Earlier text: General Articles"And when he had said this, he fell asleep."—There is not in the Bible a more striking instance of the power of the Christian religion to lift a man above his surroundings. Stephen was surrounded by a mob of frenzied fanatics, who were rending the air with their yells of rage. More than all this, huge stones were being showered upon his body. But these things did not disturb him. Amidst all the strife "he fell asleep." The original word has the meaning "to hush to sleep," "to lull to rest." The shouts of rage and the pelting of the stones served merely to lull him to rest, as an infant falls asleep in its mother's arms. And indeed this was Stephen's condition. He was not distracted by what was going on around him, because he was looking into Heaven. His eyes were fixed on Jesus. And so he fell asleep in Jesus. Blessed sleep! This should be a lesson for those who are annoyed and hindered in their Christian course, by their adverse surroundings. If we are only "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," as Stephen was, we may rise superior to every adverse circumstance. And it is the privilege of every one to have the same sustaining power that he had; and not only the privilege, but the duty. "HE fell asleep" means simply that he died. Nothing could more fitly represent death than sleep, and the term is quite frequently used in the Bible. See John 11 : 11; Acts 13 : 36; 1 Cor. 15 : 17, 51; 1 Thess. 4 : 13–16, etc. Those who are asleep are unconscious of what is going on around them; they take no note of passing events. So it is in death. Eccl. 9 : 5, 6; Job 14 : 21. Those who go to sleep expect to awake again; and those who die will also be raised from their sleep. And for this reason it was peculiarly fitting that death should be spoken of as a sleep, to make the Christian's hope prominent as compared with the heathen notion that the dead would never rise. "Now how is it possible to harmonize the fact that the dead sleep, with the popular idea that they are conscious and, if they have been righteous, in Heaven, actively engaged in praising God? Can folks that are asleep praise God? David said, "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Ps. 16 : 11. But he expected to go to sleep when he died, for he said, "Consider and hear me, O Lord, my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Ps. 13 : 3. And Paul declares that he really did sleep, for he said, "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep." Acts 13 : 36. Now can any one imagine that David is in Heaven in the presence of God, where there is fullness of joy, and fast asleep? When he said, "At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore," did he contemplate an eternal sleep? No; he contemplated an awakening from sleep. And we have positive proof that he did not go to Heaven, for Paul says farther that he "was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption;" and Peter says plainly (Acts 2 : 34) that "David is not ascended into the heavens." The facts are these: The Bible says that the dead are asleep; that, like persons in sound sleep, they are unconscious; that they will be awakened at the last day, and that then they will be forever with the Lord, in whose presence there are joys and pleasures. The conclusion is unavoidable that while they are asleep and unconscious they are not in heaven. The Bible and modern theology cannot by any possibility be made to agree. But the Bible is true; and therefore the Christian's hope is not to go to heaven at death, but to have a resurrection from the dead. This was what sustained Stephen in his trial and martyrdom. How to Study the Bible.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
We have already spoken of the benefits to be derived from Bible study; that by it we not only gain a knowledge of our duty, but strengthen the intellect. We believe that this matter can scarcely be put in too strong a light. The Bible is not appreciated by any of us as it should be, and the reason why it is not because it is not studied. It is a wonderful book. But a casual glance at the Bible, or the reading of one, two, or even five chapters a day, in a mechanical manner, will not give us the insight into the Bible that we should have. It is not the quantity of ground that we cover in our reading, but the manner in which we do it, that makes us Bible students. Now the Bible itself tells us just how we should study it. In Deut. 6:5-9 we have directions as to our duty in regard to the Bible. We will quote it in full:— "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." This is a complete model for Bible study. It was not intended to be local, for the Jews merely, but is for all persons, in all time. Not that we are to wear phylacteries as the Jews did; this passage does not command that. The first part explains the last. The word of God is to be studied and meditated upon so much that it will have a controlling influence over every act that our hands perform. We should work so that all that we do will bear the impress of the word. Thus it will be for a sign upon our hands. In like manner the forehead stands for the mind, which is to be stored with the truths of God's word. They are ever to be before our eyes. But we wish to call especial attention to the 6th and 7th verses. We are commanded to talk of the word when we sit in the house, and when we walk by the way, and when we lie down, and when we rise up. Now how can this be done? Must we carry a Bible with us continually? That would be very inconvenient, and almost impossible. We could not use it while we were at work, nor in the night. The previous expression explains the whole thing: "And the words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." That is the secret of Bible knowledge. The Bible must be read so carefully that the words will be indelibly fixed in our