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Collected
Writings of J.N.
Darby
Prophetic 1
By John Nelson Darby
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Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
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Contents
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquiry and the Views
Advanced in It ........................................................7
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language .... 49
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy ............................62
e Dispensation of the Kingdom of Heaven ...............76
e Melchisedec Priesthood of Christ ..........................92
A Letter in Reply to “ree Considerations” ............... 106
Evidence From Scripture of the Passing Away of the
Present Dispensation ..........................................126
Divine Mercy in the Church and Towards Israel.........171
Notes on the Revelation ..............................................230
CHAPTER 12 ......................................................................... 297
CHAPTER 13 ......................................................................... 305
CHAPTER 14 ......................................................................... 318
CHAPTERS 15 AND 16 ........................................................328
CHAPTER 17 ......................................................................... 337
CHAPTER 18 ......................................................................... 346
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CHAPTER 19 ......................................................................... 351
CHAPTER 20 ......................................................................... 357
CHAPTER 21 ......................................................................... 362
e Purpose of God ....................................................368
e Hopes of the Church of God, in Connection
With the Destiny of the Jews and the Nations As
Revealed in Prophecy..........................................385
e Church and Its Glory ...........................................392
e Second Coming of Christ .....................................403
First Resurrection, or Resurrection of the Just .............418
Progress of Evil on the Earth ......................................432
Judgment of the Nations Which Become the Inheritance
of Christ and of the Church ...............................447
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of
Promise ............................................................... 463
Israel’s Failure and Dispersion: Promises of Restoration ...
475
Israel’s Restoration: the Manner of Its Accomplishment ...
488
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Summing up and Conclusion ......................................499
On the 1260 Days .......................................................517
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and
Civil Apostasy .....................................................520
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
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62213
Reections Upon the
Prophetic Inquiry and the
Views Advanced in It
1
“ 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,” Rev. 22:18, 19.
THE existing circumstances of the Church of God seem
to call upon those who earnestly desire its welfare, not to
hold back from expressing that which may, in any way, tend
to the strengthening of faith and healing those divisions
which, while they destroy charity, and the fellowship one
with another that is proper to walking in the light, weaken
the testimony which is held out to the unconverted, or to
the inquirer, of the everlasting truth of God. It appears to
me that, on the subject of prophecy (divisions on which
now shame godliness), both those who hold and those
who strenuously oppose views, which, for convenience’
sake, we may call Millenarian, are deeply culpable. Many
have written on one side and the other ignorant of each
other’s views, and precipitate and unwarranted in their
inferences from them; and, while those who hold the views
of prophecy, which have occasioned the controversy, have
indulged in language utterly inconsistent with the spirit
1 Dublin, 1829.
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of their Master, those who are unconvinced by them,
though charging this exclusively on the Millenarians, are
themselves, it appears to me, in no way free from blame.
Superciliousness, distrust, and animosity, not perhaps so
distinctly expressed, because new views are generally the
most active and forward, but quite as evil in their character
and spirit, have marked their conduct and language; while
those who sought instruction, and to whom the others were
debtors for it, have been hindered, perplexed, and repelled
in their inquiries by the selsh precipitancy of the one and
presuming ignorance of many connected with them, and
the uncandid, uninquiring rejection and denouncement of
the other. ere is no one at all observant of what is now
existing, and interested in the strengthening of humble
souls, but must feel the culpable responsibility in which
many leaders of the professing church are involved.
ere are some observations I would make on these
subjects, being convinced of the extreme precipitancy in
which many have written upon them; and I think that
in such a time (though I am persuaded the purposes of
God will eventually result, and His glory be manifested
in our weakness), there should be a disposition to try
more maturely the soundness of our views and statements
alleged to be from Scripture, before truth and the value of
the sacred Scriptures themselves are brought into question,
perplexity, and disgrace, by the presumptuous and hasty
pursuit, not of scriptural truth, but of our own untried
thoughts, given out to a greedy public, glad of novelty,
which has no requisition of sanctication attached to it,
and ready to neglect their own souls for unfounded and
idle speculations.
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
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On the other hand, it is equally certain that the Scriptures
of God have not been written to no purpose; that, as His
provision for His saints, the prophetic like all other parts
of them have a sanctifying, strengthening and directing
inuence. What God thought it worthwhile to order and
arrange, as ministering to the ends of His glory and man’s
participation in it, and to reveal (that is, to communicate,
to man), as that in which He is concerned, must be surely
worthwhile for man to inquire into and be informed of;
and they seem guilty of presumption who would arraign
the value and importance of what God thought t to reveal.
e fact of God’s revelation to one who knows what God
is (in a word, to a believer) is demonstrative evidence of its
vast importance and his interest in it; and when it comes
from God to man, is man to say it is not of importance?
ese truly are the themes which have called forth
most the admiration and praise of those who have seen
God in them; nor can anyone believe rightly in His saving
love, who is not deeply interested in the manner by which
its results are accomplished. e argument that prophecy
is only available as an evidence of revelation after its
fulllment, not to reason upon general grounds, seems to
have little weight. All the prophecies testify of facts which
require a certain line of conduct, at or previous to their
fulllment; and though they are evidence of themselves
as a revelation, and of the value of the prophesied fact,
there are few instances of this being of importance after
their fulllment. Besides, many of them unequivocally
relate to the closing period of the world; and it would be
hard to say of what avail these could be for the purpose
stated. And further, almost all which are considered as
fullled prophecies by those who use this argument,
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were expressly delivered as testimonies to the consciences
of men immediately concerned in them, previously to
their fulllments. Will any one say, that the directions
of our Lord to His disciples were of no interest, and not
important to be understood previous to the destruction of
Jerusalem, and merely that that destruction might accredit
His testimony? Were Jeremiah’s urgent remonstrances and
warnings not to be inquired into before the Chaldeans
took the city; and shall it be said that the solemn testimony
to Israel put them under no responsibility, but were useless
declamations, till the kings of Assyria had been the means
of burying them in yet unveiled oblivion? ere seems to
be something of indelity in all this. Or do they argue that
God is less concerned in the Church now, or that the Lord
now will not do good, neither will He do evil? Besides, they
leave, arguing in the present time, a large scope of prophecy
unfullled, which manifestly cannot be of any direct avail
subsequent to its fulllment; and yet they would aord us
no assignable cause why it has been revealed at all.
But they say it does not tend to sanctication. But
man is not a judge of this; he would still be sanctifying
the Church his own way. I am persuaded that God never
revealed anything without a sanctifying purpose; for His
nature is holy, His purpose holiness; and I believe the sober
and holy study of the word of God, as such, in His fear, will
concentrate the aections upon Him, separate from the
world, and give enlarged views of His kingdom, wisdom,
and glory, peculiarly calculated to sink in our estimation
this world-its glory, its strength; and to x our minds on
the Lamb’s glory. ere is in fact in these objections a
tendency to depreciate the purposes of God in Scripture,
to preserve the importance of man’s little sphere of views.
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
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On the other hand, the extreme precipitancy with
which the subject has been taken up has led-which
has given occasion to this part of the charge-to unjust
estimate of the use, and value, and seasonable application
of those truths. Men have sought to please themselves,
instead of edifying themselves or their neighbors. Let
men either inquire humbly, or use God’s word to God’s
purposes, or else refrain from seeking to aect the minds
of others. Loquacity or forwardness on religious subjects
is a great hindrance to real edication. “ If any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God,” as those who have
something to say on God’s behalf, or else use the modesty
which becomes those who only seek for truth. One other
complaint is to be made against those who oppose these
views, and it is a serious one. Instead of weighing what has
been advanced by others in the spirit of serious inquiry,
separating the cha from the wheat, and willing to see the
use which God might make of their brethren’s testimony;
jealous of the tone which they assumed, and hurt by their
charges against them, they irritably threw the whole of
their views overboard, without inquiring what the scripture
itself said upon the subject; and then, to justify themselves,
endeavored all they could to show, in the darkest colors,
every art of the system, and bring up reasons against the
whole. But if there be any truth in these things, they are
defrauding themselves, and it is a poor compensation to
prove their brethren wrong.
In many things, alas! we are divided enough-enough
exposed to the enemy not to be opposed to one another in
our very hopes. Surely they should give some just sense, if
they think those to whom they are opposed in the wrong.
For my own part, if I were bound to receive all that has
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been said by the Millenarians, I would reject the whole
system; but their views and statements weigh with me not
one feather. But this does not hinder me from inquiring by
the teaching of the same Spirit (which in measure, I believe,
directed them) what God has with innite graciousness
revealed to me concerning His dealings with the Church.
I confess I think the modern writers on prophecy justly
chargeable with following their own thoughts hastily,
and far too much removed from the control of Scripture.
ey have got some general view, perhaps sound, of God’s
purpose. ey take some text or prophecy as a starting point,
pursue the suggestions of their own minds in connection
with their general views previously adopted, but leave the
results almost entirely untried by the direct testimony of
the word, aording us theories, often enlarging when by
a writer much imbued with Scripture, often of general
soundness of view though replete with false statements:
but, when not by such a writer, diverging into absurdities
calculated to awaken the impatience of many and bring the
truth of all into dishonor. In the meanwhile the Church is
distracted. ere is not a single writer whose writings I have
seen (unless it be the author of one short inquiry) who is
not chargeable with this fault. Some of the most condent
really call for much reprobation. But good, I am persuaded,
will grow out of it; and the very diculties will call, under
God’s Spirit, the attention of the faithful servant of God:
and while the precipitancy of the others will be repressed
by the distinct manifestation of the error into which it
has led them and the calm statement of truth, they who
have hitherto rejected even inquiry will yield themselves
to much which they have scorned, and be humbled both to
the acknowledgment of a common truth and the spiritual
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
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sincerity of many against whom they have been bitter,
because they could not convince them, when in truth it
was their own fault. I would call upon the servants of God
to pray that He would guide and direct His church by His
Spirit in these things in sober and subdued meekness, and
it will surely be led into all truth. I shall take notice (with
this feeling) of some things which seem to me illustrative
of the unguarded, unscriptural statements many of which,
I think, have dishonored Scripture, and been spoken
ignorantly: and I shall, secondly, propose some ground of
inquiry, to those who have hitherto repudiated these views.
ese views trench upon many habits in which religious
teachers have for the most part been formed-many views
in which they have long had their boast. No man likes
to give up these: their relative consequence is lost; it is
distinguishing to oppose them. “ No man, having drunk
old wine, straightway desireth new, for he saith, the old is
better.” Many of the subjects mentioned in the foregoing
pages are of themselves of deep interest, such as the use
of prophecy generally, and materially aecting the present
views of men upon the subject; but it has not been attempted
to dwell upon them at length here: other occasions, or a
better instrument, perhaps may draw them out into more
useful and instructive relief. My object is unpretending and
simple, and I pursue it at once: it has been some time on
my mind, though withheld hitherto.
e observations on the “ resurrection from among the
dead,” published in the Christian Examiner (sound in
criticism, and temperate in spirit, and calculated to be
useful) point out an instance of the extreme carelessness
with which bold statements are made by writers on these
subjects: but having been there discussed, I omit it here.
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ere is an error of another kind, small in importance,
perhaps, because of obvious correction, but illustrative of
the way in which men inconsiderately make statements,
when they fall in with their system, in the face of the
simplest testimony of Scripture itself. In the third and
fourth sermons on Daniel’s vision of the four beasts and of
the Son of man, by Mr. Irving, Zephaniah is stated to have
prophesied before the carrying away of Israel captive; and
it is assumed that they carried the book of that prophet to
Nineveh, whereby Nineveh would know of its threatened
judgments. e prophet addressed Judah alone, and
expressly states that he prophesied in the reign of Josiah
(that is, about one hundred years after the carrying away
of Israel captive). e reason of the statement is, to show
that God gave testimony to Nineveh and her king, before
He judged them. He certainly had done so previously by
Jonah. e idea is a very laudable one; but, running away
with it, we have the following passage in page 92: “ Yet
God suered not such a city to perish without witnesses,
but raised certain of the captivity to the highest oces in
his kingdom,” etc. “ ere can be no doubt, also, that the
prophecies of Nahum and of Zephaniah, which almost
solely concern the judgment upon Nineveh, and which
were given before the captivity of Israel, were carried with
the captives into Nineveh, and there more or less circulated
amongst the Ninevites, and especially brought to the
knowledge of the king himself; for God is very merciful,”
etc. ey say much of taking Scripture as it presents itself.
Who could suppose that all that concerned Nineveh in
the prophecy of Zephaniah was three verses, bringing it
in amongst the many other countries which were to be
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar- the whole book being
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
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concerning him, Jerusalem, its present evil, and future
hopes; and this, as we have said, a century after Israel was
carried into captivity! We take it as showing the extreme
neglect of Scripture and even prophecy itself, the hurried
pursuit of an object in the mind, something brought in at
random to illustrate it, without any reference or mature
weighing, whether it is really borne out by Scripture. I think
the interpretation of Isaiah in the same page erroneous,
and the occasion of the error the same: but as this might
seem to involve interpretation, I do not say anything of it,
though I think the case perfectly clear, and that the simple
reading of prophecy will evince the total inapplicability of
the alleged meaning. Another instance, upon which it is
not proposed to dwell, but mentioned as occurring in the
same book, is in a long dissertation to show that the Greek
empire was set up in order to give prevalence to the Greek
language, which, though a collateral result, is, I think, a very
conned view, and in itself exhibits the absorption of mind
into its present idea, which I complain of as so injurious,
and, in the case of Scripture, so very culpable; but it is there
stated, that our Lord and His apostles always quote from
the Septuagint. is is not the fact, as has been fully shown.
Again, in the translator’s preliminary discourse to Ben-
Ezra, we have (p. 55), “ And to this eect I understand Rom.
8:1, ‘ ere is no condemnation ‘ (krisis, i.e. judgment),”
etc. e word is katakrima without a single various reading
in Wetstein or Griesbach. Doubtless he had in mind
John 5:24, where it is krisis. If this were an isolated act of
inadvertency, it might be well passed over; but it is evidence,
and accumulated evidence, of great carelessness. And it is
adduced on this account, that it is introduced by the author
as determining the sense of an important passage, to which,
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at the time of stating it, it is evident, he could not have
referred; not merely from the mistake itself, but because the
whole passage (and this is the point I would urge) bears in
a long train of argument upon subjects totally unconnected
with the one upon which he is arguing, and in which krisis,
in his view of it, would have no place or object. at which
we advert to is not the casual mistake, but the drawing in
a whole passage into a purpose beside its object, through
absorption of mind, into one particular view.
And in this place we cannot pass over, though it cannot
be treated as a mistake, passages in this preface highly
injurious to the work and honor of Christ, and in it, the
just, holy, and inuencing comfort of believing saints. It
is alike indicative of the same hasty pursuit of a single
idea. I shall quote but one concentrating sentence-but the
observations will apply to the whole spirit shown from p.
55-65 of this preface. e haste, the very culpable haste
(for the promises and hopes of God’s people are not thus
to be tried with) is shown in this. In evincing (the truth of
which we do not now inquire into) that the resurrection at
Christ’s coming is the substantive hope of the Church, he
attempts this by throwing every cloud upon the hope of the
dying Christian. “ Death,” his words are, is a parting, not
a meeting; it is a sorrowful parting, not a joyful meeting;
it is a parting in feebleness and helplessness to we know
not whither-into a being we know not what.” is sentence
is singularly unfortunate in its statements; and, indeed,
Scripture and the hope of the gospel ought not to be thus
made the slave of men’s momentary thoughts. “ I have a
desire,” says the apostle, “ to depart and to be with Christ.”
Death to the believer is not a parting but a meeting, if our
central and supreme aections are with Christ. I am not
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questioning here, be it remembered, the hope of Christ’s
coming, but Mr. Irving’s statements respecting death:
Death is not a sorrowful parting, but a joyful meeting; for
it does not become us to sorrow as those without hope. For
why? -they that sleep in Jesus go to Jesus, and God brings
them with Him. For indeed “ he that liveth and believeth
in Jesus shall never die.” If, indeed, he values earthly things
more than Christ’s presence, then sorrow will accompany
his death. But it is the proper distinction of Christianity to
have neutralized that power of death which Mr. Irving is
preaching; “ for the sting of death is sin, and the strength
of sin is the law “; but both are dead to the believer in the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior. It is a parting
not in but with feebleness and helplessness, we know
whither-that is, to Christ. If He be true, we know whither
we go, and the way. As to “ a being we know not what,” the
Scripture arms it of the state of the risen body, and of
that only. “ It does not yet appear,” saith the apostle, “ what
we shall be,” speaking expressly of that state. As to the
promise, Mr. Irving is writing against his own opinions;
for, if he hold that Christ will come again, he believes that
He will bring His saints with Him, so that they which are
alive and remain have no preference. He is indeed himself
witness that Scripture is conclusive as to a paradise for the
separated spirit; but he says we know not what it is. Is there
nothing, then, in being with Christ the Savior, who loved
us and gave Himself for us-that hope that brightened the
thoughts and quickened the expectations of many a dying
and many a martyred saint? Is there nothing in being with
Him, to throw holy inuence and triumphant character
on the relinquishment of this yet evil and Satan deceived
world? Sure I am, there was that in it which made Paul
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prefer death to life; for death was no death to him, but
parting from trial to Christ, from perseverance through
surrounding evil to that blessed presence, where all doubt,
sorrow, and death would have passed away to him forever.
He had a desire to depart and be with Christ; he was not
comforted only by the building of God made with hands;
for he was always condent, desiring rather to be absent
from the body and present with the Lord.
We must say that this is a most unholy misstatement
of Scripture, and destructive of that which is the glory and
inuential power, as well of the resurrection of the saints,
as of their present hopes; and that, if the Lord’s presence
be not a paramount blessing, prevailing over death now, it
never will be at the resurrection, or at any other time. It
shows the folly of man in his thoughts; for, in attempting
to show the importance of his views above another’s, the
sole thing which is of power in those very views and can
alone realize them is undermined and destroyed, and this
in the face of the fullest and most anxious statements of
Scripture, and to the dishonor of Christ and the faith
of the saints of God. Satan reigns by death; Christ has
brought life and immortality to light by the gospel. And
to argue from the circumstances of His death is folly; for
it was because He so suered, and (having overcome in
full conict with the very power under which it is here
stated we rest) rose again into glory, that we have not
that trial, that we are delivered and triumph, and that
its power is past away towards us. e observations from
the Apocalypse are a total misapprehension of its force.
is might call for much and varied animadversion; but
my object is not to condemn or accuse (God forbid that
it should be!) but precisely the contrary. But these are the
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sort of statements which have awakened the impatience
of observant Christians, and occasioned a natural, though
indeed an unjust prejudice against the persons who hold
those views they are urged in maintenance of, and a hasty
rejection (still more foolish) of the views themselves. For in
this they are making themselves servants to the unguarded
precipitancy of others, not judges of it, and masters of the
truths which they confound with so many misstatements.
In a word, they are allowing Satan to do just what he meant
to do by the partial ignorance of inquiring men.
But it must be confessed, it is a bold word to say, that
when Christ said to the thief on the cross, “ Today shalt
thou be with me in Paradise “-that which made Paul always
condent, giving him, upon the common faith of God’s
people, a desire to depart-that what the Lord comforted
and assured the thief with, and the apostle built on, was,
“ a day of death, from sight of which the soul shrinketh,
and a void beyond it, so vacant and unintelligible, as not to
be available for any distinct end of faith, hope, edication,
or comfort.” “ And this notion of blessedness with Christ,
upon our leaving this tabernacle, is a vague notion which
Satan hath substituted.” Christ substituted it as something
nearer to the dying thief, when he proposed that on which
the writer so much insists; and it was because it was a distant
hope, and there would have been a vague void without this
revelation, that we were given the assurance that that was
revealed in great mercy, which is thus now thrown to the
dogs. e hope of the individual is being with Christ; the
hope of the church is His coming: doubtless the individual
is deeply interested in this hope likewise. On the whole,
throughout this preface, Christ’s present glory is not duly
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seen, nor its perception by the believer as manifested by
Him, as it is not to the world.
But, perhaps, we are passing our subject. I shall therefore
next take notice, merely with this view, of a commonly
current work, “ e Cry from the Desert,” in the hope that
it may lead to a more accurate examination of Scripture
itself, before any of the writings of men upon this subject
are adopted or rejected. is is what I would press and urge
upon every one: to apply themselves, for themselves, to the
testimony of Scripture, to draw ideas simply and directly
from this (and I can assure them, they will ever nd
them sanctifying ideas) but trust no man’s mind, whether
millenarian or anti-millenarian; to use the scriptural rule-
” to prove all things, and hold fast that which is good “;
to adopt nothing unexamined, and to reject nothing
unexamined, however weak it may be in its positions. If
taken in itself, it may distract; if it lead to the examination
of Scripture, it may prove the indirect source of abundant
knowledge and grace.
It is not my object to enter generally upon the character
of this tract. I dare say the writer’s mind aimed at more fully
exhibiting the purposes of God; but by undue condence,
the result has been to overrun Scripture, and exhibit, as it
appears to me, only his own weakness. It is this I would
deprecate. e energy of new apprehensions, doubtless, is
often valuable; but in man’s hands it often degenerates into
the truth-less and unprotable display of crude conceptions
of our own. Let us compare the following passages, after
which we will enter into detail.
“ I can readily conceive, however, that these
accompaniments of the divinity, with all the attendant
miracles with which the heavenly Jerusalem is surrounded,
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21
will never be exposed to the unsanctied gaze of any but
the holy nation; and that, as I shall hereafter attempt to
show, only of its most holy and privileged orders. I cannot
aord you a more simple or expressive illustration of this
sacred seclusion of the heavenly city, than was aorded
me in reading the very interesting narrative of Captain
Hall’s visit to the Loo Choo Islands in the Eastern Ocean,
about four or ve hundred miles south of Japan; wherein
he states, that although he anchored o their shores for
several months, and during that time had, by dint of
the most conding overtures, and the most unwearied
perseverance, contrived to establish a friendly intercourse
with the natives, yet, neither persuasions, entreaties, nor
threats, could ever induce them, in their most unguarded
moments, to allow him, or any of his company, to make
any approaches into the interior of the country, where the
king’s palace was situated. Nay, so scrupulously jealous
were they of Captain Hall’s inquiries relative to the king,
his government, or even his private establishment and
family, that they would never enter into conversation
upon the subject, and scarcely mention his name. I can,
therefore, easily picture to myself that the more immediate
residence, the court of the King of the whole earth (to use
an expression more familiar to our present conceptions),
will be most sacredly guarded against the approach of any
but the highly privileged nation; as it is written,’ Nothing
unholy or uncircumcised shall enter therein.’ “
And there came unto me one of the seven angels 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. And he carried me away in the spirit, to
a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city,
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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 foundations, and in them the
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 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.
e length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal.
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is
of the angel. 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. e rst foundation was jasper;
the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an
emerald; the fth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh,
chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, 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 it were transparent glass. 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. And the nations of them
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23
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. And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that deleth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination or maketh a lie: but they which are written in
the Lamb’s book of life.”
Can anything more display or condemn the light spirit
in which God’s purposes are taken up, than the contrast
of these two passages? How blessed and full of blessing is
the latter! how full of sanctifying and exalting truths and
images! His friend, however, suggests the diculty: “ If
this be so, how can the kings of the earth oer him their
homage? “ He replies, “ I have anticipated this objection,
as I nd it written in Ezekiel, that the prince himself shall
worship in the temple: that is, worship God the Father.
And as I will undertake to prove to you, the temple can
only be erected in earthly Jerusalem, I thence infer, that the
Prince will likewise there give his audiences, on set days,
to the kings of the earth, who shall hold their kingdoms
there at his hand, and will there receive their gifts of fealty
to their great Head.” But this merely proves what we are
here animadverting upon-the entire neglect of scriptural
statements, and loss of scriptural objects, and their power,
in the hasty pursuit of our own thoughts. e writer had
framed his system of the two cities over against each other
in the holy oblation, and he had to solve the objection,
which he does, so as to relieve his own system from it as
stated, but proving utter neglect of Scripture. For, instead
of going there to receive their homage, the scripture states
that the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and
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24
honor unto it. I do not intend to pursue the comparison of
the passages, for they are suciently obvious to the most
unobservant; but I confess I pity the mind which could
interpret the statement in the Revelation into a sort of box,
in which the Lord was to be shut up to prevent anybody
seeing Him; like a certain petty king whom Captain Hall
went to visit. is may be immaterial; but I arm that the
scope of the statement, generally, is directly opposed to the
scope and object of the testimony of God in the latter part
of the Revelation, and owing from simple ignorance of
the intention, meaning, and principles of interpretation of
the passage and book in which it is found. To make good
this, I prefer to invite the minute comparison of others,
than to introduce here my own, because my object is not to
interpret but to comment on the neglect of scripture with
which some pursue their own thoughts.
But besides the strange moral confusion as to the
passage in the Revelation, and inconsistency too with
the system the author aects (he must forgive me) to
have gone so far into, his statement is entirely foreign
from the passage in Ezekiel. e passages are these, Ezek.
45:6, “ And ye shall appoint the possession of the city ve
thousand broad, and ve and twenty thousand long, over
against the oblation of the holy portion; it shall be for the
whole house of Israel.” Compare this simple statement
with the innite conjectures of the wandering mind of
the writer of this tract. Again, Ezek. 48:15, “ and the ve
thousand that are left in the breadth over against the ve
and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city,
for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the
midst thereof.” e whole division was to be profane for
the city, etc. In a word, the east side was for the priests,
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
25
the middle for the Levites next in order, the remaining
ve thousand was profane for the whole house of Israel,
to have the city generally, its dwelling and suburbs. And
this profane place (it is a simple misstatement to say,
that it was what was outside the city within this portion
that was profane), this profane place which was the part
farthest from the sanctuary, for the whole house of Israel
is, we are told, the heavenly Jerusalem! It would be alike
impossible and unprotable to follow all the absurdities
and direct contradictions to the text, which arise out of
such statements. But there is great evil in them; they catch
many that are unstable and unlearned, and lead the mind of
any one who attends to them from following undistracted
the purposes of Scripture itself. But it is painful, really, to
dwell upon it. Let no man, however, think that he will be
excused from looking daily for the Lord’s coming, because
other men thus pursue their own errors. e Scripture is
sent to them and to all.
It appears to me, that much of the crudeness of this
pamphlet ows from ignorance of the true nature of the
Gentile and Jewish dispensations. e throne of David and
the throne of His glory are dierent things, doubtless; but
let us see how this subject is pursued by the writer. “ ere
must be,” says he, “ two comings in judgment; one before,
one after the millennium: one to sit on the throne of David,
the other on the throne of His glory.” But His sitting on
the throne of David is not His coming in judgment at
all, but the consequence of His judgment of the Gentile
nations. But, as proof of the distinction, he refers to the
attendants of the Lord” one,” says he, “ with His own glory
and His saints, the other with the holy angels, and His
Father’s glory.” e passage of Scripture in which this is
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26
spoken of furnishes no such distinction. He says, coming
with His saints in His own glory is the rst coming-
coming with the angels in His Father’s, the second; the
rst applying to judgment of ante-millenarians. See Mark
8:38. I nd, “ Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation,
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he
cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Here, this so called latter coming is expressly applied to
those who have not owned Him during His humiliation;
and the same observation may apply to Matt. 16:27. If it
be alleged that this is at the raising of the rest of the dead,
what shall we say to Luke 9:26? “ For whosoever shall be
ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of
man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory,
and in his Father’s, and of the angels.” And on the other
hand, what shall we say, if we compare Jude, where He is
said to come with ten thousand of His saints to execute
judgment on similar oenders? And not only does the
voice of the archangel and the trump of God minister to
the raising of the dead in Christ at what this statement
would call His rst coming, but we are expressly told, in
the epistle to the essalonians, that, when He comes,
according to their views (on which we say nothing), ante
millennially, when He shall come to be gloried in His
saints, and admired in all them that believe, giving rest to
those that have suered with Him in His humiliation-the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels. It appears to me, that this also ows from ignorance
of the plan and scope of Scripture, i.e., of the counsels of
God in Christ our common Lord. But it proves neglect of
Scripture. On the whole, a greater confusion of Scripture,
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27
and substitution of human conjectures and supposition,
can hardly be supposed, than the latter part of the tract.
But our only endeavor must be to obtain tangible
portions of it for the purpose for which I write this. e
writer proves, from Isa. 65:25, that the curse continues in
the land of Israel, because the judgment, it is said, shall
rest on the serpent-” dust shall be the serpent’s meat.” And
as John had said, that there should be no more curse, not
speaking of the land of Judea, nor of any place (unless it
comprehend all places), but abstractedly and absolutely,
but that the throne of God and the Lamb should be in it,
in applying this “ no more curse “ to the city (I do not say
erroneously), he says it must apply to the portion of land
which is outside the city, and not in it at all, i.e., that part
which was for the Prince. For he perceives no impropriety
in extending it out of the city. For this “ no more curse “
means only that there shall be curse still all over the world,
except a little portion of land in Judea, which, however,
is not within the city, where the curse is not to be. We
may remark, too, if the Revelation of John be thus applied,
the tract contradicts itself; for the throne of God and the
Lamb has come upon earth before the third judgment of
which he speaks and the city had the glory of God. And
the throne of David and the throne of God are on the earth
together; and the whole house of Israel have access to it.
Again, the writer states, “ that the Gentiles, which are
to have their lot in the land of Israel, are those who are
expecting the Lord’s personal coming,” etc.; and that he
does apply their being changed to giving them a long life
during the millennium. But he does not apply the coming,
on which they are to receive that change, to the rst coming;
i.e., before the millennium, or at least, when they are to be
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28
caught up into the air. at is, in order to satisfy his view of
the Gentiles who are to live in the land of Israel, he think
that he and his friends are to be the favored persons, but
as Paul says, that “ we which are alive and remain to the
coming of the Lord “ are to be caught up; and, as he wishes
not to be then ever with the Lord, but to live in Judea or the
land of Israel, he settles that this means two comings, and
the catching up must belong to the latter, and the change
does not mean from corruption to incorruption, but merely
from a short life to a long one. “ For,” says he, “ if not, where
else are we to get people to bring the Jews home? Wicked
Gentiles would not do it.” In the rst place, it appears that
the Jews are brought home before the appearing of the
Lord; in the next, why not? Cannot the Lord make any
nation minister to the deliverance of His favored people,
whatever their own objects and state may be? And such
seems to be the very tenor of prophecy-that is shall be an
imposed service; and the writer and his friends must leave
it to those whom God chooses.
But let us compare Paul’s statements. ere are two
prominent ones-one in 1Cor. 15, the other 1ess. 4 “
Now this I say, brethren, that esh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption,, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
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29
O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?
e sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. erefore, my beloved brethren, be
ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in
vain in the Lord.” How refreshing is it to turn to Scripture!
e force of this is, I think, too evident to need comment.
We shall all be changed though we all do not sleep
(1Cor. 15:51), i.e. we, who are not asleep, shall be changed.
ere is a necessary common result to be produced on all,
in order to their entrance into the kingdom of God; we
shall be changed alike and equally, though we shall not all
sleep. We who do not sleep shall yet be changed. Not to
enter further here on this deeply interesting passage, I turn
to 1essalonians 4: 13: “ But 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. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise rst: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
We, says the apostle, are not to account ourselves better
o than those that sleep, as if we should see and meet the
Lord and not they. “ For this we say unto you by the word
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30
of the Lord “; that is, that when Christ shall come, the dead
in Christ shall rise rst, before we are caught up, and then
we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with
them. In the English there might, perhaps, be an argument
on the force of the word ‘ together,’ but as placed in the
Greek there can be none. e catching up of the saints is
not spoken of in connection with the destruction of death,
as the writer states. e substance of 1Cor. 15 applies to
believers only. ere is, therefore, no ground of diculty
from the existence of death during the millennium, as
to the application of the above cited passage. And it is
remarkable that in the next page, the language of it is put
into the mouths of the risen saints, as spoken on the day of
the rst resurrection, to which in this page the writer says
it is wholly inapplicable, because death remains. In fact,
it appears to me a confusion of the Jewish and Gentile
dispensations-the hinge upon which the subject and the
understanding of Scripture turns. Here I complain not
of error, but of a neglect of the substantive force of the
direct testimonies of the word of God, to meet the views
drawn from elsewhere and pursued in the mind beyond
the testimony of the place itself; and of consequences
being adduced as necessary, according to man’s mind,
other scripture being made subservient to these, instead of
stopping at the direct testimony, till other passages give
additional light, or, at least, connecting deductions by these
passages admitted in their own force. is is alone a great
hindrance to knowledge, and practically setting up men’s
thoughts (ignorant, foolish man!) above the word of God.
is book is, indeed, a sample of the evil likely to
attend upon what is valuable in these inquiries, from crude
thoughts untried by Scripture, attached to opinions urged
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31
as new to the credit of the writer, which are now familiar
to everybody, without any new development of the mind of
God in the Scriptures, and assuming a title pretending to
speak from God, while it speaks only from man, and that
crudely, and does not apply the great facts of these revelations
to the correction and improvement of men; but instead of
that, uses the notions of them to exalt the holders of them
into the only favorites of heaven-thinking everybody is
scorning them, whereas, in fact, they are becoming worldly,
through their popularity and self complacency. It is not the
inquiry into these subjects I deprecate; but men’s imposing
upon others conclusions not drawn, but distracting
others, from the scriptural statements of the same truths.
I am free to confess that I nd the records of God full
of consolation, enlarging instruction, holy and sanctifying
exhortation, and warning. What God has revealed to man
must be the saints’ delight to know, and must sanctify them
more wholly, because it reveals more of the character of
God. His revealing it is itself witness of its purpose and
(blessed forever be His name!) so has He in the Lord Jesus
identied Himself with man, that there is nothing of His
acts that He does not reveal by His servants the prophets.
Yea, all the things that He does in the Lord He makes a
common subject with His people for His sake. Nay, all that
He has is now largely opened; even the storehouse of His
eternal wisdom, and glory, and purpose in the Son is now
opened and declared by the revelation of the Spirit, as the
scripture, in many places, testies to our joy and comfort.
Who shall shut it up?-Who dares to do it? Rather let us
open our mouth wide that He may ll it. But let no man
mix or dissolve the streams of life by strange introductions
of human mixture. Truth is the instrument of holiness; and
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32
error and weakness, to say no more, of moral conduct will
ever be found to attend each other. I say, seek the truth:
I say, let not men crudely impose unsound thoughts and
distract the church.
One subject yet remains on which I shall shortly touch.
In a deeply interesting and, I think, protable and timely
sermon of Mr. Irving’s, I found the following passage on
false accusers. After stating that it meant the spirit of
accusation generally, he says, in the “ Last Days,” p. 204,
“ It may therefore be laid down as a general principle of
doctrine, that as the law of Christian life is love, so the
law of Christian life when love is rejected or maltreated
is forbearance, forgiveness, blessing, and intercession with
God. As the oce of the Christian Church on earth, is to
preach, and to minister the grace of God unto all men; so
also is it her oce to make continual intercession before
God for those who reject His oered grace, and trample
under foot the blood of His covenant. And, of these two
functions, the ministry of free grace, and the ministry of
intercession for free grace rejected, if I were asked which
is the more important, I would answer they are equally
important to the integrity of love and the demonstration
of divine grace; but of the two, that which is the highest
and noblest exercise of love is surely intercession for him
who hath spurned our love.”
What shall we say after this, when we consider their
own writings? ey have come forward to the bar of public
opinion (see “ False Accuser,” pp. 2081o), and avowedly
descended to ght their accusers on their own ground by
public accusation. I feel unwillingly entirely to detail here
the language and statements of the article on the eology
of the Periodical Journals. I think Mr. Malan right, and
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33
I think Mr. Erskine (though in many respects useful,
and that extensively) is entirely wrong, if judged properly
by Scripture, and wrong for pursuing his own thoughts
without just subjection to Scripture, conceiving them new,
when many, very many, have held them faithfully without
mistake. I am not an advocate of the religious world; but
neither can I attach myself to those who becoming, in fact,
an isolated corner of the religious world, and setting up for
the best and soundest part of it, fall into at least the same
faults which they reprobate in no very courteous terms.
ey charge the editors of some journal with ignorance
of their trade (no very courteous expression); but, while
doing this, they should not have misstated the expressions
of Erskine, in a way, too, which show them either falsiers,
or else ignorant of the great principles on which their trade
(if they will have it so) turned. Mr. Erskine, they say, wishes
to state this highly important fact, namely, that by the
incarnation of the second Person of the Trinity, the whole
creation (i.e., limiting the word creation’ to this planet
and the beings who inhabit it) is become benecially
interested in the work of Christ. is is certainly a very
obscure and unintelligible proposition, and not Erskine’s,
nor representing his views. is fact, they say, he expresses
by saying, “ that the world is pardoned by the incarnation
of Christ.” But the proposition attributed to Mr. Erskine,
whencesoever drawn, is not so expressed by him. He says
that “ All are pardoned- believers are a little ock.” If he
had said the world was pardoned (though I should have
thought it an error) properly understood, I could have made
an allowance for obscurity of expression; but he says all, i.e.
all men, are pardoned; and on this the whole argument of
the Morning Watch depends. e Reviewer was occupied
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34
with his own views, but there is not the slightest ground in
Mr. Erskine’s book for the position he takes. Righteousness
is a scriptural as well as conventicle term: I do not recollect
that Mr. Erskine ever touches upon this, or uses the word.
Scripture does; and this renders his whole view defective,
however excellent as an individual.
But the Morning Watch, prepossessed with its own
views, and willing to have Mr. Erskine as a client or ally,
has wholly passed by the whole question raised on his book,
and not stated his assertions truly but as partisans, and
stands itself on a level with the worst conduct of those it
accuses. ey themselves shall be witnesses. “ e editors,”
they say, i.e., journals opposed to their views, “ having
refused to debate the subjects like scholars, like gentlemen,
or Christians, have chosen their own ground, namely, that
of personal claim to public condence; and into that arena
of their own selecting, we must descend after them.” And
so indeed they have, and I sorrow for it, for I doubt not
they would much edify the church; but they have to learn
that Satan can use their weakness, as well as that of their
oending brethren. “ And what shall we say then, if the
church, forgetful of Christ’s oce of intercessor, and of
her own high vocation to continue the same in the midst
of an oending world, should take upon herself the oce
of accuser, and retaliate the injuries which she receiveth,
instead of meekly bearing and being willing to forgive
them? What if the church forget, even among themselves,
the oces of neutral forbearance and forgiveness, and rage
towards one another with even more bitterness and cruelty
than those who care for none of those things? What if the
writings the most religious should be the most vindictive,
and the society the most religious should be the society
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35
most full of judgment and accusation? en were it not a
proof that God’s ordinances were changed, that His light
was hidden under a bushel, that the salt hath lost its savor,
and that the name of God was blasphemed amongst the
heathen because of His people, and that the last days were
come, and that destruction was about to begin at His own
house.”
But having closed this part (painfully imposed) of my
subject, I turn to the more grateful part-proposing some
questions, and making some observations, in the hope
that it may lead some to consider topics, which, when
calmly and scripturally considered, I am persuaded lead to
sanctication and the edication of those that are gathered.
All truth must be so: the simple question is-is this God’s
revealed truth or not? If it be, it is worse than idle to say it
is not calculated to sanctify. In fact, I do not understand the
meaning of this. It is a charge against God, the revealer;
and comes ill from those who have been combating justly
upon opposite grounds the abominable fraud the Roman
Catholic priests had perpetrated in keeping away the
Scripture, the words of God generally. Is it that they are
to be the judges of what, and how much, instead of the
others?
We would ask then, rst, why did God reveal all these
things, if they are not fully to be inquired into? is I
admit, that the statements of the same general truths are
of dierent use and application, and the eagerness of those
especially interested in prophecy, and the hasty taking
up of the subject by many going beyond their measure,
has introduced a very unseasonable misuse of prophetic
subjects. But I must add the indiscriminate opposition
of others has given great occasion to it. us the fact that
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36
there will be a separation of judgment between the just and
the unjust, is one which concerns man as man, and may
be addressed to every soul, and especially to those wholly
ignorant of divine things, and the unconverted; while the
manner in which the Lord will do it, His peculiar favor and
timely interposition for His people- all these, as shown in
His dealings, belong to those from whom, as His suering
people, He will not hide the thing that He will do, who
share in it by faith as friends of God, strangers with Him,
and whose support it is.
But the question has been raised as to the facts revealed;
nor have all, perhaps, judged rightly as to the use to be
made of them. But their general debate has been forced
by the non-reception of them by many who have a name
in the Church under the low state in which we all stand.
is was, perhaps, to be looked for; and the testimony of
the manner even of judgment, calculated to awaken many
out of sleep.
Next, I would ask, if the spread of Bibles and missionary
exertions is to produce, by itself, the millennium, what is the
meaning of unclean spirits like frogs gathering all the kings
of the earth and of the world to battle to be destroyed, and
that then Satan was to be bound, and the thousand years
commence? Again, they will admit, that these operations
are eectual through the agency of the Spirit of God as a
substitute for Christ. What distinction does the scripture
mean by Christ’s reigning upon the earth (His kingdom
of this world), and the regeneration, when the Son of man
shall sit upon the throne of His glory? If we suer with
Him (as we do, while we are actuated by the Spirit of God
in the midst of a carnal world) we shall also reign with
Him. is, evidently, is a state of things essentially distinct
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37
from His reigning, as they conceive now; for it is a time
of suering. It cannot mean in heaven, or after the end of
all, for then the Son will have delivered up the kingdom.
And if they say it is by the prevalence of righteousness in
the millennium, though that would be hard to show, how
would that aect us according to their view who before
then are dead? Besides, are all the wicked to be converted?
Is temptation to be removed? No outpouring of the Spirit
does this. Are all to be regenerate? For according to their
views, the operation of the Spirit is still the only instrument.
How is the Spirit now only an earnest till the redemption of
the purchased possession, if He be then the only operating
agent? But it will, perhaps, be said to be heaven. We have
seen its characteristics are inconsistent with that. Is Christ,
in a word, to have any other share in the triumph of the
church than He has now, when the Spirit is His substitute?
And let me here ask as to one point on which many feel
so strong diculties: Is there anything inconsistent, if
there be a period when the church shall be triumphant,
and the saints partaking of the full joy appropriate to the
prevalence of their principles by a complete change in the
state of the world? for this must be admitted (or there
could not be the change from suering to triumph) that
those who have been long suering for the same principles,
who have borne tribulation and sorrow, while that was the
portion of those who loved Christ, should also share with
their Lord in the hour when what they had so ardently
suered for should be accomplished? Such is my idea of
the rst resurrection.
I believe that Christ also (who unquestionably has a
distinct kingdom from the Father, though, of course, it is
God’s kingdom) will put forth His power for the removal of
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38
evil; that Satan will be hindered from deceiving the world;
that it will cease to be a season of tribulation and sorrow
and trial, and that instead of the thorn shall come up the
myrtle, and that there shall be a complete enjoyment of
the blessings which are the church’s inheritance; that this
will be upon earth (the Jews being restored, the temporal
promises being ever theirs, not the Gentiles’; but that these
shall enjoy the common blessing with them, as companions
in this universal joy). When Christ’s kingdom shall have
by His power prevailed over evil, those of the Gentile
dispensation who have been faithful in the time of trial,
shall (the dead being raised, and the living changed) be
partakers (reigning with Christ) of the common blessing.
Death, whose power in their bodies they had to suer in
their day, being perfectly overcome, as to them they will
be as the angels of God in heaven; being counted worthy
to obtain that age. ere will necessarily be no separation
between those who are thus partakers of the blessings,
and those who are God’s on earth. During this period
there will be therefore no trial: before they are admitted
into the heavenly state, Satan is loosed again, and the trial
proceeds by temptation. In a word, the millennium may be
considered as a restoration of Paradise under the second
Adam,
2
the restoration of communion between earth
and heaven so long interrupted (Christ having destroyed
them that destroy the earth). I would suggest, too, that
the instrument by which the work is to be accomplished
cannot mean the dispersion of scriptural truth. It is not the
sword of the Spirit, but one proceeding out of the mouth of
Christ, sitting on a triumphal horse, wherewith He should
2 is expression is inaccurate. It is by redemption and power,
not by innocence. Moreover, Satan will be bound.
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
39
smite the nations. It is treading the vintage of God’s wrath.
It is a destruction which will give seven years’ ring from
the weapons cast away. It is an invitation of all the fowls
of the air to feast upon the sacrice which God Almighty
was about to make; a taking to Him His great power and
reigning; a time when, God’s judgment being in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world would learn righteousness:
and it was by these judgments that the heathen were to be
converted. We take the broadest points, because the others
may be said to involve interpretation, though to us they are
equally plain and perhaps more deeply interesting.
Again, if we consider the stone which became a
mountain and lled the whole earth, it was upon smiting
the image, and making it become as the cha of the summer
threshingoor, so that the wind carried them away and no
place was found for them. is is evidently by destructive
and dissolving judgments, analogous to the character of its
objects (to wit, the Gentile dispensation, and power); and
it was by no ordinary providential instrumentality, for it
was a stone cut out as without hands. Further, it was not by
the progressive growth of anything, that other obstructing
principles passed away; but some extrinsic power, not of or
in the image yet analogous in the nature of its operation,
and yet turning out to be the fullness of the Lord’s power
suddenly appearing to destroy the image at the end of its
time; and after the image was totally dissolved, it then
became a mountain and lled the whole earth. “ In the days
of these kings,” saith the Spirit, “ the God of heaven shall
set up a kingdom which shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
Let not an anxiety for missionary objects hinder
the acceptance of the truth. For no strong motive for
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
40
missionary exertion exists with the anti-millenarians, as
with those who believe God’s judgments are presently
coming; for that belief urges them to special labor for
the gathering in of God’s elect to the knowledge of the
refuge, before the scourge sweeps the earth, to preserve
them that have believed. If the reading of Griesbach be
right, the distinction of the earthly kingdom is put beyond
controversy; at any rate the testimony of a reign of Christ’s
power (distinct from the operation of the Spirit alone)
is surely too prominent an object in the scripture to be
overlooked. One remark I would make; and it is one which
struck my own mind long before the detail of millennial
views opened themselves to it. ere is not an epistle in
the New Testament in which the coming of the Lord Jesus
is not made the prominent object of the faith and hope
of believers, for which they were to wait; and, observe,
which characterizes distinctively those who should partake
of His salvation. Now the expectation of it is put out of
view and depreciated really as much as possible. It was a
deliverance here that the church expected, so much so that
the essalonians seemed to have considered those who
died before it came to have failed in obtaining it. It was to
be a time of rest by the appearing of Jesus Christ removing
the persecutors and ungodly; and now it is thrown aside,
because it is connected with that which is confessedly the
rest of the Church. It is also that of which Peter speaks: he
says there is sensible evidence directing the church so to
look for it. “ We have not followed cunningly devised fables,
when we have declared unto you the power and coming of
the Lord Jesus, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he
received from God the Father honor and glory, when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, is
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
41
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this
voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were
with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure
word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts: knowing this
rst, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost.” And this could be revealed as
a daystar in their hearts.
I would remark here that the students of unfullled
prophecy are too apt, I think, to overlook the present
power of the Lord’s resurrection, and thus give a handle to
the objections of, I must say, the adversaries to the coming
of the Lord Jesus. To the apostles and the saints who judge
justly, the apprehension of His glory was the evidence of
both, nor can they be separated without injury to the truth
and misapprehension of the counsels of God.
is is what is doing too much now, and it is a great evil
and greatly opposed to Scripture. We ask then, is the church
to look to the coming of Christ as the prominent object of
faith, or is it not? And why? What do the Scriptures teach
us in this respect? Do they or do they not teach us that
the happiness of the earth is to be brought about by the
special intervention of God in judgment? Is His coming
one calculated to quicken their faith-to make them zealous
and constant for Him in their labor here-to separate them
from their attachment to this present evil world-to lead
them to be practically holy in this, where Christ is to visit
them, instead of making death a sort of practical sanctier,
as some do?
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
42
Another subject is the restoration of the Jews to their
own land. e calm and judicious Lowth, in a day when
nothing but the force of Scripture inuenced him, could
not withhold assent from the directness of the testimonies
to this. I shall advert merely to some testimonies respecting
this point, scattered through all Scripture, as it appears to
me, and resting on the whole plan of God’s dispensed
purposes. Zechariah prophesied after the restoration from
Babylon. Let the promises in chapter Io be weighed, in
which He declares that He will bring Judah and Ephraim
again to place them, and break down the pride of Assyria,
etc. is evidently must refer to some period to come, nor
can any gurative interpretation of it be given which the
language does not repel. We may remark, also, the special
promises in Hosea to Ephraim or Israel as distinct from
Judah-promises never yet fullled. But let us hear Amos: “
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman
shall overtake the ‘reaper, and the treader of grapes him that
soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and
all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity
of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,
and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink
the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the
fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and
they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I
have given them, saith the LORD thy God.” It is manifest
that nothing can meet this promise but a restoration not
yet fullled.
So Zeph. 3:14, “ Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, 0 daughter of
Jerusalem. e Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath
cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the LORD,
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43
is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In
that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to
Sion, Let not thine hands be slack. e LORD thy God in
the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over
thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee
with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the
solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach
of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that
aict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her
that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame
in every land where they have been put to shame. At that
time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather
you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all
people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before
your eyes, saith the LORD.” Ezek. 34:27, and Isa. 49 are
not less strong; but I refrain from commenting on them, as
they would lead to general inquiry and interpretation. And
my own conviction is, that the return of Judah was but for
the accomplishment of the promises relative to our Lord’s
rst coming; and that, in the broad sense, Israel has been
in captivity from Babylon until now: this, however, I do
not press. Doubt has been started, on this subject, whether
Israel was not corporately restored with Judah. e burden
of proof evidently rests with those who say he was. But the
Lord seems carefully to have secured the negative by the
repeated use of Benjamin and Judah, as those specically
who were the restored people. e only ground which is
alleged directly to this point, is
Ezra 2:59: “ And these were they which went up from
Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they
could not show their father’s house, and their seed, whether
they were of Israel.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
44
As to Anna the prophetess, and many other passages
adverted to, none prove-many go to disprove-the corporate
restoration of Israel to their own land. eir individual
junction to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin goes as
nothing to prove their corporate geographical restoration,
but the contrary. If, therefore, there be any promises to this
eect, they remain to be fullled. In fact, this was nothing
more than happened to them in the days of Hezekiah,
and related to religious delity, not temporal restoration
by God; and so throughout: the passages may be found in
Prideaux, under the proper date. is, however, is merely
a collateral point, though I think a plain one. If there be a
direct testimony that Israel shall be planted again in their
own land, and never plucked up, it is plain it has never been
fullled. e more the extended prophecies on this subject
are considered, the more will it be found connected with the
promises of God in the latter day as regards the blessings
of the church, and the circumstances which attend it.
Nor, indeed, is it apparent how the former verses of
Deuteronomy 30 can be fullled without it, nor without
the excision of the Gentiles as a body, which is another
inquiry we would make. Is there not a time of the Gentiles
which is to be fullled, when blindness will depart from
Israel? and is there not then in this chapter an explicit
promise of their restoration? But is it not expressly stated,
as Paul left it in conditional assertion, that the Gentiles
would be cut o, that God would plead against all nations?
Is not the apostasy of the Gentile church as plainly stated
as possible, and its consequences? Men say that this applies
to Popery; but it is called ‘ the vine of the earth,” a gure
well known in Scripture, as importing the dispensation of
the church generally. And the unclean spirits who are to
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
45
gather the kings of the earth, do not gather them against
the Lamb by the instrumentality of Popery only, but of
the love of power and atheism. Popery is statedly merely
one of those principles which are to be the instruments of
bringing men to judgment.
“ ey answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And
he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will
the eagles be gathered together.” If these things be so, there
will be a direct manifestation of Christ, of the judicial
power of the Lamb, quite distinct from any of the present
expectations of those who reject the study of prophecy.
When John saw heaven opened and beheld a white horse,
and He that sat upon him called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness doth He judge and make war-when he
saw the Person and glory of the Word of God, it was the
revelation of something wholly dierent from the secret
operations of the Spirit of God; and it was something
characteristically dierent from previous providential
judgments. ese had been hail, and thunder, and lightning,
and earthquakes; but this was a manifestation of Him who
had been long hid behind instruments, who had governed
the world as one that apparently suered His church to
grow up and spring He knew not how, because the harvest
of the earth was ripe. e ordained government of the
earth and the operation of the Spirit of God was that by
which He has ruled the church hitherto; therefore it was a
suering church. Now He was Himself manifested in His
power, and therefore the church became triumphant.
No one can read the Revelation without perceiving
the intended contrast, so to call it, nor other prophecies
without seeing how the whole system of God’s
dispensations arrange themselves round this great fact. e
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
46
Son manifested to tread the winepress of wrath is not the
Spirit subduing willing souls by the gospel. e operation,
everywhere given, of the gospel, is the gathering out of
souls before the wrath come, nor is there a testimony of,
nor the revelation of the universal spread of the knowledge
of the Lord, as far as my recollection serves me, which is
not directly accompanied by, or rather conversant about,
the judgments of an adverse power, or the declaration of
the special blessings to the house of Israel, whose receiving
shall be as life from the dead. I would here just shortly refer
to Psa. 72; 108, and the consecutive Psalms from 91-100.
To those who may be interested in the inquiry, Mal. 2:3
may also be consulted and recur again to the prophecy of
the stone cut out without hands, and Dan. 7
ere are many passages more fully opening the
subject, but perhaps not so strongly leading a previously
unconvinced mind, as these. It would have been my own
delight (oh, how much more so!) to have rather followed,
in inquiry, the opening of Scripture as to the ways and
promises of God as our God. Oh, high and holy place!
unworthy we, utterly,, to have it, enjoying the condence,
because the mercy, of Him who hath called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. I mean not of myself,
but with the brethren in the Lord. But they have forced
upon me the necessity of other inquiries. In the suggestions
I have made to them, I have only put the questions in
the broadest terms, on which Scripture throws a glare of
light, which, as far as I can see, cannot be struggled with,
if we pursue our common attainments, walking by the
same rule, and minding the same thing; if in anything
we be dierently minded, God will reveal this also unto
us. Let me beseech the brethren to be thus minded. Let
Reections Upon the Prophetic Inquir y and the Views Advanced in It
47
me beseech those who yet stand out against these truths,
to inquire for themselves, to lay them to heart, to submit
themselves to the word, not to throw scorn (I pray them to
forgive me for thus speaking) on any part of the testimony
of God before they have inquired the purpose of it and
their own concern in it. Are they not every way debtors
to do this? Let those whose minds are open, pursue, with
humble desire, inquiry into the Lord’s mind. We are surely
all interested in knowing that. Let us pursue it as learners
in the fear of God, not as speculators; as those who see that
God is great in His glory and righteous in His judgments,
and one that judgeth the earth and holdeth the waters in
the hollow of His hand. e Lord has revealed much, all
that man can comprehend; and it belongs to us and to our
children, that we may keep the sayings of His book. ere
are those, doubtless, who will please themselves, and not
seek the church’s good; but such shall bear their burden,
whoever they be. In many things we all oend. I pray God
to give His grace to bear one another’s burden, and so
fulll the law of Christ. Oh, blessed time, when the church
should care one for another, as fellow suerers or fellow
heirs, as He did, who needed none of their sympathy, or
had but little of it when needed, and who knew no want,
no necessity but the necessity of love. May we be found
laboring in this spirit when He shall return! Oh, may His
people be perfected in Him, one and all! His grace and the
knowledge of His glory be with them in every place. And
to Him be praise and dominion and glory according to His
Father’s will. Amen.
e writer, believing that in the rapid accumulation of
inquiry he could add but little new to the investigation of
this subject, has refrained from trespassing upon others.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
48
In truth, he nds more pleasure in the discovering of the
ways of God which feed the soul, than in struggling to
convince others of them. He would only press subjection to
Scripture on the one side and on the other: but if occasion
seem to call, he will, with gladness, resume the subject, in
communion with the church. In the meanwhile he begs
to propose three questions on another subject, if any may
undertake to answer them.
Does it not appear from Scripture that all persons who
went out to preach the gospel to unconverted persons,
went out unsent by the apostles, or any other minister in
the church of God, led only by their knowledge of the great
atonement, or the direct appointment of the Spirit?
Is there any instance of the apostles, or other ministers
in the church, ever having sent out any person for the
purpose of preaching to unconverted persons?
Is not such mission (looking at it as an authority to do
so) inconsistent, essentially, with the nature and possibility
of their testimony?
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
49
62222
On “Days” Signifying “Years”
in Prophetic Language
3
1830.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE Christian Herald.
SIR,-e following remarks on the statements of
Mr. Maitland, in the Morning Watch, and of R.D., in the
Christian Examiner, were written in short intervals of
constant occupation. If correct, they will at least prove the
hastiness of the statements alluded to; and the latter part
(though I feel it to be even more imperfectly pursued than
the rest) may direct inquiry to what, to me at least, is a very
interesting topic: the nature of the last assault and taking
of Jerusalem; or, in other words, the head to which the
enemy arrives previous to his destruction. I should be glad
to pursue this at another time; but must, at present, only
subscribe myself,
Yours, in Christian truth,
J. N. DARBY.
In order to understand any prophecy, it is of the utmost
importance that we should study it with a disposition to
believe, joined with a strict trial of the evidence in favor of
3 [e early part of this tract being of sonic interest in a critical
point of view, it is republished, though the latter fails just in
the point which the rst part condemns, namely, assuming
traditional views as true. I have no doubt that the latter part
is wrong, but it was not worth while either suppressing or
changing it. Subsequent and far more elaborate papers have
brought the truth as to Matt. 14 and the 1260 days into a
suciently clear light. It may serve to show historically the
progress made in the apprehension of truth.]
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
50
any given meaning. at is to say, we should be ready, on
sucient testimony, to accommodate our understandings
and perceptions to ideas not analogous to those of our
ordinary experience. With such a temper of mind, we
are, under God, likely to prot both ourselves and the
church, in the prophetic inquiry; whilst, on the contrary,
we can make little or no progress in studying any prophetic
record, if consistency with our previous apprehensions and
prejudices be our test and trial of the new ideas with which
we meet. To make agreement with previous ideas (as is the
common practice) the necessary evidence of the justness of
any view is indeed to prohibit the impression of any new
truth upon the mind; and, on the other hand, assumption
without evidence is the opening an admission to falsehood.
A disposition to believe may, by some, be called credulity;
but the credulity (if you will so have it) which consists in
a disposition to receive on new testimony that which is
inconsistent with human experience, is right before God,
and is but another name for faith; howsoever foolish it
may be among men, with whom guilt and deceit have
made wisdom to consist in the knowledge and suspicion
of evil. Evil cannot justify us in unbelief, though it may
have habituated our minds to indisposition to receive even
GOD at His word. is judging by what we have, instead
of receiving what we have not (after simply trying it by
the word and the testimony), is, indeed, the great moral
hindrance to our perception, as well as to our receiving
the strength of the power of God. Such was the spirit of
the Sadducees-such was the mind of omas and is of
unbelief, at all times. “ How is it that ye do not understand
my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.”
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
51
Not to lengthen out the statement of these general
principles, nor to enter upon a disquisition on the slowness
of man’s heart to believe, I proceed to the consideration
of the question raised, as to days meaning years. And rst,
I would remark, that the question seems to me to have
been very imperfectly discussed. To adduce the evidence
of Lexicons was not well either in the Morning Watch or
by R.D., as they contain no evidence of weight, but a
mere statement of the thing inquired into, given as a
meaning, because so supposed in the passage in question.
is, therefore, I dismiss, after observing (with a view to
mark the extent to which this confusion, between use and
meaning, may be carried) the quotation of R.D. from the
Critici Sacri, which is made to prove that it means years,
as well as weeks of days. “ Hoe hebdomades intelligentur de
annis.” (e force of the word Hebdomades is as well known
to be seven days as the word week in English.) Such a
quotation as “ ese weeks are understood of years” would
be strange evidence in proof of the English term “ week “
meaning seven years, as much as it does seven days! But let
this pass. Again, R.D. says he does not understand certain
assertions made in the Morning Watch. Now though I
mistrust, as R.D. does, my knowledge of Hebrew, these
seem to me perfectly intelligible, though, at the same time,
to have been advanced so entirely without inquiry as to
throw considerable discredit upon the assertor of them.
e assertion is this, that “ Seven (the numeral) and
its derivatives are always feminine “: therefore he would
conclude against Mr. M. that seven days (shabeth yomim)
may, indeed, stand for a week, but that his reasoning can
have no application to seventy (shibim), which, as the
numeral is always feminine, cannot mean seven years as
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
52
well as days. Now, the passage in Daniel ought to have
kept him from such a mistake; for he is proving that shibim
cannot be a numeral, because it is masculine, in a passage
in which the very word confessedly means seventy! Strange,
indeed, must be the structure of the mind, when it can
produce reason in the Hebrew for seventy weeks, to show,
as to the second, that it cannot be a numeral, because it
is masculine, when the rst was admitted to be seventy!-
the points, if referred to, not aecting the question of
the masculine termination. On the other hand, Mr. M. is
without ground of inquiry; for if the Hebrew word have no
technical or conventional meaning, it would not be sevens
at all, according to the Hebrew idiom, but seventy; so that
we must admit the conventional meaning, and inquire
what it is. But to show the carelessness of the assertion
of the Morning Watch in this, we may remark, besides the
contradiction in the very passage in question itself, that the
masculine form is constantly used for seven. At a distance
from books, and exceedingly engaged, I would yet, from
cursory reference to Scripture, mention the following:
Whenever (how frequent this is, need not be stated
to the reader of the Old Testament) the word for times
(pa’amim) is used (or sheba used with that force), it is always
masculine: it would be endless to quote passages.
It is masculine with years, in Gen. 5:7; so again chapter
29:18, 20; with kine, Gen. 45, eight times over; with
sabbaths, years, times, Lev. 25:8; with abominations, Prov.
26:25.
ere is the same diversity in gender, in the sense of
“ suciency,” as may be seen. (Isa. 23:18, “ suciently “
(f.); Ezek. 16:49, “ fullness “ (f.); Gen. 41:29, ‘ plenty “
(m.).) Whether there be any rule in the Hebrew, I am not
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
53
prepared to say, nor could I at this moment inquire; others
perhaps may do so protably and throw light on the inquiry
by it. Nor is there any more reason, that I can see, produced
for saying sheba’oth means sevens and not weeks, save that
he has settled it beforehand. He is equally unfortunate
in the remark as to Ezek. 45:21, 25, for in verse 23, as to
the former, we have seven days (sheba’ath yami), and as to
the same feast of passover, or unleavened bread sheba’ath
hayami, the very words on which he rests his distinction as
to verse 25. at shebua and shebuim are used for week and
weeks, I think may be asserted from the case of Gen. 29:27,
28, week, and Lev. 12:5, weeks, the latter of which is as
conclusive against Mr. M.’s assertion, as the passages above
quoted and the one in question in Daniel are against the
Reviewer. On the other hand I would remark, that seven
weeks of years is never used in the form given in Daniel,
but seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years. I would
just remark also, that the uncertain habit of expression as
to week seems traceable, perhaps, in the Greek of the New
Testament.
Having disposed of the question raised on this passage,
as far as the consideration of the evidence and argument
already adduced, and having, perhaps, suggested occasion
of inquiry, I would leave it, thinking with Mr. M. that it
does not very materially aect the question.
ere are two or three principles which I would lay
down in proceeding to the more general consideration of
the question before us.
First, in prophecy, when the Jewish church or nation
(exclusive of the Gentile parenthesis in their history) is
concerned, i.e., when the address is directly to the Jews,
there we may look for a plain and direct testimony, because
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
54
earthly things were the Jews’ proper portion. And, on the
contrary, where the address is to the Gentiles, i.e., when the
Gentiles are concerned in it, there we may look for symbol,
because earthly things were not their portion, and the
system of revelation must to them be symbolical. When
therefore facts are addressed to the Jewish church as a
subsisting body, as to what concerns themselves, I look for
a plain, commonsense, literal statement, as to a people with
whom GOD had direct dealings upon earth, and to whom
He meant His purposes concerning them to be known.
On the other hand, as the church was a system of grace
and heavenly hopes (though GOD indeed overruled by
providence in respect of His ultimate purposes concerning
it, it was neither the visible object of His dealings upon
earth, nor had an admitted interest in, though acted on
by them), it is addressed by an exhibition of their moral
character, and is symbolized by analogous agencies.
Secondly, intimately connected with this (because the
history of the Bible is the history of the Jews-for history
is the relation of facts on earth, of which the Jews are the
portion of God’s agency and as to whom we know it was
ordered), is another principle, viz., that wherever Scripture
aords the history of a fact, there we may expect it to be
distinctly and literally declared or predicted in prophecy.
When the Scriptures do not extend to the giving the
history (which is evidently the case after the fact of the
restoration of the Jews from Babylon, save the fact of the
Lord’s coming to oer Himself, and perhaps we may add
the outpouring of the Spirit), then we must expect it to be
declared only symbolically, i.e., appropriately in its moral
character; and hence, partly, the partial obscurity of the
seventy weeks of Daniel, because they were no regular
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
55
recognized portion of the Jewish history, but a sort of
anomalous period for the coming of the Lord.
irdly, the Spirit loves to contemplate the desolation
of the Jewish people-the prevalence of necessary wrath-
and, by consequence, mercy on the believing remnant of
the seed of the Lord-as but for a moment; and hence the
reason why it is shortened into days. To one familiar with
Scripture and the expression of God’s mind and feelings,
then, no proof, save appeal to themselves, need be made
of this: it is an interesting, and, may I add, aecting
circumstance of considerate kindness. He avenges speedily,
though He bear long with them, as it might seem, and we
are not to learn why He so bears. We know what to count
it.
e proof then that prophecies of literal days have
been fullled in literal days, and that years have been
prophesied of as years, would prove nothing as to the
prophecy in question; for rst, if the principles above laid
down be correct, the dierence is accounted for; and, in
the next place, a prophecy confessedly literal (for its literal
accomplishment is given, or the days may mean years, and
the proof fails) can be no evidence of the meaning of the
word when used typically and confessedly in a symbolical
prophecy. eir meaning days in such a case would be a
positive anomaly, just as much as their not meaning days in
the other; for they are used here manifestly in a symbolical
way, and all their accomplishments are symbolical. e
question is not, therefore, whether a day ever means a day,
when used in Scripture or in prophecy, confessedly literally
expressed (as evidenced by a literal fulllment, evincing
that meaning), but what is its force, when used as a symbol
in a confessedly symbolical prophecy? e consideration
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56
of the mind of GOD, as adverted to in the third principle
afore stated, will give us a full apprehension of the reason
of the statement, when we consider the value too it was to
the Church-the principle of the “ yet a little while,” and
the moral gap unlled up by any events which made the
time included in the 1260 years of this prophecy. As to the
event not satisfying us in fulllment, neither did the Lord’s
coming; and I would remark that there is no remarkable
event of such external magnitude in the world’s eye as to
x the mind on its evident fulllment; and as to the former,
to this day the terms of the seventy weeks are as much
discussed and in the dark as the 1260 years, save that we,
by habitual belief, have recognized Jesus the Lord, as the
Messiah.
R.D. therefore is not right as to two believers in
revelation not disagreeing in the broad features of the
seventy weeks. We could not disagree as to Jesus being
Messiah, or we should not be believers at all, and Daniel
names the Messiah as the terminating epoch; though in
this all interpreters are not agreed, but carry it on to the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; but as to the
rest, no two independent thinkers, hardly, agree in their
computation-some of learning at this day, going back to
Cyrus’s decree, and cutting o a century in mass from the
ordinary dates of the Persian history. R.D. would nd also
that in Hebrew (though I say not that the idiom is precise),
yamim, days, is also used for a year, and from year to year,
as evidently in other passages, so evidenced to be in 1Sam.
1:3, 7.
I would further remark, that the passage from Ezekiel is
not so without force, as is supposed, when the real question
(too much overlooked by R.D.) is considered, viz., the typical
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
57
or symbolical force of a day; for then we have a symbolical
action indicative of years, dened in time, marked by the
term days, so that as to the principle of symbolical diction,
it is an expressive instance; and the other case, though not
so strong, is analogous and conrmatory.
Let us now, having considered the ground on which
such a symbol stands, consider the instances in which it
is used. If R.D. arms that the use of the term month
is entirely distinct from that of day, and that there is no
argumentative identity with the statements in Revelation
before him, I shall not argue the point. I do not say that
there is no reason for dierence-for I am inclined to think
that there is, and perhaps see the reason of such dierence,
in some degree. But as to the limit of time, to me it is
obvious they are identical. If so, contrary to the assertion of
R.D., we have a prophecy in which such an enumeration of
days for years is agreed on by all commentators (amongst
the Protestants at least), namely, the continuance of the
conquests of the Saracenic comet. I suppose there is no
prophecy in Scripture which, as far as commentators
go, has been more uniformly interpreted, or universally
acquiesced in by inquirers at large. Nor am I disposed to
think, that the Euphratean horsemen are less susceptible
of determinate calculation of time, though I admit the date
has not been received with equal uniformity.
Let us now consider the same symbols in Daniel. I
certainly am disposed to think that the term times in Dan.
4:16, 23, 25, 32, used as to Nebuchadnezzar, has reference
to the bestial dominion in the world; and the language of
Scripture as to the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar so tallies
with the rightful dominion of Christ as to conrm this
idea, but it is impracticable to pursue this here, nor does
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58
it aect the present inquiry suciently directly to claim
denitive investigation. As to “ time, times, and dividing of
a time,” we have this distinctly referred to the power before
which the three horns fell; that is, we have three times
and a half, or 126o days, ascribed to the little horn which
rose up behind, or amongst, the three horns (of which I
believe there never has been any doubt in applying it to
the Papal power); and there is a particular characteristic to
be observed in him-that he is to make war with the saints
and to prevail against them, wearing them out- a statement
which I do not nd applicable to the nal apostasy.
Here then we have evidence of this expression being
used as a symbol, contrasted, as in distinct perspective
of some long continuance of time, during which there
is a prevailing power wearing out the saints of the Most
High; not in its character of indel apostasy, leading all
forward, but in its specic one of casting down three
horns. Again, I apprehend, the end of the vision must be
accounted from the Commencement of its subject matter,
and its computation must be (when the time is referable
to a particular fact within the prophecy) from the date of
that fact; or otherwise (when the vision is said to continue),
from the commencement of its subject matter generally.
If this be so, we have a date of 2,300 or 2,40o days (the
readings dier) as the continuance of Daniel’s vision of
the ram and the he goat, with its territorial reference to
the covenant of Israel. And accordingly he says, “ Shut up
the vision, for it shall be for many days.” If this be not a
just reasoning, the passage must apply to the possession
of Jerusalem by its last enemy for upwards of six years-
an interpretation which does not seem to me to coincide
with the tenor of scriptural declaration; nor do I think
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
59
it consistent with the genealogy of the little horn, which
would then mean the power or person vulgarly called
Antichrist. We have therefore again the term of days used
for a long continuous period, ending in the cleansing of
the sanctuary, and brought into perspective before the
mind of the Spirit to the prophet, and thus shortened in its
symbolical expression.
Dan. 11 and 12 I shall not attempt to interpret. But
the interpretation must be either given to Antiochus
Epiphanes, and the taking away of the daily sacrice be a
thing yet future; or the 1290 days be a long period of time,
whenever it commences or concludes, and the 1335 end
with Daniel standing in his lot. Besides, can R.D. show
any instance of so unusual a practice as the use of the term
“days “ for a period extending beyond the limits of a year?
Does not this itself point to some meaning or intention
concealed under this form?
We may now proceed to the passages in the Revelation.
Does R.D. believe. that the Lord Jesus meant the church
of Smyrna to have tribulation just “ ten days “ literally, or
ten years? We have already adverted to the Saracenic and
Euphratean invasions, which he would nd dicult to
interpret on his literal system. e next is, that the holy city
should be given to the Gentiles 42 months (the well-known
period of 1260 days, a symbolical prophecy, and containing
in the term evidence of some un-literal meaning). In the
meanwhile the witnesses are to prophesy 1260 days, more
appropriately thus marked, because it showed not merely
its continuance but its constancy also. is, be it observed,
is something previous to the seventh trumpet; and, however
the date may be disagreed on, I undertake to say that, as to
the subject-matter, no prophecy in Scripture has received
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60
more uniformity of interpretation. And, observe, it ends
by their being slain by the beast out of the bottomless pit.
Now in chapter 13 we have a beast who continues precisely
the same period, recognized to be in power (under the form
of the ten horns being crowned, i.e., the Roman Empire in
its divided state) by the northern nations under the papacy,
as may be plainly seen in chapter 17. Take these things
together and we see-not to advert to the three days and a
half-a connection with Babylon and the papacy during these
periods, which brings them, in addition to the diculty of
making days symbols of days, to be a continuous period
when the woman rides the beast (not, is devoured by the
horns), and therefore is a continuous period of some such
length as is generally supposed. In a word, we may, I think,
state it thus: e mystery of Babylon and the papacy have
no place in the prophets, or the 1260 days mean years. A
diculty in date does not aect the moral evidence of the
subject-matter of the prophecy; for diculties may lie at
the door of ignorance as well as inconsistency.
It would be inconvenient here to enter into further
detail. e true question to be discussed is, whether the
papacy, as such, has any place in the prophetic writings
or not, or merely indelity. If it has, it appears to me that
no doubt remains on the question; but I refuse no light
on its special application to the last indel state, though I
deprecate a morbid disposition to apply all things to our
own times. I rejoice, however, in the discussion, not merely
in that it will throw light on Scripture by consequent
research and inquiry, but that I am persuaded that this will
lead more (for such I believe to be the truth) to the deep
conviction that we are within the verge of the end of all, so
as to be daily looking for the Lord, i.e., to be caught up to
On “Days” Signifying “Years” in Prophetic Language
61
meet Him in the air in order to His judging of the nations.
Amen. Amen.
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62
62230
On the Extended Scope of
Prophecy
(From the Christian Witness, Plymouth, Jan., 1834.)
IT appears to me that the result of prophecy has
been much obscured, and particular passages much more
dicult of interpretation, by narrowing their scope and
applying them only to the antichristian character of
the last primary evil. Hence, the subject being wrongly
assumed, the application has been forced and unknown.
e antichristian form of the Roman empire engrosses the
mind, so that even when prophecy is applied to the Jews,
nothing further is seen. But this is a conned view ‘ all the
nations of the earth are engaged in this scene. us Gog the
chief prince of Magog, and his army and followers, formed
no part of the Roman empire. e Medes and Persians
formed no part of that empire; yet all these do form a part
of the great prophetic drama of the latter day. I purposely
refrain from entering into details here; if I am permitted,
I hope to open out my views upon it, at some future time.
I merely now make these few remarks, in the hope of
enlarging the sphere of observation. e immediate moral
position in which we are, may involve us in direct concern
with the last exhibition of power of the Roman beast, even
Antichrist, destined, I do not doubt, to close the scene and
his career in Jerusalem-the mountain of God, where he
has, craftily and to his own destruction, set his seat. But
this is but one out of many. He thus becomes one, the rst
(I apprehend) of those powers, who, round the great center
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
63
of divine providence, the Jewish land, are brought, as the
inhabitants of the earth, under the judicial process of that
righteous providence which shall set the Son of man on the
throne of the kingdom of the earth, in the righteousness
and peace of God’s own government in Him.
As regards the full moral responsibilities of the
Christian Church, the apostasy and judgment of the anti
Christian power is clear and decided, as well as solemn and
aecting to the believer, but deliverance and joy withal.
But when we turn our eyes to the earth, to the dealings
of God with its nations, we nd, when He divided to the
sons of Adam their inheritance, “ He set the bounds of
the people according to the number of the children of
Israel,” Deut. 32:8. In this, of course, the beast will take his
part; doubtless, he may lead in the career of evil, but let us
enlarge our view a little. Were all the nations of the image
in the last beast? Clearly not. e Euphrates, the Danube,
the Rhine, and (I suppose) about the Firths of Forth and
Clyde, and the Irish Sea, form the geographical bounds
of all that could ever be taken within the grasp of the last
beast, unless perhaps part of Hungary and Transylvania.
I am not saying that all this will be under Antichrist,
4
or
how far it may be, but merely that the last beast extends
no farther than this. But besides this, there is in the image,
part of the subject of latter day judgment-the arms and the
breast; the Medo-Persian power not included within these
limits. is then, besides the actings of the rst power,
we must nd scope for in the scenes of the latter day, as
one of the nations that must act upon the Jews, and in the
4 Antichrist is assumed here to be the head of the beast, as it
was by all when this paper was written, not the false Messiah
in Palestine.-Ed.
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64
land. e omission of this may cause great confusion in
the application of passages, which, having the Jews and the
land in view, must include the account of the vicissitudes
arising from this also.
Further, Gog and Magog (who form, I imagine, no
part, not only of the beast, but of the image, yet take a
conspicuous part in the scenes of the latter day, as the
witness of the power of God) must be let into the scheme
of prophecy; and till we have developed the sphere in which
these take their parts, we cannot appropriate the special
prophecies which may have their ultimate fulllment in
these very powers. I do not doubt we shall nd much
detail of movement within the territorial limits of the
beast, which are not the action of its body, as immediately
headed by Antichrist, as well as the nal suppression of
smaller nations, within the limits of Israelitish territory, as
given of God; but into these details it is not my purpose
to enter. at which I would press upon your readers is
this- that (while the scene in which we are individually
engaged leads us to contemplate directly the growth and
operations of Antichrist,
5
our most important concern), if
we would interpret Scripture fully, we must see that this is
but conducive to a system and scene of which the land of
Israel is the focus and center, and in which all the people of
the earth are concerned and called in question. e length,
the circumstances, the particulars of the great day of
tribunal of judgment on the people and nations, beginning
at Jerusalem, we may reserve to the Lord’s mercy granting
us other opportunity. I believe Antichrist to be the rst of
it, and of a character distinct from the rest-the close to be
the clearing of the land and its limits, with the exception,
5 See previous note, and on next page.
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
65
perhaps, of God. But the fact surely seems indisputable and
denite, and must widely aect the study and application
of scriptural prophecies. To these I would next direct your
attention.
SCOPE OF PROPHECY
(From the Christian Witness, Plymouth, July, 1835.)
ere are two great subjects connected with prophecy-
the hope of the Church and the order and accomplishment
of that system of earthly government which, with the Jews as
its center, has formed the great subject of ancient prophecy,
its proper subject as a literal and distinct testimony of what
should happen in the earth. As it is written, “When the
Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when
he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the
people according to the number of the children of Israel.”
“For the Lord’s portion is his people; Israel is the lot of his
inheritance.”
ere is another point, the connection of the two, the
passage from the failing dispensation (failing as in man’s
hand) in which we stand, into that which is to come; the
portion of the remnant in the Gentile body and of the
restored Jewish people, which, it seems to me, from involving
both, induces greater diculty of judgment than either
considered apart. e moral state too both of the Christian
remnant and of the Jewish remnant is so immediately
involved in the question- their responsibilities and the
divine judgment concerning them-that responsibility in
estimating their place I feel sensibly increased. Nevertheless
the faithful word is our sure and only guide, and wherever
this directs us, the Spirit shedding light on it to our souls,
we shall nd the light and power of life in it. Nor will its
connection with our responsibilities weaken its importance
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66
and value to us. I should value therefore exceedingly any
light upon this subject. But though I have thought in the
study of the word on many things connected with it, I do
not feel my mind so distinctly ascertained of that portion
of the mind of God as to state myself at present anything
concerning it, though quite alive to the inquiry.
I would state very briey as to the second point what
would enlarge the basis on which our inquiries into
Scripture may be conducted; and, by extending the limits
of that which is certain in things revealed, increase our
power of spiritual judgment, both within those limits and
also as to those things in which we may be yet untaught.
e essential dierence of the government of the world
during the four beasts is not, I think, suciently considered.
During this time, there ceased to be, properly speaking,
Jews and Gentiles. at which had given importance to the
Jews, was that they were God’s people. Otherwise “ have
not I brought (says God) the Philistines from Caphtor, and
the Syrians from Kir?” is removed, they were but as one
among the nations made of one blood in all the earth, if
haply they might feel after Him and nd Him.
It is true this distinction, once constituted, was never
and never is to be recalled; “for the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance.” And hence the Jews, or people of
Israel, always constituted a distinct subject of government
in the divine mind, never lost sight of and kept continually
for the purposes formed therein for His glory, whatever
the circumstances were through which they were passed.
But they ceased to be the immediate manifested object and
center of the divine government upon earth, the moment
“Loammi” was written upon them. ey ceased to be the
scene in which God displayed His character as a recognized
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
67
people, and from which, as identied with Himself, He
exercised righteous judgment on surrounding nations,
accounted but as strangers meddling with the place of His
sanctuary.
Identical with this inscription of “Loammi” (for a
little season and still reserved for mercy, and it counted
long to Jehovah) was the setting up of the Gentile power,
the kingdom of the beasts which should arise out of
the earth. is is matter of common knowledge and has
been noticed in the Witness; and the whole history of
the Jews connected with Nebuchadnezzar makes it too
plain to one familiar with Scripture to need the evidence
in detail here. But the inscription of “Loammi” being set
upon the Jewish people, their present distinction as God’s
people from the other nations of the earth ceased (not in
purpose nor in providence, but as the subject of manifested
government and revelation). And, though for the purpose
of the manifestation of Messiah there was a suspension
of the nal accomplishment of these things, and a partial
restoration, or rather setting in such a place as that they
might be the subject of Messiah’s restoration, the rod that
was upon them of the stranger was never taken o, let it
be light or gilded. ere was no Jewish history, but of the
fact of their rebuilding under the favor of the Persians,
and of the rejection of Messiah under the government of
the Romans and Herod; and then they are lost to historic
scripture after the death of Stephen, forbidding that which
was now come to the Gentiles to go to them, and wrath
come upon them to the uttermost.
In the setting up of Nebuchadnezzar as the golden
head of the image, the man of the earth, “ the times of the
Gentiles “ began, and Israel was lost. It was not Ammi and
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68
Goiim,
6
but government left in the hands of the Gentiles,
now exercising it in the covetous greediness of selfwill, and
the apparent government of God, in principle, lost, though
never, of course, in providence.
With the four beasts connected with this state of
things, every reader of prophecy is familiar. But it is taken
notice of here as coextensive with Israel’s (whatever their
circumstances) being “Loammi,” not God’s people, and,
consequently, the distinction of Jew and Gentile lost in
present manifested exercise, unless in priority of judgment.
I think we shall nd a very distinct division of prophecy
connected with this subject, and appropriation of it, mach
calculated to clear the ground on which we stand.
ere are three prophets connected with this state of
Jewish rejection-Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Each
have their separate portion of testimony, and their several
place of giving it. Jeremiah prophesied in the place and
habitation of the rebellious people. “e sin of Judah was
written with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond.”
Ezekiel prophesied by the river of Chebar, among the
captives. Daniel in the midst of Babylon, when the golden
representative head had been set up.
In Jeremiah we shall see, therefore, the sin of the people
proved, and they made Goiim (heathen) of; and then, after
various judgments on all the nations, the new covenant
with Israel and Judah, their captivity brought again; in a
word, “ Loammi,” and Ammi as to both in restoration;
while the history of their present wickedness is given and
their necessary captivity, ashamed of Egypt as they were
ashamed of Assyria.
6 Ammi, my people; Goiim, Gentiles or heathen.
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
69
In Ezekiel we shall nd the sign of the glory departed,
the consequent disallowance of the remains of the people
in the land, then the setting aside of every other power
previous to Nebuchadnezzar, and the fact of his prevailing
as king of Babylon over the last of them; but then a passing
by the whole history of, or any allusion to, the beasts: and
after setting aside the previous nations by the king of
Babylon, the immediate recurrence to the principles of
God’s dealings with the house of Israel, their restoration and
deliverance as one stick in His hand; and, consequently, the
heathen knowing that He, Jehovah, did sanctify Israel when
His sanctuary was in the midst of them for evermore. And
what subsequently happened of Gog, prince of Magog, is
a coming up against “my people Israel.” us way is made
in the suppression of previous powers (and of Israel) for
the introduction of the beasts, but they are wholly omitted;
and the prophet passes over (after the principles of God’s
dealings are discussed) to the restoration of the people and
God’s dealings among the heathen, as with them as His
people.
Daniel precisely lls up this gap. Nebuchadnezzar is
seen as the golden head in the outset, and a king of kings
to whom the God of heaven had given a kingdom; and,
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the
eld and the fowls of the heaven had He given into his
hand, and made him rule over them all. He was the head
of gold. en the character and proceedings of this system
and of the four beasts are given, but no mention of anything
before or after, nor of the Jews or Israel as God’s people at
all. It is “the times of the Gentiles,” of the four beasts, in
which God’s people are “Loammi”; and when mentioned,
it is not “My people,” but “thy people,” addressing Daniel.
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70
is gives the subjects of these books, I think, great
clearness, and shows the character and importance of the
time subsequent to the renewal of the distinction between
God’s people and the heathen. e convulsions and trouble
preceding this are of the utmost importance, and have their
place; but they are to be viewed as a distinct subject from
Israel acknowledged of the Lord. Israel is still lost in the
midst of the nations rising one against another. Jerusalem
may be taken; but He is not come whose right it is; and,
therefore, though it may be the occasion of the Lord’s
ghting against these nations, still it was not Jehovah-
Shammah (Ezek. 48:35) that was taken; nor could that
be, as the nal postmillennial confederacy and Hezekiah’s
typical trial prove.
I would advert to a few passages illustrative of what I
have stated, and then allude to one or two consequences.
First, as to Jeremiah, up to chapter 24 we have the sin of
Israel, and specially Judah, continuously proved. In chapter
25, is the judgment; recapitulating the testimony-showing
immediate judgment also on Babylon, the type of all the
nations. e judgment, however, actually runs thus, “ Take
the wine cup of this fury at my hand and cause all the
nations (Goiim) to whom I send thee to drink it. en
took I the cup at the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations
to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me; Jerusalem and
the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes
thereof, to make them a desolation “; and then the rest,
to “ all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the
face of the earth, and the king of Sheshach after them.”
But this denitely involves Judah and Jerusalem in the
indiscriminate and common name of Goiim-” judgment
beginning in the house of God.” (See verse 29.) en,
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
71
after various details to chapter 30, in that chapter we have
the new and sure promises connected with God’s purpose
concerning the nation to the end of chapter 33. e rest
is historically probative or relative to Egypt, till chapter
46, when we have the word against the Gentiles, but
restoration to many of them.
In Ezekiel, chapter 24 divides the book. We have the
utter rejection of the city. e glory of the Lord is seen at
the outset in its full providential governing power; and in
chapter 10 its departure from the city and temple: then
in chapter 25, getting rid of other nations-these within
and surrounding the land. en two are mentioned who
would fain have been beasts in the earth-Assyria and
Pharaoh-Necho. e rst, however, had fallen. What was
the latter better? He should fall; “ So was Pharaoh and all
his multitude, saith the Lord God.” en in chapter 32 we
have their common dirge. Here the prophet closes. Instead
of pursuing the history of the earth then farther, which
must have brought in the beasts, he turns at once to the
shepherds of Israel. All but the beasts are disposed of; these
Daniel is occupied about in Babylon, not Ezekiel at Chebar.
