SOME PROPHECIES OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
The transfiguration on the mount, in which Moses and Elias appeared, was a miniature representation of the coming of the Lord in glory, to raise the righteous dead, and to translate the living. Ever after that memorable day, the coming of the Lord must have been a more vivid reality to Peter, James, and John, than it had been before. Jesus said to them, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory;” and now these three disciples could realize what that glory would be. They had been eye-witnesses of His majesty, and had beheld the glory of His coming. Perhaps some may be inclined to say, “If I could have such evidence as that, I should have no doubt about the matter. If I could only see for myself, I should know that these things are so.” Well, now read what Peter says immediately after his reference to the transfiguration:— “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; knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1: 19–21. The sure word of prophecy is more sure than any panoramic view can be. Our eyes may deceive us, but the Word of God “liveth and abideth forever.” It is something that is more sure than anything that man has seen; it is something that comes direct from “the Spirit of truth.” Men’s eyes may deceive them; but the word of prophecy does not deceive upon any human faculty; it “came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” An instance of how the prophecy came not by the will of man, is afforded by the case of Balaam. It is true that Balaam was not a “holy man of God;” but the fact that he intended to pronounce a curse, makes it more apparent that the prophecy came not by the will of man. Balaam was tempted by the promise of a great reward to go and curse Israel, but God, in His great love for His people, “turned the curse into a blessing.” When Balak reproached Balaam for not cursing Israel, the latter replied, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can not go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak.” Num. 24: 13. While Balaam was thus passive in the hands of the Lord, he uttered this prophecy: “I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.” Num. 24: 17–19. Here we have one instance of the “sure word of prophecy” concerning the coming of the Lord. Considering the circumstances under which it was uttered, it is a notable instance. It shows most fully that prophecy is something that has in it nothing of the human, but is wholly divine. No human frailty enters into it, but it comes direct from the Holy Spirit. Thus it is “more sure” than human eyesight. For this reason it is that it was said, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, tho one rose from the dead.” The Most Ancient Prophecy.
Still more ancient than the prophecy given through Balaam is the one uttered by Enoch. Jude speaks of the destruction of the wicked, and says (verses 14, 15): “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” The well-known prophecy uttered by Job is perhaps more ancient than that spoken by Balaam. After expressing a wish that his words might be graven in the enduring rock, he said: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; tho my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19: 25–27. This prophecy brings to view the Christian’s hope, namely, the resurrection of the dead at the coming of the Lord, showing that from the earliest times this was the hope of God’s people. It was “the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers.” Acts 26: 6. But more explicit than any yet quoted, as showing “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” is the following, by “the sweet psalmist of Israel,” who could say, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.” 2 Sam. 23: 2. The word of the Lord, which was in his tongue, said:— “The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself.” Ps. 50: 1–6. Again the Lord spoke by him to the same intent: “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” Ps. 106: 11–13. Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the later prophets, were also burdened with this same message of the power and glory of the second advent. Therefore, since that event is of such overwhelming importance, how true the words that we “do well” to “take heed” to the sure word of prophecy “as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise”! This present age is called night. Says Paul, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Rom. 13: 12. And this he says in view of the fact, previously stated, that it is high time to wake out of sleep, because our salvation is near. The dawning of the day, and the arising of the day star, refer to the coming of Christ, who is “the bright and morning star.” Rev. 22: 16. So Isaiah, like Paul, tells of the night of darkness, and the coming of the dawn. Looking with prophetic sight down the ages, he says:— “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isa. 60: 1–3. This is commonly applied simply to the spread of the Gospel; but what follows, taken in connection with parallel passages in the New Testament, shows that the prophet saw the triumph of the Gospel in the final destruction of the wicked, and the salvation of the righteous in the New Jerusalem. (Read the sixtieth chapter and compare with the twenty-first of Revelation.) The dawning of the day, and the rising of the day star, will be when the glory of the Lord shall fill the earth, and the people shall be righteous. This present time is night, because the darkness of sin covers the people. In the midst of this night, our only light is that which shines from God’s Word. David said, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119: 105. The lamp of prophecy, lighted from the glory that surrounds the throne of God, sheds its beams amidst the darkness that overspreads the earth, and is the wayfaring man’s only guide till the glory of the Lord shall arise in full splendor upon him. Whosoever takes heed to it, his path shall be “as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4: 18.