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L. D. SANTEE

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jun 8, 1911

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 23.

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L. D. SANTEE

By L. D. Santee

Prophecy

L. D. SANTEE

“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:11.
Many are afraid of prophecy, yet with how little reason! In it are locked up the secrets of futurity. The infidels of France placed over the gates of their cemeteries, “Death is an eternal sleep.” We are wiser than they, but only because prophecy has opened to our view the life to come. By it friends, as they part on earth, promise one another that in the better land they will sing the eternal alleluiah together around the throne of God. The darkness of death is softened by the radiance of the star of hope. Well has the apostle said: “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 day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19.
“Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” In their writings, we see our friends, white-robed and glorified, visions of angel harpers, streets of gold, the throne of God, and the river of life, gleaming before our eyes in matchless beauty. Eternal hands have rolled back the curtains of blindness, and have shown us the home and the associations of the redeemed.
“Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify.” The Spirit of Christ dictated all prophecy. Is it any wonder that it is unfailing when the same Spirit, clothed in flesh, fulfils what it has foretold? Well has Jesus said, “I am one that bear witness of myself.” John 8:18. One sad thought connected with this is that every one who refuses to study the prophecies is ignoring the Spirit of Christ.
Prophecy is grouped into two granddivisions,—first, “the sufferings of Christ,” or his first coming; and second, “the glory that should follow,” or his second coming. Of these two comings, and the events that attend them, prophets have written what the Spirit of Christ has revealed. From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross on Golgotha, every act has been a subject of prophecy. The first division of prophecy is a thing of the past. The Gospels record its fulfilment. As we read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah and the twenty-second psalm, and then read carefully the closing acts in the Gospels, we say, as did the eunuch, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37.
Every fulfilled prophecy is an evidence of the divinity of its Author and of the unfailing character of his Word. How natural that Jesus should remind us, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matt. 24:35. No wonder the prophet exclaims: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.” Isa. 40:8.
With unwavering faith, with unquestioning confidence, we come to the consideration of the second division of prophecy; namely, “the glory that should follow.” Here, as we study coming events in the light of eternity, language fails. We stand with uncovered head, and with hearts thrilled and awed, and think what no speech can ever tell. The spring-time of earth is cheerless, compared to the endless summer that smiles on us from the vistas of the future. The sunshine here is dark, compared to the everlasting sunshine that gilds with glory the gates of an endless day. All the gladness of earth is dull when we consider the rapture of heaven, which we by faith can feel, but which we can never express.
The great corner-stone of all the ages is the second coming of Christ. Here is the resurrection of the dead. Here the lives of men are tried, and their destiny is decided. Here the army of the lost, with pale faces, leave hope behind, while the white-robed throng, veterans in the conflict, and victors through the blood of the Lamb, ascend to the pearly gates, beyond which lie the glory-crowned hills of heaven.
Let us go back a little in considering this grand chain of prophecy that ends in paradise. Let us begin at Joseph’s new tomb. What a nucleus with which to build a kingdom!—the King dead; a few fishermen, who had lost faith in him; a few grief-stricken women, who were kept from a too near approach by the spears of the Roman guard! Had we been there, we would perhaps have said, “The King is dead; his mission is a failure.” But a few days later the commission was given to these same fishermen, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;” and as a result of this, a multitude has been gathered that no man can number, dipped in the baptism of tribulation and washed in the blood of the Lamb.
“From desert waste and cities full, From dungeons dark, they’ve come; And now they claim their mansions fair; They’ve found their long-sought home.”
The Spirit of Christ in the prophets has, with no uncertain tongue, made clear the signs of the times, and outlined the nations that should precede this wondrous consummation. In Daniel 2 we have a dream given to a barbaric king, revealing a chain of events reaching to the close of this world’s present history. Step by step the centuries have chronicled their fulfilment. Amid the wild storm of human passions, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome have arisen, become world powers, and been overthrown. The record continues, in verse 35: “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.”
One writer has well said, as he considers this and similar prophecies: “We stand on the threshold of the millennium. Through what scenes the predicted day of a thousand years will be ushered in, we know not; but they are rapidly rising on our field of vision. We tremblingly expect the fulfilment of prophecy, and the explication of these symbols, to present which, heaven, earth, and hell were exhausted of their imagery. Relieved against the background of history, stands the great image of gold and silver and brass and iron, looming up between us and the sky, from which the sun has just descended. Right opposite, with beams of the morning reddening its summit, rises in majestic grandeur the mountain of the house of God. Invisible hands are heaving from its side a living Stone. It trembles on its poise, and in the pathway along which it must speedily rush, the monument of the empires is reared. Who can conceive or describe the terrors of the collision? The solid earth will shake. The sea will depart from its place and unwrap itself from its dead. The heavens will be rolled together as a scroll, and the stars will cease their shining. The beast and the false prophet will be thrust into the bottomless pit, and the angel will lock them in. And Christ will come! Already he makes ready for his coming. The chariots of salvation are gathering for their triumphal career. The attendant hosts are waiting for the signal. Christ is coming! In due time the earth will be purged by fire, swept with the besom of divine vengeance. No ark can ride that molten sea, no power can stay that terrible overthrow. Jehovah will be glorified in his enemies,—glorified in the old heavens and earth, which shall pass away,—glorified in the new heavens and earth, in which the lost harmony of the creation shall be restored.”
Daniel 7 contains the same prophecy under different symbols, closing with the fearful statement: “Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Matthew 24 gives an outline of the events that must occur between “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” The Man of Sorrows named the stepping-stones that intervened between his humiliation and his coronation,—between Calvary and the marriage supper of the Lamb. If the antediluvians needed Noah, if Sodom needed Lot, if Nineveh needed Jonah, how much more do we need the prophecies to show us events that are appalling in their nature and eternal in their consequences!
When these prophecies are fulfilled, the Judge will stand at the door. James 5:9. Thank God for prophecy! By it we can see beyond the perils of earth to the eternal home of the blessed. Well has the prophet said that it is “as a light that shineth in a dark place.”
Shine on, O star of hope! Shine on, O prophecy of Jesus! Drive from our hearts the darkness of unbelief, and fill them with the glory of desire. Spirit of Christ, that spoke through the prophets, be with us to the end of the world!
Moline, Ill.