Know That He Is Near

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 29, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 21.

"Know That He Is Near."

THE twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew has well been called "Our Lord's Great Prophecy." As such it ought to receive the careful and candid attention of every follower of our absent Saviour. But it does not receive such attention; many professed lovers of the Son of God pay but little attention to it, and feel but little interest in it. Why is this? We can find but one answer to this question. The Scriptures inform us that the doctrine of which it treats, the Lord's coming, will not only be unpopular, but even called in question, in the last days. The Saviour, in this same chapter, speaks of two classes which he will find when he comes: One, watching, and giving the household (of faith) meat in due season; the other, joining with the world in its pleasures, and saying, "My Lord delayeth his coming." These do not actually deny his coming; they only put it off when they ought to "know that he is near, even at the doors."

Peter has another view of the same thing. He says: "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." He then proceeds to tell wherein they are ignorant, and says they are "willingly ignorant" of the word of the Lord on this subject. Alas, that there should be so much willing ignorance among the professed servants of Christ on such a glorious and important theme as this.

There are few chapters in the Bible which are more misunderstood, or rather, misconstrued, than this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Whether it refers solely to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, or to some spiritual or mythical work not easy to define, but which is called the coming of the Lord, has been a matter of much controversy. But it needs no very close scrutiny to see that it is mainly an answer to the question, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" To this question Jesus gave a definite answer; that his disciples may know when his coming is near, is the object of the instruction of Matt. 24.

In answer to a letter on this subject, several weeks ago, we gave proofs that it is God's will that his people shall know when the coming of the Saviour draws near, and that it is a fearful thing not to know, even as it was fatal, in the days of Noah, not to know that the flood was coming. And if the Lord desires that we shall know, and has even commanded us to know, as he did in Matt. 24:33, and pointed out the extreme danger of not knowing, he surely will give us the means of knowing. For in this matter we must be entirely dependent on his word, it being utterly impossible for us to know anything about it except by direct revelation.

Amos was inspired to write these words: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. All the great purposes of God toward man, whether of blessing or of judgment, have been with foretokening or warning. God always clears his own throne and leaves man without excuse. Ps. 51:4. And shall this, the greatest of all events, closing up human probation, withdrawing the offer of salvation from the impenitent, bringing full redemption and immortality to all the faithful, come without any warning being given? If so, it is not only something new in God's economy of grace, but directly in violation of the declarations and promises of his word. Yet nothing is more common than to hear these words, often from the lips of professed believers in the Bible: "We cannot know anything about it."

There are in the Scriptures certain consecutive prophecies, giving connected chains of events, by means of which we are able to locate chronologically almost all things recorded in the "sure word of prophecy." Chief among these are the books of Daniel and the Revelation. We will briefly notice a few of these lines.

Dan. 2 contains the description of a great image of a man seen by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. It consisted of four main parts; the head of gold, the breasts and arms of silver, the body of brass, and the legs of iron. The interpretation says directly to the king of Babylon: "Thou art this head of gold." After his kingdom arose that of the Medes and the Persians, which was followed by the Grecian, and that by the Roman. We thought to give proofs on all these points from Scott, Clarke, and Barnes; but the agreement is such that it seems unnecessary. It is true that some recent expositors have suggested that the fourth kingdom, the iron, did not represent the Roman Empire, but the fragments of Alexander's empire. Against this there are overwhelming proofs. Barnes says:—

"By the application of the term iron, it is evidently implied that the kingdom thus referred to would be distinguished for strength—strength greater than its predecessors—as iron surpasses brass, and silver, and gold, in that quality. But this was not true of the confused reigns that immediately followed Alexander. They were unitedly weaker than the Babylonian and the Medo-Persian, and weaker than the empire of Alexander, out of which they arose. Comp. chap. 8:21, 22. It was true, however, of the Roman power, that it was so much superior to all its predecessors in power, that it might well be represented by iron in comparison with brass, silver, and gold. The fourth monarchy represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is evidently the same which is represented by the fourth beast in Dan. 7:7, 8, 23, 25. But it will appear, from the exposition of that chapter, that the reference there is to the Roman Empire. See notes on these passages. There can be no well-founded objection to this view on the ground that this kingdom was not properly a succession of the kingdom of Alexander, and did not occupy precisely the same territory. The same was true of each of the other kingdoms—the Medo-Persian, and Macedonian. Yet while they were not, in the usual sense of the term, in the succession, they did in fact follow one after the other, and with such accessions as were derived from conquest, and from the hereditary dominions of the conquerors, they did occupy the same territory. The design seems to have been to give a representation of a series of great monarchies, which would be, in an important sense, universal monarchies, and which should follow each other before the advent of the Saviour. The Roman, in addition to what it possessed in the West, actually occupied in the East, substantially the same territory as the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the Macedonian, and like them it had all the claims which any ancient sovereignty had to the title of universal monarchy. Indeed no kingdom has ever existed to which this title could with more justice be applied."

