CONTENTS
01. Last Day Events in the Gospel Plan
02. The Gospel Message For Today
03. The Day of the Lord
04. The Hour of His Judgment Is Come
05. The Sanctuary and the Judgment
06. The Coming of Our Lord
07. The Second Advent
08. The Next Universal Empire
09. The Millennium
Signs Publishing Company
Warburton, Victoria, Australia
1925
WHEN the irrevocable decree of the Judge, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; ... and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11), goes forth, it forever closes all time of repentance and reformation. Our High Priest will then leave His mediatorial throne; the angel of mercy will fold its wings, while the black satyrs of evil will seem to triumph. But not for long. The next verse to the scripture above quoted, reads: “And, behold, I [Jesus] come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Here is a little period covered by the word “quickly.” What occurs during this period? How much time does it embrace? What great events intervene between the beginning of the day of the Lord and the coming of Christ, inclusive? We may certainly inquire concerning this period to the extent that God has revealed it to us. We do not propose to speculate over obscure passages, but to present those which are clear and unambiguous. As 6od’s Word is truth, the obscure will be in harmony with the plain, positive testimony. With these objects before us, let us notice some of these great events:
1. The seven last plagues. It is not our purpose to describe these plagues, or give an exposition of Revelation 16, interesting as the prophecy is; we merely locate them between the close of probation and the coming of Christ, which occurs immediately after, or in conjunction with, the last plague. For it is under the last plague that the shaking of the powers of heaven takes place, and “then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.” Mark 13:26. Under this plague, the great hail, reserved to the day of trouble (Job 38: 22, 23), falls upon men who are still blaspheming God; and the great battle is fought at Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Zechariah 14 and Joel 3.
The time occupied in the pouring out of these plagues is evidently a year. In prophetic language, a day symbolizes a year (Ezekiel 4:4-6; Numbers 14:34); and in the prophecy concerning Babylon (Revelation 18), it is stated (verse 8): “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine.” Of course, famine could not come in one literal day; we therefore conclude that the time is symbolic, signifying one year. This seems to be referred to by the prophet: “ For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” Isaiah 34:8. It ushers in the great day of God, and in it is the most signal manifestation of His just wrath until after the thousand years, namely, the pouring out of the seven last plagues.
“He [the Lord Jehovah] shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday, A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest you dash thy foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:4-12.
The reason of God’s protection is given in the fourth and ninth verses. The faith of the child of God grasps the promises of God, and in the midst of boiling seas, falling rocks, and quaking mountains, he triumphantly sings:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed [do change, RV.], and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Psalm 46:1-3.
3. The death of all the wicked. Many of them die in the battle of the great day, which takes place under the seventh plague. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jeremiah 25:33. Then the fowls of heaven are called to the feast: “Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” Revelation 19:17, 18. The great apostate powers are cast alive into the lake of fire, into which portions of the earth will be converted. Here they will be “utterly burned.” Revelation 18:8, The “remnant,” or the men who are left: after the great battle, are slain by the sword of the Coming One, who then appears. As Paul expresses it: “Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2: 9. See Daniel 7:10.
4. The righteous dead are raised at Christ’s appearing. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel [See John 5:28], and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” l Thessalonians 4: 16. The resurrection of the righteous precedes that of the wicked. See John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:4-6.
“Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6. From this scripture we learn two important facts: (a) The first resurrection is that of the righteous dead; they are blessed and holy; (b) those mentioned in the fourth verse are the same as those of the sixth; they both reign with Christ a thousand years; (c) the coming of Christ, the slaying of the wicked, the raising of the righteous dead, mark the beginning of the thousand years of the millennium of the Bible. The preceding verse shows that there is one thousand years between the resurrections of the two classes: “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”
This first resurrection (that of the holy) has been the hope of all past ages. Job, Isaiah, David, Hosea, Jeremiah, in fact, all classes-apostle, prophet, and saint-looked forward to the time when the coming of the Master of life would be the destruction of the grave (Hosea 13:14), and the saints would shout, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. This is the resurrection literally “out from among the dead,” of which our Savior speaks in Luke 20:35, and for which Paul earnestly longed. Philippians 3:11. Glorious day to the worn pilgrims, the faithful toilers, the blessed martyrs, who, all unappreciated by a wicked and tyrannical world, have laid down their lives for the sake of Christ. Great is their reward.
5. At the resurrection of the righteous dead, the righteous living are changed to immortality. This is, stated by the Apostle Paul as follows:
“Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.
“For our conversation [commonwealth] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” Philippians 3: 20, 21.
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are-alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel; and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
“Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14: 1-3.
The last scripture quoted is the words of our Savior to the troubled disciples. They loved Him, and therefore loved His personal presence. He assures them that He will come again, and will take them to that place to which He was then about to go; What was this place? It was heaven, where God the Father dwelt. That this is so a brief examination of several scriptures will make plain. Jesus had just told His disciples previous to this that He was going away, that they should seek Him, but as He had told the Jews, whither He went they could not come. John 13: 33. This remark to the Jews is recorded in John 7:33-35. Jesus there plainly says, “I go unto Him that sent Me.” The Jews question what He can mean, and again our Savior says, “I go My way, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go you cannot come.” John 8:21. To this Jesus refers in chapter 13:33, 36. Peter asks Him, “Whither goes You? Jesus answered him, Whither I go you canst not follow Me now; but you shall follow Me afterwards.”
From the above scriptures we learn that our Savior, in going away, returned to God, who sent Him, therefore He ascended to heaven; that to this place the wicked Jews could never come; that the disciples could not come now, or through death; the coming of Christ must first take place. Then, when those heavenly mansions were prepared, He would come again, and the assurance that they should follow Him afterwards would be fulfilled in ascending with their Lord to the New Jerusalem.
7. The earth will be desolated at the second coming of Christ. Other events already noticed show this to be the case. The wicked are slain by the brightness and terrible glory of Christ’s presence; the righteous are taken to the heavenly mansions. This leaves the earth without a human inhabitant. Says the prophet Jeremiah (4: 23-27): “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.”
The Lord will not wholly destroy the earth; but He will make it wholly desolate and empty of all its inhabitants for a time. Another prophet bears the following testimonies:
“Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word.” Isaiah 24:1, 3. “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land [erets, earth] desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it.” Isaiah 13:9.
The above testimonies admit of no double constructions. They are plain, unambiguous declarations which can only refer to the last great day.
8. The everlasting kingdom of Christ will be set up at His coming. Jesus has now gone to the “far country” to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return. Luke 19:12; Daniel 7:13, 14. At His coming He will begin His reign. Says Paul, “Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and kingdom.” 2 Timothy 4:1. He now reigns a priest upon His Father’s throne, the throne of grace (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 8:1), and is gathering out of the world those who will be wholly His, fit stones for the great, spiritual temple, fit subjects of His everlasting kingdom. Zechariah 6: 12, 13; Ephesians 2: 20-22. At the close of His priestly work the kingdom which He has redeemed is given to Him (Daniel 7:12, 13; Revelation 11:15); And He comes forth to execute wrath upon a guilty world. Psalm 150:5, 6; Luke 19: 12, 13, 22, 27. At that time will be fulfilled the words of the Lord by the apostle, which we will paraphrase to make their meaning more obvious:
“Then comes the end [of probation and Christ’s rule as kingly priest], when He [the Son] shall have delivered u the kingdom [of grace] to God, even the Father (Zechariah 6:12, 13; when He [the Father] shall have put down all rule “and all authority and power.” Psalm 110: 1. “For He [the Son] must reign [on His Father’s throne], till He [the Father] has put all enemies under His [the Son’s] feet.” 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25.
Having left the throne of grace, our Lord will at His coming take His rightful place on the throne of glory, the throne of His father David. “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.” Matthew 25: 31; Luke 1:32, 34.
He does not, however, begin His reign upon this sin-marred earth, but in its capital city, the New Jerusalem, which is above, the mother of us all, now waiting for her children. Galatians 4:26, 27; Isaiah 54:1-5. In the Paradise of God, once upon the earth in its Eden beauty, now in the city of God, untarnished by sin since guilty man first transgressed, will the Lord of glory begin His reign. The earth is not yet fitted, although subdued. A little longer the Lord waits to manifest His justice and love to those of all dispensations who have been its inhabitants, and then the earth will blossom as when it came from the hand of God, and Christ’s reign of endless peace will begin.
Events Of The Millennium
The time between the pouring out of the -first plague, when the day of wrath begins and probation closes, and the last trump, when Christ appears, is called, in the prophecy of Revelation 18:8, “one day,” or a literal year. The coming of Christ, the resurrection and translation of the just, the slaying of the wicked, and the desolation of the earth, mark the beginning of the thousand years. Here the Bible millennium begins, not in glory, but, so far as regards this earth, enshrouded in darkness. What occurs during the millennium?
The Saints Judge The World
Where are the saints during this period? We have before shown that they were taken to the “Father’s house,” the city of God in heaven. Here, associated with Christ, they judge the wicked dead; here they live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Revelation 20:4.
Jesus told His disciples, who had forsaken the world, who were condemned by that chosen nation of Israel, that nation which had rejected God, that they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 19: 28. The tables would then be turned. Those condemned on earth by the greater part of the professed people of God, would in the future judge those apostate tribes; not in revenge, however, but in sorrow and strict justice. Paul admonishes the Corinthians to “judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes” (1 Corinthians 4:5), from which it may be legitimately inferred that at that time the saints will sit in judgment. And this is what Paul expressly states further on. In chapter 6:1 he reproves them for going to law before the unjust, and not before the saints. Surely those who have been in some measure enlightened by the Spirit of God, ought to be able to judge between brethren of the same faith. “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judge by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall Judge [evil] angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?” It is the fulfillment of this prediction by Paul that John sees, as recorded in Revelation, 20:4: This reign is therefore in heaven, not on the earth.
“But do the saints judge the wicked?” asks one. We answer, Yes, why not? The Bible expressly declares it, and why not believe it? Abraham, the father of the faithful, asked the question, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 15:4). That question will be answered to the faithful. They have believed God without always seeing the why and the wherefore. God will reveal to them that their faith was not misplaced; He will demonstrate to the redeemed host the wisdom of all His decisions.
The Prison House
As before shown, under, the seventh plague the earth shall be “utterly emptied.” Isaiah 24:3. Thus the prophet speaks of the death of the wicked under the fearful judgments of God: “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited.” Isaiah 24:21, 22.
The wicked are punished by the plagues. Under the burning glory of Christ’s coming they die, and are gathered into the vast charnel-house of the dead-this desolate earth. But this death is not eternal. After many days they shall be visited again. John tells us how long a period these “many days” are. “But the rest of the dead [the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:5. This is conclusive. If the righteous dead, the blessed and holy, are raised, and the saints are all taken to heaven, if the “remnant” of the wicked are slain (Revelation 19: 21), and those who were dead remain so, there is not one wicked human being, either good or evil, alive upon the earth.
Therefore holy angels are commissioned to keep infallible records of men’s lives, with the motives which actuated their deeds. See Exodus 32:32; Psalm 139:16; Matthew 12:36; Psalm 50:21; Daniel 7:10; Malachi 3:16, et al. God in His infinite knowledge does not need these records, but His people need them. And during the thousand years those who have died out of Christ come in review before God and the saints, in their records, and their deeds are weighed, and their sentences apportioned accordingly. Revelation 20:12. The question of Abraham is then answered, and with one acclaim the saints raise the song, “Just and true are Thy ways, You King of saints:” Revelation 15: 3.
Upon this desolated earth Satan is confined. Revelation 20:1-3. The word translated “bottomless pit,” in verse 2, is abussos, the Greek word which-corresponds to the Hebrew word t’hom, translated “deep” in Genesis 1:2. In the Septuagint, t’hom is translated abussos. They both refer to the empty and desolated earth. Here Satan is confined, to ponder over the ruin he has wrought. He cannot leave for other worlds, and the dead are beyond the reach of his power.
Certainly the millennium, so far as this earth is concerned, is not to be desired. The pall of death will hang over this world at that time, where men, in the boasting of error, predict life and peace and joy. Would that their prediction were true, if it were God’s will. But the “sure word of prophecy” has drawn another picture in order that the world may be warned of the evil to come. There is life and peace, but it is the presence of God in heaven. Infinite Mercy has set before us life and death; therefore choose life “before the day of the Lord’s fierce anger come upon you.”
The Close Of The Millennium
The consideration of events thus, far has brought us to the end of the millennium. The time of Satan’s’ confinement will then have passed, the “many days,” during which the wicked have been shut up in the prison-house of the grave, will have terminated, and the time will have come when God will visit them again to call them back to life. Isaiah 24:22; Revelation 20:5. The latter text reads: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” “The rest [or remainder] of the dead” are the wicked dead. The “blessed and holy” were raised at the beginning of the thousand years. “This is the first resurrection.”
But there shall also be a resurrection of the unjust to condemnation. Acts 24:15; John 5:29. The wicked are again given life, in order that they may know what they have rejected, that they may see the wisdom and promises of God in His gospel vindicated and fulfilled to those who have believed and obeyed, and that they may receive the sentence-the due reward of their deeds-meted out to them during the thousand years in the Supreme Court of Equity, the sittings of which are forever ended, and from the decisions of which there is no appeal.
The wicked come up from their graves animated, and actuated by the same selfish, sinful thoughts and motives which dominated their lives when they died. They are, just as determined to accomplish their ends now as they were then. As they are raised from the dead, the city of God appears. This is mentioned in Zechariah 14. A mighty plain will, by the power of God, be prepared in the very place where the Son of God shed His blood for guilty man. Here the New Jerusalem will descend. Christ came at the beginning of the thousand years to gather His saints and to take them to mansions on high; but now the Lord our God shall come, and all the saints with Him. Zechariah 14:5.
The same facts are shown in Revelation 20 and 21. In verse 9 we have “the camp of the saints” and “the beloved city” referred to as showing the place where the wicked nations of earth will be gathered. In order not to break the connection, no mention is made in Revelation 20 of the descent of the city; that subject is reserved for the next chapter, in which is given a description of the New Jerusalem and its descent from heaven.
God’s Spirit being withdrawn from the earth as a reprover of men-restrainer of sin, the wicked fall again an easy prey to the prince of evil:-
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Revelation 20: 7, 8.
How long this period of deceiving the nations, marshalling and training their armies, and gathering them to Jerusalem over the plague-desolated and earthquake-broken world to fight against God, may be, we know not: But it will necessarily take some time. The wicked are still mortal and selfish. The first will necessitate more or less time, and the second would delay union. But the master mind among them-he who once was Lucifer-reduces to something like order the vast host under the mightiest generals that earth has known, and prepares to attack the city of God. This object and its result are shown in the next verse: “And they wept up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”
Actuated by the same selfishness that first inspired Satan, urged on by his mighty power and consummate artifices, they attempt, with rebellious hearts, to storm the city. But all the combined powers of the universe are naught against Him; or the city of the jasper wall. The fire of God devours the wicked. They are “burned up” “root [Satan] and branch [the wicked]. Malachi 4:1-4. Then will be fulfilled the words of the prophet regarding the New Jerusalem:
“Behold, Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment you shall condemn.” Isaiah 54:15-17.
The tenth verse of Revelation 20 presents the fate of Satan. He is cast into the lake of fire “where are also the beast and the false prophet.” Revised Version. Just as the presence of Christ at the beginning of the thousand years caused the consumption of the wicked, so at the close of the thousand years God’s presence and the fire which falls from heaven converts the earth into one vast liquid lake of fire, in which the wicked will be overwhelmed, and into which Satan, the prince of the power of the air, who has heretofore had the privilege of navigating aerial regions, will be cast to be burned with them. It is thus that Peter speaks of this lake of fire:
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be destroyed.” 2 Peter 3: 10.
This fire will be universal; that is, it will include the whole earth. It will not occur at the beginning of the millennium, or all animal life would be extinct. The unjust will be destroyed at that time, but the fowls of the air will survive, to feast upon the flesh of the men slain in the battle of Armageddon. But at the close of the thousand years, the elements of the earth will be melted by the fierce heat, and the whole will form one vast lake of fire. This great burning comes in the day of the Lord, but after the thousand years. “In the which,” that is, in the day of the Lord, says Peter, quoted above. Then will be fulfilled such expressions as Zephaniah 1: 2, 3:
“I will utterly consume all things from off the land, said the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, said the Lord.”
The glory and power of the presence of God as He passes sentence upon the wicked just previous to their destruction, are thus presented:
“And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” Revelation 20: 11.
The wicked then see what they have lost. They see, in transfigured glory and immortality, those whom they had in the day of probation scoffed at, ridiculed, persecuted. Those who crucified Christ now see the Man of Calvary in His glory. Satan and all others are revealed in their iniquity and moral deformity as recipients of God’s wrath, while to the righteous are fulfilled the promises of God.
Conclusion
Here we close. The purifying fires have accomplished their work. From the furnace test spring the “new heavens and a new earth,” according to God’s promise. 2 Peter 3:13. “Behold,” says the Lord through the prophet, “I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5. It comes once more from the hand of God, clad in its Eden beauty. The meek now inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11. Their eternal reign has begun. The kingdom .and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, is given to the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Daniel 7:27. The lowly Man of Nazareth, who had no comeliness pleasing to earth, a “man of sorrows,” scourged and crucified by His own nation, is now reigning in His glory. He is the King in His beauty, upon whom the pure in heart can look without a dimming vale between, seeing in Him their eternal Friend, their gracious Redeemer, the chief among the myriads of heaven, and the one altogether lovely. And in His presence, sharing His life and glory, the righteous will reign throughout the eternal ages which measure the life of God. Would we have a part there? Then we must seek God now.
“Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7.
A Startling Announcement
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8.
A Solemn Warning
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast or and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment, ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11.
Heavenly Messages
God’s Messages Are Always Definite. Genesis 6:17; 19: 13, 14; Exodus 4: 22, 23; 8:1, 2; Daniel 5: 25-28; Jonah 3:4; John 1:29; 3:16; Acts 21:22-24; Revelation 3:14-21; 22:10-15.
God’s Messages Are Always Merciful
Genesis 6:3; 18:23-32; 19:12-16; 41:28-37; Exodus 7:1-5 with John 17:3; 1 Kings 12:7-13; Daniel 4:24-26; Jonah 3:4, 5, 10, and Jonah 4. Acts 9:1-19; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 3:20-22; 14:6-12. “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever.” Psalmm136:1.
How They Are Given
God’s Messages Are Given Through Men. Noah gave the message of the Deluge. Joseph, proclaimed the famine message in Egypt. Moses bore the message of deliverance from Egypt. Nathan carried the Lord’s reproof to King David. Daniel bore the divine message to the kings of Babylon. Through Jonah, Nineveh was warned. John the Baptist proclaimed the Messiah. The angel of God sent Cornelius to Peter to receive the gospel; and Christ Himself sent Saul the persecutor to Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, that he might learn his duty as a convert. The gospel commission was given to men. See Matthew 28: 1620, and Luke 10:16; with Amos 7. The great book of messages to the church-The Revelation was given through the apostle John.
Danger of Rejecting Them
The Results Of Rejecting God’s Message. The antediluvians were destroyed in the Deluge. Sodom was destroyed by fire. Pharaoh and his army perished in the sea. Israel was sent into captivity, and finally rejected as a nation. Capernaum, Chorazin, and other cities fell into decay; and eventually, this sin-cursed earth will be burned up (2 Peter 3: 7, 10-13), and all the wicked shall perish. See Psalm 37: 20; Revelation 20:11-15. “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23.
God’s Remedy for the Ills of Christendom
GOD’S plan for saving sinful men has ever been the same. With Him there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Human nature has ever been the same - variable, inconstant, weak, needing a Savior, a Helper.
God’s means of saving men is “the everlasting gospel” of His grace. Whatever the condition of humanity, the gospel of Christ has ever been effectual to save. It ever has been, as it still is, “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16. It was preached to Abel, to Noah, to Abraham, to Israel of old, even as it has been preached since the first advent of our Lord. Hebrews 11:1-8; Galatians 3: 15; Hebrews 4: 4. Acceptance of that gospel has always been manifest in “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21. The fruit of its faith is obedience; it is “the faith which works by love” (Galatians 5:6), the love which keeps all of God’s commandments. 1 John 5: 3.
Types and shadows have changed, but the holy law and the divine Savior remain the same. “I am the Lord, I change not.” “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Present Truth
This gospel has ever been present truth-that is, truth applicable at all times and ages to the needs of mankind. It has, therefore, had connected with it the special truth applicable to each generation. These special truths never disannul the great general truths of the gospel; rather, they emphasize them and demonstrate their worth and power. For instance: In the days of the Deluge the gospel was preached by Noah, but connected with that was the warning message of an impending flood, and the necessity of men’s preparing for that judgment by turning from their sins. Saving faith in the gospel was manifest in belief in Noah’s warning. Abraham preached the same gospel, but he could not preach a coming flood; it was no longer present truth. John the Baptist preached the same old gospel, and with it the present truth of a soon-coming Redeemer. Peter and Paul preached the same gospel that John did, John’s present truth was past to them. Jesus had come, had died, and was risen. This was their present truth. God also has a present truth for these days. And the gospel of God, with its present living truth for the various ages, has always been an all-sufficient remedy for all the ills of any age. It makes of one all those who receive it, lifting them above sin and connecting them with God. But what is the condition now?
The Condition
It is a sad yet well-known fact that the professed Christian churches are far below the Christian ideal, backslidden from God. This no earnest, observant Christian will deny. Testimony of devoted men in all churches might be given, but it is not needed. All devoted souls know it. Those who do not, have never known the sweeter, deeper, higher life in Christ Jesus.
Division-Confusion-Unbelief
It is a sad and undeniable fact that the great, numerous, Christian church is hopelessly divided. Human federations may, in a way, bring them together, but human federation is not divine union. Human compacts or agreements are not bonds of divine life. All that the human can do is to confederate around a human standard called a creed. But God’s method is to unite all in one by the divine indwelling life. Jesus thus expresses it: “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.” John 17:23. Confederation about a human creed is but the worship of an image on paper. Union in and by and through Jesus Christ is the worship and power of the living God.
It is a sad and undeniable fact that the many divisions in the great professed church and in the several churches are a stumbling-block to worldlings and unbelievers. It is seeking unholy justification for an abnormal condition to say that all this division is unity in diversity, and all are well-organized parts of one great army under the one Leader, when the greater part of the vital strength of the church is absorbed in the very churches themselves, which, instead of growing better, are growing worse, and, instead of being the pastor’s force to second him in aggressive work, are his field of labor.
Jesus Christ said that union, not division, was an evidence of His divine mission. Hear Him pray: “That they all may be one; as You Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that You hast sent Me.” John 17:21.
Neither is this union to exist in mere sentiment, but in teaching, in doctrine, in purpose. Thus the Spirit speaks through Paul: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10.
It need scarcely be said that the only mind which will thus unite mortal man, with all their limitations of early environment, education, habits, prejudices, and sins, is the mind of Christ. Therefore, “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5.
A Whole Christ
To thus be united to Christ, and, by the means of Christ’s life, to each other, means to accept Christ in the fullest sense. To accept Christ as a savior, a redeemer, a way of life, an example, or a teacher, will not suffice. He declares: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14: 6.
