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Title: Our Day
In the Light of Prophecy
Author: W. A. Spicer
Release Date: June 5, 2006 [EBook #18503]
Language: English
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OUR DAY
In the Light of Prophecy
[Illustration: JESUS WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM
"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace!" Luke 19:42.]
OUR DAY
In the Light of Prophecy
By W.A. SPICER
"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:4.
SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
FORT WORTH, TEXAS ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Copyrighted, 1917, by
REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
Copyrighted in London, England
All Rights Reserved
CONTENTS
THE BOOK THAT SPEAKS TO OUR DAY 13
THE WITNESS OF THE CENTURIES 25
PROPHETIC OUTLINE OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY 39
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST 51
SIGNS OF THE APPROACHING END 65
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE OF 1755 79
THE DARK DAY OF 1780 85
THE FALLING STARS OF 1833 93
THE MEANING OF PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS 105
THE HISTORIC PROPHECY OF DANIEL 7 117
THE 1260 YEARS OF DANIEL'S PROPHECY 131
DAWN OF A NEW ERA 139
THE WORK OF THE "LITTLE HORN" POWER 145
THE BIBLE SABBATH 159
GLIMPSES OF SABBATH KEEPING AFTER NEW TESTAMENT TIMES 173
THE LAW OF GOD 183
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 191
BAPTISM 199
THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL 8 205
THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY IN TYPE AND ANTITYPE 213
A GREAT PROPHETIC PERIOD 219
THE PROPHECY FULFILLED 229
A WORLD-WIDE MOVEMENT 239
THE JUDGMENT-HOUR MESSAGE 247
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL 257
SPIRITUALISM: ANCIENT AND MODERN 265
LIFE ONLY IN CHRIST 275
THE END OF THE WICKED 287
ANGELS: THEIR MINISTRY 295
THE TIME OF THE END 303
THE EASTERN QUESTION 321
ARMAGEDDON 337
THE MILLENNIUM 351
THE HOME OF THE SAVED 361
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
JESUS WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM _Frontispiece_
THE GOOD SHEPHERD 12
HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT 16
CHRIST'S WEAPON OF DEFENSE--THE WORD OF GOD 19
ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS 24
THE GREAT IMAGE 38
BABYLON IN HER GLORY 40
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL 42
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST 50
CHRIST COMING IN GLORY 58
CHRIST ANSWERING HIS DISCIPLES' QUESTIONS 64
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM BY THE ROMANS UNDER TITUS, A.D. 70 68
THE CATACOMBS NEAR ROME 72
LISBON FROM ACROSS THE BAY 78
MIDDAY AT SEA, MAY 19, 1780 84
THE GREAT METEORIC SHOWER, NOV. 13, 1833 92
THE SIGN OF FIRE 98
SATAN OFFERS GOLD, AND THE WORLD STAMPEDES TO ITS
DESTRUCTION 104
A FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT 108
THE SUNSET HOUR 114
PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH 116
ROME ON THE TIBER 124
THE INVASION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE HUNS 128
RAISING THE SIEGE OF ROME, A.D. 538 130
STORMING OF THE BASTILLE PRISON IN PARIS 138
THE TRIPLE CROWN 144
THE LOVE OF POWER--THE POWER OF LOVE 146
CHRISTIANS IN PRISON BENEATH THE COLOSSEUM AWAITING
MARTYRDOM 148
THE SHAME OF RELIGIOUS WARS 152
CHRIST AND THE SCRIBES 158
THE SABBATH FROM EDEN TO EDEN 168
CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES IN THE CORN-FIELDS 172
WALDENSES HUNTED BY THE ARMIES OF ROME 176
THE GIFT OF GOD 190
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST 198
SYMBOLS OF MEDO-PERSIA AND GRECIA 204
THE CAMP OF ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS 210
OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST 212
ARTAXERXES SENDING THE JEWS TO REBUILD
JERUSALEM, B.C. 457 218
REBUILDING JERUSALEM 224
THE ANOINTING OF JESUS AT HIS BAPTISM 228
THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST 232
THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE 238
A CHRISTIAN MOTHER EXHORTING HER DAUGHTER TO
MARTYRDOM 246
LUCIFER PLOTTING AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD 256
THE REDEMPTION PRICE 260
SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR 264
THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT 270
"HE IS RISEN" 274
LOT FLEEING FROM SODOM 286
PETER DELIVERED FROM PRISON 294
JACOB'S DREAM IN BETHEL 298
MODERN INVENTIONS FULFILLING PROPHECY 302
THE HOE DOUBLE OCTUPLE PRESS 316
FORTIFICATIONS ON THE BOSPORUS 320
MODERN JERUSALEM 329
THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON 336
UNITED STATES BATTLESHIP "NEVADA" 340
MOSES VIEWING THE PROMISED LAND 360
THE SAINTS' ETERNAL HOME 366
THE MASTER AT THE DOOR 369
[Illustration: "FOUNDED UPON A ROCK"
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps.
119:105.]
FOREWORD
These are eventful times. With history-making changes passing rapidly
before men's eyes, the questions press upon thoughtful minds in all
lands, What do these things mean? What next in the program of
world-shaping events?
Like a great searchlight shining across the centuries, the sure Word of
Prophecy focuses its bright beams upon Our Day. In this light we see
clearly the trend of events, and may understand what comes next in the
program of history fulfilling prophecy.
In the Volume of the Book the living God speaks to Our Day of events of
the past that have a lesson for the present, and of things to come.
Divine prophecy fulfilled before men's eyes is God's challenge to
unbelief. The Word of Holy Writ has been the guiding light through all
the ages. It is the lamp to our feet today.
"Steadfast, serene, unmovable, the same,
Year after year,...
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame;
Shines on that inextinguishable light."
[Illustration: THE GOOD SHEPHERD
"The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14.]
[Illustration: "PEACE BE TO THIS HOUSE"
"If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with Me." Rev. 3:20.]
THE BOOK THAT SPEAKS TO OUR DAY
Man may write a true book, but only God, the source of life, can write a
living book. "The word of God ... liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter
1:23. The Bible is the living word of God. We look at the volume; we
hold it in our hands. It is like other books in form and printer's art.
But the voice of God speaks from these pages, and the word spoken is
alive. It is able to do in the heart that receives it what can be done
only by divine power.
The Book That Talks
Far in the heart of Africa a missionary read to the people in their own
language from the translated Word of God. "See!" they cried; "see! the
book talks! The white man has a book that talks!" With that simplicity
of speech so common to children of nature, they had exactly described
it. This is a book that talks. What the wise man says of its counsels
through parents to children, is true of all the book: "When thou goest,
it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee." Prov. 6:22.
Here is companionship, faithful and true, a blessed guide and guardian
and friend.
"Holy Bible! book divine!
Precious treasure, thou art mine!"
God Its Author
The sixty-six books of Holy Scripture were written by many penmen, over
a space of fifteen centuries; yet it is one book, and one voice speaks
through all its pages. Spurgeon once said of his experience with this
book:
"When I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it,
saying, 'I am the book of God; man, read me. I am God's
writing; open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read it, for He
is my author.'"
This book declares of itself: "All scripture is given by inspiration of
God." 2 Tim. 3:16. "The prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2
Peter 1:21. As the rugged verse of the old hymn puts it:
"Let all the heathen writers join
To form one perfect book:
Great God, if once compared with Thine,
How mean their writings look!
"Not the most perfect rules they gave
Could show one sin forgiven,
Nor lead a step beyond the grave;
But Thine conducts to heaven."
It is the voice of the Almighty. Very different it is from the sacred
books of the non-Christian religions. In those writings it is man
speaking about God; in the Holy Scriptures it is God speaking to man.
The difference is as great as heaven is higher than earth. Here it is
not man groping in the darkness after God. In this book of God's
revelation we see the divine arm reaching down to save the lost, and
hear the voice of the loving Father calling to His children, every one
and everywhere. "Incline your ear," He calls; "hear, and your soul shall
live." Isa. 55:3.
The Word That Creates
We must have something more than instruction; we must have a word of
power that is able to tell of sins forgiven, and to conduct us beyond
the grave to heaven. One of the greatest of China's sages, Mencius,
said, "Instruction can impart information, but not the power to
execute." That touches the crucial point. We must have instruction that
can come with power divine to execute. We have it only in God's words.
Christ said: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life." John 6:63.
The words of God are living words. When God spoke in the beginning, "Let
there be light," lo, the light sprang out of the darkness. There was
power in the word spoken to bring forth. "Let the earth bring forth
grass," was the word of the Lord: and the earth was carpeted with its
first rich greensward. So through all the work of creation, the creative
power was in the word spoken.
