When the seventh angel sounds, we read that “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” In the service of the earthly sanctuary, the apartment containing the ark—the most holy place—was opened only once a year; that was on the day128of atonement, and for the purpose of blotting out sins—the cleansing of the sanctuary. The time spoken of by the prophets, when this cleansing work, as accomplished by Christ, should take place, is at the close of the twenty-three hundred days. It is also stated that when the seventh angel sounds, voices in heaven say that the time is come for the dead to be judged.
This prophetic symbol of Revelation 10 presents the time when this message is to go forth “with a loud voice,” and finally, “as when a lion roareth.” The time when, according to this prophecy, the message was to increase to its “loud cry” is from the close of the sixth trumpet to the end of that prophetic period leading to the cleansing of the sanctuary, in other words, to the end of the twenty-three hundred days. The first four trumpets met their fulfilment in the wars of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, etc., which divided Western Rome into ten parts or kingdoms.
The Fifth Trumpet
The fifth trumpet presents the rise of Mohammedanism with its cloud of errors, but especially the period of “five months,” or one hundred and fifty literal years from the time they “had a king over them.” July 27, 1299, Othman, the founder of the Ottoman empire, invaded the territory of Nicomedia. From that time the Ottomans harassed and “tormented” the Eastern empire of Rome till July 27, 1449, the one hundred and fifty years of the sounding of the fifth trumpet. At that time the Turks came with their forces against the city of Constantinople itself, using gunpowder in their warfare; and from a ponderous cannon, which the historian Gibbon says required sixty oxen to draw, they fired great rocks against the walls of Constantinople.
The Close of the Sixth Trumpet
About this time John Palleologus, who is set down by historians as the last Greek emperor, died. Constantine129Decozes was the rightful heir to the throne, but it is said that his fears of Amurath, the Turkish sultan, who was waging this warfare against him, led him to ask permission of Amurath to ascend the throne. Such an act would almost seem a resignation of the throne to the Turks. In fact, very shortly the Ottomans had possession of the city of Constantinople and the Eastern empire of Rome. Thus they (politically) “killed” that empire which they had before “tormented.” They were to “slay” it for “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.”
Taking this as prophetic time, a day for a year, how long a time would it be? The problem is a simple one: a year, 360 days, or years; a month, 30 days, or years; and one day, one year,—in all, 391 days, or, literally, 391 years. An hour being the twenty-fourth part of a day, as a symbol, would be half a month, or fifteen days. The whole time of Mohammedan independent rule of Eastern Roman territory would therefore be 391 years and 15 days. This added to July 27, 1449, brings us to August 11, 1840, for the termination of the period of Turkish independence, as set forth under the sixth trumpet.
Dr. Josiah Litch Predicts the Fall of the Ottoman Empire
In 1838 Dr. Josiah Litch, of Philadelphia, Pa., having embraced the truth set forth by William Miller, united in the work of giving greater publicity to the message. He prepared articles for the public print on the subject of the seven trumpets of the Revelation. He took the unqualified position that the sixth trumpet would cease to sound and the Ottoman power fall on the 11th day of August, 1840, and that that would demonstrate to the world that a day in symbolic prophecy represents a year of literal time.
Some of the brethren, even those who believed with him on this point, trembled with fear for the result “if it should not come to pass” as he said. This did not, however, daunt him, but he went forward to do all in his power to give130publicity to his views on the Turkish question. Public journals spread abroad the claim he had made on the subject. Infidel clubs discussed the question in their meetings, and said, “Here is a man that ventures something, and if this matter comes out as he says, it will establish his claim without a doubt that a day in prophecy symbolizes a year, and that twenty-three hundred days is so many years, and that they will terminate in 1844.”
The publication of Dr. Litch’s lecture made a general stir, and many thousands were thus called to watch for the termination of the difficulties that had sprung up between Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, and the Turkish sultan. Hundreds said, “If this affair terminates as the doctor has asserted, it will establish the year-day principle of interpreting symbolic time, and we will be Adventists.”
