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WHERE ARE WE?

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 3, 1878

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 15.

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WHERE ARE WE?

By James White

WHEN mariners meet upon the seas, the inquiry is exchanged, “Where are we?” Answers are given as to their latitude and longitude according to their reckoning; and if, after comparing, there is an agreement, confidence is enjoyed by both parties. So with Christian voyagers to the haven of eternal repose. Lines of prophecy containing waymarks, are illustrated by rivers of water, hence the expression that “they show us where we are on the stream of time.”
We have a very remarkable illustration of this fact in the following from the twelfth chapter of the book of Daniel: “Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Verses 5–7. In briefly commenting upon these verses we notice the leading points as follows:—
1. The words, “Then I Daniel looked,” show that the line of prophecy, commencing with Persia, passing Grecia and Rome of the eleventh chapter, and reaching to the standing up of Michael, or the coming and kingdom of Christ, the time of trouble, and the resurrection of the dead, had ended, and that a new scene had opened before the prophet of God.
2. In this new scene three persons appear, holding different positions, “one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river,” while a third, clothed in linen, is upon (above, margin), the waters of the river.
3. The man clothed in linen above the river is the Son of God, one of the two persons beside the river is the angel Gabriel, while there is no means of knowing who the other is. As proof that two of them are Christ and Gabriel we cite the words of the angel to the prophet in chap. 10:21: “There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” Michael is the archangel. Jude, verse 9. The archangel is the Lord himself, who descends from Heaven with the trump of God to awaken the righteous dead. 1 Thess. 4:16. Jesus Christ and the angel Gabriel are the persons who act in giving these lines of prophecy to Daniel. A third person appears, but says and does nothing. That the words of Gabriel, “There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince,” may be true, silence is necessary on the part of the third party. The two persons called “saints” in chap. 8:13, 14, are the Son of God and the angel Gabriel. And it is the blessed Christ of the New Testament whose voice is heard from between the banks of the river Ulai giving the imperative order for the benefit of Daniel: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” Verse 16.
4. Jesus Christ not only gave the prophetic symbols of the several chains of prophecy in the book of Daniel, and also the prophetic numbers, two of which reach to the period when he enters the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and stands before the mercy-seat and the ark of God containing the ten commandments, but with both hands raised to Heaven he answers with an oath the question of time, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?”
5. A flowing river is a most appropriate figure of the lapse of time. Who ever knew a river to become weary and stop to rest? It takes its unwearied course day and night, onward and still onward to its ocean destiny. So time, made up of seconds, minutes, hours, months, and years, is ever passing to the great ocean of eternity. And the man clothed in linen, above the waters of the river, illustrates the position of the Son of God relative to prophetic time, that he is the author of the periods in the book of Daniel.
It is true that Christ did say in answer to the inquiry of his disciples, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24:3, that “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only.” Verse 36. But he also says in the next verse, “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” The time of the flood was given to the patriarch in years. Gen. 6:3. This brought that family of eight to the time of waiting for further orders relative to entering the ark, the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, and the opening of the windows of heaven for the rain to descend upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In this waiting, watching position, Noah hears the voice of God saying to him, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark;” “for yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.” Gen. 7:1, 4.
The prophetic periods brought us to the especial waiting, watching, praying time, where they terminated. We are not timeists in the sense of looking to some future definite date for the second advent. But if holding that the prophetic periods are a portion of the “Scriptures given by inspiration of God,” which are profitable for doctrine, and that they were given by the Son of God for an important object, and that purpose being gained they have terminated, makes a person a timeist, then we are timeists. The writer preached definite time in 1843–4, because he found it in our blessed Bible; but with the clearer view of 1878, that Christ gave those periods and answered the earnest question of the prophet, “How long?” with a most solemn oath, he sees the time revealed to Daniel and John by the Son of God in a clearer and stronger light than he did thirty-four years since.
And that the true church might be looking, waiting, and watching for her divine Lord, he not only gave the prophetic periods of Daniel and John, which reach to the end, and the prophetic numbers connected with them, but he has given signs of his coming in the lights of heaven. The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall. We shall not in this article give the evidences that the prophetic words of our Lord respecting the darkening of the sun were fulfilled in the dark day of May 19, 1780, and that the darkening of the moon occurred on the following night, nor that his words respecting the falling stars were fulfilled on the night of November 13, 1833. The facts important to this part of the subject are, that Christ has given signs of his coming, and enforces his words by this simple and most impressive illustration:—
“Now learn a parable of the fig-tree. When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matt. 24:32, 33. When the warmth of spring presses the buds from the leafless branches, and the fields begin to put down their green velvet carpets, and all nature wakes from her winter slumbers, we know that summer is right upon us. Should the frost of early spring, or a slight fall of snow, mingle the pure white with the delicate green, still all sane persons would know that summer was near. He who would take these as tokens of returning winter, would be regarded as a fit subject for the insane retreat. In this figure there is no room for doubt. And as no figure employed in the Sacred Scriptures is stronger than the fact illustrated, the Son of God evidently designed to remove all doubt from the minds of his people, and inspire them with perfect confidence, that they might express themselves in positive terms respecting his soon coming. Immediately following this impressive figure, as if to make the impress still deeper, are these words, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
We trace down the line of prophecy represented by the metallic image of the second chapter of Daniel, from the golden head, Babylon, the silver breast and arms, Media and Persia, past the sides of brass, Grecia, to the feet and toes, Rome in its divided state, and there we find ourselves waiting the utter destruction of all earthly governments, represented by the stone dashing the image in pieces. What next? Answer: The establishment of the everlasting kingdom of God, which includes the coming of the Son of man to destroy his enemies, raise the righteous dead, restore the earth to its Eden glory, and reign with his people upon it “forever, even forever and ever.”