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them
by the breath of His mouth." "He spake, and it was done; He commanded,
and it stood fast." Ps. 33:6, 9.
Even so, when this word speaks instruction to man, there is creative
power in the word, if received, to work mightily in the soul that is
dead in trespasses and sins. Man must be born again, be re-created. That
we know; for Christ says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again ["from above," margin], he cannot see the kingdom of God."
John 3:3.
And the word of God--the Bible from heaven--received by faith, is the
agency by which this new birth "from above" is wrought. This is the
declaration of our text: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."
1 Peter 1:23.
[Illustration: HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT
"Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Matt. 8:8.]
The Word That Works Within
Not only does the word of God give the new birth, making the believer a
new man,--the past forgiven and a new heart within,--but the word that
re-creates abides in the believing heart that studies it and clings to
it, to work in the life with actual power that is not of the man
himself. To the Thessalonians, who had "turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God," the apostle wrote:
"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the
word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe." 1 Thess. 2:13.
The word itself works within, and works effectually. There is nothing
mechanical about it. The mere letter profits nothing. The Bible on the
center table, unstudied and unloved, has no magic power. But God
promises to abide by His Spirit of power in the heart that listens to
His voice and trembles at His word. Jesus Himself tells us the secret of
this power of the word to work in the believing heart:
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." John 14:23.
No wonder, then, that believing and receiving the word brings divine
power into the life, making it possible for transformations of character
to be wrought, for victories to be won and obedience rendered to every
command of God.
Simply believing God's word touches the current of everlasting power,
even as the trolley arm of the electric car reaches up and touches the
current of power flowing through the wire overhead. The faith that
takes the living word brings the power divine into the heart to move all
the spiritual mechanism of life's service.
The Word Our Safety and Defense
When Christ came to live as our example in the flesh, and to give His
life a sacrifice for sin, He, the divine Son of God, made Himself like
unto His brethren. "I can of Mine own self do nothing," He said. John
5:30. Tempted and tried, He found His defense in the Holy Scriptures.
When Satan came to tempt Him to sin, the Saviour said, "It is written."
He clung to the sure defense. Again the tempter came. He was met with
the word, "It is written again." The third time it was the same weapon
of defense, "It is written." Matt. 4:1-11.
Christ found safety only in the Scriptures of truth. So the Bible is the
Christian's shield against the enemy's attacks. As Jesus studied the
Scriptures and kept the words ever in His heart for a defense against
temptation, so must every Christian study and meditate upon God's Holy
Word if its counsels and precepts are to be his defense in the moment of
sudden temptation to sin. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart," said the
psalmist, "that I might not sin against Thee." Ps. 119:11. It was the
only way for Christ, our Pattern; it is the only way for us.
The Bread of Life
The word of God is the daily food for the soul. "It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4.
Who has not, in hurried times, missed a meal, working on through the
day, never thinking of the prolonged fast? But after a time there came a
sense of weakening force, a lack of physical power. What was the
trouble? At once the reason was evident--one had not taken food, and
the system was calling for a renewal of its forces. Just so the
spiritual life must needs be fed by the word of God.
[Illustration: CHRIST'S WEAPON OF DEFENSE--THE WORD OF GOD
"Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matt. 4:10.]
Do we at times feel a sense of weakening of the spiritual power, a
letting down of the vital forces of the soul? Ah, in the hurry of life
we have neglected to feed upon the living bread. We can no more sustain
spiritual vigor and health without feeding daily upon God's Holy Word
than we can maintain physical power without eating our daily bread. Eat
of the life-giving word. The taste for it grows with the partaking.
There is life in "every word." The psalmist found the Lord's testimonies
"sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb," or, as the marginal reading
has it, than "the dropping of honeycombs." Ps. 19:10. We get the picture
of the honeycomb inverted, the cell caps broken open, the sweetness
dripping down. Just so every word of the Lord is a cell full of
sweetness and life for the soul that feasts upon the Holy Scriptures.
The Source of All Doctrine
The Bible is the complete and perfect rule of faith and doctrine. Here
every doctrine of salvation is found. Inspiration has declared it in the
words of the apostle Paul to Timothy:
"From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works." 2 Tim. 3:15-17.
The divine command is, "Study." For every generation there has been a
message borne by this living word, making call to reformation of life,
or giving warning and comfort. "The Bible is not a collection of truths
formulated in propositions," said Dr. Samuel Harris, of Yale, "but
God's majestic march through history, redeeming men from sin."
In every age God has been ruling and overruling, witnessing by His
Spirit through the living word. The experiences recorded of past ages
have their special lesson for the present time:
"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
Rom. 15:4.
"Let vs therfore all with feruent desyre," as the Old English of 1549
spelled the exhortation of Erasmus, "thyrste after these spirituall
sprynges.... Let vs kisse these swete wordes of Christ with a pure
affeccion. Let vs be newe transformed into them, for soche are oure
maners as oure studies be."
The Book for All Mankind
It speaks in every tongue to the human heart. Its power to transform has
been shown through all the centuries in every clime and among every
race. One of the Gospels was put into the Chiluba tongue of Central
Africa. After a time a Garenganze chief came to Dan Crawford, the
missionary, changed from the spirit of a fierce, wicked barbarian to
that of a teachable child. Explaining his conversion, the chief said: "I
was startled to find that Christ could speak Chiluba. I heard him speak
to me out of the printed page, and what he said was, 'Follow me!'"
Of the Bible's universal speech to all mankind, Dr. Henry van Dyke has
said:
"Born in the East, and clothed in Oriental form and imagery,
the Bible walks the ways of all the world with familiar feet,
and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It has
learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man.
It comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he is the
servant of the Most High, and into the cottage to assure the
peasant that he is the son of God. Children listen to its
stories with wonder and delight, and wise men ponder them as
parables of life. It has a word of peace for the time of
peril, a word of comfort for the day of calamity, a word of
light for the hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the
assembly of the people, and its counsels whispered in the ear
of the lonely. The wise and the proud tremble at its warnings,
but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother's voice....
"Its great words grow richer, as pearls do when they are worn
near the heart. No man is poor or desolate who has this
treasure for his own. When the landscape darkens and the
trembling pilgrim comes to the valley named the Shadow, he is
not afraid to enter; he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in
his hand; he says to friend and comrade, 'Good-by, we shall
meet again,' and comforted by that support, he goes toward the
lonely pass as one who climbs through darkness into
light."--_The Century Magazine._
[Illustration: RAISING JARIUS'S DAUGHTER
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men." John 1:4.]
In the days of His life on earth, Jesus was a welcome guest in humble
homes in Judea and Galilee. "The common people heard Him gladly." His
presence brought peace and comfort to the home. He is no longer with us
in bodily presence; but He is the same Saviour still--"Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, and today, and forever." Heb. 13:8. By His Spirit,
through the living word of Holy Scripture, He enters the home where
faith receives Him, and speaks again the gracious salutation, "Peace be
to this house."
Christ the Central Theme
All the Bible bears witness of Christ as the Saviour of the world. He
Himself said of the Scriptures, "They are they which testify of Me."
John 5:39. "To Him give all the prophets witness." Acts 10:43. We see
Him as the coming Messiah in promise and prophecy, in type and shadow.
His is the divine, living personality standing out in every book that
makes up the Sacred Volume. As we read with loving heart, the Author
seems near in every page.
"Reading, methinks I bend
Before the cross
Where died my King, my Friend.
The whole world's loss
For love of Him is gain."
And having beheld Him giving His life as the divine sacrifice, and
rising in triumph over death to be our great High Priest in the heavenly
temple, as we read these Sacred Scriptures yet again, in every book,
from Genesis to Revelation, we see Him as the coming King of kings,
coming to take His children to the eternal home of the saved. The whole
book is a bright window through which we gaze on coming glory.
"And yet again I stand
Where the seer stood,
Gazing across the strand,
Beyond the flood:
The gates of pearl afar,
The streets of gold,
The bright and morning Star
Mine eyes behold."
"The Word of God ... liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1:23. "Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Matt.
24:35.
[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS
"Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:27.]
[Illustration: THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM
"I am God,... declaring ... from ancient times the things that are not
yet done." Isa. 46:9, 10.]
THE WITNESS OF THE CENTURIES
The Sure Word of Prophecy
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed." 2 Peter 1:19.
The prophetic scriptures afford infallible evidence that the voice of
the living God speaks in Holy Writ. One of the distinguishing marks of
divinity is the power that foretells and records the course of history
long ages before the events come to pass.
God's Challenge
God's challenge to false religious systems in olden time was this:
"Declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come
hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." Isa. 41:22, 23.
And all the gods of the nations were silent; for they are no gods. The
Lord alone, the one who speaks by the Holy Scriptures, is able to tell
the end from the beginning.
