the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Acts 2:38.
Thus it is seen that instruction in the gospel, belief in Christ, and
repentance are conditions to precede baptism.
Baptism for Believers
The experience of which baptism is the sign is thus stated:
"We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life." Rom. 6:4.
"As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
Gal. 3:27.
"Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead."
Col. 2:12.
In this ordinance, commanded of God, the believer is following the
example of Christ, who, when baptized by John in Jordan, said, "Thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
"Thus through the emblematic grave
The glorious suffering Saviour trod;
Thou art our Pattern, through the wave
We follow Thee, blest Son of God."
The Form of Baptism
The Scriptural form of baptism is shown in these texts:
"Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water."
Matt. 3:16.
"They went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he
baptized him." Acts 8:38.
"Buried with Him by baptism.... For if we have been planted together in
the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection." Rom. 6:4, 5.
While the outward form of a religious service, without the spirit and
the experience which the form professes, must ever be unacceptable to
God, yet when the Lord prescribes a form, it is imperative that His
instruction should be followed. The form of the ordinance as commanded
by God emphasizes the divine meaning of the service.
Scriptural baptism is a burial "in the likeness" of Christ's burial, as
the lifting up of the believer from the watery grave is a likeness of
the resurrection of Christ. Of the meaning of the word "baptism," Luther
wrote:
"Baptism is a Greek word; in Latin it can be translated
immersion, as when we plunge something into water that it may
be completely covered with water."--_Opera Lutheri, De Sac.
Bap. 1, p. 319 (Baptist Encyclopedia, art. "Baptism")._
Calvin, after arguing that the form is an indifferent matter, says:
"The very word 'baptize,' however, signifies to immerse; and it
is certain that immersion was observed by the ancient
church."--_"Institutes," lib. 4, cap. 15 (Baptist Encyclopedia,
art. "Baptism")._
Of the practice in primitive times, Neander, the church historian, says:
"In respect to the manner of baptizing, in conformity with the
original institution and the original import of the symbol, it
was generally administered by immersion."--_"History of the
Christian Church," Torrey's translation (London edition), Vol.
I, p. 429._
The perversion of the ordinance into sprinkling, and that in infancy,
takes away the divinely ordained object-lesson; and in the case of the
infant must of necessity substitute mere ceremonialism for experience,
for the child of unaccountable years can have had no experience of
believing and repenting, which are the necessary conditions to fulfil
the meaning of baptism. The change in the ordinance, like most of the
changes that came about in the days of the "falling away" from the
primitive faith and practice, was by gradual process.
Dean Stanley, in his "Christian Institutions," page 24, says that it is
not till the third century that "we find one case of the baptism of
infants." Of the change from immersion to sprinkling, he says:
"What is the justification of this almost universal departure
from the primitive usage? There may have been many reasons,
some bad, some good. One, no doubt, was the superstitious
feeling already mentioned which regarded baptism as a charm,
indispensable to salvation, and which insisted on imparting it
to every human being who could be touched with water, however
unconscious."
The common practice as late as the twelfth century is thus described by
a Roman Catholic cardinal of that time, named Pullus:
"Whilst the candidate for baptism in water is immersed, the
death of Christ is suggested; whilst immersed and covered with
water, the burial of Christ is shown forth; whilst he is raised
from the waters, the resurrection of Christ is
proclaimed."--_Patrol. Lat., Vol. CXXX, p. 315 (Baptist
Encyclopedia, art. "Baptism")._
Dean Stanley, of Westminster, one of the first scholars of the Church of
England, wrote:
"For the first thirteen centuries the almost universal practice
of baptism was that of which we read in the New Testament, and
which is the very meaning of the word 'baptize,'--that those
who were baptized were plunged, submerged, immersed into the
water. That practice is still, as we have seen, continued in
Eastern churches. In the Western church it still lingers among
Roman Catholics in the solitary instance of the Cathedral of
Milan; among Protestants in the numerous sects of the Baptists.
It lasted long into the Middle Ages.... But since the beginning
of the seventeenth century, the practice has become exceedingly
rare. With the few exceptions just mentioned, the whole of the
Western churches have now substituted for the ancient bath the
ceremony of letting fall a few drops of water on the face. The
reason of the change is obvious. The practice of immersion,
though peculiarly suitable to the Southern and Eastern
countries for which it was designed, was not found seasonable
in the countries of the North and West. Not by any decree of
council or parliament, but by the general sentiment of
Christian liberty, this remarkable change was effected.
Beginning in the thirteenth century, it has gradually driven
the ancient catholic usage out of the whole of
Europe."--_"Christian Institutions," pp. 21, 22._
The facts are undeniable, and emphasize the importance of reformation
and return in practice to the plain instructions of the Word of God. As
the record shows, it was not the spirit of the New Testament church that
made this change in the divine ordinance; rather it is the spirit of the
church of the "falling away," against which the Lord warns all
believers, "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
The Path He Trod
Our Saviour bowed beneath the wave,
And meekly sought a watery grave;
Come, see the sacred path He trod--
A path well pleasing to our God.
His voice we hear, His footsteps trace.
And hither come to seek His face,
To do His will, to feel His love,
And join our songs with those above.
--_Adoniram Judson._
[Illustration: SYMBOLS OF MEDO-PERSIA AND GRECIA
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and
Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia." Dan. 8:20, 21.]
[Illustration: COINS OF THE MEDO-PERSIAN AND GRECIAN EMPIRES
The ram, symbol of Persia; and the goat, symbol of Grecia.]
THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL 8
A HISTORIC OUTLINE AND A VITAL QUESTION
Another view of the history of empires and kingdoms was brought before
the prophet Daniel in the vision of the eighth chapter. In this vision a
great prophetic period is given, the end of which reaches to the latter
days, touching events of our own times that are of direct interest and
importance to every one today.
The vision was given in the third year of Belshazzar, the last king of
Babylon. Again, as in moving panorama, there passed before the prophet's
vision the scenes of history. Earthly kingdoms were represented under
the symbols of beasts.
We shall find the prophecy and the history corresponding in every
detail, revealing the overruling hand of God, who knows the end from the
beginning, and whose living Word of truth bears its witness through all
the ages.
"Truth never dies. The ages come and go;
The mountains wear away; the seas retire;
Destruction lays earth's mighty cities low,
And empires, states, and dynasties expire;
But caught and handed onward by the wise,
Truth never dies."
The opening scene of this vision, given by the river Ulai, in Persia, is
thus described:
_Prophecy._--"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there
stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were
high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I
saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no
beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver
out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great."
Verses 3, 4.
In the angel's interpretation of the vision Daniel was told: "The ram
which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia."
Verse 20. "The higher came up last."
The two horns represented the dual character of the empire: first the
Medes in ascendancy, then the Persians rising to yet greater power. "So
that no beast might stand before him," says the prophecy.
_History._--Xenophon says of Cyrus the Persian:
"He was able to extend the fear of himself over so great a part
of the world that he astonished all, and no one attempted
anything against him."--_"The Cyropædia," book 1, chap. 1._
The line of Medo-Persian conquest was "westward, and northward, and
southward," just as the prophet saw the ram pushing its way. As one pen
wrote in the days of Persia's supremacy:
"He [Darius] showed the world arms glory-crowned."
"Towns untold before him fell."
"Burgs over sea ... heard from his lips their fate."
--_"The Persians," by Æschylus._
But the ram pushing westward stirred up an antagonist that was
eventually to overcome him. The prophet continues:
_Prophecy._--"As I was considering, behold, a he goat came from the west
on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat
had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two
horns,... and ran unto him in the fury of his power.... And there was
no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the
ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand." Verses 5-7.
The angel's interpretation continued: "The rough goat is the king of
Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king."
Verse 21.
_History._--This "first king" of united Grecia was Alexander the Great.
"With Alexander the New Greece begins."--_Harrison, "Story of
Greece," p. 499._
"And it happened, after that Alexander ... had smitten Darius
king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead,
the first over Greece." 1 Maccabees 1:1.
Under Alexander, the Grecian goat ran upon the Persian ram "in the fury
of his power." At Arbela, wrote Arrian, the Macedonians charged "with
great fury." None was able to deliver the Persian ram. "Wherever you
fly," wrote Alexander to the retreating Darius, "thither I will surely
pursue you." (See "Anabasis of Alexander the Great," by Arrian, book 2,
chap. 14.) Medo-Persia fell before Grecia, as this sure word of prophecy
had foretold two hundred years before Alexander's day.
Grecia's expansion and its later history were next unfolded before the
prophet's vision:
_Prophecy._--"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was
strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones
toward the four winds of heaven." Verse 8.
Of the ram (Persia) it was said it became "great;" of the goat (Grecia);
that it became "very great."
_History._--Justin, the Roman, wrote of Alexander:
"So much was the whole world awed by the terror of his name,
that all nations came to pay their obedience to
him."--_"History of the World," book 12, chap. 13._
"Vain in his hopes, the youth had grasped at all,
And his vast thought took in the vanquished ball."
--_Lucan's "Pharsalia" (Nicholas Rowe's translation), book 3._
But the unerring prophecy had said that "when he was strong, the great
horn was broken." Suddenly the youthful conqueror was cut down by death,
just as he was preparing to celebrate at Babylon a "convention of the
whole universe,"
"being thus taken off in the flower of his age, and in the
height of his victories."--_Justin, "History of the World,"
book 13, chap. 1._
The ancient pagan writers, in telling the story, make use of language
very similar to that used by divine prophecy in foretelling it.
