THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES.
By H. Edson
[The following article was received from Bro. Edson some time since; but we have not yet had time to examine it thoroughly. Many of the ideas presented are new, and we think it proper to publish them for the consideration of the brethren, letting the writer remain responsible for the views presented, as he proposes in the following lines to Bro. White, which accompanied the article.] DEAR BRO. WHITE:—As I have been informed that the inquiry has arisen, why I have remained so long silent, I would just say that I have been necessarily employed in manual labor, providing for my family; and have had but little time either to read or write, and worn with excessive toil I have felt but little disposition or spirit of writing, and hence, am poorly prepared to write any thing that would be of service to the church. But what little sympathy and zeal I have had in exercise for the cause of truth, has been with the Review, and those who have borne the heat and burden of the day, in advancing the truths it advocates. As you recently requested me to write out for the Review, some of the prominent leading points of my long unmatured article, such as the evidences on the beginning and ending of the seven prophetic times, or 2520 years of Lev. xxvi, &c.; and as I have not time at present to mature the subject, I send you a portion of the broken, unmatured ideas as they are. I do not ask that they now go out as adopted or sanctioned by the Review, but merely for the examination and inspection of the brethren; and if the subject by them be judged to be of service to the church and worthy of further investigation, then it may hereafter be revised, improved, and carried out in its further bearing and extent. But before entering upon the subject, permit me to notice, in short, an inspired rule of interpretation of prophecy. God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever: his dealings with his creatures are uniform, or in like manner throughout all ages of the world. Hence "whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning." Rom. xv, 4.—The final deliverance and entrance of the people of God into the promised, eternal inheritance, is to be in like manner as it was in the day that Israel came up out of the land of Egypt. Isa. x, 24; xi, 11, 16; Micah vii, 15. Hence Paul testifies, "Now these things were our examples." Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Cor. x, 6, 11. "The thing that hath been, is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." "Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." Eccl. i, 9, 10; iii, 15. The destruction of the Antediluvians, and of the Sodomites, are made examples of the destruction of the ungodly in the end of the world. As it was in the days of Noah, also as it was in the days of Lot, even thus "shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke xvii, 26-30. Elijah was to be sent before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. In other words, the history of Elijah is made an example, not only of the preparatory message of the first advent given by John the Baptist, but it is also an example of the preparatory message of the second advent; an example of the voice that crieth in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord, make strait in the desert a highway for our God." Examples like these might be multiplied, but the above are sufficient; in view of which we may understand why we are called upon [Isa. xlvi, 9, 10] to "remember the former things of old, for God by them declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things not yet done." Former things of old which are made examples, are designed to aid us in understanding prophecies which are to be fulfilled in like manner in after ages; and hence it is not unfrequently the case that a prediction fulfilled in days of old, designed to serve as an example, is recorded in connection with a prophecy to be fulfilled in like manner in after ages. See Jeremiah xxv, where the prophet after predicting the overthrow of ancient Babylon, then glides almost imperceptibly down the stream of time to where he beholds and foretells the downfall and destruction of Mystery Babylon the great. Without observing this fact and the above rule, some in reading these chapters and other like predictions, might confound the downfall and destruction of ancient and modern Babylon together, and conclude that all applied to ancient Babylon. But by the aid of the above rule we may distinguish between the former examples and its likeness fulfilled in after times. It is predicted that God would set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, &c. In connection with this recovery, is predicted a glorious triumph and prosperity of the church. The wilderness and the solitary place to be made glad for them, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, and in the wilderness waters were to break out, and streams in the desert: the parched ground to become a pool, and thirsty land springs of water, and her wilderness to become like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; and she is called upon to arise and shine for her light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon her, and Gentiles were to come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising. This predicted triumph and prosperity of the Church is a sort of prelude preparatory to entering the immortal state; hence it may be seen in Isa. lx, that the prophet glides almost imperceptibly from this state of triumph and prosperity of the church into the restitution or immortal state. Some in reading this chapter and other like predictions confound this state of triumph and prosperity of the Church with the immortal state, and hence look for a glorious probationary age to come after the second advent of Christ. The above rule and considerations are necessary to be observed in reading Isaiah lx, and other like predictions. We will now come to the subject before us, which for the present we shall denominate, THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES,
