The Kingdom and
Comings of Christ,

Wherein is Explained 

"The revelation was not given that men might change their relation to God, for all had had the gospel preached unto them. 
It was given that his people might prepare for the coming calamities and seek a place of safety; which, as we have learned, they did,
 fleeing to Pella when Jerusalem was overthrown. They were also warned to come out of the devoted city of Rome
when the judgments of Almighty God were about to fall upon it. "

PREFACE. 



GOD established the Church of Jesus Christ in Eden imme- 
diately after the fall. Man showed his sorrow for sin by mak- 
ing aprons and hiding from God. When called to account, he 
confessed his sin, and God at once provided a Saviour "the 
seed of the woman." And however brief the account given in 
Genesis, yet full and explicit explanations of the plan of salva- 
tion were doubtless given at once; and man was instructed as 
to how he was to become reconciled to God. And now, lest he 
should come direct to the tree of life without the mediation of 
Christ, and eat and live forever as he was, God " drove out the 
man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cheru- 
bim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the 
way of the tree of life." Here man was to worship God through 
Christ, and through him and him alone he was to "have right 
to the tree of life." The cherubim here are identical with 
those found in the tabernacle and temple with their wings 
shadowing the mercy-seat; and what is called a "flaming 
sword" here was the "shekinah," as it was called in the temple 
worship. And all this was not to keep man from the tree of 
life, but to preserve the way of the tree of life. There were 
symbols of Divinity perpetually present to man before the 
flood. In Hebrews ix. Paul speaks of these symbols, and 
shows that they were ordained of God until "Christ being 
come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and 
more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not 
of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but 
by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, hav- 
ing obtained eternal redemption for us." And again: "For 
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, 
which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to 
appear in the presence of God for xis." Evidently there was at 
the east of the garden of Eden a mercy-seat, with cherubim 
on either end of it, whose wings shadowed this mercy-seat, 
and over which was the shekinah. Here man was to bring the 

6 Preface. 



blood of his sacrifice and sprinkle it on the mercy-seat, in 
faith of the blood of Jesus Christ, who, in the fullness of time, 
should enter into the "true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, 
and not man," and sprinkle the mercy-seat in the presence of 
God with his own blood. 

Hence we see that the Church of Jesus Christ has been the 
same in all ages, but there have been different dispensations; 
and, while the worship of God through Christ has been iden- 
tical in all ages, yet God has adapted this worship to man's sur- 
roundings and condition. From the fall to the flood, men wor- 
shiped God here at the east of the garden of Eden. From the 
flood to Moses, men erected altars and worshiped God where it 
was most convenient for them; for we read that Noah, Abra- 
ham, Isaac, Jacob, and others built altars, and worshiped God. 
When God gave the law by the hand of Moses, then the taber- 
nacle was erected, and men came unto that. When they reached 
the promised land, God chose Jerusalem as the place of wor- 
ship; and here it was observed until Christ came, was crucified, 
rose from the dead, and ascended on high " to appear in the 
presence of God for us." From that time to the present, men 
"worship him in spirit and in truth," "for God is a Spirit: and 
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." 

All along through the ages the coming of Christ was prom- 
ised: first, as the "seed of the woman;" then as "the seed of 
Abraham;" then as the "Star of Jacob;" then as the " Son of 
David," etc. As the time of his coming approached, the proph- 
ecies concerning him became more and more explicit, and rev- 
elations of him more abundant. His first coming was in the flesh ; 
his second coming was after his ascension, when he came to judge 
and overthrow the Jewish nation ; his third coming will be at the 
end of time, to judge the quick and the dead. 

There has been much confusion in the minds of many with 
reference to the prophecies concerning these several comings 
of Christ, and we propose to try and present these comings in 
their regular order, pointing out the prophecies connected with 
each one. It is not our purpose so much to combat the errors 
that have arisen in the minds of many as it is to present the 
truth. If the views we shall present be correct, then all others 
opposed to them must be false. We do not profess to be wiser 
than others, nor are we so vain as to think we are infallible. 



Preface. 7 

In our researches we have availed ourselves of every help in 
our reach. We have adopted no man's theory as a whole ; but 
after studying the subject, first in the Bible itself and then with 
the help of others, we have formulated our own views, and shall 
ask the reader to examine them as carefully and prayerfully 
while reading as we have done before writing. 

We shall not burden our work with quotation marks; but, 
here and now, acknowledge our indebtedness to Rev. T. O. 
Summers, Rev. Henry Cowles, and Canon Farrar. When we 
make any extended quotations from these or other authors, we 
will make due acknowledgment, but do not feel it necessary to 
mark every thougjit suggested by them. 

In all our work we have labored to make the Scripture its 
own interpreter. Often symbols in the New Testament can be 
explained and understood only by referring to the same sym- 
bols as used in the Old Testament. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. PAGE 

First Coming of Christ to Set Up a Kingdom Second 
Coming to Judge the Jews Four Parallel Visions of 
Daniel Nebuchadnezzar's Dream 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Vision of the Four Beasts The Ten Kings The Little 
Horn Antiochus Epiphanes The Ancient of Days 
Christ's Kingdom An Angel Explains the Vision 20 

CHAPTER III. 

The Third Parallel Vision The Medo-Persian Empire 
The Grecian Empire The Four Kingdoms Syria and 
Egypt Antiochus Epiphanes A Day Not a Year in 
Prophecy Cleansing the Sanctuary The Vision Ex- 
plained Death of Antiochus The Little Horn Not Papal 
Rome 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Daniel's Confession and Prayer Gabriel Comes to Explain 
When Christ Is to Suffer and Die His Kingdom Es- 
tablished 62 

CHAPTER V. 

The Fourth Parallel Vision The Angel Comes to Explain 
What Should Befall the Jews Michael the Archangel. . 76 

CHAPTER VI. 

The King of Persia Xerxes Alexander Egypt and 
Syria, Their Wars and Intrigues Antiochus Epiphanes; 
His Vileness His Punishment of the Jews He Profanes 
the Temple The Daily Sacrifice Taken Away Perse- 
cution of the Jews Judas Maccabeus Death of Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes 83 

(9) 



io Contents. 

CHAPTER VII. PAGE 

Trials and Persecutions of the Jews The Seven Brethren 
and Their Mother Martyred The Resurrection to Joy 
and Shame The Thousand Two Hundred and Ninety 
Days The Sanctuary Cleansed The Kingdom of Christ. 108 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Prophecies of the Old Testament Center in Israel- 
False Interpretations The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into 
Jerusalem Its Object The Fig-tree Cursed The Two 
Sons Parable of the Vineyard Marriage of the King's 
Son Scribes, Pharisees, and Herodians Assail Jesus 
Their Hypocrisy Unveiled Prophecy Concerning the 
Destruction of Jerusalem 121 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Book of Revelation Letters to the Seven Churches 
The Book Sealed with Seven Seals Sealing of the Saints 
The Seven Trumpets 160 

CHAPTER X. 

The Angel with the Little Book The Temple and Altar 
Measured The Two Witnesses The Third Woe 207 

CHAPTER XL 

The Second Great Persecuting Power, Pagan Rome The 
Messiah Born The Dragon The Beast from the Sea 
The Beast from the Earth The Lamb on Mount Sion 
The Fall of Babylon, or Rome 223 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Seven Golden Vials Unclean Spirits Like Frogs 
Preparations for the Great Battle Judgment of the Great 
Whore, and Who She Is The Joy Over the Fall of Bab- 
ylon The King of Kings and His Armies The Fowls 
Summoned to the Great Supper The Beast and the False 
Prophet Cast into the Lake of Fire The Dragon Cast 
Into tke Pit The Millennium The Judgment-day 249 



Contents. n 

CHAPTER XIII. PAGE 

The New Heaven and the New Earth The New Jerusalem 
The General Invitation 292 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Folly of Modern Adventism Christ to Remain in 
Heaven to the Judgment Mistakes of Modern Advent- 
ists 313 




THE KINGDOM AND COMINGS OF CHRIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

First Coming of Christ to Set Up a Kingdom Second Coming 
to Judge the Jews Four Parallel Visions of Daniel Nebu- 
chadnezzar's Dream. 

THE coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh is one 
of the great events in the history of our race. 
Then he, as Christ the anointed King, was to set up 
a kingdom. John the Baptist began preaching, 
"Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand;" and Jesus uses the same language. Mat- 
thew says : " From that time Jesus began to preach, 
and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand." Mark says: " Jesus came into Galilee, 
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and 
saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of 
God is at hand." In Luke we find this language: 
"And he said unto them, I must preach the king- 
dom of God to other cities afco." 

He came, then, to set up a kingdom. As he had 
committed the work of his Church to the hands of 
the Jews, they were looking forward to this coming 
with the deepest interest; and God, from time to 
time, revealed facts in connection with it. Nearly 
all the prophets spoke more or less of it. But to 
Daniel especially are we indebted for the terms so 

(13) 



14 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

freely used by the evangelists: the "kingdom of 
heaven," "the kingdom of God." 

There was another coming of Christ in which 
the Jews were specially interested. They were to 
prove themselves unworthy of the trust God had 
committed to their hands; and shortly after the 
ascension of Christ he was to come in judgment 
upon them, destroy their city and nation, take from 
them the Church and its work and give it to others, 
who, as he expresses it, should "bring forth the 
fruit thereof." 

These two comings of Christ are predicted faith- 
fully and explicitly in Daniel. Some portions 
of these predictions have been misapplied and 
wrenched out of their meaning. We therefore 
desire to present these prophecies in their order 
with their meaning. 

In the prophecy of Daniel we have four great 
parallel visions, all bearing on the same subject, 
all embracing the same facts and personages. The 
first of these visions is brought out in the dream of 
Nebuchadnezzar, as found in the second chapter. 
There the great empires and nations immediately 
preceding the "kingdom of God" are brought to 
view. The second is found in the seventh chapter, 
where symbols are used to represent these same 
empires and nations, with an addition of a king, 
who was to "make war w r ith the saints, and prevail 
against them." The third is in the eighth chapter, 
where the explanation is a little more full and ex- 
plicit. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 15 

And the fourth is in the tenth, eleventh, and 
twelfth chapters, where, toward the latter part, all 
symbols are dropped and a full explanation of them 
is given in plain language. 

Bearing these things in mind, we will now pro- 
ceed to give these several parallel visions in their 
order, and try to show their meaning. Without 
burdening the reader with the preliminaries which 
lead to this dream, we give it at once: 

* ' Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. 
This great image, whose brightness was excellent, 
stood before thee; and the form thereof was ter- 
rible. 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." 

Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar: "Thou art 
this head of gold. And after thee shall arise 
another kingdom inferior to thee, and another 

O ' 

third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over 
all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be 
strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in 



16 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that 
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and 
bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and 
toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the 
kingdom shall be divided ; but there shall be in it 
of the strength of iron, forasmuch as thou sawest 
the iron -mixed with the 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. 
And in the days of these kings shall the God of 
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
stroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to 
other people, but it shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for- 
ever. 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 here- 
after: and the dream is certain, and the interpre- 
tation thereof sure." 

These kingdoms were: First, the Chaldean, 
then in existence and in the height of its glory; 
second, the Medo-Persian, represented by the sil- 
ver; third, the Grecian, whose sole representative 
was Alexander. For, as we shall see, Daniel 
makes no account of his father, Philip, or of that 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 17 

portion of the Grecian empire found in Europe. 
He deals only with that part which comes in con- 
tact with his people and affects the kingdom of 
Jesus Christ, as seen in this vision. The image 
seen in this dream is a compact, consistent image, 
occupying the same ground, and composed of the 
same people, as we shall see in our further investi- 
gations. The Grecians, under Alexander, over- 
threw the Medo-Persian empire. The fourth was 
that which immediately succeeded the Grecian 
empire in Asia the field on which the others had 
existed. 

Alexander died in Babylon in the height of his 
glory, leaving no definite instructions as to his suc- 
cessor. It is said that upon being asked to whom 
he bequeathed his empire he replied, "To the 
strongest," or, as otherwise reported, "To the 
worthiest," adding the very natural prediction that 
he foresaw a bloody competition at his funeral 
games. He left no born legitimate offspring, but 
his wife, Roxana, was at the time of his death 
about to become a mother. Both she and the 
child .to whom she gave birth fell victims to the 
jealousy of one of the competitors for his throne. 
After a struggle of more than twenty years between 
contending parties, his vast dominions were divid- 
ed into four great kingdoms by four of his princi- 
pal generals. Cassander took Macedon, with part 
of Greece; Lysimachus established himself upon 
the throne of Thrace ; Seleucus became master of 
Syria and nearly all the countries which had com- 
2 



1 8 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

posed the Persian monarchy, founding the dynasty 
of the Seleucidas; and Ptolemy became King of 
Egypt, commencing the line of the Ptolemies. 

Now the portion with which the Jews came 
specially in contact were the Syrian kingdom and 
the Egyptian. In point of time these two king- 
doms fill the two or three centuries immediately 
following the death of Alexander, B.C. 323. This 
divided state of the image is represented by the 
iron and clay mixed. There was the strength of 
iron in some parts of it, and the weakness of clay 
in others. During the existence of these kingdoms, 
or, as Daniel expresses it, " in the days of these 
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
which shall never be destroyed," and this is the 
fifth kingdom. Four of these kingdoms are earth- 
ly, one is heavenly. 

We have this to guide us in this view of this vis- 
ion. A clear beginning, a distinct end, and all the 
rest must lie within these extremes. The begin- 
ning is Nebuchadnezzar as representing the Chal- 
dean kingdom ; the end is Jesus Christ, represent- 
ing the kingdom of heaven as set up by him in 
person during his incarnation. 

The feet of this image have been placed by 
many interpreters of this prophecy from seven 
hundred to a thousand years after Christ. Rome 
has been looked upon as the iron kingdom. But 
mark you this does not fit Rome, but does fit the 
divided kingdom of Alexander in every particular 
time, place, and policy. God was revealing to 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 19 

Daniel what should befall his people " in the latter 
days" all along down to the coming of their Mes- 
siah. "These prophecies touch the political his- 
tory of the kingdoms of this world only because 
these particular kingdoms sustained very special 
relations to the great kingdom that is not of this 
world, which lay in embryo in the Jewish state, yet 
nursed and guarded there under the perfect eye of 
God till the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of 
God truly come i. e., came forth visibly before 
all the world." 

Daniel did not aim to teach universal history, or 
to point out the course of empires for their sakes ; 
but he held to the fixed purpose of dealing only 
w 7 ith those nations that affected his people, and had 
their bearing on the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
Neither pagan nor papal Rome has any place 
whatever in these prophecies. 



CHAPTER II. 

Vision of the Four Beasts The Ten Kings The Little Horn 
Antiochus Epiphanes The Ancient of Days Christ's King- 
dom An Angel Explains the Vision. 

DANIEL retained his high position during the 
rest of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and was 
continued in office throughout the reign of Darius 
and into the reign of Cyrus. His last recorded vis- 
ion was in the third year of the reign of Cyrus. 
This vision is found in the seventh chapter of his 
prophecy. He says: '" I saw in my vision by night, 
and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove 
upon the great sea. And four great beasts came 
up from the sea, diverse one from another." These 
beasts did not come up all at once, but in succession. 
They symbolized different kingdoms. " The first 
was like a lion, and had eagle's wings; I beheld 
till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was 
lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon 
the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given 
to it." 

There is no diversity of opinion, we believe, as 
to what this beast symbolizes. It is thoroughly 
Chaldean in every respect. Winged lions, winged 
bulls, and even winged men have been exhumed by 
the indefatigable Layard in his researches amid the 
ruins of Nineveh, 

While Daniel is looking at this powerful beast 
(20) 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 21 

a change comes over it. Its wings are plucked; 
it is lifted from all fours and made to stand like a 
man, and a man's heart is given it, an evidence of 
its waning strength. Daniel had been connected 
with this empire in the days of its lion-like power. 
He now saw it waning to its fall, plucked of its 
swift moving-armies, and despoiled of its lion-like 
strength. And here we see the first point of par- 
allel between this vision and Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream as interpreted by Daniel. 

The beasts came in succession: "And behold 
another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised 
up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the 
mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said 
thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." 

This was the Medo-Persian empire, and answers 
well to its character and movements. The side on 
which it raised up itself was Chaldea. This pow- 
er, when it began to assume strength as a nation, 
made its first grand movement against Chaldea. 
The capture of Babylon by Cyrus is predicted in 
Isaiah (chapter xlv.), and is a well-known fact in 
history. The lion went down under the bear. 
The "three ribs in its mouth" may refer to the 
destruction of other nations, not now clearly 
known for want of an accurate history of this 
period. It and the "devouring of much flesh" 
denotes the subjugation of other nationalities, and 
the absorbing them into its own. 

"After this I beheld, and lo another, like a 
leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings 



or 



22 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and do- 
minion was given to it." 

This was the Grecian empire of Alexander. 
Perhaps no conqueror ever moved his armies with 
more celerity, nor won conquests more rapidly 
than did he. Hence he is symbolized by one of 
the most lithe and active of ravenous beasts, the 
leopard; and wings are added, an additional em- 
blem of his swiftness. " Dominion given him" 
indicates his success in enlarging his empire. In 
the parallel vision (chapter ii. 39) the record 
is: "Another third kingdom of brass, which shall 
bear rule over all the earth." The " four heads " 
may or may not refer to the four successors of 
Alexander that precede the "little horn" king. 
Some think it refers to the intellectuality of the 
Grecians. We incline to the former opinion as 
more natural, and as coming in its proper place. 

"After this I saw in the night visions, and be- 
hold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and 
strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it 
devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the 
residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from 
all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten 
horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there 
came up among them another little horn, before 
whom there were three of the first horns plucked 
up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were 
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking 
great things." 

This fourth kingdom is that which immediately 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 23 

followed the Grecian, existing first under Alexan- 
der's four generals, then under ten kings, and final- 
ly under Antiochus Epiphanes, who is symbolized 
by the ''little horn." But let us look to the de- 
velopment of this kingdom as seen in this vision. 
The history of this kingdom is symbolized in this 
beast. It was " dreadful and terrible," especially 
to the Jews, Daniel's people. Never in their his- 
tory did they pass through such dreadful scenes, 
and were encompassed by such terrors, as we shall 
see in the further development of this prophecy. 
It was "strong exceedingly, and it had great iron 
teeth." The Jews had no power to resist the ar- 
mies brought against them, and they were crushed 
in the jaws of this monster as between great teeth 
of iron. .'** It devoured and brake in pieces, and 
stamped the residue with the feet of it." Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes robbed them of their treasure, 
despoiled their temple, stamped upon their most 
sacred rites, hurled their beloved priests from their 
places, and defied God and man. " It was diverse 
from all the beasts that were before it." All other 
conquerors had, if they did not respect the religion 
of the Jews, at least left them in the enjoyment of 
it. Not so this. Every appliance of power was 
brought to bear to break up the customs of the na- 
tion and introduce the worship of strange gods. 
"And it had ten horns." Now where and when 
are we naturally to look for these ten horns. Sure- 
ly not in Europe; surely not hundreds of years 
after the coming of Christ in the flesh but right 



24 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

here on the ground occupied by their kingdom, 
and during its existence. They must exist between 
the death of Alexander and the rise of Antiochus 
Epiphanes, and we hold that they must have some 
relationship to the Jews. And here we see no dif- 
ficulty, inasmuch as Daniel himself (chapter xi. 
5-27), in the last of the four great parallel visions, 
has pointed them out so clearly that nearly all 
commentators agree in naming them. But best of 
all the revealing spirit in this eleventh chapter has 
mapped out the movement of the powers of this 
period so distinctly that we can without difficulty 
find in the track of their contending armies all ten 
of these kings. 

Of the four kingdoms into which the great Gre- 
cian empire was dissolved, two Syria and Egypt 
affect the Jewish nation especially. Five of these 
kings are from the North, or Syria; and five from 
the South, or Egypt. The five from the Greek- 
Syrian dynasty are: i. Seleucus Nicator. 2. An- 
tiochus Theos. 3. Seleucus Callinicus. 4. Anti- 
ochus the Great. 5. Seleucus Philopator. The 
five from the Grasco-Egyptian dynasty are: i. 
Ptolemy Lagus. 2. Ptolemy Philadelphus. 3. 
Ptolemy Euergetes. 4. Ptolemy Philopator. 5. 
Ptolemy Philometer. 

These were not kings of separate and distinct 
kingdoms, into which the one great kingdom was 
divided, but five of them in succession sat on the 
throne of Syria, and five on the throne of Egypt. 
And, mark you, only those who came in special 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 25 

contact with the Jews are reckoned. For instance, 
there was Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was put upon 
the throne of Egypt at the age of five years, and 
whose history amounts to nothing. Then there 
were two that reigned in the Syrian throne, covering 
a period of thirty-two years, that are intentionally 
omitted; but the revealing spirit points this fact 
out in chapter xi. 6, by saying: " In the end of 
years," etc. Thus this hiatus is indicated that 
there may be no mistake. 

"I considered the horns, and, behold, there 
came up among them another little horn, before 
whom there were three of the first horns plucked 
up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were 
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking 
great things." 

This "little horn " was Antiochus Epiphanes, 
every feature of the symbol answering to him. 
Three of the first horns were plucked up by the 
roots. He was the son of Antiochus the Great; 
his elder brother was Seleucus Philopator; and 
while there is a conflict among historians as to the 
cause of the death of these two, one on the throne 
and the other next entitled to it, yet it is asserted 
that Antiochus effected the death both of his father 
and his brother, thus " plucking up by the roots " 
these two horns that stood in his way to the throne. 
One of his first acts on coming to the throne was 
to turn his attention to the possession of Egypt, 
which was then enjoyed by Ptolemy Philometor, his 
nephew, son to his sister Cleopatra, whom Anti- 



26 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ochus the Great had married to Ptolemy Epiphanes, 
King of Egypt. He subdued this kingdom, thus 
"plucking up another horn that stood in his way." 
In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, in- 
dicating the keen intelligence and far-seeing policy 
that characterized his every movement, "and a 
mouth speaking great things." His command was 
to change the religion of every nation subdued by 
him. On this point he was inexorable, as we shall 
see in the subsequent visions. 

"I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the 
Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white 
as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure 
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his 
wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and 
came forth from before him ; thousand thousands 
ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten 
thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, 
and the books were opened. I beheld then, be- 
cause of the voice of the great words which the 
horn spake : I beheld even till the beast was slain 
and his body destroyed and given to the burning 
flame." 

This refers not to the great judgment-day; but 
it, like the other, is symbolic language to express 
the providential judgment in time for the destruc- 
tion of the fourth beast and his horns. Nations, 
as such, can only be. judged in this life, or in time. 
We find that the final outcome of this judgment is 
in the fourth beast. This fixes it unmistakably to 
the period of which the prophet writes: "I beheld 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 27 

till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of 
days did sit." "Cast down" here does not mean 
overthrown or demolished, but it means firmly set. 
God is about to sit in judgment upon a guilty na- 
tion, and he plants his throne and seats himself 
("the Ancient of days") upon it. The destruc- 
tion of this nation must be done in righteousness 
after careful judicial ' inquiry into the crimes for 
which it is to suffer. Isaiah speaks of a time when 
he "saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and 
lifted up." And this was preparatory to judging 
his people. He had come unto his own, and his 
own received him not, and John says: "But 
though he had done so many miracles before them, 
yet they believed not on him: that the saying of 
Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he 
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and 
to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 
Therefore they could not believe, because that 
Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and 
hardened their heart; that they should not see with 
their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be 
converted, and I should heal them. These things 
said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of 
him." Here the Lord was "upon his throne," that 
he might providentially judge his people when he 
took the kingdom from them and gave it to a na- 
tion bringing forth fruits of righteousness. Again 
Micaiah (i Kings xxii. 19) says: " I saw the Lord 
sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven 
standing by him on his right hand and on his left." 



28 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Ahab had filled up the cup of his iniquity, and was 
to be led to Ramoth-gilead to be slain, and God 
sits to judge him and prove the righteousness of the 
penalty inflicted. 

"Whose garment was white as snow," a sym- 
bol of the purity of his character. He could not 
do wrong. " The hair of his head like the pure 
wool." Age is venerable. "The hoary head is 
a crown of glory if it be found in the way of right- 
eousness." " His throne was like the fiery flame, 
and his wheels as burning fire." See a similar 
representation of God's throne as seen by Ezekiel 
in the first chapter of his prophecy. God moves 
to fiery judgments. His knowledge is not confined 
to a single spot; as a flash of lightning his messen- 
gers, that bear up the sapphire pavement upon 
which rests his throne, go wherever the Spirit bids. 
"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before 
him." His judgments are to be destructive: 
"Upon the wicked he will rain fire and brimstone, 
and a horrible tempest." It was with fire that he 
destroyed the guilty cities of the plain. 

"Thousand thousands ministered, etc." His 
resources are illimitable; his attendants number- 
less. " The judgment was set, and the books were 
opened." No arbitrary proceeding; every thing 
done must be done for cause. A record has been 
kept, and now it is revealed to satisfy the world that 
all is done in justice. 

"I beheld then because of the voice of the great 
words which the horn spake: I beheld even till 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 29 

the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and 
given to the burning flame." 

Hear the blasphemy of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
in which he speaks against the Most High, and 
proposes to change the religion of the Jews, rank- 
ing it on a par with the idolatrous worship of hea- 
then nations. These are the sins for which he and 
his kingdom are to be destroyed by this righteous 
Judge. If the awful scenes described in these 
three verses (9, 10, n) referred to the final judg- 
ment of the world, then that judgment precedes the 
first advent or coming of Christ instead of follow- 
ing his second advent, as we are taught in the New 
Testament. But they are scenes that transpired 
when the judgments of God fell upon this last of 
the four great kingdoms, with their last and blas- 
phemous king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and when 
the God of heaven sets up the kingdom of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

"As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had 
their dominion taken away: yet their lives were 
prolonged for a season and time." 

" The rest of the beasts " the first three. The 
judgments of God do not fall upon them so sud- 
denly nor so terribly as they fall upon this fourth 
kingdom. These three, and their slower destruc- 
tion, is contrasted with the swift and awful doom 
that falls on this fourth one. 

" I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one 
like the Son of man came with the clouds of 
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they 



30 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

brought him near before him. And there was 
given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
that all people, nations, and languages, should 
serve him: his dominion is an everlasting domin- 
ion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom 
that which shall not be destroyed." 

This passage graphically describes the setting 
up of the kingdom of Jesus Christ at his ascension. 
This is precisely the same event described in the 
first vision (chapter ii. 44): "And in the days of 
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a king- 
dom, which shall never be destroyed : and the king- 
dom shall not be left to other people, but it shall 
break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, 
and it shall stand forever." After the ascension of 
Christ the apostles with one voice testified to the 
fact that God had made him "both Lord and 
Christ." Hear them on the day of Pentecost 
when the Holy Ghost revealed the fact: "This 
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are wit- 
nesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God 
exalted." And again: "Let all the house of Is- 
rael know assuredly that God hath made that same 
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and 
Christ." 

" Him hath God exalted with his right hand to 
be a Prince and a Saviour." Peter, at the house 
of Cornelius, when opening his commission to the 
Gentiles, said: "He is Lord of all." 

Paul says (Eph. i. 20-22): "When he raised 
him from the dead, and set him at his own right 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 31 

hand in the heavenly places, far above all princi- 
pality, and power, and might, and dominion, and 
every name that is named, not only in this world, 
but also in that which is to come : and hath put all 
things under his feet, and gave him to be the head 
over all things to the Church," etc. And Peter 
says (i Pet. iii. 22): "Who is gone into heaven, 
and is on the right hand of God ; angels and au- 
thorities and powers being made subject unto 
him." We might fill pages with such quotations, 
but these are enough. 

The disciples followed their Lord out to Olivet, 
and when they asked him, " Wilt thou at this time 
restore the kingdom to Israel?" he replied: "It 
is not for you to know the times, or the seasons, 
which the Father hath put in his own power. But 
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost 
is come upon you," etc. He bestowed his bless- 
ing upon them, and then "was taken up; and' a 
cloud received him out of their sight." They saw 
him enter the cloud, and saw no more. But Dan- 
iel, in a vision, witnessed the full scene. He saw 
him "come with the clouds of heaven to the An- 
cient of days," and saw the dominion and glory 
spoken of by Paul and Peter given him. It was a 
grand sight this inauguration of the Son of man. 
Now for the first time, as God-man, is he crowned 
Lord of all. Because of his entering the flesh and 
suffering the death of the cross "God highly ex- 
alted him, and gave him a name above every name : 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 



32 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
under the earth ; and that every tongue should con- 
fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
the Father." He was to enter upon that reign and 
conquest that should continue until all the kingdoms 
of earth "should become the kingdoms of our Lord 
and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and 
ever. 

"I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst 
of my body, and the visions of my head troubled 
me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, 
and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, 
and made me know the interpretation of the 
things." 

He wanted an explanation of the symbols and 
wonders he had seen, and he seeks light from 
"one that stood by," and he graciously explains: 
"These great beasts, which are four, are four 
kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the 
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, 
and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and 
ever." 

This explanation of the angel does not fully sat- 
isfy Daniel, for we find him saying immediately: 
" Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, 
which was diverse from all the others, exceeding 
dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails 
of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and 
stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten 
horns that were in his head, and of the other which 
came up, and before whom three fell; even of that 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 33 

horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very 
great things, whose look was more stout than his 
fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war 
with the saints, and prevailed against them; until 
the Ancient of days came, . . . and the time 
came that the saints possessed the kingdom." 

He seems to be satisfied with the knowledge he 
has of the first three. But the fourth troubles him, 
and he would know all about him, and he points 
out the things he would know of the angel. Dan- 
iel saw the consecutive order of the events unfold- 
ed in his vision. He saw the persecutions of the 
saints by this "little horn" until the Ancient of 
days took from him the kingdom and gave it to the 
saints. This gift follows immediately upon the 
overthrow of this " little horn," and not hundreds 
of years after, as must be the case if this " little 
horn" be papal Rome. The evidence in favor 
of Antiochus Epiphanes being this " little horn" 
will accumulate as we advance in this investiga- 
tion; and if it be Antiochus, it cannot be papal 
Rome, and all theories based upon this fact must 
fall to the ground. 

"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the 
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse 
from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole 
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in 
pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom 
are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall 
rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the 
first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he 
3 



34 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

shall speak great words against the Most High, and 
shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and 
think to change times and laws : and they shall be 
given into his hand until a time and times and the 
dividing of time." 

This explanation is of vital importance in under- 
standing this vision. The beasts are kingdoms. 
The fourth in consecutive order was different from 
the others, and the difference is pointed out. It 
is his hostility to God and his saints, as we shall 
see. The ten horns are ten kings. The little horn 
is yet another king arising after the ten diverse 
from them. So the '* little horn" cannot be the 
papal Church, as many suppose; and all such ap- 
plications of this symbol are wild and fanciful, un- 
supported by the prophecy, as explained by this 
heavenly teacher of Daniel. 

We have shown that Antiochus Epiphanes, in 
pushing his way to the throne of this fourth king- 
dom, uprooted or subdued three kings: his father, 
Antiochus the Great; his brother, Seleucus Phi- 
lopater, who took the throne on the death of his 
father ; and Ptolemy. That he " spake great words 
against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints 
of the Most High, and think to change times and 
laws," is beyond a question. 

Rawlinson says: " Antiochus, having not only 
plundered and desecrated the temple, but having 
set himself to eradicate utterly the Jewish religion, 
and completely Hellenize the people, was met with 
the most determined resistance on the part of a 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 35 

moiety of the nation." Again the same author 
says, when speaking of his death: "In the pop- 
ular belief his death was a judgment upon him for 
his attempted sacrilege." 

"And they [the saints] shall be given into his 
hand until a time and times and the dividing of 
time." On account of the wickedness of the Jew- 
ish nation, notwithstanding the few saints that still 
held firmly to the religion of their fathers, they 
were given into the hand of this vile king, and for 
three years and a half the daily sacrifice was sus- 
pended. "Time" here means a year, as we learn 
from its use in chapter iv. 16, 23, 29, 32. There 
the "seven times" means seven years, and the 
"time" here means one year; "times," the plu- 
ral, two more; and the " dividing of time" a part 
of a year, which was in this case, according to the 
history of this event, six months altogether mak- 
ing three years and six months. Thus we have 
the cumulative evidence that "the little horn" is 
Antiochus Epiphanes. 

" But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take 
away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it 
unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlast- 
ing kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and 
obey him." 

This we have already explained (verses 9-11). 
History shows us that this vast empire went to 



36 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

pieces about this time, and that its fall was fol- 
lowed by the setting up of the Messiah's kingdom, 
which was " given to the people of the saints of the 
Most High." And it was but a little time until, as 
Paul tells us, the gospel " was preached to every 
creature which is under heaven." And again: 
" Their sound went into all the earth, and their 
words unto the ends of the world." 

" Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me 
Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my 
countenance changed in me : but I kept the matter 
in my heart." The calamities that he foresaw com- 
ing upon his people greatly troubled this good man, 
and he laid the whole matter up in his heart. 




CHAPTER III. 

The Third Parallel Vision The Medo- Persian Empire The 
Grecian Empire The Four Kingdoms Syria and Egypt 
Antiochus Epiphanes A Day not a Year in Prophecy 
Cleansing the Sanctuary The Vision Explained Death of 
Antiochus The Little Horn not Papal Rome. 

WE now come to the third of the great parallel 
visions of Daniel, contained in the eighth 
chapter. It was seen about two years subsequent 
to the one recorded in chapter vii. He says: "In 
the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a 
vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, 
after that which appeared unto me at the first. 
And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when 
I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which 
is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, 
and I was by the river of Ulai." 

He was actually in Shushan when he had the 
vision, but in vision he was by the river of Ulai, 
as one in a dream conceives himself to be where 
he is not. 

" Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, be- 
hold, there stood before the river a ram which had 
two horns : and the two horns were -high ; but one 
was higher than the other, and the higher came up 
last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and north- 
ward, and southward; so that no beast might stand 
before him, neither was there any that could de- 

(37) 



38 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

liver out of his hand ; but he did according to his 
will, and became great." 

The Chaldean empire lasted only a period of 88 
years, from B.C. 625 to 538. At the time of this 
vision there remained only about 15 years of its 
existence ; and hence it is dropped out of this vis- 
ion. The prophet's stand-point is Persia, and here 
his vision begins. But the leaving out of Chaldea 
does not in any degree prevent this from being a 
parallel vision to the former two. 

Gabriel tells Daniel (verse 20) that "The ram 
which thou sawest having two horns are the kings 
of Media and Persia." These are Darius and 
Cyrus. The kingdom itself is a united kingdom, 
and draws its king from either. The higher of these 
two is Cyrus, for he came up last in point of time. 
This kingdom pushes its conquests west, north, and 
south; never to the east. This is perfectly in ac- 
cordance with history. There was no power that 
could stand before him. None " could deliver out 
of his' hand." 

"And as I was considering, behold, a he goat 
came from the west on the face of the whole earth, 
and touched not the ground : and the goat had a 
notable horn between his eyes." 

This is a correct portrait of Alexander and of his 
movements, and so says Gabriel (verse 21). He 
comes from the west (Greece), sweeping over the 
" face of the whole earth," bearing all before him, 
" and touched not the ground," so rapid were his 
movements, so swift his marches. The " notable 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 39 

horn " was Alexander, Gabriel says, the "first 
king." So far as this kingdom affected the Jews, 
Daniel's people, he was \hejlrst king, and so far 
as his conquests embraced the territory of the two 
former kingdoms, he was the first. These visions 
have nothing to do with European kings or em- 
pires . They must agree chronologically, geograph- 
ically, politically, and in respect of the Jews. 

"And he came to the ram that had two horns, 
which I had seen standing by the river, and ran 
unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him 
come close unto the ram, and he was moved with 
choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake 
his two horns : and there was no power in the ram 
to stand before him, but he cast him down to the 
ground, and stamped upon him, and there was none 
that could deliver the ram out of his hand." 

With one dash of his pen Daniel pictures the 
overthrow of the Medo-Persian Empire by Alex- 
ander. Every touch is to life, every point verified 
by profane history. Years before, Xerxes, the 
King of Persia, had invaded Greece with his mill- 
ions, and, although beaten back disgraced, yet 
these haughty Greeks were not satisfied, but nursed 
their hate and waited for their revenge. And now, 
as their daring leader gave them the opportunity, 
they "ran upon him in the fury of their power," 
and " cast him down to the ground, and stamped 
upon him." When we read the history of the 
wars waged by Cyrus with the Persian armies, 
when he " pushed westward, and northward, and 



40 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

southward" with a power that none could resist, 
we are struck with w r onder at the amazing rapid- 
ity with which Alexander uses up these armies. 
" Twelve years sufficed him to master not Persia 
alone, DutTyre, Egypt, and all the east, even deeper 
into India itself than the ancient powers of Western 
Asia or Europe ever went before or after." No 
wonder he " touched not the ground " as he moved 
from west to east. 

" Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and 
when he was strong, the great horn was broken ; 
and for it came up four notable ones toward the 
four winds of heaven." 

This mighty conqueror, who knew no defeat, 
but whose swelling empire bid fair to cover the 
known world, when in the zenith of his power and 
success was " broken." He died suddenly at 
Babylon fell a victim to strong drink. *' He died 
on the eleventh or twelfth day of his illness, about 
midsummer B.C. 323, being in the thirty-third 
year of his age and the thirteenth of his reign." 
He was surrounded by his victorious army, with 
plans for other wars; "when he was strong, the 
great horn was broken." 

"And for it came up four notable ones toward 
the four winds of heaven." His kingdom was di- 
vided after some twenty years of conflict and blood- 
shed among his four generals. Of these four, the 
Jews stood in close relation only to Egypt on the 
south and Syria on the north. Hence the others 
are dropped from the visions. 






The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 41 

"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, 
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and 
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 
And it waxed great, even to the hosts of heaven ; 
and it cast down some of the host and of the stars 
to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he 
magnified himself even to the prince of the host, 
and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and 
the place of his sanctuary was cast down." 

Antiochus Epiphanes came from the Syrian king- 
dom, one of the four. And although he was but 
" a little horn " at the beginning, he became very, 
powerful by dint of personal effort and energy. 
He pushed his conquests toward the south (Egypt), 
toward the east (Babylonia and Persia), and to- 
ward the pleasant land (Palestine). This always 
in Daniel and Ezekiel means Palestine. It was 
regarded by them as "the glory of all lands," not 
only because it was the inheritance of their fathers 
the land " flowing with milk and honey" but 
because God's sanctuary was there, and there he 
had recorded his name. These were the very di- 
rections in which Antiochus made his conquests. 
And here we will say to those who hold that this 
"little horn" is the papal Church, although the 
revealing angel makes no sort of mention or hint 
that it is, that Church never did push its conquests 
in these directions, and has never held possession 
for any length of time of " the pleasant land," Pal- 
estine. "And it waxed great, even to the host of 
heaven." It is a well-recognized fact that God's 



42 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

people are called his host. God said to Joshua: 
" Nay; but as the captain of the host of the Lord 
am I now come." Antiochus assailed God's peo- 
ple, and did all in his power to crush them out. He 
succeeded in destroying many of them. "And it 
cast down some of the host and of the stars to the 
ground, and stamped upon them." The stars 
here are symbols of the leaders, high priest, and 
elders of Israel. Onias, a high priest, was slain. 
Three noble Jewish deputies who went to meet the 
king at Tyre and obtain his interposition against 
Menelaus, who had offered a greater price even 
than the vile Jason, who had been made high 
priest in room of Ananias, were killed by his order. 
These are but a few of the many " stars" that 
were cast down by him. 

" He magnified himself even to the prince of the 
host." He even dared to make war against the 
God of the Jews, making an effort to destroy his 
religion from the earth. "And by him the daily 
sacrifice was taken away, and Jjie , place of his 
sanctuary was cast down." 

While he was in Egypt a false report of his death 
was spread among the Jews in Palestine, at which 
there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem. Anti- 
ochus, when he returned from Egypt, entered the 
city by force, treated the Jews as rebels, and com- 
manded his troops to slay all they met. Eighty 
thousand were killed, made captives, or sold on 
this occasion. Antiochus, conducted by the cor- 
rupt high priest, Menelaus, entered into the holy 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 43 

of holies, where he took and carried off the most 
precious vessels of that holy place to the value of 
one thousand eight hundred talents. He afterward 
sent Apollonius into Judea with an army of twenty- 
two thousand men, and commanded him to kill all 
the Jews who were of full age, and to sell the 
women and young men. (2 Mace. v. 25.) These 
orders were too punctually executed. These mis- 
fortunes were only preludes to what they were to 
suffer; for Antiochus, apprehending that the Jews 
would never be content in their obedience to him 
unless he obliged them to change their religion 
and to embrace that of the Greeks, issued an edict 
enjoining them to conform to the laws of other na- 
tions, and forbidding their usual sacrifices in the 
temple, their festivals, and Sabbaths. The statue 
of Jupiter Olympus was placed upon the altar of 
the temple, and thus "the abomination of desola- 
tion was seen in the temple of God." Who can 
doubt, when this prophecy and the history of this 
man agrees so perfectly and wonderfully, that the 
"little horn" is Antiochus Epiphanes? 

"And a host was given him against the daily 
sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast 
down the truth to the ground ; and it practiced, and 
prospered.'" 

The Israelites had become very corrupt. In the 
first book of Maccabees we are told: "Where- 
upon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem 
according to the customs of the heathen: and 
made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the 



44 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

holy covenant, and joined themselves to the hea- 
then, and were sold to do mischief." " By reason 
of transgressions" God gave this wicked king 
power over his people, and over his daily sacrifice 
to take it away. These judgments were looked 
upon by the righteous as sent upon the nation on 
account of sin and transgression. 

Again we find in Maccabees: " Now I beseech 
those that read this book, that they be not discour- 
aged for these calamities, but that they judge those 
punishments not to be for destruction, but for a 
chastening of our nation." God made use of this 
" little horn "-to scourge his people for their sins, 
and hence "it practiced and prospered." It 
seemed to have every thing its own way. 

" Then I heard one saint speaking, and another 
saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How 
long shall be the vision concerning the daily sac- 
rifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give 
both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden 
under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two 
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the 
sanctuary be cleansed." 

While one of the saints in the hearing of Daniel 
was speaking, another saint interrupted him with 
the question as to the duration of these calamities, 
including the " daily sacrifice, and the transgres- 
sion of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and 
the host to be trodden under foot." This question 
was not to be answered for his satisfaction, but to 
be given to Daniel for his information. For Dan- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 45 

iel said: "And he said unto me, Unto two thou- 
sand and three hundred days ; then shall the sanct- 
uary be cleansed." 

As this is the first time we have come to a period 
indicated by days in this prophecy, and as the 
world has almost with one consent accepted the 
theory that a day in prophecy stands for a year, 
and all calculations of time in prophecy are based 
upon this theory, we will pause to examine into 
the correctness of it. 

The great question is: Does the word " day " in 
prophecy mean a year? and are we to be governed 
by this principle in reckoning all other times, as 
months, years, etc.? We are indebted to Rev. 
Henry Cowles for valuable arguments and demon- 
strations on this subject. His dissertation at the 
close of his commentary on Ezekiel and Daniel is 
clear and exhaustive. He says: " So the broad 
principle is that prophetic notations of time must 
be multiplied by three hundred and sixty to get the 
real historic duration. I am compelled to discard 
this theory as utterly baseless, false, and of course 
mischievous and delusive." 