To accept Jesus Christ as the Way is to give up all our ways and yield all, willingly (for He will never compel), to His way. “Whosoever he be of you that forsakes [renounces] not all that he has, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14: 33.
To accept Jesus Christ as the Truth, means to accept the word of God as God’s message through Christ to this world. For Christ is the Word, the One through whom all the word was given. John 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 8: 6. It was His power that created all things; it was His Spirit which spoke through the prophets. Colossians 1:16; 1 Peter 1: 10, 11. He it is who has, in all times and ages, declared the Father to the children of men, whether as the Angel of the Covenant, in the desert, the Man Christ Jesus in Judea, the Inspirer of the Holy Writings, or the Sender of the Comforter, His representative. The Holy Word, with its one law and one gospel, its one Spirit and one object, is the message of God through Jesus Christ to the sons of men. So Christ prays for those whom He would make one, “Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth;” for by that word was He sanctified, “that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” John 17: 17-19.
He, therefore, who receives Christ, the Truth, will receive His word in law and gospel, in precept and promise, with all the heart. No tradition will make void in his heart the commandments of God to render vain his worship. Matthew 15:6, 9. No sophistry of man will be allowed to nail upon the cold, dead, irresponsive arms of a cruel creed the life-giving truths of that word. He who truly accepts Christ will take the word of Christ into his heart, and there let its vital principles live and grow, fashioning him day by day like the Master. That word will be the Christ revealed in writing. And Christ will be that word revealed in character.
He who receives Jesus Christ as the Life will not cut off the life which is in him by the old serpent fable of Eden, “You shall not surely die.” In the light of God’s presence in His word the humble soul will acknowledge his sinfulness, and thereby his mortality, and look to Jesus Christ alone as the source of righteousness and eternal life to the believer now, the Bestower of immortality at His coming.
This acceptance of Christ does not mean that all Christ’s fullness must be seen and realized if we are to become one in Him; for that can never be, because He is infinite. But it does mean that the believer is to accept Jesus Christ as He is, as He is revealed in His word. He must allow no civil magistrate, no mitered priest, no human creed or council, no worldly ambitions, no arts of the evil one, to come between his soul and Jesus Christ, and he will leave Prayer, study, experience, and the goodness and wisdom of Christ, to supply the fuller knowledge.
Thus accepting Jesus Christ made the early apostolic church what it was, united in heart and purpose, in word and doctrine, in worship, in life. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; and with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: great grace was upon them all.”
So it was in that early church. How precious to them the truth and hope of the resurrection, the second coming of Christ, the atonement in its fullest and strongest sense, the power of the, simple word and Holy Spirit of God in those days!
Now these very doctrines are scoffed at and ridiculed and “spirited” away by those high in church councils, with but little or no protest from pulpit or press.
Confusion-Babylon
Departing from God’s way, erecting human standards, following man’s way instead of God’s way, adding to His word, Subtracting from it, have always brought division, and true confusion. The would-be wise men of the land of Shinar promised themselves a better way when they built themselves a city and a tower, and sought to make themselves a name. They prized their work so highly that called it, according to the story of their brick books, “Babel,” “the gate of God,” or “the gate of heaven;” but God could not serve with their sins. He will not give His glory to another, and He named it what it literally was, Babel, confusion. See Genesis 11:1-9. And so every attempt to improve upon God’s work has resulted in confusion in the work of God, of which confusion “God is not the author.” 1 Corinthians 14: 33.
Modern Babylon
It was confusion, Babylon, which came into the Christian church, even before the death of the apostles, till finally, a few centuries later, the great apocalyptic harlot was developed.
The Reformers took some mighty strides toward the one standard of God, albeit in different companies; but they still stopped in Babylon, and confusion reigns even to the present. As truly as the great apostate system of the Papacy became Babylon by departing from the truth of God, so truly did Protestantism in the formulation of a multitude of creeds. Not only was confusion brought into the church, but the people of the world seeking for light are confused and driven to unbelief. Just as surely as papal Babylon committed fornication by forsaking her lawful Spouse, Jesus Christ, and uniting with the civil power, just so surely have those Protestant churches committed fornication with the kings of the earth which have done the same thing. And those who have not yet done this, but who are clamoring for civil power to enforce unscriptural dogmas or institutions (scriptural would be no different), are trimming their ways for unlawful lovers of spiritual fornication. And is not this the condition of the Protestant churches today? Said the Revelation Charles Beecher, in a sermon at the dedication of the Second Presbyterian Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as long ago as February 22, 1846:
“Thus are the ministry of the evangelical Protestant denominations, not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again?”
Since the time that was written, nearly all the Protestant churches, or representatives of these churches, have put forth long and continuous effort to secure legislation for worldly support for professedly Christian dogma, notably for Sunday laws. Even thus the Dark Ages began.
God’s Remedy
Here is God’s remedy for the confusion among His people; for He certainly so counted them, and sent His message to heal them:
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14: 6, 7.
The time when this message is due to the church and the world is when the judgment of God is impending. In past centuries we are told of a” judgment to come,” of a day when God will judge the world (Acts 17:31; 24:25); but in this message the judgment of God is come; it is already here. It is now a present truth that the hour of “His judgment is come.” It is the adjudication of cases in the heavenly courts, the accounting worthy of those who have been faithful, and who will be raised to immortality at Christ’s coming to give reward. See Luke 20: 35, 1 Corinthians 15: 52; Revelation 22: 11, 12.
This judgment is foretold in a prophecy in Daniel 8:14: “Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be-cleansed.” By chapter 9 it is shown that these days (symbolical of literal years Ezekiel 4:4, 6) began in BC 457, the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezekiel 7:7), and that they therefore end in 1844, when our Lord’s last work of the putting away of sin in the heavenly sanctuary shall take place. (See Hebrews 9: 23-26, and also “Christ, our Advocate,” Bible Student’s Library, Number 128, for a full discussion of the time.) Then began the hour of God’s judgment, the beginning of Christ’s closing work, the great antitypical Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16 and 23.
“Fear God,” says the divine message, “and give glory to Him.” It implies that the church has given glory to men. Tradition has made void the commandments of God. Cold, dead creeds have displaced the living word. Elaborate ritual has dispossessed simple worship. The pagan solar holiday is accepted as the Lord’s holy day in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of Him who created the heavens and the earth. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.”
Reverence of God leads to obedience “Worship Him.” Turn from the worship of the false to the true. The highest worship is obedience, or service. “You shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall you serve,” are the words which Christ made His own, and which God would have the church make her own, and so return from Babylon, confusion, to Jerusalem, unity and peace.
As the everlasting gospel brought union in the early church, the members of which came from Pharisee, and Sadducee, and Essene, and publican, so if it had been received when its proclamation first began in 1844, and onwards, it would have brought into one all the churches of modern Babylon. God did not, He does not, condemn them for being in Babylon. He desired to call them out. “We would have healed Babylon,” is what God said, but the sad result is, “she is not healed.” Jeremiah 51:9. And so has it been, and is.
Babylon is Fallen
The churches are worse today than when Charles Beecher, and many others, uttered their faithful warnings. Since that time she has turned wonderfully to the world. She is organizing herself into societies, law, and other leagues, unions, and civic federations, for the purpose of enforcing civil law, while the gospel is scarcely heard by the poorer strata of society. More and more is the church leaving Christ, and uniting with the world and the State. She is leaving the living spring and cold snow of Lebanon for human, broken cisterns. She has forsaken her Husband, Christ Jesus, and is committing fornication with the kings of the earth. And so it is sorrowfully declared:
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8.
And it could not be otherwise. When the Jewish Church turned from the close, yet healing, message of John and Jesus, a message, which, if received, would have restored, they were ready to reject Christ, their King, and to say, “We have no king but Caesar.” And so when the modern church rejects God’s healing message of reproof and warning, she will turn to the world and the State, and, under the guise of “Christian Citizenship,” “Patriotism,” or “Americanism,” will denounce as traitors those who reveal by the word of God, the true nature of the church-and-state dogmas, the children of fornication.
The Last Solemn Protest
What is the church now doing in the direction of the last apostasy?-She is centering her efforts and gathering her forces around the Sunday standard. And what is Sunday? An institution which, as a religious holiday, is wholly pagan in origin, which as a weekly worship day is a child of apostasy, and for which there is no authority save the Roman Church and tradition. It is a usurper. Its very genius and character arouse a spirit opposed to the gospel. It has been connected with apostasy and persecution in all ages. It was the mark of apostasy in heathendom. Rome claims it as the mark of her authority, and many of the Protestant churches, as organizations, are conceding Rome’s claim by upholding in the face of light that foster-child of the Papacy, and by endeavoring to secure the aid of the Papacy to obtain the help of the civil power to enforce the counterfeit as the very test of God and the mark of patriotism. Nevertheless, it is, in howsoever shining garments dressed, a child of apostasy, the mark of the beast (Church and State), opposed to the Sabbath of the Lord, the sign of God’s power to create and sanctify and deliver. Ezekiel 20:12, 20; Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:15.
But, thank God, there are many yet in all these organizations who cleave to the gospel, who believe in gospel methods and gospel means for reforming the world. While mistakingly holding Sunday, they believe in no power save the Spirit to impress hearts, no means save the word to enforce religious claims upon men. They stay the tide, as it were, but do not change the current.
Against this course of church uniting with the State the Lord offers to each soul the following fearful warning:
“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which :is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11.
A United Church Once More
Who will heed the word of God? Some will. The first message, the healing message, sums up all positive truth of that word. The second message simply announces the result upon the various organizations composing Babylon of rejecting the first message. The third brings to each individual soul the message of warning to turn from “the beast” (the great system of papal Church and State union), from “the image” (the reproduction of that system by Protestant Church and State union), from “the mark” (“the wild solar holiday of all pagan times,” the rival of the Sabbath of the Lord). But out of all these organizations, out of the world, from among the lowest slaves of Satan, from every land and clime, is gathering a company washed by the blood of the Lamb through faith, loyal to God and His law, whom Inspiration thus describes: ‘Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
They keep, therefore, all the commandments. It could not be said that he who was breaking the first or eighth commandment was a commandment-keeper. Neither could it be so said of him who violates the fourth precept. Of those who endured the persecution of the Dark Ages, not having all the light, it was said, “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13: 10. They had patience; they possessed faith. But the class developed by this last threefold message of warning have an additional characteristic-they “keep the commandments of God.”
And why not? How could they have an intelligent faith, the faith of Jesus, and do otherwise? His faith led Him to keep all God’s commandments. It led His disciples, the early Christians, to follow in His steps. “He that said he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. Having the same Spirit, having the indwelling Christ, they will do the same works. He kept the seventh-day Sabbath; why should not His people? He knew it for what God designed it, the very rest of God from sin and self. The remnant church will thus know it.
Christ’s Coming
The next event in the great, drama of the prophet is thus described: “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man, having on His .head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.” Revelation 14: 14.
It is Christ our Lord coming to reap earth’s harvest, which is rapidly ripening. The same sun which ripens the wheat for the garner ripens the tares for the burning. The same truth which, received, develops character for the kingdom of God, rejected, develops character for destruction. O soul, accept of Jesus Christ as He is, as He desires to be to you, the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Accept the everlasting gospel, and be saved eternally in God’s own way.
THERE is a prominence given in the Scriptures to the day of the Lord second to no other period. The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament repeatedly refer to that great day, and the New Testament is by no means silent on the subject. But, as with all other important Bible subjects, there is a wide diversity of opinion in the Christian world in regard to the character, length, and scope of the great day of the Lord, as well as to its relation to man.
Where Satan cannot hide from the professed people of God the importance of a subject, he will divide their ranks concerning that subject. He will move upon men who have pet theories to support, to connect those theories with the truth of God in such a way that, to the uninstructed, the truth seems to be dependent on the false theory, and it is accepted as truth; just as men persuade themselves that evil is good, in order that they may accomplish a certain purpose which seems good.
The doctrine of the day of the Lord has suffered in this way. It has been made to do service to the temporal-millennium theory and to the age to come doctrine. The theory obtained that somehow the whole world is to be converted before Christ comes, or there is to be a new probation granted to men. They do not see it accomplished here, and, therefore, think that it must be in the day of the Lord. Thus they reason; and we would that it were true that the majority would be saved; but we cannot deny the words of our Savior that few comparatively enter the way of life, while many go in the way of destruction.
What Is Its Character?
In the consideration of this question we shall deal only with the clear and positive evidences of the Word of God. There are many scriptures which refer to the day of the Lord, or to events in that day “which are hard to be understood.” These must be interpreted in harmony with the clear and positive declarations which God’ has given. In these obscure passages we often find events of the day of the Lord mingled with others which occur in probation; but, because of the close connection, some ascribe them all to the day of the Lord, contrary to the express statements of other passages. The fact is lost sight of that events far apart are sometimes spoken of in the same connection. An example of this is found in Isaiah 61:2. The mission of Christ was to proclaim “the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.” He did the first at His first advent (Luke 4: 18, 19, 21); the second will be fulfilled by His people prior to His Second Advent. Revelation 14:6-12. Sometimes the prophet saw for his own day God’s judgments, severe, though mixed with mercy, and his mind was carried forward to that great day of wrath when the judgment of God would be executed without mercy. We must “rightly divide” such scriptures by comparing them with the plain and unequivocal.
Is it a day of peace and safety and mercy? Is it an accepted time, a day of salvation? It would seem that this must indeed be the case if it is true that in this day the great majority, at least, of the inhabitants of earth are to be converted. But it is not what we may believe, dear reader, that will decide this question. What does the Bible say? It is there alone that we learn that there is such a period, and it is therefore evident that from the Bible alone we can learn its character. That it is not a day of peace, safety, and mercy to the inhabitants of earth, in which man may enter upon a new probation, is evident from the following considerations:
There can be no mistaking this language. It is “the, day of the Lord” that is referred to; the prophecy applies to that time when it is near at hand. It comes not as salvation, but as “destruction.” It will not cause joy, but fear and faintness; for that day shall be cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate, and the sinners shall be destroyed. The world will be punished for evil, and the wicked for iniquity. The whole passage indicates the character of the day of the Lord in language too plain to be misunderstood.
But it is said that this refers to the land of Israel, which shall be made “desolate;” and, further, that “the day of the Lord” does not always refer to the great day of God. While we would not contend for a moment that the prophecies of “the day of the Lord” had exclusive reference to the great day of God, that day is always included. The day of God’s providential judgments upon lands and nations are only figures of the last final judgment, where the promised wrath will be poured out to the uttermost. The word translated “land” in Isaiah 13:9 is erets, the same that is translated “world” in Psalm 22:27; Isaiah 23:17; and Jeremiah 25:26; it is translated “earth” in Genesis 1:1, 2, 10, 11, 12, and in more than six hundred other places. That it refers to the earth in Isaiah 13:9 is also evident from verse 11. The same day is referred to in Isaiah 2:1021, and chapter 24.
Isaiah certainly represents the day of the Lord as a day of wrath; but let us hear the testimony of another prophet:
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zephaniah 1:14-18.
The above language is much more terrible than that of Isaiah. It is so explicit; it is “the great day of the Lord.” And how clearly is its character revealed by such terms as wrath, trouble, distress, wasting desolation, darkness, gloominess, and alarm! Those who have sinned shall be destroyed, and no earthly ransom or power can save them; for “the whole land [earth, erets] shall be devoured,” and “speedy riddance” will be made of all who dwell in the land [erets]. The earth-dwellers are the wicked. Luke 21:35.
One more testimony in regard to the character of the day of the Lord, and that from the New Testament. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3: 10.
In this passage the same character is given as in the prophets. It was given by the same Spirit. In that day, says the Lord, the atmospheric heavens will pass away, be rolled together like a scroll (Revelation 6: 14), the earth shall be melted, and all that is marred by sin will be burned up. In the seventh verse of the same chapter, Peter calls it the day ofjudgment and perdition (utter destruction) of ungodly men.
Certainly this is sufficient to establish its character. All other testimony is in harmony with these quoted. They surely do not represent the day of the Lord as something to be desired by the inhabitants of earth. Yet it is to this that many are looking as a time of deliverance; but they will look for deliverance from earthly ills, and will meet greater ills; they will look for peace and find tumult.
In view of the scriptural testimony regarding the character of that day, and these erroneous ideas now prevalent concerning it, we can realize the force of the scripture:
“Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord, to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” Amos 5: 18-20.
In “that day” there is no hope for the sinner; and he who solaces himself with refuge then, will, like the one who seeks shelter in the house and support against its wall, find a greater evil than he fled from. “Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”
When Does The Day Of The Lord Begin?
What we have learned concerning its character will help us very much to determine its beginning. It is a day “cruel both with wrath and fierce anger” (Isaiah 13): a day when “the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,” and “the Lord alone shall be exalted” (Isaiah 2); a day of “wrath,” “trouble,” “distress,” “wasting and, desolation,” “darkness and gloominess” (Zephaniah 1:15); “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3: 7. All this is spoken of the day of the Lord and its connection with this earth; for it is to the earth that the wrath, the gloominess, the darkness, comes. The judgment is the judgment of the world, which is to be punished for its iniquity.
When does this terrible period begin? We will not discuss the opinions which declare that it has already begun, or that it will begin at the second coming of Christ. Where in the divine plan does it begin, as shown in the Word of God? The true theory will prove the falsity of all others.
One scripture which contains this warning is Joel 2:1, which reads: “Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land [erets, earth] tremble; for the day of the Lord comes, for it is nigh at hand.” Injunctions to seek God are given. People are told to rend their hearts, and not their garments; the ministers of the Lord are told to pray and weep for their flocks. Certainly, no such language as this would be used if there was more abundant mercy to be found in that great day.
4. The message will be based on signs. In Joel 2:30, 31 the signs which will precede that day are mentioned; namely, signs in the heavens, and especially the darkening of the sun and moon. The day of the Lord does not begin with these signs, for mercy is offered after these signs occur. The next verse says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” These signs are an evidence of the mercy of the Lord. They are given ‘to verify God’s holy Word, and as a warning to men to flee from the wrath to come.
The darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars mentioned in the same connection in other passages, are in the past. The former occurred May 19, 1780, and the latter November 13, 1833. The darkening of the former was not the result of an eclipse; its “true cause,” as remarked in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, “is unknown.” The meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, was the most remarkable ever known, and met in every respect the specifications of the prophecy. They fell as a fig-tree castes her untimely figs, coming from a common centre, and flying, as if shaken off a tree (see Revelation 6:13); and it would seem to an observer that the very stars had left their orbit and withdrawn their shining. Joel 3:15.
5. The next event in order is the shaking of the powers of the heavens. Matthew 24:29. That which causes this shaking is the voice of Jehovah. Joel 3:16; Hebrews 12:26. But this shaking does not precede the beginning of the day of the Lord; it occurs in that day. See Isaiah 2:17-19. Then, as the darkening of the sun and moon and falling of the stars are in the past when the day of God’s wrath begins, and as the shaking of the heavens and earth occurs in that day, we are forced to the conclusion that its beginning lies between the falling of the stars and the shaking of the powers of heaven. But as the falling of the stars is in the past, the next event in order, as marked by these prophecies, is the great day of God’s wrath.
This judgment was future in Paul’s day. Acts 17:31; 24:25. It “is come” when the threefold message of Revelation 14 is due to the world, just before God’s wrath unmixed with mercy is poured out, before Christ comes. Verses 10, 14. This judgment is to ascertain who among the inhabitants of earth-dead or alive are worthy of a resurrection to eternal life, or translation, at the coming of Christ. Those who are “accounted worthy” among the dead will then be raised (Luke 20: 35), while those who are accounted worthy among the living will be changed in a moment, at the sound of the last trump. 1 Corinthians 15: 51, 52. The fact that the dead are raised incorruptible is proof that their cases have been decided before. This judgment goes on in the courts of heaven, while the last message, based on the prophetic Word of God, is being heralded to the world to prepare men for the decisions of that dreaded tribunal.
After judicial investigation comes the sentence of the judge. And so it is in the heavenly court. The close of the investigative judgment marks the close of probation, just before Christ comes. It is thus noted: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly [to execute judgment]; and My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22: 11, 12. This decree, therefore, closes probation. We will refer to it again.
7. The threefold message of Revelation 14, as before noticed, warns us against the unmixed wrath of God; that is, -wrath unmixed with mercy. The cup now in the hand of the Lord is mixed with mercy, full of that mixture-mercy is abundant; but the wrath of Revelation 14: 11 will be the dregs of the cup in Psalm 75: 8. Probation will then be closed; the decree will have gone forth. This wrath of Revelation 14:11, is manifested in the seven last plagues; “for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Revelation 15:1. This pouring out of the plagues must therefore usher in the great day of God’s wrath, a day in which there is no light and mercy, but all is darkness and distress. Amos 5: 18; Zephaniah 1:15.
The following facts of Scripture confirm the above conclusion. We have seen that the day of the Lord begins after the falling of the stars, and before the shaking of the heavens and the earth; but this shaking occurs under the seventh plague. This plague is therefore in the day of the Lord. Under the sixth and seventh plagues is the great battle of Armageddon fought. Revelation 16:14-16. But this battle also comes in the day of the Lord (Ezekiel 13:5); therefore the sixth plague is in the day of the Lord; and what is true of one of these plagues in this respect is doubtless true of all.
8. One more evidence that the great day of God’s wrath begins at the close of probation. In Zephaniah 1: 14-18 is the terrible announcement of the nearness of the day of the Lord, and a description of its character. The following verses (chapter 2: 1-3) contain an appeal to the people of God to be ready for that time: “Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, 0 nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek you the Lord all you meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgments; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Notice the expression as regards the time indicated in the preposition “before.” “Before the decree bring forth; that is, the decree which marks the close of probation. Revelation 22: 11, 12. If this be not so, then there is no force in the appeal; for they could seek God after the going forth of the decree. That decree shuts out all opportunity of effectually seeking God. “Before the day pass as, the chaff; that is, the day of-salvation.” “Now is the accepted time;” “now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2. Then will be the day of wrath. He who regarded neither would treat God’s time of mercy as worthless as chaff till it was too late.
Boothroyd translates: “Before the decree be executed, and you are as the chaff that passes.” Those who regard not the warning would be found among the unjust who would remain unjust, and in the day of wrath be like the chaff-burned with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12.
Another evidence right in this line is found in the second chapter of Daniel, where the kingdoms of earth are symbolized by the gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay of the great image. These are smitten by the stone, representing Christ and His kingdom, and become as chaff of the summer threshing floor, which the wind carries away that no place is found for them. Verse 35.
“Before the day of the Lord’s [fierce] anger come upon you.” God’s fierce anger is unmixed wrath. When, therefore, the day of probation and salvation closes, the day of executive judgment and perdition of ungodly men, the day of God’s wrath, the great day of the Lord, begins. The day of wrath begins when the day of salvation ends. We do not know how this could be plainer. .
We have learned, then, thus far in our investigations, from the clear testimony of Scripture, (1) that the day of the Lord is a day of executive judgment, when God’s just wrath will be poured out upon a wicked world; (2) that that day begins when the day of probation closes, when the plagues begin to be poured out, when the decree goes forth which fixes irrevocably the destinies of all men, before Christ comes.
