The Day of Christ "at Hand" in the Apostolic Age—in What Sense?
THE day of Christ was at hand 1800 years ago. Paul says, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." "The Lord is at hand." Peter says, "The end of all things is at hand." It is said in the Apocalypse, "The time is at hand." According to these passages, the day of Christ was at hand in some sense in the apostolic age. In what sense was it then at hand? It must, as it seems, have been at hand in one of two senses, either absolutely, or relatively. It was not absolutely at hand, or it would have come in that age; and the apostle assures the Thessalonian Christians, that it was not at hand in that sense. After affirming the second advent, he said, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." It is worthy of remark, that the original word here rendered at hand, is not the same as is so rendered in the other passages above quoted; for in this passage, the word rendered "at hand," describes an event as imminent, or just about to transpire,—hence the apostle affirmed that the day of Christ was not imminent, or just ready to be introduced. He assigns his reasons. He tells them that there was to be "a falling away first," and the revelation of "that man of sin, the son of perdition," who was to have his time according to the sure word of the prophecy, and then be "consumed with the spirit of the Lord's mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness of his coming." Thus we are conducted to the conclusion that the day of the Lord was not absolutely at hand when the apostle wrote. The end must therefore have been at hand in the other sense, viz., relatively; that is, the time to the end would be short, compared with the period of the world's history then in the past. This principle of exegesis is virtually expressed in the following text: "And that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed; the night is far spent, the day is at hand." It will be seen at once that the apostle is speaking relatively: he looks at the amount of the great night of this world then in the past,—at the amount of night still in the future; and then, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, deliberately says, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." As though he had said, "We are far from the beginning of the night, we are near its end: the time till the morn of blessedness is short, compared with the long hours of night which are gone." Thus we are furnished with the principle of interpretation, that the day of Christ was at hand relatively in the apostolical age. If so, where must we be now? Must not the comparatively small balance of "the night" which was then in the future, be about past? and must not the Sun of the eternal day soon, very soon arise? Must not the day of Christ, which was relatively near then, be absolutely so now? If it was at hand in any sense then, must it not be at hand in every sense now? In short, is not the end of all things, in the very nature of the case, right at hand? OTHER PHRASES OF LIKE IMPORT.
There are other forms of expression in the New Testament to which persons generally attach no definite meaning; but which are plain and significant, in the light of the relative principles stated above. Some of them are found in the following class of passages: "A little while and ye shall not see me: and again a little while and ye shall see me." "For yet a little while and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." "Behold the Judge standeth before the door." "Behold I come quickly." Those who lose sight of the relative principle suggested by the apostle, are forced to the conclusion that the advent referred to in the above passages, is some other event than the personal appearing of Christ, and is far in the past; but in view of this obvious principle of interpretation, we can easily understand the advent intended to be personal and future; though even on this principle it cannot be far distant, but must now be specially nigh. Take also the following class of texts: "Brethren, the time is short." "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son;" intimating that the last days of the great week of the world's history had begun when our Redeemer was on earth. Peter speaking of the first advent, says that Christ "was manifest in these last times for you." John mentioning the developments of anti-christ which were then taking place, says, "whereby we know that it is the last time:" all of which forms of expression convey the idea that the closing period of the world's existence had dawned, and, if so, must now be near its termination. Another form of expression is worthy of notice: the apostle speaking of certain things which occurred under the old covenant, says, "They were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come," or as it has been rendered, "upon whom the last of the age is come." But in what sense were "the ends of the world," or "the last of the age," come upon them? May we not suppose it to be in the same sense that one feels that the end of a journey has come upon him when he has traveled more than two-thirds of the entire distance? When Paul penned the above passage, the church had journeyed, according to recent authors of great learning and investigation, nearly 4200 years; and this period, according to the above illustration, had brought her through more than the beginning and middle divisions of her journey; and if so must she not now be almost home? Is not the great wilderness nearly all behind? Is she not on the margin of the heavenly country? It seems that she may now sing with the understanding, as well as with the spirit: "On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie." We must call attention to another passage before closing. The apostle, in Heb. ix, says: "Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." According to this, it was "in the end of the world" when the first advent took place. Some may suppose that the Jewish age is intended, but that this is not correct is obvious from the fact that the Jewish age commenced when God took the children of Israel by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, and terminated at the manifestation of the new covenant; whereas the apostle is here speaking of an age which began at the foundation of the world. The context fully verifies this statement. The previous verse reads, speaking of Christ, "Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then he must often have suffered since the foundation of the world." The reader will notice that the starting point in the apostle's mind is the "foundation of the world." Then come the words under consideration, "but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;" obviously meaning that in the close of the world or age, reckoning from the creation, our Saviour's first advent occurred. He then adds: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation;" as he had said, instead of the Saviour suffering annually, which would have occasioned his suffering very often from the beginning of the world, he delayed his coming till the end of time was approaching, when he came in humility, and offered himself as an atonement for sin, on the altar of the cross, and then, as it were, took the blood of his sacrifice and went within the veil to plead during the comparatively short interval which should intervene between his sufferings, and the actual end of the age, when he will make his second advent, without a sin-offering, and bless his waiting people with full salvation. In conclusion we may safely remark: 1. The expressions, "the day at hand," "the end of all things is at hand," and similar ones, were not uttered at random, but on some definite principle. 2. The only principle suggested in the apostolical writings, is the relative principle, viz., that the time to the end of the age was short compared with the amount of time then in the past. 3. If this principle be well founded then there cannot be a 1000 years of universal righteousness and peace before the end; but we must be occupying the closing hours of grace, and "Not many years their round shall run,
Not many mornings rise,
Ere all the glory stands reveal'd
To our admiring eyes."