THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES.
By W. H. Littlejohn
In the 18th verse of the 22d chapter of the book of Revelation we find the following language: “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.” Perhaps there is not in all the Scriptures a more terrible denunciation of divine wrath than is contained in the above. The peculiar care with which the last book of the New Testament is thus guarded from the impiety of those who would tamper with its phraseology, is chiefly attributable to two facts: 1. Its importance as a prophecy so comprehensive that it spans the entire future history of the church; 2. Because its nature is such that, while it invites desperate men to attempt an imitation of its highly symbolic style, this very symbolism renders detection difficult. It was therefore, unquestionably, the purpose of the Lord to strike terror so deeply into the heart of the reckless forger of inspired writings, that he might respect from prudential motives, if for no other reason, the great vision of the Seer of Patmos. The language employed is unequivocal: To him who offends in the point in question, will God add the plagues that are written in this book. Mark it! They are not to receive the equivalent of the plagues, but the plagues themselves. It becomes important, therefore, in order to a just appreciation of the nature of the punishment threatened, that we inquire what plagues are here referred to. There is a sense in which all judgments may properly be regarded as plagues; but we apprehend that this is not the meaning which should attach to the word as here used. It is manifestly a plain matter-of-fact declaration, that certain enumerated evils will be visited upon those who shall be found guilty of a specific crime, i. e., of adding to the record left by John. But this would be utterly impossible, if the term plagues comprehended all the calamities mentioned in the book of Revelation. Take, for example, the first six of the seven trumpet angels, brought to view in the 8th and 9th chapters of the book in question; and which are generally admitted to have been fulfilled by the incursions into the Roman Empire of the barbarian tribes of Northern Europe, and the savage hordes of Turks and Saracens, during a period covering many centuries. If these were in the mind of the apostle when he penned the above, one of three conclusions is unavoidable: 1. Either the men who have been guilty of the crime mentioned in the text, have had their lives drawn out for centuries in order that they might receive the threatened woe; or, 2. This whole matter must be acted over for their sake; or, 3. They will escape altogether, and thereby invalidate the word of God. But either of these conclusions is too monstrous to occupy our attention for a moment. We turn therefore, to the only remaining view of this matter which is tenable: i. e., The plagues in question are those which are styled “the seven last plagues.” If they do not meet the requirements of the case we know of nothing which will: 1. They are found in the right book; 2. They are spoken of as plagues; 3. They are minutely described. The only remaining point therefore is that of chronology. Are they still in the future? Right here we are furnished with a strong presumptive argument that those who say they have been fulfilled in the past, are in error. If this is not so, we are forced to the conclusion that the language of John will not admit of its natural and obvious meaning, and that his words can never receive a literal accomplishment. For, it must be apparent to the minds of all, that to declare an individual shall suffer a certain specific penalty is one thing, and, that he shall undergo an amount of suffering equivalent to that penalty is another, and entirely different thing. What turnkey is there in the land who does not understand this principle too well to hazard the tenure of a petty office upon the experiment of awarding to a prisoner consigned to his care by the judge, with instructions that he be placed in close confinement for life, a punishment which, though equal in severity, is different in fact. Shall the Lord be less exact in the administration of the penalties attached to his decrees, than are earthly rulers in that of theirs? We believe it not, but it cannot be successfully disputed that this is true if a portion of these plagues have already been poured out, while the very men who ought to have received them have remained in their graves utterly unconscious of the fact, and are to be raised up by-and-by to receive a commutation of their punishment. No; Infinite Wisdom, which can see the end from the beginning, and is never swerved from the directness of its course to the accomplishment of an object by the arising of unlooked-for contingencies, has positively declared that all who shall be found guilty of adding to the book in question, shall drink the plagues; and Infinite Power is pledged to the literal fulfillment of this prediction. But says the objector, “It appears to me that your view involves you in a difficulty equally great with that under which your opponents labor; for while contending that the plagues are future, you admit that some of those who ought to receive them are dead already; and as the wicked are not to be raised until 1000 years after the coming of the Lord, they will come up just that length of time too late to share in them, since they are all to be poured out at the time of the advent.” This would at first glance seem to be a formidable, if not fatal, objection to our theory; nevertheless, it leaves us in a position preferable in at least two respects to that occupied by our opponents. 