It will not be heralded by shout and trumpet; it will come as a thief in the night. 2 Peter 3: 10. The careless, wicked world will laugh and curse on till overtaken by the plagues of wrath. The righteous, with loins girded and lights burning, will be sealed for eternity. The following facts concerning the day of the Lord have thus far been proved:
Fellow-sinner, cold-hearted Christian, God has given these messages for you. You may hide from His wrath beneath the shelter of His wings. Psalm 91. Heed the “sure word of prophecy.” “Turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die?” Now IS THE ACCEPTED TIME.
“Turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die?” The Creator of the universe invites you. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” All things holy, and good, and enduring say, Come. The city of God invites us; the earth, when “there shall be no more curse,” unites in the call. Through Christ, all is yours. The day of wrath draws on apace.
GOD desires all men to be saved. His plans for our welfare, are sufficiently comprehensive to include the worst of sinners and the most degraded. Everyone who complies with the conditions of salvation will ultimately participate in the consummation of God’s promises.
That His plans for the redemption of man shall come within the limits of human intelligence, Jehovah has caused them to be written large in types and made plain in figures. So easy to understand are they that wayfaring men, though simple; need not err concerning them.
When the children of Israel were delivered from bondage they had been for centuries under the influence of the sensuous religion of Egypt, a religion that appealed to the sight and touch more than to the heart and mind. In the wilderness their conceptions of Jehovah and His requirements entirely failed. He designed to dwell in their hearts; they were to be God’s temple. For this purpose He had called them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. If they had believed they would have required no material sanctuary, in their midst. God would have dwelt with them as He did with Abraham. But because they refused to understand, were too high-minded, too self-sufficient, to give place to God that He might dwell in them, controlling every, thought and act (for God dwells with the lowly)-because they refused to let Him dwell in them, God manifested His presence amongst them in a marked manner, and revealed His character to them in special ways, that He might at length draw them wholly to Himself.
The Tabernacle
When the children of Israel were encamped before Sinai, the Lord directed them through Moses to bring an offering of precious metals, rare skins, acacia wood, and fine linen, a large amount of costly material, “And,” said He, “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. What a strange thing that the Most High God, who dwells not in temples made with hands, should ask weak mortals to build Him a house that He might dwell among them. Why was it? The answer is, That He might teach them His ways; and reveal to them Christ and His mediatorial, work-the only means whereby they could be saved. This they had hitherto failed to learn, and had three times confidently affirmed to the Most High through Moses, that they, in their own strength, were well able to do all that was required of them. Exodus 19:8; 24: 3, 7.
Chosen men were specially endowed by God with skill and, wisdom for the construction-of the tabernacle. The holy places made with hands were to be “figures of the, true,” “patterns of the things in the heavens”-miniature representations of the heavenly temple, where Christ our great High Priest, now ministers on sinners’ behalf.
The building was erected by popular subscription. The divine command to Moses was, “Of every man that gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.” The people responded with one accord, “They came every one whose heart stirred, him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all His service, and for the holy garments. And they, came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold; and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold to the Lord.”
While the, tabernacle was being built, so willingly did the people respond to the call for material that Moses was constrained to issue the following proclamation: “Let neither man nor woman make any, more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.”
The approximate dimensions of the tabernacle were fifty five feet in length by eighteen in width and height. The boards of which it was built were overlaid with gold. They stood on end in sockets of silver, and were held together by gold-plated bars passed through rings of gold. The whole structure, though small, was magnificent, having the appearance of solid gold. It was protected from the weather by a tent-like root of four curtains, the innermost of which was of fine material and beautiful design. The building was portable and could quickly be taken apart that the Israelites might carry it with them during their wanderings in the wilderness.
Suitable curtains divided the sanctuary into two apartments, the inner one of which was one-half the size of the outer one. Similar curtains, also enclosed the doorway. Around the sanctuary was a court, the gate of which was placed toward the east; that the people who gathered there to worship might in their, devotions always face the west.
The Sanctuary Furniture
Within the gate of the court of the tabernacle the first article of furniture was the brazen altar of burnt offering. Upon this altar were consumed the sacrifices made by fire onto the Lord, and its horns were sprinkled with the blood of the victims. Between the altar and the door of the tabernacle was the laver; this was wholly of brass made from the mirrors that were the free-will offerings of the women of Israel. There the priests washed their hands and feet whenever they entered the sacred apartments, or offered sacrifices at the altar.
Within the door of the sanctuary, on the left was the seven-branched candlestick with its ever burning lamps, all of pure gold and beautifully wrought. The table of showbread stood on the right of the entrance. It was a beautiful Piece of furniture overlaid with gold, upon which the priests laid twelve cakes every Sabbath, and sprinkled them with frankincense. In front of the entrance, and just before the veil that divided the holy from the most holy place, stood the golden altar of incense. Upon this altar the priests burned incense every morning and evening. Its horns were touched with the blood of the sin-offerings that were slain in the court. The Lord Himself kindled the fire on the altar of incense, and the flames were held sacred to His service.
In the inner apartment was the ark, a beautiful, gold plated chest of acacia wood. Around its top was a deftly wrought border or crown of gold. “Inside the ark were placed the two tables of stone upon which God Himself had inscribed the Ten Commandments. For this reason it was sometimes called the ark of the testament, or the ark of the covenant, since the ten commandments were the basis of the covenant made between Jehovah and the children of Israel.”
“The cover of the sacred chest was called the- mercy-seat. This was wrought of one solid piece of gold, and was surmounted by golden cherubim, one standing on each end. One wing of each angel was stretched forth on nigh, while the other was folded over the body in token of reverence and humility. The position of the cherubim, with their faces turned toward each other, and looking reverently downward toward the ark, represented the reverence with which the heavenly host regard the law of God, and their interest in the plan of redemption.
“Above the mercy-seat was the Shekinah [a fiery cloud], the manifestation of divine presence; and from between the cherubim God made known His will. Divine messages were sometimes communicated to the high priest by a voice from the cloud. Sometimes a light fell upon the angel at the right, to signify approval or acceptance, or a shadow or cloud rested upon the one at the left to reveal disapproval or rejection.”
The whole was a scene of glory and magnificence dimly reflecting the grandeur of the temple of God in heaven, the great centre of the work for man’s redemption. Compared with the heavenly the earthly was but a shadow; nevertheless, the shadow distinctly marked the important features of the substance, and reflected them to the mind of man.
The Priests and the Service
The family of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, was dedicated by the Lord Himself to the office of priesthood. The vestments of the priests were of special design and beautiful workmanship; those of the high priest were of costly material, varied colors, and symbolic of the duties performed by him.
Besides the continual offerings for individual sins, the daily service of the sanctuary consisted of the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the offering of sweet incense on the golden altar. There were also other offerings for special’ occasions. The service performed on behalf of the individual sinner was, however, the most important part of the daily ministration.
If a priest sinned he was required to bring to the door of the tabernacle a young bullock without blemish for a sin offering. By a ruler a male kid of the goats, or a female kid by one of the common people, was brought. Leviticus 4. Placing his hand on the head of the victim, the sinner confessed his sins, thus, in figure, transferring them from himself to his innocent substitute. By his own hand the animal was then slain, and the blood was carried by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil behind which was the ark that contained the law which the sinner had transgressed. In some cases the blood was not taken into the sanctuary; nevertheless, by one means or another, the sin was transferred in figure to the sanctuary, and the penitent sinner went forth free.
In this way the sins of the repentant in Israel were transferred day by day throughout the year in figure to the holy place, and in figure the holy place was being defiled. This necessitated a cleansing of the sanctuary, atonement; it was called. For this purpose a special day was set apart on which to “cleanse it, and to hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.” Leviticus 16: 19.
The Day of Atonement
The second apartment of the tabernacle, the holy of holies, or most holy place, was entered only once a year, and that by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. On that day the yearly round of ministration was completed, the sanctuary was cleansed.
For this purpose two kids of the goats were brought, one of which, was chosen by lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat, or Azazel, as the word is translated in the margin. The Lord’s goat was slain and his blood brought within the veil into the most holy place, where it was sprinkled seven times before the mercy-seat. “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins; and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.” Leviticus 16:16.
After the blood had been sprinkled upon the altar before the Lord by the High priest, “when he has made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins; putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man, into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” Leviticus 16:20-22; The scapegoat came no more into the camp of Israel, and the man who led him away was required to wash himself and his clothing with water before returning.
The whole ceremony was designed to impress the children of Israel with the holiness of God and His abhorrence of sin; and, further, to show them that they could not come in contact with sin without being polluted by it. “On that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.” Leviticus 16:30. Every man was required to afflict his soul while this work was going forward, and special arrangements were made for the confession of sin; and its transference to the sanctuary, even on the Day of Atonement.
This day the camp of Israel was freed from all sin. Those sins that had during the year been confessed, and by the shedding of blood transferred to the sanctuary, were placed upon the head of the scapegoat, and borne by him outside the camp never to return. Those sins that during the year had not been confessed, and were not transferred to the sanctuary, were still borne by the impenitent sinner, and he with his sins was cast outside the camp: “For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” Leviticus 23:29.
The services and work of the Day of Atonement necessitated an investigation to ascertain who had confessed their sins, and who of the congregation had not confessed their sins. The names of those who had confessed were retained on the roll of the commonwealth, and those who were impenitent were rejected. Therefore, inseparably connected with, and part of, the cleansing of the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement, was a work of judgment, that finds its counterpart in the investigative judgment that immediately, precedes the coming of Christ at the end of the world.
This round of services and ceremonies continued year after year, and century after century (in the temple when it superseded the tabernacle) until Christ, the real sin offering, came and died on Calvary, to be the real propitiation for sins. When expiring on the cross our Savior cried, “It is finished.” “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom.” Then it was that type met antitype. The shadow ceased when it met that which it foreshadowed. All the sacrifices from that of Abel’s, and the elaborate ceremonies of the tabernacle and the temple, met their fulfillment in Christ. He was the One whom they prefigured, to whom they pointed. His work as Mediator for lost mankind was “writ large in types and shadows,” that the children of Israel, and all mankind, might understand the, things that pertain to eternal life.
The Heavenly Sanctuary
“The round of service in the earthly sanctuary was God’s service. It had to do with the sips of the people; not that the blood of the sacrifices offered there could in itself take away sins, for it is expressly said that it could not. Hebrews 10:4. It could, however, show their faith in the efficacy of Christ’s blood yet to be spilled, and to which the sanctuary work was intended constantly to direct their minds. The work there was a type, or shadow, of Christ’s atoning work, and, as such, carries with it a significance that cannot be over-estimated. Upon a correct understanding of the type depends a correct understanding of the antitype. The entire sanctuary service was an object-lesson of most important and vital gospel truth-that of man’s salvation and atonement for sin.” – “Bible Readings,” 1915, edition, “The Atonement in Type and Antitype.”
Moses made the earthly sanctuary “according, to the fashion that he had seen.” Acts 7:44. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews declares that “ the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry,” were “the patterns of the things in the heavens.” Hebrews 9: 21-24.
John the Revelator saw the sanctuary in heaven in which our Lord ministers on behalf of penitent sinners. That sanctuary is the great original, of which the sanctuary built by-Moses was a copy. Hebrews 8:5.
Within the temple in heaven there is the ark of the testament (Revelation 11:19), represented by the one deposited in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary. This ark contains God’s law, the great rule of right by which all men are to be tested. The mercy seat over the ark is the throne of God. On either side of it are the cherubim between which the Lord sits, Psalm 99:1.
John also saw in vision, “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,” of which the golden candlestick in, the tabernacle-was the type. These seven lamps are the “seven spirits of God” (Revelation 4:5) connected with Christ in the work of redemption. Hebrews 1:14. He also saw an angel “having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense; that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” Revelation 8:3. From this we learn that the prayers of God’s people offered in the merits of Christ are as sweet incense to Him.
Says the Apostle Paul; “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should-pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26.
Cleansing-the Heavenly Sanctuary
Christ Himself is the great sacrifice for sin. He is the antitype of the earthly sacrifices, the One “in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:7. “Neither by the blood of, goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:12. The earthly sanctuary was cleansed once every year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. “But now once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the, patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Hebrews 9:22, 23.
As anciently the sins of the people were placed upon the sin-offering; and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary; so in the new covenant, the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ, and transferred through Him, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary. And as the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded.”
This cleansing is not from physical defilement or from sins committed there; it is from the defilement caused by the sinning of the sinner. The sins of God’s professed people dishonor and defile His name and His sanctuary Jehovah identifies Himself with His people; we have access to His sanctuary by faith through His promises. As the actions of a reprobate and wayward son dishonor his father’s name and home; until those actions are fully atoned for; so the sins of God’s children profane His name and, defile His sanctuary (Leviticus 15:31) until they are fully atoned for, and by Jesus Christ are traced out and by virtue of, His death placed back upon the great originator and instigator of sin. Not only are the sins forgiven, but provision has been made for the very record of their forgiveness to be blotted out: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
A Judgment Necessary
Before sin and the record of its forgiveness can be finally blotted out, there must be an examination of the books of record, to determine who, through repentance for sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of the atonement. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary therefore, as in the type, involves a work of investigation-a work of judgment. The Day of Atonement and the day of judgment synchronize. Both events are-included in the cleansing of the sanctuary.
The prophet Daniel was, shown in vision that the sanctuary, would be cleansed; at the close of a certain period of time. Daniel 8:14 Another prophecy in the ninth chapter describes several events connected with this time-events that definitely and explicitly mark its beginning, its -progress, and, of course, its close: The time for the, cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary to begin, according to those two prophecies, was in the year off our Lord, eighteen hundred and forty four. This date is established by many infallible proofs; as will be shown in another section. The significance of all this lies in the fact that Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary is now going forward, THE JUDGMENT IS IN SESSION. In the type God’s people were called upon to confess their sins and afflict their souls, so today the world is being warned to repent, “for the hour of today judgment is come.”
The End Of Sin
In the service of the earthly sanctuary on the Day of Atonement, the sanctuary was cleansed by virtue of the blood of the Lord’s goat, which was sprinkled before the Lord in the most holy place. Then were the sins taken, in figure, from the sanctuary, and by the priest placed upon the head of the scapegoat (Azazel, or Satan), and the goat was led by a fit man outside the camp to perish in the wilderness.
So in the heavenly service. All the sins of the penitent, hen confessed, are forgiven by virtue of the blood of Christ, and the record of their, forgiveness, is kept in the books of heaven until the day of judgment. At the close of that great, in connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, those sins will be placed, by the heavenly High Priest, on the head of Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The dishonor connected with the sin, by which the name and sanctuary of God had been defiled, will, in the execution of the judgment, be placed upon Satan, who is primarily responsible for all sin.
There are two parties to every sin: First, the instigator of the sin; second, the one by whom the sin is committed. Both-suffer for the same act, but each for his own sin. Christ is the sin bearer for man, but not in any degree for Satan. For this reason Satan must be punished, not in any sense for man’s sin, but for his own sin. Not as the penitent’s substitute, but as a principal in the sin. Therefore while Satan, the scapegoat, bears into the wilderness of death the sins of God’s people, he bears them not for the people, nor in any sense as their savior, but in fulfillment of the scripture that says, “His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent death shall come upon his own pate.” Only the sinless Son of God can bear sin as a substitute. Therefore, while Satan, the antitypical scapegoat, bears our sins in the lake of fire, Christ, and Christ alone, bears sin as our Savior.
The Impenitent
The sinner in Israel who did not take advantage of the opportunities during the year to get rid of his sins, was on the Day of Atonement cut off from among his people. So also in the antitypical Day of Atonement. The impenitent sinner who has refused, or even neglected, to take advantage of the day of probation to have his sins forgiven, will for his own sins be cut off from among the people. He, with Satan, will be punished for his sins. To the wicked it will be said on that fell day when the work in the heavenly sanctuary will have been completed, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Thus will perish sin and sinners and the originator of sin, and the universe will be free from, any taint of defilement or corruption.
Reader, the day of God’s grace still lingers. Send your sins before to judgment by confession that they may be blotted out when the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary is completed. Says the apostle, “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” 1 Timothy 5:24. “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:” Acts 3: 19, 20.
Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Four
The Bible contains many prophecies that reach their climax in the final scenes of this world, or in the opening scenes of the next.
Again and again does predictive inspiration travel the road into the, great beyond, inviting the student of Scripture to follow that he may be intelligent concerning events yet to come, as he is familiar with the present and the past.
The purpose of this is not to satisfy morbid curiosity. It is to afford men opportunities to prepare for the close of probation and the events with which it is connected.
Many of the: prophecies are cumulative, covering almost the same period of time; but they are widening in their view, each containing information not found in any other, and bringing out more in detail and more explicitly certain important features.
The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is the objective of two important prophecies contained in the eighth and ninth chapters of the book of Daniel. Much of the eighth chapter is occupied with events that lead to the climax of the prophecy. The fulfillment of the predictions concerning the details that precede the final event accomplishes two things. First, it precludes any reason for doubt concerning that event itself, unerringly marking its approach. Second, the reasons for that closing event of the prophecy are revealed or suggested by the nature of the preliminary features that are made prominent by the prophecy in it’s grand march to the closing scene.
Daniel’s Vision
In an impressive symbolic vision, the date, place, and details of which are recorded in the eighth chapter of the book of Daniel; the ancient prophet saw: “A ram with two unequal horns: one of which was higher than the other, and the higher, came up last. This ram vigorously pushed westward and northward and south ward, and did according to his will, and became great.” Following the ram came with great impetuosity from the west.
A he Goat that was moved with fury against the ram; and over came him and broke his two horns. This goat became very great. It had “a notable horn between its eyes, which, when the goat was at the height of its power, was broken off. In the place of this horn came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.” Out of one of these four horns came forth A LITTLE HORN that, in its turn, became exceeding great. The south and the east were the directions in which it operated, and also “toward the pleasant land,” the land of Palestine. “And it waxed great, even against the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” Verse 10, margin. It is also said of this little horn that, “It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host, and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” Verse 11, R.V.
The first clause of verse twelve states why power was given to this horn over the host and the continual burnt offering; and the last clause tells what it did with the truth that was committed to the host and symbolized by the continual burnt offering: “And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression. And it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.” R.V. (Also see margin of Authorized Version), Unfaithfulness on the part of the depositaries of the truth always exposes them and it to the rage of their enemies.
Verses thirteen and fourteen close the vision proper of this chapter by anticipating the one point of absorbing interest to the aged prophet, and, indeed, to all the Church of God: How long shall this power continue to oppress God’s people, and to cast down His truth? Two celestial beings hold a conversation within the hearing of the prophet upon this important question: “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”
The Revised Version states the case a little more clearly: “How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering and the transgression that makes desolate?” which results in both the sanctuary and the people of God being trodden under foot.
In mystical terms, big with import to the whole world, the answer is given, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days (evening morning, margin); then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Verse 14.
THE TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED DAYS evidently constitute the grand climax of this wonderful prophecy.
When do they begin? When do they end? What is their significance? What do the animals and the horns rep-resent? These are questions that come to our minds as we read the description of that which Daniel saw in vision: They are questions that came to his mind also.
The angel Gabriel was specially commissioned to “make this man to understand the vision.” Raising the prophet from his prostrate position, and setting him upright, the angel forthwith began to tell him that the vision was for the “time of the end.” “And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation; for at the time appointed the end shall be.” Verse 19.
The Interpretation Of The Ram
In language as plain as need be given, Gabriel proceeds to disclose to-Daniel the significance of the symbols he had seen in the vision. A few short verses suffice to forecast important way marks in the progress of nations-way marks that historians have occupied volumes to describe. Said the angel, “The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And. the rough goat is the, king of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” Verses 20-22. The two horns of the ram indicate the dual nature of the Medo-Persian Empire, the predominant element of which (i.e., the Persian) was the last in ascendancy.
The Goat
Greece, the succeeding nation, attained its greatest glory under the rule of Alexander the Great, who led the Greeks in their conquest of Medo-Persia. In the prime of life and at the height of his power, Alexander died suddenly at Babylon 323 BC. At his death the empire fell into fragments, and there followed a brief period of confusion. The succession, was finally and definitely determined by the battle of Ipsus 301 BC, and Alexander’s four leading generals became his successors. The great horn (Alexander) was broken, and in its stead came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. “The vast empire created by Alexander’s unparalleled conquests was distracted by the wrangling and wars of his successors, and before the close of the fourth century before Christ, had become broken into many fragments. Besides minor states, four well-defined and important monarchies rose out of the ruins. Their rulers were, Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had each assumed the title of king.” – “History of Greece,” Myers, page 457, edition 1902.
The Little Horn
In the year 168 BC, Perseus, the Greek ruler of Macedon, was defeated in the battle of Pydna by the Romans. This event marked the downfall of the remnants of the empire founded by Alexander, and the advent of the power represented in the prophecy by the little horn that sprang out of one of the four notable horns. By defeating Perseus, Rome came into prophetic purview through the western portion of Alexander’s domain.
The details given concerning this little horn are all true of Rome in either its pagan or papal form. Of this power the prophecy says, “He shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.” Verse 24. The Romans under Titus destroyed the Jewish nation, slaying one million one hundred thousand of the people and selling ninety-seven thousand of them into captivity.
Papal Rome set her hand to destroy the people of God of whom: she caused untold millions to perish. By fire, by sword, by persecutions so implacable, so diabolical, that the imagination revolts at the thought of them, she continued her course for a thousand years and more, until the hand of Omnipotence intervened to stay the welter of blood and save the saints from complete annihilation.
Also the prophecy says of the power represented by the little horn, “He shall magnify himself in his heart.” While this language is true of pagan Rome, it is pre-eminently true of papal Rome, of whom it is foretold in another scripture, that he “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” See 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4.
Neither was Rome satisfied with oppressing the people of God and usurping the place of the Deity. Of it the angel says, “He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes.” Verse 25. A Roman governor passed sentence upon Christ.
Roman soldiers nailed Him to the cross and stood guard over Him while He was in the tomb. Pagan Rome did all that civil power can do against the world’s Redeemer, and papal Rome did all that religious power can do to usurp His throne in the hearts and minds of men, even to declaring the pope to be the Vicar of Christ on earth. Rome has cast the truth to the ground, trampled upon it, and defiled the sanctuary of God: Verse 13. In substituting its own mediatorial system, for that of Christ’s, the Papacy has struck directly at the heavenly sanctuary and its service, which, in the epistle to the Hebrews, is shown to be the very heart and essence of the gospel.
“But he shall be broken without hand.” Verse 25. By these words it is indicated that no human power will destroy Rome. She shall be smitten by the Lord, out of whose mouth goes a sharp sword, for, “In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” The abominations of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, of Greece, and of pagan Rome reach their grand climax in papal Rome. The principles of their religions constitute her religion. That which they did, she does, with this difference only: As heathen they oppressed the people of God, opposed the truth, and desecrated the sanctuary; but as professedly Christian does papal Rome continue their abominations.
The 2300 Days
Question: How long are God’s people and truth and sanctuary to be trodden under foot? Answer: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Verse 14.
Question: What does this symbolical period of time represent?
Answer: Although the angel Gabriel was commissioned, to make Daniel understand the vision, yet, for reasons given at the close of the chapter, he did then fully complete his commission. All that he said concerning this period of time was, “The vision of the evening and the morning (days, see margin of verse 14) which was told is true: wherefore shut you up the vision; for it shall be for many days.” Verse 26.
