p. 39 | Prophecy-No. 2 by W. H. Blaisdell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 14, 1874

Prophecy.—No. 2.

By W. H. Blaisdell

“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 Pet. 1:19.

Some prophecies relate to mankind generally, in all parts of the world, and to all generations of men; others relate to certain individuals or classes of men, or to certain definite localities, or some particular generations.

Some prophecies are written in plain, literal language, without the use of figures or symbols; others are written in language which abounds with figures and symbols, both classes of which have a literal interpretation and fulfillment, and may be understood by those who give their attention to the subject.

We may witness the occurrence of events which the prophets have foretold ourselves, or we may learn of their occurrence from the reliable testimony of others, or from authentic historical records; but to know that such events were predicted, we must first become acquainted with the prediction itself.

We are almost continually witnessing events which were foretold by the prophets, and such events are reported through the religious and political newspapers till the knowledge of their occurrence becomes almost universal, and the facts are recorded by historians, yet the mass of mankind are not aware that these events are subjects of prophecy, for the reason that they have given little or no attention to the study of the prophecies. They have either never had their attention called to the subject, or else have thought, contrary to the opinion of Peter, that they better give no heed to it.

The application of some particular prophecies and their fulfillment is sometimes seen and acknowledged by those to whom they do not relate, while entirely rejected by those to whom they do relate; and especially is it so in regard to those prophecies which foretell the evil deeds of those to whom they apply, or of certain judgments and calamities which are predicted, as the result or consequence of such sins.

In this, we see manifested some of the same spirit that was possessed by Ahab, king of Israel, when he said of Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, “I hate him; for he doth not prophecy good concerning me, but evil.” 1 Kings 22:8. Of this class of prophecies, and those to whom they apply, we have some notable examples. Dan. 7:25; 2 Thess. 2:3, 4; Rev. 12:6, 14; 13:1–10.

Here are prophecies which foretell the history of the Catholic church, or papacy, and point out plainly the sufferings and persecutions which the saints would receive at the hands of this apostate church, and the precise length of the period of time, twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days, which are twelve hundred and sixty literal years, during which this power would exercise almost unrestrained control over the saints of God.

Protestants generally admit that the history of the Catholic church exactly corresponds with the prophecy, they having taken to themselves the most blasphemous titles ever assumed by man, and persecuted the saints, till more than fifty millions of Christians fell beneath their relentless power, between the years 538 and 1798, the two points of time clearly defined in history as marking the beginning and end of the supremacy of the papacy as a persecuting power; and yet they, after having fulfilled these prophecies to the very letter, cannot be made to acknowledge that the predictions apply to them. Protestants can believe they apply to papists, but papists themselves will by no means admit that such an application is correct.

We can also refer to Rev. 13:11–18, which contains a prophecy relating to the government of the United States. The first of these verses reads as follows: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”

Notice a few of the many reasons which may be adduced to show that this prophecy does apply to our own government:—

A beast in the Bible, when used as a symbol, represents an earthly government. The four beasts of Dan. 7:3–7 are explained by the angel to represent four kings, or kingdoms, which should bear rule in the earth. Verses 17, 18. It is quite generally admitted that these four beasts, the lion, bear, leopard, and great and terrible beast, represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires, which have successively arisen and wielded the scepter of universal dominion; and also, that the great red dragon of Rev. 12, and the leopard beast of chapter 13, represent the Roman Empire in its pagan and papal forms of government; hence, we may rightly conclude that the two-horned beast represents some government. This beast was seen coming up at the time when the leopard beast before it, which represents the papacy, went into captivity.

That beast went into captivity in 1798 when Berthier, a French general, entered the city of Rome, took the pope prisoner, overthrew for the time being the power of the papacy, and proclaimed the establishment of the Roman Republic.

At that time our own government was in its infancy, just coming up, and gaining a position of eminence among the nations of the world; and it can be conclusively shown that there was no other government on earth, coming up at that time, to which this prophecy can possibly be made to apply.

This beast came up out of the earth. The four beasts of Dan. 7, and the leopard beast of Rev. 13, came up out of the sea. “The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea, and four beasts came up from the sea.” Dan. 7:2, 3.

The winds denote political strife and commotion; Jer. 25:32, 33; and the sea denotes peoples, nations, and tongues. Rev. 17:15. Thus we see that the symbols used to represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, are peculiarly applicable to governments which came into power by making war on others, subverting the government, and establishing their own power on the ruins of their predecessors.

But the prophet beholds the two-horned beast coming up out of the earth. What a fit representation of our own government, which has come to its present condition, not by making war on other nations, and subverting other governments, but by growing up here in a portion of the earth, which but a comparatively short time ago was one vast wilderness!

The Revolutionary war cannot be referred to as destroying the force of this application, as that was not a war of conquest. It was not waged to overthrow any other government and establish this on the ruins thereof, but only to defend the rights of this nation.

