THE IMAGE AHEAD by C. S.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 20, 1876

THE IMAGE AHEAD.

By C. S.

THE great image shown to Nebuchadnezzar, as described in Daniel 2, was smitten upon its feet by the stone cut out of the mountain without hands; and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

This stone, it is claimed by some, represents the kingdom of Christ in the world in its present state; and they further claim that this kingdom was set up at the first advent of Christ; it was there and then that the stone smote the image, and from that time it was to increase into a great mountain and fill the whole earth.

We have had 1800 years of history since Christ was here upon the earth, and by this time we ought to be able to judge pretty accurately, from the facts in the case, in regard to two things; namely, whether the prophecy has proved true, or whether the foregoing application is correct.

How, then, in a word, has it been with Christ’s cause in the earth since that time? Earthly kingdoms, as symbolized by the image, have still borne sway; the true church, the humble people of God, those who can in any manner be considered the subjects of Christ’s kingdom upon the earth, have been continually in subjection to earthly powers, and oftentimes cruelly oppressed, persecuted, and hunted like beasts of the forest. If this church is the stone, it has not smitten the image very hard. The smiting has been on the other side. The image has dealt upon it some crushing blows. In other words, the image has made the stone a football and kicked it about in the most lively and nimble manner, for the past 1800 years. And the stone has grown smaller under the process; and at one time, certain days had to be shortened. Matt. 24:22, or it would have been reduced to powder and destroyed. And in proportion to the population of the earth, the number of true Christians in the world to-day is less than at many other times, if not less than at any other time since the apostles’ days. In this race, the image is a long ways ahead, and is gaining ground continually.

These are the stubborn, unyielding facts in the case. In the light of them, how evident that the stone signifies a kingdom not yet set up. But if our friends of other denominations, rather than acknowledge the truth, choose to butt their heads against these facts, they will find the facts a great deal harder than their heads.

C. S.