1. It does not involve the dishonor of God by representing him as standing in the position of one who has altogether neglected, or found himself incapable of the execution of, that which he has solemnly decreed. 2. It does not require impossibilities at his hands, in order that our expectations may be realized, since the guilty, though dead, may be brought up for this special purpose, unless the contrary can be demonstrated from the word. We know of no way in which this will be attempted except by insisting that there is no exception to the rule that the wicked are not to be raised until the end of the thousand years. To this we reply that, while we admit the existence of the law in question, and its general application, we shall by no means concede that it is one from which there may not be occasional departures for wise purposes. In fact we know of few general rules which are never thus violated. Take, for example, the resurrection of the righteous; it is as emphatically declared that they are not to be awakened until the commencement, as it is that the wicked will not be until the end, of the thousand years in question. But a rigid application of the rule in their case, and a dogged persistence in construing the language in such a manner as to allow of no resurrections among that class before that time, can easily be demonstrated to be not only unsound, but pernicious in its results, since it would inevitably tend to encourage infidelity; for no man, however adroit in debate, can harmonize this view of Scripture teaching with the fact that Moses, some in the lifetime of Christ, and many at his resurrection, were raised from the dead, in any other way than by taking the position that this, like most general rules, may have its exception. This done, the cases alluded to are so few in number, when compared with the multitude of the righteous who will wait for the sounding of the last trump, before they come up, that they are easily accounted for in this way. It will not, therefore, be required that we pause here to make a more elaborate defense of the view that the calling of a few of the wicked from their graves for a special purpose before that time, does not militate against the Bible doctrine which teaches in general terms that the wicked will not be raised until after the thousand years are ended.146 Now all that is necessary to convert our presumptive argument into a positive one, and thus substitute in the place of the old theory, a new one free from its difficulties, is the bringing forward of a passage of Scripture setting forth the fact of such a partial resurrection of the wicked as is necessary to meet the exigencies of our case. In the 1st and 2d verses of the 12th chapter of Daniel we read as follows: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time shall thy people be delivered every one that shall be found written in the book.” “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” It is difficult to conceive how language could be employed which would enunciate more clearly the fact for which we are seeking than does the foregoing: Here we are informed that when Michael (i. e., Christ) shall stand up (i. e., take the kingdom) there shall be a time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Turn now and read the account of the seven last plagues as given in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation, and see if there is anywhere predicted in the word of God a time of trouble more terrible than that which would necessarily follow the infliction of the judgments therein threatened. 1. A noisome and grievous sore falls upon the men who have the mark of the beast, and who worship his image, which eventually contributes to a desperation of mind that finally leads them in their anguish to gnaw their tongues for pain, and to blaspheme the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores. 2. The sea becomes as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul therein dies. 3. The rivers and fountains of waters become blood. 4. Power is given unto the sun to scorch men with fire, and men are scorched with great heat, and blaspheme the name of God. 5. The kingdom of the beast is filled with darkness. 6. The great river Euphrates is dried up, and the spirits of devils enter upon the work of gathering the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 7. There follow, in quick succession, the voice of God, saying, It is done; voices, and thunders, and lightnings; a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth; the division of the great city into three parts; the falling of the cities of the nations; the coming of great Babylon into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath; the fleeing away of the islands, and the disappearance of the mountains; the falling upon men of a great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent. It is not material to this issue whether the above account be regarded as literal or figurative. For if figurative, then the figure must not be overdrawn, nor of a nature to inspire terror exceeding that which the reality would produce, as this would disclose either a want of skill on the part of the writer in expressing the idea he wished to convey, or a wanton disregard of facts in attempting to cause undue alarm. Look upon the record, therefore, in whichever light you please, the result will be the same. Shivered creation, whether viewed as fact or symbol, furnishes ample proof of the unparalleled severity of calamities which neither wicked men nor their works can survive. But if it be true that