The same facts are true in regard to the war of 1812. Many quotations might be given forcibly describing the quiet, peaceful, and wonderful manner in which our government has arisen.

A writer in the Dublin Nation, about the year 1850, spoke of the Russian Empire and also of the United States. In referring to that, he uses the symbol of a huge, barbaric body, and says the traditions of the people there are of aggression and conquest; but he represents this government as emerging or coming up, and quietly and peacefully increasing in power and pride amid the silence of the earth. See quotation in the United States in Prophecy, pp. 57, 58.

Mr. G. A. Townsend, in his work entitled, “The New World Compared with the Old,” p. 462, in referring to this country, says:—

“The mystery of her coming forth from vacancy,” &c., and on p. 635, he further says, “Like a silent seed we grow into empire.”

Edward Everett, in an oration on the English exiles who founded this government, said:—

“Behold the mighty regions over which in peaceful conquest they have borne the banners of the cross.”

Now mark the above language: “peaceably,” “quietly,” “the mighty regions,” secured by “peaceful conquest,” “like a silent seed we grow into empire,” “coming forth from vacancy,” “emerging amid the silence of the earth.”

What a striking resemblance to the language of the prophecy itself! “I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb.” Not only is its apparent mildness represented by its lamblike horns, but also its youth. How appropriate the symbol, to represent a youthful government which in a short period of time should outstrip the world in becoming possessor of all those means and advantages which go to make up a great and powerful nation!

Less than a hundred years ago, with a population of three millions, the United States became an independent government. In 1776, a short time before this nation is introduced into the field of prophecy, with a population slightly increased, civilization was confined mostly to the Atlantic Slope and the borders of the gulf of Mexico; now the population is thirty-eight and a half millions, and the works of culture and refinement may be seen throughout the vast extent of the Mississippi Valley, and far beyond the Rocky Mountains to the fertile regions of the broad Pacific.

Now the whistle of the locomotive is heard as it dashes across the broad prairies, and courses its way along the valleys of the beautiful rivers, and over the mountains of the far West, among countless villages and cities which have suddenly sprung up, and in which are exhibited the wonders which have been wrought by the highest degrees of art and civilization, where in 1798 the stillness of the dark forests had never been broken by the sound of the white man’s ax. The heads of the dragon and the horns of the leopard beast have crowns upon them; but the horns of this beast do not. How admirably does the symbol apply in this respect to the government of the United States, a government not kingly, but republican, one in which the power is vested in the hands of the people; and one whose declarations of principles are the mildest and most lamblike of any nation on earth!

But we learn from the last part of the verse under consideration, and the few following verses, that this beast speaks as a dragon; and although the government here symbolized presents a lamblike appearance to the world during the first part of its history, it exhibits another character before its close, and finally engages in persecuting the true people of God.

Though at first thought this might appear improbable, facts are abundant, which could here be presented to show that the present condition of our country, in regard to both political and religious matters, is such as to render it in a high degree probable that the day is not far distant when this part of the prophecy will also meet a perfect fulfillment.

Those who have given the subject proper attention are fully able to show from the facts above mentioned, and many others of equal importance, that the past history of this government furnishes a record which most perfectly meets the specifications of the prophecy relating to the first part of its character and work; and also that a movement is already inaugurated, and a very popular and influential society organized, known as the “National Reform Association to secure a Religious Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” the present avowed principles of which, and their plans for the future, are but the necessary steps toward the final consummation of the last part of its work.

Seventh-day Adventists, the class of people who have especially interested themselves in the subject of this prophecy, have, for the past twenty years, set forth to the world their view of this subject, in private and public, orally, and through their publications, and explicitly declared, that according to the prophecy they looked for the speedy development of a movement like the one to which we here refer.

Since the organization of this association, some of our most influential and far-seeing statesmen, though they are not interested in the prophecy, and therefore do not look at the subject from that standpoint, have unhesitatingly said that if the already avowed principles and purposes of this association are carried into execution, every effectual barrier against religious intolerance in this country will thereby be overthrown, and the fires of persecution which have been quenched in the Old World are liable to be kindled again in our own land, and horrors and deeds not unlike those of the Roman church may be witnessed again, this time in our own midst.

And although the past history of our country, the recent organization and present work of the National Reform Association, and the most probable result of this movement, are in perfect harmony with the specifications of the prophecy, and with that view of the prophecy which has been held and published for a score of years by those who have especially interested themselves in the subject, yet the promoters of the so-called “Reform Movement,” and the mass of the people of the country generally, will by no means admit that this prophecy refers to our own government.

Why not?

We know of no other reason than the one which would answer the same question in regard to the Catholics. Why will they not admit the true application of those prophecies which relate to them? We think that whoever can answer the latter question will be fully able to answer the former also.

And we would here suggest that all who will interest themselves in the study of the prophetic Scriptures with a humble mind and prayerful heart, will be led to believe with the apostle Peter, that we do well to take heed unto the sure word of prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.

W. H. Blaisdell.

Bradford, Me.