Earlier text: General ArticlesThe Babylonian Empire.
By A. T. J.
WE have seen that Nebuchadnezzar's conquests comprised all the countries westward to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, with Egypt and Arabia. Eastward his dominion extended over all of Susiana (Elam); a part, at least, of Persia; and by the marriage of Nebuchadnezzar to the daughter of Cyaxares, and procuring a marriage between Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, and Aryenis, the daughter of the king of Lydia, Nabopolassar had succeeded in binding by blood relationship these three kingdoms—Media, Lydia, and Babylonia—into one, in which his influence, and that of Nebuchadnezzar after him was always paramount. "By this peace the three great monarchies of the time—the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian—were placed on terms not only of amity, but of intimacy, and (if the word may be used) of blood relationship. The crown princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores of the Ægean to those of the Persian Gulf, Western Asia was now ruled by inter-connected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each others' rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures, and animated, it would seem, by a real spirit of mutual friendship and mutual attachment. . . . From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares . . . for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia remained fast friends, pursuing their separate courses without quarrel or collision, and thus giving to the nations within their borders a rest and a refreshment which they must have greatly needed and desired."—Seven Great Monarchies, Third Mon., chap. 6, par. 43. As this inter-relationship was brought about altogether, from first to last, by Nabopolassar, so, from first to last, the ascendancy of the Babylonian power was felt in the alliance. And as by the conquest of Tyre the power of Nebuchadnezzar was recognized in all the Tyrion colonies of the Mediterranean as far as to Carthage and even to Cadiz; and as by the conquest of Egypt, Arabia, Moab, Ammon, and all the Phenician countries, his power was spread from the northern borders of Syria to Ethiopia and the Arabian Desert, and as his rule extended over all of Susiana and a part of Persia; and when it is remembered that this was nearly, if not quite, six hundred years before Christ; it is evident that the Babylonian influence was recognized as far as civilization extended. As the greatness of the kingdom was all owing to the abilities of Nebuchadnezzar, and as the empire began to decline immediately upon his death, it may properly be said that he was the empire. This will most forcibly appear in the quotations which immediately follow. It is therefore peculiarly appropriate, and expresses the very essence of all the history on the subject, when, in further explanation, Daniel exclaimed:— "Nebuchadnezzar is the familiar form, transcribed from the Hebrew, of the name of the great Babylonian king who carried the Jews captive, and whose reign marks the highest point of the Chaldean Empire."—Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Nebuchadnezzar. "Nabopolassar was followed in 604 by his son Nebuchadnezzar, whose long reign of forty-three years made Babylon the mistress of the world. The whole East was overrun by the armies of Chaldea. Egypt was invaded, and the city of the Euphrates was left without a rival."—Ib., art. Babylonia, Eth. and Hist., par. 11. "Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar's eldest son, was the real founder of the Babylonian Empire. The attempt of Pharaoh Necho to win for Egypt the inheritance of Syria, was overthrown at the battle of Carchemish, and when Nebuchadnezzar succeeded his father in B. C. 604, he found himself the undisputed lord of Western Asia. . . . Babylon was now enriched with the spoils of foreign conquest. It owed as much to Nebuchadnezzar as Rome owed to Augustus. The buildings and walls with which it was adorned were worthy of the metropolis of the world."—Sayce's Ancient Empires of the East, chap. 2, par. 44, 45. "Nebuchadnezzar rendered himself no less famous by his internal administration than by his foreign conquests. The fortune of war had placed at his disposal immense riches and innumerable captives; he employed both in the works of embellishment and of public utility, which made Babylon the most celebrated city in the world."—Ancient History of the East, book 4, chap. 5, sec. 3, par. 7. "Crowds of captives—the produce of his various wars—Jews, Egyptians, Phenicians, Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites, were settled in various parts of Mesopotamia, more especially about Babylon. From these unfortunates forced labor was as a matter of course required; and it seems to have been chiefly, if not solely, by these exertions that the magnificent series of great works was accomplished, which formed the special glory of the Fourth Monarchy."