The Turkish Sultan at War with the Pasha of Egypt
For several years previous to 1840, the sultan had been embroiled in a war with Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt. In 1838 the trouble between the sultan and his Egyptian vassal was for the time being restrained by the influence of the foreign embassadors. In 1839, however, hostilities were again begun, and were prosecuted until, in a general battle between the armies of the sultan and Mehemet, the sultan’s army was entirely cut up and destroyed, and his fleet taken by Mehemet and carried into Egypt. So completely had the sultan been reduced, that, when the war again began in August, he had only two first-rates and three frigates as the sad remains of the once powerful Turkish fleet. This fleet Mehemet positively refused to give up and return to the sultan, and declared that if the powers attempted to take it from him, he would burn it. In this posture affairs stood, when, in 1840, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia interposed, and determined on a settlement of the difficulty; for it was evident that, if let alone, Mehemet would soon become master of the sultan’s throne.
Intervention of the Allied Powers
“The sultan accepted this intervention of the allied powers, and thus made a voluntary surrender of the question into their hands. A conference of these powers was held in London, the sheik, Effendi Bey Likgis, being present as Ottoman plenipotentiary. An ultimatum was drawn up, to be presented to the pasha of Egypt, whereby the sultan was to offer him the hereditary government of Egypt, and all that part of Syria extending from the Gulf of Suez to the Lake of Tiberias, together with the province of Acre, for life; he, on his part, to evacuate all other parts of the sultan’s dominions then occupied by him, and to return the Ottoman fleet. In case he refused this offer from the sultan, the four powers were to take the matter into their own hands, and use such other means to bring him to terms as they should see fit.
“It was apparent that just as soon as this ultimatum should be put into the hands of Mehemet Ali, the matter would forever be beyond the control of the former [the sultan], and the disposal of his affairs would, from that moment, be in the hands of the foreign powers.
The Prophecy Fulfilled—End of Turkish Independence
“The sultan dispatched Rifat Bey on a government steamer to Alexandria, to communicate the ultimatum to the pasha. It was put into his hands, and by him taken in charge, on the eleventh day of August, 1840! On the same day a note was addressed by the sultan to the embassadors of the four powers, inquiring what plan was to be adopted in case the pasha should refuse to comply with the terms of the ultimatum; to which they made answer that provision had been made, and there was no necessity of his alarming himself about any contingency that might arise. This day the period of three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days allotted to the continuance of the Ottoman power ended; and where was the sultan’s independence?—Gone!”
From that day to this the sultan has had to move under the dictation of the powers, and watch the dismemberment of his kingdom, as slice by slice it has been appropriated to their own use.
Public Interest in Prophecy Aroused
This striking fulfilment of the prophecy had a tremendous effect upon the public mind. It intensified the interest of the people to hear upon the subject of fulfilled and fulfilling prophecy. Dr. Litch said that within a few months after August 11, 1840, he had received letters from more than one thousand prominent infidels, some of them leaders of infidel clubs, in which they stated that they had given up the battle against the Bible, and had accepted it as God’s revelation to man. Some of these were fully converted to God, and a number of them became able speakers in the great second advent movement. Some expressed themselves to Dr. Litch on this wise: “We have said that expositors of prophecy quote from the musty pages of history to substantiate their claims of prophetic fulfilments; but in this case we have the living facts right before our eyes.”
To illustrate how, just at the close of the sixth trumpet, the advent message began to go “with a loud voice,” I will note a case as related to me by one of the actors in this message.
In the year 1840, E. C. Williams, an extensive tent and sail maker, of Rochester, N. Y., accepted the message, and invited Elders Miller and Himes to come to Rochester and speak to the thousands of that city. They replied that they lacked the money necessary to secure a hall of sufficient size to accommodate the people. He replied, “I have a circular tent 120 feet in diameter. I will pitch it, seat it, and care for it, free. Come on and proclaim the message.” “They came,” he said to me, “and the tent did not half hold those who came to hear, so I put in a forty-foot splice, making a tent 160 x 120 feet in size. This tent was filled with people daily,133and hundreds crowded near on the outside, all eager to hear the word.”
Hundreds Proclaiming the Message
To meet the growing interest, large tents were used, and grove meetings were held in the summer season. Some of the largest church buildings and public halls were used in the winter, and all were packed to their utmost capacity with interested listeners. Instead of Elder Miller now standing, as he had previous to 1840, “almost alone” in declaring the message, about three hundred joined him in publicly proclaiming the termination of the twenty-three-hundred-day period, and in giving the cry, “There shall be time no longer,” and, “The hour of his judgment is come.” Thus we see how, when the Lord’s time came for the message to make its world-wide advancement, his word was fulfilled, and the millions were moved with a desire to hear the call.