Restoration under the Lord’s salvation from evil shepherds
is the only remedy. So in chapter 33: 4 and in chapter 34:
7. e restoration follows; then Gog against Israel as God’s
people, settled on their own mountains no longer waste,
but dwelling in peace; Israel now no longer “Loammi,” as
chapters 36, 38. e judgment on Seir (chapter 35) seems
special.
Of Dan. 1 have already said enough, it is manifestly the
history of the unnoticed period, the times of the beasts and
their doings and character; the account in Babylon of all
that belonged to it, or arose out of it, while Israel was no
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72
more a people, and power was recognizedly in the hands of
those who knew not how to use it, who had beasts’ hearts
and left to be so and not man’s till the due times had passed
over it.
We have then these three agencies to look for, connected
with Israel, and at the close of these times, when the great
concentrated crisis comes to take eect. First, the heathen
as looked at under Jeremiah, nation against nation and
kingdom against kingdom, in which Jerusalem and the
Jews have a place in the secret enmity perhaps of the wicked
one, knowing what is to be and happen there; and surely
in the providence of God. Yet still as one of the Goiim,
merely mixed up in the troubles with all the rest, only the
rst to drink the cup. Secondly, the beast (or beasts) then
in his power, having his own specic and distinct character
as such. at which constitutes the power may be heathen
perhaps in race; but it is not merely this but a beast. And
lastly, we have the renewed position of Israel as God’s people,
and the heathen denitely distinguished from them, and
opposed to them as such; and God acting on this principle.
e other prophets give many details as to them; their
proper statements are, of course, of the Jews as Jews, and
treating the heathen as such, and therefore not concerning
the beasts at all. And I suspect if Antichrist be mentioned
in them, he is spoken of in his professed character as “ the
king “; and the state of the people merely alluded to on the
critical time of change, when the summons of the Lord is
addressed on the coming of the heathen, when the Lord is
just about to go forth, rejected indeed by the, nations, but
listened to by the remnant.
us Joel describes some Goi (nation) going up against
the land, etc., and summons the inhabitants of the land,
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
73
and alarms Zion, and sounds for the gathering. When
there is this cry, then the Lord is jealous for His land and
pities His people; and the answer to them (not before so
called), and blessing, and consequent judgment on all the
heathen, is described.
So, in Zechariah, we have the city taken by the nations
gathered together, and against those nations the Lord will
go forth and ght. is is the only place where this taking
is mentioned, unless Joel 2 and once perhaps in Isaiah; and
not, I conceive, alluding to Antichrist or the willful king,
but omitting or leaving out the whole history of the beast
and his doings, which stands on other ground. His place, I
conceive, rather holds the place of the covenant with death,
made with the scornful men which dwell at Jerusalem,
which is disannulled.
But I will not enter farther into details. I have mentioned
these passages as immediately aected by the considerations
I have oered. If one could see the Jews and Jerusalem (as
shown in the paper, under the title of “ Jerusalem,” in a
previous number) as the great subject and center of earthly
government and prophecy, we should better understand the
force of nations, and then, looking at Israel as lost in them
and mixed in their troubles, and the object of their hatred;
then the subject of the willful king’s special though wicked
interference; and subsequently, on his destruction, as the
scene of the Lord’s deliverance and power, who then holds
it in His hand as His weapon against the nations (now
again recognized as in opposition to Ammi, “ my people,”
and He therefore putting them under His feet), we should
see much of the prophecies more distinct and more simple.
ough I acquiesce in and value the general scope of
the article I have alluded to, let me just say that it seems to
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74
me in some of its details to have overstepped the limits of
evidence.
I cannot see that Dan. 7, 8 and Rev. 13 are necessarily
identical, however analogous the language may be. e
connection of Dan. 7 with Rev. 1 cannot doubt. e proof
of the identity of chapters 7 and 8 arises not from direct
interpretation, but the necessity, if both be universal, and at
the same time, that they should be the same. e argument
is good enough (though I distrust and feel diculty in
all illative reasoning about Scripture), but depends, and is
justly made to do so, on the universality of both, and also
the sameness of time. But I cannot see the universality in
chapter 8. us “ by him the daily sacrice shall be taken
away,” should (I apprehend) be from him, though this by-
the-bye. I entirely recognize the working of Antichrist as
the head of the last beast,
7
or the last head of the beast in
Jerusalem in his place in his close; but it seems to me there
is not enough scope given to the other actors in that scene,
who derive their importance, not from present associations,
but their then connection with, and opposition to, Jewish
interests.
8
I have felt that the consideration of the oce allotted
to these three prophets I have here spoken of, reduced
and simplied the ground on which we could judge these
7 See previous note and next note.
8 Note re Antichrist written later. It has been taken for granted
among those who expect a personal Antichrist, that he is the
civil head of the Roman Empire. is I question. Without
doubting in the least, that there will be such a blasphemous
Gentile power, it seems to me that the Antichrist is another
power, of which the Scriptures are even more full-the vessel of
evil religious energy, rather than that of evil public government.
At least, two such manifestations of power we nd in Rev. 13.
See papers on “e Antichrist,” later in this volume.
On the Extended Scope of Prophecy
75
things. It is but one narrow point of the subject; still if,
by interpretation in which the Lord leads and will justify
us, any part of the subject is cleared, so much is positively
gained. What may be imperfect or erroneous in it the
saints will soon detect, if they wait for the revelation and
instruction of God. I do confess it has cleared a good many
details, but its ground is quite independent of them, and
I am reluctant to write on them; as undue determination
of them seems to me the ground of our diculties, the
ascertainment of them always a step in our knowledge.
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62231
e Dispensation of the
Kingdom of Heaven
Matt. 13
I WOULD say a few words on this chapter, or collection
of parables, in the deep feeling of the imperfectness with
which any of us understand “the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven”; and this, not merely from personal feelings as
to individual weakness, but from the scope and extent of
the divine wisdom in them-a wisdom knit up with and
developing the whole of the divine counsels-a wisdom,
therefore, not to be acquired in mere detached passages,
but in the comprehension of the mind of God which ows
from the abundance of the Spirit exercised in spiritual
application to Scripture. Nevertheless, I feel that our
portion, as believers, is to be given to know them-our blessed
portion; and we may be allowed, in the condence of His
love, to breathe out also what we may have apprehended of
the mind of the Spirit, and to present it to the judgment
of our brethren.
With this feeling of condence in the Lord, I shall
open out what appears to me to be the order and power
of this collection of parables. eir detailed meaning may,
perhaps, be the subject of some subsequent observation.
I would remark, then, in the rst place, that the phrases,
“kingdom of heaven,” and also, “kingdom of your or their
Father,” are peculiar to Matthew-expressions manifestly
not unimportant in force. e only exception at all is
the use of the latter expression, by implication, in the
e Dispensation of the Kingdom of Heaven
77
instruction to pray, in Luke 11: an exception not without
interest, but which I can dwell on here only to observe, that
the kingdom in every instance we are taught to pray for is
the Father’s kingdom. In these parables we have both: the
term “kingdom of heaven” being common to all, save the
rst; that of “kingdom of your Father” being found in the
explanation of the second of the parables. e importance
of the former expression is seen not only in its being a
positive subject of all the parables, except the rst, but
from the emphatic declaration of our Lord: “Every scribe,
instructed into the kingdom of heaven, will bring forth out
of his treasure things new and old.”
9
e scribe, being well
taught in the law of Moses, could therefore bring forth
the old things; and being “instructed into the kingdom of
heaven,” could bring forth out of his treasures, therefore,
new things. He was to have, indeed, new things, but he was
not to give up the old; what he had learned as a scribe were
treasures in the estimation of Christ, to be brought forth
by the scribe “instructed into the kingdom of heaven.” I
consider these parables, then, as a full prophetic statement
of the character and detail of the circumstances in which
the kingdom of heaven would be placed. ere are seven
parables in all-a common circumstance expressive of
completeness, or perfectness, in prophetic statements,
which the attentive reader of Scripture cannot fail to have
observed; of these, six are similitudes of the kingdom of
heaven-the rst, not: the act described in the rst being an
act of the Son of man before His ascension; and its results,
9 I would remark on this expression, that we are taught to hold
the continuing value of the Jewish prophetic expectation, of
all that a scribe in the law of Moses would have drawn from
the Old Testament, and that distinct from the expectation
introduced by the gospel.
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also, such as might be exhibited in individuals before as well
as after it. is parable declares the agency of the kingdom
and its particular results; the others, the dispensation of the
kingdom. To recur to “things new and old “-the fact of “
the kingdom of heaven “ might well be called an “ old thing
“; one conversant in Daniel, with the hopes of the old law,
might well have looked for such a thing. e order of its
development and position was a “ new thing “; which was
to be revealed consequent upon the manifestation, and (we
e Dispensation of the Kingdom of Heaven
79
must add, though not here developed)
10
the rejection and
resurrection of Christ the Son. e fact absolutely revealed
in prophetic testimony was the giving of a kingdom to the
Son of man. e learning that the heavens do rule was a
lesson to be taught in the expected suppression and setting
aside of Gentile domination. Yet an earthly dominion in
10 “e kingdom of God” is a distinct expression from “the kingdom of heaven,” although
in many respects so identied, that the same things could be armed about it. us it
could be said that the kingdom of God was at hand: that was most true; as it could be
said also, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But at the same time they were of very
distinct import; for it was matter of faith to know that the “kingdom of God was come
amongst them.” (See Gr., Luke 11:20; ch. 17: 21.) So the Lord makes use of expressions
never used of the kingdom of heaven-to know that the kingdom of heaven was not, but
was “ at hand “ (Matt. 4:17, Gr.); whereas the same evangelist, or rather the Spirit of God
by him, in speaking of the kingdom of God, immediately changes his phrase to the one
noticed in Luke (Gr., Matt. 12:28). e kingdom of God was necessarily there when the
Son of God was there-in a word, when God was there. e kingdom of heaven, as the
development of God’s purpose, could not be there while He was there; it resulted from
the Lord’s going away into heaven. e kingdom of God is the exercise or exhibition of
the ruling power of God under any circumstances in the wisdom of God. e kingdom
of heaven is the kingdom of God in its heavenly character. In dispensation this is set up
by the rejection of the King of God’s kingdom by the world; and, while it ought to have
been known (even while He was upon earth), by faith, is known to faith by Jesus the Head,
the Lamb slain, sitting on the throne of the Father. e kingdom of God, therefore, was
amongst the Jews when He, the Son of God, Jesus, was there- and they ought to have
known it-and the kingdom of heaven was at hand. By the earthliness of men, however,
instead of gathering the Gentiles to the Jews, the Messiah being recognized, it was known
only (as in God’s counsels and wisdom meant to be) by the rejection of Him, and the
exaltation (to the place “ where he was before “) of the Son of man, who was the Lord
from heaven, and Son of man in heaven. e kingdom of heaven (His kingdom was not of
this world) was set up, continuing, as regards the Church, till the time when the saints, in
the Father’s kingdom, raised with Jesus at His second coming, shall know the blessedness
of the rule of the Son of God and man, in the whole scene which once rejected Him, now
brought under His sway and theirs (still, in that sense, the kingdom of heaven to those
below), when they witness the blessedness of heavenly rule, while dwelling “ kings and
priests unto God “ in the quiet and secure fullness of the Father’s house- sons with Him.
is, too, more properly is the kingdom of man (compare Dan. 7); for under the exalted
Man and His saints all things are put. Had Jesus not been rejected, it would have been the
kingdom of God (still, it is surely so in character; for He is God, and it is God’s kingdom);
He would have been righteously subject, “ having taken upon him the form of a servant,”
and as such come, “ not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him.” And it is
thus, I apprehend, the Son shall be subject, when God-not the Father, which would be
confounding everything, and not be what the word teaches, but “ God -shall be all in all,”
Father, Son and Holy Ghost; but the rule taken out of man’s hands, into which it had been
put, through the obedience of Christ. erefore it is not until after the resurrection that
He says, “ All power is given unto me in heaven and earth,” etc. All things are delivered
unto Him as the Son of God, as heir of all, in whom all centers. is inheritance He
has not yet taken. But at present “all power is given unto him” as the appointed Man,
according to the glorious mystery in which, as the Son, for whom (and by whom) all
things were made. He took it up as the Redeemer in the Person of Jesus; but the power
was given to Him as the obedient Man.
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the Jewish people was an expectation which every Jew
(taking prophecy literally, as every Jew must), because he
was a Jew, must have justly held upon belief in the prophetic
declaration. In the midst of these (perhaps confused, yet
just, and, in one sense, believing) apprehensions, our Lord
came in with a denite declaration, that “ the kingdom of
heaven was at hand.”
at “the kingdom of heaven” was merely the true
invisible church of God is an explanation which cannot
for a moment be maintained, consistently with a single
statement of these parables and of analogous ones. at it
was merely the visible church of God is neither consistent
with what we nd in this chapter, nor any adequate
representation of the matter, as is manifest from the
parables of the treasure and the pearls. e rule of heaven
is the simple force of the expression “the kingdom of
heaven.” Earthly dominion was exercised by the Gentiles
unrighteously; earthly dominion was expected by the Jews,
and expected, though true, unrighteously; as was shown
by their rejection of “ the Holy One of God,” who came
from heaven-” the Son of man,” “ the King of the Jews.”
Most important, then, and a point of sustaining faith, to
one who might think that it had been “ he who should
have redeemed Israel,” was it to recognize in this word “
the kingdom of heaven,” that a resurrection Lord might
hold its power; and anomalous, and apparently failing,
as their position might have been, to learn, not only new
spiritual things, but that the kingdom of heaven was that
which, even in dispensation, was the mind and order of
God’s counsels.
Hence we nd it so especially referred to in Matthew,
the Gospel more particularly of dispensation and prophetic
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81
testimony. It would manifestly carry me into too large
a subject here to enter farther into this most interesting
point of the distinctive character of the gospels, the
evidences of which, in three of them, are prominent-in the
other, arise from a number of minute particulars. I mention
the distinction here, as showing the ground on which “the
kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of their Father”
appear to be used in Matthew’s gospel alone. It was a gentle
unfolding, though full declaration, that the order of things
now coming in was, of its own character, maintaining the
hope given as coming from God; one which in result,
indeed, we know to be founded in the resurrection, but
which, in its testimony, then claimed repentance only on
the part of the Jew, the connection of which shall never nd
its manifested accomplishment till the millennial glory in
the risen saints and the repentant Jew, gathered together in
one in Christ, sustaining in resurrection life and power the
blessings of the Jews on earth and its consequences; [He]
at the same time being the companion and the servant,
too, of the joy of the saints risen into fellowship with
Him in His Father’s house as sons. Our Lord, however,
in this chapter unfolds its actual characters, and we must
endeavor to bring in “the new things” of “the kingdom,”
to understand fully the ground on which the kingdom of
heaven now stands. We have here two other kingdoms-”
the kingdom of their Father,” i.e., of the righteous; and “the
kingdom of the Son of man.” In neither of these, properly
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speaking, are we now. e Son of man shall do so and so,
and “then shall the righteous,” etc.
11
ese kingdoms are the full development of that which
now rests in an anomalous and ambiguous state (glorious
and blessed, indeed, but still ambiguous
12
as regards its
manifested results), to wit, “ the kingdom of God’s dear
Son,” the kingdom of the Son of God as sitting upon the
Father’s throne. is is not the kingdom of the Son of man;
it is not the kingdom of the Father, but the kingdom of
the Son of God sitting on His Father’s throne; the Lamb
rejected, slain, sitting on the right hand of God, or in the
midst of the throne. I believe this to be the great mystery
of the present order of the kingdom, the promise to be, “
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit down with me
on my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with
11 is gospel is properly the Jewish gospel of Messiah (while
consequently showing the passing away of the present and
introduction of a new order of things); saints are therefore
called by the term “righteous” or “just.” “Saints” more properly
speaking, is a Gentile name, or at least either a Christian one,
or applicable to the sanctied remnant of the last days, as
separated out of the mass, though both terms are true of either
class. It is a revelation to the then believing Jew, it being true
still, that, in consequence of the rejection of Christ, and the
purpose of God contained therein, the believer’s portion would
not be in the Son’s kingdom upon earth, but in the Father’s.
12 is I believe to be the real subject of the Revelation, and the
rst chapters to exhibit this [using language suited]; to clothe
within itself, indeed, the glorious result seen through faith, but
to be that by which we can understand, as regards the kingdom,
the anomaly of present circumstances, intermediate between
the rejection of the Son of man, and His manifestation in the
irrefutable glory of His own kingdom, when the righteous also
shall be in the Father’s. Let us understand and be patient till
He takes to Him His great power and reigns.
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83
my Father on his throne,” where no saint ever sat, none but
He whose right it is.
is principle, or glorious truth, of the Son sitting on
the Father’s throne, as the present subject of faith, will be
found to run through the whole of our Lord’s language in
John, and give the character of the whole present state of
things. Hence the Spirit is said to be sent down from the
Father, because it was to bring us, not only into fellowship
with Jesus, but into the understanding of son ship with the
Father, in whose house and kingdom the righteous were to
dwell and shine forth. Now these parables in Matthew are
just the showing forth of the planting and results of this
kingdom of heaven, in the sitting of Jesus on the throne
of God in power unseen, and ministration of the Spirit
according to the Father’s will, and “ a Lamb as it had been
slain,” yea, and in the midst of the throne, but in which He
had not taken the earth as His actual portion.
ere is another connection which will illustrate the
language of these parables-I mean the development of the
hope of Israel in Psa. 78, compared with the application of
verse 2 with verse 35 of this chapter. ere was no riddle
simply in historical facts, but there was a most important
lesson and mystery in the total failure of Israel; the Israel
of God in the earth totally failing in the midst of all
deliverances and blessings, and then set up in stability in
David their king. It was the kingdom of David connected
with the Jew. But there were other riddles (Psa. 78:1; Matt.
13:35. See original)-the great riddle of the kingdom of
heaven in its present dispensation-” things new “ (besides
David’s reign of Christ over the Jews).
Our Lord (as the prophet of Israel, and the kingdom
which now reached out to the world) takes two positions
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in these parables, or rather, string of prophecies, which
are the two parts of prophecy lled up in Him in whom
every oce was fullled. e church in order required no
prophecy,
13
nor Israel either. In disorder, the prophetic
testimony had two oces: the testimony of that disorder,
and the method of God’s purposes as paramount to human
disorder-judgment against the one, and the method of
God’s plan of grace, the purposes of God in their moral
character and wisdom of counsel. Both are assumed or
recognized by the Spirit, as exhibited by our Lord in this
chapter. e rst we have exhibited in the great prophetic
mission of Isaiah (chap. 6), where the seeing the full revealed
glory of Jehovah necessarily involves those not seeing that
glory, now it was revealed, in the consequences of judicial
blindness. is was fullled in our Lord. ere was the
full glory of Jehovah and the Spirit of revelation, and the
word, therefore, of judicial blindness applied directly; and
He speaks this to them in parables. A comparison of the
language both of Ezekiel and Zechariah will much conrm
this observation: “en shalt thou know that the Lord of
hosts hath sent me unto thee,” Zech. 2:11. “In that day
shall thy mouth be opened to him that is escaped,” Ezek.
24:27. is prophetic character is attached to the parables
in verse 13. e other prophetic character is opening out
to the remnant, by these very riddles, the mysteries of the
kingdom, understood when the Spirit has revealed Christ,
according to the measure of that revelation, “Unto you it
is given to know.” is declared in Psa. 78 is adverted to
in verse 35. Note here, the Lord acts on the measure of
13 By this is not meant prophecy in the sense of edication and
comfort, of course.
e Dispensation of the Kingdom of Heaven
85
blindness, in judgment, as on the measure of light in giving
more-a very awful consideration, yet sure.
us we see the character of the whole chapter-to
wit, Christ’s prophetic testimony upon the rejection of
His word by the Jews: the order of the divine kingdom
during the absence of the Son of man consequent upon
His rejection, and the assumption of His own throne, the
ministration of power in the hands of the Son of man,
with the closing scene of that order, the assumption of the
righteous into the Father’s kingdom in the brightness “ of
the sun “ (i.e., Christ Himself); the purging of the Son
of man’s kingdom, the eld in which the tares were; the
declaration of the intrinsic excellence and value with the
beauty of the kingdom [the gathering of the good rst into
vessels], and the judgment of the visible church, the net-
full gathered out of the sea.
I would now follow, a little, the order of the parables
or prophetic declarations themselves. e rst, I have
observed, is no similitude of the kingdom at all, but the
sowing of the seed, by which its ministration was carried
into eect: a general parable, the general instrument, and
therefore stated previously to the judicial blindness of the
Jews, and not made a similitude of the kingdom of heaven,
but the word of the kingdom, the details of the operation
or hindrance of which are most blessedly and beautifully
marked. e following six parables are similitudes of the
kingdom of heaven, but there is a marked distinction in
them. e explanation of the rst of the six and the last
three of these parables are addressed to the disciples
alone; the former three being addressed to them and the
multitude at large. e rst three contain the ostensible
position and result of the kingdom in the world, of which
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men might be more or less cognizant, or which might be
addressed to them. e latter three, and their explanation,
are either the result in full development, the result in
God’s hands, or the intrinsic character and value of the
kingdom work, as in the mind of the Spirit developing
the mind of the Lord. is was addressed to the disciples
especially. Farther, I would remark, as the rst three are the
kingdom as seen in the world, and the last three as known
in the mind of God, so is the contrast between them more
denite still. e rst is the sowing abroad in the world,
the last is the separative process of the actual net-full (the
quantum gathered out of the sea) now dragged to shore.
e two intermediate ones of the rst three are, one, the
external organization by which the kingdom grows up into
the world; the other, the diusion of doctrine through the
mass, which the Lord characterizes as leaven, the import of
which is given elsewhere. e two intermediate ones of the
latter three are, the rst, the value of the hidden treasure
in the eld, the real glory of the Church, as known by the
mind and discovery of the Lord, though not now brought
out, for which He was content to buy the eld-to take the
world in its present worthless condition. e application
of this is most important. e second is the moral beauty
of its grace in the eye of God, meeting the mind of the
merchantman seeking goodly pearls, the estimate of the
grace in the church by Christ, and the spirit of Christ. I
believe, also, the rst of the former two answers to, or is
the contrast of, the rst of the latter two, and the latter of
the latter. e last parable manifestly discloses the judicial
process on the body gathered to shore [by the separation
of the good, and subsequent judgment], a question quite
distinct from His judgment of the world.
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87
I have now, I believe, distinctly traced the order and
structure of the parables. An attempt at their interpretation
remains. I shall only remark on those which are the likeness
of the kingdom of heaven, and only by way of heads. Of
the rst, we have our Lord’s own interpretation, in which
I have only to direct the attention to the simple force of
the terms upon which the Spirit of God must throw His
light for our understanding “this word of the kingdom.”
We have seen, generally, that the rst three are the position
or character of the kingdom in the world. So we have here,
“the eld is the world,” and nothing else; nor does the
judicial process refer to the judgment of even the nominal
church, that is subsequently in the last parable. Christ
sowed the good seed of the kingdom in the world; and
the devil, with craft, sowed tares there amongst it, while
men slept, “perverse men” “ordained to this condemnation.”
e power of extermination was not given (to wit, out of
the world) to the church, the servants of the householder:
they must “both grow together until the harvest.” It was no
service to Christ, then, to kill a heretic; the rude hand of a
servant might destroy a saint, in attempting the purity of
the crop, by that which was reserved for other hands. e
ripening of both was the present process, ripened together
in the world. e church would never become a system to
purify or set right the world. e providential power of
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God in the ministration of the Son by His angels,
14
would
clear out of His kingdom in bundles, into the eld, in the
world, the tares to be burned; and thereupon the righteous
would shine forth as the sun, not in the kingdom of the
Son, not in the kingdom of the Son of man, but in the
kingdom of the Father. In a word, we have the clearing
of the world, the eld, by providential interposition, by a
judicial process in the hands of the Son of man, sending
His angels. e righteous of the kingdom, i.e., those who
had been righteous while the world was evil, shall be as
the sun. We know who “ the Sun of righteousness “ is, and
“ when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is “; but it is in the kingdom of their Father.
What followed in the kingdom of the Son of man we know
not hence, only that He gathered all that oend out of it,
and that the earthly “ kingdom of our Lord and his Christ
was come “; but this was not the subject of a similitude of
the kingdom of heaven. is mixed and ambiguous system
was closed, or rather accomplished, in the separation of the
Father’s kingdom of glory (the righteous, as the Sun of
righteousness, being together in it, to the praise of the glory
of His grace by what is past, and of His glory then: compare
14 Formally, that is, in the actual assumption of acquired power
as man, I believe the angels became the servants of the Son of
man when He had overcome Satan-as ministers of the Jewish
position of which He had become the redeeming Head-as the
agents of God’s providential power in the world, which was
now shown to be in His hand, because He had vanquished
(in obedience and faithfulness) the prince of it. We read,
accordingly, in Matthew, this gospel of dispensation, “ en the
devil leaveth him, and behold angels came and ministered unto
him.” So we nd in that marvelous passage in Luke 22, “ And
there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening
him.”
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89
Eph. 1:6-12) and the kingdom of the Son of man now
purged judicially, the earthly kingdom being now brought
in, of which we know, from other sources, the Jews to be
the imperial power in Christ. e second parable I have
already spoken of as the external organization in the world,
of the power and inuence of the kingdom according to the
hierarchical form it took in man’s hand. e attentive reader
of Scripture must be most familiar with the symbol of a tree
as denoting external protective power and eminence, as in
Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and many others, making the
analogy most denite. is, then, was the worldly power
of the system. Now when the kingdom of the Son of man
comes in, there may be something analogous, though not
tantamount to this; but such
15
a system must be a system of
sovereign righteousness, forbidden by the previous parable
to the church, or it will be an association or system of evil.
e third is the spreading of nominal doctrine to whatever
measured extent God had assigned or appointed. So also
in another system this might have another character, but it
cannot be recognized in grace properly here, for the whole
is leavened, a thing again expressly negatived, as a fact in
grace, in the rst parable. e explanation to the disciples
of the rst we have spoken of as fully as our limits allow us
here. Of the fourth, it is evidently the purchase by Christ
of the world, for the sake of the treasure, the church, the
treasure of God hidden in it to be brought out in due time.
e fth is the positive discriminated beauty and excellency
of the church as ordained and set by God, and which the
Spirit of Christ, the anointed One, recognizes and sees in
15 e power over evil in the world being forbidden to the
church, its having power in the world necessarily involves it in
the recognition or allowance of evil.
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its beauty, so as to “ love the church and give himself for it,”
as seen in the mind of God’s love. In proportion as we have
the mind of Christ, we shall of course enter into the mind
of Him who is the head of the kingdom, whose Spirit is
thus described, fullled in Him perfectly. In the last, we
have evidence of the result, that the nominal church shall
not gather in the world. ere were many shes in the sea,
the mass of the unheeded world pursuing their own ways,
not drawn into the net; but the net was lled, and there was
gathered of every
16
kind out of the sea, and there was also
of bad and good. “ e fullness of the Gentiles was come
in,” and being full it was drawn to shore; and the judgment
of the church commenced [by the separation of the good],
and the bad are cast away. e details of these parables I do
not enter into further here.
I state synoptically what has been followed out as the
subject arose. e kingdom of heaven we have as a state of
things during the period when the Son is sitting on the
Father’s throne. During this period the children are in the
Son’s, but heirs of the Father’s kingdom-a period during
which the world is not ordered according to the righteous
judicial power of the Son of man’s kingdom-the interval
between the rejection of the Son of man upon earth and
His reigning upon earth, in which the saints are sustained
by the Spirit, in the midst of the world, by the Spirit sent of
the Son by the Father, the witness of His exaltation there.
Of this state of things, this chapter is the full prophetic
announcement. e external character which it assumes in
the world being depicted in the rst three; the real blessing
and value and the judgment of its results, its internal
16 “To take out of them (the Gentiles) a people for his name,”
Acts 15:14.
e Dispensation of the Kingdom of Heaven
91
character in God’s sight, in the last three of the six parables.
It closes in the setting up of the Son of man’s kingdom
upon earth, and the assumption of the righteous, during its
continuance, to the Father’s kingdom in the heavenlies. e
rst parable is the word of the kingdom. e expositions
and internal view of the church or kingdom are given to
the disciples; the judicial blindness of the Jews is declared,
and the special privilege of the saints; and the parables are
spoken distinctively as the “ utterance of things hidden
from the world,” which the Spirit reveals to those “ who
have ears to hear.”
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62232
e Melchisedec Priesthood
of Christ
THE blessing of Abram, by Melchisedec, runs thus-”
Blessed be Abram of the Most High. God, possessor of
heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God,
which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.”
It is familiar to every reader, that the apostle uses
Melchisedec as the type of Christ, according to the word
of the oath: “ ou art a priest forever after the order of
Melchisedec.”
We would say a few words on this Melchisedec
priesthood of Christ, its extent and blessing. And rst, it
is not that which Christ the Lord now exercises. Not that
He is not a priest after that order-we know fully that He is,
by the epistle to the Hebrews, and from Psa. 110, and that
He is not of any other. But the exercise of His priesthood
is according to the typical character of Aaron’s on the day
of atonement, as the same epistle shows. e whole of the
present order of things answers to the day of atonement-is
typied by it. e High Priest is gone within the veil, with
the blood of the sacrice- even of Himself-His own blood.
So there, as yet, He is, whom the heavens must receive till
the time of the restoration of all things, which God hath
promised by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began. is, then, is the time during which the Lord,
though a priest after the order of Melchisedec, after the
power of an endless life, made with an oath forever (eis to
dienekes
17
), in perpetuity, a continuous, not a successional
17 See note to Heb. 5:6 in New Translation of New Testament.
e Melchisedec Priesthood of Christ
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priesthood; yet exercises it practically for us according to
the type, though not according to the order of Aaron, as
within the veil, on the great day of atonement.
Accordingly the apostle, after declaring the order of
His priesthood, enters upon and dwells exclusively in detail
upon the Aaronic priesthood, as characteristic of that which
the Lord Christ now exercises. He shows that He exercises
it, anti-typically, within the veil, the priesthood being, in
its exercise, now one entirely of a heavenly character. He
is gone within, not the typical veil, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. e blood is
not of bulls and goats, with which the patterns of things in
the heavens were puried, but His own blood-those better
sacrices by which the heavenly things themselves could
be puried. e very glory with which Jesus is said to be
crowned is spoken of in the words in which the consecration
garments of Aaron, and his sons after him, are described
in Exodus. (Compare Heb. 2:7 and Ex. 28:2, in LXX,
where the words are literally “ for honor and glory.”) e
whole of chapters 8 and 9 show the present exercise of the
Lord Christ’s priesthood to be after the Aaronical pattern,
though He be in no sort after the Aaronical order. It is the
very reasoning and subject of the epistle; and in chapter 9
the analogy is entered into in detail, so as to enable us to
apply the details of the priestly services of the Levitical
order to our present condition; as, however imperfectly, is
commonly known in the Christian church.
It is manifest, then, that the type of Melchisedec here
presented to us, as indicative of the priesthood of Christ, in
its exercise leads us to further results and wider exhibition
than that in which He now so graciously, and blessedly
for us, secures the life, and blessing, and salvation of His
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94
people in heavenly places; Himself far above all heavens, at
the right hand of the Majesty on high, having by Himself
purged our sins. e priesthood of Christ is clearly after
the order of Melchisedec, and solely so; its exercise now
is as clearly after the type of the order of Aaron solely;
and that as exhibited on the great day of atonement within
the veil. Not but that there is a great deal revealed now
as to Aaronic types, which could not be seen in the type
itself, which was a shadow, not the very image, the veil is
now rent behind Him, and we are enabled to follow Him
within, and see where He is set down, to our comfort and
everlasting joy. But there is a glory besides, not yet fullled;
a glory of its own character, a glory properly Christ’s, and
taught us in this type of Melchisedec, the exercise of which
we nd yet to come; and all that develops Christ’s glory is
precious to the saints. It is the Lord’s glory, the glory of the
Son of the Father, His own glory, too, as well as the Lord’s
glory. On this I would speak a little.
e priesthood of Melchisedec is, then, that royal
dominion of priesthood in which, as representing the
Most High God, and speaking also for man to Him in
returns of praise, Christ blesses from Him (as now in His
possession) heaven and the uttermost parts of the earth,
through and in the seed of God. We nd even in the case
of Nebuchadnezzar (the rst great type of earthly and
Gentile dominion but opening out its corruption), his
greatness reached unto heaven, and his dominion to the
end of the earth; and this is put in such a strong light, that,
as far as earth goes, the Adamic dominion is (Dan. 2:38)
in a remarkable manner attributed to him. He may have
been guilty, and the rst exhibition of Gentile apostate
dominion; still this characteristic of universal dominion
e Melchisedec Priesthood of Christ
95
is attached to him. He was the man (in whatever pride
of character he lled it) set in power. e mystery of his
non-acknowledgment of God in it was to be brought
out in him; and the seven times of a beast’s heart in this
selsh and proud dominion It was the man of the earth,
not the Lord from heaven acting as man in the power
of righteousness; the king of Babylon, not the Son of
David, not the Lord from heaven ruling in Jerusalem as
witnessing the true God. But it was a dominion given, and
typically exhibiting this dominion over the earth, though
to illustrate its abuse in man’s hand (hence the seed of
God, even brought into captivity, not blessed as in power
or deliverers); a dominion given in connection with that
age (aion), in which administrative power was put into the
hand of man, in the commission to kill whoever killed,
which was given to Noah. e other characteristic of the
evil and apostasy of it was the setting up a false god-an
image. But the result was that God was owned by the
king “ the Most High God “: God is acknowledged in
this character. e seven times’ punishment comes, till he
knows that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,
and giveth it to whomsoever He will. us much for all
short of dominion in heaven (though his greatness reaches
to that), all earthly dominion.
But there is another portion of the divine inheritance
corrupted and debased, the scene of power, however, and
blessing. His greatness reached to the heavens; but what
do the revelations of God show us to be in the heavenlies?
“ e saints of the Most High (that is, of the heavenlies-
Hebrews elionin)
18
shall take the kingdom.” But we nd
that we are wrestling with principalities and powers, with
18 e Chaldee plural of Elion
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96
spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12); that is,
power apostate from God, holding the earth; exceeding
great power, and spiritual wickedness, principalities and
powers, holding the heavenlies: the earth, and the heavenlies
alike, possessed by evil in present power. We nd the saints
of the heavenlies (Dan. 7:18) taking the kingdom, and the
people of the saints of the high places or heavenlies given
the kingdom, and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom
under the whole heaven (v. 27). In this it is that God has
His title, as may be seen in Daniel, of Most High (the
second word Most High in verse 25 being dierent in
the original from the rst given above), that Most High
whom Nebuchadnezzar was obliged and made willing
to acknowledge. us the earthlies and heavenlies will,
as regards government in association with God, be set in
blessing under the name of the Most High.
But we have more denite statements on the subject.
In the day of the full glory of the Lamb, there shall be
one Lord, and His name One; the God of the whole earth
shall He be called. In that day shall Jerusalem be called the
throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to
it. And the Son of man appearing in His glory, King of the
Jews, even Jesus of Nazareth, shall be on the throne, and not
on the cross; and not in Hebrew, nor in Greek and Latin
only; but in every language of power which despised Him,
shall men join in owning the inscription of the Lord of
glory, even Jesus of Nazareth, “ is is the King of the Jews,”
when the earthly kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ is
come. is is not, indeed, the limit of His glory, though it
be much to have destroyed them that destroyed the earth,
and ll it with blessing, the mountain of the Lord’s house
being established in the top of the mountains, with especial
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97
blessing to the seed of God, under His righteous reign. All
power is given to Him in heaven; and thus we nd the
blessing identied with the Person and heavenly presence
of Jesus. Accordingly we nd in the promise, the purpose
of His will in the Ephesians, that in the dispensation of
the fullness of times, “He should gather together in one
all things in Christ; both which are in heaven and which
are upon the earth.” Now the mystery which belongs to
us is not merely that we should have the sure mercies of
David by virtue of His resurrection. is will be made sure
to the Jews (Acts 13:32-34), in the day when He shall see
them, even the believing remnant, and He shall sit upon
the throne of David His father, and reign over the house of
Jacob forever, all nations serving Him, and the nation and
kingdom which will not serve Jerusalem shall perish, yea,
those nations shall be utterly wasted. But Jerusalem shall
be called the city of the Lord; the Zion of the Holy One
of Israel shall be an eternal excellency; its sun no more go
down, but the Gentiles come to the brightness of its rising.
is will be the portion of the despised ones, in all whose
aiction He has been aicted, over whose apostasy and
rejection of Himself He could but weep. ose tears are
not shed in vain, but mark a reaping in joy, when the joy
shall be as the joy in harvest and as men rejoice when they
divide the spoil.
But we have a yet better portion, not blessings, great
as they are, secured in His resurrection, but to be raised
together with Him, and to sit with Him in heavenly places.
“He hath blessed us in heavenly places “; and the very
purpose of that epistle to the Ephesians is to show that,
made sons with Him, we are to be with Him in heavenly
places, the body of Him, the Head to the Church over all
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things. We have not merely the fruits, but the working
towards ourselves of that exceeding great power, which was
wrought in Him, when “God raised him from the dead, and
set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” (See
Eph. 1:19; ch. 2: 7.) But we look at this only in government
now in connection with the throne of Melchisedec.
us when He gathers together in one all things in
Christ, we nd, under the blessing of His throne, the Jews
in the earthlies the center of blessing, and all nations blessed
in them through Him (see Acts 3:25), and the saints in the
heavenlies, sitting there as raised with Christ, and having
overcome through grace, sitting down in His throne, as He
overcame and sat down in His Father’s throne; and thus
witnesses together of the universal dominion of Him, to
whom all power is given in heaven and on earth, at once
Son of God and Son of man; Lord over all, as well as
God over all, blessed for evermore. But there is another
character (for what of blessing does He not ll?) which we
nd the Lord here showing forth. He is a Priest upon His
throne (Zech. 6); and here we have the real full exercise
of the Melchisedec priesthood. And now see how all the
things referred to are brought together in it. We speak of
Christ as Priest after the order of Melchisedec, in the day
of His power on His throne. He had sat on His Father’s
till His foes were made His footstool, but now-gathering
all things in heaven and on earth into one-He sits on His
own throne.
at dreadful evil had come in, that Satan, sitting in
heavenly places, had made the poor inhabitants of earth
worship demons, gods many and lords many. And earthly
power was associated with false worship and apostasy, as we
see typied in the great image set up by Nebuchadnezzar,
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99
in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Hence
misery, also persecution and degradation of the children
of God. e corrupter and murderer being in heavenly
places, corruption was the portion of his subjects, death
of those who were not so exempt. Now that which was
specically opposed to this was this title of the Most High
God; so Nebuchadnezzar is bound down to confess the
Most High God. And this name we nd in the passage
we are considering: “ Blessed be Abram of the Most High
God.” Now this remarkably concurs with what we nd
connected with the call of Abram: “ Your fathers,” says
Joshua (chap. 24), “ served other gods beyond the ood.”
e call of Abraham, therefore, was not the judgment
upon unrighteousness against God alone known and
owned, but the call and witness of the Most High God.
When the perverseness of man made gods many, and lords
many, He was then the Most High God. We have seen,
further, the heavenlies and the earthlies are united in one,
in Christ; whose is all power in heaven and earth; and here,
accordingly, Abraham is blessed of the Most High God,
Possessor of heaven and earth; and as the title of the Most
High God is given here, and witnessed in the priesthood
of Melchisedec, who was priest of the Most High God,
so also shall the blessing run in this full and unhindered
channel, Possessor of heaven and earth. O what blessing in
that day when there shall not be principalities and powers
in heavenly places to taint the very source of blessing in
powers above: no scene of deceived corruption below to
make evil what God had made good; nor spirit of rebellion
to bring the curse of opposition to God, the God of blessing,
upon the wearied corrupters of their own mercy; but one
whose it is, Possessor of heaven and earth, when the Lord
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100
shall hear the heavens, and the heavens shall hear the earth
standing in the priesthood, and the earth shall hear the
corn, and the wine, and the oil; and the corn and the oil
shall hear Jezreel. O what blessing when the Most High
takes (ever His in title) possession of heaven and earth, and
our High Priest is His High Priest.
us we have total exclusion of all other gods but one,
the only One; the world or heaven above knowing none
but One; no creature above or on the earth taken to be
a god but the Most High God, known as the Possessor of
heaven and earth. What rest in that! what rest and security!
while Satan has the power, while those hold the possession
subject to his power, sorrow, discord, and death are the sad
and unwelcome companions of man’s voyage; he is seduced
to every folly, he is but as the convict in the ship-its guidance
and its power are in other hands. Now the Most High is
Possessor, and where shall be the tempter then? Not in
heaven: the Most High possesses that; not on earth: the
Most High reaches in His possession to that; and the very
ends of the earth shall feel the blessing of His pervading
comprehensive blessedness. But this Melchisedec, though
priest of the Most High God, had other characters. He
was King of righteousness (comp. Isa. 32); for where
righteousness is, there is blessing. He was king of Salem,
which is king of Peace; for the fruit of righteousness is
peace; the eect of righteousness, quietness and assurance
forever. e Melchisedec priesthood is the security of the
blessings of these from the Most High God; the union of
heaven and earth under Him, and the mutual blessing of
both known in Him, and the common recognition of the
Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.
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But we have also to look at the object of this blessing-
Abram. Now, naturally, Abram is the father of the natural
seed-” I know that ye are Abraham’s seed,” saith the Lord
to the Jews. Here then he stood the father of Israel (and
in them of the blessing of many nations), blessed from the
fullness of the Most High God, by the King of Peace and
of righteousness; the representative of the natural seed
of Israel, blessed from on high, in the earthlies, with all
the fullness of blessings from God Most High, possessor,
etc. But Abraham stood, however, as we know, also as
representative of the seed which inherit the heavenlies-
Christ and ourselves. “If ye are Christ’s, ye are Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise “; “ and they that
are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” And thus
(though by subsequent development, for it was hidden as
yet) he stood as the representative of the heavenly seed also,
and the blessing of the Most High found its actual scope, as
He was possessor of the heavens, those who were in Jesus,
having their place there, as well as of the earth, all being
gathered together in one in Him. us, in the title of God-
in the priest himself-in the object of the blessing, we nd
the great character of universality according to the mystery
of His will (His good pleasure which He hath purposed in
Himself), “ that in the dispensation of the fullness of times,
He should gather together in one, all things in Christ “: the
Jews, being the objects and channels of earthly blessing;
and we, sitting in heavenly blessings, priests with Him,
ministers of all blessings, and kings withal.
In the character of the priesthood, as exercised in the
passage before us, we see the plain distinction from the
Aaronical priesthood. at priesthood was a priesthood of
intercession” He ever liveth to make intercession for us,” the
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102
saints of God, in our weakness: here is the constant object
of His sure and never-failing care and intercession. He has
appeared in the presence of God for us; and, I will add, the
people of God (I mean the Jews), though under the cloud
of His rejection, still waiting till the great High Priest shall
come forth, the witness of the acceptance of the blood
of the atonement, carried within the veil; and remaining
a people blinded indeed, but sustained outwardly as the
people of God, by virtue of that service of intercession, till
He shall come forth and bless them in the name of the
Lord. We know that He has sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high; we can see through the rent veil
into the holiest of all, and see our Jesus there; and still,
though longing and waiting for the time of His appearing,
are content, because we know that Jesus is gloried, and
His glory sure, waiting only till His enemies be made His
footstool, and that the long-suering of God is salvation,
that He delays because He is yet waiting to be gracious
and calling sinners, and that He will surely come-He will
not tarry.
But the priestly act of Melchisedec was blessing, not
intercession; blessing from the Most High God. Here,
then, is the exercise of the priesthood in its Melchisedec
character- the King of righteousness and peace blessing
the seed of God’s acceptance, a blessed refreshing thought;
evil removed, and blessing owing out through the great
High Priest, the Priest of the Most High God, Possessor
of heaven and earth, unhindered. How do our hearts long
for that day, the coming forth of Him our souls long for
yet know, the universal blessing from the Most High God
of heaven and earth. What a word shall be pronounced in
that day! how shall heaven and earth ring with the welcome
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103
witness of the blessing of the heavenly; the earthly seed be
unfettered in its praise; the bondage of corruption gone
from the creature, whose rejoicing, though God was ever
good and showed His goodness in it, was restrained till the
heirs of the inheritance of God, joint-heirs with Jesus, were
manifested to be sons of God. For, lest a cloud should rest
on the brow of the heirs of God’s inheritance-the church
of the rstborn, the creation in bondage through them
must wait for their manifestation for its happiness-must
be dependent on their deliverance for its joy, as suering
through their fault. For neither is the blessing of Abraham
thus widely spread, the only thing; but honor redounds and
praise on high: “ Blessed be the Most High God, who hath
delivered thine enemies into thine hand.” is blessing is
after the full destruction of the enemies of the people of
God, after the victory over the gathered kings and great
ones of the earth, “ the hosts of the high ones also [that
are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth “;
for there is one Most High, who is possessor of both, and
one King Melchisedec, King of Salem, where praise waits
for the God of all the earth. us is the echo above and
below in that center of both-one in Him; one with the
Father, the Most High God; and who Himself took on
Him Abraham’s seed, now come forth in His kingly glory
to bless us from God Most High, and God from us-the
Man of blessing, the Blessing Man, the Lord Most High.
But we remark in interpretation most denitely, in
connection with all we have said, that it is blessing and
refreshment after, and consequent upon, the destruction of
all the enemies of those who are represented by Abraham,
bringing down and destroying those who destroy the earth
by the Lord’s power, Himself the servant to refresh. All
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104
victory is but in some sort weariness, for victory, if a time
of joy, is a time of weariness: if we had none to meet after
it, it would be the sorrowful consciousness of destruction,
needed, perhaps, for deliverance, but destruction still, God’s
strange work. But it is not so with the delivered there, nor
with us, but in every place where the grounded sta shall
pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with
tabrets and harps, joy of deliverance. And who shall be there
to refresh? Even that One who cometh forth to bless. He
brings forth bread and wine, the bread of Salem where the
King dwelt, but now the servant of the victors, to give the
joy of deliverance, and the refreshing of love; the wine of
the kingdom drunk new, great deliverance to their parched
lips, that they may open in refreshment, and praise, and
speak, and think of Him, how great soever, who brought
it forth, their Melchisedec making them to sit down to
meat, and as he that taketh the yoke from o the neck; the
servant of that blessing always, though beyond controversy
the less is blessed of the greater.
us then we have in this little sentence the accomplished
character of the Most High God, over, and as to, all things
in heaven and earth, the one true God, known in blessing,
universal blessing, and the unity of all things in Christ; the
center of all this blessing, the benediction priesthood of
Melchisedec, the blessing by Him of the redeemed of God.
is consequent upon the victory of these, over all their
confederate enemies, and the deliverance of every captive;
and they all made partakers of the food and wine of the
kingdom, brought forth for their joy, and His own rest
and delight, by the King of Salem, of righteousness and
peace, ministering blessing from the Most High to them,
oering it up for them to the Most High. e victory over,
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105
the refreshment, as the joy of it from the blessed source,
the blessing from His own mouth, the blessing from the
Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, proved so in
His redeemed, to whom He gives the joy and inheritance,
the habitation of both.
May the blessing of Melchisedec, of Christ, the Lord,
the King, dwell on our spirits; may we see it in spirit, and
may it, in type, be our joyful portion now that He is the
servant of intercession for us. He is Head, the witness, and
the leader of all our praise, in the ages of the fullness of
blessing (even when God shall be all in all), as now in the
poor congregation of His saints. How imperfectly all the
joy of this could be declared, our own enjoyment of it must
most surely tell. May the Spirit of our God teach a more
skilful tune to those who may take the lesson into their
hands, because the chord struck unskillfully has awakened
the thoughts of praise in their hearts; and after all, our
dying notes here are but poor witnesses to that new song
which we shall sing in abiding notes of praise. And may
the sweetness of the instrument itself strike some heart as
yet untuned. To hear or know how sweet is the melody of
heaven, of Jesus’ praise, they and we have yet to learn, in the
hope and glory of the blessing which rests not only on His
head, but is in His heart toward the redeemed of God in
full creation, for we are called to inherit a blessing. We have
a better portion than reigning-our calling to be with Him:
still His reign will be the source of sweet and rich blessings
to a delivered earth; Rev. 11:15.
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62233
A Letter in Reply to “ree
Considerations”
THREE CONSIDERATIONS; PROVING
UNSCRIPTURAL THE SUPPOSITION OF THE
PERSONAL REIGN OF CHRIST ON EARTH
DURING THE MILLENNIUM.’’
19
DEAR BROTHER IN THE LORD,-I have received
the little tract you sent me; many occupations have delayed
me, but I reply to it at length. To one well acquainted with
the gathering together in one all things “ both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth,” in Christ, this short paper
will not present any diculty. Indeed, it proves little more
than most tracts or books written by others with the same
view; and that is, the unacquaintedness of the writer with
the subject; but as many scriptures are referred to, it may be
well, as regards those who are not so acquainted, to refer to
them. As to the zeal for the oces of Christ, I have only
to say, that acknowledging and blessing Him for all His
oces, we simply seek to see what Scripture teaches us of
the exercise of them, and we think from Scripture that our
brethren have made mistakes concerning them.
e rst two propositions-though the rst might
mislead- I should have no diculty in admitting: so little
is the writer aware of the point between us. e third is
direct misstatement of the fact as to Scripture, which we
shall see at once when we examine the texts.
Christ, we own, is King. We own Him as our Priest;
but the place of the exercise of His priesthood is in the
19 Dublin, 1835.
A Letter in Reply to “ree Considerations”
107
presence of God in heaven; so that, while the Jewish system
was permitted to continue, He could not be a priest there.
“ If he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing
that there are priests that oer gifts according to the law.”
Did Paul deny the priesthood of Christ in saying this? He
was proving it, and showing the place and manner of its
exercise. Again, Christ, the anointed Man, is King; but the
world and the Jews are the kingdom given to Him. But
while we admit His title from the beginning, He was born
King of the Jews, and to Him were the Gentiles to come.
We read, at a given time, “ the kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.” Mr.
Stronach surely will not say that this time is come yet. If
any enquirer will turn to Dan. 7, he will see “ one like the
Son of man “ brought before the “ Ancient of days,” and a
kingdom “ given to him”: the Ancient of days having judged
and consumed the beast. We believe, when the Son of man
takes the kingdom, He will suer no evil at all; that until
He does so, He works by His Spirit in the hearts of His
people, teaching and strengthening them to show the life
and patience of Christ in the midst of the evil, and forming
them for a better and a happier world: as to this world, they
are in the kingdom and patience, not the kingdom and
power, of Jesus Christ. A time is coming when they will
have to say, “ We give thee thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty,
because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast
reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,”
Rev. 2:17. Does any one suppose that God then rst had
great power? e mention of it shows the folly of such
a thought; but He took it, and reigned, and wrath came.
He had, for a long time, held His peace; now He arose.
Christ is Lord, Head, Bridegroom of the church; but the
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scripture speaks of Him as King of the world (as before,
and also in futurity, of the Jewish nation). As God, every
real Christian owns Him, as Jehovah, King of eternity. But
the writer must know that this is not the question, but of
oce, of a kingdom taken as Son of man-a given kingdom,
a kingdom to be delivered up.
And now as to the texts, Psa. 2:1-7, it is said, has
received its accomplishment. Acts 4:25-28; ch. 13: 32, 33.
As to the former passage, the Psalm is quoted for nothing
but the raging of the kings and rulers against Christ; as
to the latter, simply that the promise made to the fathers
was fullled in raising up Jesus,
20
to which he applies the
passage in the Psalm, “ ou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee.” e setting Him King in Zion is, in
neither case, at all referred to. Does Mr. S. mean to say
that the quotation of one part of a passage proves the
accomplishment of the whole? If so, he must say, that the
“ uttermost parts of the earth “ are now the possession of
Christ, that He has broken them “ with a rod of iron, and
dashed them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” He knows that
this is not the case. If he says, He has it in title and He will
yet accomplish it, I answer, precisely so; and when He is
King in Zion, He will then by His power take possession
of all the earth, and break down, even as with a rod of iron,
all the power and wickedness that is opposed to Him. is
reference, therefore, proves nothing to the purpose.
e next is Acts 2:30-36. In this, again, there is not one
word about Christ’s being made King; so that the writer is
obliged to add to, or rather change, the passage to make it
20 Raising up, however, does not apply to the resurrection, but to
raising Him up as a deliverer. What follows in the passage goes
on to speak of the resurrection.
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answer. e point proved is rst the resurrection;
21
secondly,
the exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God, and the
house of Israel were to know that He was made Lord and
Christ. e question of the kingdom, though this proved
His title, was left in total abeyance. As to Israel’s being
typical of the Israel of God (though I think it no type, and
a very imperfect analogy, and do not believe the Israel of
God to mean the church, but the believing portion among
Israel in the days of the Apostle), it is sucient to say,
that there is not a word in one of the passages about the
kingship of Christ over the church at all.
Matt. 28:18. e only answer is, nobody (i.e. no believer)
can question it. e only question is, is He exercising it
in every way? Clearly not: for example, judgment. is,
we know, is reserved to an appointed day, yet it is the
very witness of Christ’s power; so, that though He has
confessedly “ all power,” the manifestation of it is not yet
made in every way. “ e apostle Paul,” we are told, “ declares,
that Jesus is crowned king “; where? Heb. 2:9-not a word
about it. It so happens that the words here, “ glory “ and
“ honor,” are the words used in the Septuagint about the
garments of priesthood; at any rate, there is nothing about
being king. In Eph. 1:20-23, nothing still about king; and
further, it shows the mistake of the writer as to the position
in which Christ is here shown to stand. He is Head, the
church is His body-Head thus to the church, not over it,
but over all things. It describes here, not His lordship over,
but His union with, the church, and over all things with it,
as His body. at Christ died, and rose, and revived, that
He might be the Lord of the dead and living, is quite true;
but what about His being King, or how King of the dead?
21 See preceding note.
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He will show Himself their Lord in calling them before
Him, raising them; but while the resurrection showed Him
Lord of the dead and living, it has surely nothing to do
with the present character of the exercise of the power to
which He is entitled. As we have said, this will be shown
as to the dead in resurrection; but this is not shown yet,
though we know He has it, nor in the same manner His
just royal power; 1Cor. 15:25. at Christ, as sitting upon
the Father’s throne, exercises all power, no one denies; but
the exercise of His dominion as Son of man in given title
over the world, is the very thing here proved-this must be
subjected also. ese are all the passages quoted.
e conclusion is in no way the scriptural mind of
God. Who told the writer that there would be succeeding
ages of this world’s history? We have not so learned to
say, “Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly!” “Our Lord shall
exercise undisputedly.” is is exactly what He does not
do now in the church; for we wrestle with principalities
and powers, “against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places,” Eph. 6:12. If
the exercise be far more extensive than at present, it is clear;
in some sort, there is a power which He has not taken. is
is the thing we assert from Scripture: the question is, what
is the manner of it? e writer, if he says anything, must
say, Christ can exercise His power in no other way than He
does now. We think He can, and we think the Scriptures
say He will; for example, “ou shalt break them with a
rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s
vessel,” Psa. 2:9. We do not think that this is the gentle
inuence of His Spirit in the hearts of His people, by
which, according to the notion of the writer, He is King
in Zion. ese nations are not Zion at all, and the exercise
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of the power is quite a dierent thing yet to come. When
Mr. S. says, “ Christ will still continue seated where He
now is “-if he mean that the Man, Christ Jesus, shall never
leave His place in heaven, it is clean contrary to Scripture,
and a denial of the faith; for we read, “is same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,” Acts 1:
11. And again, “ Times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus … whom the
heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began,” Acts 3:19-21. When
the times of refreshing come, then Jesus is sent, the heavens
receiving Him till then. Not so those who deny His return,
and look for the times of refreshing to come, without Jesus
being sent at all. is, though the universal testimony of
Scripture by all the holy prophets, the unbelieving church
now rejects and denies. We believe that the heavens will
receive Him till a time, which time is a time of refreshing-
not the nal judgment of the dead and sending them to the
lake of eternal re.
With the second head, I have only to say, I entirely agree.
On the proofs of it, I remark the times of refreshing which
were to come (Acts 3.: 21) on the repentance of the Jews,
clearly are not the judgment of the dead, which yet, Mr. S.
acknowledges, comes on the entire close of the dispensation,
“ when we all … are come.” And, further, the mediatorship
of blessing does not cease when the mediatorship of
intercession does. Aaron, in the holy place, is the type of
one-Melchisedec, coming forth to bless Abraham, of the
other.
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Now, as to the quotations under the third head, that
the resurrection of all the dead is invariably represented in
Scripture as taking place at the same time, I have only to
say, it is an entire misstatement; John 5:28, 29. Here I see,
on the contrary, there is a resurrection to life spoken of,
and a resurrection to judgment, showing they are distinct
things; if the word “ hour “ be spoken of, reference to verse
25 will show that the same word can be applied to the
time of Christ’s work in the esh, and also, the time of
His work when exalted, which last part has already lasted
eighteen hundred years. is text proves, not that there
is one resurrection, but two- a resurrection to life and a
resurrection to judgment.
In Dan. 12:2, it is written, “Many of them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake.” is is a strange text
to prove that all rise at once. But I do not believe that it
applies to the literal resurrection of the dead at all, but
to the gathering of the scattered Jews from their hiding
places, some of whom will, after all, be unbelieving: at any
rate, there is no word of all being raised.
Acts 24:15. at there will be a resurrection both of
the just and the unjust, all admit; the question is, will they
take place together? Of this the passage says nothing. John
6 and 1Cor. 15 speak solely of the resurrection of the
righteous, and prove, of course, nothing of the simultaneous
resurrection spoken of the wicked: they rather show,
that the resurrection of the godly, believers, is a distinctive
privilege. If the verses (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54) be referred to,
it will be plainly seen to be the believer’s privilege: how so,
if it be a common resurrection of all? It is clear, however,
that none but believers are spoken of, and that it is their
privilege as such. If the verses of 1Cor. 15:51-54 be read,
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or indeed the whole passage, it will be plain that none but
blessed saints are spoken of at all, as is distinctly expressed
in verse 23, “ Christ the rst fruits; afterward they that are
Christ’s at his coming; then cometh the end.” Surely this does
not represent all rising at the same time. As to Rev. 20:11
to end, I do not see how those of whom we have previously
read-” they lived and reigned “-could be called the dead,
specially when it is said, “e rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were nished.”
e passage in 1Cor. 15:23, 24, is very plain. ere are
three steps: rst, Christ; then (with a lapse of, we know, at
least eighteen hundred years) “ they that are Christ’s at his
coming “; then (with-how long interval is not said more
than before, from other places we read of-one thousand
years and a little space more) cometh the end. So that there
is Christ; and then Christ appearing, and they that are
Christ’s raised; then the end, and the kingdom delivered
up. is is very simple and clear.
Matt. 25:31 to the end. How is this shown to apply
to resurrection at all? I do not see that it does. Where is
anything spoken of resurrection in it? e chapters seem to
run in this order: chapter 24 commences with the judgment
on Jerusalem and the Jewish people; then at the end, the
disciples or church looked at immediately, their actual
calling in particular responsibility to meet the Bridegroom,
and the actual gifts-a solemn truth, for which they were
responsible in the use, ‘ occupying till he come ‘; then the
Gentiles (all the nations) called before Him for the manner
in which they had received the messengers of His mercy.
is, so far from being a general judgment of the dead,
takes in no Jews at all, but is contrasted with them- does
not include the previous judgment of the church-does not
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include any dying before Christ came (for the terms of the
judgment preclude this), nor any to whom the message of
truth did not come-in a word, very, very far the greatest
portion of the subjects of a general judgment. It is, in a
word, the judgment of all the Gentiles in that day, as He
had before judged Jerusalem and the Jews. It may involve
many principles, as the whole passage does, but this is its
simple statement; nor is there a word about resurrection
in the whole passage, but of judgment on all the Gentiles,
when the Son of man sits upon the throne of His glory.
Phil. 3:20, 21. It is hard to see how a sensible person
could quote this and similar passages to prove such a
proposition. Are the wicked “looking for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body,
and fashion it like unto his glorious body “? Or, is their
“conversion in heaven”? It is the contrast of this hope, as
belonging only to the heavenly-minded. e whole chapter
treats of a resurrection, or emphatically, “e Resurrection,”
as the special and blessed hope of those who, by the power
of Christ, are conformed to His death. How could the
wicked be said to “attain to the resurrection “? is point
is distinctly proved from Luke 20:35: “ey which shall be
accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection
from the dead, are the children of God, being the children
of the resurrection.” us there is, declaredly, a resurrection,
which the children of God, as such, are alone accounted
worthy to obtain, and on the obtaining of which they are
equal to the angels.
Col. 3:4. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” What this has
to do with the wicked being raised, too, with the saints, is
beyond me.
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John 3:2. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and
it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is.” What has this to do with any but saints
like Him at His appearing? What is there of the wicked
being in the resurrection with the saints? ey seem to
treat continually of a blessing conned to the righteous, to
those who suer with Christ. ese are the only passages
quoted directly.
Ezek. 37:1-14 (which is mixed up with Rom. 2:15; Eph.
2:5, 6; and Rev. -all passages treating of widely dierent
subjects), I agree, is a gurative description, fully explained
in the chapter itself to mean the restoration of the two
houses of Israel, long buried among the heathen, made one
again under David their King-a truth, generally, as much
denied by those who reject the rst resurrection of the
saints, as the latter revelation itself. As to Rom. 2:15, I do
not think it necessary to make any comment. And Eph. 2:5,
6, is the statement of the association of the church with the
power of that which was wrought in Christ, and though
spiritual, is not gurative. It is a sad thing to call such a
testimony gurative; it is the blessed identity of the church
with the power of what was wrought in Christ really.
Lastly, Rev. 20 (to disprove the application of which the
other passages have been quoted). e statement is simple,
and the language plain. We read of God and Christ, of
the devil and Satan, the rst resurrection and the second
death. is is not symbolical, but plain; and (what is very
important to remark) it is not a state of things described,
but a reward of persons. “If we suer, we shall also reign
with him,” said the apostle; and so, in another place, “If so
be we suer with him that we may be gloried together.”
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“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 throne.” We do not (though gures may be
used to express them) believe that the things here spoken
of are gures; we do not believe, that, when the Lord said
that people who suered with Him should also reign with
Him, He meant that the principles which they suered for
should prevail in persons who were reigned over, however
happy they might therefore be. His suering church is
one with Himself, His body; and when He appears, we
shall appear with Him. When He reigns, He will make us
reign with Him. e saints of the Most High shall take the
kingdom. He must do it in the necessity of His own love;
His word has declared it for the comfort of His people.
We cannot let go His grace out of our hands; we shall be
priests of God and of Christ, reigning a thousand years
with Him, a Priest upon His throne, reigning upon, or
rather over, the earth.
Isa. 65 and Ezek. 37, compared with Luke 20 and Rev.
20, will show the dierence of the earth blessed under the
saints’ reign with Christ, and their reigning with Him-
the instruments of the blessing. In a word, He is to gather
together in one, both things in heaven and things on earth.
Luke and Revelation show the former, being written to
the church; Isaiah and Ezekiel, being written to the Jews,
the heirs of the latter, show the earthly glory and blessing
which shall result from Satan being cast down (see Eph.
6:12, margin, and Rev. 12); and the Lord and His saints
taking the place they held, and all blessing coming in
consequence, as described in Hos. 2:21, 22. We admit,
from Isaiah, that there may be death among those on earth
during the millennium (not, of course, among the risen
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saints); but it is only spoken of as being judicial. It does
not appear, that I see, that the godly will die even on earth
during the millennium: “as the days of a tree are the days
of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of
their hands.” It would in fact be only a little prolongation
in blessing, of that which was shown to be originally more
natural to man in sorrow even on the departure of creation
from God-blessing now restored, as when his days were
not as the evening shadow, till well nigh the verge of as
long a day as that which yet shall be but short from its
blessedness in favor under the securing reign of the Lord
from heaven, the second Adam.
As to the concluding paragraph generally, I never
saw more terrible confusion and error resulting from
confounding the kingdom taken as Son of man; and the
divine majesty, which can never pass away. e kingdom
spoken of in 1Cor. 15 is a kingdom “given up,” a kingdom
exercised during, as well as till, the last day, but at the end
given up. erefore, says the writer, we conclude, “that the
King, the Lord of Hosts, shall ll His throne in the highest
heavens till the last day.” He will, surely, forever and ever.
“Till the solemn hour.” Does the writer believe that the
King, the Lord of Hosts, will ever give up His kingdom?
is is a strange way of securing the Savior’s Person, and
oces. It just shows the awful error persons are brought
into, when they resist the plain testimony of Scripture-
an error which, in his thoughts concerning our blessed
Master, I gladly own, I believe, the writer to be quite free
from, but which his denial of the given, and afterward
surrendered kingdom, taken by the Son, and confounding
it with the divine and unchangeable royalty of His Person
(a conclusion also made by C.G.T., in referring to 1Tim.
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6:13), completely involves them both in; for this connection
of 1Cor. 15:25, etc., with His glory as the King, the Lord
of Hosts, is a direct statement that He gives the latter up,
holds it only till a given time; which I believe and am sure
both the writers would hold to be a blasphemy against the
divine glory of the Lord Jesus, Jehovah, “ God over all,
blessed for evermore.” If the kingly power of the Lord Jesus
is simply as the King, the Lord of Hosts, and, using 1Cor.
15 for this, “ we conclude “ that He “ so “ lls His throne
till the last day; then is it most certain that this He gives up
to God, even the Father; and I trust that such a statement
will awaken the writer’s eyes to the truth, that there is a
time when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His
glory, when He distinctly, and before the world, shall be
upon His throne, as now the church knows Him to be set
down on His Father’s, in the rightful and glorious tide of
Son of God, a place where He, one with the Father, alone
of all that ever were in the form of man, can, or has title to,
sit in the glory which He had with Him before the world
was. But there is a throne, His throne, on which, in the
blessed love of His grace, they that overcome shall sit with
Him according to the truth of His word. If he examine the
passage in 1Cor. 15 a little closer, he will see that it refers
to the subjecting of all things to man in resurrection (not the
King, the Lord of Hosts, in tide unvarying, in glory never
changing-the same, yesterday, and to-day, and forever, who
was and is to come, the Almighty, Jesus, our Lord).
ere is only one other passage I need refer to-John
18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Does C.G.T.
mean to say, that this world will not be made the kingdom
of Christ? He knows this would be entirely contrary to
Christian hope and faith. en the question is its character,
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the source of its power. “ It is not from hence “: that I indeed
believe. Would that other Christians would own the truth!
As to how it is to be brought under His power, we must
refer to other scriptures where this power, and in what way
used, is suciently spoken of. I use, as an example, C.G.T.’s
reference, Psa. 2:6-12.
ere is one subject more remains to be noticed-the
rejection of Christian ministry-to which the short reply
is, that we reject nothing but un-Christian ministry. I do
not believe that persons appointed by the king or chosen
by the people, are therefore ministers. is is the point in
question. I disclaim the title of either to choose or appoint
them, or of any but God. But I believe Christian ministry
to be as essential to this dispensation, as the fact of Christ’s
coming. So far am I from setting it aside, I believe it to be
essentially from God, and object to the perversion of it,
or the mere will of king or people-though both are to be
respected in their place-interfering with so holy a thing.
I read that when Christ ascended up on high, “He gave
some apostles, and some prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers.” is is the only source of
ministry, not the appointment of a king, nor the choice of
a people. I see it, on the one side asserted, that authorities
have a right to appoint, and, on the other, that the people
have a right to choose: I do not believe either. Christ gives
when and how He pleases-woe be to them who do not
own it! In a little tract called “e Protestant Dissenter’s
Manual,” it is stated, that a man has as much right to
choose his own minister as his own lawyer, or physician.
is seems to shut out God altogether, just as much as
what is objected to. If Christ has given a gift, the saint
is bound to own its use, and Christ’s word by it. Where
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is the proof of an evangelist’s gift? In the converted souls
which bless God through his means. e church may own
and recognize them in it, but they must do so if they are
spiritual, if the gift and therefore appointment, of God be
there: they sin against Christ who has sent him, if they
do not. e consequence of these human appointments, or
choosings, has been the xing a person who pleased the
people, t, or unt, as the one only person in whom every
gift must be concentrated, or the Church lose part of its
inheritance and portion: and the whole service has been
turned habitually into a preacher.
We do not object to ministry, but to the assumption of
the whole of it by one individual, who may or may not be
sent, and, if sent, may have one qualication, and not all.
A man may be eminently qualied for an evangelist, and
he is made a pastor, for which he is in no way tted; he is
qualied to teach, perhaps, but not to rule, and he is put
to guide the ock. It is the substitution of a minister, good
or bad, for the whole work of the ministry, of which we
complain, and the dislocation of the frame of Christ’s body,
which is the consequence. What is the Home Mission,
and the Presbyterian mission, and the like, but the eort
to correct this plainly seen nuisance in the frame-work of
these bodies which call themselves churches? e reason
I say that ministry is essential to this dispensation, is the
declaration in 2Cor. 5 “ God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation “;
more correctly, “ and committing unto us.” at is, God in
Christ was doing these three things: reconciling the world,
not imputing trespasses, and committing ministry. is
was essentially part of the work of God manifest in the
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esh, the manner in which He was revealed. Amongst the
Jews it was not so. ey were a people formed by birth,
and a certain code of laws was prescribed to them as such.
But when God was in Christ, being a reconciling God,
a ministry was necessarily the way of fullling this very
purpose; it was the distinctive character of the dispensation,
essentially characteristic of it. e grace of this may be
amazingly concentrated, as it was in the apostle: it is
habitually distributed in various competencies of service.
ese are for use, and the church is bound to own them,
or it denies Christ’s title in committing them, which is as
real and essential to Him as the power in which He was
reconciling,
22
and could forgive, and not impute trespasses:
any one who is reconciled is competent to state, and bound,
as far as able, to state Christ’s glory as the Reconciler to
them who are ignorant. ere are those who may have the
special gift of evangelizing; the church, of course, is not the
place for this, ordinarily speaking, for they are the church,
because they have received it; no one has the smallest
right to speak in the church to whom God has not given
a competency to edify it; nature has no right there; we, as
to it, are dead in Christ-out of Him, dead in trespasses
and sins-our right in esh is only everlasting destruction. I
know no right that a rebellious sinner has but to go there;
a saint has none-he is bought with a price-Christ has all,
and power too; neither has grace any right to speak, unless
for the edication of the brethren. If they are edied they
will soon nd it out; if not, it proves the incompetency of
22 e dierence of Christ as on earth, and a ministry founded
on His death and resurrection, is not entered on here, but it
does not aect the argument, so I leave it as it is. 2Cor. 5 does
enter on it.
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the speaker, let him be as wise as the Prince of Tire: for the
Spirit always speaks to prot to them to whom He speaks.
It is true there may be so evil a state, as that men will
not endure sound doctrine; but for this there is no remedy
but the direct intervention of prerogative mercy, in sending
some one able to bring them back. e church, then, has
a right to the prot of all the ministry, with which God
has endowed any of the brethren, for its edication; those
who cannot do so, must, of course, be silent, for it is God
who alone can provide, and He will chew His prerogative
by giving it by whom He pleases. If anyone be exceedingly
gifted of the Lord in knowledge and wisdom-in that
aectionate and watchful discernment of the state of
souls, and ability to minister the right remedy in Christ-
to control the unruly in the manifested power and energy
of the Spirit of God-to detect the devices of Satan-his
value in feeding the ock of God will soon be felt; the
godly part of the church would soon be apt to cling too
much, rather than too little, to such an one for guidance,
comfort, and support; and he is bound to exercise his
ministry according to the measure given to him, whether
locally or more extendedly. If anyone be able, with much
gift from God, rightly to divide the word of truth, though
he may not have such qualications as previously spoken
of, he may teach, with as much, or more even, of prot than
the other, yet not hold the same place of service among
the brethren; he may have a word of wisdom, though not
of knowledge, or the converse; the church is entitled to
all. Whatever He gave, He gave to the church to prot
withal; how shall we get it, if it be not exercised? at
Christ will demand the account of the talent is certain;
but there is much more gained than merely the exercise of
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whatever gifts God may give: for, the Spirit of God being
owned, the power of communion is there, and, the Spirit
of God being honored, blessing accompanies all in the
power of grace and communion otherwise unknown. We
quite acknowledge, then, Christian ministry, but not to be
altogether in the hands of those who would thus conne it
to a single individual, whatever his extent of qualication.
ere may be persons who have a constant gift of a given
character, and it is their duty to exercise it; a word of prot
might be given to any at any time. If there are those who
are experienced, through divine grace, in the guidance and
governance of the church, the saints will, guided of God’s
Spirit, be in subjection for their own prot; yea, all will be
subject one to another. Where the Spirit of grace and love
is, all will be well; where not, it will be surely ill, unless
the Lord in mercy interfere, by sending someone able to
control the unruly, and convince the gainsayers. e Lord
will surely aord for His church all that is needful for its
good, though He may, for our prot, keep us waiting very
closely upon Him for them, and thus teach us dependence
upon Him. If He were more looked to, we should have
fewer diculties, for He would act more- perhaps I should
say, more manifestly to us. Further, I add, that while every
oce or gift is a blessing to the church, and to be fully
recognized, it is the clear privilege of any two or three
Christians, where not done in the spirit of schism, to
meet and break bread together, should they not have any
ministry at all, nor any oce whatever. It is their privilege
as Christians-the rest is their prot, of course, as saints, and
to be gladly welcomed and ministering to the other, but,
indeed, no way to be compared with their actual abiding
privilege of communion together, their privilege and
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duty and substantially the everlasting part of the whole
matter. e necessity of a priest for this, for such it in fact
comes to, is a mere remnant of the principle of apostasy
in the church, though where there are many, whoever may
preside, one who is an elder would be the natural person to
fulll such an oce, as someone manifestly must;
23
public
sanction before, and by the world, is not at all necessary
for any oce. is is what is called being a clergyman,
and is one of the seals and marks of apostasy; the union of
the world and the church, whether in the Establishment
or Dissent. If this is what is meant by being a minister, I
would utterly disdain and abhor it in such a sense: nature, I
am sure, likes it: the authority to minister comes from the
competency given of Christ; its recognition by the church
is therefore a responsibility which solemnly rests on them;
if the Spirit of the Lord be amongst them, He has ever,
and will ever, order all things needful for this and for the
expulsion of error. When I speak of authority to minister, it
is, indeed, a deep responsibility, to be exercised according to
the word, of which Christ will take sure account, and judge
our neglect. Any recognition by the church may be all well
for itself as to order; it is not what confers competency to
minister-woe be to the church, if it owns not what Christ
has given-separation to any special service the Lord may
make, if He pleases; if He does, He will provide the way for
Himself, in His wisdom, and it will be proved and made
good, and, I will add, justied of wisdom’s children. It is
not necessary for the church’s continuous blessing, as is
manifest from the history of the church of Antioch; God
works, I trust, though we are feeble and foolish-is working
much more deeply and powerfully than the devised order
23 at is, in the act of giving thanks and breaking bread.
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125
of human arrangements may be able, perhaps, to see. May
He give us to wait on His time and way for every gift and
guidance of His Holy Spirit; His Spirit is sovereign, and
will prove Himself so, however men may carve channels to
carry its waters safe. Perhaps when it may seem to overow
and break their banks, it is rich nourishment and unction
that it may leave behind and deposit-while the channel
they are so curious about may be found to have but sand
and stones at bottom, making its course troubled-its prot
and value only when it breaks through the dikes human
wisdom has raised. e Lord, I am persuaded, will order
much more blessing than we have yet seen, if we are patient
and devoted. With the fullest liberty, then, to those whom
the Lord has enabled to prot the church, exercised, as in
Spirit it alone can be, subject to the authority of God in
the church, “ decently and in order “-we do recognize, in
the fullest sense, a ministry in the use of, and waiting upon,
every gift in the service of God, which He has given for
the prot and edication of His church. When God calls
any individual, and appropriates any gift to him, as such,
of course, he will be a minister, and is bound to wait upon
it. We do not count ourselves perfect in wisdom, but these
things we see in Scripture, and believe God is honored
most in His own way.
Another book has been put into my hands, containing
remarks on a letter by Mr. Newton, by a clergyman.
I have read it through, but I cannot think that in point
of argument, scholarship, or good manners, whatever its
pretensions, it claims any answer. If those amongst whom
it is circulated feel any diculties from its contents, there
will not be much diculty in replying to it separately.
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62234
Evidence From Scripture of
the Passing Away of the
Present Dispensation
THE testimony of Scripture is the only secure resting-
place for man amid the darkness of this world. is,
through the teaching of the Spirit, is the believer’s light and
security; from this his judgment ows; and, consequently,
from this the rule and foundation of his conduct springs.
Wrong thoughts as to God’s dealings, and our own place
before Him, must lead to wrong judgment as to the conduct
claimed from us; and thus all our service will be folly, and,
perhaps, our hopes presumption; our light will be darkness,
and then what will become of those “ who are led “?
Immediately connected with this inquiry (and thus
involving the most practical results) is the question as to
the dispensation in which we stand, and what are to be our
hopes in it? Many most interesting inquiries are connected
with this subject, as to the development of the purposes of
God; but it is not my present purpose to enter into them.
I intend to conne myself to the scriptural evidence on
the two following most important questions, which, in the
highest degree, aect the present interests and operations
of the church of Christ.
(1) IS THIS DISPENSATION THE LAST, OR
NOT?
(2) WHAT ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY
WHICH ANY OTHER IS TO BE INTRODUCED?
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e answer to these questions appears to me to involve
the whole ground of the judgment of a believer’s mind, as
to his present position in the world; and, consequently, as
to his duty and his hopes. Without examining the detail
of circumstances, I shall endeavor to seize on some of the
broad facts and principles.
(1) Is this dispensation the last, or is it not?
First-Let us consider the evidence of Scripture as to the
Christian body.
e 9th verse of the 1st of Ephesians aords a leading
declaration of Scripture on this subject: “ Having made
known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth; even in him, in whom
also we have obtained an inheritance “ (v. 10). Now this
is in no way applicable to the present dispensation. He is
to gather together in one all things which are in heaven,
and which are on earth. is the present dispensation does
not assume to do: it is a dispensation in which Satan is
the prince and god of this world-in which he sows tares
among the wheat, and is in high places. In this, God visits
the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
is is indeed a dispensation of another gathering (as we
shall see presently), in which angels minister and devils
oppose-anything but a gathering into one things in heaven
and things on earth; for we must be absent from the body
to be present with the Lord, and absent from the Lord to
be at home in the body; and we “ groan “ waiting. Indeed,
there is ample demonstration in the above passage, that
the present dispensation does not and was not meant to do
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this. e passage declares that God has made known this to
us, as that which should happen in the fullness of times, of
which we have the earnest under the present dispensation
until the redemption. is is not merely “going to heaven,”
because, as we see in the passage itself, God is to gather
together in one all things in heaven and on earth in Christ.
at which we have under the present dispensation is an
earnest merely of that which we are to have; which is not
a going to heaven, but a dispensation in which all things
are gathered together in heaven and on earth. In a word,
the passage declares a gathering, which cannot mean the
church in the present dispensation, or in any dispensation;
for the church, as applied to believers, in no dispensation
comprehends all things in heaven and on earth; and that
which comprehends and gathers all into one (all things
in heaven and on earth) is manifestly not the church; for
the church, even here, is gathered out of the earth, and
does not gather all things on the earth into itself, and as a
dispensation of the assembled saints in heaven, it has none
of the things of the earth in it at all. Indeed, except from the
force of habitual prejudice, it is just as fairly inferred from
this passage that all the things in heaven will be gathered
in the earth, as that all on the earth will be gathered in
heaven. If we do not acknowledge a common gathering of
all things both in heaven and on earth under the authority
of Christ (as is also written elsewhere), it is manifest we
must force this passage into some previously assumed
sense, and then it may mean anything we like. Chapter 3
of John’s gospel might throw light on this, if the reader is
disposed to inquire. But as it is manifest that the church is
no such gathering actually, so it is equally manifest that to
say that the assembly of the saints in heaven is a gathering
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of all things in heaven and on earth into one, is a plain
perversion to suit previous ideas; for the saints are not all
things, if the position taken were otherwise tenable: and it
is thinking that they are so (in self-complacency) which is
one grand source of error, for thus His glory is marred and
shortened, by whom and for whom all things are created.
I arm (though it be the manifestation of God’s wisdom)
that the church of God’s saints is only a part-a small part-
of the glory and purposes of God, as fullled: a part worthy,
indeed, of all admiration, as it is; but one which, if we take
the comeliness that God has put upon us, and make our
boast as if it were all God’s glory, He will show us it is
as nothing in His sight-calling the things that are not as
though they were.
Again (1Peter 1:9-13), “ Receiving the end of your
faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testied beforehand
the suerings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves,
but unto us they did minister the things, which are now
reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;
which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ.”
Here we have three things: the prophets prophesying of
a grace to be brought to us, the Holy Ghost reporting these
same things, and, therefore, the Christian church waiting to
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the end for the things which are to be brought unto them
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
at is to say, that which the prophets prophesied
should be brought to us, the Holy Ghost, in the present
dispensation, reports in the word, and believers, therefore,
wait for as about to be brought to them at the revelation
of Jesus Christ. But it was not heaven the prophets
prophesied of, but the dealings and dispensations of God;
therefore there is yet a dispensation to come, in which the
things prophesied of by the prophets will come, and for
which those who have received the truth wait; and this
dispensation is not it.
Further, there is another important fact we would advert
to:
ere is no promise of universality annexed to the
present dispensation, but the contrary. “ Go ye,” is its
leading instruction, “ Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned.” But
there is a dispensation, when the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea. is is therefore not the last, for the eects stated of
that are not contemplated in the instructions of this. is
is a dispensation of testimony and of instruction; that, of
universal knowledge, and therefore essentially dierent, for
men shall no more say, “ Know the Lord.”
Again, as to the Jews, there shall be a state of things
in which all Israel shall be saved, i.e. as a body. But now,
“ Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small
remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should
have been like unto Gomorrah “: and again, “ Even so,
then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according
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to the election of grace.” e dispensations, therefore, are
essentially dierent in their character; the one the rescuing
of the remnant, the other, the saving of the body. So, of
the Gentiles, “ Simeon hath declared how God at the rst
did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his
name.” It has not, therefore, the intention of universality
manifested in it.
So John 11:52: “ And not for that nation only, but that
also he should gather together in one the children of God
that were scattered abroad.” Here we have a gathering
which characterizes this dispensation, but essentially
distinct from that noticed by Paul in the Ephesians.
Again, in connection with this, the character and
position annexed to His people equally contravene the
idea of the universality of the dispensation. “ Who gave
himself for us,” we read, “ that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works “: all this is essentially distinctive, therefore
not universal.
So Peter: “ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light.”
So Phil. 2:15: “ at ye may be blameless and harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked
and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the
world.”
So John, in the conclusion of his rst epistle, and many
like passages, and others withal, which prove suering to
be their portion.
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And connected with this, is the direct warning of
the excision of the church
24
on its failure of maintaining
eectually this position. See the whole of Rom. 11e
conclusion is summed up in verse 22: “ Behold therefore
the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell,
severity; but toward, thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut o.” But is not
the condence of the necessary continuance of the present
dispensation very like that high-minded conceit which
ruined the Jews though they had perhaps better ground for
it; and against which, expressly, the apostles warned these
Gentiles? Is it not what the apostle warned of as the very
way of being cut o? e ruin of the Jews was, boasting
of the comeliness which God had put upon them. But to
proceed (nevertheless, he that hath ears to hear, let him
hear), the position in which they are thus put, with such
purpose and responsibility, under pain of excision, is thus
expressed (Matt. 5:13): “ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if
the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it
is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to
be trodden under foot of men.”
e consequences are fully stated by the Lord: “In the
world ye shall have tribulation.” “Whoso taketh not up his
cross, and followeth not after me, cannot be my disciple.”
“He that saveth his life shall lose it … he that serveth me,
let him follow me “: and many other like passages, familiar
to the Christian. ey were to be called Beelzebub, and he
that killed them would think that he did God service-they
were to be hated of all men, etc.-nor, may we add, was the
church at any other time pure.
24 Note to translation. ‘ Church ‘ refers here merely to professing
Christendom.
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So the apostles, or rather the Spirit in them: “If so be
that we suer with him, that we may be also gloried
together.” “Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suer persecution “: and yet more, for “yourselves know
that also we are appointed thereunto.”
Again, the results of the testimony of Christ by the
Spirit, and the ultimate results of His incarnation, are
contrasted: “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth,”
is the title of the latter; “Suppose ye that I am come to send
peace on the earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division,” is
the result of the former.
Again, the full continuance of evil, until some change
by power be wrought, is fully declared: “ As it was in the
days of Noe,” and “as it was in the days of Lot,” we are
told, “shall it be in the day when the Son of man shall be
revealed.”
Further, this could not be a day of universal blessing
simply, or it would be idle to talk of it as coming “unawares,”
“as a thief in the night “; and that there would be some
whom it did not take unawares. Judgment may overtake
those unsuited for it; but spiritual light and blessing are
blessings because they do so. Yet Peter declares this is the
day of grace to the church, which was prophesied by the
prophets of old, even the glory of Christ that was to follow;
1Peter 1:10-12.
But more, evil shall get worse:
“ Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,”
says Paul to Timothy, “ deceiving and being deceived.” is
does not look like the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
covering the earth, as the waters cover the sea.
In the next place, we are assured that the man of sin, the
apostasy of professing Christianity, will be destroyed by the
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brightness (lit. appearing) of Christ’s coming; 2ess. 2:8.
What that is I think may be fairly learned from Titus 2:13;
but I do not here press it thus far. I merely use it as evidence
that this is not the last dispensation. It is, however, not
dierent in degree, but contrasted in character from “the
grace … which hath appeared” in verse 11,
25
just before;
the one leads to wait for the other. But the passage in
essalonians proves this: that the apostasy continues up
to a time when a wholly dierent power has intervened,
and a new state of things ensued; for, not to hang it on
the thread of sense which connects 2 essalonians
(which some would cut boldly through), its association
with chapter t of this epistle is evident. In chapter. 1 the
instrument which cuts o the apostasy is represented as
giving rest from the existing dispensation, and introducing
another, when the wicked should cease from troubling,
and the weary be at rest. at is, chapter 1 declares (in the
terms used by the Lord in Luke, and the apostle Peter in
his epistle) His revelation; that He will then and so clear
His kingdom from them that trouble the church. us it is
an entirely new dispensation which we are to look for-the
wicked continuing and growing worse to the end of this.
is may suce for direct testimony; more will appear
when we consider the manner of the introduction of the
next dispensation, every evidence of which is evidence also,
of course, of its existence. I shall only mention one thing
more here, before I turn to evidence of another character.
e parable of the tares of the eld is a testimony from
the Lord, stating directly that the church
26
would become
25 e words used in the original here and in verse 13 stress the
idea of appearing.
26 at is, as an outward system in the world.
