Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · May 9, 1854
"THE KINGDOM OF GOD."
By George Storrs
By Geo. Storrs.
1. THE TRUE IMPORT OF THE TERM KINGDOM.
In this world the term has been uniformly used to signify a king, invested with authority—dominion, or territory, over which he rules—subjects, who yield obedience to him alone—laws, the only code of the kingdom.
The Bible gives us no other definition of kingdom. This, then, is the true idea of "the Kingdom of God." The notion of a "spiritual kingdom," or a "spiritual coming of Christ," &c., is unintelligible, and has no real meaning, or as many significations as there are spiritualizers to make them. That fact shows such notions to be fables. See 2 Pet. i, 16. "We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty." In that manifestation, I apprehend, that Peter had a clear view of his Lord as he will appear when he assumes his Kingly office. At that time, which was "in the holy mount" of transfiguration, he saw the Kingdom of God in miniature.
The Scriptures speak of a real, literal Kingdom of God. See Ps. ii. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." Again, Isa. ix, 7. "Upon the throne of David." And, Luke i, 32, 33. "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Now, if the "holy hill" and "throne of David" are simply spiritual places, then the subjects must be merely spiritual; and to correspond, the King must have no tangibility, but be merely a spiritual influence—an undefinable something, devoid of reality. Compare such notions with the following scriptures: Dan. vii, 13, 14. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Rev. v, 9, 10. "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth."
Thus, it appears, there will be a reality in the kingdom of God. It is not a fancy or imaginary kingdom.
2. WHERE IS THIS KINGDOM TO BE SET UP?
The last text quoted shows that; but we will look at this point still further. See Ps. ii, 8. "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Dan. ii, 35. "And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. vii, 27. "And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." And, Dan. vii, 18. "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." Matt. v, 5. "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." Ps. xxxvii, 11, 29. "But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. . . . The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever." Rev. xi, 15. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever."
The earth, then, is the place where this kingdom is to be set up: and when set up, it is never to be succeeded by another, and is never to pass away.
3. HAS THIS KINGDOM BEEN SET UP?
Some tell us it has. If so, when? Not in the days of Abel; for then the Devil's subject prevailed to murder Abel. It is equally clear it was not set up before the flood; for the Devil had the whole territory, and the men who occupied it, with the exception of one family, in subjection to himself. If it has been set up at any period gone by, how does it happen that the wicked powers of earth have always ruled over and oppressed the real children of God? Why are Christ's subjects under such rulers? Why does not their king protect them? Why leave them in the hands of their enemies to be tortured, often, unto death? If Christ now acts as supreme ruler on earth, why are his laws put at defiance? Surely, no man in his senses, can maintain that those things will exist when Christ's kingdom is set up on the earth. See Luke xix, 27. "But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." That is what will take place with our Lord's enemies when he has "returned, having received the kingdom."
This kingdom had not come at certain periods spoken of in the New Testament. See the following texts: Matt. vi, 10. "Thy kingdom come." Surely it had not come at that time. Many who use that prayer still, seem to be almost angry if we tell them that kingdom will come. Luke xxii, 18. "For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come." These words were spoken by our Lord just before his death, and show, up to that time, the kingdom had not come. Again, Luke xxiii, 42. "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." If the thief prayed understandingly, our Lord died without having possession of his kingdom. That he did pray aright appears from the fact that our Lord assured him his prayer should be answered. Let us now see if that kingdom was set up before our Lord's ascension. Acts i, 6. "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Not yet set up, then. But some will say; That question does not touch the point in debate. Very well, let it pass. Look at 1 Cor. xv, 50. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood (or mortal man) cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Here it appears plain, to my mind, that Paul settles the question, that no man can be in the kingdom of God until he is changed to immortality. And this for a very obvious reason—it is an eternal kingdom; and there can, therefore, be no death in it. But let us hear the same Apostle further. 2 Tim. iv, 1. "I charge thee therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom," &c. Here it is clearly stated that it had not come in Paul's day, and that he did not expect it till Christ came to judgment. Our Lord and his apostles preached the kingdom of God "at hand," but not come. See Acts xiv, 22. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." They were not in it, or the apostle would have used language to correspond with such a state. See also Rom. viii, 17, 19, 22, 23. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. . . . For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
He did not expect, then, to be in the inheritance, or, which is the same thing, the kingdom, till "the redemption of our bodies:" agreeing with what he said to the Corinthians, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." James also teaches the same doctrine: chapter ii, 5. "Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?" It was still a matter of "promise;" of course not in possession even of those that "love him."