What was true of the movement in America was true in other countries. From the year 1840, instead of a few individuals scattering their publications, scores sprang, as it were, to the front to proclaim the cry. In England there were seven hundred ministers of the Church of England alone proclaiming the message, to say nought of the scores of others engaged in the same work. In more than a score of the different leading nations of the earth a message was going with that zeal which led the looker-on to say, “This people are terribly in earnest.”
CHAPTER VIII
THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB
CERTAIN man made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.”
“Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
The supper is the last meal of the day. In this parable there are three calls to supper. This parable must not be confounded with the calls to “dinner” spoken of in Matthew 22:1-7. The “dinner” is the mid-day meal. In the parable respecting the calls to dinner, we learn that those who made the call were “spitefully entreated” and slain, and that even the son of the king was killed. The king who had sent forth the call “destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.”
This parable of the calls to “dinner,” showing the fate of those who first rejected that call, fittingly represented what actually came upon those who rejected the gospel of Christ, and slew him and his apostles. The Lord sent armies against that nation, who “destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city”—Jerusalem.
The Call to Supper
This call to supper in the parable undoubtedly has reference to the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” A blessing is pronounced on those who are called to that “marriage supper.” A marriage supper follows the marriage. The135marriage of the Lamb occurs before he comes; for, as we have already seen, when Christ finally comes, he will “return from the wedding.”
This call to the marriage supper, then, must be the same as the first angel’s message of Revelation 14, and the time proclamation of the tenth chapter, already noticed. As recorded by Luke, this first call to supper goes to “them that were bidden.” Who were those that had been bidden?—Those who had heard and accepted the gospel of Christ. They profess to love Christ, and to love his second appearing as the full fruition of their hope. Why should not the call go first to them? As it was necessary that the gospel should first be spoken to the Jews who had the Scriptures, and claimed to be looking for the coming of the Messiah, so the message of Christ’s second coming was first presented to those who claimed to be his followers, and to love his appearing.
The Call to Them that Had Been Bidden
The first call to the supper, being to those who had been bidden, must go to the churches. Now, as a matter of fact, the proclamation of the near coming of Christ, from the year 1833 to the spring of 1844, was made in the churches, and to quite a large extent was seconded by the ministers of those churches. William Miller’s first publication of his views on the near coming of Christ was in a Baptist paper of Brandon, Vt. The labors of himself and his associates up to April, 1844, were largely in church buildings or halls secured by the churches of the day.
Elder Himes thus speaks of the labors of Elder Miller down to the spring of 1844: “He labored among all parties and sects, without interfering with their organizations or discipline, believing that the members of the different communions could retain their standing, and at the same time prepare for the advent of their King.”
Elder Himes, in speaking of his own and Elder Miller’s united labors, further states: “Most of the ministers and136churches that opened their doors to us and our brethren who were proclaiming the advent doctrine, co-operated with us until the last year”—the year 1844.
Open Doors for the Message
Concerning his work and the nature of it, Wm. Miller said: “Doors have opened to me to proclaim this doctrine of the second coming of Christ among almost all denominations, so that I have been able to comply with but a small portion of the calls. . . . In every place where I have been, the most pious, devoted, and living members of the churches do most readily embrace the views thus proclaimed; while the worldly professor, the Pharisee, the bigot, the proud, haughty, and selfish, scoff at and ridicule the doctrine of the second coming of Christ.”
Respecting the nature of the advent message, the same can be said of it that D’Aubigne said of the Reformation,—It “was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher, the word of God; for salvation, faith; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had by these very means rejected all worldly elements.”
A Mighty Wave of Revivals
The nature of the revivals that followed the proclamation of the advent message are thus described by L. D. Fleming, pastor of the Casco street Christian church, of Portland, Maine:—
“The interest awakened by his [Wm. Miller’s] lectures is of the most deliberate and dispassionate kind, and though it is the greatest revival I ever saw, yet there is the least passionate excitement. It seems to take the greatest hold on the male part of the community. What produces the effect is this: Brother Miller simply takes the sword of the Spirit, unsheathed and naked, and lays its sharp edge on the naked heart, and it cuts! that is all. Before the edge of this mighty weapon, infidelity falls, and universalism withers.137False foundations vanish, and Babel’s merchants wonder. It seems to me that this must be a little the nearest like apostolic revivals of anything modern times have witnessed.”
An Experience in Richmond, Me.