mind. Then we can meditate upon them wherever we are, or whatever we are doing. It used to be the custom to learn portions of the Bible "by heart," as it was called. Unfortunately it is one of the good practices that is going out of date. People are afraid of being formal. They are so afraid of having a mere intellectual knowledge of the Bible, that they run the risk of having no knowledge at all. We may make the study of the Scriptures a mechanical act, whatever way we study them, but committing portions of it to memory is no more liable to be a mechanical act than simply reading it. And even if we do not sit down with the express purpose of learning a certain portion, if we read the Bible as much as we ought, and give earnest, prayerful heed to that which we read, it will become fixed in our minds almost unconsciously. And who can estimate the good that would result from such a course? The Bible becomes our constant companion. We can meditate upon the word wherever we are. And by thinking upon it, and having our minds filled with it, evil thoughts will be crowded out. It is like being in the company of pure and good men. Such company molds us; we become like the company that we keep. If we have the Bible for our constant companion, as we may have, our characters will be molded by it. The Spirit of the Lord can the more easily make impressions on our hearts, for it works through the word. And we cannot be influenced by the Bible unless we do make it our own, and become permeated by it. Nothing will atone for neglect of God's word. Shall we not, then, search the Scriptures, instead of hastily running through them? Character Tested at Home
By James White
WHAT we are at home is a pretty sure test of what we really are. "AND they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." It is scarcely necessary to explain that "calling upon God," refers to Stephen, and not to his persecutors. It was Stephen who called upon God, and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." This latter expression is the stumbling-block to many. Those who hold to the dogma of a conscious existence after death seize upon it with avidity, as positively proving their theory. It really proves nothing except that Stephen wished to have life restored to him again at the last day (John 6:40, 54). This subject is well considered in "Man's Nature and Destiny," by Elder U. Smith, from which we quote:— "There is another class of expressions respecting the word spirit, which properly come under consideration at this point. The first is Ps. 31:5, where David says: "Into thine hand I commit my spirit." Our Lord used similar language, perhaps borrowed from this expression of David, when, expiring on the cross, he said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Luke 23:46. And Stephen, the martyr, in the same line of thought, put up this expiring prayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Acts 7:59. What was it which David and our Lord wished to commit into the hands of God, and Stephen, into the hands of Christ? A conscious entity, it is claimed, the living and immortal part of man; for nothing less could properly be committed to God. Thus Mr. Landis asks: "What was it then? The mere life which passed into nonentity at death? And can any one suppose they would have commended to God a nonentity? This would be a shameless trifling with sacred things." But David, on one occasion (1 Sam. 26:24), prayed that his life might be much set by, or be precious, in the eyes of the Lord. That which is precious in his sight, it seems, might very properly be commended to his keeping, especially when passing, for his sake, out of our immediate control. And in the very psalm (31) in which he commits his spirit to God, he does it in view of the fact that his enemies had "devised to take away his life." Verse 13. . . ." "Thus our life is something that we can commit to another for safe keeping; it can be taken away from us; we can give it up, or lay it down. Is it, therefore, a distinct entity, conscious in death? If it is not, then equivalent expressions applied to the spirit do not prove that to be conscious in death and immortal; for they prove the same in the one case as in the other; and whatever they fail to prove in the one case, they fail to prove also in the other." "But if the spirit, as is claimed, lives right along after death, just as conscious as before, and a hundredfold more active, capable, intelligent, and free, where would be the propriety of committing it to God in the hour of death, any more than at any point during its earthly existence? There would be none whatever. Entering upon that permanent higher life, it would be much more capable of caring for itself than in this earthly condition. The expression bears upon its very face evidence that those who used it desired to commit something into the care of their Maker which was about to pass out of their possession; to commit something into his hands for safe keeping until they should be brought back from the state of unconsciousness and inactivity into which they were then falling. And what was that? It was what they were then losing, namely, their life, their pneuma, which Robinson defines as meaning, among other things, "The principle of life residing in the breath, breathed into man from God, and again returning to God." And when the life is thus given up to God by his people, where is it? "Hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3. "And when will the believer receive it again? When Christ, who is our life, shall appear." Verse 4. Then Stephen will receive from his Lord that which while dying he besought him to receive. Then they who for Christ's sake have lost their life (not merely their bodies while their life continued right on) will have that life restored to them again." Daily Reading in Connection with the Lesson. Philosophy of Death.