"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand." Isa. 46:9, 10.
By this means God has borne witness of Himself through the ages, that it
might be known that the Most High rules above all the kingdoms of men,
and that men might recognize His purpose to put an end to sin and bring
eternal salvation to His people. "I have spoken it," He declares, "I
will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it."
The fulfilment of the word of prophecy in history is a fascinating
story. To the Lord, the future is an open book, even as the present. The
word is spoken, telling of the event to come; it is written on the
parchment scroll by the prophet's pen. Time passes; centuries come and
go. Then, when the hour of the prophecy arrives, lo, there appears the
fulfilment. And it is seen in matters pertaining to individuals, as well
as in the affairs of cities and empires.
The Word Fulfilled after Long Waiting
In the dream divinely given to the lad Joseph, it was plainly foretold
that his brothers would one day come as suppliants before him. His
father rebuked him for telling the dream, saying, "Shall I and thy
mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?" Gen. 37:10. The brothers sold the lad into slavery, to be well
rid of him. Yet twenty years later, all unconscious of his identity,
these same brethren presented themselves before the prime minister of
Egypt, and "fell before him on the ground." Gen. 44:14.
Again: the wicked stronghold of Jericho had been utterly destroyed.
Joshua declared:
"Cursed be the man ... that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he
shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest
son shall he set up the gates of it." Joshua 6:26.
The hands of angels had thrown down its walls, and its ruin was to stand
as a memorial. More than five hundred years later, when the apostate
Ahab was ruling, and Israel and Judah had departed from the Lord, Hiel
the Bethelite set out to rebuild Jericho. "He laid the foundation
thereof in Abiram his first-born."
But accident and death may come at any time. The work on the walls went
on, no one thinking of the neglected Scriptures with their warning of
long ago. So the full account runs:
"He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first-born, and set up the
gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the
Lord, which He spake by Joshua the son of Nun." 1 Kings 16:34.
The fate of some of the mightiest cities the world ever saw has borne
testimony through the centuries to the fulfilment of the prophetic word.
The Witness of Nineveh
Nineveh was founded by Nimrod. He built not only his capital here by the
Tigris, but other towns round about, conceiving first of all the idea of
grouping the capital and its suburbs into one great city, the "Greater
Nineveh," as we would say in these days of Greater London and Greater
New York. At the dawn of history Nineveh was "a great city." Gen. 10:11,
12. In Jonah's day it was an "exceeding great city."[A] Sennacherib, of
the Bible story, was its beautifier. Rawlinson says:
"The great palace which he raised at Nineveh surpassed in size
and splendor all earlier edifices."--_"Second Monarchy," chap.
9._
A description is preserved on the clay cylinder in the king's own words:
"For the wonderment of multitudes of men
I raised its head--'the palace which has no rival'
I called its name."--_Taylor Cylinder, "Records of the Past."
Vol. XII, part 1_.
At the preaching of Jonah the city had repented; but in later years
pride of conquest and luxury and wealth were filling it with blood. The
prophet Nahum warned it of certain doom, appealing to those who had any
fear of God to turn to Him. The message was:
[Illustration: THE SITE OF NINEVEH
"How is she become a desolation!" Zeph. 2:15.]
"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth
them that trust in Him." Nahum 1:7.
Some, no doubt, heeded the warning and turned to God for refuge. But the
city's life of sin ran on. Then the prophet Zephaniah spoke the word,
just as the stroke was to fall:
"Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She
obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in
the Lord; she drew not near to her God." Zeph. 3:1, 2.
Prophecies uttered against the mighty city had declared:
"He will make an utter end of the place thereof." "The palace shall be
dissolved ["molten," margin]." "She is empty, and void, and waste."
Nahum 1:8; 2:6, 10. "How is she become a desolation, a place for beasts
to lie down in!" Zeph. 2:15.
The Medes and the Babylonians overthrew Nineveh. The king immolated
himself in his burning ("molten") palace. Nineveh became a desolation.
Describing a battle that took place there in the seventh century of our
era, between the Romans and the Persians, the historian Gibbon bears
testimony to the fact that it has indeed become "empty, and void, and
waste:"
"Eastward of the Tigris, at the end of the bridge of Mosul, the
great Nineveh had formerly been erected: the city, and even the
ruins of the city, had long since disappeared; the vacant place
afforded a spacious field for the operations of the two
armies."--_"The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire," chap. 46, par. 24._
And to this day, the site of Nineveh is pointed out across the river
from Mosul, only mounds of ruins, these almost obliterated by the
drifting sands of centuries. The word spoken is fulfilled, though at the
time it was spoken it little seemed to proud and prosperous Nineveh that
such a fate could ever be hers.
"Before me rise the walls
Of the Titanic city,--brazen gates,
Towers, temples, palaces enormous piled,--
Imperial Nineveh, the earthly queen!
In all her golden pomp I see her now,
Her swarming streets, her splendid festivals.
* * * * *
"Again I look,--and lo!...
Her walls are gone, her palaces are dust,--
The desert is around her, and within
Like shadows have the mighty passed away."
From Nineveh's mounds we seem to hear a voice that says: "All flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord
endureth forever." 1 Peter 1:24, 25.
The Burden of Tyre
[Illustration: TYRE BY THE SEA
"They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers." Eze.
26:4.]
Tyre was the greatest maritime city of antiquity. Its inhabitants, the
Phoenicians, traded in the ports of all the known world. Ezekiel
describes the heart of the seas as its borders. "Thy builders have
perfected thy beauty," he says. He tells how all countries traded in its
marts and contributed to its wealth. And then, obeying the word of the
Lord, the prophet bears a message of rebuke and warning,--"the burden of
Tyre,"--and pronounces the coming judgment:
"Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will
cause many nations to come up against thee.... And they shall destroy
the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her
dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place
for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it,
saith the Lord God." Eze. 26:3-5.
The accounts of travelers bear witness that the prophecy has been
fulfilled. As to the site of the island city of Ezekiel's day, Bruce,
nearly a century ago, said that he found it a "rock whereon fishers dry
their nets." (See "Keith on the Prophecies," p. 329.)
In more recent times, Dr. W.M. Thomson found the whole region of Tyre
suggestive only of departed glory:
"There is nothing here, certainly, of that which led Joshua to
call it 'the strong city' more than three thousand years ago
(Joshua 19:29),--nothing of that mighty metropolis which
baffled the proud Nebuchadnezzar and all his power for thirteen
years, until 'every head' in his army 'was made bald, and every
shoulder was peeled,' in the hard service against Tyrus (Eze.
29:18),--nothing in this wretched roadstead and empty harbor to
remind one of the times when merry mariners did sing in her
markets--no visible trace of those towering ramparts which so
long resisted the utmost efforts of the great Alexander. All
have vanished utterly like a troubled dream, and Tyre has sunk
under the burden of prophecy.... As she is now, and has long
been, Tyre is God's witness; but great, powerful, and populous,
she would be the infidel's boast. This, however, she cannot be.
Tyre will never rise from her dust to falsify the voice of
prophecy.
"Dim is her glory, gone her fame,
Her boasted wealth has fled;
On her proud rock, alas! her shame,
The fisher's net is spread.
The Tyrian harp has slumbered long,
And Tyria's mirth is low;
The timbrel, dulcimer, and song
Are hushed, or wake to woe."
--_"The Land and the Book," Vol. II, pp. 626, 627._
The Desolation of Babylon
Yet another city of ancient times there was, the mightiest of them all,
whose fate was a subject of prophecy, and whose history bears special
testimony for us today; for, more than any other, the Lord used that
city as a symbol of the pride of life and the exaltation of the selfish
heart against God.
Let us study briefly the desolations pronounced upon Babylon of old.
[Illustration: BABYLON IN THE DUST
"Babylon shall become heaps,... without an inhabitant." Jer. 51:37.]
While Babylon was still the mightiest city of the world, with the period
of greatest glory yet before it, the Lord revealed its ignoble end. By
the prophet Isaiah He declared:
"Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be
inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation:
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds
make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there;
and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall
dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the
islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their
pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not
be prolonged." Isa. 13:19-22.
Never could a more doleful future have been pictured for a city full of
splendor, the metropolis of the world. About one hundred and
seventy-five years after this word was written on the parchment scroll,
the Medes and Persians were at the gates of Babylon. Her time had come,
and Chaldea's rule was ended.
"Fallen is the golden city! in the dust,
Spoiled of her crown, dismantled of her state.
She that hath made the Strength of Towers her trust,
Weeps by her dead, supremely desolate!
"She that beheld the nations at her gate
Thronging in homage, shall be called no more
'Lady of Kingdoms!'--Who shall mourn her fate?