As an illustration of the revival work that went with the preaching of the advent doctrine, we will quote from the report of one who was actively engaged in that movement. In speaking of a quarterly meeting held at Richmond, Me., representing thirty Freewill Baptist churches, he says:—
“As I entered the place of worship, Elder Rollins, who was seated by the side of the pulpit at the farther end of the house, arose and said, ‘Brother White, you will find a seat here by me.’ After the sermon, liberty was given for remarks, and I spoke with freedom upon the Christian life, and the triumphs of the just at the second advent of Christ. Many voices cried, ‘Amen! amen!’ and most in that large congregation were in tears. . . . Near the close of that meeting, after getting my consent, Elder Rollins arose and said: ‘Brother White, who sits at my right side, will speak at the Reed meeting-house this evening, upon the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come up, brethren, and hear for yourselves. We have sufficient room to entertain you all. Come up, brethren, it will not harm any of you to hear upon this subject. . . . He very well knew that most of his brethren would leave their meeting in the village, and go three miles to hear me, and that their appointed business session would be broken up. And so it was. Three fourths of the ministers and nearly every delegate left, and the Reed meeting-house was crowded at an early hour. My subject was Matthew 24. The Spirit of God gave me great freedom. The interest was wonderful.
“As I closed with an exhortation to Christians to fully consecrate themselves and be ready, and to sinners to seek Christ and get ready for the coming of the Son of man, the power of God came upon me to that degree that I had to138support myself with both hands hold of the pulpit. It was a solemn hour. As I viewed the condition of sinners, lost without Christ, I called on them with weeping, repeating several times, ‘Come to Christ, sinner, and be saved when he shall appear in his glory. Come, poor sinner, before it shall be too late. Come, sinner, poor sinner, come.’
“The place was awfully solemn. Ministers and people wept, some aloud. At the close of every call to the sinner, a general groan was heard throughout the entire assembly. I had stood upon my feet explaining the chapter and exhorting for more than two hours, and was getting hoarse. I ceased speaking, and wept aloud over that dear people with depth of feeling such as he only knows whom God has called to preach his truth to sinners. It was nine o’clock, and to give liberty to others to speak would be to continue the meeting till midnight. It was best to close with the deep feeling of the present, but not till all had had a chance to vote on the Lord’s side. I then called on all in the congregation who would join me in prayer, and those that wished to be presented to the throne of mercy, that they might be ready to meet the Saviour with joy at his second coming, to rise up. Every soul in that large house, as I was afterwards informed by persons in different parts of it, stood up. After a brief season of prayer, the meeting closed.
“The next morning I returned to the village, accompanied by at least seven eighths of that Freewill Baptist quarterly meeting. Every one was telling what a glorious meeting they attended the evening before.”
Calls for the Message in Other Places
“At intermission, delegates and ministers invited me to join them in making arrangements as to time when I could lecture to the several congregations in that quarterly meeting who had commodious houses of worship. It was then in the middle of February, and it was decided that there remained not more than six weeks of firm sleighing, giving the people139a good chance to attend meetings. Twelve of the most important places were selected for my labors in six weeks. I was to give ten lectures, which would require me to speak twenty times a week. This gave me only half a day each week, which I generally found very necessary to travel fifteen or twenty miles to the next place of meeting.”
Hundreds Converted
Revivals and the conversion of hundreds everywhere followed the preaching of the advent doctrine, and especially was this the case as they approached the termination of the Jewish year 1843 (March 21, 1844). It was during that winter that the writer in his native village—Victor, N. Y.—first heard upon the subject, and though only twelve years of age, accepted, so far as understood, the second advent faith. Solemn indeed was the impression upon the people, not only in meetings, but everywhere. Victor was at that time only a village of some two hundred inhabitants, but the country round about was thickly settled. As the result of that series of meetings held in that small village, there were five hundred converts reported.
Testimony of the Methodist Year Book
As to the mighty wave of revivals that followed in the track of the advent proclamation, we find in the Methodist Year Book that “during the four years from 1840 to 1844, 256,000 conversions took place in America.” What was true in America was equally true in the other countries where the call was made. “A mighty power went with the preaching, and souls were converted everywhere.” As the first call to the marriage supper went to the churches,—“them that were bidden,”—it was through them extended to all who would come and share in the salvation awaiting the people of God. Whether the message was preached, prayed, or sung in “advent melodies,” the mighty moving of the Spirit of God accompanied the work.
