“THE second expedition of the Goths was undertaken with greater powers of men and ships; but they steered a different course, and, disdaining the exhausted provinces of Pontus, followed the western coast of the Euxine, passed before the wide mouths of the Borysthenes, the Dniester, and the Danube, and, increasing their fleet by the capture of a great number of fishing barks, they approached the narrow outlet through which the Euxine Sea pours its waters into the Mediterranean, and divides the continents of Europe and Asia. The garrison of Chalcedon [a city opposite to where Constantinople now stands] was encamped near the temple of Jupiter Urius, on a promontory that commanded the entrance of the strait; and so inconsiderable were the dreaded invasions of the barbarians, that this body of troops surpassed in number the Gothic army. But it was in numbers alone that they surpassed it. They deserted with precipitation their advantageous post, and abandoned the town of Chalcedon, most plentifully stored with arms and money, to the discretion of the conquerors.
“Whilst they hesitated whether they should prefer the sea or land, Europe or Asia, for the scene of their hostilities, a perfidious fugitive pointed out Nicomedia [now Ismid, at the head of the Gulf of Ismid], once the capital of the kings of Bithynia, as a rich and easy conquest. He guided the march, which was only sixty miles from the camp of Chalcedon, directed the resistless attack, and partook of the booty; for the Goths had learned sufficient policy to reward the traitor, whom they detested. Nice, Prusa, Apamæa, Cius, cities that had sometimes rivaled, or imitated, the splendor of Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity, which, in a few weeks, raged without control through the whole province of Bithynia. . . . The ruin of Cyzicus was delayed by a fortunate accident. The season was rainy, and the Lake Apolloniates [Uballania], the reservoir of all the springs of Mount Olympus, rose to an uncommon height. The little river Rhyndacus [Loupadi], which issues from the lake, swelled into a broad and rapid stream, and stopped the progress of the Goths. Their retreat to the maritime city of Heraclea [the northern point of Asia Minor], where the fleet had probably been stationed, was attended by a long train of wagons laden with the spoils of Bithynia, and was marked by the flames of Nice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. Some obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their retreat. But even a complete victory would have been of little moment, as the approach of the autumnal equinox summoned them to hasten their return.
“When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the Goths in the ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sail of ships, our ready imagination instantly computes and multiplies the formidable armament; but, as we are assured by the judicious Strabo that the piratical vessels used by the barbarians of Pontus and the Lesser Scythia were not capable of containing more than twenty-five or thirty men, we may safely affirm that fifteen thousand warriors, at the most, embarked in this great expedition. Impatient of the limits of the Euxine, they steered their destructive course from the Cimmerian to the Thracian Bosphorus. When they had almost gained the middle of the straits, they were suddenly driven back to the entrance of them; till a favorable wind, springing up the next day, carried them in a few hours into the placid sea, or rather lake, of the Propontis [Marmora]. Their landing on the little island of Cyzicus was attended with the ruin of that ancient and noble city. From thence issuing again through the narrow passage of the Hellespont, they pursued their winding navigation amidst the numerous islands scattered over the Archipelago or the Ægean Sea. The assistance of captives and deserters must have been very necessary to pilot their vessels and to direct their various incursions, as well on the coast of Greece as on that of Asia.
“At length the Gothic fleet anchored in the port of Piræus, five miles distant from Athens, which had attempted to make some preparations for a vigorous defense. Cleodamus, one of the engineers employed by the emperor’s orders to fortify the maritime cities against the Goths, had already begun to repair the ancient walls, fallen to decay since the time of Scylla. The efforts of his skill were ineffectual, and the barbarians became masters of the native seat of the muses and arts. But while the conquerors abandoned themselves to the license of plunder and intemperance, their fleet, that lay with a slender guard in the harbor of Piræus, was unexpectedly attacked by the brave Dexippus, who, flying with the engineer Cleodamus from the sack of Athens, collected a hasty band of volunteers, peasants as well as soldiers, and in some measure avenged the calamities of his country.
