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Signs of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 10.

THE LOAVES AND FISHES

Signs of the Times

Mar 1, 1877

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Mar 1, 1877

THE LOAVES AND FISHES.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
Jesus, to obtain a little season of repose, and for the benefit of his disciples, proposed that they should go with him into a desert place and rest awhile. There were suitable places for such retirement beyond the sea from Capernaum, and they entered a boat to make their way thither. But some who were searching for Jesus saw him depart from the shore, and the anxious people gathered together watching the slowly receding boat. The news spread from city to city that Jesus was crossing the sea; and many who were eager to see and hear him flocked to the place where it was thought that his boat would land, while others followed him over the water in boats. So when Jesus and his disciples landed they found themselves in the midst of a multitude of people, pressing forward on all sides to meet them.
Hundreds of the sick and maimed had been brought for Jesus to relieve, and were disposed upon the ground in positions favorable to arrest his attention. The crowd had awaited his coming with intense anxiety, and their numbers were continually increasing. The Saviour could not here find the rest he sought, for the waiting company commanded his attention; their needs enlisted his immediate sympathy and aid. He could not steal away with his disciples to secure the coveted retirement, and disappoint this expectant people.
All maladies were represented among the sick who claimed his notice. Some were burning with fever and unconscious of the anxious friends that ministered to them. There were the deaf, the blind, the palsied, the lame, and lunatic. In looking upon this wretched throng the heart of Jesus melted with compassion.
He was so pressed upon by the multitude that he went a little apart upon a grassy eminence, where he could be seen and heard by all the people. Here he taught them through the entire day, and healed all the sick and afflicted that were brought to him. Those who had been confused in their belief, and longed for some intelligent doctrine to relieve their uncertainty, found their darkness dispelled by the beams of righteousness from the presence of Christ, and were charmed with the simplicity of the truths he taught.
His discourse was often interrupted by the delirious ravings of some fever-stricken sufferer, or the piercing shriek of the insane, whose friends were trying to press through the crowd and bear the afflicted to the Healer. The voice of wisdom was also often lost in shouts of triumph as the victims of hopeless disease were instantly restored to health and strength. The great Physician patiently submitted to these interruptions, and spoke calmly and kindly to all. He came from the other side of the sea because he was weary, but, lo, he found more pressing cases for his attention than at the place from which he had secretly departed.
At length the day was spent, the sun was sinking out of sight in the west, and yet the people lingered. Many had come miles to hear the words of Jesus and had eaten nothing all day. The Master had labored through all that time without food or repose, and the disciples, seeing him pale with weariness and hunger, besought him to rest from his toil and take some refreshment. Their entreaties being of no avail, they consulted together as to the propriety of forcibly removing him from the eager multitude, fearing that he would die of fatigue. Peter and John each took an arm of their blessed Master and kindly endeavored to draw him away. But he refused to be removed from the place. His work was imperative; every applicant for his mercy felt his own case to be the most urgent. The crowd press about the Saviour; they sway him hither and thither. In their efforts to more nearly approach him, they trample upon each other.
Jesus, perceiving all this, beckons to Peter, who is in his boat on the sea, to come nigh. The disciple obeys the signal, and comes to shore. Jesus presses through the throng, and steps into the boat, bidding Peter to thrust out a little from the land. He now sits in the rocking boat of the fisherman, and, in full sight and hearing of the crowd, finishes the long and toilsome day by speaking precious truths to them. The Son of God, leaving the royal courts of Heaven, takes not his position upon David's throne; but from the swaying seat of a fisherman's boat, speaks the words of eternal wisdom which are to be immortalized in the minds of his disciples and given to the world as the legacy of God.
As the sun was setting, Jesus saw before him five thousand people besides women and children, who had been all day without food. He inquired of Philip concerning the probability of obtaining bread for so large a number, that they might not return to their homes unrefreshed, nor faint by the way. This he did to test the faith of his disciples, for he himself was at no loss how to provide food. He who would not work a miracle to satisfy his own hunger in the wilderness, would not allow the multitude to suffer for lack of food. Philip looked over the sea of heads and thought how impossible it would be to obtain sufficient food to satisfy the wants of such a crowd. He answered that two hundred penny-worth of bread would not be nearly enough to divide among them so that each one might have a little. Jesus inquired how much food could be found among the company. He was told that Andrew the had discovered a lad who had with him five barley loaves, and two small fishes. But this was nothing among so many, and they were in a desert place, where no more could be obtained.
Jesus commanded that this meager store should be brought to him. This being done, he directed his disciples to seat the people upon the grass in parties of fifty, and one hundred, to preserve order, and that all might witness the miracle he was about to do. This marshaling of five thousand people into companies, was at length satisfactorily accomplished, and they were all seated in the presence of the Saviour. He then took the loaves and fishes, and, having given thanks, distributed them to the disciples and to the multitudes, in quantities sufficient to satisfy their appetites.
The people had arranged themselves in the required order wondering what was to be done, but their amazement knew no bounds when the problem was solved, and they beheld food portioned out to that vast assembly from the slender store scarcely sufficient for a score of persons. The food did not diminish, as Jesus handed it to his disciples, who in their turn served the people. As often as they returned to him for a fresh supply, it was furnished them. After all had been satisfied, he directed the disciples to gather up the fragments that nothing might be lost; and the broken fragments filled twelve baskets.