The fourth kingdom, [Dan. vii,] in its various divisions, has not yet passed away—the kingdom of God is to succeed that, and is not given to Christ till the "Ancient of days" comes, the judgment sits, and "the fourth beast" is "slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame;" which leads us to inquire—122
## 4. WHEN WILL THIS KINGDOM COME, OR BE SET UP?
Let us look first at Rev. xi, 15. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." Not, then, till the seventh angel sounds. What trumpet is that? "The last:" and Paul tells us at that time, "we shall not all" be "asleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." See 1 Cor. xv, 52. Let us now look at Matt. xxv, 31, 34. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." "Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
The kingdom of God will not be set up—will not be established till the second personal appearing of our Lord; for he is to "return." See Luke xix, 15. "And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading." Here we see he returns to call his servants to an account, and to reward them; of course, it is at the judgment, as I have previously shown, that the kingdom is to be set up, or, established. Till that time, our Lord does not collect his subjects. See Matt. xxiv, 30, 31. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Compare this with 1 Thess. iv, 14, 16, 17. "For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
Till that time his territory is not cleansed. Then it will be done. See 2 Pet. iii, 7, 10, 13. "But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." "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, and the earth also; and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Compare this with Matt. xiii, 40-43. "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear."
Thus the territory is cleansed—the wicked are cut off—the earth is brought back in the "restitution." Now then we are presented with THE TERRITORY—"The new earth."
THE SUBJECTS.—The Saints Immortal.
THE KING.—The Lord Jesus Christ.
THE LAWS.—To which alone his subjects submit.
Then the kingdom is set up—organized—established—and will be eternal.
5. WHO WILL ENTER THIS KINGDOM? OR INHERIT IT?
It is certain some will not inherit it. See the following texts: 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Rev. xxi, 27. "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of Life."
To enter into it, or to inherit it, we must be holy. 2 Pet. iii, 14. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless." John iii, 3, 5. "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 1 John ii, 2, 3. "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
Christian, see to it, that you are found with your lamp trimmed and burning. "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Rev. xvi, 16. Yes, see that you have on the true "ascension robe;" that "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
Backslider, awake quickly, or you are lost. Be deluded no longer with the stupefying cry of "Peace and Safety."
O Sinner! arouse, arouse thyself before the blast of the seventh angel's trumpt shall announce thy doom, and you perish; perish past hope—past recovery. Is there nothing in the glories of "eternal life," to wake up thy soul to fly to Christ for that invaluable blessing, while still it may be obtained? Haste thee—haste, I beseech you—O, lay hold on eternal life. I most solemnly believe, this is your last call. O, let it not pass you unheeded. If you will not heed my voice, hear, I beseech you, the voice of the God of compassion, while he calls you, saying—"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die." O, hear this voice of mercy, lest you have to mourn at last, and say, how have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof. Remember, the time will shortly come, spoken of in Amos viii, 11, 12. "Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." What an awful day will that be to thee, poor sinner, when you will seek with undescribable desire and anguish, to find some word of mercy from the Lord, and thou shalt not find it!—Mist. Cry, 1844.
PRESS FORWARD FOR THE PRIZE.
By Moffatt
Though the Sadducee deride,
And the Scribe our hopes despise,
Whether weal or woe betide,
Still press forward for the prize.
Pilgrims as our fathers were,
All below these changing skies,
Calls for vigilance and care,
And more zeal to win the prize.