—Seven Great Monarchies, Fourth Mon., chap. 8, par. 30. "Throughout the empire, at Borsippa, Sippara, Cutha, Chilmad, Duraba, Teredon, and a multitude of other places, he built or rebuilt cities, repaired temples, constructed quays, reservoirs, canals, and aqueducts, on a scale of grandeur and magnificence surpassing everything of the kind recorded in history, unless it be the constructions of one or two of the greatest Egyptian monarchs." "The genius and grandeur which characterized Nebuchadnezzar, and which have handed down his name among the few ancient personages known generally throughout the East, are very apparent in Scripture, and indeed in all accounts of his reign and actions."—McClintock and Strong's Encyclopedia, art. Nebuchadnezzar, par. 6, 15. "It is enough to note in this place that he was great both in peace and in war, but greater in the former. . . . It was as the adorner and beautifier of his native land—as the builder and restorer of almost all her cities and temples—that this monarch obtained that great reputation which has handed down his name traditionally in the East on a par with those of Nimrod, Solomon, and Alexander, and made it still a familiar term in the mouths of the people. Probably no single man ever left behind him as his memorial upon the earth one-half the amount of building that was erected by this king."—Ib., art., Babylonia History, par. 6. "Nebuchadnezzar is the great monarch of the Babylonian Empire, which lasting only eighty-eight years—from B. C. 625 to B. C. 538—was for nearly half the time under his sway. Its military glory is due chiefly to him, while the constructive energy, which constitutes its especial characteristic, belongs to it still more markedly through his character and genius. It is scarcely too much to say that, but for Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians would have had no place in history. At any rate, their actual place is owing almost entirely to this prince, who to the military talents of an able general added a grandeur of artistic conception and skill in construction which place him on a par with the greatest builders of antiquity."—Seven Great Monarchies, Fourth, chap. 8, par. 23. "His last days were as brilliant as his first; his sun set in an unclouded sky, shorn of none of the rays that had given splendor to its noon-day. Nebuchadnezzar expired at Babylon in the forty-fourth year of his reign, B. C. 561, after an illness of no long duration. He was probably little short of eighty years old at his death."—Ib., par. 38. Of the propriety of Babylon's being represented in its place in the vision, by the "gold" of the image, the following is an illustration:— "Babylonia seems to have been the source from which Assyria drew her learning, such as it was, her architecture, the main ideas of her mimetic art, her religious notions, her legal forms, and a vast number of her customs and usages. But Babylonia herself, so far as we know, drew her stores from no foreign country. Hers was apparently the genius which excogitated an alphabet—worked out the simplest problems of arithmetic—invented implements for measuring the lapse of time—conceived the idea of raising enormous structures with the poorest of all materials, clay—discovered the art of polishing, boring, and engraving gems—reproduced with truthfulness the outlines of human and animal forms—attained to high perfection in textile fabrics—studied with success the motions of the heavenly bodies—conceived of grammar as a science—elaborated a system of law—saw the value of an exact chronology—in almost every branch of science made a beginning, thus rendering it comparatively easy for other nations to proceed with the superstructure. To Babylonia far more than to Egypt, we owe the art and learning of the Greeks. It was from the East, not from Egypt, that Greece derived her architecture, her sculpture, her science, her philosophy, her mathematical knowledge—in a word, her intellectual life. And Babylon was the source to which the entire stream of Eastern civilization may be traced."—Ib., chap. 8, last par. "Here was the center and starting-point of the civilization which afterwards spread throughout Western Asia."—Ancient Empires, chap. 2, par. 3. With these views of Babylon and her greatness and glory, we can see the propriety of the expressions used by Isaiah in regard to her, when he speaks of her as "Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," chap. 13: 19; and as "the lady of kingdoms," chap. 47: 5. But for all this the time should come when her glory was to depart; her empire should perish; and Babylon should fall to rise no more at all. This Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, should be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa. 13: 19); the time should come when she should be called no more "the lady of kingdoms." In Jeremiah 27: 7 we read of the extent of the kingdom of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and in whose reign it should fall, as follows:— "And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." Thus we find that in the days of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson the kingdom of Babylon should pass away, and other nations and other kings should establish themselves, and serve themselves of this kingdom. And