ON THE FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY YET FUTURE.
What is Prophecy but History reversed?
Having made the discovery and produced sufficient proof that the
prophecies, thus far, have been LITERALLY fulfilled--to the very
letter--we hope the reader will never lose sight of the same rule with
regard to those yet future. And, while we stand upon the threshold of
futurity, with the wonders of unborn time about to open upon our view,
presenting before our astonished vision the most mighty and majestic
scenes, the most astonishing revolutions, the most extraordinary
destructions, as well as the most miraculous displays of the power and
majesty of Jehovah, in His great restoration of His long dispersed
covenant people from the four quarters of the earth: I say, as these
scenes are about to open to our view, let us bow before the great I
AM, in the name of Jesus, and pray in faith for His Spirit to enlarge
our hearts and enlighten our minds, that we may understand and believe
all that is written, however miraculous it may be. But, O! kind
reader, whoever you are, if you are not prepared for persecution, if
you are unprepared to have your name cast out as evil, if you cannot
bear to be called a knave, an impostor, or madman, or one that hath a
devil; or if you are bound by the creeds of men to believe just so
much and no more, you had better stop here; for if you were to believe
the things written in the Bible that are yet to come, you will be
under the necessity of believing miracles, signs and wonders,
revelations, and manifestations of the power of God, even beyond
anything that any former generation has witnessed; yes, you will
believe that the waters will be divided and Israel go through dryshod,
as they journey to their own land, as they did in the days of Moses;
for no man ever yet believed the Bible without believing and expecting
such glorious events in the latter days. And I will now venture to say
that a believer in the Bible would be something that very few men have
ever seen in this generation, with all its boasted religion: for there
is a great difference between believing the book to be true when shut,
and believing the things therein written. It is now considered in
Christendom a great disgrace not to believe the Bible when _shut_: but
whosoever tries the experiment will find it a greater disgrace to
believe that the things therein written will surely come to pass.
Indeed, it is our firm belief in the things written in the Bible, and
careful teaching of them, that is one great cause of the persecution
we suffer. For let the prophecies be understood by the people, and let
them roll on in their fulfilment, and this will blow to the four winds
every religious craft in Christendom, and cause the kingdom of Christ
to rise upon their ruins, while the actual _knowledge_ of the _truth_
will cover the earth as the waters do the sea.
Having said so much by way of caution, if there are any of my readers
so bold, and regardless of consequences, as to dare with me to gaze
upon the future, we will commence with Isaiah xi, 11, 12, 15, 16: "And
it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and
from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations,
and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. And the LORD
shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea; and with his
mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it
in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be
an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from
Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of
the land of Egypt."
Here you behold an ensign to be reared for the nations; not only for
the dispersed of Judah, but the outcasts of Israel. The Jews are
called dispersed, because they are scattered among the nations; but
the ten tribes are called outcasts, because they are cast out from the
knowledge of the nations, into a land by themselves. Now, the reader
will bear in mind that the ten tribes have not dwelt in the land
of Canaan since they were led captive by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria.
We have also presented before us, in the fifteenth verse, the
marvelous power of God, which will be displayed in the destruction of
a small branch of the Red Sea, called the tongue of the Egyptian Sea;
and also the dividing of the seven streams of some river, and causing
men to go over dryshod; and, lest any should not understand it
_literally_, the fifteenth verse says: "There shall be a highway for
the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, _like as
it was to Israel when he came up out of the land of Egypt_." Now, we
have only to ask whether, in the days of Moses, the Red Sea was
_literally_ divided, or whether it was only a figure? For as it was
then so shall it be again. And yet we are told by modern divines that
the days of miracles have gone forever; and those who believe in
miracles, in our day, are counted as impostors, or, at least, poor
ignorant fanatics, and the public are warned against them, as false
teachers who would, if possible, deceive the very elect. On the
subject of this restoration the Prophets have spoken so fully and
repeatedly, that we can only notice a few of the most striking
instances, which will go to show the particular circumstances and
incidents attending it, and the manner and means of its
accomplishment. The sixteenth chapter of Jeremiah, fourteenth,
fifteenth and sixteenth verses, says: "Therefore, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth
that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but,
the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land
of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I
will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall
fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt
them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of
the rocks." Now it has ever been the case with Israel, when they
wished to express the greatness of their God, to say, The Lord liveth,
which brought up our fathers out of the land of Egypt. This saying at
once called to mind the power and miracles of that memorable event,
and associated with it all that was great and grand, and was
calculated to strike the mind with awe, under a lively sense of the
power of Israel's God. But, to our astonishment, something is yet to
transpire which will cast into momentary forgetfulness all the great
events of that day, and the children of Israel shall know that their
God liveth, by casting their minds upon events of recent date, which
shall have transpired, still more glorious and wonderful than their
coming out of Egypt. They will exclaim, The Lord liveth, which
recently brought the children of Israel from the north, and from all
lands whither He had driven them, and hath planted them in the land of
Canaan, which He gave our fathers. With this idea will be associated
every display of grandeur and sublimity, of wonder and amazement;
while they call to mind the revelations, manifestations, miracles and
mercies displayed in bringing about this great event, in the eyes of
all the nations. In view of this, Jeremiah exclaims, in the last verse
of this chapter: "Therefore, behold, I will _this once_ cause them to
know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall
know that my name is the Lord."