By Editor
A NUMBER of the New Jerusalem Messenger was recently placed in our hands by a friend which contains an article entitled the Philosophy of Death. It might quite as well be styled the Theology of Death, for its teachings are nearly identical with the popular views of death which are very generally taught in the churches. The "New Jerusalem" theology is that of Swedenborg, and is identical with the latest phase of Spiritualism. On the subject of death there is scarcely a shade of difference between Spiritualism and the most orthodox Orthodoxy of the churches. The paper now before us notices the lecture of a Boston minister on Swedenborg. The minister is not a disciple of Swedenborg. He was reported as saying: "Swedenborgianism has done the liberalizing work of the last century." "The wave Swedenborg started lasts to this day." "The statements of Swedenborg's works have revolutionized theology." This is true, beyond a doubt. Swedenborg was the great spiritualizer of the ages, far out-doing Origen, who may be considered the father of the spiritualizing system. Man, ever since the forbidden fruit was eaten in Eden, has sought to improve on God's ways, and almost the entire religious world has now accepted the system, the foundation of which was laid by Origen, perfected by Swedenborg, and now so successfully used by Satan in the hands of the Spiritualists of the present day. "Death, as men have made it, is sad in the extreme; its cause is believed to be a penal calamity, and its mission is regarded as harsh and forbidding. We all need a better faith, more trust in God, and a belief that covers with flowers even the slopes of the valley of the shadow of death." We believe that Jesus has robbed death of its sting, but he has not changed its nature; he has not turned it into a friend, nor covered the dark valley with flowers. When Christ's soul was "sorrowful even unto death," in the garden, it was not a season of pleasurable sensations to him, nor did the flowers beguile his soul from its agony while he was on the cross. He did not come to dress it up as a thing of beauty, and to prove to us its attractiveness, but to conquer and to destroy it. He passed under it "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil." Heb. 2:14. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. "Death is the orderly, and withal, the beautiful method of traveling onward and upward through those degrees of existence whose wards unlock one after the other toward the shining court of the eternal King." With such Scripture declarations as we have quoted above, and scores more to the same intent, before them, how can men write such things as we copy from this paper? They have no difficulty at all; they just deny the Scriptures and build up a theory to suit their own fancies. It is true that Swedenborg professed to believe the Bible, and so do his followers; but it is equally true that they do not believe what the Bible says; they believe what they say it means—which is very frequently directly the opposite of what it says, as in the case of the scriptures we have here quoted. But we insist that that is no belief of the Bible at all; it is only an abuse and a perversion of the Bible. And by this means the Spiritualists are enabled to palm off their abuses of the Bible, for no matter how great and glaring the perversion may be, they find a warrant for it in the spiritualizing processes to which the churches have subjected the word of God. The Bible informs us that when God created man and placed him in Eden, he told him that if he disobeyed him he should die. We find this penalty for transgression confirmed in many scriptures. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18:4. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. Who would imagine, from reading the works of Spiritualists, or even those of the popular authors of the day, either secular or religious, that death was an enemy, a curse, a fruit of sin? A popular author makes an apostrophe to death as follows:— "O death! thou art lovely! O death! thou art grand. Now I see that man was made in the image of God. Life may deface it, but death restores it. The impress of the Divinity is here." If this were true, Jesus would again deface the image of God when he raised his saints from the dead! The Spiritual Age says:— "There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as death, in the popular signification of that term. Death, so-called—the death of the human—is a veritable birth into a higher life. It is a change in the condition, consequent upon outward dissolution. . . . The REAL life and consciousness, upon a plane beyond—far beyond—the reach of fire and flood." The Scripture, corrected by this standard, should read: The soul that sinneth, it shall be born into a higher life! The wages of sin is a transition to a more elevated plane of being! This is comforting to sinners, no doubt, for the present; but when the penalty of God's holy, just, and good law shall be inflicted, and the sinner dies, even the second death, how miserably foolish and vain will appear the perversions of God's word on which he has staked