During this remarkable feast, there was much earnest reflection among those who were so miraculously served. They had followed Jesus to listen to words such as had never before fallen upon their ears. His teachings had sunk into their hearts. He had healed their sick, had comforted their sorrow, and, at last, rather than send them away hungering, he had fed them bountifully. His pure and simple doctrine laid hold of their minds, and his tender benevolence won their hearts. While eating the food he had provided for them, they decided that this was indeed the Messiah. No other one could do so mighty a miracle. No human power could create from five barley loaves and two small fishes, food sufficient to feed thousands of hungry people. His teachings and work of healing had already nearly convinced them of his divinity, and this miracle crowned their growing conviction with entire belief.
They decided that this was the Prince of Life, the promised Deliverer of the Jews. They perceive that he makes no effort to win the applause of the people. In this he is essentially different from the chief priests and rulers, who are ambitious for titles and the honor of men. They fear that he will never claim his right as King of Israel and take his place on David's throne in Jerusalem. But they decide that what he will not assume for himself, they will claim for him. They need no greater evidence of his divine power nor will they wait for any further proof. They quietly consult among themselves, and arrange to take him by force, and bear him upon their shoulders, proclaiming him the King of Israel. The disciples unite with the people in declaring that the throne of David is the rightful inheritance of their Master. Let the arrogant priests and rulers be humbled, and compelled to yield honor to Him who comes clothed with the authority of God. They begin to devise means to accomplish their purpose; but Jesus discerns their plans, which, if followed out, would defeat the very work he designs to do, and put a period to his instruction and deeds of mercy and benevolence.
Already the priests and rulers look upon him as one who has turned the hearts of the people from them to himself. Already they so dread his growing influence among them that they seek to take his life. He knows that violence and insurrection would be the result of his exaltation as Israel's king. He did not come into the world to set up a temporal kingdom; his kingdom, as he had stated, was not of this world. The multitude do not perceive the dangers arising from the movement they contemplate; but the calm eye of divine wisdom discovers all the hidden evils. Jesus sees that it is time to change the current of feeling among the people. He calls his disciples to him and directs them to immediately take the boat and return to Capernaum, leaving him to dismiss the people. He promises to meet them that night or on the following morning. The disciples are loath to submit to this arrangement. They are ambitious that Jesus should receive his true merits, and be lifted above the persecution of the priests and rulers. The favored moment seems to have arrived, when, by the unanimous voice of the people, Christ can be elevated to his true dignity.
They cannot feel reconciled that all this enthusiasm shall come to naught. The people were assembled from all quarters to celebrate the passover at Jerusalem. They were all anxious to see the great Prophet whose fame had spread through all the land. This, to the faithful followers of Jesus, seemed the golden opportunity to establish their beloved Master as Israel's king. It seemed in the glow of this new ambition, a very hard thing for them to go away by themselves and leave their Master alone upon the desolate shore, surrounded by high and barren mountains.
They remonstrate against this arrangement; but Jesus is firm in his decision, and commands them to follow his directions with an authority that he had never before assumed toward them. They obey in silence. Jesus then turns to the multitude, and perceives that they are thoroughly decided to force him into becoming their king. Their movements must be checked at once. The disciples had already departed, and he now, standing before them with a grand dignity, dismisses them in so firm and decisive a manner that they dare not disobey his commands. The words of praise and exaltation die upon their lips. Their steps are stayed as they are in the very act of advancing to seize him, and the glad and eager looks fade from their countenances. There were men of strong minds and firm determination in that throng, but the kingly bearing of Jesus, and his few quiet words of authority quelled the tumult in a moment and frustrated all their designs. Like meek, submissive children, they obey the command of their Lord, submitting humbly, and without question, to a power that they recognize as above all earthly authority.
Jesus looked upon the retreating multitude with yearning compassion. He felt that they were as scattered sheep without a shepherd. The priests, who should have been teachers in Israel, were but machines for performing meaningless ceremonies and repeating the law they did not themselves understand nor practice. When he was left alone he went up into the mountain, and, for many hours, bent in supplication before the Father with bitter agony and tears. Not for himself were those earnest prayers, but for man, depraved and lost but for redeeming grace. It was for man that the Son of God wrestled with his Father, asking that the poor sinful creature might turn from his guilt to the light of salvation.
The Saviour knew that his days of personal effort for men upon earth were numbered. He who read the hearts of men knew that comparatively few would accept him as their Redeemer, acknowledging themselves lost without his divine aid. The Jews were rejecting the very help that God had sent to save them from utter ruin. They were fastening the chains that bound them in hopeless night. They were bringing upon themselves the certain wrath of God for their blind and obstinate wickedness. Hence the grief of Jesus, and his tears and strong cries for his mistaken people, who spurned the love that would shelter them, and his mercy that would save them from the retribution of their sins. Deep emotion shakes that noble form as he keenly realizes the doom of the people he has come to save. In every trial and emergency, Jesus went to his Heavenly Father for help, and, in those secret interviews, received strength for the work that lay before him. Christians should follow the example of their Saviour, and seek in prayer the strength that will enable them to endure the trials and duties of life. Prayer is the Christian's defense, the safeguard of his integrity and virtue.