“But this exploit, whatever luster it might shed on the declining age of Athens, served rather to irritate than to subdue the undaunted spirit of the northern invaders. A general conflagration blazed out at the same time in every district of Greece. Thebes and Argos, Corinth and Sparta, which had formerly waged such memorable wars against each other, were now unable to bring an army into the field, or even to defend their ruined fortifications. The rage of war, both by land and by sea, spread from the eastern point of Sunium to the western coast of Epirus. The Goths had already advanced within sight of Italy, when the approach of such imminent danger awakened the indolent Gallienus from his dream of pleasure. The emperor appeared in arms; and his presence seems to have checked the ardor, and to have divided the strength, of the enemy. Naulobatus, a chief of the Heruli, accepted an honorable capitulation, entered with a large body of his countrymen into the service of Rome, and was invested with the ornaments of the consular dignity, which had never before been profaned by the hands of a barbarian.
“Great numbers of the Goths, disgusted with the perils and hardships of a tedious voyage, broke into Mæsia, with a design of forcing their way over the Danube to their settlements in the Ukraine. The wild attempt would have proved inevitable destruction, if the discord of the Roman generals had not opened to the barbarians the means of an escape. The small remainder of this destroying host returned on board their vessels; and measuring back their way through the Hellespont and the Bosphorus, ravaged in their passage the shores of Troy, whose fame, immortalized by Homer, will probably survive the memory of the Gothic conquests. As soon as they found themselves in safety within the basin of the Euxine, they landed at Anchialus in Thrace, near the foot of Mount Hæmus [Balkan Mountains]; and, after all their toils, indulged themselves in the use of those pleasant and salutary hot baths. What remained of the voyage was a short and easy navigation.
“Such was the various fate of this third and greatest of their naval enterprises. It may seem difficult to conceive how the original body of fifteen thousand warriors could sustain the losses and divisions of so bold an adventure. But as their numbers were gradually wasted by the sword, by shipwrecks, and by the influence of a warm climate, they were perpetually renewed by troops of banditti and deserters, who flocked to the standard of plunder, and by a crowd of fugitive slaves, often of German or Sarmatian extraction, who eagerly seized the glorious opportunity of freedom and revenge.”
March 20, A. D. 268, Gallienus was assassinated, and was succeeded by Claudius as emperor. In his speech to the soldiers,—
“He painted in the most lively colors the exhausted state of the treasury, the desolation of the provinces, the disgrace of the Roman name, and the insolent triumph of rapacious barbarians. It was against those barbarians, he declared, that he intended to point the first effort of their arms. Tetricus might reign for a while over the West, and even Zenobia might preserve the dominion of the East. These usurpers were his personal adversaries; nor could he think of indulging any private resentment till he had saved an empire whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented, crush both the army and the people.
“The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia who fought under the Gothic standard had already [A. D. 269] collected an armament more formidable than any which had yet issued from the Euxine. On the banks of the Dniester, one of the great rivers that discharge themselves into that sea, they constructed a fleet of two thousand, or even of six thousand vessels; numbers which, however incredible they may seem, would have been insufficient to transport their pretended army of three hundred and twenty thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of the Goths, the vigor and success of the expedition were not adequate to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage through the Bosphorus the unskillful pilots were overpowered by the violence of the current; and while the multitude of their ships were crowded in a narrow channel, many were dashed against each other or against the shore. The barbarians made several descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia; but the open country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with shame and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted.
“A spirit of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and some of their chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and Cyprus; but the main body, pursuing a more steady course, anchored at length near the foot of Mount Athos, and assaulted the city of Thessalonica, the wealthy capital of all the Macedonian provinces. Their attacks, in which they displayed a fierce but artless bravery, were soon interrupted by the rapid approach of Claudius, hastening to a scene of action that deserved the presence of a warlike prince at the head of the remaining powers of the empire. Impatient for battle, the Goths immediately broke up their camp, relinquished the siege of Thessalonica, left their navy at the foot of Mount Athos, traversed the hills of Macedonia, and pressed forward to engage the last defense of Italy.
“We still possess an original letter addressed by Claudius to the senate and people on this memorable occasion. ‘Conscript fathers,’ says the emperor, ‘know that three hundred and twenty thousand Goths have invaded the Roman territory. If I vanquish them, your gratitude will reward my services. Should I fall, remember that I am the successor of Gallienus.’