But let us weigh this theory in the scale of God's 
word, and see if it will stand the test. Take a 
passage that is looked upon as strongly in favor of 
this theory (Num. xiv. 33, 34): "Your children 
shall wander in the wilderness forty years. . . . 
After the number of the days in which ye searched 
the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall 
ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Here a 



46 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

day means a day, and a year means a year noth- 
ing more. God tells them they shall wander a year 
for each day of their search nothing more. No 
one could misunderstand this language. If he had 
said, "Your children shall wander in the wilder- 
ness forty days," and the history had shown that 
they wandered forty years, then the case would 
have been in point. If, upon the other hand, this 
theory be true when God tells them they shall 
"wander forty years," he meant they should wan- 
tex fourteen thousand and four hundred years, for 
that is forty years multiplied by three hundred and 
sixty. When God says, "Each day for a ye^r," he 
means just what he says, and nothing more. He 
wanted their punishment to remind them of their 
sin. 

Another proof text very analogous to the pre- 
ceding is Ezekiel iv. 4-6. Ezekiel is commanded 
to lie on his right side forty days, and on his left 
three hundred and ninety days, before all Israel, to 
indicate that he bears (in symbol) the iniquity of 
Judah forty years, and of Israel three hundred and 
ninety. The language is: " For I have laid upon 
thee the years of their iniquity, according to the 
number of the days, three hundred and ninety 
days : so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house 
of Israel. . . . Lie again on thy right side, and 
thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 
forty days : I have appointed thee each day for a 
year." But observe throughout this passage that 
in every instance the word "day" is used for a 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 47 

common day, never in the sense of a year; and 
the word "year" means only one year, never 
three hundred and sixty years. A day here is 
used as the symbol of a year, and God plainly 
told the prophet so nothing more, nothing less. 

Again (2 Pet. iii. 8) : " One day is with the Lord 
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one 
day." But this is, a two-edged sword in the hands 
of " a-day-for-a-year " theorist. Where " day " is 
spoken of it means a thousand years instead of one, 
and a thousand years becomes one day. So when 
it is said, "And they lived and reigned with Christ 
a thousand years," it meant but one day. And the 
devil's imprisonment of a thousand years is also 
shortened to a day. But the passage is not " One 
day is with the Lord a thousand years," but as a 
thousand. 

But the passage most relied on, and the one, 
doubtless, that has given the clew to this theory, is 
Daniel ix. 24-27, the celebrated prophecy of the 
" seventy weeks." Mr. Cowles says of this : "The 
original word means, in its singular number, a 
seven, a heptad; and this may be a seven of days 
or a seven of years. The feminine plural is cur- 
rently used for heptads, or sevens, of days; the 
masculine plural (which we have here) never by 
itself for the common week of days, but when a 
week of days is meant the word days is appended, 
as in Daniel x. 2, 3; and finally after a word, and 
a special form of a word, which simply suggests 
the idea of a seven (a seven of something), we 



48 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

must ask, A seven of what? and must look for our 
answer in the context, in the thought already be- 
fore the mind. In the present case there can be 
no doubt that this thought is the seventy years of 
captivity. Then seventy sevens of years must be 
the sense of this phrase, and it involves no usage 
of the word day to mean a year; no usage of any 
current notations of time in a way to need multi- 
plying by three hundred and sixty to get the actual 
time." 

But to see the folly and weakness of this day- 
for-a-year theory it is only necessary to strike a 
few offensive blows at it. When fixing the time 
of the flood the Lord said: "Yet his days shall be 
a hundred and twenty years." Did he mean 
that in plain language? or did he mean forty- 
three thousand two hundred years? Again : " Yet 
seven days and I will cause it to rain forty days and 
forty nights." Was the flood to commence that 
day week, and continue a month and ten days? or 
was it to commence in seven years, and then keep 
it up for forty years? " Your children shall wan- 
der forty years in the wilderness." Surely four- 
teen thousand four hundred years would be a long 
time to wander, and yet this would be the time ac- 
cording to this theory. The captivity of Israel, 
about which Daniel had read, and of whose end 
he was so solicitous, would have left him in despair, 
for it was to be for seventy years, or twenty-five 
thousand two hundred years. 

But let us come to Daniel's prophecy. He 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 49 

prophesies of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity, and 
says: " Let his heart be changed from man's, and 
let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven 
times pass over him." And again: " Let his por- 
tion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times 
pass over him;" and " they shall wet thee with the 
dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over 
thee;" and "they shall make thee to eat grass as 
oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee." All 
agree that Daniel's use of time in this way means 
year. Then seven times means seven years. Was 
Nebuchadnezzar to be with the beasts of the field, 
be wet with the dews of heaven, and eat grass like 
oxen for seven years, or for two thousand five hun- 
dred and twenty years ? It will not do to have a 
theory to serve you only when it suits. Daniel's 
" time and times and the dividing of time" is built 
by the use of the same word ; and it means, as all the 
advocates of this theory contend, twelve hundred 
and sixty. Then Nebuchadnezzar was among the 
beasts two thousand five hundred and twenty years. 
But is not this enough to satisfy any reasonable 
mind that the usage of the Bible is wholly against 
it; and that it is one of those strange errors into 
which, when some one falls, others follow without 
a thought? 

We now return to the consideration of the time 
during which the daily sacrifice was to be taken 
away, the sanctuary and the host to be trodden 
under ^ foot. The angel announces it at "two 
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the 
4 



50 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

sanctuary be cleansed." The fixing of this time 
in the history of this period will do much to estab- 
lish the truth of the position we have taken : That 
the "little horn" is Antiochus Epiphanes, and not 
the Pope of Rome or the papal Church. One 
grand reason why the day-for-a-year theorists hold 
so tenaciously to that theory is because only with 
it can they stretch Daniel's times to the period of 
this Church and its persecutions. Hold it to the 
common computation, and it falls far too short; 
but it does exactly fill out the time of oppression 
under Antiochus. The question is with Daniel, 
how long? How long are these oppressions to last? 
How long before the sanctuary shall be cleansed? 
These are of vital interest to him. 

In fixing these two thousand three hundred days 
(six years, three months, and twenty days) we must 
begin at the end and follow the history back, as we 
can fix almost definitely the end or the cleansing of 
the sanctuary. This, according to the best author- 
ity, occurred December 25, 164 B.C., and an an- 
nual feast was to be kept in commemoration of it. 
2 Maccabees x. 8 says: "They ordained also by 
a common statute and decree, That every year 
those days should be kept of the whole nation of 
the Jews." John tells us that this feast of dedica- 
tion was kept in our Lord's time, and that it was 
in the winter. At this point, then, the two thou- 
sand three hundred days must close. Going back 
from this period three years and six months, we 
reach June 25, 167 B.C. For this period the daily 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 5 l 

sacrifices were taken away. No altar fires burned ; 
"the transgression of desolation" reigned. Just 
two years before this, June, 169 B.C., Antiochus 
Epiphanes returned from his second military ex- 
pedition to Egypt, greatly enraged against the 
Jews because he had heard that they had been 
making great demonstrations of joy over a report 
of his death. He fell upon the city with the sword, 
making a terrific slaughter of "the hosts of the 
Lord's people." These things we find fully record- 
ed in the book of Maccabees. " He thought that 
Judea had revolted: whereupon removing out of 
Egypt in a furious mind, he took the city by force 
of arms, and commanded his men of war not to 
spare such as they met, and to slay such as went 
up upon the houses. Thus there was killing of 
young and old, making away of men, women, and 
children, slaying of virgins and infants. And there 
were destroyed within three whole days fourscore 
thousand, whereof forty thousand were slain in the 
conflict; and no fewer sold than slain." But the 
full period of twenty-three hundred days runs 
back yet a fraction of a year farther. The on- 
slaught of Jason was probably in May, 169 B.C. 
The period named in our passage (six years, three 
months, and twenty days) should begin about Sep- 
tember 5, 170 B.C. The author of the second 
book of Maccabees, in his fourth chapter, imme- 
diately preceding that quoted above, records the 
murder of the good Onias, long time a high priest, 
a "star" of the first magnitude, whose influence 



52 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

had long withstood the wickedness of the times ; 
and the murder of the three Jewish deputies who 
went to meet the king at Tyre, and obtain his in- 
terposition against Menelaus. This Menelaus was 
a vile apostate; a minion of Antiochus, subserving 
his interests by drawing the people into Grecian 
customs and idolatry. Indirectly what he did in 
the way of persecuting the Jews was done by An- 
tiochus himself. Hence this murder of four dis- 
tinguished Jewish leaders should be set to the ac- 
count of this " little horn." They all seem to have 
occurred in the year 170 B.C. Moreover it was in 
the year B.C. 170 that Antiochus made his first ex- 
pedition into Egypt, in which he naturally passed 
through Judea. It is not strange that a period in- 
tended to cover the whole time of casting down 
" some of the hosts of the stars" unto the " cleans- 
ing of the sanctuary" should embrace the murder 
of Onias, and of the three deputies to Tyre, and 
also the period of his first military expedition 
through the country. " This is the amount of his- 
torical verification which I am able to obtain from 
any authentic source at my command. 
This paucity of historic material is an ample apol- 
ogy for any apparent deficiency in making out 
the precise historic verification of this time pe- 
riod which refers to events so remote, and which 
gives us periods so minute as the number of 
days. And even this number (2,300) may be 
round and general, and not precise and partic- 
ular. Yet the approximation which is obtained, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 53 

despite such difficulties, will satisfy fair-minded 
readers." 

4 'And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, 
had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, 
then, behold, there stood before me as the appear- 
ance of a man. And I heard a man's voice be- 
tween the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, 
Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 
So he came near where I stood: and when he 
came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he 
said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at 
the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he 
was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my 
face toward the ground: but he touched me, and 
set me upright. And he said, Behold, I will make 
thee know what shall be in the last end of the in- 
dignation : for at the time appointed the end shall 
be." 

These verses describe the way in which Daniel 
obtained from the angel Gabriel an explanation of 
the vision. God was angry with his people for 
their sins. Never was there a time in the history 
of this people when there seemed to be more prob- 
ability of their being carried away by the customs 
and false religion of the heathen. The Greeks, 
with all their refinement of manners and the at- 
tractiveness of their religious rites, their customs 
and their games, seemed likely to bear the whole 
nation away from the God and worship of their 
fathers. "Nor was their social position less peril- 
ous. The influence of Greek literature, of for- 



54 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

eign travel, of extended commerce had made it- 
self felt in daily life. At Jerusalem the mass of 
the inhabitants seemed to have desired to imitate 
the exercises of the Greeks, and a Jewish embassy 
attended the games of Hercules at Tyre." For 
these things God's indignation was kindled. And 
now, as Daniel desired to know of the final issue, 
Gabriel is sent to make him "know what should 
be in the last end of the indignation," assuring 
him that " at the time appointed the end shall be." 
He therefore begins to unfold the entire vision. 

" The ram which thou sawest having two horns 
are the kings of Media and Persia. And the 
rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great 
horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 
Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for 
it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, 
but not in his power." 

This is so plain, especially in view of what has 
Already been said, that it needs no further expla- 
nation. 

"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when 
the transgressors are come to the full, a king of 
fierce countenance, and understanding dark sen- 
tences, shall stand up. And his power shall be 
mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall 
destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and prac- 
tice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy 
people. And through his policy also he shall 
cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall 
magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 55 

destroy many: he shall also stand up against the 
Prince of princes ; but he shall be broken without 
hand." 

When Daniel was describing what he saw, he 
says (verse 9): "Out of one of them [kingdoms] 
came forth a little horn." Gabriel says: "In the 
latter time of their kingdom a king shall stand up." 
Thus it is assumed that this king is a king of one 
of these four kingdoms, and the angel locates him 
in point of time. " In the latter time of their king- 
dom, when the transgressors [of the Jews] are 
come to the full." This king can be none other 
than Antiochus Epiphanes. The portrait of him 
is true to the life.. He and he alone sat for the 
picture. No other can claim it. Two of the four 
kingdoms built out of the wreck of Alexander's 
empire had already run their course and become 
extinct when Antiochus ascended the throne. As 
a whole, these kingdoms were in " their latter 
time." His "fierce countenance" indicates the 
cruelty of his character. His command to put all 
the Jews to the sword, and his last threat to make 
Jerusalem a grave-yard, are a full answer to this 
feature of his character as pointed out by the an- 
gel. He was a most ferocious, passionate, cruel 
man. Moses describes the Romans, who were to 
effect the final overthrow of the Jews (Deut. xxviii. 
50), as " a nation si fierce countenance, which shall 
not regard the person of the old, nor show favor 
to the young." That he should " understand dark 
sentences ' ' refers to his resources of cunning, craft, 



56 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

and policy, as is more fully indicated in verse 25 : 
" Through his policy also he shall cause craft 
to prosper in his hand." " His power shall be 
mighty, but not by his own power" that is, he was 
not the rightful heir to the throne. He, by his un- 
scrupulous craft, rooted up three other kings, thus 
taking their power. It was not his own. "And 
he shall destroy wonderfully." This he did wher- 
ever he went, but especially in Judea, and the wars 
and troubles he originated among them continued 
for nearly a quarter of a century after his death. 
44 Craft prospered in his hand." He was ever 
planning and scheming, and was usually success- 
ful, not only in times of war, but "by peace [in 
time of peace] he destroyed many." "He shall 
also stand up against the Prince of princes." It 
was in his plan to overthrow the religion of the 
Jews, and not only did he issue his command to 
this end, but enforced it at the point of the sword. 
His last impulse was to return to Jerusalem and 
overthrow their religion, or annihilate them as a 
people. Thus he stood " up against the Prince of 
princes; but he shall be broken without hand." 
The author of Second Maccabees, chapter ix., 
when Antiochus was stricken with his last sickness 
and knew he must die, says : ' ' Here therefore being 
plagued, he began to leave off his great pride, and 
to come to the knowledge of himself, by the scourge 
of God, his pain increasing every moment. And 
when he himself could not abide his own smell, he 
said these words, It is meet to be subject unto 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 57 

God, and that a man that is mortal should not 
proudly think of himself, as if he were God." 
Also in his distress and remorse he vowed that if 
God would spare him, he would become a Jew 
himself, and go through all the world declaring 
the power of God. "This shows that he had 
arrayed himself against God with his eyes open, 
standing up intelligently against the Prince of 
princes. No wonder, therefore, that he was sud- 
denly 'broken without hand.' ' 

"And the vision of the evening and the morning 
which was told is true : wherefore shut thou up the 
vision ; for it shall be for many days. And I Dan- 
iel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward 
I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was 
astonished at the vision, but none understood it." 

" This vision is spoken of as 'the vision of the 
evening and the morning,' with reference to this 
phrase in the Hebrew of verse 14: 'Twenty-three 
hundred evening morning.' There can be no 
doubt that ' the vision of the evening and the 
morning,' mentioned in verse 26, is the vision of 
this eighth chapter, especially that part of it in 
which this phrase occurs, and which shows how 
long the little horn shall tread down ' the sanct- 
uary ' and the sacramental ' host.' ' 

In the I4th verse, where the two thousand three 
hundred days are given, the word translated days 
is "evening morning;" and the meaning is no 
doubt merely day in the sense of twenty-four 
hours, the time of one revolution of the earth upon 



58 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

its axis. This expression means a full day, made 
up of night and day, as if the inspiring Spirit in- 
tended that men should never fall into the error of 
claiming that a day here meant a year, or three 
hundred and sixty days. 

Daniel is commanded to "shut up the vision; 
for it shall be for many days." Men of his day 
were not specially interested in these persecutions 
because they were so far off. As the time drew 
near then men would read them to profit. " Dan- 
iel fainted, and was sick certain days." The 
strain upon his nervous system was so great, the 
revelations so startling and important to him as a 
lover of God and his people, that he was com- 
pletely overcome, was incapacitated for business 
for "certain days;" th^n he "rose up, and did 
the king's business." Doubtless he was, as he 
had been for many years, the Prime Minister at 
the court. He " was astonished at the vision, but 
none understood it." The things revealed in it 
were so strange, so wonderful, so unlike any thing 
ever revealed before, that it was not fully under- 
stood. And, as we shall find, it requires other 
visions and other explanations to enable him to 
understand it. One more vision, parallel to the 
three he had already had, with the plain and ex- 
plicit explanation of the revealing angel, who 
dropped all figure and symbol, and gave the grand 
play of events, and then he could and would un- 
derstand it. 

So many have fallen into the error of applying 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 59 

the little horn of this chapter to papal Rome that I 
cannot withhold some judicious remarks on this 
subject by Rev. Henry Cowles. He says: "A few 
words are due here respecting the theory of inter- 
preting this chapter, which makes the little horn 
papal Rome. This little horn of chapter viii. can- 
not be papal Rome: i. Because he is Antiochus 
Epiphanes, as has been shown. 2. Because this 
horn is a king; and therefore is not a Church^ is not 
a great religious organization, is not even a king- 
dom. Let it be remembered that this is put es- 
pecially on the ground of God's own interpreta- 
tion. The current strain of the vision proper 
(verses 9-14) most fully implies that this horn is a 
king; but the interpretation (verses 20-25) affirms 
it, and so describes him throughout. This author- 
ity ought to be respected. Of course it will be by 
those who admit that he who presents thoughts to 
others, whetner by symbols or in ordinary speech, 
is the best interpreter of his own thought; and 
that this universal law is pre-eminently applicable to 
the omniscient God. He surely ought to know 
what he himself means, and ought to be trusted to 
give his own meaning fairly. Consequently this 
argument 'settles the question. More is really 
gratuitous, useful mainly to show how many things 
seem to have been overlooked, or at least unac- 
countably disposed of, that should have compelled 
every student of these prophecies to reject the the- 
ory that makes the little horn papal Rome. 3. 
This king rises in one of the four kingdoms into 



60 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

which Alexander's empire was cleft. Papal Rome 
did not; in fact papal Rome could not, for the 
reason that every one of these four kingdoms had 
ceased some time before the Christian era i. e. 9 
some seven hundred years before any historian 
dates the rise of papal Rome. 4. He pushes his 
conquests * toward the south [Egypt], toward the 
east [Persia], and toward the pleasant land [Pal- 
estine].' But papal Rome had on the south the 
Mediterranean Sea; made no footing in Egypt or 
Africa; had to give up the East to the Greek 
Church; never made any show in the 'pleasant 
land ' all her crusades through two fearful centu- 
ries of blood and toil becoming a magnificent fail- 
ure. Yet she did push her conquests in precisely 
every other direction, thus reversing this descrip- 
tion of the little horn. 5. This horn persecuted 
the Jews while yet Judaism was in force, and the 
Jews were the only known people of God. This 
papal Rome did not do, and could not, for the rea- 
son that they had ceased to be the recognized 
' saints ' of God, and Judaism 'had waxed old and 
vanished away' long before papal Rome was born. 
6. This horn takes away ' the daily sacrifice,' 
which papal Rome never did, for God had taken 
it away forever at least six hundred years before 
papal Rome came into being. After a definite 
period of these persecutions and desecrations by 
the little horn, his power is broken and * the sanct- 
uary is cleansed ' in all which papal Rome was 
not, for the same very sufficient reason as above: 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 61 

she was not yet in existence. 7. Finally, there is 
not one solitary point in this description which ap- 
plies to papal Rome so specifically as to define her 
and distinguish her from any other persecuting 
power. Nothing in this chapter applies to papal 
Rome except those very general features which 
must pertain to any persecutor of the Church. 
The papal Rome theory, therefore, violates all just 
principles of interpreting prophecy. Especially it 
goes in the very face of God's own interpretation 
of this little horn as a king ; hence it cannot possi- 
bly be true. It has absolutely nothing in its sup- 
port, and every thing against it. From this posi- 
tion I infer that the little horn of chapter vii. cannot 
be papal Rome, for that horn and this are identical. 
As this cannot be papal Rome, neither can that. 
This entire course of reasoning applies in every 
particular with equal force against the theory that 
this little horn of chapter viii. is the Mohammedan 
power. There is not the first shade of an argu- 
ment in its support." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Daniel's Confession and Prayer Gabriel Comes to Explain 
When Christ Is to Suffer and Die His Kingdom Estab- 
lished. 



IX. is an important one, and closely 
connected with the vision contained in the 
eighth. At the close of the vision there record- 
ed there were important matters not yet under- 
stood. He says: " I was astonished at the vision, 
but none understood it." He saw the sore and 
dreadful punishment to which his people were 
doomed on account of transgressions. He saw 
that the king symbolized by the little horn, after 
stamping the saints of God under his feet, and 
standing up against the Prince of princes, should 
be broken without hand; and now he desired to 
know the full meaning of the matter. He first be- 
gan by searching the writings of the prophets ; and 
when he had read all that they contained on the 
subject, he set himself to find out the rest from God 
himself. 

"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahas- 
uerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made 
king over the realm of the Chaldeans ; in the first 
year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books 
the number of the years, whereof the word of the 
Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would 
accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Je- 
(62) 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 63 

rusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, 
to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, 
and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the 
Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, 

Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the 
covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to 
them that keep his commandments; we iiave 
sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have 
done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by depart- 
ing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 
neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the 
prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, 
our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people 
of the land." 

In Jeremiah xxv. n, 12 he found this prophecy: 
"And the whole land shall be a desolation, and an 
astonishment; and these nations shall serve the 
king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come 
to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that 

1 will punish the king of Babylon," etc. And in 
verse 14: " For many nations and great kings shall 
serve themselves of them also : and I will recom- 
pense them according to their deeds, and accord- 
ing to the works of their own hands." 

This whole chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy is 
full of what God will do to those nations that 
" shall serve themselves" of the Jews. In read- 
ing this the whole soul of Daniel was stirred, and 
he set himself to find out all about it. The visions 
he had seen indicated that at the coming of the 
Messiah these things should be fulfilled. 




64 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

The first thing he did was to lay the sins of the 
people, by confession, before God. This he does 
in the most thorough and humble manner, keeping 
nothing back, exonerating neither himself, the 
people, or their rulers. And while he confesses 
he draws the contrast between their unfaithfulness 
and the faithfulness of God " keeping the covenant 
and mercy to them that love him, and to them that 
keep his commandments. 

*' O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, 
but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to 
the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that 
are far off, through all the countries whither thou 
hast driven them, because of their trespass that 
they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us 
belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our 
princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned 
against thee. To the Lord our God belong mer- 
cies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled 
against him ; neither have we obeyed the voice of 
the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he 
set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, 
all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by de- 
parting, that they might not obey thy voice ; there- 
fore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that 
is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, 
because we have sinned against him. And he hath 
confirmed his words, which he spake against us, 
and against our judges that judged us, by bring- 
ing upon us a great evil: for under the whole 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 65 

heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon 
Jerusalem. And it is written in the law of Moses, 
all this evil is come upon us : yet made we not our 
prayer before the Lord our God, that we might 
turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 
Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, 
and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is 
righteous in all his works which he doeth : for we 
obeyed not his voice." 

In this whole prayer Daniel keeps prominent the 
sins they had committed against light and knowl- 
edge, and God's righteousness in sending upon 
them the calamities against which he had so faith- 
fully forewarned them by Moses and the prophets. 
(See this warning in Lev. xxvi. 14-46, and Deut. 
xxviii.-xxx.) And yet, in view of all these ag- 
gravating sins, he stands up to plead for forgive- 
ness. 

"And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought 
thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with 
a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at 
this day; we have sinned, we have done wicked- 
ly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I 
beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned 
away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: 
because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our 
fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a re- 
proach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O 
our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his 
supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy 
sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O 
5 



66 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine 
eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city 
which is called by thy name : for we do not pre- 
sent our supplications before thee for our right- 
eousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, 
hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; 
defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy 
city and thy people are called by thy name." 

No more earnest prayer was, perhaps, ever of- 
fered by man. The whole soul of the prophet 
seems as if it would break away from the body in 
its ardent longings and absorbing supplications. 
He pleads in view of God's mercies, in view of his 
love to his people, in view of the fact that his own 
honor is involved, Jerusalem and the people are 
called by his name, in view of the desolations of 
the one and the distresses of the other, and then 
he pleads "for the Lord's sake," the Lord who 
had redeemed Israel, their Messiah, his Son. And 
then with a triple supplication he pleads with the 
Lord to defer not, for his own sake, and for the 
sake of the city and people called by his name. 
Such a prayer touched the heart of God, and a 
heavenly messenger was sent to reveal to him the 
hope of Israel and the world, the coming of Christ 
and the redemption he should accomplish through 
his death and sufferings. He says: 

"And while I was speaking, and praying, and 
confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, 
and presenting my supplication before the Lord 
my God for the holy mountain of my God ; yea, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 67 

while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Ga- 
briel, whom I had seen in the vision at the begin- 
ning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about 
the time of the evening oblation. And he informed 
me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am 
now come forth to give thee skill and understand- 
ing. At the beginning of thy supplications the 
commandment came forth, and I am come to shew 
thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : therefore un- 
derstand the matter, and consider the vision." 

Every indication of Gabriel here shows that he 
had come to finish the explanation of the vision 
seen by Ulai, where he had appeared to Daniel, 
and given him some light. Daniel recognizes him 
as the same whom he "had seen in the vision at 
the beginning." And the angel announces to him 
that he had " come forth to give him skill and un- 
derstanding." He tells Daniel that he is "greatly 
beloved: therefore understand the matter, and 
consider the vision." This puts it beyond a doubt 
that he had come to explain the vision, at the close 
of which Daniel had "fainted, and was sick cer- 
tain days." He was physically too weak to bear 
more at the time, and he says: "I was astonished 
at the vision, but none understood it." It had 
lain heavy on his heart ever since, and now he set 
himself to find it out. God was to break the pow- 
er of all the enemies of his people, and to set up a 
kingdom that never should be destroyed. His do- 
minion was to be an everlasting dominion, and 
Daniel wanted -to know just how it was to be ac- 



68 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

complished. He had seen the little stone cut out 
of the mountain without hands break down and 
grind to dust the kingdoms of earth. He had 
heard that the last great foe to God and his people 
was to be broken without hand. But when? how? 
were the great questions that troubled him ; and as 
he stood panting with the fervor of his petitions, 
Gabriel stood by him with full authority to give him 
all the information he asked for. It comes in the 
following language : 

" Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people 
and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, 
and to make an end of sins, and to make reconcil- 
iation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting right- 
eousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, 
and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore 
and understand, that from the going forth of the 
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, 
unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, 
and threescore and two weeks : the street shall be 
built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 
And after threescore and two weeks shall Mes- 
siah be cut off, but not for himself: and the peo- 
ple of the prince that shall come shall destroy the 
city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall 
be with a flood, and unto the end of the war deso- 
lations are determined. And he shall confirm the 
covenant with many for one week; and in the 
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and 
the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of 
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 69 

the consummation, and that determined shall be 
poured upon the desolate." 

Before entering upon a full explanation of this 
wonderful passage we desire to give you what Rev. 
Henry Cowles says of the " seventy weeks," and 
in fact all the "weeks" contained in it: 

" This English phrase suggests only the ordinary 
week of seven days, making the whole duration 
four hundred and ninety days. Inasmuch as the 
fulfillment seems to require instead four hundred 
and ninety years, it has been often assumed that 
this passage at least must be admitted to be a case 
of a prophetic day used for a year. A closer ex- 
amination removes this case from the list of those 
proofs, explaining the phrase in another and much 
more reliable way. A Hebrew reader coming to 
this phrase would say at once : 4 This first word is 
not the usual form for weeks of days.' The word 
means a seven, a heptad, and is formed from the 
numeral seven. The feminine plural is the form 
which is constantly used to denote weeks of days. 
This is the masculine plural, indicating at least 
something different from a mere week of seven 
days. There is no instance in the Hebrew Bible 
where this masculine plural form is used alone for 
weeks of days. In a few cases, where it means 
sevens of days, the word for days follows it to 
make the sense clear, showing that of itself it 
would not be taken in this sense of seven days. 
(See these cases, Dan. x. 2, 3.) In Ezekiel xlv. 
21 the feminine plural has the word days after it, 



70 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

meaning the feast of sevens of days i. e., the 
Passover, which was held seven days a case 
which shows that the primary sense of even the 
feminine plural is a heptad, and not properly a 
week. The use of the feminine plural in the sense 
of our common week may be seen in Exodus xxxiv. 
22; Numbers xxviii. 26; Deuteronomy xvi. 9, 10, 
16; 2 Chronicles viii. 13; Jeremiah v. 24. Fur- 
ther, when any thoughtful reader should meet the 
word sevens he would naturally ask : ' Sevens of 
what? Is this sevens of days, or sevens of years, 
or sevens of centuries? ' He would expect to find 
the clew to his answer in the context. ' What has 
the writer been saying? There must be something 
in what he has said to give a definite clew to his 
meaning, for to say only " sevens " is to leave his 
meaning entirely indefinite/ Pursuing this train of 
inquiry, he would see in the present case a mani- 
fest allusion to the seventy years of captivity which 
is so vividly before Daniel's mind. It cannot be 
overlooked that Daniel is praying with the great 
thought of the seventy years' captivity before his 
mind. When the Lord sends his answer by Ga- 
briel, he too understands that the seventy years of 
captivity are present to Daniel's thought, and 
therefore he only needs to say: 'Not that seventy 
years are assigned before the next great event, but 
seventy sevens.' On the strength, then, of .these 
two considerations, either of them sufficient alone, 
and both entirely decisive, I account this period 
precisely seventy sevens of years, or four hundred 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ* 71 

and ninety years. The same usage prevails 
throughout this passage in the 'seven weeks,' the 
' sixty-two weeks,' and the ' one week/ The word 
' heptad,' transferred from the Greek language, 
precisely translates the original Hebrew. Or we 
might say a seven, meaning a period of seven units, 
leaving the particular sense of the unit to be learned 
from the contexts. Hence this is not by any means 
a case of a day for a year. It is only a case of 
using a Hebrew word meaning a seven, a heptad, 
a period of seven units, selecting a form that does 
not suggest a unit of days, but a unit of years." 

Here then is the meaning of this passage as we 
understand it. The thought centers upon the set- 
ting up of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the means 
by which it is accomplished, and the results to the 
Jewish people that will follow. 

Daniel's thoughts in his scriptural research is 
upon the seventy years of the captivity and its ter- 
mination. Gabriel tells him seven seventies or four 
hundred and ninety years are determined upon his- 
people, and the holy city for the sacrifice of Jesus. 
Christ for the sins of the world. By the death of 
Jesus he will finish the transgression, make an end 
of sins, and make reconciliation for iniquity. In? 
other words, he will atone for sins. The word 1 
atonement means to cover. He will, with his 
blood, cover sins and bring in everlasting right- 
eousness. The Mosaic economy was to pass 
away,, but the purely spiritual worship to be 
brought in by Christ was never to be changed : it 



72 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

was " everlasting." When he should come, the 
great prophet like unto Moses, they should heark- 
en unto him: no more should visions be needed, 
no more should prophets be required. He "was 
the true light, which lighteth every man that 
cometh into the world." Men were now to go 
into all the world and preach his gospel, tell 
what he said, call men to him as the only Saviour; 
hence he would seal up the vision and prophecy. 
But he would pour out his spirit upon the Church, 
thus anointing the Most Holy, enduing it with 
his power. All nations should come unto him, 
and righteousness should coyer the earth as the 
waters cover the sea. His kingdom not being of 
this world, any man could hold allegiance to his 
earthly government and yet belong to his king- 
dom. 

Now Gabriel begins to fix certain points in his- 
tory from which to count. " From the going forth 
of the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- 
salem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven 
weeks, and threescore and two weeks." Let us 
remember that this is not the decree issued by Cy- 
rus (B.C. 536) to rebuild the temple, or, as he ex- 
presses it, to " build a house for God in Jerusa- 
lem;" but the one by Artaxerxes (B.C. 454), when 
he gave commandment to Nehemiah to go and re- 
build, not the temple (for that had been built al- 
ready), but Jerusalem. (See the first and second 
chapters of Nehemiah.) From this commandment 
(454 B.C.) "unto the Messiah the Prince, shall 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 73 

be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks," 
making sixty-nine weeks of years, or four hundred 
and eighty-three years. Then it shall be four 
hundred and eighty-three years from that com- 
mandment to the commencement of the ministry 
of Jesus. Jesus began his ministry in A.D. 29. 
454+29=483. Again Luke iii. i tells us that 
John commenced his ministry in the fifteenth year 
of Tiberius Cagsar /. e.~, in the year of Rome 782. 
The birth of Jesus Christ is usually put in the year 
of Rome 753. Now if we add twenty-nine to that, 
we have 782. 

There is a division of the first number "seven 
weeks [49], and threescore and two [62] weeks." 
It is thought the forty-nine weeks of years indicate 
the time in which the city of Jerusalem was build- 
ing. "The street [houses along the street] shall 
be built again, -and the wall, even in troublous 
times." We have but to refer to the book of Ne- 
hemiah to see the truth of this when " half of the 
men wrought in the work, and the other half of 
them held both the spears, the shields, and the 
bows, and the habergeons;" and where all that 
wrought "worked with one hand and with the 
other hand held a weapon." "And after three- 
score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but 
not for himself." Christ was crucified just at this 
time, " but not for himself." We find the New 
Version to read " and shall have nothing." His 
people rejected him. " He came unto his own, and 
his own received him not." They cried: " Cruci- 



74 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

fy him ! " " We have no king but Cagsar." So he 
rejects them, and gives them up to their doom. 
Hear what that is: "And the people of the prince 
that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanct- 
uary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, 
and unto the end of the war desolations are deter- 
mined.'' The prince here is Titus, and the peo- 
ple of the prince the Roman army. They did 
come, and destroyed the city and the sanctuary, 
rolling over their ruined homes like a " flood." 
Their whole land was made desolate. Greater 
distresses no people ever endured. 

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many 
for one week: and in the midst of the week he 
shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." 
The Jews were in the habit of dividing their time 
into " sevens," and the ministry of Christ is reck- 
oned to take place in a week of years. But in the 
midst of it he, the great sacrifice for sin, was of- 
fered, and this ended forever the virtue of Jewish 
sacrifices and oblations. He caused them to cease, 
not as under Antiochus for "time and times and 
the dividing of time " but forever. "And for the 
overspreading of abominations he shall make it 
desolate, even until the consummation, and that 
determined shall be poured upon the desolate." 
This indicates that God had given up the city to 
the desolator because of the abominations there 
were in the midst of it. Corruption was in all her 
borders, and now the Roman eagle would swoop 
down upon it until its full desolation was consum- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 75 

mated. Three times now had God, in visions, re- 
vealed the same things to Daniel, and through him 
to his people. Each vision brings him more and 
more into the light of his purposed dealing with 
his people, and yet the soul of this great man was 
not satisfied. He would know it all; and having 
succeeded by prayer and supplication before, he 
tries it again. He says: " I Daniel was mourning 
three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither 
came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I 
anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were 
fulfilled." Such earnestness as that must bring 
the desire of his heart. He is now an old man. 
He had been in the East now about seventy-four 
years; had been the prime minister under the sev- 
eral kings of Chaldea and Medo-Persia from Neb- 
uchadnezzar to Cyrus. Many of his brethren had, 
under the decree of Cyrus, gone back to Jerusa- 
lem, and were busy building the temple; but he 
was still retained in the service of the king, whom, 
doubtless, he had influenced to liberate his breth- 
ren. Perhaps he felt that he could serve his peo- 
ple to better advantage in the court of their king 
than in Jerusalem, especially at his advanced age. 
That he still loved his country and his people is 
evidenced by this all-prevailing prayer, with which 
he obtained information for them more valuable 
than gold. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Fourth Parallel Vision The Angel Comes to Explain 
What Should Befall the Jews Michael the Archangel. 

" TN the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a 
-I- thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name 
was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, 
but the time appointed was long: and he under- 
stood the thing, and had understanding of the vis- 
ion." A thing was revealed. Not only were the 
symbols given, but the revealing angel at last 
dropped all figure of speech, and talked to him as 
a man talks to his fellow-man. "The time ap- 
pointed was long" does not give the idea. The 
New Version has it more correctly: "And the 
thing was true, even a great warfare." As we 
shall find, the subject-matter of this vision pertains 
to great wars. It was so plain as revealed to him 
that he understood it. This vision is the fourth 
and last of the great parallel visions of Daniel. 
We will find it going over the same ground and 
revealing the same facts, with some additions, with 
less of symbols, and more of plain revelations. 

"In those days I Daniel was mourning three 
full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither 
came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I 
anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were 
fulfilled." 

"The 'three full weeks' and the * three whole 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 77 

weeks ' here are the same, and literally mean * three 
sevens' (or heptads) as to days, the word 'days' 
being added to exclude what otherwise a Hebrew 
reader would think of: a week of years. The 
word for * seven ' is precisely the same in form 
that occurred repeatedly in the passage of chapter 
ix. 24-27." 

"And in the four and twentieth day of the first 
month, as I was by the side of the great river, 
which is Hiddekel; then I lifted up mine eyes, 
and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in 
linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of 
Uphaz : his body also was like the beryl, and his 
face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes 
as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in 
color to polished brass, and the voice of his words 
like the voice of a multitude." 

Hiddekel is another name for the Tigris River. 
This was a heavenly visitant revealing himself to 
Daniel for the purpose of communicating certain 
facts to him with reference to his people. 

"And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men 
that were with me saw not the vision ; but a great 
quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide 
themselves." 

His companions, terrified at the sight that was 
presented to them, left him alone. 

" Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great 
vision, and there remained no strength in me: for 
my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, 
and I retained no strength." 



78 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

He stood his ground, although overcome by the 
sight, and hence he alone saw it all. 
* "Yet I heard the voice of his words: and when 
I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep 
sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
And, behold, a hand touched me, which set me 
upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly be- 
loved, understand the words that I speak unto 
thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now 
sent. And when he had spoken this word unto 
me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, 
-Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou 
didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten 
thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and 
I am come for thy words. But the prince of the 
kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty 
days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, 
came to help me; and I remained there with the 
kings of Persia." 

For three weeks Daniel had been mourning and 
desiring a full revelation of certain events concern- 
ing his people, much t)f which had already been 
revealed unto him. He was now nearing the end 
of life. God had blessed him with three vis- 
ions or revelations, each one giving more of light 
and knowledge than the former, and now he set 
his heart to find out all that God was willing to re- 
veal to him. The scene manifested as the heav- 
enly instructor approaches is grand in the extreme, 
and the effect upon the old prophet is overpower- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 79 

ing. He explains to him the cause of his delay in 
coming to his call. The prince of the kingdom of 
Persia withstood him one and twenty days. It does 
not lie within our province now to inquire into the 
nature and meaning of this invisible contest. It is 
sufficient for our purpose to know that the contest 
did take place, and that this was the cause of the 
delay. But the difficulty had been cleared away, 
and he says : 

" Now I am come to make thee understand what 
shall befall thy people in the latter days : for yet 
the vision is for many days." 

This is the key to the entire vision. It was to 
reveal to Daniel what should befall his people, the 
Jews, not some other remote nation. If we will 
bear this in mind, it will help us much in arriving 
at the truth of the vision. Then it was what was 
to befall his people in the latter days. This term 
has various meanings, or refers to various times. 
Jacob, when he had called his sons about him just 
before dying, said: " Gather yourselves together, 
that I may tell you that which shall befall you in 
the last days." The great body of the facts in 
this prophecy refers to events long prior to the 
coming of Christ. Baalam advertises Balak what 
Israel shall do to his people in the latter days. 
These events transpired in the days of David. 
(Num. xxiv. 14.) Isaiah (ii. 2), when prophesying 
of the days of Christ, calls the time " the last 
days." Micah (iv. i) uses the same term with 
reference to the same time and event. But these 



80 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

are sufficient to justify us in placing the events of 
this prophecy, especially as the facts demand it, 
at a time prior to the coming of Jesus Christ in the 
flesh. In fact, the events prophesied transpired 
about three hundred and sixty years after the rev- 
elation made to Daniel. The last clause does not 
change this construction, for the word " many" is 
not in the original; it is " for yet the vision is for 
days," meaning that it was not to transpire imme- 
diately, but some time in the future. Some years 
must elapse before the main events should trans- 
pire. 

44 And when he had spoken such words unto me, 
I set my face toward the ground, and I became 
dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the 
sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my 
mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood 
before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows 
are turned upon me, and I have retained no 
strength. For how can the servant of this my lord 
talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway 
there remained no strength in me, neither is there 
breath left in me." 

Daniel had thought and prayed so much and so 
earnestly for his people, and he had already had 
revealed to him so much of their coming sorrows, 
that now as another heavenly messenger stood be- 
fore him with fresh revelations, in his age and the 
excitement of the hour, he was utterly prostrate : 
no strength, and hardly breath, was left in him. 
He was overcome at the prospect of receiving an 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 81 

answer to his prayer of three weeks' duration. But 
as he lay breathless upon the ground he says : 

"Then there came again and touched me one 
like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened 
me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: 
peace be unto thee; be strong, yea, be strong. 
And when he had spoken unto me, I was strength- 
ened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast 
strengthened me." 

He was thus prepared and strengthened to re- 
ceive the vision. 

" Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come 
unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the 
prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, 
the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show 
thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth: 
and there is none that holdeth with me in these 
things, but Michael your prince." 

The angel interpreter had not come without op- 
position, nor did this opposition cease with his 
coming. The prince of the kingdom of Persia, as 
we learn from verse 13, had hindered his coming 
for three weeks, and now while engaged in fight- 
ing with the prince of Persia, lo ! the prince of 
Greece came upon the scene. But this valiant an- 
gel gives Daniel to understand that, notwithstand- 
ing this opposition, he would show him what was 
noted in the scripture of truth not the Bible as we 
possess it, but what God had written with refer- 
ence to his people. He also informed Daniel that 
he had a strong ally in the person of Michael, his 



82 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

prince. There have been various opinions with 
reference to Michael. Without reference to these 
opinions, we believe Michael to be none other than 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Twice only is the term 
" archangel " used in the Scripture, and each time 
preceded by the definite article, thus showing that 
there is but one archangel, and that this archangel 
is Michael. Jude says: " Michael the archangel, 
when contending with the devil," etc. Paul says 
(i Thess. iv. 16): " For the Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel, and with the trump of God." Jesus 
says (John v. 28, 29) : "All that are in the graves 
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth/' Then 
the voice of the archangel and the voice of Jesus 
must be the same. 

Here the revealing angel calls Michael Daniel's 
prince, and in chapter xii. he says of him: *' Mich- 
ael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth 
for the children of thy people." Taking all these 
things together, we are assured that this great 
prince, this archangel whose voice is to wake the 
dead at the last day, is Jesus Christ. He then 
stands with this revealing angel, and the assurance 
is enough to comfort Daniel in his ardent desire to 
know what shall befall his people. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Kings of Persia Xerxes Alexander Egypt and Syria, 
Their Wars and Intrigues Antiochus Epiphanes; His Vile- 
ness; His Punishment of the Jews; He Profanes the Temple 
The Daily Sacrifice Taken Away Persecutions of the Jews 
Judas Maccabeus Death of Antiochus Epiphanes. 

WE come now in this eleventh chapter to the 
explanation of the fourth and last parallel 
vision made to Daniel. 

It does not begin with Nebuchadnezzer. He 
and his kingdom had passed away. The vision 
reaches back but a few years, only for the purpose 
of forming the connecting link. After the intro- 
ductory remarks of the angel, "Also I in the first 
year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm 
and strengthen him," as Darius was carrying out 
the purpose of God as developed in his history, 
this good angel stood to confirm and strengthen 
him. In the second verse the revelation properly 
begins. 