Her guilt is full, her march of triumph o'er."
But still, under Medo-Persia, and later under the Greeks, the city
itself was populous and prosperous and beautiful. The skeptic of the
time may have pointed to it as evidence that here, at least, the Hebrew
prophet had missed the mark.
Apollonius, the sage of Tyana, who lived in the days of Nero and the
apostles, has left an account of Babylon as he saw it, as late as the
first century of our era. Still the Euphrates swept beneath its walls,
dividing the city into halves, with great palaces on either side. He
says:
"The palaces are roofed with bronze, and a glitter goes off
from them; but the chambers of the women and of the men and the
porticoes are adorned partly with silver, and partly with
golden tapestries or curtains, and partly with solid gold in
the form of pictures."
And of the king's judgment hall he reported:
"The roof had been carried up in the form of a dome, to
resemble in a manner the heavens, and that it was roofed with
sapphire, a stone that is very blue and like heaven to the eye;
and there were images of the gods, which they worship, fixed
aloft, and looking like golden figures shining out of the
ether."--_Philostratus, "Life of Apollonius," book 1, chap.
25._
Evidently Babylon was still "the land of graven images," and the
desolation foretold by the prophet had not yet befallen its palaces. But
that prophetic word, written eight hundred years before, was still upon
the scroll of the Book, the sure Word of God, who sees the end from the
beginning.
[Illustration: EGYPT'S GLORY DEPARTED
"The idols of Egypt shall be moved." Isa. 19:1.]
The view given us by Apollonius is perhaps the last glimpse we have of
Babylon's passing glory. Even then for centuries the walls had been a
quarry from which stones were drawn for Babylon's rival, Seleucia, on
the Tigris. And Strabo, the Greek geographer, who also wrote in the
first century, had described Babylon as "in great part deserted,"
adding,
"No one would hesitate to apply to it what one of the comic
writers said of Megalopolitæ, in Arcadia, 'The great city is a
great desert.'"--_"Geography," book 16, chap. 1._
Already pagan writers had begun to describe its condition in the terms
of the prophecy uttered so long before. And now what is its state? The
doom foretold has fallen heavy upon the city, upon its palaces, and
"upon the graven images of Babylon." For a century and more, travelers'
accounts have frequently borne witness to the exact fulfilment of the
prophecy in the remarkable desolations of that city, once mistress of
the world.
"Babylon shall become heaps," said the prophecy, "and owls shall dwell
there." This is what Mr. Layard, the English archeologist, found on his
visit in 1845:
"Shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of
the land.... On all sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery,
and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and
blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient
habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the
site of Babylon a naked and a hideous waste. Owls [which are of
a large gray kind, and often found in flocks of nearly a
hundred] start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal
skulks through the furrows."--_"Discoveries Among the Ruins of
Nineveh and Babylon," chap. 21, p. 413._
The prophecy said, "Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there." The
words might be construed to mean that the famous site would never become
the place of a Bedouin village. But it is literally true, say travelers,
that the Arabs avoid the place even for the temporary pitching of their
tents. They consider the spot under a curse. They call the ruins
_Mudjelibe_, "the Overturned." (See "Encyclopedia of Islam," art.
"Babil.")
As late as 1913, Missionary W.C. Ising visited the site where Professor
Koldeway was excavating the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace. He wrote:
"Involuntarily one is reminded of the prophecy in the
thirteenth of Isaiah and many other places, which, in course of
time, have been fulfilled to the letter. No one is living on
the site of ancient Babylon, and whatever Arabs are employed by
the excavators have built their mud huts in the bed of the
ancient river, which at the present time is shifted half a mile
farther west."--_European Division Quarterly, Fourth Quarter,
1913._
Egypt and Edom
The massive ruins by the Nile bear witness to prophecy fulfilled. When
Egypt rivaled Babylon, the word was spoken: "It shall be the basest of
the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations."
Eze. 29:15. It was not utterly to pass, as Babylon, but to continue in
inferior state. Thus it came to pass. Once populous Edom, famed for
wisdom and counsel, now lies desolate, according to the word: "Edom
shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished."
Jer. 49:17.
The Testimony of History
[Illustration: RUINS OF EDOM
"Edom shall be a desolate wilderness." Joel 3:19.]
Thus the centuries bear testimony to the fulfilment of the prophetic
word. The panorama of all human history moves before us in these
writings of the prophets. Flinging their "colossal shadows" across the
pages of Holy Writ, as Farrar says, we see--
"The giant forms of empires on their way
To ruin."
It is no human book that thus from primitive times forecasts the march
of history through the ages.
The Lord not only spoke the word in warning and entreaty for those to
whom it first came, but it is written in the Scriptures of truth as a
testimony to all time, that the Bible is the word of God, and that all
His purposes revealed therein and all the promises of the blessed Book
are certain and sure. The prophets who bore messages from God to
Nineveh, and Babylon, and Tyre, spoke messages also for our day.
Fulfilled prophecy is the testimony of the centuries to the living God.
The evidence of prophecy and its fulfilment is God's challenge and
appeal to men to acknowledge Him as the true God and the Holy Scriptures
as His word from heaven.
"I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went
forth out of My mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they
came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an
iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared
it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee.... Thou hast heard,
see all this; and will not ye declare it?" Isa. 48:3-6.
Surely no one can look at the evidence in history of the fulfilment of
prophecy without seeing that of a truth the One who spoke these words
knew the end from the beginning; and finding the living God in the sure
word of prophecy, one must be prepared to listen to His voice in all the
Scriptures, when it speaks of sin and the way of salvation through Jesus
Christ.
Further, the prophetic word also has much to say of events yet future,
of the course of history in modern times. It behooves us to give heed to
what that word speaks concerning our own times and the events that are
to take place upon the earth before the end. The apostle Peter exhorts
us to the study in these words:
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19.
[Illustration: THE GREAT IMAGE
"He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to
pass." Dan. 2:29.]
[Illustration: DANIEL INTERPRETING NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM
"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great Image." Dan. 2:31.]
FOOTNOTES:
[A] "In the book of Jonah," says _Records of the Past_, "Nineveh is
stated to have been an exceeding great city of three days' journey; and
that being the case, the explanation that Calah on the south and
Khorsabad on the north were included seems very probable. The distance
between these two extreme points is about thirty miles, which, at ten
miles a day, would take the time required."--_Vol. XII, part 1, January
and February, 1913_.
PROPHETIC OUTLINE OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY
THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL 2
"There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to
the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days."
In a dream by night the Lord gave to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a
clear historical outline of the course of world empire to the end of
time and the coming of the eternal kingdom.
The king was a thoughtful monarch; and having reached the height of his
power, he was one night meditating upon "what should come to pass
hereafter." Not for his sake alone, but for the enlightenment and
instruction of men in all time, the Lord answered the wondering question
of the king's meditation by giving him the dream. "He that revealeth
secrets," said Daniel the prophet, "maketh known to thee what shall come
to pass."
[Illustration: BABYLON IN HER GLORY
"Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency." Isa. 13:19.]
And that we may know at the beginning that there is nothing fanciful and
uncertain about this great historic outline reaching to the end of the
world, we note first the assurance with which the prophet closed his
interpretation: "The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof
sure."
The details of the dream had been taken from the king's mind, while
conviction as to the wondrous import of it remained. This was in God's
providence, to show the folly of the worldly-wise men of Babylon, and to
bring before the king the prophet of the Lord with a divine message. The
prophet Daniel, under the inspiration of God, brought his dream again to
the king's mind:
"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose
brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was
terrible.
"This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver,
his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of
iron and part of clay.
"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote
the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to
pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the
gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth."
The prophet next declared the interpretation. And now follows the
history of the world in miniature.
Babylon
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the
children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the
heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them
all. Thou art this head of gold."
[Illustration: THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
"Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Dan.
5:28.]
The parts of the image, then, of various metals, from head to feet,
represented successive empires, beginning with Babylon; and the kingdom
of Babylon, represented by Nebuchadnezzar, was the head of gold.
History shows how fitly the golden head symbolizes the Babylonian
kingdom. Long before, the prophet Isaiah had described it as "the glory
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." Isa. 13:19. And
now, in Nebuchadnezzar's day, it was the golden age of the Babylonian
kingdom. No such gorgeous city as its capital ever before stood on
earth. And Nebuchadnezzar was the great leader of its conquests, and the
beautifier and builder of its walls and palaces. "For the astonishment
of men I have built this house," one tablet reads; and hundreds repeat
the story.
"Those portals
for the astonishment of multitudes of people
with beauty I adorned.
