LAugust 1, 1868. This branch of our subject has, moreover, like that treated of in a former paper-else we shall scarcely feel warranted in thus discussing it in the pages of THE RAINBOW-a direct bearing, the importance of which cannot possibly be overrated, upon one great question of prophecy in immediate connection with the Lord's second coming. We mean the question, How are we to interpret the prophecy of Matthew xxiv. and the parallel and kindred chapters, Mark xiii., and Luke xvii. and xxi.? Most, if not all, of our readers will understand what is meant by affirming that some of the most disastrous errors of the present day concerning the subject of the second advent are based upon utter misinterpretation of this memorable prophecy. It is taken for granted-it is not, for it cannot be proved-that throughout the entire prophecy the Lord addresses the disciples as members of the Christian Church, and that, therefore, he, through them, instructs the Church at large as to what delays-and what, when the delay is over, shall be the immediate signs and precursors of his coming. In the passage thus interpreted we have a series of events which were not only future to the disciples whom our Lord then addressed, but which are still future to us-which are still between us and his coming. This series will be found upon examination to be quite long enough, and to require quite enough of as yet uncommenced preparation for its accomplishment, to render the occurrence of the Advent (should such interpretation be correct) utterly impossible for at least several years to come. We leave out of consideration the "wars and rumours of wars"-religious persecutions-"famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places"-the "abounding of iniquity"-the rise of "false prophets," and the preaching of "the Gospel of the kingdom among all nations." These signs are of such a nature as always to leave more or less of room for question as to how far they have or have not been fulfilled. We refer only to such signs as are definite and unmistakable. Such are (1) an "abomination of desolation" set up "in the holy place." (Matt. xxiv. 15.) This, be it remembered, is the event "spoken of by Daniel the prophet, (Dan. viii. 13; ix. 27; xii. 11) and must, therefore, have its fulfilment in immediate connection with the taking away of the daily sacrifice in the temple service at Jerusalem. This, verse 16, "Then let them which be in Judæa flee unto the mountains," puts beyond question. It, therefore, renders necessary a previous restoration of Jewish sacrifices in the city of the Jews. (2.) A flight of a believing, praying people (ver. 20) to the mountains, consequent upon the city being "compassed with armies." (Compare Luke xxi. 21.) (3.) An "exceeding great tribulation." (Vers. 21, 22.) So great, that "unless its days were shortened, no flesh should be saved." A tribulation the days of which we learn from other Scriptures (Dan. vii. 25, with xii. 1, 7, 11, and Rev. xii. 6, 14; xiii. 5), will be twelve hundred and sixty days, or three years and a-half. Immediately after (but not until after) this great tribulation, there shall be (4.) the "darkening of the sun and moon, and falling of the stars." Then (5.) shall appear" the sign of the Son of man in heaven,” and then finally shall all the mourning tribes of the earth witness the actual descent from heaven of the Son of man. Now if this be the instruction concerning the order of events in connection with his second August 1, 1868.. coming, which our Lord gave to his disciples as members of the Christian Church, and which he intended that we, its members likewise, should take to ourselves, then does it follow most unquestionably that we need not and ought not, any of us, to be in present expectation of that coming, inasmuch as several years must of necessity elapse before it can possibly occur. The three years and a-half of great tribulation have not as yet commenced-the abomination of desolation has not as yet been set up, nor has even the temple service at Jerusalem been as yet restored. Present watchfulness for the coming of our Lord-present "standing with our loins girt about, and our lamps burning," like servants who are up at night, and waiting for the return of their master, that "when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately (Luke xii. 35, 36), were in such case to us impossible, and even if possible, would be absurd. If it be thus when these events begin to take place, it will be quite time enough for us to bestir ourselves. And as we see them occur in the order and sequence here predicted, we shall know how far off or how near the Advent actually is. There will, in such case be no possibility of its finding us, or finding anyone who has ears to hear, or eyes to read, this prophecy, unexpectant, or of its taking us or them by surprise. But here the question presents itself, and imperatively demands an answer, how is all this reconcilable with the sequel of the same prophecy, with the conclusion of this same chapter, verse 36 to end? What in such case can possibly be meant by that suddenness of the coming of the Son of man (ver. 39-41) which shall find two men at work in the field, of whom "one shall be taken, and the other left"-two women grinding at the mill, of whom in like manner one shall be taken, and the other left?" What, in such case, is the force of the solemn injunction of verse 42-"Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come"?