall see Jeru- 
 salem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be 
 taken down." But how does this fair picture of future 
 glory commence? With lamentation, and mourning, 
 
 for ; only He corrected their error as to the time of this kingdoms ap~ 
 pearing. Christ did not say to them that there should never be any 
 such restoration of the kingdom to Israel as their thoughts were 
 running upon; only He telleth them that the times and seasons 
 were not for them to know; thereby acknowledging that such a 
 kingdom should indeed be, as they did, from the holy prophets, ex- 
 pect. Herein was their error ; not in expecting a glorious appear- 
 ance of the Kingdom of God, but in that they made account that 
 this would be immediately." — The Mystery of Israel's Salvation, by 
 Increase Mather, 1669, p. 130. 
 
252 ISRAEL. 
 
 and woe. " The earth mourneth and languisheth ; 
 Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down; Sharon is like a 
 wilderness ; Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits." 
 The prophet stands upon some high eminence, and be- 
 fore him lies the land of Israel. At his feet, in the 
 dark foreground, the desolations are spread out, and 
 he paints them with every image of terror. The land 
 lies desolate, languishing like some uprooted flower ; 
 and from every highway the wayfaring man has gone, 
 till all is solitude. Lebanon has been stripped of its 
 towering grandeur, and bows the head in shame. Its 
 cedars have been torn from its sides, and it stands in 
 dishonoured nakedness. Sharon has lost its flowery 
 beauty, and its fields of roses have become a wilder- 
 ness. The verdure of Bashan has faded, and the 
 excellency of Carmel has departed. Such is the fore- 
 ground. After this has been fully described, then, 
 but not till then, does the vision open out in bright- 
 ness. The prophet's eye passes from the scene imme- 
 diately beneath his view, and turns to one of fairer 
 aspect. He sees the land restored, the city rebuilt, 
 Jerusalem a quiet habitation, the glorious Lord in the 
 midst of her, her own Messiah, her own anointed King; 
 peace, joy, and righteousness abounding. Thus the 
 vision terminates. Such are the two parts of almost 
 every prophetic sketch. 
 
 We have, however, an infallible guide in pursuing 
 our way through Old Testament Scripture. The New 
 Testament is the inspired interpreter of the Old ; and 
 when we find the prophets cited by Christ and His 
 
ISRAEL. 253 
 
 apostles, we are not only sure that their interpretations 
 are true, but we are furnished with a rule for under- 
 standing, a key for opening up the whole volume of 
 prophecy. I need not refer in detail to these New 
 Testament quotations ; they are all literal, in the 
 strictest sense of the word ; and it has been shewn 
 that there are at least one hundred and nine instances 
 of the literal interpretation in the history of Christ. 
 In these there are no Oriental figures ; all is simple. 
 In truth, there is no figure at all, save when it is em- 
 ployed for the sake of definiteness and distinctness. 
 There is no vagueness or ambiguity; all is precision 
 and perspicuity. There may be some which seem less 
 literal ; but these are very few, and regarding their 
 meaning there is difference of opinion. In the judg- 
 ment of many able expositors, even these ought to be 
 literally understood. Let me cite two instances. In 
 his application of the prophecy of Haggai, (Heb. xii. 
 26, 27,) the apostle has been supposed by many to 
 sanction the idea of a spiritual fulfilment. He is sup- 
 posed to assert that that prediction was accomplished 
 in the dissolution of the Jewish polity. But is it not 
 obvious that he is speaking of something still future, 
 and referring to a real and literal shaking of all things ; 
 a shaking as literal, though much more terrible and 
 extensive than that which convulsed Mount Sinai, and 
 made all Israel quake ? Again, in the Epistle to the 
 Galatians, (chap. vi. 1 6,) the expression " the Israel of 
 God" has been generally interpreted as meaning the 
 spiritual Israel, and as therefore giving countenance to 
 
254; ISEAEL. 
 
 the spiritualising process by which, the Old Testament 
 predictions regarding Israel are robbed of all their 
 peculiar and appropriate meaning. Now here, again, 
 I should be inclined to suggest that the apostle may 
 really be speaking of the literal Israel ; and as through- 
 out the whole epistle he has been contrasting and com- 
 paring the circumcision and the uncircumcision, the 
 Jew and the Gentile, so here he first prays for a bless- 
 ing on the believing Gentiles, and then on the believ- 
 ing Jews. For these two interpretations we are not 
 at present much concerned to contend ; I would not 
 lay much stress upon any particular view of them. 
 From them no rule can be drawn. For that we must 
 go to the unambiguous passages, especially as these 
 are by far the most numerous. 
 
 Regarding these undisputed passages, we remark 
 that they are all instances of literal fulfilments. The 
 obvious conclusion, then, to which we come is, that 
 literal fulfilment is the New Testament rule. That 
 there are not exceptions from this, we will not assert ; 
 there may be such, but the pervading principle of 
 exposition acted upon throughout the New Testament 
 is as we have stated above. Can we be wrong in 
 maintaining that, since Christ and His apostles quoted 
 literally, and interpreted literally, we ought also to do 
 the same? This is certainly our rule. The utmost 
 that can be deduced from the ambiguous passages 
 already referred to is, that since we see that some quo- 
 tations are applied in a spiritual way, there may be 
 others, perhaps, not quoted which require to be inter- 
 
ISKAEL. 2)0 
 
 preted in the same way. There may thus be excep- 
 tions to this general practice of the New Testament 
 writers, and consequently the rule might be said not 
 to be universal and invariable ; yet still the exceptions 
 are so few and peculiar, that to build upon them in 
 opposition to the general law of exposition would be 
 most unreasonable and dangerous. 
 
 What rule, then, we ask, are we entitled to draw 
 from these exceptions ? Simply this, that, seeing some 
 quotations are not literally interpreted in the Xew 
 Testament, others also may admit of a spiritual con- 
 struction ; this is all the length to which, upon such 
 data, we are entitled to go. But even this we are not 
 to take advantage of, nor positively to found upon, 
 unless for particular reasons ; for the general principle 
 must be maintained, unless there are special grounds 
 for departing from it. It is only when compelled to 
 abandon the general rule as untenable in any particular 
 case, that we are at liberty to resort to the exception. 
 We ought, however, to be sure that the reasons for 
 which we are forced to give up the general principle 
 are solid and scriptural, before taking such a step. It 
 often happens that the literal construction of a passage 
 stands in the way of a particular theory ; but that 
 surely is a reason which ought to be cautiously acted 
 on, inasmuch as, instead of attempting to reconcile our 
 theory with Scripture, we may be seeking to reconcile 
 Scripture with our own theory. We are always safe 
 when seeking to be upon the side of Scripture, but we 
 arc not always so safe in seeking to have Scripture 
 
256 ISRAEL. 
 
 upon our side. General reasonings, then, ought to be 
 very slowly admitted as grounds for classing a particu- 
 lar passage among the exceptions, instead of placing it 
 (as prima facie evidence would lead us to do) as an 
 illustration of the rule itself. In other words, our 
 Lord and His apostles having, in so many instances, 
 quoted literally from the Old Testament, we ought to 
 do the same, unless special reasons forbid ; among 
 which reasons our own theories, or inferences, or 
 systems, or conjectures, ought to be very cautiously 
 adduced, if allowed at all. 
 
 The names Israel, Zion, Jerusalem, &c, are so com- 
 monly used among us to denote the Church of Christ, 
 that we seldom think of asking our scriptural authority 
 for this appropriation. Custom has naturalised the 
 expression, so that we think it strange to ask how such 
 expressions came to be thus spiritualised. We take it 
 for granted that Scripture as often employs the terms 
 in this way as we do. But do we really find this to be 
 the case ? Do we find any such countenance given to 
 this, either in the gospels or the epistles ? No ; we find 
 the names used in the same plain and natural sense ; 
 and no intimation that, in interpreting the prophets, 
 Jew and Gentile, Israel and the Church, were to be 
 used as convertible terms. No change of phraseology 
 took place under the new dispensation, at least in so 
 far as the Divine record enables us to judge. Israel 
 still continued to be used in the same sense in which it 
 had been employed from the days of Moses, for the 
 nation or Church of the Jews, the descendants of 
 
ISRAEL. 2)7 
 
 Abraham ; and so also we may affirm of the similar 
 names used by the prophets for that nation. In look- 
 ing over the Concordance of proper names in Scripture 
 given by Cruden, we were surprised to find how fully 
 this remark is borne out by the fact, — even more fully 
 and extensively than we had anticipated. There are 
 really only two or three places in the whole New 
 Testament where such names are used in what may be 
 called a spiritual, or figurative sense. These are such 
 as that in Hebrews, (chap. xii. 22,) "Ye are come unto 
 Mount Zion/' and the two passages in the Revelation, 
 which speak of the Lamb and His company standing 
 upon Mount Zion ; and even these two last can 
 scarcely be said to be spiritual, inasmuch as, although 
 the vision be symbolical, yet each part of it is taken 
 from a literal scene, one object in which is the literal 
 Mount Zion, which was in this way set before the 
 apostle in vision. 
 
 In the New Testament, Jerusalem occurs nearly 
 eighty times, and all of them unquestionably literal, 
 save where the opposite is expressly pointed out by the 
 epithets heavenly, or new, or holy.* Jew occurs above 
 an hundred times, and only four are even ambiguous, 
 such as in Rom. ii. 28. Israel and Israelite occur 
 above forty times, and all literal. Judah and Judea 
 
 * The same remark will apply to Gal. iv. 26. There are diffi- 
 culties connected with this passage; but in whatever way these are 
 solved, still the words " Jerusalem which is above " cannot mean 
 the Christian Church. The epithet " above," and the whole scope 
 of the apostle's argument, forbid this. The apostle's object was to 
 prove that believers in Christ (or the Christian Church) are free. 
 
 11 
 
25 S ISEAEL. 
 
 above twenty times, and all literal. It would appear, 
 then, that the New Testament affixes the same mean- 
 ing to these names as the Old did. It preserves, 
 instead of changing the former meanings of these 
 familiar terms. It does not, indeed, preclude us from 
 using them in a spiritual sense ; but it plainly shews 
 that such is not their natural and scriptural meaning. 
 
 If, then, the New Testament be the key of Old 
 Testament prophecy, we can be at no loss to see at 
 least the general principles upon which the latter is to 
 be expounded. There is no New Testament authority 
 for spiritualising the name of Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, 
 Zion. Our Lord and His apostles, in quoting passages 
 in which these names occurred, took them in their 
 obvious and long-established meaning. If they had 
 not, how could the gainsayer or the Jew have been 
 convinced of unbelief, or rejection of the truth which 
 the prophets had spoken, when the truth of that charge 
 depended altogether upon the skill with which they 
 could spiritualise the sayings of prophecy ? Or, how 
 can we at this day refute either the Infidel or the Jew, 
 if names and words do not really mean what they 
 seem to stand for ? The Apostle Paul convinced the 
 Jews in his day, by distinct references to the words 
 which the prophets had spoken regarding Israel. He 
 
 He does this by shewing that they (or this Church) are the off- 
 spring of a Jerusalem' that is free. "Would it not be absurd, then, 
 to say, "believers are free because the Christian Church is free," 
 when the very thing to be proved was, whether the Christian 
 Church was free ; which the apostle does by proving her connexion 
 with a " Jerusalem above," which all acknowledged to be free ? 
 
ISRAEL, 259 
 
 applied to Israel what had been predicted regarding 
 Israel, and thus he " mightily convinced " them. And 
 to this day how can we do otherwise than follow his 
 example ? How could a Jew be convinced in any other 
 way ? Nay, how could you get a Jew to give you even 
 a patient hearing? You insist upon his believing 
 that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised to the 
 fathers, because every thing spoken in the law and the 
 prophets concerning Him has been literally fulfilled ; 
 you dwell upon this point, — the exact and literal fulfil- 
 ment of all the predictions regarding Him, — and here 
 you stand on ground altogether impregnable. But no 
 sooner do you leave this one point, than you throw 
 your literality into the air ; you deny that any thing 
 else is literal ; and thus you dig from beneath you the 
 ground upon which you might have stood triumphantly 
 both against Jew and Infidel. 
 
 With such clear inconsistency, how can you expect 
 a Jew to appreciate your arguments ? Nay, how can 
 you wonder if he should question your sincerity? You 
 gather together the passages in which Moses and the 
 prophets have predicted Israel's desolation ; you take 
 passage after passage, clause after clause, word after 
 word, and shew how fully all that has been spoken has 
 been fulfilled ; you point to the ruin of their city, the 
 desolation of their fields, their expulsion from their 
 land and dispersion among all nations ; to the misery, 
 the shame, the degradation under which they have 
 groaned in every age since Jerusalem became a heap. 
 You point to these, and ask a stout-hearted Jew, " Can 
 
260 ISRAEL. 
 
 you remain in your unbelief and rebellion with pro- 
 phecies so exjilicit condemning you to the face ? " Ee- 
 sistless argument ! were it not that the arguer refutes 
 himself by his own inconsistency. For the Jew, un- 
 able, perhaps, to meet directly such conclusive pas- 
 sages, slides away to others which speak in different 
 strains. He points to those predictions which declare 
 that, as Israel has been driven out from his land, so to 
 that very land shall Israel return ; that as their city 
 has been laid in ruins and trodden down of the Gen- 
 tiles, so shall Jerusalem be "rebuilded upon her own 
 heaps/' and arise in glory from the dust ; that as their 
 land has become a wilderness covered with briars and 
 thorns, Lebanon being hewn down, Sharon languish- 
 ing, and Carmel shaking off' her fruits, so the wilder- 
 ness and solitary place shall yet be glad, and the desert 
 rejoice and blossom as the rose. He points to these, 
 and comforts himself in the hope that his days of 
 splendour shall return. How amazed is he when told 
 by his Christian opponent that all these are figures ; 
 that his return to his own land means only his conver- 
 sion to Christianity; that the rebuilding of Jerusalem 
 means only the enlarging of the Church of Christ. 
 How bewildered he looks when the very man who had 
 been pleading so eloquently for the full and exact 
 accomplishment of all the curses against Israel, shew- 
 ing so clearly that every clause and word had been 
 fulfilled, not one jot or tittle being abated, now com- 
 placently tells him that, though the curses are all 
 literal, yet the blessings are only figurative ! Israel 
 
ISRAEL. 261 
 
 has been literally expelled from Canaan; but he is to 
 be only figuratively restored ! He has been literally 
 scattered among the nations ; but he is to be only 
 figuratively gathered! And all this gravely asserted 
 upon New Testament principles, in the name of Christ 
 and His apostles ! What can a Jew think of Chris- 
 tianity after this ? 
 