But the means made use of to bring about this glorious event are, not
only the raising of a standard, the lifting up of an ensign, so that
we may know when the time is fulfilled, but fishers and hunters are to
be employed to fish and hunt them from every mountain, from every
hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. Let the reader mark here: men
were not to send missionaries, who were not inspired, to go and teach
Israel several hundred different doctrines, and opinions of men, and
to tell them they supposed the time had about arrived for them to
gather; but the God of heaven is to call men by actual revelation,
direct from heaven, and to tell them who Israel is; who the Indians of
America are, if they should be of Israel; and also where the ten
tribes are, and all the scattered remnants of that long lost people.
He it is who is to give them their errand and mission, and to clothe
them with power from on high to execute the great work, in defiance of
opposing elements, and all the opposition of earth and hell combined.
But do you ask: "Why is the Lord to commission men by actual
revelation?" I reply, because He has no other way of sending men in
any age. "No man," says the Apostle, "taketh this honor upon himself,
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Now, we all acknowledge
that Aaron was called by revelation.
Now the great Jehovah never did, nor never will, acknowledge the
priesthood or ministry of any man who is not called by revelation, and
inspired, as in days of old. But, "O!" says the reader, "you startle
me, for the whole train of modern divines profess no revelation later
than the Bible, and no direct inspiration or supernatural gift of the
Spirit. Do you cast them all off, and say that they have no
authority?" I reply, No, for the Bible does it, and I only humbly
acquiesce in the decision, as they are nowhere known in the Scripture,
except as teachers whom the people have heaped to themselves (the word
heap does not mean a few, but many). But to prove more fully that God
will give revelations in order to bring about this glorious work, we
will refer you to Ezekiel xx, 33-38. It reads: "As I live, saith the
Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and
with fury poured out, will I rule over you; and I will bring you out
from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye
are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and
with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the
people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I
pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so
will I plead with you, saith the Lord God, And I will cause you to
pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
covenant, and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them
that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the country
where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel;
and ye shall know that I am the Lord."
You discover that this promise begins with a double assurance: first,
with an oath, _as I live_; second, with an assurance, _surely, with a
mighty hand_, etc. And, in the close of the same chapter, lest the
people should possibly misunderstand him, he exclaims: "O Lord, they
say of me, doth he not speak in parables?" Here we have the children
of Israel brought from among all nations, with a mighty hand and a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out (O ye nations who oppose
these things, beware, remember Pharaoh, and learn wisdom), we see them
brought into the wilderness of the people; and there the Lord is to
plead with them, face to face, just as he did with their fathers in
the wilderness of Egypt. This pleading face to face can never be done
without revelation, and a personal manifestation, as much so as in old
times. Now I ask, were all His manifestations to Israel in the
wilderness mere fables not to be understood literally? If so, this
will be so too; for one will be precisely like the other, no parable,
but a glorious reality. He will cause them to pass under the rod, and
bring them into the bond of the covenant.