in the direct record of the fall of Babylon, given in Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar is repeatedly spoken of as the grandfather of Belshazzar, the king who was reigning in Babylon at the time of its fall. See verses 2, 11, 13 (margin); also "Seven Great Monarchies," Fourth Mon., chap. 8, par. 43, notes 179, 185; and par. 50. How DIFFERENT is peace from happiness! Happiness is the result of harmony between our wants as creatures and the world without; peace is the harmony between us as spiritual beings and the Father of our spirits. The one is changeable as the objects or circumstances on which it, for the moment, relies; the other is as unchangeable as the God on whom it eternally rests. We may thus possess at once real happiness and real peace, yet either may exist without the other. Nay, more, happiness may be destroyed by God in order that the higher blessing of peace may be possessed; but never will he take away peace to give happiness. Happiness without peace is temporal; peace along with happiness is eternal.—Sel. AT the gathering of the bishops of the Church of England, in London, J. T. Haley, bishop of Hayti, a full-blooded African, preached, by request of Dean Stanley, in Westminster Abbey. His text was Matt. 20:21: "And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom." He closed his discourse in these prayerful words: "O thou Saviour Christ, Son of the living God, who when thou wast spurned by the Jews of the race of Shem, and who, when delivered up without cause by the Romans of the race of Japheth, on the day of the crucifixion hadst the ponderous cross borne to Golgotha's summit on the stalwart shoulder of Simon, the Cyrenian, of the race of Ham—I pray thee, O precious Saviour, remember that despised, dejected, and forlorn race, whose son thus bore thy cross, when thou shalt come in the power and majesty of thy eternal kingdom to distribute thy crowns of everlasting glory! And give to me, then, not a place at thy right hand, nor at thy left, but only the place of a gate-keeper at the entrance of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, that I may behold my redeemed brethren, the saved of the Lord, entering therein to be partakers with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of thy glorious and everlasting kingdom."—Sel. ABOUT the close of the last century, when Napoleon and his army invaded Egypt, they found two temples, one at Denderah, and the other at Esneh, covered with hieroglyphics, images of deities, and views of the heavenly bodies of so curious a character that literary men not only copied them, but carried away large sections of the ceilings to Paris. Here they became at once subjects of great importance. Archæologists examined them, made astronomical calculations, and pronounced them to be at least 17,000 years old. Great excitement followed. The savans were agreed on the question of antiquity. The Bible was reviled and denounced as a system of falsehoods. But presently Champollion, having the inscriptions on the Rosetta stone for a key, deciphered the hieroglyphics, and found in the temple of Denderah the titles of Augustus Cæsar, and in that of Esneh the name of Antoninus, thus proving that the first was no older than the Christian era, and the other one hundred and forty years later. Thereupon the bubble suddenly burst, and nothing more has ever been heard of the remarkable temples. Another case belongs to our own country and to the present generation. A standard and very strong proof of the "antiquity of man" was found in the case of certain human bones found in a coral formation in Florida. The case appeared in several of the best works on the subject. It obtained the weight of the name of the great Agassiz, who entered into an elaborate argument to show, by the known rate of the formation of coral, that ten thousand years, at least, must have elapsed since the bones were placed in the reef. This was strong evidence, and the most was made of it. It was hard to answer. But, unfortunately for the continuance of its strength, the original discoverer of the bones, Count L. F. Pourtales, came to know of the use made of his discovery, when there appeared in the American Naturalist the following statement from him: "The human jaw and other bones found in Florida by myself in 1848, were not found in a coral formation, but in a fresh-water sandstone, on the shore of Lake Monroe, associated with fresh-water shells of species still living in the lake. No date can be assigned to the formation of that deposit, at least from present observation." Thus ended, also, this great wonder. It is not putting the case too strongly to say that there is not one clearly settled fact which shows, with any fair degree of conclusiveness, that man has been on the earth for a longer period than about six thousand years. There are some things which on their face have seemed to require great antiquity; but they have either broken down entirely on closer examination, or they are too weak to do more than raise a presumption. So the case stands at this time. —Pittsburgh Advocate. The Life and Character of Our Saviour.
