Great Lines of Bible Prophecy That Focus Their Light on Our Day
Hitherto when a great event was about to take place or some judgment to be visited upon the people, the Lord has seen fit, as a token of his love and care, to send a warning to the world. He warned the antediluvians that the flood was coming. He sent a warning to Sodom and Gomorrah before the rain of fire fell from heaven and blotted them from the earth because of their sins. When the first advent of our blessed Lord was impending, the voice of the forerunner was heard in the wilderness of Judea in fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. So again, when the greatest of all events is near at hand and a final period is about to be placed upon all earthly things, the Lord will once more, in his mercy, send the inhabitants of the world a warning, calling them to repentance and to make preparation for this great event. And the wise will understand, and be looking for his appearing.
"Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness." 1 Thess. 5: 2-5.
"Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9: 28. Just as the Lord sent a message warning the people of the coming deluge, so will he send a warning of the coming of the Son of man. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand." Joel 2: 1. We fully believe this solemn warning is now being heralded to the world, and is fast gathering out a people who are to look for and be ready to welcome the Saviour's return. The prophets of God through all the ages have spoken of the coming of Jesus. Through them the Lord has unrolled the scroll of history, and made known the rise and fall of empires, bringing us down through the ages to the time when Christ would come and the everlasting kingdom of righteousness be established. On this great event all lines of prophecy focus. A Prophetic History of the World
In Daniel, the seer of Babylon, the Lord made known the history of the world to the time when nations shall be no more. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, while lying one night upon his bed, was pondering on the future. By means of a dream there was unrolled before him the history of the world down to the end. In answer to prayer, this dream, which the king had forgotten, was made known to Daniel. It was this:—
"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. 2: 31-35.
In Daniel's interpretation of this great metallic symbol, the head of gold was said to represent Babylon. This would be followed successively by the universal monarchies of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Notice the decline, beginning with gold and ending with iron mixed with miry clay. The mixture of iron and clay indicated division. The iron monarchy of Rome, the fourth and last universal empire, between the years 351 and 476 A. D., was divided into ten parts. What is next? "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. 2: 44. The book of authentic history shows that we have been living for more than fourteen centuries in the feet of this image, waiting for the stone to smite the image and Christ's kingdom to be established. Must God's people wait much longer? In Daniel 7 the history of the world is again outlined from the days of the Babylonian Empire till the history of the world is finished. In this chapter not only the four successive monarchies, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, are foretold, but also the terrible history of the papal power which should arise, blaspheme God, seek to change his law, and wear out his saints. For more than a millennium of years this terrible power waged its relentless warfare. It almost extinguished the light. Day was turned into night—the world's midnight. For exercising the right to think, and to worship the God of heaven as their conscience dictated, millions of God's faithful people were slain by every means that the minds of men inspired by devils could invent.
"But the judgment," says God, "shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. 7: 26, 27. Blessed judgment! This line of prophecy also is complete. We are waiting only for the beasts to be slain, and for the saints of the Most High to take the kingdom and reign forever. In Daniel 8 we have the prophecy of the 2300 days, or years, beginning in 457 B. C. and ending in 1844 A. D. This prophecy fixes not only the birth and the crucifixion of Christ, but locates as well the beginning of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, or the investigative judgment. The prophet gives the following sublime description of the opening of this heavenly tribunal:
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan. 7: 9, 10.
Since 1844, or for more than the allotted span of human life, this work of the investigative judgment has been going on, and the final work of Christ as priest has been carried forward. This work must soon end. In the type the cleansing of the sanctuary was a comparatively short work. Then probation will close, and the Lord will descend to receive to himself those who through faith in the merits of Jesus' blood have been found worthy.2 In Rev. 14: 6-14 is found that great threefold message, announcing the opening of the judgment, the fall of Babylon, and the warning against the beast and his image. This message has already girdled the earth. It calls upon all to worship the true God, to render obedience to his precepts, and to prepare for his coming. Then there is the Eastern Question,—the driving of the Turk from Europe, and the consequent scramble for his territory. The prophecy concerning this power is found largely in the eleventh chapter of Daniel. Speaking of this power, the revelator says, "The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared." Rev. 16: 12.
For many years the drying up of the power here symbolized by the river Euphrates has been going steadily forward. Today she holds but little territory in Europe, and ere long will be forced to remove her capital from Europe. Eventually she will plant the tabernacles of her palace between the seas, in the Holy Land.
And what is the next great event? "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12: 1. The eternal reign of Christ and the deliverance of his people were next.
This line of prophecy, which is so fast fulfilling, brings us to the time when the kingdoms of earth are destroyed, and Michael begins his reign over a kingdom which shall have no end. Earthly kingdoms will then be carried away like the chaff, and the kingdom of Christ will fill the earth.