"He has not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to
appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast."
We find three additional declarations in the book of Revelation which
prove, in a general sense, that the two-horned beast performs his work
with that generation of men who are to behold the closing up of all
earthly scenes, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and
these will complete the argument on this point.
The first is the message of the third angel, brought to view in the
14th of Revelation. It is not our purpose to enter into an exposition of
the three messages of that chapter. We call the attention of the reader
to only one fact, which must be apparent to all; and that is, that the
third of these messages is the last warning of danger, and the last
offer of mercy, before the close of human probation; for the event which
immediately follows is the appearance of one like the Son of man on a
white cloud, coming to reap the harvest of the earth, verse 14, which
can represent nothing else but the second advent of the Lord from
Heaven. Whatever views, therefore, a person may take of the first and
second messages, and at whatever time he may apply them, it is very
certain that the third and last one covers the closing hours of time,
and reaches down to the second coming of Christ. And what is the burden
of this message? It is a denunciation of the unmingled wrath of God
against these who worship the beast and his image. But this worship of
the beast and his image is the very work which the two-horned beast
endeavors to enforce upon the people. The third message, then, is a
warning against the work of the two-horned beast. And as there would be
no propriety in supposing this warning to be given after that work was
performed; as it could appropriately be given only when the two-horned
beast was about to enforce, and while he was endeavoring to enforce,
that worship; and as the second coming of Christ immediately succeeds
the proclamation of this message, it follows that the duties enjoined by
this message, and the decrees enforced by the two-horned beast,
constitute the last test to be brought to bear upon the world; and hence
the two-homed beast performs his work, not ages in the past, but among
the last generation of men.
The second passage, which shows that the work of the two-horned beast is
performed just before the close of time, is found in Rev. 15:2, which we
have shown to refer to the same company spoken of in chapter 14:1-5.
Here is a company who have gotten the victory over the beast and his
image and the mark and the number of his name; in other words, they have
been in direct conflict with the two-horned beast, which endeavors to
enforce the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark. And
these are "redeemed from among men" (14:4), or are translated from among
the living at the second coming of Christ. 1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess.
4:16,17. This again shows conclusively that it is the last generation
which witnesses the work of this power.
The third passage is Rev. 19:20, which speaks of the two-horned beast
under the title of the false prophet, and mentions a point not given in
Rev. 13, namely, the doom he is to meet. In the battle of the great day,
which takes place in connection with the second coming of Christ, verses
11-19, the false prophet, or two-horned beast, is cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone; and the word "alive" signifies that
this power will be at that time a living power performing its part in
all its strength and vigor. This power is not to pass off the stage of
action, and be succeeded by another; but is to be a ruling power till
destroyed by the King of kings and Lord of lords, when he comes to dash
the nations in pieces with a rod of iron.
The sum of the argument, then, on this matter of chronology, is this:
That the two-horned beast does not come into the field of this vision
previous to the year 1798; that it performs its work while the last
generation of men is living on the earth; and that it comes up to the
battle of the great day a living power in the full vigor of its
strength.
As it was shown in the argument on the location of the two-horned beast
that we were limited in our application to this western continent, so we
are limited still further by its chronology; for it must not only be
some power which arises this side of the Atlantic, but one which is seen
coming up here at a _particular time_. Taking our stand, then, in the
year 1798, the time indicated in the prophecy, we invite the careful
attention of the reader to this question: What independent power in
either North or South America was at that time "coming up" in a manner
to answer to the conditions of the prophecy? All that part of North
America lying to the north of us was under the dominion of Russia and
Great Britain. Mexico, to the south-west, was a Spanish colony. Passing
to South America, Brazil belonged to Portugal, and most of the other
South American States were under Spanish control. In short, there was
not then a single civilized, independent government in the New World,
except our own United States. No other nation, therefore, can be the one
represented in the prophecy; but this one so far answers to it most
accurately. It has always taken the lead of all European settlements in
this hemisphere. It was "coming up" at the exact time indicated in the
prophecy. Like a lofty monument in a field all its own, stand the United
States on this continent, grand, unique, unexplainable. So far as God's
providence works among the nations for the accomplishment of his
purposes, it is visible in the development of this country as an agent
to fulfill his word. On these two vital points of location and
chronology the arguments which show that our country is the one
represented by the symbol of the two-horned beast are absolutely
conclusive.
Chapter Five.
The United States Have Arisen In The Exact Manner In Which John Saw The
Two-horned Beast Coming Up.
The manner in which the two-horned beast was seen coming up shows,
equally with its location and its chronology, that it is a symbol of
these United States. John says he saw the beast coming up "out of the
earth." And this expression must have been designedly used to point out
the contrast between the rise of this beast, and that of other national
prophetic symbols. The four beasts of Daniel 7, and the leopard beast of
Rev. 13, all arose out of the sea. Says Daniel, The four winds of Heaven
strove upon the great sea, and four beasts came up from the sea. The sea
denotes peoples, nations, and tongues, Rev. 17:15; and the winds denote
political strife and commotion. Jer. 35:32, 33. There was then, in this
scene, the dire commotion of nature's mightiest elements, the wind
above, the waters benneath, the fury of the gale, the roaring and
dashing of the waves, and the tumult of the raging storm; and in the
midst of this war of elements, as if aroused from the depths of the sea
by the fearful commotion, these beasts one after another appeared. In
other words, the governments of which these beasts were symbols owed
their origin to movements among the people which would be well
represented by the sea lashed into foam by the sweeping gale; they arose
by the upheavals of revolution, and through the strife of war.
But when the prophet beholds the rising of the two-horned beast, how
different the scene! No political tempest sweeps the horizon, no armies
clash together like the waves of the sea. He does not behold the
troubled and restless surface of the waters, but a calm and immovable
expanse of earth. And out of this earth, like a plant growing up in a
quiet and sheltered spot, he sees this beast, bearing on his head the
horns of a lamb, those eloquent symbols of youth and innocence, daily
augmenting in bodily proportions, and daily increasing in physical
strength.
Some may here point to the war of the Revolution as an event which
destroys the force of this application; but this furnishes no objection;
for 1. That war was at least fifteen years in the past when the
two-horned beast was introduced into the field of this vision; and 2.
The war of the Revolution was not a war of conquest. It was not waged to
overthrow any other kingdom, and build this government on its ruins, but
only to defend the just rights of the American people. An act of
resistance against continual attempts of injustice and tyranny, cannot
certainly be placed in the same catalogue with wars of aggression and
conquest. The same may be said of the war of 1812. Hence, these
conflicts do not even partake of the nature of objections to the
application here set forth.
The word which John uses to describe the manner in which this beast
comes up is very expressive. It is [Greek: anabainon] (_anabainon_), one
of the prominent definitions of which is, "to grow or spring up as a
plant." And it is a remarkable fact that this very figure has been
chosen by political writers, as the one which best illustrates the rise
of our government. Mr. G.A. Townsend, in his work entitled, "The New
World Compared with the Old," p. 462, says:--
"Since America was discovered, she has been a subject of
revolutionary thought in Europe. The mystery of _her coming forth
from vacancy_, the marvel of her wealth in gold and silver, the
spectacle of her captives led through European capitals, filled the
minds of men with unrest: and unrest is the first stage of
revolution."