. . . The event surpassed his own expectations and those of the world. By the most signal victories he delivered the empire from this host of barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity under the glorious appellation of the Gothic Claudius. The imperfect historians of an irregular war do not enable us to describe the order and circumstances of his exploits; but, if we could be indulged in the illusion, we might distribute into three acts this memorable tragedy.”—
(Concluded next week.)
Trusting in Chariots
"Woe to them that . . . trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord." Isa. 31:1.
The Divine Man.
It was a saying of the great Napoleon, "There is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous," and the saying has been amply illustrated in the utterances of great men. But in all the utterances of Christ there is nothing puerile, nothing insignificant, nothing unworthy of a God. There is a wondrous mingling in his words of dignity and benignity, of holiness and goodness, of warning and compassion. Pure precepts are blended with precious promises, and solemn denunciations with tender appeals. There is nothing deficient, there is nothing redundant; his every deliverance is at once apposite and exhaustive. The point is so clear as to admit of no evasion; the requirement is so searching as to afford no excuse. The most astute casuists come with their crucial questions thinking to confound him, but only to be impaled themselves on the point of some more formidable questions, there to writhe in hopeless uncertainty. At length, Pharisees and Sadducees, joining in one final effort, brought their preconcerted problems to him like so many entangling nets; but only to find their artifices unavailing, and themselves knotted in difficulties from which they vainly essayed to escape. The baffled critics retire in confusion, and are not presumptuous enough to renew the assault. "No man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."
Thus the words of Jesus are unmistakably indicative of his divinity. Sometimes he asserts it in express terms; but when he does not expressly assert it, it still sublimely appears in every sentence he utters; and his whole mein and manners are always in correspondence with his words. As he was the Solomon that was always wise, and the Aaron that was always oracular, so he was the Moses that was never once deficient, and the David that was never once unkingly. When did he ever act in a way unworthy of a God? When did he not appear supreme over the natural and the supernatural? When did he not prove himself Lord of Heaven and earth, alike in providence and in grace? Wherein could we wish his doings or his demeanor to have been in any way different from just what they actually were? When was the scepter out of his hands? When did he lose his self-possession? When did he show himself to be acting in a character that was assumed for a purpose, a character that was not really and truly his own? Why is it that the child of the Virgin, and he only, is called "the holy child"? Why is it that no other man but the Man of Nazareth, could say to his accusers, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" Why is he the only man whom flatterers could not spoil and whom deceivers could not dupe? Why stood he so calm amid the surging mob clamoring for his crucifixion? Did not the stern soldier under the cross give the true solution of all this when he cried, "Truly this was the Son of God"?
The works that he did, as he himself said, "bare witness" to this great fact. The water changed into wine, the angry sea sinking into sudden calm, the multitude more than sufficiently fed with a few loaves and fishes, the blind and deaf, the lame and leprous cured, the devils cast out, the dead raised up,—these miracles proclaimed the author of them divine. After all these comes the chief, the crowning miracle, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. A mighty angel appears to the awful astonishment of the Roman guards, and rolls away the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher. The glorious form of the Redeemer emerges thence, and is fully recognized as such by his adoring disciples at his various appearances during the forty days following. He then sublimely ascends in the exercise of the same almighty power by which he had risen.
His is the power, and his alone, that can redeem the soul. No limited help, little or much, will reach the case; it requires mightiness, a Redeemer "mighty to save." None but a divine man could have borne the conflicts and agonies of the wilderness, of the garden, of the cross; none but the arm of omnipotence could ever have lifted the helpless soul out of the pit of destruction to the fields of immortality. Who shall refuse to love and to trust such a Saviour, stooping from the throne to take the vilest and the guiltiest to his embrace? O, break, hearts of stone, break in penitence and melt in contrition and yield in obedience to the command of your Creator and Redeemer.—Sel.
Religion Never Dormant.