Following Alexander's death the empire was divided "toward the four
winds of heaven." Myers says:
"Four well-defined and important monarchies arose out of the
ruins.... The great horn was broken; and instead of it came up
four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."--_"History
of Greece" (edition 1902), p. 457._
As the prophet watched these four kingdoms of divided Greece, he beheld
another power coming into the field of his vision through one of the
four kingdoms, and extending its authority more than any before it:
_Prophecy._--"Out of one of them [one of the four kingdoms] came forth a
little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward
the east, and toward the pleasant land." Verse 9.
_History._--Medo-Persia was "great," Grecia was "very great," but this
power was to be "exceeding great." Rome followed Grecia. Polybius, the
Roman, says:
"Almost the whole inhabited world was conquered, and brought
under the dominion of the single city of Rome."--_"Histories of
Polybius" (Evelyn Shuckburgh's translation), book 1, chap. 1._
One of the odes of Horace tells how the name of Rome grew to might:
"Till her superb dominion spread
East, where the sun comes forth in light,
And west to where he lays his head."
--_Ode 15, "To Augustus," book 4._
Lucan's lines measured its exceeding greatness from the other points of
the compass:
"Though from the frozen pole our empire run,
Far as the journeys of the southern sun."
--_"Pharsalia," book 10._
"The empire of the Romans filled the world," says Gibbon. It was
"exceeding great," according to the prophecy. In the vision the little
horn that grew so great came into the prophet's view as proceeding out
of one of the four horns that he had been watching. Rome rose to
unquestioned supremacy out of its conquest of Macedonia, one of the four
notable kingdoms into which Grecia was divided. It spread forth toward
the south, and toward the east, and "toward the pleasant land,"
Palestine becoming a province of the empire in the century before
Christ. And it was a Roman force that destroyed Jerusalem and devastated
the pleasant land.
Thus the "sure word of prophecy," with exactness in detail, carries the
history through the centuries to the last great universal monarchy,
Rome.
But this prophecy does not deal so much with the earlier history of Rome
as with the developments of later times. It was the same in the
prophetic outline of Daniel 7. After briefly identifying Rome as the
last universal monarchy, the vision of the seventh chapter dealt with
the rise of papal Rome, described its exaltation of itself against God,
and its warfare against the truth and the saints of God. And here again,
in the eighth chapter, the same persecuting power is seen developing,
exalting itself, and persecuting the saints of God. The prophecy says
that "it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and
prospered." Dan. 8:12. The papal history, as given in the study on
Daniel 7, need not be repeated here.
[Illustration: THE CAMP OF ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed." Dan. 8:14.]
As the prophet watched the work of this lawless power, his heart must
have cried out to know how long it was to be allowed to prosper in its
evil way; for next he heard the voice of a holy one asking the question
for him,
"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?" Dan. 8:13.
The answer was,
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed." Verse 14.
In symbolic prophecy a day stands for a year. Eze. 4:6. This is a long
period, therefore, of 2300 years. It reaches to the latter days; for the
angel said of it, "At the time of the end shall be the vision." Dan.
8:17.
The question was, "How long?" or literally, "Until when?" and the answer
was, "Until two thousand and three hundred days." Then what was to come
to deal with the great apostasy?--"Then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed." The cleansing of the sanctuary, therefore, must have
something to do with meeting the great apostasy, lifting up God's truth
that has been trampled underfoot, and cutting short the reign of evil.
The cleansing of the sanctuary, with all that is involved in it, must be
God's answer to this lawless power.
Error may prosper for a time; but the just balances of the sanctuary
will at last pronounce righteous judgment, and the prosperity of evil
will be cut short. "I was envious ... when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked," said the psalmist, "until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then understood I their end." Ps. 73:3, 17.
What, then, is involved in the cleansing of the sanctuary, the time of
which is marked by the long prophetic period? It is for us to
understand; for it is a work pertaining to the latter days.
[Illustration: OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST
"We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in the heavens." Heb. 8:1.]
[Illustration: THE INTERIOR OF THE SANCTUARY
"A figure for time then present, in which were offered both gifts and
sacrifices." Heb. 9:9.]
THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY IN TYPE AND ANTITYPE
The Bible teaching concerning the sanctuary of the Levitical service
shows clearly that the cleansing of the sanctuary is God's answer to
error and apostasy.
The priestly service of the earthly sanctuary, or temple, in the days of
Israel, was typical of the work of Christ, our High Priest, in the
heavenly temple. The earthly priests served after "the example and
shadow of heavenly things." Heb. 8:5. And of Christ's ministry in the
heavenly temple we are told:
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a
high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty
in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:1, 2.
In the earthly service, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the closing
work of the high priest, marking the end of the yearly round of
mediatory ministry. The cleansing of the sanctuary in the time of the
end must, therefore, according to the sure teaching of the type, be the
closing ministry of our great High Priest in the heavenly temple, before
He lays aside His priestly work to come in glory.
The Service of the Earthly Tabernacle
There were two distinct phases in the priestly ministry of the
tabernacle in Israel. The sanctuary was built with two apartments, the
holy place and the most holy.
In the holy place were the candlestick with its seven lights, the table
with its ever-renewed "bread of the presence," and the altar of incense,
on which sweet incense, symbol of Christ's continual intercession, was
burned morning and night.
Within the inner veil was the most holy place, where was the ark
containing the tables of the law, written with the finger of God. The
cover of the ark was the golden mercy-seat, above which, at either end,
stood two cherubim of gold, their wings meeting on high, their faces
looking ever toward the mercy-seat. It was a type of the throne of
God--the angels about the throne, the law the foundation of His
government, the mercy-seat typifying the interposition of mercy and
pardon for the sinner; and above it the visible glory of the Lord, the
Shekinah.
"There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above
the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of
the testimony." Ex. 25:22.
Of the service in the first apartment it is stated:
"When these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God." Heb. 9:6.
"Day by day the sacrificial victims were slain at the altar before the
outer veil, and the blood was 'brought into the sanctuary' by the
priest." This was an acknowledgment of transgression of God's law,
meriting death, and a confession of faith in the Lamb of God who was to
suffer death in the sinner's stead, and whose atoning blood would plead
for him before the righteous law.
Thus day by day, either by the sprinkling of the blood "before the Lord"
or by eating a portion of the flesh of the burnt offering in the holy
place, the ministry of the priests transferred the sin in type to the
sanctuary, and the sinner was pardoned.
For a full year, lacking one day, the ministry was in the first
apartment, or holy place only. But on that last day of the yearly round
of service--"the tenth day of the seventh month"--the high priest
entered the second apartment, or most holy place.
"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."
Heb. 9:7.
In this service the high priest sprinkled the blood upon the mercy-seat
and in the holy place, "because of the uncleanness of the children of
Israel." The sanctuary was to be reconciled or cleansed from all the
sins registered there in type through the blood of the offerings brought
day by day during the year.
As the high priest came out, bearing the sins, he transferred them all
to the head of the scapegoat, which was sent away into the wilderness;
and thus "all their iniquities" were borne away from the camp into the
wilderness, and the sanctuary was cleansed. See Leviticus 16.
This was a solemn time of judgment in Israel. Every man's life came in
review that day. Was every sin confessed? Whosoever was not found right
with God, when that service was performed, was cut off from having a
part with God's people.
"It is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord
your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that
same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." Lev. 23:28, 29.
It was indeed an annual day of judgment in Israel. And all this was an
"example and shadow of heavenly things." Heb. 8:5.
Christ's Closing Work in Heaven
Therefore the last phase of Christ's ministry as our high priest in the
sanctuary of God above, must be a work of judgment, a review of the
heavenly record, corresponding to the final ministry in the second
apartment of the earthly tabernacle, when that sanctuary was cleansed.
[Illustration: THE MEMORIAL OF HIS SACRIFICE
"As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the
Lord's death till He come." 1 Cor. 11:26.]
Daniel the prophet was shown in vision this change in the ministry of
our High Priest, namely, from the first to the second apartment of the
heavenly temple. He describes the wondrous scene, as God's living
throne, with its wheels flaming with glory, moved into the most holy
place of the heavenly sanctuary, for the closing work of Christ's
ministry:
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down ["placed," R.V.], 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." Dan. 7:9, 10.
This scene, as the next verse shows, opens while still on earth the
apostasy is exalting itself. But during this same time a solemn judgment
work is going forward in heaven above, the finishing of which will give
God's answer to the apostasy, and bring the second coming of Christ in
glory to end the reign of sin. It is the cleansing of the
sanctuary,--the time when in reality and not in type every case
registered in the sanctuary comes in final review before God. When that
work closes, according to the type, whosoever is not found right with
God will be cut off from having any part with His redeemed people.
Then the priestly ministry of Christ will close, and the destiny of
every soul will be fixed for all eternity. To that time must apply the
words spoken by Jesus:
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust 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." Rev. 22:11, 12.
But now the Saviour, from His place of ministry on high, speaks to all
the encouraging exhortation and assurance:
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I
will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before My Father, and before His angels." Rev. 3:5.
To let men on earth know when this judgment work, the cleansing of the
sanctuary, began in heaven, the prophetic period of 2300 years was
given. It is of most solemn importance that we know when that period
begins and ends.
[Illustration: ARTAXERXES SENDING THE JEWS TO REBUILD JERUSALEM,
B.C. 457
"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." Dan. 9:25.]
[Illustration: NEHEMIAH, THE KING'S CUPBEARER
"Send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchers, that I may
build it." Neh. 2:5.]
A GREAT PROPHETIC PERIOD
THE 2300 YEARS OF DANIEL 8:14
The commission to the angel Gabriel was, "Make this man to understand
the vision" (Dan. 8:16); therefore in the angel's explanation of the
vision of Daniel 8, we must assuredly find the interpretation of the
prophetic period of 2300 years, the close of which marks the opening of
the judgment work in heaven, or the cleansing of the sanctuary.