Evidence From Scripture of the Passing A way of the P r esent Dispensatio n
135
corrupt: i.e., that the eld (the world in which the Son of
man had sown good seed) would be overrun with tares, and
that it would be rectied by a dispensation of judgment-a
harvest, not a re-sowing of the eld. It is not said that
the tares would be turned into wheat, but be gathered in
bundles to be burned, and the wheat itself made to shine in
some other system. What that is, is another question. But
the place where the change was to occur, where the exercise
of the judgment was to be, the kingdom spoken of as the
Son’s, was the place where the seed was sown, the eld of
the world, out of which all things that oended were to be
gathered.
Let us now pursue, as other evidence, the uniform
method of God’s dealings. It has been surely this: some
strong manifestation of divine glory, followed by a
declension from the practical faith of that glory, and then
judgments, preceded, however, by testimony, that they
which have ears to hear may escape the judgment.
us, in the patriarchal dispensation, the original
association of paradise, the judgment and the promise
(not without intervening testimony), formed the basis
of patriarchal faith: from this, even as Adam from his
innocency, men declined, losing the power of testimony in
lust. e very sons of God became deled, till the earth
was corrupt before God, and lled with violence; and He
said, I will destroy man whom I have made, from o the
face of the earth. en came the testimony -the deluge
coming, and the ark of escape, and then the judgment
testied of. Again, upon the introduction of idolatry,
Abraham was called out to be, in his seed after the esh,
the source of another dispensation, as he was the father of
the faithful, circumcised as well as not. And in due time
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the Jews were drawn out into fresh national relationship
with God, with signs and wonders, and an outstretched
arm-mercies and securities of peace-and their God nigh
to them in glory and power as none other nation had; but
they were stinecked and rebellious. e Lord, indeed,
sent deliverances while it was sin, and not indelity; and
then prophets, rising up early and sending them, till there
was no remedy; when after their restoration from Babylon,
a yet last hope was aorded by Him who had yet one Son,
and spent Him, as it were, upon them. Upon their lling
up the measure of their fathers, the abundant testimony
of the apostolic spirit went forth, before a destruction not
leaving one stone upon another which was not thrown
down, came upon a disobedient and gainsaying people,
despising thus their own mercy. e remnant of believers
in this very testimony alone escaped the judgments. And
(if God spared not the natural branches, the people, in all
whose aiction He was aicted, the angel of His presence
succoring them) shall the Gentile church, fallen into yet
greater evil, after yet greater blessings, go unpunished? It
shall not go unpunished: “ Behold therefore the goodness
and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but
toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness;
otherwise thou also shalt be cut o.”
Is popery, indelity, worldliness, the minding earthly
things, which they who do are enemies of the cross of
Christ, the continuing in God’s goodness? If not, is
there not ample evidence, that if there be not some new
dispensation, God’s glory is defeated and destroyed in the
world, and that instead of the Lord destroying the works
of the devil, the devil, as far as this world goes, the only
place he could, has destroyed the work of the Lord? But it
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will be said, the Lord is showing His arm, and the gospel is
preached in a way it never was before. Doubtless it is, and
here is one of the strongest evidences-not that there will
be no change of dispensation, but that the change is near.
In the rst place, there is no instance of the renewal of a
dispensation which had declined away and departed from
its God, but a full and extraordinary testimony before the
judgment came, in order to the gathering out the remnant
before the judgments. Such there is now we admit, and
rejoice in the mercy of it: this also we do say, that every one
that listeneth to the testimony will escape. Would that all
had ears to hear! for if they would turn and repent, God
would surely turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind
Him; yet we know that if they will not, they shall receive
the reward of their unbelief; they that do, shall receive yet
greater blessings and glory in the Lord’s righteousness.
Having thus seen that the uniform analogy of God’s
dealings (by all parts of it, save judgment itself), and also
the direct warnings of Scripture, lead us thus to judge
of the nature and object of the testimony referred to, let
us now turn to the light aorded by the passage usually
quoted in connection herewith: that it is thus justly quoted
I am willing to admit,
27
because I believe it does point
out what is going on now in the testimony which some
think will convert the world. “ And I saw another angel
y in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people “; but what is
the message?-” Saying, with a loud voice, Fear God, and
27 e literal accomplishment of this passage is, I doubt not, yet
wholly future. It will be the testimony, or gospel, of the kingdom
when the church is gone. But there is that within christendom
and in the world which is analogous at the present time.
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give glory to Him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” We
have, then, the uniform analogy of God’s moral dealings
(herein His ways are evidenced to be equal)-the solemn
warning-and the actual testimony (on which those who
think otherwise rely), all tending to this point, that this
dispensation inherits judgment, not the world; is itself to
be cut o, not to be the system of the world’s blessing. I
expressly avoid argument upon the subject here, because it
supposes either space for very great length, or the reception
of rst principles, and, though protable, is less direct than
testimony; to which, therefore, I conne myself. But this I
say, that either the church must show that it has continued
in God’s goodness, or else it must admit the conclusion,
it shall be cut o, save repentance avert it. Testimony,
however, in self satisfaction, is not repentance: “I shall see
no sorrow,” is the language of Babylon as t for cutting
o. ere is, indeed, a most important principle and truth
at the bottom of, and revealed in, all this; namely, the
constant failure (under the power of Satan) of the creature,
as the rst-and then, indeed, every dispensation externally-
has failed and will fail, unsustained by the direct power
of God: and where evil is, the creature must fail, though
God may uphold him, as He has and ever will His own
people through all the dispensations, till they be brought
where there is no evil. And here we may learn the special
character of the millennium (purposely conning myself
to the point in hand, I mention this only as a fact throwing
light upon the failure of this dispensation), kept by power
till Satan be let loose again, though nally, in its external
form, the elect be gathered as out of all other dispensations:
for, as we know that Satan’s prevailing in one dispensation
has, in its destruction, only given occasion to a better, so
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139
will it be then-even to the nal destruction of his power-
when all the elect of God shall be perfected in everlasting
habitations, all evil removed, and God be all in all.
(2) Let us now consider what are the circumstances by
which that dispensation is to be introduced.
First, then, judgment is the portion of this, and the
introduction of that, and nothing else, whatever may
accompany it for other, in themselves perhaps more
important, objects.
And, secondly, it is connected with the dealings of God
with the Jews as a people, setting up a dispensation among
them. It will be impossible to state all the evidence of these
separately, because the accomplishment of both being in one
act, of course they are testied of together. ere is, however,
distinctness, as in New Testament statements, where often,
as relating only to the church, the Gentile judgment solely
is alluded to. Nevertheless, having stated them as objects
of reference, it will be easy, under God’s grace, to see them
each to be denitely revealed by the Spirit, even when both
are found together. I shall therefore (and the rather that
they may prove themselves, and not be made to speak by
any forced juxtaposition of mine) quote them with scarcely
any order but that in which they present themselves; and, if
the word is to be trusted (for that is the question), the truth
I here, I sorrow to say, have to prove, rests on the fullest
testimony of the word, as demonstrated to the mind of the
believer. But let me here remark an enormous fallacy in the
minds of those who reason on these subjects, and do not
take the testimony.
It is admitted upon all hands that there is a time,
or dispensation, in which the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover
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the sea. is is a great object held out in prophecy. e
question between us is, How is this to be brought about?
ey say, By our preaching, or the preaching of the gospel.
(I take the best ground for them.) How do they know
that? How do they conclude that? Did the gospel ever do
it before? Was it ever promised that it should do it? at
man is responsible for its not doing so, I freely admit, but
that is not the question. And that he is guilty, too, I admit. I
conceive, indeed, that therefore the Gentile church will be
cut o, because it has not done so; and therefore, we may
say, as a church it is damnably guilty, because it has not
done so. But as to actual result, those I speak of pass by the
present sin of the church, and then prophesy (i.e., assert as
to the future), that of which they can have no experience
as to the past, that their exertions will do it. ey charge us
with looking into prophecy: undoubtedly we do, and use
it as God intended it, as a charge and warning against our
present sin and state; while they prophesy for themselves
that which is credit for themselves-though never has the
professing church at large been so far from godliness as
now; if not, why all this labor, eort, formation of societies
for home or continental purposes? is is the simple
dierence: we acknowledge it as a result of God’s power;
they say, without God’s word (and we must add, against it),
‘It will be done by our instrumentality.’ Believers say, with
God’s word, It will not be done thus. We quarrel not with
their eorts, but join in them according to our ability of
God, as far as our poor hearts permit us; but we do quarrel
with their assumption as to the coming result of their own
labors, as if they were prophets, of that of which God has
prophesied otherwise. ey prophesy; we consult the word,
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and apply it to judge ourselves, and nd the church guilty.
Our assertion, accordingly, is this:
Firstly, that there is no prophecy in Scripture, or promise
(which as to means, observe, of future accomplishment, is
prophecy) that the gradual diusion of the gospel shall
convert the world. If there be, let them produce it: if not,
I arm that they are assuming something future, without
any warrant for it but their own thoughts.
Secondly, that the prophecies always connect the
lling of the world with the knowledge of the glory-with
judgments.
irdly, we add, to those who are laboring without
reference to this glory, yet are looking to the gathering of
God’s elect- faithfully perhaps-that there is a vast purpose
of God, and one which is the result of all God’s purposes,
not embraced in their views, and that, as teachers of God’s
mind and will, their system must be wholly and utterly
defective; for the earth is to be full of the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. ey
recognize, and justly, that that cannot be, as it has never
been, and, as we have seen, that it was not intended to be,
by the gospel. ere must, therefore, if they admit the truth
of God’s word, be some great plan and act of God’s power,
on which His mind is especially set (for His glory on the
earth, as in heaven, must be His end as well as our desire,
because we are His saints, and have the mind of Christ), of
which they embrace nothing, teach nothing.
As to our assertion just made, of these three points, the
second point, viz., that the prophecies always connect the
lling of the world with the knowledge of the glory-with
judgments,’ is that which we would now prove. e rst,
‘ at there is no prophecy in scripture that the gradual
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diusion of the gospel shall convert the world,’ would be
proved by the second, were it complete; but, as a negative
assertion, it rests only on reference to Scripture-and must
be disproved by them-a single text is sucient for the
purpose, and to disprove the whole view, so that their task is
a very easy one, if I am wrong. e third, as argumentative,
is not a subject for proof here.
Let us now turn to the second: and may God in mercy
and grace guide us herein to the right and full use of His
word, receiving it with simplicity of faith and obedience in
our consciences!
Let us turn to Zeph. 3:8, 9: “ erefore wait ye upon
me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the
prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that
I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my erce anger: for all the earth
shall be devoured with the re of my jealousy. For then
will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one
consent.” e explicitness of this needs no comment; it is
an express and unequivocal assertion, that it is upon all
the earth’s being devoured with the re of God’s jealousy,
after assembling the kingdoms to this end, that the Lord
will turn to the people a pure language, to serve Him with
one consent. I will only observe that people, in the original,
is plural, Ammim not Goyim, Gentiles, and is the word, I
think, in the original, for all nations not contemplated as
excluded from the covenant (see page 106).
Let us turn to Isa. 65:13 to the end: “ erefore thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye
shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye
shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye
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shall be ashamed: behold, my servants shall sing for joy of
heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl
for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a
curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee,
and 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 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
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. ere shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor
an old man that hath not lled his days: for the child shall
die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred
years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses,
and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat
the fruit of them. ey shall not build, and another inhabit;
they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a
tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long
enjoy the work of their hands. ey shall not labor in vain,
nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the
blessed of the Lord, and their ospring with them. And
it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. e wolf and
the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw
like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. ey
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith
the Lord.”
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Here we have both points, namely, the introduction of
the blessing by judgment, and its connection with the Jewish
people. If any one will say this means the gospel, let him
tell me what is the meaning, after saying the unbelieving
Jews shall be left for a curse to His chosen, of the former
troubles being forgotten, and how the rest of the passage
applies to the church; for the former troubles of the Jews
were only then beginning, or, at the least, accomplishing;
so much so, that wrath was “ come upon them to the
uttermost.” To the Gentiles it could have no application;
for there was nothing of “ former “ to them; indeed, the
whole passage has so plainly another and a fuller aim, that
more argument seems needless.
Zech. 12:9, 10: “ And it shall come to pass in that day,
that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against
Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that
is in bitterness for his rstborn.”
Here we have the destruction (God’s seeking to destroy
all nations that come against Jerusalem) given as the
occasion of the conversion of the Jews to the recognition
of Him whom they had pierced: in a word, the cutting
o of the nations (the general results of which we saw in
Zephaniah) stated in the special circumstances resulting
to the Jews. If Jerusalem be the church, still destruction is
poured, not conversion, upon the nations; and if Jerusalem,
as it must be in that case, be the true church, what is all
this mourning as a new fruit of the destruction of their
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enemies? or how comes this to be the spirit now rst called
forth, and what is its suitableness?
Let us now turn to Zech. 14:1-9: “ Behold, the day of
the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst
of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses ried,
and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth
into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be
cut o from the city. en shall the Lord go forth, and
ght against those nations, as when he fought in the day of
battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the
mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward
the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great
valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall ee to
the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains
shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall ee, like as ye ed from
before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah:
and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with
thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light
shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which
shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall
come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And
it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of
them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall
it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that
day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”
Our notice of this need be but short, because the rst
three verses can hardly be gainsaid in their force. e
gospel cannot be made out of them, for Jerusalem is to
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be taken; but the Lord, as we have seen in other cases, is
to go forth and ght against those nations, and then the
Lord is to be King over all the earth; and in that day there
shall be one Lord and His name one-that is, the blessing
of the universal acknowledgment of the Lord covering the
earth, is, by some extraordinary dispensations, in which the
nations are gathered against Jerusalem, and the Lord seeks,
as we have seen above, to destroy them there; and then His
name is known in all the earth.
Let us compare Isa. 66:6, 18, 19, 13-16, indeed to the
end of the chapter, noticing verses 22 and 23: “ A voice of
noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the
Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies … As one
whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and
ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this,
your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall ourish like
an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward
his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. For,
behold, the Lord will come with re, and with his chariots
like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his
rebuke with ames of re. For by re and by his sword will
the Lord plead with all
esh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many … For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I
will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come
and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and
I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and
Javan, to the isles afar o, that have not heard my fame,
neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory
among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren
for an oering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses,
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and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon
swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the
Lord, as the children of Israel bring an oering in a clean
vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of
them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the
new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall
remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and
your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one
new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another,
shall all esh 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 re be quenched; and they
shall be an abhorring unto all esh.”
We have here the simplest demonstration that judgment
is the portion of the Gentile world, and that by it the glory
of the Lord is known. Now the Lord never pleaded by re
and sword with all esh at a time when His gospel, or glory
by it, was made known to them; still less did He then bless
and restore the Jews; but more of this hereafter.
To the same purpose we may quote Ezekiel, without
quoting the whole passage, which may be easily referred
to by those interested in it. It may be sucient to refer
to two verses, viz., the 6th and 7th of chapter 39: “ And
I will send a re on Magog, and among them that dwell
carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the
Lord. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of
my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy
name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the
Lord, the Holy One in Israel.” We have here the same fact,
so distinctly stated as to need no observation: if any doubt
its application, they may easily satisfy themselves that it is
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not the gospel, by reading the verses following: if so, then it
is by judgment that the heathen are to know that Jehovah
is the Lord, and that in Israel.
And this is the day of which the Lord hath spoken, as
Gog and Magog were the party of whom the Lord hath
spoken. Here, too, I may quote the solemn announcement
of Joel 3:9-18: “ Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles;
Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of
war draw near: let them come up: beat your plowshares
into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the
weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all
ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about:
thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, 0 Lord. Let
the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen
round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe:
come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overow;
for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the
valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the
valley of decision. e sun and the moon shall be darkened,
and the stars shall withdraw their shining. e Lord also
shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem;
and the heavens, and the earth shall shake: but the Lord
will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the
children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord
your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall
Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through
her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall
ow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall ow with
waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of
the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim “-describing
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thus, as we have seen in too many places not to determine
its character, some solemn and determinate act, closing up
the intentions of God: an act of judgment at once upon the
heathen, and by which, yet, the heathen, with Israel, are to
know that God is the Lord in Israel, and when God shall
thereupon turn to the people a pure language.
But from Deut. 32:34, 35, we shall see that this was the
original intention and plan of God.
After describing the sale of the children of Israel into
the hands of their enemies, He says, “ Is not this laid up in
store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me
belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide
in due time.” Who have been the instruments of judgment
and oppression upon the Jews? whose feet, therefore, shall
slide in due time? en the order of this is seen (v. 36,
40-43): “ For the Lord shall judge his people and repent
himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power
is gone, and there is none shut up or left … For I lift up
my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever. If I whet my
glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward
them that hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with
blood, and my sword shall devour esh; and that with the
blood of the slain and of the captives from the beginning of
the revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations, with
his people; for he will avenge the blood of his servants,
and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be
merciful unto his land, and to his people.”
Let us now trace some of the passages of Isaiah where
this subject is developed in one of its branches at length.
us (Isa. 63:1-7), “ Who is this that cometh from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozrah? that this is glorious in
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his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that
speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the wine fat? I have trodden the winepress 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. And I looked, and there
was none to help; and I wondered 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. I will
mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and the praises
of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed
on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies,
and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.”
We may make the same remark here as in Zephaniah, as
to the term people; it is ‘ ammim.’ But generally it is the
exercise of the judgment of the Lord, treading down the
people in His fury, breaking out into the testimony of the
lovingkindness of the Lord towards Israel (see page 101).
Again, in Isa. 61:2, to the end of the chapter, “ To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day
of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,
that he might be gloried. And they shall build up the
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old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and
they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many
generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your ocks,
and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your
vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord:
men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat
the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast
yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double, and for
confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in
their land they shall possess the double; everlasting joy
shall be unto them. For I the Lord love judgment, I hate
robbery for burnt oering: and I will direct their work in
truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and
their ospring among the people; all that see them shall
acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord
hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring
forth, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to
spring forth before all the nations.” With the testimony
of the full blessing then to ow from what is described,
we have this remarkable circumstance, that that portion
of the prophecy, as the Lord’s people have often observed,
which applied to the manifestation of Christ in grace, was
quoted by the Lord, but the latter part not; so that we have
here demonstrative evidence of the application of the latter
part to some ulterior visitation. I would remark that this
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is always the case in prophecies embracing the rst and
second advents of our Lord, and their circumstances: they
are quoted so far even when most apparently mixed, as
they are applicable to the existing circumstances, and there
they stop. e application of the latter part to Zion is too
manifest to need proof; indeed, all that is personal to our
Lord in the esh belongs exclusively to their dispensation,
but this, of course, we cannot pursue here. But, on the
whole, the day of vengeance is the day of Zion’s joy, relief,
blessing, and inheriting the Gentiles, and rebuilding the
former desolations.
Again, in Isa. 52:7-10, the same truths are brought
before us, with (we must add) the same distinction by Paul
as before by the Lord, namely, stopping at the part which
was applicable to the former coming of the Lord, even in
humiliation: “ How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation; that saith unto Zion, y God reigneth! y
watchmen shall lift up the voice: with the voice together
shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord
shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. e Lord hath
made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and
all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
e forty-ninth chapter is a full exposé of the order of these
things, but as not bearing on the point of judgment I pass it
by, with this notice only to direct the attention of Christian
brethren to it.
But I must, though without comment, direct attention
to chapter 32 of the same prophet; which I do the rather,
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because it was in this the Lord was pleased, without man’s
teaching, rst to open my eyes on this subject, that I
might learn His will concerning it throughout-not by the
rst blessed truths stated in it, but the latter part, when
there shall be a complete change in the dispensation, the
wilderness becoming the fruitful eld of God’s fruit and
glory, and that which had been so, being counted a forest,
at a time when the Lord’s judgments should come down,
even great hail, upon this forest; and the city, even of pride,
be utterly abased. at the Spirit’s pouring out upon the
Jews, and their substitution for the Gentile church, become
a forest, is here adverted to, is evident from the connection
of the previous verses. I shall quote only the latter verses
(from verse 14), begging, however, reference to the former
part: “ Because the palaces shall be forsaken: the multitude
of the city shall be left: the forts and towers shall be for
dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of ocks; until the
Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness
be a fruitful eld, and the fruitful eld be counted for a
forest. en judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and
righteousness remain in the fruitful eld. And the work of
righteousness shall be peace; and the eect of righteousness
quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell
in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in
quiet resting-places; when it shall hail, coming down on
the forest: and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed
are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the
feet of the ox and the ass.” I can only refer to the chapters
34 and 35- the whole chapters should be read; they are too
plain to need any comment, if the point stated has been so
stated as to be understood.
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Again, chapter 30: 25, to the end: “ And there shall be
upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers
and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon
shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun
shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day
that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and
healeth the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of
the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the
burden thereof is heavy; his lips are full of indignation,
and his tongue as a devouring re: and his breath as an
overowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to
sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be
a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Ye
shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is
kept; and gladness of heart as when one goeth with a pipe
to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty
One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice
to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm,
with the indignation of his anger, and with the ame of a
devouring re, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones. For
through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten
down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where
the grounded [i.e. decreed or determined] sta shall pass,
which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets
and harps: and in battles of shaking [or, an outstretched
hand] will he ght with it. For Tophet is ordained of old;
yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and
large: the pile thereof is re and much wood; the breath of
the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”
Again, chapter 29: 17 to the end, with the reason and
occasion, verse 20: “ Is it not yet a very little while, and
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Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful eld, and the
fruitful eld shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day
shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of
the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
e meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the
poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner
is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut o: that
make a man an oender for a word, and lay a snare for him
that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing
of naught. erefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed
Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not
now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But
when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the
midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the
Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. ey
also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and
they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”
Again, chapter 26: 19, to the end: “ y dead men shall
live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake
and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew
of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my
people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors
about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until
the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh
out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and
shall no more cover her slain.”
Isa. 25:3-7, and 12: “ erefore shall the strong people
glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the
needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow
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from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a
storm against the wall. ou shalt bring down the noise of
strangers as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the
shadow of a cloud; the branch of the terrible ones shall be
brought low. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts
make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
lees well rened. And he will destroy in this mountain the
face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
spread over all nations … And the fortress of the high fort
of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the
ground, even to the dust.”
e whole of the chapter 24 may be read, particularly
the latter part; and lest any should conclude that it applied
only to the land of Israel, we would refer them to verses
4 and 21. is is not the place to enter into the special
application of the word earth, or rather the word from
which it is translated, Greek or Hebrew; but it is full of
interest, and I believe the Spirit always to use it in the same
and a consistent sense.
I would just advert only to chapter 17: 12-14. I only
advert to this as applying to the same truth, because I
admit that within itself (and I am not here expounding all
prophecy), it does not contain on the face of it the evidence
that it cannot apply to Sennacherib; and, therefore, though
I give it as the same truth, I do not use it as an argument: “
Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise
like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,
that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
e nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but
God shall rebuke them and they shall ee far o, and shall
be chased as the cha of the mountain before the wind,
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and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. And behold
at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.
is is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of
them that rob us.”
Let us turn to chapter 11: 1-12: “ And there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow
out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in
the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight
of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his
lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfullness the girdle of his reins.
e wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard
shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion
and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall
lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
ey shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain:
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a
root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people;
to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall
set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant
of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria and from
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Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam,
and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands
of the sea.”
Here we have one of the passages where the knowledge
of the Lord covering the earth is spoken of; and how? e
destruction of the Assyrian, when Lebanon should fall by a
mighty one, or mightily-this is stated as the occasion when
One should arise who should reprove with equity for the
meek of the earth, who should smite the earth with the rod
of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He should
slay the wicked. I know they say the breath of His mouth is
the gospel; but this is merely to hold a system together: for
slaying the wicked is not converting them, nor is the breath
of the Lord the gospel. In chapter 30: 33, it is compared to
a stream of brimstone kindling the re for the king; and so
it is said, in the epistle to the essalonians, of the wicked
one whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His
mouth. We surely need not argue that this is the destruction,
not the conversion, of the wicked one. Let us refer to Psa.
18, where this expression (I might say subject, but from this
I must refrain) is brought before us: “ en the earth shook
and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved, and
were shaken, because he was wroth. ere went up a smoke
out of his nostrils, and re out of his mouth devoured: coals
were kindled by it.” So verses 13-15 of the same Psalm. At
that time peace shall be indeed on earth, without hurt or
destruction; a day when the Lord shall set Himself again to
recover the remnant, even the dispersed of Judah from the
four quarters of the earth-when they should prevail against
their enemies, and Assyria be smitten, and this known in
all the earth, for the Lord shall be great in Zion. Here,
then, again we have the circumstances in which the earth
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shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea-judgment, excision of enemies, the blessing
of Israel, His gathering from the four quarters of the earth,
and the Lord’s being great in Zion.
So the Jews are taught by the results of His rst coming
to look for, and wait on, Him who hideth His face from
the house of Jacob; Isa. 8:14-17. “ And he shall be for a
sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of
oense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a
snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among
them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared,
and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among
my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth
his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.”
Compare also chapter 4: 2 to the end, which proves, as
other passages, the involving of the Jews in that day, in days
of purging trial. So Ezek. 1 can only refer generally to Isa.
1 from verse 24 to the end of chapter 2, where the great
moral bearing of these truths is fully and solemnly brought
forward.
Let us turn now to Jeremiah. In chapter 3: 17, 18 we
nd Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, when all nations
are gathered together in the name of the Lord, when also
the children of Israel and Judah come out of captivity into
their own land: “ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered
unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall
they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house
of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of
the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance
unto your fathers.”
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So also see Jer. 31:10-12, for the Jewish part of the
inquiry: “ Hear the word of the Lord, 0 ye nations, and
declare in the isles afar o, and say, He that scattered Israel
will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his ock.
For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him
from the hand of him that was stronger than he. erefore
they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall
ow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and
for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the ock and of
the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and
they shall not sorrow any more at all.”
So Jer. 30:7-11, where the language is suciently plain
without comment, as denoting the circumstances which
attend the time of blessing: “ Alas! for that day is great, so
that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but
he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that
day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from
o thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall
no more serve themselves of him but they shall serve the
Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise
up unto them. erefore fear them not, 0 my servant Jacob,
saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, 0 Israel; for, lo, I will
save them from afar, and thy seed from the land of their
captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be
quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee,
saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all
nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a
full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will
not leave thee altogether unpunished.”
Again, more distinctly, Jer. 33:7-9. e language here is
of the utmost strength: “ And I will cause the captivity of
Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build
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them as at the rst. And I will cleanse them from all their
iniquity, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have
transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of
joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth,
which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they
shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the
prosperity that I procure unto it.”
e testimony of Micah is very denite also, to the same
purpose-as Mic. 4:1-5, and I1 to the end: “ But in the last
days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of
the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains,
and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall ow
unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house
of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and
we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall
judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
o; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruninghooks: nations shall not lift up a
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his
g tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of
the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk,
every one, in the name of his god, and we will walk in the
name of the Lord our God forever and ever … Now also
many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her
be deled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know
not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his
counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the
oor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make
thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou
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shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their
gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of
the whole earth.” In this, the gathering of the nations, not
understanding the thoughts of the Lord, as in so many
passages we have seen, is distinctly revealed, as well as the
special blessing of Jerusalem as the center of worship. Mic.
5 may be referred to for the same purpose; both points
are there distinctly stated: the blessing of Israel in Christ,
as in verses 9 and 15; the lifting up His hand on all His
adversaries, and vengeance on the heathen, such as they
have not heard: “ ine hand shall be lifted up upon thine
adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut o … And I
will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen,
such as they have not heard.”
Hab. 2 need only be referred to and read, simply to
see that the knowledge of the Lord lling the earth, as
the waters cover the sea, is the result of the destruction of
the oppressing proud man, who was the scourge of guilty
Israel, who had gathered all nations; when, of the Lord of
hosts, the people should labor in the very re, and weary
themselves for very vanity, or under aiction. is surely is
not the preaching of the gospel, or anything like it. Yet this
is what makes the prophet say, “ For the earth shall be full
of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” We
have, I may remark, these same “ Ammim “ here again, as
before (see page 101).
Let me here remark, before turning to the collateral
statements of Scripture, that in many of these passages it
is not merely the statement of the fact which we arm,
which is material, but its statement coincidently with facts
which leave it impossible to spiritualize it away to other
meanings. For example, it might be said that gathering all
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nations to Jerusalem, or coming up to Jerusalem, meant
the assembly of the Gentiles into the church; but I nd
it associated with the re-gathering and exaltation of the
Jewish nation, and at the same time desolating destructions
and judgments on these same Gentile nations. en I see
that the one cannot mean former restorations, because
then there was no gathering of Gentiles into the church;
nor the gathering by the gospel, when it went forth from
Zion before; because there was no gathering of the Jewish
nation, but their dispersion, nor any judgment on the
Gentile nations which came up against Jerusalem, but on
the Jews themselves. Yet I nd these things introduced as
coincident occurrences, leading me to sure conclusions as
to the unfullled character of the transaction, and how to
receive their force.
One passage demands our attention, before we turn
to the New Testament: I mean Daniel’s image. ere we
have a stone cut out without hands, unseen till the image
was formed, even to the ten toes. is stone did not
progressively diuse its inuence over the image. Indeed
the image was not the earth, nor people, but empires, or
kingdoms of well-known characters; nor was the stone the
gospel, but something that destroyed the image. is stone,
then, was cut out without hands, as its rst act here stated,
struck the image on its feet (i.e., the Roman empire in its
divided state), and thereby put empire out of the earth;
and the stone which smote the image became a mountain,
and lled the whole earth: it was that which destroyed the
empire of the whole earth. Here, then, we have a power,
diering in its nature, but analogous in its character, not
formed by the ordinary instrumentality of man, acting in
destruction of that which assumed authority on the earth
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in its last form; and then, after having destroyed it, lling
the earth, the place of them being no more found. Is not
the character of this work as simple and determinate as
possible, and the manner by which the hoped-for lling
the earth with the glory of the Lord is to be accomplished
evidently declared?-a work in which man has no part, and
which is not the gospel but Christ’s power.
Can we nd nothing analogous to this in the short
book of Christian prophecy? We have already adverted to
the parable of the tares, suciently to show the judicial
process by which Christ’s eld, this world, is set right.
Let us shortly turn to Matt. 25-the parable of the sheep
and the goats. e former chapter had, as to judgment,
developed the dealings of the Lord with the Jews, with
the associated introduction of the gospel, and its nature, of
which more hereafter. is declares that the Lord would
gather all the Gentiles before Him, and try them according
to the manner in which this testimony of the gospel had
been received. at is, He will fulll that which is testied
of by Joel: “ Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to
the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all
the heathen round about.” e gospel might be despised
meanwhile, in the world, but this His followers might be
assured of, that it was precisely according to the way in
which they were treated that all the Gentiles would be
judged; for they, as well as the Jews, were subjects of His
Son’s power.
28
Such is manifestly the force of this passage,
if taken in its order as a revelation.
28 Nay, more, for they that should fall upon this stone should be
broken; but upon whomsoever it should fall, it would grind
them to powder. Compare the image in Daniel.
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Coincidently with this, and as indicative of our whole
subject, compare Matt. 24:14: “ is gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come.” True, the nations
ought to be converted; but that which is declared as
preceding the end (i.e., of the dispensation of the separation
of the Jewish people from their head), is a testimony,
a witness to all nations; then comes the end. is is all,
therefore, we are entitled to look for.
But have the vials no associations with these judgments
on the nations? Is there no wrath in them? at they are
poured out before the millennium is evident, because there
is a gathering to Armageddon in them, and after that (i.e.,
in the seventh) great Babylon comes in remembrance. And
are the vials conversion by preaching, or are they poured
out on the heathen, or on the professing church? “ All
the kings of the earth and of the whole world,” sounds
much like the judgments we have been hearing of. ey
were to be gathered, as we saw before: are there to be two
such gatherings, or what is it? At any rate, there is wrath
on the earth and air, and a gathering of all the earth by
Satan against the Lamb, before and as an introduction to
the millennium. Again, do the harvest of the earth and
the vine of the earth, trodden in the winepress of God’s
wrath, bear no analogy to that which we have seen in the
Prophets? What is the vine of the earth? when is this? and,
perhaps we might ask, where? Note, also, in the Jewish
order, the feast of tabernacles came after the vintage. Lev.
23 is the history of the world in its septarian
29
form. We
have seen, historically, the antitypes, in the history of the
church, of two of the feasts, though in their eects not fully
29 i.e., arranged in sevens.
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accomplished: of the great eight-day feast we have yet to
see the blessing and accomplishment; and it was after the
vintage, the end of God’s prophetic year, I mean of the
revolution of history, in Christ manifested in the esh.
Rev. 14 aords another eventful septary,
30
beginning
with the general blessing. e millennium comes after this;
this ends with the vintage. Will the church shut its ears to
the testimony of the warning which God has given it? Let
us conclude our references, at least, by turning to Luke 21.
We have here the Lord’s answer to His disciples’ inquiries
on these subjects. is is important and interesting. Let us
consider it.
What is the character, then, given of the dispensation?
Any sign? any promise of universal blessing or peace by the
gospel? I nd it not. I nd persecution, betrayal, hating of
all men for His name’s sake; and then, when the times of
the Gentiles are fullled, during which the scene of God’s
visible power on earth is removed, how are we taught to
look for redemption? (I mean not as regards our present
condition, extensive blessing, or the pervading of the word,
but redemption.) ere shall be signs in the sun, and in
the moon, and in the stars, and on the earth, distress of
nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, and
men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things that are coming on the earth. And are they
looking in vain? In truth, they are not; for as His fear is, so
is His wrath; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken,
Jerusalem shall be trodden down till- but that “ ti// “ comes
in desolation and destruction on the apostate Gentiles: for
when they say, Peace and safety, behold sudden destruction
shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child,
30 i.e., arranged in sevens.
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and they shall not escape; and the professing church is the
special object of this, as it is specially responsible.
And now, what do we complain of? Is it not prying
into futurity? Far otherwise. It is not taking the testimony
of God and applying it to present judgment, and thus
consequently oering the sacrice of folly. I do say it is
the privilege of the saints to know what is revealed. It is
mere indelity and unbelief-simple indelity and unbelief,
and rejection of the promise, “ He shall show you things to
come “; and, again, “ But God hath revealed them unto us
by his Spirit! “ that is, the things which He hath prepared
for them that love Him. Men may say, It is presumption!
But it is no more presumption in me to believe what God
has said, and has declared that He has revealed to us for our
blessing as to this, than it is to believe what He has stated
concerning the accomplished work of Christ; and I suspect
the notion of presumption runs pretty much together as to
both. But this is not my present subject, but this: that the
church is hiding the present judgment of itself from its eyes,
that God’s judgments, are upon the church in warning, and
they will not hear; and therefore they will be cut o if they
repent not. “ And the vision of all is become unto you as
the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to
one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he
saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered
to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee:
and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord saith,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by
the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do
a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous
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work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall
perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall
be hid,” Isa. 29:11-14.
If it be so, that these things are hid, then I say it is a
solemn judgment from God, His greatest judgment on the
church, thus to hide them-a sign of judgment that they may
be judged. Yet men seem to rejoice and pride themselves
on their wisdom in knowing nothing about them-rejoice
in the last heaviest sign, the deep hope-obscuring cloud,
before the judgments of God break down upon them
who have willfully stayed abroad in the eld because they
believed not, or received not the word and warnings and
threatenings of God the Lord. For there is one that seeth
and judgeth. Poor man! If the Lord hath indeed poured
out upon you a deep sleep and hath closed your eyes, the
prophets, and rulers, and seers hath He covered; then woe
for you; and what shall the sheep do? All your services are
but folly; for when God, perhaps, is calling for repentance,
behold, you are in joy; when judgment is ready to strike,
you are rejoicing; when God calls to fasting, and weeping,
and mourning, behold you are killing sheep and slaying
oxen. If the testimony of God be not received as applicable
in our present state, then all our worship and service must
be guided by man’s judgment and our fear by the precept
of men, and be foolishness and rebellion in His sight. But
ye say, We will not consider … I say not to you, look at the
hopes and the future glory; but I say, God has warned of
judgment now. I speak of something which applies to you
now: yea, why even of yourselves judge ye not that which is
right? Does not the church, do not we, deserve judgment?
e Lord hearken to the supplication of His servants, that
our eyes may be opened! Indel liberty is not Christian
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liberty. God may use it for His own purposes in punishing
the wicked, as He saith, “ O Assyrian, the rod of mine
anger, and the sta in their hand is mine indignation.”
But if the people rejoice in Rezin and Pekah, trust in this
Tiglath-Pileser does but show their indelity, and will be
their distress, and not their strength; for yet it is but a little
while (as indeed it is the rod of God against the corruption
of the church) His anger will cease, and His indignation,
in their destruction. e prophet may be grieved at the
evil of the church, but the spirit of indelity is the spirit
of pride-a proud man which enlargeth his desire as hell,
neither stayeth at home. It will have its day, perhaps, against
a corrupt and guilty church; it may seek to sit upon the
mount of God; but as soon as the Lord has accomplished
His whole work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will
punish the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory
of his high looks; and the spirit of the prophet will be of
grief, intercession, and pity, that the wicked devoureth the
man that is more righteous than he. e Lord will hearken,
hear, and deliver; for, though he be proud, his heart that is
lifted up is not righteous in him; and the just shall live by
his faith. Of this indelity may be sure, that it will rack its
heart in bitterness or the madness with which it is now
proud; for God’s eye is upon it, and the proof of it is, that it
sees Him not; it is rushing in blindness into the bitterness
of God’s wrath. ere will they be in great fear, for God is
in the generation of the righteous.
It may be right to mention, in conclusion, that the
abundant testimony of the Psalms on this subject has not
been referred to, as it would have introduced too great an
extent of testimony here; but reference, with this subject in
our mind, will at once satisfy the believing enquirer how
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direct and full the development of God’s Spirit in the word
is there-as in Psa. 2; 9; 10; 18; 67; 68; 75; 76; 83; 92, and
many others which I omit, as supposing more detailed
inquiry into the subject, though not of obscurer evidence
when understood through the light of other scriptures.
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171
62214
Divine Mercy in the Church
and Towards Israel
THE CHURCH
“ Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in
himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.”-
Eph. 1:9, 10
ALL the fullness of God is well pleased to dwell and
manifest itself in Christ the Son. Such was the counsel,
the blessed counsel of the Holy One. e manner in which
this is manifested to us, and in which we are associated
with it, is to us innitely interesting. After all, but a small,
and, as it were, external part is treated of in the following
pages; still a part deeply interesting. e manner of its
accomplishment is, on God’s part, designedly external, and
so by truths; but by these truths the child of God enters
into communion with Him who is the power of them; and,
moreover, is guarded by them (poor feeble creatures that
we are!) from substituting his own imaginations in place of
the holy manifestation of God.
e subject spoken of here is that contained in the
prayer of the apostle at the close of Eph. 1ere is a deeper
matter whence it ows, at the close of Eph. 3, to which I
have alluded above; nor can the subject of Eph. 1 be really
enjoyed without, in some measure, the power of Eph. 3; but
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I respond feebly to the desire of some in communicating
this, trusting that God will supply the rest.
ere are two great subjects which occupy the sphere
of millennial prophecy and testimony: the church and its
glory in Christ; and the Jews and their glory as a redeemed
nation in Christ: the heavenly people and the earthly
people; the habitation and scene of the glory of the one
being the heavens; of the other, the earth. Christ shall
display His glory in the one according to that which is
celestial; in the other, according to that which is terrestrial-
Himself the Son, the image and glory of God, the center
and sun of them both. And though the scene and habitation
of the glory shall be the heavens, wherein He hath set a
tabernacle for the sun, the nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the light of it. It shall be manifested suitably
on earth, and earth shall enjoy its blessing. When all this
is accomplished, God shall be all in all; and the tabernacle
of God shall be with men, not descending, so to speak, but
descended out of heaven. e principles and the manner
of the accomplishment of this are fully detailed in the
Scriptures. ough the church and Israel be, in connection
with Christ, the centers respectively of the heavenly and
the earthly glory, mutually enhancing the blessing and joy
of each other, yet each has its respective sphere, all things in
the heavens being subordinate and the scene of the glory-
angels, principalities, and powers in the one; the nations of
the earth in the other.
But to conne myself now to the history and condition
of the church on the one hand, and to that of Israel on the
other. “ In the beginning,” I read in the Old Testament,
“ God created “; “ In the beginning,” I read in the New, “
the Word was “-the latter the foundation of a higher and
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an abiding glory, on which the former, ruined in man’s
weakness and man’s sin, should rest and be restored. “ In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” All
were made and fashioned very good: sin entered, and they
were deled. (Compare Col. 1:20; Eph. 1:10.) God, for a
moment, as it were, rested in them; and His rest passed
away. Of the delement of the heavens little is said; we
know only that the angels fell. But an earth, and by man,
the great scene of divine working and redemption was
to be manifested; and of this a full account is given. e
sabbath of God in creation was short. e sabbath of man
with God was not so to pass. at which passed away in
the rst Adam in weakness, was to be restored in innitely
fuller blessing in the last Adam (sustained and displayed in
His strength), God gathering together in one (as we have
seen in Eph. 1) all things in heaven and in earth, in Him.
On this re-heading of all things, as the scripture expresses
it, in Christ, hangs the constitution and substance of the
church’s hope, until “ God be all in all.” “ Christ manifested
“ is spoken of in this respect as the Heir of all this, the
church as co-heirs with Him. It is, so to speak, the formal
character which He receives as to all things, that we may
understand our place with Him.
us, in Heb. 1:2, “Whom he hath appointed heir of
all things “; Eph. 1:11, “In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance”; and Rom. 8:17, “heirs of God, and joint-
heirs with Christ.” e source of this great title is yet in
greater glory. “ He is the rst-born of every creature; for
by him were all things created that are in heaven, and
that are in earth “; “ all things were created for him and
by him.” en we have seen the church, the children, are
co-heirs with Him. e manner of this we have to develop.
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Christ takes this title as Man. He takes it as the risen Man;
being previously the fellow-suerer in respect of the evil;
afterward the Head and chief, and source of the blessing.
First, we have in the “ image of him that is to come,”
the type and picture of this; and it is used as such in Eph.
5 at is Adam, Adam hidden in sleep, as it were; and Eve,
the church, taken out of his side, and presented to him by
God as the help-meet for him, as the co-partner with him
in the dominion over and inheritance of all things which
God had given him in paradise. So the church, taken as
it were out of Christ, He (being God as well as man)
presents to Himself, awoke up in His glory, partner with
Him in the glory and dominion which was already His in
tide, and in the gift of God. “ e glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them.” And Adam and Eve together are
called Adam, as one, though Eve was in a sense inferior
to Adam, and subsequent; and so with the church and
Christ-one mystic Person. is type, familiar to the readers
of Scripture, presents very simply all the force of the truth,
save that the last Adam, being Lord from heaven, is Head
and Lord of the heavenly things also.
e texts which speak very particularly of this dominion
of man, the union of the church with Christ in it, and its
not being yet accomplished, follow. ey have their rise,
as the apostle uses them, in Psa. 8, “ou hast crowned
him (man, the Son of man) with glory and honor; thou
hast put all things in subjection under his feet.” is we
learn in Heb. 2, is not yet to be seen; but Jesus is crowned
with glory and honor, the designation to the church of
Him under whose feet, as Man, all things are to be put.
Meanwhile, till His enemies (who unrighteously hold the
power till God’s purposes be accomplished) be made His
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footstool, that He may hold all things in power of blessing,
He sits (that is the present economy) on the right hand of
the majesty on high, set down, as having overcome, on the
Father’s throne, as He will give them who overcome to sit
down on His throne when He takes it-takes His power
and reigns. In Eph. 1, at the close, we have the union of the
church in all this, according to the exercise of the power
in which Christ was raised from the dead. Read from the
prayer of the apostle in chapter t to the end of verse 6 in
chapter 2. e glorious cause, or reason, is in verse 7. In
chapter 1:22, we have Psa. 8 again quoted, “ And hath put
all things under his feet, and hath given him to be head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that lleth all in all.” Here the church is the body
of Christ, the Head over all things which are put under
His feet. He is Head over all things to the church as His
body. is is as risen and ascended, as is there fully stated.
is point is taken up specially in 1Cor. 15, where the
same passage is referred to: “ For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order: Christ the rst fruits; afterward they
that are Christ’s at his coming. en cometh the end when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom [the kingdom held
thus as the risen Man, which is the subject of this chapter]
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all
rule and all authority. For he must reign until he hath put
all enemies under his feet. e last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his
feet. But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is
manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under
him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then
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shall the Son also himself be subject (i.e., as the risen Man,
the last Adam, in which character He is ever spoken of
here) unto him that put all things under him, that God [not
Christ in His mediatorial kingdom] may be all in all.” Here
then we have this reign of Christ as Man in resurrection, in
a kingdom which He delivers up, that “ God may be all in
all “-all administration and human dominion being given
up, that the divine glory simply may be universal.
As to the manner in which this is accomplished, other
passages instruct us. Christ, we have seen, was the heir in title,
as Creator: “ All things were created by him and for him,”
the Son; and also by the counsels of God, in appointment;
and so (God acting by way of promise) all promises center
in Him. To Abraham and to his seed were the promises
made; not to seeds as of many, but as of one; “ and to thy
seed “-which is Christ. And 2Cor. 1, “ All the promises
of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen, to the glory of
God by us.” us Christ was the heir, the Seed to whom
the promise was made. As regards the earth, Israel, the seed
after the esh, were the best situated of all men to receive
the Lord in a world that knew Him not; Israel, His own,
whose were the law and the promises, and the covenants,
and the oracles of God; and amongst whom, according to
the esh, He was to come; and who, amidst a ruined world,
had, through their relationship with God the sabbath, the
sign given to them of the hope of God’s rest. But though
coming according to all which their own prophets had
said, they received Him not. ey said, and justly, “ is is
the heir “; but they hated Him, saying, “ Come, let us kill
him, and the inheritance shall be ours.” Here the last hope
of the rest of God on the earth was gone. After all that
had passed, He had yet one Son. It was tried; but man was
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found in his best estate altogether vanity, wholly wanting
when all was done. But it only made way for the revelation
of a far deeper and more glorious economy. e earth and
Israel were set aside for a time, though the gifts and calling
of God were without repentance. e counsel, hidden from
ages and generations, was now to be revealed, the counsel
stated in Eph. 1, the embodying in one the remnant of Jew
and Gentile in Christ; to set them in heavenly places, the
companion and spouse of Him who was rejected and risen,
gathered while He sat at the right hand of God, and to
appear with Him in the same glory when He shall appear.
(Col. 3: 4; 1John 3:2.)
Christ, as the seed of Abraham was the heir of the
promises. Had He taken them alive here, He had taken
them alone. us, after His vindication of His glory as
Son of God, in the resurrection of Lazarus, and as King
of the Jews, in His entry into Jerusalem, when the Greeks
also came to seek Him, it was evident that the hour was
come-though the Jews might have rejected the promised
seed. e hour was come that the Son of man should be
gloried; but, adds the Lord immediately, “ Except a corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Christ was to take
the inheritance in resurrection with the church, born upon
this plant from the tomb of death. e church is therefore
perfectly justied; that is, Christ takes the promises, not
as on earth, incarnate, but as risen. at is, after He has
done all needful to redeem the church, and in the power
of that life in which He associates them (quickened them
into fellowship and association) by the Holy Ghost with
Himself, when born of the Holy Ghost they are viewed as
raised together with Him. In a word, He is heir as the risen
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Man, the ascended Head of the church. e conrmation
of the promise to Christ, referred to by the Spirit in the
Galatians, accords exactly with this. It is in Gen. 22, where
we nd the promise of blessing to the nations, made to
Abraham in chapter 12, conrmed to the Seed consequent
on his reception from the dead in a gure, as the apostle
speaks in Hebrews 11: “ Because thou hast done these
things,” etc.; and, “ In thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.” us we have seen under various lights
this blessed truth, how the church was redeemed into
union with Jesus, that in taking the inheritance He might
have a help meet for Him, entirely associated and made
like to Himself gloried. For this it was necessary, not only
that the church should be redeemed, but that He should go
and prepare a place for it.
e resurrection was both the accomplishment of the
redemption of the church, and also set Jesus in the place in
which He could establish the sure mercies of David (Acts
13:34); that is, establish in His Person all the promises
to Israel; but He had yet to take the heavenlies, that the
kingdom of heaven might be established, that He might
ll all things, and associate the church in that new yet
everlasting glory, prepared before the worlds yet hidden
from preceding ages, for which the rejection of Messiah
by His people, by the Jews, in the wisdom of God made
the way. ere were two things in this-the preparation of a
place, a heavenly place of abode; and the gathering, out of
all nations, those who were to be the joint heirs-to call the
bride who was to inherit it.
us, in John 14, the Lord says, “ I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there
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ye may be also.” See John 17. “ Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me: for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world “; and
“ Whom he foreknew, he predestinated to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he might be the rstborn among
many brethren “; and Colossians 1, “ e head of the body
the church, the rstborn from the dead.” But how is this?
Not as “ bearing the image of the earthy,” but, as we have
borne that, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. “
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.” is is in
1Cor. 15, where the subject is entirely the resurrection; and
in Rom. 8 it is pursued, not to sanctication here below,
but to glory. “ Whom he justied, them he also gloried “; “
Who shall change (as we read in Phil. 3) our vile body, that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
e time of this is clearly taught in Scripture. Christ
now is hid in God; Col. 3:3. Our life is hid with Him there.
It is a time of gathering, by the Holy Ghost, the members
of His body, the co-heirs, while He sits on Jehovah’s right
hand, till His foes be made His footstool. “ Having,” says
the apostle (Hebrews io), “ by one oering perfected forever
them which are sanctied,” He sat down, “ from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” He has
nished all He had to do in redemption for us His friends;
and while we are actually gathering by the power of the
Holy Ghost sent down by Him, and revealing Him and
the Father by Him, He sits there expecting, not taking
the earth till this, the gathering of His bride, His co-heirs,
be accomplished. Seated on the Father’s throne, there the
church knows Him now. But while He waits, we, yea, the
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whole creation, wait for the manifestation of the sons of
God; as to when and how the Scriptures are plain. If we are
to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus, it is plain
it must be by resurrection and glory, because He is risen
and gloried. Accordingly it is said in Rom. 8, “ e whole
creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God:
and not only so, but we ourselves also, who have received
the rstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” In
Col. 3, “ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we
also shall appear with him in glory “; and in 1John 3, “ We
know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for
we shall see him as he is “; as we have seen before the Lord
saying, “ I will come again and receive you to myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also.” And the circumstances
of this, the resurrection or change (“ for we shall not all die,
but we shall all be changed,” which is the church’s entrance
into glory), are particularly told us (1ess. 4): “ e Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and
the dead in Christ shall rise rst: 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.”
e description of this, of the “ marriage of the Lamb,”
and of the consequent judgment of the earth, or at least of
the leaders of antichristian wickedness, may be found in
Rev. 19 e judgment is described in yet wider terms in
Jude, where “ the Lord cometh with myriads of his saints
to execute judgment “; or, as in Zechariah, “ e Lord my
God shall come, and all the saints with thee “; when He
shall have presented His spouse to Himself, a glorious
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church, “ without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” in her
own beauty and glory that is proper to herself, seeing in her
Lord the beauty and glory of the Father, and with Him in
His own glory, and in the power of that love in which He
has loved her, and given Himself for her, that she might
be perfectly puried and glorious with Him where He is;
and then brought forth in glory with honors such as His,
the participator in all His glory, the glory given Him of the
Father (that the world may know that we have been loved as
He was loved), to judge angels and the world; companions
in all His glory, and the ministers and instruments of
the light and blessing of His reign over a refreshed and
solaced earth, renewed out of its miseries, where Satan is
not. “ For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection
the world to come, whereof we speak.” “ ey that are
counted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection
from the dead, die no more “; “ on such the second death
hath no power, but they … shall reign with him [Christ] a
thousand years.” Blessed are they! Risen already as regards
their souls, they now, when Christ appears, are raised as
regards their bodies, on account of His Spirit dwelling in
them, to a resurrection, not of judgment, but of life (John
5:29); a resurrection which belongs to the church by virtue
of its union with Christ, through the Holy Ghost dwelling
in them, and with which, therefore, the wicked can have
nothing to do, though raised by the word of Christ in their
own time for judgment,” but they that are Christ’s at his
coming “; the rest, when (the kingdom being given up) as
Son of God, He, on the great white throne, shall judge
the dead, heaven and earth being ed from before His
throne. So the word of God instructs us. e taking of this
kingdom by Christ is
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described in Daniel; but as this would lead us into the
second part, or the earthly glory, I do not yet enter on it,
having only here sought to show the place which the church
holds in this scene, and the scriptural connection of it with
all the most sweet and fundamental truths, which, in their
true light, rejoice and ll the heart of the true believer.
ere is one point of this scarcely touched on here (but
I should be too long, and depart too far from the subject,
so as to distract the minds of others); that is, the place of
the Father’s love in it. But this is very blessed also. It is
the Father’s kingdom we pray for. In the Father’s kingdom
we are to shine as the sun, that is, as Christ the Sun of
righteousness; Matt. 13:43.
In the Father’s glory Christ is to appear. And this is a
sweet part of it; for it passes into deeper and yet calmer
waters, where eternity unrued is found-that wide and
soundless ocean of innite joy, the length, and depth, and
height, and breadth, of which are, we know, unknown: I say,
“ passes into,” for it is learned there: we learn glory there;
grace, perhaps, more deeply here. We witness it there. But
the passages referred to may suce to lead those who search
much into this blessed and simple truth. ey will soon
learn that they have everything to nd there-the fullness
of Him, who, without beginning, began, and without end
shall endlessly fulll, all the joy which itself enables us
increasingly to apprehend. ere are great lessons to learn
in glory with Him, the Lamb, in whom we have all the
Father revealed. e life we have received makes it ours
now. But this is individual. Here I have simply traced the
place of the church, when Christ takes the glory and the
power, and it is manifested as His consort and companion
in the same glory and love, all things blessed through it
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as the medium and sphere of the display of His glory and
blessing.
ISRAEL
WE have seen, in the rst part of this tract, the innite
grace of God manifested in the exaltation of the church
into heavenly places. In this second part, we pass on to
the interest of the earthly people, “ a people wonderful from
the beginning hitherto.” As in the church we have seen
the full manifestation of grace, so here we shall behold,
supremely displayed, all the providence, all the counsel,
all the patience, all the long suering mercy of God,
manifested in sovereignty, shown already, or before the
end of the history of this earth, the wonderful theater of
all His dispensations: here is the importance of the thing.
It was necessary that God should choose some nation: in
this He was both sovereign and wise. He chose the Jews:
He formed them for Himself, that they should be His
witnesses, and that they should show forth His praise; Isa.
43 to, 21. Let us follow the history of this people of God,
towards whom “ the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance,” Rom. 11:29.
e two passages we have just quoted are suciently
remarkable in themselves to attract all our attention to
Israel. God has formed this people for Himself; and it is
with respect to them that it is said, “ e gifts and calling
of God are without repentance.” It follows as a direct
consequence, that the faithfulness of God on one hand,
and His character on the other, should be found specially
manifested in this nation.
In fact, it was in contemplating the dispensations
of God toward this people that the great apostle of the
Gentiles exclaimed, “ 0 the depth of the riches both of the
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wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past nding out!” Rom. 11:33.
But it is on earth that they are the witnesses. As to
the heavens, there is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all; Col.
3:11. Consequently, this witness acts on the nations of
the earth. God Himself, in the midst of this people, and
by their instrumentality, acts on these nations, and shows
Himself amongst them by His justice and power towards
Israel, and by the connections which Israel had with the
nations, or the nations with them, and according to their
conduct towards this people.
Here, then, all His providence nds its center, as it is
written: “ When the Most High divided to the nations
their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam,
he set the bounds of the people according to the number
of the children of Israel,” Deut. 32:8. us, then, the
faithfulness, the character, and the providential government
of God are found displayed on earth. I shall endeavor to
follow, according to the Scriptures, some of the facts, the
principles, and the testimonies, which refer to this people,
and instruct us in the judgments and ways of God.
ere is a very clear distinction between the ways of God
before and after the deluge. Since the fall, there has always
been a people of God, and the world of the ungodly. God
has never left Himself without a witness. e prophecies of
Enoch were the instruction of the people of God in those
days, and the hope of the faithful in our days. Nevertheless,
in those times, there was no manifested judgment, no
nation, no external call, which formed believers or an elect
people into a body acknowledged before God; and there
was consequently no development of the principles of the
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character of God. It was a fallen race; and the fallen nature
of man showed itself, and followed its course in spite of
the witness of God; and God did nothing until (the evil
being intolerable) He swept them from before His face,
by a judgment which none could escape, save the little
band in the ark; and the world, swallowed up in the waters,
perished. God “repented that he had made man,” for “the
earth was corrupt before God; and the earth was lled with
violence,” and God destroyed it.
e world which exists now is a new world, reserved
for re in the day of judgment. In this world there are two
great principles: rule in the hands of men-and separation
from the world by the call of God.
e rst is easily corrupted; and men may show
themselves in this, and in everything else, unfaithful
in maintaining the glory of God; but where there is the
possibility of evil, where there are principles, which, left
to themselves, might produce evil and misery, there the
ordering of everything on divine principles, according to
the will of God, is the rst principle of happiness, which, in
its character, embraces all the extent of the earth. is was
the principle which, in its root, was established for the rst
time with Noah, for the guidance of that new world, which
rose out of the ruins caused by lust and violence: “ He who
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” It
was the authority of God over life, put into the hands of
man, and for which he was to be responsible. e exercise of
this power was the manifestation of the judgment of God,
and recalled the holiness, the authority, and the constant
watchfulness of the Most High. is at least was its true
character. But in order that the value of this principle
of rule should be recognized in its details, either by the
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governor, or the governed, it was necessary that the source
whence it emanated should be acknowledged. e value of
this principle was its recalling, to the heart and the eye, the
authority of that God who had established it-an authority
which, thus recognized, would restrain the lusts of the esh,
ere they broke out in those acts to which the power of the
sword itself was to be applied, and would even prevent the
eects of those desires which were not suciently serious
to come under the immediate application of the law. But
not only do we see the head of this new world failing (in
the very beginning) in self-government, and consequently
losing the respect of him who ought to be the rst to obey,
even his own son; but we also perceive an evil and malicious
spirit, who knew how to destroy the ecacy of this power
in its very source, by appropriating it to himself-presenting
himself as the source both of the evils and blessings which
resulted from man’s conduct, or were the eect of the power
and rule of God. And in the fallen and sinful state of man,
he was able in some degree to verify his pretensions, or at
least to cause them to be respected.
Hereupon, then, came in the second principle; viz., the
call of God: a principle which (by separating one person,
one people, one family, one assembly, which acknowledged
the true God) was capable of rendering them witnesses
of His character, and the theater where He could display
His power in accordance with that character. “And Joshua
gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for
the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges,
and for their ocers; and they presented themselves before
God. And Joshua said unto all the people, us saith the
Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of
the ood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham,
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and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I
took your father Abraham from the other side of the ood,
and led him throughout all the land of Canaan,” etc. (Josh.
24:1-3). We see, in the history given in this passage, the
occasion and the necessity of this call, which was a thing
unheard of in all the provocations before the deluge. “ Your
fathers served other gods! “-a fresh crime, a fresh snare of
Satan, which called for new measures on the part of a God
who is all goodness.
Strife and violence displayed themselves in the time of
Nimrod; and perhaps pride and ambition, rising against
God, were seen in those who wished to make themselves
a name, lest they should be dispersed. ere Satan caused
the principle of rule to ow from the will and the violence
of man, and the concentration of power from the name
he was making for himself. But the judgment of God,
confounding their projects and dispersing them, suced
to show the supremacy of His power to humble their pride,
and by the confusion of tongues to originate at the same
time the national separation and ties of country, which
were to furnish opportunity for the organizations of His
providence.
But, whilst the pride of man was abased by the
judgments of God, and served only to display His watchful
power and to accomplish His providential designs, the
substitution of the power of Satan in man’s heart, under
the form of false gods, as the originators of rule and the
authors of judgment, gave occasion to Almighty God, who
is ever able to extract good from evil, to display the other
principle before mentioned, even the calling of God; and
thus He gloried Himself, even by the perversities of His
foolish creatures.
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God called Abraham, who was a type (both according
to the esh and the spirit) of the family of God, and the
depositary of all His promises. ese are the terms of this
call: “ Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s
house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy
name great: and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and
in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Here, in
principle, was separation from the world, by breaking all
its strongest ties and nearest relationships, in order that
he might give himself to God alone, in heart, faith, and
condence.
e principle of national government and family
authority remained in all its power, but Satan had seized
upon it; and our gracious God, by drawing one family and
nation nearer to Himself, introduced a new and powerful
principle to make good His name, His character, and His
grace, in the midst of that world, which had withdrawn
from His providential judgments, by throwing itself into
the hands of the great adversary of its happiness, as well as
of the glory of God. e want of delity and power in man,
under responsibility, was thus again shown, in a manner
fatal to the whole world; because his weakness had placed
it in the hands and under the authority of Satan, not only
in consequence of the sin of the whole human race, but as
respected the principle of government introduced for its
regulation. But the principle of the call of God maintained
His supremacy in a manner which put it beyond the
eects of man’s responsibility; and therefore God could
add to it unconditional promises. is is what took place
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as respected Abram; and, in what follows, we shall see its
importance in the history of the people thus chosen. is
is the dierence between the external call in itself, and the
principle of government (two things, nevertheless, which
have clear and positive rights on the hearts of men) on one
side, and the certainty of the promises and the calling of
God according to grace on the other, whether for the Jews
or for the church. God’s right is recognized by the believer
in the rst case, but also the perfect failure of man in every
sense, as respected them. e ecacious power of God is
felt, and produces its eects, in the second.
e existence of this principle of the call of God has
been developed, since the time of Abraham, under various
forms; but God has constantly maintained the principle. In
the history of the government of the world from that time
there have been many changes of the greatest importance,
in which the government of God has been displayed; and
the truth of it will yet be honored by the results which shall
spring from them in the latter day. ese are the subjects of
the Old Testament prophecies; as the precious subjects of
the New are the faithfulness of God to His call, as respects
His ancient people, and the manifestation of this call in a
new form, which leads the church into the knowledge and
enjoyment of heavenly things-things plainly revealed by
the Holy Spirit which has been given to it.
Before the deluge, then, we see the perfect opposition
between fallen man and the character of God; and that,
after a simple yet powerful and patient testimony, God
swept this mass of iniquity from before His face, and
washed the polluted world in the waters of the deluge. We
have seen the principle of judgment and daily retribution
introduced under Noah, as a constituent of the new world.
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is is the principle of government. We have also seen the
principle of the calling of God marked out in the history
of Abraham. is is the principle of grace, holiness, and the
supremacy of God. But the union of these two principles
is also presented to our view in the Scriptures; a union very
remarkable for a time, as a new trial of the faithfulness of
man under responsibility, and in circumstances altogether
singular, and accompanied by a still more astonishing
display of patience on the part of God, which will furnish
the subject of that solemn praise in the latter times: “ His
mercy endureth forever.” As to the future, the union of
these two principles is the source of a state of things which
will be the manifestation of the incomparable wisdom and
power of God, when He takes the government into His
own hands.
e history of the union of these two principles,
whether under the responsibility of man or in the ecacy
of the supremacy of God, is the history of the Jewish
people. e law is the directing principle of it, as being
the expression of the actual terms of God’s government. It
is consequently in the history of this people that we must
look for the center of the administration of the government
of the world; containing (as it does) in its past history, on
the one hand, the witness given by a people called to the
knowledge of the only true God against the false gods
of the Gentiles (“ Hear 0 Israel, the Lord thy God is one
Lord! “), and, on the other hand, the witness aorded to
the principles of the government of the true God by His
conduct towards His chosen people, blessing or punishing
them openly according to their proceedings: “ You only
have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I
will punish you for all your iniquities,” Amos 3:2. In their
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history for the future (of which prophecy is the account),
the sovereignty and ecacy of the calling of God will be
clearly and openly manifested, and the government of all
the earth be put into the hands of the king whom God
has established, and conducted according to the principles
of a law which God shall, in the meantime, have written
on the hearts of His people; a covenant teeming with rich
and sovereign blessings, and proving at once the riches of
His goodness and the faithfulness of His promises, and
of which the obedient Gentiles shall partake, according to
their measure, in a world lled with the knowledge of the
glory of God, as the waters cover the sea.
But if the responsibility of man gave mediately an
opportunity for the display of the whole character of God
on the one hand, the weakness of man on the other made it
necessary for God to establish the hope of all His promises
on some other basis than this responsibility. And, in fact,
we see, in the history we are examining, that Israel receives
the promises in Abraham, according to the calling of God
absolutely and unconditionally. Under the law, Israel takes
these promises on the responsibility of their own obedience.
We will examine their circumstances in these two respects
rather more in detail.
e promises of blessing were given to Abraham
unconditionally. We read in Gen. 17, that “ when Abram
was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram,
and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me,
and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And
Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As
for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be
a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more
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be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham;
for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will
make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish
my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee
in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a
God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou
art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God.” en he received the
seal of circumcision, which, if neglected, occasioned, not
the loss of the promise nationally, but the cutting o of
him who omitted it. We also see the unconditional promise
in chapter is, “ He that shall come forth out of thine own
bowels shall be thine heir “; and, again, “ so shall thy seed
be”; and in verse 18, “ In the same day, the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given
this land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the
river Euphrates: the Kenites,” etc. is promise to Abraham
is conrmed to Isaac in chapter 22, and to Jacob in the
vision at Bethel, equally unconditionally.
Let us compare the covenant made with the people at
mount Sinai. God had brought them out of Egypt with a
strong hand, and had led them with grace and blessing to the
mount, providing for all their wants, and never reproaching
them for their murmurings; and Israel encamped over
against the mountain. is was God’s message to them by
Moses, “ Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and
how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto
myself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto
me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall
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be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. ese
are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of
Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the
people, and laid before their faces all these words which
the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered
together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will
do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the
Lord,” Ex. 19:4-8.
en the law was given; and thus was the covenant
concluded, on the express condition of obedience on the
part of the people, as a preliminary to their enjoyment
of the promises it contained. What was the consequence
of it? Just what must be expected from man-from our
wretched hearts. Before Moses could bring down the
details of the covenant from the presence of God, and
the commandments written by His hand, the people had
turned completely from Him, and had made to themselves
a god of gold.
e covenant was, on their part, broken in its
fundamental principle almost before they had received it.
“ And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come
down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves
together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up; make us gods
which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is
become of him,” Ex. 32:1. What forgetfulness of the hand
of God! But the Lord takes them at their word, and does
not acknowledge them as His people under the covenant
that had been made with them. He said to Moses (v. 7), “
Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.”
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Let us pause for a moment at this important juncture,
and consider the unfolding of the relationship of God with
the world, and with men, in this people: after that we will
return to their history. From this time we see the three
great instruments of these relations, holding their place in
the midst of them: Moses was the representative of royalty
among the people of God. “ Moses commanded us a law,
even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And
he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people
and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.” Aaron
held the place of the great high priest; and Miriam as
the prophetess: “ For I brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants;
and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam,” Mic.
6:4. See also Ex. 15; Num. 13.
us we see in the wilderness the model of the three
mediatorial instruments of the power of God-one, the
communication of His will; the second, the means of our
approach to Him; and the third, the instrument of His
government, the recipient of His power.
Moses at dierent periods lled all these three functions.
us also in the plagues inicted on the proud Egyptians,
Aaron acted as prophet, Moses as God to Pharaoh, but
that changes nothing in the main. During the union of
the two principles of government and calling, these things
were fully developed. But under responsibility in these
things, the Jewish people corrupted themselves in each one
of them.
Under the priesthood (when God was their King, and
there were only judges raised up from time to time to
preserve them in their inheritance from the occasions of
misery produced by their unbelief), they were connected
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with God through the medium of the priest. Shiloh was
the place where God had put His name; but what was
the end of it? A witness of judgment to all generations.
“ Go ye now [saith the Lord] to my place which was in
Shiloh, where I set my name at the rst, and see what I
did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel … I will
do unto this house … as I have done to Shiloh,” Jer. 7:12.
Under the priesthood there was complete corruption, even
in the priests; as we see in 1Sam. 2, and in the touching
scene described in chapter 3, which marked Ichabod on the
people of God. I say not that the priesthood was abolished;
far from it: it was, on the contrary, to be an example of the
patience of God, until He came who could eciently ll
all its functions.
Samuel was the representative of the prophetic line, a
judge also, governing the people by the witness of God-a
witness given, as we have seen, against the actual state
of the priesthood. It is for this reason Peter says, in Acts
3, “ All the prophets from Samuel and those that follow
after.” is then was God’s government by prophets; yet
the people were not yet satised with it, but desired a king:
and God gave them a king in his anger, and took him away
in his wrath,” Hos. 13:1. A king chosen according to the
esh, when God was their King, served only to show the
weakness of all that man did, the folly of all he desired.
Nevertheless, the kingship of Christ over His people was
ever in God’s designs. And He gave them a king after His
own heart, and David and Solomon furnished the type of
the kingship of Christ: one, in suering and overcoming
all his enemies, after complete obedience; the other, as
reigning in peace and glory over a happy, obedient, and
prosperous people. ere the picture ended! Man may
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furnish types, but can never ll the functions of that which
is true, and which shall be fullled in Christ. e repose
and glory which Solomon enjoyed were the cause of his
fall. He kept not his uprightness in the midst of the gifts of
God, but, drawn aside by his wives, he followed other gods.
Kingship, the last resource of God for maintaining His
relationship with His people, was corrupted, just in that
particular in which Israel should have been His witness.
e kingdom failed, and was divided: nevertheless, the
house of David had one tribe, in the wisdom of God, for
the love of David His servant, and of Jerusalem, the city
which He had chosen among all the tribes of Israel; for the
calling of David was a calling according to grace, and the
choice of Jerusalem was the choice of God. See 1Chron.
21: 22; ch. 22: 7-14; 1Kings 11:13.
After that, the longsuering of God waited, teaching,
reproving, and forewarning by His prophets. For “ the Lord
God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising
up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on
his people, and on his dwelling-place: but they mocked the
messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused
his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his
people, till there was no remedy. erefore he brought upon
them the king of the Chaldees,” 2Chron. 36:15. e rest
of their sorrowful history is short: the kingdom was made
over to the Gentiles. God, to fulll His designs, preserved
and restored a remnant, in order that His Christ should
be set forth in the midst of the people, “ a minister of the
circumcision, to conrm the promises made to the fathers.”
e prophet was manifested, the king was born but rejected.
e history of this all-important event is given us, though
shortly, in the controversy which Jesus had with all classes
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of the Jews, at the close of His ministry; Matt. 21:23, etc.
At length He sent unto them, saying, “ ey will reverence
my Son. But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said
among themselves, is 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.” And their
judgment was given, and their desolation declared in these
tender words: “ 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 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 gathers 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.” Having
accomplished His ministry to the people as a prophet, and
maintained their cause (notwithstanding their being under
a righteous judgment until that day) like Aaron, not yet
come from within the veil (they therefore consequently
ignorant of their fate), He will return as a King, and ll
the throne of David His father. He shall be a Priest upon
His throne, according to, the promise: “ For the children
of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without
a prince, and without a sacrice, and without an image,
and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward
shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their
God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and
his goodness in the latter days,” Hos. 3:4, 5. In those days,
the government and the principle of calling shall be united
under the reign of Christ; and “ the Lord shall be King
over the whole earth: in that day there shall be one Lord,
and his name one.” Nevertheless, Jerusalem shall be built
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and safely inhabited; and God shall say, “ It is my people:
and they shall say, e Lord is my God,” Zech. 13; 14
Having thus briey followed the history of this people,
until grace shall restore happiness to their nation (which
shall bear fruit, and be the people whom the Lord has
blessed, Matt. 21:32)-a history which shows us how they
have been the scene of the manifestation of the principles
of God’s government-I will now resume the consideration
of their relationships with God, under more general, yet
deeper and more detailed, circumstances.
We have seen the promises made to Abraham
unconditionally; the exodus from Egypt through grace
and the strong arm of God. We have seen the people, led
by grace to mount Sinai, enter into a covenant based on
their obedience, and break every tie with God by making
to themselves a god of gold. But this circumstance gave
opportunity for the revelation of another principle of the
greatest importance-mediation; which served at once to
maintain the consistency of the character of God with
the choice which He had made of a wicked people, and
to give occasion for the development of that character,
in patience, justice, and faithful chastisements and pity.
Mediation always recalled to God His grace; never the
covenant of obedience: for then there was no need of it,
inicting, perhaps, at the same time, severe chastenings,
the duration and severity of which were proportioned to
the fervor of the mediatorial supplications-a mediation
on which, consequently, all the relations of God with His
people were based; in order that He might display all the
riches of His grace and of His nature, manifested towards
the people of His choice, beloved by Him (the just God),
but constantly failing, in fact, in the obedience which was
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His due, and which would have been the source of direct
blessing.
Mediation sustained the relations of God with His
people in the midst of their transgressions, whilst all His
wonders were made known, and until His judgment had
severed the wicked from among them, and completed
the blessing and glory of His people under the sustaining
hand of him who had been the mediator during the time
of all their trials. “ And the Lord said, I have pardoned
according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth
shall be lled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those
men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which
I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me
now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their
fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with
him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the
land, and his seed shall possess it,” Num. 14:20-24; read all
the chapter.
But we must observe the historical evidences of this
introduction of mediation as a support to the old covenant,
or the foundation of a new one. “ And the Lord said unto
Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stinecked
people: now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax
hot against them, … and I will make of thee a great nation.
And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why
doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou
31
hast
brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power,
and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians
speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay
31 God had before said to Moses, “thy people, which thou.”
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them in the mountains, and to consume them from the
face of the earth? Turn from thy erce wrath, and repent of
this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self,
and saidst unto them, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven, and all this land which I have spoken of will I give
unto thy seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord
repented of the evil that he thought to do unto his people,”
Ex. 32:9-14. Here was the principle.
e consequences of this mediation-the conduct of
Moses towards the people-his return to God with fresh
supplications (placing himself as the one hoping to atone
for their sins), together with the detail of God’s answers,
are found in what follows in Ex. 33 At length Moses
intreats to see the glory of God: this was impossible; but
He promises to make all His goodness to pass before him. “
And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him
there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord
passed by before him and proclaimed, e Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, longsuering, and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children’s children unto
the third and to the fourth generation,” Ex. 34:5-7. en,
on the renewed intercession of Moses, the Lord announces
to him some modications of His dispensations; and in the
end it is said (v. 27), “ Write thou these words, for after the
tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and
with Israel.”
Here we see a covenant founded on the calling to
remembrance the covenant made with Abraham, etc. (the
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201
intercession of Moses staying the uplifted hand of God),
and the revelation of a special character of relationship
with the people; a character on which is based the new
covenant with Moses the mediator, and the people. When
Moses interceded in the desert on the return of the spies,
his intercession was founded on the character given by God
as the terms of the relationship existing between Him and
the people; and both the answer and the judgments of God
are in accordance with this character, save only one special
mark of mercy which arose from circumstances. Ezek. 18
(often quoted with really unbelieving views) announced
that God acted towards the people for their own iniquity,
and according to the covenant of which we are speaking,
and in truth put an end to an important application of an
important principle it contains. e same thing is found in
Jeremiah, who concluded the period of their history in their
country, as Ezekiel concluded it out of it, accompanied in
the former by a promise of a covenant and a new order of
things, which should in the latter days be made with the
house of Israel and the house of Judah; Jer. 31:27-37. It
will be found also that Daniel, who prophesies of the four
empires, confesses both their past and actual transgressions.
Having traced the allusions to this covenant, there is
one remark which it is very important to make; and the
intercession of Moses, at the time of their sin in making
the golden calf, gives rise to it. It is this: the Spirit of God,
in all references to the true hopes of Israel, refers to the
unconditional covenant made with Abraham. us we
have seen Moses saying, “ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self,
saying,” etc. In the same manner the God of mercy, having
pronounced blessing on their obedience, and followed
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their rebellions with threats, until their actual dispersion,
adds in Lev. 26, “ If they shall confess their iniquity, and
the iniquity of their fathers … and they then accept of the
punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember my
covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and
also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I
will remember the land.” See also Mic. 7:20. Such was
the hope of Zacharias, lled with the Holy Ghost (Luke
1:72, 73); such also the prophetic song in Psa. 105:42, 6-9.
According to the solemn declaration of God, when Moses
asked, “ If they shall say to me, What is his name? what
shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM
THAT I AM,” He said also, “ us shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God
said moreover unto Moses, us shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, e Lord God of your fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath
sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my
memorial unto all generations.” erefore, the apostle in
discussing this subject says (Rom. 1 I: 28), “ As concerning
the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching
the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.”
We see, in the book of Deuteronomy, the people,
when nearly entering Canaan, put under the principle of
obedience, and their enjoyment of the promises dependent
on that obedience. Moses recalls to the people all that God
had done for them, adding, “ e Lord hath not given you
a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear … Keep
therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye
may prosper in all that ye do … that thou shouldest enter
into a covenant with the Lord thy God … that he may
establish thee to-day for a people unto himself, and that
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203
he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and
as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob.” As it is said, Moses “ set before “ them “ life
and death, blessing and cursing.” It was a covenant which,
in remembrance of the oath made with the fathers, is a
covenant of blessing, if they obeyed, and of threatenings,
if they disobeyed. God did not promise that they should
possess the land, but that they should be blessed in it;
otherwise, that they should be driven out of it; but that
God would show mercy unto them in a far country, if their
hearts turned to the Lord. For this reason the apostle quotes
a passage here as a pledge of the righteousness of God
according to faith, because the observance of the law was
impossible in any land except that of Israel. Nevertheless,
if they were obedient in heart, and turned to the Lord, they
should be heard and delivered. e return under Nehemiah
was a partial accomplishment of this promise, and this
covenant. But in that return, there was no question of the
promises made to Abraham. It was an event that showed
the mercy and faithfulness of God, but which was not the
fulllment of His promises and original covenant, although
it involved important consequences. e original promises,
given unconditionally, and guaranteed by the oath of God,
must nd a complete fulllment in all their extent.
32
is is
what still remains for the people of God. Joshua gives the
history of their then present and earthly fulllment; and
the book of Judges, that of the fall of Israel in the midst of
human enjoyment.
32 What is said in Deut. 32 goes farther and deeper: God speaks
not according to the covenant, but according to His sovereignty,
and His thoughts. Consequently, the joy of the Gentiles with
His people is there introduced.
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In order, then, to accomplish the full manifestation
of the thought and will of God, there was needed, not
only the promise made to Abraham, and the mediation
(which testied to the complete violation of it), to sustain
the weight and truth of God’s promises, in conformity
with His justice, until the fulllment of the promises
should take place (a mediation which was the type of
Christ’s); but there was also needed the representation of
the type of Him who was to be the instrument of their
accomplishment, and the center of the blessings they
comprised. is must be by grace in the midst of a fallen
and rebellious people, who were consequently thrown upon
the mercy of God. is representation took place in David
among a people, who, transgressing under the immediate
government of God, desired in their wretchedness another
king than Him, that they might be like unto the nations.
After this lling up of their iniquity, God, in His grace,
gave them a king, who was a remarkable type of Christ-
named as king, rejected, driven out, hunted as a partridge
on the mountains, but just, patient, and obedient under his
suerings; the hope of Israel, when Israel would not hope
in him; lled himself, in the midst of his trials, with all
those glorious hopes with which the Spirit of God inspired
him; afterward vanquishing all his enemies, and reigning
in glory in Solomon. ese are the things which God gave
us, to serve as a type of Christ rejected-Christ the hope
of Israel. And in fact the Psalms are the prophecies of the
experience or the expression of the sympathy of Christ
with all the suerings of His people. We see the soul of
Christ revealed, either in the circumstances which were to
befall Him, in the midst of His people (and in that case
taking the form of direct prophecy); or in the events which
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205
were to happen to His people (and in these He is found
by His complete sympathy, as His Spirit expresses itself,
“ In all their aictions he was aicted,” or, as He said,
“ Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”). In every case
they are songs which give, not an historical narration, but
the soul, the feelings, the thoughts, the dependence of
the spirit of Christ under the circumstances detailed: an
admirable thing to give us the most perfect acquaintance
with Christ, and throw a light and a personal interest over
all the circumstances described in the gospel histories, and
in those prophecies whose accomplishment is yet future.
We nd the mind and the thoughts of Christ, on all that
was passing around Him, in the gospels. We nd it also in
the whole prophetic history of future events. ese strains
introduce us to His heart, whether it be to the reality of His
suerings, or to the perfection of His sympathy with His
people. e suerings and the kingdom of Christ are the
completion of all the promises which have been typically
presented to us in David and Solomon: and the Spirit of
Christ, as in the midst of His people, presents to us in the
Psalms all that He was in them.
But there were also declarative prophecies; and we
would speak a little of their character. ese begin with
the anticipated fall of the kingly power-the last means of
maintaining the union (in the responsibility of man) of
the government and the character of God in His called
ones according to the esh. In order to enter into their
full character, we will take the prophet Isaiah, where the
commencement of this species of prophecy is given us. is
prophet begins by stating the complete fall of the nation-
their future glory-the coming of the Gentiles to that
revealed glory; and he takes Israel themselves for a witness
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that God had done all that was possible for them, and
that they had only brought forth wild grapes. He declares,
nevertheless, that after judgments grace should triumph in
blessings to this rebellious and backsliding people. After
this, he is regularly appointed to his mission, and goes to
meet Ahaz.
It is to these latter circumstances that I wish to draw
the attention of those who have accompanied me in my
researches. e rst thing to be observed is this: that the
promise, and the prophecy as a witness of the promise,
are always applicable to a state of failure. Adam, in a state
of innocence, had no need of the promise. Israel, walking
in all uprightness under the law, and rejoicing in all the
blessings which owed from it, was not the subject of the
reprimands of God, or of promises tending to encourage
the faithful, when depressed by the prosperity of the
wicked or the misery of the chosen nation. Consequently,
the promise and the prophecy belong alike to grace. ey
are addressed to sinners, and are the intervention of God,
to give an object to faith, or to sustain it where already
existing. is is their character, as we nd it in Isa. 6- the
manifestation of the glory of Christ, as the Lord God
of Israel, convincing the nation and even the prophet of
sin, but strengthening his mouth by purifying it to bear
witness, in the midst of them, to the judgment of God, and
also to His faithfulness in preserving for future blessing
the seed which was to be the strength of the tree stripped
of all its glory. I say, the glory of Christ, because it is thus
stated in John 12. Judgment had been hanging over the
heads of this people for centuries; but at length nds its
accomplishment on their rejection of Christ, the true
David. See John 12:40; Acts 28:26, 27. e other part of
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207
the spirit of prophecy is intercession, the spirit of faith,
which acknowledges the people and the delity of God;
the answer of the duration of the judgment of God, as not
being forever-an answer which is the support of the faithful
remnant, in the midst of a wicked people. e glory of
Christ, and His rejection (suerings), are the two subjects
of prophecy-a rejection which shows the fullness of that
wickedness which the glory condemns, and becomes the
foundation of the hope which nds its blessing and its end
in that glory. Reproof always takes place according to actual
circumstances; and the violation of that law which was the
rule of the government of God, together with the idolatry
which destroyed their witness as a chosen people to the
one true God, furnished the occasion for those wonderful
expositions of grace, of which the prophecies are full, and
also for the detail of those circumstances, by which God
vindicated His rights in the midst of an ungrateful people
by righteous judgments, and by means of a new covenant.
is is the reason that the prophets (I speak not now
of Daniel and the Apocalypse), omitting the present
dispensation, pass from the circumstances which gave rise
to the prophecy to the circumstances in and by which the
judgments of God on indelity (which is the subject of
the prophecy) shall be fully displayed. ey pass to the
events of the latter days, when God shall arise in judgment
upon all nations-upon Israel, according to their behavior
as a people, and the Gentiles, according to their conduct
towards that people; and when the glory of Christ,
which has been the hope of the faithful in all ages, shall
be manifested for their joy and complete happiness. It is
impossible to understand the prophecies without looking
to the circumstances of the latter days. Certainly there
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have been remarkable judgments on the Jews, and on the
Gentiles who were in connection with them; but nothing
which fullls the prophecies, because nothing which fullls
the end of God. is, to my mind, is the meaning of the
Holy Spirit, when Peter says, “ No prophecy of scripture
is of private interpretation “; it must form a link in the
counsels of God, which only nds its completion in the
solemn and magnicent scenes of the latter days. All the
nations which persecuted Israel, and insulted God by their
idols and their pride, shall take part in them. Christ must
reign over all the nations. e mountain of the Lord’s house
is to be set up above all mountains, and the Gentiles shall
ow to it. He must reign in peace; but rst the judgments
of God must be manifested: “ When thy judgments are
in the earth, then shall the inhabitants of the world learn
righteousness.” e consequences of these judgments on
Israel, and even on the nations, may be seen in Isaiah, from
chapter 13 to chapter 33, in which is contained also the
glory of Israel, which shall be accomplished. e same may
also be briey seen in Jer. 25.
ere are three classes of prophecy in the Old
Testament, after the establishment of the kingdom-those
which preceded the captivity, those during it, and those
which followed the re-establishment of Jerusalem. But
there is one event of the utmost importance, which gave
rise to the division, viz., God’s ceasing to reign in the midst
of His people, and the giving authority and dominion over
the whole earth into the hands of the Gentiles. Jerusalem
ceased to be “ the throne of the Lord,” where His rule
was directly displayed, where the ark of the covenant was
found, and where God was seated between the cherubim.
Consequently, there were prophets who bore witness to the
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circumstances of the Jews, and the other nations, whilst the
throne of God was in the midst of Jerusalem, or who spoke of
the judgments of God on His people and on their enemies.
ere were others who spoke of the state of the Gentiles,
during the time that the authority of God in judgment was
committed to their hands. e prophets after the captivity
embraced both, and had a special character on account of
the partial re-establishment of the Jews, whilst the Gentile
empire still existed. e event of which we speak changed
the whole state of the earth, by separating the government
from the calling of God-two things which had long been
united in the Jewish people under responsibility: a union
which (having failed through the unfaithfulness of man,
when God Himself ruled over them) had been propped up,
and established afresh, under the reign of a man who was a
chosen type of Christ. From the time of the destruction of
Jerusalem, and of the throne of David, the government of
the world was in the hands of the Gentiles; and the times
of the Gentiles commenced (see Dan. 2:37, 38) under a
responsibility, the eects of which are described in the book
of Daniel, the Apocalypse, and Zechariah, and which are
characterized in Dan. 4 e four great empires which, by
their pride and in God’s providence, successively seized on
the supreme power, and consequently brought themselves
under this responsibility and failed, are well known. All the
time of their dominion, Israel has been Loammi, “ not my
people.” is is all that we need say of them at this present
time.