The Book-Keeper's Dream.

The day had wearily worn to its close, The night had come down with its needed repose, As a book-keeper wended his way from the store, Glad that his toilsome hours were o’er.
The night was cheerless, and dismal, and damp, And the flickering of the dim street lamp Went out in the wild rough gusts that beat With furious speed through the gloomy street.
Tired and cold, with pain-throbbing head He sank to repose on his lonely bed; Still through his brain, as the Book-keeper slept, Visions of Debtor and Creditor crept.
The great Balance-sheet he had finished that day, And Profit and Loss in the usual way, Showed how much money the merchant had made Or lost in the preceding twelve-month’s trade.
And he dreamed that night that an angel came With the Ledger of Life; and against his name Were charges till there was no room to spare, And nothing whatever was credited there!
There were life and its blessings, as intellect, health; There were charges of time, opportunities, wealth; Of talents for good, of friendship the best, Of nourishment, joys, affection and rest;
And hundreds of others, and each one as great, All with interest accrued from the time of their date. ’T ill despairing of ever being able to pay, The Book-keeper shrank from the angel away.
But the angel declared the account must be paid, And protested it could not be longer delayed. The Book-keeper sighed, and began to deplore How meager the treasure he’d laid up in store.
He’d cheerfully render all he had acquired, And his note on demand for the balance required. Then quickly the angel took paper and wrote The following as an acceptable note:
“On demand, without grace from the close of to-day, For value received, I promise to pay To him who has kept me, and everywhere Has guarded my soul with infinite care;
“Whose blessings outnumber the drops of the ocean, While living, the sum of my heart’s best devotion, In witness whereof, to be seen of all men, I affix the great seal of the soul’s “Amen.”
The Book-keeper added his name to the note, While the angel across the great ledger page wrote In letters as crimson as human gore, “SETTLED IN FULL”—and was seen no more.