 Up to this hour, then, everything respecting Israel 
 has been literally accomplished. Nothing in what has 
 hitherto occurred in their strange history gives the 
 slightest countenance to the figurative interpretations 
 for which some so strenuously contend. Why is Israel 
 still an exile, an outcast, a wanderer, if there be no 
 literal curse ? Why is Jerusalem laid in heaps, and 
 Mount Zion ploughed as a field? (Jer. xxvi. 18.) Why 
 is the crown of Samaria broken, its ruins rolled down 
 into the valley, and its vines all withered from the 
 mountain side? (Jer. xxxi. 5; Micah i. 6.) Why is 
 Lebanon hewn down, the oaks of Bashan withered, the 
 roses of Sharon gone ? Why do the fields of Heshbon 
 languish ? Why is the vine of Sibmah uprooted, the 
 summer fruits of Elealeh faded, and why is Carmel 
 bare ? Why is baldness come upon Gaza, and why is 
 A>hkelon cut off? Why is Amnion a couching-place 
 for flocks, and the palaces of Bozrah swept away? 
 Why is Moab fled, Idumea become a wilderness, and 
 Mount Seir laid desolate ? Why is all this, if there be 
 no literal curse ? And why, if there has been such 
 a literal curse, is the literal blessing to be denied ? 
 
 It is foolish to answer, as many do, " The spiritual 
 
262 ISRAEL. 
 
 blessing is far richer ; why contend about blessings of 
 meaner value ? " Why ? .Because we believe that God 
 has revealed them ; because we believe that as God has 
 been dishonoured by Israel's being an outcast from the 
 land of promise, so He will be honoured by their 
 peaceful settlement again ; because as we know He 
 was glorified in leading up Israel, His first-born, out 
 of Egypt, from the tyranny of Pharaoh, through the 
 wilderness into Canaan, so we believe He designs to 
 glorify Himself by a second exodus, and a second 
 establishment in the land given to Abraham and his 
 seed ; because as He magnified His name and power 
 in the sight of the heathen by bringing His people out 
 from Babylon after seventy years' captivity, so we 
 believe He will magnify that name again by leading 
 them out of Babylon the Great, and planting them in 
 their ancient possessions to inherit them for ever; 
 never to be disturbed by the enemy ; never to hear 
 the voice of war again. For it is written, " I will 
 make thee an eternal excellency, the joy of many gene- 
 rations ; thy people shall be all righteous, they shall 
 inherit the land for ever." This people, thus restored, 
 are to be called by a new name, Hephzi-hah, and the 
 land also by a new name, Beulah; their King is to be 
 the Prince of Peace, and the name of their city from 
 thenceforth is to be Jehovah-Shammah, "The Lord is 
 there." (Ezek. xlviii. 35.) 
 
 But why, it is still asked, thus contend for literal 
 blessings, seeing there are spiritual blessings richer 
 far ? I answer, Why has God inflicted a literal curse ? 
 
ISRAEL. 263 
 
 Was not a spiritual curse more terrible by far ? Was 
 it not enough that their eyes were blinded, and their 
 hearts hardened, and the knowledge of the true Mes- 
 siah hidden from them, so that they were left to go on 
 in misery and darkness without God, and without a 
 hope ? Was not this enough, without being sent forth 
 as wanderers among the nations, mingling with all, yet 
 separated from all ? Could the infliction of the tem- 
 poral curse add anything to their spiritual banishment 
 from God? If, in their future history, the spiritual 
 blessing be enough, why, in their past histoiy, should 
 not the spiritual curse suffice ? Or, if God, by their 
 history, has made it plain to all that He meant the 
 temporal as well as the spiritual, why should man pre- 
 sume to be wiser than God, and say that in the time to 
 come, one of these is enough? I am not contending 
 for temporal blessings alone. I admit that these with- 
 out the other would be poor indeed. Even Eden would 
 have been a wilderness without the presence of God ; 
 but Eden was a blessed place when God was there. 
 So with Israel. We contend as much as any one for 
 the future amount of spiritual blessings to Israel ; we 
 would not abate one jot of these ; we know that with- 
 out the outpouring of the Spirit upon them, even Jeru- 
 salem, rebuilt by God, and their land a second Paradise, 
 would still be a scene of misery, a region of darkness. 
 But whilst we believe that Israel shall receive to the 
 full all the spiritual blessings which the most strenuous 
 spiritualist can imagine, we also believe that all manner 
 of temporal blessings are awaiting them too, according 
 
264 ISRAEL. 
 
 to the promise of God. These two things are surely 
 not incompatible. The one does not exclude or neu- 
 tralise the other. Israel's being brought from the 
 ends of the earth, and planted in his own land again, 
 will be no hindrance to his enjoying to the full all 
 the spiritual blessings which God has still in reserve 
 for him. And if God has been pleased in His Word to 
 speak of gathering them from all nations, planting 
 them in their own land, rebuilding their cities, &c, can 
 we, or ought we, to affirm that these expressions mean 
 nothing else but their conversion to Christ ? Is there 
 one who will attempt to prove, that such predictions 
 cannot mean temporal restoration, and that they must 
 mean spiritual restoration ? Why are men so anxious 
 to deny the literal sense? Why are they so eagerly 
 solicitous to prove it all a figure? Why have they 
 such a singular dislike to give to such predictions their 
 natural and common-sense meaning? Why are they 
 so afraid of laterality? We know of no instance in 
 which the literal system has injured the Church, or 
 introduced heresy ; but from the days of Origen down- 
 wards, to the era of modern Neology, all manner of 
 evil has attended the departure from the literal sense 
 of the Scripture. 
 
 In addition to these general principles on which I 
 contend for the literal interpretation of the prophecies 
 regarding Israel, let me very briefly state one or two 
 more. 
 
 I. In those passages where Jew and Gentile are 
 Bpoken of together, and either compared or contrasted. 
 
ISKAEL. 265 
 
 we are sure that the prophecy regards the literal Israel. 
 If not, then what does the term Gentile mean ? If in 
 such passages Israel means the Christian Church, then 
 the most obvious absurdities and incongruities would 
 ensue. Many a prophecy would in this way be 
 stripped, not merely of its peculiar meaning, but of all 
 meaning together. The different circumstances of Jew 
 and Gentile ; the contrast between them ; the relation 
 the one bears to the other ; the influence the one is to 
 exert upon the other, are very frequently alluded to 
 and dwelt upon in prophecy : and keeping these things 
 in view, the passages are plain, their connexion clear, 
 their interpretation natural. Deny these ; make Zion 
 or Israel to mean the Church of Christ, and whole 
 chapters are either one mass of confusion, or from be- 
 ginning to end a monotonous repetition of one single 
 idea. See Isaiah xlix. 22, lx. 3, lxii. 2. 
 
 II. In those prophecies which preserve the well- 
 known distinction between Judah and Israel, or Judah 
 and Ephraim, we must interpret Israel, Zion, &c, lite- 
 rally of the Jewish nation, or church, or land, or city ; 
 otherwise we introduce most unmeaning names, and in- 
 appropriate figures. As, for instance, Zech. ix. 13, 
 " When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with 
 Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, Zion, against thy 
 sons, Greece/' &c. See also Isaiah xi. 12, 13 ; Jer. 
 xxx. 3. 
 
 III. When the unfulfilled prophecy is the carrying 
 on or conclusion of one chain, the first part of which 
 has been literally fulfilled, or is literally fulfilling before 
 
266 ISRAEL. 
 
 our eyes. If in the first part of a prophecy Israel just 
 means Israel, of course in the latter part, onward to 
 the end, it must mean the same. See the 30th and 
 31st chapters of Jeremiah. 
 
 IV. When their scattering and their gatherincr are 
 j)laced together, and when we are told, that as they 
 have been scattered, so they shall be gathered. Very 
 striking and explicit are the prophecies to this effect in 
 Deuteronomy, where the plainness of the style pre- 
 cludes the idea of figures. How, for instance, could the 
 most ingenious spiritualiser contrive to explain away 
 such a passage as this, — "If any of thine be driven 
 out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence 
 will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence 
 will he fetch thee ; and the Lord thy God will bring 
 thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and 
 thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and 
 multiply thee above thy fathers ? n (Deut. xxx. 4.) See 
 also Jeremiah xxiii. 3, xxx. 3, ] 8 ; Ezekiel xx. 34. 
 
 V. When the countries are specified, into which they 
 have been scattered, and in which they are dwelling. 
 We find them dwelling in these countries, and God 
 says He will take them out of these, and plant them 
 in their own land again. Does this mean merely, 
 as according to some it does, that Christ is to have 
 a Church in these places, or, according to others, 
 that Israel is to be converted to Christ ? Impossible ! 
 What can Egypt mean, — and Pathros, and Cush, and 
 Elam, and Shinar, and Hamath, and the islands of 
 the sea ? What sort of compound and incongruous 
 
ISRAEL. 267 
 
 figure can be fashioned out of these ? See Isaiah xi. 
 11, xlix. 12. 
 
 VI. When, in the beginning of a prophecy, reference 
 is made to their Egyptian bondage, their Babylonian 
 or Assyrian captivities, the conclusion of the prophecy 
 must concern literal Israel, and refer to a literal deliver- 
 ance. See Isaiah lii. 4. When God alludes to her 
 rescue from Babylonish captivity, and says that He 
 will set His hand the second time to recover the rem- 
 nant of His people, it must be literal Israel that is 
 meant, and a literal restoration that is foretold. 
 
 VII. When both their conversion and restoration to 
 their own land are spoken of together in the same pas- 
 sage. This very frequently occurs : and in such cases 
 we do not see how a figurative interpretation can for a 
 moment stand. Were the words which predict their 
 restoration standing by themselves, we can conceive 
 how, by dint of ingenuity, it might be possible to 
 impose a spiritual sense upon certain passages, and 
 to exclude all reference to Israel's restoration to their 
 own land, and pre-eminence among the nations ; but 
 when one verse plainly foretells their restoration to 
 their own land, and the next their spiritual conversion 
 to God, it seems to us a perversion and confusion of 
 all language to say, that both these mean the same 
 thing. Take, for example, Ezekiel's prophecy regard- 
 ing the blessing to be poured out on Israel in the latter 
 day. (Chap, xxxvi. 24-28). He had been declaring 
 how they had been "scattered among the heathen, 
 and dispersed through the countries/' He then fore- 
 
268 ISEAEL. 
 
 tells their future prosperity ; and first their restoration 
 to their own land : "I will take you from among the 
 heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will 
 bring you into your own land." This of itself seems 
 plain enough, especially when placed by the side of the 
 description given, a few verses before, of their dispersion, 
 which all admit to be literal. But as if to jDr event even 
 the possibility of its being said that this meant con- 
 version, it is immediately added, " Then will I sprinkle 
 clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all 
 your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse 
 you ; a new heart also will I give you ; and a new 
 spirit will I put within you." We might instance 
 many similar passages, but this is enough as a 
 specimen. To us such instances appear quite con- 
 clusive. Indeed, without a previous determination not 
 to believe the restoration of Israel, we hardly see how 
 any one could for a moment think of disputing the 
 literality of such passages.* 
 
 There are two passages especially, we believe, on 
 which much is built by some, in maintaining that by 
 Israel and Judah are meant the Christian Church. One 
 is in Acts xv. 14-17, and the other Heb. viii. 8-12. 
 These are appealed to as resistless proofs that the 
 apostles did interpret these passages regarding Israel 
 of the Christian Church. Let us then briefly inquire 
 
 * " It appears to me evident that the scene of the future conver- 
 sion of the Jews is their own land, where it is probable, from Zech- 
 ariah, that a supernatural interposition of the Messiah trill take place 
 m their favour."— Robert Hall, Works, vol. iv. p. 404. 
 
ISRAEL. 269 
 
 whether they do so. The former runs thus : " After 
 this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle 
 of David, which is fallen down," &c. Now, as the 
 apostle introduced this quotation to prove that it was 
 God's design, as declared by His prophet Amos, " to. 
 visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His 
 name/' it is said that he meant to interpret the expres- 
 sion, " building the tabernacle of David," of the conver- 
 sion of the Gentiles. To us it appears plain, that the ex- 
 pression " tabernacle of David " is not the point of his 
 quotation or argument. That is in the next verse, 
 where the words " all the Gentiles " occur. It is from 
 these last words that he evidently meant to gather the 
 principle for which he was arguing. It is upon this 
 alone, and not upon the former expressions, — which we 
 understand in their usual sense, as meaning Israel 
 according to the flesh, — that the weight of his argu- 
 ment lies. All he wanted to establish was, that God 
 had foretold that the Gentiles were to be called in. 
 This the latter verse distinctly asserts ; the former at 
 least, if at all, only by figurative inference. We deny, 
 then, that here the apostle meant to affirm that the 
 tabernacle of David signified the Gentiles. He quotes 
 the whole passage no doubt, but the part upon which 
 he builds his argument is the latter part of it, where 
 the Gentiles are expressly named. It is very common 
 witli the sacred writers in the New Testament to quote 
 the whole passage, though only one clause was needed 
 to prove the point in question. As a striking instance 
 of this, we refer to Matt. xii. 15, 21, in which Isaiah is 
 
270 ISEAEL. 
 
 cited by the evangelist to illustrate a particular part of 
 our Lord's character (ver. 16), — His continually charg- 
 ing those whom He healed not to make Him known. 
 Several verses are quoted, two of them which speak of 
 the Gentiles, though this had nothing to do with the 
 point in hand, which was simply this, — the meek and 
 gentle character of Christ. Much more of the passage 
 is quoted than is actually needed for the proof ; and 
 we might as well argue from this passage that Gen- 
 tiles meant Jews, as from the other that Jews meant 
 Gentiles. Indeed, upon the principles on which our 
 opponents argue in expounding the quotation in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, we do not see how they can 
 refuse the conclusion, that in this passage of Isaiah, 
 cited by Matthew when speaking of his own people, 
 the Jews are designated twice over by the name of 
 Gentiles. But in both places the design of the citation 
 is sufficiently obvious, viz., to establish a particular 
 point or principle from an Old Testament prophecy. 
 One clause alone, in each of these, forms the point on 
 which the argument rests, though, as was natural and 
 proper, the whole connected prophecy is quoted at 
 length. 
 
 The other citation favourable to the figurative view 
 of the prophecies concerning Israel, is Hebrews viii. 8, 
 concerning the new covenant to be made with the 
 house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It has 
 been argued, that because this is the New Testament 
 covenant, that therefore Judah and Israel must mean 
 the Church of Christ ! As well might it be argued, 
 
ISRAEL. 271 
 
 that when the prophets speak of the promise to Abra- 
 ham, regarding the blessings which were to flow to 
 him and to his seed through the coming Saviour, 
 Abraham did not mean Abraham, but the Church of 
 Christ. The whole of this passage in Hebrews, and 
 more especially the chapter in Jeremiah from which it 
 is taken, are too clear and explicit to be thus mis- 
 interpreted. The apostle's meaning is obvious, and 
 the drift of his quotation as obvious, without the 
 necessity of having recourse to any such unnatural 
 stretch of exposition. He had been speaking of the 
 old covenant, — the covenant made with Israel at Mount 
 Sinai, with all its varied ritual and imperfect priest- 
 hood ; and he comes to shew that all this was to be 
 abolished, and in its place a new covenant was to be 
 made with Israel, with that Israel with whom the 
 former covenant had been made, which was done away 
 in Christ. This was his object, this the drift of his 
 argument, and no quotation could better support that 
 argument than this from Jeremiah, if literally under- 
 stood. If taken spiritually, it furnishes really no solid 
 proof of his assertion, that Israel's old economy was to 
 pass away, and a new one was to be established with 
 this same nation, — especially if we consider that he 
 was arguing with Jews, and had been speaking of the 
 literal Israel all along. 
 