Before this event, prophecy was the voice of God,
judging the nations as from His throne in the promised
land. e world is viewed in its pride, rising against God
and His people, and Babylon presenting itself only as
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taking the place where Israel had reigned. Its destruction
is consequently foretold; but its history, and that of the
nations which succeeded it, are not given. e question is
always between the God of Israel, Israel, and the world.
ere is no mention of Babylon in the rst prophecies of
Isaiah, which end at chapter 12. In chapter 13 we have
the destruction of Babylon, which represents the habitable
world. In chapter 14 it is said, “ For the Lord will have
mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them
in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with
them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the
people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and
the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the
Lord for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them
captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over
their oppressors.” Here is Babylon set aside, and replaced
by the restoration of Israel to dominion in the land of the
Lord. “ For the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,
from henceforth even forever. And then, O tower of the
ock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee
shall it come, even the rst dominion: the kingdom shall come
to the daughter of Jerusalem.” is is the accomplishment
of the prophecy in Mic. 4, “ But in the last days it shall
come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall
be exalted above the hills; and people shall ow unto it.
And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of
the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we
will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth from Zion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall
judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
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o; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruning hooks.” I have quoted all this as
necessary to complete the scene. e details belong to the
times of the Gentiles, which is the reason I refer to what
belongs to those times.
But there were many prophecies which belong to Israel,
recognized in a measure, though unfaithful. e great
question was between Israel and the world, before and
after the existence of the beasts: not as under their power,
for the beasts come into existence only by Israel’s ceasing
to exist as a people. Egypt, which was at rst the world, was
already passed away in that respect-God having called His
son out of Egypt. Assyria was its representative: that is the
reason we see so many vital questions, between Israel and
Assyria, as the last thing in the history of the present age.
Babylon represented the world in the time of the empire
of the Gentiles, when God had given the empire to the
Gentiles, and she was responsible in herself for the exercise
of His power. Daniel, as we have said, has given us the
results, but the call of God (a principle of all importance)
was separated from government. We see the character of the
union of religion and government under the beasts, in Dan.
3 Faithfulness was displayed in keeping out of such a union,
while acknowledging the authority of the government; but
for religion it appeals to God alone. But while Israel was
the called nation, Babylon was not in question.
But the question between the authority of God’s
government in Israel and the world ever existed. Nineveh
and Assyria were the occasion of it. is was how God
acted. He permits the world, as executor of His judgments,
to lay waste His people for their good. Judgment begins
at the house of God; but if the worldliness and the sin of
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His people have been corrected by the stronger worldliness
and sin of the world, what will the end of that world itself
be? We have, consequently, two prophets, whose witness
concerns Nineveh only: one of these, the last witness given
to the world in the mercy of
God, that is to say, Jonah, a witness that there was the
greatest and most speedy mercy for the world itself before
God; the other, Nahum, a witness of the nal judgment.
“ e Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee,
that no more of thy name be sown.” “ e Lord hath turned
away the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel “; but there
was, through grace, a faithful remnant, though a small one.
Here there was nothing but pride against the Lord: and
who shall abide the day of His wrath? In the prophecies
which bring into contact the state of Israel and the world,
we nd the activity of the Assyrian, as the last instrument
of the wrath of God, and the judgment of Israel by its
means; but at length their destruction by God Himself.
Israel is found a prisoner in Babylon, or, what is still
worse, united in desire and principle with the king of the
apostate system, having “ made a covenant with death,”
and being “ at agreement with hell,” saying, “ When the
overowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come
unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves “: wretched refuge against
the justice and the wrath of the Lord! e return from
Babylon, when Cyrus was king, changed nothing in fact:
“ Behold we are servants this day,” said Nehemiah (who
felt the truth of the thing), “ and for the land that thou
gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof and the
good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: and it yieldeth
much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over
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us because of our sins; also they have dominion over our
bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in
great distress,” Neh. 9:36, 37. And the Lord Himself, the
legitimate King of the Jews, united Himself, in His innite
wisdom, to this confession of the state of His beloved
Israel, in repelling their unholy temptations: “ Render unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things
that are God’s.” e wretched Jews received a repulse, which
left the weight of their wickedness on their own heads.
eir malice and wretchedness reached their height when
they said, “ We have no other king but Caesar.” Although
their state varied according to the character, the strength,
or weakness of their rulers, yet were they always under the
dominion of the Gentiles.
But it was quite otherwise as to the Assyrian, the rod
of the Lord: he humbles them. But the Lord, choosing
Jerusalem, puts her by His power beyond all the eorts of
the pride of the world. us, until the end of Isa. 13 where
the history of the world begins, the prophet pursues the
history of Israel in relation with the king of Assyria. e
other events are only passing troubles; and both in chapter
7 and chapter 8 the king of Assyria is the subject of the
prophetic threatenings; and from chapters 9 and Po, from
the actual circumstances of the moment, he shows the
outstretched arm of the Lord, until He takes the Assyrian
by His strong hand to be the sta of His indignation,
which is completed, and ceases, in chapter 10: 25, with the
destruction of the proud king.
In chapters 10 and 11 we see the glory, the joy, and
the peace of Israel, and of the world in their deliverance,
a deliverance which, as the apostle says, shall be life from
the dead. Chapter 10 marks, in a very striking manner,
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all the principles and eects of the judgments of God,
which only leave a faithful remnant of His people, who
destroy their enemies completely. It is God judging the
earth, whether His people or the world. For this reason,
after the destruction of Babylon and its king (who had
been substituted in the place of God’s union with Israel),
we nd in Isa. 14:24, 25 the destruction of the Assyrians
upon the mountains, and the land puried from all those
enemies, when the answer to the messengers of the nation
shall be, that the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of
His people shall trust in it (v. 32). In the remainder of the
chapters which are applicable to this subject, we see the
judgments of
God on all the nations who have interfered with the
aairs of Israel, whether near or afar o beyond the rivers
of Cush. We see the subject also treated of in reference
to the latter days (the occasions of the prophecies being
sometimes the Assyrians, sometimes Nebuchadnezzar),
and a complete mixture of dates and circumstances, if we
refer them to past time-exact, however, even in detail as to
the latter days, a detail which is veried and arranged by a
comparison with other prophecies.
To enter into the details would be to explain almost
all the prophecies. e slightest attention will show us the
application of these things to the latter days (for example,
chapter 18 and the end of chapter 19). But we have said
enough to show the separation of rule and the calling of
God, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the giving of
government or power into the hands of the Gentiles. With
them it still exists, and shall exist, until the destruction
of the last of the four empires: with this destruction the
times of the Gentiles end. During those times the calling
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215
of God remained with some of the Jews. After the fall of
their nation, after all hope was lost for the Jews in their
actual state by their rejection of Messiah, this calling took
place in the church, not for earthly, but for heavenly places;
and God, in His providence, suers the last empire to exist
until it rises against Him and His church. See Rev. 16:14;
ch. 17:12, 14; ch. 19:19, 20. But this belongs to the history
of the Gentiles, or to the hope and character of the church,
of which we have before spoken.
We must observe here, that at the time of the
invasion of the Assyrian (a type of what shall take place
in the latter days), they acted upon Israel and Judah,
seizing Israel and falling before Jerusalem. e king of
Babylon (representative of the empires) takes Jerusalem;
consequently, when he is destroyed, Christ will retake
Jerusalem; and the contest between Him, as King there,
and the Assyrian will begin; and the restoration of Israel
shall have its full accomplishment.
us, among the prophets of the captivity, we have in
Jeremiah (who prophesied in the land) the total rejection
of Judah, as Lo-ammi, not a people; and a new covenant
made with the two divisions of the people, Judah and Israel;
and under this covenant complete blessing is brought in
both to that nation and to the earth. We see in Daniel the
history of the four empires, and the circumstances of the
call of God, until their end. In Ezekiel, we nd an entire
omission of the four empires. e prophet, having given
an account of the destruction of Pharaoh by the king of
Babylon (whose attempts were a last eort to obtain the
empire before Babylon), passes at once to events which
characterize the return of Israel and their re-establishment
in their own land, and to the attacks which their last
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enemies will make upon them; attacks which only serve for
the complete manifestation to the Gentiles of the glory of
God in the midst of Israel. ese last events bring us to the
consideration of the reunion, once more, of rule and the
call of God in the Jewish nation, but under His dominion,
who, in the display of His glory, shall make all the earth
happy; in the reign of Him who shall be a Priest upon
His throne, and who will maintain the fullness of blessing
by His presence in His reign, and by the complete union,
established and settled in Him, between the heavens and
the earth.
We will quote some passages as proof of the
accomplishment of these things: rst, of the government
of Christ in Israel, as powerful to subdue and drive out
the enemies of His ancient people; and then of His being
the peaceful Benefactor of them, and through them of
the whole earth: in both cases joining together power
and justice, which had long been separated. e cross of
Christ was the complete overthrow of justice on earth.
For the only just One was persecuted by the people whom
He loved-of whom He was the benefactor and the glory;
condemned by him who represented the government of
the world, and who, nevertheless, declared His innocence;
and at length apparently, and in one sense really, forsaken
of God and given up to the justice of Him He had appealed
to. is is what the cross was to the world. e church,
which views these things in their heavenly light, sees in
them, not the judgment of the patient Jesus, but of that
world which rejected Him. It sees heavenly justice in the
abandonment on the cross (divine love having provided a
lamb for a sacrice)-a justice which made good the rights
of that victim, not by helping Him in this sinful and
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217
wretched world, where He nished the work of salvation,
but by receiving Him to that place which was the only
real witness of His righteousness and the glory of His
Person; namely, to the right hand of the Majesty on high.
e church, consequently, partaking of the righteousness
and glory of Christ, should seek rather the fellowship of
the suerings of her Head, than the participation of that
false glory which drove Him from the earth (see Phil. 3);
expecting that which He expects-that His enemies be
made His footstool.
In those days His cause and His right shall be maintained
even upon earth, and His right hand shall nd out all His
enemies. e Jews suer the earthly consequences until
this moment. e kingdom which has rejected Him in
His humiliation, rising out of the abyss, will oppose Him
when coming forth out of His place in His glory, and shall
nd its end. en Christ, uniting Himself to His earthly
people, or at least to the faithful remnant, will subdue the
whole world unto Himself by His power. e little stone
which broke the image shall become a great mountain,
which shall ll all the earth.
is is the witness of a post-captivity prophet, given in
the passage where he speaks of Christ manifesting Himself
in humiliation: “ When I have bent Judah for me, lled
the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion,
against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of
a mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen over them, and
his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God
shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the
south. e Lord of Hosts shall defend them.” See Zech. 9
and 10. “ I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will
save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to
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place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be
as though I had not cast them o; for I am the Lord their
God and will hear them,” Zech. 10:6. And in chapter 12, “
In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for
all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut
in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered
together against it,” Zech. 12:3. e details of these things
will be found in this chapter and the following ones.
Jerusalem will have been taken before, as was foretold by
Ezekiel, “ I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall
be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give
it him,” Ezek. 21:27; see also Zech. 14. We see the same
truth in Jer. 51:19, “ e portion of Jacob is not like them;
for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his
inheritance: the Lord of Hosts is his name. ou art my
battle-ax, and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in
pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms,”
etc.
Let us come to more general descriptions of the reunion
of Christ with this people, at the time of their restoration.
“ e children of Israel,” saith the Holy Spirit, by the
mouth of Hosea, “ shall abide many days without a king,
and without a prince, and without a sacrice, and without
an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek
the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear
the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.” Read from
chapter 2: 15 to the end of chapter 3.
is is the promise in Jer. 32:37, “ Behold, I will gather
them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in my
anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring
them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell
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219
safely: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may
fear me forever, for the good of them and of their children
after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them
good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do
them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly
with my whole heart and with my whole soul,” etc. And
in chapter 33: 14, “ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will perform that good thing which I have promised
unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In
those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of
righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute
judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days
shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and
this is the name wherewith she shall be called, e Lord
our righteousness. For thus saith the Lord, David shall
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of
Israel … us saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with
day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances
of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the seed of Jacob,
and David my servant,” etc. Also verses 7, 8 and 9 of the
same chapter, “ And I will cause the captivity of Judah and
the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at
the rst. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity,
whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon
all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned and whereby
they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a
name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations
of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto
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them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness
and all the prosperity that I procure unto it.”
Also in Isa. 59, having described the state of sin and
ruin in which Israel was found, their transgressions being
multiplied before the Lord and truth lost, the prophet
announces the intervention of the Lord in these words:
“ And he saw that there was no man, and wondered
that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought
salvation unto him; and his righteousness it sustained
him. For he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and
an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the
garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal
as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will
repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies;
to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear
the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from
the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a
ood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against
him. And the Redeemer shall come from Zion; and unto
them that turn from transgression in Jacob [or, shall turn
away ungodliness from Jacob], saith the Lord.” I take here
the reading of the apostle (Rom. 2:26), supported by many
ancient versions, which alters nothing as to the present
question; but the application of the passage by the apostle
is of immense importance, for he says that it applies to the
restoration of Israel, after the fullness of the Gentiles is
come in; that is to say, to the glory of the nation after the
end of the economy of the church.
ere is yet another long passage which must be quoted.
After the resurrection of the dry bones, the Holy Spirit by
the mouth of Ezekiel says, “ en he said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they
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say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut o
for our parts. erefore prophesy, and say unto them, us
saith the Lord God, Behold, 0 my people, I will open your
graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I
am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, 0 my people,
and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my
Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your
own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken
it, and performed it, saith the Lord. e word of the Lord
came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man,
take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for
the children of Israel his companions: then take another
stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim,
and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join
them one to another into one stick; and they shall become
one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people
shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what
thou meanest by these? Say unto them, us saith the Lord
God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the
hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and
will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand
before their eyes. And say unto them, us saith the Lord
God, Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among
the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on
every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will
make them one nation in the land upon the mountains
of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they
shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided
into two kingdoms any more at all: neither shall they
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dele themselves any more with their idols, nor with their
detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but
I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein
they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they
be my people, and I will be their God. And David my
servant shall be king over them: and they all shall have
one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and
observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in
the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein
your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even
they, and their children, and their children’s children,
forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it
shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place
them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the
midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be
with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my
people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do
sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of
them for evermore.”
We may also read in detail Isa. 65 and 66, the elect
remnant of Judah, and the judgments on the wicked
nation, the blessing of the earthly Jerusalem after a marked
distinction between the faithful and unfaithful Jews (chapter
65: 13, 14; then chapter 66: 15), the remnant addressed in
terms of the greatest tenderness and consolation, and at
last judgment on their enemies. “ For, behold, the Lord will
come with re, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to
render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with ames of
re. For by re and by his sword will the Lord plead with
all esh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many … For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I
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223
will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come
and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and
I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and
Javan, to the isles afar o, that have not heard my fame,
neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory
among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren
for an oering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses,
and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon
swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the
Lord … For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I
will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall
your seed and your name remain,” Isa. 66.
e same thing may be seen in Joel 3 and the manner
in which it shall be done in Isa. 63 compared with Rev.
19 e promise is found in the second Psa. 1 have already
quoted the latter chapters of Zechariah, and will only select
three passages, amongst numbers that present themselves:
the rst, respecting the re-establishment of the Jews; the
second, respecting the judgment on the nations; and the
third, concerning the presence of Christ as the strength of
the restored nation against the Assyrian. “ Behold,” saith
the Holy Spirit, by the prophet Amos, “ the days come,
saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the
mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall
melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people
of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit
them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine
thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of
them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall
no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given
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them, saith the Lord thy God,” Amos 9:13-15. “ erefore
wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up
to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations,
that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them
mine indignation, even all my erce anger: for all the earth
shall be devoured with the re of my jealousy. For then
will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one
consent,” Zeph. 3:8, 9. What follows is the joy of Israel,
saying, in verse 17, “ e Lord thy God in the midst of thee
is mighty.” “ ou shalt not see evil any more,” 5:15. is
is the quotation from the prophet Micah: “ Now gather
thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege
against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod
upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting. erefore will he give them up, until the time
that she which travaileth hath brought forth; then the
remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of
Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the
Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and
they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends
of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when the
Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread
in our palaces,” Mic. 5:1-5.
at which follows is the description of what Jacob
shall be in the midst of the nations, and of what God will
be in the midst of Jacob and the nations: for, as we read
in Zech. 14:9, the Lord shall be king over all the earth;
in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one.
Divine Mercy in the Church and Towards Israel
225
We see the kingdom given to Christ after the destruction
of the fourth beast; Dan. 7:13, 14. In Psa. 75; 76; 82, we
have God arising to judge the earth, because all have failed
in obedience, walking in darkness, Christ celebrating the
government of God as put into His hands, in Psa. 75, His
re-establishment in Judah, in Psa. 76
ere is one consequence to be observed, which several
of the quotations have in fact already marked; namely,
the actual blessedness of the earth under the government
of the Lord. e call to universal joy is found in Psa. 95;
then in Psa. 96, the earth is called to sing the new song:
being instructed, she sings the song in Psa. 97 Psa. 98 is
the calling of Israel to sing. eir song is found in Psa.
99 Psa. 96 and 98 nish with one common chorus. e
same state of things is described in Psa. 72, but directly as
Christ reigning as Solomon. We have seen, in the passages
quoted, the judgment of God on His unfaithful people,
and the calling of God separated from His government,
and the government made over to the Gentiles, furnishing
afterward the opportunity (through the rejection of the
Messiah by the Jews) for the manifestation of the heavenly
calling of God to the church.
We have seen the promise of the restoration of Israel,
but under very adverse circumstances, even their chiefs
at Jerusalem making a covenant with hell and the grave
to escape the scourge of God; all the nations led by their
pride and their passions against Jerusalem; the righteous
judgment of God on His people: a time thus described by
Jeremiah with the promises already quoted, Jeremiah 30: 7:
“ Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even
the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts,
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226
that I will break his yoke from o thy neck, and will burst
thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of
him. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David
their king, whom I will raise up unto them.” We have, in
fact, seen all the nations of the earth assembled against her,
saying in their pride, Where is thy God? But at this word,
this unknown God shall show Himself to their confusion,
and shall gather them as sheaves into the oor; Mic. 4:12.
Jerusalem becomes a burdensome stone to all nations. Her
faithful remnant escape from the judgments. See Isa. 65:19.
To the faithful remnant the Savior manifests Himself. ey
weep justly, but they will have David their king-His feet
shall stand upon the Mount of Olives. en the calling and
the government of God shall be united once more, “ is
man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into
the land.” e wrath against Israel shall then have ceased;
their land shall be delivered from their oppressors, who
had long lled it: and the dispersed among the nations
shall return. “ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for an ensign of the people … and his
rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from
Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and
from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign
for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth. e envy also of Ephraim shall depart,
and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut o; Ephraim shall
not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they
shall y upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the
Divine Mercy in the Church and Towards Israel
227
west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall
lay their hand upon Edom and Moab: and the children of
Ammon shall obey them,” Isa. 11:10-14.
All the promises to Israel shall be fullled to the letter:
for when has God failed in His promises? But the earth
also shall rejoice before the Lord, Himself coming to judge
it. And we have seen in Dan. 7 dominion over all nations
put into the hands of the Son of man; and His kingdom,
which broke the image, becomes a mountain which lls all
the earth. We have seen also, in speaking of the church, that
Satan shall be bound at this time, and there will be a world
blessed under the dominion of Christ, from which outward
temptation and the tempter shall be alike banished. e
Lord shall hear the heavens, and the heavens shall hear
the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine,
and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel (that is, the seed of
God); Hos. 2:21. ere shall be a chain of blessing without
interruption or hindrance from the throne of the Lord to
His people blessed on the earth; and the Gentiles shall
rejoice with them.
We have seen this state described in Psa. 96; 99; 72
Isa. 24-28; and even the following chapters describe the
same things. For it is in those days that the earth shall be
lled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea. Here is the truth of the promises. ey shall bless
themselves in the earth, in the God of truth. Here is the
long expected accomplishment of the prophecies. Here the
proof that the calling of God is without repentance, even
on earth; and that His mercy endureth forever. Here is
the oath to David, to which the faithful God has not been
wanting. Here is the government of God established, not
on the instability of man under responsibility, but on the
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228
ecacy of the power of Christ, the Son of God, Son of man,
Son of David, Heir of all things. Here, even on earth, is the
grace of God triumphing in the splendor of His justice:
“ Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other.” “ Truth shall spring out of
the earth, and righteousness look down from heaven; yea,
the Lord shall give that which is good, and the land shall
yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him, and
shall set us in the way of His steps.” We may read from Psa.
73 to the end of Psa. 77, which are all the description of
what will take place in Emmanuel’s land in the latter days.
e blessings of Noah, the promises made to Abraham,
the hopes of David, shall be accomplished together; and
men shall rejoice in the benecence of the Lord, not in
the miseries of their own weakness and the temptations
of the enemy, but in the strength of a present God, and of
Christ, the rightful Heir, the support, the Mediator, of all
the blessings.
I have but one word to say, one character of Christ to
add. It is in those days that He shall be manifested as the
real Melchisedec, King of Righteousness, King of Peace;
the Priest of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and
earth; the High Priest, not of intercession within the veil,
hidden in God, but come forth to bless, with the riches
and abundance of His house, the people of God, already
conquerors over all their enemies, and to pronounce on
them the blessing of the Most High God, possessor then
in blessing of the heavens and the earth, and to bring up
praises worthy of Him in the mouth of the High Priest.
Happy reciprocation of blessings! for if the blessings of
God are the happiness of His people, the happiness of His
people in Christ is the joy of God. It was meet to make
Divine Mercy in the Church and Towards Israel
229
merry and be glad for, those which were dead, and are alive
again, which were lost and are found. e happiness and
blessing of this earth are the joy of our gracious God; and
the last Adam will not fail of this part of His inheritance.
Happy those who are co-heirs with Him, and who,
partakers of the divine nature, may rejoice with God in the
blessings with which He clothes others, with hearts lled
with His love. Blessed is the church of the Lord.
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230
62215
Notes on the Revelation
33
THE following pages pretend to be nothing more
whatsoever than what is presented in the title. ere is no
attempt at a general exposition of this most instructive
and important book: and those who seek for an exciting
application to surrounding and past events will not nd
it here. e writer had noted down, in reading, what
struck him in the text (often, he believes, overlooked in
the framing of some general theory), and he has published
what has struck his own mind for the purpose of drawing
attention to the book itself. He has added some notes
containing more the expression of the light thus elicited
from the text; and in these and in the commencement,
as he was writing really for the use of Christian brethren,
he has not been afraid to communicate freely what thus
struck him, desiring it to be as freely weighed, by this and
other scriptures, before the Lord. In teaching, he would feel
it wrong to teach anything which (however still fallible)
he could not arm was the Lord’s mind, without doubt
in his own. Here, he has not exactly restricted himself to
this, because he does not present himself as a teacher, but
merely as seeking to help on others, who are inquiring
with him. At the same time he has stated nothing he
believes unweighed; nor, when a diculty presented itself
connected with any statement, has he allowed the statement
to stand without the diculty being solved. Many very
simple statements have, in this way, been connected with
much inquiry throughout Scripture; though neither the
33 “Notes on the Book of Revelation; to assist Inquirers in
starching into that Book.” London, 1839.
Notes on the Revelation
231
diculty nor the solution appear, perhaps, in what follows.
But he has found abundant instruction and enlargement
of judgment in Scripture in the research occasioned by
it. He believes that the book, in the body of it, views the
church as either mystically, according to Eph. 2, or really,
according to 1ess. 4:17, in heavenly places; and that
the want of observing this has much obscured the study
of it. He conceives that the scriptural estimate of Eph. 2
has justied an application of it to past events (though on
ground of which those who so applied the prophecy were,
in the wisdom of God, scarcely conscious), and application
which had its force in a period now nearly, though not
quite, passed away; while the application of it, consequent
on 1ess. 4:17, clearly has, as to the substance of it, to
begin. I say, the substance of it, because, in tracing the
evils to their sources, and developing the various subjects,
there are many connecting links, with antecedent facts
and events; and this not only in the more hidden sources,
but, while the dispensation of judgment is quite distinct
from the dispensation of patience, the tares which are
judged in the one are often to be spiritually discerned in
the other. And hence it is that the book is given to the
church. e judgment of God in power supplies force to
the conduct and judgment of the church in patience. It
seems to me, then, that they are both alike practically wrong
who have slightingly rejected the one or the other, and thus
respectively deprived the church of each.
A diculty may perhaps present itself to some. It will
be found that many points familiar to modern students of
the prophetic words are taken for granted; as, for example,
the idea of a personal Antichrist is assumed to be just.
34
34 See Note page 52.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
232
e answer to such an objection, if these papers should
be subjected to such, is, that they are not written to
demonstrate truths already elementary to those to whom
they could be interesting. e writer is presenting what has
occupied his own mind to those who, with him, stand on
such points as admitted, and seek to make progress. It is
possible some inconsistencies may be found. e writer has
found his own mind grow clearer, and make progress in
the research occasioned by the study of the book; and it is
possible that some immature idea, assumed unconsciously,
but not stated in the word, may be found. He is not aware,
however, of any. He has found disencumbering himself of
his own or others’ assumptions a main point of progress.
Finally, he would say, that there are certain great outlines
and truths of a denite character in the word of prophecy-
safeguards in every research. If in any details he has erred
against these, he trusts any such idea may be at once
rejected. He commends what he has written to the blessing
of God, whose the church is, and who loves it; and to the
thoughts and inquiries of those brethren who are led by
the Spirit of God, to search into and be instructed in these
things.
We cannot, I think, interpret the divine word in the
book of the Revelation with the same conned sense
that the ancient prophecies carry; because the church has
the mind of Christ, and is supposed not merely to have
particular facts communicated to it, but to understand the
thoughts of God about, or as manifested in, those facts.
To take an example: I read in Isaiah, “ Behold, I create
new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be
remembered nor brought to mind. But rejoice ye forever
in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem
Notes on the Revelation
233
a rejoicing, and her people a joy.” Now here, I nd this
vast and blessed expectation of the new heavens and the
new earth brought down to a denite joy connected with
earthly associations, and resulting from known though
new enjoyments and blessings; coming indeed fresh from
the hand of God, and, therefore, real and divine blessings,
but restricted to a given and earthly sphere, and to denite
facts.
Could the church conne itself to this sphere? or are
such its apprehensions created by the testimony of a new
heavens and a new earth? Clearly not. e mind of God-
the glory of Christ-the deliverance of the whole groaning
creation of which (in the marvelous love of God, and the
power of that worthiness which makes it due to Christ,
according to the counsel of grace and glory which unites
them to Him) the church is a fellow-heir with Christ-the
being like Him, and seeing Him as He is, displayed in the
same love of the Father in which He is, that the world may
know it-the savor of that love which can delight not only
in its own blessing, but by its divine nature, in the blessing
of others-and the lling of all things with the divine glory,
rst mediatorially, and then directly-these are the thoughts
(with the blessing of banished sin, perfected holiness, and
the restoration of all things) which would occupy the mind
of the church as having the Spirit.
Whoever, then, would set about to present the
contents of the Revelation with the same connedness of
interpretation as Old Testament prophecy at once puts the
church out of her place as the full condante of God and
the wonderful counselor, as having the mind of Christ, and
narrows the glory and the counsel to the feebleness of that
state with which the church’s position is expressly contrasted
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
234
(1Cor. 2:9, 10; see that whole passage). We may indeed
know in part and prophesy in part, and so learn from time
to time; but, in another sense, we have an unction from the
Holy One, and we know all things, because we have the
Spirit of God who formed, ordered. and reveals them. We are
of one counsel with Him, have the mind of Christ, and are
not merely the objects of that counsel, as they of old. Being
children, the family interests are ours as well as His, though
we may be but feeble in the detailed apprehension of them.
Now the Revelation has particularly this character, because
it was left for the church (not a communication between
living apostles and living men, but left for the church), as
having the Spirit and dependent on the Spirit, and so, as
having that Spirit, to use it in time to come; and so only.
Consistently herewith, the address is not an address
of personal relationship, but the presenting of that which
is the subject of knowledge. e most blessed truths of
redemption may shine forth throughout it, yet it is not the
address simply of the Father, by the Spirit, to the family,
as to the things which concern them within the family.
e Father
35
is not spoken of in it, save in one place, as
the Lamb’s Father or we, save as kings and priests to His
Father; never as in intercourse with the children as His
children. is dierence, and the corresponding characters
of the operation of the Spirit, I nd constantly maintained
in the Scriptures.
35 is is true also of the Hebrews, where sacrice and priesthood
are spoken of, which constitute relationship with God. Here it
is supremacy (whatever be the circumstances), which is His
character, not with the children, but over all things, over all
creation, and ever the throne of Him that was and is and is to
come.
Notes on the Revelation
235
Accordingly we nd (with much additional light,
indeed, for the sphere is much wider, and the foundation of
divine conduct on a much fuller and more widely extended
base) that the position and imagery of the Revelation are
all Jewish in character, though not Jewish in place. Neglect
of this last point has misled many whose views have been
contracted, and who have not in this, I believe, been led by
the Spirit of God.
It is not the Father we have here (at least not in that
character), but the temple and temple circumstances-He
that was, and that is, and that comes. It is a throne and not
a family: but it is not, on the other hand, the temple on
earth at all, but the mind of God acting there on the throne,
but in the perfection of that provident wisdom, in which
the seven spirits are before the throne. He that sat on the
throne
36
is the character and leading title of the Almighty
in the Revelation; but that throne is not at Jerusalem, and
has nothing to do with it immediately as the place of its
establishment.
It is, in this sense, the book of the throne when the King
had been rejected upon earth.
We have, in conformity to this idea, not the Son in the
bosom of the Father, but a revelation of Jesus Christ, which
God gave to Him; and He sent and signied it by an angel
to His servant John. All this is Jewish in its character. It
is not the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost testifying,
but God, Jesus Christ, and the ministration of angels to
a servant: none of the other things, of course, ceased to
36 See also (that is, as soon as we come to the prophecy) ch. 4:2,
10; ch. 5:1, 7, 13; ch. 6:16. Note also ch. 7:10 (observe there
is no allusion to this from ch. 8 until ch. 19:4) and ch. 21:5.
Chapter 20:11 comes in specially intermediately. As to the city,
see ch. 22:1.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
236
be true; but it was not the character here developed. It is
therefore the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and visions; and there is blessing on the reader. It is
addressed to the church in its full privilege; but the subject
presented is governance, and order and control, not sonship
with the Father. God would instruct His servants.
e blessings to the churches are conformable to this:
from One who bears the character of Ancient of Days,
who shall come-who was, and is, and is to come; and we
see the Spirit, not as on earth, the Comforter (come down
here, and in the sons, looking up there), but in His various
and manifold suciency and perfection, in the presence of
the throne, and as afterward sent in power into the earth
(providential protection and power) and from the Lord,
not as the Son, one with His Father (see John 14:20), so
that we are with Him there through the union of the Spirit,
but seen as in human character, as a faithful Witness the
First-begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings
of the earth-glorious in all this, but human.
Still the church is put in full condence here, for the
praise to this blessed One is praise in which this word of the
Spirit “ us “ is ever found; and, seeing Him in the glory, she
breaks out, by the Spirit in the apostle, into thanksgiving,
Notes on the Revelation
237
for His praise cannot be passed by; for she is loved, washed,
and will reign in nearness to God and His Father.
37
To the world and to the Jews, His coming will be
sorrow. Here, then, we nd the place of all these parties at
the outset. is is its form, then, “ He that is, and was, and
is to come”
38
- the perfection or fullness of the Spirit before
the throne: Jesus known as faithful, risen, to reign-all on
earth.
39
e church, meanwhile, knowing its own position
in this, therefore says, not Our Father, but His-His God
and Father: for so it is. e announcement of what the
purport of Jesus’ coming is to the world follows thereon,
completing what He is and was on earth, the church’s
portion thereby, and the world’s at His coming. In verse 8
we have the announcement of His titles and character here,
by “ the Lord.” Upon His name, thus developed, all the
stability of purpose and government hung; and the church
had need to know this in all the circumstances which
followed. Her place follows-as to the present, in the place of
the instrument of this word of God and testimony of Jesus
37 e instant answer of the church on the announcement of
Christ in His titles as to His Person, is exceedingly beautiful
here. And, on the announcement of His coming glory (ch. 22:
16), the instant response of the church, led by the Spirit, is
equally lovely: “ e Spirit and the bride say, Come ‘; and the
church then takes its full place, while waiting.Christ’s relative
character is fully shown and responded to-a faithful witness
for God to man, the perfect representative and Head of the
church, as the perfect new risen Man before God, and the head
of power to the world; and the church sees Him, and then says
what He is to herself.
38 Note here, not was and is, but is and was, the One who is, and
thus, in relation to time, was and is coming.
39 i.e. e witness of God, as He was the conqueror of death, and
the governor of the world in power.
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238
Christ (the word is God’s, the testimony Jesus’s-in hearing
Him we “ set to our seal that God is true “); “ your brother
and fellow-partaker in the tribulation, and kingdom and
patience in Jesus.” is is the church’s place through the
recognition of sonship, while the throne is above. But it
is not in union and headship, but kingdom and patience.
Still, in whatever form, the word she ministers is the word
of God or the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Lordship in itself is not the highest title of Christ:
“God hath made him both Lord and Christ.” To us there
is but one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ.
But in this word the herald of God announces all the style
of His ancient and future glory; for Lord here, doubtless,
answers to Jehovah. Further, this book does not present to
us the Holy Ghost received of the Father, sent down to
produce a public testimony to the world. Nor is it a gift
received as needful for the maintenance of the church,
and communicated “ for the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, till we all come,” etc. But it is a revelation given to
Christ, and communicated when the church had begun to
decay (instead of growing), and had need, in its severed
compartments, at very best to be reproved or encouraged,
as so looked at apart-as these several candlesticks -the
Son of man interfering as the High Priest, but judicially:
a revelation given (not the Spirit communicated) when all
this darkness and (in principle) apostasy had come in. Each
one of these seems another thing, and less immediate than
the promise in John already referred to (John 14:20), “ In
that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in
me, and I in you.”
Notes on the Revelation
239
ere is the sonship of Christ with the Father, in
respect of which the Holy Ghost dwells in us (the Spirit
of adoption and union, the Comforter) and looks up and
places us before the Father even as He the Son is.
ere is Christ, the Head of the body, the exalted Man
(the rst-born among many brethren), in which character
He receives the promise of the Father, and imparts it, as
power for testimony. And there is the Lordship of Christ
over the world, which is communicated subordinately to
the church, who reign with Him, are kings and priests
to His God and Father, by virtue of the previous parts of
blessing. is last, after the judgment of the churches in
their present state, is the subject of the book of Revelation.
is state of the churches becomes thus very important
and appropriately introductory.
After the heading, and four subsequent verses of
introduction, including His work, our position (i.e. as
kings and priests), and His coming again, we nd the
announcement, that, come what would, the Lord was the
beginning and ending, the Almighty.
en we have the revelation to one cast out into the
wilderness, the depository of the sorrows of the church, and
so of the providence of God, but in the Spirit, on the day
typical of the rest of glory which remains. He sees Christ
in the midst of the seven candlesticks (not as a servant
with His loins girt, but) in holy execution of judgment as
priest, the symbols of the Ancient of Days being withal
upon Him. It is not Christ on high. It is not Christ the
Head of one body.
40
It is not Christ in heaven. But he turns
40 It has therefore passed beyond the condition of the apostolic
epistles, but not entered on the relation in which Christ stands
to the world in government and lordship.
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240
and sees Him governing, judging, and holding in His hand
the destinies of the several churches; but while, with the
symbols of the Ancient of Days upon Him, yet revealing
Himself for the church to the faithful disciple, as One that
lived, was dead, and is alive for evermore,
41
having power
over the gates of His enemies, the keys of hell and of death.
is the apostle saw: such was the place Christ took now-a
dierent place from being the communicating Head of the
body, however, that might also be. e seer was to write
these things, and the things which are, and what should
be after these things. In a word, we have the Almighty
continuance, which comprehends all things, of the Lord,
and the present position of the Son of man in the churches,
yet He that lived, was dead, and was alive, and had power
over the power of death. e churches are the things that
are. ere is a close connection between the things that are
and those that were seen; for, turning to see the voice that
spake with him, he sees the golden candlesticks. So, often,
as in the judgment of “ the woman,” the chief part of the
description is of “ the beast,” chap. 17.
e addresses to the churches are not part of the things
that are, properly; they come in by the by, and designedly
so: “ Unto the angel, etc., write,” and “ he that hath an
ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Yet the existence of the churches themselves and the stars
constitute the things that are, and are of all importance,
as showing the transition from the state in which Christ,
41 e rst and the last. Christ as continuous, as Jehovah in power
and nature, yet One that had passed through the vicissitudes
of the church’s necessity, so that in all circumstantial changes
it might know what and where its security was: so that it was
security, not terror, to the individual. So, come what would, the
church would not be prevailed over by her enemies.
Notes on the Revelation
241
according to Eph. 4 was the Head of the one body, making
it grow by that which every joint supplied (in which its
original state was connected with, and presented in, its
abstract and mystic perfectness- the results of which shall
be manifested in that day when it shall be manifested as
one with Him), to the state of ruin and apostasy into which
it actually fell, so as to be cut o and spued out of His
mouth: as a dispensation-a state of transition-in which
He was not lling the one body with gifts, but judging
details in the several corporate bodies, in dierent places,
and judging the evil inconsistent with the moral design of
the church, maintaining a character absolutely necessary
to their recognition as His-as churches at all. Hence,
they are moral addresses of the Spirit with promises and
threatenings.
From this last recognized state, this place of transition,
in which Christ can deal upon earth (but in a spiritual
sense) judicially, we are necessarily caught up to the throne,
on which all hangs subsisting always, but now the only
resource; because the manifestation of acceptable grace,
with which the Lord can manifestatively dwell in spiritual
presence upon earth, had ceased. Hence this part is not
properly prophetic, but connected with things that are;
and the prophetic character that it has is entirely by the
moral designation of the testimony of the Spirit; and we
come back to the throne, after these things.
42
If John was
to describe the government of the world on the throne, the
church being lost, he must rst trace the church as subjected
to this moral judgment. e picture of the word would not
42 [Note the wisdom of this. No delay was thus revealed; before
the Lord came, the things were; but that was given which, as I
doubt not, gives a full consecutive history of the church till He
comes.]
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242
be complete, had we not, after the epistles which regulated
the church, as subsisting among the Gentiles, not only the
practical account of the apostasy, as in Jude, 2Peter, 2Tim.,
2essalonians, etc., but the moral judgment of the church,
as passing from the state noticed in the epistles-evidences
that Christ never lost sight of it, and that when it ceased to
be a manifestative place of His presence -His epistle-He
takes His place and title in the throne whence all things are
governed-” the same yesterday, to-day and forever “; “ Him
who was, and is, and is to come “; “ the First and the Last,”
comprehending and ruling all things. e things that are,
then, are the seven candlesticks and the seven stars-mystic
perfection and actual imperfection; the church never losing
its mystic perfection in the mind of God, but when it has
to be addressed on earth-to be addressed as gured in so
many separate bodies then actually existing, and often with
reproofs and threatenings.
e things that are, then, involve both these points.
e things that shall be hereafter, or after these things,
begin when He that sits on the throne begins to act in
providence, not when Jesus is in recognized church
relationship, or even in judicial testimony to the church
when the world (creation) is brought into view. It does not
follow from this, that there may be no saints, or that they
may not be faithful and give a testimony, but that the Lord
does not stand towards them in this particular character of
relationship.
e things which are, and the addresses to the seven
churches, have (connected with this, to my mind) a double
character; i.e., accordingly as we look at actually existing
facts, or facts dispensationally existing: an observation
which has strictly the same application to the expression of
Notes on the Revelation
243
the Lord to the Jewish economy: “ is generation shall not
pass away till all these things be fullled “-the connection
of which, indeed, with this subject is more strong than
is at rst sight apparent (for the fortunes
43
of the church
and the Jews are more coincident than we suppose as
to dispensation, though for the same reason opposite in
principle. e root bears us, though the branches may be
broken o that we may be graed in), and has its light
increased by, while it casts light on, the passage at the end
of John’s gospel, “ If I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? “ is was taken as if he in person would not
die. But, says the inspired writer, that was not said by the
Lord, but “ If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee? “ e Lord, then, in that expression, left something
for the church’s wisdom and spirituality to discover. He did
not say he should not die, but “ If I will,” etc.
Now it appears to me that we have very distinctly, in
Peter, Paul, and John, the three representatives of, rst, the
Jewish church, as planted, its tabernacle shortly to be put
o; then, the Gentile church in its energy, as planted, and
ministerially sustained of the apostle (i.e., Paul), but, after
his decease, the ock unspared, and perverse men arising,
and so that departing too-Ichabod on that; lastly, John on
the contrary is placed in contrast with the cutting o of
the Jewish body likened in the person of Peter to the Lord,
and made to represent the extended protracted existence of
the church as one hanging on the will of the Lord, having
lost and forfeited its real character, to which faithfulness
43 at is, the church dispensation on earth, taking, as to time,
the place of the broken-o Jewish branches, and therefore, in
many respects, connected in dates, though the church itself be
just opposite in principle; for it is another and a heavenly thing
instead of a failed earthly thing.
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244
attached blessing and sustaining power, as due to the
character of God, and just hanging now on His secret
counsel. And accordingly we have John here, who was in
the bosom of Jesus and received the communication of His
mind and secret knowledge, hanging over the fallen and
falling fortunes of the church-already fallen, if we compare
them with their estate as planted, not now sustained by
Paul’s apostolic care and energy, but beset by wolves and
perverse men, and falling, yet sustained by this word, “ If
I will that he tarry till I come.” Now I take it that this
suspended place had its form actually and externally at the
destruction of Jerusalem. en also “ this generation “ took
its place externally: the earthly local centralization of the
church was externally set aside (it was really from the time
of Stephen’s death, when the rst martyr left the world to
go, as to his spirit, on high), and, the Lord’s hand having
set aside the earth as His place, all was in abeyance till
He personally took up the matter again-coming again in
connection with a similar overturning: the tting of which
two events together is what constitutes the force of Matt.
24:1-43. In the meanwhile the throne was really set up
in heaven, giving the evidence that everything had failed
on earth, but that nothing could fail in the purpose and
throne of God. With this the book commences; and the
protracted condition of the churches is brought in after the
throne is set up, as incidental before the unfolding of the
actings, in the world, of the throne so set up in faithfulness.
I hold therefore that the things that are, and this address
to the churches, give this double character, as to period,
to the Revelation. If we take the things that are, as that
which actually existed in the time of John, then it closes
with the actual existence and state of those churches, as
Notes on the Revelation
245
addressed by John, or rather with the life of John himself,
who addresses them under the warning of removal for their
failure. e throne at Jerusalem being gone, there was still,
by him who had been there with the Lord, a recognition of
the churches as something upon earth. ere was nothing
sealed in this. But if we take the apostle as the mystic
representative of the dispensation in its condition after the
departure of Peter and Paul,
44
then it is the protraction of
that state of things, till the church, as a dispensation, is
spued out of Christ’s mouth; and the things that shall be
44 If we trace the actual order of church history in the Acts, we
shall nd the breaking up and scattering of the central and only
church of Jerusalem by the death of Stephen, gone to Jesus-
and then the church on earth scattered; thereon Saul called for,
an entirely new instrument to Gentiles, rulers, and the people
of Israel; and thereon the union of the church with Jesus in
heaven for the rst time mentioned, “ Why persecutest thou
me? “ but after this (though the principle of Paul’s mission
and the union of the church with Jesus was established), the
patience of God continuing to work by the ministration of
Peter. Aeneas and Tabitha are the witnesses of his power; and
the calling of the Gentiles is by his mouth, that the witness of
the Jewish stock might still be preserved in grace, whatever
the righteous justice of the dispensation might do in judgment
(and so in dispensation the faithful partake of the ruin of the
unfaithful, as Caleb and Joshua must wander in the wilderness),
and thereon extraordinary intervention might eect besides
in one born out of due time, the witness of prerogative grace
in the disorder of the dispensation as to man. We nd the
lingering traces of habitual evil in the saints, for they objected
to Peter his having gone to the Gentiles; yet this was the nal
sin of the Jews. Such was the patience of God, that they were
not, historically, then shut up, till Paul’s intercourse with them
at Rome (Acts 28); and even so, it was blindness in part, not
stumbling to fall, and there was a remnant according to the
election of grace.
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246
hereafter are the actual intervention of the throne of God
afresh in the government of the world.
I believe the Holy Ghost has ordered it so as to leave
ground for both these applications; as the church knows
the throne mystically now in the exaltation of her Head,
and actually in its future judicial and open intervention in
the aairs of the world.
Acccordingly, chapters 2 and 3 are addresses to the
churches, but, on moral principles, extended to every one
that had ears to hear; connecting the actually existing
bodies with the condition in which the church might
nd itself in after ages. “ e things that are “ are, more
properly, what then was; the addresses to the churches,
the exhibition of the protracted prolongation of the
dispensation of the church, mystically perfect, yet ruined
(the throne being set up already, but its full manifestation,
as for the world, not yet brought out). Within this scene,
the yet remaining attention of Christ to the churches, as
to the formal manifestation in the body on earth, was in
warning and judgment, not headship. is being their state
on earth, in heaven they were only expecting with Him a
glory which could not fail.
It is not my object here to enter into the detail of
instruction given to the churches, though it be most
personally precious; turning attention here rather to the
structure and prophetic character of the Apocalypse. And,
as briey as I may, I add, therefore, here merely the order of
the statements made to these churches, and their condition,
that they may stand together before the mind of the reader
of the Apocalypse.
Firstly, declension from rst love, and the Lord taking
the place of examination and judgment.
Notes on the Revelation
247
Secondly, persecution: Christ the overcomer of death, a
giver of the crown of life.
irdly, dwelling in the world, to wit, where Satan’s
throne is (the prince of this world), yet Christ’s witness
amongst them where Satan dwelleth, suering faithfully:
with this, the beginning of teaching error for reward, and
allowance of evil and low practice. Christ would ght
against them (to wit, as an adversary) if they did not repent.
Fourthly, a state of increased devotedness in patience,
charity, and works; but Jezebel, teaching communion with
an evil and idolatrous world; and suered. Space had been
given for her repentance, but she did not (note here, it is
a woman, not some of them). Judgment would fall on her
followers, but discriminating-to every one according to his
works, and no further burden laid on the faithful.
Here begins another distinction, that, whereas the
reward promised was, previously, after the warning to hear,
from this point it comes regularly before. On this fearful
judgments, and the Lord’s coming rst introduced and the
morning star, and the kingdom on the earth substituted for
the professing church.
Fifthly, a name to live, but no reality; profession of being
alive as something distinctive: but there were, however,
things remaining and a few names. e Lord, if they did
not repent, would come on them like a thief: here the
church, in this state, judged like the world.
Sixthly, weakness, but an open door, marked, not by
detailed works, but keeping the word of Christ, of His
patience, and not denying His name. ey would be kept
from an hour of temptation, which was coming on all the
world to try the dwellers upon earth. Compare Isa. 24.
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248
Seventhly, the church to be spued out of His mouth
without proposal of repentance, because of what they had
become, yet counsel given; and if anyone who has remained
within and heard when Christ knocked still at the door,
that one would be with Him.
Such is the course presented by these churches in their
moral character and condition.
ese addresses, however, as we have remarked, come in
incidentally. John was to write the things he saw. But this
was not properly his vision, but came in afterward, generally
under the things that are, and that only as a consequence.
In the fourth chapter we come to the next branch of
the subject-the things after these, or (as it is here translated)
which must be hereafter, taking up chapter 1:19.
If we take the former part as the protracted condition
of the church dispensation, then this will be the power of
the throne of Him who was, and is, and is to come,
45
(the
Lamb being still, however, there), exercised over the world,
after the close of this dispensation, yet properly before
the beginning of the next. If we take the former part as
the things which actually then were (and, doubtless, such
actually existed), then it is the governance of the world,
when the church had no formal recognized existence on
earth which could be called the habitation of God in any
full sense, though just as dear to Him individually as regards
salvation. I believe both these thoughts are intended for
the church. In the former case we have literal fulllment
of the prophecy which follows; in the latter, analogies in a
protracted period.
45 In the next, He is Son of man and Son of David seated on His
throne.
Notes on the Revelation
249
e apostle now is translated (in spirit) into heaven.
Before, he had seen Christ, on turning round: a newly
revealed state of things, but on earth, and he there still. But
the churches now were no longer so recognized; and the
voice, which he had heard at the rst behind him on earth,
now calls him up to heaven.
Here, accordingly, for the rst time, he saw, the throne,
for it is set in heaven (the earth, as addressing the church,
he had left), and there was One sitting on it.
Heretofore, it has been the Son of man judging upon
earth: according to His various glory, in address; but in
vision, the till Son of man. We have not the Son of man
again, till the judgment in chapter 14: 14. e Lamb only
is concerned in the seals. e angelic power is connected
with the trumpets. We shall see this more particularly; but
I remark only, the Lamb is always in a higher or lower
place (this latter, by grace), not exercising intermediate
providences; in the throne, suering, or judging.
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250
It was in heaven the apostle must learn the things which
were to be hereafter. ere only they can be learned;
46
and,
by the habituation of the mind there, seen, as they are
important to God, to Christ, and, therefore, to the church,
and to the Spirit for the church. No one having the Spirit,
so as to be interested in God’s mind about the church loved
of Christ, could be indierent to them.
But to follow closely the chapters. Chapter 4 sets up the
throne in heaven, and One is sitting on it. e sign of the
covenant with creation was around the throne. ere is no
statement of a veil, intercession, incense, or priesthood. It is
government-elders on thrones. ere were the seven spirits,
46 History was not written in heaven. I believe that the attempt
to interpret prophecy by history has been most injurious to the
ascertaining of its real meaning. When we have ascertained,
by the aid of the Spirit of Christ, the mind of God, we have,
as far as it be history, God’s estimate of events, and their
explanation. But history is man’s estimate of events, and he
has no right to assume that these are in prophecy at all; and it
is clear that he must understand prophecy before he can apply
it to any: when he understands it, he has what God meant to
give him, without going farther. I do not admit history to be,
in any sense, necessary to the understanding of prophecy. I get
present facts, and God’s moral account of what led to them,
and thereby His moral estimate of them: I do not want history
to tell me Nineveh or Babylon is ruined, or Jerusalem in the
hands of the Gentiles. Of course, where any prophecy does
apply to facts, it is a true history of those facts; but it is much
more. It is the connection of those facts with the purposes
of God in Christ, and whenever any isolated fact, however
important in the eyes of man, is taken as the fulllment of a
prophecy, that prophecy is made of private interpretation; and
this I believe to be the meaning of that passage. Of course,
when any prophecy is fullled, the fulllment is evidence of
its truth, but the Christian does not need this; and evidence of
truth and interpretation are two very dierent things.
Notes on the Revelation
251
the Holy Ghost in His energy and perfectness, the xed
moral purity which belonged to the place, the approach to
the throne, and, lastly (that of which most was said), four
beasts,
47
which were the heads of the genera of creation,
and lled with the intelligence and activity of providence,
celebrating Jehovah Elohim Shaddai, the covenant and
dispensational names of God, not the relationship name of
the church, thus representing the throne of providence and
creation, controlling all the springs of the state of things
in nature; of which throne these living attributes of God
formed the pillars and support; they were around the throne.
It was the temple; but the temple was the accompaniment
of the throne, without veil or priest. e twenty-four elders
may be taken as the representatives of the redeemed of the
two dispensations; but it was not the essential character.
ey were on thrones. But I doubt they went beyond
creature instrumentality, however sustained by divine
power. e beasts or living creatures are more particularly
noticed as connected with the living creatures of Ezekiel-
the living supports of the throne of God, leaving (judging
47 Lit. `living creatures.’ It will be found that they are intelligent
worshippers-give a reason for their source; the angels never do.
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252
rather) Jerusalem, now found as parts of the circle of the
throne in heaven.
48
We may remark, that all dispensation, and that which
is the source of it, is noticed (save the church properly, i.e.,
sons with the Father)-God, Shaddai (i.e., God as with
Abraham, the Almighty), and Jehovah, the Governor, who
is, and was, and is to come. A part of these living creatures,
the eyes, are found elsewhere: rst, in 2Chron. 16:9-there
service generally; in Ezekiel their connection is with the
place of the throne which had been in Jerusalem, but a
throne of God over all, the Spirit leading; graven on the
stone laid, in Zech. 3:9, and again, in Zech. 4:10, resuming
their course through the earth, and, as we shall soon see,
as the eyes of the Lamb (as possessing all power in heaven
and earth), the seven Spirits so sent forth.
is, then, established the throne, the church not
being (properly speaking as such) in the scene at all, save
representatively in the enthroned elders. It was another
subject. e throne of Him that liveth forever and ever was
the subject here. In chapter 5 the book is introduced to us.
e throne rst established, whatever happened now was
what hung on the throne. In the right hand of His power
who sat on the throne was a book.
48 e four characters of beasts are the heads of the four genera
stated in Genesis. Birds of the air, cattle, beasts of the eld,
and man; doubtless, they had specic characters as to attribute
too. [e beasts will be found to unite seraphic qualities with
the cherubic. Cherubic is earthly government. e seraph
introduces the proper holiness of God and so brings in a
principle of nal judgment. In adding this note, I will add
another recent impression, that up to the next chapter (where
the Lamb rst appears) angels had been the instrument; with
the Lamb men take this place, though the result be not brought
out.]
Notes on the Revelation
253
ere may be some allusion in this, and the little open
book, to Jer. 32; but it is (to say the least) very faint. A title
to open a book is a distinct thing from a book containing
a title, the evidences of a title. Besides, it was a book to be
read, to be opened and read, as containing communications
of the mind of God. But the death of Christ doubtless gave
Him the title to the inheritance morally, and to open the
book, and purchased and redeemed the joint-heirs.
It is not, moreover, here the kingdom merely of the Son
of man, as given to Him, nor the title of the Ospring of
David (that is not brought in until the end), but the Root of
David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, David’s Lord, not his
son-He hath prevailed. e redemption, or purchase, here,
is of the church
49
-a new song, not a Jewish one. It was a
book in the hand of God, of Him that sat on the throne, not
antecedently revealed, nor the subject of ordered prophecy
before, and founded, not on promise which man could have
had on uprightness, as the Jewish promises, but solely on
the exaltation of the Lamb that was slain; and His being
on the throne who was rejected on earth, and specially in
the character of the head of these promises to the Jews; and
none, therefore, but He, could open it or look on it. e
title, too, is one higher than the ocial or given inheritance
of the Son of man, deeper in its ground, and much more
exalted. It is a place and a title, held in the throne-the
Lamb slain there. is was not a title properly given to a
mediatorial person in peace; but a title, due, perhaps, as to
person, but acquired by excellency, and humiliation, and
perfectness. In this place, the communication is with the
elder, as representing, I apprehend, the church cognizant
49 e dierence of reading throws doubt on this: at any rate, it
was a new song in heaven, not a Jewish one.
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254
(“ for you hath he reconciled “) of the title and glory of the
Lamb.
We are then shown the Lamb slain-He who did not
resist evil, but gave Himself even unto death, and was led
to the slaughter, “ as he had been slain “; the full power
actually, the seven horns, and full knowledge, seven eyes,
being in Him, and thus universal permeation of knowledge.
His eyes were the seven spirits sent forth into all the earth.
ose spirits, the light and power of the holiness of God
before the throne, thus characterizing His presence, were
now the agents of the active discernment and power
of Him who was justly exalted. It was not then the Son
of man, in His titles of inheritance, but the Lamb who
opened the book. To Him and to the church, in measure,
as one with Him, as suering, rejected, and exalted in her
Head, the opening of the book appertains. We have the
mind of Christ-to us by the word.
He came and took the book. e moment He had
done this, the beasts and elders (i.e., in principle and
title, creation, providence, and redemption) all own His
headship, the headship of this humbled but exalted One;
for, though the Lion of the tribe of Judah had undertaken
it, yet the church knew His titles as Root of David, and
yet the Lamb slain but now exalted to the throne as such.
e book unfolded what under His hand concerned them;
all of it was the counsel of God to bring all out into the
place they had in His mind and purpose. Verse 9 should
be, “they sing,” not “they sung.” is is what they do in
heaven, as under the Lamb. is being so, “ us “ would be
no diculty. Perhaps we are bound to take the correction
of Griesbach, which would remove even its appearance to
the eye, the sense remaining the same. It is remarkable, that
Notes on the Revelation
255
while the same condence and title is expressed by John
writing to the saints on earth in the rst chapter, and here
by those around the Lamb on the throne, they add here,
to show their state of expectancy,
50
“ We shall reign.” at
was needless to say, though true, to the saints on earth: it
was pretty plain to suerers that they were not reigning.
We might have thought that these were. ey are therefore
shown to us in this state of expectancy.
51
e four beasts are ever mentioned rst, as connected
with divine power, and entirely distinct from the angels.
52
I see not exactly, how one searching Ezekiel, and their
places here, can doubt their general force. ey are more
intimately connected with redemption, because all that
displays creation and providence being connected with,
and come under, the power of evil subjectively, they are
especially interested in it. e angels merely celebrate the
Person of Him that was slain, and His excellent dignity.
And, after them, all the actual creation (of which as
creatures they are head, they having owned the Lamb as
worthy) celebrate Him that sitteth on the throne and the
Lamb together. And the four beasts, who sum up all its
moral import, say, Amen. And the elders, the intelligent
redeemed, fall down and worship Him that liveth forever
and ever. is is His highest and essential character; and in
this they close the doxology. First, redemption; then, the
angels own the Lamb; then, every creature Him that sits
50 Many MSS read ‘ they shall reign ‘; but then I doubt as to ‘
redeemed [us].’
51 is sets the saints in heaven but awaiting their inheritance-of
the earth-the place, in principle, of Christ now.
52 In the fourth chapter we have no angels, and the beasts
are apart from the elders; here the beasts and the elders are
associated, and we have angels.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
256
upon the throne and the Lamb; the living beasts saying,
Amen: and then the elders Him that liveth forever and
ever, lled with all the fullness of God. is is particularly
the portion of the elders, though it is the same blessed One
that is honored by the beasts; but their word is continuance,
rather Jehovah-continuance-was, and is, and is to come-
relative continuance, not intrinsic life; for, though the throne
is the the great head and source of all, yet redemption leads
us more deeply into the knowledge of Him that sits upon
it, and puts all things in their place.
53
is, then, is a position which bears upon the whole
to the end, though much intermediate important matter
may come in under dierent heads; but the position of this
bears upon all the intrinsic exaltation of the Lamb to the
throne. Many dispensatory arrangements and providences
may come in subordinately, but this is the key to the result.
Further, this is connected with the immediate relationship
of the church with Christ. e church knows Him as the
Lamb, and should be the follower of Him, and representative
of Him as such here. e Lord may act on the dispensation
by many external circumstances and orderings; He does
not act in it but in this character. As such, He is primarily
gloried; as such, the world is against Him, and Satan’s
rage in its deepest and intrinsic character. e church is
seen in its dispensed perfectness as kings and priests (seven
is the number for its abstract mystic perfection); because,
though all through this period, viewed in its protracted
character of years for days, it was yet imperfect, yet here the
53 is is true even if these honors of the beasts be transferred to
the elders, as we know those of the angels certainly will to men
in the world to come. For the elders always represent the place
of intelligent faith.
Notes on the Revelation
257
government of the world is viewed,
54
not the dealing with
the church; and therefore, in placing the parties (if I may
so speak, the dramatis persona:), the church is viewed as a
complete distinct whole. Although it is the supreme throne
which is above all, and the source of all (it is He that sits on
the throne that makes all things new, and is here the object
of supreme worship), yet, relatively it is not the throne of
God at Jerusalem. It is not the lial relation of the church,
nor the ordered throne of the Son of man, but the throne
in heaven;
55
and there the Lamb in the throne, with the
power, knowledge, and holiness belonging to it in exercise,
and that over the earth.
ere is a very distinct break, in the course of the book,
at the close of the eleventh chapter, which, in the sum of
its contents, closes the whole book. e time was come
that those that destroyed or corrupted the earth should be
destroyed. But in chapter 12 it resumes from the origin, to
bring in the radical character and development of the last
form of evil; and, as this will be manifested in fact at the
end, as to the facts, it may be taken as a continuance of the
previous visions. But there is another important division
within the rst eleven chapters. At the beginning of the
eighth chapter, the last seal is opened by the Lamb. Now of
course this closes the book; and though that which follows
may come under it, yet is it a distinct course and character
of events. e Lamb is not spoken of during the course of
the trumpets; all is angelic. After chapter 12 we have the
54 Viewed, that is, in its protracted character on earth.
55 is can clearly apply but to two periods properly: the
protracted period subsequent to owning the churches upon
earth; and the preparatory scene of judicial and providential
governance, subsequent to the taking up of the church, and
previous to the reign of the Son of man.
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258
Lamb again: of that we can speak there. e Lamb is in
opposition to man and the world; that is, they have rejected
Him. And the suering church, at least, is rejected by the
world; and what concerns it is what answers to Christ in
that character. is, then, is what we have under the seals.
In a certain sense, this is always true: for “ all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suer persecution “; but it is not
dispensatorily true (i.e., as to the condition of the church).
We have then, looking at it as progressive history, three
great divisions: the church under the Lamb; the church
under the ministration of angelic providences; and the
church under and during the last great apostasy, traced
from Satan’s power at the outset. e world meanwhile,
not the church, is the subject of the statements contained
in these portions.
56
Upon this earthquake great terror manifests itself; but
it is not the expression of God’s revealed judgment, but of
their terror. I do not say this may not have an application
afterward, and that the kings of the earth may have
terror then; but this is not the kings joined to the beast,
making war with the Lamb, and slain with the sword of
Him that sat on the horse. It is terror on an earthquake,
which they ascribe to the wrath of the Lamb, as if His day
were come. It is after this all the trumpets sound. On the
ground on which I am at present interpreting (that is, that
of the protracted period), it would be the upsetting of that
56 As regards the crisis at the close, this would develop itself
in, rst, the period of trials and persecution of the saints
(compare Matt. 24); secondly, the preparatory or providential
judgments on the despisers of the Lord (the wrath being
simply announced, and not described, in the seventh trumpet);
and lastly, a full account of the character, doings, and rise of the
beast, with the nal judgment of all that belongs to him.
Notes on the Revelation
259
heathen empire, with its rulers, which had hitherto been
in existence, with the consequent terror and dismay of the
Lamb’s enemies. e idea of an application to such a period
is often unjustly combated, and the name of Constantine
introduced to show that what he did in the church was of
no consequence, or evil instead of good. But this anxiety
proceeds on a false supposition that this is the history of the
church; whereas it is the history of the Lamb’s government
of the world in providence. And in this respect we should
remember there never was such an event since Babel, and
its consummation in the image at Babylon, as the setting
aside the direct worship of Satan in the imperial nation.
And this is what took place then.
e recognition of the church, in spite of all, then,
comes in by and by: rst, the full complement of the elect
Jews; and, then, the multitude of the Gentiles with their
portion. Nothing was allowed to be done till these were
reckoned up or owned in their place.
e rst tumult and storm of nations was arrested till
this was distinctly done. Such had been the power of God in
the Spirit during this period, in spite of all the persecutions
and oppositions of ungodly men. e fth and sixth seals
show the dierent result of the actually persecuted or
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260
rather killed, and the powers that had persecuted them;
57
the seventh, the great result, in spite of the persecution-the
word of God had not been bound.
e four winds, blowing on the earth and sea, show
the disorder and tumult of the spirit of nations. Here, not
merely on the sea, wherefrom, consequent on it, Daniel
saw the four great beasts or kingdoms emerge; but on the
earth, here, because there was already a settled and ordered
system which was eected by them as well as the mass of
unformed nations- the sea. is was arrested till it was
shown how eectual the word of God had been in spite of
opposition.
57 It would seem, from the fth seal, just when the heavens are
going to be changed, that, after the church who have suered
are publicly owned and put in white robes, they are to rest a
little season, because there are brethren and fellow-servants to
be killed yet. ough thus owned, therefore, vengeance could
not be taken for this little space, till this was done. But then
the heavens were changed to prepare for this vengeance. In the
trumpets, note that there is no evil on the saints, or any saints,
but judgment on the earth or its inhabiters. e last suering
(i.e., as to death) of these “ brethren “ seems a transition
point, the act of the beast in its last state, as corning out of
the bottomless pit, getting rid of them in that power, to the
comfort of the inhabiters of the earth whom they tormented.
ey stood before the God of the earth.Some would account
this the time of the catching up of the church; but this appears
to me a mistake. It is the time, rather, of their public owning
before the throne, consequent upon the change in the heavens
previously spoken of, and previous to the commencement of
the judgments. e hundred and forty-four thousand are, in
that case, the Jewish remnant, then owned upon earth. Looked
at as the church, in its own portion, it is looked at, I apprehend,
as in the heavens from the end of chapter 3. It is quite done
with on earth there.
Notes on the Revelation
261
e seals, as well as the trumpets, and perhaps, I might
add, the vials, are divided into four and three. e four
beasts call to see the consequences of opening the rst
four seals. e last three have their own special character.
e division of the trumpets is well known; the last three
being woe trumpets. e seven churches are divided into
four and three, by the dierent position of the promise and
warning to all that have ears to hear. I think, it will be
found that no repentance is proposed to the church after
the rst three.
58
Looked at in the light of the sustaining
power and attributes of providential rule, the call of the
four living creatures is very intelligible.
Taking the interpretation now according to the
protracted course of divine government, the rst four seals
would be the history of the empire. I hold a horse to be
the symbol of imperial or royal power in exercise. And
such would be God’s account of the course of the empire
then existing. If it be asked, What avails this to the saint?
I answer, Everything: to know that all passes under the eye
and knowledge of God. is lion, in whose mouth they
were, had his days and ways all numbered and ordered
of the Lord; and they were, indeed, in union with Him
who governed, though they might suer with Him. e
understanding of this place of patience was, and to us is, of
the very last importance.
In the fth seal we have the estimate of those who
had suered during this period graciously taken notice
of, although it had been enough to have shown all was
58 is is true in the main of the ecclesiastical body. It is said to
yatira, “ I gave her space to repent and she repented not,”
and the coming of Christ is then announced. But the call is
renewed to Sardis (as I believe, Protestantism) in its turn, but,
unless for individuals, in vain. It ends in Laodicea.
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262
ordered. But it comes out here that many had been killed.
eir place is ordered. is was not the last persecution.
e sixth seal has occasioned great diculty. I admit
the application of all this to an ulterior period, if “ the
things that are “ be taken as the whole dispensation, which
I recognize. ere was a great earthquake,
59
and the ruling
powers shaken, convulsions of the prophetic earth, and
dislocations of its governing powers;
60
and, to strengthen
the saints, the consequence is shown.
e seventh seal gave occasion to the denite results
of the state of things introduced by the fth. ere were
those who had come out of great tribulation, and were
fully owned-their robes were “ white in the blood of the
Lamb.” e seventh seal once opened, we hear no more
59 In the crisis, I do not believe it to be the judgment of
Antichrist at all, but that subversion of Satan’s power in the
heavens, and consequent complete subversion and revolution
of all the foundation and elements of all political arrangement
and power, which are spoken of as preceding the day of the
Lord. For the sources of power in the heavens must be changed
before the day of the Lord come, though Satan may be raging
upon earth; against whose earthly doings, and upon them, the
day may come. See Joel 2; Mark 13:24, 25. e extent and
importance of this revolution in the heavens I believe not
to be suciently attended to ordinarily. e earth may have
been often shaken, and have reverted to its course, because the
heavens are not. But when the heavens are, the sources of power
are changed, and the enemy cast out; and he never regains
that place, though, when loose, he may still act in opposition-
fruitless opposition-on earth; for then the judgment is come,
the heavens being so established and ruling.
60 e application of symbols literally seems to me to be very
false in principle and a very unsuitable mode of interpretation.
It is the denial that they are symbols. I believe the language of
symbols as denite as any other, and always used in the same
sense, as much as language is.
Notes on the Revelation
263
of the Lamb. e church, as a dispensation, had ceased to
be in a suering state.
61
Of the seventh seal nothing could
be directly said: heaven could say nothing, man perhaps
much; but his thoughts are not as God’s thoughts. e
owning
62
of Christianity could not be condemned; the
putting the church into the world, its real eect, could
not be celebrated. ere was silence in heaven. But on this
state of things, which heaven could not own at all, secret
providence soon began to act. e angels began sounding.
It was an action, then, from without in the providential
state of things by angelic ministrations of providence, not
in the known relationship of a suering church, and the
world opposed, as it had crucied the Head. e growth of
apostasy is traced, not in this second part, but in the third,
as having its own importance.
But there was a feature in this not yet noticed. Mixed,
as they might be (in a certain sense in spite of themselves)
with the world, the prayers of the saints had not ceased,
and much incense was given to the angel of the altar to add
61 Or an expectant state as to themselves. Looking at the close,
they had no longer to say “ How long? “ though the judgment
might not yet be actually come.
62 So as regards the crisis, the heavens, as now lled by the saints,
had no part in the Son of man’s judgment. eir armies which
are in heaven will follow Him; but these were the preparatory
judgments of God’s supreme providential power, in which the
saints have no part at all. ey could not open the bottomless
pit to let the locusts out and Apollyon loose. ey have the
mind of Christ, and thus the character and ways of God in
the Son of man, not His supreme government, though that
ministers to them. It is entirely beyond them; and of that the
trumpets are a part-the announcement of God’s sovereign
dealings and government, not His ways and purposes with
them.
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264
to them, or give them savor and ecacy with God.
63
e
High Priest Himself wears the angelic character here: the
nearness of relationship, and completeness of all in heaven
as governing on known principles (known by man in the
church as his own to go upon), were gone.
is is the rst mention we have of the altar of incense.
e souls were under the altar of burnt-oering as whole
burnt-oerings. Now, it was the whole resource of the
saints to cry to God. e answer was judgments from the
holiness of God against evil; and the denite course of
disasters prepared to pursue its progress. We have, thus,
at the close or at the beginning of the periods, an account
of the state of the saints during the period (i.e. as to the
principle of the dispensation in the period). e trumpets,
then, would be the judgments of God upon the mingled
state of things, in which the saints had ceased to suer
64
and be identied with the character of the Lamb, in answer
to the secret prayers of the remnant oered up as a sweet
savor by the secret action of the angel of the covenant; but
the known dealings, externally, upon principles which the
church could explain on the character of its existence.
ere was alarm, the powerful acting of God in men’s
spirits in terror, and a convulsion in the condition of the
earth; then the progressive course of judgments:-
63 Hence I apprehend in the crisis this would be the intercession
of the High Priest for those left on the earth-saints after (as
we have been before led to see) the rapture of the church-saints
then connected with the condition of the earth.
64 eir corporate suering was not characteristic of the contents
of the trumpets, which dealt in judgments on those not saints;
and there was no recognition of their present union and
identication with the Lamb, though individually they might
be so.
Notes on the Revelation
265
On the grandees, and universal prosperity and glory of
man, by heaven-sent judgments;
en, destruction by judgment, through power, on the
mass of external nations;
en, some apostate power polluting and embittering
the very sources of the moral popular condition;
65
en, the supreme authority smitten, but this in a
conned sphere, with all dependent or subordinate light
or authority.
ere is then a term introduced, not previously used,
save in the address to the church of Philadelphia, “ Woe
to the inhabiters of earth! “ an expression, I apprehend,
taken from Isa. 24, and used in the Apocalypse in contrast
with dwellers in heaven (i.e., persons within the range of
65 ere is no symbol more dicult than the various uses of water.
Living water is the Spirit; but, as this acts by the word, water
(not exactly living water) is doctrine, and in a good sense the
word. But waters are peoples, tongues, nations, and languages,
and the sea the unformed mass of them. Hence rivers seem
the dierent compartments of them, as “ whose land the rivers
have spoiled.” But I take it, water is always viewed as under
active moral inuences of some sort, when living, in power;
when the sea, it may be acted on merely; when fountains, it
may be the spring of their inuences, as the rivers would be
their source; and therefore, according to the form of its use, it
would be the source, or eects, Of these moral inuences on
the mass of the population (what we call “ the people “), and
hence, the moral popular condition as a whole, the respective
form of water indicating its particular character. e springs
of waters, the sources of this inuenced condition: “ From
the fountain of Israel,” looked at Israel as the source of the
whole nation. us he stamped their relative character on all
that owed from him: and hence, it might be applied perhaps
directly to a teacher, or rather existing set of teachers-fountains
of waters: for where they are, they characterize the people; as
men say, “ Like people, like priest.”
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
266
the prophetic earth, or scene of God’s immediate moral
dealings, but not a stranger or sojourner there, that is, a
spiritual, heavenly minded man, but dwelling there). In
chapter 12, it is contrasted with “ Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye
that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and
of the sea “; (compare Eph. 1 at the close, and chap. 2). Here,
accordingly, we have the last three trumpets announced as
woes to these inhabiters of the earth. e rest might be
providential judgments on the condition of things. ese
last took up these earthly minded people xed upon earth.
Note, when the saints, though in supplication, live, as to
their actual condition, not in suering, but mixed up with
the world, they
66
partake externally, and therefore in spirit
sensibly, of the trouble and sorrow of the judgments that
come; and come, it may be, just as wholesome chastenings,
or at least warnings, in answer
67
to their prayers; and this
in principle may, I believe, quite go on now. But there are
judgments afterward specially on these earthly-minded
ones (the form in which they become now characterized,
when, after the patient and separating chastenings of
God, they are xed in this character). en come positive
judgments on them specically.
e rst comes by apostasy letting loose the inuences
of what is beneath-what is of the abyss. e eect is to
put out or darken the supreme authority and the healthful
inuences which acted on men’s minds.
68
From this, a
66 is will have its truth in the land withal in the latter day.
67 Compare the spiritual process of the prophet Habakkuk,
which just illustrates this.
68 In the protracted view I see no reason to deviate from the
ordinary interpretation of this (that is, the Saracens): in the
crisis, it will have its accomplishment in the great last enemy,
or Antichrist.
Notes on the Revelation
267
swarm of marauders spread themselves upon the earth-the
prophetic earth, having a king, the angel of the bottomless
pit: for though, having the active energy of imperial power,
and towards others in face they were men, yet they had “
power on their heads.” “ When seen behind, they were not
in the open dignity of man, as governing in civil power by
the image of God; they were subject to something, though
they might press forward in prevailing conquest on others;
and their sting their tail. It was not their energy that was
their poisonous power of mischief, but what they brought
in as a consequence. “ e prophet and teacher of lies, he
is the tail.”
e next woe was a more open incursion of external
enemies, as such-this army of prevailing, imperial,
congregated power; and from the mouths of them (they
carried it before them) what was judgment came forth:
only it was by evil, and what was of the enemy positively.
69
ey had power in their mouths, but in their tails too; for
in that, also, was their planned mischief more settled than
before, though not the introduction of it; “ and with them
they hurt.” It was like Satan in form. is was more open
and warlike in character; but not the original evil.
But those, the rest of men, that were not killed by them,
did not repent of their idolatries and evil conduct; many
would be entirely destroyed from their profession, and
their place set aside and lled up by others; but even so
the rest repented not. e extent of the power of these was
limited. e general objects of all the woes were earthly-
minded people in the region of God’s dealings. When the
69 As in the rst woe in the long period, I take this as usually, as
the Turks. In the crisis, it will be the inroads of the northern
and eastern armies, headed up after into the Assyrian, and
Gog, the prince of Magog.
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268
originating, darkening, and tormenting evil came in, those
only were excepted who were manifestly owned of God as
His-manifested to be of Him.
e trumpet angel-this announcement of the full time
of God’s purpose-looses these subordinate instruments
of His providence to have power of destruction for the
prescribed time.
All these, however, were dealings in which, though a
remnant prayed, the church had no natural place.
70
For
the growth of the apostasy is not the subject here. It is all
mere angelic providential dealing. It is not the Son of man
in judgment. It is not the Lamb in glory on the throne,
but in sympathy withal with a suering people, whom the
world is against, and whom He ostensibly recognized. is
was quite lost when the world recognized the church: the
church wholly lost its place. It had gradually practically
approached the world-it was now ostensibly sunk in it;
such was its downward course, having lost the spiritual
discernment, it was not capable of seeing its position in the
outward blessing. So Abraham, when his wife was taken into
Pharaoh’s court. He had gone down into Egypt rst. en
the Lord acts by angelic ministrations on the profession,
rst in external chastenings, then in direct judgment and
woes. Present facts, as we proceed, will lead us to the extent
70 As regards the crisis, it is viewed as actually in heaven (i.e., lost
sight of on earth entirely, as it was actually, when it lost its place
of testimony here below, as a city set on a hill). For all through,
as to time, whatever the particular condition of the saints, from
the moment the church ceased to be owned by the Son of man
in judgment here, as in the seven churches, it was viewed either
mystically (which gives the protracted period), or actually in
heaven, when the latter-day trials and judgments, the crisis, as
it has been called, takes place. In both cases it is lost sight of on
earth.
Notes on the Revelation
269
(i.e., geographical extent) of these two woes. I reserve the
course of these passages more particularly, according to the
protracted sense of “ the things that are,” as applied to the
whole dispensation, for what presents itself farther on.
But before the third woe, or seventh trumpet, there is a
large parenthetic revelation comes in; but it is still further
angelic or providential
71
ministration. Nor is it, though
it goes through manifestly the same scene, the account
of the apostasy which we have afterward, but the same
scene historically, as coming under the course of events
as prophetically declared by God. ere was much that
announced God’s judgment against the state of things here
entered into, that was not revealed. But though this was
not a sealed book which the Lamb could alone open, but
the progress of the course of historic events in Providence,
yet was it specially in the hand of that mighty angel, and
the dignity of His Person was sustained.
e manifestations of the judgment of God connected
with the utterance of His voice, and what followed on it,
were not yet revealed. A voice from heaven sealed them up:
for though the course of events went on, and was described,
yet were there really principles in this of such a character
and weight in the eyes of Him who could bring in the
name of Him that liveth forever and ever, that it proved
that delay should be no longer. And these things were to
precede the accomplishing of the mystery of God, which
should be when the seventh angel was about to sound.
In this way the little open book is very simple. It is not
the mystery of iniquity, brought all out in its character, but
71 e rainbow round the head showed its connection with the
restoration of creation-the covenant with creation at the time
government was instituted.
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270
it is the historic course of events-a picture of that scene, by
itself, in which the mystery of iniquity, and all its important
principles, and God’s acting on them, are developed,
in order to the lling up of that which is nished at the
sounding of the seventh trumpet. It is thus a step lower
in its nature than the great sealed book. at was held by
Him that sat on the throne; and it was given to the Lamb,
who alone could open it. It belonged to Him by a title
none else at all had: but this is in the hand of the angel,
and it is given to the prophet. It was part of the course of
progressive historic events. Its allusions, however, identify
it with what comes after, as the beast out of the bottomless
pit, etc.
ere was a further point. e prophet could look at
external events, and describe them; but here, though the
taste of the knowledge of this was sweet, yet, when he saw
what it really conveyed, when he digested it, when the
sympathies of his own soul were concerned in it, painful
and trying things concerning the position and ruin-state
of the church
72
were involved in it-disorder and evil, and
departure from God, and trial connected with this in the
saints. Ah! it was bitter in his belly. is term is ever used for
the aections and inward thoughts of the man. erefore,
in the church, the Holy Ghost is said to ow from the belly
of the believer, because it is not merely a communication of
72 In the crisis, rather the apostate results of what was nominally
the church. In the seals the Lamb is concerned, and the saints
are still liable to persecution. e trumpets are providential
judgments on the evil, in which the saints are not found (often
by wicked men on one another, as in Jewish history). en
comes the display of the open enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ
and their judgment, and in their full character, by the Son of
man Himself.
Notes on the Revelation
271
known events, but the Spirit, as an earnest of what belongs
to ourselves, and therefore lling the soul; and, from our
own association with the things, the joy and testimony
ow forth. ere was to be the wide-spread eld of this
testimony again resumed. is part of the testimony took
the subject up afresh, and, though connected in fact, a full
subject and scene of itself.
us, this little open book gave the historical account
(when it assumed its place in external history) of the state
of things under the great apostasy, in order to closing the
whole scene as a history in the seventh trumpet; while the
detail of the apostasy, its origin and source (before it was
matter of the church’s progressive history at all), the power
and intent of Satan as manifested in it, were reserved
for a distinct account (that is, all its moral workings and
developments).
It is to be remarked, in addition, that the third woe is
not given here at all. When the seventh trumpet sounds,
there are voices in heaven celebrating the coming of the
worldly kingdom of Christ; and the scene is described
in very general terms, as embracing its introduction and
results; but the woe is not described. In truth, all the detail
of circumstances is reserved for the accounts which would
follow: but “ delay no longer “ is the thing here evidenced.
I have only to add, that if “ the things that are “ be taken
for the whole dispensation, then the twelfth chapter may
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
272
be taken continuously
73
for the acting of the agents there
described in their conduct in the crisis; only, that it traces
them downwards from the state of things in the heavens-
that is, as objects of the judgment referred to in the seventh
trumpet. In this case, the rst act would be the taking of the
saints out of the way; then the casting down of Satan; then,
after persecution of the Jews, the last struggle, including the
judgment of the beast and the like. Otherwise the twelfth
chapter is a tracing of the details of the source, principles,
and actings of them, as in God’s mind, and that from their
nature, object, and outset.
e order which these passages would involve, as to the
nal crisis, would be this: e three seals after the rst are
the beginning of sorrows; during this period the faithful
witnesses on earth were liable to be killed, and the gospel
of the kingdom was preached among the Gentiles. At the
fth seal the heavens are changed. e abomination of
desolation is set up in the midst of the last week. A time
of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, the
73 But the historical continuance is then not immediate; but
from the state of things consequent on the position of the
parties, more particularly from the ight of the woman into
the wilderness, the previous verses being merely to show what
had brought the parties into this condition, that the strength
of the man-child was not at rst put forth, but taken out of
the way-then there was a process by which the heavens were
rst cleared; and then that by which, after its full heading up
against Christ, apostate power was put down. e thing to be
noted here, as to order, is, that the war seems to be before the
powers of heaven were changed, with which the fth, sixth,
and seventh seals must be compared. I do not see that the
owning of the saints, in the fth, involves the changing of the
heavens. e sixth seems, however, to do so.
Notes on the Revelation
273
dragon persecuting the woman. e woman ees. ose in
Judea ee to the mountains.
e sixth seal is opened: and, before the winds blow, the
remnant are sealed, and the palm-bearing multitude seen
clothed in white. e cry of the remnant on earth brings
judgment down there; as the cry from under the altar in
the fth seal had brought on the sixth. en come the
trumpet-judgments in succession, the last involving the
nal judgment.
e only point that remains is, when is Satan cast
down? e twelfth chapter takes in the whole course of the
book, in its sources within, to introduce the last agents as
objects of judgment announced in heaven on the seventh
trumpet sounding. at chapter shows, as noticed, the rst
act to be catching clean out of the way Him who is to
rule the nations; and the whole question all goes on after
that. e next step is, not changing the heavens, but war
there; and then the adversary and accuser is cast down.
is is clearly before the last three and a half years when
there is tribulation, and before the tribulation and eeing
takes place; at least it seems to me so. e changing of the
heavens is after that, or rather thereupon. I only state, then,
as to this, that upon these passages, the casting down of the
dragon, as to the crisis, seems to be some time previous to
the setting up of the abomination, after the catching up of
the saints, i.e., before or in the period of the rst four or
ve seals. e sixth would be the eect of it.
It is clear that the appearing of the Son of man is
subsequent to these changes in the heavens, from Matthew,
Mark, Joel; and indeed the whole course and order of these
mighty dealings of God’s judgment. e appearing of His
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274
coming destroys the man of sin. Isa. 24 may be referred to
here.)
I apprehend some of them, at any rate, as the two
witnesses, partook of the heavenly calling according to
Dan. 7, without being the church testimony represented in
the holy city. See the analogy of the Pentecostal church at
rst (though that was in fact the church), but its testimony
is remarkable as to this.
But to return to the details of the eleventh chapter, what
we nd is this: all who had the priestly character and what
concerned them, preserved-even their worship and the
altar (that is, the holy place and the place of the priest’s
approach). But the outward profession-the holy city-is
all given up to be entirely desecrated for the prophetic
period of forty-two months. But it is not only the priestly
associations which are preserved here, but the witnessing
or prophetic character. at is, ecacy was given to their
testimony, “ given to the prayers of the saints,” or given to
Notes on the Revelation
275
“ my two witnesses,” which signies ecacy to the subject
of the gift.
74
is witness was guarded, not by external worldly
preservatives, far from it; during this period “ woe “ was
on what might have been so. What was external was the
subject of merely secret angelic interference of God; but
judgment corresponded to their testimony. If any would
hurt them, out of their mouth went re. It was not the
coming down of judgment by external manifest authority;
the pretense, at least, of that was on the side of the false
prophet. But they were answered in judgment, to preserve
them according to the testimony of their mouth against
those that would destroy them. is secret hand of God,
according to the word of the faithful witness, when all
was gone wrong and desecrated, has, I doubt not, been
always in such cases aorded. It was not the time for open
appearance in judgment, but always to interfere in watchful
vindication of their testimony when needed. If they took
the sword in such cases, it was an eort to alter the perfect
74 Power was given them that they should prophesy in sackcloth
for the period of the treading down of the outside holy
place while the inner was preserved. It is given in days here,
I apprehend, to show the continuity and constancy of their
testimony, not merely the term. e next point in the testimony
was this, that it was without the attainment of order in the
ministration of Christ’s great oces on earth when He shall
come; but it was a witness to them. If we compare Zech. 4 we
shall nd, in the restoration of the Jewish economy on earth,
the strictest order in all the parts; and in the arrangements
of the one candlestick, and its two olive trees and pipes. But
here there are two olive trees and two candlesticks. ere they
stood before the Lord of the whole earth, even as these here, a
witness to the truth, but not the accomplishment of it: not its
order, beauty, and regularity, but a testimony to God’s title to
have it so. Such were these witnesses.
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276
order
75
of God’s providence which always preserves His
principles-they would perish by the sword.
What follows seems analogous to the circumstances
of Moses and Elias, and the energy of their ministry, not
a question of their persons. Moses ministered when the
people were under oppression, when the world prevailed;
and he had power to plague the earth, to which Pharaoh
belonged, and of which he was prince, and which he sought.
Elias shut up heaven on the apostate people, who ought to
have been in connection and association with it; and the
blessing was withheld from a land watered with the rain of
heaven. us, it was power of calling in judgment suited to
the respective position of the two: one, acting on the world
out of which God’s people were called; the other, judging
the people which had become the world, by arresting
their enjoyment of blessings from heaven. Both have their
application to the state of things alluded to in this short
but comprehensive prophecy.
At the close of the three years and a half, their sack-
cloth testimony ceased by their death through the hands
of the beast of the bottomless pit, when they shall have
fullled their testimony. e eighth verse seems to me
designed to aord the general and specic applications,
both of which I have stated my belief to be, in the mind of
the Spirit of God; rst, the great city of the world, which
was where Christ was crucied; and specically Jerusalem,
where religious apostasy, always the leader of the world’s
evil, locally committed the act.