Children Preaching in Sweden
In this connection we will notice how the Lord wrought to introduce the proclamation in those countries where the law forbade the preaching of anything contrary to the “established church.” Sweden was one of those countries. There the Lord used little children to introduce the work. The first of this manifestation was in the summer of 1843, in Eksjo, southern Sweden. A little girl, only five years of age, who had never learned to read or sing, one day, in a most solemn manner, sang correctly a long Lutheran hymn, and then with great power proclaimed “the hour of his judgment is come,” and exhorted the family to get ready to meet the Lord; for he was soon coming. The unconverted in the family called upon God for mercy, and found pardon. This movement spread from town to town, other children proclaiming the message. The same movement among children was manifest to some extent in Norway and Germany.
“Yes! I Had to Preach”
In 1896, while holding meetings in seventeen different parts of Sweden, I passed through several places where the children had preached in 1843, and had opportunity to converse with those who had heard the preaching, and with men who had preached when they were children. I said to one of them, “You preached the advent message when you was a boy?” He replied, “Preached! Yes, I had to preach. I had no devising in the matter. A power came upon me, and I uttered what I was compelled by that power to utter.”
Boquist and Walbom in Örebro, Sweden
In Orebro Laen (county) this work spread until older persons were moved to proclaim the message. Then the civil authorities, instigated by the priests of the “established church,” arrested two young boys, Walbom, eighteen years of age, and Ole Boquist, fifteen years of age, saying they would141make a public example of them. They whipped their bare backs with birch rods, and placed them, with their bleeding wounds, in Orebro prison. When these wounds healed, they took them out of the prison, demanding of them, “Will you cease preaching this doctrine?” Though they beat them with rods the second time, opening their wounds afresh, all the answer they could obtain was, “We will preach the preaching that the Lord bids us.” Through the intercession of a prominent lady parishioner in Orebro, King Oscar I. told the authorities to let those boys out of the prison, and to let that people alone. So the victory for the truth was gained in Sweden.
Boquist’s Testimony
In the Review and Herald of Oct. 7, 1890, is a very interesting narrative in regard to the children’s preaching, written by O. Boquist himself. He says:—
“In the year 1843 a religious movement occurred among the people in Karlskoga Parish, in Orebro Laen. The leaders in this movement were children and young men, who were called ‘rapare.’ These preached with divine power, and proclaimed before the people, with great decision, that the hour of God’s judgment had come.
“In the fall of the same year, I, O. Boquist, then fifteen years of age, with another young man, Erik Walbom, eighteen years of age, became so influenced by this unseen power that we could in nowise resist it. As soon as we were seized by this heavenly power, we began to speak to the people, and to proclaim with a loud voice that the judgment hour had come, referring them to Joel 2:28-32 and Rev. 14:6, 7.”
Children in Vision
The people informed me that those who were thus influenced by this heavenly power were lost to everything around them. They were actually in vision from God, and spoke with a power that carried a mighty convicting influence. They said that these little children, while under that influence,142would speak with the force and dignity of full-grown men and women. So those who saw it were led to conclude that it was the Lord using them prophetically to utter these solemn truths. The writer continues:—
“The people congregated in large numbers to listen to us, and our meetings continued both day and night, and a great religious awakening was the result. Young and old were touched by the Spirit of God, and cried to the Lord for mercy, confessing their sins before God and man.”
“But when the priest in the church was apprised of this, many efforts were put forth to silence us, and thus to stop the prevailing religious excitement; but all efforts were unavailing. The sheriff was then requested to cause our arrest, and during six weeks a fruitless search was made to find us in the forest, whither we had fled for refuge.
“Finally, however, we were summoned to appear before the pastor of the church. Our number had increased so that forty young men and women presented themselves at the parsonage, where we were submitted to a long trial. All but myself and Walborn were permitted to return to their homes; but we were arrested, and on the following day were placed in custody in the Orebro prison, where we were associated with thieves in cell 14, as though we had committed some great crime.”
Boquist’s Sister’s Testimony
On Sept. 22, 1896, the sister of Boquist, seventy-two years of age, attended our meeting at Orebro, and told us about the experience of her brother; for she witnessed his whipping, imprisonment, and liberation. She sang for us the hymn that Boquist and Walbom sang as they walked out of the prison on to the bridge over the moat surrounding that sixteenth century castle, used in 1843 as a prison. The power of the 1843 movement accompanied the testimony and the singing of the hymn. Translated into English, the hymn is as follows:—
Hymn Sung by Boquist and Walbom
“No one can ever reach the eternal rest,
Who hath not forward with strong vigor pressed;
No one can ever reach that shining goal,
Unless he forward press with heart and soul.