By Michigan Advocate
EVERY attribute of true Christian character is alive. Every spark of real religion is an exercise of the soul in benevolence and purity toward God and Heaven. Religion which is not in operation is a repulsive carcass. It is death, decay, and poison to the soul. Persons deceived by it are living on selfish frames and feelings, which they mistake for genuine love, that is, disinterested benevolence. They are governed by their feelings. They have no vigorous, stalwart, manly faith. They never venture out upon daring undertakings for God. They appreciate only such things in the church and in the labors of the ministry as excite their emotions. Preaching must make them happy, or it is no preaching. They are what somebody has denominated a kind of "religious epicures." They do not thrive on homely sermons which lay bare the roots of selfishness and expose its secret workings. This is not gospel food to them. They relish only that class of truths which fan their emotions into a flame.
It is all right to be happy, but happiness is not always religion. Happiness is a state of the sensibilities, and is of course involuntary; while religion is benevolence, and therefore powerful action. Every impulse of the religious soul is a bound forward along the lines of holy endeavor. The hour of prayer and meditation is but a season for renewing strength in view of toil and conflict. Hence our hours of self-examination should be devoted to inquiries, not as to how we feel and how happy we are, but as to what end we are living for, and how we can best gain qualifications for usefulness. Brother, arise! Resolve on doing something. Throw yourself into the harness, find a place somewhere in the field, and perform a work that shall live. What better are you for living in the world, if the world is no better for your living? Your mission may not be a great one, but it is a good one, and goodness is always great enough. Encourage some soul to pray, some heart to believe. Induce your acquaintances to read their Bibles more. Make the social meetings of your church a living power. You will find enough to do if only you first gain the willing mind.
Comfort to Sodom.
THAT was a most significant charge which God, by the prophet Ezekiel, brought against the Jews, that they were a comfort to Sodom, though they were the recognized people of God. Eze. 16: 48-54. In various ways we may be a comfort to the wicked.
1. By preserving silence when we ought to rebuke their wrong-doing. Their consciences reprove them, and, knowing our profession, they expect from us reproof. If we look on and do not speak, we are regarded as not disapproving, and the inference is comforting.
2. By ridiculing or denouncing in their presence those Christians who are endeavoring to live above the common level of practical godliness, urging such terms as "bigotry" and "spiritual pride."
3. By doing things which perhaps are not necessarily sinful, but which border so closely on the sinful as to encourage the wicked to go a little further. They see that we are willing to go as far as we can and not expose ourselves to church censure, and they infer that we would keep even pace with them if we could with safety.
4. By indulgences which the non-professing cannot see to be different in principle from their own loved gratifications. "If you Christians," they say, "can dance in a parlor gathering of fifty, why may not we dance in a ball-room party of two hundred? If you can find pleasure in private theatricals, why may we not find pleasure in public theaters? If we are in the high school of vice, it is because we were educated in your primary schools."
5. Many a sinner with a disturbed conscience has been comforted by hearing professors, on their way from the house of God, indulge in severe criticisms upon the preaching or the preacher.
6. By a worldly mindedness that allows the wicked to perceive no difference between them and us. "Your love of money, your pride of life, your style of living, your passion for show, are apparently just like ours. We see no difference. What do you more than others?"—Sel.
The Solid Rock.
By Northwestern Presbyterian
A GENTLEMAN once wished to examine the operation of a deep coal mine. Coming to the mouth of the shaft, he noticed a rope by which he supposed the miners descended. Taking hold, he slowly let himself down. When at last he came to the end of the rope, he found, to his horror, that he had not reached the bottom of the mine, and realized that he had made a fatal mistake. He could not reascend, and to let go his hold was to fall, perhaps hundreds of feet, to the rocks below. All around was dark. He called wildly for help, but there came no response; at last, giving up to his fate, he relaxed his grasp and fell. He dropped about six inches, and stood safe on the rock bottom of the mine! That rope was long enough for the tall miners, and the shortest of them had learned to have faith, to let go without fear.
In the course of our Christian life, we often come to what seems a terrible extremity. We let go, thinking that we are falling into empty void, and we find that the solid rock is beneath our feet.