As regards the interpretation, which would give one
thousand two hundred and sixty years to this prophecy,
75 It would be, in fact too, acting on the principles God was
judging.
Notes on the Revelation
277
enough has been said by others: a testimony, raised during
the protracted moral apostasy, to which I believe the Holy
Spirit attaches more importance than many are inclined
to do; for God loves His saints. I believe it was of the last
possible importance, but not of closing importance-not the
great closing scene. I hold that it held, to the manifestation
of the personal Antichrist, the same relation as the church,
by the operation of the Holy Ghost, does to the personal
coming of Christ, the Lord; and that is not unimportant
or immaterial, very far otherwise, or a light object of God’s
guardian and all-thoughtful eye. Slaughtered saints, and
worshipped demons, suppression, or at least degradation,
of God’s ordinance actually in civil authority — these were
not light things in God’s estimate, though His patience
might bear with them in that long-suering which was
salvation. But the subversion of the true glory of the church,
in the recognition of the Holy Ghost, was not unimportant,
as proving the degeneracy of man, who apostatizes in all
circumstances, though it were not the open war against the
Son.
Further, I add, that the apostasy, and the revelation of
the man of sin, are two distinct things. e apostasy is the
introduction of the man of sin. Now the apostasy may not
be the wicked (lit. lawless) one; but surely it is of some
importance. I nd much want of attention to the accuracy
of Scripture in those who seem most accurate themselves.
e mystery of iniquity working, the apostasy, and the
wicked one, may all be looked at as distinct things, though
intimately connected; nor is the lawless identical with
Antichrist, though it may be very likely
76
they may be the
same person.
76 As I suppose they are (see Note re Antichrist, page 52).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
278
With regard to the denial of symbols, and the assertion
that it is so literal a book, it seems to me untenable. us,
when the third part of the sun was smitten, the day shone
not for a third part of it; but this was not what would have
followed in any literal sense. And a little investigation into
detail will show that much of what has been recently said
on the subject will not bear examination.
ere is another point which the advocates of literalism
77
and crisis often insist on, which deserves notice (though I
am unwilling to detain myself for questions) — days being
put for years. is is denied, notwithstanding the plain
suggestion of such an idea both in the passage in Num.
14:34, and in that in Ezek. 4:6.
e seventy weeks, however, stand strongly in the way;
and the ingenuity of criticism has been called into service
to say that it is simply seventy sevens, not seventy weeks,
and may thus literally be years. Now, if the conventional
reading
78
be taken, it is simply weeks; if not, it cannot mean
sevens at all, but seventy seventies. I think this criticism,
therefore, cannot be maintained. It is either seventy weeks
or seventy times seventy, not seventy sevens.
But, as regards the numbers here, there is another
important question: it is alleged that, looked at as in crisis
77 e application of Old Testament allusions or prophecies in
the sense in which they are used there, seems to me to be equally
untenable; they are borrowed thence to be applied to heavenly
subjects, just as in the case of Jerusalem; so the analogy holds
throughout: the bringing down the Revelation to the same
sense seems to me simply depriving us of them, and merely to
amount to this, that when the apostle uses prophetic language
to carry it up into further scenes, we are arrested where the
former prophecy left us: simply, I conceive, darkening, instead
of enlightening.
78 i.e., by Hebrew vowel points.
Notes on the Revelation
279
and literally, this is not the last half week at all.
79
In the
last half week at Jerusalem, it is said they are not times
of testimony, but of vengeance-not of testimony of any
one, Christian or Jew. e disciples, who had been giving
testimony, and called to possess their souls in patience, are
then directed to ee; for these were the days of vengeance.
is was at the setting up of the abomination of desolation,
the commencement of the last twelve hundred and sixty
days, or three years and a half. So in the twelfth chapter,
after the casting down of Satan, his great wrath begins
upon the earth; then heaven and its inhabiters are free; and
the woman, accordingly, ees into the wilderness for the
twelve hundred and sixty days, to be nourished from the
face of the serpent. Antichrist does not assume his proper
distinctive character in Jerusalem till then. He may, as the
oppressive apostate head of the Gentiles, at the instigation
of Jews, persecute the saints who have the testimony of
Jesus-possibly tyrannically oppress even the Jews, as the
holy nation, by times; but, strictly, their “ covenant is with
death, and with hell are they at agreement” (i.e., as to the
rulers who represent the nation). is last is true as regards
the last half week; its character is a covenant of the beast
with the Jews. But the Lord in Matt. 24 distinguishes
the general testimony of the kingdom sent out into all
the world, and which began immediately after His death,
from the last half week only. What He speaks of is not a
special testimony in Jerusalem, and we must not confound
79 I have changed this paragraph, as I, at the time of writing these
notes, followed the usual division in chapter 11 into two half
weeks, applying it as an answer to the writers just alluded to.
As I do not now accept this division, I have of course changed
the paragraph into short observations on the question; but I
have given what is alleged for it.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
280
the peculiar testimony of the two witnesses with the
rst fourteen verses of Matt. 24 at chapter knows no
rst half week. ere is a general testimony and one half
week, beginning with the setting up of the abomination
of desolation, and ending with the Lord’s coming. Dan. 9
does contemplate a rst half week, in which the prince that
shall come makes a covenant with the mass of the Jews,
which he will break in the middle of the week. But Rev.
2 contemplates, I believe, only the last half week, that of
Matt. 24.
We have another distinction here, which also runs
through what follows, not duly noticed-people, tongues,
nations, languages, and they that dwell upon the earth.
I say not duly noticed, as the universality of Antichrist’s
dominion has been argued from the expression, “ All
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.” But there,
as elsewhere, they are in contrast with nations, kindreds,
tongues, people. e case of the dwellers upon earth is
always, I think, more aggravated.
us it is not merely evil conduct towards the witnesses
here, but great interested joy at their destruction. ere
are three parties engaged in the evil: the beast, who kills
the witnesses; those of the nations and kindreds, who
do not suer them to be buried, exhibiting the natural
hostility of the human heart; and the people dwelling upon
earth, whom the testimony of the witnesses had specially
tormented. For the testimony of holy consistency and
prophetic nearness to God is continual torment to them to
whom the testimony comes for their apostasy. e prophet,
in this character, is always a witness that, with all their pride
and self-satisfaction, they are apostate; and this is torment,
for they have really no peace with God, whatever their
Notes on the Revelation
281
pretension. e return to life of the witnesses was a public
thing, in which the judgment and vindication of God was
plain to their enemies. ey heard the voice from heaven,
saying to them, Come up hither. ey were rst brought to
life, and then called up to heaven openly.
ese witnesses had stood before the God of the earth,
the witnesses of God’s title here. e aright which the
public manifestation of God in their favor produced did
not give ecacy to their testimony; but the arighted
ones gloried the God of heaven. ere was the general
eect of unrepentant religion-the testimony not received;
for that would have broken their will. But their fear acted
on externally was to honor God formally, but only as One
in heaven. It was that which acted on themselves that did
this-the earthquake and slaying of men, names of men,
their pride and title put down.
80
All this took place before
the sounding of the last trumpet; but when it closed, the
second woe was passed.
Although there may be an accomplishment of this
more literally in crisis, there is nothing in the revival of
the witnesses, which renders it strictly literal; on the
contrary, the terms are, for the most part, symbolical. A
spirit of life from God, though it may be applied, is not so
strictly characteristic of mere quickening.
81
It was distinct,
80 Babel’s word was, “ Let us make ourselves a name.” God only
is entitled to a name, or to give it. Adam had title as regards
the beasts, as set over them by God; “ and he brought them
unto Adam.” e enemy may give a name, in derision, to saints,
over-ruled of God; but they are gathered only to the name of
the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and should bear His
name, and, in Him, the Father’s only.
81 Observe, it is neither resurrection nor changing them who
are alive, but a special act. Man had killed them; but God
quickened and called them up.
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282
however, from a mere renewal of prophecy in sackcloth.
e testimony now was by their exaltation publicly, not by
their faithfulness in trial.
I would remark on verse 8, that it is properly not the
street of the great city; but rather the highway or great
street of the city, but the antecedent to which seems the
whole idea. All this time the last great woe was on the eve
of being manifested.
e witnesses then were a testimony-given previous to
the last dire expression of the power of evil being let loose-
an adequate testimony; and that of God’s claim upon
the earth, during the time that these dwellers upon earth
claimed it as theirs, and therefore were tormented by the
testimony. It was not necessarily during the prevalence of
the beast out of the bottomless pit; for till the war (v. 7)
his existence is not in question. When he makes war on
them, he overcomes and kills them; but they have power
in testimony till then-till their testimony is fullled. eir
testimony,
82
then, was not properly under the oppression of
his power; at least that is not the way God distinguishes it.
It is carried on in sorrow while the external sacred things
are deled, but the priestly remnant, and what pertained to
them, preserved; and this for the forty-two months. And
in these circumstances they fulll their testimony: then
the beast out of the bottomless pit makes war upon them
and kills them.
83
When the question as to power comes on,
and Antichrist rises up in his full form against the Lamb,
he is nally cast down, and put, with the false prophet, in
the lake of re, and his followers killed. It is dealing with
82 I say their testimony, because as to his general character the
beast will persecute the saints.
83 To the joy of the dwellers upon earth; and thus, doubtless, he
is their great friend (see Note re Antichrist, page 52).
Notes on the Revelation
283
the witnesses in its principle, an antecedent act; the Lamb
has not yet come upon the scene. For He comes personally
victorious: but here, while the beast comes against the
witnesses who stand before the God of the earth, they
are overcome, because the Lamb has not yet come forth
in power, nor the earthly kingdom come. Lucifer shall
rise up against the Lord from heaven, and be cast down.
When his representative rises against the witnesses and
representatives of the Lord-these two anointed ones, they
are cast down and killed, and taken to heaven where the
glory and the Lamb yet were. It was the last external public
act of testimony-whether for the dispensation or the crisis-
and therefore had denitely the character attached to it
when prophetic witness had place in it-the prevalence of
evil externally, and suering of the witnesses-their rest and
refuge being above.
us, the beast out of the bottomless pit does not appear
here as the direct agent against the witnesses, till the three
years and a half of their testimony are nished, though,
as to their condition, they were in sackcloth. When the
announcement of the last woe comes, heaven estimates it as
the signal for the earthly kingdom coming; and the church,
anticipative, as having the mind of Christ, gives thanks to
the Lord God Almighty, who, in the continuity of His being
and counsel, was now taking His power; and therefore she
anticipates all the results. e elders only speak here; for
the things were not in the vision in their completeness or
principles: but it was the actual anticipation of the facts as
now coming in, as having the mind of Christ.
It would seem that the last woe had a wider aspect
84
than
the others-much, though containing the scene and object
84 At least is connected with a wider scope of results.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
284
of them. In verse 12 of the succeeding chapter, after Satan
is cast down, woe indeed is pronounced on the inhabiters
of the earth, who were the former objects of the woes; and
also, then, on those of the sea. Now it is true this does not
come in, in proper historical continuity, from chapter 12;
nor is it the nal woe of chapter 11; but it introduces the
larger scene which is the subject of the judgment executed
in that woe. But the expression of the woe there had been
reserved; here, all are concerned in it under heaven.
e nineteenth verse of chapter 11 should, I think
though a connecting one, more properly begin the
twelfth chapter. Looking at the chapters as continuous,
it is the direct manifest agency of heaven upon earth, the
connection of the two. It is not now a seal opened by one
who alone could do it, but the temple opened; “ and there
was seen,” etc.
e rst thing seen was the secure and unchanging
witness of God’s covenant mercy, on which all his
thoughts and purposes were bent. After the sounding of
the seventh trumpet, all the relationships of things, and
their real principles and sources, came out. If we look at
the eighteenth verse of chapter 11 as closing generally the
whole history as it does, then the twelfth takes back the
church to see, abstractedly, the principles and sources of
all the events, which, in fact, will be brought out in the last
three years and a half manifestly.
ese two points of view are in no way inconsistent;
for the last crisis is a bringing to a head and manifestation
these very sources of action in manifested agents and direct
collision of action. On the contrary, none can understand
the crisis that takes place, unless they enter into the
sources, principles, and moving of (in some sense, we may
Notes on the Revelation
285
say, interested) agents, which are here unveiled from the
beginning; and, on the other hand, the workings of these
agents and principles, and their results, are never clearly
seen until brought thus out at the end in their very results,
though faith may discern their principles long before.
us the Lord says in the rst displays of His power, “ I
beheld Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven “; and His
great apostle reveals to us, that the mystery of iniquity did
already work: only there is He who restrains, till He should
be taken out of the way (2ess. 2:7); and then the wicked
should be revealed, whom the Lord would destroy. e
unveiling, then, of these hidden, but real agents, was just
the unfolding of what would be brought into crisis: and the
crisis is the actual manifestation of these agents in their true
character, no longer under the cover of mysteries. Hence
the church, as admitted into heaven, knows them, and
explains their manifestations when they show themselves
on earth.
is forms no part, properly, of the seals, then; but
comes in, under the church’s proper knowledge, by the
Holy Ghost, and His revelations of what passes in heaven;
not in mere communion, as taking of the things of Christ,
but in revelation, as showing what is connected with the
manifestation of His glory. It is all based (come what will)
on the immutability of the ark of the covenant. It was the ark
of the covenant of God and the temple of God. e church
rests on this sure faithfulness, but its direct application is to
Israel, though in peculiarly symbolical images.
is being xed, the ways and purposes of Providence
were then discovered. ere appeared a great
85
sign in
heaven. As the woman was for the man, so was the man by
85 Another sign begins chapter 15.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
286
the woman; and here things were revealed, not in ultimate
results (that is the knowledge of the church always, in
communion, whether as to Christ’s glory as man or God
all in all), but as administered by the way, and, therefore, the
man is by the woman here. So in other types of scripture.
Hence, though we see her in the glory of God’s mind at rst,
we soon see her in various circumstances and exigencies, to
which she was, in His wisdom and righteousness, subjected,
even to eeing away upon earth. Here, however, she is seen
in her title of glory in heaven. e purpose of God is in the
church; but Christ is its great subject; and, in fact, she may
be subject to ten thousand vicissitudes here below, for the
world is not regulated otherwise than secretly. God may
glorify her, but the woman’s place is to be subject; she does
not carry on the war, and cannot in this character. I have
already mentioned, elsewhere,
86
that the activity of faith, or
its failure, is, in typical scripture, spoken of as the man-the
condition of the church or people of God (for in this sense
the church is, the name for a condition of the people of
God, this last being used in a general sense) is represented
by the woman.
87
We have to look here, at the people of God, as in His
own mind or purpose, and therefore gloried in that; yet,
as we have said, entering into the detail of consequences, it
is in the ministration of it, for it is the man by the woman,
not the woman for the man. Both have their importance
and their place. Hence the woman is seen clothed with
supreme authority-the splendor of supreme authority, and
86 Collected Writings, volume 59, page (194) 129.
87 But as to direct historic application the woman here is the
Jewish people (or Jerusalem) seen in heaven and glory rst,
then cast out and persecuted by the dragon; that is, in God’s
mind, and then the object of Satan’s enmity.
Notes on the Revelation
287
all derivative light under her feet;
88
and derivative rule, all
lesser authority, her crown, and that in perfectness. us it
is viewed abstractedly, but in purpose with all God attaches
to it, and about which all God’s mediate purposes or plans
roll-His own glory and Jesus ever the end. And thus shall
it close, for it is true that, What begins with sight, ends in
action.’
For we are not speaking here of God’s returning
into His own innitude, which can hardly be called
purpose:
89
— Christ, then, the glory of the Son, was the
purpose; but here, it being the ministration of it, the woman
is presented and the man hidden.
If we descend to detail, we shall nd the most marked
contrast: the lowest state of the lowest condition of God’s
people-that under the law broken, and they ruled over by the
last form of Gentile evil, as to its personality-that in which
Christ was born; and so rightly. For by sin the glory was all
reversed; all was reversed: the throne, which ought to be the
instrument of God’s justice, was the instrument of slaying
His Son, at the instance and instigation (intercession, if
you please) of His priests, the leaders of His own people!
What a picture of things! If we go to the time when the
Jews will actually say, “ To us a child is born,” we shall see
it is after the very last and manifested form of the last evil-
the evil of the last days. e church knows it now, for it has
88 us all the previous state of heart in which reected light was
shadowed out for the people is put under their feet.
89 Purpose has rather the force of the thing purposed here,
than intention. If I am understood, I have no anxiety as to
metaphysical precision. e word ‘ purpose ‘ evidently includes
both, but may apply specially to either (i.e., the intention and
the thing intended).
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
288
the mind of Christ; and we are renewed in knowledge after
the image of Him that created us.
at which we nd here, then, is the purpose of God
concerning the condition of His people producing One
who was to rule all nations; and, instead of His doing so, He
is caught up to God and His throne; and the condition of
His people is left exposed to trial, misery, and pursuit of the
great enemy, who had been waiting and seeking to devour
the man-child when born. It, however, entirely escapes
from him. Such is the general picture, which throws much
light on the whole of the detail. If we apply it to Christ in
Person, then its accomplishment as to heavenly purpose,
whatever He might suer here, is suciently manifest
(the condition of God’s people being suering and trial
thereon). If we apply it to the saints, who overcome here
(as we read) as He did, and to whom it is given to rule as
He has received of His Father, then we nd that, though
the object of the enemy was to devour them too, they are
caught up out of his way to Him who was above his power;
and the trial and persecution fall on those who are left
here-upon the woman. e details of this are entered into
in what follows in the chapter. After the child is caught
up, the woman ees. In this there are no details. It is a
description of the position of the parties, and that with
all possible clearness, as with divine power and precision.
ere is one of these of which, as yet, I have said but little-
this other wonder (who was opposed to the woman, this
purpose of God in His people), the great red dragon. His
object was to destroy the man-child to be brought forth by
the woman whose pains of labor he perceived, and hating
all that belonged to it; for the purpose of God and its fruits
Notes on the Revelation
289
were his destruction. He failed in this, and turned his anger
against that which, in a certain sense, was left in his power.
at the dragon is the hostile power of the adversary
there is no question. We have the authority of this book
(chap. 20), I suppose no one will deny, for saying that.
If we look to the source of power, it is there; only without
the description which gives it its formal character. It was
here seen in heaven (i.e., not in its providential forms and
consequences by the will of man, but as the Lord viewed it
in its will or power of evil), as a whole, identied in form
with the beast (to which it gave its power, it is true), yet
not the beast, and not identied with it in the specialties
of its latterday character; but the whole generic form of
Satan’s power, in that which took, at a given period, that
character. It had the seven heads and ten horns, but the
heads were crowned, not the horns. It was Satan, acting in
the form of power, in which he countervailed-not simply
the earthly purpose
90
amongst the Jews, or in which he
attacks Jerusalem by an earthly instrument, but-the whole
heavenly
91
purposes and the glory of God by Christ in His
people. Hence, too, the death of Christ, which closed His
90 e Son born was caught up, but was to rule all nations: the
heavenly condition is here the answer and remedy for an eort
directed against one who was to rule over the earthly. His rule
and power is the matter in question.
91 is is true, even in Antichrist; for that is association with the
Jews and possession of Jerusalem, to hold it as the center of
earthly power against the Lord, as coming from heaven. e “
scornful men “ that dwell at Jerusalem “ have made a covenant
with death and are at agreement with hell.” [I have not altered
the abstract applications: it would be changing the book (and
they aord a kind of dictionary to the symbols), but I add here
and there the particular prophetic events in which they are
fullled-as I believe, that to which they apply.]
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290
Jewish and earthly career, is not noticed here; because the
Jewish associations of Christ are not the question when
things are seen in the heavens. e child was caught up
to God and His throne. e tail of the serpent, his moral
inuence-evil moral inuence-characterized by the form
of the Roman empire, the eects of his power, and the
dominant religion of the state, put down a third of the
rulers of God, and made them subordinate. e eect on
the woman was her retreat into solitude and sorrow, for so
she is seen in actual eect.
Here are the parties: the seventh verse begins a new
topic. ere was war in heaven. is was not the war of
the church, but of divine power; not yet, however, in the
manifested energy of the Son of man, the mighty man,
the man-child; but in the more secret agencies of His will,
angelic ministrations. e church’s war, carried on in the
esh, is carried on in suering, and waged against the
accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony; he being always there, and yet they above him,
as an overcome enemy in Christ, in their esh wretched,
and as to that in its will, when it worked, under his power.
But here it was power to expel in service to God-the
question settled whether the dragon and his angels should
continue there: “ And the dragon fought and his angels,
and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more
in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him.”
92
en came the celebration; and
in the thirteenth verse, what followed on the earth: and the
92 But they are not as yet replaced by the saints there. Collected
Writings of J. N. Darby 2:207
Notes on the Revelation
291
change in all this is very important. e church’s estimate
of it in heaven, too, is-” the accuser of our brethren “;
93
the
consequence of whose accusations and power was trial
94
and persecution upon earth. ey loved not their lives unto
death, overcoming him by the blood of the Lamb and the
word of their testimony-a time then of saints’ suering, and
Satan having his place in heaven, in authority and power,
and deceiving the whole world. From this the victory of
Michael and his angels cast him down.
I apply here the same principle of providential working
and manifestation in crisis as throughout; and I mention
it here only particularly, and its application to the fall of
idolatry, because by modern interpreters, entirely rejected.
It is not his inuence in the church that is here in question
95
but his power in the rule of the world, however that might
act on the church. e argument, then, that mischief
might accrue to the church by the ceasing of Satan’s open
power in the world, because the church thereby sunk in
the world, is nothing to the purpose: for my own part, I
admit it in the fullest manner possible, though I am sure
all was wisely ordered. But as the setting up the supreme
power in Nebuchadnezzar, and his speedy connection of
it with enforced idolatry, was very important in the divine
government in the world, that power coming from God
(though Israel was, or might not be, in question in this last
act), so the entire relinquishment of idolatry by the governing
93 Note here, the victory is celebrated; they overcame, they are
not therefore in this conict any more.
94 I suspect it will be found that, while the suering may be
most blessed and glorious for righteousness’, or Christ’s sake,
it is, nevertheless, always used by the Lord for the correction of
some secret or manifest evil in the individual or in the church.
95 i.e., Even referring the passage to the protracted period.
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292
power (for whatever man does, God looks to the conduct of
the governing power) was a fact of great importance in the
history of God’s government of the world. It was a setting
aside Satan’s direct throne in the world; for the existence
of power in the Gentiles is not Satan’s direct throne (it was
transferred to them by God); it is its use and character in
sinful man that makes it Satan’s. is may be merely by
passions, or it may be by the direct worship of Satan and
his angels, or by open blasphemy against God. e second
of these is the open heavenly rule of Satan, looked at in
providence: and this went on in Gentile idolatry. He may
recover it secretly by what is called the church:
96
but the
thing itself was never restored. is appears to me a very
plain and important distinction in the exercise of Satan’s
power, which we cannot pass by without leaving a blank
in our knowledge of God’s mind, and consequently its
train lost and the church misled. Taking this event in this
point of view, it would connect itself with the providential
course of things which the church understands in heaven,
though not yet outwardly manifested; and the consequent
period would be a period of years, the period being the
period of her nourishing there, not the date of her ight for
this providential purpose. ese things are given generally
in their characters, not dates, because it was a course of
progressively developed principles, although sometimes
facts may have given particular dates. As regards that
96 In saint-worship, which is really demon-worship.
Notes on the Revelation
293
which takes place actually in the crisis, the facts are simple
and plain.
97
ere was war in heaven. Michael, the archangel, and
his angels fought, and the dragon; and the dragon was
cast out of heaven, entirely and nally out of that place
of authority and power which he had held, as ruling the
world: “ the rulers of the darkness of this world.” As to who
Michael is, we have mention of this exalted name in Jude,
as contending with the devil; and in Daniel, as that great
prince who stands up as the ruler of providential power, in
favor of the Jewish people, who are the central object of
providence in the arrangement of nations. I do not see that
it is revealed that it is Christ
98
under a mystical name, but it
is certainly the direct superior agent of God’s providential
purposes, and thus the immediate instrument of favor to
His people in that character. e notion of archangels is
not sustained in Scripture.
99
ere are seven angels, who
stand in the presence of God, spoken of. But Satan was
cast out, nally out of heaven; and the announcement
given, that salvation, strength, and the kingdom of our
God and the power of His Christ was come; and the
reason-that the accuser of the brethren was cast down.
97 Satan is cast down from heaven to earth, where he yet is in
great wrath for Daniel’s last half week, and persecutes the Jews
owned of God, saved providentially as a body, whereon the
enemy seizes all he can. e woman is, as I have said, the Jews
owned of God, or Jerusalem.
98 I see a great deal to lead to the conviction that it is Christ
as the head of angelic power, but not certainly, and therefore
say no more than I do here. Fuller inquiry would lead me to a
dierent conclusion.
99 i.e., in the plural number. Superiorities (as principalities,
powers, thrones, dominions) are spoken of, but not directly
archangels.
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Satan, in his character of anti-priest, had been unceasing
in his accusations against the brethren; though, in the
course of God’s dealings with the saints, during this time
of trial, He had suered their being even put to death here
below; yet they had overcome their enemy there really as
to all the questions which Satan could raise before God.
e accusations were of no avail, through the blood of the
Lamb. Satan could not overthrow their conscience; and
by the word of their testimony they maintained the truth
and righteousness against him as the father of lies. So that
while the great High Priest secured their cause above, Satan
as a liar and accuser, seeking to deceive, was baed and
overcome; as a murderer, was submitted to, till Christ took
the power, and he was turned out. e manner in which
accusations and persecutions are connected, in principle,
may be seen in the history of the book of Job. ereon
the dwellers in heaven-for this was the ground and place
of the enmity and conict (see Ephesians, chaps. 1, 2 and
6)-are called on to rejoice, for this conict is ended. Christ,
as the great High Priest, might have sustained them in
the conict with the accuser: but now the conict
100
was
ended. is is clearly what concerned the church, in this
matter, as identied with Christ in His priestly exaltation.
Woe then comes upon the inhabiters of the earth and of
the sea; for the devil, not yet shut up, but cast from heaven,
is come down in great wrath, knowing he has but a short
time. Here the second paragraph of this chapter ends: the
rst at verse 8, where the parties are stated, as we have
seen, in the original idea and purpose; here the actings of
100 Conict with Satan, and trial, though used, perhaps for
chastening judgment, are very dierent from judgment in war,
where Satan has power according to the fall of the rst Adam,
and a will to walk with him.
Notes on the Revelation
295
heaven’s deliverance from his power and the consequence
of this to the church, which properly sits in heavenly places
(and indeed all heavenly saints); then, verse 13, what the
devil did when cast down to earth, after he was cast out of
heaven.
e dragon has now lost his place in heaven. He cannot
rule the world, as thence, as the prince and god of. it: but
he comes as a woe and judgment from God upon those
who dwelt on earth, had not followed the heavenly calling,
where it was then; and he is in great wrath, because he
has now but a short time. His enmity against Him
101
who
has thus sentenced him, is exercised against that which has
any connection with Him in the new sphere of his malice.
He can no longer accuse the brethren; he persecutes the
woman. And at this period, upon earth, the woman is the
Jewish people owned of God, the woman that brought
forth the man (for that was true of the Jewish economy as
to Christ, looked at in His title of power upon earth: “ To us
a son is born “). But here, to the woman is given force and
speed from God; but only to ee into the wilderness, where
she is nourished for the allotted period, which, speaking as
to the closing crisis, is three years and a half; for during this
period the opportunity of her return was not aorded by
the cessation of the dragon’s power.
e dragon here takes the name of serpent, as having
the form of subtlety, deceit, and malice, “ that old serpent
which is the devil and Satan.” It is the enmity, we are to
remark, of the dragon and serpent, not the woe on the
earth which is described: that is reserved for more detailed
account in what follows, at least as to the part material for
101 It is the angelic head of the Jewish people who was the power
that overcame him above.
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the church’s instruction in its passage towards it. And here
I must remark the extreme importance to us of connecting
the events and agents in the crisis, in principle, character, and
progress with what is passing and the agents we see around
us, or it loses its main moral eect and its whole use for the
church. e church is not under this woe, I believe, at all, in
the nal crisis. It is on earth, to the Jewish people, this Son
is born: we belong to the heavens, whence Satan is cast out.
But, by the ripened fruit in that day, as more fully displayed
in subsequent chapters, we learn the present nature and
character of the tree that bears it, as God describes man by
his fruits in Rom. 3, though all men have not borne such.
And thus I can judge my own heart, and know what man
is And if the last apostate be not yet revealed, he is but the
head of a system of which God’s revelation of him, as the
full fruit, makes me know the sap and character. ough the
serpent could not overcome the woman in war (for God
preserved her, not by the mighty man, but by ight; and
there his direct power was stopped; for heavenly power was
in aid for her), yet the resources he had he uses, and pours
forth these waters, animated by his energy, as a ood. I
should suppose, from the explanation given in this book of
waters looked at as on earth, these were armies of people
directly under Satan’s moral inuence, owing from his
mouth, the expression of his mind and will.
But the earth-the scene of God’s providential and
prophetic agency-helped the woman by whatever providence
(for God teaches here the facts of Satan’s agency, not the
historical providences) and swallowed up and brought to
naught this agency of Satan: it was frustrated. And he went
to make war with the remnant of her seed, the godly Jews
who might remain within his reach, who obeyed God’s
Notes on the Revelation
297
commandments and had received the testimony of Jesus
Christ-for so (for I am now speaking of the nal crisis)
I believe the Jews, i.e., the remnant, will. But I do not
say further than a prophetic testimony; “ for the spirit of
prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.” e dragon (for he is
not now spoken of in his subtle actings, but identied again
in his character and acting in the sphere and character of
power) was wroth with the woman whom he could not
touch, and went to make war with, to use violence towards,
the remnant of the seed.
CHAPTER 12
In this chapter, then, we have a very clear account, not
of the details of providential historical acting, but of Satan’s
mind, and ways, and purposes concerning the purpose of
God in its inceptive character; for, as accomplished, it is
clear he cannot touch it. Although I have little doubt in
my mind in what events these plans of Satan will specially
show themselves, I have entered into them here very little,
because God is here instructing the church what the
plans are, rather than how they are accomplished, save as
presenting severally the agents: and if we are not content to
be instructed as God instructs us, we had better not learn
at all. I desire in Scripture not to explain but to receive, and,
in communicating, to say what is there, not add thoughts.
is may seem a slight distinction; but the eect of the
dierence will soon be seen in the formation of systems,
instead of actual proting by divine instruction.
ere are three distinct parts in the chapter. First, the
agents; the woman in God’s purpose to be delivered of
a man-child (the depository of earthly power to rule the
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298
nations); the dragon ready to devour Him, whose birth
and character he partially knew (for Scripture told it),
and whose speedy bringing forth was now apparent. e
result is, that the man-child, instead of acting in power at
once, is hid, but in the place of Godhead and power, and
the woman ees. us the direct agents are disposed of.
We have, then, the second portion; in which the question
is between his (the dragon’s) place there, and the angelic
ministrations of God’s power (“ His angels which excel
in strength “); and the dragon loses his place in heaven
(he who had deceived the whole world), and he is cast
out into the earth, not properly the world. is is all the
direct statement made in this portion: for the question
was, ruling the nations. But then secretly this made a most
important change in another thing not so open in the
world, the church, dwellers in heaven, the brethren. is
was the way heaven was specially aected by this event.
Salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and
the power of His Christ were now come,
102
not till then in
power. ere was that which was hidden to the world and
not understood, no more than Christ was, the heavenly-
minded church which understands God’s leading and most
important meaning in these things (what was next Himself,
if I may so speak). ere was a witness to all Christ’s glory
on the terms and grounds of God’s holiness in heaven, as
walking in the light as He is in the light, having fellowship
one with another, the blood of Jesus cleansing them from
all sin, all the time that Satan was in the heavens drawing
the third part of the stars- the ruler of the darkness of this
world-a people who walked indeed on earth, but in spirit
102 Should not this be, “Now is come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ”?
Notes on the Revelation
299
and title and nature, as given, dwelt in heaven; their Head
being exalted above Satan, even before God, and who had
suered and shed His blood for them, though now, as yet,
He had not taken His power (“ all things were not yet put
under him “); wherefore Satan could torment. is people
Satan had been constantly accusing before God, for their
inconsistencies, or falsely, in order to distract, trouble, and
hinder their assurance with God, or their testimony for
God. By the turning of Satan out of the heavenly places of
power this conict and accusation ceased; the heavens were
cleared, that these might now declare His righteousness.
e actual catching up of the saints is not here
mentioned, because the church should always expect it;
103
and because the agents and their public acts being here in
question, the church (one with Christ before the Father,
the mystery hidden from ages and known only by the
Spirit) is not, as we have seen all through, the subject;
104
but the acts, as they aect the brethren, looked at in their
condition here below, are noticed, because they are to reign
with Christ, whose power was now come.
e church united to Christ and interested in Him as
her Advocate and Priest, and all those associated with the
heavens, were now free. e question then was between the
dragon’s wrath against those who were the special scene of
103 I have no doubt it is contained in the catching up of the man-
child, as well as Christ Himself.
104 It is looked at corporately only as in heaven (as we have often
seen) from the end of chapter 3. e accuser of our brethren,
therefore, is spoken of; for the voice from heaven could not
speak of suering or accusation of saints there, but of those
who had been liable to it on earth. On the supposition noticed
above, these would be the class of suerers still to be gathered
as slain in the last testimony, or who would not worship the
beast.
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Christ’s royalty, and the power of that Christ which was
now come: the trial of the church had ceased. e subject
being the rule of the nations by the man-child, all the
history of what passed in the church as to this is unnoticed;
only the dragon remains in heaven; the royalty not assumed:
when it is, the change is noticed. en, the power though
come is not, however, immediately exercised (that is, on
earth, for the heavens were already clear). e question
then arises for the woman upon earth-a question of royalty
and power. e sphere of this royalty and power in Christ
being necessarily hated but rescued,
105
and Satan’s hatred
and animosity then directed against the remnant who were
faithful to the light they had, keeping the commandments
of God and having the testimony of Jesus, having the light
there was-the spirit of prophecy.
106
e providential actual agencies follow; wherein these
things are accomplished. As to the position and condition
of the inhabiters of earth (of whom we have only heard as
yet), for this period, thrice repeated woe (in the second, the
wide unformed mass of people too included, the inhabiters
of the sea).
We have further to remark, that (the moment the
saints are introduced in their own position and character,
suering while Satan is in the heavens) the Lamb, its
salvation, its strength, its joy, is at once introduced, and their
victory celebrated on high. It is the natural association of
105 e time of Jacob’s trouble; but he is delivered out of it.
106 We have here the important fact, that, after the celebration of
the coming of salvation, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of His Christ, and the casting Satan down out of the
heavenly places, three years and a half elapse before his trial
and persecution of the Jewish people closes; and they are the
object of his hatred; and Christ does not appear in their behalf.
Notes on the Revelation
301
the saints, as such- fellowship with the crucied One: and
therefore if only one or two saints be in their place, their
associations are with the Lamb.
107
It will be remembered
that the Lamb has not been mentioned all through the
historical part: that was providence; and the church was, as
it were, hidden. is, in the course of external history, is its
real relationship-as Peter describes it, doing well, suering
for it, and taking it patiently. e Lamb led the way in
this their joy; while, as to accusation, His blood gives them
access to the throne where He is.
is account in chapter 12 of the dragon’s doings,
taking up the mind of God in the throne as to it, the
conict by which he is cast out of the heavens of rule, and
his conduct upon earth when cast down there, was quite
the suitable introduction to the history of the manner
and development of it in human instrumentality; that the
church might know, not merely its history, outside in the
earth, but the meaning and truth of it in its elementary
and radical causes and facts in Satan’s position, power,
and actings, relative to God’s purposes. It relates to the
question of ruling the nations (i.e., to Christ, as ruling, as
He will, with the saints, the nations); and shows the relative
position of the parties (while the man-child is caught up
to God and His throne, or not actually in the scene), rst
in heaven, and therefore (the evil ceasing, when cast out,
107 e Lamb is always the suering rejected One, who is after
all the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the center of glory. In the
historical fact this takes place on the casting down of Satan, in
which the kingdom and power are rst displayed.
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302
to aect the saints of the heavenlies) brought in thus,
108
by
the by, when their position has changed; and then on earth
as aecting the Jews, during the period in which God’s
purpose, and therefore those interested in it, as a body, ee,
in consequence of the dragon’s actings, into the wilderness,
where they are nourished of God (i.e., not in the order of
God’s regulated covenant blessing, apparent in manifested
relationship, but of God supremely as such). All this time,
therefore of the dragon’s prevalence in heaven rst, or on
earth, is the time of the hiding and apparent disregard of
God’s relationship with His people. Yet the object of these
relationships becomes visible when the earth comes in
question, and the woman, though persecuted or eeing, is
seen on earth (i.e., the Jewish body as such in connection
with their place and promises, though unfullled). To this
108 is passage is a remarkable one as regards the crisis; for the
joy is properly in heaven. e church, properly speaking, is
not in question. A voice accordingly is heard in heaven; but it
clearly expresses the mind of God in the church above; for it
says “ the accuser of our brethren,” and has the prospect of the
kingdom as now come. It is as a gleaming out of the church’s
joy in heaven, before the saints are manifested with Christ, on
the cessation of the suerings of those left on earth, and the
clearing of the heavenlies. e voice of heaven, the church,
is here rather identied with the priesthood and expectation
of Christ, but that in a triumphant character, because
accomplished by the casting down of Satan, and the kingdom
now come, though not yet established for three years and a half
upon earth.I apprehend the proper application of the catching
up of the man-child, besides Christ, to be to the Church of the
rst-born-His body, and to be undated, save by its precedence
of all ulterior events, i.e., of all events below, and even of the
war in heaven; for Christ and His body cannot take their new
relative place on earth, till Satan and his angels are cast down.
Notes on the Revelation
303
many of the Psalms refer-those in which God and not Lord
is used as the term of relationship with the Most High.
e saints may be united to the position of the man-
child when removed hence and taken to Christ; but the
great signal manifestation of the rst statement of the
chapter was, when Christ Himself was taken out of the
way. All, except that fact which characterizes all, is the
statement of the principles and relative position of the
parties. ere may be, therefore, any lapse of time between
the catching up of the man-child and the subsequent
actings of the Lord; for there is no note of time connected
with it: the facts are resumed, or, as to results, commenced
by the war in heaven. is is most signally fullled in its
actual nal accomplishment when Satan is cast out (the
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304
commencement, in their source,
109
of the very last events,
that change the position of the saints of the heavenlies;
and when also the last events on earth relative to the Jews
begin to have their course). e providential agents, as far
as the moral prophetic earth is concerned, and the beasts,
therefore, at this point, as we have said, are thereupon
taken up.
109 Although I say their source, which is true as to the
administration of events and the moral state of things, yet
there is passed by here (as not the subject of the chapter, and
what can be hardly called an event, as changing the whole
order of administration and divine government itself),-the
shaking of the heavens, in order to the appearing of the sign
and government of the Son of man there: but this does not
properly come in here; and therefore I have only thus noticed
it. Its date in the course of events may be seen in Matt. 24 and
Mark 13; but it forms no part of the course of mere human
events, but is a change in the heavenly administration of their
order. But the war in heaven, and the consequent casting down
of Satan to earth, do alter altogether the relative position of
the saints, heaven, and earth. e direct administrative exercise
of all this is deferred for three years and a half, to give time for
the ripening of God’s purposes, the separation of the remnant
of the Jews in their tribulation, and the full satanic rising of
the earth against heaven: but heaven could announce its joy at
once, and woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea. But,
the administration not being yet changed, things otherwise
went on unrebuked, until the earth being worse far by this, and
in satanic energy enlisted against heaven, the Son of man has
to take the power into His own hands, and the administration
itself is changed. en begins the administration of the world
to come, whereof we speak. is last is a most important,
and scripture speaks of it as a very solemn, event. It is what I
apprehend is called the end: “ en shall the end come.” Sinai
was the manifest beginning; though there were other points
connected with it in the world and earth, to wit, Noah and
Nebuchadnezzar.
Notes on the Revelation
305
CHAPTER 13
e apostle now traces equally from its origin, the
earthly circumstances of the power through which Satan
operates;
110
and, as in the previous chapter, he rst gives
us characteristically the subject of the prophecy. It is not
here of purpose necessarily, but of fact. Out of the oating
mass of population, he sees a beast rise up. It was not now a
vision in heaven, where the secret designs were carried on,
but on earth, where the instruments of these designs are
produced and act; here, not purpose, but fact.
e whole character of the beast, from beginning to
end, is seen, but pursued to, and therefore having its agency
in, its last form. is enables us to identify the beast all
through, and brings him under the character of guilt which
has attached to him from the beginning, or marked the
course of his protracted progress, whatever unrestrained
iniquity this may show itself in at the close. He is therefore
seen rising out of the sea having all his heads and horns:
on his heads names of blasphemy-he bore them high on
his front; and the crowns were on his horns, which was the
latter form (i.e., the imperial power divided). I do not carry
this farther than being denitely characteristic; for if it were
carried into detail, as at the close, we should have, assuming
the identity according to the ordinary interpretation of the
beasts,
111
three of the horns fallen. Further, this beast had
incorporated the character of Daniel’s three other beasts,
but most of the Grecian leopard, though in ravening power
and terror like the rst. To this beast the dragon (he had
not formed it, that is taken as the existing fact) gives his
power, his seat, and great authority. Now, I doubt not, this
110 Specially in his workings, in these last events.
111 i.e., of Daniel’s fourth beast with this.
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306
has its full scope of positive action and manifestation from
the close of the former chapter; when, in its last form, it will
do Satan’s work in the place of his power. But as we have
the elements of things in these chapters, we have seen the
beast traced from his very rise out of the sea; and whatever
he so characteristically does,
112
when formed, comes under
the designation of holding the throne and power of Satan.
It will be exercised according to the character of the place
where Satan is, heaven or earth, each the scene of the
conict whether Christ and His joint-heirs are to have His
creation, or Satan hold it by right of the rst Adam’s fall
and sin, the great question agitated, along with the special
redemption of the church. Doubtless, when on earth it
will be more denite and formal, not necessarily more
important. Nor can I see why the conict for the delivery
of the earthly people and the inheritance is of more or
exclusive importance, rather than what is of heaven, in
which the victory and fate of the heirs is decided; though
this be more secret, and known only to the church. Yet it
must be remembered that that by which Satan troubles the
church, while here, is that by which he holds the world. It
is, then, the great characteristic fact we have here as to the
beast so formed: he holds the dragon’s place. I may add, I
hold the beast to be simply and plainly the Roman empire.
112 is is an attempt to connect by general terms the protracted
period of the beast’s existence and the crisis, or last half week;
and till the clear light of the end, this served to guide the
conscience in a general way.
Notes on the Revelation
307
e next characteristic of the beast was the destruction
and healing of one
113
of the heads or forms of government.
is, observe, was subsequent to,
114
and not preceding, the
dragon’s giving him his power. And there was admiration
in all the earth at the beast. e Roman empire and its
corporate power became in the earth the object of their
admiration, and laid hold on their minds. And they
worshipped
115
that indel power and hostility to God,
which had given power to the beast. e form in which
this showed itself in man was the pursuit of his own will,
simply casting o the thought and principle of obedience.
e shape which it assumed, or had in this history, was the
dominant power of the Roman empire, not in its apostasy,
but in its self-wilt and self-aggrandizement -Satan’s power
without reference to God-as the apostle expresses it, “ the
course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
Whether this arrives to any formal open act at the close
is comparatively immaterial, save as an open act bringing
down open judgment. ey worshipped also the beast-
honored it as the place, and holder, and depositary of
113 at is, it was seen in this state subsequent to the healing what
had received the deadly wound. I suppose the wounded head
was imperial. Many considerations go, I think, to show it, and
make the point pretty clear. I doubt that it was fully developed
as a beast till then.
114 Rather it was seen subsequent to it. First, he sees the general
character of the beast as a whole, and where his throne and
authority, there this particular characteristic in the state in
which he considers him, not of the beast in himself, but of the
beast as he then saw him.
115 Admiration implies the eect on a senseless imagination,
though excited perhaps by a strong cause-not the judgment or
aections.
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308
power (God being thus really put out of sight). Pride here
was the characteristic-personal pride and power: “ Who is
like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? “
ere seems to me to be an analogy here, or contrast, in
falsehood, with the gift, by the Father, of power and glory,
to the Son. On the dazzling inuence of this false glory and
power the world hangs, and takes it as that which holds the
only place of power in it, shutting practically, as we have
said, God out of it: “ the inheritance ours.” And they hang
on this evil power, to hold and keep it in human will-openly
man, secretly Satan; as openly it shall be (or manifestly)
Christ, and hiddenly (i.e., not in personal manifestation,
save by the Son) the Father. And the world honored the
hidden and open power, as we should honor the Father
and the Son, save that in us it is in the knowledge of their
Persons. It was a false anticipation in deceit and power by
man’s will, of what we own in principle now, and shall be
declared in millennial power and manifestation. us far
we have had the fact, and Satan’s doings in it.
We have, then, the power of mischief as it is conferred
upon the beast, he being thus constituted and set up in
power by Satan, and receiving Satan’s place at his hand. He
is then given power to show all his will and thoughts, and
to act for so long; for all these things are controlled: this
with its consequences from verses 5 to 8. Consequently, we
have here what was done by the beast, as before what was
done to the beast, and about the beast, whether by Satan
or in the earth. First was given to the beast extraordinary
prevailing assumption to himself, “ he spoke great things “;
it is not here doing but speaking in pride; it is his character,
not his acts: next, injurious words against others owing
from this pride- blasphemies; and he was to continue the
Notes on the Revelation
309
characteristic period of forty-two months, or to practice,
to act, for that period.
116
When we come to the literal use
of it, then it is earthly and literal. So, on the other hand,
they that dwell in heaven dwell literally in heaven. It is
not merely their mystic character; otherwise it is obvious
it would be the 1,260 years; and they that dwell in heaven
are the heavenly-minded remnant. We have then the
application of this character of the beast to its objects;
“ he blasphemed God.” It was not here mere apostasy:
that might be its actual course on earth, just denying the
Father and the Son; but here it is his formal character
under Satan’s power. He blasphemed the “ name “ of God,
instead of in the place of power owning its source-” and his
tabernacle,” i.e., the presence of God among the saints, as
of the wilderness, their heavenly place, for so it was (the
tabernacle was not the wilderness nor was it the temple,
as in chapter 21: 22: the Jewish body was driven into the
wilderness: in manifested and lasting glory, the Lord God
and the Lamb are the temple). But it was the tabernacle or
tent of God: this included the most holy and holy place.
is heavenly dwelling-place of God with the saints he
blasphemed;
117
he would have the earth, the inheritance,
in his own way: this was an evidence there was a power
beyond all this. He blasphemed also those who were
116 is must be taken for the last period of half the week, if taken
in crisis and applied to the full manifestation of his character,
which the verse seems to do. It is no part of this passage to
say it is the last half week, but merely to attach to the beast
the characteristic period of his continuance. But it gives that
period as the duration of his practicing.
117 is is all he could do now. Satan the accuser was cast out of
heaven, and indeed the saints are there. e beast’s tendencies
would have pleased the Jews before. Now it persecuted the
saints on earth too. e other Jews would be now in rebellion.
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310
characterized by this dwelling-place-dwellers in heaven,
the saints of heavenly places. is, as regards heavenly
things, was what characterized the church, which sits in
heavenly places. Further, it was given him to make war
with the saints and overcome them here on earth. Satan
they overcame, see chapter 12:11
118
but in present physical
persecution the beast overcame, and prevailed against the
saints. It is not, however, here a question of individual
death, but of prevalence, as in chapter 12:11. But he had
the day on earth, for this was not redeemed nor vindicated
to Christ yet. is is true also as regards (within the range
of the beast) the long protracted period of years, and on
earth
119
in the crisis among the Jewish people.
120
e next
characteristic was, “ power was given him over all kindreds,
tongues, and nations “: this still was characteristic. It was to
be the dominant power on the earth, assuming and giving
authority over the various subject nations.
ere was another point connected with this
manifestation, not exactly characteristic, as given to
him, but a consequence, a resulting fact. All the dwellers
upon earth should worship him. eir character we have
already noticed-those who, living within the sphere of the
application of the world and its light, the formed scene of
God’s revealed moral providence, have not their citizenship
118 is had been previously to this period, which commenced on
the closing of that by the casting down of Satan. Up to that
they had suered actual death; at least they had not loved their
lives unto death.
119 But I doubt that there is any dated period connected with
verse 7. It is characteristic, not a question of time.
120 e elect there are saved as regards the esh [save those who,
being killed, get a heavenly portion, the saints of the heavenlies
of Daniel and those particularly noticed as not worshipping
him, in chapter 20, here].
Notes on the Revelation
311
in the heavens (Phil. 3:20), are not dwellers in heaven,
and as strangers and pilgrims seek a country, but “ dwell
upon the earth.” ese were not written (for such was the
security of the others) from the foundation of the world, in
the book of life of the Lamb that was slain-characterized,
not only by the Book of life, but by the suerings
121
of the
Holy One, with whom they were associated as strangers
and pilgrims: “ He that hath ears to hear let him hear.”
ere is a great principle connected with all this working
and character of the beast upon earth, “ he that leadeth
into captivity shall go there “; so it will be with him: but
God will not depart from His principles. He that uses the
oppressing power shall be oppressed: the Lord will judge it,
be it where it may; “ he that killeth with the sword shall be
killed with the sword.” e saints’ part is to suer, to endure
the continuance of evil, while God permits it and power
is given to it. If the saints meddle with its principles and
avenge themselves here, they must suer its consequences
here: “ they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
Patient suering is the saints’ place, as Christ’s.
122
ey are
not to take the beast’s character, because they suer under
it: it is warring with God’s providential government, which
leaves him thus to practice. e Book of life is the book of
the life of the Lamb slain.
Such was the grand secular power recognized in
connection with the purpose and plans of God during
this time-to which Satan’s throne and power was given.
is is no description of a personal Antichrist at all, but
the characteristic description of the corporate power of
121 is will have its literal force in crisis in the land.
122 “If, when ye do well, and suer for it, ye take it patiently, this
is acceptable with God,” says the apostle Peter.
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312
the beast. Antichrist’s deadly wound, for example, was
never healed. e haste which applies passages to an
object (because there may be other passages which prove
an important link of the subject of the former with that
object), often deprives us of a vast deal of the instruction of
the word of God, and deters those from pursuing that link,
who have seized the neglected parts which are now, by a
particular absorbing interest, all set aside. e terror of the
day of Antichrist is not characteristic of the saint: he has,
it seems to me, a consciousness of his union with the Lord
and gathering to Him, which sets him above the terror of
Antichrist’s power, or of the day of the Lord upon him. We
have had the sign of Satan as the dragon in heaven, a secret
for the church, for those who saw things there.
We have had the beast arise out of the sea (the
tumultuous movings of the nations, the mass of peoples),
and, so formed, Satan give him his power, and throne, and
great authority. Now, out of the formed arrangement of the
scene of God’s moral providence, the subject-place of light
and darkness, the earth, we have another beast come up. In
form of power he was like the Lamb, not in real meekness
and suering; but he took the similitude of His power; yet
his utterance, his voice, his expression of himself, having
this form of power, was like the dragon, the great hostile
power of Satan himself, prevailing over the stars of heaven,
and persecuting on earth: a very strange and singular
combination-the similitude of the power of Christ, in form-
of Christ in His kingly power as Messiah, yet who had been
the rejected Lamb (it was not of the Son of man openly);
but the expression of the character of Satan when he spake.
We have still, as a beast, a corporate oppressing power, as
such, though, in some sense, an individual may actually
Notes on the Revelation
313
wield its power;
123
but it is not the force of the symbol
“ beast.” Power so concentrated is rather a horn, though
there may be close connection between them. is did not
set aside the existence of the rst beast, but was of another
character; yet “ he exercises all the power of the rst beast,”
before the rst beast, in his presence-still a very singular
position. His power, however, is not, as such, over kindreds
and tongues and nations, but localized, and acting on men’s
minds in inuence when subject-not subjecting secularly
nations. He causes the earth, and them that dwell therein,
to worship the rst beast; but to worship him as bearing
123 As the eighth head was the beast.
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314
this character, “ whose deadly wound was healed.”
124
It is in
this restored state or headship-form of government of the
beast that he does this. It is not the horns he makes them
worship, but the beast, whose deadly wound (of one of his
124 e trials under the beast are distinct from the mere preservation of
purity; and the nal warning to have nothing to do with the beast
comes after the announcement of the fall of Babylon. Hence, we
have the celebration of the hundred and forty-four thousand, who
have kept themselves pure; and afterward, distinct, those who have
got the victory over the beast. It does not follow that some of them
may not have been involved in both trials, or have kept themselves
from one, and suered under the other, but they are treated as distinct
subjects; and there may be those who are under the trial of the beast’s
actings, in general, preparatory to his nal conict in Judea, who have
never been in the circumstances, at any rate fully, of the hundred and
forty-four thousand. ey are numbered before Babylon falls. e
warning against the beast has its peculiar force after. at chapter
13 has had accomplishment in the protracted period of years, may
easily be understood; and if applied to what is closing, its application
is rather preparatory, not nal; when the second beast falls, as a false
prophet merely (his secular character as a beast gone), this change
has taken place in him; he has lost his secular character and power
as a beast, and is merely a false prophet. It seems to me that all this
is previous to the last actings of Antichrist in Judea as the willful
king(!) they are quite distinct in character. is is preparatory in
order to bring them, the dwellers on earth, into his subjection, and
carry them with him. e whole, save the period of his blasphemous
continuance, is not here date, but character, or doings. He may draw
after him the Gentile dwellers upon earth in this way; and, when in
the land, the same process may locally and specically continue there.
e only date to the second beast is the restoration of the wounded
(as I suppose) imperial head. (!) (is is a very important remark,
which had long passed out of my mind. I doubt its being quite exact,
in saying “ all this is previous.” It is distinct in character; but both may
go on together and in its distinct form at the end apply to Palestine,
though dwellers on earth be still characteristic. When the beast falls
in Palestine, the second beast is merely viewed as a false prophet; his
person as kingly seems superseded by the beast’s presence. As in Isa.
24, the diculty is as to the force of earth. e whole passage requires
maturer consideration. Note, the world, and kindred, tongues, and
nations are not formally put under the inuence of the second beast.)
Notes on the Revelation
315
heads) was healed. Such is his character. Lamb-like as he
may be in the form of his own power, he wields the power
of the rst beast before him; that is one point: another, he
makes the earth and dwellers on it-carnal-minded men-
worship the rst, whose wound was healed: these were
distinct points; for the whole character is here given. As
to his own doing, there is the open exhibition of judicial
power as of God: it was not (like the witnesses) “ re out
of their mouth,” a testimony made good in judgment, but “
re down from heaven “ in the sight of men-the apparent
exercise of God’s judgments (as Elijah
125
did) outwardly.
All this, remark, is an ecclesiastical or spiritual power-a
power ostensibly connected with divine things falsely, for
it is evil-but ostensibly, and veried to the eyes of men by
the exhibitions of power.
Moreover, he does miracles on the earth, by which he
deceives those that dwell on it, whose character we have so
often seen, and leads them to set up a resemblance of the
beast whose deadly wound was healed-this great corporate
system, with a formal headship-and to give breath to and
thus apparently vivify this image to exercise controlling
authority-not to kill, but to cause to be killed, those who
did not worship this image. is was the doing of this
second beast, the spiritual being; they had power to do this.
It is not said, he had them all killed, but he had power to
cause all this.
126
125 Note here how solemn it is that he should give the sign, which
under Elijah was test of Jehovah being God; and in 2ess. 2,
what in Acts 2 is the proof of Jesus being the Christ.
126 I repeat the remark of the note on pp. 223, 224; all this is
characteristic, not of time, save the restoration of the imperial
head.
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316
But he did oppress in earthly things; he caused all to
receive “ the mark of the beast “ (in profession or service,
as slaves), and would allow no man to buy or sell, “ save he
that had the mark “; or if he had “ his name “ it would do,
though perhaps not thus actually a slave-or “ the number
of his name.” A person might be a ruler or leader in this
system, and then, though not actually a slave, he would
have the character of it yet more indelibly and intelligently
stamped upon him. e name and the number of the name
would be there. I do not pretend to wisdom-indeed, far
from it; but I nd, if the Lord means such a sense, tradition
as well as apostasy gives the number of his name. As I have
said in the note, these seem to me not the last actions in
crisis, but the character of the preparatory agents: we shall
Notes on the Revelation
317
see the results afterward
127
at which is formal, and not
127 We have the distinction of periods, I think, very distinctly
marked in Dan. 7. e character of the little horn-the last evil
form of presumption against the Most High in the beast-we
have in verse 8: that is, its character before God. e prophet
saw this till the thrones were set; in 9 and to, judgment set
and books opened, not now the time of testimony. en again
he beholds till the beast was slain (v. 11), because of the little
horn’s great words. After this, the Son of man’s kingdom is
spoken of as given; this in connection with the Lord. e saints,
whether of the heavenly places or simply saints, are introduced
in the explanation (v. 21); the character of the horn, as to the
saints, is given-saints, whether of the heavenlies or not-it is
the horn’s character. en this is till, rst, the Ancient of days
comes; then, judgment is given to the saints of the heavenlies;
thirdly, the saints, heavenly or on earth, possess the kingdom.
As to the acting of the little horn explained, we have, rst, his
presumption against the Most High; next, he wears out the
saints of the heavenlies, and takes the Jewish times and festivals
into his power, and they are given up to him for a prescribed
period; then, the judgment sits, as in the close of verses 10,
11. Verse 25 seems to me, then, properly the three years and a
half antecedent to the commencement of the judgment or the
judgment sitting; after that there is a process goes on to take
away, to consume, and to destroy; and then the kingdom, under
the whole heaven, is given to the people of the saints of the
Most High, thus connecting the earthly people at Jerusalem,
the city of the great King, with the heavenly people.Chapter
8 I conclude to be an entirely dierent and opposed enemy;
and I believe the confounding the Assyrian and Antichrist (or
even the beast, for I do not hold the rst beast as the personal
Antichrist) has much tended to obscure prophecy, and embroil
the mind as to the simplicity of its statements. One is the
enemy of Christ as coming from heaven with the saints; the
other His enemy, as associated with the accepted remnant of
the Jews at Jerusalem. I see no reason to suppose that “ they
shall be given into his hand “ (Dan. 7:25) means the saints, but
rather times and laws.
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318
subservient in their character, may continue and hold its
place during the crisis-for example the blasphemy; for this
was on his heads, it was characteristically part of himself,
not particular subservient conduct. Both these parties are
found at the judgment which closes the last three years and
a half; but the last is found, not exactly in the same form,
but, if I may so speak, in an exceedingly narrowed character;
for the moral operations previous to the last critical period
are very dierent from the conduct and its consequences
which ll up that period, though the parties may be the
same, and have just the same spirit really. e characters
here are of much wider extent, having their description
comprehensively given here, as Satan’s designs previously.
CHAPTER 14
e historical process of the Lord’s dealings follows.
Special details of the objects and character of His judgments
succeed. In chapter 15, as I have said, there is a new great
sign seen in heaven. e description of the secret agency
and the providential instruments on earth has nished.
e gracious eects of divine grace and spiritual power,
with open testimony and judgment, follow here. Mount
Zion is a modication of what was before seen. It is not
yet the Lord returned in judgment-then He is the Son of
man. And here we have, subsequent to this, the patience of
the saints under the prevailing power of the beast and his
image, and afterward “ blessed are the dead,” and the Son
of man reaping the harvest of the earth. Moreover, we have
Notes on the Revelation
319
a new song
128
sung before the throne, and before the elders,
which song none but the “ hundred and forty and four
thousand “ could learn; so that we are not dissociated from
heavenly places, for this throne was set in heaven. Yet Zion
was not the place of the temple, but the place of royalty:
but, rst, of grace-the place of God’s connection, in grace,
with the earth before the temple was built, where David
had prepared a place for the ark-contrasted with Sinai, the
place of law to the earth-whence, too, the law was to go
forth in grace from the city of the great King, that “ Zion
that bringeth glad tidings.” See Isa. 3:2, and 40: 9.
Here, then, anticipatively of the time when the Lord
God and the Lamb should be the temple of the heavenly
Jerusalem, when withal on earth Solomon’s glory should be
all displayed, stood a Lamb, maintaining still this character,
not yet appearing in that of Son of man, but now drawing
towards His royalty, towards the earth, yet associated with
His suering people still, and with the perfect number of
the remnant, having His Father’s name on their forehead,
128 is is a very important epoch. In chapter 5: 9, they sing a new
song. ere was new subject of praise when the Lamb who
was, in the midst of the throne took the book, and assumed
the development of what was to introduce the inheritance.
e redeemed could say then, “ ey shall reign,” although
the Lamb was still above, and the action of His power was
only heavenly or providential. Here, the Lamb, not having yet
laid aside this character and assumed that of Son of man, and
judge, and warrior, yet is associated with earth, and stands on
mount Sion. And therefore they sing a new song before the
living creatures and before the elders: these not themselves
taking a part in it (for it was not the mystic church’s portion,
nor the great witness therefore of redemption for creation),
but a special occasion of praise on the Lamb’s taking a place
on Mount Sion, and associating Himself, though in a special
manner, with the earth [the once rejected Messiah].
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the manifestation of the character plain upon them in grace
connected with Him.
129
eir great characteristic was,
having kept themselves pure. e dwellers upon earth, we
read afterward, had been made drunk with the poison of
Babylon’s fornication, but these had kept themselves pure
though Babylon was not yet fallen. ey were redeemed
from among men, from the earth-a peculiar people in the
power of their lives, in the midst of those professors, while
Babylon stood-not the reign of Christ in blessing, not the
widespread promulgation of the gospel, but purity, as an
undeled few, following the Lamb, the holy Suerer.
ough the world might have slighted them, as an
unknown people, yet the full perfect remnant of them was
here found assembled. And as Zion, as we have said, was
the place where the ark was before the temple was built
(and the temple was the type of the established glory), so
here we nd them assembled on Mount Zion; yet we are
still in close connection with the heavenly places; for the
new song is sung before the throne and before the elders.
e harvest and dealings of the Son of man are subsequent
to this and the fall of Babylon. ese are redeemed from
the earth (while the earth
130
went on, i.e., the earth as
129 is seems to me, as in John, the Father’s name declared as He
then revealed it, and as Christ said, “ My Father, of whom ye
say that he is your God.”
130 e second beast had caused the earth to worship the rst
beast.
Notes on the Revelation
321
described in the two preceding chapters) to be rst fruits
to God and the Lamb.
131
We meet with this connection for the rst time formally
expressed. It seems to me connected with delity during
corruption, during which the mediatorial work of Christ
was confounded, corrupted, or denied, as the mediatorial
glory is described by the terms “ rone of God and the
Lamb,”
132
“ e Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple of it,” etc. So, in the true bride, contrasted with the
131 is, taken in the crisis, would seem to imply that, besides the
church, properly so called, whose place was in, heaven, and,
in that sense, the earth done with, there would be a remnant
redeemed from the earth still connected with the Lamb (i.e., the
Suerer owned by the name of His Father) and learning a song
sung before the throne, and before the elders-a peculiar class,
and having a song thus specially theirs. ey were a rstfruits
redeemed from the earth, redeemed from among men. e
body of the church, in its heavenly character, had passed out
of the scene before-had nothing to do with the earth. e
refusing the beast after is for preservation in an earthly place-a
preservation enforced by a warning of unmingled wrath in the
presence of the holy angels, the ministers of His providence,
and of the Lamb, the Suerer, whose grace, and power, and
title, they refused and rejected in the great controversy. ese
hundred and forty-four thousand are more circumstantially
like the Lord in His earthly portion and taking up. ey were
not corporately looked at as the bride of Christ, but as holding
a special place as virgins-still, as contrasted with the harlotry
of evil in the protracted period, the remnant peculiarly and
separately preserved-in the crisis, a special remnant which we
have noted.
132 [We must not confound the throne of God and the Lamb, and
the revelation of the Father in the Son: our revelation of God
is the latter, blessed be His name. e former is governmental
glory. ere is an analogy in the protracted period; but salvation
ascribed to God and to the Lamb, and rstfruits from the
earth, introduce the millennium. See following note.]
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322
great whore that did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
we have the elect or heavenly church (which is spoken of,
therefore, as coming down from heaven) contrasted with
that earthly system which connects itself with the kings
of the earth. It is the Lord God that judges her. e kings
of the earth have their war with the Lamb. “ Firstfruits
to God and the Lamb “ seem to imply separation from
the evil of the one, and suering in faithfulness to the
Lamb, from the unbelief of the other. ey follow the
Lamb wherever He goes, and are without fault before the
throne of God. It is not properly the Father’s
133
house they
are received into, as identied with Himself-as hidden in
heavenly places. It was deliverance from this corruption
as regards worship, that formed a prominent part of the
next of the seven messages of this chapter-a public general
announcement for all to hear, of the everlasting
134
gospel,
declaring judgment on subsisting things, and calling for
true worship to recognize God in the supremacy of His
133 ey were, rather, a witness of the purity of the throne and
of the Lamb, as King of kings, and Lord of lords, for what
became Him in the earth, and therefore, in the full sense, are
the dawn of that bright and blessed morning of the earth from
the Creator and Redeemer of it.
134 Everlasting I take to be distinguished from any temporary
or provisional good news. Canaan was a gospel to Israel; the
birth of Christ in the esh was good news to Israel. But this
is the everlasting gospel-the full complete promise of the
results in the Son of man, formed on the intentions and rights
of God; and that as by redemption. It involved, therefore, the
kingdom; though, in some cases, only the basis might be laid.
Any diligent student of the gospels will see the transition, from
promises presented to the Jews in the Person of Christ in the
esh, to this everlasting gospel. Of this it is said, “ Except a
man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God “; and
then earthly things and heavenly are brought in.
Notes on the Revelation
323
ministrations as the source of all things. e connection
of the hour of His judgment being come and the call for
true worship, supposes a gospel preached in the midst of
apostasy and corruption before the judgment. I believe the
principle
135
of this began at the Reformation (though it was
by no means the accomplishment of it), and that it will
not be fullled till the testimony to all-even the heathen
nations-for a witness, be fullled. e striking feature is
the announcement of the hour of God’s judgment
136
being
135 [e time given to Jezebel to repent was, so to speak, run out
then. Chapter 2.]
136 When the everlasting gospel then goes forth, it is not the
bringing in a universal state of blessedness, but a call to fear
God amongst widespread apostasy of all sorts, “ for the hour of
his judgment is come,” as “ this gospel of the kingdom must rst
be preached to all nations, and then shall the end come,” i.e.,
of the age. And this last, while I fully recognize what precedes
as involving the principles, is the strong nal sense of the
passage, and therefore, as noticed in the preceding note, God
is announced as a Creator, who had a right to His creatures,
and presented Himself as such to men on the earth, as against
all their idolatries, resuming (rst in testimony) His place as
God in the earth. Babylon, which had been the great corrupter
of the earth, and the center of idolatry, is next judged of God.
ere is another point connected with the hundred and forty-
four thousand and the everlasting gospel. e hundred and
forty-four thousand are redeemed from the earth, where the
testimony is already a redemption from the midst of prevailing
evil in the limited sphere so designated-in the crisis, probably,
entirely conned to the land. Before the judgment (“ the end
“) comes, the everlasting gospel goes out afresh to the nations
(many of them, doubtless, in actual idolatry) to announce the
coming judgment, and to testify the good news of the coming
millennial kingdom and blessedness. ese two spheres- earth,
and people and tongues and nations and languages-we have
noticed as contrasted in repeated instances.
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324
come. e next messenger announces the fall of Babylon.
e particulars of this are more fully given us farther on;
but getting its place in the course of events is of great
moment, which is given us here. e beast and his image
still continue, but things are now closing in; for the warning
is next given, If any man worship him, he shall be made to
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. is,
therefore, is the point of patience and faith now for the
saints, keeping entirely aloof from all connection with the
beast; for as yet it was a prevailing though judged power.
But now the patience of the saints (who suered even
to death, at least) closed. ey were the happy ones; they
rested from their labors, and their works followed them.
On the announcement of judgment on those that
worshipped the beast or his image, or received his mark,
and of the trial being the point of the saints’ patience, a
voice was heard from heaven; not the next progressive
providential announcement (for it was no part of providence
or dealings below), but the heavenly declaration of the
decreed state of the saints, to whom this place was now
publicly assigned in the economy of God. Death of the
saints was now quite done with; and the blessedness of
those of whom this was the portion was brought to light
(not yet by their public manifestation on earth, but by the
announcement from heaven to the ear of faith, that the
time was come): a blessedness to which the Spirit, who had
been their secret strength in labor, and even to death, now,
with the same understanding and sympathy in joy, adds its
“ Yea.” is introduction of the Spirit is very beautiful in
this connection. When the earth was coming into blessing,
they could not be left out in the testimony of Him who had
Notes on the Revelation
325
suered with them. It will be seen that, on the introduction
of grace to the earth (“ the Lamb on Mount Zion “), all
that follows in this chapter relates to the earth; but then, by
the voice from heaven, the portion of the saints is thereon
given. eir portion is given, too, as in the reward of glory,
at least in announcement: “eir works do follow them.”
is refers to manifestation in glory. (Compare 2ess.
1)
137
Anything the beast does after this is not mentioned
here. It is the account of God’s dealings as towards the
earth (the condition of the saints having been stated in
passing). e next step therefore is the “ harvest of the
earth “-the execution of separating judgment in it; which
was the actual accomplishment of the announcement of
137 In the protracted period, verse 13 would refer, I apprehend,
to the announcement of that blessedness of the saints, which
the harvest, looked at as in Matt. 13, in its application to
them, would accomplish -in the crisis, to their manifestation
in this. is distinction is only what we actually nd in the
interpretation of that parable in Matthew. In the parable, the
tares are gathered in bundles in the eld, and the wheat into
the garner: in the explanation, the tares are burned in the eld,
and the righteous shine forth. is is precisely the dierence,
and only this, I make here. e harvest and vintage are two
acts of judgment, the harvest being of much wider scope; and,
accordingly, in it there is not clear riddance of the corners of
the eld as to the wheat. It may distinctively clear and take the
wicked, leaving those spared for earthly blessing. e vintage
is pure vengeance on a specic object (the religious system),
which has its character from earth-in the crisis, I apprehend,
Jewish. Its grapes are now fully ripe. is vengeance is actual
earthly judgment: “blood came out of the wine-press “ far
and wide. It was an actual and dreadful judgment in the land.
All these-all the contents of this chapter-are God’s religious
warnings or dealings with the earth.
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326
the previous verse-at least as regards its consequences in
earth.
en comes the vintage, which is pure wrath, not
discriminating judgment. All the grapes of that which
had the form of His people upon earth are trampled in
the wine-press of God’s wrath. is was done “ without
the city,” not yet mentioned since chapter 11. And there,
Notes on the Revelation
327
notice, it was “ men “ were slain; here, it is “ blood came out
“: the destruction is dreadful.
138
is passes then from redemption out of the really
apostate earth, seen in the one hundred and forty-four
138 ere may be an application of what passes in this chapter to
the crisis; and, in such case, many dates would be ascertained,
but the application is less particular of part. us the song,
being before the throne of God, must be taken only as the
commencing association of heavenly with earthly things,
and the recognition of the earthly by the heavenly powers.
e Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, would recognize the
return of the Jews into suering associated with the Lamb
amongst them in grace (that is, of a remnant among them).
e everlasting gospel would then be strictly that mentioned
in Matthew, “ the gospel of the kingdom “ (i.e., that Christ
was just coming in His kingdom), which I have no doubt will
so go out in all nations before the end. e fall of Babylon
would precede the harvest of the earth, and then the last time
of trouble would be to the Jewish people such as never was, and
Michael would stand up for them, and the sanctuary at length
be cleansed. In this case, I am inclined to think, the vine of
the earth would be rather the Jewish part of profession, as in
Isa. 65 and 66. Such judgment is certain. But there will be also
the apostasy to be destroyed; but that is rather in war against
the royalty of Christ then, and has assumed a worse form than
mere apostasy or profession. Viewed in this light, “ without the
city “ would, in the general application, refer to the great city
of the corporate Roman empire; in the application in crisis it
would, as before, be taken for Jerusalem.In the application in
the text (p. 229) of the claim of true worship, there are most
important principles — the acknowledging God, not man,
as the source in creative power of every blessing, or order of
blessing, or power, or streams and fountains of true inuence,
and consequent condition of men-than which there cannot be
a more important principle possible for daily use. e sense
given above in the text I believe to be the most important for
the church in the present time.
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328
thousand, when redemption from amid profession was
necessary, to the dealing of God, rst in testimony, and
then in judgment, with evil in all its forms as to men, the
beast being reserved in judgment for a fuller description.
is was rather the judgment of men and their corruption
under those circumstances, the Lamb’s open war and
victory being another thing. is is God’s judgment of the
state of things, not the Lamb’s war with hostile power.
We have here, then, a general prospective view of God’s
dealings with the subject-apostasy (for subject it is to Him)
rst, saving His saints out of it, preserving them pure; then
testimony; then judgment.
CHAPTERS 15 AND 16
Chapter 15 begins a new sign and a distinct subject. No
longer various parties in heaven with consequent eects-
the child caught away, and the patience and faith of the
saints- but the plain statement of the wrath of God being
completed or fullled: not here, observe, the judgment and
victory of the Lamb over the beast; that is all special and
administrative, connected with the exhibition of the power
and eect in their followers.
Here was “ another sign in heaven, great and marvelous,
seven angels “ (this was providential government, not the
Lamb or Son of man) “ having the seven last plagues.” e
sea was seen before the throne. Here it was seen, not only in
its xed purity, but this connected with trial-judicial trial.
But on it, having now gotten the victory, stood those who
had overcome the beast, and his image, and his mark, and
the number of his name. Neither secular persecution nor
deceitful power had prevailed over those faithful kept ones.
Notes on the Revelation
329
ey had the “ harps of God “-divine and well-tuned joy.
e song they sung was of a double character-the victory
of God’s power, the song of Moses-Jehovah Elohim
Shaddai’s works were “ great and marvelous “; and the truth
and justice of the ways of the King of nations
139
-the song
140
of the Lamb. It was not only for power exhibited; but, as
the saints, they understood, in the Spirit of the Lamb, the
justice and truth of His ways: so they celebrate the coming
recognition of the Lord.
Now His judgments were made manifest, who should
not fear Him? For He only was holy: all else had failed. e
Lord alone was to be exalted.
ese had gotten the victory over everything of the beast.
ey were conspicuous in joy, consequent on this, before
the throne of God, the elect remnant, faithful under the
139 is is acknowledged to be the true reading.
140 ough this chapter be a distinct sign, yet, like the eleventh
and twelfth, it is not unconnected. It seems to apply itself to
those who have passed through the re-not merely escaped
corruption when Babylon prevailed. And the judgment is not
now the fall of Babylon and a warning against any’s receiving
the mark of the beast, but judgment and plague on those
who had; the faithful being out of the way on the sea of glass
mingled with re. ey had suered, but were therefore out of
the way of the judgments: still the judgment is in the earth.
In subject it follows, but is not, I apprehend, chronologically
consequent, but a distinct design, more secular in its general
character of judgments and dealings. e last of the saints too,
not left on earth, were now out of the way. Compare chapter
14: 13.
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330
beast’s power.
141
ere was a complete and nal separation.
ey are not here seen as come forth to judgment with the
Lamb, or on their thrones, for He is not yet so manifested,
but singing His song. (Compare Psa. 92) e judgments
were on those who had the mark of the beast, not yet on
the beast; that was by the Lamb coming with the saints.
From these they were entirely exempt-seen in heaven.
Faith may anticipate it; but the full actual accomplishment
of this would be on the rapture of the victors, taking of
the victors, to their scene of glory. ey were not under
the altar, nor necessarily killed; but they had the victory,
refusing the mark of the beast.
e temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was now
seen opened. In chapter II it was the ark of the covenant
that was seen securing all for His people, while the power
of evil remained unpunished; here, the tabernacle of His
testimony. For judgment was to go forth according to His
word. His judgments were made manifest, but for the
deliverance of His earthly people according to that word.
e deliverance of the saints is judgment, the judgment of
the wicked. is was according to His governing power
over creation in providence. One of the four beasts gave
the angels the vials-vials full of the wrath of God, who
liveth forever and ever. e return is to past dispensation
and circumstance in this wrath, to Him whom we saw
sitting on the throne before they were opened, according
141 e imperial head subsisted in the apostolic times-Caesar.
It may be noticed that that head was destroyed in the West,
and, taken in the protracted sense, was restored and continued
with the continuance of the hierarchy and the pope set up at
Rome, who had the character of the image here described. Any
further or more literal accomplishment of it will have its place
more tly in a subsequent chapter.
Notes on the Revelation
331
to that character in which He judges by and from Himself.
e glory of God now displayed itself (i.e., not in bright
blessing), but in the power and inuence of His judgment,
as Sinai smoked, and “ there went up a smoke out of his
nostrils.” “ e tabernacle of the testimony was opened,”
but not the callings of grace or warnings, but for the
execution and manifestation of judgments. It was not a
time of testimony, in this sense, but of judgment, and no
one could come into the temple: and, as the Lord speaks
of the land, telling them their testimony would close (“
ese be the days of vengeance, Flee! “), so here (the saints
rst removed), it is no longer a time of reception but of
judgment. Separation having been made (i.e., within the
range of the beast’s inuence), no one could now enter into
the heavenlies: and the earthly people who had taken and
received the mark of the beast were judged.
e judgment as yet, however, was not one of destruction.
e heavenlies
142
and the earth were now separated; and
instead of entering into the former, judgment was owing
from them on the latter. But it was not the actual judgment
of the quick by the Son of man, but providential dealings
of the wrath of God as such, and the wrath lled up in
them.
I do not say that this is the last woe. But we have here
that which was connected with it, “ y wrath is come “;
and I am disposed to think all that follows in that verse,
though other things are mentioned also here. But as the
woe in chapter 12, pronounced on the descent of Satan,
was on the earth and on the sea, when he was cast out
of heaven, so here, on the distinction between heaven and
142 I doubt, as to the crisis, that the heavens were yet changed-
whether these signs did not belong to the old heavens.
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332
earth and closing of the heavenlies (the saints being on the
sea of glass), the judgment sent on the earth falls on the
earth and sea too.
First, it was “poured “ in the stricter sense “ on the
earth … a grievous sore.” A manifested plague from God
fell on the men who had received the mark of the beast,
and who worshipped his image. Next, all form of life was
turned into death in the mass of the population, “and
every living soul “ (they are not spoken of as written in
the book of life; but those who externally had life) “ died.”
e profession of being alive to God was blotted out of the
mass of unformed nations.
e sources of the state of the population became
also the form and power of death-the just judgment of
those who had put the saints to death. ese were general
judgments on the mass and on their condition. Griesbach
reads, “ I heard the altar saying.” “ Another out of the altar
“ would apparently mean another angel, which would be
unsuited to all the force of these images. e force of “ the
altar “ generally is clear; because the slain saints are looked
at as oered, as burnt oerings to God. Compare chapter
6: 9, to. And the altar may be h. re heard to cry, as the
witness of all this slaughter of the saints of God. I hardly
think one saint would give this testimony from under or
out of the altar. If the ordinary reading be correct, then an
angel announces it out of the altar, recalling the mind to
their having been in their death as burnt sacrices to God.
e fourth angel deals with the supreme power over
the earth. But its eect was only to make it hotter. Men
suered from intolerable tyranny now; they would not be
subject to God-now they only blasphemed Him.
Notes on the Revelation
333
e fth poured out his vial on the throne of the beast,
which was really Satan’s throne, the seat of his dominion
and power. e eect was darkness and confusion; and
they, the people of his dominion, “ gnawed their tongues
for pain.” e beast and his armies, his active evil and
mischief, are not in question now; the vial was poured
upon his throne. ere God’s judgment reached him, in
the other the Lamb’s. e pains and sores here connected
seem to identify this class with the rst. God had still, to
them, only the character of the God of heaven.
Under the sixth, that which owed through, and gave
its strength, character, and prosperity to Babylon was dried
up; that “the way of the kings from the sun-rising might
be prepared.” e nal destruction of Babylon and the nal
combats still remained.
ere is reference here plainly to the position of the
Euphrates. It is not, I conceive, the kings “ of the east,” but
the kings who came from the east, from the sun-rising;
chap. 16: 12. is drying up of the great river Euphrates
prepared their way. I suppose, from other passages, the
Euphrates will, at any rate temporarily, be dried up for
Israel to pass over; but I do not see that this passage applies
to it in the midst of a symbolical prophecy, the vial being
said to be poured out on it. It is commonly, from a previous
passage, considered that it is the drying up of the Turkish
power: it may be so, or at least there may be something
analogous, taking the whole chapter in a subordinate and
preparatory sense, which I believe it has had and is having
in our own days (as I have expressed of other chapters,
only over a longer period). Such application I believe this
chapter has had; and this falls in consistently with the
whole plan of the protracted scheme of prophecy, because
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334
the second beast loses its character as a beast and becomes
a false prophet before the nal close.
e saints in chapter 15 had their victory over the
eort to make them worship the image of the beast; but
it was the second beast, not the false prophet, who sought
to make them worship the image of the rst. But here he
has the character of the false prophet, so that thus far (i.e.,
in principle) the victory had been obtained and could be
celebrated, by the Spirit, for the church. But when we come
to a more positive fulllment of judgment, and the actual
bringing it into eect, on the separation of the saints out
of the scene, and the closing the testimony of grace which
gathered into the heavenlies, then there must be something
more distinct, something which makes way for the eastern
kings to take their part in the great catastrophe. e barrier
and resources of the western Roman empire were dried up,
so that the way for this coming in of the kings from the
east was prepared. ereon it is, that the unclean spirits go
out to gather the kings of the whole world to the battle of
the great day of God Almighty.
Chapter 14 had given, so to speak, the ecclesiastical
dealings of the Lord; and testimony in grace was there. In
chapter 15 we have the separation of the saints appropriated
to the heavenlies; and then, in chapter 16, the judgment
on the earth, reaching primarily those who had received
the mark: all this in relation to God-subjection and delity
to Him-not the Lamb nor the Son of man wielding His
power as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Notes on the Revelation
335
But upon this judgment
143
(the drying up of the
Euphrates) the last struggle must commence; and Satan
uses all his energies to prepare his forces: but it is only
for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. is is
done (being a vision in the midst of the course of the
judgment) by the inuence and principles of the positive
exercise of indel self-will and enmity to Christ’s power,
the concentrating spirit of empire in the beast (the Roman
power), and the spirit of Antichrist here (having changed
its secular power as a beast for its false inuence on minds
as a prophet). We see the sort of place this holds in Judah
in Jeremiah’s time, and with Ahab, etc.: the manner of it
may be dierent, but it exercises this guiding character in
apostasy (the power to be wielded being held by another).
ese three gather the kings of the whole organized
habitable earth to the battle of the great day of God
Almighty. But now Christ was nigh at hand. All this went
on with multiplied human plans perhaps, but to the saints
it was the sign that Christ was at hand. “ And he gathered
them together.” Who is He? is was the power and
providence of God by Christ, I apprehend: whatever the
satanic inuence or instrumentality, it was done, if through
that, by Him. e spirits were to go forth to gather; and they
143 Although I do not doubt this will have an actual physical
accomplishment in gathering of the nations or their powers
and armies to battle, yet, as that which concerns us all, I would
say that in that which the church is entitled to understand-
the more hidden working of the enemy in principle-this is
just going on: that a moral, and so far partial, fulllment of
what preceded has taken place, and there is that which morally
gathers them now taking place, so that we have a date of locality
as to the church’s spiritual judgment and position given: the
separation then only marked in character, and morally also.
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336
gathered: but it was really the Lord’s doing in judgment.
Compare Mic. 4:11-13.
is battle, the scene of the Lamb’s judgments, against
whom the hatred and opposition was, is reserved for His
coming forth, and the display of His power. We have an
intimation of its connection with Hebrew localities: the
place has a Hebrew name, Armageddon. But this comes in
here by the bye; for it is the account of God’s wrath, and
the gathering is all that has this character providentially. If
there be allusion to the place and term Megiddo, I should
suppose it was, of the two, rather Judg. 5 than the case of
Josiah.
e seventh vial was poured into the air, that which
aected the whole scene below, the place of universal
government and inuence. e wrath was still in the earth:
so in fact, in all. And now a voice from the throne in the
temple announced that all was nished, and the power of
God displayed itself in judgments and thunderings of His
power; for “the voice of the Lord is powerful.” And never
was so great an earthquake-so great a disruption of all the
elements of organized social existence. “ e great city (that
frame-work and center of this organization) “ was divided
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell “-all the
centers of organization of the nations external to the great
city. And great Babylon is here presented, not merely in
its civil sociality, but its full character before God-” great
Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the erceness of his wrath.” e
particulars of her judgment also are reserved for a fuller
and exacter display, together with her character, as was that
of the beast. e precursory judgments have been stated
here, and the order of these nal ones placed. e fall of
Notes on the Revelation
337
Babylon is connected with chapter 14, where testimony is
going on, as we have seen.
Direct destructive judgment, in the way of plague, not
proper judgment before the throne, came down on men,
along with this bringing the corporate system of Babylon
into remembrance. It was neither repentance, nor, as I
have said, anything of the nal judgment of the throne-an
earthly thing; for men blasphemed God because of it, for it
was very great. Such is the eect of God’s judgments when
the willful rebellious heart is unchanged; such have all of
us, unless in new life by grace.
CHAPTER 17
e apostle is now called away to a fuller description of
the woman and the beast, not called up to heaven at all now,
for her place and her judgment are on earth. He is called by
one of the angels, or messengers of judgment, that had the
seven vials of wrath of God. ese angels had the character
of perfect righteousness both divine and human: the
golden girdle in which the certain energy and pure power
of divine righteousness is maintained and vindicated; and
white robes, in which the spotlessness of human sanctity
and faultlessness, as of God, is expressed. One of these
now comes to show the prophet the judgment of the great
whore that is seated, in her malignant inuence, on the
masses of peoples. at is, the revelation is made according
to the character and estimate of this judgment.
e interpretation of this chapter is clearly of the greatest
possible importance, as to the form of the corporate power
of man, as apart from God, and setting up for independence
of Him in the latter days. However, the judgment (though
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338
much information be given of her, and of the beast that is
found to carry her) is denitely of her in one character-the
great whore. She is judged as such, though much thereon
depends; and this I certainly conclude to be mainly her
ecclesiastical character, just as the bride, the Lamb’s wife,
with whom she is in eminent contrast, is the church;
though heavenly glory be her portion, as false earthly
glory is the great whore’s. But the union with the Lamb
is the real distinction of the one; her meretricious conduct
(ecclesiastical corruption) is of the other: doubtless the
glory of the world is eminently and intimately associated
with this. Had she not this in play, much of her grandeur
and inuence would be lost, and she would cease to have
this character. Her union with the world was her whoredom.