Why the angel did not complete the explanation is revealed in the next verse: “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Verse 27.
A Synopsis
The Ram represents the kingdom of Medo-Persia. The Goat represents the kingdom of Greece. The great horn, the first king, Alexander the Great. The four horns -that.-came up in the place of the great horn when it was broken off, represent the four kingdoms into which Alexander’s empire was divided.
The Little Hot n that came out of one of the four horns, represents Rome in both its pagan and papal forms.
The Sanctuary stands for the truth of the gospel, and comprehends the continual burnt offering, which represents the continual mediation of Christ. The host, and the Prince of the host, or the Prince of princes, are the people of God and Christ, who are inseparably connected with the sanctuary and its work.
The Twenty-three Hundred Days, after which the sanctuary was to be *cleansed from the abominations of the powers already described, were not explained at that time.
Gabriel’s Commission
Gabriel, however, was commanded to make Daniel understand the vision, and angels, we are told, are eager to discharge the mandates of their Lord. Therefore we may confidently expect that Gabriel will renew his instruction to the beloved servant, and faithfully explain to him the remaining portion of the vision. Daniel also would be very anxious to know the meaning of the two thousand three hundred days.
Matters pertaining to the sanctuary were of vital interest to him, for his heart was bound up in the worship of Jehovah, who had come very near to him in his long exile in a strange land, and his sojourn in the courts of foreign kings.
In his anxiety and distress concerning the people and truth of God, Daniel did that which all are encouraged to do. With deep contrition he confessed his sins and the sins of his people; then he revealed the burden of his heart and made the request, Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.” Daniel 9:17.
The response came quickly. While Daniel was yet praying, the angel Gabriel, “whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening ablation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel I am now come to give thee skill and understanding. Therefore understand the matter and consider the vision.” Daniel 9:21-23.
Seventy Weeks
Having introduced the subject of the vision, the angel began to talk about that part of it which he had not previously explained-the time. He said, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people.” Verse 24. The word here rendered “determined” signifies cut of: The two thousand; three hundred days of the previous vision is the only, period of time mentioned from which seventy weeks could be cut off. Time can be deducted from time alone.
Prophetic days are counted as literal years. See Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. For the Jewish people, then, seventy weeks (490 day-years) were to be cut off from the two thousand three hundred day-years. They were to be cut off for certain distinct purposes: “To finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity; and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy:” Verse 24. All of which events are closely associated with’ the first advent of Christ.
The next verse states explicitly the event that marks the date from which this period of time is to be reckoned: “Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks.” Verse 25.
Three decrees were given in connection with the restoration of Jerusalem. The first was by Cyrus in 536 BC, for the rebuilding of the temple. Ezra 1:1-4. This decree marked the termination of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. The second decree was by Darius, 519 BC, commanding that the work, which had been hindered should be continued. Ezra 6:6-12. The third, and last, was by Artaxerxes to Ezra the scribe. That it required the three decrees to constitute “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem,” is evident from the words found in Ezra 6:14: “And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes.”
Artaxerxes’ commandment for the complete restoration of literal Jerusalem, the earthly temple, and the Jewish autonomy, is recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra, verses eleven to twenty-six. The date (457 BC, margin) on which the decree was given is established on well-authenticated evidence by eminent historians. Also, that this date is absolutely correct is abundantly proved by the details of the prophecy, all of which fit in perfectly with the year 457 for a starting point both for the two thousand three hundred days,
and for the seventy weeks - 490 days. .
The seventy weeks (490 day-years) that were allotted to Daniel’s people, the Jews, were divided into three periods: Seven weeks (49 day-years) were allotted to the work of restoring the city and temple. Threescore and two weeks more (434 day-years) were to reach to Messiah the Prince. The Hebrew word “Messiah” and the Greek word “Christ” are equivalent to “Anointed One” in English. See John 1:41, margin. The anointing of Jesus evidently is the event to which this period reaches. The remaining week (7 day-years) of the Seventy weeks was set apart for confirming the covenant with the people. In the midst of this week of seven years Messiah was to be cut off. Verses 25-27.
Note. The decree for the restoration of Jewish autonomy was Proclaimed in Jerusalem in the middle of the year 457 BC. See Ezra 7:9. The year 457 being half over left 456.5 years of actual time before the beginning of the Christian era: The 49 years allotted to the work of restoring Jerusalem plus the 434 years that reach to Messiah equal 483 years. Of these 483 years only 4561 remain before the Christian era, leaving 26.5 to reach over into the Christian era. Twenty-six and a half years in the Christian era reach to the middle of the year AD 27, the very time when Christ was baptized and anointed by the Holy Ghost, and entered upon His Messiah ship.
Commencing with the year 457 BC, the forty-nine years occupied in restoring the city and temple reach to 408 B.C. From 408 BC the four hundred and thirty-four years, until the anointing of Jesus, reach to AD 27. (See note). In exact accordance with this prophecy Christ was anointed by the Holy Ghost at His baptism in the year AD 27. See Matthew 3:13-17; Acts 3:21, 22, margin. The remaining seven years reach to AD 34, the date that closes the period of four hundred and ninety years set apart for the Jews. In the midst of this seven years, half-way between AD 27 and AD 34, that is, in the year AD 31, Messiah was to be cut off. That Christ was crucified, cut off, in that year is established by the most indubitable, evidence that any honest critic or skeptic could require. The death of Christ marked the time when the sacrifice and oblations of the earthly sanctuary were to cease. The year AD 34 is the grand terminal of the whole period of seventy weeks. That date is marked by the martyrdom of Stephen, the formal rejection of the gospel by the Jewish Sanhedrim in its determination to suppress the work of the apostles, and the turning of the apostles to the Gentiles. Acts 9:1-18.
A Work of Restoration
Having definitely ascertained that the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, set apart for the Jewish people began in the year 457 BC, it is easy to see that the date of their expiration was AD 34. These two dates are further proved by the completion of the restoration in 408 BC, the anointing of Jesus in AD 27, and His crucifixion in AD 31. Also the year AD 34 is definitely marked by events which plainly show that at that time the Jews ceased to be God’s peculiar people.
From AD 34, the year in which Stephen was stoned, the apostles turned to the Gentiles, and the gospel was preached to all the world. Acts 15:14-17. This special preaching of the gospel was completed in one generation (Colossians 1: 23), and was followed by, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Deducting the four hundred and ninety years, set apart for the Jews, from the two thousand three hundred years, at the expiration of which the sanctuary was to be cleansed, one thousand eight hundred and ten years are left. One thousand eight hundred and ten years added to AD 34, the date on which the four hundred and ninety years allotted to the Jews expired,-reach to the year 1844. The accuracy of this date is attested and guaranteed, by the details already fulfilled in connection with the four hundred and ninety years. Beginning in the middle of the Jewish year, corresponding with 457 BC, the two thousand three hundred years reach to October, AD 1844.
At the beginning of the two thousand three hundred years (457 BC), the command was given for the restoration of Jerusalem, the re-building of the temple, and the restoration of the typical service, all of which had been destroyed, trampled under foot, when the Jews were carried into captivity to Babylon. At the end of the two thousand three hundred years (AD 1844), spiritual Jerusalem is to be restored, and the truth, divested of all error, is to be proclaimed. This work is to be accomplished by preaching the gospel to all the world. Revelation 14:6-12. The preaching of the gospel to all the world will be followed by the destruction of the world, of which the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70), shortly after the close of the four hundred and ninety years (AD 34), was a type.
“Ancient Babylon took away the typical service by the destruction of the temple at the capture of Jerusalem. This service was restored at the rebuilding of Jerusalem, but was perverted into mere formalism by the Jews, and was taken away by Christ at His first advent, when He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Colossians 2: 14. He then became a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. Hebrews 8:2. Thus He established the service in the heavenly sanctuary. The little horn, the Papacy, as far as was within its power, took away from the people the mediation of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and substituted for it the Roman priesthood, with the pope as Pontifex Maximus, or high priest. Power over this truth of the gospel and over the people of God was allowed to the Papacy because of transgression (Daniel 8:12, R.V.), just as the people of Jerusalem were given into the hand of the king of Babylon for the same reason. I Chronicles 9:1. Thus has the Papacy ‘cast down the truth to the ground,’ and has trodden under foot the sanctuary and the people of God.” – “Bible Readings,” - 1915 edition, “A Great Prophetic Period.”
Since 1844 we have been living in the days of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and the closing message of the everlasting gospel is being-preached in all the world. When this commission shall have been accomplished; then Christ will come in the clouds, of glory, the righteous will receive their reward, and the world will meet its doom. Of this the first advent of Christ, and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem, were types.
The work in the earthly sanctuary virtually ceased when Christ expired on the cross. Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary will cease when the judgment, which immediately precedes the second coming of Christ, has been accomplished. That judgment is now in session. Of this we are certain, for the work of judgment is inseparably associated with the cleansing of the sanctuary, and, according to Daniel’s prophecy, that work began in the year 1844.
A Warning
The selfishness and pride of the Jewish rulers led them to reject their Savior when He came into their midst. His advent was not in accordance with their selfish plans, so they refused to believe the many evidences of His Messiah ship. Shall we make a similar mistake? Shall we close our eyes to the “sure word of prophecy,” and neglect to prepare for the second coming of Christ? When He came to His earthly sanctuary two thousand years ago, He found the people desecrating it with their buying and selling. Now, when He has come to His heavenly sanctuary, shall we desecrate it with our merchandise? The Jews were cast out in their day. We must run no risk of being cast out in the great and fateful day of this world’s final visitation.
The Judgment Day
As surely as Christ rose from the dead, so surely will the day come when man will be confronted with the words he has spoken and the deeds he has done. In the judgment the use made of every talent will be scrutinized: “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is 4 time for every purpose and for every work,” Ecclesiastes 3: 17. “He has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained.” Acts 17:31. That which God has appointed is sure to come in due time.
Sins committed in the light of day, or in the darkness of the night, are equally open before Him with whom we have to deal. Angels of God witness the sins and register them in the heavenly records. Ecclesiastes 5:6. “As the features of the countenance are reproduced with unerring accuracy on the polished plate of the artist, so the character is faithfully delineated in the books above. Yet how little solicitude is felt concerning that record which is to meet the gaze of heavenly beings.
Could the veil which separates the visible from the invisible world be swept back, and the children of men behold an angel recording every word and deed; which they must meet again at the judgment, how many words that are daily uttered would remain unspoken; how many deeds would remain undone.”
The decisions of earthly courts may often be changed by money and friends, and the guilty may be released; but not so in the heavenly court. There, “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14:12.
The Scriptures give full assurance that the sins of the repentant are forgiven when confessed. But the event that final doom of everyone is the judgment. Just prior to the second coming of Christ, at the end of the world, a period of time is set apart, corresponding with the Day of Atonement in the typical service, in which the destiny of every one who has ever lived will be decided for eternity. The judgment day is more solemn than death. Death separates friends only until the resurrection; the judgment will either separate or unite them for eternity. No one can escape it. “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Ecclesiastes 11:9.
The final sentence upon man cannot be executed immediately he dies, for the effects of men’s lives- often live long after they pass away. A man’s influence may be reflected upon many succeeding generations. In the judgment this will be given due consideration. Even if the Bible record were silent upon the point, it would still be apparent that the judgment could not be held before the last generation had lived-its allotted span of probation, and its end had been decided upon. The judgment involves, first, a careful investigation of every case, an examination of witnesses, and the counsel’s plea; second, the decision of the court, and the sentence of the judge; and, third, the execution of the sentence rendered.
A Judgment Message
The quality of mercy has always been an important factor in all God’s dealings with man. Before the deluge, in mercy He warned the world for one hundred and twenty years of its impending doom. Lot preached righteousness to the wicked cities of the plains. The story of Jonah and Nineveh is a well-known example of God’s desire to save .His creatures if they will turn from their wickedness. The Israelites were warned so frequently of the sure results of their perversity that their hearts became hardened, and they failed to respond to the calls of mercy. The first advent of Christ was heralded by the Baptist, than whom a greater messenger has not been born.
In view of this marked characteristic of Jehovah, we may rest assured that so great and important an event as the judgment will be fully announced, in order that all who will may have time to prepare for that supreme day, on the decisions of, which their eternal destinies depend. Life or death will then-be apportioned to earth’s millions. It is in the heart of God that all should have life.
For this reason there is, in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, a prophecy that foretells a judgment message to all the world. This message is to be given just prior to the coming of Christ in glory when He will gather the harvest of the earth. This is the message: “I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God; and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14: 6, 7.
The Everlasting Gospel
There is only one gospel, the everlasting gospel. It was announced first in- the Garden of Eden, preached to Abraham and to the children of Israel, and proclaimed anew in every generation. In its development this gospel meets the need of every crisis in the world’s history. Noah, Lot, Jonah, and John the Baptist preached the gospel in its different phases to meet the respective needs of the times in which they lived. Christ Himself declared that the kingdom of heaven, was at hand and called the people to repentance, in view of the, fact that the Messiah had come. So now, when the second coming of Christ is near; a world wide announcement is to be made of that phase of the gospel which calls the attention of the people to that event, and of the judgment which immediately precedes it.
That this is not some local judgment is proved by the fact, that “every nation; and kindred, and tongue, and people,” are concerned in it. For are warned to “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven; and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14: 7.
How suitable is the nature of the message to the needs of our times. “Fear God, and give, glory to Him,” says the angel. The inclination of the natural heart is to fear man, and glorify him. Wealth, power, social position, business, and pleasure never had a greater ascendancy in the mind of man than they have today. Even the Church has taken her eyes away from her Lord, and is looking longingly after the allurements of the world.
Solemn indeed is the warning given, “For the hour of His judgment is come.” The announcement is in the present tense, the hour is come. When Paul reasoned before the trembling Felix, it was of “judgment to come.” And to the Athenians he declared that God “has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the ‘world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained.” But now the message assumes a still more serious import, “The hour of His judgment is come.”
The Creator
Associated with the judgment-hour message is an exhortation to “worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Creative power is that which distinguishes Jehovah from all false gods. To intelligently recognize Him as the Creator comprehends all true worship: “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Psalm 95:3-6.
How fitting is this message in these days, when God is being robbed of His glory and prerogatives by many of His professed followers. They ascribe to evolution the credit of creation, instead of recognizing creation as a manifestation of the power of the word of God. Creation as described by Moses is God’s guarantee that He is able to fulfill His promises and accomplish His designs. It is the one constant evidence of His power; the grand foundation of the entire fabric of Holy Scriptures.
Man honors God as the Creator by observing His Sabbath, which is the memorial of creatorship. The commandment enjoining its observance is in the heart of the Ten Commandments. This seems fitting, for the law of God is the standard by which all people will be judged. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you art become a transgressor of the law. So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10-12. With this agree also the words of the wise man: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and Keep His Commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.
A comparison of the judgment message, which says, “Fear God, and give glory to Him,” with the foregoing text, suggests that the way to give glory to God is to keep His commandments; and that in giving, the judgment message, the duty of keeping the commandments will be emphasized. This is further shown in the description of the people who are gathered out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people as the result of the preaching of this message, in connection With the other messages that immediately -fallow and accompany it. Of the people who respond to the messages it is said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12.
Special notice should be taken of the fact that the observance of the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments is specifically required in the message, when it calls upon everyone to “worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the- sea, and the fountains of waters.” With this instruction agree the words of the commandment: “In six days the Lord made heaven, earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day; and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11. Sunday, the day now universally observed, is the first day of the week, and has no connection with creation. It is neither blessed nor is its observance commanded by God, and it serves no divine purpose, for its observance is entirely man-ordained. It is plainly evident that the judgment message requires men to return to the observance of that day which memorializes God’s creative power-the seventh day Sabbath.
Judgment Scenes
In prophetic vision the aged Daniel saw the last great tribunal sit, with the Ancient of days as judge. Evidently human language is incapable of conveying an adequate conception to the mind of man of the awful grandeur and majesty of that dreadful day. The record says: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed], and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10.
This investigative judgment is an examination of the life record kept in heaven. Daniel says in the text just quoted, “The books were opened.” There are several books mentioned in connection with the records, above. The books of remembrance contain an account of the words and thoughts of those who delight to think and speak about their Lord.
The place of birth, the environments, the early influences and everything that tends to shape a person’s life, are all noted in the books of heaven.
The Book of Life
This contains the names only of those who have confessed their sins and been born again. In the investigative judgment it will be decided whose names shall be retained in the book, and whose shall be blotted out. The cases of those who have never served the Lord will go by default. There will be no one to represent them. Peter states, that “judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of- them that obey not the gospel of God.” 1 Peter 4:17.
This judgment will finally decide who shall be the inhabitants of Christ’s eternal kingdom that is to be established upon this earth. It has been promised to the righteous, the meek, the saints, the obedient, the little flock, and to the blessed of the Father. The dominion given to Adam is to be restored to Christ. On that day the Father will invest His Son with kingly robes, and He will enter into His inheritance. The judgment will decide who are, accounted worthy to be His subjects.
The Ascension
“I saw in the night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7: 13, 14.
The next event is the coming or. Christ in the clouds of heaven to gather to Himself His subjects, and to give to them their reward. At that time they are taken with Him- to heaven, there to dwell in the courts of glory one thousand years. Revelation 20:4.
But the final sentence upon the wicked will not be executed until they also have been judged “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:12. The fact that they had no part in the first, or investigative, judgment, because their names were not written in the book of life, is sufficient to condemn them. The books of heaven, containing a faithful record of their lives, also condemn them, The angels, whose ministering services they spurned, will bear evidence against them.
Judgment of the Wicked
Then the punishment to be meted out to the impenitent will be decided upon. In this judgment the saints will take a part, while they are with their Lord in the mansions of their heavenly Father.
The last and final act of this supreme court of the universe after sentence is passed upon the wicked, according to the degree of their guilt, or the abundance of the light they have spurned, will be the execution of the sentence. As immortal life is given to the righteous when an examination of the book of life reveals who are over comers, so also the sentence of death is passed upon those whose records show; that they have turned their backs upon the offers of life so freely made to them while their probation continued. The depth of their guilt will determine the intensity of their punishment. “The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and murderers, idolaters, all liars, shall nave their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8. The final result will be that they shall all be stubble fully dry, “and the day that comes shall burn them up, said the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1.
A Call to Repentance
Thank God, the day of probation still continues. We must redeem the time and do all that is possible to obtain a favorable verdict when our cases are brought up for judgment. Counsel must be sought and secured. The services of an able Advocate who has never lost a case are at our disposal. Shall we secure them? Now is the time to interview Him. Tomorrow may be too late. He is willing to appear for us. He will plead our case. But He must have a retaining fee. What is it? Ten thousand pounds? No. All He asks is, “My son, give Me your heart,” and His services are ours. Why delay? The risk is too great; the consequences too serious. Give Him His fee, and then praise God that, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1: “Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.”
THE eighth chapter of Daniel is a prophecy of wonderful interest; for it gives the prophetic history of the world from the rise of the Persian Empire till the final destruction of all earthly kingdoms by the God of heaven. The succession of earthly empires was presented to the prophet under the symbols of a ram, a goat, and a little horn that became exceeding great. And when these had been shown to him, he was told by the angel Gabriel that the ram represented the kingdom of Media and Persia, and that the goat was the kingdom of Greece, and the horn which became exceeding great, though not called by name, was identified by several decisive facts, among which are these: That it should be the great destroyer of the people of God, and that it should put to death the Prince of princes. These facts show that the Roman power is intended.
In connection with these symbols, which represent the great empires that have since arisen, the prophet learned the duration of his vision, for he heard Gabriel ask Michael, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?” And Michael, who answered the question to Daniel, said: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:13, 14.
Now, it is plain that the period of twenty-three hundred days cannot be understood to mean so many literal days; for this would not make quite seven years, and would cover only a very small part of the duration of one of the three great empires of this vision. But we should remember that in this vision the great empires of the world are represented by symbols, and thus are given on a scale that brings them distinctly before the eye of the observer. It is necessary that the time should be given on a scale that corresponds with this, in order not to involve an absurdity, for the Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires, have in all, continued between 2,000 and 3,000 years. Now when these empires were represented by beasts, if the time that the empires were to continue was given without a corresponding abatement, then we should have these beasts living a thousand years apiece! This would be absurd; But it would not be absurd to represent them as living and acting that number of days.
The days must therefore represent longer periods of time. If we compare spiritual things with spiritual, we shall find the key to the interpretation of these days, for the different inspired writers were all led by the same Spirit of truth. They were like so many workmen engaged in building a temple. If we can find the rule which governed one of them we, shall find that same rule governing all the rest in like circumstances. Now God gave this rule to Ezekiel in the interpretation of the symbols of his own vision: “I have pointed you each day for a year.” Ezekiel 4: 6. We shall find in Gabriel’s explanation of this vision of Daniel given in the ninth chapter, that the days in Daniel’s prophecy are so many years.
This prophecy of the two thousand three hundred days was certainly given for the benefit of the people of God. But it cannot benefit them unless they are able to understand it: We have indeed ascertained that it must be two thousand three hundred years. But if we do not know when this period commences, we shall be none the wiser for having the period given in Daniel’s prophecy. But there is a certain great event to take place when this period expires, and God designed to give His people knowledge of the time. The event is called the cleansing of the sanctuary. We shall, find the subject one of very deep interest when we come to examine the Bible to learn what it teaches respecting the sanctuary and its cleansing.
But the date of this great period is not given in the eighth chapter of Daniel. In that chapter, however, the commandment is given by Michael thus: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” Verse 16. And yet, in verse 27 he tells us that he “was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” The angel, in explaining to him this vision, set before him the destruction of the mighty and the holy people, and the cruel death of the Son of God. The prophet could bear no more, for he “fainted, and was sick certain days;” so Gabriel reserved the remainder of the explanation till another time.
But in the ninth chapter we find Daniel earnestly seeking God with reference to His sanctuary. Daniel 9:3, 17. He seems to have connected his own vision of the sanctuary with that of Jeremiah respecting the desolation of the temple at Jerusalem. Daniel 9:2. His mind was upon the subject of time. He knew that the seventy years of Jeremiah’s prophecy were just expiring; and he was intently studying that period, doubtless in connection with the period which Michael told him marked the cleansing of the sanctuary. It was necessary that he should now be made to understand the reckoning of the great period revealed to him in his vision of the eighth chapter.
And so while he was engaged in importunate prayer for the people of God and for His sanctuary, the angel Gabriel touches him, saying, “I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” Verse 22. And, calling attention to the vision which he had been commanded to explain to him; he says, “Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” Verse 23, compared with chapter 8:16.
There upon he gives to Daniel the key to the reckoning of this great period. “Seventy weeks,” says “they are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,” etc. Verse 24. The word “determined” does not express the full sense of the Hebrew word used by the angel. The word spoken by the angel was “cut off.” The translators, not seeing the propriety of such a word in this place, for they did not note the fact that the ninth chapter is the key to the eighth, and so thought nothing of the long period in that chapter, could not understand how the seventy weeks could be said to be cut off, and so they departed from the literal meaning, and said that seventy-weeks were “determined,” that is, appointed, upon thy people and upon thy city, But with the prophet the case was different.
