Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 29. (5/27/1875)

Signs of the Times

May 27, 1875

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · May 27, 1875

The Sermon.

By J. H. Waggoner

PERPETUITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER. (Continued.)

OTHER important evidence of the fulfillment, in this present generation, of the promise of the Saviour and of the prophecy of Joel. We now call attention to what the Scriptures reveal on this subject concerning the times immediately preceding the second advent of our Lord. Neander makes a very interesting statement of the faith of the Montanists of the second century. He says:—

“It appears also to have been the doctrine of the Montanists, that the season of the last and richest outpouring of the Holy Spirit would form the last age of the church, and precede the second coming of Christ, and be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel.” Rose's Neander, p. 332.

A book written to reproach this faith, and designed to bring the Montanists into disrepute, was read by John Wesley; but it had the effect to convince him that they were a godly people, and that their faith in regard to the perpetuity of the spirit was correct. This, no doubt, prepared his mind to look for and seek those evidences of divine favor which he so largely received in his after experience. So God overrules the work of his enemies to his own praise. Mr. Wesley's notice of this book and of the result to his mind of reading it, is as follows:—

“By reflecting on an odd book, which I had read in this journey, ‘The general delusion of Christians with regard to prophecy,’ I was fully convinced of what I had long suspected: 1. That the Montanists in the second and third centuries, were real Scriptural Christians; and 2. That the grand reason why the miraculous gifts were so soon withdrawn, was not only that faith and holiness were well nigh lost, but that dry, formal orthodox men began, even then to ridicule whatever gifts they had not themselves, and to decry them all as either madness or imposition.” Wesley's Journal, vol. 3, p. 496.

The faith of the Mennonites referred to by Neander, is quite reasonable as we may conclude from a consideration of the use or objects of the gifts, and of the condition of the religious world in the last days.

The object of the gifts, according to Eph. 4, is to carry out the work of the ministry to edify, or build up the church, and to perfect the saints in a complete union of faith and spirit. Now it must be borne in mind that the last generation of the church will be subject to special trials and dangers. The Saviour, speaking of the last days said, “Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” Evil servants will say, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” They will eat and drink with the drunken, and smite their fellow-servants who give “meat in due season.” Formality in religion and destitution of the power of godliness will be almost all-prevailing. Satan will also work with great malignity and power. In such a time, if ever, will the church stand in need of the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the last generation of the church of Christ must pass through the time of trouble; must stand complete in righteousness when Jesus ceases his priestly work in Heaven, as he prepares to come to this earth to take vengeance on the ungodly; they must have a special work wrought in them and for them, to fit them to be translated without tasting death; for their translation must, of course, take place after Jesus ceases his work of mediation. A single sin committed after the priestly work of Christ closes would sink any one to hopeless perdition. And it is not after, but before he comes that he says: “Let him that is unrighteous be unrighteous still.” See Rev. 22: 11, 12. This awful truth is not appreciated, because men refuse to examine the doctrine of the second advent, and therefore they do not understand the nature of the perils which are impending.

In 1 Thess. 4 the apostle gives the true ground of consolation to those who sorrow for their friends who are asleep. He says, the Lord himself shall descend; the dead in Christ shall arise, and the living saints shall be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Having thus introduced the subject of the coming of the Lord, he proceeds, in chapter five to state circumstances which precede and attend his coming. Many will cry, “Peace and safety” when sudden destruction is impending, and “they shall not escape.” Their hope is delusive—they know not the hour of their visitation. As it was to the people in the days of Noah and of Lot, so it will be to them. As a thief in the night shall their destruction come upon them. “But,” says Paul to the brethren, “ye are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” They are watching for the return of their Lord. They have received the words of warning spoken by the prophets, and by those whom God in his providence has raised up to “sound an alarm” when “the day of the Lord is near.” See Joel 2: 1. To the brethren of the time herein set forth, the apostle says:—

“Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5: 19–21.

And to farther show its application, as to time, he adds:—

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Verse 23.

It is beyond question that they, whose bodies are preserved unto the coming of the Lord are they who do not sleep or die, but are changed and caught up or translated, to meet the Lord in the air. Thus every part of this Scripture shows that it is specially for, and pertaining to, those who are “alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.”

Prophesyings here denotes the exercise of the gift of prophecy. The admonition not to despise the exercise or manifestation of this gift is sufficient proof that the gift will be manifested at the time of which he is speaking, viz.: when the day of the Lord is near; when the careless and worldly cry “Peace and safety,” or, as translated into the language of these days, they sing the song of delusion, “There's a good time coming.”