 But, in saying this, do we deny that it is the new 
 covenant in Christ that he is speaking of, or say that 
 it excludes the Gentiles, or that it does not apply to 
 the universal Church of Christ ? No : we maintain all 
 
272 ISRAEL. 
 
 that as decidedly as any can ; only we think that it 
 was not the apostle's direct object to establish these in 
 that passage, though it is clear that in proving his 
 immediate point, he establishes all the rest. Abraham's 
 covenant was the Gentiles' covenant too ; Abraham's 
 covenant is that upon which the spiritual children of 
 Abraham stand ; on which the Church of Christ is 
 built : but still, in order to prove this, it is not neces- 
 sary, as some seem to imagine, that we must prove 
 that Abraham means the Gentiles, or the Church of 
 Christ. And as this passage asserts, that it was, in the 
 first place, with the literal Israel that this new cove- 
 nant was to be made, so we find it to have been. 
 Messiah, when He came, " confirmed the covenant with 
 many for one week." (Dan. ix. 27.) He confined His 
 own ministry to the Jews ; He commanded His first 
 apostles, whom He sent forth before He suffered, to do 
 the same ; and in His last commission to them before 
 He left the earth, while He sent them forth into all 
 the world, He yet told them to begin at Jerusalem, 
 with which we find, in the Acts of the Apostles, they 
 very strictly complied. Doubtless, the passage in 
 Jeremiah speaks of a time still future, in which this 
 covenant is more fully and more gloriously to be con- 
 firmed to Israel ; but still it was at the abolition of the 
 old economy that this new covenant began to be made 
 with them, and when, in the latter day, they are 
 gloriously gathered in, and re-established in peace 
 under Messiah the Prince, their security shall be this 
 same covenant of grace. "I will be merciful to their 
 
ISEAEL. 273 
 
 unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will 
 I remember no more." 
 
 I trust that I have said enough to shew that such 
 passages as those adverted to, have been misinterpreted, 
 and do really furnish no ground for that spiritualising 
 application of the prophecies to the Church of Christ 
 on which many dwell. One would imagine, from the 
 eagerness manifested in endeavouring to wrest such pro- 
 mises from the literal Israel, that the very hope of a 
 Gentile depended upon his being able to shew that such 
 predictions did really and primarily concern himself. 
 One would suppose that God had given the Gentiles no 
 promises of their own, that they seize with such un- 
 sparing rapacity upon Israel's inheritance. Alas for 
 us, if our salvation rests upon our being able to shew 
 that Israel in prophecy means the Church of Christ ! 
 What Gentile sinner, burdened with guilt, could ever 
 venture to build upon a hope so insecure ? We have 
 promises of our own innumerable, promises stable as 
 the everlasting hills, and radiant as the everlasting 
 stars, which secure to us all " the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ." And, besides, we have, in another, and 
 what we may call a more honest way, all Israel's 
 blessings. They are not blessings confined to Israel, 
 just as Abraham's blessings were not confined to him, 
 though promised more directly to him, and to his seed 
 according to the flesh. The spices grew on Gilead, the 
 cedars on Lebanon, and the roses in Sharon, but their 
 fragrance may perfume the whole world. There is not 
 one promise made to Judah from which we may not 
 
 s 
 
274 ISRAEL. 
 
 extract blessings to ourselves. For what is the chief 
 and most essential part of a promise ? It is not the 
 mere words by which God seems to bind Himself ; or, 
 to speak after the manner of man, to commit Himself, 
 so that He dare not retract. No ; it is the manifesta- 
 tion of His love and grace which they exhibit. It is 
 the insight into our Father's heart which they furnish. 
 And if in Israel's promises we learn more of our 
 Father's love, and get a deeper insight into our Father's 
 heart, and know that Israel's God is our God too, then, 
 though we cannot say, God spake this to me person- 
 ally, yet if I learn more of His character, and can thus 
 feed more upon the riches of His grace, I am largely 
 blessed indeed ! I can say, " It is enough." 
 
 Let us now, for a moment, ere we close, glance at the 
 story of this mysterious nation, whose personal interest 
 in the prophecies we have been endeavouring to main- 
 tain. 
 
 "How doth the city sit solitary that was full of 
 people ; how is she become as a widow ! " Her walls 
 are in the dust; gate, bar, and rampart have gone 
 down together. Her sanctuary no longer reflects the 
 calm light of sunrise over Olivet from the white 
 marble of its glowing walls. The burst of praise from 
 the ten thousands of Israel assembled in holy festival 
 has been silent for ages. Her solemn feasts are over ; 
 her altar is overturned ; her priests are exiles ; her 
 multitudes are like the scattered leaves of autumn ; and 
 the "habitations of Jacob" are removed like a shep- 
 herd's tent. Her fields are a wilderness ; her vineyards 
 
ISRAEL. 27-) 
 
 are flighted ; her pleasant places have become a desola- 
 tion ; the mirth of the land is gone. " Her filthiness 
 was in her skirts, therefore she came down won- 
 drously." Alas, for the beautiful city, the joy of the 
 whole earth, the city where David dwelt and Solomon 
 reigned, the city of the great King ! Alas for the deso- 
 late land, the barren soil, forsaken of Jehovah and 
 withering beneath His frown! Alas for the forlorn 
 exiles, the homeless tribes of Israel, that once were the 
 people of the Lord, a chosen generation, a royal priest- 
 hood ! But she shall yet rise again. She has dwelt in 
 dust and been clothed with sackcloth, but she shall 
 put on her beautiful garments — garments more glori- 
 ous than in the days of old. Eebuilt *and re-adorned, 
 as the metropolis of the earth, she shall forget her 
 misery in the joy of her second espousals, and remem- 
 ber her shame no more. 
 
 In Israel we see the standing memorial of Jehovah's 
 faithfulness and truth. Nothing has failed of all that 
 the Lord had said that He would do for or against that 
 people. All has come literally to pass. The curse has 
 gone forth against them, and every threat has been 
 verified. Yet they are not consumed ; they are still 
 beloved for their fathers' sakes, and preserved because 
 of the covenant which cannot be broken. Destined for 
 brighter days, they still live on. Monuments now of 
 God's righteous severity, they are yet to be more signal 
 monuments of His unchanging grace, for "where sin 
 abounded, grace did much more abound." Tossed from 
 billow to billow upon a single plank, they have 
 
27G ISRAEL. 
 
 weathered centuries of storm, seeing the mightiest 
 vessels part anchor in the blast and go down at their 
 side, themselves buoyant still. Mersus prof undo pul- 
 clirior evenit ! To this day, as hitherto, unfixed, un- 
 anchored, unsheltered, unprotected ; driven hither and 
 thither by the tide or the tempest, they are awaiting 
 the outburst of the world's last hurricane, which, while 
 it devastates the earth, and strews the sea with ship- 
 wreck, shall leave them unharmed, nay, waft them 
 home ! What faithfulness, what patience, what un- 
 changing love! In Jehovah's eyes they are precious 
 still ; the chosen heritage of God. Their covenant 
 abideth sure ; their promises are imperishable. Were 
 it not for these, where had they been? Would they 
 not have perished from the earth, and been found no 
 more among the nations ? These promises held them 
 fast, and bound their roots " as with a band of iron and 
 brass," that they should not be swept away nor con- 
 sumed. Through all these eighteeen hundred years 
 they have been sustained as a nation, — emerging from 
 the smoke and ruin of a thousand cities, rising out of 
 the fragments of a hundred empires, surviving with 
 mysterious tenacity of life, the storm, the sack, the 
 massacre, the flood, the flame ! 
 
 The prominence given to Israel in the prophets 
 forces itself vividly upon our notice. Nay, history and 
 prophecy are in this respect alike. Such is Jehovah's 
 purpose ; such is one of His ordained channels of self- 
 manifestation. " the depth of the riches, both of 
 the wisdom and knowledge of God ! " Surely, if any- 
 
ISRAEL. 277 
 
 thing could humble us Gentiles, it would be the history 
 and the destiny of the slighted Jew, to whom pre- 
 eminence among the nations has not only been given 
 for a few generations, but entailed by God's own deed 
 in perpetuity. If any man might boast, the Jew 
 might, more than all. To him pertained the adop- 
 tion, the glory, and the covenants, the giving of the 
 law, and the service of God. His was a more costly 
 temple than heathen splendour ever reared ; his a 
 more august and sacred priesthood ; his a nobler and 
 more royal line of princes — the last of that line Jeho- 
 vah himself incarnate S And was ever nation so mys- 
 teriously indestructible? Plunged into the furnace 
 of Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Grecian, Eoman 
 tyranny, it has come forth unconsumed ! Kingdom 
 after kingdom has crumbled down, or been swallowed 
 up, yet Israel has walked secure over the debris of 
 empires, or stood upon the fragments of each successive 
 wreck, casting his wistful eye towards Jerusalem, the 
 heritage of his nation and the city of his soul. And 
 can the descendant of that unearthly race not feel his 
 own superior dignity, as, standing amid the ruins of 
 ancient empires past away, and the decay of modern 
 kingdoms falling to pieces around him, he thinks how 
 soon all these shall be as "the chaff of the summer 
 threshing-floor/' while he cannot perish or be swept 
 away with the dust of their ruins ? He feels that, even 
 in his degradation, the nobles of the Gentiles are not 
 his peers. On his safety hangs the world's salvation ; 
 for in him all nations are to be blessed, and it is 
 
278 ISRAEL. 
 
 he whom God is yet to send forth, to "declare His 
 glory among the Gentiles." (Isaiah lxvi. 19.) And 
 at no distant time shall the outcasts of Israel and 
 the dispersed of Judah return and come to Zion with 
 songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. "Beauti- 
 ful for situation" shall it yet be seen, the joy of the 
 whole earth, the city of the great King. A more 
 glorious temple shall be there, and a more glorious 
 Shekinah than before. A king shall reign in righteous- 
 ness, and the isles shall wait for that law which is yet 
 to come forth from Jerusalem, the metropolis of the 
 world. 
 
 In them we see the true romance of history. Theirs 
 is, indeed, a strange story, oftentimes more like a vision 
 than a reality ; yet true, pre-eminently true ; not lost 
 in fable or mist, but one entire certainty from the be- 
 ginning hitherto. There is light along all its course, 
 as, commencing with Abraham, in Ur of the Chaldees, 
 it winds its various way, from age to age, through in- 
 numerable mazes ; for it is a four thousand years' story, 
 and not yet concluded. Who of all the nations of 
 earth has such a story to tell ? 
 
 Yet the general history of the nation does not give 
 us all the romance of their strange annals. True, their 
 national story is a marvellous one indeed, too marvel- 
 lous to be read without feelings of solemnity and awe. 
 Yet the private episodes of Jewish story furnish us 
 with scenes more thrilling still. The personal narra- 
 tive, the secret history of the Jew, furnish scenes of 
 deeper and more startling interest than can be found 
 
ISRAEL. 279 
 
 elsewhere. The novelist even feels this. Hence we 
 find that the most striking portions of some of the 
 most striking works of fiction are those in which the 
 Jew takes, if not the foreground, at least some part of 
 the scene. He stands before us like a friendless orphan, 
 drooping in form, and desolate in look and voice. He 
 seems like the inhabitant of another star, banished 
 from his native orb for some mysterious crime that 
 controls his destiny and haunts his footsteps ; a crime 
 which he will not confess, but cannot expiate ; a crime 
 for which he seems to wear hidden sackcloth, and 
 which withers him into the saplessness of age ere his 
 manhood has blossomed. The exiled loneliness, the 
 calm familiarity with sorrow, the silent resignation, 
 the melancholy majesty, the passionate patriotism, the 
 ineradicable and lofty nationality, — all these character- 
 istics, coupled with a lot the heaviest and sharpest that 
 sin is heir to, form a subject of most thrilling interest, 
 even to a vain and unthinking world. It is so sad, 
 yet so real ; so strange, and yet so true ! 
 
 Some may think all this more sentimental than 
 true ; or, if true, at least having in it more of the 
 poetical than the profitable element of truth. In an- 
 swer to this, I might say, that if it be romance, it is 
 at least the romance of Scripture ; if it be poetry and 
 sentiment, it is the poetry of naked fact ; it is not 
 the fond sentiment of an earthly dreamer, but the 
 Divine sentiment of an Infinite Mind, the thoughts and 
 utterances of the God only wise. But, further, we 
 argue that it is the reverse of unprofitable or vain. 
 
280 ISEAEL. 
 
 This is not the fit time for me to argue this question, 
 which would stretch over a volume ; but it is sufficient 
 to say, that a history which God has taken such pains 
 to develop, — a history of which He has given us far 
 more than a vague outline, — a history which seems to 
 occupy so much of His thoughts and purposes, — a 
 history by means of whose events He is bringing out 
 into view His own gracious and holy character, — such 
 a history must be thoroughly practical and useful. 
 
 The gospel is God's testimony to Himself in ivords. 
 Israel's history is God's testimony to Himself in facts. 
 The gospel is God's declaration, that where "sin 
 abounded, grace has much more abounded." Israel is 
 the living, visible testimony to this marvellous and 
 blessed truth. The history of Israel, in every age, 
 preaches to us the gospel of the grace of God. It is 
 throughout, the story of man's sin and of God's deep 
 and untiring love. It shews us how manifold, Iidw 
 endless are man's ways of sinning ; and it shews us 
 how still more manifold and endless are God's ways of 
 forgiving, and loving, and blessing. Israel is the na- 
 tion in which man's rebellion, man's wickedness, man's 
 hatred of God, are brought most clearly out to view, 
 that we may know what man is, even in his best estate, 
 and with every possible advantage ; that we may 
 know what a human heart is, even when plied with 
 every motive to love, and serve, and honour the God 
 that made it. And Israel is also the nation where the 
 good that is in God is ever shewing itself superior to 
 the evil that is in man ; where love and grace are ever 
 
ISKAEL. 281 
 
 rising immeasurably above, and stretching inconceivably 
 beyond, the uttermost extent of human enormity and 
 sin. This surely is profitable. 
 
 But there is another view of the subject which may 
 be taken, a view more striking, perhaps, to the general 
 eye, — the relationship of Israel's history to that of 
 the world. There is a mysterious connexion here, 
 which we can easily see, though we cannot so readily 
 explain. 
 