Babylon may have a king over it-so it is spoken of in the
Old Testament; but this is not its character here-she rides
the beast. In the Old Testament, she is never, accordingly,
spoken of as committing fornication; for in a certain sense
(though, perhaps, through him, an evil one), she belonged
to the king of the earth: he had made her and builded her
for his majesty and his glory. Here, she rides on the beast,
using him, though afterward hated and impoverished, etc.,
by the ten kings. Babylon of old, had deceived the nations
by the multitude of her sorceries and her enchantments;
but that is another thing: evil or good, she belonged to the
king of Babylon; she rose by him, and fell with him. Here
she has no king, but lives in evil, her own mistress, with the
Notes on the Revelation
339
kings of the earth. Israel was an adulteress,
144
not Babylon,
then.
For this she is judged, though other things and all worldly
splendor might surround her, and give her inuence over
the minds of others. In the Old Testament, fornication is
attached, not to Babylon, but to Tire, with reference to her
merchandise.
e material feature here is, that Babylon is not the
seat of earthly power, ruled over and headed at any time
by him who exercises apostate royalty upon the earth, but
an independent woman. So was Tire in the world, as thus
spoken of: and, where the prince of Tire
145
is spoken of, it is
not in human earthly language, but the highest character of
apostasy, such as can be reached in its full character only by
the great enemy, and, it would seem to me, connected with
a church or religious standing-a character and apostasy far
more terrible than the apostasy of the world, headed by its
king, in its full form builded by him. Worldly association,
then, this has, and wide extent of merchandising and
wealth-a great system of worldly prosperity; but its
144 Fornication seems to consist in living in wealth and luxuries,
through intercourse with others, not the cultivation of her
own resources; therefore it is referred to union with, and
dependence on, the world in the case of the church, and to
enriching commerce with other nations in the case of a city,
as Tire. Jerusalem is termed “ adulteress,” not whore, because
she was married to the Lord; but in all these cases there will be
found, I conceive, a worshipping of Satan, in this world, as its
god, a seeking the power “ of the age of this world,” Eph. 2:2.
Power national or imperial is a distinct thing, though it may be
abused: it is given of God, though it may end in open rebellion.
145 e prince and king of Tire are, however, dierent. It is the
king of whom the position is so astonishingly traced by the
divine hand.
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340
character for judgment is her fornication, not her purple,
her scarlet, and the like, though all these were connected
with it, and designated her. Judgment ruined her as to
these; but they were not the cause of judgment. And this
is always the case: the becoming worldly, and by this spirit,
and to gain this wealth, pandering to the passions of the
kings of the earth, is just the very cause of this. But, as in
old time, the blood of all righteous men was found in God’s
house, then apostate-not in the world’s or the wicked one’s
outwardly-judged in Jerusalem, not in heathen Rome,
so, ever: the ecclesiastical form of wickedness takes the
lead, not the worldly. e gainsaying is recorded as the
gainsaying of Korah, not of Dathan and Abiram, though
the earth might swallow them up too; and the beast may
be judged as well as Babylon, but not presented in the same
sad terms in God’s moral judgment, in the sight of men.
Moral corruption is ever worse than evil power.
Babylon was also the mother of harlots, and of the
abominations or idolatries of the earth. e invocation of
a demon, under the name of Paul, was worse than under
the name of Hercules or eseus; and the uprooting of
the mediation of Christ more fatal and destructive (as of
the remedy itself), than that of the unity of the one true
Jehovah. She was here a mystery. e apostasy of worldly
power and grandeur was no mystery to the escaped
remnant of Babylon, and the Patmos prisoner of Domitian.
at the church, which the apostle watched over, should
assume this form, was a mystery indeed- ruling that which
he was suering under as a poor despised follower of the
crucied Jesus, and corrupting a world of which the church
properly was the only true light. She was the mother of
the abominations of the earth; but her sway was over
Notes on the Revelation
341
the many waters, peoples, and tongues, and nations, and
languages. Rome, I cannot help believing, was the center
of this system. e golden cup was in the whore’s hand,
not she a golden cup in the Lord’s-she governed and rode
the ten-horned beast, that was her long general character,
but not her nal one: she became the prey and spoil of
the kings which had their power with the beast. ey gave
their power, not to her any longer, but to him. She, not the
beast, was drunk with the blood of the saints, and that, as
seen sitting in her full ease and comfort there. And this was
matter of deep astonishment to the apostle, that she who
connected herself in his mind with such a character and
pretension should be such.
us far the vision: but the interpretation follows,
and (as has been elsewhere remarked of Daniel and
the parables) the interpretation carries the facts of the
prophecy into a further scene, altogether consequent upon
that in the prophecy. “ e beast which thou sawest.” e
interpretation takes up the time of the passage into this
further scene, which did not exist in the actual vision of the
apostle; which saw (in order to give her her full character)
the woman in all her splendor. “ e beast which thou sawest,
was “ (to wit, the fourth great empire), “ and is not “ (i.e.,
had not, at the noticed period, its united formal character),
“ and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit “-shall resume
this formal character, under the direct inuence of Satan,
and then be destroyed. And all within the prophetic range
of his power (the earth-the woman’s inuence extended
farther, “ she sat on the waters “) should be amazed when
they thus saw it. e seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman, not the whore, sitteth, “ but that great
city which reigneth.” is cannot mean merely Babylon;
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342
for that was the whore’s name already on her forehead,
and therefore not an explanation to be given. at was her
symbolic character: this her local explanation. ere are
also seven kings; these are not the horns, they were not
moreover contemporaneous. “ Five are fallen, one is “ (I
take this, from verse 9, to be a direct present explication
to the apostle), “ the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh, he must continue a short space.” is made the
seven. One brief-lived head of the beast was to arise before
the last, after the apostle’s days. e Spirit of God has not
thought it material to give a special designation of this or
the previous heads, as not in the present scene aecting
the church or purposes of God, but merely identifying the
beast, and not suering the church to be led astray.
But there is that which is more distinctly noted, after all
this is completed, and all that properly formed the beast is
full-an eighth head
146
(which is the beast itself, as arising
directly from Satan’s power and inuence) arises, which is
yet of the seven, which is connected with and takes its place
among the other heads and forms of the Roman empire,
but is also a distinct, denite power, the resurrection-beast
of Satan’s power; and in this form it is that it goes into
perdition.
We have now the woman, the beast, and its heads,
described.
146 I feel that probably this has passed, if we take the protracted
course, in Charlemagne; if the closing scene, in Buonaparte,
because the Roman empire had been destroyed in its full
character before Charlemagne; and his was a renewal of what
was not. Nominally it continued until Buonaparte, who, as the
agent of the French republic, broke it to pieces and renewed
the imperial power for a little season.
Notes on the Revelation
343
We have then the conduct of the ten horns, the ten
kings. ese properly belong to the beast; they had received
no kingdom at the time of the vision, formed no part of the
then system, but would receive power contemporaneously
with the beast. I do not see that this states that they would
exist all the time along with the beast,
147
but that they
would not be a power supplanting or without connection
with the beast, but that they would exist themselves,
contemporaneously, and while the beast existed. ey
would give their power to the beast. I have no doubt that
mainly the beast in its last form is here spoken of, but it
is their character generally. ey give their kingdom and
power to the beast; they have one mind as to this. But
though they did this corporately, they had a mind of their
own, or at least practically in action. ese shall make
war with the Lamb: this shall be their conduct and end.
e Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords,
and King of kings; and then we have His companions
the church and armies of heaven anticipatively brought
forward. He is not alone: they that are with Him are “
called, and chosen, and faithful.” is was the history and
the end of the ten kings, but still characteristically; for, if
we consult Daniel, three of them fall. eir Victor is then
declared and His companions. As the confederacy of the
kings gave (for it was man’s will) their power to the beast,
the Lamb’s companions were, on the contrary, called, and
chosen, and faithful. e “ waters “ are then explained so as
to need little comment, save as reminding us of the extent
of general moral inuence beyond the prophetic earth:
she had her seat there, though she sat on the beast too.
147 It may have that force as to the last form of the beast out of the
abyss.
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Another characteristic was, that she had this inuence and
place on the peoples and multitudes and nations; all this
was an independent inuence proper to the woman, and
this in her evil character as the whore.
Another incident of much importance in the history
is then brought forward. ese ten kings are to give their
power to the beast. So “ God hath put into their hearts to
fulll his will,” and “ these shall hate the whore, and shall
make her desolate, and eat her esh “ (devour her wealth
and fatness), “ and burn her with re.” It was not specically
with these kings she had committed fornication; that had
been her general character with the kings of the earth.
ese ten kings, however, desolate her: the will at this time
acts in them, not in the beast.
148
ey are the prominent
and existing actors, that they may give their power to the
beast, whose nal character and end we have already seen.
is goes on “ until the words of God shall be fullled.” e
woman, not the whore, is then designated as that great city
which reigneth over the kings of the earth (the predominant
associated power of the earth):
149
but if acting by corrupt
religion, not doing so here as a false prophet, but as a city-a
system in her secular, carnal, and worldly, and wealthy
character; yet that secularity and wealth, the meretricious
148 e better reading, however, adds ‘ the beast.’
149 Such as Rome, for example, before even imperial times.
Notes on the Revelation
345
secularity
150
and wealth of an active, corrupting will-” the
mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”
As to the ten kings, I would here also notice, what, not
being the direct subject of the book, I have not noticed
hitherto. It appears to me a mistake to include the Grecian
or eastern part of the Roman empire in the ten kings or
direct power of the beast, though he may seek to possess
himself of it as his dominion, and in a measure may do so.
e little book of the eleventh chapter takes up the
beast in his last satanic character, in order to complete the
scene of the nal catastrophe and woe; but the rst two
woes seem to me to embrace the eastern or Grecian part of
150 I know that many take Babylon as merely a great worldly
system. at it is a great worldly system is freely admitted. But
the exclusion of the ecclesiastical character in this place seems
to me a great error: it is the virus of her active will in this
place, though clothed with the world. She is not viewed here
as the city of the apostate king at all, though, in the wordly
sense, she may be the beginning of his kingdom. He comes in
here, as the eighth head of the beast, supplanting the woman.
e kings lay her waste to give their power to him; for power,
not wealth, is the last form of evil presented, and that against
the Lamb, which is true, active rebellion, and more than mere
apostasy. God therefore judges Babylon; and the destroyers of
her wealth and importance are those who give their kingdom
to the beast: thereupon and then war against the Lamb comes.
I have no doubt the principles of Babylon were manifested
in her-not royal power. ough Babylon was the beginning
of his power in whom royal power was rst displayed, yet it
was specially what the confederate will of man had done; its
rst form was confederate will in independence of God. is
is shown in the character which constituted the whore, yet had
its development by her corruption and fornication: and the
eects of this are supplanted by another confederacy, which
is not only apostasy, as all human will apart from God is, but
active war against God’s King, the Lamb.
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346
the great scene of the prophetic earth. When we come to
the geographical divisions and actings at the close (for all
are aware that the catastrophe of all the powers of the earth
is in the east, in Judea), then the king of the north and
the king of the south seem to me to occupy the Grecian
part, not the ten kings, though the beast may be seeking to
possess himself, as of old, of their territory, and may in part
succeed. I allude here to Daniel 11, as may readily be seen.)
CHAPTER 18
Having thus seen Babylon in her active will, in her
connection with the will of others, and her end in wealth
and fatness, the announcement of her fall as a corporate
system is declared.
And here I nd much more of the purely worldly part
of the system; and this is its character, though the other
be not denied. And here she is seen as fallen-Babylon the
great, not spoken of here as the mother of harlots, the
whore, or the woman, but simply as Babylon the great, as a
city or dwellingplace. She had not ceased to exist, however,
at all; but she was fallen, and become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold
of every unclean and hateful bird. is was her present
condition and judgment- her condition morally-and as
discerned by the church, who, through the Spirit, knew all
things on the testimony of God. e fall of Babylon seems
to be her losing the place of active, governing or leading
power, ruling as such the beast and many waters, involving
her moral degradation, not destruction.
God now calls His people out of her. I do not say
that this call had not application whenever the truth of
Notes on the Revelation
347
the third verse was perceived: but it was now denite
and positive, for the truth was declared judicially. Woe to
them who remained! Her sins had reached to heaven, and
they would receive of her plagues if they stayed. It was a
warning on account of consequences now. e separation
must be made, for God had begun to judge her. She had
already fallen from power, the seductive power of wealth
and corruption. She still, it seems, said in her heart, she
should be a queen and see no sorrow- still maintained her
pride, though she was fallen; and the church knew God
was now judging her.
151
e desolation of all the temporal
prosperity of the great city is sorrow and trouble to the
kings of the earth. is is a distinct thing from the ten
horns hating her and burning her with re. e kings of
the earth are the royal rulers, not these specic ten horns,
which give their power to the beast as kingdoms; the horns
were the power of the kingdoms, exercised by the ruling
power for the time, perhaps. But all those who had been
dwelling in the security of the settled and ordered earthly
system-the kings of the earth, as the inhabitants of the
earth-those who had been committing fornication with
the great whore-these bewailed her burning.
152
e ten
were a denite class, brought forward with the beast in
his last actings against the Lamb, for the accomplishment
of which God puts it into their heart to get rid of the
151 e full judgment comes after God’s people are come out of
her. Her fall is a warning to them, these are rapidly brought
together here at her judgment. [I have left this statement as it
is, though its full force may be questioned, because it is a very
nice point of interpretation, and it was no harm to have this
view before us.]
152 See Ezek. 27:35, 36, and the previous verses. e prince of
Tire sits in the midst of the seas.
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348
great whore. e ten kings are never, as such, spoken of as
committing fornication with the harlot. e kings of the
earth and inhabitants of the earth are mentioned as having
so conducted themselves. e rising of the ten kings into
active power is a distinctly noticed and subsequent event.
eir specic description as active is from chapter 17: 12-
17.
e destruction and judgment of the great city involved
the ruin of all mere secular interests-wealth-all that was
Tyrian in its character, though souls of men had been added
to that renowned city’s trac; for the great city traded in
them also. Anything to enrich characterized the conduct
of the city, taught by direct and accomplished apostasy. e
city was, in a certain sense, distinct from the merchants. She
was the whole system; they stood aloof, from the fear
of her torment when God was judging her; and the ship-
masters withal. But heaven and the holy apostles and
prophets were called to rejoice over her. She had been the
enemy of heaven, as the whole lust of the earth, to shut out
God; and withal the persecutor and enemy of the revelation
and testimony of the heavenly glory, the judgment of the
world, and the coming of the Son of man-in a word, of
the great power of testimony by which the church was
constituted in the world. en came the statement of the
Notes on the Revelation
349
sudden and total manner of her nal destruction.
153
Her
worldly wealth, the power of riches, is marked as her great
nal character as thus judged and destroyed. And here she
was like Babylon of old; and in her was found all the blood
slain upon the earth-as in Jerusalem all that was shed, up
to her destruction-as being the chief and perfected form of
apostasy from God.
153 ere seems to me, an intimate connection between the
continuance of Babylon and the serpent being in heavenly
places. He exercises his power thus as inuence, secretly, as
false worship. He is the object of false worship; and hence,
in this dispensation, he works by the corruption of Christian
profession; and yet this still as the god of this world, which
title he cannot lose, for it is all he has: “ the course of this
world … the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience.” is is said of
him as still in the heavenlies.False worship, as the source of
power, would be its heathen character; false worship, as the
source or means of fellowship, its Babylonish character in
the Christian dispensation. In a word, this is rather His anti-
priestly character and spiritual inuence: the man of sin, or
lawless one, is not revealed. Power continues outwardly owned
of God, and the letter [he that letteth] remains. When he is
cast down, he loses this character, which is opposed to Christ
as Priest, and to Him as acting by His Spirit in maintaining
the holy communion of His saints and washing their feet. He
then raises power as of earth (the king doing according to his
will) against the heavens, for he has no place in them even
falsely. He could render his inuence as anti-priest paramount
to supreme civil authority, which is of God, using the name of
God falsely in religion; but he cannot, save in open rebellion
when cast down, bring power against God. [e substance of
this note is of great importance; only it must not be supposed
that the rst sentence is to be taken strictly as the existence of
Babylon. But I apprehend there will be a total change when
Satan is cast down, perhaps practically prepared before. e
principles, I have no doubt, are already at work.]
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In this description of Babylon we have the whole spirit
and character of the world except power, royal power; for
that is of God, however used, and that (in the hands of the
kings of the earth) was corrupted by her; and then these ten
horns or kings hated her and destroyed all its fullness and
power. ese were not Babylon; but they gave their power
to the beast; so that power also which did come from God,
might be found in open rebellion against Him to whose
hand all power was entrusted and given-the Lamb; and
thus the last and nal form of evil be produced, involving
(for it was then the question whose power was to stand) the
destruction and setting aside of the form and subsistence
of apostasy.
us, in Babylon we have wealth, corruption, sorceries,
arts, luxuries, bodies and souls of men sold, fornication
committed with the kings and dwellers upon earth, and
they made drunk with it:
154
the principle of confederate
will, but the corruption (not the exercise) of royal secular
power as of God, though it might, by seduction, rule and
govern this power, and thus separate it from its divine
source, and actually set aside and hinder the unqualied
assertion of its supremacy, as of God over all. is, as we
have seen, is distinct from the direct apostasy of power,
which is founded on the hatred and consumption of the
whore, and has its place in the beast. Power was given to
Nebuchadnezzar, and he built Babylon. But here we have
154 e character of Babylon as whore seems lost by the enmity
of the ten horns, because she cannot help it. e religious
mischief is, after this, done by the false prophet, the other form
of the two-horned beast. ereon the character of Babylon
becomes more purely secular; but the devil dwells there, or it
is the habitation of demons, and not therefore simply worldly
interests.
Notes on the Revelation
351
the woman in the exercise of her own will corrupting and
ruling, uniting the characters of Israel towards God (save
that she was a harlot, not an adulteress, for she had been but
espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ), and Tire towards the
world. When in exercise, we have always the ecclesiastical
taking the lead in evil, as in Kore and the chief priests: so
here this mysterious woman sits on the beast and many
waters. When the kings begin to act, and are going to give
their power by their will, they begin by her destruction, or
consumption at any rate. And note, the act of Christ’s power
is on the feet and toes themselves. God judges Babylon as a
great moral system denying His supremacy, not in open
hostility to Christ’s power.
We have the fall
155
of Babylon distinguished, I think,
from the destruction of Babylon. Her fall includes moral
degradation, and being the dwelling-place of unclean
spirits. is is judgment on her; and she falls because of her
making the nations drink of the wine of the poison of her
fornication; chap. 14: 8. is we nd in the ecclesiastical
course, so to speak, of closing facts. Her nal judgment
we nd in the close of the lling up of the wrath of God;
chap. 16: 19. e connection of the former seems to be
with chapter 18:2; of the latter, with chapter 18:21.
CHAPTER 19
us Babylon was judged-removed out of the way
with her corruptions, which corrupted the earth; and the
155 [I have still left this, though it may be too precise as a system.
Still both are spoken of. ere is an excessive degradation; the
fair form of ecclesiastical character is gone, and it is thorough
demon wickedness. In this case, chapter 18: 4-8, and verse 213
would seem to coalesce with chapter 16: 19.]
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352
blood of the servants of the Lord God was avenged. is
is celebrated as the work of the Lord God by a multitude
in heaven, and the mystic representations of the redeemed;
but the worship was of God as sitting on the throne, whose
power and judgment had been thus exercised. e way was
now made free; and a voice comes forth out of the throne
for the voice of praise from all God’s servants. His sons
could always praise Him in spirit; but here (the prevalence
of evil being removed and “ delay no longer “) they, in their
character of servants, and all that feared God, can praise
Him; for He now reigned as the Lord God Omnipotent-
that character or those characters in which He dealt with
the earth whether as God, Creator, Promiser, and Shield of
His people while strangers, or the everlasting Accomplisher
of all He had promised, Jehovah Elohim Shaddai. All
these He took now in power and reigned. is time takes
us back to chapter 11:17:
156
we have had, in the interval,
the source, character, and form of evil, and judgment of all
but the beast, and open power against the Lamb, which is
earthly. All secret or mere corrupt evil, all evil that had its
place in heaven, being removed, it was a question of open
power-Satan’s last and hopeless resource on earth. e
praise, accordingly, is returned to God in this character of
Lord God Almighty who reigneth; and gladness and joy
immediately came forth.
156 When God takes to Himself His power and reigns, and the
worldly kingdom of our Lord and of His anointed is come. It
is taken up here on the actual judgment and removal out of the
way of Babylon, as the earthly mystery opposed to the heavenly
bride of Christ: so that, as the Lord God Omnipotent takes
His power, the Lamb thereupon takes His bride. Babylon’s
fall, which seems more connected with the fall of Satan from
heaven, is a previous thing.
Notes on the Revelation
353
en His rst and immediate purpose manifests itself,
before even the Lamb’s judgment of His earthly enemies;
“ the marriage of the Lamb is come.” is is a matter of
ordinance and dispensation. We are now His children; but
the marriage of the Lamb is not yet come, nor is His wife
made ready. It is not here, then, children with the Father.
But the time for the Lord’s manifest glory being come, the
Lord God takes His power, judges and removes the evil
worldly counterpart, and (the Lamb’s wife made ready) the
time for it is come: these, however, were heavenly things,
157
and they are passed by. e time, and readiness and nature
of her robes only, are passingly mentioned as an important
circumstantial characterizing the progress of events: and it
closes with pronouncing blessing on those who are called to
the marriage supper of the Lamb; and the prophet returns
to the course on the earth again, where the white-robed
ones are found the companions of His glory in judgment.
is closed the scene of what was properly heavenly, i.e.,
the time during which the Lamb (and His followers) were
not manifested upon earth. It closes with “ these are the true
sayings of God.” e angel was his fellow servant
158
and the
fellow servant of his brethren that had the testimony of
157 e marriage of the Lamb was not before the world: though,
having espoused her in the heavens, He may then in the
gladness of His heart bring her forth in glory. e marriage
supper seems to be rather the manifestation, as His companions
in glory; as the “ blessed are the dead,” etc., is the rest from
their labors, and reception of reward; I do not say the time, but
the peculiar blessedness is dierent. I have some notion that
the blessing (chapter 14), has special connection with chapter
13: to, and the blessing here with chapter 14: 12.
158 Note, sonship is not the point of this book, but dealings on
earth: therefore the angel says, “ fellow servant “ to those who,
in their higher character, are really sons and joint heirs.
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354
Jesus; for the spirit of prophecy still testied of Jesus. God
was to be worshipped: this was the great end of the book-
to keep the church in the holy simplicity of true worship in
the midst of ruin and apostasy.
Now the heaven is opened. It is not John caught up
there. It is not a sign there. It is not the temple -opened
to him there; but heaven is opened and One comes
forth.
159
Heaven opened for the Holy Ghost to descend
on Jesus here. It opened for the angels of God to ascend
and descend on the Son of man. It opened for the church
(to wit, in Stephen closing that period and scene) to see
into heaven and be received there. It now was opened,
that the King of kings and Lord of lords Himself should
come forth thence to act on the earth-to judge and make
war in righteousness. It was now the time that power was
to be applied to righteousness
160
in the earth. He came
in the manifestation of faithfulness and truth; He came
with scrutinizing and purging judgment; He came in the
assemblage of many royalties; and in the secret of His own
power, which none knew but Himself. His armies were
in ne linen clean and white-heavenly righteousness and
purity-the priests of God. He came with divine vengeance
(His garment was dipped in blood), and in that title of the
manifestation of the power of God which was from creation
downward, “ the word of God.” us He had created, thus
revealed, thus judges. e armies in heaven followed. None
were in this conict with Him on the earth-His own arm
brought salvation: He smites, rules, and treads the wine-
159 I have long felt, and it is clear from this passage, that the
church is actually with Christ in heavenly places before this;
for they come forth with Him. See Col. 3:1-4.
160 “ Judgment shall return to righteousness; and all the upright in
heart shall follow it,” Psa. 94:15.
Notes on the Revelation
355
press of God’s wrath. e power and title, in which He is
now publicly manifested, is “ King of kings, and Lord of
lords “: this recalls to chapter 17: 14. e birds of the air are
summoned to the great supper of destruction.
e ten kings were specially marked in their war against
the Lamb; and they did take a lead in it; but the expression
here is more general. e beast is found here, and the kings
of the earth. ose who ruled the earth were generally
found refusing to submit to this royal conqueror-to the
Lord. e beast is rst and prominent; then the kings
of the earth withal and their armies. It was the general
character of the state of the earth then. e beast and
the false prophet are taken and put in the lake of re. e
prophet, by his characteristics, is identied with the second
two-horned beast which arose out of the earth, which has
lost its secular power, but not its character as counselor
of mischief in the latter day. e remnant was slain with
the sword of him that sat on the horse-it “ proceeded out
of his mouth.” For, though it was the actual execution of
judgment, and no longer merely the sword of the Spirit,
but of the Lord, in active imperial judgment of the quick,
it was according to the word. It was the judgment of the
word which proceeded out of His mouth: they died by
that. e proper application of this is to those who were
against Him, as coming from heaven to judge those who
were directly under the inuence and power of apostasy.
Still, the kings of the earth is wider than the ten kings,
161
and left general. I doubt, however, whether it includes Gog,
whose aim is against the land rather than the Lamb, or
even the Prince of princes. With Gog, it is the gratication
161 Only that the kings of earth compose the ideal completeness
of the earth under the beast.
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356
of covetousness, the lust of possessing. He goes against the
land of unwalled villages, and perishes in the mountains of
Israel, after Israel is brought back and dwelling in peace.
e beast and the false prophet, these delegates of
Satan, the active enemies of the Lamb, were nally judged:
but it does not appear that the deceiving of the nations
by Satan thereupon ceases, because he is not yet bound.
Still, he cannot now reproduce anything that had before
owed from his place in heaven. On his casting down, his
place became, as we have seen, that of open opposition to
the Lamb. is is the character of the action of the nations
ever afterward under his inuence: nothing like the great
previous system. So, even after the thousand years, all is on
earth and of this character. He never regained heaven again
at all. e beast and the false prophet, the resulting form
of the apostasy while Satan was god of this world, never
re-appeared either. He established himself evidentially
prince of this world by what led to the cross, that being
the climax of it. When that was departed from, the church
only became the instrument of his power; sin and the
world resuming their dominion under her name. is
was maintained in active apostasy by the use of a corrupt
church, still on the earth as to means; and, when he was
cast down from heaven, it could then only be by open war,
as we have seen, against Him who came in His royalty to
claim His inheritance. I believe it will be found that the
early commerce and colonization of the earth were most
intimately connected with idolatry-the children of apostate
though once rescued Ham. His rst act was casting o or
degrading authority as of God; and ere long we nd, at the
Notes on the Revelation
357
river of Cush,
162
idolatry in practice, and extending even to
the Shemitic race, whence Abraham was then called out.
e former state (i.e., confederacy, trading, false religion)
is spoken of as a woman:
163
this may, as to part of the ideas,
be subjected to Christ. Nebuchadnezzar may rule Babylon
(the city of confusion); so the Lord Christ “ the city of the
great King,” where God is well known; and Jerusalem may
be the queen in gold of Ophir. e latter state of earthly
opposition is, either the beast, once subject to the former,
and it is by the will of the kings, or in the hands of the
willful king, the fallen and hostile carnal man rising up
against the Lord. e former point much explains to me
the prince of Tire in the prophet Ezekiel.
CHAPTER 20
We have, accordingly, to remark that Satan is not bound
by him that sat on the horse; but an angel comes down
from heaven. It is not the immediate judgment here on
Satan by Christ, but the divine power, and providence, and
intervention of God, which sets Satan aside and incapacitates
him from any further deceiving of the Gentiles till he be
let loose.
In verse 4 we begin a new scene-the thrones. It is not
judging and making war here, but sitting in royal judgment
on thrones. is passage, it seems to me, alludes to the
162 Of this idolatrous and worldly power, Egypt, Babylon, and
Tire (from which last the worldly and apostate character is
specially drawn) were the great centers mentioned in Scripture.
e last committed fornication with all the kingdoms of the
earth (this in connection with her trade, etc.).
163 As Babylon, or the great city, Tire: adulterous Israel and
idolatry.
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thrones being set (so admitted to mean, I believe, as in
Septuagint) in Dan. 7:9; in the interpretation of which, in
verse 22, we read, “ judgment was given to the saints of
the most high,” or of the heavenly places. Here, not only
are the thrones set, but he sees people sitting on them: the
thrones were lled. is Daniel did not see-it was a period
with him: with us it is our glory with Christ. ese thrones
were set before even the King and His armies came forth;
but they formed no part of the actual visible earthly scene
(nothing yet of the connection of heaven with the earth);
and therefore they are not mentioned. e thrones were
set before the judgment of the beast in Daniel; and those
who come forth with the Lamb are sitters on the thrones.
But, I repeat, though lled, they are not brought into the
scene till they form properly part of it. “ When the Son
of man shall come in his gory … then shall he sit on the
throne of his glory.” ey do not take this place properly
till He takes it openly (the power being given to Him
as Son of man, which is connected with earth): and so
these thrones, though seated in heaven. As, in Daniel, “
the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the
saints of the most high,” so this is consequent upon His
taking His power and reigning. ey reign with Him the
thousand years. What follows in the verse is an additional
intimation that the others had lost nothing by the enmity
of the world,
164
and of Satan even to death, or by their
164 I think I see here an assertion of threefold presentation of those
who shall occupy the thrones, or at least live and reign with
Christ a thousand years. First, the general body of the saints
of the heavenlies, including the church-they sat on thrones;
next, those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and the word
of God; thirdly, those who had not worshipped the beast. is
is important as showing the place of all these classes.
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359
refusal to worship the beast. eir souls were seen. ere
might have been power to kill the body, but they had never
died to God, and now they enjoyed the fruit of it-” they
reign in life by one.”
e reigning on the thrones actually is consequent upon
the removal of the deceiving power of Satan: and so with
Christ. He comes rst, and then actually takes the throne
of the world: His companions have been hidden with Him
meanwhile; and though gloried (so I speak of them now),
the thrones were not seen till the war ended. e title was
full, they were gone to Him. But they did not, before that,
actually possess the kingdom; nor did He Himself. e
horse and the throne are distinct things-imperial, active,
subduing power; and full, peaceable, judicial power as king.
For Christ’s act so coming is not a mere passing act. e
throne of His glory continues till, as mediatorial king, He
gives it up. On this throne of the Son of man the saints will
sit, occupying thrones with Him and judging the world;
and this is a reign of peace, but of righteousness withal
(this latter Jewish properly): for heaven and earth meet in
peace now-peace on earth; because the face of heaven, in
its own character through Christ the Mediator, and the
saints with Him, shines on it now.
In this part there is little mention of the nations, though
it be left general; because Christ deals with the nations
as identied with earthly Jerusalem: whereas here He is
looked upon as coming from heaven to act upon the main
scene and agent of Satan’s hostile power-the beast and his
followers. e nations at this time are more the subjects of
Old Testament prophecy; which, while it recognizes the
fact of the Lord’s coming from heaven with all His saints,
occupies itself with the earthly Jerusalem and what passes
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there. Here we have the display of the rst resurrection-
the main subject. Blessed and holy are they! they shall be
priests of God and of Christ: there is their highest place, as
seen in this book; and they shall reign with Him a thousand
years, for He is a priest on His throne. It would be hard to
make priests of principles, though, by a gure, we might
say principles reign.
After this, when the nations form the body of hostile
agents, we have Satan’s actings in them; but it is no revival
of the beast, nor anything in that character. Blessed be God,
there was a nal ending of that dark and subtle apostasy
which resulted from Satan’s being in heaven; but this is
a mere exhibition of open, hostile enmity in those whom
he has been able to deceive here. We must on no account,
therefore, lose sight of this character of present evil and
rebellion and apostasy, that it ows from Satan’s being in
heavenly places (though the church, in the knowledge of
Christ’s exaltation, may know His and its entire victory
over him). e wrestling, however, is not now with esh
and blood, but with principalities and powers, with spiritual
wickedness in heavenly places. In chapter 12Satan is cast
down from heaven; but here, what he raises on earth against
the Lamb is cast into the lake of re and Satan himself is
bound in the bottomless pit, the history of the earth not
being yet nished. e coming of Jesus, whose judgment
acts on the beast and false prophet, is not the same as the
angel of God’s providence and power casting Satan into
the pit.
e glory and reigning of the Son of man seems to
vindicate God as regards the failure of the Noah world. e
blessing of the Second Adam, as the Head of a redeemed
race, takes the place of antediluvian evil and wretchedness,
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361
in which the children of fallen Adam displayed their
character: this closed by the judgment of water, that
commenced by that of re. In the reign of the Son of man
with His saints, “ a King shall reign in righteousness.” In
the blessedness of the Second Adam, as Head of the new
race when God’s tabernacle is with men, therein “ dwelleth
righteousness,” its peaceful and constant habitation without
force maintaining it. Partially the principles of these two
states mingle, by virtue of the power and inuence of the
heavenly Jerusalem and its great Bridegroom (and so we
have Psa. 85 accomplished): still are they dierent.
Upon the close of the thousand years, Satan is let
loose- deceives the nations-a separation takes place; and
he brings up the deceived against the camp of the saints
and the beloved city, to wit, the earthly Jerusalem. en the
devil is cast into the lake of re, where the beast and the
false prophet are already, and shall be tormented day and
night forever and ever.
e judgment of the beast and his armies, it appears
to me, is not the judgment of Matt. 25, nor is Matt. 25
the judgment of the great white throne. at judgment in
Matthew appears to me to be the judgment of the nations
at large, when Christ is not making war, either as coming
from heaven, or as going forth in connection with Jerusalem;
but when He is sitting on His throne, having come, and
judging the nations for the manner in which they have
treated the preachers of the gospel of the kingdom in that
going forth which shall specially take place at the close. It
is not, “ He shall send forth his armies,” but the calm and
solemn session of the throne on those who have despised
Him in His messengers.
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Although the fact of the resurrection of the just is
mentioned here to separate them out of the judgment,
the millennial state itself is little dwelt upon, the chapter
being properly the account of the session of judgment.
From this we see the partakers of the rst resurrection
entirely exempt. en Satan’s actings, as introducing the
millennial judgment
165
are mentioned, and that judgment
itself. On the great white throne (for there were no thrones
now) sat One from whose face heaven and earth ed away.
is, therefore, was no coming at all-no judgment of the
habitable world as a scene, nor a judgment of the quick.
e dead, small and great, stand before God; and they are
judged out of the books, according to their works. We have
therewith a general statement of the portion of those not
written in the book of life. Whatever dierences there may
have been in measure, they were all cast into the lake of re.
is was not now a place merely prepared for the devil and
his angels. e devil was there. e false prophet and the
beast had been there long before: now, all those who were
not written in the book of life.
CHAPTER 21
ere was now not merely an economic change. e
great white throne had no reference to any dispensation,
but to the dead. ere was now an actual physical change-a
new heaven and a new earth, and no more sea. And here
John sees a new object, new Jerusalem coming down from
165 If any ask what comes of the living saints as to their change
at the close of the millennium, the answer is-Scripture says
nothing, save that from other passages we know, on principle,
they will have incorruptible natures in that scene when all
things are made new.
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363
God out of heaven. is general fact, I conceive, is presented
here to give the object. Its bearings are taken up apart: and
rst the historical progress or result is stated; and we nd
the tabernacle of God, not the throne or heavenly dwelling
of God and the Lamb, but God all in all-the tabernacle of
God with men. e race, man, now are blessed with God’s
presence; and grace had provided a way in the which (with
no desolating inquiry of “ Where art thou? “) God could
visit, yea, have His tabernacle among men, now headed up
in the blessed last Adam-the risen and gloried Man, not
in the rst fallen one. e millennium, as we have said,
is the contrast to Noachic failure, when Satan is cast out
of the heavens, and government comes in, righteous and
eectual for blessing and peace. To man’s fall, the ruin of
the rst Adam, is here contrasted the perfect, unfailing,
and new and durable blessing of the second -all things
made new-no more death-all evil put in the lake of re.
Chapter 19: 9 is the special recorded blessing of the former
state, the marriage of the Lamb: chapter 21: 5, the blessing
of this.
e condition of the earth during the millenium is more
properly the subject of the Old Testament prophets-the
restitution of all things spoken of by them. e connection
of the heavenly blessings with it, during the millennium,
is, however, taken up in what follows, to complete the
picture, and give the saints the joy of their own portion
in it, which, in its own proper and intrinsic character,
moreover is eternal. is account is from chapter 21: 9
to 22: 5, 6.
166
On this I have but few remarks to make,
166 Chapter 21: 8, closes the historical statement: what follows is
description, and that of the millennial eect of the city as well
as of the city itself.
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having so far prolonged this. It is not here the children in
the Father’s house; it is not dwelling in God as love (and
thus, through Jesus, in whom all fullness dwells, lled with
His fullness, we in Him, and He in the Father), but the
glory of God, the order of all dispensation. Glory is taken
up in it (i.e., that which constitutes the glory of each), as
displaying the character, foundation, and ways of God, the
excellency of mediation, and the basis of righteousness and
true holiness, rmly established as the very streets of the
city. ese constituted the characteristics of the city.
But there is another very interesting point in this
character of the heavenly Jerusalem, the Lamb’s bride,
the perfection and blessedness of mediatorial glory. First,
God and the Lamb are the light of it: they enjoy the light
of glory; the nations of the spared ones walk in the light
of it (i.e., of the heavenly Jerusalem, the Lamb’s wife, the
gloried saints). It is not merely “ nations shall come to the
brightness of its rising “the acknowledgment of a new and
dominant power owned of God and gloried in the earth;
it is proper blessing, “ they walk in the light of it.” And yet
more distinctly does it preserve its character of grace, and
the immense privilege of grace; and what it possesses in
common, it has on incomparably higher ground than even
Paradise of old. e Tree of Life has healing in it now. Not
merely can the innocent eat and live, but there is remedial
blessing in it for those on earth. ey worse perhaps in
some sort than Adam, but far more glory, and blessing
displayed even in glory. e Lamb’s bride, answering as
a help-meet to the Lamb’s heart of love, is minister of
blessing to them that need. It is now full of blessing, and
we ministers of it, “ for his servants shall serve Him … His
name shall be on their foreheads.” Far other is the minister
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365
of strict earthly righteousness, the earthly Jerusalem-” the
people and nations that will not serve thee shall utterly
perish.” Now this heavenly rule, withal, is recognized as the
source of power. e kings of the earth bring their glory
to it (not to corrupt Babylon, to their disgrace and ruin).
None enter this that dele, but those written in the Lamb’s
book of life. It is not now merely “ the Lord shall reign
forever and ever,” but “ they shall reign forever and ever.”
From the time of the exaltation of Jesus to the right
hand of God, and the association of the church with
Him, Christ has been ready to judge. ere were many
Antichrists, whereby it was known that it was the last time,
as this same apostle teaches us. And now, in the manifested
failure of the church on earth unfolded in the rst chapters,
though the Bridegroom might tarry, the church, knowing
His mind, had but one cry,
“ Come! “ In this position, therefore, the church is
practically set.
From the time the prophecy took its course, all was
remediless. When it took absolutely and denitely in
the crisis, it became absolutely and denitely so as to
individuals, as regarded the dispensation of judgment-”
the door was shut.” e Lord declares He has sent His
angel to testify these things in the churches. Here we are
brought back to what went before the prophetic sayings
(the churches being thus made cognizant of the prophetic
sayings). e Lord presents Himself to them, as the root
indeed, but as the ospring of David, ready to inherit his
throne; and the bright and blessed witness of millennial
day, and, in one sense, eternal day to the church. is was
the next thought to the church on this failure. Accordingly,
knowing it, the church is only lifted up into better hopes,
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and the Spirit,
167
which, as Comforter, abides forever, takes
the lead; and, in its character of bride, abstracting itself
from circumstances and earthly progress and associations,
the church joins its guiding Spirit and says, Come — calls
on all who hear, whose ear is open to divine truth, to join
in this as its cry, its rst utterance, now born into a world of
sorrow even for the church, which sees its desolation (still,
however, maintaining its character of grace, ministerial
grace, to the world): “ And let him that is athirst come: and
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” While
the Holy Ghost remains lling the church, no change of
circumstances can prevent it or us from being the ministers
of this calling-grace in the midst of a ruined world.
Strictly speaking, then, verse 17 returns to the things
that are; verses 10, 11 to the prophetic period, which has
closed the hope and testimony of grace, and assumed the
testimony of judgment, either preparatory or nal. Verse
20 gives the individual seal, as it were, of the apostle’s faith
to the personal application of the book by the Lord.
As the church instantly broke forth in answer on the
church revelation of Jesus, in exactly corresponding praises
to His then revealed character, so now, on the revelation of
His millennial and gloried character, it breaks forth by the
Spirit, which never leaves it let it be ever so desolate, but
rather inspires it with hope in the answering and suitable
167 e Spirit saying it showed that it was not merely a holy
though untaught desire, but the mind of the Spirit itself, in
and to the church, who, what He hears, speaks. It was the
divine mind, but, so taught, all the bride’s aections, separated
in heart and spirit to Christ, center and express themselves in
this desire. “ He that heareth “ is he whose heart is opened to
the truth, but has not learned the separated bridal state of the
church, espoused as a chaste virgin unto Christ.
Notes on the Revelation
367
cry of “ Come! “ and then looks round, in the sense of this,
to renew its service of grace to the world.
In chapter 21: 6, we have Jehovah sitting on the throne,
declaring Himself as Alpha and Omega; here, in chapter
22: 12, 13, we have Jesus doing so (there closing the
millennium — here introducing the millennial times).
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62216
e Purpose of God
168
“ Having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in
himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth.”-Eph. 1:9,
1O.
INTRODUCTION
THE good pleasure of the Godhead was that all its
fullness should dwell and manifest itself in Christ. Such
was the purpose of God, a purpose full of blessing. e
way in which God is about to manifest that purpose, and
in which we are associated with its blessings, is innitely
interesting to us.
In the following pages only a small part of that purpose
has been treated of, the outward part, so to speak, a part
which nevertheless is none the less interesting.
It was designedly that God was pleased to accomplish
it in a visible way, in order thit that purpose might be
revealed to us by means of positive truths, which, while
bringing the Christian into fellowship with God, who is
their source, preserve him-weak creature that he is-from
substituting the wanderings of his own imagination for
the holy manifestations which God has given unto us of
Himself. e subject, we are treating is contained in the
prayer of the apostle Paul, which we nd at the end of Eph.
1is subject nds a still deeper source (to which we have
alluded) in what is announced to us at the end of Eph. 3,
168 Geneva, about 1839. Translated from the French.
e Purpose of God
369
and we cannot truly enjoy the subject treated in Eph. 1,
without having felt in some measure the power of Eph. 3
For the rest, in communicating what follows, I only
respond in weakness to the desires of a few persons, and I
am condent that God will deign to make up for what is
lacking.
THE CHURCH AND THE JEWS THE
RESPECTIVE CENTERS OF THE HEAVENLY
GLORY AND OF THE EARTHLY GLORY IN
CHRIST.
Two great objects are presented to our contemplation
by the prophecies and testimonies of the Scriptures, which
refer to the millennium: on one hand, the church and its
glory in Christ; on the other, the Jews and the glory which
they are
to possess as a nation redeemed by Christ. It is the
heavenly people and the earthly people. e Son Himself,
who is the image and glory of God, will be their common
center, and the sun which will enlighten them both; and
although the place where His glory dwells in the church
be the heavens, where He has “ set a tabernacle for the sun
“ (Psa. 19:4), the nations will walk in the light thereof. It
will be manifested on the earth, and the earth will enjoy its
blessings. When all is accomplished God will be all in all.
e tabernacle of God will be with men, not coming down,
so to speak, but come down from heaven.
All these things, and the way in which they will
have their accomplishment, are revealed in detail in the
Scriptures. Although the church and the people of Israel
are each respectively the centers of the heavenly glory and
of the earthly glory, in their connection with Christ, and
although they cast on each other a mutual brightness of
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blessedness and joy, yet each of them has a sphere which
is proper to itself, and in which all things are subordinate
to it. With respect to the church, angels, principalities, and
powers, with all that belongs to heaven-the domain of its
glory; with respect to the people of Israel, the nations of
the earth.
We will conne ourselves here to the history and
condition of the church, on one hand, and to those of the
people of Israel, on the other.
“ In the beginning God created,” the Old Testament
tells us. “ In the beginning was the Word,” says the New,
proclaiming the foundation of a higher glory and more
durable than that of the rst creation, and on which was
to rest the restoration of the latter, when ruined by the
weakness of man and by sin.
“ In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.” When they came forth from the hand of the
Creator, all His works were “ very good.” Sin appeared, and
they were marred. Compare Col. 1:20, with Eph. 2:10. For
a moment, God rested, so to speak, in them; but that rest
came to an end. e• Scriptures say but little as to the evil
which sullied the heavens: all that we know is, that there
were angels who fell. But it was on the earth and among
men that the divine and wonderful work of redemption
was to be displayed; and this subject is revealed to us in all
its fullness.
THE REST OF GOD IN THE NEW CREATION
BY MEANS OF THE SECOND ADAM
e rest of God, after the rst creation, was short.
e rest of man with God passed away like a morning-
dream. But the blessing of God was not to pass away in
the same manner. at which was transient, on account of
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371
the weakness of the rst Adam, was to be restored on an
innitely more excellent footing by the display of the might
and power of the Second Adam; the will of God being to
head up in Him all things which are in the heavens and
upon the earth; Eph. 1: Io.
CHRIST THE HEIR-THE CHURCH JOINT-
HEIR WITH HIM, THROUGH RESURRECTION
It is on this gathering together of all things unto Christ
and in Christ, as their Head (Greek, anakephalaiosis-
heading up), that depends the character and the substance
of the hope of the church, until God be all in all. In this
point of view, Scripture speaks of Christ manifested, as
being Heir of all these things, and of the church as being
joint-heir with Him. is is, as it were, the formal character
which is attributed to Him with regard to all things; that
we may understand what is our place with Him. us it is
written, that God has appointed Christ “ heir of all things “
(Heb. 1:2); that, in Him, “ we have obtained an inheritance
“ (Eph. 1: i); that we are “ heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ,” Rom. 8:17. is glorious title of Christ-the
Heir-has a still more glorious origin. He is “ the rstborn
of every creature, for by him were all things created that are
in heaven, and that are in earth … and for him,” Col. 1:15,
16. e church, the children of God, are therefore joint-
heirs with Christ. How are they such? It is this which we
are about to develop. Christ receives the inheritance in His
character of man, of risen Man, once our companion in
suerings because of sin, and then the Head, the root and
spring of all blessing.
We must rst remark that the rst Adam, “ the gure of
him that was to come,” is a type and gure of the Second
Adam of whom we are speaking. He is referred to in this
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respect in Ephesians S: 3o, 31. Before His manifestation,
the last Adam is, as it were, hidden, as the rst Adam was
buried in sleep;
169
Eve, who pregures the church, is taken
from his side, and God presents her to him as the help meet
for him, to be his companion in the government and the
inheritance of all things given to him of God in paradise.
us Christ, who is God as well as man, presents the
church to Himself, when He awakes in His glory, that it
may share that glory with Him and that dominion which
He already possesses in title and by the gift of God. “ And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,” John
17:22.
Adam and Eve, taken collectively, are called Adam, as if
they were but one (Gen. 1:27; 5:2), although, in a certain
sense, Eve was inferior to her husband, and had come after
him. So it is with Christ and the church, who are but one
mystical body. is type, familiar to those who read the
Scriptures, presents, in a most simple way, all the forms of
the reality pregured, with this exception, that the Second
Man, being “ out of heaven “ (1Cor. 15:47), is also the
Head and Lord of the heavenly things.
ALL THINGS PUT UNDER THE FEET OF MAN
Let us now consider the passages which speak of the
dominion of man, and of the union of the church with
Christ in that dominion.
170
It clearly results, from the terms
in which they are worded, that their accomplishment has
not yet taken place. All these passages rest on Psa. 8 ere
the Holy Ghost says, “ ou hast … crowned him “ (man,
169 is analogy is very questionable. It is rather as dead that
Adam is a gure here of Christ.
170 Note to translation.-e association with Christ, we must
remember, is more blessed than the dominion which ows
from it.
e Purpose of God
373
the Son,of man) “ with glory and honor, … thou hast put
all things under his feet “; then He tells us (Heb. 2:7, 8, 9)
that this is not seen as yet, but that Jesus has been “ crowned
with glory and honor,” that He might be pointed out to
the church as the one who, as man, is to have all things put
under His feet. Meanwhile, and until the purposes of God
are accomplished, until the enemies of Christ, who hold the
power in unrighteousness, are made to be His footstool-in a
word, during the period of the present dispensation-Christ
is seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high; He sits,
as having overcome, at the right hand of God the Father.
It is thus that He will grant to him that overcometh, to sit
on His own throne (Rev. 3:21), when He takes possession
of it and reigns.
Eph. 1:17 to 2: 7 shows us the church united to Christ
in all these circumstances, according to the working of the
might by which Christ was raised from the dead; chapter 2:
7 points out the cause, the glorious motive of it. In chapter
I: 22 we nd again the quotation of Psa. 8 “ And hath put
all things under his feet.” e apostle adds: “ And gave him
to be the head over all things to the church, which is his
body, the fullness of him that lleth all in all.”
us, therefore, the church is united to Christ, as a body
of which He is the Head, and under whose feet God has
put all things. “ Christ is head over all things to the church,
which is his body.” See the Greek. As to this character, it is
as having been raised from the dead that He possesses it,
as the passage itself clearly establishes. But this last point is
treated in a special way in 1Cor. 15, in which we nd again
the quotation from Psa. 8
.c Since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so
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in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his
own order: Christ the rst fruits; afterward they that are
Christ’s at his coming. en cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom [that which He possesses
as being risen, which is the subject of the chapter] to God,
even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and
all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. e last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his
feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is
manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under
him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then
shall the Son also himself be subject [always as last Adam,
as risen man; for it is always in this character that He is
spoken of in this chapter] unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all,”
171
1Cor. 15:21-28.
Christ, in His character of risen man, reigns therefore
over a kingdom which He will deliver up, that God may
be all in all. All this administration, and this human
dominion, which is brought out in Psa. 8, comes to an end,
that the glory of God, simply, may be universal. As to the
way in which these things are accomplished other passages
present it to us.
CHRIST AS HEIR RECEIVES THE
INHERITANCE IN THE WAY OF PROMISE
We have seen that Christ is Heir, in title, as being
Creator of all things-all things having been made by Him
and for Him, as the Son; and also because He has been
171 God, but not Christ, considered under the aspect of His
mediatorial character. It is not said, “ that the Father may be
all in all “; because, although Christ delivers up the kingdom as
Man-mediator, He is none the less God over all things, blessed
eternally with the Father and the Holy Ghost.
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established such in the purpose of God. So that, God
[acting] in the way of promise, all the promises nd their
center in Christ. “ Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but
as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ,” Gal. 3:16. “ For
all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us,” 2Cor. 1:20. us Christ is
the Heir, the Seed, to whom the promise was made.
THE REJECTION BY THE NATURAL SEED
GIVES OCCASION FOR THE INTRODUCTION
OF THE SPIRITUAL SEED INTO THE HEAVENLY
PLACES AS JOINT-HEIRS.
As regards this earth, the people of Israel, the seed
according to the esh, were, of all mankind, in the best
position to receive the Lord, in a world that knew Him not;
in coming unto them, “ He came unto his own,” John 1 I I.
at people possessed the law, the promises, the covenants,
the oracles of God; it was in their midst that, according to
the promise, the Lord was to come, and that He actually
came; Rom. 9:4, 5. It was this people which, in the midst
of a lost world, possessed, through their relationship with
God, the sabbath-that sign which was to remind them of
the hope of Jehovah’s rest. But when the Messiah appeared,
although His coming was in perfect harmony with the
predictions of their own prophets, the Jews did not receive
Him. It is true, they said, and this rightly, “ is is the heir
“; but as they hated Him, they added, “ Come, let us kill
him, and the inheritance shall be ours,” Mark 12:7. us
vanished the last hope of God’s rest upon the earth. After
all that had come to pass, God had yet been pleased to send
His own Son; but this trial served to complete the evidence
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that man is absolutely without any resource, and that “every
man at his best state is altogether vanity,” Psa. 39:5.
But that only opened the way for a dispensation far
more admirable, far more glorious. e earth and the people
of Israel as a nation were set aside for a time; although “
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” e
design which was hidden in God for ages past was about to
be revealed (that is, the gathering together into one body,
and in Christ, the remnant of the Jews and the fullness
of the Gentiles, in order to bring them into the heavenly
places). e companion and bride of the One who had
been rejected, but who is risen- the church-is gathered
from among all nations, while her Bridegroom is seated at
the right hand of God; and she will shine forth in the same
glory as Himself, when He shall appear; Col. 3:4; 1John
3:2.
Christ, in His character of Seed of Abraham, is the
Heir of the promises. If He had taken possession of this
inheritance during His life here below, He would have
possessed it for Himself alone. In fact, after He had
manifested His glory as Son of God by the resurrection
of Lazarus, and as King of the Jews by His entry into
Jerusalem, when the Greeks came also to seek Him, He
said that the hour was come when (in spite of the rejection
of the promised Seed by the Jews) the Son of man should
be gloried; but, as the Lord immediately adds, “ Except a
corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit,”
John 12:1-24.
It was as risen that Christ was to enter into the possession
of the inheritance with the church-the ear, sprung from
that grain of wheat cast into the tomb-with the church
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henceforth perfectly justied; Rom. 4:25. us Christ
inherits the promises, not as having come in the esh on
earth, but as risen. He inherits them, after having done all
that was necessary for the redemption of the church, and in
the power of that life which He has taken again, of which
He makes His bride to partake. e result of this union is,
that the souls which form the church, when they are born
of the Holy Ghost, are considered as risen with Him. In a
word, Christ is heir, in His character of risen Man-of risen
Head of the church.
Paul, in Gal. 3:17, speaks of the conrmation of the
promise, made to Christ, and what he says perfectly agrees
with what we have just been saying. Moreover, the apostle
is quoting Gen. 22:18, “ And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed
my voice.”
In these words we nd indeed that the promise, made to
Abraham in chapter 12 and referring to the blessing of the
nations, is conrmed to the seed of the patriarch, after that
seed had been restored to him in a gure of resurrection;
Heb. 11:19.
us we have seen how the scripture establishes,
under divers aspects, this blessed truth, that the church is
redeemed to be united to Jesus, in order that, when He takes
possession of His inheritance, He may have a companion
meet for Him, to be associated with Him in all things,
and perfectly like unto her gloried Bridegroom. For the
complete fulllment of these things, it was necessary, not
only that the church should be redeemed, but also that
Christ should go to prepare a place for her.
CHRIST EXALTED IN THE HEAVENS
PREPARES A PLACE FOR THE CHURCH, AND
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CAN FULFILL THE PROMISES MADE TO
ISRAELMEANWHILE THE CHURCH IS CALLED.
e resurrection of the Savior had the double result of
accomplishing the redemption of the church, and of putting
Christ in a place where He could secure the sure mercies of
David (Acts 13:34), that is to say, conrm in His own name
all the promises made to Israel. Moreover, it was needful
also that He should take possession of the heavenly places,
in order to establish the kingdom of heaven and to ll all
things (Eph. 4:10);
172
as well as to associate the church
with that glory- new, and yet eternal-prepared before the
foundation of the world, and yet hidden from the former
ages, but the manifestation of which had been determined
according to the wisdom of God by the rejection of the
Messiah by the Jewish people.
We must here distinguish two things: Christ preparing
a place, a heavenly habitation; and Christ gathering from
among all nations those who are to be His joint-heirs,
calling the bride who is to enter into possession with
Himself. us, in John 14:2, 3 the Lord says, “ I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also.” In John 17:24: “ Father,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou
hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world.”
In Rom. 8:29, it is written: “ Whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the rstborn among many brethren.”
172 Compare with John 20:17.
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AT HIS COMING, HE RECEIVES THE
INHERITANCE WITH THE RISEN CHURCH.
In Col. 1:18, Christ is called “ the head of the body, the
church … the rstborn from the dead.”
But in what manner do these things take place?-” As
we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly.” “ As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly.” ese words are found in 1Cor. 15,
where we nd the subject of the resurrection exclusively
treated. us again it is also written in Rom. 8:3o, and that
in reference not to sanctication, but to glory-” Whom he
justied, them he also gloried “; without any mention of
sanctication. Phil. 3:2I: “ Who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
e time when these things will be accomplished is
clearly taught in Scripture. Christ is now hid in God, and
our life is hid with Him there; Col. 3:3. e present time
is that during which are gathered, by the Holy Ghost, the
members of His body, His joint-heirs, while He is seated
at the right hand of Jehovah, until His enemies are made
His footstool. e apostle says, “ But he, having oered
one sacrice for sins, sat down in perpetuity at the right
hand of God, waiting from henceforth until his enemies
be set for the footstool of his feet,” Heb. 10:12-14. He has
accomplished all that was to be done for the redemption of
us, His friends; and while He is still gathering His own by
the power of the Holy Ghost whom He has sent, and who
reveals Him, and the Father through Him, He is seated, in
the expectation of the possession -and not in the eective
possession-of the earth, of creation; until the number of
the joint-heirs is completed. He is sitting on the Father’s
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throne, and it is there that the church knows Him at the
present time.
But while He is waiting, we wait also; and even as
regards the whole creation, it waits also: it waits for the
manifestation of the children of God. As for the time and
manner of that manifestation, the Scriptures are clear.
Since we are to be conformed to the image of the Lord
Jesus, it is evident that it must be by resurrection and by
glorication; for He is risen and gloried. erefore it is
said that the whole creation waits for the manifestation of
the children of God; and the apostle adds, “ And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the rst fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” Rom.
8:19, 23. Again, it is written, “ When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory,”
Col. 3:4. “ We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is,” 1John 3:2.
THE SAINTS JUDGE THE WORLD.
We have already seen that the Lord says, “ I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there
ye may be also “ (John 14:3); and this is what will take
place, either by resurrection, or by being changed; for “
we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” 1Cor.
15:51. is is the entrance of the church into glory, as we
are taught in detail by 1ess. 4:16, 17: “ e Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in
Christ shall rise rst: then we which arc 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.”
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One may read in Rev. 19 the description of this scene- the
marriage supper of the Lamb, and the subsequent judgment
of the earth, or at least of the heads of the antichristian
revolt. is judgment is again described in more general
terms in Jude 14, 15: “ Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of his saints, to execute judgment,” etc.; and in
Zech. 14:5, it is said, “ e Lord my God shall come, and
all the saints with thee.”
How blessed the time when Christ shall have presented
the church to Himself, as a glorious spouse, “ not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing! “ Eph. 5:27. Clothed
with the beauty and glory which belong to her, seeing
in her Lord the beauty and glory of the Father, she is
moreover associated with the glory of her Bridegroom
in the power of that love wherewith He loved her, and in
which He gave Himself for her, that she might be perfectly
cleansed and made glorious with Him, even where He is;
then manifested in glory, surrounded with honors such
as He receives Himself; made partaker of all His glory,
of that glory which the Father gave Him, that the world
might know that the Father has loved her, as He has loved
Him. Associated with the Lord of glory, the saints will
judge angels and the world; they will be the servants and
instruments who will dispense the light and the blessings
of His kingdom over an earth delivered of all its sorrows,
and where Satan is no longer. “ For unto the angels hath
he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we
speak,” Heb. 2:5. “ ey which shall be accounted worthy
to obtain that world [age] “ to come, “ and the resurrection
from the dead,” can die no more; Luke 20:35, 36. “ On
such the second death hath no power,” but they live and
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reign with Christ a thousand years; Rev. 20:6. Happy those
believers!
At the coming of Christ, these (already risen as to their
souls) will rise as regards their bodies, by His Spirit that
dwells in them; Rom. 8:11. is is that resurrection-not
of judgment, but of life (John 5:29)-which belongs to the
church in virtue of her union with Christ by the Holy
Ghost. It cannot therefore concern the wicked; although
they also must be raised up in their own time by the word
of Christ, but to be judged. ose who belong to Christ
will be raised at His coming; as for the rest of the dead,
their resurrection will take place when Christ, after having
delivered up the kingdom, will be seated, as Son of man, on
the great white throne, to judge the dead, when the earth
and the heaven have ed away before His face; Rev. 20:11.
Such is the teaching of the word of God. e taking
possession of the kingdom by Christ is described in Daniel;
but to treat this subject would lead to our second part, the
earthly glory: we shall therefore lay it aside for the present.
Our only desire here was to show the place which the
church occupies in this scene, and the connection which
exists in Scripture between that doctrine-well understood-
and the most fundamental and comforting truths which
form the hope and the joy of the believer.
THE KINGDOM OF THE FATHER.
ere is a point in this subject which we have scarcely
touched upon, but the contemplation of which would lead
us too far away from our main object, and might expose us
to the danger of losing sight of it. It is the place which the
Father’s love has here-a subject equally full of deep comfort.
It is for the kingdom of the Father that Jesus taught His
disciples to pray: it is in the Father’s kingdom that the
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righteous shall shine forth as the sun (Matt. 13:43), that
is, as Christ, the Sun of righteousness. It is in the glory of
the Father that Christ is to appear, and that is for us a most
happy circumstance in the blessedness of that great day.
Here we enter into deeper waters, and yet more calm; into
that eternity which is an unrued and boundless ocean
of innite joy-a joy of which, however, we shall know the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height, which pass all
knowledge; for it is there that we shall learn these things;
it is there we shall study the glory. Here below we may feel
perhaps more deeply what grace is; there we shall be the
full manifestation of it, we sinners made like unto Christ
Himself; Eph. 2:7.
But the passages which have placed under the eyes of the
reader, with the reections which are added, may suce to
guide those who desire to inquire further as to this simple
but blessed truth, and to receive the revelation of it in their
souls. ey will not be long without feeling that it contains
everything; that it is the fullness of Him, who, without
having had a beginning, was pleased to be born, and who,
having no end, is pleased to accomplish eternally in us that
innite joy, the realization of which will even render us
capable of enjoying it in a measure always increasing. We
shall have great lessons to learn in glory with Christ, the
Lamb, in whom the Father is fully revealed. e life we
have received gives us even now a right and title to all these
blessings as ours.
is is only a simple outline of the position the church
will occupy, when Christ shall be revealed in His power
and glory. en will it be manifested as His bride, His
companion, in the same glory with Himself; and all things
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will be blessed through it. For it will be the sphere and
means of the display of the glory and blessing of Christ.
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e Hopes of the Church
of God, in Connection
With the Destiny of the
Jews and the Nations As
Revealed in Prophecy
173
LECTURE I
READ 2Peter 1
INTRODUCTION
IT should be the endeavor of the Christian, not only
to be assured of his salvation in Christ, but also of all the
results of this salvation. He should not only know that
he is in his Father’s house, but enjoy the privileges of his
happy position. “ God has called us by glory and by virtue,”
2Peter 1:3.
In the glory of Christ and of the church, God has given
us a futurity full of His own designs, the present study of
which lls our hearts full of associations with Him; and
this assuredly is one of His objects in dispensing prophecy
to us; He reveals it to us as His friends (John 15:15; Eph.
1:9), making us participators of the thoughts which occupy
Himself. He could not give us a more tender pledge of His
love and condence (Gen. 18:17), nor anything having a
holier tendency as regards ourselves. In fact, if men are to
be known by the ends they are pursuing, our conduct in
the present life will have the impress and bearing of that
173 Eleven Lectures delivered in Geneva, 1840.
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futurity which we are expecting; our life here will be colored
by the foretaste of things there. ose whose ambition is
dignity and power, those who dream only of riches, those
who have no other aim than the pleasures of this world,
act according to that which is in their heart; their habits
bear the mark of what they are longing for. So it is in the
church. If the faithful understood their calling, which is no
less than participation in a coming heavenly glory, what
would be the consequence? Nothing less than to live here
as strangers and pilgrims. In distinguishing the prophecies
which relate to this earth, they would better understand
the nature of the earthly promises made to the Jews, and
would learn to separate them from those which refer to us
Gentiles; they would judge the spirit of the age,
and would preserve their hearts from being engrossed
by human objects, and from many a care and distraction
hurtful to the life of a Christian: they would exercise a
happy dependence upon Him who has ordered all things,
and who “ knows the end from the beginning,” and would
yield themselves entirely to that hope which has been given
them, and to the discharge of those duties which ow from
it.
It has been said, that the real use to be made of the
prophecies is, to show the divinity of the Bible by those
which have already been accomplished. is is certainly a
use which may be made of them, but this is not the special
object for which they have been given. ey belong not to
the world, but to the church or remnant, to communicate
the intentions of God to that church or remnant, and to be
its guide and torch before the arrival of those events which
they predict, or during their accomplishment. Shall we use
the revelations of God merely as the means of convincing
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us afterward that He has told the truth? It is as if someone
were treating me as his intimate friend, heaping benets
upon me, communicating his thoughts to me, telling me all
that he knew would shortly happen; and I should use all his
condence for no other purpose than to convince myself,
when everything had come to pass, that he was a truth-
telling person.
174
Alas! alas! where are we? Have we so far
lost the feeling of our privileges, and of the goodness of
our God? Is there, then, nothing for the church in all these
holy revelations? for certainly it is not the church’s place to
be discussing whether God, its divine Friend, has told the
truth. Dear friends, we wrong the goodness and friendship
of God in acting thus towards Him. As Christians, we have
no need to be witnesses of an event, in order to believe
what God says to be true-that His word is true. You believe
already that prophecy is the word of God.
But more than this. e greater part of the prophecies,
and, in a certain sense, we may say, all the prophecies,
will have their accomplishment at the expiration of the
dispensation in which we are. Now, at that epoch it will
be too late to be convinced of their truth, or to employ
them for the conviction of others; the terrible judgment
which will come upon those who disbelieve them, will be
sucient demonstration of their truth. No; they are given
174 As Satan is watchful to take advantage of every part of
Scripture not used to a right end, he has not been unmindful
of the above argument: he has therefore led many to suppose
a partial fulllment of many of the prophecies to be their
complete accomplishment. An undue prominency has been
given by many commentators to little events, owing to the
scope of prophecy not being understood in its utility to the
present wants of the soul, or ultimately to those who in the
midst of Israel wait for redemption in Zion.
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to us to direct us in our present walk in the ways of the Lord,
and to be our comfort in enabling us to see that it is God
who disposes of all events, and not man. ey are as a light
shining in a dark place. us, the passions, instead of being
let loose in the world of politics, are quieted. I observe what
God has said-I read in Daniel that all is ordered from the
beginning, and I am tranquil. Altogether separated from
these worldly things, I can study beforehand the profound
and perfect wisdom of God; I get enlightened, and cleave
to Him instead of following my own understanding. I see
in the events which take place around me the unfolding of
the purpose of the most High, and not a eld abandoned
to the struggle of human passions. us, and specially
in the events which come to pass at the end, it is, that
prophecy opens out to us the character of God-all that
God would have us know of Himself-His faithfulness, His
justice, His power, His longsuering, but at the same time
the judgment which He will certainly execute on proud
iniquity, the public and fearful vengeance which He will
take on those who corrupt the earth-in order that His
government may be established in peace and blessing for
all.
Where was the use of the Lord forewarning the disciples
that they were to ee under such and such circumstances, if
they did not understand what He was speaking about, and
did not believe beforehand in the truth of His word? It was
precisely this knowledge and this faith that distinguished
them from all their unbelieving countrymen. It is just so
with the church.
e judgment of God is to come upon the nations; the
church is informed of this; and, thanks to the teaching of
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389
the Holy Spirit, understands it, believes it, and escapes the
things which are coming.
But, says another objector, these prophetic studies are
merely speculative. Oh! what a device of Satan is this!
If looking beyond the present, beyond the feeling of my
own wants, if passing beyond the domain of material
being, I launch into futurity-everything will be vague and
uninuential, unless I ll it-with my own thoughts; now
these are real speculations; or with the thoughts of God;
what are these? It is prophecy which reveals and develops
them; for prophecy is the revelation of the thoughts and
counsels of God as to things to come. Where is the man
bearing the name of Christian, who does not rejoice in the
prospect that “ the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea “? is is a prophecy.
If!‘ be asked, How is this to be accomplished? it is not
from man’s mouth that the answer is to come: the word
of the same prophecy will tell us, and thus silence the
imaginations and the vainglory of our proud hearts.
In truth, although communion with God comforts and
sancties us, and this communion, which is to be eternal,
is already given to us, yet He wishes to act upon our hearts
by positive hopes. Necessarily then He must communicate
the subject of them to us, in order that they may have an
ecacious inuence, and so prevent these hopes being
either vague, or the result of ingeniously contrived fables.
anks be to the God of all grace and goodness, our futurity
is neither the one nor the other. e fullness of the details
of the coming glory are still the subject of prophecy. “ For,”
says the apostle, when he wants to call forth the exercise of
piety, virtue, brotherly love, and charity in the souls of the
faithful, and would have them keep these things constantly
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in remembrance (2Peter 1:16-21), “ we have not followed
cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to
him from the excellent glory: is is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
We have also
175
a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise
in your hearts: knowing this rst, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
In going through the more general features of prophecy,
we shall examine these three great subjects: the church; the
nations; and the Jews.
In pursuing this study, we shall nd, according to the
measure of light which is given to us, a very beautiful
result, namely, a full development of the perfections of
God under two names or characters, according to which
He has revealed Himself in relationship to man. To the
Jews, it is as Jehovah that He makes Himself known (Ex.
6:3); to the church, it is as Father. In a word, as that which
is predicted by the mouth of the prophets as to the Jews
gives us the character of Jehovah-His faithfulness and all
His attributes; so that which is prophesied concerning the
church opens out to us the name of Father. e church is
in relationship with the Father, and the Jews with Jehovah,
175 Properly, the word of prophecy conrmed or made more sure,
to wit, by the transguration.
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which is the characteristic name of their relationship with
God. Jesus, in consequence, is presented to the Jews as the
Messiah, the center of the promises and of the blessings
of Jehovah to that nation; to the church He appears as the
Son of God, gathering to Himself His “ many brethren,”
sharing with us His title and privileges, those, namely, of
“children of God,” members of His “family,” “ joint-heirs
with Christ, the rstborn among many brethren,” who is
the expression of all the glory of His Father.
In the dispensation of the fullness of times, when God
will gather together all things in Christ, then will be also
realized in its fullest sense the name in which He revealed
Himself to Abraham, the father of the faithful: that name
under which He has been celebrated by Melchisedec (a
type of the royal Priest, who will be the center as well as
the assurance of the common blessing of the united earth
and heavens), the name of “ the most high God, possessor
of heaven and earth.”
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e Church and Its Glory
READ Eph. 1
THE CHURCH AND ITS GLORY
OF the three objects which have been mentioned in
the rst lecture as about to form the subject of our study,
that of the church and its glory is to have the rst place.
It introduces us to the name of Father, the character in
which God has revealed Himself to us, and whence ow
to the church, the fruits of grace, and all the circumstances
of its state of glory, as everything owed to Israel from the
name of Jehovah. To this name of Father, however, is to be
added another relationship, distinctly marked in the epistle
to the Ephesians, and closely allied to the principal one,
namely, that the Father has given the church to Christ as
His bride, so that it will fully participate in all His glory. In
adopting us for His children, the Father has associated us
with the dignities and glory of the Son, “ rstborn among
many brethren,” Rom. 8:29. As the bride of Jesus, we enjoy,
in virtue of His incomparable love to us, all the privileges
that belong to Him. “ e Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into his hand,” John 3:35. is is the rst
great truth we desire to set out from. And as the Son has
gloried the Father, so the Father will glorify the Son.
Our second point is: we shall participate in the glory of
the Son; as it is said in John 17:22, “ And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them “; and it is in order that
the world may know that the Father loves us as He loves
Jesus Himself. In seeing us in the same glory, the world will
be convinced that we are the objects of the same love; and
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the glory which we shall have at the last day will be but the
manifestation of this precious and astonishing truth.
us the hope of the church is not alone salvation, that
is, to escape the wrath of God, but to have the glory of
the Son Himself. at in which the perfection of its joy
consists is the being loved by the Father, and by Jesus;
and, in consequence of this love, the being gloried. But
more than this, the Father would have us enter into the
full intelligence of these riches, and has even given us the
rst fruits by the presence of the Holy Ghost in all those
who are saved. Before we follow up these thoughts by other
testimonies from the word of God, let us look into the
chapter before us.
In the very rst lines, God presents Himself as a Father,
and in the relationships already indicated. He is “ our
Father “ (v. 2), and “ the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.
3). From this until verse 8 the apostle expounds salvation.
God “ has made us accepted in the beloved “-this “ to
the praise of the glory of his grace,” in God’s presence, in
conformity to His nature, and adopted as children to the
Father. We have redemption through Christ’s blood. is
is according to the riches of God’s grace.
From verses 8 to to, we see that this grace of salvation
introduces us by its actual power, by the Holy Spirit, into
the knowledge of the proposed purpose or decree of God as
to the glory of Christ; a touching proof, as we have before
remarked, of the love of God, who treats us as His friends,
and tranquillizes our souls, in an ineable manner, in
making us see the termination of all the eorts and all the
agitation of the men of this world. e decreed purpose of
God is this, God will “ gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.”
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Until verse 8, we have seen our predestination to the state
of children of the Father, and the actual accomplishment of
salvation. “ We have redemption through his blood.” In that
which follows, we have the purpose of God, as to the glory
of Christ, in relation with all things; afterward, from verse I
1, our participation, yet future, in the glory thus designated;
and, further, the sealing of the Holy Spirit whilst we are
waiting in expectation of this glory. “ In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance … that we should be to the
praise of his glory.” Previous to verse 8, it had been “ to the
praise of the glory of his grace.” Now it is “ to the praise of
his glory “; and then, “ after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.” e remainder of the chapter
is a prayer of the apostle, that the faithful may understand
their hope, and that the power of the resurrection and of
the exaltation of Christ, to whom the church is united, may
be accomplished in them, a power which works towards
them as believers.
is position of the church, which enjoys its own
redemption, and which waits for the redemption of the
inheritance, has its perfect type in Israel. is people,
redeemed from Egypt, did not enter at once into Canaan,
but into the wilderness, whilst the land itself remained
still in the possession of the Canaanites. e redemption
of Israel was nished, the redemption of the inheritance
was not. e heirs were redeemed, but the inheritance was
not yet delivered out of the hands of the enemy. “ Now all
these things,” says the apostle (1Cor. 10:11), “ happened
unto them “ [the Israelites] “ for types, and they are written
for our admonition “ [the church], upon whom the ends of
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the world are come.” Christ is waiting for the resurrection
of the church, in order that everything may be subjected to
Him, subjected not of right only, but in fact. He is waiting
for that solemn moment when Jehovah will make all His
enemies as a footstool under His feet; Psa. 110:1. Until
that moment arrives, kept as a secret in the depth of the
divine counsels,
176
He is sitting on the “ right hand of the
majesty on high,” Heb. 1:3.
Christ will take the inheritance of all things as a man, in
order that the church, bought with His blood, may inherit
all things with Him, puried co-heir of an inheritance
which will be itself puried.
Let us keep in mind, then, these two fundamental
points: Firstly, Christ, in the counsels of God, possesseth
all things. Secondly, In virtue of being the bride of Christ,
the church participates in all that He has, and in all that
He is, except His eternal divinity, although in a sense we do
participate in the divine nature.
176 It is perhaps for this reason that it is said in Mark 13 that
the Son Himself knoweth not the day nor the hour, because
He Himself was the object of this decree of Jehovah. He will
receive everything from the hand of God, as man and servant,
as also God has now highly exalted Him (Phil. 2:9). Speaking
as a prophet, Christ announced His coming as the terrible
judgment which was to fall upon an unbelieving nation; but
the counsel of God as to this judgment, or at least as to the
moment of its approach, was contained in those words, “ Sit
thou at my right hand until … ” Christ as a servant waited
(as always, and this was His perfection) upon the will of His
Father, and to receive the kingdom when the Father would
have it so. It is worthy of remark that Psalm t to and Mark 13
refer exactly to the same subject. e enemies are the Jews who
rejected Him (Luke 19:27).
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Let us look through the passages which furnish the
thoughts we have been giving out. All things, we say, are
for Christ. “ He is appointed heir of all things,” Heb. 1:2.
ey belong to Him of right, because He is their Creator;
Col. 1:15-18. Observe, in this passage, two headships of
Christ; rst of all He is called “rstborn [or, chief] of every
creature,” then, “ rstborn from the dead,” “ the head of
the body, the church “; a distinction which throws much
light on our subject. “ All things were created by him, and
for him.” Moreover, He will possess them as man, as last
Adam, to whom God has intended in His counsels to
subject them.
It is thus that we read in Psa. 8, which is applied to
Christ by Paul (Heb. 2:6), and is, in fact, the corner stone of
the doctrine of the apostle upon this subject. He cites the
psalm three times in his epistles, in passages, the leading
thoughts of which are the subjection of all things to the
Man Christ under three dierent aspects, every one of
which is important for us.
According to Heb. 2:6, the prophecy is not yet
accomplished, but the church has, in the partial
accomplishment of that which is yet to come, the pledge
of its nal consummation. All things are not yet put in
subjection to Jesus; but, in the meantime, Jesus is already
crowned with glory and honor- certain proof that what
remains will have its fulllment in due time.
Under the present dispensation (the object of which is
the gathering together of the co-heirs) all things are not
subjected to Him; but He is gloried, and His followers
acknowledge His rights. In Heb. 2, then, we have the
application of Psa. 8:5, 6, and we are informed that the
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subjection of all things to the last Adam has not yet taken
place.
In Eph. 1:20, 23, we equally see Jesus exalted, highly
exalted, at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and the
putting of all things under His feet is also oered to our
attention; but as the eect of this is the introduction of the
church into the same glory, Jesus is presented to us, in this
glory, as the Head of the church, His body, “ the fullness of
him that lleth all in all “-the other truth upon which we
have been insisting.
Again, in 1Cor. 15, this same fact, the glorication of
Jesus, and the subjection of all things to Him, is shown to
us, but still in another point of view, that is, as about to take
place at the resurrection, according to the power of which
Jesus has been declared the last Adam, and withal head
of a kingdom which He will possess as Man, and which
He will eventually deliver up to God the Father, whilst He
Himself, as last Adam, is to be “ subject unto him that put
all things under him,” instead of reigning as Man, as He
had been doing, over all things-all things, we say, except
over Him who will have subjected them to Him.
e truth, then, which we have presented, besides the
proper joy of being with Him and like Him and in the
Father’s presence, is, a subjection yet to come of all things
to Christ, a reign which He will share with the church,
inasmuch as this is His body, and which will take place
therefore at the resurrection of this same body, and a power
which He will afterward resign to God the Father, at some
decreed time, in order that God may be all in all. Christ,
gloried in His Person now, and whilst the church is
gathering, is sitting upon the throne of God, waiting until
it be complete; until, in short, the time be come for His
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being invested with His royal power, and that Jehovah shall
have put His enemies as a footstool under His feet.
An important distinction results from the passages we
have been citing: it is this, that besides the reconciliation
of the church, there is the reconciliation of all things. You
may have perceived this in the chapter, with the reading
of which the lecture began: we saw that the proposed
intention of God was to gather together all things in Christ;
that the reconciliation of the church is represented, in the
verses which precede verse 8, as a thing accomplished,
and the glory as a thing future, of which we have as yet
but the earnest in the presence of the Holy Spirit in us
after having believed. But we see in Rom. 8:19-23 that the
deliverance of creation will take place at the time of the
manifestation of the sons of God. As to the present, that is,
the time during which Christ is sitting at the right hand of
God, everything is in a state of misery, the whole creation
remains in the bondage of corruption. It is true that we
are redeemed, and that even the price for the redemption
of creation has been given; and more than this, we have
received the rstfruits of the Spirit as earnest of the glory.
But all this is but our expecting state, until the Most High
enters upon the exercise of His power, until He reigns, and
becomes possessor in fact, as He is by right, of the heavens
and the earth. Inhabiting in our bodies a fallen creation,
whilst indeed by the Spirit we are united to Christ, we have,
on the one hand, the assurance of being children “ accepted
in the beloved,” and the joy of the hope of the inheritance
by the Spirit which is the earnest of it; but, upon the other
hand, by the same Spirit, we give utterance, inasmuch as we
are in the body, to the sighs and groanings of the creation,
being participators therein owing to this body of death. All
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is in disorder; but we know Him who has redeemed us and
made us heirs of all things, and who has introduced us into
the enjoyment of the love of the Fattier: we enjoy these
privileges; but, understanding also the blessings which will
be shed upon the inheritance, when Christ shall take it and
we shall appear with Him in glory, perceiving likewise the
miserable state in which the scene of His future dominion
actually is, we serve, by the Spirit, as a channel to those
sighs which go up to the throne of the God of mercy.
e passage already cited from the epistle to the
Colossians accurately establishes this distinction. It is said
(v. 2o), “ And, having made peace through the blood of
his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by
him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in
heaven. And you … (the saints) now hath he reconciled in
the body of his esh, through death.” e church is already
reconciled. e things of earth and heaven will be reconciled
later, by the ecacy of His blood already shed.
177
e order
of the ceremonies on the great day of atonement explained
this reconciliation typically, though in special reference, as
to details, to the part which the Jews will have in these
blessings.
In Col. 1:16, we clearly see what are the things which
are comprehended in this reconciliation: “ All things were
created by him, and for him.” All that He has created as
God, He will inherit as the restorer of all things. Were there,
for example, a blade of grass that was not subjected to His
power in blessing, Satan would have got an advantage over
Christ, over His rights, and over His inheritance. Now it
177 It must be carefully attended to, that it is a question here
of things, and in heaven and earth, and in no way of sinners
remaining in their unbelief, who are in neither.
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is the judgment which will vindicate all the righteous title
of Christ.
Besides all this, Christ, when He comes, will be the
source of joy to all created intelligences, joy reected and
elevated by the blessing which will be spread over the whole
creation; for the joy of witnessing the happiness of others,
and also that which ows down in the freeing of creation
from the servitude of corruption, is a divine part of our
enjoyments; we partake of it with the God of all goodness.
As to us, it is in the “ heavenly places “ that we shall
nd our abode. e spiritual blessings in heavenly places
which we enjoy even now in hope, though hindered in
many ways, will be for us, in that day, things natural to
our physical and normal state, so to speak; but the earth
will not fail to feel the eects of it. “ Wicked spirits in
heavenly places “ (see margin, Eph. 6:12), whose place will
be then lled by Christ and His church, will cease to be
the continual and prolic causes of the misery of a world
subjected to their power by sin. e church, on the contrary,
with Christ, reecting the glory in which she participates,
and enjoying the presence of Him who is at once to her its
source and fullness, will beam upon the earth in blessing;
and the nations will walk by her light-” help meet for him”
(Gen. 2:18) in His glory, full of thoughts of her beloved,
and enjoying His love, she will be the worthy and happy
instrument of His blessings; whilst, in her condition, she
will be the living demonstration of their success. For God
has done these things, “ that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
towards us through Christ Jesus,” Eph. 2:7. e earth will
enjoy the fruits of the victory and of the faithfulness of the
last Adam, and will be the magnicent testimony of it in
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the sight of principalities and powers, as it is at present, in
the chaos made by sin, of the ruin and of the iniquity of
the rst Adam. Without doubt, the crowning joy-the joy
of joys-will be the communion of the Father and of the
Bridegroom; but to be witness of His goodness, to have
part in it, and to be an instrument of it towards a fallen
world, will certainly be to taste of divine joys, for ‘ God is
love.”
It is this earth that we inhabit that God has taken to
make the scene for the manifestation of His character
and His works of grace. is earth is the place where sin
has entered and xed its residence; it is here that Satan
has displayed his energy for evil; it is here that the Son of
God has been in humiliation, has died, and has risen; it is
upon this earth that sin and grace have both done their
wonders; it is upon this earth that sin has abounded, yet,
notwithstanding, grace has much more abounded. If now
Christ is hid in the heavens, it is upon this earth He will
be revealed; it is here that the angels have best penetrated
the depths of the love of God; it is here, also, that they
will comprehend its results, manifested in glory; upon this
earth, where the Son of man has been in humiliation, the
Son of man shall be gloried. If this earth in itself is but
a small thing, that which God has done upon it, and will
do, is not a small thing for Him. For us (the church), the
heavenly places are the city of our habitation, for we are co-
heirs, not the inheritance), we are heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ; but the inheritance is necessary for the
glory of Christ, as the co-heirs are the object of His most
tender love, His brethren, His bride.
I have, then, detailed to you, dear friends, briey and
feebly, as I am well aware, what is the destiny of the church.
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e Spirit can alone make us feel all the sweetness of the
communion of the love of God, and the excellence of the
glory which is given to us. But, at least, I have pointed out
passages enough in the word to make you understand-with
the help of the Holy Spirit, which I implore for you all-the
thoughts which I had on my heart to tell you to-night. It
results clearly enough that we live under the dispensation
during which the heirs are gathered together, and that there
is another which will take its place at the coming of the
Savior,-that in which the heirs shall have the enjoyment of
the inheritance of all things,- that in which all things shall
be subjected to Christ, and to His church, as united to Him
and manifested with Him. What is to follow that is not our
business now: I mean that last period, when God will be all
in all, and when Christ Himself, as Man, will be subject to
God; and chief, as Man, of a family eternally blessed in the
communion of God, who has loved that family, and whose
tabernacle will be in the midst of it- God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, eternally blessed. Amen.
It is in occupying herself with these subjects, full of
hope by the Spirit, that the church will be detached from
the world, and will clothe herself with the character which
becomes her as the aanced bride of Christ, to whom she
owes all her heart and all her thoughts.
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62219
e Second Coming of Christ
THIS evening I am going to speak of the coming of
Christ. Many questions link themselves with this great
one, as for instance, the reign of Antichrist. But I shall
limit myself this evening to the event itself-namely, the
coming of the Lord.
I began by reading Acts 1 because the promise of the
Lord’s return is there set forth as the alone hope of the
church, as the rst object which would of necessity x the
attention of the disciples, when they were vainly following
with their eyes the ascending Savior, who was going to be
hidden in God. In this chapter, just as the Lord was about
to leave them, three remarkable features appear. e rst
is, that the disciples desired to know when and how God
would restore the kingdom of Israel. Now Jesus did not say
that this was never to happen; He only said, that the time
of this restoration is not revealed. It belonged to times and
seasons which the Father has put in His own power. e
second is, that the Holy Ghost was about to come; and
the third, that during the time the disciples were looking
towards heaven, two angels said to them, “ Why stand ye
here gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go into heaven.”
ey were, then, to expect the return of Christ.
If we study the history of the church, we shall nd it to
have declined in spirituality exactly in proportion as this
doctrine of the expectation of the Savior’s return had been
lost sight of. In forgetting this truth it has become weak
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and worldly. Not, however, wishing to quit the sphere of
the word, let us see therein how the feeling of the return of
Christ ruled the intelligence, sustained the hope, inspired
the conduct, of the apostles. We have only to this end to
look through a few passages of the New Testament.
Acts 3:19-21. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out when the times of
refreshing shall come [or “ so that the times of refreshing
may come 1 from the presence of the Lord … ” e Holy
Spirit is come; He has remained with the church; but the
times of refreshing will come “ from the presence of the
Lord when he shall send Jesus.” It is impossible to apply
this passage to the Holy Ghost, because He was already, at
that time, come down, and had said by the mouth of the
apostle, “ Whom the heaven must receive till the times of
restitution of all things.” And, in truth, the Holy Spirit has
not restored all things. He who is to come, according to
this passage, is not to come to judge the dead, nor that the
world may be burnt up and destroyed; but it is specially for
the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all his holy prophets.”
