Untitled article by M. Hull

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 19, 1860

REVIEW OF ELDER RUSSELL.—No. 3.

By M. Hull

WE shall next consider the question of the time when the kingdom spoken of in Dan. ii and vii shall be set up.

Eld. R., in his debate with the writer at Fairfield, Iowa, said, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom; the phrase, these kings, can refer to nothing else but the four kingdoms of which he had previously spoken.”

Truly, if Mr. R.’s assertion is good proof, he has proved more than he is willing to believe; for the above position says that the kingdom was set up four times between the time the king dreamed this dream and the day of pentecost. But if that be true it proves four times as much as Mr. R. designed to prove by it. There is a rule in logic which says, “That which proves too much proves nothing.”

Mr. R. having seen the dilemma in which the above position places him, has come to the conclusion that the phrase, these kings, refers to the Roman Cæsars. But this cannot be; for the Cæsars are not the subject of remark. Again, will Eld. R. take the position that the kingdom was set up in the days of both of the Cæsars? If so, his kingdom was set up more than once. But if not, we would ask, In the days of which one of the Cæsars was the kingdom established?

The phrase, these kings, cannot apply to one of the Cæsars to the exclusion of the other, any more than it can apply to Alexander and exclude all other kings.

The fact is, Mr. R. is so anxious to carry everything back to pentecost that he makes sad work of some of his interpretations of scripture. The facts in the case are these:

1. In verse 40 we come to the fourth or Roman kingdom, which is represented by the legs of iron. Here, according to one of R.’s positions (for they are numerous), the God of heaven must set up a kingdom. But in verse 41, where the prophet explains the feet and toes, he says, “the kingdom shall be divided,” and in verse 44 he says, “and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.”

2. The phrase, these kings, refers to the divided state of the kingdom as symbolised by the toes. To prove this we only have to refer to Dan. ii, 41–45. But to make assurance doubly sure, take the admitted fact that the same power is represented by the toes of Dan. ii, and the ten horns of Dan. vii. In verse 24 Daniel says, “The ten horns are ten kings that shall arise out of the earth.”

3. It is a well known fact that between the years A. D. 356 and 488, the Roman kingdom was divided into ten. But the fact that it was not divided in the days of the Roman Cæsars will preclude the possibility of the kingdom of God having been set up at that time.

4. When the kingdom of God is set up, it breaks all other kingdoms to pieces. Dan. ii, 44, 45. But all other kingdoms are not yet broken (dashed, Ps. ii, 9) to pieces; hence we must come to one of the following conclusions. Either (1) in 1800 years trial the kingdom of God has not been able to do what the prophet said it should, or (2) it has not yet been set up. The time has not yet come for the dashing of the nations to pieces; for it is not until the Lord comes that he rules them with a rod of iron and dashes them like a potter’s vessel." Rev. xix, 14–16.

5. After the kingdom is divided into ten, another little horn must arise, and pluck up three of the first horns, after which it must wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws, and they must be given into his hands for a time, times, and the dividing of time, before the judgment sits. But the judgment sits before the saints take the kingdom. The above being true, the saints could not take the kingdom at the day of pentecost; for the judgment was

in the future when Paul preached to the Athenians, saying, God will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Acts xvii, 31. It was still in the future when Paul reasoned before Felix of judgment to come. Acts xxiv, 25. The fact that the kingdom lies over beyond the judgment may account for the difference of opinion between Mr. R. and Paul about the saints now being in it. See Acts xiv, 22.

6. Mr. R. admits that the little horn is a symbol of the Papal power, and that the time, times, and dividing of time, is 1260 years. He also admits that the papal power arose in the sixth century, that would carry us down to the 18th or 19th centuries at least before the saints take the kingdom. Hence, if the saints have taken the kingdom, they have not done it until within the last century.

Mr. R. says [p. 37], “Isaiah, Daniel, Micah, and other of the Old Testament prophets, together with John the Baptist, Jesus, the twelve and seventy disciples all proclaimed the kingdom in time to them future.”

While the truthfulness of the above statement is admitted, I cannot see how Mr. R. can draw the conclusion from it that the kingdom was set up at pentecost, for the apostles this side of pentecost as really preach the kingdom in the future, as the prophets did. See Acts xiv, 22; 2 Tim. iv, 1, 2; 2 Pet. i, 11, &c.

Again, Mr. R. says, “John the Baptist cries the kingdom of heaven is at hand; the Saviour reiterates the same good news.” While this is true, it is only true in the sense that John and Christ were in the fourth universal empire and the kingdom of heaven is to be the fifth. The meaning of the word, at hand, is, approaching, or to come. See Eze. xxxvi, 8. In this sense the kingdom of God is yet at hand. Proof. In Luke xxi, 25–30, the Saviour gives a class of signs of his second advent (which Eld. R. says have not yet been fulfilled), and in verse 31 he says, “When ye see all these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” The fact that the kingdom of God is at hand in the last generation [see verse 31], is evidence that it is not set up prior to that time.