"And now will I show thee the truth. Be- 
hold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Per- 
sia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they 
all; and by his strength through his riches he shall 
stir up all against the realm of Grecia." This vis- 
ion is not like the former, given in symbols, but in 
plain language, narrating briefly the great events 
that are to take place. Three kings after Cyrus, 

(833 



84 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

from whose reign the prophecy begins, were to sit 
on the throne before Xerxes viz., Cambyses, Sim- 
erdis, and Darius Hystaspis. They are only men- 
tioned to give the proper place to the fourth, who 
by his strength and riches stirred up all against the 
realm of Grecia. No fact in history is better at- 
tested than this; that Xerxes gathered to his stand- 
ard nearly all .of Asia for the purpose of invading 
the little kingdom of Greece. Various estimates 
have been made of the wealth of his armament and 
the number of his soldiers. The lowest estimate 
gives the number at five millions of men, while un- 
told wealth was lavished upon the outfit. History 
gives account of no such display as this. There 
was nothing in the shape of soldiers or money that 
this monarch did not command. All Asia gathered 
to his standard as they never did to any other 
man's. So he actually "stirred up all against 
the realm of Grecia," but this is all that is said 
about it. Never was there a more signal failure. 
Hence the revealing angel passes on. 

"And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall 
rule with great dominion, and do according to his 
will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall 
be broken, and shall be divided toward the four 
winds of heaven ; and not to his posterity, nor ac- 
cording to his dominion which he ruled: for his 
kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others be- 
sides those." 

With rapid touches the angel brings the con- 
queror of the Persians to view, Alexander the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 85 

Great, and in few but forcible words tells that he 
shall stand up, rule with great dominion, and do 
according to his will, and then while in the midst 
of his power and dominion his kingdom shall be 
broken and divided to the four winds of heaven, 
and not to his posterity, etc. The Greeks never 
could forgive the wrong done them by Xerxes, and 
when Alexander proposed to invade Persia thou- 
sands of eager, willing soldiers flocked to his 
standard, and with one fell blow he broke the pow- 
er of Persia, and during his life did according to 
his will. But just as he had made selection of 
Babylon as his capital and was planning for exten- 
sive commerce he died, and at once his kingdom 
was broken and divided among his four generals, 
not a son of his ever coming to the throne or hold- 
ing sway over any part of his vast dominions. 

"And the king of the south shall be strong, and 
one of his princes; and he shall be strong above 
him, and have dominion; his dominion shalt be a 
great dominion." 

The angel interpreter only deals with those na- 
tions that were to come in contact with Daniel's 
people, or whose movements were to affect them; 
so he begins a rapid sketch of the two kingdoms, 
Egypt and Syria, filling the interval between their 
rise and the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes with 
their wars, intrigues, treaties, and perfidies. 

The king of the south is Ptolemy Lagus, a man 
of great wisdom and power. He was one of Alex- 
ander's chief generals. He founded his kingdom 



86 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of Egypt B.C. 323. But there was another strong- 
er than he. This is Seleucus Nicator, another 
one of Alexander's generals, who founded the 
Syrian kingdom B.C. 312. His kingdom was in- 
deed very powerful, embracing almost all that 
Alexander ever held in Asia. The angel mentions 
these two particularly, because in their movements 
they affected more or less the Jewish nation, Dan- 
iel's people. 

1 'And in the end of years they shall join them- 
selves together; for the king's daughter of the 
south shall come to the king of the north to make 
an agreement: but she shall not retain the power 
of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: 
but she shall be given up, and they that brought 
her, and he that begat her, and he that strength- 
ened her in these times." 

Here we find the angel interpreter passing over 
a considerable period of time, as nothing particu- 
larly affecting the Jews occurred in this time. He 
brings the narrative down to the time of Antiochus 
Theos, King of Syria. "This Theos, after long 
and fruitless wars with his Egyptian rival, Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, at last patched up a compromise 
(' they joined themselves together'), which, being 
utterly iniquitous, could not stand. The historical 
facts are these: He divorced his wife, Laodice, 
and married Berenice, daughter of Philadelphus. 
Two years after, Philadelphus, now aged, died. 
Theos soon divorced his Egyptian wife and re- 
stored his Syrian. But the latter had Jlost confi- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 87 

dence in her husband, and, stung by his abuse, 
took him off by poison. She then secured the 
kingdom for her own son, Seleucus Callinicus, 
who managed to murder his mother's rival, Bere- 
nice, with her son and servants. Thus the com- 
promise availed only to the ruin of both the guilty 
parties to this infamous marriage. Neither of them 
1 retained the power of the arm,' the military pow- 
er, not even to the extent of self -protection." 

"But out of a branch of her roots shall one 
stand up in his estate, which shall come with an 
army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king 
of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall 
prevail: and shall also carry captives into Egypt 
their gods, with their princes, and with their pre- 
cious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall 
continue more years than the king of the north. 
So the king of the south shall come into his king- 
dom, and shall return into his own land." 

The third Ptolemy, brother of Berenice, is here 
spoken of as one " out of a branch of her roots." 
They came from the same parentage. His wars 
with the King of Syria were very successful. He 
defeated him in every engagement, and ravaged the 
greater portion of his kingdom, taking great spoils. 
He also removed and took back into Egypt twenty- 
five hundred idols (see verse 8), most of which 
Cambyses had carried from Egypt into Persia 
nearly three hundred years before. This fixes 
with unerring certainty these facts of history upon 
this time and upon this man. It is one of the 



88 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

threads that guides us unerringly through the 
mazes of this prophecy. Ptolemy reigned twenty- 
five years; his rival, Seleucus Callinicus, but 
twenty, thus he "continued more years than the 
king of the north." 

" But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall as- 
semble a multitude of great forces: and one shall 
certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: 
then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his 
fortress." 

The two sons of this king, Seleucus Ceraunus 
and Antiochus the Great, made great efforts and 
raised large armies, and pursued their conquests 
even to the fortresses of Egypt. 

"And the king of the south shall be moved with 
choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, 
even with the king of the north: and he shall set 
forth a great multitude ; but the multitude shall be 
given into his hand. And when he hath taken 
away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; 
and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but 
he shall not be strengthened by it." 

Ptolemy Philopater, the King of Egypt, exasper- 
ated by the near approach of this vast army that 
stood at his very doors and threatened this key to 
his kingdom, went forth to fight with the king of 
the north; and at the battle of Raphia, near Gaza 
(B.C. 217), he overcame the army of Antiochus 
the Great, and the power passed into his hands; 
but he was not permanently strengthened by it, 
though he " cast down many ten thousands." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 89 

"For the king of the north shall return, and 
shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, 
and shall certainly come after certain years with a 
great army and with much riches. And in those 
times there shall' many stand up against the king 
of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall 
exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they 
shall fall." 

Antiochus the Great raises another army and 
comes again against the Egyptians. The King of 
Egypt, at this time a' mere child, was assailed by 
many enemies. Philip of Macedon formed an al- 
liance with Antiochus, while some of the violent 
men among the Jews threw off their allegiance to 
Egypt. But they failed, and only established the 
vision, while they themselves were overwhelmed 
with disaster. 

" So the king of the north shall come, and cast 
up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and 
the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither 
his chosen people, neither shall there be any 
strength to withstand. But he that cometh against 
him shall do according to his own will, and none 
shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the 
glorious land, which by his hand shall be con- 
sumed." 

Antiochus besieged and took Zidon, Gaza, and 
other strong cities. He, overcoming all opposi- 
tion, pressed his way even into Palestine, "the 
glorious land," and laid waste a great portion of 
it. He besieged Jerusalem, subsisting his army 



90 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

in the meantime in the land of Palestine, thus 
"consuming" it. 

" He shall also set his face to enter with the 
strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones 
with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give 
him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but 
she shall not stand on his side, neither be for 
him." 

Antiochus sets his heart on invading Egypt, 
many of the better class of the Jews joining his 
standard. But the Romans' interfered and frus- 
trated his plans. He then made a treaty with 
Ptolemy, giving him his own daughter Cleopatra 
in marriage, with the provinces of Phoenicia as her 
dower. He hoped that she would be true to him, 
her father, and play into his hands ; but in this he 
was mistaken, for she was true to her husband, and 
thus did not stand on his (her father's) side, nor 
be for him. 

4 'After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, 
and shall take many: but a prince for his own be- 
half shall cause the reproach offered by him to 
cease ; without his own reproach he shall cause it 
to turn upon him. Then shall he turn his face to- 
ward the fort of his own land : but he shall stum- 
ble and fall, and not be found." 

Antiochus made war against Greece and took 
many of the isles of that kingdom, but the Roman 
prince came to the rescue and gained a signal vic- 
tory over him at Thermopylae (B.C. 191), and 
still another at Magensia the following year. This 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 91 

completely broke the power of Antiochus the 
Great. Compelled to relinquish all his possessions 
west of Mount Taurus, a heavy tribute was laid 
upon him, exhausting all of his wealth and re- 
sources. To raise money to meet his pressing 
wants he made a raid into Elymais, which cost 
him his life. 

"Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of 
taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few 
days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in 
battle." 

This was Seleucus Philopater, the son of Anti- 
ochus the Great. The great burden of paying the 
tribute of a thousand talents per year to the Ro- 
mans left him nothing else to do but "raise taxes 
in the glory of his kingdom." After a brief reign 
of eleven years he was poisoned, thus dying " nei- 
ther in anger, nor in battle." 

"And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, 
to whom they shall not give the honor of the king- 
dom : but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain 
the kingdoms by flatteries." 

This rapid sketch of the revealing angel brings 
us to the main figure of this prophecy, Antiochus 
Epiphanes. He came in the "estate" of his 
brother. He is a "vile person to whom they shall 
not give the honor of the kingdom." The king- 
dom was not his of right, but belonged legitimate- 
ly to the son of Seleucus Philopater. Antiochus 
had been a hostage at Rome for thirteen years, and 
was now at Athens on his way home when he 



92 The Kingdom and Comings, of Christ. 

heard of the death of his brother. He at once laid 
his plans to secure the crown. Heliodorus, who 
had poisoned his master and usurped the throne, 
was at once expelled by the aid of Eumenes, King 
of Pergamos. Elsewhere we have spoken of the 
three horns plucked up by him in his ascent to the 
throne. 

That he was a "vile person" we have only to 
look at the pages of history that record his deeds. 
" His delight was to play the buffoon, in getting half 
drunk, and then putting himself below the common 
level of even tipsy, silly drunkards. It is hard to 
believe that a king would rise from his dinner table 
heated with wine, strip himself stark naked, and 
dance round the hall as one frantic, with the low- 
est comedians. History can scarcely produce an- 
other like case of a man wearing a crown who de- 
based himself so low, and made himself so vile as 
this same Antiochus Epiphanes." 

"And with the arms of a flood shall they be 
overflown from before him, and shall be broken; 
yea, also the prince of the covenant." 

Though he came in by flatteries, yet he was not 
long in raising an army and asserting his authority 
at the point of the sword. 

"The prince of the covenant" was the high 
priest of the Jews, one of the most excellent and 
venerable of men. He soon fell before this vile 
king through the machinations of his apostate coun- 
trymen. 

And after the league made with him he shall 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 93 

work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall 
become strong with a small people. He shall en- 
ter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the 
province; and he shall do that which his fathers 
have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall 
scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and rich- 
es: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against 
the strongholds, even for a time. 

The revealing angel here shows that Antiochus 
made a league with that apostate Jew, Jason, whom 
he made high priest instead of the good Onias. 
He was to pay him a large sum for this office. 
When he sent his younger brother, Menelaus, to 
carry to Antiochus the money he had promised for 
the high priesthood, these two "worked deceitful- 
ly," for Menelaus bidding higher than his brother 
for the priesthood, Antiochus repudiated the league 
he had made with Jason, and gave the priesthood 
to him. Thus with " a small people" he gained 
a foothold in Judea and became strong. 

He entered upon the " fattest places of the prov- 
ince," Arminia, where he found rich booty, and he 
scattered it with a recklessness and prodigality that 
excelled any thing of the kind ever done by his an- 
cestors. This waste of treasure seemed merely to 
gratify a silly ambition to be thought more liberal 
than any one before him. 

"And he shall stir up his power and his courage 
against the king of the south with a great army; 
and the king of the south shall be stirred up to 
battle with a very great and mighty army ; but he 



94 The Kingdom arid Comings of Christ. 

shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices 
against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of 
his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall 
overflow: and many shall fall down slain. And 
both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, 
and they shall speak lies at one table ; but it shall 
not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time 
appointed." 

In the year B.C. 170 Antiochus raised a great 
army with which to invade Egypt. For four suc- 
cessive years he carried on this war of invasion, at 
last subjugating the whole country. He became 
the nominal protector of the young king, Ptolemy 
Philometor, and had precisely the intrigues spoken 
of in verse 27: "Both these kings' hearts shall be 
to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one ta- 
ble ' ' yet in neither case availing to frustrate the 
great results which God in his providence had in 
view, " for yet the end would surely be at the time 
appointed." The Egyptian king was young, and 
imbecile even for his youth. He was formally in- 
augurated at the age of fourteen; had been kept 
in ignorance and inefficiency by the artful manage- 
ment of his tutors, who loved and sought to retain 
the regal power which his minority and incompe- 
tence gave them. ' They that feed of the portion 
of his meat shall destroy him.' ' 

"Then shall he return unto his land with great 
riches ; and his heart shall be against the holy cov- 
enant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his 
own land." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 95 

While Antiochus Epiphanes was in Egypt, a 
rumor was circulated in Judea that he was dead, 
at which the Jews made every demonstration of 
joy. This being reported to Antiochus, with many 
exaggerations, he returned in a furious state of 
mind, fully bent on taking vengeance of the Jews. 
With the spoils of Egypt, with which he had been 
enriched, he hastened to Judea, and at once as- 
sailed Jerusalem. Of this terrific onslaught the 
author of 2 Maccabees (v. 11-16) says: " Remov- 
ing out of Egypt in a furious mind, he took the 
city by force of arms, and commanded his men of 
war not to spare such as they met, and to slay such 
as went up upon the houses. Thus there was kill- 
ing of young and old, making away of men, wom- 
en, and children, slaying of virgins and infants. 
And there were destroyed within three whole days 
four score thousand, whereof forty thousand were 
slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain. 
Yet was he not content with this, but presumed to 
go into the most holy temple of all the world; 
Menelaus, that traitor to the laws, and to his own 
country, being his guide : and taking the holy ves- 
sels with polluted hands, and with profane hands 
pulling down the things that were dedicated by 
other kings to the augmentation and glory and 
honor of the place, he gave them away/' "In 
this scene of pillage and sacrilege, Antiochus found 
and took away from the temple eighteen hundred 
talents of gold [$41,304,000], and then offered 
swine's flesh on the altar, and sprinkled the whole 



96 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

temple with the broth of this flesh. After these 
exploits he returned to his own land." 

"At the time appointed he shall return, and 
come toward the south ; but it shall not be as the 
former, or as the latter. For the ships of Chittim 
shall come against him: therefore he shall be 
grieved, and return, and have indignation against 
the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even 
return, and have intelligence with them that for- 
sake the holy covenant." 

Philometor, who was the son of Cleopatra, and 
therefore the nephew of Antiochus Epiphanes, was 
so completely under the control of Antiochus that 
the Egyptians placed his brother, Physcon, on the 
throne. Antiochus therefore undertook another 
expedition to Egypt to subdue this prince. In his 
first battle with Physcon he was successful. Phys- 
con then sought the help and intervention of the 
Romans. By Chittim, as Josephus affirms, we are 
to understand the Romans. "An embassy of three 
men from the Roman Senate met him just as he 
was about to lay siege to Alexandria; told him 
they had taken young Physcon under their protec- 
tion, and that he must desist, or have war with 
Rome. Antiochus indicating a wish to procrasti- 
nate, Tophilius drew a circle in the sand about his 
feet, and said : * Give me an answer before youj:ross 
that circle.* He yielded, and pledged himself to 
do all the Senate should require. He dared not 
offend the Roman power. But he chafed like a 
tiger under his chain, and came back to vent his 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 97 

rage on a fallen people, the Jews. He was 
' grieved^ in this very selfish sense, and let loose 
his indignation against the holy covenant and its 
people. At this time, and for several years pre- 
vious, he had intelligence with Jewish apostates, 
kept up a mutual understanding and co-operation 
with them, and made great use of their aid to fur- 
ther his designs." 

"And arms shall stand on his part, and they 
shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall 
take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place 
the abomination that maketh desolate. And such 
as do wickedly against the covenant shall he cor- 
rupt by flatteries: but the people that do know 
their God shall be strong, and do exploits." 

In the year B.C. 167 Antiochus sent an army of 
twenty-two thousand, under Apollonius, against Je- 
rusalem. He took it and kept it as his stronghold. 
The command to Apollonius was to kill all the 
Jews who were of full age, and to sell the women 
and young men. These orders were punctually 
executed. The author of the Maccabees says: 
"Who [Appolonius] coming to Jerusalem, and 
pretending peace, did forbear till the holy-day of 
the Sabbath, when taking the Jews keeping holy- 
day, he commanded his men to arm themselves. 
And so he slew all them that were gone to the cel- 
ebrating of the Sabbath, and running through the 
city with weapons slew great multitudes. But 
Judas Maccabeus with nine others, or thereabout, 
withdrew himself into the wilderness, and lived in 
7 



98 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

the mountains after the manner of beasts, with 
his company, who fed on herbs continually, lest 
they should be partakers of the pollution." (2 
Mac. v. 25-27.) 

These misfortunes were only the preludes of 
what they were to suffer, for Antiochus, appre- 
hending that the Jews would never be constant in 
their obedience to him unless he obliged them to 
change their religion and to embrace that of the 
Greeks, issued an edict, enjoining them to con- 
form to the laws of other nations, and forbidding 
their usual sacrifices in the temple, their festivals, 
and their Sabbaths. The statue of Jupiter Olym- 
pus was placed upon the altar of the temple, and 
thus the abomination of desolation was seen in the 
temple of God. 

Again the author of the Maccabees says: "Not 
long after this the king sent an old man of Ath- 
ens to compel the Jews to depart from the laws 
of their fathers, and not to live after the laws of 
God: and to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, 
and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympius ; and 
that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of Strang- 
ers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place. The 
coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous 
to the people. . . . The altar also was filled 
with profane things, which the law forbiddeth. 
Neither was it lawful for a man to keep Sabbath- 
days or ancient feasts, or to profess himself at all 
to be a Jew. And in the day of the king's birth, 
every month they were brought by bitter constraint 



U 



IVERSITY 




The Kingaoin and Comings of Christ. 99 



to eat of the sacrifices; and when the feast of 
Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go 
in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy." (2 Mac. 
vi. 1-7.) 

And again, in the nth verse of the same chap- 
ter: "And others, that had run together into caves 
near by, to keep the Sabbath-day secretly, being 
discovered to Philip, were all burnt together, be- 
cause they made a conscience to help themselves 
for the honor of the most sacred day." And that 
you may see what these men had to endure during 
this period, see verses 18-31 of the same chap- 
ter: " Eleazer, one of the principal scribes, an aged 
man, and of a well-favored countenance, was con- 
strained to open his mouth, and to eat swine's flesh. 
But he, choosing rather to die gloriously, than to 
live stained with such an abomination, spit it forth, 
and came of his own accord to the torment, as it 
behooved them to come, that are resolute to stand 
out against such things, as are not lawful for love of 
life to be tasted. But they that had the charge of 
that wicked feast, for the old acquaintance they 
had with the man, taking him aside, besought him 
to bring flesh of his own provision, such as was 
lawful for him to use, and make as if he did eat of 
the flesh taken from the sacrifice commanded by 
the king; that in so doing he might be delivered 
from death, and for the old friendship with them 
find favor. But he began to consider discreetly, 
as became his age, and the excellency of his an- 
cient years, and the honor of his gray head, where- 



IOO The Kingdom and Comings, of Christ. 

unto he was come, and his most honest education 
from a child, or rather the holy law made and 
given by God: therefore he answered according- 
ly, and willed them straightways to send him to 
the grave. For it becometh not our age, said he, 
in anywise to dissemble, whereby many young 
persons might think that Eleazar, being four- 
score years old and ten, were now gone to a 
strange religion: and so they through mine hy- 
pocrisy, and desire to live a little time and a mo- 
ment longer, should be deceived by me, and I get 
a stain to mine old age, and make it abominable. 
For though for the present time I should be deliv- 
ered from the punishment of men: yet should I 
not escape the hand of the Almighty, neither alive 
nor dead. Wherefore now, manfully changing 
this life, I will show myself such a one as mine age 
requireth, and leave a notable example to such as 
be young, to die willingly and courageously for the 
honorable and holy laws. And when he had said 
these words, immediately he went to the torment: 
they that led him changing the good-will they bare 
him a little before into hatred, because the afore- 
said speeches proceeded, as they thought, from a 
desperate mind. But \vhen he was ready to die 
with stripes, he groaned, and said, It is manifest 
unto the Lord, that hath the holy knowledge, that 
whereas I might have been delivered from death, 
I now endure sore pains in body by being beaten: 
but in soul am well content to suffer these things, 
because I fear him. And thus this man died, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 101 

leaving his death for an example of a noble cour- 
age, and a memorial of virtue, not only unto young 
men, but unto all his nation." 

In the next chapter is found an account of the 
constancy and cruel death of seven brothers and 
their mother, one of the most remarkable and 
memorable in the annals of martyrs. It is doubt- 
less those of these times of whom the author of the 
Hebrews speaks when he says: "They were 
stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, 
were slain with the sword: they wandered about 
in sheep-skins and in goat-skins; being destitute, 
afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not 
worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in mount- 
ains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 

By the decree of Antiochus the temple was not 
only profaned, but the "daily sacrifice was taken 
away." The book of Maccabees makes it very 
plain that many of the Jews were utterly apos- 
tate from the service and worship of God. They 
were bribed by the flatteries of this vile king. 
While those people who do know their God stood 
firm, and did "exploits," Mattathias of Modin, and 
Judas Maccabeus, and others, are noble examples 
of courage, strength, and constancy. Hear what 
the aged Mattathias said: "Woe is me! wherefore 
was I born to see this misery of my people, and of 
the holy city, and to dwell there, when it was deliv- 
ered into the hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary 
into the hand of strangers? Her temple is be- 
come as a man without glory. Her glorious ves- 



IO2 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

sels are carried away into captivity, her infants are 
slain in the streets, her young men with the sword 
of the enemy. . . . Behold, our sanctuary, 
even our beauty and our glory, is laid waste, and 
the Gentiles have profaned it. To what end 
therefore shall we live any longer?" 

When the king's officers came to Modin and 
plied Mattathias with flatteries and with bribes, 
pressing him to be the first to fulfill the king's 
command as all the heathen had done, he cried 
with a Ipud voice: " Though all the nations that 
are under the king's dominion obey him, and fall 
away every one from the religion of their fathers, 
and give consent to his commandments : yet will I 
and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant 
of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake 
the law and the ordinances. We will not hearken 
to the king's words, to go from our religion, either 
on the right hand, or the left. Now when he had 
left speaking these words, there came one of the 
Jews in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar 
which was at Modin, according to the king's com- 
mandment, which thing when Mattathias saw, he 
was inflamed with zeal, and his reins trembled, 
neither could he forbear to show his anger accord- 
ing to judgment: wherefore he ran, and slew him 
upon the altar. Also the king's commissioner, who 
compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, 
and the altar he pulled down." Then he cried 
throughout the city, "Whoever is zealous of the 
law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 103 

me." He and his followers retired to the mount- 
ain fastnesses of southern Palestine, where they 
struck many valiant blows for their country and 
their religion. With such evidence as this who 
could ever think of applying this prophecy to any 
other than to Antiochus Epiphanes and the men 
and events of his times? 

44 And they that understand among the people 
shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the 
sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, 
many days. Now when they shall fall, they 
shall be holpen with a little help ; but many shall 
cleave to them with flatteries. And some of 
them of understanding shall fall, to try them, 
and to purge, and to make them white, even to 
the time of the end: because it is yet for a time 
appointed." 

How true this was of these times ! The leaders 
who instructed many fell one after another: the 
venerable Mattathias first, then Jonathan, Eleazar, 
Judas, and Simon; a noble band. Occasionally 
they were victorious, and were thus " holpen with 
a little help." But time and again their cause suf- 
fered from the treachery of false friends who were 
won over to their enemies by flatteries. By the 
fall of their leaders and bravest men God seemed 
" to purge and make them white even to the time 
of the end" the time when he would deliver his 
people entirely from their foes. Why should men 
conversant with the history of these times ever look 
anywhere else for the fulfillment of this prophecy ? 



1 04 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Here, and here only, do we find every feature of 
the prophecy fulfilled. 

"And the king shall do according to his will; 
and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself 
above every god, and shall speak marvelous things 
against the God of gods, and shall prosper until 
the indignation be accomplished: for that that is 
determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard 
the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, 
nor regard any god : for he shall magnify himself 
above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God 
of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not 
shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with 
precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall 
he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, 
whom he shall acknowledge and increase with 
glory : and he shall cause them to rule over many, 
and shall divide the land for gain." 

This can be no other than the king spoken of 
before Antiochus Epiphanes. God had his pur- 
pose in chastising his people, and delivered them up 
to the will of this king. We are told in the seven- 
teenth Psalm, verse 13, that " the wicked is God's 
sword." So this vile king is used as God's sword 
to afflict and punish his unfaithful people. Hence 
he shall prosper until the " indignation be accom- 
plished." The king is proud and self-conceited; 
thinks himself above every god, speaks marvelous 
things against the God of gods things that for 
their horrid blasphemy excite the wonder of man- 
kind. Hear what the author of the Maccabees 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 105 

says on this point: " Having spoken very proudly." 
And again, commenting on his fall from his chariot, 
he says: "Thus he who a little afore thought he 
might command the waves of the sea [so proud 
was he above the condition of man] and weigh the 
high mountains in a balance, was now cast on the 
ground, and carried in a horse - litter, showing 
unto all the manifest power of God." And again ; 
" The man who thought a little afore that he could 
reach to the stars of heaven," etc. He had no 
reverence for any God, not even the god of his 
fathers, but made the effort to introduce the relig- 
ion of the Greeks in all his dominions. No plead- 
ings of men or women could turn him from his 
purpose of overthrowing the religion of the coun- 
tries conquered by him. Every feature of this 
man as portrayed by the angel to Daniel is fully 
pointed out by the historian as he writes of Antio- 
chus. He, and he only, is revealed to us here. 

44 And at the time of the end shall the king of the 
south push at him : and the king of the north shall 
come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, 
and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he 
shall enter into the countries, and shall overthrow 
and pass over. He shall enter also into the glo- 
rious land, and many countries shall 'be over- 
thrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, 
even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the chil- 
dren of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand 
also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt 
shall not escape. But he shall have power over 



106 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the 
precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the 
Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of 
the east and out of the north shall trouble him: 
therefore he shall go forth with great fury to de- 
stroy, and utterly to make away many. And he 
shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between 
the seas in the glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall 
come to his end, and none shall help him." 

"At the time of the end " is the period at which 
this scourge of God s people shall be destroyed, 
and that people be relieved from their terrible pun- 
ishment. Now the curtain lifts from the last act in 
the grand drama of his life. Antiochus is pro- 
voked to war by Ptolemy Philometor, the "king 
of the south pushing at him." The fighting of the 
king of the north is compared to a storm a whirl- 
wind coming down in its fury, sweeping all before 
it. He was successful in this war, only a few 
named escaping his hand. The Libyans and 
Ethiopians ally their armies with his, and help him 
in the war. But while prosecuting it successfully, 
tidings from Persia, Armenia, and Palestine the 
east and the north reach and trouble him. Ju- 
das Maccabeus was constantly growing stronger, 
and while he was trying to crush his heroic band 
he heard of the rebellion of Persia and Armenia, 
and he at once divided his forces, leaving part un- 
der the leadership of Lysias to prosecute the war 
against the Jews, he took the rest and pushed to- 
ward the east. The rebellion there was caused by 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 107 

his effort to supplant the ancient religion of the 
Magians with Greek idolatry. He had planted the 
"tabernacle of his palace" in Palestine between 
the seas of the glorious mountain ; but now he goes 
east. While there he meets his death. 

Knowing that very great riches were lodged in 
the temple of Elymais, he determined to carry it 
off. But the inhabitants of the country made so 
vigorous a resistance that he was forced to retreat 
toward Babylonia. When he was come to Ecba- 
tana, he was informed of the defeat of Nicanor and 
Timotheus, and that Judas Maccabeus had retaken 
the temple of Jerusalem and restored the worship 
of the Lord and the usual sacrifices. On receiv- 
ing this intelligence the king was transported with 
indignation, and threatened to make Jerusalem a 
grave for the Jews, commanded the driver of his 
chariot to urge the horses forward and to hasten 
his journey. He fell from his chariot, receiving 
such injuries that he died a short time after in the 
most excrutiating pain, acknowledging in his last 
moments that his death was from God. So he 
died not in battle, but came to his end with none 
to " help him." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Trials and Persecutions of the Jews The Seven Brethren and 
Their Mother Martyred The Resurrection to Joy and Shame 
The Thousand Two Hundred and Ninety Days The 
Sanctuary Cleansed The Kingdom of Christ. 

WE come now to the closing chapter of this 
wonderful prophecy. At the death of this 
vile king, Antiochus Epiphanes, it is said: 

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the 
great prince which standeth for the children of thy 
people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such 
as never was since there was a nation even to that 
same time : and at that time thy people shall be de- 
livered, every one that shall be found written in 
the book. And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting 
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." 

The Jews had never passed through such perse- 
cutions before. They had been slain by tens of 
thousands. Their sacred temple had been invad- 
ed, the daily sacrifice taken away. Swines' flesh 
had been offered in the house of God, and the 
abominable broth poured over every sacred spot 
and vessel in the blessed sanctuary. Men and 
women, irrespective of age or station, had been 
(108) 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 109 

submitted to rack, fire, and sword in the most in- 
human manner. 

The author of the Maccabees says: "It came 
to pass also, that seven brethren with their moth- 
er were taken, and compelled by the king against 
the law to taste swine's flesh, and were tormented 
with scourges and whips. But one of them that 
spake first said thus, What wouldst thou ask or 
learn of us? we are ready to die rather than to 
transgress the laws of our fathers. Then the king, 
being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to 
be made hot: which forthwith being heated, he 
commanded to cut out the tongue of him that spake 
first, and to cut off the utmost parts of his body, 
the rest of his brethren and his mother looking on. 
Now when he was thus maimed in all his members, 
he commanded him, being yet alive, to be brought 
to the fire, and to be fried in the pan: and as the 
vapor of the pan was for a good space dispersed, 
they exhorted one another with the mother to die 
manfully, saying thus, The Lord looketh upon us, 
and in truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his 
song, which witnessed to their faces, declared, 
saying, And he shall be comforted in his servants. 
So when the first was dead after this manner, they 
brought the second to make him a mocking-stock: 
and when they had pulled off the skin of his head 
with the hair, they asked him, Wilt thou eat, before 
thou be punished throughout every member of thy 
body? But he answered in his own language, and 
said, No. Wherefore he also received the next 



no The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

torment in order, as the former did. And when he 
was at the last gasp, he said, Thou like a fury tak- 
est us out of this present life, but the King of the 
world shall raise us up, who have died for his 
laws, unto everlasting life. After him was the 
third made a mocking-stock : and when he was re- 
quired, he put out his tongue, and that right soon, 
holding forth his hands manfully, and said coura- 
geously, These I had from heaven; and for his 
laws I despise them; and from him I hope to re- 
ceive them again. . Insomuch that the king, and 
they that were with him, marveled at the young 
man's courage, for that he nothing regarded the 
pains. Now when this man was dead also, they 
tormented and mangled the fourth in like manner. 
So when he was ready to die, he said thus, It is 
good, being put to death by men, to look for hope 
from God to be raised up again by him: as for 
thee, thou shalt have no resurrection to life. Aft- 
erward they brought the fifth also, and mangled 
him. Then looked he unto the king, and said, 
Thou hast power over men, thou art corruptible, 
thou doest what thou wilt; yet think not that our 
nation is forsaken of God; but abide awhile, and 
behold his great power, how he will torment thee 
and thy seed. After him also they brought the 
sixth, who, being ready to die, said, Be not de- 
ceived without cause: for we suffer these things 
for ourselves, having sinned against our God: 
therefore marvelous things are done unto us. But 
think not thou, that takest in hand to strive against 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ, in 

God, that thou shalt escape unpunished. But the 
mother was marvelous above all, and worthy of 
honorable memory: for when she saw her seven 
sons slain within the space of one day, she bare it 
with a good courage, because of the hope she had 
in the Lord. Yea, she exhorted every one of them 
in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; 
and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly 
stomach, she''said unto them, I cannot tell how ye 
came into my womb ; for I neither gave you breath 
nor life, neither was it I that formed the members 
of every one of you ; but doubtless the Creator of 
the world, who formed the generation of man, and 
found out the beginning of all things, will also of 
his own mercy give you breath and life again, as 
ye now regard not your own selves for his laws' 
sake. Now Antiochus, thinking himself despised, 
and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst 
the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him 
by words, but also assured him with oaths, that he 
would make him both a rich and happy man, if he 
would turn from the laws of his fathers ; and that 
also he would take him for his friend, and trust 
him with affairs. But when the young man would 
in no case hearken unto him, the king called his 
mother, and exhorted her that she would counsel 
the young man to save his life. And when he had 
exhorted her with many words, she promised him 
that she would counsel her son. But she bowing 
herself to him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, 
spake in her country language on this manner; O 



H2 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

my son, have pity upon me that bare thee nine 
months in my womb, and gave thee suck three 
years, and nourished thee, and brought thee up 
unto this age, and endured the troubles of educa- 
tion. I beseech thee, my son, look upon the 
heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and 
consider that God made them of things that were 
not; and so was mankind made likewise. Fear 
not this tormentor, but, being worthy of thy 
brethren, take thy death, that I may receive thee 
again in mercy with thy brethren. While she 
was yet speaking these words, the young man 
said, Whom wait ye for? I will not obey the 
king's commandment: but I will obey the com- 
mandment of the law that was given unto our fa- 
thers by Moses. And thou that hast been the au- 
thor of all mischief against the Hebrews, shalt not 
escape the hands of God. For we suffer because 
of our sins. And though the living God be angry 
with us a little while for our chastening and cor- 
rection, yet shall he be at one again with his serv- 
ants. But thou, O godless man, and of all other 
most wicked, be not lifted up without a cause, nor 
puffed up with uncertain hopes, lifting up thy hand 
against the servants of God ; for thou hast not yet 
escaped the judgment of Almighty God, who 
seeth all things. For our brethren who have now 
suffered a short pain, are dead under God's cove- 
nant of everlasting life: but thou through the 
judgment of God, shalt receive just punishment for 
thy pride. But I, as my brethren, offer up my 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 113 

body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseech- 
ing God that he would speedily be merciful to our 
nation; and that thou by torments and plagues 
mayest confess, that he alone is God and that in me 
and my brethren the wrath of the Almighty, which 
is justly brought upon all our nation, may cease. 
Then the king, being in a rage, handled him 
worse than all the rest, and took it grievously 
that he was mocked. So this man died undefiled, 
and put his whole trust in the Lord. Last of all, 
after the sons, the mother died." 

We have given this long and interesting quota- 
tion to show that this was the "time of trouble, 
such as never was since there was a nation even to 
that same time : and at that time thy people shall 
be delivered, every one that shall be found written 
in the book." 

Verse 2 is highly symbolic. It means that when 
Michael shall stand up for his people there shall 
be a mighty change. Those that were as in the 
dust of death on account of the dreadful persecu- 
tions shall be delivered, and it will be, as Paul 
expresses it when speaking of the conversion of 
the Jews, "What shall the receiving of them be, 
but life from the dead?" The figure of the resur- 
rection is often used to express joy after sorrow. 
While the faithful saints shall wake to joy, their 
persecutors and the apostate Jews who, to save 
their life, gave up their faith, will now " awake to 
shame and everlasting contempt." Such men as 
Mattathias, Judas, Eleazar, Simon, the seven broth- 
8 



114 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ers and their faithful mother, "shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament; and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars forever and 
ever." 

As we conceive, this has no reference whatever 
to a literal resurrection, but it is wholly figurative, 
and it comes in just at the point where such joy 
on the one hand and such confusion and contempt 
would be found on the other. 

Those "found written in the book" was a fa- 
miliar expression to the Jews. When God counted 
one worthy of eternal life, it was as if he wrote the 
name of such a one in the Book of Life. Moses 
felt that his name was written there, for while pray- 
ing for his people he uses this language: "Yet 
now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot 
me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast 
written." David, in the 6pth Psalm, when speak- 
ing of certain wicked ones, says: "Let them be 
blotted out of the book of the living, and not be 
written with the righteous." The time of deliver- 
ance was coming, and all who were worthy, all 
whose names should be found written in this book, 
should meet with signal deliverance. A mighty 
change was to take place. The wicked who had 
terrorized the good for so long were themselves to 
be in terror. The slayer should be slain, while the 
good, that had been hunted down as they hid in 
dens and caves of the earth, were now to be exalt- 
ed; and so signal was to be the manifestation of 
God's favor that all the world should see it. They 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 115 

should " shine as the brightness of the firmament; 
and they that turn many to righteousness, as the 
stars forever and ever." 

Daniel is commanded to "shut up the words, 
and seal the book, even to the time of the end." 
This prophecy would not be understood until the 
power of the wicked under Antiochus should be 
broken and the mighty deliverance wrought, so 
the words should be shut and the book sealed 
till the time of the end, then should it all appear 
to them. The joyous news of their deliverance 
should fly from place to place: "Many shall run 
to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." As 
the knowledge of this deliverance should spread 
and increase, joy should abound, and men would 
run everywhere with the good news. This was 
literally the case at the death of Antijochus. 

But God intends to give yet more information to 
his beloved servant. Hence he sees two other 
angels standing, " the one on this side of the bank 
of the river, and the other on that side of the bank 
of the river. And one said to the man clothed in 
linen, which was upon the waters of the river, 
How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ? ' ' 
The man clothed in linen, lifting his hand, swears 
"by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a 
time, times, and a half" that is, as we have seen 
elsewhere, three years and a half. Daniel did not 
fully comprehend it, and he asks: "What shall be 
the end of these things? And he said, Go thy 
way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and 



Il6 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

sealed till the time of the end." Between the time 
of this vision and the end, especially during the 
fierce persecutions under Antiochus, " many shall 
be purified, and made white, and tried." This 
was literally the case. Persecutions, such as this 
people endured, if properly received, purify those 
who endure them, and at the same time "the 
wicked shall do wickedly." Those engaged in 
tHe persecutions would increase in wickedness as 
a natural result. 

Now the angel becomes more specific as to time. 
In round numbers, all along through these paral- 
lel prophecies, three years and a half has been 
given ; now the very number of the days is an- 
nounced, and the point from which to calculate 
them: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice 
shall be taken away, and the abomination that 
maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand 
two hundred and ninety days." This time, when 
*' the daily sacrifice was taken away," is not accu- 
rately recorded in history; but the time when the 
abomination was set up is December 10, 167 B.C., 
and the time when the sanctuary was cleansed and 
the sacrifice restored is also recorded. It was 
December 25, 164 B.C. But the time when the 
sacrifice was taken away is not so clearly record- 
ed. No doubt this was done some time before the 
abomination of desolation was set up that is, 
when an idol altar was erected on the altar of sac- 
rifice in the temple. If we could get this date, no 
doubt from it to the cleansing of the sanctuary 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 117 

would be twelve hundred and ninety days. We 
know that it was early in June of the year B.C. 167 
that Antiochus returned from Egypt and sent Ap- 
ollonius with an army into Judea. He seized Je- 
rusalem, and put a stop to the temple worship. 
This much we do know: that Josephus distinctly 
states in two passages that the daily sacrifices were 
suspended three and a half years; and this, accu- 
rately calculated, would make twelve hundred and 
seventy-nine days, lacking just eleven of the num- 
ber given by the revealing angel. Josephus may 
have put it in round numbers three and a half 
years, while it was eleven days longer than this. 

The death of Antiochus was an event that sent 
a thrill of joy through all the land of Judea. It 
virtually ended the persecutions of this people. 
When the Jews cleansed their sanctuary and re- 
stored the daily sacrifice, Antiochus was far away 
in Persia. When these tidings reached him, he 
was greatly affected by them, and set off at once 
for home, and brought on the fall from his chariot, 
and the violent sickness of which he died. " Now 
if we allow a reasonable time for this news to reach 
him, and for the journey, the fall, and the sickness 
which preceded his death, we shall find that forty- 
five days is a fair estimate. The testimony of the 
second book of Maccabees (chapter ix.) corre- 
sponds with that of the first book in these partic- 
ulars, as far as it goes. Well might the revealing 
angel say, 'Blessed is he that waiteth' in patient 
hope so long, for there would be great joy over the 



n8 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

death of that arch-enemy of the people of God.'* 
The angel adds these forty-five days, saying: 
"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 
thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." 
Then they should know certainly that their enemy 
was dead, and their long night of sorrow was 
over. 

The last verse of the chapter, and of the proph- 
ecy of Daniel, was addressed to him. " But go 
thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, 
and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.". For 
seventy years he had been from time to time re- 
ceiving these wonderful visions, and now he is 
gently dismissed. His work was done, he must 
now rest, and stand in his lot. 

The four great parallel visions of this book, as 
we have seen, commencing with Nebuchadnezzar 
and ending with Antiochus Epiphanes, deal only 
with the features of the Jewish nation to within a 
few years of the coming of Christ in the flesh. 
We have found nothing beyond this, and we feel 
assured that we are right. Our purpose has not 
been to speculate, but to give a plain, simple inter- 
pretation of the visions of this great prophet. We 
have not found any great antichrist of the present 
age. Neither the pope nor the Roman Catholic 
Church has appeared to our mind. The times 
spoken of in the prophecy have not been stretched 
to our age and time, but have been interpreted in 
their natural and legitimate periods. This proph- 
ecy furnishes the New Testament idea and expres- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 119 

sions of the "kingdom of God" and the "king- 
dom of heaven." It points men to the time " when 
the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom." It 
prepared men for theirs/ coming of Christ. Other 
prophets had written of this same coming. Some 
more, and some less clearly. 

The long night was passing, and the last proph- 
et of the Jewish Church had announced that " the 
Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in 
his wings," and all the world was looking for the 
promised Messiah. When at last the birth of 
Christ was announced, angels proclaimed it to the 
shepherds. Wise men came from the East inquir- 
ing for him born "King of the Jews." And soon 
he began " preaching the gospel of the kingdom of 
God, and saying, " The time is fulfilled, and the 
kingdom of God is at hand." He gathered his 
disciples on the mount, and delivered to them a 
sermon, in which he laid down the great principles 
of the kingdom of heaven, of which he was the 
head and ruler. He took the reins of government 
in his own hands, and with an authority that aston- 
ished the people he announced in the conclusion 
of his sermon: "Therefore whosoever heareth 
these sayings of mine, and doeth them," etc. He 
entered the temple, claiming it as his father's house, 
and drove out the buyers and sellers, announcing 
the fact that it was to be regarded of all nations as 
the house of prayer. By the wonderful miracles 
he wrought he gave the most indubitable proof of 
his claim to the Messiah ship, and by numerous 



I2O The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

parables revealed the true nature of his kingdom. 
By some of these parables he showed that the Gen- 
tiles were to be admitted into his kingdom upon 
the same terms as the Jews, and that he wronged 
no man by admitting them. See the parable of the 
laborers, as found in Matthew xx. 1-16. Those 
hired at the eleventh hour represented the Gentiles, 
while those who murmured were the Jews. Jesus 
claims that it "is lawful for me to do what I will 
with mine own," and announces the fact that "the 
last shall be first, and the first last." The Gentiles 
who had been last called were to come to the front 
rank and take possession of his kingdom and be 
first in all respects, while the Jews, his first people, 
were to drop behind in all things and be last. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Prophecies of the Old Testament Center in Israel False 
Interpretations The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusa- 
lem Its Object The Fig-tree Cursed The Two Sons 
Parable of the Vineyard Marriage of the King's Son 
Scribes, Pharisees, and Herodians Assail Jesus Their Hy- 
pocrisy Unveiled Prophecy Concerning the Destruction 
of Jerusalem. 