The eighth chapter closes, however, with no reference to the beginning
of this period of time, a most important measuring line of prophecy. The
angel had explained the symbols representing Medo-Persia, Grecia, and
Rome, and had dwelt upon the antichristian work of the apostasy that was
to develop; but he left the time of the prophetic period unexplained,
save to say that it was "true," and that it would be "for many
days"--far in the future. Here the angel stopped, for Daniel fainted. In
spirit the prophet had been gazing upon the warfare of the great
apostasy against God's truth through the ages, and evidently it took all
strength from him. Daniel closes the account of this vision with the
words, "I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it." Verse
27.
[Illustration: THE 2300 DAYS
The heavy line represents the full 2300 year-day period, the longest
prophetic period in the Bible. Beginning in B.C. 457 when the
decree was given to restore and build Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-26; Dan.
9:25), seven weeks (49 years) are measured off to indicate the time
occupied in this work of restoration. These, however, are a part of the
sixty-nine weeks (483 years) that were to reach to Messiah, the Anointed
One. Christ was anointed in 27 A.D., at His baptism. Matt.
3:13-17; Acts 10:38. In the midst of the seventieth week (31
A.D.), Christ was crucified or "cut off," which marked the time
when the sacrifices and oblations of the earthly sanctuary were to
cease. Dan. 9:25, 27. The remaining three and one-half years of this
week reach to 34 A.D., or to the stoning of Stephen, and the
great persecution of the church at Jerusalem which followed. Acts 7:59;
8:1. This marked the close of the seventy weeks, or 490 years, allotted
to the Jewish people.
But the seventy weeks are a part of the 2300 days; and as they (the
seventy weeks) reach to 34 A.D., the remaining 1810 years of
the 2300-day period must reach to 1844, when the work of judgment, or
cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, was to begin. Rev. 14:6, 7. Then
special light began to shine upon the whole sanctuary subject, and
Christ's mediatorial or priestly work in it.
Four great events, therefore, are located by this great prophetic
period,--the first advent, the crucifixion, the rejection of the Jewish
people as a nation, and the beginning of the work of final judgment.]
But the angel had been commanded, "Make this man to understand the
vision;" and soon after, as recorded in the next chapter,--possibly
within a year,[G]--Gabriel appeared to the prophet with the words:
"O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding....
Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision." Dan. 9:22,
23.
Thereupon the angel began to deal with the matter of time in the
prophecy, the very feature of the vision of the eighth chapter that he
had not yet made Daniel understand. Therefore the vision of the 2300
years must be the topic.
The Starting-Point
First of all, the angel said that a short period was to be cut off from
the long period, and allotted to the Jewish people; this short period
was to reach to the coming of the promised Messiah and the filling up of
the measure of Jerusalem's transgressions. The angel's own words are:
"Seventy weeks [490 days, prophetic time, or 490 literal years] are
determined [cut off, as the word means] upon thy people and upon thy
holy city, 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 prophecy, and to anoint
the Most Holy." Verse 24.
This 490-year period "cut off" was to cover the history of the people of
Jerusalem until that city had filled out the measure of its
transgression. The only prophetic period from which this 490 years can
properly be said to be "cut off" is, assuredly, the longer period of
2300 years, which stretches far onward to "the time of the end." The 490
years and the 2300 years, then, must begin at the same time.
It was the time period that the angel Gabriel was yet to explain; and he
begins the explanation by showing that the first 490 years of it would
reach to the days of the Messiah. Then he gives the event that marks the
beginning of the 490 years, which event must necessarily mark the
beginning of the 2300 years as well.
This is what he was commissioned to make Daniel "understand" when first
the vision of the 2300 years was given. Now he tells him to "understand"
it:
"Know therefore 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: the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself:
and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the
end of the war desolations are determined." Dan. 9:25, 26.
The date of the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem is the date, therefore, from which the great prophetic
measuring line runs; the first 490 years of it to reach to the time and
work of the Messiah, at the first advent, the full 2300 years running on
to mark the time when the judgment hour in heaven opens. Once the
starting-point is fixed, all the events of the long period must follow
exactly as scheduled in the time-table of divine prophecy.
Date of the Commencement to Restore Jerusalem
There were several commands issued concerning the restoration of
Jerusalem after the Babylonish captivity. Cyrus, and Darius, and
Artaxerxes Longimanus each issued such a decree. Which one answers to
the language of the prophecy as "the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem"?
[Illustration: THE JEWS MOURNING OVER THE RUINS OF JERUSALEM
"I went out by night,... and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were
broken down." Neh. 2:13.]
The decree of Artaxerxes was most comprehensive (Ezra 7), authorizing
the full restoration of the civil and religious administration of
Jerusalem and Judea. And Inspiration specifically sums up all the
decrees as completed only in that of Artaxerxes, which thus constituted
"the commandment:"
"They builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God
of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and
Artaxerxes king of Persia." Ezra 6:14.
[Illustration: REBUILDING JERUSALEM
"They builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God
of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and
Artaxerxes king of Persia." Ezra 6:14.]
According to this scripture, the full "going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build," dates from this decree of Artaxerxes. And this
decree went forth "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king." Ezra
7:7.
What year was this seventh year of Artaxerxes--a date so important to
fix to a certainty?
The great chronological standard for the kings of the ancient empires is
the canon, or historical rule, of Ptolemy. Ptolemy was a Greek
historian, geographer, and astronomer, who lived in the temple of
Serapis, near Alexandria, Egypt. From ancient records he prepared a
chronological table of the kings of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome
(carrying the Roman list to his own time, which was the second century
after Christ). Along with his list of kings and the years of their
succession, Ptolemy compiled a record of ancient observations of
eclipses. In such and such a year of a king, for instance, on a given
day of the month, an eclipse of the sun or moon would be recorded.
Astronomers have worked out these observations, and verified them. The
learned Dr. William Hales said:
"To the authenticity of these copies of Ptolemy's canon, the
strongest testimony is given by their exact agreement
throughout, with above twenty dates and computations of
eclipses in Ptolemy's Almagest."--_"Chronology," Vol. I, p.
166._
Thus, says James B. Lindsay, an English chronologist, "a foundation is
laid for chronology sure as the stars." So the sun and the stars, the
divinely appointed timekeepers, bear their witness to the accuracy of
the historical record.
We thank God for this, as we desire to know if we may depend upon
Ptolemy's canon to help us fix to a certainty the seventh year of
Artaxerxes.
According to Ptolemy, Artaxerxes succeeded to the throne in the two
hundred and eighty-fourth year of the canon. In modern reckoning, this
two hundred and eighty-fourth year runs from Dec. 17, 465 B.C., to Dec.
17, 464 B.C. The canon does not tell at what part of the year a king
succeeded to the throne; it only deals with whole years. The question
is, to be exact, Did Artaxerxes come to the throne in December, 465
B.C., or at some time in the year 464 B.C.? At what season of the year
did the king take the throne? Some historians, dealing with the matter
roughly, date the succession from the year 465. But in dealing with
divine prophecy, we require certainty upon which to base the reckoning
of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, from which date the prophetic period
runs.
And in God's providence we do have certainty. Of all the kings of
Assyria, Babylon, and Medo-Persia, in Ptolemy's long list, there is but
one concerning whose succession the Scriptures give us the very time of
the year--and that one is Artaxerxes. The one case in which we need to
know to a certainty the season of the year, in order to fix an important
date in prophecy, is the one case in which Inspiration gives exactly the
particulars. Who cannot see the hand of God in this?
The combined record of Neh. 1:1; 2:1 and Ezra 7:7-9,[H] shows that
Artaxerxes came to the throne between the fifth month of the Jewish year
and the ninth month,--roughly, between August and December,--or in the
autumn. The Bible gives one part of the record, and Ptolemy's canon
gives another part; and by the combined record we know that Artaxerxes
came to the throne late in the year 464 B.C., and thus the seventh year
of his reign would be 457 B.C. This is the date fixed by other sources
of reliable chronology also, Sir Isaac Newton having worked out several
lines of evidence from ancient authorities, in each case reaching the
year 464 B.C. as the first of Artaxerxes, which makes the seventh to be
457 B.C.
In the seventh year of Artaxerxes the commandment went forth to restore
and to build Jerusalem, and this event fixes the beginning of the 2300
years, as also of the 490 years cut off from it upon the Jewish people.
That year, 457 B.C., therefore, is a date of profound
importance. It stands like the golden milestone in the ancient Forum at
Rome, from which ran out all the measurements of distance to the ends of
the empire. From this date, 457 B.C., run out the golden
threads of time prophecy that touch events in the earthly life and the
heavenly ministry of Jesus that are of deepest eternal interest to all
mankind today.
The Ransom Paid
Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy-seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
Can cleanse my guilty soul indeed.
Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full provision made.
--_Nikolaus Zinzendorf._
[Illustration: THE ANOINTING OF JESUS AT HIS BAPTISM
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power."
Acts 10:38. (See Matt. 3:16.)]
FOOTNOTES:
[G] The dates placed in the margin of the King James Version indicate a
period of fifteen years between the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel.
This was because in former days it was thought that Belshazzar was the
Bible name of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, who reigned seventeen
years. In that case, from "the third year" of his reign, when the
prophecy of Daniel 8 was given, to the "first year of Darius," who
succeeded him, when the angel appeared again to Daniel, would be fifteen
years. But the unearthing of the buried records of Babylonia during the
last half century, reveals the fact that Belshazzar was the son of
Nabonidus, associated with him on the throne as king for a few years
before the fall of Babylon. The third year of his reign may very likely
have been the last year; and Darius immediately followed Belshazzar. The
explanation of the ninth chapter might have been within a few weeks or
months following the vision of chapter 8, and probably was.