I cite these passages to make you comprehend what
I understand by the coming of the Savior. It is not the
judgment of the dead; it is not the great white throne; but
it is the return of Jesus Christ in Person, when He shall be
sent from heaven. If you compare these verses with what
is written in Rev. 20 you will see that the coming of Jesus
Christ, and the judgment of the dead, are two distinct
events; that when the judgment of the dead takes place,
there is not a word about Christ returning from heaven
upon the earth; for it is said, “ From whose face the earth
and the heavens ed away,” v. II.
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e Lord will return to the earth.
Let us now see how Himself rst, then the Holy Ghost
by the apostles, have constantly directed our attention to
His personal return.
Matt. 24:27-33. “ en shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” Certainly
the expedition of Titus against Jerusalem was not the
coming of the Savior in the clouds of heaven. Neither is
this a description of the judgment of the dead before the
tribunal of the great white throne. At that time the earth is
no more, whilst in the passage just cited the nations of the
earth are brought before us, and it is a question of an event
in which the earth is concerned. “ en shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn.” It is not a millennium brought about
by the exercise of the power of the Holy Ghost. e world
has never seen the Holy Ghost. We are told that the tribes
of the earth shall lament when they see the Lord Jesus (v.
33). “ So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know
that it is near, even at the doors.”
Verses 42-51. e faithfulness of the church is made to
hinge on its watchfulness as regards this truth of the return
of Christ. From the moment that it was said, “ My lord
delayeth his coming,” “ then the servant began to smite his
fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” “
erefore be ye also ready,” said Jesus, “ for the Son of man
[not death] cometh.”
Matt. 25:1-13. e expectation of the return of Christ
is the exact measure (the thermometer, so to speak) of the
life of the church. As the servant became unfaithful the
moment he had said, “ My lord delayeth his coming,” so it
was with the ten virgins, for it is said, they all slept. It was
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not death, nor the Holy Spirit, that the ten virgins were
told to expect; for neither death nor the Holy Spirit is the
Bridegroom. All the virgins were found in the same state;
the wise ones (the true saints) as well as the foolish ones,
who wanted the oil of the Holy Spirit, slept and forgot the
immediate return of Christ, as, on the other hand, what
wakes them up is the midnight cry that He is coming.
In Mark 13 we get nearly the same thing. Verse 26
forbids us to apply the passage to the invasion of the
Romans;
178
and when it is said (v. 22), “ It is nigh, even at
the doors,” there is no thought about the judgment of the
dead, nor of the great white throne. At that day, the day of
the judgment before the great white throne, there will be
no question either of house or household.
Four passages only are to be found in the New
Testament which speak of the joy of the departed soul.
e rst occasion is when the thief said to the Lord (Luke
23:42, 43), “ Remember me when thou comest into [in] thy
kingdom.” It was about the coming of Jesus in glory that
178 ere may have been, at the time of the taking of Jerusalem by
Titus, circumstances in some respects resembling those which
will yet take place when the prophecies of Mark 13 and Matt.
24 shall be accomplished, so that the disciples might have
been able to use the warnings which they contain (although
there is no certainty of the fact). But there are insurmountable
obstacles in applying “ the abomination of desolation “ to the
army of Titus, or to the Roman ensigns. For there is a period
which dates from this event, of which we see no fulllment,
in counting from the taking of Jerusalem. So that it has been
found necessary to transport this part of prophecy to popery,
which we know has nothing to do with the invasion of Titus.
e passage in Luke would seem to have more to do with the
events which took place at the taking of Jerusalem by Titus;
but again I say, to attempt to apply the passages which have
been occupying us to this event is to lose our time.
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his thoughts were occupied-a truth which was familiar to
the Jews. e Lord replied to him, “ To-day shalt thou be
with me in paradise.” e second case is that of Stephen,
who said (Acts 7:59), “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit “; the
third, when Paul said, “ To be absent from the body and to
be present with the Lord “ (2Cor. 5:8); the fourth, “ For I
am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to
be with Christ, which is far better,” Phil. 1:22, 23. In truth,
it is far better to expect the glory, present with Christ, than
to remain here below: not that we go to glory when we
depart, but we are quit of sin, out of the reach of it, and
we enjoy the Lord apart from it. Yes, it is a state far better,
but it is also one of expectation, like that in which Christ
is Himself placed, sitting at the right hand of the Father,
expecting that which is to come.
Luke 12:32. “ Let your loins be girded about, and your
lights burning.” Here we nd again (circumstantially
dierent) the parable of the unfaithful servant; only the
Lord adds, “ at servant which knew his Lord’s will, and
prepared not himself [what a picture of Christendom!]
shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who knew not
[the pagans], … shall be beaten with few stripes.” All shall
be judged; but Christendom is in a state worse than that of
the Jews or pagans, inasmuch as it has had more advantages.
Luke 17:30. “ Even thus shall it be in the day when the
Son of man is revealed.”
Luke 21:27. “ en shall they see the Son of man coming
in a cloud with power and great glory.” e g-tree of which
the Savior speaks on this occasion, is especially the symbol
of the Jewish nation. “ Watch therefore,” He adds, “ that
ye may stand before the Son of man.” ese two chapters,
namely, Luke 17 and 21, as well as Matt. 24 and Mark 13,
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relate to the coming of the Lord connected with the Jews-
its earthly bearing. To these may be added Luke 19, where
the servants who are called, and the enemies who rejected
the nobleman, clearly mark the servants of Christ, and the
Jewish nation. See particularly verses 12, 13, 27.
John 14:2. “ In my Father’s house are many
mansions … And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you to myself.” e Lord Himself
will come for His church, in order that the church may be
there, where He is.
Acts 1: II. “ is same Jesus which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner.”
Acts 3. is is the preaching of the apostle to the Jews:
Repent, and Jesus will return. You have killed the Prince
of life; you have denied the Holy One and the Just; God
has raised Him from the dead. Repent, be converted, and
He will return. But they would not repent. During three
years He had vainly sought fruit from His g-tree. e
husbandmen, on the contrary, killed the Son of Him who
had placed them in His vineyard. e Son of God, Jesus,
asked pardon for them on the cross, whence His voice
is all-powerful, in saying, “ Forgive them, for they know
not what they do.” e Holy Ghost, by the mouth of the
apostle, answers to the intercession of Jesus, “ I wot that
through ignorance ye did it … Repent ye, therefore, and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that
the times of refreshing may come from the presence of
the Lord.” But we know they continued to resist the Holy
Ghost; Acts 7:51.
Acts 3: zo, 21. “ And he shall send Jesus Christ … whom
the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution
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of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all
his holy prophets since the world began.”
is is the great end of all the counsels of God. As we
have before seen’the secret of His will, that God would
gather together all things in Christ, we nd here what
He has spoken of by the mouth of all His holy prophets:
that is, the earthly part. How are all these things to be
accomplished? Is it by the operation of the Holy Spirit?
No, for it is said that “ he shall send Jesus.” It is, doubtless,
true that the Holy Ghost will be shed abroad, and He will
be so specially upon the Jews; but in the passage quoted
the event is to take place by the presence of Jesus. ere
cannot be a revelation more explicit, than that it is by the
sending of Jesus, that the things spoken of by the prophets
will receive their accomplishment. How can the force and
simplicity of this declaration be evaded?
We see the fall, the ruin, of man; we see even all
creation subjected to corruption. e bride desires that the
Bridegroom may appear. It is not the Holy Spirit who will
re-establish the creation, and who is the inheritor of all
things; it is Jesus. When Jesus appears in His glory, the
world will behold Him, whilst it cannot see the Holy
Ghost.
“ At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” e work
of the Holy Spirit is not to re-establish all things here
below, but to announce Jesus who will return. Again, it is
the Holy Spirit who was in Peter, when he said, “ Whom
the heavens must receive till the time of the restitution.”
Receive whom? Not the Holy Ghost (He was descended
from heaven already), but Jesus; and all we have to do is to
believe.
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Let us now turn to the epistles, in order to be shown
that the coming of the Lord is the constant and living
expectation of the church. We see, on referring to Rom.
8:19-22, all creation in suspense until the moment of His
appearing. Compare John 14: i, 3; Col. 3:1-4. Again (1Cor.
1:7), “ Ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ “; and Eph. 1:10, on which we
have already spoken. Since at the last judgment the earth
and the heavens will have passed away, it is before this time
that God will gather together in one all things in Christ.
Phil. 3:20, 21. “ For our conversation (citizenship) is in
heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
Col. 3:4. “ When Christ who is our life shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
e two epistles to the essalonians turn entirely on
this subject. Everything in the rst epistle has reference to
the coming of Christ; all that Paul says of his work, or of
his joy, belongs to it.
First of all, conversion itself is made to bear upon it
(chap.
: o). e faithful of essalonica, who had served as
models to those of Macedonia and Achaia, and whose
faith was so spread abroad that the apostle had no need to
say anything, “ had turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” It
is remarkable that this church, one of the most ourishing
of those to which the apostles have written, should be
precisely that one to which the Lord has chosen to reveal,
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with most detail, the circumstances of His coming. “ e
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.”
Such was the faith of the essalonians, that it was
spoken of in all the world. What was it? at they expected
the Lord from heaven. And it is for us to have this same
faith which the essalonians had. We ought, like them, to
be expecting the Lord before the thousand years. ey were
certainly not saying there must be a period of a thousand
years ere the Savior comes (chap. 2: 19). “ For what is our
hope? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at his coming?”
Chapter 3: 13. “ To the end he may stablish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
It is evidently the ruling idea inuencing the mind of the
apostle.
Chapter 4: 13-18. It is remarkable that the consolation
which he gives to those who surrounded the death-bed of
a Christian, is their friend’s return with Jesus, and their
mutual meeting. It is customary to say, “ Be content: he is
gone to glory.” is was not the way with the apostle. e
comfort which he proposes to those who are mourning the
death of a believer is, “ Be content: God will bring them
back.” What a change must not the habitual feelings of
Christians have undergone, since the consolation given by
an apostle is counted in this day as foolishness! e believers
in essalonica were penetrated to such a degree with the
hope of the return of Christ, that they did not think of
dying before that event; and when one of them departed,
his friends were aicted with the fear that he would not
be present at that happy moment. Paul reassures them by
asserting that “ those who sleep in Jesus will God bring
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with him.” We can understand by this example to what a
degree the church has put away the hope which occupied
the souls of the rst converts; how far distant we are from
the apostolic views, which we have replaced by the idea of
an intermediate state of happiness (the soul separated from
the body),-a condition true, indeed, and by much superior
to ours on the earth, but vague, and which at best is a state
of waiting. Jesus Himself waits, and the dead saints wait.
I by no means desire to weaken the truth of this
intermediate state of happiness. us the apostle speaks of
it in 2Cor. 5, “ For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,
being burdened: not that for we would be unclothed, but
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
life … ” After declaring that his hope was in the power of
the life of Christ, and that mortality should be swallowed
up by it, he adds, “ erefore we are always condent;
knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord,” etc. at is, if this mortal body is
not absorbed in life (is not changed without seeing death),
the condence which I have is not interrupted at death;
I have already received the life of Christ in my soul-that
cannot fail. It may be that I shall depart, but the life in my
soul will not be aected. I have already the life of Christ: if
I depart, I shall be with Him.
One more remark on 1ess. 4:15, 17: “ We which are
alive [those who shall be alive on the earth at the coming
of the Lord] shall not prevent them which are asleep.” “ For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God; and the dead in Christ shall rise rst, then we which
are alive (those who remain) shall be caught up together
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with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
If the apostle had expected a millennium of the Holy
Spirit before the coming of Jesus, how could he ever have
said, “ We who remain until the coming of Christ “? ere
was, then, in his soul, a continual expectation of the coming
of Christ, of which he knew not the moment, but which he
had a right to expect. Was he deceived in that? No, not at
all: he was always expecting; his business was to do so; and
waiting had this of good in it, that it kept him completely
detached from the world. If we were expecting from day to
day the coming of the Lord, where would all those plans be
as to family, house, etc., to atter the pride of life and to get
rich? It is the nature of the hope which we have that forms
our character; and when the Lord comes, Paul will enjoy
the fruits of his waiting. e hope which animated him
produced its good fruits; it was in the spirit of this hope
that he exclaimed, “ And I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1ess. 5:23.
i essalonians 5: 2-4. Mark well that this day ought
not to overtake the followers of Christ as a thief.
2 ess. 1:9, 10; 2:3-12. Instead of a world blessed
with a millennium without the presence of Jesus, behold
the man of sin growing worse, until he is destroyed by the
glorious appearing of Christ-evidence to us that a mere
spiritual millennium alone is untrue. For the mystery of
iniquity, which was already working in the time of Paul,
was to go on until the man of sin was manifested, who will
be destroyed by the glorious appearing of Christ Himself,
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with the Spirit of His mouth. Now, in such a state of things
where is the place for such a millennium?
179
1Tim. 6:14-16. “ Keep this commandment without
spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can
see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.”
2Tim. 4:1
180
“I charge thee, therefore, before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the
dead, at his appearing and his kingdom.”
Titus 2:11-13. e grace of God has appeared, teaching
us rst how to live, and, secondly, the expectation of glory.
e appearing of grace is already come, it teaches us to
expect the appearing of glory.
Heb. 9:28. “ So Christ was once oered to bear the sins
of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation.” As the great
High Priest, when He shall have nished His work of
intercession, He will go out of the sanctuary; Lev. 9:22-24.
James 5:9. “ Behold the judge standeth before the door.”
2Peter 1:16-21. “ For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honor
179 For the meaning of the expression, “ spirit of his mouth,” see
Isa. 11:4; ch. 30:33.
180 is passage, compared with 1 Cor. 15 shows that the
appearing of Christ is not at the end; for at the end He has
delivered up the kingdom, whereas here, the kingdom takes
place at His appearing. Note-the whole period is spoken of,
and therefore the judgment of the dead as well as of the quick.
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and glory, when there came to him such a voice from the
excellent glory, is is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased; and this voice which came from heaven we heard
when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a
more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place, until the
day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing
this rst, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation; for the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost.”
e transguration was, then, a specimen-a kind of
pattern -of the coming of the Lord in glory.
1John 3:2, 3. “ But we know that when he [the Son
of God] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see
him as he is.” We shall only be like Him when He appears,
not before. “ And every man that hath this hope in him
purieth himself, even as he is pure.” He whose heart is
full of this hope conducts himself accordingly-he puries
himself. Knowing that when Jesus shall appear, I shall be
like Him, I ought to be as much as possible, even now, such
as Jesus. How powerful and ecacious is this truth of the
return of Christ, and what practical eect ows out of its
expectation! is hope is the measure of holiness to us, as
it is the motive.
181
ose also who are in heaven (Rev. 5: to) say in their
songs, “ We shall reign on the earth.” is is the language of
the saints who are already on high, surrounding the throne.
eir language is, “ We shall reign,” and not “ we reign.” ey
are themselves in a state of expectation, like the Lord Jesus
181 is passage explains Matt. 16:28; also Matt. 17 i; Mark 9: I,
2; and Luke 9:27, 28.
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Himself, awaiting that which is to happen; namely, that
His enemies be made the footstool for His feet.
182
Study also (Matt. 13:24-43) the parable of the tares and
the wheat. e tares-namely, the evil which Satan has done
where the good grain has been sown-are to increase until
the harvest, which is the end of this dispensation or age.
e evil which he has caused by heresies, false doctrines,
false religions, all this evil will continue, increase, and ripen:
these tares, we say, will increase in the Lord’s eld, until the
harvest. Here, then, is a positive revelation, which gives a
formal contradiction to the idea of the millennium by the
Holy Spirit, apart from the return of the Lord.
We have now seen that the coming of Christ allies itself
to all the thoughts, to all the motives of consolation and
joy, and to the holiness of the church, yea, even to the dying
bed; and that Christ will bring back with Him those who
have previously quitted the body. We have also seen, on the
one hand, that it is the coming of the Savior which will be
the means of the restitution of all things; and on the other,
that evil is to increase in the Lord’s eld until the harvest.
May the Lord apply these truths to our hearts, dear
friends, on one side, to detach us from the things of the
world, and, on the other, to attach us to His coming-to
Himself in Person; and we shall purify ourselves even as
He is pure. ere is nothing more practical, nothing more
powerful to disentangle us from a world which is to be
judged, and at the same time to knit us to Him who will
come to judge it. Certainly, there is nothing that can better
serve to show us wherein ought to be our purication;
182 Critical editions read “ they “ instead of “ we “; but this only
strengthens the doctrine we are occupied with, as pointing to a
remnant on the earth when the church is gone.
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nothing which can so console us, invigorate us, and identify
us with Him who has suered for us, in order that we who
suer might reign with Him, co-heirs in glory. Assuredly,
if we were expecting the Lord from day to day, there would
be seen in us a self-renunciation which is rarely seen among
the Christians of the present age. May none of us be found
saying, “ My Lord delayeth his coming! “
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62220
First Resurrection, or
Resurrection of the Just
READ Luke 20:17.
FIRST RESURRECTION; OR, RESURRECTION
OF THE JUST
THE subject which I propose for this evening’s lecture,
is the resurrection, and particularly the resurrection of
the church apart; that is, the resurrection of the just as
altogether distinct from that of the unjust.
We have already spoken of Christ, the Heir of all things;
of the church as co-heir with Him; and of the coming of
Christ to reign before the thousand years-an event which
we must not confound with the day of the resurrection
of the unjust, and of the judgment before the great white
throne, which will not take place until after the millennium.
We have now to see that the church will participate in
this coming of Christ; it does so as the subject of the rst
resurrection.
ere is no need to speak to you of the resurrection of
Jesus as being the seal of His mission; it is an admitted
truth; it is enough to quote Rom. 1:4, where the apostle
tells us that “ Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of
First Resurrection, or Resurrection of the Just
419
God with power … by the resurrection of the dead.”
183
is resurrection was the great fact which demonstrated
that Jesus is the Son of God; but it was likewise, for other
reasons, the great theme of the preaching of the apostles,
the basis of their epistles, and of all the New Testament.
Let us commence by saying, that the diculty people
nd in the subjects of which we are treating do not
arise from the word of God not being simple, clear, and
convincing; but from this-that preconceived ideas often
rob us of its natural sense. We have habits of thinking apart
from the Scripture, before we know it; then it is we nd
inconsistencies-incompatibility-in that which presents
itself to us, not suspecting that this incompatibility belongs
alone to human preconceived opinions.
e doctrine of the resurrection is important under
more views than one. It links our hopes to Christ and to
the whole church, in one word, to the counsels of God
in Christ; it makes us understand that we are entirely set
free in Him, by our participation in a life in which, united
by the Holy Ghost to Him, He is also the source of all
strength for glorifying Him, even from the present time;
it sustains our hopes in the most solid manner; nally, it
expresses all our salvation, inasmuch as it introduces us
into a new creation, by which the power of God places us,
183 It is not exclusively by His own resurrection, though there
was the rst and most important proof. e reader will do well
to pay attention to the expression, “ from among the dead,”
employed elsewhere. It is an expression distinct from the
present, and indicates the introduction of a divine power into
the realm of death-a power which withdraws some from it in
such a sort as to distinguish them completely from others. is
it was that astonished the disciples (Mark 9: to). Resurrection
was the faith of every orthodox Jew; but what they did not
understand was a resurrection from among the dead.
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in the second Adam, beyond the sphere of sin, of Satan,
and of death. e soul in departing goes to Jesus, but is
not gloried. e word of God speaks of men gloried, of
gloried bodies; but never of gloried souls. But, as before
observed, prejudices and human teachings have taken the
place of the word of God, and the power and expectation
of the resurrection has ceased to be the habitual state of
the church.
e resurrection was the foundation of the preaching
of the apostles, Acts 1:22. “ One must be with us a witness
of his resurrection.” is was the constant subject of their
testimony. Let us now see in what terms they testied.
Acts 2:24. “ Whom God hath raised up.” So verse 32: “
is Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”
Chapter 3: 15. “ And killed the Prince of Life, whom
God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.”
Chapter 4: 2. is doctrine of the resurrection was
acknowledged as the doctrine publicly preached by the
apostles; it was not that the soul in dying went to heaven,
but that the dead shall live again. As the Pharisees were the
greatest enemies of the Lord whilst He was upon earth-
that is to say, the falsely righteous ones, as opposed to the
truly Righteous One-so in like manner, Satan, after His
death, raised up the Sadducees, who were enemies to the
doctrine of the resurrection; Acts 4; 5 17.
Acts 10:38, 40, 41. Peter testies to this same
fundamental truth before Cornelius the centurion and his
friends. Paul preached it to the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia,
saying (Acts 13:34), “ And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead … he said on this wise, I will give you
the sure mercies of David.”
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Acts 17:18-30. He announces, in the midst of the learned
Gentiles, this doctrine, which was the stumbling-stone
of their carnal wisdom. Socrates and other philosophers
believed, after a fashion,
184
in the immortality of the soul;
but when these men, curious in science, heard of the
resurrection of the dead, they mocked. An unbeliever is
able to discourse about immortality; but if he hears about
the resurrection of the dead, he turns the subject into
derision. And why? Because in virtue of the immortality
of the soul he may exalt himself, he can elevate his own
importance. ere is something in the idea which can ally
itself to man such as he is; but to think of dust raised again-
of a living and glorious being made out of it-this is a glory
which belongs only to God, a work of which God alone is
capable. For if a body reduced to dust can be reconstituted
by God into a living and gloried man, nothing is hid from
His power. With the immortality of the soul man can still
connect the idea of self-of power in the body; but when the
leading truth is the resurrection of the body, and not the
immortality of the soul, man’s impotency becomes glaring.
See again (whether the apostle was right or not in
appealing to the prejudices of the Pharisees), Acts 23 •: 6:
where Paul directly arms, that it was for the preaching of
this doctrine he was called in question In chapter 24: 15,
he tells the same truth. In chapter 26 he gives it to king
Agrippa as the reason of his detention; so also verse 23.
From these passages it is easily seen, that the resurrection
was the basis of the preaching of the apostle and of the
hope of the faithful.
184 It was in metempsychosis, or transmigration to other bodies,
after all.
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We now come to the second part of our subject, the
resurrection of the church apart, or the special resurrection
of the just.
“ere will be,” says the apostle, “ a resurrection both
of the just and of the unjust “; but the resurrection of the
just, or of the church, is a thing altogether apart-which
has no relation with that of the wicked, which does not
take place at the same time with this last, nor after the
same principle. For, although both the one and the other
are to be accomplished by the same power, there is in the
resurrection of the just, a particular principle, namely the
habitation of the Holy Ghost in them, which is foreign to
the resurrection of the wicked; Rom. 8:11
e virtue of the resurrection embraces the life, the
justication, the condence, the glory, of the church. God
Himself is made known unto us by the name of “ God
who raiseth the dead “ (2Cor. 1:9), who introduces His
power into the last depths of the eects of our sin-into
the domain of death-to bring men out of it by a life from
which that moment puts them outside the reach of all the
dreadful consequences of sin- a life close to God.
Rom. 4:23-25. It is in “ God who quickeneth the dead
“ that we are called upon to believe; it is the resurrection of
Jesus which is the power-the ecacy-of our justication.
is is the truth presented in the passage before us. Our
union with Jesus raised gives us acceptance with God. We
ought to see ourselves already as beyond the tomb.
On this account the faith of Abraham was a justifying
faith. “ He considered not his own body now (already)
dead “; but he believed in a God “ who quickeneth the
dead “; for this reason his faith “ was counted to him for
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423
righteousness.”
185
e resurrection of Jesus was the great
proof, and as to all its moral eects, the establishment of
this truth, that the object of our faith is that God raises the
dead. is truth is pointedly expressed in the rst epistle
of Peter (chap. i: 21). e application is made to us by our
union with the Lord.
Col. 2:12. “ Buried with him in baptism, wherein also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” e church
is raised now, because Christ is raised as its Head. e
resurrection of the church is not a resurrection whose
object is judgment, but simply the consequence of its union
with Christ, who has been judged in its stead.
We may observe in this passage how these truths hang
together. e resurrection of the church is a thing of itself,
because the church participates in the resurrection of
Christ; we are raised, not only because Jesus Christ will
call us from the grave, but because we are one with Him.
It is by reason of this unity, that, in partaking of faith, we
are already raised with Christ, raised as to the soul, but not
as to the body. e justication of the church is, that it is
risen with Christ.
e same fact is expressed in Eph. 1:18, etc., and 2: 4-6.
Paul never said, “ If I am saved, I am content.” He knew
that it is hope that makes the soul active, which excites the
aections, which animates and directs the whole man; and
he desired that the church should have the heart full of this
hope. Nor is it enough for one of us to say, “ I am saved “;
it is not enough for the love of God, which is not satised
185 Remark the dierence: he believed God was able to perform
it, we, that He has done so. rough it we believe on Him.
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unless we are participators of all the glory of His Son; and
we ought not to be indierent to His will.
Eph. 2:6 shows forth the same truth. e presence of
the Holy Ghost in the church is that which characterizes
our position before God. As the Spirit of Christ is our
consoler, and helps us in our inrmities, testifying withal
that we are children of God, and making us able to serve
God, so it is on account of the Holy Spirit who is in us
that we shall be raised; and it is on account of the Holy
Spirit also that the principle of the resurrection of the
church is quite other than that of the resurrection of the
wicked. Our resurrection, we say, is the consequence of
the abiding of the Holy Ghost in us (Rom. 8:11)-a very
essential dierence. e world does not receive the Holy
Ghost, “ because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him,”
John 14:27. Now, “ our body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost “ (1Cor. 6:19); our soul in consequence is lled, or
at least it ought to be, with the glory of Christ. Our body,
also, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, will be raised
according to the power of the Holy Ghost who dwells in
us; a thing which can never be said of the wicked.
It is the resurrection which, having introduced us into
the world of the last Adam (even now as partaking of this
spiritual life), will introduce us in fact into a new world,
of which He will be the Head and the glory, since He has
acquired it and will reign there as the risen Man.
Observe, in the passages concerning the resurrection,
not one speaks of a simultaneous rising of just and unjust;
and those which refer to the resurrection of the just speak
of it always as of a thing distinct. All will rise. ere will be
a resurrection of the just, and a resurrection of the unjust,
but they will not take place together. I will cite the passages
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425
successively, which refer to it. It is at the coming of Christ
that the church will rise; Phil. 3:20, 21; 1Cor. 15:23.
e idea of a resurrection of the just was familiar
to the disciples of Christ; and such is represented as to
happen in Luke 14:14, “ ou shalt be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just.”
But before coming to direct proofs, I would express
the conviction that the idea of the immortality of the soul,
186
although recognized in Luke 12:5 and 20: 38, is not in
general a gospel topic; that it comes,
187
on the contrary,
from the Platonists; and that it was just when the coming
of Christ was denied in the church or at least began to be
lost sight of, that the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul came in to displace that of the resurrection. is was
about the time of Origen. It is hardly needful to say that
I do not doubt the immortality of the soul; I only assert
that this view has taken the place of the doctrine of the
resurrection of the church, as the epoch of its joy and glory.
Luke 20:35, 36. “ ey which shall be accounted worthy
to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead.”
e resurrection, then, mentioned here, belongs only to
those who shall be made worthy of it. “ ey which shall
be accounted worthy to obtain that age,” that is to say, this
world of joy, of the reign with Christ. at resurrection of
the dead, then, belongs to the period spoken of, and not
only to eternity. “ Neither,” adds the Savior, “ can they die
any more … for they are the children of God, being the
children of the resurrection.” e wicked shall be raised
186 In the expression (2Tim. 1:10): “ Brought life and immortality
to light,”-” immortality “ signies the incorruptibility of the
body, and not the immortality of the soul.
187 i.e., the propagation of this as a special doctrine comes from
them.
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to be judged, but those others shall be raised because they
have been accounted worthy to obtain the resurrection
which Jesus has obtained. We see, in the passage quoted,
the proof of a resurrection which concerns the children of
God alone; they are the sons of God, being the sons of
the resurrection. To be a son of God, and to have part in
this resurrection, is the title and inheritance of the same
persons.
John 5:25-29. “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, e hour
is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as
the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
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 resurrection of
damnation.” It is customary to oppose the latter part of this
passage to a view
of the resurrection of the just apart; but we shall see
that the whole passage enunciates, and even explains and
strengthens, the truth which is occupying us.
Two acts of Christ are presented as the attributes of His
glory; one, to make alive; the other, to judge. He gives life to
those whom He will, and all judgment is entrusted to Him;
in order that all, even the wicked, should honor the Son,
even as they honor the Father. Jesus has been shamefully
entreated here below; God the Father takes care that His
claim of glory shall be recognized: He (Christ) gives life to
whom He will-to their souls rst, and then to their bodies.
ese glorify Him of good will. As to the wicked, the way
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of obliging them to recognize the rights of Jesus, is to judge
them; and this judgment is in the hands of Jesus. In the work
of vivication, the Father and Son act together, because
those to whom life is given are put into communion with
the Father and Son. But as to judgment, the Father judgeth
no man, because it is not the Father that has been wronged,
but the Son. e wicked will own Jesus Christ in spite of
themselves when they are judged. At what epoch will these
things be accomplished? For the wicked, at the time of the
judgment- the judgment both of the living, and of the dead
before the great white throne; for the just, the children of
God, when their bodies shall participate in the life already
communicated to their souls (the life of Christ Himself)
at the resurrection of the just. e resurrection for these
is not a resurrection of judgment, but simply, to repeat it
again, the exercise, towards the bodies of God’s children,
of that quickening power of Jesus, in which He has already
worked upon their souls, and which, in God’s good time,
shall work upon their bodies. “ ey that have done good,”
says our text, “ unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.”
188
But the objection is made, Jesus has said (v. 28), “ e
hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall
hear his voice.” e wicked and the just will then evidently
rise together. But three verses before (v. 25) it is said, “ e
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”
Hour comprehends here all the space of time which has
elapsed since the coming of the Savior; and under this
word is contained two states of things quite dierent,
188 Really, judgment (see Greek); which is said before to be
committed to Christ.
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seeing that the dead heard the voice of the Son of God
during the time He was living on earth, and that they have
been hearing it for eighteen centuries since. is, then, is
the interpretation. e hour
189
for giving life to the soul is
an hour which has lasted eighteen centuries already. And
the hour is also coming for the judgment. e word hour
has the same sense in the two passages. at is to say, there
is a time of quickening and a time of judgment; there is
a period during which souls are quickened, and a period
when bodies shall be raised. For us, the resurrection is only
the application of the quickening power of Jesus Christ
to our bodies. We shall be raised, because we are already
quickened in our souls. e resurrection is the crowning of
the whole work, because we are children of God, because
the Spirit dwells in us, because (as far as our souls are
concerned) we are already risen with Christ.
ere will be a resurrection of life for those who have
been already quickened in their souls; and a resurrection of
judgment for those who have rejected Jesus.
1Cor. 15:20, 23, sets forth very clearly the connection
which exists between the coming of Christ and the
resurrection of the dead. e order of the resurrection is
explicitly shown. “ Christ is become the rst fruits of them
that slept “ (v. 20); “ of those which slept,” and not of the
wicked. ey that are Christ’s shall rise at His coming;
then cometh the end, the time when He shall deliver up
the kingdom to God the Father. When He comes, He will
take the kingdom, but at the end He will deliver it up. e
appearing of Christ will therefore take place before the end;
it will be for the destruction of the wicked. He will come
189 For the use of this word, see (in the Greek) John 5:35; ch. 16:
4, 25, 26; Luke 22:53; ‘ John 2:18 Cor. 7:8; Philemon is.
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429
to purify His kingdom. “ Christ the rst fruits; afterward
they that are Christ’s, at his coming. en cometh the end.”
1ess. 4:14-16. “ em also which sleep in Jesus will
God bring with him “; “ and the dead in Christ shall rise
rst.” It is the complement-the lling up-of our hopes; it is
the fruit of our justication, the consequence of the Holy
Spirit dwelling in us.
e righteous dead shall rise rst; then the living
righteous shall be changed, and “ shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.” All
this is a matter which belongs exclusively to the saints-to
those who, sleeping or living, are Christ’s, and who will be,
from that moment, forever with the Lord.
Phil. 3. “ To know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his suerings, being
made conformable unto his death; if by any means, I might
attain unto the resurrection from among the dead.”
Why speak thus, if it be true that good and bad must rise
together, and in the same manner? is resurrection from
among the dead is just this rst resurrection which Paul had
before his eyes. I am willing, he says, as it were, to lose all, to
suer all, if, cost what it may, I arrive at the resurrection of
the just: such is my desire. Evidently the resurrection from
among the dead was a thing that concerned the church
exclusively. I might say, like the apostle, “ I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.”
As to the period or interval which elapses between
the resurrection of the faithful and the wicked, it is a
circumstance altogether independent of the principle itself,
that is, of the distinction of the two resurrections. Our
faith on this point depends upon a revelation, which has
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only importance, because God has so chosen to order it for
His own glory. e period is only mentioned in the book
of Revelation under the expression, “ a thousand years.”
Between the two resurrections a thousand years elapse. e
only point then on which I cite the book is upon the length
comprised in the reign of the Son of man on the earth. e
passage is found in Rev. 20:4, “ And I saw thrones … ”
e world will then know that we are the objects of
grace, that we have been loved as Jesus Himself has been
loved by the Father.
If the rst resurrection-that of the just-is not to be
taken literally, why should the second-that of the unjust-
be so taken? As the object of our hope, and source of our
consolation and of our joy, it is but a small thing to know
that the unjust shall be raised; but the precious thing-the
essential- is to know that the resurrection of the just will be
the consummation of their happiness; that in it God will
accomplish His love towards us; that, after having given
life to our souls, He will give life to our bodies, and will
make of the dust of the earth a form suitable to the life
which has been given to us on the part of God. We never
read in the word of God of gloried spirits, but always of
gloried bodies. ere is the glory of God, and the glory of
those who will be raised.
I desire, dear friends, that the knowledge of this truth,
by the power of Christ, on which depends its entire
accomplishment, may strengthen us in our hearts unto
all perfection. For this knowledge in all its extent is that
to which the scripture applies the word “ perfection.”
Christ was thus made perfect as to His state and position
before God; we, also, ourselves are now perfect by faith, in
acknowledging that we are raised with Him, as we shall be
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431
later as to our bodies. May your bodies, souls, and spirits,
be preserved blameless until the coming of our Well-
beloved! May this truth of the resurrection of the church
become bound up, in our minds, with all the precious
truths of our salvation consummated in Christ, and may
it be accomplished in the plenitude of our salvation in our
bodies also!
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62221
Progress of Evil on the Earth
READ Dan. 2
PROGRESS OF EVIL ON THE EARTH
WE have been occupied, as yet, with the union of Christ
and the church conformed to His image; of the coming of
Christ Himself, and of the resurrection of the church, by
which it gets a share of this glory of Christ as co-heir.
e subject for to-night is not so full of joy and
happiness, but it is right that we should know the
testimony which God gives of human wickedness. Let me
hope, dear friends, that the consequence of knowing it will
be to produce unfeigned seriousness of spirit. e sight of
the progress of evil, and of the judgment which it draws
down, ought, rst of all, to have the eect of making us
avoid it; and, secondly, of impressing us with the power
of God, who alone can remove it. “ See that ye refuse not
him that speaketh,” Heb. 12:25-29. is passage gives the
apostle’s view of the great change that will take place when
the power of evil will be overthrown.
What we are about to consider will tend to show that,
instead of permitting ourselves to hope for a continued
progress of good, we must expect a progress of evil; and
that the hope of the earth being lled with the knowledge
of the Lord before the exercise of His judgment, and the
consummation of this judgment on the earth, is delusive.
We are to expect evil, until it becomes so agrant that it
will be necessary for the Lord to judge it.
First, I shall show that the New Testament constantly
presents to us evil as going on increasing until the end,
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and that Satan will urge it on until the Lord destroys his
power; secondly, I shall endeavor to show the character
which this wickedness will take, in its external form, as a
secular power. In other words, what I have to say can be
reduced under two heads:-
Firstly, the apostasy which takes place in Christendom
itself. Secondly, the formation, the fall, and the ruin of the
Antichrist, in the sense of a visible power.
I begin with Matt. 13:36, the parable of the tares. It
brings out this circumstance that, whilst men slept, the
enemy sowed tares in the eld of the householder; and that,
upon the demand of the servants whether the tares ought
to be plucked out, the answer was, No-that the wheat and
the tares were to grow together until the harvest. It is, then,
the sentence of the Lord, that the evil, which Satan has
done in the eld where the good seed of the word has been
sown, shall remain and ripen there until the end. It is an
express declaration, that the eorts of Christians shall not
have the result of taking away the evil, which is to remain
until the day of judgment: “ Let both grow together until
the harvest.” e harvest is at the end of the world-the
end of this age; that is, of the dispensation closed by the
coming of Christ. We must bear in mind that now, in
God’s dealings with us and by us, we have to do with grace
and not with judgment. We have not to judge the world.
Even could we say with certainty of such an one-he is a
child of the devil, he is precisely on that account out of
our jurisdiction; it is a tare. We have to do with grace; we
cannot lay hand upon the evil which Satan has produced;
but we can act as instruments of grace, for God permits us
to sow good seed.
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e tares are not simply wicked men-pagans; these last
have not been sown among the good grain. e tares are
some particular evil sown by the enemy after Jesus Christ
had sown the good seed. What, then, we may call heresy,
corruption of the truth in whatever way, or to whatever
extent, will remain until the harvest. e evil which Satan
has produced by a corrupted religion will exist until the
end. All our eorts ought to be directed-not to pluck out
the tares, but to gather in the children of God-to assemble
together the co-heirs of Jesus Christ.
190
1Tim. 4:1. “e Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in
hypocrisy … ”
We have no reason to expect, in the ordinary meaning
given to it, the progress of the gospel; there may be, and
will be, as much as is necessary for the gathering together
of the children of God. But that which we ought to expect
is contained in these words-a kind of picture of the last
times” Some shall depart from the faith.” Compare 2Peter
2:1-3.
2Tim. 3:1-5. “ is know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come … ” Are we to heed what men
say? No, but what God says. Observe the language which
Jeremiah uses to Hananiah; Jer. 28:6, etc. And so we must
reply when we are told that the knowledge of the Lord
shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the channels of
190 We read in 2Sam. 23 a remarkable prophecy of the judgment
of the wicked one who “ cannot be taken with hands,” and of
the beauty and blessing of the coming of that One, who will
reign in righteousness, and whose blessings will correspond to
His faithfulness in keeping the covenant during our state of
misery.
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435
the sea. We believe, undoubtedly, that the knowledge of
the Lord shall ll the earth; but that is not the question.
e question is, How will this be accomplished? By the
judgment of God. “ When thy judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness,” Isa.
26:9.
Let us return to the passage in Timothy. “ Men shall
be lovers of their own selves,” etc. ese are not pagans;
they are Christians, nominal Christians; for it is written,
“ Having the form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof.” e characters, indeed, drawn by the apostle, are
those of pagans, such as they are painted in the lowest
degree of vileness at the beginning of the epistle to the
Romans, and nearly in the same terms. And it is added,
concerning these men of the last times, “ ey shall wax
worse and worse.” We see the same expectation of evil in
2Tim. 4:1-4: “ I charge thee therefore before God,” etc.
It is worth remarking, that the tares were already sown
in the days of the apostles; and in one sense it is a happy
thing for us. If it had happened later, we should not have
had the testimony of the word in this matter in order to
warn us, and direct us when these sorrowful events came
to pass; as it is, we have the perfect light of God upon this
state of things.
1Peter 4:17. “ For the time is come that judgment must
begin at the house of God.” Compare these words with
Acts 20:28-31: “ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and
to all the ock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after
my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the ock; also of your own selves shall men
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arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them.” is state of things began during the lifetime of the
apostles.
1John 2:18. is passage declares, that “ the last time
“ does not mean the time of Jesus Christ, but the time of
Antichrists. ese were precursors of the great Antichrist.
at which characterizes the last time is, not the spread
of the gospel over the whole earth, but the presence of
Antichrist.
Jude. is epistle is a treatise in itself upon the apostasy;
and in verse 4 we have a succinct description of its character.
e apostle says, that he found it needful to exhort the
believers to contend for that which they had already received.
Some had already crept in amongst them, who were the
germ of the apostasy; and this was to continue until the
judgment of Jesus Christ. For, after having described their
character more in detail, he adds (v. 15), that it is this class
which would be the object of the judgment of Jesus Christ
when He should come. Of course, therefore, the evil, which
was manifested in the church almost from the beginning
of its existence, would remain until the coming of Christ.
In verse i i we get three sorts of apostasy brought together
in these men: natural apostasy, ecclesiastical apostasy, and
open revolt, upon which last the judgment will fall. First,
the character of Cain is given us - apostasy of nature -
hatred, unrighteousness; secondly, Balaam-teaching wrong
things for a recompense (this is the ecclesiastical apostasy);
and thirdly, the character of Korah, that is, of him who set
himself up against the rights of priesthood and of royalty,
the royalty of Christ, in the types of Moses and Aaron.
Alas! it is evil, and not the gospel, which will gather
together the world. “ And I saw three unclean spirits, like
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437
frogs, come out of the mouth of the false prophet … to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God
Almighty,” Rev. 16:13, 14.
But, it is said that the secular power of corrupted
Christendom has disappeared by judgment, and that the
destruction of its inuence will give place to the gospel. But
the Spirit says, “ e ten horns (kings) which thou sawest
upon the beast (the Roman empire), these shall hate the
whore (ecclesiastical power), and shall make her desolate
and naked, and shall eat her esh, and burn her with re.
For God hath put in their hearts to fulll his will, and
to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the
words of God shall be fullled,” Rev. 17:16, 17. Christians
are desiring the destruction of the inuence of the great
whore upon the world; but even should her external power
be destroyed, would the kingdoms become the kingdoms of
Christ? On the contrary, the kings will give their power to
the beast. e great whore has ruled the beast; at length her
power and her riches shall be taken away from her, but only
that the ten horns may give their power to the beast, that
all uncertainty may be dissipated, and that his self-will and
blaspheming character may be fully manifested in his last
apostasy. It is the power of corruption and seduction which
will give place to the power of open rebellion against God.
us we get the transition from corruption to rebellion.
2ess. 2:3-12. “ at day shall not come except there
come a falling away rst, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God.”
All this must happen before the day of the Lord comes.
We must take the facts as the word of God reveals them.
Christians, having seen the promise in the scripture that
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the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, have
said, Yes, we will ll it; whilst in the scripture this event is
attributed to the glory of Christ. e spirit of His mouth,
by which the Lord will destroy the wicked one, is not the
gospel, but the force and power of the judgment of Christ.
See Isa. 11:4, “ With the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked “; Isaiah 3o: 33, “ e breath of the Lord, like a
stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”
We may observe, that this Antichrist will unite in his
person the characters of wickedness which have appeared
from the beginning. First, man has always wanted to have
his own will; secondly, he has exalted himself against God;
thirdly, he has put himself under the guidance of Satan.
ese are just the three things which will be reproduced in
the Antichrist -all the energy of man exalting itself against
God, the king doing according to his will, his coming after
the power of Satan. It is the ripened fruit of the human
heart, which is itself an Antichrist.
It is known to all of us, that there have been three
successive beasts: the empire of Babylon; then the empire
of the Persians; then the empire of the Greeks, or of
Alexander in particular; and that the fourth is the Roman
empire-a beast with marks altogether peculiar to itself.
At the beginning, or rather before the beginning of these
four monarchies, the throne of God was on the earth at
Jerusalem. In His temple, above the ark where the law was
deposited, Jehovah manifested His presence in a sensible
manner. But at the commencement of this present period,
which is that of the Gentiles, the throne of Jehovah was
taken away from Jerusalem (as is detailed in the chapters
from i to 11 of the prophet Ezekiel). e glory of Jehovah,
which the prophet had seen in chapter i near the river
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439
Chebar, he sees, in chapter 11, leave Jerusalem; it departs
from the house (chap. to: 18, 19), and from the city (chap.
11: 23). It is a remarkable fact, that the glory of Jehovah
has quitted its terrestrial throne. But more; at the same
time, this terrestrial power was transferred from Jerusalem
to the Gentiles, and government entrusted to men. So we
read in Dan. 2:36-38, “ is is the dream; and we will tell
the interpretation thereof before the king. ou, 0 king, art
a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.”
You thus see that, by the destruction of the last king
of the Jews, earthly dominion passed to the Gentiles in
the person of Nebuchadnezzar. He began by establishing a
false religion by force. He made a statue that all the world
was to worship, and he became lifted up in heart; hence
he was made to become as a beast for seven years. at
is, instead of conducting himself humbly as a man before
God-as before Him who had given him his power, on the
one hand, he exalted himself, and on the other, ravaged the
world to satisfy his will.
Omitting the second and third monarchies, which
are not at this moment of direct importance to us, and
pursuing the character of the fourth, we meet in it certain
lineaments worthy of remark. e Jews have been in a state
of captivity from the time of Nebuchadnezzar unto this
day. It is true, that there was a return of the people from the
captivity of Babylon, but without their having ceased to be
under the power of the Gentiles. e throne of God has
in no sense been re-established; and if God did permit the
Jews to return to their country for a short time, it was that
His Son might appear at the commencement of the fourth
monarchy. And, in fact, it was at the moment when the
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440
fourth monarchy, under its imperial form, had become the
universal power (Luke 2:1),- it was just at that time, we say,
that the Son of God, by right King of the Jews and of the
Gentiles, was presented to them. And what reception did
He meet? ey crucied Him. e chief priests, who, as
viewed by God, were the representatives of religion upon
earth, and Pontius Pilate, the representative of earthly
power, joined in league together to reject and put to death
the Son of God. us the fourth monarchy became guilty
of rejecting the rights of the Messiah. e Jews, as we shall
see presently more in detail, are set aside; and then comes
in the calling of the church for the heavenly places. But as
to that which concerns the church on earth, we have seen
it marred by the seed of the wicked one, and the apostasy
which resulted from it; we have seen afterward, that this
corruption will give place to a more open and daring revolt
of the beast itself (that is, of this same fourth monarchy
under a new and last form yet to be developed). It is this that
will be the occasion of its judgment (Dan. 7:13, 14, 9-11),
“ I beheld till the thrones were cast down [set,]
191
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 ery ame, and his wheels as burning re. A ery
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, because 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
191 e common translation is “ cast down,” but “ set “ or “ placed
“ is more exact, after the LXX and a good number of other
authorities.
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441
to the burning ame.” Verses 13, 14, “ 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 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 dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
is is the kingdom given to the Son of man, when the
fourth beast is destroyed. e judgment and destruction of
the fourth monarchy has not yet taken place, as we know
from Dan. 2:34, 35: “ ou 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. en
was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,
broken to pieces together, and became like the cha of the
summer threshingoors; 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 lled the whole
earth.” at is, before the stone cut out without hands
spreads out and lls the whole earth, it completely destroys
the statue: gold, silver, brass, iron, clay, are carried away as
cha before the wind. None of this is yet accomplished. In
the action of the stone, no mention is made of a change
of character of the statue; it is a blow- a sudden one-a
blow which breaks in pieces, destroys, leaves not a trace
of the existence of the statue; as it is said, “ No place was
found for them.” e Roman empire-the feet, and with the
feet all the rest-disappears. By this one blow the whole is
pulverized, destroyed, annihilated; and after this judgment,
the stone which fell upon the statue becomes a mountain
which lls the whole earth.
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Did Christianity break to pieces the fourth monarchy,
when it began to be promulgated? In no wise. e Roman
empire has continued; it has even become Christian; nay,
more, the feet of the statue were not then in existence.
e act of destruction, which is marked in the fall of the
little stone upon them, does not represent the grace of
the gospel; nor has it any reference to the work which the
gospel accomplishes. Besides, it is after the total destruction
of the statue that the stone begins to grow; which signies
that the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, which is to
ll the whole earth, will not begin to spread until after the
fourth beast has been judged and destroyed.
ere remains a diculty to be cleared up in the history
of this beast. It may be alleged that the Roman empire does
not exist in our days. It is an additional proof in support of
what we have been saying. In Rev. 17:7, 8, the angel says,
“ e beast that thou sawest was, and is not “: the Roman
empire, as an empire, exists no longer; but what follows?
“ And shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into
perdition; and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder.”
It existed; next, it exists no more; then, it will come out of
the pit. It will have a really diabolical character; it will be a
full expression of the power of Satan.
at which we learn, then, in general, of this beast,
is, rst, that from its beginning, the Roman empire has
been guilty of the rejection of Jesus as king of the earth
here below; secondly, that later in the time of this fourth
monarchy, there is a little horn that speaketh great things;
and, lastly, that this fourth beast, after having ceased to
exist for a season, will reappear upon the scene out of the
bottomless pit, and be destroyed on account of the great
words which the little horn spoke. is beast is connected
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443
with a power described in 2ess. 2:9, “ at wicked one,
whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power,
and signs, and lying wonders,” whose destruction is found
in verse 8. ere is another description of the last head of
the beast (see Rev. 17:1), which is the beast himself.
Dan. 11: 36, etc.
192
e agreement between this passage
and 2ess. 2:9 is clear. We see in both the same exaltation
of himself against God. In the epistle, the power of Satan is
added, because the wicked one is presented in his character
of apostasy and iniquity; in Dan. 11 in his earthly and royal
character. As to the third mark which we have signalized in
iniquity-the will of man, it also appears: “ the king shall do
according to his own will.”
It is observable, also, that this wicked one is alluded
to in John 5:43. e Jewish nation will receive him who
comes in his own name e iniquity, then, of the heart
of man arrives at its height in the last head of the fourth
monarchy. Isa. 14:13-15 describes the self-exaltation of the
same under the title of the king of Babylon. “ ou hast
said in thine heart.” etc.
It is exactly all the privileges, all the rights of Christ,
which this king arrogates to himself: “ I will ascend into
heaven “- what Christ only has done; “ I will exalt myself
above the stars of God “-the throne of Christ is above
principalities and powers; “ I will sit, also, upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north.” “ It is the
palace of the great king,” the king of Israel at Jerusalem.
Christ is to come with clouds-” I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds,” says this one: his end is, “ Yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
192 Verse 35, the Jews are passed by. Read verse 36: “ e king shall
do according to his own will.
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I am afraid that many a cherished feeling, dear to the
children of God, has been shocked this evening; I mean,
their hope that the gospel will spread itself over the whole
earth during the actual dispensation. It was just the church’s
task to proclaim the glory of Christ everywhere; but as for
the fact in result, if we express ourselves according to the
word of God, as we see it in the later epistles and other
scriptures, we shall see all that is powerful in this world in
operation, but without regard to God. All the intelligence
of man, his faculties, his talents, his knowledge, will be
displayed; all that which can seduce the heart, and master
the mind, all the resources in the character and nature of
man, apart from conscience, will astonish the world, and
draw it into following the beast, and place them under the
inuence of Antichrist; because the glory of man in self-
exaltation, and not service to Christ in humiliation, is man’s
natural bent. “ He that exalteth himself shall be abased.”
But, you will say, to insist upon such a result is to
discourage all our endeavors to propagate the gospel on
the earth. We answer, If false hopes are entertained, you are
already deceived. It is indeed true, that the view which has
been taken of the progress of evil is not very encouraging
to the eorts of those whose hopes have been founded
on their own ideas. But ask yourselves this question, Did
the fact that God told Noah that He was going to destroy
the world, and did his full conviction that the judgment
of God was about to come, prevent his preaching to his
fellow mortals? On the contrary, it was precisely this which
animated him, in order that he might gain those who had
ears to hear. e conviction that false Christianity will
become more and more rened, more corrupt in the world,
ought to give but the more energy and activity to the love
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of him who believes, and the nearness of the judgment of
God, instead of paralyzing our eorts, ought to drive us
with more power, more energy, more faithfulness, to present
the gospel-the only means of causing men to escape the
righteous judgments which threaten them.
When I say that the tares, instead of diminishing,
will continue to grow, do we thereby hint that the good
seed will not increase? By no means. If the evil is to ripen
for judgment, God gives, at the same time, power to the
testimony that would separate the good from it. is I
believe to be God’s usual mode of procedure. If we were to
see three thousand souls converted in Geneva in a day, it
would be said the millennium is come, the gospel is going to
spread over the whole world. How is it? ere are perhaps
not three hundred converted in a year. e conversion of
many thousands at Jerusalem, what did it prove? at God
was going to judge that city, and that He saved from that
perverse generation those who should be saved. Whenever
we see evil increasing, and God at the same time acting in
drawing away from it those who believe, it may be taken
as a sign that the judgment of God is nigh. It cannot be
denied, that God is acting powerfully by His Spirit in these
days; we ought to thank Him with all our hearts. Let it be
a sign to us, that God will remove His own children from
a world which will shortly be judged.
ere are two signs of the proximity of judgment: the
one is, that piety increases, and that all the resources of
man develop themselves in a wonderful manner; the
other is, that Christians are withdrawing from this state
of things. In either case, there is nothing to hinder us
working for our divine Master. On one side is to be seen
the work of grace operating, deepening, extending, and
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God separating His children from the evil around; on the
other hand are to be seen all the principles of the wicked
one in manifest development. In the word of God I see an
express declaration, that the present economy will have an
end, and the evil go on to a greater and greater height, until
that wicked one is destroyed by the coming of Christ.
Rom. 2:22. Let us conclude with the warning which
the Savior gives us: “ Behold, therefore, the goodness and
severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward
thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise
thou also shalt be cut o.”
Has the church kept itself in this goodness of God?
Truly Christendom has become completely corrupted; the
dispensation of the Gentiles has been found unfaithful:
can it be again restored? No: impossible. As the Jewish
dispensation was cut o, the Christian dispensation will
be also. May God give us grace to continue steadfast in our
hope, and to rest upon His faithfulness, which will never
fail us!
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62224
Judgment of the Nations
Which Become the
Inheritance of Christ and
of the Church
READ Psa. 82
JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS, WHICH
BECOME THE INHERITANCE
OF CHRIST AND OF THE CHURCH
THE last verse of this Psalm contains the subject which
is to occupy us this evening: “ Arise, 0 God, judge the earth:
for thou shalt inherit all nations.” It is God who is to judge
the earth, and, as the consequence of this judgment, to
become the possessor of all nations.
I have spoken of Christ, Heir of all things, with the
church His co-heir; then of the coming of Christ, or of
the time when He will take His inheritance; and of the
resurrection of the church, or of the moment when the
raised church participates with Him in this inheritance.
Even departed souls-blessed as they are with Him-wait
for the resurrection of their bodies to enjoy the fullness of
blessing and of glory. It is for this reason that a Christian
may desire death, because he is thus delivered from all
aiction and trial; but he awaits the resurrection for the
consummation of his glory. We have spoken of the progress
of evil, and shown that, far from the world being converted
by the preaching of the gospel, the tares are to increase and
to ripen until the harvest. And we have seen the evil come
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to its height in the eighth head of the beast, which goes
down to destruction in the apostasy of the civil power of
the fourth monarchy, and in the false prophet, who, having
seduced the world to do homage to the beast and to take
his mark, is destroyed with him.
We have seen that there are two beasts, and that the
second is transformed into the false prophet. Compare
Rev. 13 with the end of chap. 19. e scene now extends
itself; for not only will the fourth beast be destroyed,
but the nations will be judged. All the races of men who
inhabit the earth, which took their rise in the division of
the children of Noah into their respective families, will be
found at the end gathered together and judged by God.
All that is high and lifted up will be brought low by the
power and glory of God, in order that God, in full blessing,
may enjoy the kingdom, and may have the inheritance of
all nations.
I have touched, at our last meeting, the most dicult
part, namely, the point where the two dispensations touch,
and where the evil caused by the failure of the existing one
(failure, of course, on man’s part) requires the intervention
of God; and, as a sequel, the judgment which terminates
the dispensation. I have spoken specially of the rebellion
of the beast abetted by Antichrist, because it is, in fact, the
consummation of the apostasy. But when this event takes
place, there comes also the judgment of all nations. God
does not only judge the last rebellion of the Antichristian
beast; but having made His power felt-the moment of His
wrath being come-He judges all nations.
is is what we read in Rev. 10 x: 15-18: “ And the
seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in
heaven, saying, e kingdoms of this world are become the
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449
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
worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, 0 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 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 prophets, and
to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great;
and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Let
us follow up the passages which speak on the same subject.
We before remarked, that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,
the true King over the whole earth, was presented to the
fourth beast and to the Jews, that is, to the Gentiles and
Jews (to the Gentiles in the person of Pontius Pilate,
and to the Jews in the person of the high priest). He was
presented to the world and to His own, and was rejected.
But in a much more extended sense it is said, “ e nations
were angry, and thy wrath is come.” It is the wrath of God
breaking forth against them by the judgment of His Son.
Psa. 2 Two other things are set forth. First, that the Son
is anointed (margin) king upon Zion, God’s holy hill, and
that He has the heathen for His inheritance: Zion is His
throne; the nations, His inheritance. Secondly, His way
of dealing with the nations-a way entirely opposed to the
gospel: “ ou shalt break them with a rod of iron.” e
scepter (rod) of Christ, in the gospel, is a rod of goodness
and love; it is everything that is most sweet, most powerful,
in His love; it is not a scepter of iron. e psalmist is
speaking of the kings of the earth: “ Be wise now, therefore,
0 ye kings; … kiss the Son.” e decree of God is, that His
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Son shall be anointed, that is, declared King over all the
earth; and He invites the kings of the earth to submit
themselves to Him. He says to them, “ I am about to speak
in my wrath; I give the heritage of the nations to Christ;
He will bruise you with a rod of iron; He will break you
in pieces: now then, submit yourselves to Him, to my Son,
King in Zion.” ese kings follow their own ways; their
policy is settled according to the wisdom of man. Alas! it is
not of Christ, King in Zion, that they think. Go and speak
to the kings of the earth of Christ, King in Zion: you would
be taken for one out of his senses. Nevertheless, God has
decreed His reign surely, irrevocably, and He will bring it
to pass in spite of the kings of the earth; He will establish
Him King in Zion, and will give Him the nations as His
heritage, and the ends of the earth for His possession. “
Now,” says He by the prophet Micah, “ shall he be great
unto the ends of the earth,” chap. 5: 4.
At the birth of Christ, hatred burst forth upon the
least appearance of His royalty. When the cry was heard
that a king had appeared, immediate eorts were made to
get rid of Him. Will the nations then, at last, listen to the
invitation made to them to submit themselves? e answer
is to be found in Psa. 82
ese judges of the earth will have to give an account of
their conduct. “ ey know not, neither do they understand.”
“ I have said, Ye are gods,” for God Himself had set them
as having authority over the earth (“ the powers that be
are ordained of God “); but God can judge them. It is not
Christians who hold the above language; it is He who has
the right of judging those whom He has named judges-of
setting aside those subaltern powers, in order to take to
Himself His great power and reign.
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We nd in Psa. 9:1-7, that the place where this
judgment will be exercised is the land of Israel, and that
the Lord will manifest Himself in this act of power. Verse
5: “ ou hast rebuked the heathen; thou hast destroyed the
wicked (Antichrist); thou hast put out their name forever
and ever.” Verse i5-2o is not the language of the gospel;
it is the prophetic demand-the righteous demand-of
judgment. is it is which explains those diculties which
Christians often nd in the Psalm owing to not having
understood the dierence of the dispensations. To convert
the wicked, by the announcement of the grace of God,
is the gospel; what we have. been reading is something
quite dierent. Once the gospel has run its course, Christ
will demand righteous judgment against the world. It is
no longer Christ, at the right hand of the Father, sending
down the Holy Ghost to gather together His co-heirs; but
Christ calling for righteousness and asking it (generally
by His Spirit in the humble and lowly ones of the Jewish
nation) against the proud and violent men. If God were
not to execute judgment, the evil would only grow worse
and worse without any consolation for the faithful. God
does not execute it until the evil has arrived at its height.
Antichrist and the nations rise up against God and His
Christ, and the earth must be cleared of His enemies to
give place to the reign of God Himself. It is not David
asking to rule over his enemies; but Christ who demands
judgment, because the time is come.
We may observe the same truth in Psa. 10:15, 16: “ e
Lord is King forever and ever; the heathen are perished
out of his land.” ere is a general principle running
through this class of Psalm of a terrible judgment upon
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the wickedness of the nations-God acting as Judge in the
midst of judges.
A passage in Isa. 2:12-22, also presents to us the great
day of God upon earth: “ For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon every one that is high and lofty … when
he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” It is not for the
judgment of the dead, but of the earth.
To make you understand that this judgment applies
to all nations, and that it is after this, and by this means,
that God will ll the earth with the knowledge of His
name, we beg you to turn to Zeph. 3:8: “ erefore wait ye
upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the
prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that
I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my erce anger; for all the earth shall
be devoured with the re of my jealousy.” e intention
of God is to assemble the nations to pour upon them His
indignation-a terrible judgment. For our expectation then,
as to when the knowledge of the Lord shall ll the earth,
we refer to verse 9. is blessing will come to pass after He
shall have executed the judgment, and put away the evil-
doers. is passage is a very explicit revelation.
e same truth, namely, that the knowledge of the Lord
will spread by the eect of His judgment, is presented to
us in Isa. 26:9-II: “ When thy judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness “; for
it is added, “ Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will
he not learn righteousness.” Grace does not produce the
eect, but judgment. Again, we say, that the determination
of Jehovah is to assemble the kingdoms, to pour out on
them His indignation, and all the erceness of His wrath.
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It will be a terrible day, and one which the world ought to
be expecting.
Another passage in support of the truth we are urging is
found in Psa. 110 “ e Lou, (Jehovah) said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool.” Jesus is set down at the right hand of God
the Father, until His enemies are made His footstool.
Until that time, He acts by His Spirit to gather together
Christians: He sends down the Holy Ghost to convince us
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. But the day will
come when God will make His enemies His footstool; and
it is on this account, perhaps, that Jesus says, “ Of that day
knoweth no man … neither the Son, but the Father,” Mark
13:32. It is written, that He will inherit all things. is has
been prophesied of Me; Jehovah said to Me, “ Sit thou at
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
It is not such a year, such a day; but I go to sit at the right
hand of God until- until the moment when the Father will
have accomplished this decree: for the Lord Jesus, God
blessed forever, receives the kingdom as Man-mediator.
Now, as to the accomplishment of the decree, it is when “
the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.” We
discern the boundary of this dispensation clearly marked,
that is, Christ set down at the right hand of Jehovah, until
Jehovah puts His enemies under His feet. After that come
the words, “ Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” is
is what Jehovah will accomplish, when the Lord, at the
commencement of the exercise of His power, shall strike
through kings in the day of his wrath; shall judge among
the heathen; shall ll the place with the dead bodies, and
shall wound the heads over many countries; or rather,
chief over a great land. In Jer. 25:28, the same subject is
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presented; and it is the end of all that we see around us: “
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to
drink, then shalt thou say unto them, us saith the Lord
of hosts, Ye shall certainly drink.” See also verse 31.
ere are yet two facts to remark on. First, it is at
Jerusalem principally that all this disaster will take place;
secondly, God has named in His word all the nations who
will participate in it. We shall see all the descendants of
Noah, of whom we have the catalog in Genesis To, reappear
on the scene at the moment of this judgment of God. We
shall nd nearly all of them under the beast or under Gog.
As to the passages which concern Jerusalem, we may
cite Joel 3: I, 9-17; Mic. 4 i t to the end of the chapter; and
Zech. 12:3-9: “ And in that day will I make Jerusalem a
burdensome stone for all people; all that burden themselves
with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the
Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his
rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the
house of Judah; and will smite every horse of the people
with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in
their heart, e inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my
strength in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I
make the governors of Judah like an hearth of re among
the wood, and like a torch of re in a sheaf; and they shall
devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on
the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own
place, even in Jerusalem. e Lord also shall save the tents
of Judah rst, that the glory of the house of David, and
the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify
themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend
the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and he that is feeble among
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them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David
shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And
it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy
all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall
mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall
be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
rst-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley
of Megiddon.” Chapter 14: 3, 4: “ en shall the Lord go
forth, and ght against those nations, as when he fought in
the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon
the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east;
and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a
very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove
toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
It is said in Acts 1 that Jesus “ shall so come in like
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,” that is, upon
the Mount of Olives. Compare Ezek. 1 i: 23. “ And his
feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,”
says the Holy Ghost in Zech. 14:4; “ his feet,” the feet of
Jehovah. ough indeed He was the man of sorrows, Jesus
is Jehovah, and has been so from eternity.
As to the second point on which we have to remark,
namely, that the nations, the descendants of Noah, will
be ranged either under the beast or under Gog-the two
principal powers; if you consult Genesis to: 5 you will read,
“ By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their
lands.” In the generations of the sons of Japheth are named
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Gomer,
193
Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Mesec, and Tiras.
Of these we get Gomer, Magog, Tubal, Mesec, under the
same names in Ezek. 38 as followers of Gog; you will also
nd there Persia which was united to Media (Madai), and
from whose hands it received the crown (as we are told in
Dan. 8 and other places), so that there only remain Javan
and Tiras to be accounted for. ose mentioned above are
the nations which comprise Russia, Asia Minor, Tartary,
and Persia (all the people, in short, of which the empire of
Russia is composed, or which are under its inuence). ey
are described as under the dominion of Gog, prince of Rosh
(the Russians), Mesec (Moscow), and Tubal (Tobolsk).
e children of Ham are pointed out in Gen. 10:6. Of
these, Canaan has been destroyed, and his country turned
over to Israel; Cush (Ethiopia) and Phut are also found
(Ezek. 38:5; see margin) under Gog; those of Cush only
in part, and for the reason that one part of the family of
Cush established itself on the Euphrates, the other on
the Nile,
194
that is, north and south of Israel. ose of the
north are then, by their position, in direct relation with
the partisans of Gog. Mizraim, or Egypt (for Mizraim is
none other than the Hebrew name for Egypt), and the
remainder of Cush and the Libyans, you will nd in the
scenes of the last day; Dan. 11:43.
As to the children of Shem (Gen. 10:22), Elam is the
same as Persia, of which we have already spoken. Asshur
is named in the judgment, which will take place in the
last times (Mic. 5:6; Isa. 14:25; chap. 3o: 33); also in the
conspiracy of Psa. 83, and in other places. Arphaxad is
one of the ancestors of the Israelites. We know nothing of
193 See Hale’s Analysis of Chronology, vol. a, p.p. 352, 357.
194 See note, p. 367.
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457
the family of Joktan. It is supposed to be a people of the
East. Aram, or Syria, was displaced by Asshur, and is found
under the title of the king of the North. e same remarks,
it appears, may be made of Lud. Javan (Greece) is to be
in the last combat; Zech. 9:13. Of all the nations, Tiras is
the only one besides Joktan, which is not named as to be
in this great judgment. We speak only of the word of God.
Profane authors unite Tiras and Javan in Greece; but with
this we have not to do. In the present day, we may observe
Russia extending her power exactly over the nations who
will be found under Gog.
195
Dan. 11 introduces us to two other powers, to which
we must direct our regards; they are the king of the South,
and the king of the North. e chapter contains a long
account of already accomplished events, as to their wars,
etc,; but after this come the ships of Chittim (v. 3o), and
then there is an interruption in their history. ese kings
were the successors of the great king of Javan (Greece): the
one, possessor of Assyria; the other, of Egypt. e object
of their ghtings was Syria and the Holy Land. In verse
31-35, the Jews are introduced as set aside during a long
period of time (see v. 33). It is said, “ 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 “; and then (v. 36), “ And the king
shall do according to his own will “: this is Antichrist. In
verse 41, we have him in the land of Israel, in that territory
which is the cause of the dierence which exists between
the king of the North and the king of the South. “ And
at the time of the end, shall the king of the South push at
195 We must take care to distinguish the Gog of Ezekiel from the
Gog and Magog in the Revelation.
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him.” at is, after a long interval, behold again the king
of the South brought, in this chapter, upon the scene. And
this has historically occurred only four years ago, after an
interval of nearly two thousand years. e greater part of
the nations who, as we are told, are to be at the feet of Gog,
are now coming under the dominion of Russia; “ and the
king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind.”
Antichrist will be the object of the attack, at one and the
same time, of the king of the South, or Egypt; and of
the king of the North, the possessor of Asiatic Turkey, or
Assyria. I do not say who the king of the North will be at the
end; but we see that the circumstances and the personages
described in the prophecies which have reference to this
time appointed — “the time of the end” — begin to appear.
It is nearly two thousand years since there has been a king
of the South; and it is but a few years that he has appeared
anew. In the same way a great people has appeared, of
which the world a century ago hardly knew the existence,
and which now rules over the exact countries of the Gog
in Ezekiel. We do not desire that you should x your
attention too much upon events which are taking place in
our time; it is only when we have explained the prophecy,
that we advert to the circumstances which pass around us.
All nations have their attention occupied about Jerusalem
(Zech. 12:3), and know not what to do about it. e king of
Egypt wants to call the whole country his own; the king of
the North is unwilling to cede it (the Turk being the actual
king of the North, or Assyria). e kings of the North and
South dispute for the same country, which they fought
over two thousand years ago. is is just what the prophecy
says is to occur at “ a time appointed.” We do not mean
that all this yet comes out plain; for example, the ten kings
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459
cannot be enumerated and Antichrist has not yet appeared.
But the principles which are found in the word of God are
acting in the midst of the kingdoms where the ten horns
are to appear: that is, we nd all western Europe occupied
about Jerusalem, and preparing for war; and Russia, on her
side, preparing herself, and exercising inuence over the
countries given to her in the word; and all the thoughts of
the politicians of this world
196
concentrate themselves on
the scene where their nal gathering in the presence of the
judgment of God will take place-where “ the Lord shall
gather them as the sheaves into the oor,” Mic. 4:12. It
is a remarkable coincidence. In observing what is passing
around us, we recognize certain prophetical descriptions; at
least we see those who are to act, or upon whom God will
act, developing the characters which prophecy signalizes.
If you take the trouble, dear friends, to follow the
chapters which we have been quoting (many others, as
doubtless there are), you will understand Matt. 25, which
speaks of the Lord sitting upon His throne, and gathering
all the nations (an allusion to Joel 3), judging them, and
196 Everyone is aware how much more largely this is the case
since, and that the dispute about the holy places has been
the occasion of the Eastern war. e nations are burdening
themselves with Jerusalem. (Note to fourth edition.)
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separating them “ as a shepherd divideth the sheep from
the goats.”
197
Let us remember one thing; it is, that we Christians
are sheltered from the approaching storm. We have said
nothing this evening about the church; but let us recall its
place to our memory. It is, that during these events (yea,
even at present, as united to Him by faith), its place is to
be with Christ, to accompany Him; the church has this
privilege, this glory, this special character, that of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ; and if we search for the church
in the old Testament, it is Jesus Christ we nd. A striking
example of this truth is found in Paul’s quotation (Rom. 8),
taken from Isaiah 5o, where Christ says, “ Who is he that
shall condemn me? “ which Paul applies to the church, the
church being united to Christ.
197 It is commonly supposed that the judgment which is spoken
of in this chapter is the last judgment-the general judgment:
this is a mistake. It is the judgment of the nations living upon
this earth, and not of the dead. ere is no question of the
resurrection, but only of the judgment of the Gentiles. What
will happen to the Jews is mentioned in chapter 24; then, what
will happen to believers, or at least professors of the faith of
Christ; and then, the fate of the Gentiles. It is the judgment
of the living, and not of the dead. We say it is the judgment
of the living, because we read, “ Before him shall be gathered
all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as
a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats.” at which
has given rise to the supposition that it is the judgment of
the dead, is this passage, “ ese shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into life eternal “; but this only
means that the judgment of the living will be nal, like that of
the dead. When God judges, whether the dead or the living,
His judgment sends the good into life eternal, and the wicked
into everlasting punishment. e judgment of the living is as
sure as that of the dead.
Judgment of the Nations Which Become the Inheritance of Christ and of the Church
461
e union of the church in a single body, whether Jews
or Gentiles, was not revealed in the Old Testament; if we
seek for it, it is Christ Himself that we nd. Although there
are many things in the relationship of Jehovah with Zion,
which also exist between God the Father and the church,
nevertheless it is not in Zion that we are to look for the
church. In the Old Testament, the privileges of the church
are in Christ Himself, in the Person of Christ, because the
church has the same portion as Christ. is is it (see Eph.
1:22, 23), “ which is the fullness of him that lleth all in
all “: for this reason we are not to look for the church in
the prophecies. e church is the body of Christ Himself;
and Christ is to judge, not to be judged. We have seen that
Christ is to smite, to break in pieces the nations; this is said
also of the church. e church has nothing to do with that
of which we have been speaking, as if it were to be subjected
to the same judgments; Rev. 2:26, 27. Its place is not to be
in the midst of the nations that are to be broken in pieces,
but to be united to Christ, enjoying the same privileges
as Christ, and breaking to pieces the nations with Christ.
ere is nothing true, as regards Christ, in the glory which
He has taken, which is not also true of the church.
It is always precious for us thus to understand our place,
that of joint-heirs with Christ. And the more we think of
this, the more our strength will be increased, and the more
we shall become in our minds, as heirs of God, detached
from this world, which is judged, as, indeed, the church is
justied. e church is justied; we see not yet the eects
of it, because the glory is not come. e church only has the
fruits of justication in glory; the world only has the fruits
of wickedness in the judgment. Nevertheless, it is true that
the church is united to Christ. e world is judged because
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462
it has rejected Christ. “Righteous Father,” said the Savior,
“the world hath not known thee.” But this is what grace
has done for us. Just as unbelief separates men entirely and
for all eternity from Christ, grace by faith has united us
entirely and forever to Him; and we ought to bless God
for it.
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
463
62225
Israel’s First Entry Into the
Land Was the Result of
Promise
READ Rom. 11
ISRAEL’S FIRST ENTRY INTO THE LAND WAS
THE RESULT OF PROMISE
WE have, in Rom. 11:1, this question put by the apostle
as to Israel: “ Hath God cast away his people? “ As far as
chapter 8 he has been detailing the history of us all as men,
whether Jews or Gentiles; he has fully stated the gospel
of the grace of God, namely, the reconciliation of man by
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After having
established this point, he begins in chapter 9 the history of
the dispensations: he makes known the manner in which
God has acted towards the Jews and the Gentiles; and in
this chapter II he starts the question, “ Hath God cast away
his people? “
We have seen, in studying the history of the four
beasts, and also that of the church, that the Jews were put
aside; and that the gospel has appeared in the world to
save sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, in order to reveal
the hidden mystery of a heavenly people, and that “ unto
the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be
known, by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.” A
Jew, who is now converted, enters into the dispensation of
grace; but upon this comes the immediate inquiry, “ Hath
God cast away his people? “
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464
It is not concerning His spiritual people that the
question is asked, but concerning His people according to
the esh- His people, the Jews. e apostle says (v. 28),
“ As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your
sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the
fathers’ sakes.” In this chapter II the gospel is not in view,-
namely, the calling of the Jews, as a people, into grace by
the gospel-although, indeed, there is a gospel election from
among this people; but the question treated is that of the
Jews, as God’s manifested people, of Jews according to the
esh, who are enemies as to the gospel, but beloved on the
principle of a national election on account-of the fathers.
Because, then, the gospel has come in, has God rejected
His people? Does He count them enemies? e answer of
the apostle is, “ God forbid.”
We Christians boast of this, that “ the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance “; well we may-it is a scriptural
principle: but to whom does the apostle apply it? Not to
us, but to the Jews. It is always important to consider the
context of every passage of the word of God, and not to
force it out of the situation where God has placed it.
e present is the dispensation of the calling of a
heavenly people, and, in consequence, God puts aside
His earthly people, the Jews. e Jewish nation is never
to enter into the church; on the contrary, “ blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in “; until all the children of God, out of them
composing the body of the church in this dispensation, are
called.
Israel, as a nation, will be saved. “ ere shall come out
of Zion the deliverer.” He has not cast away His people.
As touching the gospel they are enemies, and they will so
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
465
remain until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in: but
the Deliverer will come. is is a summary of the divine
purpose as regards the Jews.
From the moment it can be armed of the dispensation
of the Gentiles, that it has not “ continued in the goodness
of God,” we can say that, sooner or later, it will be cut o.
“ Toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness;
otherwise thou also shalt be cut o.”
e root of the olive-tree is not alone Israel under the
law; far from it. It is Abraham, to whom the call of God
was addressed. It was the calling of a single man, separated,
elect, the depositary of the promises. e choice fell upon
Abraham, and upon the family of Abraham according to
the esh. Israel has served for an example, as depositary of
the promises and of the manifestation of the election of
God; now it is the church which so serves.
In order to make you understand the root of the
promises, which is Abraham, I will touch upon the series
of dispensations which preceded. First, at the fall of man
we see him left to himself. Although not without witness,
he had neither law nor government; and, as a consequence,
evil was carried to the highest pitch, so that the world was
full of violence and corruption; and God puried it by the
deluge.
Afterward came Noah. A change took place; it was
this- that the right of life and death, the right of taking
vengeance, was given into the hands of men: “ Whoso
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” To
this is added a blessing to the. earth, greater or less. “ is
same,” said Lamech, in speaking of Noah, “ shall comfort
us, … because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed
“; and a covenant is made by God with Noah and with
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466
the creation; a covenant in witness of which God gives the
rainbow. “ e Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord
said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground,” Gen.
8:21; 9:6, 12, 13. is was the covenant given to the earth
immediately after the sacrice of Noah, the type of the
sacrice of Christ.
It may be said, in passing, that Noah failed in this
covenant, as man always has done. Instead of drawing
blessings out of the earth by tillage, he begins to cultivate
the vine, and gets intoxicated. By this forgetfulness and
fault of his, the proper principle of government also lost
its power in its rst elements. Noah, who held its reins,
became the subject of the derision of one of his sons.
We see in all dispensations the immediate failure of
man; but that which is lost in all of them by human folly
will nd its recovery at the end in Christ; whether it be
blessing to the earth, prosperity to the Jews, or the glory
of the church. All that has appeared and has been spoiled,
under the keeping of the rst Adam, will blossom again
under that of the Second Adam, Bridegroom of the church,
and King of the Jews and of the whole earth.
Another still more signal failure took place after Noah’s.
God had made His judgments terribly felt in the deluge,
and His providence was thus revealed. What did Satan do?
As long as he is unbound he takes possession of the state of
things here below. No sooner did God manifest Himself in
His providential judgments, than Satan presented himself
also as God; he made himself, as it were, God. Is it not
written, “ e things which the Gentiles sacrice, they
sacrice to devils and not to God? “ Satan made himself
the god of this earth. Josh. 24:2: “ Your fathers dwelt on the
other side of the ood in old time … and they served other
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
467
gods,” said the Lord to the Israelites. It is the rst time that
we nd God marking the existence of idolatry. When it
made its appearance, God calls Abraham; and thus, for the
rst time, appears the call of God to an outward separation
from the state of things here below; because Satan having
introduced himself as inuencing the thoughts of man, as
the one whom man was to invoke, it was necessary that the
true God should have a people separated from other people,
where the truth might be preserved; and consequently all
the ways of God towards men turn upon this point-that
here below God called Abraham and his posterity to be the
depositary of this great truth, “ ere are none other gods
but one “ (see Deut. 4:35). Consequently, all the doings of
God upon the earth have reference entirely and directly
to the Jews, as the center of His earthly counsels and of
His government. is is shown us in Deut. 32:8. It was
according to the number of the children of Israel that the
bounds of the nations were set. It was with reference to
Israel that He gave them their habitations.
You will see also these two principles distinctly presented
in the word; on one side, the promises made to Abraham
without condition; and on the other, Israel receiving them
under condition, and so losing all. But as Abraham received
the promises without condition, God cannot forget them,
although Israel may have failed in the conditions which
they engaged for. And this is very important; for if God
had failed in His promises towards Abraham, He could fail
also in His promises towards us.
It was at Sinai that Israel received the promises under
condition, and failed; but this in no wise weakened the
validity and the force of the promises made to Abraham
four hundred years before. I am not now alluding to the
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468
spiritual promise, “ All nations shall be blessed in thee,”
which has found a partial fulllment by the gospel in this
dispensation; but I allude to the promises made to Israel,
which rest on the same faithfulness of God.
Let us begin our citations upon this subject out of Gen.
12e chapter is the call of Abraham, who was then in the
midst of his idolatrous family. e terms of the promise are
very general; but they contain earthly blessings as well as
purely spiritual ones. e two kinds are found in the same
verse equally without condition. e spiritual part of the
promise is only once repeated (chap. 22) and that to the
seed; not so the temporal ones. In chapter 15 we have the
promise founded upon a covenant made with Abraham,
also without condition; it is an absolute gift of the country.
Here is also found that of a numerous posterity (v. 5, 18);
and even the exact limits of the country given. (Verse
18; and following.) In chapter 17:7,8, the promise of
the earth is renewed. ese are conrmed to Isaac (chap.
26: 3, 4), and to Jacob (chap. 35: 10, 12). Here are “the
promises made unto the fathers,” and to Israel, “ beloved
for the fathers’ sakes “: they are made to Abraham, whether
spiritual or temporal, without any condition. If you say that
the spiritual promises are without condition, by parity of
reasoning the temporal ones are. ere is as much certainty
in the promise made to Abraham, “ To thee will I give this
land,” as in those which have been made in favor of us
Gentiles.
ere is no need to cite the wrestling of Jacob. It is,
in general, thought to be a proof of extraordinary faith in
him. is is true; but, at the same time, it is a faith which,
exerted after conduct much to be reprehended, was to be
accompanied by an evident humiliation. It was God who
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
469
wrestled with him; but God also sustained his faith. So
shall it be with Israel at the end; they shall feel the eect
of leaning on the esh; but God shall take this controversy
into His own hands and bless them after all.
us God made Himself “ the God of Abraham, of Isaac,
and of Jacob “-heirs of the promises, and pilgrims upon earth.
We shall see that in this name, God, as it were, makes His
boast on the earth, and that the faithful in Israel ever nd
in it the motives of their condence. “ us shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, e Lord God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and
this is my memorial unto all generations,” Ex. 3:15.
But in another point of view, Israel placed themselves
in relationship with God, in a way which is opposed to
all that; namely, their own righteousness-the principle of
the law- by virtue of which, acknowledging that we owe
obedience to God, we undertake the doing of it in our own
strength; for the history of the people of Israel is, whether
in its largeness or details, but the history of our hearts.
Ex. 19 Here was an immense change taking place in the
state of Israel: until then the promise made to them had
been unconditional. If you cast your eyes over the chapters
from 15 to 19 you will nd that God had given them all
things gratuitously, and even in spite of their murmurings;
as the manna, water to drink, the sabbath, etc.; and that
He had sustained them in their combat with Amalek at
Rephidim. He recalls all this to their memory: “ Ye have
seen,” says He to them, “ how I bare you on eagles’ wings,
and brought you unto myself; now therefore, if … ” is is
the rst time, in the relationship between God and Israel,
that the little word if is introduced. “ Now, therefore, if ye
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470
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then
ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me: for all the earth is
mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and
an holy nation.”
But the moment a condition comes in, our ruin is
certain, for we fail the rst day; and this was the foolishness
of Israel. In vain God gives His law, which is “ holy, and
just, and good.” To a sinner His law is death, because he
is a sinner; and from the moment that God gives His law
conditionally-namely,
that something is to come to us by keeping it-He gives
it, not because we can obey it, but to make us more clearly
comprehend that we are lost because we have violated it.
e Israelites should have said, It is true, most gracious
God, we ought to obey ee; but we have failed so often,
that we dare not receive the promises under such a
condition. Instead of this, what was their language? “ All
the words that the Lord hath said, will we do.” ey bind
themselves to fulll all that Jehovah had spoken; they take
the promises under the condition of perfect obedience.
What is the consequence of such rashness? e golden
calf was made before Moses had come down from the
mount. When we sinners engage ourselves to obey God
without any failure (although obedience is always a duty),
and to forfeit the blessing if we do not, we are sure to fail.
Our answer should always be, “ We are lost “; for grace
supposes our ruin. It is this entire instability of man under
any condition, that the apostle wishes to show (Gal. 3:17-
21) when he says, “ A mediator is not a mediator of one.”
at is, from the instant there is a mediator, there are two
parties. But God is not two; “ God is one.” And who is the
other party? It is man. Hence the accomplishment depends
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
471
on the stability of man, as well as of God; and all comes to
nothing.
ere being nothing stable in man, he has of course
sunk under the weight of his engagements; and this is
what must always happen. But the law cannot annul the
promises made to Abraham; the law, which was 43o years
after, cannot abolish the promise; and the promise was
made to Abraham, not only of a blessing to the nations,
but also of the land, and of earthly blessings to Israel. e
reasoning of the apostle, as to spiritual promises, applies
equally to temporal promises made to the Jews. We see that
Israel could not enjoy them under the law. In fact, all was
lost as soon as the golden calf was made. Yet the covenant
at Sinai was founded on the principle of obedience. Ex.
24:7: “ And he took the book of the covenant, and read in
the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord
hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the
blood … ” Here is a covenant ratied by blood-and upon
this foundation-” We will do all that the Lord hath said.”
You know that the people made the golden calf, and that
Moses in consequence destroyed the tables of the law.
In Ex. 32 we see how the promises made before the law
were the resource of faith. It was this which sustained the
people by the intercession of Moses, even in ruin itself:
and by means of a mediator, God returned to man after his
failure (v. 9, to). “ It is a stinecked people: now therefore
let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them,
and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a
great nation.” en Moses besought the Lord: “ Turn from
thy erce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to
whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto
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472
them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and
all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed,
and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented
of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” us,
after the fall of Israel, Moses beseeches God, for His own
glory, to remember the promises made to Abraham; and
God repents of the evil which He had thought to do.
Turn to Lev. 26 is chapter is the threat of all the
chastisements which were to follow the unfaithfulness of
Israel. Verse 42: “ en will I remember my covenant with
Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant
with Abraham; … and I will remember the land.”
198
God
returns to His promises made unconditionally long before
the law; and this is applicable to the last time, as we shall
presently see.
ere are two more covenants made with Israel during
their wanderings in the wilderness. at under the law
having been broken, the intercession of Moses made way
for another (Ex. 33:14, 19), of which we have the basis in
Ex. 34:27: “ And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou
these words; for after the tenor of these words I have made
a covenant with thee and with Israel.” Observe, with thee;
for there is a remarkable change in the language of God. In
Egypt, God had always said, “ My people, my people.” But
when the golden calf was made, He uses the word which
they had used-” y people which thou broughtest up out
of the land of Egypt “; for Israel had said, “ is Moses, the
198 See also, for this appeal to promises apart from conditions,
Deut. 9:5, 27; ch. to: 15. In Mic. 7:19, 20, these same promises
made to Abraham constitute the prophetic hope. And the
faithful Israelite, Simeon (Luke 2:25, etc.), recalls them as the
ground of condence to Israel, who, in these promises, might
rest on the faithfulness of God.
Israel’s First Entry Into the Land Was the Result of Promise
473
man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,” Ex. 32 I.
God takes them up in their own words. What happened?