In order that the battle storm
to Imgur-Bel
the wall of Babylon might
not reach;
what no king before me
had done."--_East India House Inscription._
Thus Nebuchadnezzar's records of stone today repeat the proud boast
faithfully reported in the Scripture, "Is not this great Babylon, that I
have built?" Dan. 4:30. To the king it seemed that such a city could
never fall. One inscription reads:
"Thus I completely made strong the defenses of Babylon. May it
last forever."--_Rawlinson, "Fourth Monarchy," Appendix A._
Medo-Persia
But the prophet Daniel, proceeding with the divine interpretation,
interrupted all such proud thoughts with the declaration, "After thee
shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee."
Now the look was forward into the future. And the word came to pass.
Babylon's decline was swift after Nebuchadnezzar's death. Daniel the
prophet himself lived to interpret the handwriting on the wall at
Belshazzar's feast:
"God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.... Thou art weighed in
the balances and art found wanting.... Thy kingdom is divided, and given
to the Medes and Persians." Dan. 5:26-28.
The breast and arms of silver, in the great image, represented the
Medo-Persian kingdom, which followed the Babylonian, "inferior" to it in
brilliancy and grandeur, as silver is inferior to gold. Medo-Persia,
however, enlarged the borders of the world empire; and the names of
Cyrus and Darius are written among the mightiest conquerors of history.
But the prophet does not stop to dwell upon the grandeur of fleeting
earthly kingdoms. The interpretation hastens on to reach the setting up
of a kingdom that shall not pass away. Following Medo-Persia, a third
power was to rise,
Grecia
"And another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the
earth."
The "third kingdom" after Babylon was Grecia, which overthrew the empire
of the Medes and Persians. And Grecia's dominion fulfilled the
specifications of the prophecy, which indicated a yet wider expansion of
empire. Its sway was to be over "all the earth," said Daniel the
prophet, foretelling its history. Arrian, the Greek historian, writing
afterward, said that Alexander of Greece seemed truly "lord of all the
earth;" and he adds:
"I am persuaded there was no nation, city, nor people then in
being whither his name did not reach; for which reason,
whatever origin he might boast of, or claim to himself, there
seems to me to have been some divine hand presiding both over
his birth and actions."--_"History of the Expedition of
Alexander the Great," book 7, chap. 30._
The sides of brass in the great image represented Grecia, the brazen
metal itself being a fitting symbol of those "brazen-mailed" Greeks,
celebrated in ancient poetry and song,
"Among the foremost, armed in glittering brass."
A Power Rising in the West
While Grecia's supremacy under Alexander was disputed by none, there was
a power rising in the West that was soon to enter the lists for the
prize of world dominion.
Some of the ancient writers say that at the time of his death Alexander
had in mind to push westward to strike down the growing power of the
city of Rome, of which he had heard. Plutarch says that this man
Alexander,
"who shot like a star, with incredible swiftness, from the
rising to the setting sun, was meditating to bring the luster
of his arms into Italy.... He had heard of the Roman power in
Italy."--_"Morals," chap. on "Fortune of the Romans," par. 13._
Lucan, the ancient Roman poet, repeats the thought:
"Driven headlong on by Fate's resistless force,
Through Asia's realms he took his dreadful course:
His ruthless sword laid human nature waste,
And desolation followed where he passed....
"Ev'n to the utmost west he would have gone,
Where Tethys' lap receives the setting sun."
--"_Pharsalia._"
But in the prime of his years, Alexander was cut down, and Rome had yet
more time in which to develop its strength preparatory to the deciding
contest for the mastery of all the world. Sure it is that after Grecia,
there followed the Roman Empire, the strongest and mightiest and most
crushing of them all. This fourth universal empire the prophet proceeded
to describe, as represented by the legs of iron in Nebuchadnezzar's
dream of the great image.
Rome
"The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise."
How appropriately the iron of the image fits the character of the fourth
great empire! Gibbon, the historian, calls it "the iron monarchy of
Rome." It broke in pieces the kingdoms, subduing all, just as prophecy
had declared so long before. As iron is strongest of the common metals,
so according to the prophecy--"as iron that breaketh all these"--this
fourth kingdom was to be more powerful than any before it. Strabo, the
geographer, who lived in the days of Tiberius Cæsar, said,
"The Romans have surpassed (in power) all former rulers of whom
we have any record."--_"Geography," book 17, chap. 3._
Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, who lived in Rome in the third
century,--under the "iron monarchy,"--wrote thus of this prophecy:
"Already the iron rules; already it subdues and breaks all in
pieces; already it brings all the unwilling into subjection;
already we see these things ourselves."--_"Treatise on Christ
and Antichrist," sec. 33._
Hippolytus also saw clearly from the prophecy that the empire of his day
would be divided, and he wrote of the kingdoms that were "yet to rise"
out of it. For Daniel's interpretation explained clearly the meaning of
the mingling of clay with the iron in the feet and toes of the great
image.
The Kingdoms of Modern Europe
"Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part
of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the
strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry
clay.
"And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."
"The kingdom shall be divided." So declared the prophet of God. In the
height of its power, Rome scouted the thought that so mighty a fabric
could ever be broken up. Horace sang in his "Odes,"
"How, added to a conquered world,
Euphrates 'bates his tide,
And Huns, beyond our frontiers hurled,
O'er straitened deserts ride.
* * * * *
"The Goths beyond the sea may plot,
The warlike Basques may plan;
Friend, never heed them! vex thee not;
For this our mortal span
Of little wants."
--_Book 2, Marris's Translation._
But the words were written on the ancient parchment in the days of
Babylon, "The kingdom shall be divided;" and true to the word of the
prophet, the Roman Empire fell apart with the mixture of nations and
peoples that swept into it. The elements did not hold together, even as
the mixture of iron and clay in the image did not cleave together.
Broken up by the invasions of fresh nations from the north, the Western
Empire was divided into lesser kingdoms, out of which have grown the
modern nations of western Europe.
Not one word in the outline of the prophecy thus far has failed of
fulfilment. These modern kingdoms growing out of divided Rome have never
been reunited. "They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men," said
the prophecy. Nearly all the reigning houses of Europe today are related
by intermarriage; the prophecy said it would be so; but "they shall not
cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." So we see
it. No statesman, no master of legions, has been able to join these
nations together again in one great empire. Charles V had the thought in
mind, some think. Napoleon dreamed of doing it. But it was not to be.
Nevermore was there to be one universal monarchy.
We may know that as surely as the course of world empire has followed
the exact outline of the prophecy put on the inspired record in the days
of Babylon of old, just so surely the specifications of the closing
portion of the outline will be fulfilled.
The fourth great kingdom was to be divided. Rome was the fourth empire:
it was divided. The kingdoms of the divided empire are acting their part
before our eyes today.
The Next Great Event
And what next? That is the question for us. Now the prophetic outline
that began with ancient Babylon touches the things of our own day. The
word spoken before Nebuchadnezzar so long ago is now spoken especially
to us:
"In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
"Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the
king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and
the interpretation thereof sure."
"In the days of these kings,"--these kingdoms of our own time,--the next
great world-changing event is to be the coming of Christ to begin the
setting up of his everlasting kingdom. That is the grand climax toward
which all the course of history has been tending. At last the end is to
come.
"Down in the feet of iron and of clay,
Weak and divided, soon to pass away;
What will the next great, glorious drama be?--
Christ and His coming, and eternity."
As the stone, cut out of the mountain "without hands," smote the image,
so that all its parts, representative of earthly dominion, were ground
to dust and blown away, so Christ's coming kingdom, set up "without
hands," by no human power, but by the power of the eternal God, will end
all earthly dominion and bring the utter destruction of sin and sinners
out of the earth.
"The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
Then may all eyes well be turned toward the next great step foretold in
the prophetic outline--the coming of Christ's glorious everlasting
kingdom, which shall not pass away.
"Look for the waymarks as you journey on,
Look for the waymarks, passing one by one,
Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four,--
Where are we standing? Look the waymarks o'er."
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH BY MISSIONARY W.C. ISING
Ruins of the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, in which was the hall of
Belshazzar's Feast.]
[Illustration: THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
"This same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner." Acts 1:11.
COPYRIGHT STANDARD PUB. CO.]
[Illustration: THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
"Behold, thy King cometh,... lowly, and riding upon an ass." Zech.
9:9.]
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
"Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin
unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.
Too often the second coming of Christ is looked upon simply as a
doctrine. It is, however, more than a doctrine merely to be believed; it
is an impending event, something that is to take place on earth, and the
most stupendous, all-transcendent event for the world since Christ came
the first time to die on Calvary for the sins of men.