TESTIMONY OF JESUS.

By James White

When the angel said to John in Patmos, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” he meant more than expositors generally suppose. His words reach far back to the days of fallen Adam, when the plan of redemption was instituted, and embrace the entire prophetic word of both Testaments.
Once man walked with God in Eden. With open face he beheld the glory of the Lord, and talked with God, and Christ, and angels in Paradise, without a dimming veil between. Man fell from his moral rectitude and innocence, and was driven from the garden, from the tree of life, and from the visible presence of the Lord and his holy angels.
When all was lost in Adam, and the shades of night darkened the moral heavens, there soon appeared the star of hope in Christ, and with it there was established a means of communication between God and man. In his fallen state, man could not converse face to face with God, and with Christ, and with angels, as when in his Eden purity. But through the ministration of holy angels could the great God speak to him in dreams and visions. “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Num. 12:6.
The manifestation of the spirit of prophecy was designed for all dispensations. The Sacred Record nowhere restricts it to any particular period of time, from the fall to the final restitution. The Bible recognizes its manifestation alike in the patriarchal age, in the Jewish age, and in the Christian age. Through this medium God communed with holy men of old.
When sin had separated man from God, the plan of redemption made Christ the connecting link between the offended God and the offending sinner. Then could the great God communicate his will to the fallen race through his beloved Son. And he has spoken to the children of men through Christ, because he could not commune directly with sinners. Christ has been a mediator between God and man during all the ages of human probation. The order of communication from God to man, as set forth in the preface to the Revelation, has doubtless been the same in the patriarchal, Jewish and Christian ages: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” Rev. 1:1.
Christ and his angels are the connecting link between God and fallen man. Here is the order by which prophetic truth is communicated from the throne of Heaven to the children of men. God gives it to Christ. Christ gives it to his angel. The angel shows it to the chosen prophet of God. And the prophet reveals it to the people.
The plan of salvation by which man is reconciled to God and God to man was devised by both the Father and the Son. And in carrying it out, the counsel of peace is between them both. Zech. 6:13. But it was given to the Son to reveal this plan in the several stages of its development to the fallen race in the several ages.
All things pertaining to the grand scheme of redemption, whether in the figures of the former dispensations, or in the facts of the present, were revealed to the fallen race by our adorable Redeemer. He is therefore no more the author of the Christian than of the Jewish system. And those who contrast Moses with Christ, and the Jewish with the Christian system, are virtually arraying Christ against Christ.
The Spirit of Christ inspired the prophets of the former dispensations. It testified through them of his sufferings at his first advent, and of the glory that should follow at his second coming. The apostle, speaking of the great salvation which had come to the church through Jesus Christ, says that the prophets “inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Pet. 1:10, 11.
In this is seen the harmony of both Testaments, that the Spirit of Jesus inspired the writers of both. And while the blind Jew shuts himself up to the Old, and the equally blind Christian virtually shuts himself up to the New Testament, we thank God for a whole Bible. In the writings of both Testaments we see the entire plan of salvation in all stages of its development, in the several dispensations, and the Spirit of Christ inspiring the divine whole.
The Spirit of Christ was in Enoch, the seventh from Adam, testifying through him: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14, 15. “And so extended was the range of his prophetic vision, and so minute, that he could look down over long ages, and describe the coming of the Lord, and the execution of the last Judgment upon the ungodly.
The Spirit of Christ was in Abel, testifying of the sufferings of Christ through the blood of the firstling of his flock. And the Spirit of Christ was in Moses, testifying of the sufferings of Christ through the blood of those beasts which was typical of the blood of the Son of God.