Moses interceded, and, so to speak, he would not permit
God to say, “ y people,” as of him; but he insisted upon
y people, as of God’s people.
Now then, it is a covenant made with Moses, as mediator.
Here comes in the sovereignty of grace, introduced indeed
when all was lost (the condition of the law having been
violated). If God had not been sovereign, what would have
been the consequence of this infraction? e destruction
of all the people. at is, though the sovereignty of God
is eternal, it is revealed when it becomes the only resource
of a people lost by their own ways: and this sovereignty
manifests itself through the means of a mediator.
ere is still another covenant in Deut. 29 I: “ ese are
the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded
Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of
Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in
Horeb.” And the subject of this third covenant with the
Israelites is this: God makes it with them, in order that
under it they, being obedient, might be able to continue
to enjoy the land. ey did not keep it, and so they were
expelled the territory. ey were installed in it at the epoch
of this third covenant, and by the keeping of it they would
have been maintained there. See verses 9, 12, 19.
us we get the principle on which they entered at
all into the land of Canaan. But we have also seen that
before the law God had promised them the land for a
perpetual possession, by covenants and promises made
without condition; and it is owing to these promises, by
the mediation of Moses, that Israel was spared, and at last
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474
enjoyed the land-enjoyed it, we say, on the terms of the
third covenant, made in the plains of Moab.
After the fall of the Israelites in this promised land,
there remains still to be applied to them, as to their re-
establishment, all the promises made to Abraham. After
this people had failed in every possible way towards God,
the prophets show us clearly, that God has promised again
to restore them and to establish them in their land, under
the Lord Jesus Christ as their king, to receive in Him the
full accomplishment of every temporal promise.
Let us recollect, dear friends, that all we have been going
through is the revelation of the character of Jehovah; and
that, though truly these things have happened to Israel, they
have happened to them on the part of God; and that they
are, as a consequence, the manifestation of the character of
God in Israel for us. It is not only of the failure of Israel
that we are to think, but of the goodness of God-our God.
Israel is the theater upon which God has displayed all His
character; but not alone is Israel to be considered: the glory
of God and the honor of His perfections are concerned. If
God could fail in His gifts towards Israel, He could fail in
His gifts towards us.
We shall have yet, on another occasion, to continue our
account of this people.
Israel’s Failure and Dispersion: Promises of Restoration
475
62226
Israel’s Failure and
Dispersion: Promises of
Restoration
READ Ezek. 37
ISRAEL’S FAILURE AND DISPERSION;
PROMISES OF RESTORATION
THAT which happens to the dry bones seen by Ezekiel
exhibits, very forcibly, the matter to be treated of this
evening; namely, what God in His goodness will yet do in
favor of Israel. We shall follow our usual method of giving a
succession of passages out of the word of God upon it. You
remember, that in commencing this subject, we remarked
the dierence between the covenant made with Abraham,
and the covenant of the law given on Mount Sinai; and
that whenever God was going to show grace to His people,
He called to mind the covenant made with Abraham. We
also remarked that Israel took the promises under the
covenant made in the wilderness, and not under that made
with Abraham; and that, from that time Israel, being put
under the condition of obedience in order to persevere in
the enjoyment of the promises, failed altogether; but that,
notwithstanding, thanks to the mediation of Moses, God
was able to bless the people.
We shall have to see how Israel failed again after that,
even when established in the land which the Lord had given to
them; and that God raised up prophets, in a way altogether
apart from Hi^ necessary dealings with them, to convict
them of the sin into which they had fallen, and to show the
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476
faithful ones that the counsels of God towards Israel would
not be put aside; for that, by means of the Messiah, He
would accomplish all that which He had spoken. We shall
see also, that it was just when Israel would fail, that these
promises of their reestablishment would become precious
to the faithful remnant of the people.
Let us remember that in the history of the sin of Israel
under the law, we have the history of every heart among us;
that if we place ourselves before God, we shall recognize
that it is only the grace which is known to us by the work of
God, which can not only sustain us in but relieve us from,
the situation in which we nd ourselves in consequence of
sin.
I am going to look through the decline and ruin of
Israel under every form of its government, from the time
of the entry into the land of Canaan. It was Joshua who led
them. e book of this name is the history of the victories
of Israel over the Canaanites-the history of the faithfulness
of God in the accomplishment of all that He had promised
to His people. e Judges and Samuel are the history of
the failure of Israel in the land of Canaan until David; but,
at the same time, of the patience of God. First, then, how
does Joshua describe the Israelites-their condition and
character?
In chapter 24 he recites all that God had done on their
behalf-all His favors, and all His goodness; upon which
(v. 16) the people answer, “ God forbid that we should
forsake the Lord.” In verse 19, Joshua says to the people,
“ Ye cannot serve the Lord “; and the people say, “ Nay,
but we will serve the Lord “; “ e Lord our God will we
serve, and his voice will we obey.” “ So [v. 25] Joshua made
a covenant with the people that day.” is captain of their
Israel’s Failure and Dispersion: Promises of Restoration
477
salvation led them into the land of promise; they enjoy the
fruits of grace, and they anew undertake to obey the Lord.
In Judg. 2 they are found in complete failure, and in
consequence God says, “ I will not drive out your enemies
from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides.”
Verses I I, 14: “ And the children of Israel did evil in the
sight of the Lord, and served Baalim; and the anger of the
Lord was hot against Israel.” It is always the same picture-
kindness on the part of God, ingratitude on that of man.
Let us now turn to some passages which detail the
transgressions of Israel under every form of government.
1Sam. 4:11. Eli was the high priest, the judge and head of
Israel, yet was the glory of Israel cast down to the ground:
“ the ark of God taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, were slain.” Verses 18, 21. Eli himself died,
and his daughter-in-law named the child which was born
of her, Ichabod, saying, “ e glory is departed from Israel
(because the ark of God was taken, and because of her
father-in-law and her husband).”
After this, God, who raised up Samuel, the rst of the
prophets (Acts 3:24; chap. 13: 2o), governs Israel by him;
but Israel soon rejected him; 1Sam. 8:6, 7. “ And the Lord
said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people
in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected
thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over
them, according to all the works which they have done since
the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this
day.” It was then that God “ gave them a king in his anger
“; and we know what befell the king of their choice; 1Sam.
15:26. e judgment is pronounced; Samuel says to Saul,
“ I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the
word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from
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478
being king over Israel.” ese extracts are sucient for our
purpose. Israel has failed under king, prophet, and priest.
ey are ruined under the king whom they had chosen.
David is raised up in the place of Saul: God made this
choice in His dealings in grace. David-type of Christ, as he
is the father of Christ according to the esh-was His gift to
Israel. us it is solely by the goodness of God, that Israel
becomes rich and glorious under David and Solomon.
But still this people transgressed afresh under these two
princes; Kings I t: 9, II. “ And the Lord was angry with
Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God
of Israel.”
199
It is an unhappy subject to dwell on-this constant
distaste of man’s heart for God, under every condition in
which he is placed; and this is the instruction which we
ought to draw from the history of the children of Israel.
ey subsequently divided themselves into two distinct
parts, and the ten tribes became altogether unfaithful. It
was in the person of Ahaz that the family of David, the last
human stay of the hopes of Israel (for after its fall nothing
but God’s promises remained), began to become idolaters;
2Kings 16: to, 14. e sin of Manasseh put the nishing
stroke to all their misconduct; 2Kings 21: I, 14.
Such, in a few words, was the behavior of Israel, and
even of Judah, until the captivity of Babylon. e Spirit
of God sums up the history of their crimes, and of His
patience, in this impressive language (2Chron. 36:15, 16):
“ And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his
messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he
199 And the royalty, raised up of God Himself, thus failed, and
judgment passed upon it, though a lamp was reserved to David
in Jerusalem till the days of Zedekiah.
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had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the
Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
is was the end of their existence in the land of Canaan,
into which they had been introduced by Joshua. e name
of Lo-ammi (not my people) is at last written upon them.
Having thus rapidly run through the history of their fall
until their deportation to Babylon, let us consider the
promises which sustained a faithful remnant among them
during this prevalence of iniquity, and during the captivity
of the nation.
ere is a prominent one to be noted, which served as
a kind of pedestal, on which the faithful Jews might build
their expectations. It is to be found in 2Sam. 7 and 1Chron.
17. Between the two there is this dierence: in 1Chron.
17 the application is made directly to Christ, which is
not quite so plainly seen in 2Sam. 7; and this distinction
holds good as to the matter of the books themselves, of
which the one (Samuel) is historical, and the other (the
Chronicles) a brief synopsis or resume, which connects all
the history genealogically from Adam to Christ, and to the
hopes of Israel; and from which book, consequently, all the
transgressions and falls of the kings of Israel are excluded.
Compare 2Sam. 7:14 with Chronicles 17: 13. is is the
promise (2Sam. 7:10), “ Moreover, I will appoint a place
for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may
dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither
shall the children of wickedness aict them any more as
beforetime.” 1Chron. 17:11-13: “ And it shall come to
pass, when thy days be expired, that thou must go to be
with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee,
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which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne
forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son.” In Heb.
1:5 application is made of these words to Christ; that is,
all the promises made to Abraham and to his seed-all the
promises made to Israel-are placed in the safe keeping, and
gathered together in the Person, of the Son of David.
We have now, dear friends, seen the promise made to
David, which is the foundation of all those which concern
the family of that name. We have seen the failure of the
people, and also the promise made to the Son of David-
to the Messiah. Let us pursue the study from the direct
testimony of the prophets. Isa. 1:25-28 decrees the full
restoration of the Jews; but by judgments which cut o the
wicked.
Isa. 4:2-4. “ In that day (time of great trouble) shall the
branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit
of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are
escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is
left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be
called holy, even every one that is written among the living
in Jerusalem when the Lord shall have washed away the
lth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the
blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of
judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Chapter 6 of the
same book gives us full entrance into the spirit of prophecy.
It was at the moment when Ahaz came to the throne-the
same Ahaz who sent the heathen altar from Damascus to
Jerusalem-that Isaiah is sent to meet this king, the son of
David, who introduced apostasy. e rst thing we have
presented to us is the manifested glory of Christ, the Lord
thrice holy (we have the interpretation of John as to this,
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in chapter 12 of his gospel); that glory which condemns
the entire nation; but which produces, by grace, the spirit
of intercession, to which the mercy which re-establishes
the nation is the answer-mercy, notwithstanding, which
nds no accomplishment, until the wicked are got rid of
from the people and the land, after a state of prolonged
hardening on their part carried to its utmost height, in the
rejection of Jesus Christ and of the testimony given to Him
by the Spirit in the apostles. Read Isa. 6:9-13.
Isa. 10:1: 10: “ In that day there shall be a root of
Jesse … to it shall the Gentiles seek.” Here we learn how
and when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord; it is after He has slain the wicked “ by the breath
of his lips.” en “ the Lord shall set his hand again the
second time to recover the remnant of his people.” Read
verses 9-12.
Isa. 33:20, 24; chap. 49. It has been asserted, that in these
chapters, Zion means the church; but when all the joy is
come, “ Zion said, e Lord hath forsaken me.” Impossible,
if Zion be the church. What! the church forsaken in the
midst of its joy?
200
Read Isa. 49:14-23; also chapter 62,
which likewise applies to Israel; also chapter 65: io-25,
where there can be no question, but of earthly blessings-
such as are hitherto unknown on earth. In that day God
Himself will rejoice over Jerusalem.
200 If Zion means the church, the gathering of all, and the joy of
the heavens and the earth, would be necessarily the church’s joy;
for that gathering would constitute the church’s joy. erefore
the supposition of its desertion would be ridiculous; whereas
the chapter, if we suppose desertion of the literal city Zion,
when the gathering takes place, is very intelligible; but the
Lord goes on to say, that she shall be the center of blessings,
for that He can never forget her.
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ese are some of the promises which plainly announce
the forthcoming glory of the Jewish people and of
Jerusalem. But there are others still more direct. Jer.
3:16-18: “ It shall come to pass when ye be multiplied,”
etc. Certain foreshadowings have happened, which have
looked like the accomplishment of many of the prophecies
relating to their restoration; as, for example, the return
of the people from Babylon; but God has given His own
marks; He has linked circumstances together which have
never yet had their fulllment; as, in this passage, “ All the
nations shall be gathered unto it.” It is certain that this did
not take place at the return from Babylon. But you will
reply, It is the church. No; for “ in those days the house
of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they
shall come together … to the land that I have given for an
inheritance unto your fathers.” We see, in a word, three
things happening together, which most surely have not had
as yet a simultaneous accomplishment: namely, Jerusalem
the throne of Jehovah; Judah and Israel united; and the
nations assembled to the throne of God. When the church
was founded, Israel was dispersed; when Israel returned
from Babylon, there was neither church nor assemblage of
nations.
Jeremiah 3o: “ It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but
he shall be saved out of it … and strangers shall no more
serve themselves of him; but they shall serve the Lord their
God, and David their king … and Jacob shall return, and
shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him
afraid.” ese happy times for Israel have assuredly not yet
been realized.
Chapter 31: 23, 27, 28, 31, unto the end. Remark verse
28. Who is it that the Lord has broken down, thrown down,
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483
and destroyed? e same that He will build and plant. It
is a little unreasonable to apply all the judgments to Israel,
and all the blessings which concern the same persons to
the church. And if the church be indeed here spoken of,
what is the meaning of “ from the tower of Hananeel unto
the gate of the corner,” “ the hill Gareb,” etc.? Observe, also,
the last words of the chapter: “ It shall not be plucked up
nor thrown down any more forever.”
Chapter 32: 37-42. Touching passage as to the thoughts
of the Lord concerning His people! After having given
them promises of blessings in grace, and assured them that
He would be their God, the Lord says, “ And I will plant
them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart and with
my whole soul. For like as I have brought all this great evil
upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good
that I have promised them.”
Jer. 33:1, 15, 25, 26. is is again the blessing of Israel-of
Jerusalem: and that by the presence of the Branch, which
shall grow up unto David, who shall execute judgment and
righteousness, in the land. Let us remember, dear friends,
that the word of God in no way presents to us the Holy
Spirit as the Branch of David, nor His oce as that of
executing judgment upon the earth. On the other hand
if you insist upon this chapter applying to the restoration
from
Babylon, I would quote Neh. 9:36, 37: “ Behold, we are
servants this day … and we are in great distress,” as showing
how little the return from Babylon was the fulllment of all
these promises we have been reading. Was that restoration
the whole heart and the whole soul of God in favor of His
people? We have seen the estimation in which the Spirit
of God held that event. No: these promises of God were
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not at that time accomplished. Ezek. 11:16-20. Until this
day, Israel, or rath’r the Jews, are under the judgment which
the rst part of this passage imports. “ When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places,
seeking rest, and ndeth none,” Matt. 12:43. e closing
verses speak of their last state, in which they are subjected
to judgment; and at that time (v. 19) God gives a new heart
to the remnant, the nucleus of the future nation.
In Ezek. 34:22 to the end of the chapter we have
David their king in the midst of them, and their blessings
immovable.
Ezek. 36:22-32. If you make the objection, ese are
spiritual things in which we participate, I answer, Yes, we
participate in the blessings of the good olive-tree; but our
joy has not dispossessed the Jew (the natural branch) of
that which belongs to him. Why are we made partakers?
Because we are grafted into Christ. If we are Christ’s, we
are Abraham’s children, and partake of all that is spiritual. “
Ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers,” v. 28.
e church has only one Father, who is the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
I would now remark, for a moment in passing on our
Lord’s discourse with Nicodemus (John 3 particularly
verse 12), where there is an allusion to “ earthly things.”
Previously (v. to) He had said, “ Art thou a master [teacher]
in Israel, and knowest not these things? “-namely, the need
of being born of water and of the Spirit to enter into the
kingdom of God. is knowledge was to be got out of
the Old Testament, the source whence the teachers drew
their instruction. e passage just quoted out of Ezekiel
contains almost the very same words used by our Lord.
How! says He, you a master [teacher] in Israel! you ought
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to understand that Israel must have a new and puried
heart in order to enjoy the promises. How is it that you
know not these things? If you enter not into My saying
that you must be born of water and of the Spirit, and do
not understand these earthly things, how can it be expected
that you should believe about heavenly things? As if He
had said, If I have spoken to you of the things which apply
to Israel, if I have told you that Israel must be born again
to enjoy those terrestrial promises which belong to her, and
you have not understood Me, how will you comprehend
about heavenly things-about the glory of Christ exalted in
heaven, and the church, His companion, in this heavenly
glory? You have not even understood the doctrines of your
prophets. You a teacher in Israel! you should at least have
made yourself acquainted with the earthly things, of which
Ezekiel and others have spoken.
In this chapter of Ezekiel, as in many others, expressions
are found, such as “ fruit of trees “-” increase of the eld
“details of earthly things, which are the earthly blessings
promised to Israel; whilst, at the same time, the necessity
of a new heart is connected with them, in order that those
to whom these promises belong may be able to enjoy them.
Israel must be renewed in heart to receive the promises of
Canaan. God must cause them to walk in His statutes by
giving them a new heart, and then, but only then, they will
enjoy the blessings foretold for them.
Ezek. 37 gives a detailed history of the re-establishment
of Israel-the joining together of the two parts of the nation,
their return into the land, and their state of unity and
delity to God in this same land; God being their God,
and David their king being present-present forever, in such
a way as that the nations shall know that their God is the
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Lord, when His sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for
evermore.
Ezek. 39:22-25. It is evident that the time here
mentioned is not yet come; since, when it does, God “ will
not hide his face any more from them,” as He is doing at
the present time, and that He will gather them “ unto their
own land,” and will leave none of them among the heathen.
In conclusion, let us call to mind the great principles
upon which these prophecies rest. e restoration of the
Jews is founded upon the promises made to Abraham
without condition; their fall is the result of their having
undertaken to act in their own strength. After having
exercised the patience of God in every possible way “
until there was no remedy,” judgment is come upon them;
but God reverts to His promises. Let us make a proper
application of this to our own hearts. e same history is
ours-always that of the fall. No sooner has God placed us
in such or such a position than we immediately fail in it.
But there is behind our failure a principle of strength, that
is to say, the revelation of the counsels of God, and, by
consequence, unconditional promises; and we have seen
(in Moses as the type), that it is the mediation and the
presence of Jesus which is the accomplishment of these
promises. We have also seen that God executes judgment
only after extraordinary patience, after having used every
possible means (however long that judgment may have
been pronounced) to recall man to a sense of his duty, if
there had been a spark of life in his heart; but there was
none. Individuals, quickened by grace, hold to the promises
which will have their fulllment in the manifestation of
Him who can realize them, and merit the realization for
others. And nothing puts these principles in clearer relief
Israel’s Failure and Dispersion: Promises of Restoration
487
than the history of Israel: “ All these things happened unto
them for types (see margin), and they are written for our
admonition.” It is like a mirror, in which we can see, on
the one hand, the heart of man, which fails always, and on
the other, the faithfulness of God who never fails, who will
fulll all His promises, and who will put forth a strength
able to surmount all the wickedness of man, and the power
of Satan. It is when the enmity has arrived at its height,
that He says, “ Make the heart of this people fat “ (Isa. 6
to): but it is not until nearly eight hundred years after (Acts
28:27), that we nd the accomplishment of this judgment
pronounced so long before by the prophet. It was when the
people had rejected everything, that God hardened them,
to make them a monument of His ways. What patience on
the part of God!
And so in that which concerns us Gentiles-the execution
of the judgment has been suspended for eighteen centuries,
and God is still drawing upon all the eternal resources
of His grace to try if there be any who will listen to His
testimony of salvation. As the Lord said (John 15:22, 24),
“ If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not
had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. If I had
not done among them the works which none other man
did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen
and hated both me and my Father.” Admirable patience!
Innite grace of Him who interests Himself in us, even
after our rebellion and iniquity! To Him be all the glory!
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62227
Israel’s Restoration:
the Manner of Its
Accomplishment
READ Isa. 1
SAME SUBJECT AS THE PRECEDING, AND
MANNER OF ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT
SOME passages of Scripture upon the destiny of the
Jews, which at our last meeting there was not time to quote,
will terminate our sketch of historical prophecy concerning
this people; I say historical, because prophecy is the history
which God has given us of futurity.
I would again remind you of that important fact, that
Jewish history is especially the manifestation of the glory
of Jehovah. To ask, In what does this history concern us? is
to say, Of what use is it that I should know what my Father
is about to do for my brethren and the manifestation of
His character in His acts?
It is evident, from the place which the subject occupies
in His word, that their aairs are very dear to our God and
Father, if they be not to us. It is in this people, by the ways
of God revealed to them, that the character of Jehovah is
fully revealed, that the nations will know Jehovah, and that
we shall ourselves learn to know Him.
e same person may be king of a country, and father of
a family; and this is the dierence between God’s actings
towards us and the Jews. Towards the church, it is the
character of Father; towards the Jews, it is the character
of Jehovah, the King. His faithfulness, unchangeableness,
Israel’s Restoration: the Manner of Its Accomplishment
489
His almighty power, His government of the whole earth-
all this is revealed in His relationship towards Israel; it is
in this way that the history of this people lets us into the
character of Jehovah.
Psa. 126 “ When the Lord turned again the captivity
of Zion … then said they among the heathen, e Lord
hath done great things for them.” See, on the same subject,
Ezek. 39:6, 7: “ And I will send a re on Magog, on them
that dwell carelessly in the isles; and they shall know that I
am the Lord. So will I make my holy name known in the
midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute
my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I
am the Lord [Jehovah], the Holy One in Israel.” Verse 28:
“ en shall they know that I am the Lord [Jehovah] their
God, which caused them to be led into captivity among
the heathen; but I have gathered them unto their own land,
and have left none of them any more there.” is is the
way in which Jehovah reveals Himself. e Father reveals
Himself to our souls by the gospel, by the spirit of adoption;
but Jehovah makes Himself known by His judgments-by
the exercise of His power on the earth. I have said, that the
Father reveals Himself by the gospel, because the gospel
is a system of pure grace-a system which teaches us to
act towards others on the principle of pure grace, as we
have been acted on by the Father. It is not “ eye for eye,
tooth for tooth “; it is not what justice requires, the law of
retaliation, or equity; but a principle according to which I
ought to “ be perfect, as my Father is perfect.” But it will
not be mere grace that is suering evil and doing good,
in the government of Jehovah. Jehovah, without doubt,
will bless the nations; but the character of His kingdom
is, that “ judgment shall return unto righteousness,” Psa.
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94:15. At the rst coming of Jesus Christ, judgment was
with Pilate, and righteousness with Jesus; but when Jesus
shall return, judgment shall be united to righteousness.
e people of Christ now, the children of God, ought to
follow the example of the Savior (that is, not expect or
wish that judgment should be in the rigor of righteousness;
but they should be gentle and humble in the midst of all
the wrongs which they suer on the part of man). United
to Christ, they are indemnied for all their wrongs in the
strength of His intimate love, which comforts them by
the consolations of the presence of His Spirit; and, more
than this, by the hopes of the heavenly glory. On the other
hand, Jehovah will console His people by the direct acting
of His righteousness in their favor (see Psa. 65:5), and by
reestablishing them in earthly glory. e Jews, then, are the
people by whom, and in whom, God sustains His name of
Jehovah, and His character of judgment and righteousness.
e church are the people in whom, as in His family, the
Father reveals His character of goodness and love.
We have already touched upon the events which will
happen to the Jews in the last time, by the quotations from
Jeremiah, chapters 3o to 33; and from Ezek. 36 to 39. I will
now cite a few other passages to the same eect, following
the order of the prophets.
Dan. 12:1 … it is the presence of him who will act for
the people of Daniel, that is, for the Jewish people.
ere are a few remarkable traits in this prophecy. First,
God in His power, by the ministry of Michael, is to stand
up for the children of Daniel’s people; and it is to be a time
of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. In
this we have a clue to Matt. 24 and Mark 13:19.
Israel’s Restoration: the Manner of Its Accomplishment
491
e resurrection (Dan. 12:2) applies to the Jews. “ Many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.”
You nd the same expression in Isa. 26 “ y dead shall
live; … ” and in Ezek. 37:12. It is a gurative resurrection
of the people, buried as a nation among the Gentiles. In
this revival it is said of those who rise, “ Some to shame
and everlasting contempt.” is is what will happen to the
Jews. Of those brought out from among the nations, some
shall enjoy eternal life, but some shall be subject to shame
and everlasting contempt; Isa. 66:24. At the time of the
accomplishment of this prophecy all of Daniel’s people are
not brought up from among the nations. In a word, on the
one hand, God standing up for His people in a time of
distress; and, on the other, a remnant delivered-such is a
summary of Dan. 12
In Hos. 2:14 unto the end, we see that the Lord will
receive Israel, will bring her into the land, after having
humbled her, but having spoken to her also after His own
heart, and will make her such as she was in the days of
her youth; that Jehovah will make a covenant with her,
and bless her in every kind of way on this earth, and will
betroth her unto Himself forever.
But more. ere is an uninterrupted chain of blessings
from Jehovah Himself, down to the earthly blessings
poured out in abundance upon Israel, who is the seed of
God (for this is the force of the word Jezreel ‘). On this
account there is added (v. 23), “ I will sow her unto me
in the earth.” For Israel will become the instrument of
blessing to the earth, as life from amongst the dead. At
this time all is hindered by sin; spiritual wickedness is now
“ in heavenly places “ (Eph. 6:12); and every description
of misery abounds, accompanied though it be with many
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blessings (for God makes “ all things work together for
good to them that love him “); but at that time there will
be a fullness of earthly blessing.
Hos. 3:4, 5. “ For the children of Israel shall abide many
days without a king, and without a prince, and without a
sacrice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and
without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel
return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king;
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.”
ey shall have neither the true God nor a false god (so it
is with them now); but after that they shall seek Jehovah
and David-the well-beloved, or Christ.
Joel 3:1, 20, 21, 16-18. After having spoken of the nations
at the time of the return of His people from captivity (v.
1-15), and the judgments exercised upon the Gentiles,
God speaks in the latter verses of the Jews. Jerusalem is to
be holy; Jehovah will dwell in Zion; He will be the hope of
His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. is
will be their case when the judgment of God shall fall upon
the nations.
Amos 9:14, 15. “ And I will bring again the captivity of
my people … and I will plant them upon their land, and they
shall no more be pulled up.” is is not yet accomplished.
Verses II, 12, of this chapter, are quoted in Acts is,
not for the purpose of showing that the prophecy had
then come to pass; but to prove that God had all along
determined upon having a people from out of the Gentiles;
and that, therefore, the language of the prophets agreed
with that which Simon Peter had been relating of what
God had done in his days. It is not the accomplishment of
a prophecy, but the establishing of a principle by the mouth
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493
of the prophets, as well as by the word of the Spirit through
Simon Peter.
Mic. 4:1-8. Nor is this yet brought to pass. It is, so to
speak, a topographical description of Jerusalem, when her
rst dominion is restored. In chapter 5: 4, 7, 8, the name
of Christ is respected and great to the ends of the earth,
Israel everywhere the dew of divine blessing, and coming
o victorious against all who oppose her. With regard
to Micah, you will remark (as was observed in a former
lecture) how, in chapter 7: 19, 20, the Spirit adverts to the
promises made to the fathers without condition.
Zeph. 3:12, to the end. What language is this? God is
said to be “ silent [see margin] in his love “; He is so moved
that He is “ silent.” On whom does he lavish all this? Read
verse 13: “ e remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor
speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall
make them afraid.” Jehovah is in the midst of them, and
nothing can disturb them.
Zech. 1:15, 17-21. Mention is here made of the four
monarchies who scattered Israel, as themselves scattered
by the force of the judgments of God. Chapter 9: 9, to the
end. “ Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 daughter
of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee … ” is,
you will assert, is already accomplished. No; only in part.
e Holy Spirit, in the New Testament (John 12:15), cites
this passage; but with the omission of the words “ He is
just, and having salvation “ (saving himself, margin). Jesus,
in fact, cared not for Himself. When they said to Him,
mocking Him, “ If thou be the Son of God come down
from the cross,” He took no notice. He hid not Himself
from grief: far from saving Himself, He saved us; He spared
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not Himself that we might be spared. Chapter to: 6, unto
the end. When was it that Israel had been as “ though the
Lord had not cast them o? “ Never.
Let us now turn to some passages which will show that,
though the people of Israel will be restored in their land,
there will only be a remnant saved. Zech. 12:2 mentions a
time of war, even of all the people round about, the people
of the earth, against Jerusalem: but God will defend the city
and its inhabitants in a miraculous manner, and the nations
will be destroyed (v. 9). e spirit of grace and supplication
shall be poured out upon the remnant of Israel-” all the
families that remain”; and “ they shall look upon him whom
they have pierced, and mourn.”
Isa. 18 Whatever critical diculties exist in this
chapter, its great object is too evident to be obscured by
any rendering whatever. e rivers of Cush are the Nile
and Euphrates.
201
e enemies of Israel, in the biblical part
of their history, were situated on these two rivers. ere is,
in this prophecy, a call made to a country which is beyond
them, to a distant land, which had never, at the time of the
prophecy, come into association with Israel. e prophet
has then in his view some country which would later come
upon the scene. Verse 3: God bids all the inhabitants of
the world, and dwellers on the earth, to take cognizance.
201 We learn from Dr. Hales’ Analysis of Chronology, vol. z, p.
379, that the descendants of Cush extended their settlements
from Chusistan, “ the land of Cush,” or Susiana, on the coast
of the Persian gulf (into which the Euphrates falls), through
Arabia to the Red sea, and thence crossed into Africa beyond
the Nile. e rivers of Cush may therefore well mean the Nile
and Euphrates. He also makes (p. 355) the descendants of
Nimrod settled in Assyria to be called Chusdim, or “ Godlike
Cushites.” (1). 354.) [Tr.]
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e nations are to have their eyes upon Israel; they are
summoned by God to pay attention to what was taking
place as to Jerusalem; they are all interested in her fate.
e world is invited to watch the judgments about to take
place. In the meanwhile (v. 4), God takes His rest, and lets
the nations act of themselves: Israel has returned into her
land (v. 5, 6).
It is a description of Israel returning into Judea by the
help of some nation at a distance from the scene itself,
which is neither Babylon or Egypt, nor other nations who
meddled in their aairs of old. We say not that it is France,
or Russia, or England. e Israelites return to their land,
but God takes no notice of them. Israel is abandoned to
the nations; and when everything would appear as if it
were going to bear fruit (v. 5) anew, behold the sprigs and
branches cut down, and left to the fowls of the air to summer
on, and to the beasts of the eld to winter on (which terms
are designations of the Gentiles). Nevertheless, at that
time a present of this people shall be brought to the Lord
of hosts, and from this people “ to the place of the name of
the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.”
Psa. 126:4. “ Turn again our captivity, O Lord.” Zion
and Judah will be rst brought back. e captives of Zion
were already brought back when this prayer was presented
to God (v. x); they are but the earnest of what God will do
in the restoration of all Israel.
But it is tting, here, to touch on the manner of God’s
dealing with the houses of Judah and Israel in their
judgment and dispersion. e rst to be gathered are those
who rejected Jesus, those who were guilty of His death. e
ten tribes, as such, were not guilty of this crime; the ten
tribes were dispersed before the introduction of the four
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496
monarchies into the rule of the world. It was the Assyrians
who led captive the ten tribes, before Babylon had existence
as an empire. A circumstance relating to a Jewish family or
tribe (Jer. 35: I-Io), found living in the midst of the Arabs,
is related of Mr. Wol, who visited it of late years. ese
Jews say of themselves, that they are descended from some
who refused to return to Judea with Ezra, because they
knew that those who returned with Ezra would put the
Messiah to death; and for this reason they remained where
they were. Even though this be false, the existence of such
a tradition is not a little wonderful. One thing is evident
that those who rejected the Christ will be subjected to the
Antichrist; they will make “ a covenant with death, and
an agreement with hell “ (Isa. 28:15); but their covenant
will destroy all their hopes; having united themselves to
Antichrist, they will undergo the consequence of this
alliance, and at last will be destroyed. Two thirds of the
inhabitants will be cut o in the country of Israel itself
after their return; Zech. 13:8, 9.
But with the ten tribes the occurrences are dierent, as
we know from Ezek. 20:32-39. Instead of two parts cut o
in the land, the rebels-that is, the disobedient and rebellious
ones among them-will not enter at all into Canaan. God
does with them, as He did with Israel upon their rebellion
after their coming out-from Egypt; He destroys them
without their even seeing it.
us there are two classes, so to speak, of Jews, in this
return. First, the Jewish nation, properly speaking-namely,
Judah, and those allied with her in the rejection of the true
Christ: they will be in connection with the Antichrist, and
of them two thirds will be cut o in the land. Secondly,
Israel’s Restoration: the Manner of Its Accomplishment
497
those of the ten tribes coming up, of whom some will be
cut o in the wilderness on their way into the land.
Matt. 23:37-39. is prediction, delivered by Jesus
Himself, gives us the assurance of the coming of Christ
to restore Israel, and reign in her midst: “ O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, … your house is
left unto you desolate … till ye shall say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Israel will see Jesus, but it will be when this word of
Psa. 118:26 shall go out of her mouth. e psalm itself
gives a happy picture of her joy at that time; and out of
it the Savior drew the announcement of the judgment
which He pronounced against the Jewish rulers upon their
rejection of Him: “ e stone, which the builders refused,
is become the head stone of the corner.” Out of this psalm,
also, is drawn the joyful salutation with which the little
children welcomed Him in the temple with Hosannahs-t
precursors of those who, in happier times yet to come, will
receive the hearts of little children, and will confess that
Savior formerly rejected by their fathers! It is this psalm
which celebrates the exaltation and blessing of Israel-that
blessing due to the faithfulness of Jehovah alone, whilst it
points out the sin of the nation in rejecting “ the stone “
which was to become the foundation of God in Zion; but
which was also, by the unbelief of that nation, the “ stone
of stumbling “ and of judgment.
Besides these two classes of Israelites who will return by
providential agency, but still of their own free accord, the
Lord after His appearance will gather together from among
the Gentiles the elect of the Jewish nation, who will be yet
among the nations; and this return will be accompanied
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498
with great blessing. (See Matt. 24:31; compare Isa. 27:12,
13, and chap. II: to, 12.)
We subjoin two principles, very simple and clear, which
distinguish all preceding blessings (as, for instance, the
return from Babylon) from the accomplishment of the
prophecies of which we have been speaking.
ese two principles are: rstly, at the blessings ow
from the presence of Christ, Son of David. Secondly, at
they are a consequence of the new covenant. Neither one
nor the other of these conditions was fullled at the return
from Babylon, nor has it been since. e gospel does not
occupy itself with the earthly blessings of the Jews, which
is the matter of these prophecies.
Summing up and Conclusion
499
62228
Summing up and Conclusion
I Have read this chapter, not as professing to explain
it in detail, but because it gives a summary of that which
will happen at the close of this dispensation, at least the
heavenly sources of these events, and the woes of the
earth.
202
My object this evening is to take up, in their order,
the prophetic events which have been occupying us, as far
as God shall give me ability.
But, beforehand, dear friends, it will not be amiss to
return to a few of the thoughts which were given out at the
very beginning of these lectures. Let us be reminded, in
treating of these subjects, of their great end-a double one.
One end is that of detaching us from the world, to which
(though indeed the eect of every part of the word, when
the Spirit of God is applying it) prophecy is peculiarly
adapted; its tendency must be to “ deliver us from this
present evil age.” e other end is to make us intelligent
of the character of God, and of His ways towards us. ese
are two precious and wholesome fruits, which spring from
the acquirement of the knowledge of prophecy.
Many are the objections made to its study; it is thus
that Satan always acts against the truth. I do not mean
objections against such or such a view, but against the
study of prophecy itself. And Satan works in this way as to
the entire word of God. To one he says, Follow morality,
and do not meddle with dogmas, because he knows that
dogmas will free a man from his power, by the revelation
of Jesus, and of the truth in their hearts. To another he
202 e deliverance of the earth is found elsewhere.
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500
suggests the neglecting of prophecy, because in it is found
the judgment of this world, of which he is prince. But to
allow weight to such objections, is it not to nd fault with
God, who has given prophecy to us, and who has even
attached a particular blessing to the reading of the part
reputed the most dicult? Prophecy throws a great light
upon the dispensations of God; and, in this sense, it does
much as regards the freedom of our souls towards Him. For
what hinders it more than the error so often committed, of
confounding the law and the gospel, the past economies or
dispensations with the existing one?
If, in our internal ghting, we nd ourselves in the
presence of the law, it is impossible to nd peace; and yet
if we insist on the dierence which exists between the
position of the saints of old, and that of the saints during
the actual dispensation, this again troubles the minds of
many. Now the study of prophecy clears up such points,
and at the same time enlightens the faithful as to their
walk and conversation; for, whilst it always maintains
free salvation by the death of Jesus, prophecy enables us
to understand this entire dierence between the standing
of the saints now and formerly, and lights up with all the
counsels of God the road along which His own people
have been conducted, whether before or after the death
and resurrection of Jesus.
Again, dear friends, as we have before said, it is always
the hope which is presented to us which acts upon our
hearts and aections. ere are thus always enjoyments
in prospect which stamp their actual character upon our
souls. at which occupies the heart of man as hope makes
the rule of his conduct. Of what vast importance is it not,
then, to have our souls lled with hopes according to God!
Summing up and Conclusion
501
Persons say it is the idle curiosity of prying into hidden
things; but if it were true that we ought not to look into
prophecy, the conclusion is inevitable, that our thoughts
are not to go beyond the present. e way of knowing what
God’s intentions are for the future is certainly the study of
that prophecy which He has given to us. Prophecy records
things to come; it is the scriptural mirror, wherein future
events are seen. If we refuse the study of what God has
revealed as to come, we are necessarily left to our own ideas
upon it.
e famous passage of Paul has been quoted to some
here Cor. 2: 2): “ I determined not to know anything among
you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucied.” It is constantly
used as an objection against the study of what is found
revealed in the word. is arises from two causes. e one
is due to that prolic source of error, namely, the citation
of a passage without examining the context; the other, alas!
arises from a greater or less want of uprightness-from a
desire (unrecognized, it may be, in our own deceitful hearts)
of standing still in the ways of the Lord, by making as little
acquaintance with them as may be. It is not true that we are
to limit ourselves to the knowledge of Jesus Christ crucied.
We must also know Jesus Christ gloried, Jesus Christ at
the right hand of God; we must know Him as High Priest;
as Advocate with the Father. We ought to know Jesus Christ
as much as possible, and not be content with saying, “ Jesus
Christ, and him crucied.” So to say is to take the letter
of the word and abuse it. e apostle, seeing the tendency
that there was in the church at Corinth to follow rather the
learning and philosophy of man than Christ (a thing not
to be wondered at in a city renowned for science), points
out, in leading their souls back to Christ, how foreign his
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502
entry among them was from earthly wisdom. He “was with
them in weakness and fear; his speech and his preaching
were not with enticing words of man’s wisdom”; “he
determined not to know anything among them but Jesus
Christ, and him crucied”-Jesus Christ, and even Christ
as the despised one among men. He is not speaking of the
value of the blood, but of the condition of Christ Himself,
in order to bring down, by the cross, all their vain glory,
and found their faith upon the word of God, and not on
human wisdom. But in the same chapter he says, that from
the moment he comes into the midst of true Christians,
his conduct changes; he speaks “ wisdom among them that
are perfect.” He would have nothing to do with human
wisdom; but as soon as he nds himself among the perfect
ones, he says, “ We speak wisdom among them that are
perfect.” Desiring to conne ourselves to Jesus crucied,
in the way it is urged, is, I repeat, to conne ourselves to as
little as possible of Christianity. In Heb. 6 the apostle says,
he is unwilling to do what they would make him say in this
place; he altogether condemns that which is urged upon us.
“ Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,” says he,
“ let us go on unto perfection.” After these observations on
the study of prophecy in general, I proceed to recall, in a
few words, how God has revealed Himself by it.
Rev. 12 presents to us the great object of prophecy, and
of all the word of God, that is, the combat which takes
place between the last Adam and Satan. It is from this
center of truth that all the light which is found in Scripture
radiates. is great combat may take place either for the
earthly things (they being the object), and then it is in the
Jews; or for the church (that being the object), and then
it is in the heavenly places. It is on this account that the
Summing up and Conclusion
503
subject of prophecy divides itself into two parts: the hopes
of the church, and those of the Jews; though the former be
scarcely, properly speaking, prophecy, which concerns the
earth and God’s government of it.
But before coming to this great crisis, namely the
combat between Satan and the last Adam, it was necessary
that the history of the rst Adam should be developed.
is has been done. And in order that the church, that
is, Christians, may be in a position to occupy themselves
with the things of God, it was needful, rst of all, that
they should be in happy certainty as to their own position
before Him. At His rst coming, Christ accomplished all
the work which the wisdom of the Father, in the eternal
counsels of God, had conded to Him; this eected the
peace of the church. e Lord Jesus came, in order that
the certainty of salvation, by the knowledge of the grace of
God, should be introduced into the world, that is, into the
hearts of the faithful. After having accomplished salvation,
He communicates it to His followers in giving them life.
His Holy Spirit, which is the seal of this salvation in the
heart, reveals to them things to come, as to the children of
the family and heirs of the family estate. During the period
which separates the rst coming of the Lord from the
second, the church is gathered by the action of the Holy
Spirit to have part in the glory of Christ at His return.
ese, in a few words, are the two great subjects which
I have been opening; namely, that Christ, having done
all that is needful for the salvation of the church-having
saved all those who believe, the Holy Ghost now acts in
the world to communicate to the church the knowledge
of this salvation. He does not come to propose the hope
that God will be good, but a fact-that fact, once more, that
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504
Jesus has already accomplished the salvation of all those
who believe; and when the Holy Spirit communicates
this knowledge to a soul, it knows that it is saved. Being
then put in relationship with God as His children, we are
His heirs, “ heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” All
that concerns the glory of Christ belongs to us, and the
Holy Spirit is given to us, in the rst place, to make us
understand that we are children of God. He is a Spirit
of adoption, but more, a Spirit of light, who teaches the
children of God what their inheritance is. As they are one
with Christ, all the truth of His glory is revealed to them,
and the supremacy which He has over all things, God
having also constituted Him heir of all things, and us co-
heirs.
After Christ has fullled all that was necessary, the
church, until the second coming of its Savior, is taken
from out of all nations, and united to Him. It has, whilst
here below, the knowledge of the salvation which He has
accomplished, and of the coming glory, the Holy Spirit, in
those who believe, being the seal of salvation accomplished,
and the earnest of the future glory. ese truths throw a
great light upon the entire history of man. But let us ever
remember that the great object of the Bible is the conict
between Christ, the last Adam, and Satan.
In what condition did Christ nd the rst Adam? In a
condition into the lowest depths of which He was obliged
to enter, as responsible head of all creation. He found man
in state of ruin-entirely lost. It was needful that this should
be unfolded before the coming of Christ; for God did not
introduce His Son into the world as Savior until all that
was necessary to show that man was in himself incapable
of anything good was brought out. e whole state of
Summing up and Conclusion
505
man, before and after the deluge, under the law, under
the prophets, only served as a clearer attestation that man
was lost. He had failed throughout, under every possible
circumstance, until, God having sent His Son, the servants
said, “ is is the heir; let us kill him.” e measure of sin
was then at its height; the grace of God then did also much
more abound, and gave us the inheritance-us poor sinners,
the inheritance with Christ in the heavenly glory, of which
we possess the earnest, having Christ in spirit here below.
But (to enter a little more into the succession of
dispensations, and also into that which concerns the
character of God in this respect) the rst thing which
we would remark is the deluge, because until then there
had not been, so to speak, government in the world. e
prophecy which existed before the deluge was to this eect,
that Christ was to come. e teachings of God were ever
to this end: “ And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints.”
Let us pass on. In Noah’s time there was government of
the earth, and God coming in judgment and committing
the right of the sword to man. After this comes the call of
Abraham. Mark: the principle of government is not put
forward by the word, but the principle of promise, and the
call to be in relationship with God, of that one person who
becomes the root of all the promises of God-Abraham, the
father of the faithful. God calls him, makes him quit his
country, his family, bidding him go into a country which
He would show him. God reveals Himself to him as the
God of promise, who separates a people to Himself by a
promise which He gives them. It is at this epoch that God
revealed Himself under the name of God Almighty.
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506
After that, among the descendants of Abraham, by
this same principle of election, God takes the children of
Jacob to be His people here below-the object of all His
earthly care, and out of whose midst Christ was to come
according to the esh. It is in this people of Israel that
God displays all His characters as Jehovah; it is not only
as a God of promise, but it is a God who unites the two
principles of calling and government, which two had been
each successively brought out in Noah and in Abraham.
Israel was the called, separated people -separated indeed
only to earthly blessings, and to enjoy the promise; but,
at the same time, to be subject to the exercise of the
government of God according to the law. We say then, that
in Noah was marked the principle of government of the
earth, and, in Abraham that of calling and election; and
so Jehovah will accomplish all that He has said as God of
promise, “ who was, and is, and is to come,” and govern all
the earth, according to the righteousness of His law-the
righteousness revealed in Israel.
We have shown that God (Ex. 19:4-9) made the
accomplishment of the promises, in those times, to depend
upon the faithfulness of man, and that He took occasion
to prove him, and to represent in detail, as in a picture,
all the characters under which He acted towards him.
It was this which He was doing under priests, prophets,
and kings. And it is to be particularly observed, that the
bearing of prophecy, in the unfolding of this succession
of relationships of God with Israel, and with man, is not
alone the manifestation of the fall of man, but also, and
chiey, of the glory of God.
When Israel had transgressed in every possible way
and circumstance, even in the family of David, which
Summing up and Conclusion
507
was the last human resource of the nation-at the moment
that family failed in Ahaz, prophecy commences in all its
details, having these two features: one, the manifestation of
the glory of Christ, in order fully to show that the people
had failed under the law; the other, the manifestation of
the coming glory of Christ, to be the support of the faith
of those who were desiring to keep the law, but who saw
that everything was out of course. It is too late to take an
interest in the prophecies when they are fullled. ose to
whom at the actual time the prophets addressed themselves,
were the people from whom submission was expected. e
word of God should have touched their conscience. It
ought to be so with us. In the midst of all this, however,
were predictions which announced that the Messiah was
to come, and to suer for ends most important.
Prophecy applies itself properly to the earth; its object
is not heaven. It was about things that were to happen on
the earth; and the not seeing this has misled the church.
We have thought that we ourselves had within us the
accomplishment of these earthly blessings, whereas we
are called to enjoy heavenly blessings. e privilege of
the church is to have its portion in the heavenly places;
and later blessings will be shed forth upon the earthly
people. e church is something altogether apart-a kind
of heavenly economy, during the rejection of the earthly
people, who are put aside on account of their sins, and
driven out among the nations, out of the midst of which
nations God chooses a people for the, enjoyment of
heavenly glory with Jesus Himself. e Lord, having been
rejected by the Jewish people, is become wholly a heavenly
person. is is the doctrine which we peculiarly nd in the
writings of the apostle Paul. It is no longer the Messiah of
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508
the Jews, but a Christ exalted, gloried; and it is for want of
taking hold of this exhilarating truth, that the church has
become so weak.
Having thus briey retraced the history of the dierent
dispensations, it remains for us now to see the church
gloried, but without the Lord Jesus having abandoned
any of His rights upon the earth. He was the Heir: He was
to shed His blood, which was to ransom the inheritance.
As Boaz said (whose name signies, In him is strength),
“ What day thou buyest the eld of the hand of Naomi,
thou must buy it also of Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife
of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his
inheritance,” Ruth 4:5. So it was necessary that Christ
should buy the church, co-heir by grace (as Boaz, type of
Christ, bought the inheritance by taking to wife Ruth)
to whom the inheritance had devolved in the decrees of
Jehovah.
203
Christ then, and the church, have title to the inheritance,
that is, to all that Christ Himself has created as God. But
what is the state of the church actually? Does it actually
inherit these things? Not any; because until we are in the
glory we can have nothing, possess nothing, except only “
the Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance,
until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Until
that time Satan is the prince of this world, the god of this
world; he accuses even the children of God in the heavenly
places, which, however, he occupies only by usurpation (the
way being made for him by the passions of men, and the
power which he exercises over the creature, fallen, and at a
203 is is true in principle; but Ruth, as a gure, applies more
directly to the remnant of Israel, brought in under grace.
Summing up and Conclusion
509
distance from God, although, denitively, the providence
of God uses all to the accomplishment of His counsels).
And now, dear friends, having contemplated the rights
of Christ and of the church, let us consider how Christ
will make them good. e consideration of this will lead
us into the discovery, in their order, of the accomplishment
of events at the close. Perhaps, however, having arrived
thus far, it would be better (as I have only been speaking
of the Jews) to turn for a moment to the Gentiles. We
have remarked that, when the fall of the Jewish nation
was complete, God transferred the right of government to
the Gentiles; but with this dierence, that this right was
separated from the calling and the promise of God. In
the Jews, the two things were united, namely, the calling
of God, and government upon the earth, which became
distinct things from the moment that Israel was put aside.
In Noah and Abraham we had them distinct; government
in the one, calling in the other.
With the Jews these principles were united; but Israel
failed, and ceased thenceforward to be capable of manifesting
the principle of the government of God, because God in
Israel acted in righteousness; and unrighteous Israel could
no longer be the depository of the power of God. God, then,
quitted His terrestrial throne in Israel. Notwithstanding
this, as to the earthly calling, Israel continued to be the
called people: “ for the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.” As to government, God transports it where
He will; and it went to the Gentiles. ere are, indeed, the
called from among the nations (namely, the church), but it
is for the heavens they are called. e calling of God for the
earth is never transferred to the nations; it remains with
the Jews. If I want an earthly religion, I ought to be a Jew.
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510
From the instant that the church loses sight of its heavenly
calling, it loses, humanly speaking, all.
What has happened to the nations by their having
had government given over to them? ey have become
“ beasts “: so the four great monarchies are called. Once
the government is transferred to the Gentiles, they become
the oppressors of the people of God: rst, the Babylonians;
secondly, the Medes and Persians; thirdly, the Greeks; then,
the Romans. e fourth monarchy consummated its crime
at the same instant that the Jews consummated theirs, in
being accessory, in the person of Pontius Pilate, to the will
of a rebellious nation, by killing Him who was at once the
Son of God and King of Israel. Gentile power is in a fallen
state, even as the called people, the Jews, are. Judgment is
written upon power and calling, as in man’s hand.
In the meanwhile, what happens? First, the salvation of
the church. e iniquity of Jacob, the crime of the nations,
the judgment of the world, and that of the Jews-all this
becomes salvation to the church. It was accomplished
all in the death of Jesus. Secondly, all that has passed
since that stupendous event has no other object than the
gathering together of the children of God. e Jews, the
called people, have become rebellious, and are driven away
from the presence of God; the nations are become equally
rebellious; but government is always there-in a state of
ruin indeed; but the patience of God is always there, also
waiting until the end. en what takes place? e church
goes to join the Lord in the heavenly places.
Let us now suppose that, in the time decreed by God,
all the church is assembled; what will happen? It will go
immediately to meet the Lord, and the marriage of the
Lamb will take place. Salvation will be consummated in the
Summing up and Conclusion
511
seat of the glory itself-in the heavenly places. Where will
the nations be? e government of the fourth monarchy
will be still in existence, but under the inuence and
direction of Antichrist; and the Jews will unite themselves
to him, in a state of rebellion, to make war with the Lamb.
Why all this? and why has not the gospel hindered such a
state of things? Because Satan, unto this hour, has not been
driven out of the heavenly places, and, by consequence, all
that God has done here for man has been spoiled-whether
government of the Gentiles, or the actual relationship of the
Jews with God. All has been deteriorated by the presence
of Satan, always there exercising his baneful inuence.
But God now, at the close, when the church is gathered
and called up on high, takes things into His own hand.
What will He do? Dispossess Satan-drive him from power.
It is what Jesus will do when the church shall be manifestly
united to Him, and He begins to act to restore everything
into its proper order.
Dear friends, as soon as the church shall be received
to Christ, there will follow the battle in heaven, in order
that the seat of government may be purged of those fertile
sources, and of those active agents, of the ills of humanity,
and of all creation. e result of such a combat is easily
foreseen: Satan will be expelled from heaven, without
being yet bound; but he will be cast down to earth, “
having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a
short time.” enceforward, power will be established in
heaven according to the intention of God. But on the earth
it will be quite otherwise; for when Satan is driven away
from heaven, he will excite the whole earth, and will raise
up in particular the apostate part of it, which has revolted
against the power of Christ coming from heaven. It is said,
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512
“ erefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! … ”
Behold, then, the created heavens occupied by Christ
and His church; and Satan in great wrath upon the earth,
having but a short time. Under the conduct of Antichrist,
the fourth monarchy will become the sphere upon which
the activity of Satan will then be displayed, who will unite
the Jews with this apostate prince against heaven. I do
not enter upon the scriptural proofs here-they have been
already spoken of; I merely sum up the facts in the order
of their accomplishment. It need scarcely be said that the
result of all this will be the judgment and destruction
of the beast and Antichrist, the heads of evil among the
Gentiles and among the Jews, the secular and spiritual
heads of mischief and rebellion on the earth. Jesus Christ
will destroy, in the person of Antichrist, the power of Satan
in that government, which we have seen was conded to
the Gentiles. is wicked one, having joined himself to
the Jews, and having placed himself at Jerusalem, as the
center of government of the earth, will be destroyed by the
coming of the Lord of lords and King of kings; and Christ
will anew occupy this chief seat of government, which will
become the place of the throne of God on the earth. But
although the Lord is come to the earth, and the power
of Satan in Antichrist is destroyed and the government
established in the hands of the Righteous One, the earth
will not be reduced under His scepter. e remnant of the
Jews is delivered, and Antichrist destroyed; but the world,
not yet acknowledging the rights of Christ, will desire to
possess His heritage; and the Savior must clear the land in
order that its inhabitants may enjoy the blessings of His
reign without ‘interruption or hindrance, and that joy and
Summing up and Conclusion
513
glory may be established in this world, so long subjected to
the enemy.
e rst thing, then, which the Lord will do will be
to purify His land (the land which belongs to the Jews)
of the Tyrians, the Philistines, the Sidonians; of Edom,
and Moab, and Ammon-of all the wicked, in short, from
the Nile to the Euphrates. It will be done by the power
of Christ in favor of His people re-established by His
goodness. e people are put into security in the land, and
then will those of them who remain till, that time among
the nations be gathered together. When the people are
living thus in peace, another enemy will come up, namely,
Gog; but he will come only for his destruction.
It would seem that in those times-probably at the
commencement of this period-besides the personal
manifestation of Christ in judgment, there will be a
discovery much more calm, much more intimate, of the
Lord Jesus to the Jews. is is what will take place when
He will descend on the Mount of Olives, where “ his feet
shall stand,” according to the expression of Zech. 14:3, 4.
It is always the same Jesus; but He will reveal Himself
peaceably, and show Himself, not as the Christ from
heaven, but as the Messiah of the Jews.
Blessing to the Gentiles will be the consequence of the
restoration of the Jews, and of the presence of the Lord.
e church will have been blessed; the apostasy of the
fourth monarchy will no longer have existence; the wicked
one will be cut o, as well as the unbelieving Israelites; in
ne, the land of the Jews will be at peace.
Afterward there will be the world to come, prepared
and introduced by these judgments, and by the presence
of the Lord, who will take the place of wickedness and
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
514
the wicked one. ose who shall have seen the glory
manifested in Jerusalem will go and announce its arrival to
the other nations. ese will submit themselves to Christ;
they will confess the Jews to be the people blessed of their
Anointed, will bring the rest of them back into their land,
and will themselves become the theater of glory, which,
with Jerusalem as its center, will extend itself in blessing
wherever there is man to enjoy its eects. e witness of
the glory being spread everywhere, the hearts of men, full
of goodwill, submit themselves to the counsels and glory
of God in response to this testimony. All the promises of
God being accomplished, and the throne of God being
established at Jerusalem, this throne will become to the
whole earth the source of happiness. e re-establishment
of the people of God will be to the world “ as life from the
dead.”
One thing is to be added, namely, that at this time Satan
will be bound, and in consequence the blessing will be
without interruption until “ he is loosed for a short season.”
Instead of the adversary in the heavenly places; instead of
his government, the seat of which is now in the air, instead
of that confusion and misery which he produces, as much
as is allowed him to do; Christ and His church will be
there, the source and instrument of blessing ever new.
Government in the heavenly places will be the security,
and not the hindrance, or the compulsory instrument, of
the goodness of God. e gloried church-witness for all,
even by its state, of the extent of the love of the Father,
who has fullled all His promises, and has been better to
our weak hearts than even their hopes-will ll the heavenly
places with its own joy; and in its service will constitute
the happiness of the world, towards which it will be the
Summing up and Conclusion
515
instrument of the grace which it shall be richly enjoying.
Behold the heavenly Jerusalem, witness in glory of the
grace which has placed her so high! In the midst of her
shall ow the river of water of life, where grows the tree
of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the Gentiles;
for even in the glory shall be preserved to her this sweet
character of grace. Meanwhile, upon the earth, is the
earthly Jerusalem, the center of the government, and of the
reign of the righteousness of Jehovah her God; as indeed
in a state of desolation she had been of His justice, she will
be the place of His throne- the center of the exercise of
that justice described in such language as ‘ e nation and
kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish.” For in that
state of terrestrial glory-though indeed placed there by the
grace of the new covenant-this city will still preserve its
normal character, that she may be witness of the character
of Jehovah, as the church is of that of the Father. God also
will realize the full force of that name: “ e most high
God, possessor of the heavens and the earth “; and Christ
will fulll, in all their fullness, all the functions of High
Priest, after the order of Melchisedec, who, after the victory
gained over the enemies of God’s people, blessed their God
on the part of the people, and the people on the part of
God; Gen. 14: IS, etc.
Dear friends, you will understand that there is an innity
of details into which I have not entered; for example, the
circumstance of the Jews who will be persecuted during the
troublous times in Judea, of which we have some instruction
in the word. is general sketch will engage you to read
the word of God for yourselves on the whole subject. For
myself, I attach more importance to the larger features of
prophecy; and for this reason, that there is to be found in,
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
516
them, on the one hand, the distinctions of dispensations,
which become, by the consideration of these truths, very
clear; and on the other, the character of God, which is, in
this manner fully unveiled. However this may be, there is
nothing to hinder your study of prophecy, even in its minute
details. If, indeed, we attempt the examination of the works
of man in this way, an abundance of imperfection is found;
but it is the contrary in the works of God. e more we
enter into their minute details, the more does perfection
appear.
May God perfect in you, and in all His children, this
separation from the world, which ought to be, before God,
the fruit of the expectation of the church, at the discovery
of these its heavenly blessings in store, and of the terrible
judgments which await all that which still binds man to
this lower world; for the judgment will come upon all these
earthly things! May God also perfect the desires of my
heart, and the witness of the Holy Spirit!
On the 1260 Days
517
62229
On the 1260 Days
(From the Christian Herald, Feb., 1831, PP. 47, 48.)
WE have received a letter from the Rev. S. R. Maitland,
animadverting upon the letter and remarks of the Rev. J.
N. Darby, which appeared in our No. for December, 183o.
Although we do not wish to introduce controversy into
our pages, we think it but justice towards Mr. Maitland to
publish his letter, of which the following is a copy:
To THE EDITOR OF THE Christian Herald.
Bishop’s Hall, near Taunton,
December 30th, 1830.
SIR,-In your number of this month, which has only
come to my hand today, a correspondent, who subscribes
himself J. N. Darby, begins his letter with saying, “ e
following remarks on the statements of Mr. Maitland in
the Morning Watch, and of R.D. in the Christian Examiner,
were written in short intervals of constant occupation.”
Without wishing to trespass on your pages, with a defense
of statements which I have made, or of the statements of
R.D., which I have not seen, will you allow me to say that
I never made any statement in the Morning Watch, having
never written anything in that work? I should be sorry
to suspect your correspondent unjustly, but I cannot help
thinking that he knows my statements principally, if not
entirely, from the Review in the Morning Watch; and with
regard to the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, only from a
garbled and falsied extract contained in that Review. I am
driven to this suspicion, not only by his mode of referring
to my statement, which I have already noticed, but from his
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
518
saying-’ On the other hand, Mr. M. is without ground of
inquiry; for if the Hebrew word shibim have no technical or
conventional meaning, it would not be sevens according to
the Hebrew idiom at all, but seventy; so that we must admit
the conventional meaning and inquire what it is.’ If your
correspondent had read my rst Inquiry, he would have
seen that I did admit a conventional meaning, and showed
by several references that the Misnic writers used sheba to
signify the space of time between one sabbatical year and
another: a fact which the Reviewer in the Morning Watch
did not think proper to notice.
I do not wish, however, to intrude on your pages what
is already before the public; but I should be glad to prevent
or correct a mistake into which I think your readers might
naturally fall; and also to beg that my statements may
not be judged of either by what has been extracted in the
Morning Watch, or brought forward by your correspondent.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
On receiving the above letter from Mr. Maitland, we
sent a copy of it to Mr. Darby, that his answer might appear
together with it. e following is a copy of Mr. Darby’s
reply:
e principal occasion of Mr. Maitland’s letter is a
mistake occasioned by an unnoticed defect of a stop (I
dare say in my manuscript), which should have been
supplied thus: “ of Mr. Maitland; in the Morning Watch;
and of R.D.”, instead of “ Mr. Maitland in the Morning
Watch, and of R.D.”, etc. Indeed, no one, I should have
thought, could have made the mistake; for the article in
the Morning Watch is written against Mr. M., and treats
him with considerable slight. I had read both of Mr. M.’s
pamphlets or Inquiries. It is very possible my paper (in the
On the 1260 Days
519
Christian Herald) does not take adequate notice of them;
and I have not them with me now to refer to; but the
principal argument and the evidence from the passage in
Leviticus remain untouched. If you are disposed, I shall
be glad to revert to it, as with a mind entirely open on the
subject. I feel it one of great interest, and shall be very glad
to receive all the light I can from Mr. M., or anyone else,
there or elsewhere. R.D. was the immediate object of my
paper, which occasioned the less reference to Mr. M., for
whom I have really every respect, and from whom I should
be very glad to learn. I should, however, conne my inquiry
certainly to the scriptural sense of the word as evidence,
even though I examined other things brought forward.
I am surprised Mr. M. did not see what the rst passage
he quotes meant; as the article in the Morning Watch (or
rather articles) is not only written against him, but is
accompanied by a note accounting for their refusal (as I
recollect) to insert Mr. M.’s reply to themselves, so that
even if I had not read Mr. M.’s books, or the Morning
Watch either, I (or anyone else) must have been of a
strange constitution of mind to think that article was Mr.
Maitland’s.
Believe me, truly and aectionately yours,
JOHN NELSON DARBY
Plymouth, Jan. 13, 1831
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
520
62223
e Two Characters of Evil:
Ecclesiastical Apostasy
and Civil Apostasy
UP to the present, dear friends, we have only spoken of
the happiness that pertains to the church, save that, at our
last meeting, we traced the progress which evil will make
on the earth until the very end. is evil has a twofold
character, upon which I will speak a few words, seeing that
the relations which exist between the power of evil and
the judgments which await it, have a special interest for
the children of God. When the evil has come to its height,
God will destroy it.
e verses which I read are the interpretation which the
angel gives to Daniel of the vision of the beasts which the
prophet saw; and, as always occurs in symbolic prophecies,
the interpretation contains many new features. In the
explanation given to Daniel, all that will happen to the
saints is added; but the principal subject of the chapter is
the beast who exalts and elevates himself against the most
high God.
I say, dear friends, that there are two characters in the evil
which manifests itself on the earth: the rst is ecclesiastical
apostasy; and the second, apostasy of the civil power itself.
First, apostasy of the church-viewed in its outward
responsibility here below-has in principle taken place.
Later on there will be a more open manifestation. As to
the second, the civil power will rise against Him to whom
all government belongs- against Christ, whom God will
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
521
establish king over the earth. It is in the time of the fourth
beast, the Roman empire, that this revolt will take place.
Before entering directly on our subject of to-day, I desire
to make a few remarks on Matt. 25, to which we shall
return when we speak of the nations; for all the peoples
of the earth which shall exist at the end of the times shall
be either subject to Christ and, consequently, saved, or
in rebellion and, consequently, destroyed. But to remove
doubts on the subject of this chapter, a few words must be
said on it. People believe ordinarily that the judgment of
which this chapter treats is the last or general judgment;
but they are wrong. It is the judgment of the living nations
on this earth, and not of the dead. Accordingly I did not
speak of it when we treated of the resurrection of the dead.
In this chapter of Matt. 1 repeat, there is no question
whatever of resurrection. In chapters 24 and 25 are seen
the judgment of the Jews, what will happen to that nation;
next, what will happen to believers; then, what will happen
to the Gentiles. It is the judgment of the quick, and not
of the dead. It is this when we read, “ Before him shall be
gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.”
What has given rise to the notion that it is the judgment of
the dead is the statement that “ these [the wicked] shall go
away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into
life eternal.” But this would only tell us that the judgment
of the living would be nal like that of the dead. Certainly,
when God judges the living, His judgment sends some to
eternal punishment and others to life eternal. e judgment
of the living is as certain as that of the dead. We shall be
able to speak of it in its place.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
522
Last time I was speaking mostly upon the tares, that is,
the ecclesiastical apostasy-of the progress of evil there,-of
that which has happened to the church as on earth. Now
I am going to look into the apostasy of the civil power in
its outward form, and the judgment which will come on
it from God; for His wrath will fall upon this power. If
at the close, ecclesiastical evil in some sort disappears in
the character of secular power; and if the civil power has
exalted itself, ecclesiastical power, is not the less vigorous:
only it has not the supremacy; and herein is the dierence.
In other words, it is not that ecclesiastical power has
improved itself, only it is not exercised in the same way;
but its inuence is not the less pernicious. It is no longer
an ecclesiastical power wielding the secular arm, which is
seen riding on the beast, and ruling it; but it takes a more
mysterious form, and consequently a more dangerous
one. Its occult inuence continues, though deprived of its
outward splendor; for by their pride men now begin to lift
themselves up and combine against God, and so prepare
the way for the son of perdition.
Although ecclesiastical wickedness is always the worst,
nevertheless, as we have been saying, civil apostasy will
have its time of manifestation. Scripture tells us that all
civil power is of God. Now, in the same way that the church
loses its proper force and character by its rebellion against
God, so the civil government will be found in a state of
revolt and apostasy when, instead of confessing fealty to
God, it sets itself up against God, who is the source of its
authority.
e Spirit of God being the true strength of the church,
the church’s revolt begins when, instead of being subject
to Christ, it gives itself over to the will and power of man,
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
523
leans upon man’s aid, and renounces truth to follow error.
Christ is the Head: the Holy Spirit is the only strength
by whose means the church can act; and when the church
is not guided by the Spirit, and is not in this sense truly
subject to Christ, Christendom is practically apostate. Now,
at the end of the present dispensation, the civil power will
be found in this same state of revolt; and be it remembered
that apostasy in the civil power is a thing much more
manifest and prominent than in the church. is will take
place in the bosom of Christendom; and it would seem that
ecclesiastical wickedness will be its moving power. We have
examples of this in Scripture. When Absalom was in revolt
against David, Ahithophel was his counselor; 2Sam. 15.
e instigator of the rebellion was, without doubt, Satan;
but Ahithophel directed the conspiracy against the king. It
was Dathan and Abiram, simple Israelites (though men of
renown), who rebelled against Moses; but the revolt is called
that of Korah, who was a Levite, and seduced the others.
In the same way, God accuses the priests and the prophets
of Judah of the iniquity of the people, since the civil power
had only followed their evil counsels. e same has been
the order of things in Christendom. ose who ought to
have instructed the church, who ought to have represented
the wisdom of God, and have recalled governments to a
sense of their duty towards God, being themselves in a
revolt against Him, have concealed the truth, have taken a
form which has seduced the world, and have thus led the
civil power into the same departure from God: ere will
be a revolt of this latter, but the ecclesiastical power will be
the soul of it.
What do we nd at Armageddon? A false prophet who
falls there along with the beast. From the beginning to
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
524
the end, there is always a beast, and with the beast a false
prophet. It is the one or the other who guides the rebellion.
But at the end the beast takes the lead, as being able to act
more directly and freely: thus it is the beast which at the
last is the direct object of judgment. Such we nd to be the
case from Dan. 7 But spiritual energy has been ministering
to its power.
From the instant that the beast, or the civil power of the
fourth monarchy, shall set himself in revolt against God,
this monarchy will be found in relation with the Jews; and
it is this which introduces us anew into the history of this
people. You remember, dear friends, that when the fourth
beast appeared on the scene of this earth, there were Jews
at Jerusalem; Christ was presented as King of the Jews
to the fourth beast, represented by Pontius Pilate, who
rejected Him in this character which He is never to lose.
At the end of the age the same fact will be reproduced:
the Jews-returned to their own land, though without
being converted-will nd themselves in connection with
the fourth beast. ere will be saints among them; and
this fourth beast, exalting himself against God, will put
himself in direct opposition to Christ, as the King of the
Jews. It is true, indeed, that his deadly opposition to Christ
will go much farther than at the time when Christ stood
before Pontius Pilate; for he will then arrogate to himself
His rights as King of the Jews; and it is then that Christ,
coming down from heaven, will destroy the beast, together
with the Antichrist, and will take the remnant of the Jews
to be His earthly people, and will put all nations under His
feet.
is being the case, you will readily understand that
many things in Scripture apply to the Jewish saints, that is,
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
525
to this faithful remnant of the Jews, and not to the church.
We know, e.g., that, during the time of the ecclesiastical
apostasy, there have been many persecutions against God’s
faithful children; in such cases, the saints of all times could
draw comfort from the consolations of God found in such
passages; but in these last times, when it is a question of
persecution of the saints, the application must be made to
the remnant of the Jews, whose “ blood will be shed like
water,” Psa. 79:3.
If we consider the history of the beast in a general
manner, whether in its pagan form, as under Tiberias
Caesar, and the other emperors; or, under the inuence
of the corrupted Christianity of the Middle Ages, we see
there have been, at every succeeding epoch, persecutions
against the saints; and we may use as of them the scriptural
expressions, “ And in her was found the blood of prophets,
and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth,” Rev.
18:24. But when we come to the time when the civil power
will openly raise the standard of revolt-to the moment
when these prophetic facts have their full realization, it
is upon the Jews that the persecutions will fall; to whom,
therefore, these citations have their primary application.
From the moment that the rights of Christ, as King of
the Jews, are agitated, it is the Jews who will appear on the
scene; for the Jews are God’s earthly people. But where is
the church then? It will be entirely out of the scene at the
time of these last persecutions.
Before we quote the chapters which treat of the apostate
civil power substituted for the apostate ecclesiastical
power, we would insist again upon this, that the revolt of
the ecclesiastical power is not the less dangerous because
it has not the supremacy. On the contrary, we repeat, that
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
526
this power is the secret counselor of all the evil. e only
change that will take place is, that it will cease to have
outwardly the preponderance; and the not seeing this has
led many into error. Because men, in the use of ordinary
observation only, have perceived that it could no longer
depose kings, they have supposed that the ecclesiastical
power had absolutely disappeared. No attention has been
paid to that which the children of God might ascertain out
of His word, namely, that its moral inuence would survive
the destruction of its political existence; and that it was
precisely this inuence which would urge on the power,
properly so called political, to revolt against God, and thus
to its destruction.
I am not saying that it is not the will of man which, by
its own energy guides the beast to its eternal ruin. is is
indeed true; but in the meantime, it is the ecclesiastical
apostasy which; either arrogating to itself the power, or
shutting the door to the manifestation of the will of God,
seduces by its machinations the inhabitants of the earth to
acknowledge and adore the beast.
I advert to the passages which refer to the observations
just made. First, the end of Dan. 7, where the fourth beast
is found; afterward, Rev. 16, and especially chapter 17,
where the two are distinguished, namely, the great whore
or Babylon, and the beast. In chapter 17 we get the woman
clothed with scarlet, a power whose principal element is
ecclesiastical; she is mounted on the beast (civil power).
After that, “ the ten horns which thou sawest upon the
beast, these shall hate the whore (ecclesiastical power), and
shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her esh,
and burn her with re. For God hath put in their hearts
to … give their kingdom to the beast.”
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
527
Let us now examine the passages which concern the
sources of evil, and more particularly the kind of evil which
is exhibited in that power which is in rebellion against
God, namely, the fourth monarchy. Let us see the form
which the rebellion will take.
In Rev. 12:3 we nd the source of the power, “ the great
red dragon.” We are there, as it were, admitted behind the
scenes, and see Satan desiring to destroy Him who is to
govern all nations with a rod of iron-Christ; and, in Christ
and with Christ, the church. It is properly the power of
Satan, and the great combat. e word of God puts in
contrast the Father and the world; esh and Spirit; Satan
and the Son of God. Here we have the great dragon or
Satan, who wants to devour Him who is to govern the
nations with a rod of iron; but it is in heaven that we see it.
Afterward (v. 9), he is cast out-an event which has not yet
taken place.
Here there is a diculty to some minds. Because the
devil is cast out of the conscience, which is true,
204
they
suppose that he is cast out of heaven. Satan has indeed no
power over our conscience if we have understood the value
of the blood of Christ; but he is still in heaven, where he
accuses the children of God. We see from Eph. 6:12 that
the wicked spirits (margin) are in the heavenly (margin)
places: by reason of this, there will be a battle in heaven-a
battle, the eect, not of intercession or of priesthood, but
of power, which will take place, perhaps, with the help of
angels; but which will ever be a work of power. At the same
time, though Satan shall be cast down from heaven, he will
not yet be chained to the bottomless pit; and the fruits of
204 at is, his accusing power is rendered null by virtue of the
blood and work of Jesus Christ.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
528
his wickedness will not yet have found their limit; so it is
said, “ the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
Satan, cast down from heaven to earth, will act there by
the agency of the Roman empire. Rev. 13 describes what
will appear on the scene as the providential instruments by
which he will seek to make good his power on the earth: “
I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and
ten horns.”
205
is is the terrestrial agency. is beast will
unite all the characters of the three previous beasts.
e authority of the dragon becomes established in
the Roman empire-in the beast with seven heads and ten
horns. ‘” I saw one of its heads, as it were, wounded, to
death “; that is, one of the governing forms of the Roman
empire ruined. But afterward the mortal wound is healed,
and the form which was destroyed re-established. Now, if
we compare the acts of the little horn of the same beast in
Daniel, we shall nd that the little horn “ whose mouth
speaketh great things, before whom three [horns] fell
“-that this very one, we say, becomes the beast itself. at
is, the beast will nd itself under the dominion of this
little horn; as we might say, that Napoleon was the French
empire, because he wielded all its resources. is beast will
be the civil power, the Roman empire, in apostasy, or in
open revolt against God.
But there is also another beast (which is not the Roman
empire) which exerciseth all the power of the rst beast
before him.
205 It is remarkable that the dragon has his crowns on his heads;
the beast of chapter 13 has them on his horns. ere is no
question of crowns on the beast in the last form of all that he
takes.
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
529
Verses 11 to 14. “ And I beheld … and deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth.” Here is something which has
the semblance of Christ’s power, and which later, in the
midst of the Jews, will wear the form of Christianity; but,
as understood by the apostle, it is Satan’s. It is, then, the
second beast who will seduce the inhabitants of the earth,
and who will cause them to follow the rst, namely, the
civil power of the Roman empire.
“ And I saw one of the heads, as it were wounded to
death.” is has already happened to the imperial form of
the Roman empire; but the wound is to be entirely healed.
us the beast loses its imperial character for a time, and
its wound is afterward healed. When this takes place in all
the astonished earth, men go after it.
e imperial beast will therefore again be seen on the
earth, and in all the earth they will wonder after it. But we
have also read that the second beast, by the great wonders
which he doeth, seduces the inhabitants of the earth. is
second beast will appear at the end under the character, not
of a beast, but of a false prophet; all his secular power will
be lost. He will no longer be a beast ravishing, devouring;
this feature will be entirely eaced. And he will be seen as
the false prophet,
206
who will be recognized as the second
beast already spoken of, by the perfect resemblance of
his character, as the person, in short, who has done the
things which the second beast has done, but who appears
at the close under this new form. Compare Rev. 13:14,
with 19: 20. If we take the moral side of the events already
accomplished, we know who has exercised all the power in
206 e false prophet is not Mahomet. “ He exerciseth the power
of the rst beast before him.” Now Mahomet has never done
this.
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
530
presence of the civil authority; but there will be one also
who will do great wonders and seduce the inhabitants of
the earth.
Farther on we shall have to look into the consequences
of all this; in the meanwhile, let us gather up what we have
been saying. Chapter 12 shows us the dragon in heaven, as
the origin, the rst cause of all this rebellion. Chapter 13
gives us the Roman empire under its imperial form, as the
providential visible agent. is beast is wounded to death,
but his mortal wound is healed. ere is also in its presence
another power who seduces the inhabitants of the earth;
and it is when the mortal wound of the rst beast is healed,
“ that all the world wondered after the beast.” Add to this
the circumstance of chapter 19, namely, that the second
beast ceases to be one, and appears at the end as a false
prophet.
In chapter 17 there is a description of the rst beast,
which gives us other particulars. Verses 7, 8: “ 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 horns.
e 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.”
It ascends out of the bottomless pit, i.e., becomes
positively the power of Satan towards the end; and this
is what will happen when Satan, being cast out of heaven
(which event will occur when the church has been caught
up into heaven), will come down to the earth in great wrath.
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
531
en, under his inuence the beast (the Roman empire) “
that was, and is not, and yet is,” resumes his strength and
form; that is, the civil power, instead of being in submission
to God, takes the character of Satan, and signalizes itself, at
his instigation, by an open revolt against the power of God.
To nd all the marks for recognizing this last form
of the beast, we must wait until the imperial head of the
Roman empire, the eighth king, shall appear in the world.
is must take place before its ruin.
When the Roman empire existed under its pagan form,
it had not ten kings; but when this beast reappears (let us
keep in mind that it is the Roman empire), ten kings will
give their power to it, instead of ten kings replacing it. More
than this, it is after having been destroyed that it will come
again into existence. In a word, it is not the pagan beast,
nor the history of the middle ages, nor of ten barbarian
kings (if indeed ten could be pronounced upon with any
certainty), who have taken the place of the empire, but “
and yet is “;
207
that is, the mortal wound will be healed, and
the imperial beast will re-appear.
e ten kings “ shall give their strength and power unto
the beast “; there will be an imperial head-an emperor, and
ten kings, who will give him their power; the kingdoms
will continue in existence, but it will be a confederation of
them. As an illustration, we may refer to the kingdoms of
Spain, Holland, Westphalia, etc., under Napoleon. ere
has been the beast; there have been, it may be, ten kings;
but never yet ten kings giving their power to the beast who was
not, and who came anew into existence.”
207 [It is well known and sure that the genuine reading is
according to Greek “and shall be present” (not “ and yet is “).
is evidently conrms the case, besides removing a sort of
enigma, or paradox, in the vulgar text.-ED.]
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
532
“ e seven heads are seven mountains.” (We are still
occupied with the Roman empire.) “ And there are seven
kings; ve are fallen, and one is “-namely, the imperial
one which existed in the time of John,-” and the other is
not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a
short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is
the eighth (because the seven have passed), and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition.” at is, there will be an
eighth head, one of a peculiar character, who will re-unite
all the power of the beast, who will be the beast himself,
and who, whilst a head apart, is still one of the seven. It is
the imperial head under a new form; for there are to be ten
kings, who will give their power to this eighth head; and
it is in this form that it will go down to destruction. It is
exactly here that the coming of Christ, and of the church,
connects itself with the subject of which we are treating;
Rev. 19; 2ess. 2.
We must yet quote from Dan. 11:36-45: “ And the
king shall do according to his will.” Compare this with
2ess. 2:3, 4, and following verses.) We may observe,
that in Dan. 2 the question is not one of ecclesiastical
supremacy, but rather of wars between civil powers in the
East. With verse 36 begins the history of Antichrist, of “
the king who shall do according to his own will,” just like
the little horn in chapter 7, and who at last, after dealing
in an idolatrous and apostate way in Jerusalem, nds his
end with that rst beast. It is a king like any other, a king
of the earth, but exercising his power in the holy land at
the close. Christianity, as such, is not brought before us,
nor the mystery of lawlessness in it: that had preceded the
appearance of the lawless one according to 2essalonians.
Again, I say, it is no question of ecclesiastical matters, but
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
533
of a king of this earth, who becomes an object of attack to
the kings of the North and of the South.
One remark on 2ess. 2 for our consolation in the
midst of this sad concourse of events. “ Now we beseech
you, brethren,” says the apostle, “ by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye
be not soon shaken in mind,” etc. ose who love the truth
will entirely escape this deceivableness of unrighteousness,
to which, on the contrary, all those will be delivered by the
judgment of God, who have “ not received the love of the
truth “; but “have pleasure in unrighteousness.” is is the
evil which is coming, and the world ought to be warned
of it; because some may be salutarily frightened at the
thought and led to consider the word of God. And why
is all this announced to the children of God? It is in order
that they may draw out of it the fullest comfort, and may
separate themselves from all that which drags men on to
destruction. I say not that we Christians shall be involved
in the catastrophe; but that, by being told beforehand of
the judgments which will take place at this dreadful crisis,
we are led to detach ourselves, even at this present time,
from the causes which, by their nature, and by the justice
of God, bring it on.
e apostle, it would seem, had spoken a good deal of
these things to the church of the essalonians, and had
taught them to expect the coming of the Lord. Now, what
had Satan done? He had tried to terrify them, in telling
them that the day of the Lord was there (Greek, present,
2ess. 2:2). No, says the apostle, I beseech you, by the
coming [presence, see Greek] of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and our gathering together to him [which will precede
that day], that ye be not soon shaken in mind, etc. (as if we
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
534
were already in it). is day will come upon the lawless one,
and not upon you; you will already have been caught up to
Him, and you will accompany Him personally in that great
day when He will appear.
208
e day is present, said the seducers; the day is come!
No, says the apostle, the day will not come until you, the
Lord’s faithful ones, have been caught up into the air, and
until the lawless one shall be revealed.
ese consolations are again conrmed (v. 9, to): “
Even him whose coming … is with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth.” It is only needful to add, that
in this chapter it is the description of the moral character,
and of the unbridled iniquity of the lawless one, and of the
power of Satan; whilst, in Daniel t t it is the picture of his
outward character.
It is to be feared, dear friends, that the exposition
of prophecy this evening has not been the view which
you have been hitherto led to take of it. I have been
endeavoring to open out the distinction, and at the same
time the connection, which there is between the civil
and ecclesiastical power; as well as the distinction, and at
the same time the connection, between the ecclesiastical
apostasy and the civil apostasy. e two things are closely
208 e idea which usually prevails in the interpretation of this
passage is, that parousia and heemera have the same meaning
axed to them by the apostle, and that he uses the words
interchangeably. Parousia means “ presence,” not necessarily
involving manifestation to the world; heemera “ day,” on
the contrary, always has to do, in the Old Testament, with
judgment. Here the apostle uses the presence of the Lord, and
our gathering together to Him, in contrast with the day: “ I
beseech you, by his presence and our gathering to him, not to
be distracted about the day, as if it were here.”
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
535
allied, because we read that the second beast exercises all
the power of the rst beast before him; and that the false
prophet, which is the second beast, is thrown into the lake
of re with the rst.
We have also noticed that this fact connects itself with
the presence of the Jews at Jerusalem, in whose vicinity the
beast will come to his end-an event which will close this
present dispensation, in bringing out the power of Christ
upon the earth, which will lead to the union of Christ with
the remnant of the Jews; and in consequence of that, to
the bringing of all nations under His scepter. I have only
spoken of the fourth beast.
ere are two points worthy of remark in connection
with the history of Israel; rstly, as to those nations who
were in league against Israel, when this people were owned
of God; and, secondly, as to the nations who carried them
into captivity. As yet we have only been discussing the times
of the Gentiles, that period during which the kingdom was
transferred from the Jews to them; that is, the time of the
four beasts-the times of the Gentiles. Daniel speaks of
the four beasts only; Ezekiel speaks of the nations before
the four beasts, and after; but never of “ the times of the
Gentiles,” so called.
It is during the period comprised in the history of these
four beasts that Christianity comes in, and that the moral
rebellion takes place. But we have seen that the ecclesiastical
power, which has been the instrument of leading to such
a result, by assuming the place of God-taking away faith,
and, at the same time, disgusting reason; putting aside
natural religion, and, under the pretext of the rights of
revelation, corrupting and perverting this revelation itself,
so that men should have no other objects than themselves-
Collected Writings of J.N. Darby
536
this power, I say, having played a part in the drama of
iniquity, which the enemy of our souls and of the Lord, has
brought to pass, will itself fall a victim to the violence of
the human will-that will which itself has withdrawn from
subjection to God; and as incapable, by its pretensions to
religion, openly to serve Satan, as it is of serving God with
sincerity-in one word, incapable of truth, it becomes the
cowardly counselor and abettor of that iniquity of which it
cannot constitute itself the actor. It provokes crimes which
it dares not consummate, and of which the civil power is
to be the active chief and executor. Dear friends, when the
natural conscience is more upright than that resulting from
religious forms, it is all over with the church-it is near its
end; and the candlestick will be removed where it serves
only as the instrument of wickedness, such as the world
can hardly imagine. As men say, the corruption of that
which is most excellent is the worst of corruptions. As to
the Antichrist properly speaking, he will deny that Jesus is
the Christ; he will “ deny the Father and the Son “ (John
2:22); be will not confess Jesus Christ coming in the esh
(2John 7); he will deny everything sacred-the Father, the
Son, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus come as Man. We have seen
his character, his acts, his form, and the source of his power.
Satan will work directly by him. It will be a sort of satanic
imitation of what God has done. e Father has given the
throne to the Son, and the Spirit acts according to the
power of the Son in the church before Him: in the same
way the dragon (Satan) will confer the throne on the beast,
and great authority; and the second beast (spiritual power,
real Antichrist, and false prophet) exercises all the power of
this last beast (civil power) before him; Rev. 13:12.
e Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy
537
e judgment will decide in such a state of things. May
God make us attentive to the character and to the end of
the pride of man! e energy of his will is able to employ,
and put to use, all the means which God has delegated to
him- and they are great; and the results, so long as God
has patience with him, will be great also. But man will be
the center of all this; the feeling of his responsibility before
God goes for nothing. God is, in reality, dishonored and
degraded. e end of all man’s most noble, most worthy
aims-God-is wanting in it all. In ne, it is the same principle
and the same source-sin-from the beginning to the end.
Man, acting of his own will to satisfy his lusts, ambitious
of knowledge for selsh ends, exalting himself to a level
with God, disobedient, and, as a consequence, acting under
the inuence and energy of Satan:-such is the character of
Antichrist; such is the history of Adam in his rst fall-his
rst sin. It is the commencement and consummation of the
same wickedness, whose evidence and contrast appeared
in the death of our beloved and perfect Savior, who made
its expiation for us. May His name of grace and glory be
eternally blessed; and may He engrave these things upon
our hearts! Certainly He will preserve His church from
all these evils which menace the world for His church is
united to Him.
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