 Israel dwelt alone, and was not numbered among 
 the nations. Yet all nations were in some way affected 
 by her. There are few nations whose history mate- 
 rially bears upon others, especially the distant and 
 the isolated. But the influence of Israel was over all. 
 Separated by God from all the earth, she yet came into 
 unseen contact with it in all its motions and changes. 
 All God's thoughts concerning the world, and His 
 dealings with its people, are linked to His purposes 
 respecting the Jew and his land. Israel was set up as 
 God's model government to the nations, and shall again 
 be set up as such, in the latter day, though with far 
 greater stability and glory. All things pertaining to 
 her, Scripture connects more than in any other case, 
 with the glory of God and the kingdom of His Son. 
 Round her prophecy clusters ; and upon her the world's 
 destinies seem to hinge. Her past exaltation, her pre- 
 sent abasement, and her future glory, are all most 
 mysteriously woven into the world's history, past, pre- 
 sent, and to come. Without Israel, that history is a 
 blank, — a blank, we mean, to the believing eye, not the 
 
28 2 ISEAEL. 
 
 wise and learned of this world, for the soul that can 
 enjoy an existence without Christ can see no blank in 
 history though Israel be not there. Yet even an un- 
 believing historian cannot help feeling that there is 
 some strange, though perhaps invisible tie, which has 
 connected the fate of Israel with the destinies of em- 
 pires. Israel has been the pulse of the world. As 
 ocean rises and falls, along its far-scattered coasts, by 
 the silent pressure of a distant planet — a pressure 
 which intervening clouds have no power to diminish 
 — so have the nations of the earth owed their tides 
 to Israel, and this as truly in her darkest as in her 
 brightest age. 
 
 " Persepolis, Rome, Babylon ; 
 For this ye sank, for this ye shone !" 
 
 The streams of the nations flow, tinged with drops, 
 from the cup of Israel ; bright with her blessings, or 
 discoloured with her sorrows. All her invaders, from 
 the Assyrian to the Eoman, from Shalmaneser to Titus, 
 only dispersed her over the nations to exert a wider 
 influence. The scattered dust of Samaria has sprinkled 
 every nation of the East, and the exploded fragments 
 of Jerusalem have found their way into every kingdom 
 of the West. There are few nations or kingdoms that 
 have not, to some extent, felt their silent, passive influ- 
 ence. Like the Jesuits, though not with their accursed 
 ends, they have influenced courts, and turned, like a 
 hidden rock, the currents of empires. Unnamed and 
 unacknowledged, they have presided at royal councils. 
 
ISRAEL. 283 
 
 The financial prosperity of nations has taken its im- 
 pulse from them, advancing or receding at their will. 
 With the sinews of war in their hands, though with 
 not even one soldier in the ranks, and with but little 
 interest in the issue of the conflict, — for whoever tri- 
 umphed, still they were oppressed, — they waged war 
 and made peace at pleasure. Theirs has been an influ- 
 ence everywhere felt, but nowhere either acknowledged 
 or honoured ; and in the midst of all this, suffering, 
 torture, shame, and death, have been the unvarying lot 
 of the broken-hearted Jew. In what city have they 
 not been dwellers, or sojourners at least, since first 
 they ceased to have a city of their own ? Whom have 
 they not had for a sovereign, since the day they cried, 
 " We will have no king but Caesar ? " They have seen 
 no temple for many generations, since the hour when 
 the Eoman torch laid in ashes their beautiful house 
 where their fathers praised ; yet they hold fast their 
 ancient worship, a spectacle of wondrous constancy, 
 and blind fidelity stronger than death. No high priest 
 has ministered at their altar since the time that Jeru- 
 salem was led captive ; yet have they maintained their 
 old traditional religion, amid nations of infidels and 
 idolaters, in spite of everything that the torture or the 
 bribe could accomplish to make them renounce their 
 faith. What a monument ! And who can say how 
 much the very sight of it has wrought in the earth ? 
 
 Many a nation has been blessed because they fa- 
 voured Zion ; but who has ever prospered that injured 
 
284 ISRAEL. 
 
 her ? He who has touched her has touched the apple 
 of God's eye. Egypt was scourged because she op- 
 pressed her. Edom was cursed and plagued because 
 he remembered not the brotherly covenant. Assyria 
 was broken because she overflowed Immanuers land. 
 Babylon was brought low because she held her in cap- 
 tivity. And soon, too, shall mystic Babylon receive 
 her awful recompence for the blood and torture of the 
 persecuted race. It was an infidel king of the last 
 century who said, " Meddle not with these Jews ; no 
 man ever touched them and prospered/' Jerusalem 
 has truly been " a cup of trembling to all people round 
 about, a burdensome stone for all people ; and all that 
 burdened themselves with her have been cut to pieces." 
 These are things which the Church of Christ ought 
 especially to remember, whether she considers the duty 
 of favouring those whom God favours, or the blessings 
 which He promises to those who seek their peace, or 
 the curses with which He has cursed those who have 
 trodden them down. Whether, then, we call to mind 
 the blessings which have flowed from them to us, and 
 see how their fall has been our rising, or observe the 
 manner in which the prophets represent the future 
 destiny of the world as hanging upon the fortunes of 
 Israel ; whether we remember their once high dignity, 
 as those to whom belonged the glory and the cove- 
 nants, the giving of the law and the promises, or their 
 long misery and degradation and dismemberment; 
 whether we honour them as the kinsmen of Christ, or 
 
ISRAEL. 285 
 
 pity them as the murderers of the Lord of glory ; let 
 us look on Israel as God looks on her ; let us under- 
 stand the deep meaning of her history, and learn to 
 sing her songs.* 
 
 * About the middle of the 17th century, Samuel Petto published a 
 work called " The Revelation Unveiled," which, along with his book 
 on the Covenants, was republished in 1820, with a recommendation 
 from Drs M'Crie, Paxton, &c. In it he makes very frequent refer- 
 ence to " Israel, and the things concerning them that are to fall out 
 in the latter day." After speaking at length of the time of Jacob's 
 trouble, he goes on to mention, as next in order, " the setting up of 
 the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ, the new Jerusalem, or the 
 glory of the Church here, a thousand years. Rev. xx. xxi." He 
 then adds, " The rise or first state of this kingdom will be speedily 
 after the resurrection of the witnesses, and the first conversion of 
 the Jews, and before the thousand years begin. . . . This 
 thousand years will be a glorious time ; not absolutely as if sinless ; 
 but comparatively, or compared with any former state of the 
 Church. Possibly it may be ushered in by a personal appearance of 
 Christ in the clouds ; but I cannot say that it will be by the personal 
 presence and continuance or reigning of Christ on the earth. Now 
 will Ezekiel's city and temple be erected, the glory of which will be 
 that the name of it from that day shall be Jehovah Shammah, the 
 Lord is there. Here will begin the state of the New Jerusalem, 
 which cometh down out of heaven, and is not by our going up to 
 heaven. Then shall be given to Christ, as Daniel vii. 14, dominion 
 and glory and kingdom." — P. 136. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 There are strong reasons for concluding that Popery, 
 in its present form, is not, in strict prophetic speech, 
 the last Antichrist. It has many of the features of 
 the Man of Sin, but it has not all ; it is lacking in 
 some ; and it is this partial unlikeness that leads us 
 to anticipate something worse, something more terrible, 
 something which will manifest more vividly what the 
 combined energy of human and Satanic wickedness can 
 effect, when fully expanded and matured. 
 
 Still, there is a distinct and observable oneness of 
 feature between these two forms of evil. There are 
 some clear points of difference, but there are more of 
 resemblance. There is a striking family likeness, dis- 
 tinct traces of a common paternity, and an undoubted 
 brotherhood. There is more than enough to identify 
 them as belonging to one genus, one plant, one stem. 
 That the fruit and the blossom are very unlike each 
 other in many things, in colour and in shape, for in- 
 stance, is no proof that the one is not related to the 
 other, and that both are not the produce of the same 
 tree. Pagan Rome might be but the branch, Papal 
 Rome the blossom, and the last Antichrist the fruit ; 
 
ANTICHRIST. 287 
 
 but does this disprove their true personal identity? 
 Does it not much rather confirm and display it ? 
 
 The last apostasy will in all likelihood manifest more 
 of the infidel or the atheist than Popery has done : 
 but still it is an "apostasy/' a " falling away." It 
 originates in, springs out of, and is in some way con- 
 nected with, the professing Church of Christ, just as 
 the fruit is connected with the branch, though but by 
 a slender stalk. Its name, Antichrist, shews that it 
 professes to be Christ, which it could not do were it 
 openly and utterly infidel. It is an apostasy which 
 has taken ages to ripen, and which, though perhaps 
 shooting up suddenly into unexpected strength, does 
 not rise from some separate root of its own, but is the 
 matured offspring of previous apostasies, their consum- 
 mation and unfolding, towards which every one of 
 them has been' pointing, and which every one of them 
 contained in the bud from the beginning. 
 
 But though I believe all this, I do not the less surely 
 believe that Popery is the present Antichrist, out of 
 which, how suddenly I know not, the coming Anti- 
 christ is to spring. Popery is the apostasy of the day, 
 and, as such, ought to be dealt with by the Church of 
 Christ. There are many symptoms about it of a change 
 of form and aspect ; but whatever aspect it assumes, it 
 is still the representative of the serpent's seed, the per- 
 sonification of the Wicked One in our day, the enemy 
 of the saints. It is right, indeed, that we should fully 
 understand what God has revealed concerning the 
 darker and more hateful form which it is to assume ; 
 
288 ANTICHKIST. 
 
 but it is wrong to overlook its present aspect, as if 
 that which was to come concerned us more immediately 
 than that which is in the midst of us. This would 
 truly be as absurd and perilous as for an army to stand 
 idly on the field, and allow itself to be cut to pieces by 
 a near enemy, because it sees in the rear a more ter- 
 rible assailant pressing on. I do not mean that the 
 present ought to shut out or supplant the future. 
 But certainly the future ought not to supersede the 
 present, nor blind us to our immediate danger and 
 pressing duty. 
 
 Some writers on prophecy seem so engrossed with 
 a future Antichrist as to forget, nay, to deny the pre- 
 sent. They are so occupied with the picture which 
 they have drawn of the Man of Sin, as yet to be re- 
 vealed, that they refuse to see any resemblance at all 
 to him in the Church of Koine. They palliate the 
 atrocities, and apologise for the doctrines of Popery, in 
 order to be able to deny the likeness. They labour to 
 conceal or blot out those features expressive of a com- 
 mon paternity which have been so often pointed out. 
 They spare no effort to persuade men, not only that 
 Popery is not the Man of Sin, but that it has nothing 
 in common with him. They exaggerate the future, 
 they soften and palliate the present, they try to obli- 
 terate some of the worst features of Popery, in order 
 to remove everything by means of which it might be 
 identified with the Man of Sin. 
 
 Nothing can be more perilous for the Church. It 
 throws her entirely off her guard. It persuades her, 
 
AOTICHBIST. 289 
 
 that though Popery may be an enemy, yet it is not the 
 bitter and deadly enemy which Scripture represents it 
 to be ; nay, that there is nothing so decidedly anti- 
 christian about it as to prevent its being, in some 
 measure, recognised as a Church of Christ. It makes 
 her believe that to arm herself against Popery as 
 against Antichrist, is entirely to mistake her enemy. 
 Thus she is soothed into a false and most fatal security ; 
 she unfastens her armour, she lays aside her weapons, 
 under the persuasion that her great adversary has not 
 yet arisen. 
 
 Thus she is represented as without an enemy ; at 
 least without that organised system of hostility of 
 which the Holy Spirit has forewarned her. Is this 
 consistent with Scripture ? Does the sure word of pro- 
 phecy ever teach us this ? Are we not continually re- 
 minded of the working of Antichrist around us, and in 
 our own day? Is it not God's special object to keep 
 us on the watch against the Antichrist of the day ? It 
 is the present apostasy, even more than the future, 
 that the Church needs to know and watch against. It 
 matters not how immature that apostasy may be ; it 
 may be only in infancy, or it may be in youth ; still it 
 is against that particular development or stage of it 
 that is in operation in our own times that we are to 
 watch. It is on that that our eye should be fixed. It 
 is the movements of that power that we are specially 
 to observe. It is on the side on which that foe assails 
 that we are to throw up our strongest entrenchments. 
 The belief that there is a stronger and more numerous 
 
290 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 host in the rear, marshalling its troops for the onset, is 
 no reason why we should not repel a present and most 
 formidable enemy, whose fire is thinning our ranks, 
 and whose persevering skill has already carried some 
 of our strongest defences. 
 
 Students of the prophetic word should have been 
 wiser. They know that God in past ages has always 
 been warning His Church of a present enemy. While 
 predicting one more terrible, He has never allowed her 
 to lose sight of that which at the moment was assail- 
 ing her. He never allowed her to disparage or under- 
 rate the foe at hand, by comparing him with the greater 
 that was to arise. Now this is, I fear, what some, with 
 the lamp of j)rophecy in their hands, are doing in our 
 day. They are giving forth such views of the last 
 apostasy as to lead to the impression that all previous 
 apostasies are insignificant and impotent. They are 
 diverting the attention of the Church from a present 
 to a future evil. Thus while they weaken her position, 
 they strengthen that of the adversary. It is one of 
 Satan's devices thus to pervert the prophetic word, 
 nay, to turn it to his own advantage. That word is 
 the special unveiler of his craft and wickedness. The 
 light which it was shedding upon the Papal Apostasy 
 was awakening men from their dream of peace, and 
 threatening to cast a most destructive blight upon his 
 schemes of evil. How is he to meet and repel this? 
 By misleading men as to the present form of Anti- 
 christ. He cannot get them to deny an Antichrist. 
 That name is too plainly written on the Divine record. 
 
ANTICHRIST. 291 
 
 But he tells them that Antichrist is entirely a future 
 apostasy ; an apostasy per se ; quite isolated from the 
 present state of things ; and that therefore, whatever 
 Popery may be, it cannot be Antichrist, He so en- 
 grosses them with an infidel apostasy yet to arise, that 
 they cannot persuade themselves that there is any 
 other that deserves the name. 
 
 By thus presenting Antichrist as future, he per- 
 suades the Church to ungird her loins. By pointing 
 to it as an isolated object, he shuts off the light which 
 it sheds on Popery, — light of the most important kind. 
 For if what is to come be but the fruit and issue of 
 what is present, then we may expect to find in Popery, 
 though only budding, all the ungodliness, the rebel- 
 lion, the lawlessness, and the atheism, which are yet to 
 be exhibited in their Satanic ripeness, when the Man 
 of Sin stands up in full-grown strength and energy. I 
 believe, as I have already said, that the worst form of 
 the apostasy has not yet been displayed. But does 
 this render me indifferent to the form of it that now 
 exists ? No. It renders me doubly alive to it. For 
 I see what the evil really is even at this moment, 
 though not yet unfolded. I read the true character of 
 Popery in the features of the corning Antichrist, who 
 is its lawful offspring. I see the utter hollowness of 
 that mighty and imposing structure of false religion. 
 I see the dark atheism that lurks under her curiously- 
 woven veil, the denial both of the Father and the Son. 
 I see the harlot without disguise ; no longer decked in 
 many-coloured raiment, bright with her gold and silver 
 
292 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 and precious stones ; but stripped of every covering ; 
 loathsome, naked, vile. 
 