there is not revealed in the word of God a more terrible picture of human suffering than is shadowed forth in the above, then as it is not possible that there should be two periods of superlative tribulation, and each greater than every other, that seen by Daniel, and that described by John, are, necessarily, one and the same, unless you adopt the absurd notion that God has entered minutely into the details of the lesser woe which he was to bring upon the world, while neglecting to record anything with regard to the one which was to be mightiest of them all, excepting an incidental mention of the fact that it was to occur. If, however, the events mentioned by Daniel and John are identical, the futurity of the plagues is no longer a matter of discussion; for the time of trouble spoken of by the prophet is not to be introduced until a period just previous to the coming of Christ, at which time, therefore, we are to look for the infliction of the punishment denounced upon those who have sought to enlarge the text of the book of Revelation. And if our line of argument has not been unsound hitherto, these persons will then, in order to meet their threatened doom, unquestionably be brought from the nations of the wicked dead, while the latter, all unconscious of what is transpiring above them, will sleep on until the general judgment. This doctrine the Revelator teaches by necessary inference. Can it be that his predecessor has altogether overlooked so important a matter, or that it was wholly withheld from him? No; he is even more pointed than the latter; for he declares, in explicit terms, the fact that this partial resurrection of the unjust will transpire in connection with the awful judgments which are to be executed at the close of this world's history. Hear him: “And many of them which sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Mark the words, not all of the dead, but “many of them.” This many must consist of both righteous and unrighteous; for one portion awake to everlasting life, and the other to shame and everlasting contempt. The latter unquestionably comprehend a part, but not the whole, of the wicked; for otherwise the expression, “many of them which sleep shall awake,” should be changed so as to read all of them which sleep shall awake, and thus the prophecy would be made to conflict with the clearly enunciated Scripture doctrine, that 1000 years must intervene between the resurrection of these classes. Thus we perceive that there will yet arise an order of men, at the right time, in the right manner, and possessing the right character, to meet our expectations. Faith cries, “Here is the finger of God, here are they for whom we seek.” Immediately the question is rescued from the myth and mysticism with which a dangerous system of spiritualization has surrounded it, and becomes one of the plainest in the whole Bible. The length of time which is to be consumed in the transactions of these momentous events, is, we believe, nowhere in the word of God definitely declared, unless it be in the statement in reference to Babylon, where it is said “that her plagues shall come upon her in one day,” i. e., year. A moment's reflection will, however, satisfy any candid person, that a period much shorter than this would not suffice for the acting of the part which man is to play in this greatest of human tragedies. Take, if you please, the gathering of the nations to the battle of “the great day of God Almighty,” even with all the facilities which are offered for the transportation of troops by modern railroads, telegraphs, etc., this would necessarily be a work of months. It is proper, therefore, that we now inquire respecting the point in these proceedings at which we may look for the reappearance upon the stage of action of those whose destiny is marked out in the text, standing at the head of this article. We shall obtain but little or no help in this matter from the record in Daniel, since he barely mentions the occurrences which we are considering, without reference to the chronological order in which they are to follow each other. But if our argument for the literal accomplishment of the penalty denounced in Rev. xxii, 18, and the identity of the time of trouble with the “seven last plagues” is logical, then this problem is already solved, unless it can be shown that the latter will continue in full rigor from the inception of each, until the completion of every other. But it is difficult to understand how this can be true, more especially in the cases of the second and third; for it is simply impossible that the race could continue for any length of time with the sea, the rivers, and the fountains of waters, converted into corrupting blood. We necessarily conclude, therefore, that these, like the similar ones in Egypt, will be of short duration, and perhaps disappear altogether, before all of the remaining four are introduced. Hence we infer that the individuals after whom we are inquiring will be brought forth before the period which is marked by the beginning of these short and fatal judgments. Take notice, that these last words have reference to the interpolators of the book of Revelation. There may be others called forth at later periods by the voice of God for special purposes. Here we leave the subject. We do so, profoundly impressed with the harmony of Scripture teaching, and the majesty of Christ, at whose command death and the grave are, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, about to furnish the most incontrovertible proof that though heaven and earth shall pass away his words shall not pass away. W. H. LITTLEJOHN.