A little church for years clung to the Board of Home Missions for support. At last it was notified that it must let go and take care of itself; this seemed to be the church's death-warrant. But some of the members gathered together, and consecrated themselves and their substance to the Lord's service, and when the fatal day arrived, instead of falling into a bottomless pit, they dropped gently upon the rock of self-support.
A minister believed for a long time that he could preach more effectively, if, after thoroughly studying his subject, he could stand boldly before the people, ready to receive the immediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But this involved giving up his manuscript, and he feared that without it he would have a disgraceful fall. Suddenly his right hand was disabled so that he could not hold the pen. He was compelled to go to the pulpit without his written sermon. Instead of failing, he found that the Spirit gave him a power he had never known, to move the hearts of the people and lead them to Christ.
In his personal experience every faithful Christian finds that when his accustomed supports are taken away, God gives him something better and more enduring.—Northwestern Presbyterian.
Pedantry Without True Knowledge
By Addison
PEDANTRY in learning is like hypocrisy in religion—a form of knowledge without the power of it.—Addison.
The Everlasting Kingdom.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
WHEN is the everlasting kingdom to be set up?
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44. “In the days of these kings.” These words occur at the close of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image. The kings (kingdoms) referred to cannot refer to the four universal monarchies,—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome,—because these follow in succession, and it would be impossible for one kingdom to be set up in the days of each of them. The expression can refer to nothing else than the kingdoms into which Rome was divided, and which are referred to in Dan. 2:41. This division was completed before the close of the fifth century A. D.
The expression, “in the days of these kings,” shows conclusively that in no sense was the kingdom of God set up at the time of Christ’s first advent. There was at that time only one kingdom—Rome—and it exercised universal dominion. There was then nothing to indicate that the proud empire would ever crumble into fragments. This fact alone is sufficient to show that the setting up of the kingdom was not in the days of Christ or his apostles.
By what symbol is it represented?
The verse above quoted says that the kingdom of the God of Heaven “shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” In the statement of the dream, Dan. 2:31-35, we are told that the stone which was cut out without hands, “smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces,” and that “then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them.” When we remember that these various metals represent the kingdoms of earth, which are to be broken in pieces and consumed by the kingdom of God, we know that in this prophecy, the kingdom of God is represented by the stone.
WHERE is the image to be smitten by this stone?
What part of the world’s temporal history is represented by the feet of the image?
“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet.” Dan. 2:34. It is self-evident that the feet of the image represent the last portion of this world’s history, or, rather, of the history of nations on this earth. We say this is self-evident, because in the time represented by the feet, the image is to be totally demolished and consumed. After it is smitten, no place is to be found for its fragments, showing that from that time the nations of earth are to have no place in history. It is evident, then, that this smiting of the image on the feet is the thing to which the disciples referred when they asked Christ, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24:3.
DID either of the four great kingdoms utterly destroy, or exterminate, the kingdoms that ruled before it?
Repeat a scripture that seems to allude to this fact.
In speaking of the fourth and last beast, Daniel says: “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” Dan. 7:11. But in direct contrast with this, he speaks of the three preceding beasts as follows: “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” Dan. 7:12. This shows that none of the kingdoms are utterly destroyed until the last. When Cyrus conquered Babylon, the Medo-Persian kings began to rule over the territory and subjects over which the Babylonian kings had formerly ruled. It was the same way, also, when Alexander conquered the Persians. When one universal empire succeeded another, the world simply changed rulers. Had it been otherwise, the conqueror would not have had much dominion. The characteristics of the conquered nation modified to a great extent the nation which subdued it. This is plainly indicated in the symbol of the fourth kingdom, as seen by John (Rev. 13:1-10). That beast was like a leopard (third kingdom); its feet were as the feet of a bear (second kingdom); and its mouth as the mouth of a lion (first kingdom). Besides these characteristics, it had the seven heads and ten horns peculiar to Rome, and did the same work that is ascribed to the fourth beast of Daniel 7.
These facts of Scripture are in harmony with the statement in Daniel 2, that when the stone smites the image, the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold are all broken to pieces together. It is in the days of “these kings,” the ten divisions of the Roman Empire, that the smiting is done, but the consequent destruction takes in all that remains of all the preceding kingdoms.