The angel had bidden him “consider the vision.” And nothing was more natural when told that seventy weeks were cut off than that he should recall to the long period revealed to him without a date in that vision.
This shorter period being cut off from that long period gives us the key to the reckoning of that period from which it is cut off: When we ascertain the date of the seventy weeks, we have also ascertained the point from which the twenty-three hundred days are to be reckoned. And this date the angel next gives us.
“Know therefore,” said Gabriel, “and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven, weeks and threescore and two weeks.” Verse 25. The commandment for the restoration of Jerusalem, which city then lay in ruins, is the event which marks the commencement of, this period. Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return and: build the temple, but, did not say anything respecting the city itself. Ezra 1. This decree Darius renewed when the Jews were hindered by their enemies, and he provided means for the expense of finishing the temple. Ezra 6. But Artaxerxes added to the work of Cyrus and Darius the full restoration of the city to its ancient. privileges, and the reestablishment of the law of God as the law of the city; and he authorized the rebuilding of its walls. Ezra 7:11-26; 9:9. The commandment is the prophetic commandment of the God of heaven (Isaiah 44:26-28; 45:13), and was carried into effect by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, whose successive action is recognized as the legal establishment of that commandment by the authority of the Persian Empire: Ezra 6:14.
The decree of Artaxerxes, which marks the going forth of the commandment, was in the year s- c. 457 (see margin of Ezra 7), a date which has been established by the infallible testimony of many eclipses.
Sixty-nine weeks; or 483 prophetic, days, extend from this date to the Messiah, that is, to Christ. This period was fulfilled in exactly 483 years, which proves that we have made no mistake in reckoning Daniel’s days as years, nor in fixing their date at BC 457.
It was in the fall of AD 27, just 483 full years from the going forth of the commandment in BC 457, that our Lord began His ministry. And this was the announcement which He made, “The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:15, He referred in these words to the sixty-nine weeks which marked the commencement of His ministry, and He announced the fulfillment of that period, for the period extends not simply to the birth of the Savior, but to His anointing, which took place at His baptism, the word “Messiah” signifying the “anointed one.” See John 1: 41; Acts 10:40, 41; Luke 3:21, 22; 4:14-21.
The sixty-nine weeks did, therefore, end with the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, in the fall of AD 27. One week of the seventy remained, in which the covenant was to be confirmed with many. Verse 27. In the midst of this week the sacrifice and oblation were to cease. This must signify that He should take these away, by becoming Himself the great Sacrifice for sin, which these typified. Heb 10:1-13; Colossians 2:14-17. And so it was that our Lord preached during three years and a half, until the spring of AD 31, when He was crucified for the sins of men. This date Dr. Hales, one of the most distinguished of chronologists, establishes by conclusive, evidence. See his “Analysis of Chronology,” second edition, Volume 1, pages 99-100. There remained of the period which was specially assigned to the Jews three and a half prophetic days to complete the seventy weeks. The termination of this period, in AD 34, marked the close of the exclusive work for the Jews, and the commencement of the work for the Gentiles in the conversion of Saul, who was at once commissioned to them: Acts 26:15-19: Here ended the seventy weeks which were cut off from the 2300 days. When these 490 days were finished, there remained 1810 days before the time should come for the cleansing of the sanctuary. As the 490 days ended in the fall of AD 34, the remaining 1810 ended in the fall of 1844.
In the great Advent movement under the preaching of William Miller and his fellow-laborers, the evidence was brought out with great clearness that the 2300 days would end in 1844. He believed that the sanctuary to be cleansed is our earth. He found no testimony in the Bible that the earth is the sanctuary, but he did find that the earth is to be purified by fire (2 Peter 3:7-13), and so he inferred that this was the sanctuary which Michael said should be cleansed at the end of 2300 days. He therefore concluded that this period was given to mark the time of Christ’s coming. And as it was sufficiently 6vident from the several great lines of prophecy in Daniel and Revelation, and from the signs of the times, that the advent of Christ was at the doors, the time was preached in connection with the signs with very great solemnity and power.
But though it could be clearly shown that the 2300 days actually ended in 1844, the Adventist people were doomed to a great disappointment. The ending of the 2300 days was not the time appointed of God for the coming of Christ, nor or the burning of the earth. But the bitter disappointment made it necessary that two important questions should be carefully studied:
The fact that the cleansing of the sanctuary is an event located in prophecy in the very conclusion of one of Daniel’s great-prophetic chains, shows that- it is an event of deep interest to mankind. And as we live at a time when the 2300 days are in the past, we are most deeply concerned to understand the nature of the work called the cleansing of the sanctuary.
The Bible is full of the subject of the sanctuary, and we shall find it a theme of intense interest if we give it careful study. The Bible doctrine of the sanctuary is this: That the sanctuary is the place where the High Priest stands to offer blood before God for the sins of those who come to God through Him: The central object in the sanctuary is the ark, which contains the law of God, that man has broken. The cover of this ark was called the mercy seat, because mercy came to those who had broken the law beneath it, when the high priest sprinkled the blood of sin offerings upon it, provided they accompanied his work by repentance and faith. Last of all was the work of cleansing the sanctuary, when the high priest by blood removed the sins of the people from the sanctuary, into which they had been borne by the ministration of the priests before God. We now invite attention to the testimony of the Bible respecting the sanctuary:
1. The Bible brings to view two sanctuaries. One is called the “worldly,” or earthly, sanctuary, the ministration in which was conducted by the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 9:1-10). The other is the sanctuary in heaven (Hebrews 8:1, 2), a “greater and more perfect tabernacle,” of which Christ is “minister,” or “high priest” (Hebrews 8:2; 9:11). The first was the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness, afterward succeeded by the temple in Jerusalem: The second, of which the first was a type, was pitched by the Lord, and its Minister “has an unchangeable priesthood.”
The word “sanctuary” in the Bible, except in the few cases where it is used figuratively, refers always to the place where the high priest ministers before God for the sins of the people. It was first the tabernacle erected by Moses; then it was the temple built by Solomon, which was- a more glorious structure than the tabernacle, but with the same two holy places; and when the typical sacrifices ended in the death of Christ, who is the true sin offering, the earthly sanctuary, or holy places, ceased to be the centre of God’s worship, and Christ entered the temple in heaven as a great High Priest-the Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. The temple of God in heaven is the sanctuary from which the Psalmist says the Lord beheld the earth (Psalm 102:19), and of which the Scriptures speak as being where the throne of God is found. Jeremiah 17:12; Revelation 16:17
The ministration in the earthly sanctuary could not actually take away sins, for it had only the blood of bulls and goats to offer. Hebrews 10:4. It was ordained for the purpose of instructing men with reference to the work of Christ, and of encouraging them to look forward to His work. It is a shadow, or representation of the service of Christ in the- sanctuary of God in heaven. Hebrews 8:5; 10:1; Colossians 2:17. It took one year to complete the round of service in the earthly sanctuary, at the end of which the cleansing of the sanctuary took place. The round of service was repeated each year, even as a shadow is renewed each day. But the ministration of Christ which casts this shadow fills out each part of the work once for all; and is not, repeated. We shall therefore find the study of the service in the earthly sanctuary full of instruction as to the work of Christ in the sanctuary above.
The ministration in, the first apartment occupied the entire year, with the exception of one day, which was devoted to work in the second apartment, or most holy place, to close up the work which had been wrought in the first -apartment. The work in the first apartment was on this wise: When a man repented of his sin, he brought a sin offering to the priest to the door of the sanctuary. Then he confessed his sin to the priest, and put his hand upon the head of his offering, to indicate the transfer of the guilt from himself to his offering. Then the victim was slain because of that guilt thus transferred to it, and the blood, representing the life of the victim, was taken by the priest and carried into the sanctuary, and sprinkled there before God. This art was the offering of the life of an innocent victim in the place of the life of him who had broken the law of God, and it was the transference of that man’s guilt from himself to the sanctuary of God. See Leviticus 4 and the parallel scriptures. This was the most important feature of the work in the first apartment, and by it the guilt of the penitents was transferred from themselves to the tabernacle.
On the tenth day of the seventh month, which was called the Day of Atonement, the ministration was transferred to the second apartment, or most holy place. Leviticus 16. By God’s direction, the high priest on this day caused two goats to be brought to the door of the sanctuary. On these he was to cast lots. One was for the Lord, the other was for Azazel. Then he slew the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and took his blood to present it before God as a sin offering in the most holy place, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat. He did this for two purposes: (1) To make atonement for the people; (2) To cleans*e the sanctuary, by removing from it the sins of the people of God. Leviticus 16:15-19.
The sanctuary being cleansed, the high priest comes out of the building, and, having caused the other goat to be brought, which was for Azazel, he lays both his hands upon its head, and confesses over it all the transgressions of the children of Israel in all their sins. These he puts upon the head of the goat, and sends it away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And it is said that “the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited.” Verses 20-22.
The work of the high priest on this great Day of Atonement was for the purpose of completing the work which had been partially accomplished in the first apartment. By the work in that apartment, the sins had been transferred to the sanctuary through the blood of sin offerings. By the work in the second apartment, the sanctuary is cleansed and the sins of the people of God blotted out. Such was the work in the earthly sanctuary, and such was the cleansing of the sanctuary, as set forth in the example and shadow of heavenly things.
The earthly sanctuary and its services were only typical and shadowy. With the death of Christ and the, close of His earthly ministry came the ministration in the tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Hebrews 8:1, 2: While the first tabernacle stood, it signified that the way into the holy places of the heavenly temple was not opened. Hebrews 9:8. But when our Lord ascended on high, He became a great High; Priest, and by His, own blood He entered the temple of God. Verses 11, 12. The order of His ministration is clearly indicated by the service in the two apartments of the earthly sanctuary. Hebrews: 8:5; 9: 8-12; 10:1. And we are able to trace the ministration of Christ in these two apartments of the temple above in the New Testament.
Thus, when John looked into the temple of God in heaven, he saw the Father sitting upon the throne, and before the throne were seven lamps burning. Revelation 4. In this place also he saw the Son of God. Revelation 5. Before the throne also stood the golden altar of incense. Revelation 8:8. These things do clearly mark the first apartment of the heavenly-sanctuary, and show that this was the place where our Lord began His ministration as our High Priest.
But there is a time when His ministration is to be within the second apartment. This is marked in John’s statement of the events under the seventh trumpet: “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” Revelation 11:19: “The ark marks the second apartment, as the seven lamps and the golden altar of incense mark the first. The second apartment is therefore opened under the seventh angel, and the days (or years) at the beginning of his voice constitute the period, in which the mystery of God, or work of the gospel for fallen man, is finished. Revelation 10:7; Ephesians 8:4-6. It is certain, therefore, that as there was a time each year devoted to the finishing up of the round of service in “the example and shadow of heavenly things,” so is there such a period in the conclusion of Christ’s ministration, when once for all our High Priest finishes His work of priesthood; and as this work in the former.dispen5ation took place in the second apartment, so also under the new covenant does this work find its accomplishment within the second veil, by the ark of the ten commandments. The work in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary does not therefore represent the work of the whole gospel dispensation, out only of that part of it devoted to the finishing of the mystery of God.
The work within the second apartment was for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and this was performed by the high priest with blood, and when it was accomplished, the sins of the people were blotted out. It was, therefore, an event of the greatest importance to the people of God. The heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed, and for the same reason that the earthly sanctuary was cleansed. So Paul testifies in Hebrews 9:23. The same word which Paul uses to express the purification in this text is used in the Septuagint version of Daniel 8:14, for cleansing. The prophecy of Daniel shows us that the sanctuary of God is cleansed in the last days of the new covenant dispensation. The sanctuary of the new covenant is in heaven. Hebrews 8: 1, 2. This heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed, for Paul affirms it. Hebrews 9:23. The time marked for its cleansing is that fixed by John for the opening of the temple in heaven and for the finishing of the mystery of God.
Revelation 11:19; 10:7. The cleansing of the sanctuary is the removal from it of the sins of the people of God that had been borne into it by the High Priest, and their blotting out from the record that stands against the saints, preparatory to their being placed upon the head of the scapegoat, or Azazel.
Now this Azazel, as the word is in the original, or scapegoat, as some translations render it, can be no other than Satan; for the being that receives the sins of the righteous after the High Priest has finished His work in the sanctuary, can be no other than Satan, the author of sin, The word “Azazel” was understood by the ancient people of God to mean Satan. When, therefore, the goat was sent into a land not inhabited, it represents the fact that Satan, at the conclusion of Christ’s work as priest, shall be cast into the bottomless pit. Revelation 20.
The treading underfoot of the sanctuary is not performed by literal trampling it in the dust. It is trodden underfoot in the same manner that men are represented as treading underfoot the Son of God, who ministers in that sanctuary. Hebrews 10:29.
But does Daniel’s vision really take in the heavenly sanctuary? We know that the earthly sanctuary as understood by him was the temple of God. Daniel 9: 17, 24. His view was in exact harmony with that of Paul in Hebrews 9:1-5. And ought we not to understand that the entire 2300 days belong to the temple in old Jerusalem? Such is the view taken by some, and yet it is not at all in harmony with the statement of Gabriel. The entire period, of 2300 days does not belong to old Jerusalem; for Gabriel said, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and-upon thy holy city.” The words literally translated from the Hebrew are, “Severity weeks are cut off upon thy people, and upon thy holy city.” Daniel 9:24. So we have the highest authority for saying that only 490 of the 2300 days pertain, to the earthly sanctuary. And it is worthy of notice that the actual transition from the earthly sanctuary to that of the new covenant, which is, the heavenly, is in close proximity to the end of the 490 days.
And this is not all. Gabriel introduces the heavenly sanctuary itself, for the last event mentioned under the seventy weeks is the anointing of the most holy. In the Hebrew this is the anointing of the holy of holies. This cannot mean Christ, but must mean the sanctuary of God. It cannot mean the earthly sanctuary, for that was left of God at this very time (Matthew 23:38), and was, with all the typical system, here set aside. The anointing of the sanctuary was that which prepared the way for the ministration therein. Leviticus 8:10.
The ministration in the earthly sanctuary was now finished, and that in the heavenly was about to commence. The sanctuary, therefore, which at this time was anointed, was that which at this very point took the place of the earthly sanctuary. It was the temple of God in heaven which Gabriel then brings to Daniel’s view. The 2300 days do, therefore, embrace the closing period of the earthly sanctuary and the entire history of the ministration in the sanctuary of the new covenant.
They end in the last days of the new covenant dispensation, and the cleansing of the sanctuary is the consummation, of the work of our great High Priest therein.
The nature of that work we will now briefly indicate. The work of the judgment is divided into two parts. The first part is the investigative judgment, which takes place in the heavenly sanctuary, God the Father sitting in judgment. The second part is the execution of the judgment, and is committed wholly to Christ, who comes to our earth to accomplish this work. John 5:22-27; Jude 1:14, 15.
It is while the investigative judgment is in session that the cleansing of the sanctuary takes place. Or, to speak more accurately, the cleansing of the sanctuary is identical with the work of the investigative judgment.
This part of the judgment is described in Daniel 7:9-14. God the Father sits upon the throne of judgment. Those who stand before the Father are the angels. Compare Revelation 5:11. It is not upon earth, for the Father does not come to our earth. It is before the second advent of Christ, for Christ comes to our earth as a King, sitting upon His own throne (Matthew 25:31, 34; Luke 19:12, 15; 2 Timothy 4:1); but this tribunal of the Father is the very place where He is crowned King. Daniel 7:13, 14. It is the time and place where our Lord concludes His priestly office, and must, therefore, be in the second apartment of the sanctuary above. Revelation 10:7; 11:15, 18, 19.
When the Savior comes, He gives immortality to the righteous dead. 1 Corinthians 15:23, 51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-I7. The rest of the dead are left until the resurrection of the unjust. Revelation 20: But those who are thus made immortal were previously accounted worthy of that great salvation. Luke 20:35. There can be no examination afterward, to ascertain whether they shall be saved or lost, for they are put in possession of eternal life at the moment when ‘the trumpet sounds. And such also, is the case with the living righteous. They are changed to immortality in the same moment with the dead in Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. These are previously judged worthy of this great salvation (Luke 21:36), and can never afterward be subjected to trial for the determination of this point. The decision who shall have-eternal life has therefore, been made before Christ descends to execute the judgment.
The books are examined before the deliverance of the saints. Daniel 12:4. The opening of the books is described in Daniel 7:9, 10. The book of life shows who have ever set out in the service of God. Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3. The book of God’s remembrance shows the record of their faithfulness in His cause, and whether they have made clean work in overcoming. Malachi 3:16. Other books contain the record of men’s evil deeds. Revelation 20:12-13.
As the object of this final work in the sanctuary is to determine who are worthy of everlasting life, no cases will come before this tribunal except those who have had their, names entered in the book of life. All others are left out of this investigation, as having never become partakers in Christ’s atoning work. The investigation will determine who have overcome their sins; and these will have their sins blotted from the record, and their names retained in the book of life. It will also determine who have not overcome; and these will have their names blotted from the book of life. (Revelation 3:5), and their sins will be retained in the record, to be visited with retribution in the resurrection to damnation.
The righteous need a high priest until their sins are blotted out. They cannot be blotted out till the judgment; for God has decreed to bring every work into judgment, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12: 13, 14; 3:17.
He certainly cannot bring any record into judgment after He has blotted it out. The blotting out is therefore the last act of our High Priest, and is done when the Father has counted each person worthy of this, which will only be when the High Priest has shown from the record in the book of God’s remembrance that he has actually overcome. The blotting out of sins (Acts 3: 19) is therefore the great work which brings our Lord’s priesthood to a conclusion. As this is an individual work, it evidently begins with the first generation of the righteous, and so comes down to the last, that is, to those who are alive at the coming of Christ. It is the time of the dead that they should be judged. Revelation 11:18, 19. The first angel gives notice to the inhabitants of the earth that the hour of God’s judgment has come.
Revelation 14: 6, 7. The living are still on probation when this solemn announcement is made to mankind. The proclamation of the third angel, which is made while Christ is closing up His work in the sanctuary, is designed to prepare the living for the decision of the judgment. When the cases of the living are reached, probation closes up forever. The decree goes forth from the throne of God, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11. The sins of the over comers being blotted out, and the sanctuary cleansed, the Son of God is no longer needed as a great High Priest. He therefore ceases from the office for ever and becomes a King for the deliverance and glorification of His people, and for the destruction of all transgressors. Daniel 7:13, 14. Satan, the author of sin, receives its dreadful burden when the work in the sanctuary is closed, and will bear it with him to the lake of fire.
It is of infinite consequence to us who live in the time when Christ is closing up His priesthood, that we understand the work which He is performing, and that we so r walk in the light as to share in His great salvation.
“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast; the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus.”
THE desire of these Greeks was certainly a very natural one. They had come up to Jerusalem to worship, and had found the name of JESUS upon everybody’s lips. From the highest to the lowest; from the proud and courted Pharisee to the outcast leper, from the high priest and the chief priests, supposed to be the purest in the nation, to the abandoned sinner; all, all were talking about JESUS. Of course all were not praising Him, all were not glorifying Him; the chief priests and the Pharisees were most bitterly opposed to Him, and were only waiting impatiently for an opportunity to kill Him, while the common people were anxious to-make Him a king: But whether it was to praise or to condemn, whether it was to kill or to make a king, the sole subject of it all was JESUS, and it was the most natural thing in the world that these Greeks should want to see the person about whom so much was said.
From, that day to this, the name that has been used most in this world is the name of JESUS: The one person about whom more has been said, and of whom more has been made, than of any other person this world ever saw, is the Man Christ Jesus. True, as at the first, some have praised Him, and some have cursed Him; some have worshipped Him, while others have sought to kill Him, crying, “Crush the wretch,” and often He has been wounded in the house of His friends; still the name more than all others that is used in the wide world today is the name of JESUS. And with those Greeks of old, we now say, “We would see JESUS.”
Not, however, as they, simply because much is said of Him, either for or against Him; not because there are even now those, as Ingersoll, who would kill at least His name out of the earth; nor yet because there are those who wood take Him by force and make Him king. Not because of any of these things would we see Him. But we would see Him as He is, for what He is. For even as said the Scripture, having not seen Him, we love Him (1 Peter 1:8); and because we love Him, we would see Him. Having not seen Him, we love Him, because He first loved us. We love Him because He loved us and gave Himself for us. We love Him for His gentle pity for sinners such as we. We love Him for His cheerful mercy; to men so fearfully undeserving as we are. We love Him because in “the great love wherewith He loved us,” He, “His own self, bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” We love Him for His lofty humanity. We love Him for His “profound reverence for infinite goodness and truth.” We love Him for the moral force and the benign influence of His mighty character. We love Him for His perfect goodness. For this cause would we see Him. We would see Him because of “The character He bears, And all the forms of love He wears.“
Yet we would not see Him as He was, We would not now see His visage so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. We would not now see Him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We would not see Him oppressed and afflicted. We would not now see Him taken as a lamb to the slaughter. We would not now see Him in His travail of soul. We would not-now see Him in His dreadful agony on the cruel tree.
No; we would see Him as He is. We would see Him “that lives,” though once dead, yet now “alive forevermore, Amen,” and who has “the keys of hell and of death.” We would see Him as the disciples saw Him “His face did shine as the sun,” “and His raiment became shining,” “white as the light,” “exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them.” We would see Him as Stephen saw Him “in glory, standing on the right hand of God:” We would see Him as Paul saw Him-shining in light “above the brightness of the sun.” We would see Him as John saw Him “His head and His hairs white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes as a flame of fire and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice was the sound of many waters; and His countenance as the sun shines in his strength.” We would see Him as Isaiah saw Him “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” and the train of His glory filling the heavenly temple, about. Him standing the bright seraphim shading their glorious faces from His ineffable glory, and crying one unto another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1-4 with John 12:41. We would see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, arid would hear His mighty voice saying to His angels, “Gather My saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” And then and there, in the midst of the church, would we see, Him and hear His glorious voice singing that song of promised praise to the Father. Hebrews 2: 12. Oh, it is thus that we would see Jesus.
And we thank God, not only for the hope that we shall see Him as He is, but also that the signs are abundant all about us that soon this “blessed hope” shall be fulfilled. And the blessed promise is that we shall not only “see Him as He is,” but “we shall be like Him.” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” We would see Jesus. In this hope we live. For its fruition we wait. But while so living and waiting, we would never for a moment forget that he “that has, this hope in, him purifies himself, even as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3. And, even so, we would indeed see JESU5.
Why Speak of Christ’s Coming?