[H] These texts show that the king came to the throne in the autumn, so
that the actual years of his reign would run from autumn to autumn. Neh.
1:1 begins the record: "In the month Chisleu, in the _twentieth year_."
Neh. 2:1 continues: "It came to pass in the month Nisan, in the
_twentieth year_ of Artaxerxes." Thus it is plain that in the monthly
calendar of the king's actual reign the month Chisleu came first in
order, and then Nisan. Chisleu was the ninth month of the Jewish sacred
year, roughly, December. Nisan is the first month, April. And these
months, December, April,--in that order,--came in the first year of the
king, of course, the same as in his twentieth year. And in the same year
also came the fifth month, August; for Ezra 7:7-9 shows that the first
and fifth months--in that order--also fell in the same year of his
reign. Then we know of a certainty that his reign began somewhere
between August and December, that is, in the autumn. The first year of
Artaxerxes was from the latter part of 464 B.C. to the latter part of
463, and the seventh year, as readily counted off, would be from near
the end of 458 to near the end of 457. Under the commission to Ezra, the
people began to go up to Jerusalem in the spring of that year, 457 B.C.
(in the first month, or April), and they "came to Jerusalem in the fifth
month" (August). Ezra 7:8, 9. Ezra and his associates soon thereafter
"delivered the kings commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the
governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the
house of God." Ezra 8:36. With this delivery of the commissions to the
king's officers, the commandment to restore and to build had, most
certainly, fully gone forth. And from this date, 457 B.C., extends the
great prophetic period.
[Illustration: DANIEL'S PRAYER ANSWERED
"I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding." Dan. 9:22.]
THE PROPHECY FULFILLED
EVENTS OF THE "SEVENTY WEEKS" AND END OF THE 2300 YEARS
The angel explained to Daniel the events of the seventy weeks allotted
to Jerusalem and its people "to finish the transgression." Seven weeks
and threescore and two weeks (69 weeks) of the seventy were to reach to
the Messiah. The angel's words were:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to
finish the transgression.... Know therefore 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 [69 weeks, or 483 days]." Dan. 9:24, 25.
The sixty-nine weeks, symbolic time, are 483 years, which were to reach
from the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem to Messiah the
Prince.
The Time of the Messiah's Coming
The commandment of Artaxerxes to restore and build Jerusalem, as we have
seen, went forth in 457 B.C. Reckoning from that date, 483 full
years bring us to A.D. 27, when, according to the prophecy, the
Messiah should appear.
Messiah means "anointed." The anointing of Jesus, and His manifestation
as the Anointed One, was at His baptism:
"Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and,
lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from
heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Matt. 3:16, 17.
Thus Jesus was anointed as the Messiah (see Acts 10:38), and John
proclaimed: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world." John 1:29.
When did this baptism and anointing take place? The Gospel of Luke
supplies the historical facts for fixing the year:
"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate
being governor of Judea," etc. Luke 3:1-3.
Tiberius followed Augustus, who died in A.D. 14. But before the
latter's death, Tiberius was associated with him on the throne. Some
modern historians date this appointment of Tiberius as Cæsar from
A.D. 13; but the "History of Rome," by Dion Cassius, a Roman
senator, born in the second century, shows, under events of
A.D. 12, that Augustus recognized Tiberius as holding the
imperial dignity at that time. (Book 56, chap. 26.) Again, Dr. Philip
Schaff says:
"There are coins from Antioch in Syria of the date A.U. 765
[A.D. 12], with the head of Tiberius and the
inscription, _Kaisar, Sebastos (Augustus)."_--_"History of the
Christian Church," Vol. I, p. 120, footnote._
These coins from Syria bear certain witness that the first year of
Tiberius should be counted from A.D. 12. Therefore "the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar" would be A.D.
27, just 483 years from the going forth of the commandment to restore
Jerusalem. The prophecy of the sixty-nine weeks was fulfilled--the
Messiah had come.
Confirming the Covenant
But "one week" of the seventy remained--seven years. Of the Messiah's
work during this time the angel said:
"He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst
of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
Dan. 9:27.
Christ's death upon the cross made "the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease," so far as their appointed force was concerned. After three years
and a half of ministry, "in the midst" of this seven-year period, the
prophetic week, the Messiah was lifted up on Calvary. For centuries the
sure word of prophecy had pointed to this supreme hour in the working
out of the plan of salvation. When the time was fulfilled, the promise
of God was fulfilled also, and the divine Sacrifice was offered.
"Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins on Thee were laid;
By Almighty Love anointed,
Thou redemption's price hast paid.
All Thy people are forgiven
Through the virtue of Thy blood;
Opened is the gate of heaven,
Peace is made 'twixt man and God."
With the offering of the great Sacrifice, all the typical offerings
ceased to have significance. The veil of the temple was rent when the
Lamb of God expired upon the cross,--sign to all that He had caused "the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
[Illustration: THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST
"In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease." Dan. 9:27.]
[Illustration: THE RENT VEIL
"The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
Mark 15:38.]
The Messiah was to "confirm the covenant with many for one week,"
filling out the seventy weeks allotted in God's merciful patience
especially to the people of the Jews. Three and a half years of Christ's
personal ministry on earth had been devoted to the chosen people. Now,
after His ascension, He was still, in the persons of His disciples, to
press the gospel of the new covenant especially upon the Jewish
people--"to the Jew first," and "beginning at Jerusalem."
[Illustration: PETER PREACHING IN THE HOUSE OF CORNELIUS
"They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word."
Acts 8:4.]
This last seven-year period, beginning in A.D. 27, ended in
A.D. 34. By that time the opposition of the Jews was becoming
exceedingly bitter. As a people they were rejecting again the divine
invitation extended by the risen Christ through His witnesses. About
A.D. 34 Stephen was martyred. The same council that, against
all evidence, had rejected the Messiah, again rejected the appeal of the
Holy Ghost shining visibly on Stephen's countenance.
The believers in Jerusalem were driven out by persecution; and "they
that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." Acts
8:4. The Gentiles gave heed in Samaria, and the Ethiopian received the
gospel on the road to Gaza. The gospel message had fairly passed the
boundaries of Jerusalem and was on its way to the "uttermost parts of
the earth."
Though the seventy weeks cut off upon the Jewish people and upon the
holy city had ended, to the world's end the gospel of Christ's salvation
is for that people as well as for all other nations.
The Ending of the 2300 Years
It must not be forgotten that the angel was explaining to Daniel the
vision and prophecy of the long prophetic period that was to reach to
the cleansing of the sanctuary at the time of the end.
These events of the first seventy weeks of that period were "to seal up
the vision and prophecy." Dan. 9:24. The shedding of the blood of the
divine Sacrifice "to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness," set Heaven's seal to the vision. As surely
as the great Offering had been made, so surely the cleansing of the
sanctuary would be accomplished by the ministry of our High Priest in
heaven.
And the exact fulfilment of the time schedule for this first portion of
the prophetic period, set seal to the declaration that when the full
2300 years should run out, the closing ministry of Christ would surely
begin in the heavenly sanctuary.
From 457 B.C., when the commandment of Artaxerxes to restore
Jerusalem went forth, the measuring line of the 2300 years reaches to
the year A.D. 1844. In that year the time of the prophecy came.
Then the cleansing of the sanctuary was to begin.
The prophet John, in the Revelation, beheld the opening of this last
phase of the ministry of Christ in the most holy place of the temple of
God. "The temple of God was opened in heaven," he says, "and there was
seen in His temple the ark of His testament." Rev. 11:19. The prophet
heard voices saying, "The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and
the time of the dead, that they should be judged." Verse 18.
Again we must quote Daniel's description of the opening of this ministry
in the most holy place of the heavenly temple. He saw thrones of
judgment set up. He saw the moving throne of the Almighty, with its
wheels of naming glory, take its position for the final work of our High
Priest in the holy of holies above:
"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." Dan. 7:9, 10.
This was the scene enacted in the heavenly temple when the year 1844
brought the judgment hour. Then began in heaven the work of the
investigative judgment, or the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary,
during which the case of every individual will come in review before
God.
When that work of investigation is finished, the ministry of Christ for
sin will end, human probation will close, and our Lord will quickly come
as King of kings and Lord of lords, to gather His redeemed, while all
sinners will be destroyed by "the brightness of His coming." 2 Thess.
2:8.
In the vision of Daniel 8, as the great apostasy was seen warring
against God's truth, the question was asked, "How long shall be the
vision,... to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden
underfoot?" The answer was, in effect, In 1844 the cleansing of the
sanctuary will begin in heaven,--the hour of God's judgment, that will
give God's answer to sin and apostasy.
We are living in the great antitypical day of atonement, for which all
heaven has been waiting. The end is at hand. And while that work is
proceeding in heaven above, the Lord proclaims a special message on
earth, lifting up again truths long trodden underfoot, and calling men
to prepare for the coming of the Lord.
_How Shall We Stand?
"For the hour of His judgment is come."_
"The judgment is set, the books have been opened;
How shall we stand in that great day
When every thought, and word, and action,
God, the righteous Judge, shall weigh?
"The work is begun with those who are sleeping,
Soon will the living here be tried,
Out of the books of God's remembrance,
His decision to abide.
"O, how shall we stand that moment of searching,
When all our sins those books reveal?
When from that court, each case decided,
Shall be granted no appeal?"
[Illustration: THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.]
[Illustration: THE GOSPEL COMMISSION
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Mark 16:15.]
A WORLD-WIDE MOVEMENT
FORETOLD IN THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION 14
While the work of the judgment hour, or period,--the cleansing of the
sanctuary,--is proceeding in the heavenly temple above, the Lord sends
to the world a special message of preparation for the coming of the
Lord.