This brings to mind the new covenant so often promised in the
Scriptures, to be made with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah, just in time to gather them from their long dispersion. Some
may suppose that the new covenant which was to gather Israel made its
appearance in the days of Christ and his Apostles. But Paul tells us
it was yet future in his day. So, in his eleventh chapter to the
Romans, he says, "that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be
saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant
unto them, when I shall take away their sins." From this we learn that
Paul placed that covenant in the future, even down to the restoration
of Israel, in the last days, when the times of the Gentiles should be
fulfilled. Then there should come a Deliverer for Israel, and not
before, seeing that they had rejected the first coming of that
Deliverer. And he himself said to the Jews: "Behold, your house is
left unto you desolate; for I say unto you, ye shall not see me
henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord." Then, and not until then, should the covenant be renewed
with Israel. And even when the Apostles inquired, saying, "Wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" the Savior made
answer, that it was not for them to know the times and seasons which
the Father had put in His own power; but they were to receive power,
and bear witness of Him, etc.; as much as to say, that work is not for
you Apostles to accomplish, but shall be done in the Lord's own time,
by whom He will; but go ye and do the work I have commanded you.
Again, Isaiah, lxi, 8, 9, in speaking of this covenant, tells us that
it should make their seed known among the Gentiles, and their
offspring among the people; and should cause all that see them to
acknowledge them that they are the seed that the Lord hath blessed.
Now, we know that it is a question which can only be decided by
revelation, whether the aborigines of America are the seed of Jacob or
not. Again, it is a matter of uncertainty where the ten tribes are, or
who they are; but the new covenant, whenever it makes its appearance,
will reveal these things, and will leave the matter no longer in
suspense; we shall then know their seed among the Gentiles, and their
offspring among the people. But, O! how different was the effect of
the covenant made eighteen hundred years ago in its effects upon
Israel; it cast them off in unbelief, and caused all that have seen
them or heard of them ever since to acknowledge that they are the seed
that the Lord hath _cursed_. When the covenant is renewed in the last
days, the Lord will bring them into the bond of the covenant, by
manifesting Himself to them face to face. Let me inquire, How does God
make a covenant with the people in any age? The answer is, By
communicating His will to them by actual revelation; for, without
this, it would be impossible to make a covenant between two parties.
In order to illustrate this subject, let us bring an example. We see
how we make covenants with each other. For instance, a young man
wishes to enter into a covenant of matrimony with a young lady; but
deprive him of the privilege of revealing his mind to her, cut off all
direct communication between them, and a covenant could never be made;
and so it is with the Almighty. He never did enter into a covenant
with His creatures, without revelations; and He never can do it. In
short, whenever He made a covenant with the people, where a whole
people were concerned, He included in the covenant the priesthood,
offices, and authorities, together with the ordinances and blessings
which pertain to His covenant; and so will He do at this time.
Whenever the new covenant is established, it will organize the kingdom
of God with all its offices, ordinances, gifts, and blessings as in
the days of old; but more of this when we come to treat of the kingdom
of God.
"But," says the inquirer, "what need have we of the renewal of a
covenant which has never been broken? If the Lord made a covenant in
the days of the Apostles, called a new covenant, why should that
covenant still be renewed again, seeing it is in full force, until it
is broken by one party or the other?" This is an important inquiry,
involving the fate of all Christendom in its decision; we must
therefore be very careful to make the decision perfectly plain, and
the proof easy to be understood. That there was a covenant made
between God and the people in the days of Christ and His Apostles,
none will attempt to deny, and if that covenant never has been broken,
it must be of force to the present day, and consequently there is no
need of a new one. It therefore remains for us to prove that that
covenant has been broken, completely broken, so that it is not in
force, either among Jews or Gentiles, having lost its offices,
authorities, powers, and blessings, insomuch that they are nowhere to
be found among men. In order to do this, we must examine what were its
offices, authorities, powers, and blessings, and then see whether they
are still known among men.
We read that its offices consisted of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
Pastors, and Teachers, all inspired and set in the Church, by the Lord
Himself, for the edifying of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
etc. And they were to continue in the Church, wherever it was found,
until they all came to the unity of the faith, and unto the measure of
the stature of a man in Christ.
Secondly, the gifts of the Spirit, which some call supernatural, were
the powers and blessings which pertained to that covenant, wherever it
existed, among the Jews or the Gentiles, so long as the covenant was
of force. Now, I would ask the world of Christendom, or either of its
sects or parties, if they have Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
Pastors and Teachers inspired from on high, together with all the
gifts and blessings of the Holy Spirit, which pertained to the Gospel
covenant? If not, then the offices and powers of that covenant have
been lost. And it must be through the breaking of that covenant that
they were lost, for in this way the Jews lost these privileges, when
they were handed to the Gentiles. And Paul told the Gentiles, in his
eleventh chapter to the Romans, that if they did not abide in the
goodness of God, they would fall, as the Jews had done before them.