-or of verse 44, "Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh"? Or of the awful warning, verses 48 to the end, concerning the "evil servant," who shall say, "My Lord delayeth his coming"? In only one way, we confidently submit, can these passages of the same prophecy, apparently conflicting, be at once reconciled with each other, and each made to harmonize with the teaching of the entire Word of God concerning the Second Advent. That is, in accordance with the principles of interpretation which we have endeavoured to establish, by regarding the former portion of the prophecy as addressed to the disciples in their then present standing and position as Jews; and as the then representatives of a believing Jewish remnant, whom very many scriptures of the prophets teach us shall be in Jerusalem and Judæa in the day of the Lord. By looking further upon this former portion of our Lord's prophecy as (in common with several of the Psalms of David, and other portions of the Old Testament prophets) specially designed for the instruction of this remnant, setting before them the aspect which the Advent of their Messiah shall wear to them-the signs which, so far as they are concerned, shall precede it, and their relative position and duties with respect to it. While, in accordance with the same principles, we regard the latter portion of the prophecy (vers. 36 to the end) as addressed to the disciples, with special reference to their then August 1, 1868. future, but shortly to be assumed position as members of the Christian Church, and as representatives of all its members down to the end. Thus interpreted, this latter portion of the prophecy will at once be understood as in like manner setting before them, and before us as represented by them, the totally different aspect which the coming of the Lord should wear to such, and their altogether different position and conduct with regard to that event. Its aspect, namely, not a sign in heaven first, and then a gradual descent from heaven of the Son of man, but one of momentary suddenness, unpreceded by any events or signs, or portents whatsoever--no period of time whatsoever specified as necessarily to intervene between any one generation of his believing people, at any moment of its existence, and this wonderful event. Its result again, not a sending of the angels with the great sound of a trumpet to gather the elect from the four winds, but an immediate rapture to the presence of the Lord, causing instantaneous severance between believing and unbelieving, between ready and unready individuals, who shall be in closeness of companionship and identity of occupation at the time. Their position and conduct, moreover, is thus shown not to be that of watching for the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the temple at Jerusalem. We should be in Jerusalem at the time, as the context most clearly implies, in order to this. Nor is it that of "fleeing to the mountains." This is only for those who shall be in Judæa. (Ver. 16.) Nor that of "praying that their flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-day." Nor yet that of not believing those who may say of Christ, "He is in the desert, or in the secret chambers." No member of the Church of this dispensation ever prays, or has the smallest need to pray such a prayer, or is in the slightest danger of entertaining any such belief. But their position and conduct, as here revealed, is that of incessant, persevering watchfulness-unremitting, life-pervading readiness-not knowing when the coming of the Lord shall be, "at even, or at midnight, at cock-crowing, or in the morning." (Mark xiii. 35.) To those who object and we know that very many do object-to any such distinction or division between the former and the latter parts of this prophecy, we ask in the first place, what objection can there really be in this instance any more than to similar absolutely unavoidable distinction, in many other portions of the teaching of our Lord, to some of which we have previously referred? We venture in the next place to affirm that in no one instance throughout the entire of his teaching is such distinction more unavoidable than here. Without it two parts of the prophecy are reconcilable the one with the other, and incapable of being harmonised with the teaching of the Spirit concerning the second advent throughout the Word. If the entire of Matt. xxiv. is to be understood as addressed and applicable to the Christian Church as such, what mean the injunctions concerning the abomination of desolation-the flight to the mountains-the prayer that it be not in the winter, or upon the Sabbath-the warning against believing false Christs? If on the other hand the entire prophecy (as some would have it) be Jewish, what mean the suddenness, the unexpectedness of the advent, the consequent watchfulness enjoined August 1, 1868. upon all? What is the signification of "the one taken, and the other left." It has been attempted by some, who either deny the rupture of the Church, or who desire to exclude the Church altogether from the prophecy, to interpret the "one shall be taken," as signifying taken in judgment similar to the "took them all away" of verse 39. Every Greek scholar, however, knows the utter untenableness of this interpretation, inasmuch as the words employed in the two verses are totally different. The Greek word, which is translated "taken" in