The Kingdom of God: The Day of the Lord
By J. H. Waggoner
The Kingdom of God.—No. 16.
Certain prophecies have been misapplied because of the error of making the day of the Lord identical with the one thousand years of Rev. 20. First, taking this for granted, they locate everything which is fulfilled in the day of the Lord in that one thousand years. But the day of the Lord is more than one thousand years in length; it both commences before, and reaches beyond, the one thousand years of Rev. 20. Peter does not give the length of that day, as has been inferred from 2 Pet. 3: 8, 9. He there refers solely to the faithfulness of God, saying that his longsuffering withholds the execution of his judgments on the scoffers; yet this is no evidence of slackness, as his promise is as sure one thousand years hence as if fulfilled to-day. With man, haste is necessary to the performance of his promise, as his life is but a hand-breadth; but not so with God, who is “from everlasting to everlasting.” The day of the Lord commences before the second advent. It has been shown that the voice of God shakes the heavens and the earth before the Saviour comes. And Isa. 2 shows that they are shaken in that day. “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” Verses 10–12. “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Verses 20, 21. Also chap. 13: 6–13. As this shaking is in the day of the Lord and before the advent, it follows that the day of the Lord commences before the advent. But the thousand years commence at the advent, for the resurrection of the just takes place at the commencement of the thousand years, Rev. 20, and at the time of the advent. 1 Thess. 4. Therefore the day of the Lord commences before the thousand years. Again, the wicked are not raised till the one thousand years are finished; and Peter says the heavens and earth which are now are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men; and that in that day of the Lord the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat. Thus we find that the resurrection of the wicked, the execution of the Judgment, and the passing away of the heavens and earth, all take place in the day of the Lord, but after the termination of the one thousand years. Therefore, again, the day of the Lord and the one thousand years of Rev. 20 cannot be identical. Because Peter says a day with the Lord is as a thousand years, we have no more warrant to infer that “the day of the Lord” is just one thousand years in length than that “the day of salvation” is of that length; and that day has already existed nearly two thousand years. We have seen that the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. This shows that Dan. 7: 13, is fulfilled under the seventh trumpet. The Son of man comes to the Ancient of days, and there is given him dominion over the people, nations, and languages, that is, of this world. Both Rev. 11: 14–18, and Dan. 7: 9–14, show that this takes place in close connection with the sitting of the judgment. This agrees with Ps. 110: 1, and other texts, which show that the dominion over the nations (or his foes being made his footstool) is given to him just before he returns the second time to take vengeance on his foes, and not when he first ascended on high. The setting up of the kingdom is in connection with the second advent, not with the first advent. And it is also evident that the judgment is set before the coming of the Lord. This is proved in various ways, but most clearly by the order and location of the three messages of Rev. 14. The first announces that “the hour of his judgment is come.” The second, that “Babylon is fallen.” The third warns against the worship of the beast and his image and receiving of his mark, and calls to the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And after these are all given, the Son of man comes to reap the harvest of the earth. The terms of the third message show that it is a message of probation, and therefore it stands in its natural order, before the coming of Christ. And again the third message is easily located in reference to past events. It is based on the making of an image to the beast which had been wounded unto death, and whose deadly wound was healed. The deadly wound was given to the papal beast in 1798, when Pope Pius VI. was taken a prisoner and carried into captivity; and he died an exile from the pontifical throne. This wound was healed in the present century. And as the image is made to the beast which was wounded and healed, it could not be made before the present century. And therefore all efforts to locate this message far in the past, or after the coming of Christ, must be fruitless. Again, the second message does not announce the destruction of Babylon as some have supposed; the fall of Babylon is distinct from, and prior to, her destruction. In this message is the mere announcement of the fall of Babylon, with the reason, while in chap. 18: 1–5, a mighty angel announces the fall and its consequences. This angel gives the following events and call in order:— - Babylon is fallen.
- She is become the habitation of devils.
- Come out of her, my people.