By E. Hilliard
WE never become weary in contemplating the life and character of our blessed Lord. The more we learn about him the more we desire to know of him. As we study his spotless character, it awakens a longing within the soul to become like him. The record of his noble self-sacrificing deeds, of his ardent impartial love, touches a chord in the human heart that no other power or influence has ever been able to reach. He was no respecter of persons. He loved the humble, the lowly penitent, and the poor, as well as the influential and wealthy. All who would meet him on the plane of humility shared alike his love and mercy. He led a quiet, unostentatious life, perfectly free from affectation and outward show. What a contrast between Christ the pattern of true greatness and those whom the world esteems great! His work was not to lay waste and make desolate. It was to feed the hungry multitudes; to alleviate the suffering; to speak words of comfort to the sad and lonely; to open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf. Instead of destroying life by the scourge of war, he gave back to the living their dead. Then as the last greatest token of love for the fallen race, he gave his own life to open the chasm of death, that all who will, may cross, to be forever beyond its dreaded power. Oh, who can help loving such a benefactor! Does he not deserve our highest praise? Every one who is seeking a home in Christ's kingdom, must not only admire the character of the Great Pattern, but must let each day contribute something to the formation of a similar one. Taking an active interest in others' welfare will greatly assist in putting away selfishness, and largely contribute to that spirit of love and meekness that so characterized the life of our Saviour. Let us daily seek to become like him by practicing, as far as possible, the noble deeds that made up his life's record. E. HILLIARD.
Medford, Minn. Decision of Character
By William M. Taylor
SOME years ago we made a most instructive visit to the Assay Office, in Wall Street, where we were shown a balance, concerning which the courteous superintendent said: "The distinctive feature of this balance is its combination of sensitiveness with decision. It may be turned by the smallest fraction of a grain, and when it is turned, it never wavers, but moves right on. We had one formerly," he continued, "which was extremely sensitive; but it lacked decision, so that it quivered from side to side for a long time before it settled; and frequently we wasted fifteen minutes in getting a result which we can obtain from this one in a moment." As we listened to his lucid explanation, we could not help saying, "How like that wavering balance, many men are!—abundantly sensitive, they yet lack decision, and take so long to settle what is to be done that the opportunity of doing anything is gone before they are ready to begin." All praise decision of character in common things; but all are not so ready to acknowledge its importance in spiritual affairs; and there are those to-day who would make a merit of indecision, and glory in the fact that they are believers in the great dictum that nothing should be believed about spiritual things. What is lacking in such persons?—W. M. Taylor, D. D. Beholding As in a Mirror.
By H. E. Brooke
You may remember that the mirrors of old were of polished metal, not like ours, of glass, and therefore they had this peculiarity, that, if a person looked into a mirror, he saw, probably less perfectly than we do now, his face; but if he used the mirror to look at any other object—as, for example, reflecting mirrors are used in telescopes, to see the stars and the moon—if he used the mirror for such a purpose, if the object was a brilliant one, it would not only show itself upon the surface of the polished mirror, but cast back its rays upon his face, so that a man who was using a mirror for this object would not only see what he wanted, but imperceptibly his face would be lit up with the glory of the object, if that object was one possessing brightness. I think that is the key to the right understanding of that passage: 'We all, with unveiled face, beholding, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord.' We are told a little further on, that, 'in the face of Jesus Christ,' the glory of the Lord is revealed. We are gazing at him, and, as we gaze at him, there is this effect going on—the Spirit of the Lord is changing us from glory to glory. Here, then, is the advantage of gazing on Christ; that we are gazing at an object whom the Spirit of the Lord uses to this end; that he reflects back the glory of the object upon the countenances of those who gaze at him. May our thoughts be sanctified, and, as the Lord Jesus is the object of our contemplation, may our hearts have reflected back upon them some of the rays of this glory with transforming power.—Rev. H. E. Brooke. Plain but Wholesome Words.