It would not be the divine way to let this solemn judgment in heaven
come unheralded to men. Daniel's prophecy had fixed the time of its
beginning; and the question asked in the prophet's hearing, "How long
shall be the vision ... to give both the sanctuary and the host to be
trodden underfoot?" suggested that when the time came, the truths of God
that had been trodden underfoot through the ages would be lifted up and
proclaimed anew to all the world.
With the coming of the judgment hour, in the year 1844, there arose just
such a work, a definite gospel movement, that has ever since been
carrying the message for the hour to the ends of the earth.
The Way Prepared for the Rise of the Movement
But there was a preliminary work to be done, to prepare the way for the
definite advent movement and message.
In the days of Israel of old, as the time for the cleansing of the
sanctuary drew near, the people were forewarned of the approach of the
solemn hour. The day of atonement--"the tenth day of the seventh
month"--was a typical hour of judgment. All the people were to prepare
their hearts for that great day.
To this end, the Lord appointed the first day of the seventh month a day
of sounding of the trumpets. Lev. 23:24. The silver trumpets, pealing
forth on that day, proclaimed to all that the day of atonement was near
at hand, when every case would be brought in review before the
mercy-seat by the ministry of the high priest in the most holy place of
the earthly sanctuary.
True to the type, as the year 1844 drew near, when the great antitypical
day of atonement was to open and the closing work of Christ to begin in
the most holy place of the heavenly temple, the trumpet call of the
approaching judgment hour was set pealing through all Christendom.
Events of the closing years of the eighteenth century and the early
decades of the nineteenth, had stirred up Bible students to give greater
attention to the study of the prophetic scriptures. It was seen that
signs of the latter days were appearing, and that every line of historic
prophecy pointed to the near approach of Christ's second coming.
Here and there students of the Word saw that the 2300-year period of
Dan. 8:14, as explained in the ninth chapter, would end soon; and some
arrived at the correct date, and looked to the year 1844 as the time
when the judgment hour would come.
Witnesses were raised up in Europe--in Holland, Germany, Russia, and the
Scandinavian countries. Joseph Wolff, the missionary to the Levant,
preached in Greece, Palestine, Turkey, Afghanistan, and other regions
the coming of the judgment hour. William Miller and many associates
preached the message throughout America.
Writing in the days just before 1844, Mourant Brock, a clergyman of the
Church of England, said:
"It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the
near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of
warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the
continent of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers
of the word are thus preaching 'this gospel of the kingdom;'
whilst in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of
England are raising the same cry."--_"Advent Tracts_," _Vol.
II, p. 135 (1844)._
Not all who joined in the awakening cry at this time explained the
prophecies alike, or emphasized the definite year 1844 as the beginning
of the hour of God's judgment; though in America, Europe, and Asia the
clear message of the ending of the prophetic time in 1844 was proclaimed
with power by many voices. And as the time came, the world was ringing
with the call to prepare to meet the judgment hour, even as the hosts of
Israel were called by trumpet peals to prepare for the typical day of
atonement.
The nature of the event to come at the end of the 2300 years was not
understood by these early heralds of the advent hope. The general
expectation was that the judgment hour meant the end of the world and
the coming of the Lord. Though the word of prophecy indicated clearly
that there was a special work to be done on earth while the judgment
hour was proceeding in heaven, this was not clear to Bible students at
the time. So when the prophetic period ended and the Lord did not come,
believers in the prophetic truths were disappointed and unbelievers
scoffed. But the call to prepare for the judgment hour was the message
due to the world at that time, and the awakening cry was raised on every
continent.
In the days of the Saviour's first advent, the disciples and the
populace had proclaimed the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem.
They were at once disappointed; instead of enthroning Him as king, they
witnessed His crucifixion. But in proclaiming the coming of Zion's King
to Jerusalem, they were fulfilling the prophecy that had been uttered,
and were giving the message for that day, notwithstanding their mistaken
view as to the events that would follow.
Just so the trumpet call of the coming judgment hour was the message for
the days of 1844; and the message was given, attended by the power of
God. When the hour was at hand, the providence of God raised up faithful
witnesses to proclaim it.
All this was preparatory to the rise of the definite advent movement of
the prophecy, when the hour of God's judgment should begin.
The Closing Work
In vision, on the Isle of Patmos, the prophet John was given a view of
the closing work of the gospel on earth, while the closing ministry of
Christ was proceeding in heaven above. The prophet wrote:
"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." Rev. 14:6, 7.
The message further warned against following the ways of the great
apostasy; and in the vision the prophet was shown people in all lands
taking their stand at the call of the message. The angel described them
in these words:
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Verse 12.
Much as pictures appear to us when thrown in succession upon a screen,
these scenes must have passed before the vision of the prophet. He saw
the coming of the hour, the rise of the movement, and its extension into
all lands; he heard the message sounding, and saw the kind of people
doing the work--a people keeping "the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus."
[Illustration: PAUL WRITING TO TIMOTHY FROM ROME
"There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord ...
shall give me at that day: and ... unto all them also that love His
appearing." 2 Tim. 4:8.]
Centuries had passed, after this word was written in the Book, when the
flight of time at last brought the hour of the prophecy--the year 1844.
That very year witnessed the rise of the definite advent movement which
is still proclaiming the very message of the prophecy to the world.
It was in the year 1844, in New England, that a little group of
believers in the blessed hope of Christ's soon coming, saw clearly, from
their study of the Bible, that the New Testament platform of "the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus," emphasized in this
prophecy of the judgment hour, meant the keeping of the fourth
commandment as well as the other nine. Thereupon they began to keep and
to teach the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, made holy
and blessed and commanded by God.
One member of this group of commandment-keeping Adventists was Frederick
Wheeler, from whose dictation the following statement was prepared,
fixing exactly the facts as to the time:
"As a Methodist minister he was convinced of the advent truth
by reading William Miller's works in 1842, and joined in
preaching the first message [that of the judgment hour]. In
March, 1844, he began to keep the true Sabbath, in Washington,
N.H."--_Review and Herald (Washington, D.C.), Oct. 4, 1906._
They were but a little band, those believers in New Hampshire, but the
time of the prophecy had come, and with the coming of the hour there was
the nucleus of the movement forming, believers in the near coming of the
Lord, preaching the message of the prophecy, "The hour of His judgment
is come," and keeping "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
From that small beginning has grown the movement that Seventh-day
Adventists stand for, spreading through all the world today.
It was in the year following 1844 that Joseph Bates, of Massachusetts, a
retired sea captain, and a preacher of the advent hope, began to keep
the Sabbath. Captain Bates wrote and published, and soon others,
following his example, embraced the Bible Sabbath.
As the Scripture teaching concerning the sanctuary was studied, light
came flooding in. It was seen that the great prophetic period of Daniel
8, which ended in 1844, marked the opening of Christ's ministry in the
most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, the work of the judgment hour
in heaven; and there, plainly revealed in Revelation 14, was a special
gospel message to be carried to all the world while the judgment hour
still continued.
The little company that began to keep the commandments of God as
Adventist believers in 1844, did not understand that they were beginning
the definite movement foretold by the prophecy. They only determined to
turn from traditions that had made void God's law, and to obey the law
of the Most High, whose servants they were.
But in the light of the Scripture prophecy and of events, we can see
clearly the hand of God leading that little baud into the right pathway
when the year of 1844 came; and the work there begun has grown into the
world-wide movement of today.
Nearly two thousand years before, it had been written in the "sure word
of prophecy" that when the hour of God's judgment came, a people keeping
God's commandments would arise and spread forth into all the world with
the last gospel message. The long prophetic period of Daniel 8 had fixed
the year 1844 as the time when the judgment hour would begin and when
the people of the prophecy must appear.
When the year came, that people appeared, keeping "the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus." When the hour struck, the work began. This
advent movement was born of God in fulfilment of prophecy. And the
mission of the movement is to lift up again the standard of truths
obscured by tradition and trodden underfoot, and to call all men to the
New Testament platform of the "commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus," where every believing soul may find safe refuge in these closing
moments of the judgment hour in the courts above.
[Illustration: A CHRISTIAN MOTHER EXHORTING HER DAUGHTER TO MARTYRDOM
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve;... as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15.]
THE JUDGMENT-HOUR MESSAGE
THE GOSPEL FOR OUR DAY
The gospel message for this time of the judgment hour is set forth in
the vision of Revelation 14:
[Illustration: THE TWO BEASTS OF REVELATION 13
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come."
Rev. 14:7.]
"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.
"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.
"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 ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor
night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the
mark of his name.
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:6-12.
When this message has been heralded to all nations, according to
prophecy the end will come, for the next scene brought before the
prophet's vision was the coming of Christ to reap the harvest of the
earth:
"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." Verse 14.
The outline of the message given here reveals certain main features:
1. A Gospel Message
It is not a new or another gospel. There is but one gospel. This message
is "the everlasting gospel" in terms that meet the situation in the time
of the judgment hour. The advent movement carries the blessed message of
full salvation from sin by faith in Jesus Christ.
2. A Solemn Warning
The message is God's final answer to the age-long perversions of His
truth. Even the warnings uttered vibrate with the saving grace and
winning power of God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the vision of Daniel 8, the prophet was shown the working of apostasy
in the latter times, as it "cast down the truth to the ground" and
"practiced and prospered." But in answer to the question, "How long?"
the great prophetic period of the 2300 years was given, at the end of
which (in 1844) the judgment work in heaven was to begin. When that
work is finished, Christ's glorious appearing will end the reign of sin
and error.