But in order to prove, by further demonstration, that the Gospel
covenant has been broken, by Jew and Gentile, and all people, so as to
be no longer in force, I shall quote Isaiah, xxiv, 1-6: "Behold, the
Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it
upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it
shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant,
so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with
the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the
borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to
him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the
Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the
world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do
languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;
BECAUSE THEY HAVE TRANSGRESSED THE LAWS, CHANGED THE ORDINANCE, BROKEN
THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth,
and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of
the earth are burned, and few men left." In these few verses, we
discover a like calamity awaiting priests and people, rich and poor,
bond and free, insomuch that they are all to be burned up but a few;
and the complaint is that the earth is defiled under the inhabitants
thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. Now this could not be
speaking of any other than the covenant, ordinance, and laws of the
Gospel, made with the people in the days of the Apostles; because,
however any former covenant may have been broken, yet the inhabitants
of the earth have never been destroyed by fire, all but a few, for
having broken any previous covenant. But this destruction is to come
by fire, as literally as the flood in the days of Noah; and it will
consume both priests and people from the earth, and that, too, for
having broken the covenant of the Gospel, with its laws and its
ordinances; or else we must get a new edition of the Bible, leaving
out the twenty-fourth of Isaiah.
Now, having settled this question, I trust the reader will see the
need of a new covenant, in order to save the few that are not to be
burned. We will therefore drop this subject for the present, and turn
again to the subject of the gathering of Israel. You will please turn
and read the thirty-sixth, thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and
thirty-ninth chapters of Ezekiel. In the thirty-sixth chapter you will
discover a promise that Israel are to return from all the nations
whither they have been scattered, and to be brought again to the land
which God gave to their fathers; Jerusalem is to be filled with flocks
of men, and all the desolate cities of Judea are to be rebuilt, fenced
and inhabited; the land is to be fenced, tilled and sown, insomuch
that they shall say: "This land that was desolate is become like the
garden of Eden." "I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it; and the
heathen shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant
that that was desolate." "So shall the waste cities be filled with
flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord." In the
thirty-seventh chapter you will find, after the vision of the
resurrection of the dead, the Prophet goes on to speak of the two
nations becoming one nation upon the mountains of Israel, and one king
being king to them all; and when this takes place, they are no more to
be divided into two kingdoms. Moreover, the Lord's tabernacle is to be
with them, and His sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. He will
forever be their God, and they shall be His people. "And the heathen
shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall
be in the midst of them forevermore." Now, it is a fact well known,
that Judah and the ten tribes have never been one nation, upon the
mountains of Israel, since the day they were first divided into two
nations.
But, when this does take place, even the very heathen are to know it,
and are to be convinced of the true God, as was Cyrus. Now if the
missionaries should convert the world, before the Lord does this great
work, then it will save the Lord the trouble of doing it in His own
way, and it will save the trouble of fulfilling the Prophets, and the
word of the Lord will fail, and all the world lay hold of infidelity.
Well did the Lord say: "My ways are not as your ways, nor my thoughts
as your thoughts." Chapters xxxviii and xxxix present us with a view
of many nations united under one great head, whom the Lord is pleased
to call Gog; and being mounted on horseback, and armed with all sorts
of armor, they come up against the mountains of Israel, as a cloud to
cover the land; their object is to take a prey, to take away silver
and gold, and cattle, and goods in great abundance.
This is an event which is to transpire after the return of the Jews,
and the rebuilding of Jerusalem; while the towns and the land of Judea
are without walls, having neither bars nor gates. But while they are
at the point to swallow up the Jews, and lay waste their country,
behold the Lord's fury comes up in His face, a mighty earthquake is
the result, insomuch that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the
air, and all the creeping things, and all men upon the face of the
earth, shall shake at His presence, and every wall shall fall to the
ground, and every man's sword shall be turned against his neighbor in
this army, and the Lord shall rain upon Gog, and upon his bands, and
upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, great
hailstones, fire and brimstone. And thus He will magnify Himself, and
sanctify Himself, in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know
that He is the Lord; thus they shall fall upon the open field, upon
the mountains of Israel, even Gog and all his army, horses and
horsemen; and the Jews shall go forth and gather the weapons of war,
such as handstaves, spears, shields, bows and arrows; and these
weapons shall last the cities of Israel seven years for fuel, so that
they shall cut no wood out of the forest, for they shall burn the
weapons with the fire; and they shall spoil those that spoiled them,
and rob those that robbed them, and they shall gather gold and silver,
and apparel, in great abundance.
