The days of Noah and the Son of Man.
By E. R. Seaman
"As it was in the days of Noah, . . . likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." This prophecy as recorded by both Matthew and Luke, is evidently a plain and literal description of the state of society in the last stage of probationary time. It is found in the instructions of our Saviour, and given as a sign of his near coming. A large field is opened for our contemplation. The particulars specified in regard to eating and drinking, marrying &c., with which the antediluvians were engrossed, is not the only instruction involved in the prediction.157There was one characteristic which was so prominent as to deserve to be recorded, that it might claim more than a passing notice. It is found in Gen. vi, 13. God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come up before me; for the earth is filled with violence. Many passages might be quoted of a like character showing that violence will be in the land, and insurrection frequent just prior to the coming of the Lord. Time and space would fail to mention the numerous acts of violence with which our daily journals are continually crowded, increasing in different parts of the land, showing the exact fulfillment of this prophecy. It is a fact known to almost all, that the papers of the day are furnishing testimony on this point continually under the different heads of Riot, Outrage, Murder, Burglary, &c., yet these things are so common as to produce little or no alarm in regard to the growing evils that threaten the safety even of the most prudent. "Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter." Isa. lix, 14. The wicked are to wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Riots of the most alarming character are occurring in some of our most popular cities, formerly noted for their piety and sobriety. It may be proper to refer to one which lately occurred in the city of Boston, the cause of which was the arrest of a fugitive slave. A man made in God's own image is torn from friends and society and all that is dear in life, and dragged back into slavery by the power of that atrocious bargain, the fugitive slave law, the foulest stain that ever blotted the history of any nation, especially one whose professions are entirely of an opposite character. And while the unfeeling slave-catchers are acting upon the authority of this law, the military are called out to support them with loaded guns and cannon. Efforts were made to purchase this slave's freedom; but it is not to be bought. The mouth-piece of the two-horned beast, (the president) must show his power and dragon authority. Hear him speak to the U. S. Marshall: "Your course is approved. Enforce the law at any expense." But what has God said to these slave-catchers? "Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him." Deut. xxiii, 15, 16. This is God's fugitive-slave law to-day; although not repeated in the New Testament. Thus we see the character of the beast developed which has affirmed that all men are created free and equal, and endowed with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If this nation would not be the most hypocritical nation on the face of the earth, it should amend this declaration thus: All white men are created free and equal &c. Has not this two-horned, lamb-like beast corrupted the commandment as well as the Roman dragon? Verily it has; and we may expect that it will make an image to the beast, or something resembling the prominent institution of Roman Catholicism. We learn from these violent manifestations of the people, that the cup of iniquity of the wicked is fast filling up, and the restraining Spirit of God is being withdrawn from them. God's word is at stake for the fulfillment of violence, toward the last end of the true church that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev. xii, 17. Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape the things that are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. And what I say unto you, says Jesus, I say unto all: Watch! E. R. SEAMAN.
Rochester, N. Y.