And while the closing judgment work is proceeding in heaven, this
message of the judgment hour lifts up on earth the standard of truths
trodden underfoot, and the Lord utters His last warning against sin and
apostasy. It is a terrible word that He speaks. Bengelius described it
as--
"that threatening pronounced which is the greatest in all the
Scriptures, and which shall resound powerfully from the mouth
of the third angel."--_"Introduction to Apocalypse," Preface
xxix (London, 1757)._
The Lord is in earnest with men in this hour when the judgment, now
passing on the dead, must also soon seal the eternal destiny of all the
living. Hence the message challenges every soul to a decision.
Looking forward to the time when this message should be due, John Wesley
wrote:--
"Happy are they who make the right use of these divine
messages."--_"Notes on New Testament," on Revelation 14._
These warnings are part of the "everlasting gospel." Whosoever,
therefore, preaches the full gospel of Christ in these last days must
sound this solemn call.
3. A Call to Loyalty to God
"Fear God," is the call, "Worship Him." In the preceding vision of the
thirteenth chapter, the Lord had shown the prophet the work of an
ecclesiastical power, symbolized by a leopardlike beast, that was to
speak great things, and that was to persecute believers through long
centuries, warring against God's truth and His sanctuary. "All the world
wondered after the beast." The prophet said,
"All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb." Rev. 13:8.
While worldly influence and the voice of popular religion exalt this
ecclesiastical power and give glory to it, the gospel message calls all
men to worship God.
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come:
and worship Him.... If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark,[I] ... the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath
of God."
The issue, it is clear, involves the question of authority. Shall God be
recognized as supreme? or shall this ecclesiastical power, whose rise
and work were foretold in the prophecy, be recognized as the great
authority?
The Work of the Papal Power
Any comparison between this leopard beast of Revelation 13 and the
"little horn" of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, shows plainly that the
same power is represented in each. The same voice is heard "speaking
great things," the same persecuting spirit is shown, the same warfare
against God's truth. It is the Roman Papacy, in its exaltation of human
authority above the divine, that "lawless one" of Paul's prophecy,
setting itself forth as God in the temple of God, treading underfoot the
word and the law of the Most High, as foretold by Daniel:
"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." Dan.
7:25.
Against the recognition of the assumed authority of this power, the
gospel message of Revelation 14 sounds its solemn warning: "If any man
worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark."
The Image to the Papacy
What is this image? Plainly an image to the Papacy must be some
religious authority or federation not organically of the Papacy itself,
but adopting papal principles and seeking to enforce these principles by
civil power, just as the Papacy has ever done, where possible. This
development in likeness of the Papacy was shown the prophet in the
latter part of the vision of Revelation 13. He saw the image formed, and
in vision witnessed its determined efforts to enforce upon men the mark,
or sign, of the Papacy:
"He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed.... And he causeth all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or
in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had
the mark, or the name of the beast." Rev. 13:12-17.
The Mark, or Sign, of Papal Authority
The Roman Papacy sets forth the Sunday institution as the mark of the
authority of the church to substitute ecclesiastical tradition and
custom for the Word of God. Thus, Monsignor Ségur, in "Plain Talks about
the Protestantism of Today," says:
"The observance of Sunday by Protestants is an homage they pay,
in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church."--_Page
213._
It was to this change in the Sabbath by tradition, contrary to the plain
command of God to keep holy the seventh day, that the famous Council of
Trent appealed when it gave Rome's answer to the Reformation cry of "The
Bible and the Bible only." The council had long debated the ground of
its answer. The historian says:
"Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January,
1562, their last scruple was set aside; the archbishop of
Rheggio made a speech in which he openly declared that
tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church
could therefore not be bound to the authority of the
Scriptures, because the church had changed Sabbath into Sunday,
not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority. With
this, to be sure, the last illusion was destroyed, and it was
declared that tradition does not signify antiquity, but
continual inspiration."--_Dr. J.H. Holtzman, "Canon and
Tradition," p. 263._
Ever since this memorable council, the Sunday institution has been held
forth as the mark of the power of the church to command religious
observances. Thus, again, Keenan's "Doctrinal Catechism" says:
"_Question._--Have you any other way of proving that the church
has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"_Answer._--Had she not such power, she could not have done
that in which all modern religionists agree with her,--she
could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first
day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh
day, a change for which there is no Scriptural
authority."--_Page 174._
The prophecy of Daniel declared that this power would "think" to change
the times and laws of the Most High; and the change of the Sabbath
commandment is set forth as the mark of the church's authority above the
written law of the Most High.
Most remarkable of all, Protestant organizations are defending the
unscriptural observance of the humanly established first-day sabbath in
contradiction to the law of God, which declares that "the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." And these organizations, in denial of
the Protestant principle of religious liberty, are seeking power to
enforce Sunday observance by civil law. But this is to make a very image
to the Roman Papacy--a church using the power of the state to enforce
religious observance.
It was all foretold in the prophetic word. The prophet was shown (Rev.
13:11-17) this likeness or image to the Papacy--ecclesiastical
organizations not of the Papacy itself, but following papal principles
in this matter--seeking to compel men to receive the mark of the papal
apostasy.
Against the workings of both the Papacy and this image to the Papacy,
the last message of the "everlasting gospel" lifts its warning cry:
"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."
It is the time of the judgment hour, when God was to lift up the
standard of truths long trodden underfoot. In the heavenly sanctuary
Christ's closing judgment work is going forward, preparatory to His
coming in consuming glory to end the reign of sin. On earth the Lord is
sending the last gospel message to men, warning against sin and error,
and calling all men to worship God, and to keep "the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus."
The Sign of Jehovah's Authority
God also has His sign, or mark, of authority. He bases His claims to
supreme authority upon the fact of His creative power. As Creator, His
is the authority and the power.
"The Lord is the true God.... He hath made the earth by His power." Jer.
10:10-12.
And the divinely established memorial of this creative power is the holy
Sabbath. The Sabbath is the mark, or sign, of the true God:
"Hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that
ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Eze. 20:20.
On one side is the mark, or sign, of apostasy from God; on the other the
mark, or sign, of loyalty to God. Which mark will men receive, as the
issue is pressed upon every soul for decision? On which side shall we
stand? Under whose banner shall we be found when the judgment hour
closes?
[Illustration: PILATE'S FATAL DECISION IN THE HOUR OF TRIAL
"Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called
Christ?" Matt. 27:22.]
The test that came to Pilate comes anew to men as Christ's message
presses for acceptance. "What shall I do then with Jesus?" asked the
Roman governor--and yielded to popular clamor. His fatal decision in the
time of testing warns us to decide for Christ and for the word of his
salvation now, in this hour of God's judgment.
The message of Rev. 14:6-14 is going to all the world now. Every year
thousands of new voices join in telling it. Printing presses are
printing it in many languages. Schools and colleges in every continent
are educating thousands of Seventh-day Adventist youth, keeping before
them, as the highest aim of life, the hastening of the advent message to
the world. Sanitariums in many lands, while training medical missionary
evangelists, are at the same time ministering to the sick, and teaching
the principles of Bible health and temperance. The movement necessarily
emphasizes every principle of "the everlasting gospel," while pressing
upon all the solemn issue that loyalty to Christ now means to turn from
unscriptural tradition and custom to the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus. However ancient the custom of observing Sunday, it is
but an innovation, setting aside the Word of God and the example of
Jesus Christ. As St. Cyprian said: "Usage without truth is only an
antiquated error." The clear light of Holy Scripture now calls the
believer away from the path of error to the way of light.
"The older error is, it is the worse,
Continuation may provoke a curse;
If the Dark Age obscured our fathers' sight,
Must their sons shut their eyes against the light?"
--_Bishop Ken._
In times past Christian believers have been unwittingly following the
lead of the Papacy in this matter. The Lord holds no man accountable for
light that he did not have. Reformation is a progressive work. Of the
past we may say with Paul:
"The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He
will judge the world in righteousness." Acts 17:30, 31.
Now, with this "hour of God's judgment" already come, the entire
covering of papal tradition is to be torn aside, and when Jesus comes in
glory, in every land will be found believers having the faith and
keeping the commandments of God.
All this was shown to John on the Isle of Patmos,--the coming of the
judgment hour, the rise of the advent movement, and the heralding of the
last message to the nations.
What John saw in vision nearly two thousand years ago, we see fulfilling
before our eyes today. But it is not enough to see it; we must have a
part in it, be a part of it.
[Illustration: LUCIFER PLOTTING AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD
"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;... I will be like the
Most High." Isa. 14:13, 14]
FOOTNOTES:
[I] The use of a mark, or sign, to designate the divinity worshiped, is
common in non-Christian religions. One may see the Hindu returning from
the temple with the mark of Vishnu or other deity freshly painted upon
the forehead. Of the ancient usage, from which this Bible symbol of the
"mark" is taken, Dr. John Potter says, in his "Antiquities of Greece:"
"Slaves were not only branded with stigmata for a punishment of their
offenses, but (which was the common end of these marks) to distinguish
them, in case they should desert their masters; for which purpose it was
common to brand their soldiers; only with this difference, that whereas
slaves were commonly stigmatized in their forehead, and with the name or
some peculiar character belonging to their masters, soldiers were
branded in the hand, and with the name or character of their general.
After the same manner, it was likewise customary to stigmatize the
worshipers and votaries of some of the gods: whence Lucian, speaking of
the votaries of the Syrian goddess, affirms, 'They were all branded with
certain marks, some in the palms of their hands, and others in their
necks: whence it became customary for all the Assyrians thus to
stigmatize themselves.' And Theodoret is of opinion that the Jews were
forbidden to brand themselves with stigmata [Lev. 19:28], because the
idolaters by that ceremony used to consecrate themselves to their false
deities.