His urgent strife must last until the end;
On this alone our hopes must all depend.
Narrow the gate is called, the way named Small,
But grace and choice are free for one and all;
But all depends on pressing, pressing on;
By that alone the haven can be won.
“Make strong, yea, strong resistance, O my soul!
To all that comes between thee and thy goal.
Gainst every hindrance fight. Stand firm! stand steady!
For those who forward press the crown is ready.
If you the joys of heaven would ever taste,
Press forward past each hindrance. Be in haste;
Leave, leave, O leave the wiles of all the world,
Thy banner of resistance still unfurled!
“When the world calls thee, ‘Come and with us go,’
Do not obey; that pathway leads to woe.
What the world asks, refuse at any cost,
If you comply, dear soul, you will be lost.
For love of Christ I offer this advice:
Strive in God’s strength; this is the crown’s own price.
To every hindrance make resistance strong;
The crown is worth the strife, however long.
“The heaven of glory is worth all thy life,
Worth all thy praying, longing, all thy strife.
No disappointment in that realm can live,
The crown is worth all longing thou canst give.
Therefore wake up, and sharply look around,
Make ready for the judgment’s trumpet sound;
For wedding garment, pure and white and whole,
Will be required of every suppliant soul
Who seeks an entrance to that city fair;
Therefore awaken, and thyself prepare.144
“You cannot anchor on that heavenly shore,
Nor enter in that land ‘prepared before,’
Unless you have the offered life of faith;
For this the Scripture very plainly saith.
’Tis faith alone that can the sinner save,
And ransom you from out the cruel grave.
“Then listen, dear, and rise from thy sad fall;
God’s grace abundant is, and free for all.
Believe, repent, and hear the Saviour say,
In words of beauty, ‘This, this is the way.’
The world is all invited, let all come,
And take by force a crown within that home.
“The Lord is willing, anxious to bestow
This gift on all who in his way will go.
Spare not thyself the struggle, but press on,
And soon, full soon, the victory will be won.
God’s hand doth seek thy soul; he’ll give thee rest;
Jesus is knocking, seeking for thy best.
Wake! ’tis God’s Spirit that disturbs thy sleep;
They only will be saved who vigils keep.”
The Boy Preacher at Karlskoga
A gentlemen at Orebro related to me an occurrence at Karlskoga, where he resided in 1843. He said:—
“A little boy eight years of age, who had never learned to read his letters, began to preach the message, quoting many scriptures. The people said, ‘That boy is just filled with Bible.’ This circumstance occurred after King Oscar had spoken in favor of the persecuted ones, so the priest of that place could not get the boy before the court to stop the work; but he told the people to bring the boy before him, and he would expose him, and show them his ignorance of the Bible.
“Before a crowd of people the priest opened his hymn book, and asked the boy to read for him. The boy replied, ‘I cannot read;’ but turning his back to the priest, he sang145the hymn through correctly from first to last, the priest meanwhile looking on the book in astonishment. The priest said to the lad, ‘You seem to know everything.’ The boy replied, ‘No. We are not always permitted to tell all we do know.’
“The priest then opened the New Testament and said to the boy, ‘Read for me in this.’ The boy replied, ‘I cannot read.’ The priest inquired, ‘What do you know about the Bible anyway?’ His reply was, ‘I know where there is a text that has the word and in it fourteen times.’ The priest said, ‘No! there is no such text in the Bible.’ The lad said, ‘Will you please read for me Rev. 18:13?’ ‘Yes,’ said the priest. As he read the people counted, and sure enough the word and was there just fourteen times, and among the fourteen times was the ‘binding of the souls of men.’ The people shouted, ‘There! there!’ the boy knows more about the Bible than the priest!’ Much chagrined, the priest dropped the subject, and left the people unmolested after that.”
So, out of the mouth of children the Lord confirmeth his word, and in this wonderful manner brought his truth to the ears of the people whose laws forbade the preaching of any doctrine but that of the “established religion.”
Gifts of the Spirit Connected with the Message
It was not in Sweden alone that the Lord, in connection with the advent movement, spoke to his people through the gifts of his Spirit. In Scotland, in England, and also in America the Lord has instructed his people by special revelations.