PERHAPS no single prophecy of scripture has 
called forth more wild and visionary inter- 
pretations than the predictions of Jesus as con- 
tained in Matthew xxiv., Mark xiii., and Luke xxi. 
The signs pointed out by the Saviour as contained 
in these chapters have been seen in all ages of the 
world, and men are still straining their vision to 
catch sight of others of them yet unfulfilled. 

We do not claim to be wiser than others who 
have written, and to be able to sift out all error 
and to give the true interpretation, but having care- 
fully studied the subject for years, and read ex- 
pounders of almost every class read them with a 
special eye to seeing what was true we think that 
we are at least entitled to a hearing. It shall be 
our constant aim to let scripture interpret scripture 
wherever this can be done. And in all cases to 
give a common-sense view of whatever prophecies 
we may attempt to explain. 

No prophecy was ever written merely to satisfy 
the curiosity of men, or to tell the fate of nations 

(121) 



122 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

or individuals. But in every instance the benevo- 
lent designs of the Father of us all are manifest. 
His unbounded love to us moved him to do all in 
his power consistent with our free moral agency to 
save us from the snares of the devil and bring us 
back to himself. Hence we find every single 
prophecy of the Scripture centering in his people. 
Is the doom of Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, or any other 
nation revealed? It is only as these nations are 
connected with his people. Some thread of their 
history binds them vitally to this wonderful family 
of nations, to whom were committed the oracles of 
God that were to lighten and enlighten all the peo- 
ple of earth down to the end of time. The word 
of God must be established as such, beyond the 
shadow of a question. 

Selecting the family of Abraham from among 
the tribes of the earth, he makes them the burning 
focus to which he bends every single ray of proph- 
ecy, whether it pass through nations or individu- 
als. If we will hold this in mind, we will be en- 
abled to follow each individual prediction with per- 
fect assurance. And difficulties that have hung 
like a cloud over many portions of God's word 
will vanish as mists of the morning before the ris- 
ing sun. 

Christ is the soul and center of all spiritual 
light. He, the son of David, the glory of the house 
of Israel, is also the desire of all nations. He it is 
whose voice comes ringing through the ages: " I 
am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 123 

God beside me. ... I am the Lord, and there 
is none else. . . . Ask me of things concerning 
my sons, and concerning the work of my hands 
command ye me. . . . Who hath declared 
this from ancient time ? who hath told it from that 
time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God 
else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there 
is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye 
saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and 
there is none else." 

As Christ is the soul and center of all spiritual 
light, so the period of his manifestation on earth, 
the time of the offering of his soul for sin, was the 
center of time. And about this period we see the 
completion of the written word, the closing up 
of all the predictions that were uttered for its full 
and complete establishment. When the last book 
of the sacred volume was written, then God sealed 
up the vision and the prophecy. There was then 
no longer any need of them. Holding to this as 
our central, orb, we will find but little difficulty in 
unraveling the mysteries of interpretation. When 
men have broken away from this and wandered off 
into other fields they have filled their writings with 
the wildest and most contradictory theories. Every 
crime, every war, every earthquake, every plague 
is to them a fulfillment of prophecy. With them 
the folds of Revelation and Daniel are wide enough 
to wrap about all the nations of the earth, and far- 
reaching enough to cover all time. 

The prophecy of Jesus with reference to his 



124 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

second coming has had innumerable interpreters, 
many of them losing sight of the fact we have 
already presented, that all the prophecies of script- 
ure centered in God's chosen people, or those con- 
nected immediately with them, or were intended to 
forever fix the claims of Jesus to the Messiahship 
and establish the truth of the Bible, and that none 
were needed to reach beyond the full and satisfac- 
tory establishment of these two great facts. As 
the Bible is to be for all time and for all people, 
and as Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men, es- 
pecially of them that believe, all predictions and 
prophecies, whether uttered before or after the in- 
carnation of Jesus, were designed to establish 
these facts. We will never find any single proph- 
ecy bearing on any other point. Nor will we find 
them reaching to a period not necessary to the ful- 
fillment of this design. 

The very first ray of prophecy that ever shot 
athwart the gloom of our lost estate can be traced 
unerringly to the Sun of righteousness as he comes 
with healing in his wings, and each subsequent ray 
only added to the splendors of his shining. 

Men have set out with preconceived notions with 
reference to certain prophecies, and they have 
drawn from Old and New Testament predictions 
and with them have constructed a mosaic that has 
the appearance of unity and solidity; but some- 
where there is a loose stone that no amount of ad- 
justment can make fit, and on this account the 
whole fails of its design and becomes worthless. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 125 

Beforehand they have concluded that Christ is 
coming once more in the flesh to set up a kingdom 
on earth, and that here among his saints in visible 
person he is to reign a thousand years, having his 
throne somewhere most of them say at Jerusalem. 
Upon this idea they have built up a separate sect, 
and have set to work to calculate the time of his 
coming, notwithstanding the declaration of Jesus: 
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, 
not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." 
Yet these prophecy-mongers have time and again 
set the day. Nearly every year in the last half 
century has been fixed upon by some one or anoth- 
er of them as the time of his coming. Nor do mis- 
takes and disappointments discourage them. When 
time has demonstrated the error of their calcula- 
tions, immediately they begin again from some 
other stand-point, and with unshaken confidence 
figure out another time. 

In examining the prophecy of Jesus it will aid us 
somewhat to go back to what is known as his tri- 
umphal entry into Jerusalem, for it was during 
the week that followed this entry that he delivered 
this wonderful prophecy. The disciples having 
seated him upon the ass secured by his direction, 
they gathered about him, " and a very great multi- 
tude spread their garments in the way; others cut 
down branches from the trees, and strewed them in 
the way." And when he was come nigh, even 
now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the 
whole multitude of the disciples, and the multitudes 



126 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

that went before, and that followed, began to re- 
joice and praise God with a loud voice, for all the 
mighty works that they had seen, and cried, say- 
ing: " Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna 
in the highest! Blessed be the king that cometh 
in the name of the Lord! peace in heaven, and 
glory in the highest ! Blessed be the kingdom of 
our father David, that cometh in the name of the 
Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! " 

This scene is unlike any other in the history of 
our Lord. Once or twice the multitude had be- 
come excited and were ready to lift him to the 
throne of his father David; but this excitement 
had been suppressed, and the multitude sent away. 
Now he submits to all they do. While in the midst 
of this triumph the Pharisees asked him to " rebuke 
his disciples," but he said: "I tell you that, if 
these should hold their 'peace, the stones would 
immediately cry out." 

The question arises, What was the object of this 
movement? why did Jesus now submit to this dis- 
play? why did he give loose rein to the multitude 
to shout him king? It was the last grand effort 
that he was making to reach the heart of his peo- 
ple and bring them back to God. He had gone 
among them in humility, not suffering "his voice 
to be heard in the streets," yet working the most 
stupendous miracles among them; spreading out 
his hand of compassion over them, he had " borne 
their sorrows and carried their griefs ; " and yet he 
had failed to reach them. Now for one brief hour, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 127 

in the fulfillment of a well-known and signal proph- 
ecy recorded in Zachariah ix. 9, 10, he gives his 
disciples and the multitude full rein to send their 
echoing shouts over the wall into the city that lay 
at his feet. Methinks I see, for one brief moment, 
an expectant flush upon his cheek as he waits the 
effect of this movement, but ere the hosannas have 
ceased to reverberate among the hills a change 
sweeps over him. Let us draw near and look 
upon this king this triumphal one as the people 
shout him welcome to the throne of his father Da- 
vid. Wonder of wonders! he is in tears! Lost 
to all his surroundings, heeding not the glad ho- 
sannas that fall upon his ears, he gazes down upon 
the city that lay like a jewel upon the brow of Mo- 
riah. He had come unto his own, and his own re- 
ceived him not. While some were ready to ac- 
knowledge him as their Saviour and king, the great 
heart of the people was not his, and he knew it. 
All, all is in vain ! They understood not the rus- 
tle of his wings, they felt not the yearning of his 
heart. They knew not the things which belonged 
unto their peace. And through these blinding 
tears he caught sight of their desolation. He saw 
the horizon flecked with the eagles which with 
beak and talons would tear their quivering flesh 
with relentless cruelty. He heard the thundering 
shock of Roman battering-rams breaking down 
their walls to let in the relentless soldiery who 
should roll like a resistless tidal wave of woe over 
the shattered stones to the slaughter through every 



128 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

.street and alley of the doomed city. Through the 
intervening years he heard the dying groans of the 
million one hundred thousand helpless, hapless 
ones that should perish in the siege. Upon his 
eyes flashed the fires that should wrap like a 
shroud all the magnificence and splendor of her 
temple and palaces, sending down into the grave 
all the accumulated wealth, pride, glory, and hope 
of centuries, covering up in blood and ashes the 
form that once leaned upon the bosom of Jehovah 
as his peculiar treasure. No wonder this mighty 
king wept and wailed out the anguish of his loving 
heart. " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least 
in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine ene- 
mies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass 
thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and 
shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy chil- 
dren within thee; and they shall not leave in thee 
one stone upon another; because thou knewest not 
the time of thy visitation" 

When the echo of his voice that now sounded in 
mercy should die away, there would be nothing 
more for him to do than to pronounce their doom 
and die. 

Again the procession moved. Think you their 
shouts were as joyous now as before that sad wail 
and that bitter weeping? Surely some of his spirit 
must have been communicated to those about him ! 
They enter the city, press on to the temple, and go 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 129 

in. Here the scene was indescribable. "All the 
city was moved." A throb pulsed along her 
thronged thoroughfares such as had never been 
felt before. Many felt that "the desire of all na- 
tions" was the central figure of that procession. 
The Prince of Peace was in their midst and about 
to be acknowledged. He himself was about to 
uncover his glory and let the multitude adore him. 
From mouth to mouth the question flew: " Who is 
this?" 

With a majestic wave of his hand he casts out 
all that bought and sold in the temple. He over- 
threw the table of the money-changers and the 
seats of them that sold doves and said: "It is writ- 
ten, My house shall be called the house of prayer; 
but ye have made it a den of thieves." The blind 
and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed 
them. The very children caught the spirit of the 
occasion and shouted: " Hosanna to the Son of 
David." And when the chief priests and scribes, 
with deep displeasure, said to him, " Hearest thou 
what these say?" he replied: "Yea; have ye 
never read, Out of the mouth of babes and suck- 
lings thou hast perfected praise?" 

As he taught in the temple from day to day dur- 
ing this eventful week it is said : " The chief priests 
and the scribes and the chief of the people sought 
to destroy him, and could not find what they might 
do: for all the people were very attentive to hear 
him." He was asked by those rulers: " By what 
authority doest thou these things? and who gave 
9 



130 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

thee this authority?" thus utterly rejecting him. 
Moreover, they made special attacks on him. First, 
the Pharisees banded with the Herodians; then 
the Sadducees; then again the Pharisees alone. 
After all these were met and put to silence he be- 
gan to show them where they stood and to read 
to them their doom. But first he reveals it to his 
disciples. And he does it on this wise. On their 
way to Bethany he seeks fruit on a certain fig-tree, 
and finds nothing but leaves. He pronounces the 
fatal words: " Let no fruit grow on thee hencefor- 
ward forever." This fig-tree represented the bar- 
ren Church. He had come seeking fruit, and while 
they had all the outward show of piety the altars 
smoking with sacrifices, the temple ringing with 
song, scribes and priests all in their places yet it 
was but "leaves: " no fruit appeared. And now 
the curse of the Master falls: "Let no fruit grow 
on thee henceforward forever," and it " withers." 
From that day to this this tree stands not only fruit- 
less, but " dried up from the roots." 

The next day in the temple, when they press upon 
him, he asks: "But what think ye? A certain 
man had two sons ; and he came to the first, and 
said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He an- 
swered and said, I will not; but afterward he re- 
pented, and went. And he came to the second, 
and said likewise. And he answered and said, I 
go, sir; and went not. Whether of them twain 
did the will of his father? They say unto him, 
The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 131 

you, That the publicans and the harlots go into 
the kingdom of God before you. For John came 
unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye be- 
lieved him not; but the publicans and the harlots 
believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, re- 
pented not afterward, that ye might believe him." 
Now this first son was the Gentiles who first re- 
fused to do God's will, but now repented and were 
ready to accept salvation through him ; while the 
second son represented the Jews, who said, " I go, 
sir," and went not. Still further he presses the 
matter with the parable of the vineyard contained 
in Matthew xxi., Luke xx., and Mark xii. This 
parable represents the Lord as planting a vineyard, 
setting a hedge about it, digging a wine-press, 
building a tower, and letting it out to husbandmen. 
At the time of fruit he sent his servants, and they 
were shamefully handled: some beaten, some 
stoned, and some killed. Last of all he sends his 
son, " saying, They will reverence my son. But 
when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among 
themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, 
and let us seize on his inheritance. And they 
caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and 
slew him." Jesus then asked them the direct 
question: " When the lord therefore of the vine- 
yard cometh, what will he do unto those husband- 
men?" They answered: " He will miserably de- 
stroy those wicked men, and will let out his 
vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall ren- 
der him the fruits in their seasons." It would 



132 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

seem that they had not discovered the nature and 
bearing of the parable. The vineyard was the 
Church or kingdom of God, which had been com- 
mitted to their hands. They had played the part 
of these husbandmen, and now he (the Son and 
Heir) was among them; and they were plotting his 
death, and would accomplish their purpose before 
the next Sabbath should dawn. And the judg- 
ment they had pronounced against themselves 
should be literally carried out, for Jesus said unto 
them: " Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom 
of God shall be taken from you, and given to a na- 
tion bringing forth the fruits thereof." Jesus 
said: "What is this then that is written, The stone 
which the builders rejected, the same is become 
the head of the corner?" "This is the Lord's 
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." 

"And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be 
broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will 
grind him to powder. And when the chief priests 
and Pharisees had heard his parables, they per- 
ceived that he spake of them." 

But they were not convinced. Will nothing 
open their eyes and melt their hearts? Now he 
begins to uncover the armory of his wrath, and 
lets them look upon what awaits them. Here is 
retribution for rejecting him. "The falling upon 
this stone" suggest great injury from falling over 
something in the way, bruising the flesh and break- 
ing the bones. They rush upon him to destroy 
him. They had been plotting all the week to take 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 133 

him, but "feared the multitude." In this they 
should be broken, forever broken. But when this 
stone should fall upon them, in the awful judg- 
ments that were soon to come, it would "grind 
them to powder." No pen can ever portray the 
horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, when Christ, 
this rejected stone, was falling upon them in 
wrath; when he came "with his armies to miser- 
ably destroy" this nation of murderers, and to 
" burn up their city." 

"To measure the awful meaning of 'grind him 
to powder,' one must know all the horrors, the 
frenzies, unutterable degradations, and over- 
whelming miseries that were felt in that prolonged 
siege. He must be in full sympathy with the in- 
testine strifes, the rapine, the bloodshed, and can- 
nibalism to which they were driven in ' the sraight- 
ness of the siege, wherewith their enemies besieged 
them.' Horrors, driven by the breath of God, 
clouding the day, and hanging like a pall over the 
night, until they would say at night, ' Would God 
it were day ! ' and in the day, as if they could not 
bear the sight, they would cry, * Would God it 
were night ! ' You must feel their helplessness as 
the awful calamity came upon them. Sun, moon, 
and stars sympathized with them in their crushing, 
grinding calamity." 

That there might be no mistaking his meaning, 
he spake another parable unto them: that of the 
marriage of the king's son. This parable forcibly 
represents the position of these rejecters of Jesus. 



134 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

With a long-standing invitation, when all is ready 
and they are told to come, they made light of 
the invitation and the opportunity, and even in- 
sulted and slew the innocent servants. Now the 
wrath of the king is revealed, and he sends forth 
his armies (the Romans) and destroys these mur- 
derers and burns up their city. The munificent 
provision for the royal feast must not be wasted. 
He has other subjects, and these at the last mo- 
ment must be bidden, and messengers are sent 
into the " highways" for guests. Thus Jesus 
shows these scribes and Pharisees how certainly 
and how justly their treatment of the gospel invi- 
tation must seal their doom hopelessly and forever, 
and how that which was provided for them shall be 
given to others. 

After this the Pharisees and Herodians, acting 
as " spies," "feigning to be just men," came to 
entrap him. They adroitly, as they thought, 
placed him between two fires in the question they 
asked. See their hypocrisy in the manner of ad- 
dress: " Master, we know that thou art true, and 
teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest 
thou for any man: for thou regardest not the 
person of men. Tell us, therefore, What think- 
est thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto- Cag- 
sar or not?" They thought whatever his an- 
swer might be he would involve himself. If he 
said it was right, the Jews, who were chaffing un- 
der this tribute, would be offended at him; and 
the multitude, whom they feared, would at once 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 135 

array themselves on their side, and they could take 
him without trouble. If he should say it was not 
right, this would put him squarely against the Ro- 
man, power, and they would arrest him for treason. 

" But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 
Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the 
tribute money. And they brought unto him a pen- 
ny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image 
and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. 
Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto 
Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto 
God the things that are God's." Thus they were 
foiled, " and left him, and went their way." 

When these had departed " then came to him 
[the same day] certain of the Sadducees, which 
deny that there is any resurrection." They pro- 
pounded to him a question involving, as they 
thought, unanswerable difficulties with reference 
to the resurrection. But he is as ready for them 
as for the Pharisees, and in answering them gives 
some overwhelming evidence from their own 
scripture concerning this doctrine. 

When the Pharisees heard that he had put the 
Sadducees to silence, they again rallied their forces, 
and " one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him 
a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, 
which is the great commandment in the law?" 
Jesus answered and said: "The first of all the 
commandments is, Hear, O Israel! The Lord 
our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 



136 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 
strength: this is the first commandment. And 
the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself. On these two command- 
ments hang all the law and the prophets." By 
this answer he lifted himself above their reach, 
and it is said " no man after that durst ask him any 
question." 

Having silenced them effectually, he then takes 
the offensive and overwhelms them with facts con- 
cerning their own Messiah as revealed in the one 
hundred and tenth Psalm. And now he proceeds 
to unveil their hypocrisy, and to roll away the 
stone from the sepulcher of their moral corruption 
and rottenness. Such words never before fell 
from the lips of Jesus. They burn like the fires 
of doom. Like hot thunder-bolts of wrath from an 
overcharged tempest they strike, and wither, and 
blast irresistibly. Like the awful judge that he is, 
he commands these criminals whom he is about to 
sentence to a most terrible death to stand up while 
he recounts their crimes and tells them for what 
they are doomed. Never in the history of the 
world was there such an arraignment. As a pre- 
liminary he calls upon his disciples in the "au- 
dience of all the people." "The scribes and 
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatso- 
ever they bid you observe, that observe and do; 
but do not ye after their works: for they say, and 
do not." "Beware of the scribes," "for they bind 
heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 137 

them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will 
not move them with one of their fingers. But all 
their works they do for to be seen of men: " " they 
love to go in long clothing," and " make broad their 
phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their gar- 
ments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and 
the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in 
the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rab- 
bi !" which ' ' devour widow' s houses, and for a pre- 
tense make long prayer;" the same " shall receive 
greater damnation . " " But be not ye called Rabbi : 
for one is your master, even Christ; and all ye are 
brethren." 

Then, turning to the culprits whose sentence he 
was about to pronounce, he addresses them thus: 
"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
crites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven 
against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, nei- 
ther suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 
for ye devour widow's houses, and for a pretense 
make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the 
greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and 
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and 
land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, 
ye make him twofold more the child of hell than 
yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which 
say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is 
nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of 
the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: 
for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that 



138 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear 
by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth 
by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools 
and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the 
altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore 
shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all 
things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the 
temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth 
therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, 
sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that 
sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Phar- 
isees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and 
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier 
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: 
these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the 
other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at 
[out] a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto 
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye 
make clean the outside of the cup and of the plat- 
ter, but within they are full of extortion and 
excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that 
which is within the cup and pla'tter, that the out- 
side of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like 
unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beau- 
tiful outward, but are within full of dead men's 
bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also 
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within 
ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto 
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because 
ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 139 

the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had 
been in the days of our fathers, we would not have 
been partakers with them in the blood of the 
prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto your- 
selves, that ye are the children of them which 
killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure 
of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of 
vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and 
wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall 
kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge 
in your synagogues, and persecute them from city 
to city: that upon you may come all the righteous 
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of right- 
eous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Bar- 
achias, whom ye slew between the temple and the 
altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall 
come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusa- 
lem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them 
which are sent unto thee, how often would I have 
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gath- 
ereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would 
not ! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, 
till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord." 

Thus he arrayed their crimes before their faces 
and in the eyes of the world, that all might see the 
justness of their punishment. The cup of their in- 
iquity was nearly full, and they were rapidly filling 
the measure of their corruption, until some forty 



140 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

years from the delivery of this sentence the cloud 
of vengeance broke over the guilty city; and as 
peal after peal echoed through the land, and the 
smoke of their torment ascended in the sight of the 
nations, they stood aghast before the awful terror 
of exterminating desolations. 

" Not in wrath, but in grief; not in malice, but 
in sorrow, born of real love, came forth these ex- 
posures of Pharisaic hypocrisy and vileness." He 
who three days before, in the midst of exultant 
shouts, wept over them and grieved at their per- 
sistent refusal to take shelter under his wings, 
could not now in wrath and malice hurl his denun- 
ciations on them. Retribution for their wick- 
edness was mustering its forces for the final blow, 
and between them and the destroyer he stood, and 
told them of their sins, if mayhap he might lead 
them to repentance and to safety. But they -would 
not! 

Shelterless he was about to leave them. Said 
he, "I go my way, ye shall die in your sins;" 
and it was only when the storm should be at its 
worst that they would gladly welcome anyone "in 
the name of the Lord." But there was no protec- 
tion in the wings of those who claimed to be the 
Messiah, as they found to their sorrow, as we 
shall see when we come to notice more fully the 
prophecies of Jesus on this point. We consider 
this the sentence of Jesus, as pronounced against 
these criminals. It is the most remarkable of all 
his predictions. As he turned and went out and 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 141 

departed from the temple, his disciples called his 
attention to the grandeur and beauty of the build- 
ings on Mount Moriah, saying: "See what man- 
ner of stones, and what buildings are here." They 
seem to understand that the temple and city were 
to be destroyed, and they call the attention of Jesus 
to the extent and apparent durability of the build- 
ings. Everything about them denoted permanence. 
The stones were of the most durable and massive 
character. Josephus tells us of the stupendous 
size of some of them sixty-seven feet long, seven 
feet high, and nine broad, and of the whitest mar- 
ble. Herod had rebuilt the temple, and of it as re- 
built by him Josephus says: "The temple was 
built of stones that were white and strong, and 
their length was twenty-five cubits, height eight, 
and breadth about twelve ; and the whole struct- 
ure, as also the structure of the royal cloister, was 
on each side much lower; but the middle was 
much higher, till they were visible to those that 
dwelt in the country for a great many furlongs, but 
chiefly to such as lived over against them, and 
those that approached to them. He also encom- 
passed the entire temple with very large cloisters, 
contriving them to be in a due proportion thereto ; 
and he laid out larger sums of money upon them 
than had been done before him, till it seemed that 
no one else had so greatly adorned the temple as 
he had done. There was a large wall to both the 
cloisters, which wall was itself the most prodigous 
work that was ever heard of by man. It was cov- 









142 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ered all over with plates of gold of great weight, 
and at the first rising of the sun reflected back a 
very fiery splendor, and made those who forced 
themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, 
just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. 
But this temple appeared to strangers, when they 
were at a distance, like a mountain covered with 
snow ; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, 
they were exceedingly white. Of its stones, some 
of them were forty-five cubits in length, five in 
height, and six in breadth." 

It was to these massive and magnificent buildings 
that the disciples called the attention of our Lord, 
when he said: "See ye not all these things? ver- 
ily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one 
stone upon another, that shall not be thrown 
down." These words of Jesus were fulfilled to 
the letter. Titus ordered his soldiers to demolish 
the temple utterly, and the very site was plowed 
over. 

The disciples asked him: "When shall these 
things be? and what shall be the sign of thy com- 
ing, and of the end of the world?" They had 
seen and heard enough to be convinced that what 
he said was true; that he himself would come to 
accomplish this awful destruction; that when he 
did come it would be to put an end to the Jewish 
nation as such, and they are solicitous to know 
when this second coming should be. They also 
wanted to know what signs should presage this 
coming. He first puts them on their guard against 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 143 

false Christs. When troubles should begin to 
thicken about the land, there would arise many in 
his name, saying, "I am Christ," and should de- 
ceive many. 

He then tells them: "Ye shall hear of wars 
and rumors of wars ; see that s ye be not troubled : 
for all these things must come to pass, but the end 
is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, 
and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be 
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers 
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." 
As to the false Christs, there were many. Jo- 
sephus says : "While Fadus was procurator ( A.D. 
45 or 46) a certain magician whose name was 
Theudas persuaded many to follow him to the 
river Jordan; for he told them that he was a 
prophet, and that he would by his own command 
divide the river, and afford them an easy passage ; 
and many were deluded by his words." "The 
country was again filled with robbers and impos- 
tors, who deluded the multitude; yet did Felix 
catch and put to death many of these impostors 
every day." "These impostors and deceivers 
persuaded the multitude to follow tftem into the 
wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit 
manifest wonders and signs, that should be per- 
formed by the providence of God. There came 
out of Egypt about this time one who said he was 
a prophet, and advised the multitude to go along 
with him to Mount Olivet, which lay over against 
the city at the distance of five furlongs. He said 



144 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

he would show them from thence how at his com- 
mand the walls of Jerusalem would fall down. 
Felix slew four hundred of them, and took two 
hundred alive; but the Egyptian escaped." We 
could mention many others from the history of 
these times, but these are sufficient for our pur- 
pose. 

The "wars and rumors of wars" were not wars 
in different parts of the world, but there right in 
their midst or very near them wars that would 
affect them. The whole East was in a ferment, 
and Judea in open insurrection ; while the armies 
of Spain and Gaul and Germany, Illyricum, and 
Syria converged upon Italy, to decide who should 
succeed to Nero's purple. The throes of inani- 
mate nature seemed to sympathize with the travail 
of the world. The histories of the age are full of 
" famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers 
places." " Fearful sights and great signs from 
heaven appeared to mark the very spot at which 
the great judgment was to descend. A comet 
shaped like a scimitar hung over the devoted city 
during the whole year before the war. Other por- 
tents are recorded, in the very exaggeration of 
which we trace how 'men's hearts failed them for 
fear, and for looking after those things which were 
to come on the earth.' ' 

Josephus tells us of "a light at the ninth hour 
of the night, that shone round the altar and the 
holy house, so that it appeared to be bright day- 
time;" that the "eastern gate of the inner court 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 145 

of the temple, which was of brass and vastly 
heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty 
men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and 
had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor 
which was there made of one entire stone, was 
seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth 
hour of the night." 

"Moreover at that feast which we call Pentecost, 
as the priests were going by night into the inner 
court of the temple, as their custom was, to per- 
form their sacred ministrations, they said that in 
the first place they felt a quaking and heard a great 
noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a 
great multitude saying, ' Let us remove hence." 

Then he tells us of one Jesus, the son of Ananus, 
who four years before the war "began of a sud- 
den to cry aloud, 'A voice from the east, a voice 
from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice 
against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice 
against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a 
voice against the whole people.' He was whipped 
until his bones were laid bare, yet did he not make 
any supplication for himself nor shed any tears, but, 
turning his voice to the most lamentable tones pos- 
sible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, 
'Woe, woe to Jerusalem! ' He continued this cry 
for seven years and five months, without growing 
hoarse. He was at last slain by a stone from one 
of the engines, just as he uttered 'Woe, woe to 
the city again, 'and to the people, and to the 
holy house; woe, woe to myself also!" These 
10 



146 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

are enough to fix this prophecy of Jesus on this 
time. 

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, 
and shall kill you : and ye shall be hated of all na- 
tions for my name's sake. And then shall many 
be offended, and shall betray one another, and 
shall hate one another. And many false prophets 
shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because 
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax 
cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the 
same shall be saved." 

It will not be necessary to go beyond the record 
found in the New Testament to find these per- 
secutions. But as the day for the destruction of 
Jerusalem approached these persecutions became 
more severe, and many suffered their love to grow 
cold on their account. We have already seen that 
very many false prophets arose and deceived 
many. 

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached in all the world for a witness unto all 
nations; and then shall the end come." 

This verse has been looked upon by some as an 
insurmountable difficulty in the way of applying 
this prophecy of Jesus to the destruction of Jeru- 
salem and the Jewish nation. It was not that the 
gospel was to be embraced by all nations, but it 
was to be preached "in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations/' and this was literally fulfilled. 
" EXoddridge is authority for the statement that ' It 
appears from credible records that the gospel was 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 147 

preached in Idumea, Syria, and Mesopotamia by 
Jude; in Egypt, Marmorica, Mauritania, and other 
parts of Africa by Mark, Simon, and Jude; in 
Ethiopia by Candice's eunuch and Matthias; in 
Partus, Galatia, and the neighboring parts of Asia 
by Peter; in the territories of the seven Asiatic 
Churches by John; in Parthia by Matthew; in 
Scythia by Philip and Andrew; in the northern and 
western part of Asia by Bartholomew; in Persia 
by Simon and Jude; in Media, Carmania, and 
several eastern parts by Thomas ; through the vast 
tract from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum 
by Paul; as also in Italy, and probably in Spain 
and Gaul in most of which places Christian 
Churches were planted in less than thirty years 
after the death of Christ i. e., before the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem.' ' 

We have proof from the Acts of the Apostles of 
the wide extent of territory visited and preached in 
by one man Paul and we cannot think the twelve 
were less active. There is no inspired record of 
their deeds and preaching, but doubtless they were 
preaching the conquests of the cross to the ends of 
the earth. Enough had been done during the life- 
time of the apostles to stand as a witness to all na- 
tions that the long-promised Messiah had appeared 
in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the 
Romans (x. 18) that "their sound went into all 
the earth, and their words unto the ends of the 
world ;" and to the Colossians (i. 6, 23) that the 
truths of the gospel had come not to them only, but 



148 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

to "all the world " being "preached to every creat- 
ure which is under heaven" 

Thus we have the evidence from inspired writ- 
ers, as well as from Church history, that these 
words of Jesus were literally fulfilled, that "this 
gospel of the kingdom had been preached in all 
the world for a witness unto all nations; " and thus 
is this passage cleared of all difficulty. 

" When ye therefore shall see the abomination 
of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him 
understand, ) then let them which be in Judea flee 
unto the mountains : let him which is on the house- 
top not come down to take any thing out of his 
house: neither let him which is in the field return 
back to take his clothes. And woe unto them 
that are with child, and to those that give suck in 
these days ! But pray ye that your flight be not in 
the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day." 

Luke throws light on this passage by giving a 
sentence in this prophecy of Jesus omitted by Mat- 
thew and Mark. It is: " When ye shall see Jeru- 
salem compassed with armies, then know that the 
desolation thereof is nigh." The Roman armies 
spoken of here that were to encompass Jerusalem 
and destroy it bore upon their standards their idols, 
which was specially abominable to the Jews, and as 
these standards were borne at the head of these de- 
stroying armies they are called "the abomination 
of desolation." And as this was to be one of the 
signs by which the disciples of Jesus were to know 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 149 

wnen to fly from the doomed city, Jesus adds for 
their admonition: "Whosoever readeth, let him 
understand." This was to be their signal for im- 
mediate and hasty flight. Now as to the history 
of this flight we are told that " full two years be- 
fore the final investment of the city, Cestius Gallus 
marched a Roman army upon the city, and com- 
menced its siege. Why he did not push the siege 
is historically unaccountable. Josephus says: ' If 
he had continued the siege but a little longer, he 
would have taken the city. But Cestius removed 
his army, and having received no loss, departed 
from the city/ This warning had been given; the 
opportunity for flight came. The Christians, re- 
membering these words, fled to the mountains of 
Pella, east of the Jordan." 

See how distinctly Jesus puts his finger on the 
place where this is to occur. " Let them which be 
in Judea." The prophecy was local, and referred 
to Judea and Jerusalem, and to no other place. 
No doubt the disciples obeyed the suggestion of 
Jesus to " pray that their flight be not in the win- 
ter, neither on the Sabbath-day,'' and received an 
answer; for this flight took place in October, and 
the day after Cestius raised the siege on Tuesday, 
giving the disciples time to escape before the Sab- 
bath. 

" For 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 



150 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be 
shortened." 

It would seem that all the facts in the case not 
only fix this on Jerusalem and its fall under Titus, 
but exclude all others. No one can read the his- 
tory of this event written by Josephus without be- 
ing impressed that the Saviour's prediction had a 
literal fulfillment in this siege. Strange to say, Jo- 
sephus, in trying to describe the horrors of this 
siege, uses the identical idea, and much of the 
language of Jesus. He says: *'Of all the cities 
which were subjected to the Romans, ours was 
advanced to the highest felicity, and was thrust 
down again to the extremest misery; for if the 
misfortunes of all from the beginning of the world 
were compared with those of the Jews, they would 
appear much inferior. No other city ever suffered 
such things, as no other generation from the be- 
ginning of the world was ever more fruitful of 
wickedness." 

Here is but a passage or two to give some idea 
of these times as seen by the same author. Speak- 
ing of the seditious, he says: "They agreed in 
nothing but this, to kill those that were innocent. 
The voice also of those that were fighting [this was 
the Jews among themselves] was. incessant, both 
by day and by night; but the lamentation of those 
that mourned exceeded the other. Nor was there 
ever any occasion for them to leave off their lam- 
entations: because their calamities came perpet- 
ually one upon another; although the deep con- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 151 

sternation they were in prevented their outward 
wailing. But being constrained by their fear to 
conceal their inward passions, they were, inwardly 
tormented: without daring to open their lips in 
groans. Nor was any regard paid to those that 
were still alive by their relations : nor was there 
any care taken of burial for those that were dead. 
The occasion of both which was, that every one 
despaired of himself. For those that were not 
among the seditious had no great desires of any 
thing; as expecting for certain, that they should 
very soon be destroyed. But for the seditious 
themselves, they fought against each other while 
they trod upon the dead bodies, as they lay heaped 
one upon another; and taking up a mad rage from 
these dead bodies that were under their feet, be- 
came the fiercer thereupon." 

Again, when the Romans broke into the city, he 
says of them: "And when they were come into the 
houses to plunder them, they found in them entire 
families of dead men ; and the upper rooms full of 
corpses of such as died by the famine. They then 
stood in horror at the sight ; and went out without 
touching any thing. But although they had this 
commiseration for such as were destroyed in that 
manner, yet had they not the same for those that 
were still alive: but they ran every one through 
whom they met with; and obstructed the very 
lanes with their dead bodies: and made the whole 
city run down with blood, to such a degree, in- 
deed, that the fire of many of the houses was 
quenched with these men's blood. ". 



152 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

We might greatly multiply the evidence from 
this author to prove just what Jesus said: that 
there "shall be tribulation, such as was not since 
the beginning of the world to this time." And 
we feel satisfied that nothing has equaled it since. 
As these tribulations extended to all parts of the 
Jewish nation, it was well for " the elect " (Chris- 
tian Jews) to pray for the shortening of these days, 
and God heard and answered their prayers, or the 
whole nation would have perished. Titus himself 
felt and acknowledged that God had helped them, 
or they never could have taken Jerusalem. When 
he examined the strong towers, constructed of such 
immense stones, so well put together, he said: 
" We have certainly had God for our assistant in 
this war; and it was no other than God who eject- 
ed the Jews out of these fortifications. For what 
could the hands of men, or any machines, do to- 
ward overthrowing these towers." And again: 
"We have fought with God on our side; and it is 
God who hath pulled the Jews out of these strong- 
holds; for what could the hands of men or ma- 
chines do against these towers." Thus we see 
"God shortened the days by helping the Ro- 
mans." 

Christ also said, " There shall arise false Christs, 
and false phrophets," etc. There is abundant 
proof that there arose at this time men who claimed 
to be Christ, and did deceive many. 

Josephus says, in describing the final struggle: 
"A false propjiet was the occasion of these peo- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 153 

pie's destruction: who had made a public procla- 
mation in the city, that very day, that ' God com- 
manded to get up upon the temple; and that there 
they should receive miraculous signs of their de- 
liverance.' Now there was then a great number 
of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose 
on the people, who told them that they should 
wait for deliverance from God." Thus does this 
historian confirm the words of Jesus, and fix the 
fulfillment of this prediction on the destruction of 
Jerusalem under Titus. 

" 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." 

This coming of Christ was to be in judgment, 
with the Romans as his sword. Moses had pre- 
dicted this very thing, even describing the nation 
with which God was to punish them before that 
nation had an existence. "The Lord shall bring 
a nation against thee from far, from the end of the 
earth, as swift as the eagle flieth," etc. (Deut. 
xxviii. 49-52.) He tells them that this enemy shall 
besiege them in all their gates. Again, in the sec- 
ond Psalm, we are told that Christ should break 
them with a rod of iron ; that he should dash them 
in pieces as a potter's vessel. When Christ should 
come to judgment, they would have no need to ask 
where is he. He would be in all parts of their land, 
dealing blows on every place. Like a bright flash 
of lightning, illuminating the heavens and the earth 
from horizon to horizon, so would he be. The 



154 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Roman army did follow the very course marked 
out by this prophecy of Jesus. Instead of coming 
from the west, they came from the east, and swept 
over to the west, laying waste the land everywhere. 

" For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the 
eagles be gathered together." The whole body of 
the Jewish nation was despoiled by the Roman ea- 
gles. So completely was their whole country laid 
waste, that when the citizens of Antioch met Titus 
and besought him to expel them from their city, his 
notable answer was: "How can this be done, 
since that country of theirs, whither the Jews must 
then be obliged to retire, is destroyed, and no 
place will receive them besides?" The Jewish 
nation was morally and judicially dead, and God 
sent these eagles to prey upon them. Josephus 
says there was no part of Judea which did not par- 
take of the calamities of the capital. 

" 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 : and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man com- 
ing in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory." 

This is strong symbolic language, intended to 
show that the whole Jewish polity, civil and eccle- 
siastical, shall be whelmed in ruin, and that it shall 
be the work of Christ. This was to follow "im- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 155 

mediately after the tribulation of those days." 
The language of the Saviour forces us to look for 
this fulfillment immediately upon the destruction of 
Jerusalem. Christ was not to be seen with the 
natural eye ; but the work of the utter overthrow 
of the Jewish nation and Church, according to his 
prediction, was to be so plainly his that all should 
see it and know it. It is no uncommon thing for 
the prophets to use just such expressions as these 
with reference to the sun, moon, and stars, when 
speaking of great calamities. Christ in the heav- 
ens above, as upon the clouds, should direct the 
storm that should work this dreadful overthrow of 
his people. 

"And 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." 

Immediately upon sweeping the Jewish nation 
out of the way, Christ's ministers (often called an- 
gels) went out into all the world to call the Gen- 
tiles now the elect to come together unto him. 
To show that the calamities spoken of by Christ in 
this wonderful prophecy would soon come, Jesus 
uses the parable of the budding fig-tree as the har- 
binger of summer. So the portents spoken of 
should be evidence to them that the day of destruc- 
tion was near at hand ; and as if to fix it beyond 
all danger of misapprehension, he says: 

" Verily I say unto you, This generation shall 
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." 



156 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Christ meant just what he said. There were 
men then living who should see the calamities 
spoken of by him come to pass yea, should see 
their entire fulfillment. His councils were fixed, 
and heaven and earth would sooner pass away than 
his words should fail. And yet, near at hand as 
the time was, no man knew it; nor did the angels: 
only the Father. 

He then compares the suddenness of his coming 
to the coming of the flood in the days of Noah, 
and uses an expression that exactly describes the 
events of that time : 

" Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be 
taken, and the other left. Two women shall be 
grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and 
the other left." 

At the given signal, "the abomination of desola- 
tion standing in the holy place," they were to flee 
to the mountains, not taking time for any thing. 
If two men were at work side by side in the field, 
one a Christian and the other not, and the Chris- 
tian saw the signal of flight, he was to leave his 
companion and fly. So of the women one should 
"be taken, and the other left; " just as Noah and 
his family were taken into the ark, and the rest left 
to their destruction. How natural, then, the ex- 
hortation to watch for the signal. 

Jesus then uses the parable of the ten virgins to 
illustrate this fact. The wise virgins represented 
the Christians who watched for the sign of the Son 
of man, and were safely housed from destruction 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 157 

in the mountains of Pella; while the foolish virgins 
represented those who were left in the city, encom- 
passed by the Roman armies. Again he repeats 
the command: " Watch! " 

This parable is intimately connected with the fol- 
lowing one of the talents, which is to show that the 
Jewish nation had hid their talent in the earth, and 
thus proved themselves utterly unworthy to take 
care of the Church of Jesus Christ. It should 
therefore be taken from them, and given to the 
Gentiles. Not only so, but the unprofitable serv- 
ant should be cast into outer darkness. Then it 
was easy and natural to speak of the final coming 
of the Son of man to judge all men at the last day. 
This he does in Matthew xxv. 31-46. 

But we have to deal especially with the wonder- 
ful predictions found in the previous chapter. 
The very things spoken of by Jesus in this proph- 
ecy were foretold by Isaiah. No doubt in the re- 
markable sermon delivered in Nazareth, that first 
enchanted and then angered his hearers to such an 
extent as to incite them to try and take his life, 
Jesus referred to this prophecy. Luke only gives 
us a few of the verses of this prophecy, all of 
which we believe was read and commented on by 
the Saviour. We can account for the sudden 
change of demeanor of the people in no other way. 
The prophet first speaks of the blessing of Christ's 
coming; tells us plainly that "the Gentiles shall 
see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and 
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the 



158 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

mouth of the Lord shall name." Then, referring 
to the Christian age, he says: " I have set watch- 
men upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall 
never hold their peace day nor night." Jerusalem 
in this place does not mean the city in Palestine, 
but it is the New Jerusalem, the Church of Jesus 
Christ. After speaking of the establishment of 
this Church, he then refers to the judgments that 
he will bring upon Jerusalem proper and the Jew- 
ish people. The prophet sees him coming with 
"dyed garments," and he asks the question: 
"Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and 
thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine- 
fat?" And the answer comes as from Jesus him- 
self: "I have trodden the wine-press alone; and 
of the people there was none with me: for I will 
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my 
fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my 
garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the 
day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of 
my redeemed is come. . . . They rebelled, and 
vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to 
be their enemy, and he fought against them." 
Then, after referring to the fact that they had been 
his people, and offering one of the most touching 
prayers, concluding with the declaration: "Our 
holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers 
praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our 
pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain 
thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold 
thy peace, and afflict us very sore?" Jesus an- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 159 

swers: "I am sought of them that asked not for 
me; I am found of them that sought me not: I 
said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that 
was not called by my name. I have spread out 
my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, 
which walketh in a way that was not good, after 
their own thoughts ; a people that provoketh me to 
anger continually to my face." 