"The marks used on these occasions were various. Sometimes they
contained the name of the god, sometimes his particular ensign; such
were the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the trident of Neptune, the ivy of
Bacchus: whence Ptolemy Philopater was by some nicknamed Gallus, because
his body was marked with the figures of ivy leaves. Or, lastly, they
marked themselves with some mystical number, whereby the god's name was
described. Thus the sun, which was signified by the number DCVIII, is
said to have been represented by these two numeral letters XH (Conf.
Martianus Capello). These three ways of stigmatizing are all expressed
by St. John in the book of Revelation: 'And he causeth all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their
right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of
his name.'"--_Vol. I, pp. 65, 66 (London, 1728)._
[Illustration: SATAN ENTERS THE GARDEN OF EDEN
"The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23.]
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL
The Beginning of the Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan
The great controversy between good and evil, that has been waged on
earth ever since man's fall, had its origin in heaven. Certain angels
rebelled against God and His government.
"There was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him." Rev. 12:7-9.
Thus came the forces of evil into this world, which have been working
through all the ages to draw men from allegiance to God, and to infuse
into human hearts the same spirit of disobedience which wrought the ruin
of Satan and his angels.
The Cause of the Downfall
Christ stated the principle: "If therefore the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matt. 6:23.
The principle finds its utmost application in the great reversal, by
which Lucifer, the light bearer in heaven, became Satan, the adversary,
the prince of darkness.
[Illustration: CHRIST AND NICODEMUS
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John
3:3.]
In the pride and self-exaltation of Tyre, of old, the Lord saw
manifested the spirit of the god of this world; so, in declaring His
message of rebuke to the prince of Tyre, the Lord describes the cause
and history of Satan's fall:
"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God.... Thou art the anointed
cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones
of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast
created, till iniquity was found in thee.... Thine heart was lifted up
because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy
brightness." Eze. 28:13-17.
Likewise, in the swelling pride of Babylon the Lord recognized the
spirit of the leader of the rebellious angels. In one of the messages to
Babylon is this reference to the vaulting ambition of Lucifer in heaven:
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer ["day-star," margin], son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the
nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isa.
14:12-14.
Lucifer, his powers now perverted to evil, deceived many of the angels,
persuading them to join him in rebellion against the government of God;
with the result that Satan and all his host were cast out. Christ said,
"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 10:18.
"Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky."
The Earth as the Battle Ground
Then the great controversy which began in heaven was transferred to this
earth, and now centers around man. For "that old serpent," the leader of
the fallen angels, deceived man, and persuaded him to distrust God and
to choose his own way in preference to God's way. Thus came sin and
death into the world. And Satan, who had overcome man at the forbidden
tree, became by his own usurpation and by man's perfidy, "the prince of
this world."
But Christ gave himself to save man, to deliver him from the bondage of
sin, and to restore him to the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The
same mighty power that overcame Satan and his angels in heaven is able
to overcome his power in human hearts and lives. The controversy is
still between Christ and Satan, and man's salvation or destruction is
the aim of the contending forces.
[Illustration: THE REDEMPTION PRICE
"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14.]
There is no neutral ground. Every soul must choose as to which side he
will yield allegiance. In this choice lies his eternal destiny.
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. 6:16.
Therefore the Lord pleads with men, "Choose life." Every soul that
chooses life has the promise of it, for Christ "is able ... to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Heb. 7:25.
The Judgment upon Satan
From the time of Satan's rebellion it was assured, by the very
omnipotence of God, that there would come a last judgment when evil
would be destroyed from the universe. This execution of judgment upon
the fallen angels is thus referred to by Jude:
"The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto
the judgment of the great day." Verse 6.
The evil spirits themselves know that this day is coming. When Christ
was about to cast certain of them out of one who was possessed, they
cried out, "Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Matt.
8:29.
Though the judgment of that last day was originally set for Satan and
his angels, unrepentant men will have a part in it, because they have
joined Satan in his lawless rebellion. To the wicked it will be said:
"Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41.
Satan sees that the day is hastening; and the shorter the time in which
to work, the greater his fury in seeking to draw souls to perdition.
The warning comes to us in these last days:
"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is
come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time." Rev. 12:12.
Christ's second coming ends the reign of Satan in this world. The wicked
are slain by the consuming glory of Christ's coming (2 Thess. 2:8); and
the righteous are taken to heaven, beyond the reach of Satan's arts (1
Thess. 4:16, 17). The archenemy and his angels are thus left upon an
earth devoid of human beings. Here he is chained for a thousand years,
in this pit of desolation (Rev. 20:2, 5), his only companions the angels
who fell with him, his only occupation the contemplation of the ruin he
has wrought and the destruction that still awaits him.
By the second resurrection--that of the wicked dead, after the thousand
years--Satan is again set free to ply his arts upon his subjects. As the
holy city comes down out of heaven from God, with all the saints, Satan
gathers his angels and all the forces of the lost of all the ages, to
make an assault upon the city. The result was shown to the prophet in
vision:
"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. And the devil that deceiveth them was cast
into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:9, 10.
That is the fate awaiting the author of sin. In the account of Satan's
pride and self-exaltation, uttered by the prophet in the message to
Tyre, there occurs also this prophecy of the utter destruction that
awaits him, when he shall bring his forces against the city of God in
that last conflict:
"I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that
behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be
astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any
more." Eze. 28:18, 19.
This is the final victory of Christ over evil, in the great controversy
that began in heaven. Satan exalted himself--and lost. Christ humbled
Himself, even unto the death--and won the eternal triumph.
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He
also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14.
[Illustration: JESUS BY THE SEA
"O Galilee, sweet Galilee,
What mem'ries rise at thought of thee!"]
[Illustration: SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR
"When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits,... should not a people seek unto their God?" Isa. 8:19.]
[Illustration: SATAN'S FIRST LIE
"Ye shall not surely die." Gen. 3:4.]
SPIRITUALISM: ANCIENT AND MODERN
The essential claim of Spiritualism is its assertion of power to hold
communication with the spirits of the dead; or rather, it claims to have
demonstrated that really there is no death.
"There is no death;
What seems so is transition."
The late Prof. Alfred Russel Wallace, the English scientist, said of
Spiritualism:--
"It demonstrates, as completely as the fact can be
demonstrated, that the so-called dead are still alive."--_"On
Miracles and Modern Spiritualism" (London, 1875), p. 212._
First Declaration of the Doctrine
In the very first book of the Bible is a similar claim: "Ye shall not
surely die." Gen. 3:4.
But this declaration, while recorded in the Scriptures, is not the word
of God. The Lord had declared to man that disobedience would bring
death. But Satan, as the tempter in Eden, caused the woman to doubt the
word of God: "The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely
die." And the woman believed the tempter rather than God, and so sinned
against the Creator.
Having tempted man to disobedience, so bringing death into the world,
what more natural, in the course of deception, than to endeavor to
persuade the human family that, after all, there is no death; that what
appears so is only an introduction to fuller life and activity? "Ye
shall not surely die."
[Illustration: PHARAOH'S SORCERERS COUNTERFEITING THE WORK OF GOD
"Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their
enchantments." Ex. 7:11.]
As mankind departed from right and lost the knowledge of God, dead
heroes were deified as gods, and much of the pagan worship consisted in
sacrifices to the spirits of the dead, supposed to be living still and
concerned with affairs in the land of the living. When Israel fell away
from God and joined the Moabites in the worship of Baal-peor, the record
says of the nature of the service:
"They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of
the dead." "Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto
devils." Ps. 106:28, 37.
Instead of dealing with the spirits of the dead, the idolatrous
worshipers were really putting themselves in direct touch with the
agencies of Satan, the fallen angels.
Divine Warnings
This explains the severity of the divine warnings against the ancient
practice of necromancy, or mediumship. The Lord said:
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards,
to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." Lev. 19:31.
[Illustration: DEMONISM IN THE DAYS OF CHRIST
"He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit." Mark 5:8.]
"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all
that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." Deut. 18:9-12.
The ancient séance, where the living sought unto the dead for knowledge,
was denounced by the prophet Isaiah:
"When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits
and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people
seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the
dead?" Isa. 8:19, A.R.V.
"To the law and to the testimony!" the prophet cries. To seek unto the
dead for knowledge is to turn from the law and the testimony, and to
take the counsel of the direct agencies of Satan, the great deceiver.
Modern Spiritualism
What Spiritualism is may best be understood by the prophetic warnings
concerning the revival of this great deception in the last days. The
apostle spoke of these days as a time when seducing spirits would lead
many away from the faith:
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils." 1 Tim. 4:1.
This deceptive working is an indication of the nearness of Christ's
second coming:
"Whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders." 2 Thess. 2:9, A.R.V.
True to the sure word, now that the last days have come, there has
arisen the movement of modern Spiritualism, with its signs and wonders,
purporting to be wrought by the spirits of the dead. Professor Wallace
says:
"Modern Spiritualism dates from March, 1848; it being then
that, for the first time, intelligent communications were held
with the unknown cause of the mysterious knockings and other
sounds similar to those which had disturbed the Mompesson and
Wesley families in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries."--_"On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism" (London,
1875), p. 146._
It was in Hydeville, N.Y., in the family of Mr. Fox, that the modern
cult originated, it being found that by mysterious but clear sounds of
knocking, unseen intelligences were able to communicate answers to
questions asked. The rapidity of the spread of the great deception was
remarkable. One of the Fox sisters, Mrs. A. Leah Underhill, wrote:
"Since that day, starting from a small country village of
western New York, Spiritualism has made its way--against
tremendous obstacles and resistance, but under an impulse and a
guidance from higher spheres--round the civilized globe.