THIS, strange to say, is a question frequently asked by Christians. Many Christian ministers rarely if ever preach on the great subject. The great majority of- people are ignorant respecting its importance, its manner, and the order of events connected with Christ’s second appearing. Because of this the idea has obtained that it is not an important matter as to when Christ shall come or how He shall come, and to some whether He shall come at all; and therefore we are asked, Why say so much about the Lord’s coming? We do it for several reasons, some of which we wish our readers to consider:
Christ’s, second coming is thee hope of the church. Then will the resurrection of His people. take place. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. Then will this mortal put on immortality. Then will death be conquered and life be triumphant. Then will “Christ, who is our life,” appear, and we “appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:4. God has promised it. Enoch prophesied concerning it. Job looked to that “latter day” when his eyes should behold his Redeemer; and not a stranger. The psalmist raised glad hallelujah’s over the inspiring theme. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the lesser prophets, foretold that glad day of deliverance, when the children should come from the enemy’s land, when the captives of death should be delivered, when the Israel of God should live in reality as they now live in God’s purpose, when death should be no more and the grave should be destroyed, God’s people be all righteous, and the Lord alone King. Over and over has our Lord cheered us with promises of His coming. It is “the hope of Israel.” It is “the hope of thee promise of God.” It is “the blessed hope,” the longing prayer, of all the ages of sacred story, from the men who walked with God three hundred years, to the enraptured watcher on sea-girt rock-bound Patmos and, meaningly and unmeaningly, with lip and heart, multitudes have since cried, “Thy kingdom come.” “Come, Lord Jesus.”
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Christ’s coming is the hope of the Christian-thee only hope. It was the hope of the dying; penitent thief, as he saw God’s glory in Jesus Christ, when His “visage was so marred more than any man; and His form more than the sons of men.” The penitent criminal saw beyond the cross to the crown, beyond the shame to the glory, beyond the dying to the living: and his heart breathed out to another dying man, “Lord, remember me when You come into Thy, kingdom.” Thee prayer was heard by Him who forgets Himself for all others good; but can He, seemingly as helpless as the one by His side, answer the prayer? To unbelief, no; to faith, yes. In Him was absolute righteousness, therefore in Him was life. The grave could not and would not hold Him. Acts 2:24. He would rise, would go away, would come again to reign. It was all in the all-power of His righteousness; and as the penitent thief had faith, that dark hour of all the dark hours of Christ’s life, so Christ had love to forgive, assurance to promise, as He will have power to perform, “ Verily I say unto thee today, shall you be with Me in paradise.” That will be at Christ’s coming; for “then shall He reward every man.” Matthew 16:27. Be comforted with these words.
4. He is coming; and those who love Him will be glad. “Whom having not seen we love.” We know He loved us, and gave Himself for us. He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” When we were worthy to be cast off forever, “wretched, and. miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” in infinite and unasked love He gave Himself to save us, clothed our nakedness bestowed riches for poverty, happiness for misery, sight for blindness, righteousness for sin. We know His love, His mercy, His goodness. He is coming again. Surely He is a Friend in our need. He knows all our wants, has met “all our necessities, has been, the best Friend in, all the universe to us; why should we not love” Him, long to see Him, and tell others that- He is coming, the One altogether lovely?
Manner, Object, And Nearness Of The Event
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am there you may be also.” John 14:1-3.
“Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kingdoms of the earth hall wail because of Him.” Revelation 1:7.
JESUS was soon to leave His disciples and ascend to the Father, and in His words of instruction and consolation He was preparing their minds for that event which would, prove a grief to them. His presence constituted their joy. His absence would be their sorrow. “Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” Matthew 9:15. The real friends of our Lord will ever desire His tangible presence. Worldly professors, whose affections are placed upon the things of this life, will enjoy His absence quite as well. And while a worldly church may treat with indifference the Bible doctrine of the soon return of the Lord, or reject, or even scoff at it, those who truly love their divine Master will receive the word relative to His coming with all gladness.
He Will Appear
He will appear the second time. Paul speaks directly upon this point: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28. Again He says: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13. Another apostle testifies to this point thus: “Beloved, now are we the son: of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him: for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3: 2.
Personal And Visible
The Second Advent of Christ will be personal and visible. This proposition is sustained by a large amount of testimony from the highest authority.
Resurrection Of The Just
At the second coining of Christ, the voice of the archangel will be heard, the righteous dead will be raised; and the living righteous will be changed to immortality. It is then that victory over death and the grave is triumphantly shouted by all who receive the gift of eternal life at the last trump. “Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:51-55.
Again the apostle sets forth the hope and joy of the true church of Jesus Christ in all ages, while passing through persecutions and great tribulation, and while her members have been falling under the power of death and the grave, in these consoling words: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. [God brought Christ from. the dead, and will also bring from the dead, with Christ, all the righteous dead.] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the’ voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
When this visible union of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall take place, then the church will be no more separated from her adorable Lord, but; with all-the endowments of immortality, will ever be with Him.
Destruction Of The Wicked
Christ’s explanation of the parable of the tares of the field proves the destruction of all wicked men who shall be living at the time of His second coming: “The field is the, world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.” Matthew 13: 38-42: That will be a clean work. When all things that offend, and they which do iniquity, shall be gathered out of the earth, there cannot be one sinner left in it.
The prophet describes the day of the destruction of the wicked, and the desolation of the earth, in these, fearful words: “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9, “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof.” Isaiah 24:1. “The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word.” Verse 3.
Prominence Of The Doctrine In The Scriptures
The second coming of Christ is a subject of great importance to the church. This is evident from the amount of testimony relative to it, in connection with the resurrection of the just and the judgment, found both in the Old and the New Testament. The inspired writers, in their threatening against the ungodly, in their words of hope and encouragement for the saints, and in their exhortations to repentance and holy living, hold up the great fact of the second coming of the Son of man as that which should alarm and arouse, and also comfort the people of God.
Before Adam passed from the stage of life, Enoch, the seventh in the line of his descendants, proclaimed this doctrine in the ears of the impenitent. “Behold,” said he, “the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all:” Jude 1:14, 15. And as we pass from book to book through the Bible, we find that the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles have made the same use of the doctrine; and in the very last book John describes a coming day, when all classes and ranks of men, because they have not prepared for the coming of Christ, will call for rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the overwhelming glory of His presence, as He appears in the clouds of heaven. Revelation 6:14-17.
Christ’s coming is also held prominently forth in the’ sacred writings as the time when the righteous will be rewarded. “When the chief Shepherd shall appear,” says Peter, “you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.” 1 Peter 5:4. And Paul looks forward to the day of Christ’s appearing as the time when not only he, but all who love the appearing of their Lord, shall receive the crown of righteousness which is laid up for such. 2 Timothy 4:8.
Most frequently, however, is this great doctrine used as an incentive to repentance, watchfulness, prayer, and holy living. “Watch” is the emphatic injunction of the Son of God in connection with the numerous declarations of His second coming in the Gospels.
Paul exhorts to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this, present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:12, 13.
James says: “Be you also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge stands before the door.” James 5: 8, 9.
Peter says: “But the end of all things is at hand; be you therefore sober, and watch unto, prayer.” 1 Peter 4: 7. And again: “What manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3:11, 12.
Such is the use which holy men, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have made of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Then has not the spirit of the gospel been lost by those who openly contend against so .prominent and weighty and precious a doctrine, or who even pass it by in silence?
Absurd Applications
But the doctrine of the second appearing of Christ, made so very prominent in the Scriptures, is lost sight of by those who receive theories not found- in the Scriptures. Thus the fulfillment of all the threatening of God’s Word relative to the swift-approaching day of wrath, and the revelation of the Son of God in flaming fire, to destroy the inhabitants of the earth, as they were once destroyed by water, are put far into the distant future, if not completely lost sight of, by the unscriptural doctrine of the world’s conversion and the temporal millennium.
The second personal appearing of Jesus Christ is most absurdly applied to several different things. Some teach that death is the second coming of Christ. This is not only a violation of plain Scripture declarations, but of the laws of language. There can be but a single Second Advent of Christ, while this misty sentiment makes as many appearing of Jesus as there are deaths. The early disciples did not receive the idea that death was the second coming of Christ.
Peter, seeing the beloved John, “said to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus said unto him, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow you Me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” John 21:21-23. So far were the disciples from holding that death was the second coming of Christ, that when they understood their Lord to intimate that John might remain until His return, they at once concluded that he would not die.
And what foggy theology is this, that makes death the second appearing of Christ! He is coming as the Life giver and the believer’s best Friend. Death is the life taker, and man’s last enemy. 1 Corinthians 15:26. Christ is coming to give life to the just, and to “destroy him that has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2: 14.
Again, conversion is said to be the second coming of Christ. And there are as many second comings of Christ as there are conversions. There can be but one second appearing of Jesus Christ. And again, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are said to be the Second Advent of Christ. Hence men talk of the spiritual coming of Christ, and His spiritual reign for one thousand years. But here, also, they are involved in the difficulty of a plurality of second comings of Christ; for in this case they would have Christ appear at each gracious manifestation of the Holy Spirit. There can be but a single Second Advent of Christ.
Lo, Here! Lo, There!
How forcible, then, are these words of Christ when applied to the subject before us: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.” Matthew 24: 23. No one need fail to see who the men are that are crying, “Lo, here is Christ,” and, “Lo, He is there!” The Lord continues in verses 25, 26: “Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert, go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers, believe it not.”
And why not receive such mystical teachings? The reason is given in the next verse: “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Our Lord has not only pointed out false prophets, and warned us against their mystical teachings, but He has in contrast set before us the manner of His second coming in the plainest terms. The vivid lightning, flashing out of the distant east, and shining even to the west, lights up the whole heavens. This, probably, is the most appropriate figure that our Lord could employ to illustrate the flaming glory that will attend His Second Advent when He shall come attended by all the holy angels.
What Said The Scriptures?
Can anything be learned from the Bible relative to the period of the Second Advent? is a question unsettled in many minds. This is a grave inquiry, and, from the nature of the subject, is worthy of close investigation and a candid answer. How did Christ Himself treat the subject? When the disciples inquired, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?” He did not reprove them for prying into that which was purposely hidden from all men. No; He answered them in the most definite manner. He even stated that there should be signs of that event, and added: “When you shall see all these things, know that it. is near, even at the doors.” The simple fact that the Lord mentions signs of His Second Advent is the best proof possible that His people were not to remain ignorant of the relative nearness of the event. Add to this evidence His declaration that when these signs should be seen, His people should know that it was near, even at the doors, and the case becomes an exceedingly strong one.
The prophecies, especially those of Daniel and John, clearly point to the period of the second coming of Christ, but do not reveal the definite date of that event. Some of the prophetic periods reach to the time of the end. Others extend still further down very near the end itself. But none of the chronological prophetic periods reach to the second appearing of Christ.
Definite Time Hidden
While God has revealed the period of the Second Advent of Christ, yet the definite date of that event is purposely hidden from man. “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven; but My Father only.” Many hastily conclude from this text that nothing whatever may be ascertained relative to the period of the Second Advent. But in taking this position, they greatly err, in that they make this class of texts prove too much, even for their unbelief, and at the same time they array these declarations against others uttered by the Savior, the most plain and pointed.
After stating that the sun should be darkened, and that the moon should not give her light, and that the stars should fall from heaven, the Lord gives the following forcible parable, and makes the most distinct application of it to this subject. He says: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh. So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24: 32, 33. No language can be more direct. No proof can be more complete. With all the certainty with which we know that summer is nigh when we see the buds and leaves shoot forth from the trees in spring, may we know that Christ is at the door.
Says Campbell: “MacKnight argues that the term know is here used as a causative, in the Hebrew sense, of the Conjugation hiphil, [Hebrew Word] that is, to make known. His [Christ’s] answer is just equivalent to saying, The Father will make it known when it pleases Him; but He has not authorized man, angels, nor the Son, to make it known. Just in this sense Paul uses the term know: 1 Corinthians 2:2: “I came to you making known the testimony of God; for I determined to make known nothing among you but a crucified Christ.”
Albert’ Barnes, in his notes on the Gospels, says: “Others have said that the verb rendered knows means sometimes to make known, or to reveal, and that the passage means, ‘That day and hour none makes known, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father. It is true the word has sometimes that meaning, as 1 Corinthians 2: 2.”
The present is emphatically the waiting, watching time. It is the especial period of the patience of the saints. Revelation 14:12. In definite time we would find relief from the state of suspense to which our present position subjects us. The Lord appeals to us thus: “Watch you therefore; for you know, not when the Master of the house comes, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I Say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13:35-37.
Evidences Of The End
By most people, the evidences of the soon coming of Christ are considered insufficient to base faith upon. But the testimony and acts of Noah condemned the people destroyed by the flood. The evidence then was, sufficient, otherwise the world would not have been condemned. But a hundred times more convincing evidences come pouring in upon us that the day of the Lord is near; and hastens greatly. We follow down the numerous prophetic chains of Daniel and of the Revelation, and we find ourselves in every instance standing just before the day of wrath. We see the signs spoken of by the prophets, by Christ, and in the epistles, fulfilling or fulfilled. And at the right time, and in the right manner, to fulfill certain prophecies, a solemn message arises in different parts of the world: Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord-comes, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2:1. Wherever we look, we see prophecy fulfilling. While the knowledge of God and the spirit of holiness are departing, spiritual wickedness, like a flood, covers the land.
But these evidences are considered insufficient to rest faith upon. Well, what kind of evidence would the unbelieving have? “When the signs of the end,” says the skeptic, “are fulfilled, they will be so plain that no one can doubt.” But if the signs are of such a nature, and are fulfilled in such a manner as to compel all to believe in the coming of Christ, how can it be as it was in the days of Noah? Men were not then compelled to believe. But eight believing souls were saved, while all the world besides sank in their unbelief beneath the waters of the flood. God has never revealed His truth to man in a manner to compel him to believe. Those who have wished to doubt His word have found a wide field in which to doubt, and a broad road to perdition; while those who have wished to believe have ever found everlasting rock upon which to rest their faith.
Just before the end, the world will be hardened in sin, and indifferent to the claims of God. Men will be careless about hearing warnings of danger, and blinded by cares, pleasures, and riches. An unbelieving and infidel generation will be eating, drinking, marrying, building, planting, and sowing. It is right to eat and drink to sustain nature; but the sin is in excess and gluttony. The marriage covenant is holy; but God’s glory is seldom thought of. Building, planting, and sowing, necessary for convenient shelter, food, and clothing, are right; but the world has gone wholly after these things, so that men have no disposition to think of God, heaven, Christ’s coming, and the judgment. This world is their god, and all their energies of body and mind are devoted to its service. And the evil day is put far away:
“Where is the promise of His coming?” is murmured from the impious lips of a thousand last-day scoffers. But the scene will speedily change. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them.” The scoffing of the haughty scoffer will soon be turned to wailing and howling. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” Isaiah 2: 11, 12. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jeremiah 25:33.
The doctrine of the second appearing of Christ has been held by the church ever since her Lord ascended to the Father to prepare mansions for her reception. It is the event that consummates her hopes, terminates the period of her toils and sorrows, and introduces her eternal- repose. What sublime scenes will then open before the, waiting children of God! The blazing heavens will reveal the Son of God in His glory, surrounded by all the holy angels. The trumpet will sound, and the just will come forth from the grave, immortal. And all-Redeemer and redeemed, attended by the heavenly host-will move upward to the mansions prepared for them in the Father’s house.
To those who really love their absent Lord, the theme of. His soon return to bestow immortality upon the dead and living righteous is fraught with unspeakable blessedness. This event, with all its grand results; has always, been the hope of the church. Paul could look over eighteen long centuries, and speak of it as “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13. And Peter exhorts: “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3:12. And Paul again, after speaking of the descent of the Lord from heaven, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and their ascent with the living righteous to meet the Lord in the air, says, “ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Its Establishment, Nature, and Endurance Foretold by Prophecy
By George Teasdale
THE stream of time flows on. Its past is carefully explored by man in search of treasures of wisdom with which to enrich the present. The present is diligently exploited that nothing may pass unperceived or unappreciated. But who can proceed into the mysterious future and reveal that which is to be?
Only the present belongs to man. With the past he is slightly acquainted. The future is known to Him alone with whom time is not a stream, but an ocean, all the shores of which lie within the compass of His vision.
False Gods and the True
Addressing the idols of the heathen, Isaiah says, “Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods.” The sacred books of the great heathen systems contain no such wonderful and copious prophecies as are found in the Scriptures.
Of Jehovah there is abundant evidence that He knows the end from the beginning. With Him, “That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been.” Ecclesiastes 3:15. Only divine omniscience can link the past with the future, and read them both in the present. God alone can foretell the events, great and small, that mark the history of this world, and affect the interests of the Church.
The Future Illuminated
Confidence in God’s predictive declarations concerning events still future in fact, confidence in the Bible is engendered and developed by a knowledge of prophecies already fulfilled. For this reason their study serves an important purpose in Christian growth. The “more sure word of prophecy” more sure than the evidence of the senses-is a “light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” It is a light that illuminates the darkness of the future-a darkness which no human eye can penetrate-revealing to the Christian events that would otherwise remain unknown. For this reason Inspiration declares to the Christian, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness [as to the future], that that .day [the day of Christ’s coming] should overtake you-as a thief. You are all children of the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
Neither the Old Testament nor the New is wanting in numerous prophecies, of still future import, or in prophecies that have beer} only partially, and are now being wholly, fulfilled. The second chapter of Daniel contains a wonderful prediction that reaches down to our day, and also into the future, revealing international events soon to take place, which are of the greatest import to man. Prophecy penetrates the present cloud hanging over Europe and the world, portraying in beautiful and inspiring vision the nature of the next universal empire that is to control the destiny of the human race. Past the din and smoke of strife and battle, and the ebb and flow of human misery and woe, prophecy descries a land of peace and everlasting joy, for which the weary sojourner is urged and encouraged to diligently prepare.
Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel
When Nebuchadnezzar first besieged Jerusalem, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, 607 BC, he carried to Babylon some of the vessels of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon. Also he took “certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes” with him to Babylon. These were carefully selected and taken that they might be taught the “learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans,” to fit them to “wait upon the king,” to be members of his council.
Among the young men were Daniel, Hananiah. Mishael, and Azariah, whom the king re-named, respectively, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. These were given three years special instruction, at the end of which time they were examined personally by the king, “and in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” “And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
Because of the excellence of the learning and ability of the youthful Daniel and his three companions, they were brought into immediate connection with the king “they stood before the king.”
The King’s Dream of Daniel Chapter 2
In the fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (the second of his sole reign) the king “dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.” These dreams much impressed him, but he could not recall them. Therefore, he “commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.” Nebuchadnezzar required these men to reveal to him the dream that he had forgotten. They replied by asking the king to tell them the dream, and they would interpret it for him. He had not demanded this, but now he required both the dream and the interpretation. His suspicions concerning the genuineness of their pretensions to reveal secret things had been aroused. He said to them: “Tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation thereof.” They admitted their inability by declaring, “There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter.”
Then, in order to clear themselves, they cast reflection upon the king by saying, “There is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.” Also they admitted the fraudulent nature of their own pretensions by stating that it was “a rare thing” that the king required, and that none could show it before the king “except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” Heretofore they had always claimed to have such relationship with the supernatural that it was their prerogative to discover the will of the gods, and communicate it both to the king and to the people.
When Nebuchadnezzar fully realized that he and his subjects and also their ancestors had been deceived by these men, he was “angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.” Among these were “counted Daniel and his companions, who, for some unstated reason, were not aware of all that had taken place. Nevertheless they were sought and apprehended by the captain who had been commanded to execute the king’s decree.
“Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he woul8 show the king the interpretation “This reasonable request was granted. Together with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Daniel went to his house, and desired “mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret.” “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision.”
A Great Image
After giving grateful thanks to God for having made known to them the “king’s matter,” Daniel went before the king and said, “The secret which the king has demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” Having thus directed the king’s attention to the true God, the source of all wisdom, Daniel continued:
“Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these: You, 0 king, saw, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. You saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron; the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the King. Daniel 2:31-36.
Babylon the Great
Nebuchadnezzar was a wise ruler and a mighty conqueror, and also one of the greatest builders of antiquity. To him Babylon owed her greatness and her fame. In Holy Writ the city is described as “the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellence,” “the golden city,” and the “lady of kingdoms.” Her great buildings, her wonderful hanging gardens, her massive walls, her brazen gates, made her the wonder of the world. Into her coffers flowed the wealth of all nations. She sat a queen in peerless grandeur with the whole Earth prostrate at her feet. Never before had• the world seen such a city, and never since has it seen her equal.
Such was Babylon when Daniel and his companions were held captives within her walls, with Nebuchadnezzar, bold, vigorous, and accomplished, seated upon her throne. Under him Babylon had attained to this proud position of pre-eminence, a position that he desired she should forever retain. The night on which he had his wonderful dream his thoughts were concerning her future, for, said the prophet, “As for thee, 0 king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and He that reveals secrets makes known to thee, what shall come to pass.”
The Lord desired to show the king that Babylon should continue only a little while; that other kingdoms would follow; and that the kingdom which would continue forever would be established by the Most High Himself. To accomplish this purpose God gave to Nebuchadnezzar the dream, which must be regarded as an act of divine favor toward the king. Yet God would not work for him independently of His own people; hence, though He gave the dream to the king, He permitted him to forget it, that the revelation and interpretation might come through Daniel, one of God’s own acknowledged servants. Also by this means no room was left for the king, nor any other person, to doubt the genuineness of the prophecy, for the ability to reveal the dream was full proof of ability to interpret it.
The king was an idolater. An image would at once command his attention and respect. Also earthly kingdoms, which were represented by this image; were objects of esteem and value in his eyes. ‘ How admirably adapted was this representation to convey a great and needful truth to the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, and to all mankind who should live after him?
The Interpretation-The Head of Gold
Having described to the king his dream, which he would, of course, immediately recognize, the prophet Daniel continued with the interpretation, as he had promised: “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. You, 0 king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And where so ever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls, of the heaven has He given into, 4hine hand, and has made thee ruler over them all. You art this head of gold.” Verses 36-38.
Well did this precious metal represent the kingdom over which Nebuchadnezzar ruled. It was “a golden, kingdom of a golden age.” But the king was not satisfied that the head only should represent his kingdom, and that it should be superseded by other kingdoms inferior to his. He determined that his kingdom should continue forever; and to establish his purpose he made a great image, about one hundred feet tall and ten feet broad, all of gold, and set it up in the plain of Dura, and commanded all the world to worship it. Daniel 3.
In this way Nebuchadnezzar challenged the prophecy, asserting that his plans for the ruler ship of the earth should be carried out instead of the Lord’s. Yet the Lord used even this to instruct, not only the king, but all nations forever after, “that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.” Finally the king was led to declare concerning Jehovah, “He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest You?” Thus should all men know that one word of prophecy is mightier than the martial pomp and power of earth’s most noted chieftains. The decree had, gone forth; Babylon was to be superseded, despite the hope and determination of its mighty ruler that it should continue forever. Said the prophet, “After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Daniel 2:39. Thus did prophecy sound the death-knell of Babylon.
The Breast and Arms of Silver
Within the comparatively brief period of less than half a century after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the empire and city of Babylon fell into the hands of the Medes and Persians. Wealth, with its accompanying luxuries, brought physical and mental decay and effeminacy, for which, in the strife of nations, massive embattlements and coats of mail cannot compensate. In the year 538 BC, the Persian King Cyrus took the city by strategy, and the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, was slain. Darius, the uncle of Cyrus and King of the Medes, with whom the Persians were allied, was placed upon the throne of Babylon, which he occupied until his death two years afterward. Darius was succeeded by his nephew Cyrus, who once again welded the greater part of the known world into one mighty empire, in exact accordance with the terms of the prophecy.