When Jesus, in his sermon at Nazareth, came to 
this prophecy, and they felt its application to them, 
"they were filled with wrath, and rose up, and 
thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the 
brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that 
they might cast him down headlong.*' But we 
shall see this thing more clearly revealed in Reve- 
lation, when we come to examine that book. 

We can see nothing in this whole prophecy of 
Jesus that cannot be applied to the coming of 
Christ for the destruction of Jerusalem. Any 
other interpretation is far-fetched and unnatural. 
Once break away from this application, and we 
open the flood-gates of wild speculation to pour out 
an endless stream of conflicting views and interpre- 
tations that will even whelm faith in the Book of 
of God itself. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Book of Revelation Letters to the Seven Churches The 
Book Sealed with Seven Seals Sealing of the Saints The 
Seven Trumpets. 

LET us come to the examination of the closing 
book of Revelation, the book that has been 
the innocent cause of more wild speculations than 
perhaps all the rest of the Bible combined ; and yet 
when held in the proper light is as easy of ex- 
planation as almost any other part of God's word. 

And let me say in the beginning that we shall be 
disappointed if we expect to find the Roman Cath- 
olic Church in this book. The main prophecies of 
the book had their immediate fulfillment. It is a 
scenic representation of the overthrow of the first 
two great persecuting powers of Christianity 
namely, the Jews, with their center of power at Je- 
rusalem; and the Romans, with theirs at Rome 
the whole closing with a grand representation of 
the Church of Jesus Christ, as it shall go forth in 
its prosperity after these two great persecuting pow- 
ers are broken and destroyed. 

John strikes the prelude to this grand drama 
when he says: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; 
and every eye shall see him, and they also which 
pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall 
wail because of him. Even so, Amen." 

Jesus had told Caiaphas: " Hereafter shall ye see 
(160) 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 161 

the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, 
and coming in the clouds of heaven." It was to 
this coming of Jesus to judge Jerusalem that he re- 
fers. All should see and know that these judg- 
ments were from him not of men as he sits at 
the right hand of power in the heavens. Every 
eye should see him, both friend and foe, and they 
also which pierced him. It was only forty years 
after the crucifixion that Jerusalem was destroyed, 
and no doubt there were many of those who took 
part in the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus 
still alive. They had pierced him, had heard his 
dying groans, and saw his head fall upon his life- 
less bosom; saw him wrapped in the cerements of 
the grave and laid away in the chambers of the 
dead. But for years they had heard his followers 
declaring that he had risen from the dead and gone 
up on high, where he sitteth at the right hand of 
God, expecting till his enemies be made his foot- 
stool. Now they were to see him, see him " com- 
ing in the clouds of heaven " with power and great 
glory. And when the blow should fall upon the 
second great persecuting power pagan Rome- 
all nations should feel the effect, " and all kindreds 
of the earth shall wail because of him." How 
graphic is the description of the fulfillment of this 
prediction, as found in the eighteenth chapter: 
"And the kings of the earth, who have committed 
fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall be- 
wail her, and lament for her, when they shall see 
the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for 
11 



162 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that 
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one 
hour is thy judgment come. . . . And the 
merchants of these things, which were made 
rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her 
torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, 
alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, 
and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and 
precious stones, and pearls ! For in one hour so 
great riches is come to nought. And every ship- 
master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, 
and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and 
cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, 
saying, What city is like unto this great city ! And 
they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping 
and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, 
wherein were made rich all that had ships in the 
sea by reason of her costliness ! for in one hour is 
she made desolate." And we must not forget the 
expression of satisfaction, "Even so, Amen,*' as 
uttered by God's people; for it is said in immedi- 
diate connection with this wailing of the kings and 
merchants. " Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and 
ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath 
avenged you on her." Let us not anticipate, but 
come to a careful examination of this book. 

John, as if to put us on our guard against refer- 
ring the revelations of this book to future ages, tells 
us that this is a revelation of " things which must 
shortly come to pass." They are not of things that 
lie thousands of years remote, but he repeats the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 163 

idea, "for the time is at hand." He tells us that 
he is in the isle called Patmos, for the word of God 
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Jesus appears 
to him, commanding him to write what he should 
see "in a book, and send it to the seven Churches 
which are in Asia." It is'evident that he is to send 
all that is written unto these Churches, and not just 
the several special messages addressed to each by 
name, as found in the second and third chapters. 
These Churches lay just where they would be 
subject to the greatest trials; and as there were 
certain facts connected with each of them that re- 
quired a separate message, John was directed to 
write to them, and stir them up to preparation for 
the coming calamities and trials. Their faults and 
weaknesses are faithfully pointed out, and a special 
promise made to those of them who should over- 
come: 

"To him that overcometh," in Ephesu-s, Jesus 
says, "will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is 
in the midst of the paradise of God." This tree is 
specially described in the closing scenes of the. 
book. 

To him that overcometh, in Smyrna, he prom- 
ises that ' ' he shall not be hurt of the second death. ' ' 
This second death we also find amid the closing 
scenes. 

To him that overcometh, in Pergamos, he prom- 
ises to give "to eat of the hidden manna, and will 
give him a white stone, and in the stone a new 
name written, which no man knoweth saving he 



164 The Kingdom and Coming's of Christ, 

that receiveth it. ' ' We also find the promise : ' * For 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
feed them."- As to the new name, we naturally 
turn our thought to the great Conqueror, of whom 
it is said: " He had a name written that no man 
knew but he himself." * 

To him that overcometh, in Thyatira, the prom- 
ise is to " give power over the nations." This was 
a glorious promise. The nations of earth were 
persecuting the followers of Jesus, and often de- 
stroying them. The promise, then, that he should 
have power over these nations was very full of 
comfort. 

To him of Sardis who should overcome, the 
promise was that "the same shall be clothed in 
white raiment; and I will not blot out his name 
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name 
before my Father, and before his angels." In the 
body of the book we see the great multitude which 
no man can number, "clothed with white robes, 
and palms in their hands." 

To him of Philadelphia that overcometh is the 
promise: "I will make a pillar in the temple of my 
God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write 
upon him the name of my God, and the name of 
the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, 
which cometh down out of heaven from my God: 
and I will write upon him my new name." 

We find the description of this New Jerusalem 
in the last chapters of the book, as well as the com- 
pany that stood with the Lamb upon Mount Zion, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 165 

" having his Father's name written in their fore- 
heads." 

To him of Laodicea who should overcome, the 
promise is: "I will grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down 
with my Father in his throne." 

In the last chapter of this Revelation we have 
the blessed declaration: "And there shall be no 
more curse: but the throne of God and of the 
Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve 
him: and they shall see his face; and his name 
shall be in their foreheads." 

From these promises, all of which are to be 
found in the latter part of the book, we are fully 
satisfied that the whole of Revelation was intended 
for and addressed to the Seven Churches. 

In the opening vision the great Alpha and Ome- 
ga, their glorified Lord and Saviour, appears in 
surpassing majesty a majesty that he is to sus- 
tain throughout the grand panorama that passes 
in review from this opening manifestation to the 
closing scene. To each of the Churches he holds 
up some special feature of this manifestation ; but 
to all of them he is the Almighty, walking among 
the golden candlesticks (the Churches), holding 
in his right hand the stars (ministers) of these 
Churches. What we find in this opening chapter, 
and in the letters to the Churches, we find in the 
body of the work. In a word, the whole thing is 
so connected that one must do violence to all laws 
of unity to separate it. Every word written must 



1 66 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

be read by all. The mighty Conqueror, and the 
avenger of the blood of his saints, had risen and 
girded his sword upon his thigh; had mounted 
his white steed, and the shout of battle was soon 
to be on his lips The season of tribulation, such 
as the world had never seen, was just at hand ; 
and ere the bugle blast that should sound to the 
charge should fall upon the ears of the startled 
world the faithful, loving Jesus would warn his 
followers and house them from the slaughter. The 
last earnest warning he gave them while in the 
flesh to " watch therefore; for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man 
cometh " he would now repeat, that they might 
not be involved in the great calamity. Grand and 
glorious as he appeared, yet they were to know 
that he was none other than their crucified, risen 
Lord, he that was dead but now alive for ever- 
more, holding in his right hand the "keys of hell 
and of death." Though long sealed, and only in 
the knowledge of the Father, the hour was at hand 
when that Father would deliver the sealed book 
into the hand of his Son, who should break one 
seal after another, and unroll the awful secret in 
time for the. safety of his beloved. 

Most writers on this book have referred the 
prophecies to times long after the writing of them, 
bringing many of them down to our times; and 
others leave some of them to be fulfilled near the 
end of time. But should we not listen to the fre- 
quent declarations of the book itself. The open- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 167 

ing sentence is, " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 
which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants 
things which must shortly come to pass." " Blessed 
is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of 
this prophecy, . . . for the time is at hand." 
Books were only written in those days, and hence 
there were but few copies; and people had to de- 
pend upon readers, and the inditing Spirit, know- 
ing that the time was short, pronounces a special 
blessing upon the reader, and also upon the hearer. 
If its contents be not soon known, it will be too late. 

Mr. Henry Cowles says: "'Write the things 
which thou hast seen, and the things which are, 
and the things which shall be hereafter' (i. 19); 
but this 'hereafter' is not the remote, indefinite 
future, but, according to the original (meta tautd), 
the things which follow closely after, in the closest 
connection with present events. The same lan- 
guage and in the same sense appears (iv. i): 
4 Come up hither [into this open heaven], and I 
will show thee things which must be hereafter ' 
i. e., in close connection with the present, things 
which must be very soon" 

Near the close of the book we have similar dec- 
larations showing that these are times that apply to 
all the book. In the last chapter John is com- 
manded to " Seal not the sayings of the prophecy 
of this book: for the time is at hand" We can- 
not close our eyes to such plain declarations as 
these. 

After the letters to the seven Churches, Jesus 



1 68 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

stands ready to reveal the things that must shortly 
come to pass. He begins with the revelations con- 
cerning the first great persecuting power, the Jew- 
ish nation. 

John sees an open door in heaven, and hears the 
first voice calling him to " Come up hither, and I 
will show thee things which must be hereafter," or 
soon, as it is in the original. In the former vision 
he sees the Son of man walking amid the candle- 
sticks as if for the assurance and protection of the 
Churches. Now he sees things in heaven; one 
upon a throne. He attempts no description of this 
being. It is evidently God the Father. Round 
about this throne he sees four and twenty elders 
sitting, clothed in white raiment, with croWns of 
gold upon their heads, and out of the throne pro- 
ceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices. 
Before the throne the seven Spirits of God. Round 
about the throne, four living creatures (unfor- 
tunately called beasts in the Authorized Version). 
They each had four faces, and six wings, ' ' and they 
rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, 
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to 
come. And when these living creatures give glory 
and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, 
who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty 
elders fall down before him " also. 

These twenty-four elders perhaps represent the 
patriarchs and apostles, or the heads of the two 
dispensations, while the four living creatures are 
no doubt the seraphim seen in the vision of Isaiah ; 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 169 

for the descriptions are almost identical. At any 
rate, they are intelligent creatures that minister be- 
fore the throne. 

This chapter only prepares us for the revela- 
tions to be made. John says: " I saw in .the right 
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written 
within and on the back side, sealed with seven 
seals." This was a parchment roll that was writ- 
ten on both sides, " within and on the back side," 
and it was sealed in seven sections or parts. 

The prophet now advances a step farther. A 
strong angel makes a proclamation with a loud 
voice: "Who is worthy to open the book and to 
loose the seals thereof?" This book is evidently 
the book containing the things that must shortly 
come to pass. No man, either in heaven or earth, 
neither under the earth, is able to open the book, 
neither to look thereon. John is overcome with 
grief at this fact, when one of the elders assures 
him that " the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root 
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to 
loose the seven seals thereof.' ' Just then he makes 
a discovery: " In the midst of the throne and of the 
four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, 
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven 
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits 
of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came 
and took the book out of the right hand of him that 
sat upon the throne . ' ' Then the four living creatures 
and the twenty-four elders fall before the Lamb, and 
sing a new song, saying: " Thou art worthy to take 



170 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

the book, and to open the seals thereof.'' Then an 
almost countless number of angels join in the song, 
and to this is added the song of every creature in 
heaven and earth and under the earth and in the 
sea. And as their song concludes, the four living 
creatures say, "Amen," showing that all the intel- 
ligent creatures of God are deeply interested in the 
revelations to be made when the seals of this \von- 
derful book shall be loosed. 

When the Lamb opened one of the seals, one of 
the living creatures, with a voice of thunder, said: 
" Come." It is not "Come and see," as is found 
in the Authorized Version as addressed to John, 
but it is a command to the rider on the white horse. 
At the thundering voice, " Come," there leaped 
forth " a white horse: and he that sat on him had 
a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he 
went forth conquering, and to conquer." This is 
a symbol of the Messiah riding forth to victory. 
He had been at the right hand of God the Father 
waiting the time when he should " make his ene- 
mies his footstool." This time had now come, 
and he, as a conqueror, should " strike through 
kings in the day of his wrath." He was armed 
with a bow: he was ready for battle; "and a 
crown was given unto him," showing that he had 
full authority as a king to execute judgment, as he 
says in his parable : " He sent forth his armies, and 
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their 
city." He had now mounted for the destruction 
of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 171 

"And when he had opened the second seal, I 
heard the second living creature saying, Come. 
And there went out another horse that was red; 
and power was given to him that sat thereon to 
take peace from the earth, and that they should 
kill one another: and there was given unto him a 
great sword." 

This is a symbol of war. We are now at a period 
immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. It did seem just at this time that peace had 
fled the earth. "Nero had perished; and first 
Otho, then Vitellus, and then Vespatian each with 
his influence setting the whole Roman empire into 
conflicts. Army against army! These armies, 
sometimes going forth in the interest of one claim- 
ant to the imperial purple, would espouse the cause 
of another on the eve of battle ; and thus like con- 
tending wirids on a stormy sea they tore the empire 
into factions and deluged the land with blood. 
Then there was war between Jews and Romans, 
between John of Giscala and Simon ; men should 
slay one another in internecine and civil discord. 
It was an epoch of massacres. There had been 
massacres at Alexandria, massacres at Seleucia, 
massacres at Jamnia, massacres at Damascus, mas- 
sacres at Caesarea, massacres at Bedriacum. There 
had been wars in Britain, wars in Armenia, wars 
in Gaul, wars in Italy, wars in Arabia, wars in Par- 
thia, wars in Judea. Disbanded soldiers and ma- 
rauding troops filled the world with rapine, terror, 
and massacre. The world was like an aceldama, 



172 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

or field of blood. The red horse and its rider are 
but a visible image of the words of our Lord: 
'For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
against kingdom; ' and 'ye shall hear of wars and 
rumors of wars/ which things ' are the beginnings 
of sorrows.' ' This rider upon the red horse, as 
well as all the others, is under the command of the 
Messiah, who heads the list on his white horse. In 
a word, it is Jesus now gone forth with all his in- 
struments to judge and punish his people for their 
rejection of him and all their added crimes. The 
time had come for him to " break them with a rod 
of iron," to "dash them in pieces as a potter's 
vessel." 

At the opening of the third seal the third living 
creature shouted, " Come;" and there leaped forth 
" a black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair 
of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in 
the midst of the four living creatures say, A meas- 
ure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of 
barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil 
and the wine." 

This is a symbol of famine. When Jerusalem 
was besieged, there was an abundant supply of 
corn; but the several parties in the city burned 
these stores of corn and other provisions, thus, as 
Josephus expresses it, "cutting off the nerves of 
their own power." He also says: "Almost all the 
corn was burned, which would have been sufficient 
for a siege of many years. So they were taken by 
the famine, which it was impossible they should 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 173 

have been unless they had thus prepared the way 
for it by this procedure." 

Speaking of this famine, he says: " Many there 
were, indeed, who sold what they had for one 
measure. It was of wheat, if they were of the 
richer sort; but of barley, if they were poorer. 
. . A table was nowhere laid for a distinct 
meal, but they snatched the bread out of the fire, 
half-baked, and devoured it very hastily. It was 
now a miserable case, and a sight that would justly 
bring tears into your eyes, how men stood as to 
their food. . . . Children pulled the very 
morsels that their fathers were eating out of their 
mouths; and, what was still more to be pitied, so 
did the mothers do to their infants. And when 
those that were most dear were perishing under 
their hands, they were not ashamed to take from 
them the very last drops that might preserve their 
lives. . . . The old men who held their food 
fast were beaten : and if the women hid what they 
had within their hands, their hair was torn for so 
doing. Nor was there any commiseration shown 
either to the aged or to the infants ; but they lifted 
up children from the ground as they hung upon the 
morsels they had gotten, and shook them down 
upon the floor. Moreover, their hunger was so in- 
tolerable that it obliged them to chew every thing, 
while they gathered and ate such things as the most 
sordid animals would not touch ; nor did they at 
length abstain from girdles and shoes; and the 
very leather which belonged to their shields they 



174 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

pulled off and gnawed. Even whisps of old hay 
became food to some, and some gathered up fibers 
and sold a very small weight of them for four At- 
tic drachmas [one shekel]." And yet, strange to 
say, in Jerusalem, where such a famine at this time 
prevailed, "John of Giscala and his zealots had ac- 
cess to the sacred stores of wine and oil 'in the tem- 
ple, and wasted it with reckless extravagance ; and 
Simon's followers were even hindered from righting 
by their perpetual drunkenness." 

We are bold to say that this symbol can be ap- 
plied to no other time or place than this memorable 
siege of Jerusalem. As the coin to the die every 
feature of it applies, and any attempt to apply this 
seal to any other time or place can but be vain. 
Let us in this, as in other things, apply the rules of 
common sense and just interpretation, and be done 
with the wild vagaries that have filled the world 
with false doctrines. 

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I 
heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 
Come. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: 
and his name that sat on him was Death, and 
Hell followed with him. And power was given 
unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to 
kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, 
and with the beasts of the earth." 

Here is a symbol with its very name announced. 
The rider is Death, going forth with his four faith- 
ful allies sword, famine, pestilence, and wild 
beasts while Hell followed to garner the harvest 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 175 

as it fell before these mighty reapers. Of course the 
term "earth," as used here, as is often the case in 
the Scriptures, refers to Palestine, that portion of 
the earth being dealt with in the symbol. We have 
no means of determining accurately as to the fourth 
part, but f romthe massacres all over the land we are 
fully persuaded that a full fourth of the Jews per- 
ished. Josephus estimates the loss of life in Jerusa- 
lem alone at 1,100,000, while multitudes perished in 
other cities also : "At Alexandria, 50,000; at Cassa- 
rea, 10,000; at Scythopolis, 13,000; at Damascus, 
10,000; at Jotapata, 30,000." This list might be 
multiplied almost indefinitely. " In every city 
there were hostile armies, and there was no safety 
for any one but in the strength of the party to 
which he belonged. At Askelon, Ptolemais, Tyre, 
Hippo, and Gadara the Jews were involved in one 
general massacre," etc. (Jahn.) "And when in 
A.D. 67 Vespasian swept through Galilee and Sa- 
maria, and city after city fell before him, the 
scenes of horror and carnage were fearful; the 
merciless sword spared neither age nor sex; cities 
were left without inhabitants." 

The opening of the fifth seal is a very important 
one, as it shows what has moved this conqueror to 
" send forth his armies " for this work of death and 
destruction. No lesson is more plainly taught in 
the Scriptures than that God is moved by the 
prayers of his people. Bearing on this very point 
our Saviour spoke a parable to this end, that men 
ought always to pray, and not to faint; and in the 



176 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

application of the parable he says: "And shall not 
God avenge his own elect, which cry day and 
night unto him, though he bear long with them? I 
tell you that he will avenge them speedily." 

Let us listen to the teaching of the fifth seal: 
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw 
under the altar the souls of them that were slain 
for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held: and they cried with a loud voice, say- 
ing, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou 
not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell 
on the earth? And white robes were given unto 
everyone of them; and it was said unto them, that 
they should rest yet for a little season, until their 
fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should 
be killed as th^y were, should be fulfilled." 

These souls of the martyrs were under or at the 
foot of the altar praying to be avenged. They 
had been slain for the word of God and for the 
testimony which they held, slain for their very 
righteousness. And their foes, encouraged by 
their success in putting out of the way these good 
men, were still at their bloody work. And these 
martyrs, who knew that the promise had been given 
that " He would avenge them speedily," were lift- 
ing their cry, " How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
that dwell on the earth?" White robes of victory, 
as petitioners, were given unto every one of them, 
and they were assured that as soon as a few more 
of their fellow-servants should be killed, then he 
would rise in vengeance against their enemies. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 177 

There were martyrs of that period. Jesus, in en- 
couraging the Church at Pergamos, calls one of 
these (Antipas) by name as a faithful martyr. 
And it is folly to be looking along down the ages 
for seasons of persecution to find the souls of those 
under the altar. When the seal is opened, they 
are seen. Having been slain before it, therefore it 
cannot apply to those slain centuries afterward. 
To suppose that they are souls to be slain centu- 
ries afterward, "in the days of the Waldenses and 
Albigenses, is simply to wrest the words from their 
obvious sense and application, and force upon them 
a meaning which could not have entered the mind 
of John or of those whom he addressed. Such 
methods of interpretation cannot be too severely 
censured. They practically destroy all confidence 
in prophecy by ignoring the legitimate principles 
and laws of prophetic interpretation." 

Giving John time to record the scenes revealed 
under this seal, the Lamb proceeds to break an- 
other. 

"And 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 heav- 
en fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is 
rolled together; and every mountain and island 
were moved out of their places. And the kings 
of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 
12 



178 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and 
every bond man, and every free man, hid them- 
selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mount- 
ains; 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 \vho 
shall be able to stand?" 

The Lamb, at the foot of whose altar the souls 
of the martyrs kneeled and prayed, now moves 
heaven and earth with mighty convulsions as as- 
surances that he has heard their prayers and " will 
avenge them speedily." This is all symbolic lan- 
guage, and we need not look for any facts or phe- 
nomena in nature analogous to it. We need not 
look for any special earthquake, no "dark day" 
in the history of the ages, no showers of meteors, 
or any thing of the kind. The time had come 
when altar and temple should be thrown down; 
and not only the Jewish Church, but the nation 
itself was to fall under the shivering stroke of the 
"rod of iron" in the hands of the angry Lamb, 
whose precious blood had been trampled upon by 
their unhallowed feet. The old city of Jerusalem, 
that had become a Sodom, was to be removed to 
give place to the new Jerusalem that should come 
down from God out of heaven. 

Paul refers to this in Hebrews xii. 22-29: " But 
ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of 
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an 
innumerable company of angels, to the general as- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 179 

sembly and Church of the First-born, which are 
-written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and 
to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to 
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the 
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things 
than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that 
speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him 
that spake on earth, much more shall not we es- 
cape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from 
heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but 
now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I 
shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And 
this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing 
of those things that are shaken, as of things that 
are made, that those things which cannot be shak- 
en may remain. Wherefore we receiving a king- 
dom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, 
whereby we may serve God acceptably with rev- 
erence and godly fear: for our God is a consum- 
ing fire." Here the apostle shows that Christ will 
remove the tottering Jewish Church and forever 
establish the Christian Church. The civil and 
ecclesiastical rulers, with all their officers and 
priests, shall be swept away like the darkening of 
the sun, turning the moon to blood, and the hurl- 
ing down of the stars. 

"And the heavens departed like a scroll when it 
is rolled, together." Every vestige of the ceremo- 
nial worship was to be rolled away. Isaiah, in 
prophesying of this, says: " Thus saith the Lord, 
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my foot- 



180 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

stool: where is the house that ye build unto me? 
and where is the place of my rest? For all those 
things hath mine hand made, and all those things 
have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I 
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite 
spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth 
an ox is as if he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth a 
lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offer- 
eth an oblation, as if he offered swines' blood; he 
that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. 
Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their 
soul delighteth in their abominations." This shows 
the utter abhorrence with which God will regard 
the sacrifices that these Jews shall offer. The 
great antitype had come ; and now he that should 
still cling to these types and sacrifices, though 
once acceptable to God, w r ould by them manifest 
his unbelief in Christ the Lamb of God that had 
been crucified among them, and hence God would 
despise them. And as they persisted in offering 
them, and in persecuting and murdering those who 
did believe in Jesus, they were to be destroyed, 
and with them every form of their religion. 

Farther on in this same chapter he says, after 
saying some comforting things concerning those 
that " trembleth at his word:" "The hand of the 
Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his 
indignation toward his enemies. For, behold, the 
Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like 
a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his 
rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 181 

sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the 
slain of the Lord shall be many" The history of 
this perioji shows that this was literally fulfilled 
when all the land was filled with their dead bodies, 
and the stench of their unburied carcasses bred 
pestilence and plague that added to the awful list. 

"And every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places." So thorough should be the 
work of the Lamb that Jewish ceremonies should 
never be restored. Since that awful period, when 
city and temple went down under the power of the 
Lamb, no altar has ever been erected, and no sac- 
rifice has ever been offered. The only notes heard 
from Jewish lips in Jerusalem are the sad wailings 
outside the walls. 

The last words of the prophecy of, Isaiah, in the 
chapter from which we have quoted, are: "And 
it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to 
another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all 
flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses 
of the men that have transgressed against me : for 
their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto all 
flesh." The awful judgments that befell this peo- 
ple are known by all flesh, and the just retribution 
heaped upon them in their utter overthrow is looked 
upon by all. There is no mitigation of their woes, 
but they are scattered and torn and peeled. They 
have been driven to the ends of the earth ; frag- 
ments of them are found among all nations, and 



182 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

wherever they have gone they are looked upon as 
a people cursed of God. " Their worm dieth not, 
and their fire is not quenched." No wgnder that 
"the kings of the earth, and the great men, and 
the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
mighty men, and every bond man, 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? " 

Kings, mighty men, captains, rich and poor, 
bond and free, went down alike under the glitter- 
ing sword of this Lamb of God, when he arose to 
judgment; when Roman legions encompassed them 
without, and internal discords, famine, and pesti- 
lence rent and tore and withered them within. 
When they despaired of life within the city, and 
went to the Romans, the.y were crucified until, as 
Josephus tells us, "So the soldiers, out of the 
wrath and hatred they bore to the Jews, nailed 
those they caught one after one wav? and another 
after another to the crosses, by way of jest, 
when their multitude was so great that room was 
wanting for the crosses, and" crosses wanting for 
bodies." What were the horrors within that could 
induce people to go out among such merciless 
fiends in human shape? Let us see. Josephus 
says: "The citizens themselves were under terri- 
ble consternation. The zealots agreed in nothing 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 183 

but this: to kill those that were innocent. The 
noise, also, of those that were fighting was inces- 
sant, both by day and by night; but the lamentation 
of those that mourned exceeded the other. Nor 
was there any occasion to leave off their lamenta- 
tion, because their calamities came perpetually one 
upon another." And again: "The upper rooms 
were full of women and children that were dying 
of famine, and the lanes of the city were full of the 
dead bodies of the aged. The children, also, and 
the young men wandered about the market-places 
like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell 
down dead wheresoever their misery seized them. 
As for burying them, those that were sick were 
not able, and those that were well were deterred 
from doing it by the great multitude of these dead 
bodies, and by the uncertainty as to how soon they 
should die themselves ; for many died as they were 
burying others, and many went to their coffins be- 
fore that fatal hour was come." No wonder they 
called to the mountains and rocks to fall upon 
them, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. 
The next scene is one of deep interest. The 
wrath of the Lamb is just ready to break upon the 
guilty; but all over the land there are the righteous. 
They are found even in the city of Jerusalem, that 
second Sodom, upon which he is just ready to pour 
his vengeful fires. Will the righteous perish with 
the wicked? If not, how are they to be delivered? 
John tells us: "And after these things I saw four 
angels standing in the four corners of the earth, 



184 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind 
should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor 
on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending 
from the east, having the seal of the living God: 
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, 
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 
saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the 
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God 
in their foreheads. And I heard the number of 
them which were sealed: and there were sealed a 
hundred and forty and four thousand of all the 
tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of 
Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe 
of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the 
tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Aserwere sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thou- 
sand. Of the tribe of Manassas were sealed twelve 
thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed 
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were 
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon 
were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Jo- 
seph were sealed twelve thousand." Of the tribe of 
Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. After this 
I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man 
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and 
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands; and cried with a loucj voice, 
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 185 

the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the an- 
gels stood round about the throne, and about the 
elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the 
throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, 
Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and 
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be 
unto our God forever and ever. Amen. And one of 
the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these 
which are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came 
they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. 
And he said to me, These are they which came 
out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of 
God, and serve him day and night in his tem- 
ple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell 
among them. They shall hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on 
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in 
the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall 
lead them unto living fountains of water: and God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

This scene follows immediately (meta tauta). 
God intends to protect his people. Hence the four 
angels, standing on the four corners of the earth, 
hold back the winds until this protection is se- 
cured. It is a remarkable fact that winds have 
more to do with the destructive elements than any 
thing else. It is the winds that form the tempests 
in all their varied manifestations. They sweep the 
earth in their destructive force; they lash the 



186 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

waves of the sea into billows of power, and hurl 
them along with irresistible force. It is the winds 
that bear the clouds along as war chariots of the 
King of heaven. Their friction generates the 
lightning's bolt, that leaps with the thunder's voice 
on its mission of death. It is the winds that as a 
mighty catapult hurl death-dealing hail-stones to 
the earth ; hence they are symbolic of the mighty 
agencies that the Lamb shall employ in displaying 
his wrath on the guilty. 

A distinguishing mark must be set upon God's 
servants. An angel is seen ascending from the 
east, having the seal of the living God. Jesus, 
when he sent his disciples into all the world to 
preach his gospel to every creature, said, "Who- 
soever believeth and is baptized shall be saved." 
This seal, then, is baptism, wherewith is written 
the name of the " Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost" on the forehead of him that be- 
lieveth. This, then, is to be the sign to the de- 
stroying angel to spare, just as the blood of the 
paschal lamb, sprinkled on the door-posts and on 
the lintels, was to be a sign to the destroying angel 
in Egypt to pass over that house. Men might not 
be able to read this wonderful name on the fore- 
head of his servants, but those who were commis- 
sioned to destroy could. Jesus refers to this same 
scene in that wonderful prophecy that foretold the 
destruction of Jerusalem. He said: "And he shall 
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, 
and they shall gather together his elect from the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 187 

four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
other." 

As the disciples who were to go into all the world 
to preach were to begin at Jerusalem, so this angel 
begins his sealing among the Israelites. Round 
numbers only are given, and for some reason 
twelve is the number. There were twelve tribes, 
as there were twelve apostles, and there were 
twice twelve elders prominent in all these symbols. 
So twelve thousand are announced for each of the 
twelve tribes. Dan is omitted on account of his 
idolatry. His tribe went almost wholly away from 
God. Joseph has two, one in his own name and 
one in Manassas's name. The patriarch, Jacob, 
said to Joseph on his death-bed: "Moreover I 
have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, 
which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with 
my sword and with my bow." 

There were very many of the Jews that were 
obedient to the faith. James said to Paul when 
he went up to Jerusalem, " Thou seest, brother, 
how many thousands [myriads, 10,000, as in the 
margin] of Jews there are which believe;" and 
there were converts among this people in all parts 
of the land. Here a hundred and forty and four 
thousand are mentioned as sealed, no doubt a defi- 
nite for an indefinite number, as is frequently the 
case in Scripture. In addition to these there were 
a great multitude, which no man could number, of 
Gentile converts. These were shouting: " Salva- 
tion to our God which sitteth upon the throne, 



1 88 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

and unto the Lamb." When all the angels that 
stood round about the throne, and the elders, and 
the four living creatures heard it, they fell before 
the throne in their joy, and worshiped, and said: 
" Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiv- 
ing, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our 
God forever and ever. Amen." There was gen- 
eral joy in earth and heaven. 

One of the elders calls John's attention to this 
countless multitude, and asks him who they are 
and whence they came. John said: " Sir, thou 
knowest." Then the elder told him they were 
those that had stood the fires of persecution, and 
had been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and 
this entitled them to the special care and protec- 
tion of God. This, too, is symbolic language. 
These men were not in heaven; they were still 
alive on earth, but under the special protection of 
God and the Lamb. These, both Jews and Gen- 
tiles, who had the seal of God in their foreheads 
were to be as much protected on earth as if they 
were in heaven. Jesus said: "But there shall not 
a hair of your head perish." He gave his dis- 
ciples the sign by which they should know of the 
destruction and make their escape; and it is a 
noted fact that all the Christians of Jerusalem did 
escape to Pella, and not a single Christian perished 
in that dreadful siege. And we have no reason to 
think that he would be less careful of those in 
other parts of the land, or those of other nations 
who were recognized as his servants 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 189 

With reference to the salvation of the Christians 
at the siege of Jerusalem let us see the warning 
and the escape. Jesus said: "When ye there- 
fore shall see the abomination of desolation, 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy 
place, (whoso readeth, let him understand,) then 
let them which be in Judea flee into the mount- 
ains." Josephus tells us: "When Cestius Gallus 
came with his army against Jerusalem, many fled 
from the city as if it would be taken presently, and 
after his retreat many of the noble Jews departed 
out of the city, as out of a sinking ship : and a few 
years afterward, when Vespasian was drawing his 
forces toward Jerusalem, a great multitude fled 
from Jericho into the mountainous country for 
their security/' That some of these were Chris- 
tians appears from Eusebius, who says: "The 
whole body of the Church at Jerusalem, having 
been commanded by a divine revelation, removed 
from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond 
the Jordan called Pella. Here those who believed 
in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if 
holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city 
itself, and the whole land of Judea, the divine 
justice, for their crimes against Christ and his 
apostles, finally overtook the Jews," etc. Thus 
those of Israel that were sealed escaped. 

The Gentiles were equally protected. Wher- 
ever they were, God was among them. The Lamb 
which is in the midst of the throne (the good Shep- 
herd) fed and watered them; and God wiped 



190 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

away all tears from their eyes that is, the relig- 
ion of Jesus gave them comfort in all the afflic- 
tions of life. " Earth had no sorrow that God 
could not heal." 

We must ever remember that symbolic language 
can never be interpreted literally. The prophets 
of the Old Testament used just this class of sym- 
bols in their writings. Isaiah, in prophesying 
against Babylon, uses this language: "Behold, 
the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath 
and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he 
shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the 
stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall 
not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in 
his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her 
light to shine." And again: " Their slain also 
shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out 
of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melt- 
ed with their blood. And all the hosts of heaven 
shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled 
together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall 
down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as 
a falling fig from the fig-tree." 

No one thinks of making this literal in its signi- 
fication. We might multiply these passages almost 
indefinitely. We will take but one more, and take 
that because of its known use. It is found in Joel, 
and is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost: 
"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I 
will pour out in those days of my Spirit ; and they 
shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in 




The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 191 

the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; 
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: the sun 
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into 
blood, before that great and notable day of the 
Lord come." 

Every one knows that this was not literally ful- 
filled. The sun was not really darkened, nor did 
the moon turn to blood before the day of Pente- 
cost. But a great change was to be made in the 
Church of God and in its operations. Jewish 
sacrifices were to cease to be offered, and the tem- 
ple services to close. Christ, the great High Priest, 
was to enter into heaven, the true tabernacle, and 
there, in the presence of God, to offer the blood 
that he, as the Lamb of God, had shed on the al- 
tar of the cross; and fresh heralds were to be sent 
out into all the world to preach the gospel to every 
creature, and it must be made manifest that this 
change was wrought of God. The first, or Mosaic, 
dispensation, was established amid the blackness 
and darkness and tempest that rested upon Mount 
Sinai. Every supernatural evidence that was nec- 
essary was given, that men might know that God 
did it. Now when a radical change is to take 
place, there are signs not only on earth, but in 
heaven. All understood the figurative nature of 
this language, and the pouring out of God's Spirit 
and the gift of tongues that was bestowed satisfied 
all who believed in Jesus that the prophecy was 
fulfilled. Peter did not go into any elaborate ex- 
planation of the symbol, for he knew that his hear- 



192 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ers were familiar with just such expressions in their 
prophets ; in fact, that their writings abounded in 
them. 

It was the constant custom of Jesus to use sym- 
bolic language. Who would take as literal such 
an expression as this: "Except ye eat my flesh 
and drink my blood, ye have no life 'in you?" 
and again, " Destroy this temple, and in three days 
I will raise it up? " One great error in many ex- 
pounders of these prophecies is that they are hunt- 
ing for a literal fulfillment of things that are only 
symbolical. 

"And when he had opened the seventh seal, 
there was silence in heaven about the space of half' 
an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood 
before God ; and to them were given seven trump- 
ets. And another angel came and stood at the al- 
tar, having a golden censer; and there was given 
unto him much incense, that he should offer it with 
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which 
was before the throne. And the smoke of the in- 
cense, which came with the prayers of the saints, 
ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." 

Upon the opening of this seal, which was to re- 
veal so many and such awful woes, there was si- 
lence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 
This betokens the reluctance of God in letting fall 
the long-suspended blow. God has sworn, "As I 
live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ;" 
and while it was but just that this blow should fall, 
and God avenge his people, yet God had no pleas- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 193 

ure in it. The calamities revealed under this seal 
are presented more in detail and are more elaborate 
than any of the preceding. The seven angels 
which stand before God are given each a trumpet, 
symbols of war. The Jews were familiar with this : 
"If ye go to war in your land against the enemy 
that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm 
with the trumpets." These trumpets were to sound 
the alarm of war ; but before they sound one other 
fact must be made manifest, and that is that God 
associates his people with him. He requires them 
to ask what they want. As Jesus said, " Men ought 
always to pray, and not to faint." The adversaries 
of the Church were oppressing them, and hinder- 
ing the work of God. We have seen that the souls 
of the martyrs under the altar were pleading, and 
now we have the saints on earth adding their 
prayers. An "angel stood at the altar, having a 
golden censer; and there was given unto him 
much incense, that he should offer it with the 
prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which 
was before the throne." After this " the angel 
took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, 
and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, 
and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earth- 
quake," a token that God was moving speedily in 
answer to their prayers. This was but the prelude, 
but the sound of the moving armies of Jehovah 
preparing for the battle. The marshaling hosts 
were forming in line, and the very earth trembles 
beneath their tread. It is the brink of the storm 
13 



194 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

that is soon to burst in all its fury. The gleam of 
the lightnings, and the distant roll of the thunders 
tell that the elements of destruction are moving on 

O 

the devoted land. 

"The first angel sounded" his trumpet blast, 
and at once " there followed hail and fire mingled 

o 

with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: 
and the third part of trees \vere burnt up, and 
all green grass' was burnt up." This is one of the 
first effects of war. The trees round about Jeru- 
salem were destroyed for many miles, to build 
banks (as they w r ere called) against the wall. Jo- 
sephus tells us: "For all the trees that were about 
the city had been already cut down, for the erec- 
tion of the former banks. Yet did the soldiers 
bring with them other materials from the distance 
of ninety furlongs" (a little more than eleven 
miles). 

The Romans had an immense number of horses 
besides the flocks and herds necessary to feed so 
large an army. These would destroy the grass. 
This was a symbol of this first effect of war. But 
even this first chapter in the great drama was not 
without bloodshed and death, as indicated by the 
hail and fire mingled with blood. It also indicates 
that it comes from God. The Psalmist says : * ' De- 
liver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword" 
While the Romans were going according to the 
dictates of their own will, God was using them for 
the destruction of the foes of his people, and in an- 
swer to their prayers and the prayers of the martyrs. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 195 

When the second angel sounded, "a great 
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea : 
and the third part of the sea became blood: and 
the third part of the creatures which were in the 
sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the 
ships were destroyed." This symbolized the effects 
of this war upon the sea. "At Joppa eighty-four 
hundred had been slain by Cestius and the city 
burned; but a number of fugitives had ensconced 
themselves in the ruins, and were living by piracy 
and brigandage. These Jews fled to their ships 
before the advance of the Roman soldiers. Next 
morning a storm burst on them, and after a fright- 
ful scene of despair forty-two hundred were 
drowned, and their corpses were washed upon the 
shore. Tarichenge was a strongly fortified city on 
the shores of Lake Tiberias. It was taken by Ti- 
tus, and six thousand Jews dyed with their blood 
the waters of that crystal sea." The burning 
mountain cast into the sea showed that there was 
no more hope of escape when God arose to judg- 
ment than there would be for ships to escape were 
a burning mountain literally hurled into the sea 
amid those ships. 

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a 
great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, 
and it fell upon a third part of the rivers, and upon 
the fountains of waters ; and the name of the star 
is called Wormwood : and the third part of the wa- 
ters became wormwood; and many men died of 
the waters, because they were made bitter." Bit- 



196 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ter was their experience in coming to their death. 
This was to show that no part of the land was to 
escape. The hail and fire fell upon the earth, the 
burning mountain upon the sea, and the star on the 
rivers and fountains of water. 

Now the "fourth angel sounded, and the third 
part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of 
the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the 
third part of them was darkened, and the day 
shone not for a third part of it, and the night like- 
wise," All nature was arrayed against these ene- 
mies of God and his people. In all these symbols 
a third part is affected, a definite for an indefinite 
number; and yet about one-third of the nation mis- 
erably perished in this war, so that the proportion 
was not far wrong. 

This also corresponds precisely with Ezekiel's 
prediction of this same event, as recorded in the 
fifth chapter of his prophecy. The command 
conies to him to take a sharp knife, to take a bar- 
ber's razor, and cause it to pass upon his head and 
upon his beard. Then he was to take this hair 
and divide it into three parts. A third part he was 
to burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when 
the days of the siege were fulfilled; a third part he 
was to smite about with a knife ; and a third part 
to scatter in the wind. He was also to bind a few 
in number in his skirts. The revealing spirit then 
tells him: "A third part of thee shall die with the 
pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed 
in the midst of thee : and a third part shall fall by the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 197 

sword round about thee ; and I will scatter a third 
part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword 
after them." The same spirit that revealed this to 
Ezekiel revealed it to John, only under different 
symbols. 

The whole land was deluged in blood. No 
place was safe, either on sea or land, and no na- 
tion ever suffered more bitterly. Jesus, speaking 
of this very time, says: " For then shall be great 
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of 
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." 
When every feature of these symbols fits with ac- 
curacy the circumstances of this war especially 
when Jesus said, " Verily I say unto you, this gen- 
eration shall not pass, till all these things be ful- 
filled " why should we labor to make them cover 
facts occurring hundreds of years subsequent and 
in countries far distant? 

Here was a pause in the sounding of the trump- 
ets for a startling announcement. John says: 
"And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through 
the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by 
reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the 
three angels, which are yet to sound!' 1 Under 
these three woe-trumpets, as they have been 
called, they were to reach the culmination of this 
dreadful war. The scenes enacted especially in 
Jerusalem as the mighty conqueror struck the 
final blow were so terrific that heaven shuddered, 
and an angel was sent to prepare men for it by his 



198 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

dreadful cry of " Woe, woe, woe." But the Al- 
mighty arm must let the lifted thunder drop, though 
all earth should shudder at the effect of its fall. 