At this time the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field shall
have a great feast; yea, they are to eat fat until they be full, and
drink blood until they be drunken. They are to eat the flesh of
captains, and kings, and mighty men, and all men of war. But the Jews
will have a very serious duty to perform, which will take no less than
seven months; namely, the burying of their enemies. They will select a
place on the east side of the sea, called the Valley of the
Passengers, and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude, and
they shall call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. And the scent shall go
forth, insomuch that it shall stop the noses of the passengers; thus
shall they cleanse the land. "And I will set my glory among the
heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have
executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them: so the house of
Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and
forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into
captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me,
therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of
their enemies; so fell they all by the sword. According to their
uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, have I done unto
them, and hid myself from them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Now
will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the
whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name: after
that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby
they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their own
land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from
the people, and gathered them out of their enemy's lands, and am
sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know
that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into
captivity among the heathen; but I have gathered them into their own
land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide
my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the
house of Israel, saith the Lord God."
In the foregoing, we discover that the heathen are to know that the
house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, and are
gathered again by the hand of God, after having borne their shame for
all their trespasses: and the house of Israel will know that it was
the Lord their God who caused them to be led into captivity among the
heathen, and that He it was that gathered and defended them, and He
will hide His face no more from them, but will pour out His Spirit
upon them.
O ye blind, ye stiffnecked, ye hardhearted generation, with the Bible
circulated among all nations, will whole nations be so blind as to
fulfil this prophecy, and not know it until it brings destruction upon
their own heads? Why all this blindness? Alas! it is because of false
teachers, who will tell them the Bible must be spiritualized. Others
declare that these prophecies can never be understood until they are
fulfilled. If this be the case, then we can never escape the judgments
predicted in them, but must continue the children of darkness, until
they come upon us unawares and sweep us from the earth. Then, where
will be the consolation of looking back and seeing them fulfilled? But
blessed be God, He has told us by the mouth of Daniel that many shall
run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, and that the wise
shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. And now, I
would ask, who are more wicked than the wilfully blind leaders of the
blind, who tell us we cannot understand the Scriptures?
Zachariah, in his fourteenth chapter, has told us much concerning the
great battle and overthrow of the nations who fight against Jerusalem;
and he has said, in plain words, that the Lord shall come at the very
time of the overthrow of that army; yes, in fact, even while they are
in the act of taking Jerusalem, and have already succeeded in taking
one half the city, and spoiling their houses, and ravishing their
women. Then, behold their long expected Messiah, suddenly appearing,
shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, a little east of Jerusalem, to
fight against those nations and deliver the Jews. Zachariah says, The
Mount of Olives shall cleave in twain, from east to west, and one half
of the mountain shall remove to the north, while the other half falls
off to the south, suddenly forming a very great valley, into which the
Jews shall flee for protection from their enemies, as they fled from
the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah; while the Lord
cometh and all the saints with him. Then will the Jews behold that
long, long expected Messiah, coming in power to their deliverance, as
they always looked for Him. He will destroy their enemies, and deliver
them from trouble at the very time they are in the utmost
consternation, and about to be swallowed up by their enemies.
But what will be their astonishment, when they are about to fall at
the feet of their Deliverer, and acknowledge him their Messiah! They
discover the wounds which were once made in his hands, feet, and side;
and, on inquiry, at once recognize Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the
Jews, the man so long rejected. Well did the Prophet say, they should
mourn and weep, every family apart, and their wives apart. But, thank
heaven, there will be an end to their mourning; for He will forgive
their iniquities, and cleanse them from all uncleanness. Jerusalem
shall be a holy city from that time forth, and all the land shall be
turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon, and she shall be lifted up and
inhabited in her place, and men shall dwell there, and there shall be
no more utter destruction of Jerusalem; "and in that day there shall
be one Lord, and His name one, and He shall be King over all the
earth."