eternal life! Truly, "they know not what they do." The Healing of the Nations says:— "At the death of the outer body the true life of the inner spirit commences." Thus again we may paraphrase the threat of the Lord to Adam: In the day thou eatest thereof the true life of thine inner spirit shall commence. If some of our professed Christian friends discover the counterpart of their systems of theology in such teachings, we hope they may be led to consider well its opposition to the word of God. The rudiments of Spiritualism have been taught in the pulpits throughout the length and breadth of the land. And it is vain for those ministers to try to pull down the superstructure, and denounce it as evil, who guard and defend the foundation with such a jealous care. The Baptist Register said:— "There is no death; what seems so is transition: This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portals we call Death." A well-known religious hymn says:— "Death is the gate to endless joy." A Spiritualist paper says:— "Fold us in thy embrace, sweet angel death, So that no cloud can our twin being sever, Come with soft lips and kiss away our breath, And let us take our heavenward flight together." The American Messenger, the organ of the American Tract Society, says:— "Who calls thee grim and terrible, Thou glorious angel, Death?— Thy form should wondrous beauty wear, Like sweet perfume thy breath; Thy robes should be of woven light, Of clear, resplendent sheen; A crown of stars upon thy head, Thy face as Heaven serene. 'But now, midway from earth to Heaven, Upon thine ebon throne, A glorious boon is granted thee, To thee, great Death, alone: The golden key of life, true life, Op'ning the pearly gates, Where never enter woes nor strife, But rest the FREED awaits.'" Another well-known hymn says that death "Is but the voice that Jesus sends To call us to his arms." Joel Tiffany, in his lectures on Spiritualism, says:— "But hark! a voice comes from beyond the grave to tell us that death is not our foe; that he is the messenger of life and joy; that he is the grand accoucheur of the soul, and comes to usher it into light and life eternal. 'To the bereaved husband, the voice of the departed wife comes back, saying: “Weep not for me, my dear husband, for I am with you still, and I watch over you, and will guide and guard you through life,”' etc." Mr. Tiffany would pass for an infidel with many professed Christians, yet the whole page from which we make the above quotation, is not the mere counterpart of it, but identical with the majority of funeral discourses. "Appendix-B," in the "Healing of the Nations," commences as follows:— "From the N. Y. Evangelist. 'On the ministration of departed spirits in this world. By Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. 'It is a beautiful belief That ever round our head, Are hovering on viewless wings The spirits of the dead.'" The Scriptures say that the saints of God will all take their "heavenward flight," not when they die, but when the Lord Jesus shall come and restore them to life. 1 Thess. 4:13-18. If the Spiritualist theory were true, to destroy death would only be to reverse a desirable "transition." What would the Baptist Register say to this? Again, the Scriptures say: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. How different the teachings of Spiritualism, and also of the theology quoted. In the Scriptures, Christ is called "our life;" he says it is his privilege to give life; that no man cometh to the Father but by him. But according to the above quotations, both spiritual and religious, this is the prerogative of death—of "death alone!" While the Spiritualist says it is a messenger of life, and the hymn book says it is the voice of Jesus to call us to his arms, and the American Messenger that it has the key of life and opens the pearly gates, the Bible says it is the fruit and wages of sin, and he that had the power of death is the devil. How different—how widely different? With such unscriptural ideas the theology of the present age has prepared the way for the introduction of Satan's last deception—Spiritualism. And still they go hand-in-hand, affirming that death qualifies our friends to guard and guide us, and render us that assistance that the living cannot give. The article from Mrs. Stowe noticed above, together with a large proportion o the pen and pulpit essays of the theology of this age, is Spiritualism denying its name. "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin." Therefore, if death is a friend, if it opens the elysian fields to our view, we must give all the praise to sin, or yet to the devil, by whom this "messenger of life" was sent on his errand of joy. Wisdom cries: "All they that hate me, love death." Oh! that men would listen to the voice of wisdom, and seek life through Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. The Lord, by the prophet, speaks of them that say: "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell [the grave] are we at agreement." Isa. 28:15. They despise the word of the Lord, calling "evil good, and good evil." But there is a day coming when God will