verses 40, 41, is one incapable of being used with reference to a taking away in violence, or in judgment, and is the same as that employed by our Lord (John xiv. 3), and there translated "receive' myself." you unto May the Lord give us a right understanding in all things, and cause his Holy Spirit to guide us unto all truth. Amen. Ν THE HISTORY OF THE PROFESSING CHURCH AS IN entering upon the study of this subject, it behoves us first of all to determine where this prophetic history is found. It is often supposed that such a history is contained in the visions of the seals, trumpets, and vials of the Apocalypse, which are interpreted as symbolical representations of successive events in the history of the Church and the world to the time of the inauguration of the millennium. But to our thinking, the theory only necessitates so distorted an application of the various symbols as to be liable to insuperable objections. Take, for example, the interpretation of the opening of the sixth seal (Rev. vi. 12-17.) John sees a great earthquake; the sun becomes as sackcloth, and the moon as blood; the stars fall to the earth; the heaven is rolled together as a scroll; every mountain and island is upheaved; universal terror seizes the inhabitants of the world, who cry to the mountains and rocks to hide them from God and the Lamb, "for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" This is understood by Bishop Newton, Scott, Elliott, and others to be descriptive of the accession of the Emperor Constantine and the overthrow of Paganism; while Barnes suggests as "the obvious and natural appli cation," the gathering of the hordes of Goths and Vandals upon the Roman frontier! Assuredly we thus degrade one of the sublimest visions of inspiration to the level of monstrous exaggeration. The instinct of universal Christendom has seized upon the true interpretation, and found here a vision of the second advent; its painters and divines have drawn their highest inspiration hence, when depicting the terrors of the great day. No less event can lie hidden in the folds of this LAugust 1, 1868. sublime imagery. The central figure here is not Constantine, but Christ Jesus. A comparison of our Lord's description of his advent and its precursors, as given in Matt. xxiv., will abundantly confirm this interpretation. War, famine, pestilence, and persecutions, are there predicted (ver. 7-9) as the signs of his approach; so here we have the red horse of war, the black horse of famine, the pale horse of death, and the souls of the martyrs telling of persecution, and then comes the vision so suggestive of the glory of the advent. The language, moreover, which is recorded by Matthew as descriptive of the second coming (ver. 29, 30)-the darkened sun and moon, the falling stars, the shaking heavens, the mourning tribes of earth-is largely identical with that used by John with respect to the opening of the sixth seal. Both Scriptures must refer to the same event, the Son of Man coming in his glory. It necessarily follows from this that the judgments of the trumpets and vials are also future, and have not been fulfilled in the past history of the world. When the sixth seal has been opened, judgment is represented as impending over the earth, sea, and trees, but is deferred until the Jewish remnant is sealed, and the Church is taken into the presence of the Lamb (Rev. vii.); then the seventh seal is opened, and judgment is poured out upon the earth, sea, and trees at the sounding of the first trumpet. (Rev. ix. 1-9.) Obviously the trumpet judgments refer to a period subsequent to the sixth seal, and therefore will follow the advent; while the vials are subsequent even to the trumpets, since they are predicted as the seven last plagues. (Rev. xv. 1.) They have nothing whatever to do with the Church; they have no connexion with Napoleon nor the Turks, they are the terrible shadows of events yet to come. Some of our brethren plead for a dim, shadowy fulfilment in the past; we trust they are careful to lay all possible emphasis upon the adjectives; the fulfilment in the past is certainly remarkably "dim," immensely "shadowy." The true fulfilment lies beyond the terror of "the great day of his wrath." The visions of the seals, trumpets, and vials, make up a history of the second advent; the seventh seal telling of the Church glorified, the seventh trumpet of Jerusalem saved and the world converted, the seventh vial of Antichrist destroyed. John tells us the object of his book when he calls it "The Revelation of (or concerning) Jesus Christ," and strikes the key-note to its mystic music immediately, saying, "Behold, he cometh with clouds!" It is the book of the advent, or, as we describe it correctly, though unintentionally, "the book of THE REVELATION." The glory of the Sun of righteousness, which floods the whole Bible, here culminates in its evening splendour, and with its parting beams diffuses a glowing brightness, the memory of which will linger through all the dark night of time, until he shall rise again and shine for ever upon a ransomed Paradise world. For an Apocalyptic history of the Church we must turn to those epistles which were especially addressed to the Church, and form an introduction to the higher mysteries of this book; epistles which, relating to the declensions and trials of the Church in its earthly state, are appropriately dictated upon the earth, while the visions that fore |