As silver is inferior to gold, so was the Medo-Persian Empire inferior in richness and grandeur to the Babylonian Empire. “But still it was exceedingly powerful, and its magnificence was indicated by the silver of which the breast and arms of the image were composed. For two centuries the rulers of this empire held lordly sway, over the civilized portions of the earth, exacting tribute and homage from the most distant tribes.
But the same causes produced the same effect in the Medo-Persian Empire as in the Babylonian. Wealth and luxury brought individual inefficiency and national weakness. When Alexander the, Great took the field at the head of his stalwart and abstemious Greek soldiers, the Persian armies were defeated in three great battles, their king was slain, and his empire passed into the hands of the Grecians, 331 BC, fulfilling the prediction: “Another third kingdom of brass shall bear rule over all the earth.”
The Thighs of Brass
As the metals of the image decreased in value, and increased in strength and durability, so with the nations they represented. They decreased in magnificence and splendor, and increased in strength and virility. The successors of Alexander ruled over more people and territory than had preceding emperors, and with a rigor and authority never before known. The Grecian era continued from the year 331 until about the first half of the second century before Christ, when another race of men began to make itself felt, which, in a comparatively few years, wrested the ruler ship of the world from the Greeks. This fourth empire was represented in the image by the interpretation of which is given as follows:
The Legs Of Iron
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas you saw the feet-and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly-strong, and partly broken. Verses 40-42.
The fourth succeeding world-empire was Rome. From about the beginning of the first century before Christ it became the dominant power, and for many centuries “Rome ruled the world with an iron hand. At the time of Christ’s birth, Caesar Augustus taxed the whole world, and Augustus was Roman Emperor. Imperious, irresistible, implacable, Rome broke in pieces and subdued every nation that would not own its sway. Says the historian Gibbon: “The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the, nations and their kings, were successively ,broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.” “Decline and Fall,” Chapter 38, Paragraph 43.
“The empire of the Romans filled the world. And when that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly.” – “Decline and Fall,” chapter 3, paragraph 37.
The Feet and Toes of Iron and Clay
It will be noticed that at first this fourth kingdom is described unqualifiedly as “strong as iron.” Until the middle of the fourth century of the Christian era Rome remained without a peer. But the iron tenacity which it possessed in a superlative degree during the first centuries of its career was not to continue. The iron of the feet and toes was mixed with miry clay. Luxury, that destroyer of nations as well as of individuals, began to corrode and weaken the iron sinews of the empire, and thus prepare the way for its subsequent disruption into ten kingdoms.
To the toes of the image, of which there were of course just ten, attention is called by their explicit mention in the prophecy: and the kingdom represented by that portion of the image to which the toes belonged was finally divided into ten parts. The era of this dissolution covered the latter half of the fourth century and the greater part of the fifth. During that period ten kingdoms arose within the boundaries of: Western Rome (that portion of the empire not included in any of the preceding empires), and the prophecy, spoken and written more than a thousand years before, was literally fulfilled.
Divided And Not To Be United
When Rome fell, the last universal empire belonging to this world in its present state forever passed away. Crushed beneath the weight of its own proportions, it gradually crumbled to pieces. The iron was mixed with miry clay. Its elements lost the power of cohesion, and the parts are not to be consolidated again. According to the prophecy, efforts will be made to do this, but they shall not succeed:
“And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Verse, 43.
For more than fourteen hundred years this divided condition has continued. During that time many revolutions and territorial changes have occurred in Europe, but ifs divided state still remains. Time and again men have dreamed of rearing on these dominions one mighty kingdom.
Of Charlemagne, the son of Pepin, the historian records, “From the first his object seems to have been to unite all German peoples in one great empire, and then to make that empire so strong that it would last forever.” So near succeeding did he come that on Christmas day in the year 800 AD he was crowned, emperor by Pope Leo III. “This act was regarded as the restoration of the Roman Empire, and Charlemagne was hailed as the successor of the Caesars.” – “Outlines of General History” (Colby), page 225. But his efforts were not lasting; after his death the tendency towards separation and, division was too; strong to be controlled, and Europe quickly reverted to its divided condition:
Charles of Spain and Louis of France
That which Charlemagne failed to accomplish by force of arms in the ninth century was almost accomplished for Charles V in the sixteenth century by diplomatic marriages.
“Charles V ruled over wider dominions than any European sovereign since Charlemagne. He belonged to the famous house of Hapsburg, from which he inherited Austria. It is said of Austria that, while other nations extended their power by conquest, it was her good fortune to gain territory by political marriages: This is well illustrated’ by the inheritances of Charles V. On his father’s side his grandmother was the heiress of Burgundy and the Netherlands, and his grandfather was the Emperor Maximilian, the mother of Charles V was the daughter, of Ferdinand and Isabella. Besides Austria, Charles possessed Spain, the kingdom of Naples, the Netherlands, and their dependencies, together with the vast regions newly discovered in America. All these lands he held by right of inheritance. To these Germany was added by his election to the imperial throne. “Outlines of General History,” page 341.
In the earlier part of his reign Charles was successful in hrs wars with France, Italy, and the Turks. But all his great plans finally failed. Thoroughly discouraged, he abdicated his throne, in 1556, and retired to a monastery. Says the historian, “It was too late for a universal monarchy, and any attempt to unite all Europe under the rule of one man was doomed to failure.” - Id., page 349.
In the latter part of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth, Louis XIV endeavored to establish an over lordship in Europe. But he too was unsuccessful. In his most important projects he failed, and even where he succeeded, the results did not pay for all that it had cost to accomplish them.
Napoleon’s Ambition
Early in the nineteenth century Napoleon Bonaparte rose to supreme power in France, and by his skill and genius raised his country to the position of mistress of nations in Europe. After the battle of Austerlitz (1805), all-Europe was at his feet, with the exception of England, which country alone was able to thwart his ambition. At first the people of Europe had looked upon Napoleon as a deliverer from the despotism of their sovereigns. They were soon undeceived, for they saw that he aimed, not at bringing to the world universal liberty, but at founding a universal monarchy.
“But,” records history, “there were certain elements of weakness in his empire.”-Id., page 495. This the prophecy also had noted two thousand years before, for it says, the iron of the feet and toes was mixed with clay. Just as Napoleon had almost succeeded in welding the portions of the iron monarchy together again, a few blunders paralyzed his army, and the empire fell apart, as incohesive as ever. The prophecy says, “They shall not cleave one to another.”
The Kaiser’s Day-Dream
Once again, in 1914, Europe witnessed a mighty effort to reunite its severed members. History continues to repeat itself. Under the guiding hand of Bismarck, the German States were united in 1870, and in 1871 King William of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of Germany. Since that time it has been the determination of the rulers of Germany to accomplish that which Charlemagne so nearly realized one thousand years before. For half a century the work of educating and drilling the Teuton for this great pan Germanic project has been diligently pursued. In 1914 .the opportunity came. Success seemed certain. The opposing nations were unprepared. The shout of victory was on the lips of the mighty hosts of the German army. Paris was almost within their reach. But the sure word of prophecy was against them: “They (the nations of Western Europe) shall not cleave one to another.” Neither can any power, nor combination of powers, succeed in uniting again that which prophecy says shall not be united.
The German military leaders made the same mistake that caused the downfall of Napoleon, of whom it is recorded, “He showed too little regard for the spirit of nationality in other States, and while he knocked kings and princes about at-will, he did not reckon with the people.” Id page 495.
Diplomatic Marriages
In order to accomplish by policy that which cannot be forced by war, the reigning houses of Europe, for, more than a thousand years, have persistently intermarried. Many of the rulers are bound together by the closest ties of kinship. King George, the Czar, and the Kaiser are first cousins. The Queen of Spain, the Queen of Romania, the Czarina, and the Emperor of Germany, are all grandchildren of the late Queen Victoria. Albert of Belgium is German by descent. The ruling houses of Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are all inter-related and also related with other ruling houses.
Arid yet despite this time-honored policy of inter marriage, the confederation of Europe was never more remote. All attempts to re-unite the divided Empire of Rome have proved abortive. The prophecy is true: “They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men but they shall not cleave one to another.” Daniel 2:43. How wonderfully does history emphasize the prophetic declarations of the Word of God. All this evidence goes to establish the reliability of the prophecy concerning the future.
Events Yet Future
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Verses 44, 45.
Now we have reached the climax of this wonderful prophecy. The next universal empire is to be established by God Himself. He alone can accomplish His designs by word of mouth, without the help of men’s hands. Of His power we read, “He spoke and it was.” Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and the Caesars established their empires by force of arms in physical combat.
Of the Lord it is declared, “Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations.” All that it will be necessary for Him to do will be to speak the word, “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.” “The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.”
The stone cut out of the mountain without hands, represents the next universal empire, over which the Lord will rule as King. This stone smites the image upon its feet, breaks it in pieces, and utterly destroys it; and the stone becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth.
A Glorious Kingdom
Finally the earth will be restored to its pristine condition, and will become the everlasting home of the redeemed. No more will man be required to earn his living by the sweat of his face, for the curse will be removed, and the wilderness and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose; and “instead of the thorn shall come up the fir free, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.”
Glimpses of the glory of that delightful land are given to the diligent student of the Scriptures. Its inhabitants “shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” All that heart can wish will be theirs, for the Lord has promised, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
In that land of delights there will be no infirmities of the flesh. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Sorrow, sickness, and death will be experiences of the past, for it is written, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither shall there be any more pain: -fox the former things are passed away.”
The Way
Many things indicate that the time is nigh at hand when the God of heaven will establish His kingdom as He has promised. The question arises, By what means can an entrance be obtained into that desirable country? Which is the way? Readers that country is open to all who will by faith accept the righteousness of Him who died for sinful man. To that delectable land there is “a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.” Christ is the way. With intense earnestness the God of heaven endeavors to distract man’s attention from this earth with its-disappointments, its sorrows its bereavements and lead him to make preparations for the world to come, of which it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered-into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.”
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” COME!
THE word millennium literally signifies a thousand years. As used in theology, it has come to have s specific meaning which is attached to a period of one thousand years brought to view in the Scriptures, and located at the close of the present dispensation. As a distinct period, the millennium is first and only mentioned in the Bible in the 20th chapter of Revelation. This period occupies a most interesting place in the history of God’s people. It covers the events connected with the transition from the present sinful, mortal state, to that of everlasting life and glorious righteousness. It is the great antitypical jubilee, when the down-trodden children of God go free. It is a period full of events having eternal significance both to the just and to the unjust. It has been the subject of much study, and is now more than ever worthy of careful thought.
The millennium of Revelation 20 opens with the revelation of the Son of God from heaven, the destruction of the living wicked, the resurrection of the just, and the change of the living righteous to immortal life. It is a period in which Christ will reign with the just of all ages who have suffered with Him. This period is bounded at each end with a resurrection. Christ declares that “all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. And Paul testifies “that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15. But in the Revelation we learn that these two resurrections are one thousand years apart, at the beginning and the close of the millennium.
We here transcribe the concise and yet definite account that Inspiration has given us of this most interesting period: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they that they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” Revelation 20:1-9.
It is from this account that we must learn the truth concerning the location of the millennial period and the nature of the events it contains. As before stated, the thousand years is marked at its commencement by “the first resurrection.” This is the resurrection of the “blessed and holy” (verse 6), the people of God. This resurrection takes place at Christ’s second coming. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4: 16. “Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
From this it will be clearly seen that Christ’s second coming will precede the millennium. Probation will have closed. The earth will be desolate and dark, fitly called the bottomless pit. See Jeremiah 4:23-28. Satan will be confined amid the scene of desolation and ruin wrought by his rebellion. His children will be silent in death. The saints of all ages will be safe forever from the snares of Satan, at home with the Father, with Christ, and the angels; and judgment will pronounced upon the ungodly, who are yet in their graves. Thus will pass the thousand years. At the close of the period will occur the second resurrection; the wicked will come forth unto condemnation and the second death. After this the earth will be renewed, and become the beautiful and everlasting abode of the saved. For a glorious description of that state, read Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. Such is the Scriptural outline of the thousand years; brief, and yet sufficiently plain so that we need not err in regard to its location or the character of its events.
Some have thought that the millennium has its place prior to the second coming of Christ; that in the beginning of the period, the gospel of Jesus Christ will obtain control of the minds and hearts of men; and that the whole world will be converted, and become holy by its influence; that wars will cease, and that this happy fate will continue one thousand years; and that during this time Christ will reign with his people, spiritually. But as we have seen and shall further notice, the testimony of the Scriptures is contrary to this view.
But from the very nature of the case, the conversion of the world is an impossibility. God is the same during all time. He deals, with men and nations impartially. Satan is the same, except that the experience of six thousand years has made him more artful in seducing men and women into sin. The fallen race is the same, only that each succeeding generation degenerates physically, mentally, and morally; hence sinners are more easily held by him in their rebellion against God and in their sins. This state of things will increase till the world becomes fully ripe for her final, doom.
This degeneracy is prefigured in the metallic image of the second chapter of Daniel. Here five universal kingdoms are the subject of prophecy. Four of these pertain to the mortal state, one to the immortal. The four earthly monarchies, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, are severally represented by gold, silver, brass, and, iron. We see in the symbol not only the depreciation of value, from gold to silver; to brass, and to iron, but also the last divided condition of earthly governments, just before the opening glories of the immortal kingdom, represented by iron mixed with miry clay.
A careful examination will show that the sacred Scriptures do not teach that at any period of time all men will be converted to God. Among the finally saved will not be found all of any one generation, or all of any one nation; but some of every age and every tongue will join in the song to the Lamb: “You were slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Revelation 5:9.
God’s plan to convert sinners, and to save all who would obey Him and believe in Jesus, has been in operation about six thousand years. A crucified and risen Savior has been preached with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven for more than eighteen centuries; yet the world has not been converted. And the prospects of its conversion to Bible holiness never looked so doubtful as at the present time. Let us notice some of the many direct proofs that no such state of things can exist prior to the second advent.
The way to destruction is broad, and many go in it; and the way to life is narrow, and but few find it. When one asked Jesus; “Are there few that be saved?” He answered, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, 1 say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Luke 13: 23, 24. Again it is recorded, “Enter you in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14. The doctrine of the world’s conversion, and that of universal salvation, are both directly opposed to this message. The one has the way to life narrow at first, growing wider, until all walk in it; while the other has the way to life always wide enough for the whole world but most reject it: Our Lord stated a great fact in this passage, which existed when spoken, ever had existed, and which would exist until the close of probation; that the way to destruction was broad, and many would, go in it; and at the way to life was narrow, and few would find it. Since we believe that Christ’s second coming will precede the millennium, and that the world will never be converted to the gospel, it is proper that we should notice those texts which are sometimes supposed to prove the conversion of the world and that there will be a peaceful triumph of the gospel for one thousand years before Christ comes to raise his people:
If these words of the prophet do not impress the mind of the reader with the idea of utter destruction, then language cannot express the thought. The stone has nothing in common with the image. The image, symbol of earthly governments, is first removed, and then the stone fills the whole earth; and by no reasonable effort of the imagination can these figures be made to indicate the evangelization of the race.
3. “A nation shall be born, in a day.” Here is another incorrect quotation. Isaiah 66:8 reads: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” This text has no allusion to the conversion of sinners; but it evidently refers to the resurrection of the just, when the nation of the saved shall be born, or brought from their graves, in a day or at once, at the sounding of the last trump.
4. “The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” Very true; but this will be brought about has already been noticed in connection with the stone smiting the image. The nature of this event is also indicated in the context of this declaration: “And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.” Revelation 11: 15, 18. Here again destruction, and not conversion, is the burden of the word of the Lord by the prophet.
5. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. Upon the authority of this text it is sometimes claimed that the gospel is not only to be preached to all nations, but that every individual is to hear it, believe it, obey it, and become holy by it. But the text does not say that every individual will even hear this gospel of the kingdom. It does not state that any one will be converted and made holy by it. And it is far from intimating, that the world will be converted, and remain sinless a thousand years.
6. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above-the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among; the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:2-4. See also” Micah 4:1-3. Let us notice this interesting text closely. The first declaration foretells the popularity, which the professed -church would enjoy in the last, jays. A mountain is a symbol of government. The, prediction that in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house should be established in the top of the mountains, means that in the last days ecclesiastical authority and interests should be blended with the administration of national affairs. The church of Christ has long been oppressed; but now we begin to see the fulfillment of this prophecy. Professed Christianity enjoys the favor of earth’s greatest nations.
Then follows what “many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, of the house of the God of Jacob,” etc. But we have more and very decisive testimony in regard to the state of the nations in the last days. The Lord speaks by his prophet thus: “Proclaim you this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up: Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.” Joel 3: 9, 10. Instead of ace among the nations, or that they will not lift up he sword against each other in the last days, “evil shall go forth from nation to nation,” and “the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land; no flesh shall have peace.” Jeremiah 12: 12; 25:32.
This subject may appear still, more clear and forcible arranging what many nations say, and what the Lord says, side by side, as follows:
MANY NATIONS SAY
And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go
forth the law, and word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:3, 4.
THE LORD SAYS
Proclaim you this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw
near. Let them come up. Beat our ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the
weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together
round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, 0 Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come
up to the valley of Jehoahaphat. For there will 1 sit to judge all the heathen round about. Joel 3:9-12.
To this agree the words of Paul: “The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them.” I Thessalonians 5:1-3. How strikingly is this saying of peace and safety fulfilled in the preaching of the temporal millennium, the conversion of the world, and the prophecy of peace among the nations; while Scripture and fads combine to show that the wicked are waxing worse and worse, and the nations are making far greater preparations for war than at any previous time.
7. The glory of the Lord shall fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea. “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Numbers 14:21. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory, of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5. This glorious state, however, is, not brought about by the conversion of all men. It is introduced by the destruction of sinful men, the restoration of the earth to its condition when it came from the hand of the Creator and the gift of immortality to the meek of all ages. For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord,” they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yes, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:9-11.
The Scriptures teach the annihilation of all sin by the fires of the great day; they do distinctly teach the renovation and restitution of all things. “For, behold, I create new heavens and anew Earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of singing shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” Isaiah 65:17-25. Thus said the great Restorer, “Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5. Both the prophet and the Revelator speak of the new heavens the new earth.
The apostle Peter so clearly identifies the three worlds, namely, the one before the flood, the one that now is, and new earth which is to come, as to entirely preclude a figurative view of the new earth. He says: “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that was then was, being overflowed with water, perished. That the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth, wherein dwells righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:5-7, 13.
No fact can be more plainly stated than that the world that perished by the flood is the same as that is reserved unto fire. Then will appear the new heavens and the new earth, according to the promise of God. And it is a remarkable fact that the promise referred to by the apostle is found only in Isaiah 65. Thus Peter links the three worlds together. Are the first two worlds literal? So is the third. Is the new earth, mentioned by Isaiah, figurative? So are all three worlds figurative. But if they are all literal, then we see a harmony in Scripture respecting them. Far be it from us to speak disparagingly of the work of the gospel or of the earning anxiety of many good people to see all men accept of it. We join most sincerely in that desire. We long for the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will be acknowledged Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We would to God that even in this imperfect state all men would yield obedience to God and seek for eternal life through faith in Christ. But from what we learn from God’s Word, and from what observation; teaches, there is no ground for such a hope. We look for the coming of Christ to end the-long night of sin; and we anticipate that the darkest hour will barely precede the dawn.
God has ever had at least a few faithful witnesses; and when these are all gathered together, there will be representatives of every generation of all nations, kingdoms, and tongues. These will constitute that innumerable company which John saw. What an imposing scene! “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9, 13, 14. None of these had gained their crowns in a time of universal holiness. Every one of them bore palms of victory gained by tribulation and conflicts with sin.
THERE is a general idea prevailing in the minds of a large number of individuals that there will be a second probation during what is termed the “millennial age,” the age in which right principles will triumph in the affairs of men, when the arts and the sciences will flourish in their perfection, when war shall be abolished, when peace and prosperity shall cover land and sea, and the world rejoice in the universal brotherhood of man.
By some it is held that at the beginning of this time the dead will be raised to life, and the wicked given a second probation; that the devil and his angels will be banished to some place where they cannot tempt individuals to sin, and that under these favorable conditions the saints then living, together with those who have been resurrected, will go forth to convert the world. It is held that this is the only course for Justice to pursue, in view of the fact that many in all ages must have perished who have never heard the gospel story or known of the way of salvation. Then those who finally reject salvation will be destroyed.
This theory, while it may appear pleasing to many, is, nevertheless, entirely out of harmony with the testimony of Scripture. The resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked are two distinct events, which will take place a thousand years apart, as set forth in the record left by the Apostle John as he viewed the saints in heaven immediately after the second coming of Christ: “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Revelation 20:5.
It is a mistaken conception of God’s provision for saving men that leads anyone to insist that there must be a second probation for sinners. God has made ample provision, even for the heathen. Righteousness is the same the world over, and in all ages, and the heathen in whose conscience is written the law of God will be saved if the voice of conscience is heeded in his life, even though he may never have heard the name of Jesus Christ. No one will be lost who would not have been lost had apparently greater opportunities been his for perfecting character. The righteous need no second probation, and if granted sinners, it would be wasted by them as was the first probation. The doctrine of a second probation for sinners is exceedingly pernicious, as its tendency is to quiet the fears of the ungodly and those who wish to enjoy the pleasures of sin in this life. If there is to be a second probation, why not live as one pleases now? The experience of the present will enable one at that time to mend his ways. He will “come out all right in the end! “ This is the logic of the doctrine as viewed by the worldly-minded. It is a false delusion.
Christianity is Christ-likeness. The Christian is not what he is because he is compelled to be, but because he chooses the right. He “loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” Hebrews 1:9. The theory of right-doing produced from a wicked nature is a denial of the Savior’s principle, “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Matthew 7:18. Such teaching utterly ignores the power of the gospel of our Lord and Savior. The gospel of Christ is able to give a man the victory over sin. It changes the corrupt passions of the heart. Noah was a righteous man even in the degenerate time in-which he lived. Lot also walked with God in the midst of Sodom. This will ever stand as a proof that the inhabitants of Sodom had the opportunity to be saved. Only when men have lost sight of the power of the gospel will they claim that in order to attain unto holiness it is necessary to remove temptation. Those who enjoy the bliss of the eternal ages will be those who have come up out of great tribulation, and perfected holiness in the midst of temptation.
A Delusive Hope
We are told by some teachers that in the millennial age opportunities will be “favorable” for holy living. That while the wicked will come to life with the same characters and tastes and desires, they will find a new power in control, which they will strive in vain to resist. Favorable opportunity, indeed!
While, doubtless, it is true that the wicked will come forth from the tomb with the same wicked desires which controlled them when living, picture this terrible scene if you are able. The long-lived giants who defiled the earth so dreadfully before the flood are all to live here again. Then the Sodomites, whose evil deeds have been a synonym for sin from their time till the present, are all to live again on the earth. The Amalekites, Canaanites, Jezebel, and all the prophets of Baal, with the entire heathen population who have lived since the fall of man; the crucifiers of Jesus, and all the persecutors of the church who have lived - since Calvary; all the murderers, harlots, and drunkards, and those monsters of cruelty whose inhuman deeds, perpetrated during the Dark Ages in the name of Christianity, would have made savages shudder, all these multiplied millions of rebels against the government of heaven are to live here during the millennial age, and to have the same “desires” as before. And this is to constitute the “favorable opportunity” for sinners to repent.