And the Deliverance and Restoration of the Remnant of Israel from the Seven Times, or 2520 years of Assyrian or Pagan and Papal Captivity considered. "JERUSALEM shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke xxi, 24. Jerusalem, in this text, is synonymous with the host. Dan. viii, 10, 13; see also Isa. x, 5, 6. Jerusalem signifies "the vision or possession of peace." See Cruden. God's loyal subjects are a law-abiding people; hence we find it written, [Ps. cxix, 165.] "Great peace have they which love thy law." Thus the people of God are in possession of peace, and therefore Jerusalem is a characteristic name, significant of the character of the people of God, in distinction from those of whom it is written, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. lvii, 21. It was the host, or people of God, that were scattered among all nations to be trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. We will now quote a few prophecies which have their application and fulfillment at the point of, and immediately following, the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles. "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria; like as it was in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." Isa. xi, 11, 12, 16.106"According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things." Micah vii, 15. "For there shall be a day that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of water in a strait place, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden." Jer. xxxi, 6-12. "When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." See Ps. xiv, 7; cxxvi. A very large class of prophecies, in character like the above, clearly predict a glorious triumph and prosperity of the church of God in their deliverance and return from under the cruel tyranny and bondage of Gentile dominion over them. It is upon this class of prophecies that the favorite theory has been reared, of the return of the Jews and a temporal millennium before the second advent of Christ. To those who hold these views, this class of prophecies have formed an objection in their minds against the idea of the second advent being now nigh at hand. That this class of prophecies have their fulfillment prior to, and in immediate connection with, the second advent, I freely admit; for they predict the preparatory scenes of making ready a people prepared for the Lord, and so far from forming any valid objection to the second advent nigh, they, on the contrary, when rightly understood, form an impregnable bulwark to the great truth that the second advent is now at the door; for we shall demonstrate in the following article that the people of God of the present generation constitute the remnant which will be sharers in the glorious deliverance, triumph, and prosperity and glories which this class of prophecies will warrant them to expect. More recently upon this same class of prophecies has been framed the theory of a probationary age to come, after the second advent. Some who hold this view remove the angels' messages [Rev. xiv, 6-12] into their anticipated probationary age to come, and say we shall there have and keep the Lord's Sabbath. Some who now take the no-Sabbath ground, freely and frankly admit the obligation of the Lord's Sabbath in connection with the fulfillment of this class of prophecies upon which they build their age to come. We affectionately invite those who hold to the temporal millennium and age to come views, candidly, with an unprejudiced mind, to follow us while we endeavor to show the true chronological application and fulfillment of this class of prophecies, and we think that you will, with us, see that you have been in the very midst, and surrounded with all the privileges and glories of the probationary age which this class of prophecies will warrant you to expect. And if you would share in the benefits of the glorious truths embraced in the angels' messages, [Rev. xiv, 6-12,] and the blessing awarded to those who keep the Lord's Sabbath in connection with the fulfillment of this class of prophecies, it is high time that you were awake to this subject; for the last lingering moments of the probationary age warranted in these prophecies are now almost spent. This will appear as we proceed. Here I anticipate the inquiry will arise, Does this class of prophecies predict
THE RETURN OF THE JEWS?
To this we answer that The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile is broken down, and they are made BOTH ONE. Eph. ii, 14. And there is now no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Rom. x, 12, 13; 1 Cor. xii, 13. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Col. iii, 11; Gal. iii, 26-29. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts iv, 12. When the unbelieving Jews claimed Abraham as their father, said Jesus to them, If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. John viii, 39-44. Again he says, "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan." "Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie," &c. Rev. ii, 9; iii, 9. "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly." Rom. ii, 28, 29. "They are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children; but in Isaac (or Christ) shall thy seed be called; that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. ix, 6-8. "Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Gal. iv, 28. Abraham "is the father of us all as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations." Rom. iv, 16, 17. "If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." Gal. iii, 29. Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. Rom. xv, 8. "For ALL the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen to the glory of God by us." 2 Cor. i, 20. Rom. xi, is one of the strong pillars upon which the fabric of the return of the Jews is built. To advocate the return of the carnal Jews to old Palestine from this chapter is to array Paul against Paul in the above scriptures. Paul in Rom. xi, quotes from, and bases his argument upon Isa. lix, 20, 21. "And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins." Rom. xi, 26, 27. If this scripture refers only to the natural descendants of Abraham, the natural Jews, it proves entirely too much; for if so it proves the universal salvation of their entire race. But this cannot be so. Said our Lord to the Jews, The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: the queen of the South also. See Matt. xii, 41, 42. Again, They should see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and themselves thrust out. Luke xiii, 28. The text from which Paul quotes in Isa. lix, reads as follows: And the Redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them, that turn from transgression in Jacob, &c. This is fulfilled when the salvation of Israel is come out of Zion when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, then Jacob rejoices and Israel is glad. See Ps. xiv, 7. Isa. continues the prophecy by saying, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the GENTILES shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." Please turn and read from verse 20 of Isa. lix, to verse 16 of Chap. lx; and I think you will see that Paul and Isaiah perfectly agree in their testimony that when God brings back the captivity of his people there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, but both are alike equal sharers in the brightness of that rising in their return from captivity; and why should they not be, inasmuch as Gentile christians (who are Jews inwardly) have been large sharers in the captivity, being trodden under foot and martyred under Pagan and Papal rule which constitutes the very captivity to be turned when the Lord sets his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, &c. When God sets his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from the countries wherein they have been scattered, he sets up an ENSIGN not for the Jews only, but for the NATIONS and by this means assembles the outcasts of Israel and gathers together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Isa. xi, 11, 12. ALL the inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth are called upon to see when this ensign is lifted up and to hear when the trumpet is blown. See Chap. xviii, 3. This ensign is the mountain (or government) of the Lord's house (or people) established in the last days in the tops of the mountains and exalted above the hills; and not the natural Jews only, but ALL nations flow unto it. Chap. ii, 2; Micah iv, 1. I understand that the establishment of the mountain or government of the Lord's people in the last days predicted in Isa. ii, and Micah iv, is the establishment of the government of these United States of North America. This point will be noticed more at length hereafter. This subject of the return of the Jews might be pursued much further, but the above must suffice, and is, we think, sufficient to satisfy the candid that the legitimate heirs who are to share in the promises to be fulfilled in the deliverance, return, and the glorious triumph and prosperity of the people of God, when he sets his hand again the second time to recover them, &c., are not the natural Jews according to the flesh; but that they are made up of every nation, kindred, tongue and people, who fear him and work righteousness. We leave this point by referring the reader to the able writings of others on this subject. See Advent Review, Vol. V, pp. 128, 137; also Vol. VI, pp. 133, 134. We next inquire more particularly. FROM WHAT ARE THE REMNANT RECOVERED WHEN GOD SETS THE HAND AGAIN THE SECOND TIME TO RECOVER THEM. It is very important that we rightly understand this point in order that we may arrive at right conclusions in the subject before us. A second time supposes a first. The second is described to be in character like as it was in the day that Israel came up out of the land of Egypt; hence the first time was the recovery or deliverance from under the Egyptian rod or cruel yoke of bondage and oppression; hence the second recovery or deliverance must be from a position in its nature and character like that of the first. This will be clearly seen as we pursue the subject. We say then that the remnant are recovered from their dispersion among the nations of the earth. "From Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea." In this recovery, God assembles the outcasts of Israel, and gathers together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. See Isa. xi, 11, 12. This recovery embraces the deliverance of the host [Dan. viii, 13] from being longer trodden under foot. In a word it is their recovery from under the INDIGNATION. In Isa. x, 5, 6, it is written, "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine INDIGNATION. I will send him against an hypocritical nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to TREAD THEM DOWN like the mire of the streets." And in verse 12, we read, "Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (his work of wrath and indignation in giving them to be trodden down like the mire of the streets,) I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks." The fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria to be punished at the end of the indignation is undoubtedly the last in the line of his successors which is the fourth or Roman kingdom which finishes the treading down indignation. (The glory of his high looks may be read in Dan. vii, 8, 20; xi, 26-30.)107The story is continued in verses 20-27. "And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the holy one of Israel in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of (or among them, margin) shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness, &c. Verse 24. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. Verse 27. And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, &c. In the next chapter [verses 11-16] we have the prophetic account of God's setting his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from under this indignation described in the previous chapter. The remnant then are recovered from Gentile dominion over them to tread them under foot, they are recovered from their dispersion among the nations of the earth. In a word, they are recovered from under the INDIGNATION. A longer catalogue of testimonies showing from what the remnant are recovered seems unnecessary: the above is sufficient. Let it be borne in mind that this indignation was upon God's professed people and not upon their oppressors. God's anger and wrath comes upon their oppressors after this indignation ceases. The next inquiry that arises is, WHEN DOES GOD SET HIS HAND AGAIN THE SECOND TIME TO RECOVER THE REMNANT FROM THIS INDIGNATION? The wise man has said, [Eccl. iii, 1.] "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." That there is an appointed time for the Lord to cause the above indignation to cease by his setting his hand again the second time to recover them from the same is clear from very many portions of the prophetic scriptures. It is called in Ps. cii, 13, The set time to favor Zion. In this Psalm we have a prophetic history of Jacob's trouble and the voice of his groaning, sorrow and weeping, &c., which is expressly stated in verse 10, to be "because of thine INDIGNATION, and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down;" and in verse 13, Jacob comforts himself by saying, "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favor her, yea, the SET time, is come." Please read the whole chapter. In Isa. xl, 1, it is called Jerusalem's APPOINTED TIME. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her appointed time (margin) is accomplished, &c. In Dan. viii, 13, two important questions are asked: as really two as in Matt. xxiv, 3. In Dan. viii, 14, the first question, respecting the Sanctuary, is answered; but the second question, how long the host were given to be trodden under foot then remained unanswered. In verse 16, Gabriel receives a charge to make Daniel understand the vision. Verse 19. Gabriel said to Daniel, "Behold I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the INDIGNATION; (i. e., the last end of treading under foot the host;) for at the time APPOINTED the END shall be." And thus we have an appointed time for the end of the indignation, the end of treading under foot the host; an appointed time to comfort God's people, Jerusalem; [Isa. xl, 1;] an appointed or SET TIME to favor Zion; [Ps. cii, 13;] an appointed time for the Lord to set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from under the indignation or from being longer trodden under foot. The question next arises, WHEN IS THE APPOINTED TIME FOR THE TREADING UNDER FOOT INDIGNATION, TO END AND CEASE? Advent believers generally have supposed that the appointed time for the indignation to end referred to, [Dan. viii, 19,] was the 2300 days of verse 14. But this is evidently a mistake: for the 2300 days were given to serve another purpose. They were given in answer to the first question respecting the Sanctuary. The evidences are uninvalidated that the 2300 days ended in 1844. But there was no historical event of that year which could in any wise fulfill the many prominent predictions respecting the deliverance and recovery of the remnant from the treading under foot indignation. It is worthy of note that at the time when Gabriel said to Daniel at the time appointed the end (of the indignation) shall be, there had then no revealed appointed time been given to cover the length of the indignation and reveal its end except the seven prophetic times of Moses; hence Gabriel could have referred to no other appointed time than the seven times chastisement predicted by Moses. Lev. xxvi. This will appear when we come to follow Gabriel in the fulfillment of his charge, and redemption of his pledge to make Daniel to understand the vision, and to know what shall be in the last end of the indignation. When God had delivered his people from under the rod of the Egyptians and thrown off the yoke of their cruel and hard bondage, he then declared to them his covenant which he commanded them to perform, even ten commandments, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone, [see Deut. iv, 13.] accompanied with promises of great blessings and prosperity on condition that they obeyed and kept ALL of them. But in case they should prove recreant, apostatize and not keep ALL these ten commandments he threatens to punish them seven times more for their sins, which signifies an addition to the 400 years punishment inflicted on them in Egypt. Seven prophetic times more is a little short of seven times 400 years. He threatened to break the pride of their power; (or government;) or according to Isa. vii, 8, they should be broken that they be not a people (or nation.) He threatened to bring their land into desolation and their enemies to dwell therein, and make their cities waste, and scatter and disperse them among the heathen, and bring a sword upon them which should avenge the quarrel of his covenant, &c., and thus he would chastise them seven times for their sins. From the above we see that the seven prophetic times cover the time of their dispersion, the time of the scattering of the power of the holy people. The seven times cover the treading under foot indignation and constitutes the appointed time which reveals the end of the same. The time, times and a half, of Daniel's and John's prophecies is a part of the indignation or treading down time, and are explained in Rev. xii to be 1260 days, and in Chap. xiii to be 42 months, which is, prophetic time, 30 days to the month, for there are just 42 times 30 in 1260 days. Twelve months to the year, making three and a half years or 1260 days, each day symbolizing one revolution of the earth around the sun or one year, amounting in all to 1260 years. Hence the three and a half times which is 1260 years, when twice told make the seven times or 2520 years which is the duration of this indignation and captivity of the people of God.