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star 
fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was 
given the key of the bottomless pit. . . . And 
there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke 
of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were 
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And 
there came out of the smoke locusts upon the 
earth: and unto them was given power, as the 
scorpions of the earth have power. And it was 
commanded them that they should not hurt the 
grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither 
any tree; but only those men which have not the 
seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it 
was given that they should not kill them, but that 
they should be tormented five months: and their 
torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he 
striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek 
death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, 
and death shall flee from them. And the shapes 
of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto 
battle ; and on their heads were as it were crowns 
like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their 
teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had 
breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron: and 
the sound of their wings was as the sound of char- 
iots of many horses running to battle. And they 
had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 199 

in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five 
months. And they had a king over them, which is 
the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the 
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek 
tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; 
and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter." 
This star was an intelligent being, an angel. He 
comes to open the bottomless pit and turn loose 
upon the Jews this awful scourge. The fact that 
the locusts were commanded to hurt " only those 
men which have not the seal of God in their fore- 
heads ' ' connects this woe with the seals, and makes 
it all one. It forever crushes those wild, visionary 
interpretations that string these seals and trumpets 
along down the ages, locating some in one and 
some in another country. The unity of this book 
is wonderful, and yet no book ever written has suf- 
fered more dismemberment than it. These locusts 
are symbolical of the several parties in the heart of 
Jerusalem, that agreed in nothing else but in tor- 
menting each other. They acted as demons from 
the pit. Language fails to picture their cruelty and 
villainy. Hear what Josephus says of them: "And 
here I cannot but speak my mind, and what the 
concern I am under dictates to me. I suppose 
that had the Romans made any longer delay in 
coming against these villains, that the city would 
either have been swallowed up by the ground open- 
ing under them, or been overflowed by water, or 
else been destroyed by such thunder as the coun- 
try of Sodom perished by. For it had brought 



2OO The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

forth a generation of men much more atheistical 
than were those that suffered such punishment. 
For by their madness it was that all the people 
came to be destroyed." 

"And in those days shall men seek death, and 
shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death 
shall flee from them." Moses said of this very pe- 
riod: "And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; 
and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have 
none assurance of thy life: in the. morning thou 
shalt say, Would God it were even ! and at even 
thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! " 
Jesus says: "There shall be great distress in the 
land, and wrath upon this people. . . . 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." 

The descriptions of the locusts are remarkable : 
" Their faces were as the faces of men. And they 
had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were 
as the teeth of lions." One paragraph from Jo- 
sephus fixes this symbol inevitably upon John and 
his followers during the siege: "For these Galile- 
ans had advanced this John, and made him very 
potent; who made them a suitable requital from 
the authority he had obtained by their means, for 
he permitted them to do all things that any of them 
desired. While their inclination to plunder was 
insatiable as was their zeal in searching the homes 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 201 

of the rich, and for the murdering of the men and 
abusing of the women, it was sport to them they 
also devoured what spoils they had taken, together 
with their blood, and indulged themselves in femi- 
nine wantonness, without any disturbance, till they 
were satiated therewith. While they decked their 
hair, and put on women's garments, and were be- 
smeared over with ointments, that they might ap- 
pear very comely, they had paints under their eyes 
and were guilty of such intolerable uncleanness 
that they invented unlawful pleasures and rolled 
themselves up and down the city as in a brothel 
house, and defiled it entirely with their impure ac- 
tions. Nay, while their faces looked like the faces 
of women, they killed with their right hands; and 
when their gait was effeminate, they presently at- 
tacked men and became warriors, and drew their 
swords from under their finely dyed cloaks, and 
ran everybody through whom they met with. 
However, Simon waited for such as ran away 
from John, and was the more sanguinary of the 
two; and he who escaped the tyrant within the 
wall was destroyed by the other that day before the 
gates." 

No wonder they were likened to scorpions, and 
that they had power to hurt men. Five months is 
the normal life-period of the locusts; hence they 
have power to hurt men all the period of their life. 
While these destroying, tormenting agents seemed 
to be free, yet they were under the control of a su- 
perintending power; and that king was the angel 



2O2 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of the bottomless pit, who was sent out under the 
direction of the Lamb. This angel's name Abad- 
don or Apollyon means " destroyer." Whether 
this angel was a spirit of good or of evil, he was 
nevertheless under the immediate direction of the 
Almighty. It was only as God ordered that he 
could act. 

"One woe is past. . . . And the sixth angel 
sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns 
of the golden altar which is before God, saying to 
the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the 
four angels which are bound in the great river Eu- 
phrates. And the four angels were loosed, which 
were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a 
month, and a year, for to slay the third part of 
men. And the number of the army of the horse- 
men were two hundred thousand thousand: and I 
heard the number of them. And thus I saw the 
horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, 
having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and 
brimstone : and the heads of the horses were as the 
heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire 
and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the 
third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the 
smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of 
their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, 
and in their tails : for their tails were like unto ser- 
pents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 
And the rest of the men which were not killed by 
these plagues yet repented not of the works of 
their hands, that they should not worship devils, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 203 

and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, 
and of wood ; which neither can see, nor hear, nor 
walk: neither repented they of their murders, nor 
of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of 
their thefts." 

Some six hundred and eighty years before this 
time the Chaldeans, like a mighty scourge, had 
come from the banks of the Euphrates, taken Je- 
rusalem, destroyed the temple, and carried Israel 
away into captivity. Now they are used as a sym- 
bol for the present destruction. From the four 
horns of the golden altar comes the voice to the 
sixth angel, commanding him to loose the four an- 
gels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
This command is the result of the prayers that have 
gone up from- this golden altar. When atonement 
was made, each horn of the altar was sprinkled with 
blood. Through the blood of the Lamb these 
prayers have been offered, and they prevailed. 
The barrier, such as a great river, is removed, 
and these avenging powers represented by the four 
angels come unhindered to their work of destruc- 
tion. The time " an hour, and a day, and a 
month, and a year" given them in which to 
" slay the third part of men" would indicate -that the 
slaughter would not be alone at the final scene, 
when the city should fall into their hands; but 
from the time they encompassed the city their work 
should begin, and hour after hour, day by day, 
month by month, and year by year, through this 
fearful war the slaughter should go on. This was 



204 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

literally fulfilled. Long before the investing army 
reached the carcass, John and Simon and Eleazar, 
like dogs of war, were tearing and slaying their 
fellow-countrymen in a manner never known be- 
fore in the history of war. We see the force of 
this symbol of the Chaldeans in the fact recorded 
by Josephus of the destruction of the temple: 
" However, one cannot but wonder at the accuracy 
of this period thereto relating. For the same 
month and day were now observed, as I said be- 
fore, wherein the holy house was burned formerly 
by the Babylonians." 

The number of the horses is given, and is amaz- 
ing " two hundred thousand thousand " enough 
to eat up the " third part of the green grass." But 
these horses were symbolic, and every thing about 
them betokened their terrific power for destruc- 
tion. Their riders were clad in "breastplates of 
fire, and of jacinth and brimstone," while they 
themselves had heads like lions, and out of their 
mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 
"Their tails were like unto serpents, and had 
heads, and with them they do hurt." Of course 
this was not literal, but was intended to show the 
power for injury that God's avenging army had. 
Again we have that " third part of men killed." 

"History tells us that fifteen strong cities of Gal- 
ilee were carried by storm, and the masses of men, 
women, and children butchered; that about three 
millions of Jews, convened for their great annual 
passover, were crowded within the walls of Jeru- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 205 

salem when the Roman legions invested the city 
and shut them in; and that when the city fell 
scarcely so many thousand escaped famine, pes- 
tilence, conflagration, their own sword, and the 
Roman sword, had combined their powers of tort- 
ure and death to make this scene a climax of hor- 
rors." As has been said of these three millions, 
one million one hundred thousand perished. 

For all these plagues, for all this suffering " the 
rest of the men which were not killed by these 
plagues yet repented not of the works of their 
hands," etc. In all the history of this period we 
hear not a note of repentance. Not a soul returns 
to God or calls upon him for mercy. But, throw- 
ing the reins of their mad passions upon the neck 
of lust for rapine and murder, they rush upon the 
thick basses of Jehovah's buckler as if they court- 
ed death. Men, bowing under the hand of fam- 
ine, staggered from house to house, and robbed 
the inhabitants of their gold as greedily as if the 
fires of war were not burning all around them, and 
death was not the most common scene of every 
day's occurrence. 

That they " neither repented of their murders, 
nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor 
of their thefts," hear what Josephus tells us just 
before the city fell: " But as for John, when he 
could no longer plunder the people, he betook 
himself to sacrilege, and melted down many of the 
sacred utensils, which had been given to the tern- 
pie." 



206 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

In the last sad scene, when pools of blood lay 
all over the marble floor of the temple, and tor- 
rents of blood in many places extinguished the 
fires, when the Roman soldiers themselves were 
weary of killing men, Josephus says: "The sol- 
'diers also came to the rest of the cloisters that were 
in the outer court of the temple ; whither the wom- 
en and children, and a mixed multitude of the peo- 
ple fled, in number about six thousand. But before 
Csesar [Titus] had determined any thing about 
these people, or given the commanders any orders 
relating to them, the soldiers were in such a rage 
that they set that cloister on fire. By which means 
some of these were destroyed by throwing them- 
selves down headlong; and some were burned in 
the cloisters themselves. Nor did any of them 
escape with their lives. A false -prophet was the 
occasion of these people's destruction; who had 
made a public proclamation in the city that very 
day that God commanded them to get up upon the 
temple, and that there they should receive mirac- 
ulous signs of deliverance. Now there was then 
a great number of false prophets suborned by the 
tyrants to impose upon the people." But this is 
enough to show the fulfillment of this part of this 
symbol. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Angel with the Little Book The Temple and Altar Meas- 
uredThe Two Witnesses The Third Woe. 

" A ND I saw another mighty angel come down 
** from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a 
rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it 
were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and 
he had in his hand a little book open: and he set 
his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the 
earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion 
roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders 
uttered their voices. And when the seven thun- 
ders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: 
and I heard a voice from lieaven saying unto me, 
Seal up those things which the seven thunders ut- 
tered, and write them not. And the angel which 
I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted 
up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liv- 
eth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the 
things that therein are, and the earth, and the 
things that therein are, and the sea, and the things 
which are therein, that there should be time no 
longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh 
angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery 
of God should be finished, as he hath declared to 
his servants the prophets. And the voice which I 
heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, 
Go and take the little book which is open in the 

(207) 



208 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and 
upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and 
said unto him, Give me the little book. And he 
said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall 
make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth 
sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of 
the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my 
mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten 
it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, 
Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, 
and nations, and tongues, and kings." 

The first thing to be determined is : Who is this 
angel? We have no hesitancy in saying that it is 
Jesus himself. The description is almost identical 
with that of Jesus in the first chapter. The care- 
ful Bible reader need not be told that the term is 
more than once applied to Jesus in the Old Testa- 
ment. The reader must not think that all the 
scenes portrayed in the preceding chapters have 
been enacted. Only the revelation of them has 
been made. Now the hour comes for their fulfill- 
ment. The seals have all been broken, the con- 
tents noted, and now the angel comes down to 
earth with the book open; and, setting his feet 
upon sea and land, he announces his presence by 
a loud cry that startles the seven thunders. These 
thunders syllabled some great fact, which John was 
about to record, but is commanded not to do so. 
The next verses reveal the reason. The angel, in 
the most solemn manner, swears that time shall be 
no longer. Not that time is to end and eternity 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 209 

begin, but the time for his judgments to begin was 
at hand. No more delay. The judgments uttered 
by these seven thunders will follow immediately, 
and they will be known in their fulfillment. So 
near is the cloud of wrath that the lightning's flash 
and thunder's peal are simultaneous. 

But while the things that are to befall the Jews 
are at hand, yet there are other things of equal 
importance that lie in the future. Of these John 
must be apprised. Hence the voice " spake unto 
him again, and said, Go and take the little book 
which is open in the hand of the angel which 
standeth upon the sea and upon the earth." He 
went and asked for it. It was given with the com- 
mand to take it and eat it up that is, thoroughly 
digest its contents. He did so, and found that it 
was in his mouth sweet as honey, but in his belly 
it was bitter. 

The other great persecuting power of the Chris- 
itan Church, pagan Rome, was to be destroyed, 
and the knowledge of this fact was sweet; yet the 
fearful calamities and the human suffering that were 
to befall them was bitter. It was glorious to have 
the yoke of their oppressor broken, but the suffer- 
ing entailed upon even their enemies could not but 
pain the heart. 

When the book was eaten, the angel announced 
to him that he must prophesy again before many 
peoples, etc. 

Under Jewish law, when a criminal was executed, 
the witnesses, of which there must be at least two, 
14 



2io The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

were to strike the first blow. Here is the law: 
"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, 
shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; 
but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put 
to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first 
upon him to put him to death." The Jewish na- 
tion was to die at the hands of God, but before the 
execution the witnesses are to be summoned. 

The first announcement is: " There was given 
me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, 
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and 
the altar, and them that worship therein. But the 
court which is without the temple leave out, and 
measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: 
and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty 
and two months." This measuring is for judgment. 
In Isaiah xxviii. 17, 18, we have the language: 
" Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness 
to the plummet : and the hail shall sweep away the 
refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the 
hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall 
be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall 
not stand ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass 
through, then ye shall be trodden down by it." 
Here God with his line and plummet measures 
them for the destruction that is to follow. So the 
temple, the altar, and the people that worship 
therein are measured for destruction; and, while 
the court of the Gentiles is excluded, the holy city 
is to be trodden under foot forty and two months. 

There was never a time in the history of the Jew- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 21 1 

ish nation so terrible as that three and a half years 
(forty-two months) in which he took away the daily 
sacrifice, desecrated and profaned all the sacred 
vessels of the sanctuary. So this period is used 
symbolically to represent that. Used as a symbol, 
it was not necessary that the sufferings of this pe- 
riod should measure up to the exact time, though 
it is thought by some that this was the case.. The 
language here is similar to that used by Jesus when 
speaking of the same thing: "And Jerusalem shall 
be trodden down of the Gentiles." The language 
used in this symbol fixes Jerusalem unmistakably 
as the place. It was called "holy city," and 
"the temple of God" was found nowhere else. 
Then the "court which is without the temple" 
given to the "Gentiles " is another strong pointer 
in this direction. Nowhere else is such a court 
found. The temple, altar, and people being meas- 
ured for destruction, God summons his two wit- 
nesses. 

" I will give power unto my two witnesses, and 
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and 
threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." Here is 
the three years and a half, lacking only fifteen 
days, spoken of before. Thus these witnesses 
are to stand by during the entire time of the ex- 
ecution. " These are the two olive-trees, and the 
two candlesticks standing before the God of the 
earth." 

The question may be asked : ' * Who are these two 
witnesses? " They are only symbols of the " souls 



212 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of them that were slain for the word of God, and 
for the testimony which they held," and of " all 
the saints" whose prayers were offered with the 
incense that rose from the golden altar which was 
before the throne the martyrs and the living 
saints who were still suffering persecutions. These 
were men who had been converted to God through 
the agency of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are 
called in the symbol "the two olive-trees, and the 
two candlesticks standing before the God of the 
earth," referred to in Zechariah iv. The angel 
that talked to him asked him: " Knowest thou not 
w r hat these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he 
answered and 'spake unto me, saying, This is the 
word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by 
might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the 
Lord of hosts." It w r as, then, a religion wrought 
in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, through 
the preaching of the word. This is just the relig- 
ion of Jesus, as taught in every part of the New 
Testament. Then we repeat that these two wit- 
nesses are symbols of the martyrs and saints of 
Jesus who stood firm for his faith. These faithful 
witnesses stood by their testimony while the execu- 
tioners of God's judgments poured out the wrath 
of God upon this people whose hands were red 
with the blood of his saints. 

"And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth 
out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: 
and if any man will hurt them, he must in this 
manner be killed." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 213 

Again we must say that this is not literal, but is 
only intended to show that God's fires of judgment 
then falling upon them was because the testimony 
of their mouth was condemning them. God was 
calling the world to listen to the testimony of these 
two witnesses, as he dealt the death-blow to these 
criminals. 

" These have power to shut heaven, that it rain 
not in the days of their prophecy: and have power 
over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the 
earth with all plagues, as often as they will." 

Elijah prayed, and it rained not for the space of 
three years and six months. This miracle of shutting 
the heaven was wrought to convince wicked Ahab 
and idolatrous Israel of their sins. So these wit- 
nesses are sent for the purpose of convincing this 
wicked and adulterous generation of their sins. 
Moses turned water to blood, and smote the earth 
with plagues to convince Pharaoh and his people 
of their sins. So of these. 

But, righteous as they are, this does not prevent 
the devil from killing them; for it is said: "And 
when they shall have finished their testimony, the 
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall 
make war against them, and shall overcome them, 
and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in 
the street of the great city, which spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord 
was crucified." God shields them until their tes- 
timony is finished. * ' They are immortal until their 
work is done ; " then Satan for this is the same 



214 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

" great red dragon, the old serpent called the devil 
and Satan," spoken of in the next chapter over- 
comes them and kills them. The great indignity 
heaped upon them is indicated by the fact that their 
dead bodies are suffered to lie three days and a 
half unburied in the streets of the great city. 

In some respects this is one of the most impor- 
tant verses in this vision, for it locates beyond a 
peradventure the -place where these judgments take 
place. It is " the great city which spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt, -where also our Lord was 
crucified '." Isaiah calls Jerusalem Sodom in the 
first chapter of his prophecy. It was a spiritual 
Sodom; and on account of the manner in which 
they hardened their hearts it is called Egypt; but, 
to settle the matter forever, it is called the place 
" where our Lord was crucified." No other place 
on earth can lay claim to this crowning act of in- 
iquity but Jerusalem. It would seem that God, to 
forestall such wild and visionary interpretations as 
are given of this wonderful revelation, dropped for 
a moment the figurative, and used literal language. 
It would seem that Jesus was recalling his own ex- 
pression, used while here on earth with reference 
to this wicked city. When certain Pharisees said 
to him, " Get theeout, and depart hence; for Her- 
od will kill thee," he replied: "I must walk to- 
day, and to-morrow, and the day following: for it 
cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the proph- 
ets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 215 

often would I have gathered thy children together, 
even as a hen doth gather her brood under her 
wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is 
left unto you desolate." 

Here Jesus declares that he must "walk to-day, 
and to-morrow, and the day following," intimating 
that in the midst of the fourth day he would perish 
under the hands of the citizens of Jerusalem. 
Here is the three days and a half to which this 
symbol, in part no doubt, refers. While the blood 
of her prophets and apostles was calling loudly for 
vengeance, the blood of Jesus came in for its share. 
When on his way to the cross the women bewailed 
and lamented him, he turned and said: " Daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for 
yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, 
the days are coming, in the which they shall say, 
Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never 
bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then 
shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on 
us ; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these 
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the 
dry?" It does seem that every ray of prophecy 
on this subject turns in one burning focus upon this 
devoted city. And how men can apply these sym- 
bols to distant ages and different places is more 
than I can see. 

"And they of the people and kindred and tongues 
and nations shall see their dead bodies three days 
and a half, and shall not suffer thieir dead bodies 
to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the 



2i6 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and 
shall send gifts one to another; because these two 
prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 
And after three days and a half the Spirit of life 
from God entered into them, and they stood upon 
their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw 
them." 

Here is exultation over the fall of these saints. 
They felt when they had slain them as the rulers 
of the Jews felt when they succeeded in crucifying 
Jesus, and their joy was as short. It was the 
prayers of the souls of the dead martyrs and his 
persecuted saints that moved God to vengeance. 

"And they heard a great voice from heaven say- 
ing unto them, Come up hither. And they as- 
cended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies 
beheld them." 

This is symbolical of the fact that these wit- 
nesses were called immediately before the king to 
testify as to the conduct of their foes. There is 
an allusion to these witnesses, and the judgment 
that is to fall upon those against whom they testify, 
in Hebrews x. 28-31: " He that despised Moses' 
law died without mercy under two or three wit- 
nesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, 
shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden un- 
der foot the Son of God, and hath counted the 
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, 
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the 
Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, 
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 217 

saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge 
his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the 
hands of the living God." This is so plain that it 
needs no comment. 

And now conies the final scene, the last blow: 
"And the same hour was there a great earthquake, 
and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earth- 
quake were slain of men seven thousand : and the 
remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the 
God of heaven. The second woe is past, and, be- 
hold, the third woe cometh quickly." These were 
not literal shocks of an earthquake, but it repre- 
sented the shock of the Roman army, who broke 
down the walls of the great city and slew right 
and left until they were weary of slaughter. Again 
we have a definite number to represent an indefinite, 
but the slain was up in the thousands. When the 
Roman soldiers broke into the city, the temple 
seemed to be the center of the great battle and the 
scenes of the greatest slaughter. As the altar and 
the temple and those that worship therein had been 
measured for destruction, so it was as Josephus 
says: " Now round about the altar lay dead bod- 
ies, heaped one upon another; as at the steps, go- 
ing up to it, ran a great quantity of their blood; 
whither, also, the dead bodies that were slain above 
on the altar fell down." 

Titus tried to save the temple, but it was set on 
fire. Josephus says: "While the holy house was 
on fire, every thing was plundered that came to 
hand ; and ten thousand of those that were caught 



2i8 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

were slain. Nor was there a commiseration of any 
age, or any reverence of gravity; but children and 
old men, priests and profane persons, were all 
slain in the same manner, . . . yet was the 
misery itself more terrible than this disorder. For 
one would have thought that the very hill on which 
the temple stood was red hot, as full of fire was 
every part of it, that the blood was larger in quan- 
tity than the fire, and those that were slain more in 
number than those that slew them. For the ground 
did nowhere appear visible, for the dead bodies 
that lay on it ; but the soldiers went over heaps of 
those bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from 
them." 

This picture was not painted from imagination, 
for Josephus was at the time in the army of Titus, 
having been taken prisoner, and was an eye-wit- 
ness of what he describes. 

One angel alone stands before the throne who 
has not yet sounded his trumpet. One last act in 
the awful drama remains to be performed: "And 
the seventh angel sounded; and there were great 
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this 
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and 
of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. 
And the four and twenty elders, which sat before 
God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and wor- 
shiped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord 
God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to 
come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great 
power, and hast reigned. And the nations were 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 219 

angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the 
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou 
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the proph- 
ets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, 
small and great; and shouldest destroy them which 
destroy the earth." 

This completes the scene. The last grand blow 
is struck, that not only routs the armies of the en- 
emy, but secures a complete victory. All is sub- 
dued under the sword of the rider upon the white 
horse, who took his place at the head of the col- 
umn when the first seal was broken. When he 
took the little book out of the hand of him that sat 
on the throne, all heaven shouted : " Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, 
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
and blessing." Now as this conqueror returned 
from the war with all the standards of the enemy 
in possession, the mighty voices of heaven sound 
the pseans of praise, and say: " The kingdoms of 
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, 
and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and 
ever." 

There is no description of the final scene given. 
Only the result is announced: a complete victory. 
The nations were angry ; but when this roused the 
anger of the Lamb, when the prayers of the souls 
of those under the altar, slain for his word and the 
testimony which they bare, and the prayers of his 
servants the prophets and the saints and them that 
feared his name, small and great, came up before 



22O The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

him, mingled with a cloud of incense, then he 
arose to destroy them which destroyeth the earth. 
Jesus had said, when referring to this very fact: 
" There be some standing here, which shall not 
taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming 
in his kingdom." And again: " Verily, this gen- 
eration shall not pass, till all these things be ful- 
filled." Now the first great persecuting power of 
the infant Church had been destroyed, and all 
nations were open to the gospel. 

"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, 
and there were seen in his temple the ark of his 
testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, 
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great 
hail. ' 

Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews makes this 
plain. Now that the temple, with all its sacred 
implements of worship even to the ark of the cov- 
enant on which rested the mercy-seat had been 
destroyed, it was necessary to reveal to the Church 
the great fact that " Christ is not entered into the 
holy places made with hands, which are the figures 
of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to appear 
in the presence of God for us." 

Jesus said to the woman of Samaria: " Woman, 
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither 
in this mountain, nor yet at yerusalem, worship the 
Father. . .' . But the hour cometh, and now isj 
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father 
in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such 
to worship him." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 221 

Now this thing was made manifest to all the king- 
doms brought under the power of the Lamb. The 
ark, the true ark, was still safe, it was in heaven. 
Above it were still stretched the wings of the cher- 
ubim ; but they were living creatures. , The throne 
of God was the throne of grace, all sprinkled with 
the blood of the Lamb, who had the veil (his 
body) rent for the passage; and we "have a strong 
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold 
upon the hope set before us : which hope we have 
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, 
and which entereth into that within the veil ; whith- 
er the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, 
made a high priest forever after the order of Mel- 
chisedec." 

"And there were lightnings, and voices, and 
thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." 

This doubtless was to give his people assurance 
that there was still a reserve of power, ready at 
any moment to be used for the destruction of their 
foes. 

This closes the first main division of this book. 
We have not turned aside to combat the views of 
other men. It is true that we have occasionally 
alluded to some of these; that is all. There can 
be but one true interpretation of this book. We 
lay claim to one fact: we have been consistent in 
all our interpretations of it. We have presented 
nothing on our own dictum, but have in every in- 
stance given the proof of our views, substantiating 
them by proofs both from Scripture and history. 



222 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

We have not tried in any instance, in interpreting 
a symbol, to explain al] its parts, or, as some have 
expressed it, "to make it go on all fours." We 
might have entered more into detail, but our pur- 
pose was to give, as far as we were able, the pur- 
pose of the revealing spirit. We have made no 
display of ingenuity or of great learning; we are 
content if we have led the reader into a true un- 
derstanding of the design and purposes of the book. 
The wild and visionary interpretations of it that 
reach along down the ages, even to our own time, 
have never served any good purpose; nor have 
men ever been able to agree upon any of these far- 
reaching theories. 



CHAPTER XL 

The Second Great Persecuting Power, Pagan Rome The 
Messiah Born The Dragon The Beast from the Sea The 
Beast from the Earth The Lamb on Mount Sion The Fall 
of Babylon, or Rome. 

WE come now to the overthrow of the second 
great persecuting power, pagan Rome. As 
a preface to the scenes of this part of Revelation 
we are taken back to the birth of the Messiah and 
to the effort made for his destruction; and, when 
this failed, to the effort to destroy the Christian 
Church by the devil. 

" And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; 
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon un- 
der her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve 
stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in 
birth, and pain to be delivered." 

This symbol is shown in heaven. The woman 
represents the Church. This is a figure quite com- 
mon, especially in the prophecy of Isaiah. In the 
fifty-fourth chapter she is represented as a woman 
who is to have a very large increase of children, 
and she is commanded to get ready for them by en- 
larging her tent, and again in the sixty-second 
and sixty-sixth chapters. Perhaps Solomon al- 
ludes to the Church, as represented by a woman, 
when he says : * ' Who is she that looketh forth in 
the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, 
and terrible as an army with banners." 

(223) 



224 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

This woman being clothed with the sun, with the 
moon under her feet, as to the exceeding beauty 
of her array, was the beloved of God, the Church 
for which Jesus gave his life, and her appearance 
was beyond any thing earthly. The crown of 
twelve stars represented that she was the Church 
of God. First there were twelve patriarchs, and 
next twelve apostles. In this symbol the Church 
is to give birth to the Messiah. When the time 
came for her delivery of the child, John says : "And 
there appeared another wonder in heaven; and be- 
hold a great red dragon, having seven heads and 
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads/' 
There is no mistake about this being the devil, for 
in the ninth verse he is specially characterized as 
such, as we shall see. He is red, indicating the 
fact that he is a murderer and capable of bloody 
work. Dragon is another name for serpent, the 
guise under which he appeared to our first parents 
in the garden. His seven heads indicate his wis- 
dom, and his horns and crowns that he is not alone 
in his work, but that kings and nations are at his 
command to work for him in persecuting the 
Church and slaying her children. 

"And his tail drew the third part of the stars of 
heaven, and did cast them to the earth." 

We have but little in the Scriptures to enlighten 
us as to the origin of the devil and his angels, but 
what we have shows us that they were once angels 
of light, and that "they kept not their first estate, 
but left their own habitation." No doubt they were 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 225 

led in their rebellion by this dragon, who is said 
to draw them with his tail that is, they followed 
his leadership to their own ruin. Peter tells us 
they were " cast down to hell." But we must not 
forget that this is symbolic language, intended to 
represent to us the character who is engaged in 
this work of persecution. 

"And the dragon stood before the woman which 
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child 
as soon as it was born." 

We know that the devil made the effort to de- 
stroy the young child Jesus when he was born, by 
instigating one of the kings under his control to do 
the bloody work. For ' ' Herod sent forth, and slew 
all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all 
the coasts thereof, from two years old and under." 

"And she brought forth a man child, who was 
to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her 
child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." 

God warned Joseph in a dream to flee into 
Epypt, and thus was his life spared. It was as if 
God had caught him up out of harm's way. Not 
only so; he was taken to his throne. God anoint- 
ed him King, thus setting him upon his throne. 
He was preserved for this throne. That this child 
was the Messiah is made plain by the expression, 
"He shall rule all nations with a rod of iron." 
Whatever that may mean, it is just what is said of 
the Messiah in the second Psalm, a Psalm that the 
apostles applied to Christ. There it is said to him: 
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
15 



226 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them 
with a rod of iron." Here are the heathen and the 
uttermost parts of the earth given for a "posses- 
sion," equivalent to ** all nations" in this symbol. 

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where 
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should 
feed her there a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days." 

This part of the symbol refers to the manner in 
which God provided for the protection of his peo- 
ple when they cried unto him, when under the 
hand of their oppressors in Egypt. He said to 
Moses: "I have surely seen the affliction of my 
people which are in Egypt, and have heard their 
cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know 
their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver 
them out of the hand of the Egyptians." They 
were taken into the wilderness, where their ene- 
mies could not follow them, and yet in that wilder- 
ness they were fed forty years. Here the Church 
is to be protected in her persecution by the power 
of God for a space of about three and a half years. 
Whether this is a definite time, or the time of Isra- 
el's oppression under Antiochus Epiphanes, it does 
not matter. We have seen the folly of reckoning 
these days each as a year, no such custom in 
prophecy prevailing. God will see to it that his 
Church, as symbolized by the woman, shall be 
protected till the time of persecution and danger 
shall pass, be that time long or short. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 227 

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his 
angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon 
fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither 
was their place found any more in heaven. And 
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceive th the 
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and 
his angels were cast out with him." 

This represents the desperate effort made by the 
devil and his angels for the destruction of Jesus 
Christ. Not content when Jesus was protected by 
the power of God in infancy, so soon as he enters 
upon his ministry he is met in the wilderness and 
sorely tempted of the devil. And again is another 
attack made in the garden of Gethsemane, when 
Jesus said to the chief priests when they came to 
arrest him: "But this is your hour, and the power 
of darkness." The dragon fought, and his angels, 
and prevailed not; Jesus stood firm, and overcame 
him and his army. He said to his disciples, " I 
beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," mean- 
ing by that that he was vanquished. They were 
cast out into the earth. There can be no mistake 
as to the identity of this dragon ; he is the old ser- 
pent that tempted Eve, called the devil, which means 
the accuser of the brethren ; and Satan, a malicious 
hater both of God and all the good. He works 
only for evil; but the Son of God was manifested 
that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the king- 



228 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

dom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for 
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which 
accused them before our God day and night. And 
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and 
by the word of their testimony; and they loved 
not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, 
ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to 
the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea ! for the 
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 
because he knoweth that he hath but a short 
time." 

The victory wrought in heaven over Satan and 
his angels wakes a note of praise that echoes loud 
and long; and to Christ and his blood is ascribed 
all the praise and virtue of this victory. The same 
martyrs, or those like them, that "loved not their 
lives to the death," are foremost in these ascrip- 
tions of praise ; but while heaven rejoices because 
Satan has been cast out, yet earth is made sad by 
his taking up the fight among its inhabitants. While 
Christ by his death and resurrection has come off 
more than conqueror, yet his followers were to 
endure his temptations and feel the sting of his 
persecutions; for "when the dragon saw that he 
was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman 
which brought forth the man child. And to the 
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that 
she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and 
half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the 
serpent cast out of his mouth, water as a flood 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 229 

after the woman, that he might cause her to be 
carried away of the flood. And the earth helped 
the woman; and the earth opened her mouth, 
and swallowed Up the flood which the dragon cast 
out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth 
with the woman, and went to make war with the 
remnant of her seed, which keep the command- 
ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ." 

The victor}* of Christ over the devil is a symbol 
of the victory that his followers shall achieve in 
these fierce persecutions. This is shown by the 
two wings of a great eagle given her. God told 
Moses to say to Israel: " Ye have seen what I did 
unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' 
wings, and brought you unto myself/' God had 
helped Israel to get away from their oppressors, 
and had borne them to a place of safety. So this 
fact is used to assure his people persecuted by the 
dragon that he would bear them on eagles' wings 
to a place prepared for them. There they are to 
be nourished for a time, and times, arid half a 
time from the face of the serpent one mode of 
expression for three years and a half, the same 
prophetic time used some five times in this book of 
Revelation. 

As the woman fled, the " serpent cast out of 
his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that 
he might cause her to be carried away of the 
flood." This is a symbol of the multiplied ene- 
mies that the devil raised up against the Chris- 



230 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

tians at this time. So many were their enemies, 
and so persistent and wide-spread their persecu- 
tions, that- it looked as if the struggling infant 
Church must be overwhelmed by them. "And the 
earth helped the woman ;* and the earth opened 
her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the 
dragon cast out of his mouth." During the fierce 
persecutions of the Christians at Rome they took 
refuge in the catacombs beneath the city. We are 
told that often when the Christians were hotly pur- 
sued by their enemies they would disappear so 
suddenly, escaping into their subterranean retreats, 
known only to themselves, that the officers thought 
they had escaped by some magic. Thus the 
earth helped the woman. The hate of this dragon 
impelled him to make war with the remnant of her 
seed which kept the commandments of God and 
have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

This chapter must be looked upon as a sort of 
foreshadowing, in general, of the revelations that 
are to follow in detail. In other words, it is the 
preface to the coming revelations. Let us bear in 
mind in the outset that the revelation is dealing 
only with pagan Rome as it existed during this 
season of persecution. The symbols that begin 
in chapter xiii., and end in chapter xix., show 
how the war waged by the dragon against the rem- 
nant of the woman's seed is carried on, and what 
agencies are employed. 

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw 
a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 231 

and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, 
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And 
the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and 
his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth 
as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him 
his power, and his seat, and great authority. And 
I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; 
and his deadly wound was healed: and all the 
world wondered after the beast. And they wor- 
shiped the dragon which gave power unto the 
beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, 
Who is like unto the beast? who is able to 
make war with him? And there was given 
unto him a mouth speaking great things and 
blasphemies; and power was given unto him to 
continue forty and two months. And he opened 
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme 
his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell 
in heaven. And it was given unto him to make 
war with the saints, and to overcome them: and 
power was given him over all kindreds, and 
tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon 
the earth shall worship him, whose names are not 
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world. If any man have an 
ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity 
shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the 
sword must be killed with the sword. Here is 
the patience and the faith of the saints." 

This beast is a symbol of the great Roman Em- 
fire. The sea out of which the beast rose, as ex- 



232 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

plained by the revealing angel, is " peoples, and 
multitudes, and nations, and tongues." This 
empire was formed out of the various countries 
and kingdoms of the civilized world. This is the 
empire under the Csesars. 

The seven heads are also explained by the angel. 
He says: "The seven heads are seven mountains 
on which the woman [Rome, the capital city] sit- 
teth." It also refers to " seven kings," as we shall 
see when we reach the seventeenth chapter. 

The ten horns " are ten kings," all of which will 
be explained and applied in due time. 

Let it be distinctly understood that this is pagan 
Rome during the reign of the Cassars, and that it 
does not go beyond it. John now sees the vision 
as a whole, as if the beast were possessed at one 
time of all these heads. But we shall see that 
;when the symbol is explained at length, these 
heads rise one at a time. Every king, as repre- 
sented by the seven heads, was a blasphemer. To 
each one was ascribed divine honors, and they 
demanded and received worship as a god. 

The beast was like a leopard, with feet like a 
bear and mouth like a lion three of the most 
terrible of wild beasts, as if the ferocity of all 
were combined in this one selected as a symbol 
of this great persecuting power. To this fero- 
cious beast the dragon gave his power selected 
him as his vicegerent, the instrument for tearing 
the Christians in the fury and ferocity of his pow- 
er. And great authority for evil was given him. 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 233 

This persecuting power becomes the prime minis- 
ter of the devil. 

One of the heads of the beast was wounded to 
death ; and his deadly wound was healed : and all 
the world wondered after the beast. 

This was the first head that appeared. When 
wounded to death, it was natural to expect to see 
the beast itself die. But it did not, because other 
heads came in its place. 

It is well-known that the dynasty of Roman 
emperors was founded by Julius Cassar. His 
power throughout the empire was supreme; but, 
when the old elements of liberty began to stir the 
heart of the people, Cgesar was slain. This first 
head received a wound unto death, and the people 
no doubt thought that the empire would fall with 
him; but it did not. There were other heads. 
Augustus was at once advanced to the head of 
government, and the empire survived ; and all the 
world wondered after the beast. The dragon was 
still at the head of affairs, and if one prime minis- 
ter fell, he at once advanced another to his place. 

"And they [the people of the empire] worshiped 
the dragon which gave power unto the beast : and 
they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto 
the beast? who is able to make war with him." 

Devil-worship has been often practiced by the 
heathen, and we have no doubt but that these 
Romans did it. We know that they worshiped 
their standards and their emperors; and as they 
were put in power by the devil, and were the 



234 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

prime ministers of the devil, the worship of them 
was equivalent to the worship of the devil him- 
self. 

Gibbon says: "The deification of the emperor 
is the only instance in which they departed from 
their accustomed prudence and modesty." And 
again: "The imperious spirit of the first Cassar 
too easily consented to assume during his life-time 
a place among the tutelar deities of Rome." 

Of Caligula, Taylor says: "Finding no one 
dare to oppose his sanguinary caprice, he began 
to regard himself as something more than a mere 
mortal, and to claim divine honors ; and finally he 
erected a temple to himself, and instituted a col- 
lege of priests to superintend his own worship." 
If the people were so deceived as to believe him 
their god, no wonder they asked the questions: 
"Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make 
war with him?" 

"And there was given unto him a mouth speak- 
ing great things and blasphemies ; and power was 
given unto him to continue forty and two months. 
And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against 
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, 
and them that dwell in heaven." 

The dragon gave to him the power to speak 
great things and blasphemies. It is only necessary 
to study the power of Satan as it appears in the 
book of Job to see what he can do, and what he is 
permitted to do. But, as in the case of the devil 
in connection with Job, his power was limited, so 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 235 

this period of persecution was "limited to the forty 
and two months so often referred to in this book. 
As we have said, this may have been the exact 
time, or it may be used as a definite for an indefi- 
nite period. But the persecutions referred to 
lasted just about if not exactly this time. No 
blasphemy is equal to that of arrogating the hom- 
age and worship due to God alone. This, as we 
have seen, these emperors did; and they blas- 
phemed God's name, and his tabernacle, and 
them that dwell in heaven. Like the King of 
Babylon, they forced men to worship them, and 
thus blasphemed the worshipers of the one true 
God. 

"And it was given unto him to make war with 
the saints, and to overcome them: and power was 
given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and na- 
tions. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
worship him, whose names are not written in the 
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world." 

These Roman emperors had a world-wide sway, 
and they forced all nations to adopt their religion, 
in part at least. We give an instance from Raw- 
linson when writing of the Partheans and their 
submission to Rome : " He [Artabanus, their king] 
was also induced to throw a few grains of frank- 
incense on the sacrificial fire which burned in front 
of the Roman standards and the imperial image, 
an act which was accepted at Rome as one of sub- 
mission and homage" Thus they forced all na- 




236 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

tions to "worship him," but those whose names 
were in ' ' the book of life of the Lamb ' ' were ex- 
cepted. No power could force them to worship 
the beast or his image. Many of then died a mar- 
tyr's death during this period of three and a hali 
years, when these deified emperors were trying to 
force the world to bow down in homage to them as 
God. 

In the letter to the Church in Sardis, referring 
to this very time when " the devil shall cast some 
of you into prison, that ye may be tried," the 
promise is: " He that overcometh, the same shall 
be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out 
his name out of the book of life " 

Here, now, is an announcement that God wants 
all to understand, and he prefaces it with the 
words: " If any man have an ear, let him hear." 

"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into 
captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be 
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and 
the faith of the saints." 

God had his eye upon all the persecutions of his 
saints. He sees every hand that is lifted against 
them, and "he will requite a terrible retribution 
upon all persecutors in due time." Those who 
drag the Christians into captivity shall themselves 
be dragged into captivity. Those who kill the fol- 
lowers of Jesus with the sword shall themselves be 
killed with the sword. "Vengeance is mine, I 
will repay, saith the Lord;" and "it is a fearful 
thing to fall into the hands of the Lord." No saint 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 237 

need raise his hand against his persecutors, but 
-patiently endure, in full faith of the promise of 
God that he "will repay." Here is the patience 
and the faith of the saints." When this beast had 
such great power, and the land was running red 
with the blood of innocent Christians ; when Nero 
was filling his arena with them, and all Rome was 
enjoying their destruction ; when the skins of wild 
beasts were wrapped around them, and they were 
worried to death by dogs ; when inflammable ma- 
terials were wrapped about them, and then set on 
fire to form walking torches to light the scene of 
an emperor's pleasure, many had their patience 
and their faith tried. And they must bear in mind 
what was written: "He that overcometh shall not 
be hurt of the second death" 

Now another beast appears upon the scene. 

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of 
the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and 
he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the 
power of the first beast before him, and causeth 
the earth and them that dwell therein to worship 
the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh 
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the 
sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the 
earth by the means of those miracles which he had 
power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to 
them that dwell on the earth, that they should 
make an image to the beast, which had the wound 
by the sword, and did live. And he had power to 



238 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

give life unto the image of the beast, that the im- 
age of the beast should both speak, and cause that 
as many as would not worship the image of the 
beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both 
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to 
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their fore- 
heads: and that no man might buy or sell, save 
he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or 
the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let 
him that hath understanding count the number of 
the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his 
number is six hundred threescore and six." 

This second beast came up from the earth. He 
is not the creature of the nations, but has a differ- 
ent origin. Nor has he a fierce appearance as the 
first beast had. But this is only in appearance, 
for " he exerciseth all the power of the first beast 
before him," etc. He has two horns like a lamb. 
He is " a wolf in sheep's clothing." Who is this 
second beast? By all his characteristics, and the 
service he rendered the first beast, he is a symbol 
of the -pagan priesthood. They were the creatures 
of the emperor's, as we have seen. You will re- 
member that it is said of Caligula: "And finally 
he erected a temple to himself, and instituted a 
college of priests to superintend his own Ivor- 
ship:' 

Very many commentators have seen papal Rome 
in this second beast. But this is impossible. 
Henry Cowles, on this point, says: " On the 
question whether this second beast can be papal 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 239 

Rome, it should surely suffice to say that every 
feature of the description points us to the pagan 
priesthood; that this beast worked for the pagan 
emperor, as papal Rome certainly did not in the 
age of her first seven emperors, six hundred years 
before papal Rome became a well-defined system, 
and one thousand years before she became thor- 
oughly a great persecuting power. Hence it is 
entirely inadmissable to find papal Rome in this 
second beast. As surely as this prophecy makes 
the first beast and the second contemporaneous 
and co-working, and as surely as history locates 
the persecuting activities of the Seven Heads of 
pagan Rome on the one hand and of papal Rome 
on the other one thousand years asunder, so sure- 
ly do the stubborn facts of history rule out as 
absurd and impossible the theory that this second 
beast is papal Rome." 