This second coming of Christ, like His first coming, has been the theme
of divine prophecy from the beginning. This was emphasized by the
apostle Peter in his second recorded sermon. He pressed upon the people
of Jerusalem the fact that the things "which God before had showed by
the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer" (Acts 3:18),
had been fulfilled to the letter before their eyes. Not a word had
failed. Just so, he said, all that the prophets had spoken of His second
coming would be fulfilled:
"He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began." Acts 3:20, 21.
The Promise of His Coming
As iniquity began to abound, God sent a message to the antediluvian
world, declaring that Christ's coming in glory would end the reign of
sin:
"Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment
upon all." Jude 14, 15.
The promise of Christ's coming was the "blessed hope" in the patriarchal
age. In Job's dark hour of trial his heart clung to the promise, and he
was kept from despair:
"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth: ... whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another." Job 19:25-27.
The psalmist sang of it:
"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour
before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him." Ps. 50:3.
And the prophets of later times were unceasingly moved upon to talk of
the glory of that coming, of events preceding it, and of the preparation
for it.
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold
their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not
silence." "Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world,
Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold,
His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." Isa. 62:6, 11.
The message of His coming is to be heralded to the ends of the earth;
for it is "good tidings of great joy" to every one who will receive it.
On that last night with His disciples before the crucifixion, when His
heart was sorrowful even unto death, as the burden of all our
iniquities was about to be laid upon Him, Christ's love for His own made
precious to Him the thought of His second coming to gather them home at
last, safe from all sin and trouble; and He said:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3.
In that assurance the heart finds rest. O the preciousness of the
promise, "I will come again"! "I am coming for you," is the cheering
message. "Yes, Lord," we reply, "we will wait, and watch, and be ready,
by Thy grace."
The Manner of His Coming
Christ's second coming is to be visible to all the world. There is to be
nothing secret or mystical about it. The revelator says:
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7.
Christ Himself described the scene to His disciples as it will appear to
the eyes of all:
"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. 24:27. "Then
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and
glory." Mark 13:26.
The day of the Lord--the close of probation, the initial outpouring of
the judgments of God--will come "as a thief in the night," but Christ's
personal appearing will be visible to all. The heavens will open, the
earth quake, the trump of God resound, and such glory as mortal eye has
never seen will burst upon the world when He comes as King of kings and
Lord of lords.
"He comes not an infant in Bethlehem born,
He comes not to lie in a manger;
He comes not again to be treated with scorn,
He comes not a shelterless stranger;
He comes not to Gethsemane,
To weep and sweat blood in the garden;
He comes not to die on the tree,
To purchase for rebels a pardon.
Oh, no; glory, bright glory,
Environs Him now."
[Illustration: THE TRANSFIGURATION A TYPE OF HIS COMING
"Behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him."
Matt. 17:3.]
"This Same Jesus"
The Lord would have His children understand that this One who comes in
power and glory is the same Saviour of men who once walked by blue
Galilee. As the disciples were watching their Saviour, and ours,
ascending bodily into heaven from Olivet, until "a cloud received Him
out of their sight," suddenly two angels stood by them, who said:
"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9, 11.
[Illustration: CHRIST SET AT NAUGHT BY THE ROMANS
"Behold your King!" John 19:14.]
"This same Jesus"! It was the loving Friend and Elder Brother, Son of
man as well as Son of God, who was passing from their sight. He will
come back the "same Jesus," though in glory indescribable, having "all
the holy angels with Him."
The prophet Habakkuk thus described Christ's glorious appearing, as it
was represented to him in vision:
"His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
And His brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from His hand;
And there was the hiding of His power."
Hab. 3:3, 4, A.R.V.
Surely it is the "same Jesus," and the mark of the cruel nails is the
shining badge of His power to save.
"I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hands."
As the redeemed see Him who was crucified for them coming in glory, they
will cry, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save
us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and
rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.
But that day will be a day of darkness as well as of light. The unready,
the unrepentant, will realize too late that in rejecting Christ's pardon
and love and sacrifice, they have rejected the only means by which they
might have been prepared to meet the coming King, before whose face no
sin can endure. "Every eye shall see Him," the apostle says, and he
describes the terror of that day to the unprepared:
"The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for
the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
Rev. 6:15-17.
The scenes of that great day are so beyond human comprehension that it
is difficult to realize that such a time is actually before us.
"Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day."
The Purpose of His Coming
The Scriptures make very clear the purpose of Christ's second coming and
the events of that great day. It has been the hope of the children of
God through all the ages. The apostle Paul calls it the "blessed hope."
"The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:11-13.
The saints of God have fallen asleep in death with their faith reaching
forward to Christ's glorious appearing. So the veteran apostle fell,
with eyes upon "that day."
"I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not
to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim.
4:6-8.
Christ's second coming is the grand climax of the plan of salvation. Not
till then are the children of God ushered into the eternal kingdom. Then
the crowns of life are bestowed, and the saved all go together through
the gates into the city--patriarch and prophet, apostle and reformer,
and the child of God of this last generation. Of the ancient worthies it
is written:
"These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not
the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they
without us should not be made perfect." Heb. 11:39, 40.
What a glorious day it will be when the ransomed of all the ages, march
in together through the gates into the city!
It is to take His children to their eternal home that Christ comes the
second time. This was His promise to the disciples:
"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am,
there ye may be also." John 14:2, 3.
Not in detail, but in their general order, let us follow the events of
that great day.
[Illustration: CHRIST COMING IN GLORY
"The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him." Matt. 25:31.]
The Prelude to His Coming
as the revelator saw it and heard it in a vision of the last day:
"There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings;
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon
the earth,... and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon
came in remembrance before God." Rev. 16:17-19.
"The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every
mountain and island were moved out of their places." Rev. 6:14.
His Glorious Appearing
Then bursts upon the world the glory of our Saviour's coming:
"Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall
send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet." Matt. 24:30, 31.
"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. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a
loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap:
for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is
ripe." Rev. 14:14, 15.
The Resurrection of the Just, and the Translation of the Living
Righteous
The time to reap has come, and the wheat is gathered at last into the
garner of the Lord:
"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.
"He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other." Matt. 24:31.
"This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are
asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words." 1 Thess. 4:15-18.
[Illustration: THE EMPTY TOMB
"Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His
coming." 1 Cor. 15:23.]
The righteous dead are raised to life as the trump of God sounds and the
voice of the Archangel calls to His sleeping saints, and the living
righteous are transformed from mortality to immortality. Then all
together, with the escort of the angels, they follow the Saviour to the
heavenly mansions that He has prepared in the city of God.
The Destruction of the Wicked
Before the glorious majesty of the coming King no sin can endure; for
true it is that "our God is a consuming fire"--now, in the day of His
mercy, consuming sin out of the heart that by faith approaches the
throne of grace, but in that day consuming the unrepentant sinner with
his sin.
"Where will the sinner hide in that day, in that day?
Where will the sinner hide in that day?
It will be in vain to call,
'Ye mountains on us fall!'
For His hand will find out all in that day."
It is the great day long foretold by seer and prophet.
Again let us read the description of what it will mean to the unsaved to
see Christ coming in glory; for the terror of that day must warn us now
to keep within the refuge of the Saviour's loving grace:
"The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for
the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
Rev. 6:15-17.
The same glory that transforms the righteous is a consuming fire to
those who have rejected Christ's salvation:
"Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming." 2 Thess. 2:8.
"When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of His power." 2 Thess. 1:7-9.
The Climax of Human History
Thus the second coming of Christ brings the resurrection and translation
of the righteous, the death of the wicked, and the end of the world. The
resurrection of the wicked does not then take place, but only that of
the just; save for some of the wicked dead who had a special part in
warring against Christ,--"they also which pierced Him" (Rev. 1:7). These
are raised to see His coming, necessarily to fall again before the
consuming glory of His presence.
The righteous are taken to reign with Christ in the heavenly city for a
thousand years, and during the same period the earth lies in desolation
and chaos, uninhabited by man, a dark abyss, the dreary prison house of
Satan. Of the two resurrections, first of the just and then of the
unjust, we are told:
"They [the righteous] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power." Rev. 20:4-6.
It is at the end of the thousand years that the resurrection of the
wicked takes place. Then the city of God descends, "the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven," and the wicked come
forth to condemnation and the second death, from which there is no
waking.
"Now is the Accepted Time"
Now is the day of salvation, when by Christ's grace we may prepare for
that great day. To be found among His redeemed ones in that day will be
of infinitely greater worth than anything this world can give, of
pleasure, or possessions, or honor. Nothing will count then but the
blessed hope.
Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, found the personal Saviour in the days
of the Methodist revival in England. All her wealth and all her social
influence were devoted to Christ, even though titled friends took
umbrage at her close association with the poor and the humble who gave
heed to the message of the hour, and pressed into the kingdom. She wrote
of her joy in being numbered with the children of God:
"I love to meet among them now,
Before Thy gracious throne to bow,
Though weakest of them all;
Nor can I bear the piercing thought,
To have my worthless name left out,
When Thou for them shalt call.