The Spirit of Christ was in Daniel, testifying in his prophecy of the sufferings of Christ in the midst of the seventieth prophetic week: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.” “And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Chap. 9:26, 27. The Spirit of Christ in the prophet also testified of the glory that should follow, in these words: “I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.” Chap. 7:13, 14.
The blessed Christ of the New Testament had the supervision of giving this important prophecy to Daniel. In proof of this proposition we first cite the statement of the angel that appeared to Daniel in his vision of the tenth chapter: “There is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your prince.” Verse 21. There were only three persons connected with the giving of the prophecy; Daniel, Michael, and another, which chap. 8:16, shows to be Gabriel. “And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai which called and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” This command to Gabriel to further instruct the prophet Daniel came from Michael, as no other held with him in the things of the prophecy. Hence Michael, or the Son of God, having received the great things of the prophecy from the Father, shows them to the angel Gabriel, with the order for him to reveal them to the prophet Daniel.
There is a striking similarity in the manner in which the prophecy of this book was given in the Jewish dispensation, and the manner in which the last book of the New Testament was given in the Christian dispensation. Both came from the Father to the Son, and both were shown to angels by the Son, to be revealed by them to Daniel and to John, for the benefit of the servants of God. The object of one was to show “what shall be in the latter days,” Dan. 2:28, and the object of the other is to show the “things which must shortly come to pass.” Rev. 1:1.
The Spirit of Christ was in Isaiah, testifying of the sufferings of Christ in these words: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Chap. 53:3, 5. The Spirit of Christ in Isaiah also testifies of his glory: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever.” Chap. 9:7.
We might continue these quotations to almost any length. The whole ground, however, is briefly covered by these remarkable words of the Saviour: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.” Luke 24:44.
Moses was a prophet. The Spirit of Christ was in this leader of the tribes of Israel, and testified, as quoted by Peter: “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me.” Acts 3:22; Deut. 18:18. The words like unto me, in the above passage, have reference to Christ and Moses as prophets or teachers. In many respects Moses and Christ were unlike; but as prophets they were alike. The principles which they declared to the people came from Him who has said “I change not.” God spoke through them both. Neither Moses nor Christ were law makers. Christ disclaims having anything to do with legislation. “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” John 7:16. “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” Chap. 8:28. “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Chap. 14:24. And speaking of the Son, the Father says, “He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deut. 18:18.
In their efforts to hold before the people the Jewish and Christian dispensations in as wide contrast as possible, certain religious teachers would make it appear that the doctrines and principles taught by Christ were unlike those taught by Moses. But any amount of reasoning from false premises, or unwarrantable assertions on their part, cannot change the word like in the above passages to unlike. There the word stands, challenging the efforts of those who would hold in wide contrast God’s two grand ministrations of truth and love, covering the periods of the Jewish and Christian ages. In the development of the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ in all the ages, from the time that hope first dawned upon fallen Adam to the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ and the glory of Pentecost, there have been degrees of light and glory. Hence the comparison of the dispensations. The great plan is one, unfolding with degrees of increased light and glory in the successive ages. Paul’s comparison of the two ministrations is worthy of special study. Mark well the clearness and strength of his expressions, which we here give side by side not for contrast, but for

COMPARISON.