Starting from three sisters, two of them children, and the
eldest a little beyond that age,... its ranks of believers,
privately or publicly avowed, have grown within thirty-six
years to millions."--_"The Missing Link in Modern
Spiritualism," Introduction._
Many at the time thought, as have many since, that the "rappings" with
which the manifestations began were caused by some trickery on the part
of the Fox sisters, but men of unimpeachable standing and intelligence
certified to the contrary. Horace Greeley, famous editor of the New York
_Tribune_, wrote in his paper that the sisters had visited him in his
home and courted the fullest investigation as to "the alleged
manifestations from the spirit world." As the result of his
observations, he wrote:
"Whatever may be the origin or the cause of the 'rappings,' the
ladies in whose presence they occur do not make them. We tested
this thoroughly and to our entire satisfaction."--_Id., pp.
160, 161._
It was no mere sleight of hand that launched this cult upon the world as
the last days came. Beyond all the physical manifestations, the
religious idea in Spiritualism has leavened the religious thought of
millions. No one can deny that the basic idea is the one that the
serpent promulgated in Eden, "Ye shall not surely die."
Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, another of the Fox sisters, says of the
discovery of 1848:
"On the night of the thirty-first of March, 1848, we found
beyond a shadow of a doubt or peradventure, that death had no
power over the spirit.... In a word, we found our so-called
dead were all living."--_"Nineteenth Century Miracles"
(Manchester, England), p. 554._
[Illustration: THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT
One of the historical settings of Spiritualism. A poor woman accused by
her neighbors of practicing witchcraft.]
Now the Scriptures teach plainly what these agencies in Spiritualism are
not, and what they are.
What They Are Not
They are not the spirits of the dead communicating messages to the
living.
In one of the earliest written portions of Holy Scripture, the Lord
declared plainly that the dead have no knowledge of the living:
"He passeth: Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His
sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but
he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:20, 21.
The dead have no part in any communications with the living on earth:
"Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done
under the sun." Eccl. 9:6
What They Are
Already we have told what they are in quoting the warnings of prophecy
concerning the special deceptions of Satan in the last days.
"The working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." 2
Thess. 2:9.
"Seducing spirits." 1 Tim. 4:1.
And as they were shown to the prophet John in a vision of the very end,
he declared:
"They are the spirits of devils, working miracles." Rev. 16:14.
These are the agencies through which come the supernatural
manifestations of Spiritualism. It is a terrible deception that leads
men and women to seek to satanic agencies, supposing that they are
communicating with the spirits of their dead friends. Satan and his
angels can readily simulate the personality of the dead, and so deceive
those who disobey God in seeking to the dead for knowledge.
The Climax of Deception
That the marvels of Spiritualism would increase as the end nears, was
plainly taught by our Saviour in describing the workings of Satan just
before the second advent. He left us the warning:
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt. 24:23, 24.
Evidently, then, by the miracle-working power that he possesses, Satan
will work mighty deceptions through both human and supernatural
agencies. And the crowning deception will be his own manifestation as
the Promised One, simulating Christ's second coming. But the power and
glory that will fill all earth and the heavens at Christ's coming,
cannot be copied by Satan, with all his miracle-working skill. That is
why it is so important that we understand the Bible teaching as to the
nature and manner of Christ's second advent. The doctrine of the silent,
secret, mystical coming is all abroad in the world, the teaching exactly
calculated to prepare the way for Satan's purposes of deception.
Therefore Christ forewarns us:
"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. For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be." Matt. 24:25-27.
The teachings of ancient theosophy and spiritualism--the mysticism of
the East--have been permeating Christendom in recent years. Mme. Jean
Delaire, writing in a London review, said some years ago:
"India has apparently still a mission to fulfil, for her
thought is slowly beginning to mold the thought of Europe and
of America; our keenest minds are today studying her
philosophy; our New Theology is founded upon the old, old
Vedanta."--_National Review, September, 1908, p. 131._
This flood of ancient spiritualism from the East has come about
according to Isaiah's prophecy of things that were to "come to pass in
the latter days:"
"Thou hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob, because they are
filled with customs from the East, and are soothsayers like the
Philistines." Isa. 2:6, A.R.V.
In 1909 one of the leading representatives of theosophical thought, Mrs.
Annie Besant, of India, toured America with the message of a coming
messiah. She announced:
"My message is very simple: 'Prepare for the coming Christ.' We
stand at the cradle of a new subrace, and each race or subrace
has its own messiah. Hermes is followed by Zoroaster; Zoroaster
by Orpheus; Orpheus by Buddha; Buddha by Christ. We now await
with confidence a manifestation of the Supreme Teacher of the
world, who was last manifested in Palestine. Everywhere in the
West, not less than in the East, the heart of man is throbbing
with the glad expectation of the new avatar."
The leaven of the spiritualistic philosophy has been working its way
through Christendom during this generation. We see clearly that the evil
one is preparing the way for his final work of deception.
[Illustration: HOME OF THE FOX FAMILY, HYDESVILLE, N.Y.
Spiritualism originated in this house March 31, 1848.]
[Illustration: "HE IS RISEN"
"Because I live, ye shall live also." John 14:19.
COPYRIGHT, STANDARD PUB. CO.]
[Illustration: MARY MEETS HER RISEN LORD
"He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." John
11:25.]
LIFE ONLY IN CHRIST
MAN'S NATURE AND STATE IN DEATH
A wide-open door for Spiritualism is afforded by the teaching that man
has life in himself--immortality by nature; and that death is not really
death, but another form of life.
The Scriptures close this door of false hope, teaching us that man is
mortal, that death is really death, and that immortality is the gift of
God through Christ by the resurrection from the dead.
Clearly and definitely the Bible teaches that God only has immortality,
styling Him "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords; who only hath immortality." 1 Tim. 6:15, 16.
This scripture disposes of every idea that man is immortal by nature,
and opens the way for a consideration of the Scripture teaching
concerning man's nature, his state in death, and the promise of life and
immortality in Christ.
Man by Nature Mortal
The word "mortal," as used in that ancient question by Eliphaz,
describes man's nature:
"Shall mortal man be more just than God?" Job 4:17.
In the creation, life was conditional upon the creature's relation to
Christ the Creator, in whom all things consist:
"All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that
was made. In Him was life." John 1:3,4.
He was, and is, as the psalmist says, "the fountain of life." Cut off
from vital connection with Him, there could be no continuance of life.
The Lord warned Adam that his life was conditional upon obedience. "In
the day that thou eatest thereof," He said of the forbidden tree, "thou
shalt surely die." Gen. 2:17. It was a declaration that man was not
immortal, but was dependent upon God for life.
When by unbelief and sin man rejected God, the sentence--death
eternal--must have been executed had not the plan of salvation
intervened. But as the stroke of divine justice was falling upon the
sinner, the Son of God interposed Himself and received the blow. "He was
bruised for our iniquities." In the divine plan, the great sacrifice for
man was as sure then as when, later, it was actually made on Calvary.
Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
And there Adam, the sinner, now with a fallen human nature, which would
be perpetuated in his descendants in all subsequent time, was granted an
extension of life, every moment of which, whether for him or for his
posterity, was the purchase of Christ by His own death, in order that in
this time of probation man might find forgiveness of sin and assurance
of life to come. Adam was not created immortal, but was placed on
probation, and had he continued faithful, the gift of immortality must
have been given him at some later time, after he had passed the test. As
the original plan is carried out through Christ, "the second Adam," the
gift of immortality is bestowed finally upon all who pass the test of
the judgment and are found in Christ, in whom alone is life.
Having fallen, Adam, now possessed of a sinful nature, must die. "The
wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. It was impossible that sin or sinners
should be immortalized in God's universe. So, inasmuch as the tree of
life in Eden had been made the channel of continuance of life to man,
the Lord said:
"Now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live forever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the
garden of Eden." Gen. 3:22, 23.
This negatives the idea that there could ever be an immortal sinner, who
should mar God's creation forever. Sin works out nothing but death.
"Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. Fallen
himself, Adam could bequeath to his posterity only a fallen, mortal
nature. So began the sad history summed up in the text:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.
Mortality Universal
Mortality is written upon all creation. Ages ago the wise man wrote,
"There is one event unto all: ... they go to the dead." Eccl. 9:3. Human
hearts everywhere and in all time have cried out against the
remorselessness of the great enemy. "Do people die with you?" was the
question met by Livingstone in the untraveled wilds of Africa. "Have you
no charm against death?" The Greek as well as the barbarian confessed to
the helplessness of man before the great enemy. Centuries before Christ,
Sophocles the Athenian wrote:
"Wonders are many! and none is there greater than man, who
Steers his ship over the sea, driven on by the south wind,
Cleaving the threatening swell of the waters around him.
"He captures the gay-hearted birds; he entangles adroitly
Creatures that live on the land and the brood of the ocean,
Spreading his well-woven nets. Man full of devices!
"Speech and swift thought free as wind, the building of cities;
Shelters to ward off the arrows of rain, and to temper
Sharp-biting frost--all these hath he taught himself. Surely
Stratagem hath he for all that comes! Never the future
Finds him resourceless! Deftly he combats grievous diseases,
Oft from their grip doth he free himself. Death alone vainly--
Vainly he seeks to escape; 'gainst death he is helpless."
--_Chorus from Antigone._
What unspeakable pathos in the cry of humanity's helplessness before
death, the great enemy! But when Adam went out of Eden, it was with the
assurance of life from the dead through the promised Seed, if faithful.
It is the message of the one gospel for all time--everlasting life in
Christ.
[Illustration: JESUS RAISING THE SON OF THE WIDOW OF NAIN
"The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom.
6:23.]
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." John 3:16.
As there is none other name under heaven by which men can be saved, so
there is no other way of everlasting life or immortality, save in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
When Immortality is Bestowed
Christ said, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in
Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." John 11:25.