XIV. 6, 7, 22. Zech. xii. CHAP. the old are dissolving, according to all that the prophets have spoken, particularly the prophet Haggai, Hag. ii. "I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses [the people] and their riders [the priests] shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother." 52. This prophecy, with others of the like nature, has evidently been fulfilling ever since the present order of the Church was established, in the year 1792, by the encreasing commotions and revolutions among the nations of the earth; which afford the strongest evidence that peace will never be restored to the earth, until every purpose of God, towards the fallen race of man, be fully executed. 53. The dissolution of the kingdom of Antichrist, was also signified by all the threatnings against old Jerusalem for her abominations, and was particularly signed out by the destruction of that corrupt city, by Mat. xxiv the army of Titus Vespasian, so that not one stone of their temple was left upon another, according to the words of Christ. 14. 54. And as the seat of that corrupt religion which stood in opposition to Christ in his first appearing, wasted away, by slow degrees, through their own divisions, and the superior power of a foreign people; so in the second appearing of Christ, that which lets or hinders the progress of his work, will be taken out of the way by a similar overthrow. 55. Therefore, let them which be in Judea, flee Rev.xxii. unto the mountain of the Lord's house-And Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. CHAPTER XV. A short Calculation of the principal Prophecies, relating to the latter Day. S the time for the fulfilment of the prophecies CHAP. A respecting the latter day, or Christ's second ap pearing, was not to be known, nor the manner of it understood, until the event itself should declare it ; and as those prophecies were given by the Spirit of inspiration, and can be properly understood only by the same; therefore, where the revelation of God is given, and the events have taken place, there the prophecies may be rightly calculated and truly understood, by those who are in the event itself, so far as the things are revealed and made known, and no further. 2. And as the time fixed in many of the principal prophecies, is certainly run out, and the principal events, as to their commencement, have taken place; therefore the events are certainly known, by those who are in the Spirit of their fulfilment, at this present day. XV. Dan.xi.7 vii. 21-25 viii. 11. 3. The prophecies of Daniel include the time, and principal events, of all the other prophecies, which in their order, were to be fulfilled at three different periods as follows: For a time, times, and an half,he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people: That is, three years and a half, which 12, 13. & contain forty and two months, or 1260 days, a day Mat.xxiv for a year, the same period that the woman continu- Rev.xi.. ed in the wilderness. This was to be the particular 3,&xü.6. period of Antichrist's dominion, in which the witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. xi. 31. 15. and 14. and 4. The second period is, Unto two thousand and Dan.viii. three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be clean- xü 11,12. sed. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, (which is at the commencement of the 1260 days) and the abomination of desolation set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. These two, in their expiration, refer to one and the same period. Then follows the third, Blessed is he CHAP. that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. XV. 5. As all the different periods have expired, and the principal events, to which all the three prophecies allude, have taken place, as they arose in the order of times; it is therefore proper to state those numbers in order, as they arose, with their several accomplishments; by which both the commencement and expiration of the most noted periods may be easily understood.* 6. The 2300 years include the reign of Antichrist, as at the end of that period the sanctuary was to be cleansed; and therefore, by taking from that number, the 553 years before Christ, at which time the proph +Seemar ecy was given,t we have the period alluded to in the ginal Bible. Christian æra, 1747, at which time the present work of God began in England. 7. From the setting up of the abomination of desolation, there was to be 1290 years, which period must also expire at the cleansing of the sanctuary ; and therefore by taking 1290, from 1747, we have the time in which the reign of Antichrist began, namely, in the year 457, under LEO I. (commonly called Leo the Great,, bishop of Rome, at the death of the emperor Marcianus; as has been circumstantially stated. 8. The reign of Antichrist was to continue 1260 years, which being added to 457, brings that period down to the year 1717; but as there was a gradual preparation in civil government, before the time of the prophecy, alluding to the beginning of Antichrist's reign, commenced; so there was also a gradual preparation in the same, by which his kingdom was weakened. 9. Liberty of conscience, a deadly wound to Anti In 2300 days, or years, the sanctuary was to be cleansed. 457 the abomination of desolation set up under Leo I. 1747 45 years of gradual increase from 1747 till 1792. christ, was in part established by William III. prince CHAP of Orange, in the year 1689; so that by the year 1717, his kingdom was sufficiently weakened to establish that period, answerable to the prophecy. 10. But as the fulness of time was not yet come to finish the scattering of the holy people, and to set up the kingdom of Christ; therefore, in another prophecy, 30 years more are added to the 1260, which brings the 1290 years, to the year 1747. 11. By this time, in the order of providence, the principles of freedom and the rights of conscience, were so far established as to weaken the powers of persecution in the kingdom of Antichrist, and make room for the present work and testimony of God; in which was expressly fulfilled that prophecy, The earth Rev.x helped the woman. 16. 12. Then as the true order of the primitive Church was wholly lost, and the great apostacy established as early as the year 457; therefore the 1335 years of waiting, and coming unto the days of blessedness, commenced at that period, and expired in the year 1792, by which time the Church was established in its present order, as the antitype of the second temple, to which the Desire of all nations was to come. Hag..Za 13. So that the expiration of the 1335 years, or year 1792, was the period for the fulfilment of that prophecy, and the commencement of all the blessedness, spoken of by all the prophets; and beyond this, no given period of prophecy extends, as thenceforward unto the end, in conformity to the beginning, all things will be fulfilled, pertaining to the salvation of mankind, and all the glory and blessedness of the latter day. 26,31,33. 14. The work of Christ in his first appearing, is Acts i.22. considered as beginning from the baptism of John, John until by his ministry, the way was prepared in the people, and one was found, standing among them, whom neither John, nor the people had before known. So the second appearing of Christ is considered as beginning from the preparatory work in the people, under the ministration of James Wardley, from the year 1747, and onward, until the Mother was anointed among them, and sent forth of God, to bear a public testimony against the flesh. CHAP. 10. XV. 15. And therefore, by taking 1747 from 1792, there are 45 years of gradual increase, from the commencement of the present work of God in England, until the building and establishment of the Church in America; within this period all the transactions occurred, relating to Mother, and the work under her ministry, as they are circumstantially stated in the Introduction. 16. For although the 2300 years, for the time of cleansing the sanctuary, expired in the year 1747 ; yet as the work was of a gradual nature, it could not be completed at once. Therefore the real blessedness, which was to flow from it, was not dated at the period when it began, but 45 years later, when the work of cleansing and purifying was to be in such a manner completed, that the way into the Holiest of all should be made manifest. 17. And therefore it was said, Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days: which evidently expired at the year 1792, when the Church was fully established in the present order of the gospel. 18. Much time has been spent in calculating the foregoing prophecies, under the dark night of apostacy, particularly in the latter ages, by the learned and wise men of this world: but as men cannot see anxi to read in the dark, and none of the wicked were to understand; therefore the events could not be seen, nor the manner of their fulfilment searched out, until it was revealed by the light of Christ, at his second appearing, and even then only by those who received him, and who were ready and watching at the time appointed. 9-13. 19. The most favoured prophet could not read his Dan. x. own prophetic numbers. Go thy way, Daniel: (said the angel ;) for the words are closed up and scaled till the time of the end-thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Neither was it for the curious inquiries of the disciples to be answered, in reActs i. 7. gard to the times and seasons, which the Father had put in his own power. 20. The present work of God must always be seen in and by its present light; not through the telescopes of human wisdom, nor by the treasures of human |