"Prevent, prevent it by Thy grace.
Be Thou, dear Lord, my hiding place
In that expected day.
Thy pardoning voice, O let me hear,
To still each unbelieving fear,
Nor let me fall, I pray."
One night, at a royal ball, the Prince of Wales asked a titled lady
where the Countess of Huntingdon was. "Oh, I suppose she is praying with
some of her beggars somewhere!" was the flippant answer. "Ah," said the
crown prince, "in the last day I think I should be glad to hold the hem
of Lady Huntingdon's mantle." True it is that the greatest gift of grace
now, as it will be then, is to be numbered among the obedient children
of God.
"Let me among Thy saints be found,
Whene'er the Archangel's trump shall sound,
To see Thy smiling face;
Then joyfully Thy praise I'll sing,
While heaven's resounding mansions ring
With shouts of endless grace."
[Illustration: CHRIST ANSWERING HIS DISCIPLES' QUESTIONS
"When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming,
and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.]
[Illustration: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE FORETOLD
"There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down." Matt. 24:2.]
SIGNS OF THE APPROACHING END
OUR SAVIOUR'S GREAT PROPHECY
Part I
Christ had spoken of the coming desolation of the sacred temple at
Jerusalem. The disciples were astonished. "Master, see," said one, "what
manner of stones and what buildings are here!" The Saviour replied:
"Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone
upon another, that shall not be thrown down" Mark 13:2.
"What Shall be the Sign?"
As soon as they were alone on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city,
the disciples came to Jesus, saying:
"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy
coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.
Replying to this question, the Saviour spoke first of the fall of
Jerusalem; He foretold in a sentence the experiences of His church
through dark ages to follow; then He described the events of the latter
days, the signs showing His second advent near at hand; and, finally, He
pictured the scenes of His own glorious appearing in the clouds of
heaven. The fullest record of the discourse is found in the
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.
A Striking Parallel
The first portion of the prophetic discourse (verses 4-14) deals with
general conditions that were to prevail both in the last days of the
Jewish state, and on a yet larger scale in the course of history leading
to the last days of the world. There was so close a parallel between
these times that Christ, in one description, answered both questions
asked, When shall these things come upon Jerusalem? and, What shall be
the signs of the end of the world?
The prophetic word foretold the rise of false Christs, the coming of
wars, famines, and earthquakes in "divers places." The believers saw
these things fulfilled in that generation before Jerusalem fell; but as
we read the prophecy, we see the wider application and yet larger
fulfilment through the course of history since that day, these
calamities increasing in the earth as the end draws near. Before the end
of the Jewish state, the believers carried the gospel to all the known
world of their day. (See Col. 1:23.) In these latter days we are seeing
the yet wider proclamation of the gospel, as foretold in the fourteenth
verse, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
The Last Days of Jerusalem
We may note briefly some of the events of Jerusalem's last days. Christ
had forewarned the believers:
"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
Having rejected the true Christ, the nation was open to deception by the
false. We catch just a glimpse of the fulfilment in the book of Acts; in
secular history the full story is told. Ridpath says:
"Never was a people so turbulent, so excited with expectation
of a deliverer who should restore the ancient kingdom, so fired
with bigotry and fanaticism, as were the wretched Jews of this
period. One Christ came after another. Revolt was succeeded by
revolt, instigated by some pseudo-prophet or pretended
king."--_"History of the World," Vol. I, p. 849 (Part III,
chap. 19)._
During the Saviour's life and ministry a divine hand had to a great
extent held the elements of violence in check, but as the light was
rejected more and more, the spirit of evil came to hold sway
unrestrained. Dr. Mears well describes the changed conditions in these
words:
"The narrative of the evangelists presents a tranquil scene, a
succession of attractive pictures, in striking contrast to the
bloody and tumultuous events which crowd each other in the
pages of Josephus."--_"From Exile to Overthrow," pp. 256, 257._
Thus the events led rapidly on toward the day of Jerusalem's fall, so
long foretold by the prophets.
The Sign to the Believers
The disciples had asked for a sign, and Christ gave them a token by
which they might know when the time to flee from Jerusalem had come.
Here Luke's Gospel gives the fullest record:
"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the
mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let
not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the
days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."
Luke 21:20-22.
[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM BY THE ROMANS UNDER TITUS,
A.D. 70
"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh." Luke 21:20.]
The unbelieving in Jerusalem and Judea could not conceive that their
city, so long protected and favored of God, could be destroyed. Not even
the appearance of the Roman armies could shake their blind
self-confidence. But at the first sight of the encircling armies, the
Christians knew that the time for flight was at hand. But how to flee
was the question, with the compassing lines drawn close about the city.
Moreover, the Zealots, the furious war party in power, would be little
likely to allow any number to pass out to the Roman forces.
Just here God's providence made a way of escape. Cestius, the Roman
commander, after having partially undermined one of the temple walls,
suddenly decided to defer pushing the attack. "He retired from the
city," says Josephus, "without any reason in the world." (See "Wars,"
book 2, chap. 19.) And the Zealots flew out after the retiring Romans,
furiously attacking the rear guards.
Then those watching Christians knew that the time for quick flight had
come, according to Christ's prophecy uttered many years before. They
fled out of the city and out of the country round about.
Through all the years, Christ's prophecy had exhorted them, "Pray ye
that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day."
Matt. 24:20. The prayer was answered, for it was in the autumn and on a
week day that the flight was made.[B] Watching for the sign, and
instantly obeying, they were delivered.
Thus it was that when the Romans returned later to the siege, never to
give up till the city fell, none of the Christians were overwhelmed in
its destruction. Even so are we to watch the signs of our own times,
that we may escape those things that are coming upon the earth, and be
ready to "stand before the Son of man."
The Prophetic Word Fulfilled
Christ had declared that the temple, the pride of the nation, would be
utterly destroyed. In the last siege, the Roman commander tried to spare
the magnificent pile. When the Jews made it their chief fortress,
because of its massive strength, Titus remonstrated with them, saying:
"If you will but change the place whereon you fight, no Roman
shall either come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront to
it; nay, I will endeavor to preserve you your holy house,
whether you will or not."--_Josephus, "Wars of the Jews," book
6, chap. 2._
But the prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The people seemed
possessed with fury. The hardened Roman pagans were astonished at their
suicidal rashness. Titus's efforts to save the temple failed, and it
went down in ruin, as Christ had foretold.
[Illustration: A PANEL FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS
Showing the golden candlestick and other sacred vessels of the temple
being carried in triumph through the streets of Rome.]
The disciples of Christ had called His attention to the immense blocks
of stone that composed the temple walls. "See, what manner of stones,"
one said. When Titus examined these same stones, after the fall of the
city, he is said to have declared:
"We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and
it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these
fortifications."[C]--_Id., book 6, chap. 9._
Rather, we would say, in the light of Scripture teaching, the
destruction that came upon the city was but the fruit of its own way.
God's guardian care had long protected the city of David. When His
protection was finally thrust aside and the people put themselves in the
power of the great destroyer, divine justice could no longer save the
city from the judgments that were bound to fall upon persistent
transgression against light.
The lesson is one of those written "for our admonition upon whom the
ends of the world are come." Jerusalem, in that generation of great
light and high privilege, fell because it knew not the time of its
visitation. Still Christ's sad lament bears its warning to the ears of
men: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace!" Luke 19:42.
Part II
Having foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, and given to the believers
signs by which they might find deliverance in the day of its overthrow,
Christ yet more fully answered the second part of the disciples'
question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the
world?" Matt. 24:3.
[Illustration: THE CATACOMBS NEAR ROME
In these underground passages persecuted Christians found a hiding
place, held their services, and buried their dead.]
The Period of Tribulation
Quickly He passed to the events of the latter days. But first He
sketched, in a few words, the tribulations through which His church was
to pass during the intervening centuries. Daniel the prophet had written
of this experience, foretelling the long period during which the papal
power was to "wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25. Of these
times, Christ said in His prophetic discourse:
"Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's
sake those days shall be shortened." Matt. 24:21, 22.
It is evident that Christ referred to the time of tribulation foretold
by Daniel, not to the trials attending the flight of the Christians from
Jerusalem, for their flight was a deliverance of the elect from trial.
However much the weak may have suffered temporarily in fleeing from
their homes, the great suffering of that time came upon the unbelieving,
who had no shelter.
This prophecy given by our Saviour presents the picture of a
long-continued persecution of His own elect, and foretells the
shortening of the allotted time. God was to intervene in some special
way to save His people. And it was even so. The elect did suffer all
through the centuries of intolerance, until the rise of the Reformation
and the spreading abroad of God's Word broke the power of
ecclesiasticism, thus shortening the days of bitter tribulation.