 What is Popery ? It calls itself a Church of Christ ; 
 nay, it calls itself the Church of Christ, thereby deny- 
 ing the title to every other. But though assuming 
 this name, it has set itself in everything to oppose, 
 deny, and subvert the gospel of the Lord Jesus ; nay, 
 to present itself as a substitute for Christ himself 
 There is not a single doctrine and scarcely a precept of 
 the Bible which it did not profanely burlesque or un- 
 blushingly set at nought. Did Christ say, "Call no 
 man father on earth ? " It proclaimed one of its own 
 priests, an Italian monk, as the Church's infallible 
 head. Did Christ say to His ministers, "Keep thy- 
 self pure % " It set up a standard of purity in opposi- 
 tion to His, which opened a flood-gate to all lascivious- 
 ness ; and then licensed the impurity by building houses 
 of holy name, in the darkness of whose accursed cham- 
 bers the foul rankness of monastic debauch might be 
 screened from every eye. Did Scripture say, " Speak 
 ye every man the truth to his neighbour ? " It de- 
 clared that no faith was to be kept with heretics, that 
 the Church could dispense with oaths, nay, that no 
 oaths against the interests of the Church were binding, 
 but that in her cause falsehood was no crime, and per- 
 jury meritorious. Did an apostle say, " There is oxe 
 Mediator between God and man, the man Christ 
 Jesus ? " It exalted the mother of our Lord to a con- 
 junct and co-equal mediatorship, and canonised a 
 "barbarous rabble of saints" to share this honour. 
 
ANTICHRIST. 293 
 
 Did God declare, "If any man shall add unto the 
 things that are written in this book, God shall add 
 unto him of its plagues ? " It declared that " all sav- 
 ing truth is NOT contained in the Holy Scriptures," 
 but also in unwritten traditions, " which whosoever 
 shall not receive with like piety and reverence as he 
 doth the Scriptures, let him be accursed." Did God 
 forbid to curse, and command only to bless ? Its whole 
 system, creed, and service, are full of " cursing and 
 bitterness." Did God say, " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself ? " The spirit of Popery was " hatred, 
 variance, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies/' its history 
 one scene of blood and butchery, imprisonment and 
 torture, for conscience' sake ; for, even from the year 
 1540 to 1570, nearly one million of Protestants were 
 put to death by it ; and from its rise, it is computed 
 that above fifty millions have suffered death at its re- 
 morseless hands. Her deeds have been the darkest 
 that ever disgraced barbarism. Yet they blacken every 
 page of her annals. She is proud of the enormities ; 
 and for their perpetration her Popes have ordered the 
 Te Deum to be chanted throughout the churches. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that only some of its doc- 
 trines are unscriptural. Popery is one mass of hideous 
 error. It is, in its very nature and design, subver- 
 sive of the gospel of Christ. It is, and has been all 
 along, Satan's mighty engine for counterworking and 
 defeating the work of Christ. It has been well named 
 a " stupendous deception and universal counterfeit of 
 truth." Of it one has well written, " Pagan Rome was 
 
294 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Satan's work, constructed with his own materials of 
 ambitious aims, policy, and knowledge ; but Papal 
 Eome is Satan's work, constructed with the materials 
 of God/' And as the Church of Christ may be called 
 the representative of Christ on earth, so may the 
 Church of Eome be called the representative or per- 
 sonification of the Evil One. It is the truest image of 
 Satan that the world has yet seen, though one truer 
 and liker still is preparing. The aim of Christ's work 
 is to build up men in His own likeness, and to His 
 own stature of perfection : the object of Satan's work 
 in the Papacy is to build up man in his own dark like- 
 ness, and to bis own stature of wickedness. 
 
 It is needful that the true character of Popery 
 should be thoroughly laid bare, that her history should 
 be searched, and her character proclaimed as the 
 " mother of harlots and abominations." It is needful 
 that she should be pointed to as the great persecutor 
 of the saints, in whose skirts is found the blood of 
 saints and prophets, and of all who have been slain 
 upon the earth.* It is needful that we should be re- 
 minded of the crimson stains upon the harlot's skirts ; 
 of the Inquisition dungeons ; of the dark tribunals of 
 Austria; of the massacre of Prance, when the sewers 
 of Paris flowed red with Huguenot blood ; of the 
 
 * How can the blood of all the saints be found in Antichrist, if 
 he rises up as a power by himself, in no wise connected with the 
 previous powers of evil? Arid where is the blood of saints to be 
 found, but in the Church of Home, — at least for the last thousand 
 years ? 
 
ANTICHRIST. 295 
 
 " bloody Piedmontese, who rolled mother with infant 
 down the rocks;" of the fires in Smithfield ; of the 
 fields of Ireland, reddened with the blood of two hun- 
 dred thousand Protestants. It is needful thus to read 
 and re-read the history of Popery, that we may learn 
 how thoroughly antichristian it is in all its parts, how 
 nearly it resembles, in feature and in principle, the 
 great Antichrist of the last days. And it is the more 
 needful thus to sound the alarm, because some writers 
 on prophecy have spoken in such a manner of Popery, 
 as to soothe Protestants asleep, and animate our great 
 Popish enemy. 
 
 Nor is it a false alarm that we would thus sound. 
 Never, since the Keformation, has Popery made so 
 deadly and determined a struggle for the recovery of 
 throne and altar. Hundreds of missionary priests 
 are roaming the island, thrusting themselves into 
 every corner, winding themselves into the confidence 
 of the influential, and insinuating themselves with 
 serpent-stealth and subtlety into all seats of power. 
 They mark off their districts, and rear their churches 
 everywhere, carrying on their work of proselytism at 
 any expense, and by every method. They build with 
 costly splendour; they adorn with most attractive 
 grace ; they cast the net with consummate art, *that 
 beneath its ample stretch they may entangle the thou- 
 sands of every age, and class, and temper, who love a 
 theatrical religion, that will gratify the carnal sense, 
 and furnish men with a licence for the commission of 
 any amount of iniquity. They talk proudly, too, and 
 
296 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 boast openly of their success, casting off the mask of 
 meekness and modesty which they had in some mea- 
 sure assumed ; proclaiming loudly that as no heresy 
 was ever allowed more than a duration of three 
 centuries, the British apostasy has now reached its 
 close. Thus they prophesy of their own speedy 
 triumph, and of our hastening doom. 
 
 It is not my part either to confirm or to confute the 
 prophecy. A few years will unfold it all. There may 
 be darker days in reserve for Britain than many will 
 believe. Her day has been long bright, her sky long 
 cloudless. What nation has ever enjoyed a century of 
 such profound tranquillity as we have experienced, un- 
 broken save by a few political commotions, or a few 
 murmurs of fretful discontent. The cup of trembling, 
 which was put into the hands and pressed to the lips 
 of every nation in Europe, passed us by. The earth- 
 quake shocks that have for the last half century suc- 
 cessively laid waste every kingdom around us, convulsing 
 nations and overturning thrones, tearing up a thousand 
 hearths, and agitating ten thousand fearful bosoms with 
 alternate despair and hope, reached us not, nor stirred 
 even one ripple on our sea-bound shore. When God 
 raised up Napoleon as the scourge of the Papal empires, 
 when He called him to His foot, gave the nations before 
 him, and made him ruler over kings, giving them as 
 dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow, 
 He appointed him his bounds that he could not pass 
 over, and we were preserved, unmolested and secure. 
 When every capital in Europe was in flames, from 
 
ANTICHRIST. 297 
 
 Moscow to Madrid, we were sitting each man nnder 
 his own vine and fig-tree, with none to make us 
 afraid. 
 
 The enemy, with the vanquished might of Europe in 
 his train, prepared to overwhelm us. He threatened, 
 boasted, numbered his armies, talked of a second 
 Armada ; but in vain ! We were secure. "We needed 
 "no bulwarks, no towers along the steep." We were 
 Protestant, and therefore invincible. Our protest was 
 our palladium. From our far-off lonely island, there 
 went forth upon the earth the solitary voice that testi- 
 fied for Christ against Antichrist, in the midst of a 
 world of idolatry and darkness. God heard the testi- 
 mony, and he blessed the witness ! 
 
 But since that time, what has taken -place ? We 
 have laid aside our protest as too bigoted for an 
 enlightened age like ours. We have struck our Pro- 
 testant colours, and hung out the flag of neutrality, or 
 rather, we should say, of religious indifference. With 
 our own hands we have taken down the old ancestral 
 standard which had braved three centuries of storm ; 
 allowing the spoiler to tear in pieces and trample 
 under foot the inheritance of our fathers, the birth- 
 right of our sons ; proclaiming to the world that our 
 past protest was a stain upon our history, and that it 
 matters nothing to a nation's wellbeing whether the 
 Bible or the Koran be the basis of our statute-book, or 
 whether the national ensign be surmounted by the 
 cross, the crescent, or the triple crown. We may well 
 be troubled for our land. We have little reason to 
 
298 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 hope that we shall ride out another storm as we have 
 done the last. The anchor that held us fast is gone. 
 
 It is the practice of a certain class of prophetic 
 expositors to depreciate the Reformation. Their sys- 
 tem requires this ; for unless they can prove that 
 Popery is not so great an evil, nor Protestantism so 
 great a blessing, as has been believed, the proof of 
 their theory is defective. The class I allude to is not 
 yet a large one ; but I fear it is on the increase. And 
 it is because of this that I have introduced the present 
 chapter. Whilst agreeing with them in some things, 
 I think the application which they make of these 
 things so perilous and un scriptural, that it ought to 
 be protested against by every right-minded student of 
 the prophetic word. It will be sad indeed, if, in order 
 to build up our prophetic system, we set out with 
 defending Popery or disparaging the Reformation. 
 
 It will be a fatal day for the Church when Satan 
 shall thus succeed in silencing, or at least in muffling, 
 the prophetic testimony against the abominations of 
 Rome. It would be a master-triumph indeed if he 
 could now persuade the people of God, out of the 
 word of prophecy, that the Reformation was a very 
 doubtful blessing ; that Popery has no resemblance at 
 all to Antichrist, and that they should be looking 
 beyond the present into the future for him against 
 whom they are to contend. And then when that day 
 arrives, and the last Antichrist stands before us, the 
 great deceiver will shew them how all the predictions 
 regarding the apostasy have been long ago exhausted 
 
ANTICHRIST. 299 
 
 in the Papacy, just as lie teaches Papists to believe 
 that they were all exhausted in Pagan Rome. 
 
 There are a few fair pages in the polluted scroll of 
 time. There are a few periods on which the eye 
 delights to rest with exalted satisfaction and untiring- 
 interest. Of these, one of the brightest is the Refor- 
 mation. It was a glorious day for Europe. Over all 
 its kingdoms the blessed light broke forth ; but it 
 remained only with a few. To most it was but the 
 flash of the lightning that left the gloom the deeper. 
 In Spain, in France, in Italy, it burst forth with 
 momentary brightness ; but it was quickly quenched 
 — quenched in blood. But it was the rising of 
 Britain's day-star, a star which has shone for three 
 centuries upon us with benignant influence, which, 
 though struggling at times with many a storm, and 
 labouring through many a cloud, has never yet gone 
 down, but continued to shed peace, prosperity, and 
 triumph upon the hills and valleys of our island 
 home. 
 
 Prom the beo-inning; of this age, antichrists have 
 beeen rising up one after the other, each manifesting 
 a maturer form of wickedness. And in each succes- 
 sive age the prophetic word spoke aloud, and warned 
 the Church against the existing form of antichristian 
 evil as that against which she was called on especially 
 to wrestle and protest. Let us not despise the warn- 
 ing, nor postpone it to a future generation as a matter 
 with which we personally have nought to do. For 
 Satan is working unceasingly on our right hand aud 
 
300 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 on our left, putting forth every effort to build up and 
 complete his mighty fabric of evil. The work is pro- 
 ceeding with most appalling swiftness. The builders 
 of this temple, of which he is the architect, are ener- 
 getic and full of hope. They compass sea and land in 
 their ambitious projects ; for nothing, save the wor- 
 ship of the world, will content their master. He has 
 from the beginning been seeking divine homage ; he 
 has been receiving it, surreptitiously, by means of 
 every antichrist that has arisen ; and he hopes to re- 
 ceive it yet more openly and fully ere he is cast out of 
 the earth for ever. 
 
 The connexion of Satan with this earth is full of 
 mystery. It seems strange that he should fill its atmo- 
 sphere and occupy its soil. It is somewhat unaccount- 
 able that he should put forth such unceasing efforts 
 to obtain dominion in it. It is as if it had been the 
 sphere originally intended for him ; of which he had 
 been dispossessed on account of his rebellion ; in which 
 Adam had been placed by God in his stead ; and around 
 which, therefore, Satan still lingers, like a dethroned 
 monarch, aiming at its recovery to his allegiance, and 
 stirring up insurrection in every region, in his efforts 
 to replace himself upon its throne. How he has 
 laboured for six thousand years to secure its fealty to 
 himself, and to obtain, even upon its fallen soil, a 
 place of abode, instead of that hell which is prepared 
 for him and for his angels ! How he shrinks from his 
 final durance in the lake of fire, imploring not to be 
 sent into the abyss, (Luke viii. 31,) nor to be tor- 
 
ANTICHRIST. 301 
 
 mented before the time ! If he can but gain footing 
 here, he is willing to be unseen ; he will consent to 
 reign by another ; he will be satisfied that a man 
 should be his vicegerent. Nay, perhaps, this is his 
 true aim. His object is to rival and to mock Jehovah, 
 whose declared purpose from the beginning has been 
 to rule the earth by man. Ere long, his dark device 
 will too awfully prevail. He will succeed in maturing 
 Antichrist as his vicegerent, his truest image and re- 
 presentative, impregnated with his own God-hating 
 spirit, and eager to execute to the uttermost his God- 
 defying designs. All the world shall wonder after 
 him. All nations shall receive his mark on their fore- 
 heads and on their hands, in scornful mimicry of the 
 saints who have their Father's name written in their 
 foreheads. But just when his triumph seems consum- 
 mated, and his representative is seated on the throne, 
 with his myriad retinue of evil, shall the world's true 
 King appear; and, casting the usurper, with all his 
 hosts, into that dwelling of fire out of which they 
 have striven so desperately to keep themselves, shall 
 take the kingdom, and, with His holy ones, reign, in 
 peace over a delivered earth wherein dwelleth right- 
 eousness. 
 
 But, up to the moment when Christ appears, Satan, 
 in the person of Antichrist, prevails and prospers. 
 The whole period of Christ's absence from the earth 
 is marked by the presence and prevalence of that 
 adversary who is seeking to imitate and supplant Him. 
 Age after age the apostasy ripens and spreads abroad 
 
S02 ANTICHRIST. 
 
 its branches, offering false shelter to the inhabitants of 
 earth in mockery of the Plant of Renown, under whose 
 shadow the nations are yet to rejoice. But in a mo- 
 ment the axe is lifted up against the tree ; it is cut 
 down and cast into the fire. It is not doomed to 
 wither slowly down, leaf by leaf, till branch and stem 
 are gone. Its end is swift destruction by the stroke 
 of the Husbandman, while it is yet in its greenness 
 and prime. 
 