Each age has its own peculiar form of unbelief. In the early ages of Christianity all Christians looked with anxiety to the second coming of Christ as the time of their deliverance and their reward. To deny that event was to deny their hope. Jesus had told his disciples not to let their hearts be troubled about his going away, for he would come again and take them unto himself; he said they should be rewarded at the resurrection of the just, which will take place when he comes; and he said he will bring his reward with him when he comes. With them the prayer was a united fervent one. “Come, Lord Jesus.” To them the prophecy pointed out a fearful declension when it said that scoffers shall arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? But now we see this prophecy fulfilled. So greatly has the professed church of Christ departed from the primitive faith that they who say, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” are almost universally commended for their prudence and good judgment; while the faithful servants who give meat in due season, who sound the alarm as the prophets say shall be done, are regarded as fanatics and alarmists, if not despised as impostors. A “second advent belief” is, in the estimation of a popular and worldly church, as contemptible as was “a Nazarene” in the days of our Saviour.

And a change fully as great as this has taken place in the church in respect to the gifts of the Spirit. In the early church, while all the gifts were accepted as objects of faith, and received according to that faith, there was a tendency to respect only the larger or more prominent gifts such as apostleship, healing, and prophecy. Those less prominent were lightly esteemed and by some considered almost worthless. This led to the apostle's argument in 1 Cor. 12, where-in he asserts that God often bestows more abundant honor upon that which is lightly esteemed of men. The dependence of the gifts upon each other is shown in this expression, Ye are members one of another; that is, united to Christ in one body by being united to one another. The hand, or the eye, apparently the most useful of all members, cannot say to another or less prominent member, “I have no need of thee.” The hand is useful to the head only as it is connected to the head by other members. Every organ must be in its proper place, or the body is imperfect, and the action of all is obstructed.

We are now prepared to realize the change which has taken place in the church concerning faith in the gifts. While in the early church the more obscure gifts were lightly esteemed, and only the more prominent ones were valued, in the last days the reverse is exactly the truth. Now the less prominent gifts are accepted at least professedly, while the gift of prophecy is regarded with suspicion and even with aversion. And what seems most strange of all, many who teach that we are in the last days; who profess to believe that the coming of the Lord is near; who have had all the Scripture evidences of the truth relative to the second advent plainly set forth to them; and who even profess to believe that a special work of sanctification is necessary to meet the Saviour at his appearing, show the most determined opposition and even hatred to the gift of prophecy. This is sad proof of the strength of self-deception, and shows how deeply man may be blinded when he quenches the Spirit of God, and leans to his own understanding. Surely the injunction is timely for these last days. “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”

In tracing the connection between the law and the gifts of the Spirit we quoted several texts from the New Testament which we must notice again, because they refer to the time of which we are now speaking, viz.: of the last days, or the time immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.

In Rev. 14: 9–12, just before the Son of God is seen upon the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, a message of warning is given ending with these words:—

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12.

The apostle says in Rom. 5: 3: “Tribulation worketh patience.” Tribulation brings patience into exercise, and exercise perfects all graces. By this text, therefore, we are given to understand that tribulation will be the lot of those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, at the time to which it refers, viz., just before the earth is reaped in the great harvest.

In Rev. 12 the church is brought to view under the symbol of a woman. In prophetic symbol the church is always represented by a woman. This chapter very briefly traces the history of the church from the birth of Christ and the effort of the dragon, or the pagan Roman power to slay him as soon as he was born, and his being caught up to God and his throne, through the long persecution of “a time, times and a half,” or “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” down to the last persecution of “the remnant of her seed.”

The dragon was, not directly, but indirectly, the persecutor during this great tribulation of the Christians in the “time, times, and the dividing of time.” Pagan Rome had long persecuted the Christians unto death. When the empire professed to become the patron of Christianity it soon beheld a most unchristian strife progressing between the Bishops of different churches. It was another clamor for power, a revival of the question, “who shall be greatest?” The parties entirely ignored the instructions of the Saviour, given to quell just such spirits. The bishop of Rome, the most arrogant and overbearing, and of course the least a Christian, was favored by the empire. Favored, not because the most worthy, not because such self-exaltation was according to the spirit, the example, or the teachings of Christ, but because it was deemed most fitting that Rome should have the ascendency!

Such were the means and such the motives by which an unchristian, persecuting hierarchy was brought into existence. By the power of the Dragon this vast machinery of error and of death was set in motion. The Dragon power made itself responsible for the consequences which it could easily foresee, when it elevated an ambitious and arrogant church ruler to a position which Christ forbade his followers to occupy.