In every thing this second beast is working for 
the first; and the powers ascribed to him are just 
such as a priest of the beast would perform. He 
maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in 
the sight of men. Fire fell upon the sheep of Job 
and burned them up. This was the work of the 
devil. These were his agents, and to them he 
gives this power. 

The whole is a symbol of the power that these 
priests exercised over the people in bringing them 
to the worship of the emperors. Men were ostra- 
cised if they did not engage in this worship. No 
one was to sell to or buy from any one who had 



240 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

not the mark of the beast in his right hand or in 
his forehead. 

" The ban of public sentiment fell on all who 
would not receive and wear this mark. They 
were ostracised from society, driven from the 
market-place, denied the right to any of the most 
common privileges of Roman citizens. Not only 
was the brand of opprobrium put on them, but the 
mark of Satan's vengeance." 

God's people must know the name of the first 
beast whose image was set up for their worship. 
But there was great danger in revealing this name. 
Fierce enough were their persecutions already; 
and were the emperor's name announced, the fires 
would be kindled to a hotter flame. So it is com- 
municated to them in numbers, and by a system 
with which the wise were familiar. " Let him 
that hath understanding count the number of the 
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his 
number is Six hundred threescore and six." 

" The Hebrews and the Greeks used each their 
own alphabet for numerical purposes. In Hebrew 
the first letter is one; the second, two, etc.; the 
tenth, ten; but the eleventh is twenty; the nine- 
teenth is one hundred; the twentieth, two hun- 
dred, etc. Hence each letter had a numerical 
power. In our passage the numerical power of 
the name is given to find the name itself. A pre- 
liminary question will be whether this name is to 
be spelled in Hebrew letters, with their numerical 
powers, or in Greek letters. It being manifestly 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 241 

the intention of the writer to put his readers in the 
way to spell out the name, and yet not to give it so 
plainly as to expose himself or his brethren to per- 
secuting vengeance; and, inasmuch as his read- 
ers (some of them being Jews) would have the 
advantage of the Roman magistrates in decipher- 
ing Hebrew letters, it becomes antecedently prob- 
able that he would use them supposing this name 
to have been written in Hebrew characters with 
their known numerical power, and taking the 
name of Nero as- it appears often in the Talmud, 
and in other Rabbinical writings,* we shall have 
as the numerical equivalent of these Hebrew let- 
ters in their order: 50+ 200-}- 6+50; and ioo-f6o 
+200=666. This result must seem quite satisfac- 
tory, even though it rested on the mere fact that 
these seven Hebrew letters, by the sum of their 
numerical powers, give us precisely the well-known 
Hebrew name of Nero. But the proof that sus- 
tains the correctness of this solution is greatly 
strengthened by another remarkable fact. Let it 
be borne in mind that the received Greek text 
gives these three Greek letters (x *) pronounced 
chi, xi, vau; and having in their order these nu- 
merical powers, 6oo+6o-j-6=666. Now the fact 
is brought out and fully discussed by Ireneus, that 
in his day (A.D. 180) some manuscripts had a dif- 
ferent reading for the middle character viz., not 
(xO> k ut l ( tora )- He insists, however, that the 
true reading is X L () Can ^ e otner reading be 



242 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

accounted for? It can, most readily. There was 
a second mode of spelling the name Nero in He- 
brew viz., by writing it not Neron, but Nero 
/. e., omitting the final (n). The numerical 
power of n is fifty. Strike off this final letter re- 
duces the sum total of the number of his name 
from 666 to 616; and to write this amount in three 
Greek letters we must change the middle one as 
they stand in our text from (xO to (tora) /'. e., 
from the letter which means 60 to the letter which 
means 10. Precisely this is the change which ap- 
pears in the different reading of which Ireneus 
speaks. Hence it becomes substantially certain 
that the * number of the beast ' was understood by 
some at least before the age of Ireneus; certain 
also that they read in this number the name of 
Nero Caesar; certain also that there being a sec- 
ond way of writing his name (/. e., Nero rather 
than Neron), the change was made in the text 
which this other spelling of the name would re- 
quire. This double coincidence is of the sort 
which could not occur by chance, and without a 
foundation in truth, one time in ten thousand. It 
amounts, therefore, practically to a demonstra- 
tion. " (H. Cowles.) 

This settles the fact that the book was written 
during the reign of Nero, and that if he was the 
sixth head, or emperor, the seven heads represent 
pagan Rome, and nothing else; and that the early 
Christians so regarded it the testimony of Ireneus 
in the above quotation proves. He lived very near 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 243 

the time in which the book was written, and those 
of his day spelled out the name of Nero with the 
"number of his name" as given in the book. 
This number has been forced to spell a great many 
names, but this answers to every feature of the 
symbol, and harmonizes with all other parts of the 
book. Therefore it must be the correct name. 
Now as the Church is assailed by such formidable 
foes, it is necessary to present the protector of the 
Church. 

"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the 
Mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and 
four thousand, having his Father's name written in 
their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heav- 
en, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harp- 
ers harping with their harps: and they sung as 
it were, a new song before the throne, and before 
the four living creatures, and the elders: and no 
man could learn that song but the hundred and 
forty and four thousand which were redeemed 
from the earth. These are they which were not 
defiled with women; for they are virgins. These 
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he 
goeth. These were redeemed from among men, 
being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
And in their mouth was found no guile : for they 
are without fault before the throne of God." 

This Lamb of course is Jesus Christ, and the 
company with him are Jews," being the first-fruits 
unto God and to the Lamb ; ' ' and hence they are 



244 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

taken as samples of the whole. " If the first-fruit 
be holy the lump is also holy." The Lord is their 
shepherd; they follow him whithersoever he goeth. 
He is their protector, their friend, and they sound 
his praises. It is the song of victory. 

1 'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of 
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach 
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every na- 
tion, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying 
with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him ; 
for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship 
him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and 
the fountains of water." 

God never strikes without a warning, and without 
giving an opportunity to repent. The hour to strike 
down pagan Rome as a great persecuting power 
has come, and the angel proclaims the gospel, and 
calls upon men to fear God and give glory to him. 
This angel is merely a symbol of God's faithful 
ministers that were lifting up their voices to them 
that dwelt upon the earth every nation, kindred, 
tongue, and people. The gospel, the everlasting 
gospel, was preached everywhere; and if men 
would not hear and heed it, it was their own fault, 
and they must perish in their sins. 

"And there followed another angel, saying, Bab- 
ylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because 
she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath 
of her fornication." 

The term Babylon here is used for Rome, as 
Sodom is used for Jerusalem. Fornication when 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 245 

used as here means idolatry. Rome had forced 
her idolatry upon all the nations of the earth. She 
had made all nations drink of the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication ; and now God was ready 
to punish her, and this angel is commissioned to 
declare her fall. 

"And the third angel followed them, saying with 
a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his 
image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in 
his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture 
into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be 
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence 
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the 
Lamb : and the smoke of their torment ascendeth 
up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor 
night, who worship the beast and his image, and 
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here 
is the patience of the saints : here are they that 
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of 
Jesus." 

Here the line is clearly drawn. Babylon (Rome) 
had made all nations drink of the wine of her for- 
nications, and to all such God would- press the cup 
of his indignation, poured out without mixture; 
and, as in the case of the Jews, the smoke of their 
torment ascendeth up forever. "And they have 
no rest day nor night." This is a symbol to show 
that the overthrow of this great persecuting power 
is to be as a standing monument of God's wrath 
and indignation against sin. As God dealt with 



246 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

them so will he deal with like sinners in all times. 
Let God's saints patiently wait on God, who has 
said: " Vengeance is mine; I will repay." He 
knows when to strike, and just how hard. He 
may seem slow in his movements, especially to 
those suffering persecution and enduring trial, but 
let patience have her perfect work. God is not 
forgetful of his saints, nor unmindful of their 
rights. 

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto 
me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labors; and their works 
do follow them." 

Those who die in the Lord under these persecu- 
tions need not be troubled. God will remember 
them too. They shall rest from their labors; and, 
like the souls under the altar, God will hear their 
prayers, and they too shall be avenged of their ad- 
versaries. 

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and 
upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, 
having on his head a golden crown, and in his 
hand a sharp sickle. 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 har- 
vest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the 
cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the 
earth was reaped." 

This was Jesus Christ, who had come for the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 247 

destruction of these persecutors of his people. 
The symbol of his appearing on a cloud is a fa- 
miliar one. In Matthew Jesus, when speaking of 
the destruction of Jerusalem, said: ''And they 
shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory." And again 
to Caiaphas: "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of 
man sitting on the right hand of power, and com- 
ing in the clouds of heaven." 

Pagan Rome was ripe for punishment, and Jesus 
was to do the awful work. It is represented in 
the symbol as a field fully ripe for the harvest, and 
Jesus with a sharp sickle in his hand ready to reap. 
At the cry of the angel wfro came out of the tem- 
ple, the Son of man thrusts in his sickle, and the 
earth is reaped. To make it doubly impressive, 
" another angel came out of the temple which is in 
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And an- 
other angel came out from the altar, which had pow- 
er over fire ; and cried with a loud cry to him that 
had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp 
sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the 
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the an- 
gel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered 
the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great 
wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine- 
press was trodden without the city, and blood came 
out of the wine-press, even unto the horse bridles, 
by the space of a thousand and six hundred fur- 
longs." 

As the symbol was doubled in Pharaoh's dream 



248 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

first the kine, and then the ears of corn and as 
Joseph said unto him, ''the dream was doubled 
unto Pharaoh twice ; it is because the thing is es- 
tablished by God, and God will shortly bring it to 
pass; " so in this case the thing was doubled, first 
under the symbol of a harvest, and then of the 
vintage. 

Isaiah, in speaking of the day of God's venge- 
ance, represents Christ as coming from Edom 
with dyed garments from Bozrah, and the ques- 
tion is asked: "Wherefore art thou red in thine 
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth 
in the wine-fat?" And the answer comes: "I 
have trodden the winerpress alone; and of the 
people there was none with me: for I will tread 
them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; 
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my gar- 
ments, and I will stain all my raiment." 

The thousand and six hundred furlongs (200 
miles) is approximately the length of Italy, the 
peninsular of which Rome is the great central city. 
The thought is that the land shall be deluged with 
blood, not that literally the blood should be to the 
horses' bridles. We must remember that this is a 
strong symbol, indicating that when the judgments 
of God should fall upon the land blood should flow 
from one end of the land to the other. "The his- 
torians who have written of the decline and fall of 
the old Roman empire have unconsciously written 
the fulfillment of these wonderful prophecies." 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Seven Golden Vials Unclean Spirits Like Frogs Prepa- 
ration for the Great Battle Judgment of the Great Whore, 
and Who She Is The Joy over the Fall of Babylon The 
King of Kings and His Armies The Fowls Summoned to 
the Great Supper The Beast and the False Prophet Cast 
into the Lake of Fire The Dragon Cast into the Pit The 
Millenium The Judgment-day. 

AS in the case of the destruction of Jerusalem, 
the first great persecuting power, the grand 
scene was first presented as a whole, and then, in 
after visions, the details are given under the seals 
and the trumpets; so in the destruction of pagan 
Rome, the second great persecuting power, the 
scene has been presented as a whole, and now 
comes this same scene in detail. 

"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and 
marvelous, seven angels having the seven last 
plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with 
fire : and them that had gotten the victory over the 
beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and 
over the number of his name, stand on the sea of 
glass, having the harps of God. And they sing 
the song of Moses the servant of God, and the 
song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous 
are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true 
are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not 
fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou 

(249) 



250 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

only art holy: for all nations shall come and wor- 
ship before thee ; for thy judgments are made man- 
ifest. And after that I looked, and, behold, the 
temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven 
was opened: and the seven angels came out of the 
temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure 
and white linen, and having their breasts girded 
with golden girdles. And one of the four living 
creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden 
vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever 
and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke 
from the glory of God, and from his power; and 
no man was able to enter into the temple, till the 
seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." 
Thus the whole scene is placed before the seer. 
The seven angels appear, having the seven last 
plagues ; then the saints that had gotten the vic- 
tory over the beast, standing on a sea of glass, 
with their harps, and they strike the prelude in 
anticipation of the grand victory to be accom- 
plished when these seven angels shall pour out 
their vials upon the earth. They praise the right- 
eousness of God in the acts he is about to per- 
form. Then the temple doors are thrown open, 
and the seven angels come out, having the seven 
plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and hav- 
ing their breasts girded with golden girdles. Then 
one of the four living creatures gives to these an- 
gels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God. 
All this is preparatory; and, as when God accept- 
ed the temple dedicated by Solomon, and filled it 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 251 

with his glory, " so that the priests could not stand 
to minister because of the cloud : for the glory of 
the Lord had filled the house of the Lord," so as 
a manifestation of God's acknowledgment of the 
righteous act of his Son in preparing to pour out 
these vials of his wrath upon the earth. 

"The temple was filled with smoke from the 
glory of God, and from his power; and no man 
was able to enter into the temple, till the seven 
plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." 

Every thing is now ready. 

"And I heard a great voice out of the temple 
saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and 
pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the 
earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial 
upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and 
grievous sore upon the men which had the mark 
of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his 
image." 

The effect of these vials is almost identical with 
the effect of the sounding of the seven trumpets at 
the destruction of Jerusalem. Wrath fell upon the 
earth, affecting only those men which had the mark 
of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his 
image. 

"And the second angel poured out his vial upon 
the sea ; and it became as the blood of a dead man : 
and every living soul died -in the sea." 

At the sound of the trumpet of the second angel 
a burning mountain was cast into the sea, making 
the third part of the sea blood, destroying the 



252 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

third part of the creatures in the sea that had life. 
Here the vial is poured into the sea, and the whole 
sea becomes as the blood of a dead man, and every 
living soul in the sea died. The judgments of God 
fell not only on the men on the land, but all who 
belonged to Rome that were upon the sea. No 
enemy of God and his children was to escape, 
whether on land or sea. 

We need, in no age of the world, look for a lit- 
eral changing -of the sea into blood. But this is 
symbolical of the awful carnage that should sweep 
the sea as well as the land when God poured out 
the vials of his wrath upon these guilty, blood- 
thirsty idolaters. Their punishment might not 
have been so great had they worshiped their em- 
peror and his image alone. But when they 
"caused that as many as would not worship the 
image of the beast should be killed; and caused 
all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and 
bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in 
their foreheads," then they deserved and received 
at the hands of a just and righteous God the full 
measure of punishment. Every soul stained with 
the blood of the saints must bleed and die, whether 
on land or sea. 

"And the third angel poured out his vial upon 
the rivers and fountains of waters; and they be- 
came blood. And I heard the angel of the waters 
say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and 
wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 
For they have shed the blood of saints and proph- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 253 

ets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for 
they are worthy. And I heard another out of the 
altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and 
righteous are thy judgments." 

In the former vision the " star called Wormwood 
fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the 
fountains of waters," making them bitter. Here 
the angel pours his vial upon the rivers and fount- 
ains of water, and they become blood. The great 
law of retaliation comes in here: " With what 
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you 
again." These had shed the blood of saints and 
prophets, and now they must drink blood. That 
this retribution is the work of God is announced 
by the voice heard from the altar, saying: " Even 
so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy 
judgments." It is at the altar that men pray. 
Here was seen the souls of the martyrs crying: 
" How long, O Lord, holy and true, doest thou 
not judge and avenge our blood on them that 
dwell on the earth." When these see the right- 
eous judgment of God upon their adversaries, they 
acknowledge it. 

"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon 
the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch 
men with fire. And men were scorched with great 
heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which had 
power over these plagues : and they repented not 
to give him glory." 

When the fourth angel sounded, "the third part 
of the sun was smitten," etc. So here the vial is 



254 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

poured upon the sun. This causes great suffering. 
As they are scorched by the intense heat of the 
sun they writhe in pain and blaspheme the God 
who has this power, instead of repenting. 

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon 
the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of 
darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 
and blasphemed the God of heaven because of 
their pains and their sores, and repented not of 
their deeds." 

Here the judgments fall upon the throne of the 
emperor, filling his kingdom with darkness. The 
head of this mighty empire, instead of saving his 
people from their punishments and calamities, is 
himself involved, and knows no way of escape or 
deliverance. 

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the 
great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof was 
dried up, that the way of the kings of the east 
might be prepared." 

The Parthians, who lived beyond the Euphrates, 
were the first enemy that ever struck Rome a fatal 
blow. Gibbon tells us that "these armies, both of 
light and heavy cavalry, equally formidable by the 
impetuosity of their charge and the rapidity of 
their motions, threatened as an impending cloud 
the eastern provinces of the declining empire of 
Rome." The symbol of drying up the great river 
Euphrates that these kings of the East might cross 
easily and come against Rome is very expressive. 
As in the case of the destruction of Jerusalem, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 255 

every part of these symbols apply in the destruc- 
tion of pagan Rome. 

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come 
out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, 
working miracles, which go forth unto the kings 
of the earth and the whole world, to gather them 
to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." 

We have a most important pointer in this pas- 
sage. The dragon and the first beast that came up 
out of the sea is mentioned by the same terms by 
which they were introduced to us: but the beast 
that came up out of the earth, " having two horns 
like a lamb, and who spake as a dragon, " is called 
"the false prophet." As we have said, this beast 
was a symbol of the pagan priesthood false 
prophet. The influence of these three the devil, 
the deified emperor, and the priest of idolatry 
combine in their work of prostituting the world to 
idolatry. As we have seen, they forced all the na- 
tions subdued by them to adopt their religion. 
The unclean spirits like frogs that came out of 
their mouths are symbols of that influence exerted 
over the kings of the earth to draw them into idol- 
atry and into persecuting the saints, and thus lead- 
ing them to their ruin, expressed by the " battle of 
that great day of God Almighty." "Behold, I 
come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and 
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they 
see his shame." 



256 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

The great battle is about to be fought, and a 
warning voice is lifted to the saints. God is com- 
ing. His army is marshaling for the great charge. 
But his coming shall be all unexpected, like the 
coming of a thief. His watchful servants shall 
never be hurt. So all are warned. 

"And he gathered them together into a place 
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." 

That is, the kings of the earth gathered at Ar- 
mageddon that is, the heights of Megiddo. 
" This was a place famed for battle and slaughter, 
where a host of Canaanites fell before Deborah and 
Barak; and where the good Josiah was mortally 
wounded in battle with Pharaoh Necho, a scene 
which became the more memorable because of the 
great mourning over the fall of Josiah to which 
Zechariah alludes. The significance here is essen- 
tially a place of immense slaughter. There the 
Almighty meets them in terrible retribution." 

It is not that they are to meet actually on the 
heights of Megiddo, or Armageddon, but this field 
is a symbol of the place of slaughter. It was no 
one battle, but these kings and their armies were 
slaughtered all over the Roman empire. In mad- 
ness and in fury army was dashed against army, 
and whole hecatombs of victims were piled in every 
direction, as Rome tottered to her final fall. The 
description of the final scene goes on. 

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into 
the air; and there came a great voice out of the 
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 257 

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, so 
mighty an earthquake, and so great." 

The pouring out of this vial of the seventh angel 
reminds us of the seventh trumpet. The very ar- 
tillery of heaven was turned loose. The voices of 
the mighty hosts of the sky are heard as they rush 
to the fray, while the solid earth trembles in the 
throes of an earthquake at the shock of battle. 
The mightiest empire ever erected on earth was 
going down on the red field, where the old serpent, 
the devil, and Satan, with kings of the earth, and 
all the angels' of darkness, were arrayed on the one 
side ; and Christ, followed by the armies of heav- 
en, was on the other. 

"And the great city was divided into three parts, 
and the cities of the nation fell: and great Baby- 
lon came in remembrance before God, to give unto 
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his 
wrath." 

Babylon, or Rome, was divided. Internal dis- 
cords tore this capital city of the nations into parts, 
thus destroying her own strength. " The cities of 
the nations," represented by the ten horns in the 
vision of the beast that came up out of the sea, fell. 
They were all on this Armageddon, and they must 
all share the same fate. But Rome is especially 
remembered, and the " cup of the wine of the 
fierceness of his wrath " is given to her. She suf- 
fers more than they all. 
17 



258 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

"And every island fled away, and the mountains 
were not found." 

No hiding-places were left for the flying armies 
of this doomed nation, neither on sea or land. 

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of 
heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: 
and men blasphemed God because of the plague 
of the hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding 
great/' 

Not that there was a real hail, but this is sym- 
bolic of the fierce judgments of God that fell upon 
them on this great day of his wrath. The allusion 
is to the day when Joshua fought against the Ca- 
naanites, and "the Lord cast down great stones 
from heaven upon them." A Jewish talent was 
estimated at 114 pounds. Hailstones of such 
weight would fall like balls and bombs from a bat- 
tery. The vial poured upon the air filled the very 
heavens with destruction. God's hand was against 
all these nations, with Rome, the spiritual Babylon, 
as the center. 

We have seen that the revealing spirit in the case 
of Jerusalem dropped the symbolic sufficiently to 
let all know what city it was, when it told of the 
"two witnesses " whose dead bodies were exposed 
in the streets of the great city which spiritually is 
called Sodom and Egypt, 'where also our Lord was 
crucified. Nothing could be plainer than this. 
Isaiah in the first chapter of his prophecy calls Je- 
rusalem Sodom, and here only of all the cities of 
earth was our Lord crucified. And now the same 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 259 

revealing spirit, dealing with the second great per- 
secuting power, points out with equal precision the 
city of Rome and her emperors, doing all but nam- 
ing Nero as the one reigning at the time this book 
was written. The seventeenth chapter is invalua- 
ble in fixing the place of these predictions. 

"And there came one of the seven angels which 
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying 
unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the 
judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many 
waters; with whom -the kings of the earth have 
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the 
earth have been made drunk with the wine of her 
fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit 
into the wilderness : and I saw a woman sit upon 
a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, 
having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman 
was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked 
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a 
golden cup in her hand full of abominations and 
filthiness of her fornication: and upon her fore- 
head was a name written, MYSTERY, BAB- 
YLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF 
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE 
EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with 
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the 
martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered 
with great admiration. And the angel said unto 
me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee 
the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that 
carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten 



260 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; 
and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go 
into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth 
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the 
book of life from the foundation of the world, 
when they behold the beast that was, and is not, 
and yet is." 

One of the seven angels which had the seven 
vials came to show John the great mystery. None 
knew better than he, and John could not have had 
a better instructor. He promises to show him 
" the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon 
many waters." The " many waters " is explained 
subsequently to be " peoples, and multitudes, and 
nations, and tongues." The Roman Empire was 
composed of many nations. She had taken into 
her folds nations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
Never in the history of the world were there so 
many nations acknowledging the same scepter as 
that held by the Caesars at Rome ; and never was 
there a more systematic, persistent, and successful 
effort made by any rulers to force their religion 
upon people subdued by them. They put their 
gods upon theirvictorious standards, and compelled 
worship wherever they went. These standards 
were characterized by Daniel and indorsed by 
Jesus as " the abomination of desolation; " so that 
it was truly said that "the kings of the earth had 
committed fornication with her, and the inhabitants 
of the earth had been made drunk with the wine 
of her fornication." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 261 

" * Fornication,' in the sense of the Old Testa- 
ment prophets, is idolatry. This great harlot 
(Rome) had been intensely idolatrous; had 
wrought her religion into the very frame-work of 
her civil institutions and her fundamental law. In 
the period of her history here contemplated this 
abomination became even more open and outra- 
geous than ever before, by the deification of her 
emperors and the demand set up that they should 
be worshiped as gods. In this fornication all the 
tributary kings of subject nations were involved. 
They were made drunk with the hot wine of her 
spiritual fornication." (H. Cowles.) 

These nations made drunk persecuted the inno- 
cent Christians with all the folly and violence of 
men drunk with real wine. 

The angel carried John awayin spirit into the wil- 
derness, where he saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- 
colored beast full of the names of blasphemy, hav- 
ing seven heads and ten horns. This is none other 
than the beast seen, in the early part of the vision, 
rise up out of the sea. Every point of the descrip- 
tion, save it maybe the color, answers to that given 
of the first beast. The dress and jewels of the 
woman show great wealth. Rome at this period 
was immensely wealthy, and her display of gran- 
deur was marvelous. 

The name written upon her forehead was won- 
derfully expressive, and it fully characterized Rome 
at this time. 

The woman drunk with the blood of saints and 



262 The Kingdom and Comings, of Christ. 

martyrs of Jesus refers to the bloody persecutions 
of that period. Who ever exceeded Nero in this 
bloody work who lit the fires of his amphitheater 
with burning martyrs who fired his own capital, 
and then laid the blame upon the Christians, that 
he might gloat over the inhuman cruelty inflicted 
upon them by his savage people ? 

When John saw her, he wondered with great ad- 
miration not in an approving sense, but in won- 
der at her mighty power and bloodthirsty deeds. 
Here the angel proposes to tell him the mystery of 
the woman and the beast that carrieth her, which 
hath the seven heads and ten horns. At first it is 
enigmatical. "The beast that thou sawest was, 
and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottom- 
less pit, and go into perdition." This is the em- 
pire under the Caesars, as we have seen. When 
Julius Caesar was slain, it was thought that his em- 
pire must perish ; but Augustus seizes the scepter, 
and "it is." His ascending out of the pit refers 
to the fact presented in a former chapter where the 
dragon gave his power to the beast. He receives 
his power from the pit, as if he had come up out 
of it; but he is doomed, and shall " go into perdi- 
tion." 

"And here is the mind that hath wisdom. The 
seven heads are seven mountains, on which the 
woman sitteth." 

There shall be a mystery about this no longer. 
My people shall know what this woman and beast 
are, for they both represent the same thing. The 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 263 

seven heads have a twofold significance the first 
locating the city; secondly, pointing out the suc- 
cession of her kings. 

"It need not disturb us that in the scenes of a 
vision, as in the scenes of a night-dream, there 
should be a slight and sudden change or shifting 
of some of the aspects, as here in verse 3 the 
woman sits on the beast and in verse 9 she sits on 
seven mountains. There is truth in both views, 
and they are by no means incongruous. Geo- 
graphically she sat on the well-known seven hills 
of the great city Rome, but politically she sat on 
the seven-headed and ten-horned beast. These 
points are of prime importance to identify her in 
both these respects : her relation to place, and her 
relation to the great political powers of the world." 

No other city of the world approaches this de- 
scription. Every student of history knows that 
Rome was built on seven hills, and this was her 
well-known characteristic. 

Now add to this the other fact, "And there are 
seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the 
other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he 
must continue a short space," and we have over- 
whelming evidence that Rome in the time of the 
Ca3sars is meant, and no other city and no other 
time. 

The seven heads had a twofold reference : First, 
the location of this persecuting power, pagan 
Rome; and second, the time during the reign of 
the Caesars ; and further, that the vision was dur- 



264 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

ing the reign of Nero, whose name had already 
been given in the number 666. Five are fallen 
viz., Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, 
Claudius. All these had fallen at the time when 
this vision was being shown, and this explanation 
of it was being given. Nero the Sixth was then on 
the throne. Galba followed him with a reign of 
only seven months, indeed " a short space." 

" Thus with no forced construction, but in a most 
easy and obvious application of the revealing an- 
gel's words, we have the great facts of Roman 
history precisely indicated. An explanatory pro- 
phetic symbol, divinely given, ought to tally with 
history easily and with great precision and accura- 
cy. It surely will if you bring it to the right his- 
tory /. ., if you have the true application of the 
symbols of history. This history fits the angel's in- 
terpretation of these symbols perfectly. There can 
be no rational doubt, therefore, that this application 
of his symbols to history is the true one." (H. 
Cowles.) 

The reader must remember that it is the beast 
that persecutes the Christians. There may have 
been no persecutions under the reign of Julius 
Caasar, but he is used only as a part of the descrip- 
tion of the beast by which he is identified. Nor 
are we told that the beast dies as soon as the seven 
heads by which he is identified fall; but the re- 
vealing angel goes on to say: "And the beast that 
was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the 
seven, and goeth into perdition," showing that the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 265 

empire continues after the fall of the seventh ; and 
that the eighth is of the seven that is, Otho, Vitel- 
lus, Vespasian, and others claimed to be Caesars, 
though usurpers. Under them the beast still per- 
secutes. But let the saints take courage. Imperial, 
persecuting Rome is fatally doomed, and must go 
into perdition. 

"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten 
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; 
but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 
These have one mind, and shall give their power 
and strength unto the beast. These shall make 
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome 
them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: 
and they that are with him are called, and chosen, 
and faithful." 

Here we have the symbol of Rome as a perse- 
cuting power under the short reign of those who 
usurped the throne of the Caesars. "One hour" 
is not a definite period, but is to represent the brief 
reign of these kings. Whether there were exactly 
ten no more, no less is not important to the sym- 
bol. It may be a definite for an indefinite number. 
They are the willing tools of the beast, giving their 
power and strength to him. With one mind they 
war with the Lamb; but comforting thought 
"the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord 
of lords, and King of kings." The declaration is 
intended to strengthen the courage of the saints 
and make them endure hardness as good soldiers 
of Jesus Christ. 



266 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou 
sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and 
multitudes, and nations, and tongues." 

This description answers precisely to Rome. 
She sat on numberless thrones of subject peo- 
ples. The conquered kings of a vast number of 
subjects were prisoners in her walls, and over 
these peoples and nations these ten kings were said 
to reign. 

"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the 
beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make 
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, 
and burn her with fire. For God hath put in 
their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and 
give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words 
of God shall be fulfilled." 

Here is a symbol of the manner in which Rome 
shall be destroyed. These kings are to turn 
against her; Rome is to die by the hands of her 
own people. Civil war and discord were to de- 
stroy and make her desolate, to strip and make 
her naked, to devour her very substance, and set 
her on fire all of which was done. God, who 
maketh the wrath of man to praise him, put it into 
the hearts of the people thus to destroy this de- 
stroyer of his people. 

Does not history show us that the people of cen- 
tral Europe (Gauls, Germans, Goths, and others) 
and those of Asia (especially the Parthians) be- 
came the sword in God's hand for the destruction 
of Rome. They applied the torch to the mighty 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 267 

fabric of her power, and thus burned it with fire. 
Not only so, but Rome lost its place as the seat of 
empire, and it was transferred to Constantinople. 
And then the closing words of the angel would 
fix it unmistakably on Rome. 

"And the woman which thou sawest is that great 
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." 

She represents precisely pagan Rome. The 
language can apply to no other city of those times. 
And if it be pagan Rome, it strikes with resistless 
force against the theory held by so many that the 
woman is papal Rome. Every symbol so far ap- 
plies naturally and easily to pagan Rome time, 
place, kings, circumstances, and all while papal 
Rome did not come into power for a thousand 
years after this book was written, and every sym- 
bol must be strained to represent it. I can see 
papal Rome nowhere in this book. 

"And after these things I saw another angel 
come down from heaven, having great power; 
and the earth was lightened with his glory. And 
he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Bab- 
ylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the 
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul 
spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful 
bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of 
the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the 
earth have committed fornication with her, and the 
merchants of the earth have waxed rich through 
the abundance of her delicacies." 

This angel comes to make the announcement of 



268 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

the fall of Rome, here called Babylon. We have 
seen that this was the name written upon the fore- 
head of the woman upon the beast, and the reveal- 
ing angel said: "And the woman which thou saw- 
est is that great city, which reigneth over the kings 
of the earth." Pagan Rome falls under the pow- 
er of God's judgments. Is it not wonderful that 
an infidel writer, in giving us the history of this 
very nation whose capital city was Rome, and the 
history of this very period, should select as the title 
of his book, " The Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire?" Rome did fall r , and the cause of this 
fall is given. It " became the habitation of devils, 
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of 
every unclean and hateful bird." It perished of 
its own corruption and rottenness. Perhaps no 
city of earth ever became more corrupt. Society 
was rotten to the very core, and this rottenness 
is symbolized by these devils, foul spirits, and 
hateful birds. 

But this was not all: she had made all nations 
drink "of the wine of the wrath of her fornica- 
tion," etc. The corrupting influence exerted 
upon all nations over which she reigned was an- 
other cause of her overthrow. She had forced 
other nations to commit idolatry, and made kings 
commit fornication (idolatry) with her. 

"And I heard another voice from heaven, say- 
ing, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not 
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of 
her plagues. For her sins have reached unto 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 269 

heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double 
unto her double according to her works: in the 
cup which she hath filled, fill to her double." 

As in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, God 
withheld his judgments until he had called right- 
eous Lot and his family out, so arrangements are 
made for the rescue of his people in Rome. They 
are called to come out of her. Her sins had 
reached unto heaven, and the edict had gone forth 
to pour out the vials of his wrath upon her, doub- 
ling his judgments according to her deeds. She 
is to be recompensed according to her works. 

" How much she hath glorified herself, and lived 
deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: 
for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am 
no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore 
shall her plagues come in one day, death, and 
mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly 
burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God who 
judgeth her." 

No city of earth had been so proud, no city 
more luxurious, and now her judgments are to be 
in proportion to her glory. And these judgments 
are to strike her just when she is pluming herself 
that she shall see no sorrow. Sudden and awful 
were the judgments of God upon this wicked city. 
' 'The Rome in the times of John was in fact 
blighted and scathed, tortured and smitten; her 
imperial power broken; her idolatrous influence 
crushed out; her persecuting terrors quenched in 



270 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

God's own way, by judgments which might well 
make every ear tingle and every heart quail. A 
city called Rome is indeed standing now, nearly 
on the site of that Rome of old ; but is it the same 
city imperial now as then ; mistress of the nations 
now as then; deifying her emperors, and compel- 
ling Christians to bow before her idolatrous mili- 
tary standards now as then; persecuting with fire 
and sword, with exile and torture, now as then? 
Not at all. This Rome and that have nothing in 
common but the name. The old Rome of the age 
of John, the Rome that sat on the seven-headed, 
ten-horned beast, has been politically dead for fif- 
teen centuries." 

"And the kings of the earth, who have commit- 
ed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall, 
bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall 
see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for 
the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that 
great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one 
hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants 
of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for 
no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the 
merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious 
stones, and o pearls, and fine linen, and purple, 
and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all 
manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of 
most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and 
marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, 
and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, 
and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and 
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 271 

This is a symbol of the effect that the fall of 
Rome will produce upon the kings and merchants 
of the earth that had been made rich by the abun- 
dance of her delicacies. They see all their trade 
swept away in her fall, and they lament and 
mourn. 

"And the fruit that thy soul lusted after are de- 
parted from thee, and all things which were dainty 
and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt 
find them no more at all. The merchants of these 
things, which were made rich by her, shall stand 
afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and 
wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, 
that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and 
scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, 
and pearls ! For in one hour so great riches is 
come to naught." 

Here the merchants, like the kings, weep and 
wail over the destruction of this great market of 
their merchandise. 

4 'And every ship-master, and all the company in 
ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, 
stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke 
of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this 
great city! And they cast dust on their heads, 
cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, 
that great city, wherein were made rich all that 
had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness ! 
for in one hour is she made desolate." 

Still another class, sailors and ship-masters, weep 
and wail because they see the destruction of the 



272 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

city that was the center of their trade. Thus the 
fall of this mighty city affected all classes of men. 

" Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy 
apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged you 
on her." 

Rome, the great persecuting power, goes down 
under the avenging hand of a righteous God in 
answer to the prayers of his saints, and heaven 
and all the good are called upon to rejoice, not so 
much at the fall of the wicked as at the deliver- 
ance of the righteous. 

"And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great 
millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus 
with violence shall that great city Babylon be 
thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of 
pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at 
all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft 
he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the 
sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all 
in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no 
more at all in thee; and the voice of the bride- 
groom and of the bride shall be heard no more at 
all in thee : for thy merchants were the great men 
of the earth ; for by thy sorceries were all nations 
deceived. And in her was found the blood of 
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain 
upon the earth." 

God would show how this mighty persecuting 
power was hurled down. The symbol is that of 
a mighty angel casting a stone like a great mill- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 273 

stone into the sea, pronouncing its doom as it falls; 
picturing the utter desolation by hushing all sounds 
and shutting out all sights, and concluding with 
the reason of this utter overthrow. She had de- 
ceived all nations with her sorceries, led all into 
idolatry and persecution. The blood of prophets 
and all that were slain upon the earth was found 
in her. 

" After these things I heard a great voice of 
much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salva- 
tion, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the 
Lord our God: for true and righteous are his 
judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, 
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, 
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her 
hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever." 

Heaven rejoices at the righteous judgments of 
God in overthrowing this mighty persecuting city, 
the great whore, which, as we have seen, is none 
other than pagan Rome. She had corrupted the 
the earth with her fornication (idolatry), and had 
shed profusely the blood of his saints, and for this 
God had avenged their blood; and as she went 
down under his power it sent a thrill of joy all 
through heaven that voiced itself in the shout, "Al- 
leluia " (praise of Jah i. ., Jehovah the Lord), 
" and her smoke rose up forever and ever." The 
fact of this righteous judgment upon this great 
persecuting power was to be known throughout all 
generations. It is a standing monument of God's 
18 



274 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

wrath upon the corruptions of idolatry and the 
persecutions of his saints as if a column of smoke 
ascending forever in the sight of men would re- 
mind them of the destruction and torment of those 
lying under the wrath of God. 

"And the four and twenty elders and the four 
beasts [living creatures] fell down and worshiped 
God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alle- 
luia." 

These prominent personages that appear all 
through these visions, as in deep sympathy with 
the work of the Lamb and the interests of his 
saints, join in the chorus, "Alleluia," that swells 
throughout heaven. By their falling down and 
worshiping God that sat on the throne they show 
that it was God who had executed these judg- 
ments and wrought this deliverance. 

"And a voice came out of the throne, saying, 
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that 
fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it 
were the voice of a great multitude, and as the 
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God 
omnipotent reigneth." 

It is not said who uttered this voice; but it 
came out of the throne, and it was a command for 
all, both small and great, to join in the song of 
praise ; and in response it came like the voice of a 
great multitude, like the roar of the sea, and the 
echo of mighty thunderings all syllabled in that 
pason of praise and of victory, "Alleluia." Jehovah 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 275 

had taken the reins of government into his hands, 
and it was enough to make heaven and earth glad. 
The joy was universal, and they shout: 

" Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to 
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and 
his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was 
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, 
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteous- 

o 

ness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, 
Blessed are they which are called unto the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, 
These are the true sayings of God." 

Now that the two great persecuting powers, 
Jerusalem and Rome, had been swept out of the 
way, there was nothing to hinder the spread of the 
gospel. Jesus the Lamb was ready to be united 
to his people, and to go forth hand in hand witl\ 
them to people the world with his saints. The 
bride, in the beauty of holiness, was to show to 
the world the loveliness of the religion of Jesus. 
And blessed are they which are called unto the 
marriage supper of the Lamb. Glorious privilege ! 
exalted honor! All this is a symbol of the pros- 
perity of the Church of Jesus Christ after the re- 
moval of these great hindering causes. 

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he 
said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow- 
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testi- 
mony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony 
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 

So glorious was the appearance of this revealing 



276 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

angel that John mistook him for the Lord himself, 
and fell at his feet to worship him, and is forbid- 
den on the ground that he is a fellow-servant of 
his; and that God only is worthy of adoration, as 
all the prophets who had testified of Jesus had 
shown. 

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white 
horse ; and he that sat upon him was called Faith- 
ful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge 
and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, 
and on his head were many crowns; and he had 
a name written, that no man knew, but he him- 
self. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped 
in blood: and his name is called the Word of God. 
And the armies which were in heaven followed him 
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and 
clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, 
that with it he should smite the nations; and he 
shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he tread- 
eth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of 
Almighty God. And he had on his vesture and on 
his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, 
AND LORD OF LORDS." 

The chief actor in the scene now appears, rid- 
ing on a white horse out of opened heaven. He 
is the commander of the armies that follow. His 
name is given Faithful and True and the war in 
which he is engaged is a righteous war. He did 
not strike till he had weighed well the offense 
against his people and the justice of his cause. 
His eyes were as a flame of fire: he could see 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 277 

into the depths of iniquity; he knew all. On his 
head were many crowns; his resources were 
unbounded; under his command were all the 
allies and powers necessary to the accomplish- 
ment of his purpose. He himself was the " Won- 
derful," the deep significance of whose name no 
man knew but he himself. And he was clothed 
with a vesture dipped in blood. Those who look 
upon Christ as only a God of mercy are fearfully 
mistaken. "Justice and judgment are the habita- 
tion of his throne." Paul asks the question: " Is 
God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak 
as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God 
judge the world?" No fact is more clearly stated 
in the Scriptures than that he will take vengeance 
upon his enemies. As we have seen, when the 
prophet Isaiah predicted his coming to judge Jeru- 
salem, he cried out: "Who is this that cometh 
from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah? 
this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the 
greatness of his strength?" And is answered: 
"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 
The question is then asked to bring out the fact: 
*' Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy 
garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? " 
The answer is given: "I have trodden the wine- 
press alone; and of the people there was none 
with me : for I will tread them in mine anger, and 
trample them in my fury ; and their blood shall be 
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all 
my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine 



278 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And 
I looked, and there was none to help ; and I won- 
dered that there was none to uphold: therefore 
mine own arm brought salvation unto me ; and my 
fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the 
people in mine anger, and make them drunk in 
my fury, and I will bring down their strength to 
the earth." So in this case the same mighty 
champion is seen mounted on a white horse, with 
his vesture dipped in blood. He is again treading 
down his enemies. Every title applied to him here 
shows us clearly that this conquerer is Christ 
Faithful and True, the Word of God, and King of 
kings, and Lord of lords. No other is entitled 
to these names. But he goes forth not alone. 
The armies which were in heaven follow him 
upon white horses like his, the symbol of victory. 
They are clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 
The revealing angel tells us that the " fine linen is 
the righteousness of the saints." They are in full 
harmony and sympathy with their leader. 

"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword." 
Jesus is to conquer with his word. His commands 
are obeyed to the letter. Every power of the uni- 
verse is at his command. He speaks, and armies 
move; earthquakes rend the solid earth, and light- 
nings leap from the batteries of the sky. He has 
no golden scepter for his foes now. Their rebel- 
lion has reached a point where the cup of their iniq- 
uity is full, and he rules now with a rod of iron. He 
lifts his hand to smite and destroy all these nations 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 279 

that are drunk with the wine of Rome's fornication. 
King's and lords have to submit to his power, by 
virtue of the victory he has achieved, for he is 
King of kings and Lord of lords. As he and his 
armies go forth to the final battle against the mul- 
tiplied nations that war against him, John says: 

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and 
be cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls 
that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great 
God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the 
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and 
the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, 
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both 
small and great." 

This angel is seen standing in the sun that is, 
in the east as the sun rises. His voice rings out 
through the vast concave of heaven, summoning 
every bird of prey to the battle-field, for a feast 
such as they have never enjoyed. 

"The slain of the Lord shall be many, and they 
shall eat to the full." 

This is symbolical of the great slaughter that 
should take place at the fall of Rome. When the 
day of battle shall close, and mountain and plain 
shall be strewn thick with the bodies of the slain 
of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, and sol- 
diers free, bond, small, and great, then these 
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven are to partake 
of this " supper of the great God." 

No attempt is made to describe the battle scene, 



280 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

but John sees the hosts gathering, and witnesses 
the final act. 