 And then, what a change to this weary earth which 
 has so long been groaning! What deliverance and 
 joy ! Christ upon the throne, Antichrist in the abyss, 
 and Satan bound in chains ! The saints exalted and 
 glorified, the wicked trodden down and put to shame ! 
 The curse removed, Paradise restored, Israel gathered, 
 the Gentiles converted, creation blessed, and Jehovah, 
 in the person of Immanuel, taking up His everlasting 
 abode with the children of men. * 
 
 * With reference to the above view of a personal Antichrist, I may- 
 quote Dr Urwick, a well-known Anti-Millennarian. The idea of per- 
 sonality in Antichrist has generally been condemned as one of the 
 dreams of patristic or of modern Chiliasm. Let Dr U. be heard on 
 this point : — " The statements in the Second Epistle to the Thessa- 
 lonians, with regard to the ' mystery of iniquity,' the ' man of sin,' 
 the 'lawless one,' — though they have had a fulfilment in the 
 Papacy,— will have a more precise and appalling fulfilment. I con- 
 fess that the style of expression seems to favour the idea of some 
 one person, rather than a succession of persons." — On the Second 
 Advent, pp. 222-225. Both Augustine and Jerome, who were 
 strenuous Antl-Chiliasts, held the doctrine of a personal Antichrist. 
 No one, for instance, can read the commentary of the former upon 
 the 9th Psalm without observing this. And as for the latter, be 
 introduces the idea in numerous places both of his Epistles and 
 
ANTICHRIST. 303 
 
 Commentaries. He even goes the length of telling us that Anti- 
 christ is to be a Jew, (vol. iv. 523.) that he is to be hailed by the 
 Jews as Messiah, (v. 131,) and that he is to perish on the Mount of 
 Olives, qui in Monte Olivcti consumendvs ---it, (iv. 93.) He gets the 
 last of these ideas out of Isaiah xxv. 6, 7, and Dan xi. 45. I may 
 notice, in passing, that both of these fathers, though post-millen- 
 nialists, frequently allude to the destruction of Antichrist by the 
 second advent of the Lord. They do not attempt to explain away 
 2 Thess ii. 8. — If, then, the doctrine of a personal Antichrist be an 
 unscriptural fancy, let both Millennarians and Anti-Millennarians 
 bear the blame of holding it. I suspect, however, that the question 
 is very much one of words. Both parties hold that there will be a 
 personal head of the Antichristian body; only the one lays greater 
 stress upon the head than upon the body, while the other does the 
 opposite. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SIGNS. 
 
 The night cometh! Nor does it seem far off. It 
 never appeared so nigh. The shadows are lengthening 
 out, and falling with ominous gloom upon the valleys 
 of earth. The dimness of twilight is beofinnino; to 
 make itself felt. It is settling down drearily upon our 
 cities, and on our solitudes ; upon the towers of our 
 strength and the palaces of our pomp : nor can the 
 noisy rush of eager multitudes, hurrying to and fro for 
 gain or pleasure, wholly stifle the utterance of fear and 
 awe. Men cannot help foreboding evil, for who can 
 tell them what may be in the womb of darkness ! 
 The night-birds are already on the wing, flitting 
 around us, and reminding us of the descending night. 
 
 Yet it is written also, " The day is at hand ! u The 
 night, though dark, is brief, and is soon succeeded by 
 a glorious day. But still of that day the night is the 
 forerunner. And this world's night is surely near. 
 Else, why so many indications of closing day ? 
 
 But has it not been always thus ? Have not other 
 ages as well as the present been equally crowded with 
 signs of trouble ? Have not certain men always loved 
 to be prophets of evil, and to interpret gloomily the 
 
THE SIGNS. 805 
 
 events of their day? Is there not among many a 
 morbid and unhealthy love of the dark and the 
 ominous ? 
 
 Be it so. It will not, however, be denied that the 
 time must come when the crisis will arrive ; and that 
 before its arrival, it will give notice of its approach, by 
 casting its shadows before. If such a crisis remains 
 yet to be realised, then some age or other must be its 
 precursor, — must lie next the precipice, and see with 
 its own eyes the gulf below. It is right, no doubt, 
 that we should be cautious, not misdating events nor 
 miscalculating times, nor misjudging signs ; but it is 
 far safer to take swift alarm at what seem like tokens 
 of evil, even though the alarm should prove false, than 
 with incredulous, it may be derisive, scepticism, to re- 
 ject every sign, and refuse to be forewarned. It is 
 bad, certainly, to be taking needless alarm ; but it is 
 incredibly worse to deny that we ought to take alarm 
 at all, as if the day of the Lord would never really 
 come, but was a mere empty name, hung over us for 
 terror, age after age, as a check upon the world and a 
 stimulus to the Church. If, then, that day be a cer- 
 tainty, a reality, who will affirm that, when about to 
 arrive, it will not foreshew itself? Surely a dislike to 
 give heed to the forebodings of judgment, must arise 
 from a dislike to entertain even the thought of that 
 crisis. We will not see in the events of the day, pre- 
 monitory shocks of the last earthquake, because we 
 would fain discredit or postpone that day of calamity 
 and terror. 
 
 CJ 
 
306 THE SIGNS. 
 
 This is not wisdom. Neither is it magnanimity. It 
 is folly; it is littleness of soul. It is a reckless resolu- 
 tion to blind ourselves to the evil as long as possible, 
 and then to brave it, as best we may, when it does 
 burst upon us. Or, there may be the secret thought 
 beneath, " What if it should never come at all ? What 
 if we have coloured the future with the gloom of our 
 own fancies ? What if the world is destined to pass 
 through no such hurricane ? What if we are to flow 
 gently on into a fairer region, and a holier era, as 
 winter dissolves itself softly into spring, or as spring 
 expands itself into the brilliance of summer? At 
 least the evil will not come in our day ; we need not, 
 then, vainly distract and alarm ourselves before the 
 time." 
 
 But how have we discovered that the Lord will not 
 come in our day ? How have we ascertained that these 
 signs, on which so many eyes are fixed, are delusive ? 
 Has God revealed it to us ? Or, are we but guessing ? 
 Are we announcing as certain what we merely wish to 
 be true ? Why should it not come in our time ? If it 
 is to come in some age of the world, why not in ours ? 
 Who are we that we should affirm concerning our age, 
 that no evil shall come nigh it ? Is there a spell upon 
 our generation, that the evil cannot touch it, but must 
 be charmed onward to another ? Has the enlighten- 
 ment cf the day reared such an embankment round it 
 that no flood can assail or overflow it? This, surely, 
 is the security of fatalism. It is the dream of unbe- 
 lief, or the opiate of worldliness, that is resolved to 
 
THE SIGNS. 307 
 
 sleep on, unawakened by the unwelcome sound of 
 threatening danger. If it be foolish to be always fore- 
 boding evil, it is worse than foolish to be recklessly 
 closing the eye against the tokens of it, however numer- 
 ously they may crowd upon us. 
 
 It may be said that these forebodings have so often 
 been shamed and discredited, that we are justified in 
 giving no heed to them. In every age some have taken 
 the alarm, and have been the prophets of evil that has 
 never arrived. I do not deny this ; neither do I wish 
 to hide it. But what of this ? Were they not wise men 
 who took the earliest alarm, even though their fears 
 were not realised ? They read evil in the signs of the 
 times, and they gave utterance to the feelings of their 
 hearts, that their fellow-men might be aroused. This 
 was not folly, neither was it weakness. It was true 
 wisdom. They painted, perhaps, the signs darker than 
 they really were. They drew more out of them than 
 they were intended to prognosticate. And so, what 
 was dreaded did not come to pass. Yet who will say 
 that they were not truly wise, even though their alarm 
 was premature, — far wiser than those who read nothing 
 in those signs at all ? Such men have often been de- 
 rided as gloomy enthusiasts, who sought to cloud the 
 mirth of a happy world, and whose failure was the 
 meet reward for their presumptuous folly. Yet folly 
 was not with them. They might be sad and solemn, 
 but they were not men of gloom or sternness. They 
 had hearts as warm and true as ever throbbed within 
 a human breast. It was not misanthropy ; it was love 
 
308 THE SIGNS. 
 
 — love to a heedless world rushing on to judgment 
 unprepared, that drew forth their deep and awful 
 utterances. It was rejected warnings that made them 
 sad, and fain to hide their thoughts within their 
 bosoms, if love would have allowed it, if yearnings 
 over dying multitudes had not constrained them to 
 speak. 
 
 Notwithstanding, then, all the objections that are 
 urged against interpreting the signs of the times, I 
 shall, however briefly and imperfectly, make the at- 
 tempt. Our Lord reproved the Pharisees for not 
 doing this ; and, having left us so many signs of His 
 coming, will He hold us guiltless if we refuse to con- 
 sider these, and prepare for His arrival ? Those that 
 object to our doing this, would not find fault with us 
 if we would only so interpret the signs as to throw 
 the Advent into the distance ; that is to say, they ad- 
 mit the propriety of interpreting providential occur- 
 rences in some way or other; they cannot, therefore, 
 consistently censure us for attempting the interpreta- 
 tion ; they can only maintain that our interpretation 
 is faulty and unproved. 
 
 The signs which have been given us, both by the 
 Lord and His apostles, are as notable as they are 
 numerous And it is very evident that those have 
 been selected which were the most expressive and 
 least ambiguous. They are chosen as being the most 
 prominent and explicit that could be given. It cannot 
 be thought that the least striking have been announced, 
 and the most striking concealed. If so, then is it not 
 
THE SIGNS. 309 
 
 very remarkable that the Millennium is never men- 
 tioned as a sign at all ? Had this been to take place 
 before the Advent, how has it never been alluded to 
 as one of the signs ? It would have been by far the 
 most distinct and visible. No one could overlook or 
 mistake it. Yet nowhere, by prophets or apostles, or 
 by the Lord himself, is it noted as a sign. How can 
 this be accounted for, save upon the ground that it 
 was to take place after, not before the Advent? .If 
 this be admitted, all is plain ; if it be denied, then let 
 those who deny it account for the fact, that among the 
 many signs of the coming the Millennium is never 
 mentioned as one. Why the most palpable of them 
 all should be omitted, seems to me to require an ex- 
 planation. On the post-millennial system, the omission 
 seems to me inexplicable ; for thus our Lord would be 
 made to profess to tell us the signs of His appearing, 
 and yet to conceal the most notable of them all. But 
 this is not all. The signs which are given are inconsist- 
 ent with the idea of a Millennium before the coming. 
 It is not merely that a certain event is not mentioned, 
 but that those events which are mentioned preclude 
 the possibility of such an event lying concealed among 
 them. Who that reads the Lord's prophecy, which 
 begins with the destruction of Jerusalem, and ends 
 with His appearing in the clouds of heaven, does not 
 feel that the whole drift of it was to shew the Church 
 that she was to expect sorrow, not joy, tribulation, 
 not triumph, up till the time when He should return ? 
 These signs were the successive crests of the billows 
 
310 THE SIGNS. 
 
 on which she was to be tossed, till He, with His own 
 voice and presence, should rebuke the tempest and 
 calm the ocean. The simple omission, then, of the 
 Millennium as a sign, is a fact on which we ought to 
 lay much stress ; but the omission of it, in circum- 
 stances which preclude the possibility of its being a 
 thing reserved or merely unspoken, furnishes a strong 
 argument in favour of a pre-millennial Advent. 
 
 But without further adverting to this point, let me 
 now note some of the signs which in the present day 
 seem most remarkable as forerunners of the Lord's 
 appearing. And though of some of these it might be 
 said that they have been found in former days, yet 
 others of them, as we shall see, are peculiar to our 
 own : — 
 
 1. The Maturity of the Papal Antichrist. — Popery 
 itself is no new thing in the earth, so that its mere 
 existence is no peculiar sign of the last days. But its 
 progress and prevalence are new. There is a maturity 
 about it which in other ages it could not claim. It is 
 rising in stature and hastening to its consummation. 
 With stealthy foot she has been advancing step by 
 step, till now she walks abroad at noonday with the 
 sound of the trumpet, lifting up her head in bold defi- 
 ance, and exulting in the consciousness of recovered 
 mastery. Her hand, like Amalek's, is "upon the 
 throne of the Lord ; " and she acts and speaks as if in 
 nothing she would be restrained of all that she has 
 imagined to do. 
 
 2. The Diffusion of Infidelity. — This at least is 
 
THE SIGNS. ol 1 
 
 new. Our fathers knew comparatively little of this, 
 and our fathers' fathers almost nothing. An infidel 
 was rare indeed in their day; a man wondered at and 
 shunned. Towards the close of the last century, infi- 
 delity burst forth in France, and partially extended 
 itself elsewhere. Of late years it has developed itself 
 with prodigious swiftness, and assumed a bold and 
 lofty attitude of assault. Its extent is incredible. The 
 masses are thoroughly leavened with it. It has in- 
 sinuated itself everywhere, and is eating out the very 
 heart of everything like deep principle among men. 
 It has corroded the cement by which society clings 
 together, so that nations and communities are now like 
 walls or towers without mortar, ready to fall to pieces 
 of themselves, or be levelled by the first blast. Its 
 ferocity is alarming ; its activity unceasing. Much of 
 it is undisguised and confessed, but very much of 
 it is still secret and unavowed. It taints the air ; it 
 blights life ; it ossifies conscience ; under it, all good 
 things wither. It is the worm at the root of all that 
 is noble and excellent in these last days. Hence the 
 hollow condition of things amongst us ; the chill that 
 is upon life's warm fellowships and offices of love. 
 Conscience is palsied ; the heart of the people is gone. 
 Social, political, kindred ties are wormeaten, and ready 
 to break asunder. The erect bearing and manly vigour 
 which religion imparts is no longer visible. Supersti- 
 tion has come to the rescue, and is trying to supply its 
 place. But in vain. Expediency rules. Large masses 
 of the people are either openly or secretly infidel, if 
 
312 THE SIGNS. 
 
 not atheistical. God is not acknowledged. His yoke 
 seems to gall men's shoulders. The nations are ready 
 to cast it off. And what hope is there, what token, 
 that this is to end before the Lord return to end it? 
 
 3. The Increase of Immorality. — Like a flood it is 
 swelling and widening in its course. It is without 
 shame, and without fear. Truth is fast going out of 
 human language ; confidence between man and man 
 is leaving human life ; friendships are bare and empty, 
 little more than selfish conveniences ; even oaths are 
 frail, — in most cases forms, in many, mockeries — 
 
 " And, clad like honesties, the falsehoods move 
 Along the world." 
 
 Conscience is gone : tenderness of spirit is known 
 only in our works of fiction ; noble-mindedness is to be 
 found only on the monuments of the dead. The heart 
 of the nation, nay, of the world, has been tampered 
 with and vitiated, till it is ready for almost any excess 
 of evil : the life-blood is tainted, and hence the loath- 
 some sores that are breaking forth, betokening the 
 depth and virulence of the taint — "the ineradicable 
 taint of sin/' Crimes that our fathers knew not of are 
 common among the nations. Licentiousness riots fear- 
 fully, perpetrating deeds without a name, so that " it is 
 a shame even to speak of those things that are done 
 of them in secret/' Drunkenness staggers along every 
 street. Blasphemy pours itself forth, till we shudder, 
 and close the ear against its horrid sounds. Murder 
 has broken loose, and every day our newspapers are 
 telling some horrid tale of bloodshed ; man slaying his 
 
THE SIGNS. 313 
 
 fellow-man, in fiendish hatred, or more fiendish love of 
 gain ; none spared ; the parent butchering his children, 
 the child his parent, the husband the wife, the wife 
 the husband : no sanctity of relationship is any safe- 
 guard from the poison, or the bullet, or the knife, or 
 the more brutal hammer. Oh, what a cry is going up 
 to heaven from this land of ours ; the cry of innocent 
 blood, blood which a righteous God will yet avenge ! 
 But the picture of our spreading immorality is one not 
 easily drawn, save by the record of facts, — facts which 
 one man scarcely ventures to whisper to another, too 
 awful to be laid bare before the public eye. It calls 
 for a prophet's eye to see it, a prophet's pen to record 
 it, and a prophet's soul to weep over it "in secret 
 places" before the Lord. Men are truely "lovers of 
 their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 
 disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without 
 natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, inconti- 
 nent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, 
 heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than 
 lovers of God." All this is to come to pass in the 
 last days, and to wax worse and worse till the Lord 
 come. 
 