THE late R. J. McGhee, of Dublin, in his lectures on the Ephesians, has this passage: "I have known some wives, making confession of Christ and married to ungodly men, who have made religion odious to their husbands by the way in which they acted towards them, thinking that because they were religious and their husbands not, therefore they should regulate and order everything their own way. Let a woman remember that her husband's character, as being a believer or an unbeliever, does not change her relation, nor consequently her duty, to him. She should, if possible, be only the more scrupulous and careful in the discharge of that duty. It is a grievous evil when the effect of religion is to lead its professors to neglect of duty or an unamiable temper. I have known, on the contrary, a pious woman married to an ungodly man so to adorn the doctrine of Christ that she made religion sweet even to those who knew it not. She caused them to honor the influence of religion in her, though they did not honor it for its own sake.—Christian Intelligencer." THE truth of God will surely win its way in the world. Yes, but the fact does not excuse us from doing our best to secure its victory. The time of its absolute success may depend, in the divine providence, upon the rendering or withholding of our personal labors in its behalf; and even so slight a delay, as it seems to us that the lack of our co-operation can cause, may be a terrible evil to more worlds than our own. The truth will win in the end, but will not, must not, our respective shares in the glory and the joy of the final, blessed consummation, be determined by the proportionate willingness or reluctance to work for the Master which we who profess to belong to him now shall have manifested? Then the happiest spirits will be they who here did not think much of sharing the honors of victory; but who thought often and earnestly how they could make their powers and influence—no matter how humble—tell most in aiding the success of the divine kingdom among men, even if they could serve only by helping to remove hindrances.—Sel. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
FROM Horeb, Elijah was directed to go by Damascus on his return to the land of Israel, and to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria, and Jehu to be king of Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his room, and then it was, and not till then, that the Lord told him of the 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Then it was that Elijah knew that he was not alone in honoring God in the nation of Israel. Elisha was found in the field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. He asked permission to go and kiss his father and his mother; this was given, and he did so. Then he killed two of the oxen and made a feast for the people; "Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him." THAT Elijah was to be translated was known not only to himself, but to Elisha, and also to the schools of the prophets. When Elijah said to Elisha, "Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel," Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee;" and this determination not to leave Elijah was because he knew that Elijah was to be taken away. When they were come to Bethel, the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace." And when Elijah and Elisha had passed on and had come down to Jericho, there likewise the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day?" And again he answered, "Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace." And when they two had gone on down to Jordan, fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood "to view afar off." It is useless to speculate upon the question of how they all knew it. We know that they did know it. And the fact of Elisha's knowing it is a sufficient reason for his determination not to leave Elijah. Nor need we suppose that this determination was the result of curiosity; but rather of a desire to be a partaker of the rich experience, and the immense help to his faith, that would be afforded by his walking by Elijah's side, even to his entering into Heaven, and by seeing, himself, as it were, the rending of the veil that separates us from the other world. We know that this was so, because several years afterward, when the king of Syria had with "horses, and chariots, and a great host," compassed about the city where Elisha was, Elisha's servant cried out, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" The prophet replied, "Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings 6:13-18. Elisha did not pray that his own eyes might be opened, but that the eyes of the young man might be opened, that he might see what Elisha already knew was there. As for himself, he had seen the heavenly horses and chariots take away Elijah, and he knew that they were ever ready to protect the servant of God. He did well to go with Elijah to the furthest possible step. As THESE two men went onward from Jericho, they presently "stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken519away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more." Thus Elijah went bodily into Heaven without seeing death. His natural body was "changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" into a spiritual body. His mortal body was made immortal. The same body that walked by Elisha's side, and the same hands upon which Elisha had poured water, were changed from the natural to the spiritual, from mortal to immortal. That same body went to Heaven; that same body stood on the mount of transfiguration; and to-day that same body stands in the presence of God in Heaven. Those same lips that denounced sin and called the people to obedience to the commandments of God, are to-day singing the songs of Zion, in Zion the beautiful city of God. PAUL says, "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:44. In this, however, he does not speak of two bodies, but he speaks of two conditions of the same body. Man has a natural body now; and if he ever reaches another world, it will be by the change of this natural body into a spiritual body either by translation or by a resurrection. It is all a hoax about there being a spiritual body inside of the natural body, and that the natural body is cast off and the spiritual body flies away. It is all a hoax that at death the spirit leaves the natural body and goes into a spiritual body. Elijah did not leave his body in this world when he went to Heaven; nor did Jesus leave his body when he went to Heaven. Elijah did not obtain a spiritual body by dying, but by translation. Neither do those who die obtain a spiritual body by dying, but by a resurrection from the dead. And these two ways—by translation and by resurrection—are the only ways that God has appointed by which men may ever reach another world. IT was in writing of the resurrection of the righteous dead, that Paul referred to the spiritual body. He says, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from Heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." 1 Cor. 15:42-48. WE have shown that Elijah stood on the mount of transfiguration as the representative of those who shall be translated at the coming of the Lord. We have shown that in their leading points, the times and the experience of Elijah just before his translation were representative of the times and the experiences of those in the last days who shall be translated at the coming of Christ. We have seen that as there was great drought in the land then, so there is to be just before the Lord comes. We have seen that as there was a controversy over the commandments of God in the time of Elijah, so there is to be in the last days. We have seen that as there was persecution of those who kept the commandments then, so there is to be, just before the coming of the Lord, persecution of those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We have seen that as the test was then whether they would worship the Lord or Baal, so in the last days it will be whether men will worship the beast and his image, or whether they will worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. We have seen that as then the test of obedience to God was involved in keeping the first commandment, so now it turns upon showing allegiance to God by keeping the fourth commandment. AND now as Elijah's experience in this world ends with his translation, and his being carried up into Heaven by the heavenly chariots, so also ends the experience, in this world, of those who in the last days keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus must be kept against the most determined opposition of all the powers of earth. And of those who will do this, it is said, "I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. 15:2. Of this same company it is said in another place, "These were redeemed from among men." Elijah was redeemed from among men. IT cannot be said of those who shall be raised from the dead, that they were redeemed from among men; they will be redeemed from death (Hos. 13:14), they will be redeemed from among the dead. But this company of those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, who get the victory over the beast and his image, who stand on the sea of glass, in the presence of the great white throne (Rev. 4:6), who have the harps of God, these being redeemed from among men as was Elijah, will be translated as was he. "For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." Isa. 66:15. "Oh, joy! oh, delight! should we go without dying.