The End Drawing Near
According to Daniel's further prophecy, the period of trial and
persecution was to reach "even to the time of the end." Dan. 11:35.
Naturally, then, we should look for the signs of the latter days to
begin to appear following these days of tribulation. And so we find the
next words of Christ's discourse introducing the topic of His second
coming. From now on the prophetic outline deals with events leading
down to the end of the age.
First the Saviour utters a warning against false ideas concerning His
second coming. That no theories of a secret coming or of a mystic coming
might deceive the unwary, He says in plain words:
"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. 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. 24:23-27.
Today we see the need of this warning. Some of the most subtle
deceptions are found in the teaching that Christ has already come,
secretly, or that He comes in the chamber of death, or in the
spiritualistic séance. Against all these errors we are forewarned, as
well as against any agencies that may come showing marvelous signs and
wonders. The close of human probation, the coming of the day of God,
will be as a thief in the night; and Christ's coming itself will
overtake the unwatchful all unprepared. Nevertheless, when He comes,
"every eye shall see Him," and all the glory of heaven will burst upon a
quaking world.
Signs in the Heavens and the Earth
Now the Saviour's outline of prophecy presents the signs which were to
show when the coming of the Lord was near. Referring again to the days
of tribulation foretold by the prophet Daniel, Christ says:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." Matt. 24:29,
30.
In Luke's record of the same prophetic discourse, additional signs are
given, describing conditions in the earth as Christ's coming draws near.
His account reads:
"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the
waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth
nigh." Luke 21:25-28.
Yet again, the prophet John, in the Revelation, foretells these signs in
the sun and moon and stars, as they were presented to him in a vision of
the last days. But his record shows that this series of signs was to be
preceded by a great earthquake. He describes the order of events as
follows:
"I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a
fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind." Rev. 6:12, 13.
In these scriptures four great signs of Christ's approaching advent are
listed for our study, as follows:
1. The great earthquake.
2. The darkening of the sun and moon.
3. The falling of the stars.
4. Distress of nations, and other signs.
The Time When the Signs Begin
Christ's prophecy points out approximately the time when the first of
the signs that He gave, the darkening of the sun, should
appear,--"immediately after the tribulation of those days." And the
"great earthquake" of John's vision was to precede this sign in the
heavens.
The Reformation of the sixteenth century began to cut short the days of
tribulation; but some countries shut out the liberalizing influences of
the Word of God, and there the persecution continued.
Even as late as near the end of the seventeenth century, in 1685, France
revoked the Edict of Nantes, that had granted toleration, and
persecution raged as of old. The church was driven again to the desert.
Speaking of the early decades of the eighteenth century, Kurtz says:
"In France the persecution of the Huguenots continued.... The
'pastors of the desert' performed their duties at the risk of
their lives."--_"Church History," Vol. III, p. 88._
There was severe persecution of the Moravians in Austria, in these
times, many of the persecuted finding refuge in Saxony. It was in 1722
that Christian David led the first band of Moravian refugees to settle
on the estates of Count Zinzendorf, who organized through them the great
pioneer movement of modern missions.
But by the middle of the century, the era of enlightenment and the force
of world opinion, in the good providence of God, had so permeated the
Catholic states of Europe that general violent persecution had ceased.
One incident will suffice as evidence of this.
The scene was in France, where alone, of all the Catholic states, there
were any great numbers of Protestants. In 1762 a Huguenot of Toulouse,
unjustly charged with crime, was put to torture and to death, under the
pressure of the old persecuting spirit. Many Huguenots thought the
persecutions of former times were reviving, and prepared to flee to
Switzerland. But Voltaire took up the matter, and so wrought upon public
opinion that the Paris parliament reviewed the case, and the king paid
the man's family a large indemnity.
This shows that by the middle of that century the days of any general
persecution had ceased. In the nature of the case, we may not point to
the exact year and say, Here the days of tribulation ended.
From these times, then, we are to scan the record of history to learn if
the appointed signs began to appear. As we look, we find the events
recorded, following on in the order predicted:
1. The Lisbon earthquake, cf 1755.
2. The dark day, cf 1780.
3. The falling stars, cf 1833.
4. General conditions and movements betokening the end.
"There shall be signs," the Saviour said. We are to study the record of
events, watching to catch the signs of the approaching end as earnestly
as the mariner watches the beacon lights when he nears the longed-for
haven on a dark and stormy night.
[Illustration: AN ANCIENT FLOUR MILL
"Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and
the other left." Matt. 24:41.]
FOOTNOTES:
[B] It was in the autumn that the army of Cestius closed in upon
Jerusalem. According to the careful record of Graetz, the Jewish
historian, it was evidently on a Wednesday that the Roman army retired,
pursued by all the forces of the city. This was the instant for the
flight of the Christians. Next day "the Zealots, shouting exultant war
songs, returned to Jerusalem (8th October)."--_"History of the Jews,"
Vol. II, p. 268._ The day before was the time for unhindered flight.
[C] Apollonius, the friend and counselor of Titus, left a similar
testimony to the latter's conviction that there was something
supernatural about the forces of destruction let loose upon Jerusalem:
"After Titus had taken Jerusalem, and when the country all round was
filled with corpses, the neighboring races offered him a crown: but he
disclaimed any such honor to himself, saying that it was not he himself
that had accomplished this exploit, but that he had merely lent his arms
to God, who had so manifested His wrath."--_Philostratus, "Life of
Apollonius," book 6, chap. 29._
[Illustration: LISBON FROM ACROSS THE BAY
The scene of the great earthquake and tidal wave, Nov. 1, 1755, when in
six minutes sixty thousand people perished.]
THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE OF 1755
"Lo, There Was a Great Earthquake"
The first of a series of signs of the approaching end is thus described
by the revelator:
"I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake." Rev. 6:12.
[Illustration: THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE
"There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
places." Matt. 24:7.]
The verses immediately preceding this scripture plainly describe the
days of persecution of the saints of God, and the era of protest and
reform that cut short that time of tribulation. Then this first sign
appears. This is in harmony with Christ's statement that the signs of
His second coming should begin to appear following the tribulation of
those days.
Just about the close of the days of tribulation occurred the Lisbon
earthquake, as it is called, though its effects reached far beyond
Portugal. Prof. W.H. Hobbs, geologist, says of it:
"Among the earth movements which in historic times have
affected the kingdom of Portugal, that of Nov. 1, 1755, takes
first rank, as it does, also, in some respects, among all
recorded earthquakes.... In six minutes sixty thousand people
perished."--_"Earthquakes," pp. 142, 143._
"Lo, there was a great earthquake," the revelator said. It was indeed "a
great earthquake," and great was its influence. In all the world, men's
hearts were mightily stirred. James Parton, an English author, says of
it:
"The Lisbon earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755, appears to have put
both the theologians and philosophers on the defensive.... At
twenty minutes to ten that morning, Lisbon was firm and
magnificent, on one of the most picturesque and commanding
sites in the world,--a city of superb approach, placed
precisely where every circumstance had concurred to say to the
founders, Build here! In six minutes the city was in ruins....
Half the world felt the convulsion.... For many weeks, as we
see in the letters and memoirs of that time, people in distant
parts of Europe went to bed in alarm, relieved in the morning
to find that they had escaped the fate of Lisbon one night
more."--_"Life of Voltaire," Vol. II, pp. 208, 209._
The World Set to Thinking
This earthquake set men to thinking of the great day of God. Voltaire,
the French philosopher, was "profoundly moved" by it, we are told. "It
was the last judgment for that region," he wrote; "nothing was wanting
to it except the trumpet." More than a month afterward, while still the
perturbations of the earth were continuing, this skeptic wrote a poem
upon the problem presented, voicing the sentiment:
"My heart oppress'd demands
Aid of the God who formed me with his hands.
Sons of the God supreme to suffer all
Fated alike, we on our Father call....
Sad is the present if no future state,
No blissful retribution mortals wait,
If fate's decrees the thinking being doom
To lose existence in the silent tomb.
_All may be well_; that hope can man sustain.
_All now is well_; 'tis an illusion vain.
The sages held me forth delusive light,
Divine instructions only can be right.
Humbly I sigh, submissive suffer pain,
Nor more the ways of Providence arraign."
--"_Poem on the Destruction of Lisbon,_"
_Smollet's translation; Works, Vol. XXXIII, ed. 1761._
Just at the time, plans were under way for the opening of a theater at
Lausanne for the special performance of some of Voltaire's rationalistic
dramas. But the enterprise was deferred. One writer says:
"The earthquake had made a
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