The last persecution will be under “an image to the beast.” This image will cause men to worship the beast, the papal power, which received its authority from the dragon, the pagan power. See Rev. 13. And thus it is shown that the spirit of the dragon has descended down to our own times, and that it will be active in the last persecution. Of this last phase of dragonic power it is said:—

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12: 17.

Having noticed the manner of the rise of the papal hierarchy, it may not be amiss to speak of the formation of the “image of the beast,” for it is through this image that the spirit of the dragon will be manifested in the last persecution.

In the United States great efforts are now being made to secure a “Religious Amendment” to the Constitution, by which, its advocates say, “all Christian laws, usages, and institutions may be placed on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.” “All Christian laws, usages, and institutions” are supposed to embrace all Christianity, and when all these are legalized in the Constitution then Christianity will be established as the religion of the land by the United States government. And, of course, when controversy arises it will be for the courts to decide what are Christian laws and institutions. And this will be an exact “image to the beast,” when Christianity will be enforced by law, and matters of faith must be decided by the civil courts. This will, doubtless, be the manner of the fulfillment of this prophecy; and under such a state of things, with the history of past persecutions in the name of Christianity before us, it is not difficult to foresee how war may be made with those “who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This prophecy of Rev. 12: 17 is easily located. “The remnant of the seed of the woman,” can mean no other than the last part or last state of the church. They keep the commandments of God as do the saints of Rev. 14: 12, and these behold the Son of God in his second advent. War also is made with them, which calls for patience, which is marked as a characteristic of those who live in the last days. And they “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” An explanation of this is given in Rev. 19: 10, thus: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” This is an inspired and decisive definition of the phrase. If further proof were needed it is furnished in the following scripture:—

“Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you so that ye come behind in no gift.” 1 Cor. 1: 6, 7.

By this we learn that the confirmation of “the testimony of Jesus” in a church is the establishing or manifestation of “the gifts of the Spirit” in their midst. And thus are we brought to the unavoidable conclusion that the remnant, the last part or last generation of the church of Christ, who heed the last warning given to man, who keep the commandments of God, who live to see the Son of man appear on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, have the testimony of Jesus Christ—the spirit of prophecy—among them; that is, the gifts of the Spirit will be restored before the Lord comes. These heed the injunction given to those who “are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,” that they should “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

(To be Continued.)

Looking for His Appearing.

By Selected

In the lonely midnight watches, Hear us, Father, while we pray; We are watching, we are waiting, For the coming of thy day; Day for all our woes atoning, Of our mortal life the end, Day of glorious appearing With our ever-blessed Friend.

Lo, he cometh! Lo, he cometh! Our redemption draweth nigh, Soon our eyes shall see the glory Of his banner in the sky; Unto earth our King descending, By his saints shall be adored, While the wicked flee, astonished, From the presence of the Lord.

O ye mortals, vain and sinful! Must we call on you in vain? When the heavenly Bridegroom cometh, Shall your lamps unlit remain? Will ye linger 'mid your pleasures, Heeding not the warning cry, Seeking still for worldly treasures While the world's last hours go by?

Come, Lord Jesus! O come quickly! End our sighing and complaints; Come to judge the nations truly, And to reign o'er all thy saints! We are weary of our waiting, And the world is sick with sin; Open now the gates of glory, Let thy faithful people in.

—Sel.

The Law in Galatians Examined.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WHAT object did Paul have in view in writing this letter to the Galatians? Does he find fault with them for keeping any one of the ten commandments? No such thing is mentioned in the whole letter. In the first chapter he appeals to them thus: “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it; and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Verses 13, 14. Here he mentions the traditions of the fathers, for which he had been very zealous. He further says that the gospel which he preached was directly revealed to him by Christ himself, and was not taught him by any man. See verses 15–24. Next Paul refers these Gentile Galatians' right back to that great council at Jerusalem, which he and Barnabas attended as recorded in Acts 15; where the question about circumcision and that whole law was fully discussed and settled. Compare Acts 15:1–5 with Gal. 2:1–3, and it will be seen that both refer to the same time and the same question. Hence the decision of that council had a direct bearing upon the question that was troubling the Galatians. So he refers to that council and to the action there taken to convince these Gentile Galatians that they were regarding a law that was no longer to be kept by the disciples. Thus he says: “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. But neither Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.” Gal. 2:1, 3. Though Titus was a minister, still it was decided that he, being a Gentile, need not be circumcised. This fact, of course, would have great weight with the Gentile Galatians in deciding their duty touching the same question. This fact shows to which law this letter relates. There is no question raised with regard to any precept of the moral law; but every reference is to the ceremonial law. See chapter 2:11–14. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” How does this affect the question which Paul is arguing with the Galatians, if the moral law is the one under consideration? It could have no bearing upon it whatever. But if it be the ceremonial law it is indeed very much to the point.