 4. The Prevalence of Superficiality and Formalism 
 in Religion. — Form without power, a body without a 
 soul, religion without vitality; these are among the 
 signs of the last days. The shew of piety is wide- 
 spread, but the thing itself occupies a narrow circle. 
 There is much profession, but profession lies on the 
 surface, and underneath all may be worldliness. Depth 
 
314 THE SIGNS. 
 
 and solidity are wanting ; the aspect of religion is un- 
 healthy ; the fresh hue of primitive times is departed ; 
 the intense vitality which of right belongs to it, is 
 dried up ; so that, instead of its being the living source 
 of motion to the world without, controlling, or counter- 
 acting, or impelling its currents, it lies inert and 
 passive, at the mercy of every outward movement. It 
 is a worldly, self-pleasing religion, adojDted for fashion's 
 sake, and used according to convenience. We look in 
 vain for the profound sense of sin, the simple faith 
 which the Church once manifested, the solemn, un- 
 earthly walk which she once pursued. We are mere 
 imitators of godliness ; we " steal our words one from 
 another." Hence we are driven about with every wind 
 of doctrine, having no stability, no anchorage, save that 
 which the inertness of death affords. 
 
 Satan has now transformed himself into an angel of 
 light, and under this fair disguise he is working with 
 marvellous success. He is teaching us to build the 
 tombs of our fathers, that we may rest content with 
 the mere approbation of their principles without any 
 imitation of their practice. He leads some astray into 
 fatal error, under the pretext of candour and love of 
 truth ; others he saturates with the orthodoxy of the 
 head, that they may become indifferent to the state of 
 their heart before God. Some he persuades to deny 
 the Bible ; to others he lauds it, that he may make it 
 a substitute for the God of the Bible. He cries up 
 faith, that he may set it as a substitute for the object 
 of faith. With some he denies the possibility of assur- 
 
THE SIGNS. 315 
 
 ance, that he may keep them from peace with God ; 
 with others he maintains the necessity of it, only in 
 order that he may lead them to make a god of it, and 
 substitute their being sure of salvation for believing in 
 the Saviour. He cries down the Armmianism of mak- 
 ing works our Saviour, that he may lead us into the 
 more subtle delusion of making a Saviour of our faith. 
 He allows us a wide range of religious feeling and 
 sentiment, if he can only succeed in making them a 
 substitute for God. He hinders not our being serious, 
 earnest, solemn, if he can thereby feed the cravings of 
 a restless, empty soul with something which may pre- 
 vent us from seeking the bread of life. He permits us 
 to denounce the world's vanity and hollow pleasures ; 
 to be weary of its unsatisfying round of folly, that he 
 may delude us into the idea that this dissatisfaction 
 with the world is a proof that we are religious, and 
 thereby cause us to sit down contented, when yet a 
 great way off from our Father's house. He tolerates 
 the circulation of useful, nay, of religious knowledge, 
 that we may rest satisfied with something short of the 
 fulness of God himself. He may countenance, too, the 
 routine of religious societies or Church courts, and the 
 false excitement of crowded assemblies, eloquent 
 speeches, glowing reports, that he may administer 
 thereby that opiate to the soul by which it may be 
 kept in a delusive day-dream, which seems so like 
 " the sober certainty of waking bliss," that we cannot 
 think of breaking the luxury of the pleasant spell. He 
 inculcates the necessity of providing for our children 
 
316 THE SIGNS. 
 
 what is called a liberal education, that he may make 
 that a substitute for a father's blessing and a mother's 
 prayers. He urges the obligation of Christian liber- 
 ality, the necessity of large funds, that he may bring 
 men to rest religious enterprise upon funds, not upon 
 faith, — upon prudence, not on prayer. 
 
 These outward things may be in themselves right 
 and good, but what are they without the indwelling 
 Spirit ? What is truth without the True One ? What is 
 the perfection of Church order without the vital power 
 from above ? The body is there, but the living spirit 
 has fled ; the altar and the sacrifice are there, but the 
 fire from heaven descends not ; the temple is perfect, 
 and the worshippers are thronging its courts, but the 
 glory is departed ; Jehovah has left His shrine ! 
 
 5. The Strange and Incongruous Mixture of Opinions 
 that Prevails. — Men's imaginations seem to be let loose 
 in every direction in inventing these ; science, philo- 
 sophy, literature, theology, are all shooting forth a rank 
 luxuriance of verdure, which is even already producing 
 a harvest of incongruous opinions. The crudities that 
 are often issuing forth under sanction of these vener- 
 able names are such as to make one at times tremble 
 lest truth itself should be drifting from her anchorage. 
 These are the "unclean spirits, like frogs, which pro- 
 ceed out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
 mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
 prophet." They are well said to be " like frogs ; " in 
 themselves croaking, contemptible agencies, yet insinu- 
 ating themselves everywhere, and defiling all places, 
 
THE SIGNS. 317 
 
 even the most sacred, with their loathsomeness, and an- 
 noying the general ear with their incessant, unmeaning 
 noise. These are they whom Satan is now sending 
 forth, in this the cloudy dusk o£ the world's declining 
 day, to form a triple alliance between powers hitherto 
 at war with each other, animating them by one spirit 
 to fight against the Lord and His anointed. Of these 
 are the thousand organs of the infidel press, sending 
 abroad its croaking progeny and leavening the nations 
 with the subtle poison of its atheistical politics, and 
 the damnable delusions of its pantheistical theology : 
 from the contamination of whose foal principles (as in 
 Egypt during the plague of frogs) none but God's 
 chosen Israel shall be exempt ; for " they shall deceive, 
 if it were possible, the very elect/' And when is it 
 that these spirits of devils " go forth to the kings of 
 the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the 
 battle of the great day of God Almighty ? " It is just 
 before the Advent. They have been going forth 
 already, and are still going forth : and they shall con- 
 tinue their horrid work of gathering the nations into 
 their great slaughter-house, till the Lord come ; for it 
 is added immediately, " Behold, I come as a thief ; 
 blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments." 
 (Rev. xvi. 15.) 
 
 6. Dissociality. — The coherence of the whole social 
 system is very precarious. Nay, the coherence of its 
 minute component parts, its communities, its neighbour- 
 hoods, its families, is very slight indeed ; if, indeed, it 
 may not be said to be already loosed and dissevered. 
 
SI 8 THE SIGNS. 
 
 It is as if our very atmosphere possessed a decompos- 
 ing power. The cement of society has at length given 
 way to the corrosive influence of wickedness. Man's 
 native selfishness is in the ascendant. It has burst 
 over its restraints, and is now triumphing. Melancholy 
 triumph for the world ! for with it all that is fair and 
 goodly, all that is large-hearted and loving, all that 
 binds us to each other in charity and brotherhood, all 
 that is generous and disinterested, must ere long utterly 
 decay. The world is at length breaking up. Like a 
 stranded vessel over which sea after sea has been driv- 
 ing, it can no longer hold together. Its timbers are 
 parting, and it will soon be a total wreck. God meant 
 the human family to be but one household, knit 
 together in love and brotherhood as well as blood. 
 There has been little enough of this true oneness 
 hitherto ; but still there has been some. But now it 
 is disappearing. The family, instead of being like a 
 compact rock, close-knit in all its parts, is fast becom- 
 ing a mere mound of sand, whose particles have no 
 cohesion, no union, save that of casual, temporary near- 
 ness, and whose mass the first springtide will level and 
 sweep away. Self is now in full maturity and action. 
 Suspicion of each other is one of the rules of life. It 
 is not possible that the social fabric can cling long to- 
 gether. And who shall recement it? Who shall 
 restore the lost unity, and reproduce the vanished con- 
 fidence? He who comes to make all tilings new. 
 Things have been allowed to fall into decay, and to con- 
 tinue to crumble down, atom by atom, till He should 
 
THE SIGNS. 319 
 
 come, that His should be the glory of remodelling and 
 reconstructing the fallen fabric ; and that His might 
 be through eternity the praise, not only of bringing 
 a redeemed Church through death to resurrection-life, 
 and perfection, but of bringing creation through decay 
 and ruin to restitution-life, stability, and comeliness. 
 
 7. Religious Deceivers. — The extent to which these 
 are flourishing in our day is much overlooked. We 
 have grown so familiar with strange opinions that we 
 have almost ceased to notice them. Yet in all coun- 
 tries and in all Churches these are springing up. Be- 
 sides the great leaders of superstition in our day, 
 Komanists, Jesuits, and Tractarians, there are the Uni- 
 tarians, the Mormons, the Latter-Day Saints, the 
 Swedenborgians, and such like, who are all saying, 
 "Lo, here is Christ!" or, "Lo, there!" Incredible 
 and absurd as these systems are, they are believed in 
 by thousands, who seem to be given over " to strong- 
 delusion that they should believe a lie." There are 
 many other sects of which we have only casual notices 
 sometimes in the public journals. And then, in addi- 
 tion to these, there are sad heresies springing up around 
 us in various forms, and indicating a restless, feverish 
 state of mind, which must, ere long, issue in something 
 more hideous and fatal. On the one hand, we have 
 tradition subverting revelation, and making itself the 
 standard of religious truth ; on the other, we have 
 reason doing precisely the same thing, and subjecting 
 every doctrine to the interrogation, Is it reasonable ? 
 Some deny the Godhead of the Son, because it seems 
 
320 THE SIGNS. 
 
 unreasonable. Others deny the eternity of punish- 
 ment, because it is unreasonable. Others deny the 
 materiality of hell, because it is unreasonable. Others 
 make away with election, because it is unreasonable. 
 Thus reason, which is the tradition of the present, as 
 thoroughly and as profanely sets aside Scripture as 
 does the authority of the fathers, which is the tradition 
 of the past. And then there are proud attempts to 
 soar above the morality of the Bible, not only the 
 morality of the Old Testament, but also of the New. 
 As Popery established a pretended purity far above 
 that which the Bible commanded, " forbidding to 
 marry, and commanding to abstain from meats;" so 
 modern reason is engaged in devising and promulgat- 
 ing a new morality, professing a far nobler standard 
 than that which God has enjoined. How many are 
 almost ready to condemn the Bible, because it has not 
 condemned war as a sin, and who, in their Peace 
 Societies, are assuming a position and inculcating 
 principles which the Bible never taught them ! How 
 many are equally ready to denounce the Bible, because 
 it contains no denunciations against slavery ; but calmly 
 addresses both the master and the slave, saying, 
 " Whatsoever good thing a man doeth, the same shall 
 he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free ! " 
 How many almost scoff at the Bible, because it incul- 
 cates no total-abstinence morality, but simply urges 
 temperance as the Christian's duty ! How many look 
 with wonder or horror upon the cruelty of Scripture 
 morality in countenancing, nay, commanding, the 
 
THE SIGNS. 321 
 
 taking of life for life ! How many look down con- 
 temptuously upon the weekly restraint of a Sabbath, 
 proudly giving as their reason that they consider that 
 every day should be dedicated to God ! In what is all 
 this to end ? Doubtless in something very disastrous. 
 Man's morality must take the place of God's; nay, 
 God himself be superseded in the government of His 
 own world. Scripture must soon give way entirely 
 before men who profess to have got up to a higher 
 level, and attained a purer morality ; a morality which 
 antiquates and supersedes all that God has revealed. 
 The world is not yet prepared for the full proclamation 
 of the principles thus given forth in the germ. But 
 it may soon be so. The flood-gates cannot much longer 
 resist the pressure ; and what a deluge will that be 
 which shall then issue forth upon the world ! Is it 
 not, then, by these things that " we know that it is 
 the last time/' and that " the end of all things is at 
 hand?" 
 
 8. Wars and rumours of wars, earthquakes, pesti- 
 lences, and famines in divers places. — I need not 
 enter minutely into the proof of the existence of these. 
 The news of every week may bear witness to it. For a 
 while, it seemed almost as if the world were at rest, as 
 if its storms had spent themselves. But now all seems 
 changed. Every day brings new indications of dis- 
 quietude and convulsion. In every region, — continent 
 or island, wilderness or fruitful plain, — there are wars 
 and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes. 
 Few nations seem willing to draw the sword, yet every 
 
 x 
 
322 THE SIGNS. 
 
 nation has her hand upon the hilt ; with some it is 
 already gleaming in the air, and with others it is 
 reddened with blood. Over the whole earth is heard 
 " the long, low, distant murmur of dread sound." And 
 is this not the prelude to the last universal war ? Is it 
 not a sign of the near approach of Him who, when 
 earth's madness and ambition are at their height, — 
 when the summoned nations are gathered at Armaged- 
 don, girt for battle and slaughter, Himself appears for 
 their discomfiture and ruin ? Then, but not till then, 
 wars shall cease, and the weapons of war perish. Then 
 the true Solomon shall begin his reign, hushing the 
 tumults of the nations, and introducing the long-ex- 
 pected Sabbath of this weary " work-day world." 
 
 9. The restlessness of the world. — This sign is in 
 part connected with the preceding, yet may be viewed 
 separately. The state of the world is at present very 
 ominous. " Looking after the things that are coming 
 on the earth " is God's picture of the state of men as 
 the crisis draws on. This certainly seems our attitude 
 at this moment. The earth and the things that are 
 coming on it attract the attention of all. There is 
 something in the state of the world so unsettled, so 
 pregnant with uncertain evil, that every eye is moving 
 to and fro in expectation of strange issues, and as if to 
 catch the first sign of their approach. The form and 
 colour of the clouds forebode speedy change, and 
 threaten tempest to the nations. The time for listless- 
 ness and apathy is gone. Some thirty years ago, when 
 the skies were bright, and men could promise them- 
 
THE SIGNS. 323 
 
 selves days of sunshine, it was safe enough to fold the 
 hands and take our ease. But all this is over. No 
 doubt, after the excitement through which we have 
 passed, men would prefer repose. But the onward 
 swell of the waters stays not for an hour. There is 
 among the nations a spirit of restlessness, anarchy, and 
 insubordination ; a passionate love of change, a head- 
 long rush to overturn every established system, too 
 furious and united to be ultimately withstood. Many 
 call it but a passing tumult, the frenzy of an hour ; but 
 they who understand it know how deep is the spring 
 out of which it flows. The storm, long gathering, but 
 resisted and repressed by the barriers which ancient 
 wisdom had erected for the stability of kingdoms, is 
 concentrating and condensing its strength in these 
 venerable recesses, which may for a while refuse to 
 yield to the explosive force, but which, overstrained at 
 length, give way to the accumulated pressure ; the 
 kingdoms of the earth are shivered ; throne and temple 
 are overturned ; wall and fortress are laid in ruins. 
 Such is the night which is to precede the long-looked- 
 for day, — when not only Israel but the whole earth 
 shall arise and put on the garments of beauty, fit and 
 meet for the presence of their glorious King. 
 