John, in his eleventh chapter of Revelations, gives us many more
particulars concerning this same event. He informs us that, after the
city and temple are rebuilt by the Jews, the Gentiles will tread it
underfoot forty and two months, during which time there will be two
Prophets continually prophesying and working mighty miracles. And it
seems that the Gentile army shall be hindered from utterly destroying
and overthrowing the city, while these two Prophets continue. But,
after a struggle of three years and a half, they at length succeed in
destroying these two Prophets, and then overrunning much of the city;
they send gifts to each other because of the death of the two
Prophets, and in the mean time will not allow their dead bodies to be
put in graves, but suffer them to lie in the streets of Jerusalem
three days and a half; during which the armies of the Gentiles,
consisting of many kindreds, tongues, and nations, passing through the
city, plundering the Jews, see their dead bodies lying in the street.
But, after three days and a half, on a sudden, the spirit of life from
God enters them, and they will arise and stand upon their feet, and
great fear will fall upon them that see them. And then they shall hear
a voice from heaven, saying, "Come up hither," and they will ascend up
to heaven in a cloud, their enemies beholding them. And, having
described all these things, then come the shaking, spoken of by
Ezekiel, and the rending of the Mount of Olives, spoken of by
Zachariah. John says: "The same hour there was a great earthquake, and
the tenth part of the city fell; and in the earthquake were slain of
men seven thousand." And then one of the next scenes that follow is
the sound of voices, saying: "The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever
and ever."
Now, having summed up the description of these great events spoken of
by these Prophets, I would just remark, there is no difficulty in
understanding them all to be perfectly plain and literal in their
fulfilment.
Suffice it to say, the Jews gather home, and rebuild Jerusalem. The
nations gather against them to battle. Their armies encompass the
city, and have more or less power over it for three years and a half.
A couple of Jewish Prophets, by their mighty miracles, keep them from
utterly overcoming the Jews; until at length they are slain, and the
city is left in a great measure to the mercy of their enemies for
three days and a half; the two Prophets rise from the dead and ascend
up into heaven. The Messiah comes, convulses the earth, overthrows the
army of the Gentiles, delivers the Jews, cleanses Jerusalem, cuts off
all wickedness from the earth, raises the saints from the dead, brings
them with Him, and commences His reign for a thousand years; during
which time His Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh; men and
beasts, birds and serpents, will be perfectly harmless, and peace and
the knowledge and glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea; and the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High.
During this thousand years, Satan will be bound, and have no power to
tempt the children of men. And the earth itself will be delivered from
the curse, which came by reason of the Fall. The rough places will
become smooth, the barren deserts fruitful; the mountains leveled; the
valleys exalted; the thorn and thistle shall no more be found, but all
the earth shall yield her increase in abundance to the saints of God.
But, after the thousand years are ended, then shall Satan be loosed,
and shall go out to deceive the nations which dwell in the four
quarters of the earth, to gather them to battle, and to bring them up
to battle against the camp of the saints. Then the great and last
struggle shall take place between God and Satan, for the empire of the
earth. Satan and his army shall be overthrown. And after these great
things, come the end of the earth, the resurrection of the wicked, and
the last judgment. And there shall be a new earth and a new heaven,
for the former earth and the former heaven shall have passed away,
that is, they will be changed from temporal to eternal, and made fit
for the abode of immortals. Then cometh Jerusalem down from God, out
of heaven, having been renewed as well as the heavens and the earth.
"For," says He, "behold, I make all things new."
This new city, placed upon the new earth, with the Lord God and the
Lamb in the midst, seems to be man's eternal abode, insomuch that,
after all our longings for a place beyond the bounds of time and
space, as saith the poet, we are at last brought to our proper senses,
and given to understand that man is destined forever to inherit this
selfsame planet, upon which he was first created, which shall be
redeemed, sanctified, renewed, purified, and prepared as an eternal
inheritance for immortality and eternal life; with the holy city for
its capital, the throne of God in the midst, for its seat of
government; and watered with a stream, clear as crystal, called the
Waters of Life, issuing from the throne of Jehovah; while either side
is adorned with trees of never fading beauty. "Blessed are they that
do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city." By this time we
begin to understand the words of the Savior: "Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth." And also the song which John heard
in heaven, which ended thus: "We shall reign on the EARTH."