No sickness, no sorrow, no dread, and no crying.
Caught up through the air with our Lord into glory,
When Jesus receives his own." And now as we, for the present, take our leave of Elijah, we pray that each one who has read these sketches of his experience, may be as faithful and uncompromising in his allegiance to God and his commandments, in this our day, as was Elijah in his; that each one may be as jealous for the Lord God of hosts as was he; and then there is no shadow of question but that when the Lord and his holy angels shall come with fire and with his chariots, all such shall be not only where Elijah is, but where the Lord Jesus himself is. They shall see the King in his beauty, they shall behold the King of glory. "TAKE heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons. . . . Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—SEPT. 19. Prophecy, Its Use and Importance.
1. How did God talk with man before the fall?
It is evident that before the fall God talked with man face to face. Gen. 1:28; 2:16, 17 speak of God talking to man in a familiar manner, but do not say that it was face to face. But our Saviour says that the pure in heart shall see God (Matt. 5:8), and since our first parents were then pure and upright, we must conclude that they also saw God. Since the fall, however, no man has been able to look upon God, and when God has spoken, it has been from a cloud, or from thick darkness. Deut. 5:22. The priests in the sanctuary were not able to look upon the glory of God, but had to be protected from the sight. 2. What is one result of sin?
"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Isa. 59:2. 3. After man had sinned, what effect would the immediate presence of God have upon him?
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live." Ex. 33:20. 4. What instance have we where God spoke direct to the children of Israel?
"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Ex. 20:1, 2. 5. Why did they desire Moses to speak the word of the Lord to them?
"And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Ex. 20:19. 6. What is one medium through which God can make known his will to sinful man?
"And he said, Hear now my words: 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. 7. How much of what God proposes to do will he reveal to his prophets?
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. 8. Name examples of visions given for the benefit of generations to come.
"But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." Dan. 2:28.
"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for yet the vision is for many days." Dan. 10:14.
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4. 9. How were they preserved for the benefit of mankind?
"In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." Dan. 7:1.
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Rom. 15:4. 10. What does David say of God's word?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. 119:105. 11. What especially gives it the character of a lamp?
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts." 2 Pet. 1:19. 12. How are we exhorted in this verse to give attention to prophecy? 13. What is prophecy? Ans.—"A declaration of something to come; a foretelling; a prediction; especially, an inspired prediction."—Webster. 14. Have we a right to study prophecy?
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut. 29:29. 15. Show that the man of God cannot be fully equipped without a knowledge of the prophetic word.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. 16. Give instances where Christ referred to prophecies concerning himself and his mission.
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." Luke 24:27. See also Luke 4:16-21. 17. How did he rebuke the unbelieving disciples?
"Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Luke 24:25. 18. What two books are largely composed of prophecies for the last days? Daniel and Revelation. 19. What is the inspired title of the last book of the Bible?
"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. 20. What is a revelation? That which is revealed. 21. How are we encouraged to become acquainted with the contents of the revelation?
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." Rev. 1:3. 22. What curse is pronounced on those who shall interfere with the prophecy of this book?
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Rev. 22:18, 19. 23. What shows that the book of Daniel would not all be understood from the first?
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." "And I heard, but I understood not; then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Dan. 12:4, 8-10. 24. When may we expect it to be understood? Verses 4, 9. 25. Who will understand it? Verse 10.