SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 17, 1859

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

"Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Matt. xvi, 3.

OUR Lord asked the Pharisees and Sadducees this question, at a time when they came to him tempting him for a sign from heaven. It was a reproof to them for their unbelief in the signs mentioned by the Old Testament writers, which they professed to believe, and which were actually fulfilling before their eyes, yet disregarded by them. They could tell the weather for the morrow, but had no skill in those prophecies that pointed to that time. "When it is evening, ye say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning it will be foul weather to day, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" We will here name some of the signs which the Jews had as evidence of Jesus' being the true Messiah.

The star that appeared, to guide the wise men to the place of the infant Saviour, [Matt. ii, 2, 9.] prophesied of in Num. xxiv, 17. He was born of a virgin, [Matt. i, 18-25.] spoken of in Isa. vii, 14. Bethlehem was his birth-place, [Matt. ii, 1.] mentioned in Micah v, 2. Herod slew all the children in Bethlehem, from two years old and under, [Matt. ii, 1-6, 18.] prophesied of in Jer. xxxi, 15. His forerunner, John. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, &c. Isa. xl, 3. All Judea and Jerusalem saw this sign when they went out to be baptized of John. Matt. iii, 1-6.

The gospel preached. When Jesus stood up in the synagogue to read, he opened the book and read where it is written, [Isa. lxi, 1.] "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel," &c. The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he said unto them, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke iv, 16-21.

His humility when on trial. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Isa. liii, 7.

The manner and circumstances of his death. "They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. . . . They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Ps. xxii, 13-18. This prophecy had an exact and literal accomplishment at the crucifixion of Christ, and the Jews saw it. Read Matt. xxvii, 35.

The fulfillment of the seventy weeks of Dan. ix, 24-27. The Jews understood this, or might have understood it. Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied [or taught the prophecies] that Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." John xi, 49-52. We might add to these signs the miracles of Christ, his resurrection, the pouring out of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and still others which were distinctly spoken of by the prophets.

But notwithstanding all this scripture was fulfilling before the faces of the rulers of the Jews, and all these signs were actually accomplished in a little more than thirty years, and they themselves had to acknowledge that notable miracles had been done, yet they believed not. Well may it be said by this generation, that the Jews deserved wrath, and God was just in destroying their nation and place. But how is it with the professed people of God at this day? Do they believe in that Word which they blame the Jews for rejecting? The Jews were looking for a temporal kingdom, and overlooked the signs of Christ's first advent. The nominal churches generally are looking for a temporal millennium, and overlook the signs of his second advent, which are more numerous and forcible than those of his first advent. Then if the signs of Christ's second coming are doubted and rejected by this generation, the sin of unbelief will rest upon them heavier than it did upon the Jews, in proportion as they reject greater light.

The great object of the prophecy of Daniel, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ to his servant John, seems to be to point out the way-marks upon the highway of time, and show the period when the great journey of human life will end. "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Dan. ii, 28. This was spoken in reference to the great metallic image which the king saw in a dream.

In this chapter four universal kingdoms are brought to view. Babylon, represented by the head of gold; Medo-Persia, represented by the breast and arms of silver; Grecia, represented by the belly and sides of brass; the Roman kingdom, represented by the legs of iron. The ten toes of the image represent the divided state of this fourth kingdom. And next is God's everlasting kingdom.

Where are we in this prophecy? Babylon, the head of gold, long since passed away. The Medo-Persian kingdom, the breast and arms of silver, long since was numbered with things past. Grecia, represented by the brass, is in the past. Rome in its undivided state, represented by the legs of iron, is also in the past. And for almost fourteen hundred years has the divided state of the fourth kingdom been represented by the feet and toes of the image.

What next? Answer: The destruction of the kingdoms of this world, represented by the stone smiting the image on the feet. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them."

Chapter vii is still more definite. Here four beasts represent the same as the four parts of the great image. The lion represents Babylon, the same as the head of gold. The bear represents the Medo-Persian kingdom, the same as the breast and arms of silver. The leopard represents Grecia, the same as the belly and sides of brass. And the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, &c., represents the Roman kingdom, the same as the legs of iron; and his ten horns represent the ten divisions of the Western empire, the same as the ten toes of the image.

But among the ten horns of this beast there came up another little horn, before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. It is said of this horn, that "he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." All agree that this represents the Papal power, which had its 1260 years of triumph, from about 538, to 1798.

But "they shall take away his dominion," says the prophecy. This was fulfilled in 1798, when Berthier, a French general, entered the city of Rome and took it. The pope was taken prisoner, and shut up in the Vatican. The Papal government, which had continued from the time of Justinian, was abolished, and a Republican form of government given to Rome. The pope was carried captive to France, where he died in 1799. Thus his dominion was taken away. He that led others into captivity, went into captivity, and he who killed with the sword, those whom he pleased to call heretics, was himself killed [subdued] with the sword. We are brought down in the prophecy to within eighty-one years of the present time.

What next? Let the Prophet answer. Chap. vii, 9, 10. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him:

thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." If the judgment, with its dreadful scenes, is not here described, then it cannot be found in the Book of God. We have not space to here give an exposition of these chapters. See our work on the prophecy of Daniel, for sale at the REVIEW office.

How exactly have all the numerous specifications of the prophecy of Daniel been fulfilled up to the present time. And will fulfillment stop here? No, no! May God give the reader to feel that earth's history is fast closing, and that the immortal kingdom will soon appear.

Prophecy is history in advance. Time rolls on, and events among men and nations, previously recorded by the prophets, appear. We compare the prophecy with history and find a perfect agreement as to time, order and nature of events, and know that we are not mistaken.

To the prophets themselves, their own prophecies could afford but little light, the whole prophetic scenery being the history of the future. But as time rolls on, each fulfillment adds a little light. Come down to the present time, when the specifications of the prophecy are all fulfilled but the last, and the light pours in on every side, the prophecy is unsealed, many run to and fro, and knowledge increases.