Reader, do not be startled; suppose you were to be caught up into
heaven, there to stand with the redeemed of every nation, kindred,
tongue, and people, and join them in singing, and to your
astonishment, all heaven is filled with joy, while they tune the
immortal lyre, in joyful anticipation of one day reigning on the
earth--a planet now under the dominion of Satan, the abode of
wretchedness and misery, from which your glad spirit had taken its
flight, and, as you supposed, an everlasting farewell. You might
perhaps be startled for a moment, and inquire within yourself: "Why
have I never heard this theme sung among the churches on earth?" Well,
my friend, the answer would be--"Because you lived in a day when
people did not understand the Scriptures."
Abraham would tell you, you should have read the promise of God to
him, Gen. xvii, 8, where God not only promised the land of Canaan to
his seed for an everlasting possession, but also to him. Then you
should have read the testimony of Stephen, Acts, vii, 5, by which you
would have ascertained that Abraham never had inherited the things
promised, but was still expecting to rise from the dead and be brought
into the land of Canaan, to inherit them. "Yes," says Ezekiel, "if you
had read the thirty-seventh chapter of my prophecies, you would have
found a positive promise, that God would open the graves of the whole
house of Israel, who were dead, and gather up their dry bones, and put
them together, each to its own proper place, and even clothe them
again with flesh, sinews, and skin, and put His Spirit in them, and
they should live; and then, instead of being caught up to heaven, they
should be brought into the land of Canaan, which the Lord gave them,
and they should inherit it."
But, still astonished, you might turn to Job; and he, surprised to
find one unacquainted with so plain a subject, would exclaim: "Did you
never read my nineteenth chapter, from the twenty-third to the
twenty-seventh verses, where I declare, I wish my words were written
in a book, saying, that my Redeemer would stand on the earth in the
latter-day; and that I should see Him in the flesh, for myself, and
not another; though worms should destroy this body?" Even David, the
sweet singer of Israel, would call to your mind the thirty-seventh
Psalm, where he repeatedly declares that the meek shall inherit the
earth forever, after the wicked are cut off from the face thereof.
And last of all, to set the matter forever at rest, the voice of the
Savior would mildly fall upon your ear, in his sermon on the mount,
declaring emphatically: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth." To these things you would answer: "I have read these
passages, to be sure, but was always taught to believe that they did
not mean so, therefore, I never understood them until now. Let me go
and tell the people what wonders have opened to my view, since my
arrival in heaven, merely from having heard one short song. It is
true, I have heard much of the glories of heaven described, while on
earth, but never once thought of their rejoicing in anticipation of
returning to the earth." Says the Savior: "They have Moses and the
Prophets; if they will not believe them, neither would they believe
although one should rise from the dead."
We will now return to the subject of the coming of Messiah, and the
ushering in of that glorious day, called the Millennium, or rest of a
thousand years. We gather from the field of prophecy, through which we
have passed: first, that that glorious day will be ushered in by the
personal coming of Christ, and the resurrection of all the saints;
second, that all the wicked will be destroyed from the earth, by
overwhelming judgments of God, and by fire, at the time of His coming,
insomuch that the earth will be cleansed by fire from its wicked
inhabitants, as it once was by water; and this burning will include
priests as well as people: all but a few shall be burned. This burning
more especially applies to the fallen church, rather than to the
heathen or Jews, whom they are now trying to convert. Woe unto you,
Gentiles, who call yourselves the people of the Lord, but have made
void the law of God by your traditions; for in vain do you call Lord,
Lord, and do not the things which Jesus commands; in vain do ye
worship Him, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Behold,
the sword of vengeance hangs over you, and except you repent, it will
soon fall upon you; and it will be more tolerable in that day for the
Jews and heathen than for you. Behold, ye flatter yourselves that the
glorious day spoken of by the Prophets will be ushered in by your
modern inventions and moneyed plans, which are got up in order to
convert the Jews and heathen to the various sectarian principles now
existing among yourselves; and you expect, when this is done, to
behold a millennium after your own heart. But the Jews and heathen
never will be converted, as a people, to any other plan than that laid
down in the Bible for the great restoration of Israel. And _you
yourselves_ are laboring under a broken covenant, and ripening for the
fire as fast as possible. But do not count me your enemy because I
tell you the truth, for God is my witness that I love your souls too
well to keep back any truth from you, however severe it may seem. The
wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy. Now,
concerning the signs of the times, the inquiry often arises: "When
shall these things be, and what signs shall there be when these things
shall come to pass?" I am often asked the question, whether it is near
at hand; I will therefore tell you all, whereby you may know for
yourselves when it is nigh, even at the doors, and not be dependent on
the knowledge of others.