Peter, a Jew, and an apostle, goes to Antioch and freely eats with the Gentiles, which is a direct violation of the ceremonial law. But when certain zealous Jews come from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew from the Gentiles and would eat with them no more, thus showing that he regarded the ceremonial law as still in force and binding on Christians. Paul is justly reproved him for this. “If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” In other words, if Peter, a Jew, could disregard the ceremonial law; how much more the Gentiles. What law had he violated? Any one of the ten commandments? No, he had simply eaten with the Gentiles, and thus broken the ceremonial law of the Jews. This fact is decisive in showing what law is under consideration here.

Further on Paul asks them, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Chap. 3:3. This has plain reference to the fleshly or carnal ordinances of the ceremonial law, of which Paul in another place says: “Which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” Heb. 9:10. It could not refer to the decalogue, because these precepts are spiritual and directly opposed to the flesh. Rom. 7:14; 8:7. Again Paul says: “As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.” Gal. 6:12.

Here these works of the flesh are directly connected with circumcision; and those who kept that law didit to avoid the cross of Christ, because by regarding the ceremonies of the Jews, they would please them and so escape persecution. That the law here spoken of is that which was written by Moses in the book and not the one on the tables of stone, is shown by the following: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Chap. 3:10. But verse 19 is decisive: “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” To the question, what is the object of this law, Paul answers that it was added because of transgression. Transgression is the violation of the law. 1 John 3:4. Again; where no law is there is no transgression. Rom. 4:15.

Then it follows that some law existed and was transgressed before this law was given. Nor would it have been given if the other law had not previously been transgressed. We have already seen how this was. When man violated the moral law he became a sinner, needing a Saviour to redeem him. To point to this coming Saviour it became necessary to offer sacrifices. Then there must be priests to offer these, an altar, and a temple. All these required a law to regulate them. Hence it became necessary, as we have seen, to institute the ceremonial law. How long were these sacrifices, the temple, altar, priests, &c., to continue? Till Christ should come to whom they pointed. Hence that law ended there of necessity. So Paul says it was added till the seed should come. But why should the moral law terminate there? Paul further says, it was ordained by angels in the hands of a mediator—precisely the way in which the law of Moses was given. But the decalogue was given by God, written by his own finger, not in a book, but on tables of stone. Then what follows puts it beyond question that it is only the typical law of which Paul was writing. “Wherefore the law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under a school-master.” Verses 24, 25.

The law here spoken of is one that pointed to Christ, the sole object for which the law of types and shadows was given. Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1. “Christ was the grand center to which that whole law pointed. But what does the moral law say about Christ? Nothing at all. It points out man's duty but does not point to Christ. Chapter 5:1–3, furnishes further proof that it is not the ten commandments under consideration. “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.”

It will be seen that there is no reference here to the decalogue, but to the law of circumcision. If you be circumcised, says Paul, Christ shall profit you nothing. This he keeps constantly before their minds. He says, Whoever is circumcised is bound to keep the whole law, that is the whole of that law of which circumcision is a part; because if one part is binding, it all is. Hence they must offer sacrifices, &c. He calls it a yoke of bondage, the same term which Peter applies to the law of Moses. Acts 15:10. Can this apply to the ten commandments? Is it a yoke of bondage to obey them? Who will stand up and say that these are a yoke of bondage to him? The man who does will declare himself to be a wicked, carnal man.

The above facts clearly show that it is only the ceremonial law of which Paul is treating in Galatians. It furnishes strong proof of our position that all Bible writers recognized the distinction between the moral and ceremonial laws. D. M. CANRIGHT. Stockton, May 17.

Remarks on the Prophecy of Joel.

By Uriah Smith

[By request we publish this series of articles from the Review.]

JOEL was of the tribe of Reuben. The date of his prophecy is put in the ninth year of Manassah, king of Judah, before Christ about 690.

His book is one of great interest from the fact that so much of it evidently applies to the last days. His language peals forth like a trumpet, to give a thrilling warning of the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

CHAPTER I.

