THE WARNING VOICE by Uriah Smith

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Mar 31, 1853

THE WARNING VOICE

By Uriah Smith

-OF-

TIME AND PROPHECY.

BY URIAH SMITH. [Continued.]

ON Time's fleet pinions borne, silent and swift Have ages circled on, till now the last That this world's varied scenes shall o'er behold, Is gliding by, unheeded and unseen; And what an age! How bright, and yet how dark! Enlightened, but yet heathen! Gilded by Th' unclouded sun of science, 'neath whose rays Mankind, victorious, have onward pressed, Till e'en impossibilities, beneath Their well aimed efforts, totter to their fall: And men, exalted, well nigh think themselves Some lofty beings, all omnipotent— Yet mantled by a gloom of night, wide-spread; For all are slumbering to the light of truth. Behold a Church, divided and corrupt; Chilled and benumbed, by cold formality; And with the world joined hand in hand, while all, Both Church and world together, are asleep. The signs fulfilled, they heed not, nor regard The voice of Time or Prophecy; the one, Loud heralding that generation here, And swiftly passing, which events has seen, That just precede the coming Son of man. The other, based on Heaven's immutable Decree, proclaiming that it shall not pass, Till all shall be fulfilled—but careless rest, Unconscious of the fearful day at hand. O, what can rouse them, ere the pent-up storm Of fiery indignation, held in store For an ungodly and a wicked world Shall on them burst in fury, and involve In ruin, irretrievable and sure. Lo! now an Angel robed in radiant light, And with the rainbow crowned, whose face outshines The sun, whose feet like fiery pillars seem, Sudden appears, with message to the world. There on his golden wings high-poised, he quick Surveys the dubious field, and then begins Majestic through mid heaven his glorious flight. His is a sacred trust, and weighty his Commission; for to him is given, to preach The everlasting gospel, unto them On earth that dwell, to every nation, tongue, Kindred and people, while in thunder tones, From his aerial height, he heralds forth This proclamation to a world below: "Fear God and give him glory; for his hour Of judgment now is come, and worship him Who made the heavens and earth, and who the sea, And the unfailing founts of waters made." Now man's arch enemy, the fiendish prince Of this world's darkness, and th' obdurate foe Of Truth and Love—whose sole delight, and joy, And every aim is to oppose the plans Of all-wise Heaven; and who with schemes deep-laid Of blackest villainy, and wily snares, Unseen, e'er seeks to entrap th' unwary feet Of man, and by unhallowed arts, obscure The plan of his salvation, and him rob Of life eternal, and perpetual bliss— Had come in fury down—for that he knew His time on earth was short—and all the hosts Of his dark legions summoned to the field. Their final work among mankind, to blind, Corrupt, deceive, and with satanic spell Wide o'er them thrown, prepare the nations for The last great battle of Almighty God. For their foul plot already had they laid Too firm foundation, and were weaving fast Their complicated webs for all the world— Of every restless passion, earthly lust, And bold and impious pride, and selfishness, And hate, and strife, and all that e'er can claim Its origin of earth, or aught below— And fast were hushing every note of truth, With dead'ning opiates, and with siren songs, And fables cunning of a world's reform, An age to come, a bright millennial age Of peace, and happiness, and plenty, ere The Saviour should to earth descend again. Lulled by such groundless heresies, mankind Were dreaming on of golden centuries Now almost here, and worlds of carnal joys And moral freedom, when the cry, "Fear God And give him glory; for his judgment hour Is come," rang forth from Heaven's own messenger.

Him first the Almighty on his throne above, Foreseeing Satan's craft—the fatal aim And sure results of his dark policy— That e'en, if possible, he would deceive The very elect—before him summoned, and, While thus he spake, his lofty mission gave:

"My plans are changeless, and my promise sure; And now th' appointed time whereof my words, By all my prophets since the world began, Have been declared, that I to those who me Should love, and serve, and honor, would restore What man by sin hath lost—is drawing near And hasteth greatly; but the people far From me have wandered, and the nations all Forgotten God; nor in remembrance hold My promises, nor to my threats give heed. Their thoughts are bent on evil; and on earth, Which, since the curse, hath neither part nor lot With things of Heaven, are their affections placed. Nor from the unerring page, whereon I've spread The mighty works of my omnipotence; That they therein might read of boundless power, And wisdom infinite, and majesty Supreme, do they in reverence and awe, Lift up their hearts to him who made them all. And e'en those who, of truth, profession make, Have for themselves, diverging paths sought out, And theories framed discordant, and have made, While serving party more than serving me, A Babel of religion, and a mock Of my great name and worship; who alone Am worthy to receive eternal praise, And unfeigned homage; for a God I am, Holy and perfect; and in unity Of faith and spirit must that people be, Righteous and just and pure who call me Lord; And zealous in my vineyard, to show forth My glory, and my praises faithful sound, Which is but due, if they to me would be A chosen generation, and my own Peculiar people, worthy to be called. With man not always shall my Spirit strive, And but a little longer shall for him My mercy plead; when clad with vengeance, I Will rise and shake the earth, yea, terribly, For lo! with fire I'll come, and chariots As with a whirlwind, and will render thus, My wrath with fury, and rebuke with flame; For thus I've spoken. Thee, therefore, I ordain The herald of my hour of judgment come; To sound th' approaching consummation of My plans, the promised restitution, near. That the disjointed Church, now Babylon, May be restored to unity and love; That men may wake to wisdom, and shake off The power of Satan, and may serve And worship me in Spirit and in truth, And with the Lord of lords may take their stand In the great battle-day that draweth nigh; For if so be, that they your message heed, And do this, then, it well shall be with them."

Armed thus with sure authority, divine, The Angel swift was winging on his way, And with a mighty voice accomplishing His destined errand. Clouds before him broke And scattered, and dissolved; and as his tones Reverberated through the vaulted sky And rolled o'er earth, a thousand echoes back, Gave deep response, a thousand voices took The Heaven-born message and proclaimed the cry. With newer life the moral system woke, For now its stagnant pulse began to move, And its long dormant heart began to beat. And Prophecy and Revelation came, And threw aside the mystic garb with which They long had been enshrined, and stood forth In the clear light of day; and opened wide Their volumes, and their contents bade men scan And know their meaning; for the days Through which 'twas told the Prophet, that the book Shut up, should be, the vision closed and sealed, Were all expired, and that time now had come Whereof 'twas said, "The wise shall understand." Who then are they, and what for them to know? That which was closed and sealed, but now unsealed. Hear, then, the vision, ponder and be wise; For God has shown what must hereafter be.

Thus to the king the prophet Daniel spake: "In Heaven there is a God, who maketh known The secrets of the heart, and now to thee, What in the latter days shall come to pass, Revealeth; for thy vision and thy dream. O king, are these: Thou sawest, and behold, Before thee stood an image mighty, and Its form was terrible, and excellent Its brightness; for in peerless splendor rose The lofty head of gold: the breast and arms A massive mould of solid silver shone:

Brass the thighs and belly were; iron the legs; Part iron the feet, and part were miry clay. Thou sawest till a stone no hand could form, Upon the feet, with swift descending blow, The image smote; and then the iron, the brass, The silver and the gold, e'en like the chaff, Upon the hollow winds were borne away, And in their course no place was found for them: The stone a mountain rose, and filled the earth. Thy dream is told; and we before thee now Will make th' interpretation known thereof: Thou art a king of kings, O king; to thee A kingdom, power, and strength, and glory, hath The God of Heaven given; and all the earth, Where'er the sons of men, or beast, or bird, May dwell, into thy hand hath placed, that thou Should'st rule them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee another shall arise, A kingdom, but to thee inferior. And yet a third of brass, shall o'er the earth Bear universal sway; but to the fourth Shall there be given the matchless strength of iron; For even as iron breaketh and destroys, So this shall break in pieces, and shall bruise. But as there mingles in the feet and toes The strength of iron, the weakness of the clay, So shall, in part, the kingdom broken be, And partly strong: but in the days while yet These kings are reigning, shall the God of Heaven His kingdom firm set up, which shall not be To other people left, but shall consume These kingdoms all, and stand for evermore. The dream is certain and the meaning sure."