JEWISH MINISTRATION. CHRISTIAN MINISTRATION.
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious. Verse 7. How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious. Verse 8.
For if the ministration of condemnation be glory. Verse 9. Much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. Verse 9.
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect. Verse 10. By reason of the glory that excelleth. Verse 10.
For if that which is done away was glorious. Verse 11. Much more that which remaineth is glorious. Verse 11.
The typical system did not originate with Moses. It came from Heaven. It originated with the God of love, and the merciful Christ of the New Testament. The first covenant, of itself, in its time, was glorious with blessings to the obedient. It is an impeachment of the character of God as a changeless being of love and wisdom to say that any part of his plan to redeem fallen men is defective and bad, whether it be in figure in the first covenant, or in fact in the second.
The unqualified strength of scripture expression in a few instances in both the Old and New Testaments seems at first reading hardly to agree with the position here taken. But these texts must be viewed in a comparative sense in harmony with the general scope of scripture testimony, the character of God and the special comparison of the apostle in declaring the ministration of the Jewish age glorious, while that of the Christian age is simply more glorious than the one that preceded it.
And why should the two ministrations be held in contrast? They both came from the same Divine Source, in behalf of the same race of sinners, to perfect that holiness of character in all the saved from all the ages, necessary for the same holy Heaven. Hence John in prophetic vision, looking forward, saw them all gathered to the immortal shores, from the time of the holy martyr Abel down to the last ransomed sinner near the close of the Christian age, “a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” He heard them all unite in the same hallowed acclamation, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Rev. 7:9, 10.
Why should there be a wide contrast between ministrations under which the united family of the immortal world find eternal redemption? Why? God is the one father of all the adopted sons and daughters of grace from all the ages, and Christ is their only Saviour and Redeemer. Angels that excel in strength are the holy guardians of the obedient and faithful of every age, and the Holy Spirit their sanctifier. The pious dead of all the ages sleep in the one Jesus; 1 Cor. 15:17, 18; and his voice will awaken them all at his coming. John 5:28, 29. They will all be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and upon the sea of glass all will receive the crown of glory and the palm of victory from the hand of Jesus. And the great multitude which no man could number from all ages will wear robes of brightness, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Then why should there be a wide contrast between God’s moral government of fallen men in the Jewish and Christian ages? J. W.

The Use of Faith

WHAT is the use of faith? It is to lead a man to work. James 2. Faith that does not lead a man to work is dead. When does God call upon men to have faith? When he has a work to be done among men. In what does he require them to have faith? In that work which he has to be done in their day; for in this they can assist; not in some work in the past which others have already done, and which does not need their help nor sympathy now. The present truth, the present work, and faith in the present work, which leads men to engage in and support the present work—this is what has always been pleasing to God—this is Bible faith.
A dead church and formal professors always have great faith in God's workers of the past, but only contempt and persecution for his work in the present. Reader, be careful. All your talk about faith in Christ and what he did and suffered in the past will avail you nothing if you reject his work for the present time. As we have shown, the coming of the Lord and a special preparation for it is now the present truth. Will you take a part in it?

Signs of the Nearing Advent of Christ.