"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
and their armies, gathered together to make war 
against him that sat on the horse, and against his 
army. And the beast was taken, and with him the 
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, 
with which he deceived them that had received 
the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped 
his image. These both were cast alive into a lake 
of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant 
were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the 
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth; 
and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." 

There was one mighty shock as these multiplied 
nations hurled themselves against him that sat on 
the horse and against his army. The leaders 
the beast, pagan Rome, the false prophet, and the 
pagan priesthood were seized and cast alive into a 
lake of fire burning with brimstone. This is a sym- 
bol of the complete overthrow of this great persecu- 
ting power. The victory is complete and final. The 
remnant were slain, and their bodies given to the 
fowls that in the early morning had been invited to 
the supper of the great God. 

One fact in this symbol should be specially noted. 
The beast seen coming up out of the sea, with the 
seven heads and ten horns, which we have seen an- 
swers in every feature to pagan Rome and the false 
prophet, synonymous with the beast that came up 
out of the earth, are both here here at the same 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 281 

time and place; so one cannot represent pagan 
Rome and the other papal Rome, that as a perse- 
cuting power followed a thousand years after. 
Everywhere in this vision they are cotemporary, 
the latter always subordinate to the former, and 
exercising his power in seducing kings, nations, 
tongues, and peoples to worship the beast and his 
image. Both were cast at the same time into the 
burning lake, the prison house of the lost, first pre- 
pared for the devil and his angels. They did the 
devil's work, and they must share the devil's hell; 
for, you remember, "the dragon gave him his 
power, and his seat, and great authority." (H. 
Cowles.) 

The beast and the false prophet have been taken 
and cast into the lake of fire burning with brim- 
stone. Shall the archenemy, the instigator of all 
the wickedness and crime, escape? No. Hear 
what John says of him : 

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, 
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great 
chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the drag- 
on, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, 
and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into 
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal 
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no 
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: 
and after that he must be loosed a little season.". 

This is not literal, but, like all else in this book, 
is symbolical. The devil has had great power. 
He stood before the woman to devour her child as 



282 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

soon as it was born, and when this child is divinely 
preserved he persecutes the woman, gives his power 
and his seat to the ferocious beast that comes up 
out of the sea, who in turn marshals all the kings 
and peoples against the followers of Christ, to 
crush out the saints from the earth. His emissa- 
ries have been overthrown, and now the power of 
this archenemy must be curtailed as far as the 
Church of God is concerned. An angel came 
down from heaven, signifying that his authority 
was from God, and ^ie lays hold upon the devil and 
casts him into the bottomless pit, and shuts him up, 
and sets a seal upon him, that he should deceive 
the nations no more till the thousand years should 
be fulfilled. 

The thousand years is a definite period given 
to indicate an indefinite. Not that he was to be 
bound for just ten centuries no more, no less 
but this is a round number, used frequently in the 
Scriptures to indicate a long period. This is gra- 
ciously realized, as far as God's people are con- 
cerned. Jesus said: "I saw Satan as lightning 
fall from heaven." What power has he over one 
who abides in Christ, one who walks faithfully in 
the highway of holiness? Over this the unclean 
shall not pass. " No lion shall be there, nor any 
ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be 
found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 
and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and 
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 283 

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Then, 
as far as the true followers of Christ are concerned, 
the devil is bound. Christ in this grand battle broke 
his power, and put his Church where it could move 
on to the salvation of the world. 

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
and judgment was given unto them: and I saw 
the souls of them that were beheaded for the wit- 
ness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which 
had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, 
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, 
or in their hands ; and they lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead 
lived not again until the thousand years were fin- 
ished. 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, but they 
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall 
reign with him a thousand years." 

Who are they that sit upon the thrones? Evi- 
dently the souls of the martyrs which have played 
so important a part in moving by their pleadings 
and prayers their Lord to avenge them of their en- 
emies. They were first seen under the altar, cry- 
ing, "How long, O Lord?" Now the time of 
their exaltation has come. The two great perse- 
cuting powers have been overthrown and Satan 
bound, and now their Lord and King fulfills the 
promise he made: "To him that overcometh will 
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also 
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his 



284 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

throne." These martyrs now occupy the most 
exalted position. This is a symbol of their having 
overcome. They were faithful to the death, held 
on to their integrity until Christ in answer to their 
prayers had overthrown all their foes and bound the 
very devil himself. They were faithful witnesses 
for Jesus and the word of God, loving not their 
lives unto the death, and Christ is true to his prom- 
ise: " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
thee a crown of life." With crowns upon their 
heads, and seated upon thrones in the presence of 
all, they are to reign with Christ for a thousand 
years. 

" But the rest of the dead lived not again until 
the thousand years were finished. This is the first 
resurrection." 

This is not a literal resurrection, nor is it a res- 
urrection of the body. This whole book, and es- 
pecially this part of it, is full of symbols. See 
" the great chain," " the old serpent," the " seal," 
the " thrones," the "second death," the "camp 
of the saints," etc. So this resurrection is sym- 
bolical. The passing from sorrow to joy is often 
in the Old Testament Scriptures represented by a 
resurrection. Ezekiel xxxvii. represents Israel as 
dead and scattered as dry bones in a valley, but by 
the breath of God they have a resurrection. This 
was not literal, but symbolical. Other cases might 
be .cited, but this is enough to establish the fact. 

In the New Testament we have the same figure. 
Ephesians v. 14: "Awake thou that sleepest, and 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 285 

arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee 
light." And again in Ephesians ii. i: "And you 
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
and sins." In Romans xi. 15, Paul, in speaking 
of the salvation of the Jews, says: "What shall 
the receiving of them be, but life from the 
dead?" 

Now this first resurrection was only the passage 
of these martyrs from the death of sorrow to the 
life of joy. Their prayers were fully answered. 
Jesus had returned from his conquest against their 
foes in complete triumph, and they are lifted to 
thrones and are to have a joy peculiar to themselves 
in seeing the cause for which they died triumphing 
as never before. They shall partake of the joy of 
their Lord. The rest of the dead know nothing 
of this joy. It is peculiar to those who "were be- 
headed for the witness of Jesus and for the word 
of God." 

That the thousand years here is a definite num- 
ber used for an indefinite period we can easily de- 
termine by marking its use elsewhere in the Script- 
ures. In the second commandment (Ex. xx. 6) 
it is said: "And showing mercy unto thousands of 
them that love me, and keep my commandments." 
Thousands means not unto thousands of people, 
but unto the thousandth generation that is, for- 
ever; for in the preceding verse it is said: " Unto 
the third and fourth generation of them that hate 
me." Moses repeats the thought in Deuteronomy 
vii. 9: "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, 



286 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth cove- 
nant and mercy with them that love him and keep 
his commandments to a thousand generations." 
He does not mean just a thousand no more, no 
less but it is a definite number, and a large one, to 
express the boundlessness of God's mercy to them 
that keep his commandments. The expression of 
David (Ps. 1. 10), "The cattle upon a thousand 
hills," is of a like character. And again (Ps. xc. 
4): "For a thousand years in thy sight are but 
as yesterday when it is past/' Again (Ps. xci. 
7): "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten 
thousand at thy right hand.' 7 This, in fact, is a 
favorite number to express a large and indefinite 
number. 

Strange as it may appear, the passage under con- 
sideration is the only one in all the Bible in which 
there is any allusion to the millennium; and yet 
no fact has fixed itself more strongly upon the 
mind of the Church than that there is to be a mil- 
lennium, and nothing about which there is so much 
indefiniteness. Some think that it will be before 
Christ's second coming; some, after. Some think 
it will be merely a time of great prosperity in the 
Church, when the powers of darkness will give 
way to mighty displays of God's glory in the salva- 
tion of sinners; others, that the world has been 
divided in its duration to seven thousand years; 
that the first six thousand, now nearly at an end, 
will be succeeded by a Sabbatic thousand, when 
the Church shall have rest from her enemies, and 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 287 

great glory shall be vouchsafed to it; and many 
others. Ask these men for their reasons for 
their beliefs, and they can give no good and 
satisfactory scriptural reasons. Like that other 
error, that Gabriel shall sound the last trumpet, 
for which there is not a shadow of proof from 
the Scriptures, men have always talked of a mil- 
lennium; therefore there must be one. Now if 
'we examine this single passage in the light of 
the symbolic character of this entire book, we 
shall find that it refers alone to the martyrs of 
Jesus, whose joy at the overthrow of the two great 
persecuting powers Jerusalem and pagan Rome, 
the powers that beheaded them and the binding 
of Satan, who instigated these persecutions, is to 
thrill them for an indefinite period. God gives 
them this peculiar pleasure because of their faith- 
fulness. Other dead, not of the martyrs, enter 
not into this joy. "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, but they shall be priests of God and of 
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." 
Theirs was a hard death. In it they exemplified 
the power of the religion of Jesus. They proved 
their confidence in the promises of God of another 
and better life; and that faith in Christ was the 
very thing that could give them this life. Thus 
honoring God, God honors them by revealing to 
the Church and to the world that he was " not un- 
righteous to forget their work. 7 ' It is written: 



288 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

" If we suffer, we shall also reign with him." 
And again: "And if children, then heirs; heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we 
suffer -with him, that we may be also glorified to- 
gether." Peter says(i Pet. iv. 13): " But rejoice, 
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings ; 
that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be 
glad also with exceeding joy." 

The martyr saints are to be honored. God 
makes them his ministers, symbolized by being 
made priests of God and of Christ. They also 
sit upon the thrones spoken of, and reign with him 
a thousand years. This is all of it. 

"And when the thousand years are expired, 
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall 
go out to deceive the nations which are in the 
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to 
gather them together to battle: the number of 
whom is as the sands of the sea. And they went 
up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the 
camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: 
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and 
devoured them. And the devil that deceived them 
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be 
tormented day and night forever and ever." 

This symbol would indicate that after this long 
period of rest and rejoicing at the overthrow of 
the powers of darkness there is yet to be one 
more blow from the hand of God. The devil 
had only been shut up in the bottomless pit for a 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 289 

period. The seal upon that pit was after a time to 
be broken, and he loosed out of his prison. It 
would seem that the object of this loosing is to put 
him in a position to be hurled into the lake of fire 
and brimstone. God knows that all he needs is an 
opportunity to show his hand. 

As the time for the final coming of Christ to 
judge the quick and dead draws near Satan is 
loosed. At once he sets to work to deceive the na- 
tions which are in the four quarters of the earth. 
Once more he gathers them together to try and 
recover his lost fortunes. 

John seizes upon an Old Testament picture, 
where the greatest army ever gathered together for 
battle is mentioned (Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix.), Gog 
and Magog. These multiplied thousands come up, 
and are wholly overthrown. And to give an idea 
of their countless numbers and their utter over- 
throw, the prophet tells us that the wood of their 
weapons shields, bucklers, bows, arrows, hand 
staves, and spears will serve the people for fire- 
wood for seven years, and that all Israel shall be 
seven months in burying the dead of their army. 
They compassed the camp of the saints about, and 
the beloved city; but before they had time to 
strike a blow fire came down from God out of 
heaven, and devoured them; and the devil that de- 
ceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brim- 
stone. This ends forever the power of the devil 
upon earth, and the next symbol is that which pre- 
sents to us the resurrection and the great judgment- 
day. 

19 



290 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that 
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heav- 
en fled away; and there was found no place for 
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God; and the books were opened: and an- 
other book was opened, which is the book of life: 
and the dead were judged out of those things 
which were written in the books, according to their 
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were 
in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead 
which were in them : and they were judged every 
man according to their works. And death and 
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the 
second death. And whosoever was not found 
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of 
fire." 

It is clearly taught in the scriptures that there 
shall be a " resurrection of the just and of the unr 
just." Jesus said: " Marvel not at this: for the 
hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come -forth; 
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of 
life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resur- 
rection of damnation." 

It is also taught that there shall be a day of judg- 
ment following this resurrection, and that Jesus is 
to be the judge. Paul says: " God hath appoint- 
ed a day, in the which he will judge the world in 
righteousness by that man whom he hath or- 
dained." And again: " We must all stand be- 
fore the judgment-seat of Christ." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 291 

The symbol here used shows that all the- dead, 
small and great, shall stand before God. Even 
the sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and 
death and hell (hades, the place of the departed) 
shall make a full deliverance on that day; and, 
when emptied, shall, as no longer of any use, be 
cast into the lake of fire. The books are opened; 
the utmost accuracy is to be observed; each indi- 
vidual is to be examined, and then the book of life 
is to be appealed to to see if his name is found 
there ; if not, that settles the matter, and he is cast 
into the lake of fire. This casting into the lake of 
fire is the second death. It is a final and eternal 
separation from God and the good. 

In the beginning of these revelations, in ad- 
dressing the Church at Sardis, Jesus promises 
that " he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed 
in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name 
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name 
before my Father, and before his angels." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The New Heaven and the New Earth The New Jerusalem 
The General Invitation. 

IN our approach to these closing chapters of Rev- 
elation we must not forget that this is a book of 
symbols, and that these chapters are symbolic as 
well as the rest. If we adhere strictly to this, we 
will find them a most beautiful and striking repre- 
sentation of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth, 
when he had overthrown her foes and fully estab- 
lished the plan upon w T hich he purposed to bring 
the world under his scepter. 

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for 
the first heaven and the first earth were passed 
away; and there was no more sea/' 

Isaiah had foretold of this time, and the reveal- 
ing angel applies this prophecy in these symbols. 
When speaking of the Church of the Messiah that 
should embrace the Gentiles, he says: "For, be- 
hold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and 
the former shall not be remembered, nor come 
into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in 
that which I create ; for, behold, I create Jerusalem 
a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will re- 
joice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the 
voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, 
nor the voice of crying." This is the new heaven 
and earth seen in the vision of John. The Mosaic 
(292) 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 293 

state of the Church had passed away, and the 
Christian state had been established. 

"And there was no more sea." The sea repre- 
sents nations. "The waters which thou sawest, 
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multi- 
tudes, and nations, and tongues." (Rev. xvii. 
15.) Under the first arrangement God had his 
Church in a nation the nation of the Jews but 
now the Church is universal, members are taken 
from all nations; and yet God has no nation he 
calls his own, his peculiar people. As Christ said, 
" My kingdom is not of this world." Members of 
his Church can be found among all people ; nor is 
it necessary for them to forswear allegiance to 
their earthly rulers to become members of his 
kingdom. On the other hand, all are exhorted to 
be subject to their e.arthly rulers. His is not a na- 
tional Church. 

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared 
as a bride adorned for her husband." 

This new Jerusalem is a symbol of the Church. 
Paul, speaking of it, says: " For it is written, that 
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, 
the other by a free woman. But he who was 
of the bondwoman was born after the flesh: but 
he of the free woman was by promise. Which 
things are an allegory: for these are the two cov- 
nants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gen- 
dereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is 
Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem 



294 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the 
mother of us all." (Gal. iv. 22-26.) And again: 
" But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the 
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." 
(Heb. xii. 22.) 

" Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." 
John the Baptist speaks of the Church as the bride 
and Jesus as the bridegroom. (John iii. 29.) 
Paul says: " I have espoused you to one husband, 
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to 
Christ." The Church must be clothed in " the 
beauty of holiness." Christ is coming to take his 
bride to his Father's house, and she must keep 
herself unspotted from the world, loving her Lord 
with all her heart. 

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven say- 
ing, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
people, and God himself shall be with them, and 
be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
any more pain: for the former things are passed 
away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Be- 
hold, I make all things new. And he said unto 
me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give 
unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the wa- 
ter of life freely." 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 295 

The new Jerusalem is not taken from earth up 
to heaven, but it cometh down from God out of 
heaven. It is to be here on earth for a time. The 
temple has been thrown down; Jerusalem has been 
destroyed. And now God sets up his tabernacle 
among men. " The tabernacle of David which 
had fallen" he had again set up, "that the residue 
of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gen- 
tiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, 
who doeth all these things." (Acts xv. 17.) God 
promises to dwell among his people and make them 
his. The Gentiles are now to be his people. "And 
it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was 
said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall 
they be called the children of the living God." 

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes." This is a symbol of the fact that the relig- 
ion of Jesus is to be a solace for all the woes of 
earth. Isaiah, in speaking of just this period, 
says: "And the Lord God will wipe away tears 
from off all faces." (Isa. xxv. 8.) 

"And there shall be no more death, neither sor- 
row, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain: for the former things are passed away." 
Taking this in its symbolic sense, we find that death 
is now spoken of as sleef, because Jesus has given 
promise of a resurrection. 

" I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, 
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow 
not, even as others which have no hope." The 
hope of living again takes away the sorrow and 



296 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

lifts us above pain the sorrow and pain without 
hope. 

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, 
I make all things new. And he said unto me, 
Write: for these words are true and faithful." 

This is a moral creation, not a physical. Isaiah 
foretold this. "For the Lord God shall call his 
servants by another name: that he who blesseth 
himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God 
of truth ; and he that sweareth in the earth shall 
swear by the God of truth; because the former 
troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid 
from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new heav- 
ens and a new earth: and the former shall not be 
remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad 
and rejoice forever in that which I create : for, be- 
hold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her peo- 
ple a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and 
joy in my people : and the voice of weeping shall 
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.'* 
(Isa. Ixv. 15-19.) Here the new name, "Chris- 
tian," given to his people is spoken of. God shall 
be their God, and they shall be his people. As 
the bride, they shall take his name, " Christian." 

The New Jerusalem is also spoken of as the joy 
of the Lord. All things are new. Paul says: " If 
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old 
things are passed away; behold, all things are be- 
come new." (2 Cor. v. 17.) " For in Christ Jesus 
neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncir- 
cumcision, but a new creature" (Gal. vi. 15-) 




The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 297 



"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will 
give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the 
water of life freely. He that overcometh shall in- 
herit all things; and I will be his God, and he 
shall be my son." 

In the same grand prophecy of Isaiah we have 
the invitation : "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
ye to the waters." And Jesus exclaimed: "If any 
man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." 
And he promised to give to the woman of Samaria 
water of which if she drank she should never thirst. 

" Shall inherit all things." Paul tells us: "All 
things are yours, . . . and ye are Christ's; 
and Christ is God's." " Having nothing, yet 
possessing all things." 

"I will be his God." We become the children 
of God. By the spirit which makes us new creat- 
ures in Christ we are enabled to cry Abba, Father. 
" The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God: and if children, 
then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with 
Christ." Thus we as the sons of God inherit all 
things. How very plain it is that this beautiful 
symbol refers to the Church of Jesus Christ as it 
now exists ! 

" But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the 
abominable* and murderers, and whoremongers, 
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall 
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire 
and brimstone: which is the second death." 



298 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Here are pointed out those who are excluded 
from the blessings of the New Jerusalem. They 
shall follow the beast, the false prophet, and the 
dragon into the lake burning with fire and brim- 
stone. Fearful fate! From this second death 
there is no resurrection. When the seal of the sec- 
ond death is set upon the soul, hope dies, and the 
soul is damned forever. 

"And there came unto me one of the seven an- 
gels which had the seven vials full of the seven 
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come 
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's 
wife." 

This angel comes now to show to John more in 
detail the glorious city, the New Jerusalem. The 
Church, as we have seen, is the Lamb's wife. So 
the revelation now to be made is with reference to 
the Church of Jesus Christ ; and let us bear in mind 
that it is the Church on earth, not in heaven. 

"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great 
and high mountain, and showed me that great city, 
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from 
God, having the glory of God: and her light was 
like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper 
stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and 
high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve 
angels, and names written thereon, which are the 
names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 
on the east three gates ; on the north three gates ; 
on the south three gates; and on the west three 
gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foun- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 299 

dations, and in them the names of the twelve apos- 
tles of the Lamb." 

As the first or material Jerusalem was built upon 
a high mountain, so this symbolic city is upon a 
great and high mountain. In a subsequent part of 
this description it is said, "for the Lord God giv- 
eth them light." God is the light of his Church; 
and the light is glorious, compared here to the light 
of a precious stone clear as crystal. The wall is a 
symbol of God's protecting care. It is said: " In 
that day [the very time of which we speak] shall 
this song be sung in the land of Judah ; We have 
a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls 
and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the right- 
eous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." 
(Isa. xxvi. i, 2.) And again: "Violence shall no 
more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction 
within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls 
Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be 
no more thy light by day; neither for brightness 
shall the moon give light unto thee : but the Lord 
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God 
thy glory." (Isa. Ix. 18, 19.) 

This last expression is the very language of the 
symbol, "having the glory of God." Both the 
prophecy and the symbol refer to the same thing, 
and nothing is plainer than that Isaiah is speaking 
of the Christian state of the Church in all the latter 
part of his prophecy. Jesus himself at Nazareth, 
when he read this part of Isaiah, said: "This day 
is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing." 



300 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

"And had twelve gates," three on each side. 
These gates are for the admission of those who 
desire to become citizens of this city. They may 
come from any quarter or from any nation, and 
will be admitted, for "in him shall all nations be 
blessed." The twelve angels represent the twelve 
apostles. They were sent of God for this purpose. 
Jesus said: " Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are 
remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, 
they are retained;" "and whatsoever thou shalt 
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and what- 
soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven." 

Jesus commits the management of the affairs of 
his Church to the apostles when he ascends on 
high, and these are typical of his true ministers in 
all ages. They stand at the gates to admit those 
who come to Christ. The Christians are also still 
known as the true Israel of God: "Know ye 
therefore that they which are of faith, the same are 
the children of Abraham." The Christian Church 
is still the children of Israel. 

"And the wall of the city had twelve founda- 
tions, and in them the names of the twelve apostles 
of the Lamb." 

Paul, when writing to the Ephesians, who were 
Gentiles, says: "Now therefore ye are no more 
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with 
the saints, and of the household of God; and are 
built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 301 

ner-stone." "And he that talked with me had a 
golden reed to measure the city, and the gates 
thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth 
foursquare, and the length is as large as the 
breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, 
twelve thousand furlongs (fifteen hundred miles). 
The length and the breadth and the height of it are 
equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hun- 
dred and forty and four cubits, according to the 
measure of a man, that is, of the angel." 

This symbol of the city is taken from the Holy 
of Holies of the temple, which was a perfect cube. 
" The length and the breadth and the height of it 
were equal." 

"And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: 
and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 
And the foundations of the wall of the city were 
garnished with all manner of precious stones. The 
first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; 
the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 
the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, 
chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; 
the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a jacinth; 
the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates 
were twelve pearls ; every several gate was of one 
pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as 
if it were transparent glass." 

That no one might misinterpret this symbol, John 
constantly refers to the figures used by Isaiah in de- 
scribing the Church. Isaiah says: "O thou af- 
flicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, be- 



302 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

hold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay 
thy foundation with sapphires. And I will make 
thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, 
and all thy borders of pleasant stones." 

The riches of the world are laid under tribute to 
give expression to the glory and beauty of the 
Church of Jesus Christ. 

"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord 
God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." 

Under this new arrangement, there are no fixed 
places where alone God can be worshiped, as was 
the case in Jerusalem; but as Jesus said to the 
woman of Samaria: "Woman, believe me, the 
hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mount- 
ain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
. But the hour cometh, and now is, when 
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in 
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such 
to worship him. God is a spirit: and they 
that worship him must worship him in spirit and 
in truth." 

John saw no temple, for there was none. Where- 
ever men might be, they could worship God; for 
he is a Spirit, and is equally present everywhere. 
When Jesus sent his disciples into all the world, he 
said: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
end of the world." This mighty Holy of Holies is 
accessible to all. "Jesus said: I am the light of the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 303 

world : he that f olloweth me shall not walk in dark- 
ness, but shall have the light of life." " In him was 
life, and the life was the light of men." "That 
was the true light which lighteneth every man that 
cometh into the world." "And the nations of 
them which are saved shall walk in the light of it : 
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and 
honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut 
at all by day; for there shall be no night there. 
And they shall bring the glory and honor of the 
nations into it. 

Jesus is the Sun of righteousness, whose healing 
wings are spread over all the earth. Isaiah says: 
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and 
kings to the brightness of thy rising." (Isa. Ix. 3.) 
And again: " I will also give thee for a light to 
the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto 
the end of the earth." (Isa. xlix. 6.) And again: 
"Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the 
doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall 
wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to 
bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold 
with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, 
and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath 
glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall 
build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister 
unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in 
my favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore 
thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not 
be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto 
thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings 



304 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

may be brought." (Isa. Ix. 8-n.) This passage 
is a clear explanation of this symbol. 

"And there shall in nowise enter into it any 
thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are 
written in the Lamb's book of life." 

God's children must be pure and holy, for with- 
out holiness no man shall see the Lord. Men with- 
out spiritual life may unite with the visible Church, 
but only those who have been regenerated by the 
Holy Ghost shall be numbered among the true fol- 
lowers of God. Paul says: "The foundation of 
God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord 
knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one 
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniqui- 
ty." (2 Tim. ii. 19.) Only those born of the 
Spirit have their names "written in the Lamb's 
book of life." 

"And he showed me a pure river of water of 
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the 
street of it, and on either side of the river, was 
there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of 
fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the 
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the na- 
tions." 

This river of life proceeds from the throne of 
God and of the Lamb. God only through Jesus 
Christ can give life to dead souls. There is none 
other name under heaven given among men where- 
by they can be saved. God and God only is the 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 305 

author of salvation. The tree of life is to fur- 
nish food to the saints, and the leaves are for the 
healing of the nations. This cannot be a descrip- 
tion of heaven, for there is no need of healing 
there. Man lost his right to life by the transgres- 
sion, and Jesus restores him to his lost inheritance. 
" You hath he quickened [made alive], who were 
dead in trespasses and sins." The blessed gospel 
of Jesus Christ, like the leaves of the tree of life, is 
for the healing of the nations. 

"And there shall be no more curse: but the 
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and 
his servants shall serve him: and they shall see 
his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 
And there shall be no night there; and they need 
no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord 
God giveth them light: and they shall reign for- 
ever and ever." 

The manifest presence of God and the Lamb in 
his Church shall be a guaranty from every curse. 
His people need fear nothing. 

" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, 
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that 
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gen- 
tiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive 
the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 
iii. 13, 14.) 

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak 
20 



306 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

through the flesh, God [did by] sending his own 
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con- 
demned sin in the flesh." (Rom. viii. 2, 3.) 

No other sacrifice is needed to put away the 
curse, hence no more need of a temple, of typical 
sacrifices. The work has been done, "and there 
shall be no more curse." 

"And his s'ervants shall serve him." The grand 
work of spreading the gospel to the ends of the 
earth is committed to the hands of his servants. 
"And they shall see his face." Jesus has prom- 
ised to be with his servants " even to the end of 
the world." His presence is always manifest to 
his faithful servants. 

"And his name shall be in their foreheads." 
When one is baptized with water, the name of the 
"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" is written upon 
the forehead. This is the outward sign of the 
inward baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby we 
know ourselves as the children of God. Jesus is 
present with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, by 
which God's name is written on our foreheads. 
The work of Jesus performed by his servants is to 
be a continual service. 

"And there shall be no night there." This is a 
symbol of the continued work of the Church. 

"And they need no candle, neither light of the 
sun." It is " not by might, nor by power, but by 
my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The work of 
salvation is accomplished through no earthly agen- 
cy. Men are born of the spirit, and this promise 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 307 

of the divine presence and help is to extend to the 
end, for "they [the servants of God] shall reign 
forever and ever." 

This closes the vision, and the angel closes by 
saying: " These sayings are faithful and true: and 
the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel 
to show unto his servants the things which must 
shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed 
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 
this book." 

These are the final remarks of the revealing an- 
gel, and he tells John plainly that he has shown 
his servants the things which must shortly be done, 
not things that are to transpire from one to two 
thousand years after. Shortly meant the same in 
the days of John that it means now, and the things 
that had been revealed would shortly be done. For 
instance, the destruction of Jerusalem took place 
in the year 67, just after the Revelation was writ- 
ten, and the destruction of Rome followed in about 
three years. When the Revelation began, the very 
first utterance is: " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 
which God gave unto him, to show unto his serv- 
vants things which must shortly come to pass." 

" Behold, I come quickly." This second com- 
ing of Christ to judge the two guilty nations, and 
to destroy them, was near at hand; and that his 
servants might know of it, and be ready when the 
signs pointed out should appear, to fly to a place 
of safety, Jesus Christ sent his angel to show unto 
them the things that must shortly be done. The 



308 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

warning note is sounded at the beginning, and 
when the grand panorama had passed in review, 
he again calls out to them: "Behold, I come 
quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of 
the prophecy of this book." In other words, take 
warning, and be ready when he shall come. 

"And I John saw these things, and heard them. 
And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to 
worship before the feet of the angel which showed 
me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou 
do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the 
sayings of this book: worship God." 

No doubt John, deeply impressed with the ap- 
pearance of the angel and the wonderful revela- 
tions he had made, mistook him for the Son of 
man, and fell at his feet to worship. Rut he is in- 
formed that he is but a fellow-servant of his, and 
not to be worshiped. 

"And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of 
the prophecy of this book: for the time is at 
hand." 

The things foretold in the prophecy of this book 
were so near at hand that John is commanded to 
leave it open; in other words, not to seal them. 
When Daniel prophesied, the revealing spirit told 
him to 6( shut thou up the vision ; for it shall be for 
many days." (Dan. viiL 26.) And again: "Shut 
up the words, and seal the book, even to the time 
of the end." Why was he to seal his book? Be- 
cause the time was long. There was not to be an 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 309 

immediate fulfillment "it shall be for many 
days.'' But the time of the visions of John were 
at hand. 

This clearly sets aside all those systems of inter- 
pretation of this book that spread the visions over 
centuries, even down to the present time. The 
Churches scarcely had time to read and to hear 
read the sayings of the prophecy of his book be- 
fore the rider upon the white horse drew his sword 
and sounded the charge. John was to write the 
book, and send it at once to the seven Churches; 
and " blessed is he that readeth, and they that 
hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those 
things which are written therein: for the time is 
at hand." (Rev. i. 3.) So short was the time 
that there was no time for change of relations. 

" He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and 
he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he 
that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he 
that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I 
come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give 
every man according as his work shall be." 

The revelation was not given that men might 
change their relation to God, for all had had the 
gospel preached unto them. It was given that his 
people might prepare for the coming calamities and 
seek a place of safety; which, as we have learned, 
they did, fleeing to Pella when Jerusalem was 
overthrown. They were also warned to come out 
of the devoted city of Rome when the judgments of 
Almighty God were about to fall upon it. 



3io The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
end, the first and the last." 

Jesus would have his people know that he is the 
same that appeared in such splendor to John at the 
beginning. There he says: "I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the 
Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to 
come, the Almighty." (Rev. i. 8.) 

" Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and 
may enter in through the gates into the city. For 
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, 
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever lov- 
eth and maketh a lie." 

The calamities that are coming are not intended 
for his people, those that keep his commandments. 
They are to still have a place in his Church, still 
to eat of the tree of life. He had promised in the 
beginning: "To him that overcometh will I give 
to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of 
the paradise of God." (Rev. ii. 7.) 

He repeats the promises. They shall also have 
a place in the New Jerusalem, among the pure and 
holy; while without are dogs, and sorcerers, and 
all other abominable and unholy people. 

" I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto 
you these things in the Churches. I am the root 
and the offspring of David, and the bright and 
morning star." 

By this expression Jesus himself unites this 
revelation into one grand whole. It begins with 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 311 

letters to the Churches, and now he declares that 
he had " sent his angel to testify unto you these 
things in the Churches." This Jesus is the blessed 
Messiah of Jews and Christians. He is the "root 
and the offspring of David, and the bright and 
morning star." As dwellers in the New Jerusa- 
lem, or as members of his Church, they are now 
to go forth to work for the salvation of the world. 

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And 
let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that 
is athirst come. And whosoever-will, let him take 
the water of life freely." 

The Church, now freed from the incubus of the 
two great persecuting powers, is to offer life and 
salvation to every creature. The Spirit and the 
bride (the Spirit and the Church) give a cordial 
invitation, and cry, "Come." Any that hear are 
included, especially he that is athirst, and whoso- 
ever will can come to this river of life that flows 
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
Blessed invitation! It is as wide as the world. It 
is the gospel of the Son of God. 

" For I testify unto every man that heareth the 
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man 
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto 
him the plagues that are written in this book: and 
if any man shall take away from the words of the 
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his 
part out of the book of life, and out of the holy 
city, and from the things which are written in this 
book." 



312 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

So much was dependent upon this revelation 
especially the safety of his people in the midst 
of the awful calamities that were to befall the na- 
tions, and they were so intimately involved that the 
threats of this verse are spoken against him who 
shall alter in any particular the things that are writ- 
ten therein. It was a message from Jesus to his 
people, who were soon to witness such calamities 
as earth had never seen, and they must know just 
how and when to act. Either precipitancy or de- 
lay would be fatal. Hence the frequent warning: 
" He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit 
saith to the Churches." 

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I 
come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord 
Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with you all. Amen." 

Here again the warning of the speedy coming 
of Christ is given; and John, it would seem, adds, 
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus;" and then pro- 
nounces^the benediction: "The grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Folly of Modern Adventism Christ to Remain in Heaven 
to the Judgment Mistakes of Modern Adventists. 

THE idea that Jesus Christ will ever come in 
the flesh again to earth and reign for a thou- 
sand years, or for any period of time, is utterly fal- 
lacious and unworthy of our Saviour. Besides, 
the teachings of the Scriptures go solidly against it. 
And yet in almost every period of the world's his- 
tory from the ascension of Christ to the present 
men have been expecting and predicting it. Even 
in the days of the Apostle Paul men were looking 
for the coming of Christ, and were troubling the 
Church with their views; and some of them did 
not scruple to write a letter in the name of Paul, 
setting forth their peculiar views, as we learn from 
an expression in Paul's Second Epistle to the Thes- 
salonians (ii. I, 2), in which he says: " Now we 
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto 
him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be 
troubled, neither by spirit, nor byword 9 nor&ytet 
ter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at 
hand." 

These men claimed to have a revelation from 
the Spirit on this subject. They preached it and, 
as we have said, forged a letter in the name of 
Paul, in which they made him to substantiate their 

(313) 



314 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

views. From that time to the present men have 
been urging these views upon the Church. They 
claim that Christ will come, that the righteous dead 
will be raised, and those that are looking for his 
coming will be gathered together unto him; that 
he will set up his throne somewhere, perhaps at Je- 
rusalem, and will reign here on earth for a thou- 
sand years. This we say is utterly unworthy of 
Christ, and has not a particle of support from the 
Scripture. 

Just before the death of Christ he said to his dis- 
ciples: " It is expedient for you that I go away: 
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto 
you." 

While Jesus was here in the flesh his presence 
was restricted to a favored few. But few could 
see him ; but few could hear him. It took time for 
him to go from place to place. His Church after 
his death was not to be confined to the narrow lim- 
its of Palestine, but it was to take in the world: 
"All nations shall serve him." Hence it was expe- 
dient that he go away; for upon his going depend- 
ed the coming of the Spirit, whose presence was 
not to be limited by time or space. He was simply 
omnipresent, and of never-waning, never-wearying 
energy. He could be in every land and deal with 
every heart at once ; and as the Christians were to 
be co-workers with Christ, the increase of the 
Church would only augment the power of the Spir- 
it for the accomplishment of good. 



'The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 315 

We gather from this last conversation of Jesus 
with his disciples that his presence in heaven as an 
advocate with the Father was necessary, if not in- 
dispensable, to the presence of the Spirit upon 
earth. If he went not away, the Spirit would not 
come. And is not the presence of Jesus in heaven 
to-day as indispensable to the presence of the 
Spirit upon earth as at any time in the history of 
the world ? 

What folly to wish for Jesus in the flesh here on 
the earth ! How many multiplied millions would 
never see him ! And then, in comparison with the 
constant, abiding presence of the Spirit, how unsat- 
isfactory it would be for the most favored one to 
catch a sight of him now and then, and hear but a 
word or two from his lips while crowded from his 
presence by the surging multitudes that would press 
upon him by night and by day ! O it is a thousand 
times better for us to have Jesus praying for us in 
heaven than to have him reigning here on earth, 
even under the most favorable circumstances. But 
the Scriptures are very explicit on the fact that 
Christ's place is in heaven, and will be to the end of 
time. Peter, in preaching to the Jews, tells them 
that it had been predicted of Jesus that " the heav- 
ens must receive [him] until the time of the resti- 
tution of all things." 

- We are taught that when Christ comes it will be 
to judge the world. In the First Epistle to the Thes- 
salonians Paul tells us that " the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 



316 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

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." (i 
Thess. iv. 16, 17-) Dead and living saints are to 
be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds, and 
with him in heaven (not on earth) we are to live 
forever. " I go to prepare a place for you," said 
Jesus, "that where I am ye may be also." 

This unscriptural doctrine of the coming of 
Christ to reign on earth has been a source of 
trouble wherever and whenever preached; and 
every age has produced men who have talked of 
and taught it, and simple-minded people have ever 
been found to believe it. Time and time again 
have men worked on the prophecies to prove when 
the Lord would come. Mistakes and disappoint- 
ments never dampen their zeal, nor do they teach 
them wisdom. They set a time, and prove it to a 
fraction ; and yet when the Lord fails to come at 
the time they have fixed, they set right to work to 
recast their calculations and to fix another time. 

The close of the year 1000 was fixed as the time. 
Let us read what a writer says of it: 

THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR 1000. 

It was believed in the middle ages that the world would come 
to an end at the expiration of one thousand years of the Chris- 
tian era. This expectation in Christian countries was universal. 
The year 1,000 was a period of suspense, terror, and awe. The 
histories of this dark period give vivid accounts and incidents 
of the state of the people under the influence of this awful ap- 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 317 

prehension. A writer in 6" unday at Home reproduces the picture 
with much distinctness, and relates an incident of the manner 
that the hours were numbered on the supposed final night of the 
year, which might aptly suggest a dramatic subject for a poet: 

When the last day of the year 1000 dawned, the madness had 
attained its height. All work of whatever kind was suspended. 
The market-places were deserted. The shops were shut. The 
tables were not spread for meals. The very household fires re- 
mained unlighted. Men, when they met in the streets, scarcely 
saw or spoke to one another. Their eyes had a wild stare in 
them, as though they expected every moment some terrible 
manifestation to take place. 

Silence prevailed everywhere, except in the Churches, which 
were already thronged with eager devotees, who prostrated 
themselves before the shrines of their favorite saints, imploring 
their protection during the fearful scenes which they supposed 
were about to be displayed. 

As the day wore on the number of those who sought admis- 
sion grew greater and greater, until every corner of the sacred 
edifices, large as these were, was densely crowded, and it became 
impossible to find room for more. But the multitude outside 
still strove and clamored for admission, filling the porches and 
door-ways and climbing up the buttresses to find a refuge on the 
roofs which they could not obtain inside. 

A strange and solemn commentary on the text which binds 
men to watch because " they know not whether the master of 
the house will come at even, or at midnight, or at the cock- 
crowing, or in the morning," was presented by the multitudes 
which filled the churches that night. 

Watch in very truth they did. Not an eye was closed through- 
out that lengthened vigil ; not a knee but was bent in humblest 
supplication; not a voice but joined the penitential chant, or 
put up a fervent entreaty for help and projection. 

There were no clocks in those days, but the flight of the hours 
was marked by great waxen tapers, with metal balls attached at 
intervals to them. These fell, one after another, as the flames 
reached the strings by which they were secured, into a brazen 
basin beneath, with a clang which resounded through the 
church. 

At the recurrence of each of these warning sounds the awe 



318 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

of the vast assembly seemed to deepen and intensify, as each in 
terrible suspense supposed that between him and the outburst 
of divine wrath only the briefest interval now remained. 

At last the night, long as it was, began to draw to an end. 
The chill which precedes daylight pervaded the air, and in the 
eastern sky the first pale gleam of morning began to shoAv itself. 
The light grew stronger in the heavens, and the flame of the 
candles paled before it; and at last the rays of the risen sun 
streamed through the windows on the white and anxious faces 
of the watchers. The night had passed away. A new day, a 
new year, a new century had begun. The text that says that 
"no man knoweth the day nor the hour" had a new meaning. 

Then in our own day we have had some expe- 
rience in this line. About the year 1840 William 
Miller announced that Christ would come and set 
up his throne upon earth in October, 1843. He 
said that at this time the world would be burned 
up and cleansed by fire for the abode of the risen 
righteous. 

These were the points made by Mr. Miller in 
working out his problem: "i. The little horn of 
Daniel viii. is the Roman papal power. 2. The 
'daily sacrifice' which the little horn 'took away' 
(chap. viii. 11-13) was the pagan worship of idols 
in old Rome. 3. The papal power abolished this 
pagan idolatry in A.D. 508 or A.D. 538. 4. The 
'sanctuary 7 which was 'cleansed* (chap. viii. 14) 
is this entire world, and its cleansing is to be by 
fire in 1843. Now, to find the exact time of this 
great conflagration and cleansing he called in the 
aid of chapter ix. 23-25." 

We will not follow out all his reasoning and fig- 
uring, for its failure is the proof of its fallacy. He, 
with all others of his kind, takes the unscriptural, 



The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 319 

untenable ground that a day stands for a year in 
prophecy. 

The spirit in which these dupes of a delusion 
take their frequent disappointments, were it not so 
sad, would be amusing. Let me in conclusion 
give a single quotation from one of them who is 
rallying his brethren for one more waiting. In 
speaking of the " little book " given by the angel 
to John to be eaten by him, after quoting the pas- 
sage, he says: " These are the directions given to 
the Church for their further movements, after their 
first disappointment; and, my brethren of the ad- 
vent faith, I would not chide you ; for you have eat- 
en of this little book for the past forty years with a 
keen relish; ay, you have endured the bitter, too, 
which has followed, like heroes. If I could chide 
you, it would be in this: that you now refuse to 
eat more. The bitter has been so bitter (yet the 
sweet was truly as sweet as honey) and has been 
so exhausting (apparently) that many, very many, 
have decided that it is bestybr the body that we 
should eat no more. Truly the result of every 
morsel since taking the book from the angel has 
been bitterness. But, my brethren, if we are the 
people of God, there is just one step more for us to 
take, and only one. Hear it right from the lips of 
the same angel that told John to take the book from 
the hand of the first angel: 'And he said unto me, 
Thou must -prophesy again [What, again? Yes, 
again] before many peoples, and nations, and 
tongues, and kings. 7 " 



320 The Kingdom and Comings of Christ. 

Then, after making calculations, the author 
winds up by fixing on 1889 as the year, and says: 
" Why shall we not expect the Lord in 1889? The 
writer, while he lays claim to no worldly wisdom, 
and makes no pretensions as to being a prophet, 
yet has no doubt that the year 18^89 will bring the 
event mentioned in the last verse of Daniel's proph- 
ecy, and means and expects to be ready." 

So we see that no amount of disappointment can 
dampen the ardor or cloud the faith of these false 
interpreters of prophecy. Having accepted as true 
that Christ is to reign in the flesh on earth, noth- 
ing else will do them. 

The doctrine, as taught by the " Second Advent- 
ists," that Christ is to reign in the flesh here on 
earth is entirely outside the Scripture. Peter tells 
us plainly that the " heavens must receive him un- 
til the times of restitution of all things." All w r ho 
hold this doctrine disparage faith by their longing 
desire to see Christ come and inaugurate a system 
of work here on earth that shall be superior to that 
now in operation. But this will never be. When 
Christ shall come again which he surely will 
it will be " with a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
angel, 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 [not on earth, but 
in heaven]. Amen."