William Foy’s Visions
In the year 1842 there was living in Boston, Mass., a well-educated man by the name of William Foy, who was an eloquent speaker. He was a Baptist, but was preparing to take holy orders as an Episcopal minister. The Lord graciously gave him two visions in the year 1842, one on the14618th of January, the other on February 4. These visions bore clear evidence of being the genuine manifestations of the Spirit of God. He was invited from place to place to speak in the pulpits, not by the Episcopalians only, but by the Baptists and other denominations. When he spoke, he always wore the clergyman’s robe, such as the ministers of that church wear in their services.
Mr. Foy’s visions related to the near advent of Christ, the travels of the people of God to the heavenly city, the new earth, and the glories of the redeemed state. Having a good command of language, with fine descriptive powers, he created a sensation wherever he went. By invitation he went from city to city to tell of the wonderful things he had seen; and in order to accommodate the vast crowds who assembled to hear him, large halls were secured, where he related to thousands what had been shown him of the heavenly world, the loveliness of the New Jerusalem, and of the angelic hosts. When dwelling on the tender, compassionate love of Christ for poor sinners, he exhorted the unconverted to seek God, and scores responded to his tender entreaties.
Vision of the Three Steps
His work continued until the year 1844, near the close of the twenty-three hundred days. Then he was favored with another manifestation of the Holy Spirit,—a third vision, one which he did not understand. In this he was shown the pathway of the people of God through to the heavenly city. He saw a great platform, or step, on which multitudes of people gathered. Occasionally one would drop through this platform out of sight, and of such a one it was said to him, “Apostatized.” Then he saw the people rise to a second step, or platform, and some there also dropped through the platform out of sight. Finally a third platform appeared, which extended to the gates of the holy city. A great company gathered with those who had advanced to this platform. As he expected the Lord Jesus to come in a very short time,147he failed to recognize the fact that a third message was to follow the first and second messages of Revelation 14. Consequently the vision was to him inexplainable, and he ceased public speaking. After the close of the prophetic period, in the year 1845, he heard another relate the same vision, with the explanation that “the first and second messages had been given, and that a third was to follow.” Soon after this Mr. Foy sickened and died.
With such manifestations of the power of God in connection with the preaching of his coming “at the doors,” and with the rejoicing of thousands who were turning from sin to serve the Lord, and to wait for his coming, the people were doubly assured that this was indeed the Lord’s message to the world.
But March 21, 1844, came, and passed, and the Lord did not come. The conviction of the devoted and thoughtful, however, was that they had moved in harmony with the mind of the Lord, and that in due time all would be made plain.
The Time when the Parable Applies
CHAPTER IX
THE TARRYING TIME
THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
Christ is the bridegroom of the parable. The going forth to meet the bridegroom must therefore represent a movement on the part of the Lord’s people to meet Christ at his coming, for the subject of the discourse of Matthew twenty-four and twenty-five is the coming of the Lord. The word of the Lord is the lamp. All the virgins took their lamps. The foolishness of a part of the virgins consisted in their taking simply the theory of the truth, without that earnest consecration to the Lord which would develop the graces of the Spirit in the heart of the believer. This work is represented in the parable by “oil in their vessels.” The tarrying of the bridegroom must represent some disappointment on the part of those going forth expecting to meet their Lord.
The word “then,” with which the parable opens, gives us a clue to the time of its application. It follows close upon what had been stated in the previous chapter, not after149the Lord’s second coming, but after the parable of the fig-tree had been proclaimed, announcing that Christ’s coming is “at the doors,” and that the generation has come which will not pass until Christ himself appears in the clouds of heaven. It also applies at a time when some of the servants who have been giving the message say in their hearts, “My Lord delayeth his coming;” and begin to smite their fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.
Smiting their Fellow-Servants
These have been “fellow-servants,” harmoniously proclaiming the same message; but now a part of them turn from that which they have taught, and “smite” their fellow-servants who are giving the “meat in due season”—declaring the needful preparation to meet the soon-coming Lord. They “smite” in the same manner that it was proposed to smite Jeremiah. The people said, “Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” So did these servants begin to teach in a manner to hinder the work of the “faithful” servants. This same class are thus addressed, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
The parable of the virgins applies at a time when “fellow-servants” are turning from the message of the near coming of the Lord, and “begin to smite.” They also begin to do something else—to “eat and drink with the drunken.” They join in feasting with those who wish to gratify their appetites. Solomon said of such, “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh; for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.”