vindicate his truth, and his enemies shall perish; for he says: "And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it." IN this vision the prophet saw four chariots come forth from between two mountains of brass. The first chariot had red horses, the second had black, the third had white, and the fourth had grisled and bay. The black horses went forth toward the north country, and were followed by the white. The horses in the fourth chariot were divided; the grisled went into the south country, while the bay received a general commission to walk to and fro through the earth. The red horses are not said to be sent out at all. The angel said to the prophet that those who had gone into the north country had quieted his spirit concerning that country. What are we to understand by this vision? There can be no doubt that it is designed to represent the control which God exercises over the nations by means of his angels. For in his second vision Zechariah saw these horses, and was told that they were those which the Lord had sent to walk to and fro through the earth. He also heard the report which they made to their commander, which shows that they reasoned as intelligent beings, and that they act under the direction of one who is their superior. Zech. 4:10; 6:13, 14. And in the present vision we are distinctly told that those whom he thus saw go forth were the four spirits of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of the whole earth. They must, therefore, represent celestial beings. Zech. 6:5. It is remarkable that two of the visions given to Zechariah are repeated to John. Thus the vision of the two olive trees and the candlestick of Zech. 4, is repeated in Rev. 11, and made the foundation of a still more important prophecy. And thus also the vision of the four spirits of the heavens, in Zech. 6:1–8, represented by four chariots and four groups of horses, each group being of a color different from the others, is repeated to John,247with some important variations, and made the foundation of the first great chain of prophecy in the book of Revelation. Rev. 6:1–8. In the vision of Zechariah the number of horses is not given, but they are in four divisions, for they are attached to four chariots. In the vision of John there are simply four horses, each having a rider, but no mention is made of any chariots. In the vision of Zechariah the horses attached to the first chariot were red, those with the second were black, those with the third were white, and those with the fourth were grisled and bay. In the vision of John the first horse was white, the second was red, the third was black, and the fourth was pale. But it is evident that when Zechariah was told that they whom he saw go forth were the four spirits of the heavens, something besides the horses was intended, for there were more than one horse attached to each chariot, making sixteen in all. Moreover, the fact that there were four chariots attached to each division of the horses indicates the fact that each group or division had a commander. The four commanders are therefore properly the four spirits of the heavens spoken of in Zech. 6:5. Thus, as John had seen the four horses go forth to accomplish great changes in the affairs of the church and of the nations, he saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, whose office it was to control the four winds, either by loosing or restraining them, and who, therefore, like the four spirits of the heavens in Zech. 6:5, govern the action of the four horses, or four groups of horses. Thus we see that in the great work wrought by the angels of God, there is one class of angels whose duty it is to direct, and another and more numerous class whose duty it is to execute. The horses who are attached to each chariot are governed by the angel who occupies the chariot, and thus also, from the nature of the case, the horses seen in the vision of John are under the control of the angels who have power to hurt the earth, and who have also power to prevent calamities. The four spirits of the heavens of Zech. 6:5 and the four angels of Rev. 7:1 must therefore be the same. The striving of the four winds upon the great sea represents wars among the nations. These winds strive when the great kingdoms rise and fall. Dan. 7:2–7, 16, 17, 23. To us these terrible wars seem to be under the control of Satan and his agents. But God has four mighty angels that hold or loose the winds as he sees best. Surely God governs the nations even though sin and death seem to bear terrible sway. We are able to learn the signification of the colors of these horses by what John tells us of the riders who sit on the horses. The rider on the white horse went forth conquering and to conquer. The white horse must therefore represent victory. The rider on the red horse carried a great sword and had power to take peace from the earth. The red horse must therefore denote war and bloodshed. From what is said of the price of food when the black horse went forth, it seems that the black color must indicate famine. See also Lam. 4:8, 9. But there may be a famine for the word of God as well as a famine