Then, again, what “new power” is this that is to be in control which the wicked host will “strive in vain to resist”? There is no power in the universe stronger than the power of the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16. What agency is there, then, which is more potent than this to save souls? To men now the Lord says, “Behold, I have given you power over all the power of the enemy.” Luke 10:19.
To souls now who are struggling to overcome the dark passions of sin, our Lord says: “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 1:24. Thank the Lord there is a power now before which the powers of sin must yield. The believer allies himself to a power which the hosts of darkness cannot overcome. We do not have to look forward to some “millennial age” for a power to overcome sin. That power is here. The Holy Spirit has come, and through this agency the Lord is able to save to the “uttermost,” and those who disregard its powerful entreaties in this life will have no opportunity to be saved in a future age.
The fact that all are not saved is no evidence that the gospel is not able to save all. It is an omnipotent power, but the Lord will not force salvation upon men; for righteousness in its very nature is of choice, and cannot be of compulsion. He has given to all the freedom of choice, without which there could be no such thing as development of moral character. To angels was given this power. Some of them chose to rebel, and fell from their first estate. Adam was left free to choose. Through all the ages God has been pleading with men to “choose life.” And there will never come a time when some power unto righteousness will seize hold of men, which they will “strive in vain to resist.” This is no part of the plan of God. He draws all, but compels none. The Spirit strives with all now, and those who resist it shut themselves away from life. They can yield and be saved, or resist and be lost.
The Broad Way
The Scriptures clearly teach that those who are finally saved will be only a few compared to the number who will be lost. “Enter you in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate and straitened the way, that leads unto life, and few are they that find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14, R.V. But this is just the opposite to the belief of a large number that during the “millennial age” every man will live again, and every human being will be brought to a knowledge of the truth, and will he restored to perfection-perfection such as Adam had before he sinned. But if all sinners are to be restored to the perfection of Adam before the fall, what more is necessary to salvation? This makes the road to eternal life wide instead of narrow.
Every man has an opportunity now to be saved. Jesus stands at the door of every human heart, knocking for admission. “Behold, now [not in a millennial age] is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2. “Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” Hebrews 3:7, 8. “Whosoever will [present tense], let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22: 17. All are bidden to come, and they can come now. Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32. Not a single soul is born into this world but feels the drawing influence of the Holy Spirit, and all will be saved who do not resist and reject that influence.
Ever since the fall of man God has been doing all He could to save the children of Adam. He has left nothing undone which can be done to rescue the deluded captives of Satan from the snares of sin. He gave His Son, and in this gift emptied heaven of every treasure, that the claims of the broken law might be met, and man be lifted by grace up to the place whence he fell. The Holy Spirit and angels are doing all that can be done to save man, while leaving him free to choose. But the Lord compels none to yield to Him.
With the utmost confidence the challenge is issued, “What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?” Isaiah 5: 4.
The grace of God which brings salvation has “appeared to all men.” Titus 2:11. In the bosom of every human being there is some knowledge of right and wrong,’ for Jesus “lights every man that comes into the world” (John 1: 4, 9), and if the man follows on, he will know the Lord. Light brings responsibility. “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now [after I have spoken] they have no cloak for their sin.” John 15:22. The rejection of light brings condemnation; and so in the judgment the Lord will judge men by the light they have had. “For as many as have sinned without [a knowledge of the written] law shall also perish without [a knowledge of the written] law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ according to My gospel.” Romans 2:12, 16.
In the things which God has made is seen a revelation of His power and Godhead, so that we are plainly told that the heathen are “without excuse.” Romans 1: 20. No millennial age, or second probation, is needed to give man an opportunity to be saved. Our God is a” present help,” and if we do not accept the “opportunity” now given us, we settle our destiny forever. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:31. Those who refuse the present opportunity would, in all probability, likewise reject a “second” chance.
It is not true that the Sodomites did not have a “full opportunity.” They had the light of the gospel. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” The Sodomites had a full opportunity.” Titus 2:11. “In Him [Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men.” “That was the true light, which lights every man that comes into the world.” John 1: 4, 9.
Not alone by His written Word does He do this, but by His creative works. See Psalm 19:1-7; Romans 1: 20. The Apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 19, and declares that all have heard. Romans 10:18. The whole difficulty lies in defining God’s gospel. The darkest heathen in heathendom, if he follows the light which he has, will be led to salvation by the crucified One. That soul may never have heard of the Bible, may never have heard spoken the name of Jesus, but if he is consecrated to his highest conception of God and duty, God will lead him home. It is not the amount of light and opportunity we have, but how we use it. “For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” 2 Chronicles 16: 9.
The people of Sodom had light. When vengeance because of their iniquities was slumbering over the doomed city, the Lord stayed His wrath against sin until He sent them one more gospel call, one more call to repent and be saved, a special warning of the coming destruction. Missionary work is to be done now, and not in some future age. Angels visited Sodom and warned Lot, and bade him warn others. And had there been only ten persons in the city who were not inseparably wedded to sin, the Lord would have spared the entire city. It will be “more tolerable” for Sodom than for Capernaum in the day of judgment, because Capernaum sinned against greater light. Increased light always brings increased responsibility, and, if rejected, increased condemnation. It is a terrible thing to turn away from light. Let none do so, hoping for another opportunity to embrace it in a millennial age, for there will be no such opportunity then.
The Bible Disproves Future Probation.
We believe that no falsehood concerning the great plan of the ages is better suited to deceive souls than the doctrine of a second probation. Once unregenerate men are persuaded that they will have a more “favorable opportunity” in the millennial age to repent and turn away from sin, they will procrastinate the day of repentance, and continue in transgression. “If it is to be more favorable later,” they say, “it is reasonable that we wait.”
The Bible has very definitely settled the question of a future probation. It states in no ambiguous manner what will be the end of those who obey not the gospel. The feet of David once well-nigh slipped when he saw the temporal prosperity of sinners, but when he went into the sanctuary of God, he received light concerning their end, and saw how foolish he had been. A correct understanding of the sanctuary question is of vital importance in this connection. It is the hub around which every fundamental truth of God’s Word revolves. It is not to be wondered at that without the light which shines from the heavenly sanctuary men lose their reckoning and drift away from the land-marks of truth.
The services connected with the earthly sanctuary were typical of the services performed in the heavenly sanctuary, and throw a clear stream of light upon the question we are studying; and those who, like David, go into the sanctuary will have light concerning the end of sinners, and will fully understand that there is no second probation for those who refuse to repent in this life. From the typical services connected with the earthly sanctuary we are clearly instructed that the work of Christ as our great high priest closes in the sanctuary above before He comes the second time, and consequently there can be no salvation for any beyond this time.
When Moses was directed to build the sanctuary, he was instructed to make it “according to all that I show thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furniture thereof, even so shall you make it.” Exodus 25: 9, R.V. See also verse 40. And not only was the sanctuary itself a pattern of things in the heavens, but the work of the priesthood was a type of the priesthood of Christ. The priests served as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” Hebrews8:1-5.
The sanctuary consisted of two apartments, a holy and a most holy place. “The priests went always into the first tabernacle [or apartment], accomplishing the service of God.” Hebrews 9: 6. Daily throughout the whole year the services went forward in this apartment.
The sinner having brought his offering and confessed over it his transgressions, it was slain, and the blood was taken by the high priest into the first apartment, thus in figure transferring his sins into the sanctuary.
“But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.” Hebrews 9: 7. It was necessary that the earthly sanctuary be cleansed, not from physical impurity, but from sin (verse 23), so once in the end of the year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, occurred the great Day of Atonement. Read Leviticus 16.
On this day two goats were taken, upon which lots were cast, one for the Lord, and the other for Azazel, or Satan. The one upon whom the Lord’s lot fell having been slain, the blood was solemnly borne by the high priest into the most holy place of the sanctuary, and sprinkled before the mercy-seat, which covered the holy law of God. “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. . . And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”
This completed the round of service, and the sanctuary was clean. This was the typical atonement (Leviticus 16:33), the atonement, the reconciliation of the sinner to God. And let it be carefully noted that only those whose sins had been confessed and transferred from themselves into the sanctuary were atoned for. And what was done with those who did not avail themselves of the provisions offered throughout the year? Did they have another chance, a• second probation under more “favorable opportunity”? No, indeed.
“For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” Leviticus 23:29. So far as that round of service was concerned, his probation was ended, and his destiny fixed. All had a chance,-one chance,-and if they did not accept it, they were “cut off.” The cleansing of the sanctuary, at the end of the annual round of service, was a work of judgment.
The Work of Our High Priest
All this serves unto the “example and shadow” of the work of Christ, our high priest. In heaven is “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Through the merits of Christ’s blood the sins of all who confess and forsake them, are transferred into the heavenly sanctuary. This, too, must be “cleansed,” not from physical uncleanness, but from the record of sin, carried into the sanctuary through confession and faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Hebrews 9:23. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, according to the earthly type, is a work of judgment, the closing ministry of our High Priest. The great prophetic period of Daniel 8:14 was to mark the opening of this work. The beginning of this twenty-three hundred-year period (a prophetic day standing for a year) is shown from Daniel 9:25 and Ezra 7: 8, to date from the year 457 BC.
Twenty-three hundred years from that date, or in 1844, this solemn work began in the heavenly sanctuary. “Once [not twice] in the end of the world has He [Christ] appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Since 1844, the work of the investigative judgment has been going on, and the final round of services in the heavenly sanctuary has been carried forward. In the vision of Daniel 7:9-10 the prophet describes the heavenly court in session, the opening of the books of record, while still events are taking place on earth, just before the end. When Christ’s ministry there is ended, probation for the world is ended also only the sins which have been confessed, and through the merits of Jesus been taken into the heavenly sanctuary, can be atoned for. As in the type, those who have not afflicted their souls and confessed their sins will be cut off.
The cleansing of the sanctuary, the investigative judgment is the last work in the sanctuary, and when this is ended, Christ will lay down the censer forever, and come as King to gather home the fruit of His labor, and destroy out of His kingdom the tares of sin. Before He comes, the decree of Revelation 22:11, 12 goes forth: “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is.” This fiat goes forth before the Lord comes to reward His servants, and shows conclusively that His ministration as high priest is finished, and the eternal destiny of every man is irrevocably fixed.
At that time the investigation in the heavenly sanctuary is finished, and the atonement for sin has been made. “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.” Isaiah 59:16. There comes a time when there will be no intercessor in the heavenly sanctuary, and at that time there will be no probation for the lost. We read of a time when men will “go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.” Hosea 5:6. Then there will be “a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8: 11, 12. Why not tell these of a second probation? Ah, probation is closed, and the day of salvation is passed! Such theology has no place in it for a fulfillment of these scriptures.
There is a line to be drawn soon in this age when the destiny of sinners is fixed. There is nothing in the plan of salvation as revealed in the sanctuary which makes provision for the unnumbered millions of the earth who have passed into the tomb as rejecters of every overture of mercy, to have another chance to determine whether or not they desire to be saved. Let none make the fatal mistake of putting off salvation, expecting under the “favorable opportunities” of a future age to perfect a Christian character. Behold, now is the accepted time, and this is the day of salvation. Jesus still is man’s intercessor, and all may come now to the throne of grace and find help in time of need.
The Parable of the Shut Door
The doctrine of a second probation appeals to the unregenerate heart. It makes entirely unnecessary any present repentance or any missionary operations in home or foreign fields. According to that teaching, the great missionary campaign of all time is to occur in the “succeeding age,” when the church, the “royal priesthood,” will bring all to an “accurate knowledge of the truth.”
In Matthew 24 the signs which are to precede the coming of the Lord, and herald the end of the world, are given by our Savior in response to the question of the disciples, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In chapter 25 is given the experience of the church near the end of time, the period immediately preceding the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. The professed church is here represented by ten virgins, five of whom were wise and five foolish. “And while they [the foolish virgins] went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.” Verse 10.This is the time spoken of in Revelation 19:7: “For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.” Here Christ is represented as taking to Himself a bride. The church is not the bride 21:9, 10), but the invited guests present at the marriage supper. Revelation 19:7-9.
His going in before the Father to receive the bride, is thus described by the prophet: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13, 14. The “coming” here spoken of is not the coming of Jesus to this earth to receive His people, but His coming “to the Ancient of days,” the Father, to receive from Him the kingdom, of this world. That this is before His second coming is very clearly stated. “He said therefore, A certain nobleman [Christ] went into a far country [heaven] to receive for Himself a kingdom, and to return.”
This is very clear; but note that at this time, before He comes, the door of mercy is shut. Matthew 25:10. Probation for man is ended, and some are shut out, and lost. “When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are.” Luke 13:25. Here is a time when the door of mercy will be shut, and the reply to those on the outside from the One who has shut the door, holds out no hope of “a second probation.” “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” Verse 28.
But why should they weep and gnash their teeth if they are to have another chance to enter in? It is clear that they have no such chance, and fully understand that they are “thrust out” forever. We nowhere read that the “door” which is once “shut” is ever to be opened, and another “chance” offered to all the lost. It logically follows that if the Lord should do this for sinners, He would needs do the same for the devil and all the fallen angels. Why not give them another chance as well as man?
The great lines of prophecy in. the book of Daniel throw much light upon this question. In the second chapter, under the symbol of a great metallic image, the history of the world from the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar till the final destruction of all the kingdoms of this world is given. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome were to bear sway successively as universal monarchies. The fourth kingdom, Rome, symbolized by the legs of iron, was to lose its iron stability and become divided, as indicated by the mixture of iron and clay. Between the years AD 356 and 483 the, Roman Empire was divided into ten kingdoms; namely, the Alemanni, Franks, Vandals, Burgundians, Visigoths, Lombards, Ostrogoths, Suevi, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons. The territory of these ten kingdoms is today occupied by the nations of the Old World. The Lord further declares, “And in the days of these [ten] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shah stand forever.” Daniel 2:44.
This is not a description of the work of the gospel and the conversion of the world. Earthly kingdoms are to be broken in pieces and consumed. They are to be utterly wiped out of existence, and the fifth universal kingdom, symbolized by the stone which is cut out without hands, is to be eternally established in the territory now occupied by earthly kingdoms, when the earth is made new. “You saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer thrashing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Verses 34, 35.
This stone represents the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, which is to be established in the earth. When Jesus comes the second time with power and great glory, the wicked nations of earth will wail and lament because of Him. Matthew 24:30. They are not converted, but areas the worthless chaff blown from the thrashing-floor after the wheat has all been gathered out for the garner. They are not to have another probation in a glorious millennial age. Oh, no; they are carried away, and “no place” is found for them in the entire universe. Nothing, it would seem could be more conclusive on this point. See also Psalm 37:9, 10.
This destruction of sinful nations is described also in the Psalms: “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.” Psalm 2:8. Here the heathen, or nations, who, we are told, have not had “a full opportunity,” are mentioned. Are they to have another probation in an age to come? Listen: “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Verse 9. This language is so clear that comment would but weaken its force. Having forgotten the Lord, they must needs perish. The wicked nations of the world are only chaff in the Lord’s sight, and instead of having a second probation, will be “turned back unto Sheol.” Psalm 9: 1.7, R.V.
In Daniel 7 the testimony upon this point is equally clear. Here the same four universal kingdoms are brought to view. Also the ten kingdoms, symbolized by the ten horns on the head of the “dreadful and terrible” fourth beast. The rise of the little horn, or papal power, is then brought to view, and the wicked and blasphemous work which it was to perform during the long dreary years of the papal millennium, is clearly outlined. “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25. This brings us down the stream of time to the beginning of that period known as “the time of the end,” which began AD 1798, or near the time when the kingdom of Christ is to be setup.
But what is done with this power symbolized by the “little horn”? Is it to be converted? No. Is a “second probation” in the “age to come” promised? No. “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” Daniel 7:11, last part. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Verse 26.
This same beast power is brought to view in Revelation. When Jesus comes crowned “King of kings and Lord of lords,” this anti-Christian power and all the armies of the earth are “gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” Revelation 19:19. And what is the conclusion of this terrible contest? Are they given another “opportunity” in the millennial age, under more “favorable” circumstances, to accept of the King against whom they are now making war? Indeed, they are not. “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Verse 20. There is no hint in all this of a second probation. It is utter destruction from the presence of God. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. Instead of a “second probation” they go alive into the lake of fire. They are destroyed in the “burning flame.”
A Conclusive Example
Through all the ages the Lord has had His witnesses. The fact that some from every kindred, tongue, and people have chosen to know God and be saved in the kingdom (Revelation 7:9) is conclusive evidence that all might have chosen life and been saved. The fact that they chose not to know God is no argument that they must be given another opportunity to see if they will change their minds. Notice what is said concerning the antediluvians: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7. Noah chose to follow God. All the antediluvians could have done the same. The Lord here says that the antediluvians are condemned because they did not repent. They made their choice, and, having decided they would not have Christ rule over them, the condemnation of God rests upon them. Are these sinful giants all to have another chance in which most of them are to repent and have their condemnation changed into approbation? God has never so stated. Having gone down into the tomb under condemnation because they rejected light, they must remain under it forever. “In the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.” Ecclesiastes 11:3.
The Bible Teaching Concerning the Millennium
No discussion of the doctrine of a future probation would be complete without a consideration of Revelation 20:5, which reads as follows: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” This scripture stands in connection with the record of the binding of Satan during the thousand years, the millennium, and seems to have been written expressly to guard against the heresy of a future probation. It completely overthrows the whole system of theology concerning the so-called “second chance” in the millennial age.
Two resurrections are here brought to view, as a first implies a second. The period which intervenes between these two resurrections is clearly stated to be a thousand years. Some live, but the “rest” remain in the embrace of death “until the thousand years are finished.”
Those who live in the first resurrection are the righteous. “Blessed and holy is lie that has part in the first resurrection.” Revelation 20:6. And this resurrection of the over comers takes place at the second coming of Christ, when He appears attended by all the angels in heaven, to reap the harvest of the earth and gather into His garner the sheaves separated forever from the tares of sin. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
As the “dead in Christ,” the righteous, all live in the “first resurrection,” which takes place when Jesus comes, the “rest of the dead” can refer only to the wicked. This is the only millennial period marked off in the Bible, and is the very period referred to by those who are looking for ward to that “golden age” in which the lost will have a “second probation,” or “another chance,” under more “favorable circumstances;” when the heathen will hear the gospel, and be converted. But we are told in this scripture in very plain language that the heathen, the Sodomites, Amalekites, and others who are especially mentioned as having a “second chance,” are all dead.
Resurrection and Translation of the Righteous
During this entire millennial period, in this so-called “golden age,” instead of being alive and listening to the gospel, they are sleeping in the tomb. The one thousand years is bounded at either end by a resurrection, making mistake impossible as to when it begins or ends. It is ushered in by the resurrection of the righteous, and closes with a resurrection of the wicked, who “live not” until this millennial period has passed. How, then, are these unnumbered millions of the incorrigible to hear the gospel? Can these corpses believe and repent? If the work of the church is to proclaim the gospel to the lost during the one thousand years, it will be a gloomy task indeed. As well go out now into the cemetery and conduct evangelistic services, and expect converts.
And this is the “second chance” to which the rebels against the government of heaven are bidden to look forward. Surely it is a vain hope. So long as this text stands in God’s Word, there cannot be the faintest hope held out to sinners of a “golden age,” in which all will have “another opportunity” to forsake their ungodly ways, and serve the Lord.
The advocates of this false theory see this (nobody, it would seem, could help seeing it). Something must be done to save their entire system of faith from being wrecked by this plain statement of the Word. In some way the troublesome scripture must be disposed of.
It is claimed that the words, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20: 5), are spurious, and that they are not found in the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts, the Sinaitic, Vatican Nos. 1209 and 1160, nor the Syriac manuscript; but probably crept into the text by accident in the fifth century. That it was probably at first merely a marginal comment made by a reader, expressive of his thought upon the text, and copied into the body of the text by some subsequent transcriber who failed to distinguish between the text and the comment. The tendency of all such statements is to cast suspicion upon the Word, and weaken faith in the Bible as an unerring guide.
It is necessary for them to impeach this witness, else the role of a future probation is revealed. But there is no authority for discrediting the inspiration of the text. The English edition of the Revised Version makes no reference, to this text as being “not found” in ancient Greek manuscripts. The American Revised Version, which is admitted by many eminent scholars to be the best translation of the Holy Scriptures extant, does not give the slightest hint that a part of the text is omitted in the “most reliable Greek manuscript.” Rotherham’s translation, another excellent work, though noting elsewhere “doubtful” renderings, says nothing about this text’s being spurious. The Interlinear translation also puts this text on the same basis as other portions of the Holy Scriptures. It is found in Young’s translation also, without any hint of its being some “marginal comment.” Sawyer’s translation contains it, also the Twentieth Century New Testament. In the translation from the Greek text of Von Tischendorf it is found unquestioned. The Emphatic Diaglott based on Griesbach’s text gives this verse, and in a foot-note says: “These words (the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished) were probably omitted by oversight in Vatican manuscript [No. 1160] as they are found in A. B. C., though not in the Syriac.” By “A” is meant Codex Alexasadrinus; by “B,” Codex Vaticanus, No. 2066, of the seventh or eighth century; by “C,” Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. Finally, the best Greek text, that of Westcott and Hort, contains the passage, and neither have the Revised Versions nor any of the critics, so far as we know, even questioned it. The revisers adopted for their revision the text “for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating,” and when that differed from the Greek text “from which the Authorized Version was made,” the rule was that “the alteration be expressed in the margin.” (See Preface to Revised New Testament, Division II, Paragraph 4.) But there is not even an indication of doubt over Revelation 20: 5.
Neither Drs. Adam Clark nor Bliss, in their comments on this scripture, offer any objection to its genuineness. They had access to these Greek manuscripts, and had some opportunity to know if these words were only a “marginal comment” which got mixed in accidentally. All these, and scores of other good scholars, who have had opportunity for the most extended research, pronounce the text genuine. The clause in question is considered spurious only by those who have a doctrine to prove which the text condemns.
Satan is bound by circumstances in the earth, made desolate at the coming of Christ. At that time the saints are all taken to heaven, and the wicked are slain. Then, confined in the earth, compelled to wander amid the ruin which his own hands have wrought, with none to tempt or annoy, he will indeed be “bound.” At the end of this millennium of darkness and chaos, he is loosed through a reversal of the events which bound him. The city of God, with all the saints, descends from heaven on the earth (Revelation 20:13; Zechariah 14:4, 5), and the wicked dead are raised. Satan again has access to his children, and begins his work of deception. He marshals his legions into battle array, and surrounds the camp of the saints. This is the first and only time the entire family of Adam stand on the earth together. Then the wicked will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the saved in the kingdom of heaven, and they themselves cast out.
But does the church, the “royal priesthood,” begin the work of preaching to them the gospel? Does a power which they “will strive in vain to resist” seize hold of them? Is a “second chance” held out to them? Not by any means. “And they [the wicked] went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Revelation 20: 9. Instead of the “second chance,” it is “the second death.” Verse 14. They are consumed, root and branch. Malachi 4: 1. Sin and sinner are no more. The entire universe is clean, and the great controversy is forever ended.
“Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will, have mercy upon him: and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55: 7.