The same field of prophecy is occupied in the seventh chapter of Daniel with the use of another class of symbols, the lion, the bear, the leopard, the beast with ten horns, and the same beast with three horns plucked up by the little horn. The kingdom of Babylon is symbolized by the lion of this chapter, the same as by the golden head of chapter second. Persia by the bear, Grecia by the leopard, and Pagan and Papal Rome by the two forms or conditions of the great and terrible beast. The specifications of this prophetic chain are more minute than those of chapter second. The time of the persecuting rule of Papal Rome is given in a manner so very plain, its twelve hundred and sixty years bounded at each end, commencing A. D. 538, and terminating A. D. 1798, that it can hardly be misunderstood. What next? Answer: The second appearing of Christ, the destruction of the beast, his body given to the burning flames. We have passed all the light-houses on the coast of time, and are entering the eternal haven by the light of the judgment fires of the burning day and the blazing glory of the coming of the Son of man.
Again, the last three of these four universal empires are symbolized in the eighth chapter of Daniel by the ram with two horns, Media and Persia; the goat, Grecia; and the little horn, Rome. This horn was to become exceeding great, stand up against the Prince of princes at his first advent, and be broken without hands at his second advent. We await the destruction of the man of sin by the brightness of the coming of the King of kings.
And there is a line of historic prophecy in chapter eleven, where the symbols are thrown off, beginning with the kings of Persia, and reaching down past Grecia and Rome, to the time when that power “shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” If the feet and ten toes of the metallic image are Roman, if the beast with ten horns that was given to the burning flames of the great day be the Roman beast, if the little horn which stood up against the Prince of princes be Rome, and if the same field and distance are covered by these four prophetic chains, then the last power of the eleventh chapter, which is to “come to his end and none shall help him,” is Rome. But if this be Turkey, as some teach, then the toes of the image of the second chapter are Turkish, the beast with ten horns of the seventh chapter represents Turkey, and it was Turkey that stood up against the Prince of princes of the eighth chapter of Daniel. True, Turkey is bad enough off; but its waning power and its end is the subject of the prophecy of John and not of Daniel.
The fulfillment of these lines of prophecy constitutes signs of the approaching end.
Christ said to those who were rejecting him, “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” Matt. 16:3.
The prophets of God had foretold the humble advent of the Just One at his first appearing, even the time of that event is given in the seventy weeks of the ninth chapter of Daniel. And the fulfillment of these prophecies constituted signs of Christ’s advent. And if words of condemnation fell from the lips of Christ on the Jews for rejecting him, because in their blindness they could not see the few and comparatively faint signs of his first advent, those who close their eyes to the tokens of his second advent will be worthy of greater condemnation than the Jews in proportion as the signs of the second advent are more numerous and are clearer fulfillments of prophecy than were those of his first advent.
While the lines of prophecy in the book of Daniel have to do with the four kingdoms, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, that of John pertains to the fourth only, Rome. The Revelation contains four distinct lines of prophecy, measuring the period of the fourth universal empire, covering the history of the church until her Lord shall come. We briefly notice these prophetic chains in the following order:—
1. The seven seals. Prophecy is history in advance. The Revelation was a sealed book, from the fact that it related to the future. Said the angel to John, “Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.” Rev. 4:1. But as the car of time rolls down the track of providence, and the specifications of the prophecy are fulfilled, and the events marked by the prophetic pencil become matters of history, the seals are opened in their order. Under the seven seals is the history of the church of Jesus Christ in seven periods, reaching down to the end. The opening of the sixth seal reveals the special signs of the second advent, and opens before us the naked glare of the scenes of the last Judgment.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and whoshall be able to stand?” The signs of the second advent have been fulfilled, and we now stand under the sixth seal, waiting the coming of the Son of man accompanied by all the holy angels. In their absence from the heavenly courts to escort their Leader and Commander down to earth to raise the righteous dead and change the living just to immortality, every harp and every angel voice will be hushed, and there will be “silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.” Rev. 8:1. When the ministry of Christ shall be finished, and his blood shall no more be offered to cleanse the sinner of his sins, and the fearful fiat of Almighty God will be given, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still; and behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me,” Rev. 22:11, 12; then all the seals will be open. Thus John is borne down the stream of time. And standing where we stand to-day, he received this order from the angel, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book [or regard it no longer a sealed book], for the time is at hand.” Verse 10.
2. The seven churches. These also represent seven periods of the church of Christ, reaching down to the time when the overcomers shall be seated on their Lord’s throne in the immortal kingdom, as their Living Head overcame, and is now seated with the Father on his throne. See Rev., chaps. 2 and 3. To the sixth church, Philadelphia, meaning brotherly love, Christ says, “Behold I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” This church was composed of those who left their creeds and party strife under the proclamation of the second coming of Christ at hand in 1844, left the several organizations of which they were members, and united in one happy, loving, brotherhood, looking for Christ’s second appearing. And of these, our adorable Redeemer says, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” He has the key of David, and is soon to manifest his power and reign on the throne of David.
But he says to the last church, Laodicea, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Chap. 3:20. These words of significant import represent no common blessing. But before the blessing can be received and enjoyed there is a great work to be done by those addressed. They are represented as lukewarm. They are under the terrible deception of thinking that they are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, while ignorant of the fact that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They are exhorted to be zealous and repent. But they are not left here.
Jesus offers to be their counselor, and exhorts them to buy of him gold and white raiment. He stands at the door and knocks, and promises that if any man will open the door he will come in and sup with him, and he with Christ. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me.” Here is a work for those addressed to do. Christ will not force his way into the hearts of his people, but when they have prepared the way he will come in and shed his love abroad in their hearts. J. W.
(To be continued.)