And Dr. Scott, on verses 40-43, says:—

"These verses evidently describe the Roman Empire as succeeding to that of the Macedonians. It was as strong as iron, and like iron it brake and subdued all before it. No people had ever made such extensive conquests through so many ages as the Romans did; in the former part of their prosperity, they were remarkable only for valor, hardiness, frugality, and poverty, of which iron is a proper emblem. . . . The ten toes into which the feet divided represented the ten kingdoms into which at length the whole empire was broken."

There can be no manner of doubt that the several parts of this image are identical as symbols with the several beasts of Dan. 7. On this there is a marked agreement among commentators; and well there may be, for there is no room for disagreement. There were four universal empires, as already mentioned; no more ever existed. The fourth, the Roman, was divided or broken up into ten kingdoms, as represented by the toes of the image and the horns of the fourth beast. In chap. 7 the ten horns are declared to be ten kings, or kingdoms, for these words are used interchangeably in this prophecy.

In chapter 2, after the image is complete, toes and all, there appears a stone moving from a mountain, which smote the image upon the feet, and not only brake the whole image in pieces, but utterly destroyed its several parts so that "no place was found for them;" and the stone itself "became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." The stone is explained to mean the kingdom which the God of Heaven shall set up, which shall stand forever.

We have the chronology or date of each of these events except of the setting up of the kingdom of God. Thus Clarke says of the head of gold: "This was the first monarchy, begun by Nimrod, A. M. 1771, B. C. 2,233; and ending with the death of Belshazzar, A. M. 3,466, B. C. 538, after having lasted nearly seventeen hundred years." Of the silver he says: "The Medo-Persian Empire, which properly began under Darius the Mede; . . . by the capture of Babylon, B. C. 538, he [Cyrus] terminated the Chaldean Empire." Of the body of brass he says: "The Macedonian or Greek Empire, founded by Alexander the Great. He subdued Greece, penetrated into Asia, took Tyre, reduced Egypt, overthrew Darius Codomanus at Arbela, Oct. 2, A. M. 3673, B. C. 331, and thus terminated the Persian monarchy." The iron or Roman Empire did not succeed to universal dominion by a single decisive act of conquest, as did Persia and Greece, but "waxed exceedingly great," subduing Syria in B. C. 65, and Egypt in B. C. 30, which left it master of the world.

Of the kingdoms represented by the toes of the image and the horns of the fourth beast, Dr. Scott notices the remarks of Mr. Faber and the enumeration by the historian Machiavel, and says: "The same catalogue is exhibited by that excellent chronologist, Bishop Lloyd, who adds the dates when these ten kingdoms arose." He gives the date of each, all coming between the years A. D. 356 and 483. These he names the "ten primary kingdoms." It is well known that great changes took place in after years, which seem to be foreshadowed by the prophet in chap 2:43, as follows: "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay [in the feet and toes], they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another." Which means that there would be transitions and revolutions, but there would be no permanent union, that the empire would never again be consolidated after the ten kings arose. Napoleon Bonaparte made the last great effort to effect a consolidation, or intimate union; but He who sees the end from the beginning had said it should not be, and how vain the efforts of this ambitious ruler proved.

Of these changes Scott further remarks: "It is, however, certain that the Roman Empire was divided into ten kingdoms; and though they might be sometimes more and sometimes fewer, yet they were still known by the name of the ten kingdoms of the western empire." Allowing the correctness of the chronology given, that the ten kingdoms appeared in this empire by A. D. 483, it is then settled that the great image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream covered a period, dating from the dream and its interpretation when that monarch was declared to be the head of gold, of 1086 years, namely from B. C. 603, to A. D. 483. After that date nothing is mentioned in chap. 2 until the stone smote the image, that is, until the setting up of the kingdom of God.

The only error in interpretation which we find in the commentaries, such as those of Scott, Clarke, and Barnes, is that of locating the setting up of the kingdom of God, or the smiting of the image by the stone, in the days of the first preaching of the gospel, not later than A. D. 33. That cannot be true. It is not possible to fix the date of the ten kingdoms earlier than A. D. 483, and it is to be remembered that the image was complete in all its parts before the stone made its appearance, and that it smote the image on its feet; then all parts of the image were destroyed together. But the feet were not in existence in the days of Christ and the apostles.

A word in regard to the fitness of this part of the symbol. This prophecy could not have originated with man; it was not devised as man would devise it. Man would have had the image smitten on the head in order to its destruction, or upon the breasts; upon some vital part. This would have appeared to be more reasonable and consistent. But the fulfillment, as far as it has already progressed, has shown that the most consistent order is that of the prophecy. The power of the first beast, or the head of gold, has never ceased. It was transferred to the silver, by Cyrus; to the brass, by Alexander; to the iron by the Romans; and when the Roman Empire was broken up, it passed into the ten kingdoms. Now, to destroy the monarchies or powers of earth, it would serve but little purpose to smite Babylon, or Persia, or Greece,—the gold, the silver, or the brass. But the balance of power lies with the European States, the kingdoms which occupy the territory of the old Roman Empire. When these are smitten to their ruin the world will all be involved; no earthly power can escape. The power of the image is now in the feet and toes; the power of the four beasts is now in the ten horns. These are the kingdoms which are to be smitten by the stone when the time comes for the God of Heaven to set up his kingdom.

(To be continued.)