In the first year of king Belshazzar's reign O'er ancient Babylon, to Daniel came A dream and visions of his head by night; Then he the matter wrote and spake thereof: "I saw, and lo, upon the mighty sea, The four great winds of heaven fiercely strove, And forthwith rose from out the troubled deep, Four beasts diverse; the first, with eagle's wings, The kingly image of the lion wore; Like to a bear the second seemed; the third Was leopard-like, and from its back appeared Four wings as of a fowl; its heads were four; But lo! a fourth, from all the rest diverse, And strong exceedingly, and terrible, And dreadful to behold; great iron teeth It had, and with its feet it stamped, and brake The residue in pieces, and devoured; And on its head ten branching horns it bore. These I considered, till among them came Another little horn—before whom three Uprooted were—and eyes it had like men, And had a mouth by which great things to speak. And I beheld till thrones were all cast down, And that High One did sit, whose garments were Like snow in whiteness, and like spotless wool, The hair upon whose head; whose throne appeared The brilliant piercing flame with wheels of fire. A fiery stream before him issued forth, And thousand thousands to him ministered, And lo! before him stood ten thousand times Ten thousand, and the books were opened, and The judgment set; the mighty beast was slain, And to the burning flame its body given. Then to the Ancient, came, of days, upon The rolling clouds one like the Son of man— And near before him stood—to whom was given Dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that All people, languages, and nations, him Alone should honor, and him only serve; For his domain is such, and such his power, As ne'er shall be destroyed nor have an end. One then who by me stood I near approached, And asked—for I would know—the truth of all These things; and of that fourth beast, hideous, With teeth of iron, and brazen nails, and ten Wide spreading horns, of whom three yielded to The one that rose, more stout than all the rest— Who, when I spake, thereafter freely told: 'These four great beasts four kingdoms are, that on The earth shall rise; the fourth unlike shall be To every other, and shall fierce devour, And all the earth in fiery trample down. The horns, ten kings are, that shall spring from out This kingdom, and another after them Shall rise, diverse, and three shall he subdue, And even against the Most High God, great words And impious, shall he audacious speak, Himself t' exalt, and in his towering pride, By his own arbitrary nod, shall think E'en times and laws to change, and 'gainst the saints Of the Most High, relentless hate shall urge, And with fierce war incessant, wear them out, Until his time, allotted, shall expire.— To them the kingdom under the whole heaven, And greatness of dominion shall be given, And so shall they possess it without end.'"

"Again I saw, and lo! there met my gaze A two-horned ram, who westward pushed, And north, and south; so that before him none Might stand, or from his hand deliver, till An he-goat from the west, o'er all the earth Came furious; and high between his eyes One horn bore notable, and in his might The ram he smote, and overthrew, and brake His horn in pieces, triumphed and subdued. But his great horn was broken, and in stead, Towards the four winds of heaven, four others rose; Of which, from one, sprung forth a little horn, Which towards the south exceeding great became, And towards the east, and towards the pleasant land; And to the host of Heaven waxed great; the stars Down to the ground it cast, and stamped upon; Yea, to the Prince, itself did magnify, And crushed out truth and prospered, and was great. 'How long the vision?' (I their voices heard,) Spake one saint to another, who replied, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; And cleansed shall then the Sanctuary be.' The two horns which thou sawest, of the ram, The rulers of the Medes and Persians, are; And the rough goat, of Grecia is the king, Whose one great horn the first great king denotes. And now, whereas, that broken, four stood up, So shall four kingdoms from his empire rise. Then shall a king of countenance most fierce, And understanding phrases deep and dark, Mighty in power, arise, and shall destroy The holy people, and himself in heart Shall magnify, and e'en stand up against The Prince of princes; but he, without hand, Shall soon be broken, and his rule destroyed."

Thus Prophecy, with quick perceptive eye, Scans the whole future; and with one survey, This world's existence; marks each forward step In Time's swift journey, till he comes, at last, Drooping and weary to his journey's end. And earth's great kingdoms as they proudly stand Successive on the way, has plain marked out, Like mighty mile-stones on the road to Heaven; That we, "poor pilgrims," we who ever tread Th' invisible line which separates the dim, Approaching future from the wrought out past, Might, with our faithful Chart, the Word of God, Viewing the ages Time has left behind, To see what has been, know what is to be. And ascertain our true position in The world's career, how near, or how remote From that fifth universal kingdom, which, The King Eternal promises shall be. Where then are we in the prophetic chain? How much has been fulfilled, how much to come? Time's record stands; what therefore he has proved, Is proved indeed, and mortals may not doubt, Nor dare deny what he has marked "fulfilled." Hear, then, his voice, while he, infallible, Expounds, and clear, the words of Prophecy. [TO BE CONTINUED.]