VERSE 1. The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

A very common expression used by the sacred writers, to announce that what they had to utter, they had received from the Lord. Joel's prophecy, therefore, is one of the instances referred to by Peter (2 Pet. 1:21), of holy men speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

VERSE 2. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land! Hath this been in your days or even in the days of your fathers? 3. Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

Joel wastes no time in introduction. With an abrupt appeal to all the inhabitants of the land he opens his discourse. And he excites attention and alarm by withholding his subject till he has indicated its nature. He calls upon the oldest men to say if anything had been in their day of so fearful a nature as that which he was about to announce. And still to heighten the effect he tells them, in verse 3, that it should be handed down as such to all generations.

VERSE 4. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Here he reveals the judgment to which he refers. The terrible scourge of the palmerworm, locust, and caterpillar, had fallen upon the land. He did not have to stop to announce or describe the calamity. All understood it. These scourges were frequent in that country; but this one is singled out as especially destructive. The different insects mentioned probably refer to the locust in its different stages of development. These insects, in all stages are simply organized and animated voraciousness. They leave no green thing behind them. The effects of their depredation upon the lands they visit, are described as appalling in the extreme.

VERSE 5. Awake, ye drunkards and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6. For a nation is come upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 10. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted; the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 11. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate, the palm tree also, and the

apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered; because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests; ye ministers of the altar: come lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

By a series of beautiful figures, and a vividly colored, but not overdrawn, picture, the prophet, in the verses last quoted, sets forth the effect of this great devastation of locusts. They are compared to a nation coming up upon the land, every one having the teeth of a lion to devour, wasting the vineyards, and stripping the olive and the fig trees, even to the destruction of the bark, leaving their branches white and bare. All this the locusts literally did. Then the drunkards and drinkers of wine are called upon to weep and howl for the loss of their drink. The people were to lament like a young virgin, or, more properly rendered, bride, girded with sackcloth for her dead husband. And the priests were to mourn because, in the general devastation, no offerings could be supplied to the house of God. How could this judgment and its effects be set forth more vividly? This part of Joel's description is considered by commentators as inimitably beautiful.

VERSE 14. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD. 15. Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

The day of the Lord was not anything that occurred in connection with the judgment upon Joel's land in his day, which he has thus far described. But in that he saw a figure or illustration of a greater destruction that was to come to usher in the great day of the Lord. Hence, with an easy and natural transition, he glances from the local judgments of his time to the judgments of the future, when the great day of the Lord should be at the door.

This feature is common to the prophetic writings. Isaiah furnishes a notable instance, when in his prophecies respecting Babylon, he looks from the destruction of literal Babylon, over the greater and more fearful destruction of mystical Babylon at the last day, and so in his fervid language passes from one to the other. See Isa. 13.

Dr. Clarke acknowledges this doubtful nature of the prophecy of Joel; though it did not occur to him to apply the more remote predictions to the end of time.

The spirit of Joel's language it will be profitable for us to study who believe we are living in the time to which it has its application. Let us drink in its spirit till we shall feel like gathering in a solemn assembly and crying fervently unto the Lord.

The expression, "Alas for the day!" is emphatic. The Syriac, says Dr. Clarke, repeats it, and the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic have it three times: "Alas, alas, alas, for the day!" It is no ordinary day, as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. It is no judgment that human hands or earthly agencies can inflict. What shall arouse the people to prepare for it?

VERSE 16. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17. The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate. The barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18. How do the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee, for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

These verses describe some of the features of this time that precedes the day of the Lord. The seed becomes unfruitful in the ground, and that which begins to vegetate is withered; for a terrible drouth consumes the face of nature. The Lord is revealed as the only source of hope and help in that time. Alas! for those who have no interest in him then.

A section of country devoured by locusts has every appearance of having been consumed by a terrific conflagration. As a counterpart of this the prophet's eye is directed to the fearful drouth and consequent famine that shall precede the day of the Lord. The angel who pours out the fourth of the seven last plagues, Rev. 16:8, 9, pours out his vial upon the sun and power is given him to scorch men with fire. This supernatural power given to the heat of the sun, will have precisely the effect described in Joel 1:19, 20, and it doubtless refers to the same time.

The unnatural heat, as a natural consequence, must evaporate the water of the streams and rivers, wither the forests, and dry up the face of nature. Then the beasts become perplexed for lack of pasture, and groan under the dire calamity. And we may add that among the last judgments to come upon great Babylon, Rev. 18:8, famine holds an equal rank with death and mourning.

But in this time of trouble the Lord will be the hope and stay of his people. The language of faith is:—

"Although the vine its fruit deny, Although the olive yield no oil, The withering fig trees droop and die, The fields elude the tiller's toil, The empty stall no herd afford, And perish all the bleating race, Yet will I triumph in the Lord, The God of my salvation praise." U. S.

Continue reading: Prophetic Time