- In one day shall her plagues come.
By this we see that the fall of Babylon is not her destruction as is often claimed, but it is a moral fall; for she becomes the habitation of devils after her fall; God’s people are called out of her after she becomes the habitation of devils; and her destruction is threatened after the people of God are called out of her. The location of the plagues is shown in connection with the third message. This message says, “If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation,” &c. The first plague is poured out upon the very ones who do not heed this message. Rev. 16: 1, 2. Now as this beast, called also the man of sin, is destroyed at the coming of Christ, see 2 Thess. 2 and Rev. 19, it would be absurd to locate a message of warning against its worship after that time. But as the first message precedes the second and third, it is proved that “the hour of his judgment” comes before the second and third messages are given. Such a proclamation as this was made by the Advent believers up to the fall of A. D. 1844. This was the faith of those engaged in that work. The Advent Shield, published in that year, says:— “We look upon the proclamation which has been made, as being the cry of the angel who proclaimed, ‘the hour of his judgment is come.’ Rev. 14: 6, 7. It is a sound which is to reach all nations; it is the proclamation of ‘the everlasting gospel,’ or ‘the gospel of the kingdom.’ In one shape or other, this cry has gone abroad through the earth wherever human beings are found, and we have had opportunity to hear of the fact.”—Art. Rise and Progress of Adventism, by J. Litch. See also tract entitled, “The Last Hour,” published at the Advent Herald Office. The precise nature of the work announced by this first message we have not time and space here to investigate, but would refer to our published works on the subject of the sanctuary. The difficulty we have to contend with on this point in the minds of opposers is not a difficulty in regard to the facts, but to opinions; the opinions of the majority, on the Judgment, being most vague and indefinite. On this subject we introduce another quotation from the Advent Shield, the sentiment of which is widely different from the common views, but, as far as it goes, fully accords with ours:— “We are inclined to the opinion that the Judgment is after death, and before the resurrection: and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall have come [Acts 3: 19]; while the fact that the wicked are not raised proves that they were previously condemned.”—Review of Prof. Bush on the Resurrection, by S. Bliss. There is a third class not referred to in the above extract: the righteous who do not sleep, but are changed at the coming of the Lord. Their judgment must also be prior to the resurrection, as their translation is equivalent to a resurrection; and of course, their judgment takes place while they live upon the earth. To them the announcement of the Judgment come is of the deepest importance, and they alone will be benefited by the subsequent messages. Jesus the Son of God is passed into Heaven to appear in the presence of God for us as our Mediator or Advocate. And it seems to be highly necessary that he should continue his work of mediation, and in his office of advocate, until judgment is rendered in favor of his people. No one could stand in the judgment without a mediator, to answer for himself. And so we see that it is a wise and merciful arrangement that the judgment sits before Jesus resigns his priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary. THE FIRST DOMINION RESTORED.
The setting up of the kingdom of God looks to the restoration of this earth to its Eden state. The prophet Micah says:—
“And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong-hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4: 8. The “first dominion” can refer to no other than that given to Adam, which was dominion over all the earth, and over all that lived upon the earth. And thus it is written that the kingdom, and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. “The meek shall inherit the earth.” It is in view of this that the kingdom is said to be prepared from the foundation of the world. But of course the inheritance of the righteous must be redeemed from the curse which the sin of man brought upon it. Jesus will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and that work iniquity. And so Paul says that our present reception of the Spirit is but “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Eph. 1: 13, 14. The possession or inheritance is already purchased by the blood of Jesus; he bore its curse in the crown of thorns; but it must be redeemed, which it will be when “the works therein”—all the works of sinful man; all the evidences of his pride and rebellion—“shall be burned up.” Then we shall behold the new heavens and the new earth, wherein righteousness shall dwell. No sin, no pain, no tears, no death, will be there. The glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. Then shall “the Lord’s prayer” be fulfilled, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.” J. H. Waggoner.