Now, you behold the apple tree, and all the trees, when they begin to
shoot forth their leaves, ye know of your own selves that summer is
nigh at hand; and so likewise when ye shall see great earthquakes,
famines, pestilence, and plagues of every kind; the sea breaking
beyond its bounds, and all things in commotion; the nations distressed
with perplexity; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking
for the things which are coming on the earth; when you see signs in
the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor
of smoke, the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood, and stars
hurled from their courses; when you see the Jews gathering to
Jerusalem, and the armies of the nations gathering against them to
battle, you may know, with a perfect knowledge, that Christ's coming
is near, even at the doors. "_Verily, I say_ unto you, _this_
generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but not one word of all that the Lord has
spoken by the mouth of His holy Prophets and Apostles shall fail.
Whoever will look to the word of the Prophets, and to the sayings of
Jesus Christ, on this subject, the same will be convinced that all the
signs of which I have spoken are clearly pointed out as the signs of
His coming. But, notwithstanding all these things are written, His
coming will overtake the world unawares, as the flood did the people
in the days of Noah. The reason is, they will not understand the
Prophets. They will not endure sound doctrine; their ears are turned
away from the truth, and turned to fables, because of false teachers,
and the precepts of men; and what is still worse, when God sends men
with the New and Everlasting Covenant, and clothes them with boldness
to testify to the truth, they will be treated as the servants of God
have been before them by the fallen churches; every church will cleave
to its own way, and will unite in saying: "There is no need of these
new things, the good old way is right;" while at the same time they
are walking in as many different ways as there are sects, and only
agree in persecuting and speaking all manner of evil against the
fishers and hunters whom God shall send. But, thank heaven, there are
individuals in every sect who are humbly seeking the truth, and who
will know the voice of truth, and be gathered out, and planted in the
New and Everlasting Covenant; and they will be adopted into the family
of Israel, and will be gathered with them, and be partakers of the
same covenant of promise. Yea, as Jeremiah says, in the sixteenth
chapter of his Prophecies: "The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the
ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited
lies, vanities, and things wherein there is no profit." But as the
Jews overlooked Christ's first coming, by not understanding the
Prophets, and fastening their whole expectations on His glorious
coming in the last days, to restore the kingdom to Israel, and avenge
them of their enemies, and, by this mistake, were broken and
scattered; so the Gentiles will overlook the prophecies concerning His
second coming, by confounding them with the last judgment, which is to
take place more than a thousand years afterward. But this fatal
mistake, instead of causing the Gentiles to be broken and scattered,
will cause them to be ground to powder.
O my brethren, according to the flesh, my soul mourns over you, and
had I a voice like a trumpet, I would cry, Awake, awake and arouse
from your slumber, for the time is fulfilled, your destruction is at
the door, "for I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts, a consumption,
even determined upon the whole earth!" Prepare to meet your God I And
again, Awake, O house of Israel, and lift up your heads, for your
redemption draweth nigh: yea, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from
hence, gather home from your long dispersion, rebuild your cities;
yea, go ye out from the nations, from one end of heaven to the other;
but let not your flight be in haste, for the Lord shall go before you,
and the God of Israel shall be your rearward! And finally, I would say
to all, both Jew and Gentile, Repent ye, repent ye, for the great day
of the Lord is at hand; for if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice,
and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the
day cometh, when the thunders shall utter their voices to the ends of
the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying: "Repent, and
prepare for the great day of the Lord?" Yea, again, when the
lightnings shall streak from the east unto the west, and shall utter
forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all that
hear to tingle, saying these words: "Repent ye, for the great day of
the Lord is come?" And again, the Lord shall utter His voice out of
heaven, saying: "Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the
words of that God who made you: O ye nations of the earth, how oft
would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, but ye would not! How often have I called upon you by
the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by
mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of
lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of
earthquakes and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famine and
pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trumpet, and by
the voice of judgments, and by the voice of mercy, all the day long,
and by the voice of glory and honor, and the riches of eternal life,
and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but you would
not! Behold, the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine
indignation is full."