WHAT is to be the effect of this smiting?
When will this utter destruction take place?
Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, which have already been quoted, answer question 8. All earthly kingdoms are to be destroyed utterly, to make room for the everlasting kingdom of God. This smiting is many times referred to in the Bible. God, speaking through the prophet David, says to Christ: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Ps. 2:8, 9.
The prophet Habakkuk had a view of this terrible dashing to pieces of the nations, and he describes it thus: “The mountains saw thee, and they trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by; the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.” Hab. 3:10-12. Compare the last clause with Dan. 2:35.
Isaiah also bears testimony similar to that given by David: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, . . . and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” Isa. 11:1-4. Compare 2 Thess. 2:8.
And lastly we read the graphic prophetic description given by John: “And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. . . . And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him. . . . These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Rev. 19:11-21.
Let the reader carefully compare these texts, and he will be convinced that they refer to the same time to which Peter does, when he says: “But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word [the word of the Lord] are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7. And this is, in part, the fulfilling of the promise of Christ’s coming.
BUT the destruction of the wicked of earth is only a part of the work to be done. Habakkuk says, immediately following the words before quoted from him: “Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed.” Immediately following the statement quoted from Isaiah, is a description of a wonderful state of peace, closing with these words: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa. 11:9. And this agrees with the statement in Dan. 2:35, that, after the destruction of the image, the stone, representing the kingdom of God, “became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” This shows conclusively that the kingdom of God is to be finally established on this earth; that it is to be as real and literal a kingdom as were the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Grecian; that it is not yet set up, because when it is set up it immediately consumes the kingdoms of earth; and that it is to be absolutely universal, because it is to fill the whole earth, and no place is to be found for any opposing power.
How will the earth itself be purified from the effects of sin and the curse?
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10. That this results in the purification of the earth, is evident from verse 13: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
How will all the righteous, both the dead and the living, escape this terrible destruction?
Habakkuk says that when the Lord brings these terrible judgments upon the earth, he goes forth for the salvation of his people. Since the preservation of his people is the object, they may fearlessly “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Resting on the promise of Jehovah, that, “Because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Ps. 91:5-10), the righteous can sing: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” Ps. 46:1, 2. But the people of God are not to be left on this earth during the great conflagration which destroys the wicked and melts the elements. “For the Lord himself shall descend from759heaven 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; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. As the trumpet sounds, the dead are raised incorruptible, and the living are likewise changed from mortal to immortal, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:51, 52); so that when they go to be with Christ, and to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34), they are equal unto the angels, for they cannot die any more. And thus is fulfilled the statement in Dan. 2:44: “And the kingdom shall not be left to other people.”
Not forever are the people of God to remain away from this earth. Says John: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them which were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Rev. 20:4, 5. Here the first resurrection, the resurrection of the righteous, is brought to view, with the statement that a thousand years is to intervene between that and the resurrection of the wicked. During that time the earth is in a state of chaos, an abyss, as it was in the beginning. Isaiah describes it thus: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” Isa. 24:1, 3. And Jeremiah says: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” Jer. 4:23-27.
DURING this period of desolation, those who have had part in the first resurrection, upon whom the second death has no power (Rev. 20:6), are sitting on thrones of judgment (Rev. 20:4), judging the world and wicked angels. 1 Cor. 6:1-3. They are in the kingdom of God, because they are in the New Jerusalem, the capital of that kingdom. The gates of the “strong city” will have been opened, “that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth” might enter in. Isa. 26:1, 2. At the close of the thousand years, when “the holy city, New Jerusalem,” comes down “from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2); the wicked dead are then raised, and the prophetic declaration is, that “they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.” Rev. 20:9.
THIS devouring is the same as the destruction described in the nineteenth chapter, a portion of which has been quoted. It is the same as the casting of the tares into the fire, spoken of by Christ in Matt. 13; and when this has been done, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
Reader, would you be one of the happy subjects of that kingdom? If so, you must do the will of God, and that means that you must keep his holy law; for only “the righteous nation which keepeth the truth” shall have a place in that kingdom. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14.