 10. Missions. — No age since that of the apostles has 
 witnessed such wide-spread exertions in behalf of the 
 Jewish and Gentile nations as our own. This, cer- 
 tainly, is a sign peculiar to the present century. I do 
 not defend all that has been done by Missionary and 
 Bible Societies ; but still I would point to the fact of 
 
324 THE SIGNS. 
 
 hundreds of missionaries going forth to every region of 
 our globe, millions of Bibles circulated, — almost every 
 nation having the Scriptures in their own language, — 
 and, pointing to these simple but magnificent facts, I 
 ask, is there not in these a most palpable fulfilment 
 of the words of the Lord, " This gospel of the king- 
 dom shall be preached to all nations for a witness, 
 and then shall the end come ? " In our day we have 
 the universal preaching of the gospel. The result, 
 however, is not the conversion of the world, but the 
 gathering out of the election. And then "the end" 
 comes ! It is not said, and then the Millennium comes. 
 But the end — the end of the age, the coming of the 
 Son of Man. This sign seems also that referred to in 
 Eevelation, (xiv. 6,) " I saw another angel fly in the 
 midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, to 
 preach unto them that dwell on the earth." How 
 palpable the sign ! It will, I doubt not, become more 
 and more visible, — but still, there it is already before 
 us, — a sign which foretells a coming Lord, and most 
 distinctly intimates the impossibility of a Millennium 
 before His advent. 
 
 11. Israel. — This long-forgotten nation is now com- 
 ing into remembrance. The nations of the earth are 
 beginning to observe this strange people, " terrible 
 from the beginning hitherto/' The eyes both of the 
 world and of the Church are far more intently directed 
 towards them than they have been since the day that 
 their city perished, and they were led captive into the 
 Land of the stranger. It is curious to observe how 
 
THE SIGNS. 325 
 
 both travellers and missionaries are continually making 
 new discoveries with regard to Israel, stumbling upon 
 some new fragment of their lost tribes. God seems to 
 be breaking up inaccessible territories, in order to 
 bring to view the hiding-places of His ancient people, 
 and to open their prison doors. A goodly number are 
 now also turning their eyes to the cross. The " remnant 
 according to the election of grace " is visibly coming- 
 in. The interest taken in the Jews everywhere is very 
 striking. God is once more placing them before the 
 eyes of the world, as those through whom He has 
 blessed the world in times past, and through whom He 
 means to bless it again. But when is this ? Not till 
 " the Kedeemer shall come to Zion, and turn away un- 
 godliness from Jacob." Not till " they shall look on 
 Him whom they have pierced, and mourn." The full 
 salvation of Israel is reserved for the coming of 
 their Messiah. Then, but not till then, shall " Israel 
 blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with 
 fruit." 
 
 12. Disbelief of the approaching Advent even in the 
 Church. — It is no marvel that the world should either 
 deride or deny that event. And it is of the world's 
 mocking that Peter speaks when he says, " There shall 
 come in the last days scoffers, saying, Where is the 
 promise of his coming?" But the Church also loses 
 sight of that day ; nay, refuses to credit the news of 
 its approach. She says, " My Lord delayeth his com- 
 ing." She slumbers and sleeps. And it is just when 
 she is speaking thus, and thus slumbering ; it is in an 
 
326 THE SIGNS. 
 
 hour when she thinks not, that He arrives. It is often 
 said, Surely, if the time were just at hand, more of 
 God's people would believe it. But it is when many of 
 them are not believing it, and counting on delay, that 
 the Bridegroom comes. 
 
 13. Efforts at self -regeneration. — I do not say this 
 of the Church, though there are some tokens of it even 
 in her. But I speak of the world. Man seems now 
 to be putting forth every effort to regenerate himself 
 without God. Amid the achievements of science and of 
 art, he has lost sight of his own helplessness and depend- 
 ence on Him who created him. He thinks to be a God 
 to himself. It is as if, before God's glorious purpose 
 of restitution is brought to pass, man is to be allowed 
 to do his utmost for the renewal of himself and of the 
 world. He is to be put to the proof. He is to be 
 permitted to boast himself for a little, and congratu- 
 late himself upon the triumph before him. Hence the 
 vain-glorious speeches we so often hear, of man's 
 powers and man's prospects. Political reforms are 
 spoken of as the regeneration of the world. One 
 party most loudly maintains that the separation of 
 Church and State is to usher in the Millennium ; an- 
 other as boldly affirms that it is the union of these 
 that is to accomplish this. Education, science, litera- 
 ture, philosophy, are called the world's regenerators, 
 and no limits are assigned to the blessings which these 
 are to confer upon the world. It is curious, also, to 
 observe, within these ten years past, how eagerly 
 science has been putting forth all its energies in 
 
THE SIGNS. 327 
 
 pursuit of discoveries that shall restore fruitfulness to 
 the soil. Agricultural chemistry has shot up into a 
 separate study. As if unconsciously prescient of the 
 earth's deliverance from the curse of barrenness, men 
 are labouring to do all that science can, to hasten on 
 that day of restitution. These efforts at self-regenera- 
 tion must prove abortive ; for man cannot undo either 
 his sin or its consequences. They may succeed to a 
 certain extent ; but only to prove how little they can 
 effect. They are, however, sure signs of a coming de- 
 liverance. For when man's endeavours have proved 
 fruitless, both in reference to himself and the soil 
 which he tills, God shall at length interpose, and 
 accomplish the work of renovation by the word of His 
 power. 
 
 14. The spread of knowledge. — Many are running 
 to and fro, and knowledge is increasing. Nor is it 
 knowledge of one kind, but of every kind, secular and 
 sacred. It is, however, for the former that this age is 
 specially distinguished. And Satan is putting forth 
 his utmost resources of power and craft thus to lead 
 men captive at his will. " The prince of all know- 
 ledge, (as one wrote twenty years ago,) where God is 
 not known ; of all power, where God is not acknow- 
 ledged; the bright archangel of the natural man, 
 revealing himself in his angelic glories of natural 
 knowledge, natural beauty, natural wisdom, and na- 
 tural humanity." Thus does he play his part in this 
 last age ! Under these radiant disguises, he is be- 
 wildering the eyes of men, and persuading them that 
 
oZS THE SIGNS. 
 
 this diffusion of knowledge is the breaking of the 
 millennial dawn. So specious are his counterfeits, 
 that it is hard to separate the real from the false, the 
 precious from the vile ; for when he thus comes forth 
 as an angel of light, clothed in every perfection that 
 the natural heart loves, and the carnal eye admires, 
 who shall penetrate the deception and escape the snare, 
 save those who " know all things," by reason of " the 
 unction from the Holy One?" Most truly (as one 
 has remarked) has the present state of the world been 
 described by one of the world's own poets, when 
 picturing the gay glitter of an evening assembly, over 
 which was thrown 
 
 " A dazzling mass of artificial light, 
 Which shew'd all things, but nothing as they were." 
 
 So it is now upon the earth, among the heedless multi- 
 tudes of the children of men. It is the world's mid- 
 night. They are eating and drinking, marrying and 
 giving in marriage. Literature, science, art, philosophy, 
 are all their own ! Yet there is an artificial colouring, 
 an unreal brightness, over all. There is music, but it 
 is of the syren kind ; not the deep melody of old 
 ancestral song. There is eloquence, too, but it is " the 
 words of man's wisdom," not that which speaks for God 
 and " winneth souls." There is fervour, too, but it is 
 the warmth of wild excitement, born in novelty and 
 nursed by perpetual change. There is high thought, 
 too, but it is often of the unhealthful cast, wrought off 
 at the midnight lamp ; not the deep musings begot 
 
THE SIGNS. 329 
 
 in fellowship with God, and ceaseless converse with that 
 Word which maketh wise the simple. 
 
 Along with all this, there is a proud air of in- 
 dependence, like that which said, "Our lips are our 
 own; who is Lord over us?" There is a reckless 
 determination to hold what opinions men please, un- 
 checked and unreproved. And, then, in connexion 
 with this, many are loud in maintaining, on the one 
 hand, the harmlessness of error, and on the other, the 
 omnipotence of truth. No doubt, upon unfallen beings, 
 error must fall innocuous, and truth prove itself resist- 
 less. But in this fallen world, error cannot be so inno- 
 cent, nor truth so omnipotent, as some suppose. Were 
 this the native country of truth ; were the atmosphere 
 of this world its native air, we might hope to see it 
 spring up in rich and spontaneous luxuriance. But 
 so long as Satan is the god of this world — " the prince 
 of the power of the air," truth must ever be an alien to 
 the soil. "It bears a bright golden flower, but not in 
 this clime." The sentiment I allude to is one of Satan's 
 most subtle sophistries, by means of which he hopes to 
 succeed in confounding truth and error. " Magna est 
 Veritas et prazvalebit," is the adage of antiquity. I be- 
 lieve it. I know that there is in reserve for truth 
 a glorious triumph in the ages to come, even upon 
 this dark earth ; but this shall not be by its own 
 might, but by the Spirit of the Lord. It is not 
 science and philosophy that are to regenerate the 
 world. They are evidences that the predicted time is 
 come when " many shall run to and fro, and knowledge 
 
330 THE SIGNS. 
 
 shall be increased." But the " march of intellect " is 
 not the triumph of truth. They are signs of promised 
 day,— 
 
 " last in the train of night, 
 If better they belong not to the dawn ; " 
 
 but they are neither the star of morning nor the sun 
 of righteousness. They shall grace the triumph of 
 truth, but not as confederate allies, to whom in part 
 belongs the glory of the victory, but only as captives 
 bound to its chariot- wheels. Truth shall prevail ! 
 But not till He who is truth shall come to lead it 
 on to victory. Then its present obscurity will only 
 enhance its future exaltation. The darkness, which 
 now wraps it, conceals, but cannot mar it ; and, like 
 the face of heaven when the clouds pass off, which 
 hide, but soil not its spotless azure, it shall emerge 
 unstained. 
 
 These are a few of the many " signs of the times.". 
 Of some of these it may be affirmed that they belong 
 specially to our own day, not having been witnessed by 
 any former age. Of others we may say, that, though 
 seen in other ages, they have shone out far more fully 
 and decidedly in our own. No previous age could 
 point to signs so many and so vivid as ours can do ; and 
 it is this that renders our position so very solemn and 
 responsible. No thoughtful mind will hastily reject 
 them, even though not wholly satisfied ; for even 
 though they may appear defective, yet there is much 
 about them that is not improbable ; and what if, after 
 
THE SIGNS. 331 
 
 all, they should be true ? The facts to which I have 
 been adverting exist. It becomes us in good earnest 
 to inquire, What do they mean, what do they indicate ? 
 
 It was the aberrations of one of our exterior planets 
 that gave the first notice to astronomers of the presence 
 of another orb, outside our present planetary region ; 
 so it is the strange aberrations, the irregular move- 
 ments of things around us, that reveal to the well- 
 taught eye of the Church the near approach of that 
 Star which has been so long absent from our system. 
 And as, when the suggestion was given forth to the 
 students of science, many a telescope was forthwith 
 pointed to the quarter where the predicted stranger 
 was expected to present itself ; so when the signs of 
 the times proclaim so audibly " The Lord is at hand," 
 should not every eye be turning upwards to the hea- 
 vens from which He is to descend in glory, and every 
 heart throbbing at the thought that He shall so soon 
 be here ? How many astronomers are now reproaching 
 themselves, because they were so slow to credit the cal- 
 culations of science, and be the first to catch a glimpse 
 of the expected planet. And how far more truly, more 
 deeply bitter may be our reproaches hereafter, if we 
 turn coldly away from the announcement, " Behold He 
 cometh," and find ourselves shut out from the blessed- 
 ness of the promise, "I will give him the Morning 
 Star." 
 
 It is now more than three thousand years since God 
 gave to His Church one of her gladdest, richest songs 
 
332 THE SIGNS. 
 
 by the mouth of Hannah, in the day when her tribu- 
 lation was at an end, and the desire of her heart had 
 been given. It is a song of vast prophetic fulness, — a 
 song as marvellous in compass as it is magnificent in 
 thought : — 
 
 " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, 
 He lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, 
 To set them among princes, 
 And to make them inherit the throne of glory ; 
 For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, 
 And he hath set the world upon them. 
 He will keep the feet of his saints, 
 And the wicked shall be silent in darkness, 
 For by strength shall no man prevail. 
 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces ; 
 Out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. 
 Jehovah shall judge the ends of the earth ; 
 He shall give strength unto his King, 
 And exalt the horn of his Anointed." 
 
 All this, of course, was full of meaning, even in that 
 early period in which it was uttered ; yet how dim that 
 meaning must have been to those who saw these pre- 
 dicted events only afar off ! But, like all other prophetic 
 songs, this has gathered fulness as it passed along the 
 ages. Each age has imparted light to it, and dispersed 
 shade after shade. Each generation of the Church has 
 drawn out of it a wider and a profounder meaning. 
 Till now, in this last age, we can take it up and sing 
 it, line after line, with an understanding and an emphasis 
 unknown in earlier days. For the time is at hand, and 
 the projected shadows of the future are becoming every 
 
THE SIGNS. 333 
 
 day sharper in their outline, and more intelligible in 
 their motions. 
 
 The day is at hand when the poor shall be raised 
 out of the dust, set among princes, and made to inherit 
 the throne of glory ; when the Lord shall establish the 
 world upon its pillars, that it may not be moved for 
 ever. JS r oiv He keepeth the feet of His saints, but then 
 He shall break their enemies in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel, sending forth His lightnings to scatter them 
 and consign them to the blackness of darkness for ever. 
 Now the wicked are exalted, but then Jehovah shall 
 judge the ends of the earth, giving strength unto His 
 own anointed King, crowning Him with the " many 
 crowns/' and investing Him with glory and dominion 
 for ever. What a spectacle shall the new earth then 
 present, when delivered from the bondage of corruption 
 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God ! — Once 
 more meet for God to look upon, and worthy to be the 
 dwelling-place of His eternal Son ! Once more linked 
 to heaven by the true ladder of which Jacob saw but 
 the symbol ; angels of God ascending and descending, 
 in blessed fellowship and ministries of love! Once 
 more fit to take rank in creation, not, as hitherto, an 
 outcast planet doomed to darkness, but radiant all over 
 with holy beauty, the seat of government and centre 
 of influence to the unmeasured universe around. 
 
 And how soon shall present night be forgotten in 
 the brightness of the endless day ! How soon shall 
 the curse give place to the blessing, barrenness be 
 
334 THE SIGNS. 
 
 exchanged for fruitfulness, and all pollution be swept 
 clean away ! It is but " a little while" and all shall be 
 well! Another night's tossing on the billows, and 
 then the calm of the eternal morn ! One more out- 
 burst of the " warring winds/' and then all storms are 
 hushed, and the long dissonances of time melt into the 
 one harmony of creation's boundless song ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
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