By Horatius Bonar

BY HORATIUS BONAR, D. D.
THE NIGHT COMETH! Nor does it seem far off. It never appeared so nigh. The shadows are lengthening out, and falling with ominous gloom upon the valleys of earth. The dimness of twilight is beginning to make itself felt. It is settling down drearily upon our cities and on our solitudes; upon the towers of our strength and the places of our pomp; nor can the noisy rush of eager multitudes, hurrying to and fro for gain or pleasure, wholly stifle the utterance of fear and awe. Men cannot help foreboding evil, for who can tell them what may be in the womb of darkness? The night-birds are already on the wing, flitting around us, and reminding us of the descending night.
The signs of Christ's second advent that have been given us both by the Lord and his apostles are both notable and numerous. And it is very evident that those have been selected which were the most expressive and least ambiguous. They are chosen as being the most prominent and explicit that could be given. It cannot be thought that the least striking have been announced and the most striking concealed. If so, then is it not very remarkable that the millennium of a thousand years (Revelation 20) is never mentioned as a sign at all? Had this been to take place before the second advent, why has it never been alluded to as one of the signs? It would have been by far the most distinct and visible. No one could overlook or mistake it. Yet nowhere, by prophets or apostles, or by the Lord himself, is it noted as a sign. How can this be accounted for save upon the ground that it was to take place after, not before, the advent? If this be admitted, all is plain; if it be denied, then let those who deny it account for the fact that, among the many signs of the advent, the millennium is never mentioned as one. How the most palpable of them all could be omitted, seems to me to require an explanation. On the post-millennial system, the omission seems to me inexplicable. For thus our Lord would be made to profess to tell us the signs of his appearing, and yet to conceal the most notable of them all.
But this is not all. The signs which are given are inconsistent with the idea of a millennium before the second advent. Who that reads the Lord's prophecy in Matthew 24, which begins with the destruction of Jerusalem and ends with his second appearing in the clouds of heaven, does not feel that the whole drift of it was to show the church that they were to expect sorrow, not joy, tribulation, not triumph, up to the time when he should return? These signs were the successive crests of the billows on which she was to be tossed, till he, with his own voice and presence, should rebuke and calm the ocean. The simple omission, then, of the millennium as a sign, is a fact on which we ought to lay much stress; but the omission of it in circumstances which preclude the possibility of its being a thing reserved or merely unspoken, furnishes a strong argument in proof of a pre-millennial advent.
Let me now note some of the signs which in the present day seem most remarkable as forerunners of the Lord's appearing. And although some of these it might be said that they have been found in former days, yet others of them, as we shall see, are peculiar to our own.
1. Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilences, and famines in divers places. (Matt. 24:6, 7.) I need not enter minutely into the proof of the existence of these. The public journals bear witness to it. For a while, it seemed almost as if the world were at rest, as if its storms had spent themselves. But now all seems changed. Every day brings new indications of disquietude and convulsion. Few nations seem willing to draw the sword, yet every nation has her hand upon the hilt; with some it is already gleaming in the air, and with others it is reddened with blood. Over the whole earth is heard “the long, low, distant murmur of dread sound.” And is this not the prelude to the LAST UNIVERSAL WAR? (Eze. 38; Zech. 14; Dan. 11:40–45; 12:1; Rev. 13:7; 16:12–16; 17:8–14; 19:11–14.) Is it not a sign of the near approach of Him who, when earth's madness and ambition are at their height—when the summoned nations are gathered at Armageddon, girt for battle and slaughter—himself appears for their discomfiture and ruin? Then, but not till then, wars shall cease and the weapons of war perish. Then the true Solomon shall begin his reign, hushing the tumults of the nations and introducing the long expected Sabbath of the weary, “work-day world.” (Rev. 19, 20.)
2. The restlessness of the world.—This sign is in part connected with the preceding, yet may be viewed separately. The state of the world is at present very ominous. Distress of nations with perplexity—men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth, “and then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power.” (Luke 21:25–27), is God's picture of the state of men as the final crisis draws on. This certainly seems our attitude at this moment. The earth and the things that are coming on it, attract the attention of all serious thinkers. There is something in the state of the world so unsettled, so pregnant with uncertain evil, that every eye is moving to and fro in expectation of strange issues, and as if to catch the first sign of their approach. The form and color of the clouds forebode speedy change, and threaten tempest to the nations. The time for listlessness and apathy is gone. Some thirty years ago, when the skies were bright, and men could promise themselves days of sunshine, it was safe enough to fold the hands and take our ease. But all this is over. No doubt, after the excitement of recent wars and revolutions, men would prefer repose. But the onward swell of the waters stays not for an hour. There is among the nations a spirit of restlessness, anarchy, and insubordination; a passionate love of change, a headlong rush to overturn every established system, too furious and united to be ultimately withstood. Many call it but a passing tumult, the frenzy of an hour; but they who understand it know how deep is the spring out of which it flows. The storm, long gathering, but resisted and repressed by the barriers which ancient wisdom had erected for the stability of kingdoms, is concentrating and condensing its strength in these venerable recesses, which may for awhile refuse to yield to the explosive force, but which, overstrained at length, give way to the accumulated pressure; then will the kingdoms of the earth be shivered; throne and temple overturned; wall and fortress laid in ruins.
(To be Continued.)
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