for bread. Amos 8:11–13. The rider on the pale horse had power to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth. The infliction of death in such diverse forms indicated not war but terrible persecution. The first chariot having red horses, and denoting bloodshed, is not said to be sent out at all. But if it had no part to act it would not have been shown to the prophet. The second chariot, representing famine, was sent forth, and this implies that the first had previously gone forth, for famine follows war and slaughter. The third chariot, representing victory, shows how God gives deliverances in the midst of their calamities. The fourth chariot seems to represent a mingled condition of affairs. “The gray or ashy color of the horses is in some degree like the color of the fourth horse in the vision of John. We are not to understand from these symbols that the angels of God are the direct authors of the calamities which come upon men. It is sin that is the source of all distress, whether in the case of individuals or in that of nations. It is Satan and his angels that are the direct authors of calamities, but the angels of God exercise constant oversight, both in directing and in limiting the course of these judgments. Zechariah saw these four chariots come forth from between two mountains of brass. There are no literal mountains of brass upon the face of the earth. Nor can there be mountains of brass in Heaven, for nothing less precious than gold can be found where God dwells. The mountains must therefore be symbolic mountains, even as the olive trees and the candlestick are used as symbols to represent the Old Testament and the New, and the church which receives its light from both. When the word mountain is used in prophecy as a symbol, that is to say when it is used to represent something else more important, it signifies a kingdom. Thus, when the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth, it signifies that the kingdom of God was established and filled the earth. Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45. The two mountains of brass must therefore represent two earthly kingdoms. The fact that they are called mountains of brass gives us the means of deciding what kingdoms are intended. In the vision of Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom of Babylon was indicated by gold, the kingdom of Media and Persia by silver, the kingdom of Greece by brass, and the kingdom of Rome by iron. Dan. 2:32, 33, 36–40. We must therefore conclude that the special theater of action of these four chariots as presented in the vision of Zechariah is the territory of two Grecian kingdoms, or perhaps we should say that it is the territory that lies between these two kingdoms, which must be made the battle field of the armies on both sides, which cross and re-cross it. This gives us a definite idea of the application of this prophecy. When the prophet had this vision, Babylon, the kingdom of gold, had lost the dominion, and the kingdom of silver, that is, the kingdom of Persia, was then in authority. While this kingdom continued there was comparative peace for the Jews. But after a brief period of partial tranquillity under the Persians, came the kingdom of brass, under Alexander the great. Though his kingdom was divided at his death into four kingdoms, yet two of these, the kingdom of the north, or Syria, and the kingdom of the south, or Egypt, soon became so much more important than the others that these alone continue to be the subject of prophecy, and the other two are left unnoticed. See how fully Daniel has presented these facts in chapter 11:3–16. The prophecy of Zechariah concerning the horses and chariots which come forth from between two mountains of brass, and which go to the north country and to the south country, is therefore the same in substance as the prophecy of Daniel concerning the wars between the king of the north and the king of the south for the possession of the Holy Land. For Palestine, lying directly between these two kingdoms, was their battle ground, and experienced all the vicissitudes of war, famine, victory, persecution, and distress. Josephus, and the two books of Maccabees, give us a vivid idea of these events. The prophecy of Zechariah has special reference to the calamities which would come upon the Jews from the kings of the north and the kings of the south, if the people of God should sin, and was designed to teach them that God controlled the nations by his angels, and that his people would be protected or chastised, according as they should obey him or rebel against him. The prophecy of John which so much resembles this vision of Zechariah in the use of its symbols, gives us a connected view of important events during the gospel dispensation. We have in this vision of the chariots another indication that the angel who communicated with Zechariah was Michael, the archangel, or prince of angels; for, when the chariots had gone forth and accomplished their work in the north country, he said that they had quieted his spirit concerning that country, thus showing that they went to execute his bidding. Zech. 6:8.