Watchfulness with prayer unite,
For the Devil in the guise
Of a messenger of light,
Labors to obscure the prize.
Trust we in our risen Lord,
'Tis his Spirit that applies
Each sweet promise of the Word,
And makes clear the heavenly prize.
Toil we must on this low ball,
Till our long lost Eden rise
From the ruin of the fall;
Then we'll get the heavenly prize,
Till the Sun of righteousness,
With life-giving beams arise,
With renewed ardor, press
Onward, upward for the prize.
Let the Sadducee deride,
And the Scribe our hopes despise,
Fire shall burn the brood of pride,
When the pure obtain the prize.
RETURN OF THE JEWS.
My object will be to show that the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, is to be continued till they are consumed and destroyed; and that as Jews they are never to return. The texts which are supposed to prove their return are the 12th, 15th, 23d-25th verses of the 11th of Romans; viz., "Now if the fall of them be the riches of this world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?" "For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?" "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits,) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins."
We argue first, that the Israel of whom all will be saved, is the true Israel of God; otherwise every individual Jew will be saved; which none will claim. That the Israel spoken of is not the Jewish nation, is clear from the fact that some of that nation will be cast out; and in that case all Israel could not be saved. The Apostle also assures us that, "he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." "For there is no difference between the Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." "For they are not all Israel that are of Israel, neither because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they all children." "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise, and counted for the seed." "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
The above most conclusively proves, that as a nation, the Jews will hereafter receive no peculiar favors.
Again, "the fall" and the "diminishing of them," and "the casting away of them," could not be their dispersion as a nation, for it was spoken of as something already taken place before the nation was dispersed; so that their "fullness" and the receiving of them, could not be their restoration as a nation to Judea.
Again, their "fullness," (pleroma,) is not to be "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in;" for till then, blindness in part had happened to Israel. And as all the Gentiles are not to be converted, the fullness of the Gentiles must be the full number of them who are to be saved, and which will not be till the end of the world; at which time also the fullness of the Jews, or the full number of them who are to be saved, will have come in; so that all Israel, in the most literal sense, according to Paul's definition, will be saved, and Paul might well ask, "What shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?" and in the very manner as described in Eze. xxxvii, 12-14, "Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves; and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land, then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." Neither is there any proof that the Jews are to be converted as a nation. It is no where expressly asserted, but only conditionally, for "IF they abide not still in unbelief, they shall be grafted in;" and it also follows that if they do abide in unbelief, they will not be grafted in—the if being as much a condition as when Christ said, "if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Those of the Jews who believe, will not become a new olive tree; but will be grafted into the old olive tree: so that they will cease to be Jews. There is therefore nothing in the restoration of the true Israel, which can in any way delay the coming of our Lord.
In addition to the above argument, the question is most conclusively settled by Deut. xxviii, that after the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, they were never again as a nation, to receive123either civil or religious privileges. The covenant which God made with that nation was a conditional covenant. If they should serve their God with all their heart, to do all his commandments, and should diligently hearken unto him, they were to be blessed above every nation, and were to be forever the chosen people of God; but if they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God, to observe and to do all his commandments, and his statutes, they were to be cursed above every nation, until they should be finally destroyed. In the other predictions of their various dispersions, they were promised that if they would return unto the Lord their God, that the Lord would have compassion upon them, and would turn their captivity, and gather them from all nations whither he should scatter them. And we accordingly find that he was faithful who promised; for as often as they repented in their various captivities, he restored them to their own land. But in the chapter referred to, Moses evidently looked forward to the time when their waywardness and their folly would be fully proved, when all the mercies and judgments of God should be found to be of no avail in restraining them from utterly rejecting the Lord their God, and walking after the evil imaginations of their own perverse hearts; and when it would seem that there was nothing more which God could do for his vineyard, which he had not done for it, so that he should cast them off forever and leave them to their own hardness of heart and blindness of minds, until they should perish.
That the dispersion here predicted was their dispersion by the Romans, is evident from the nation that was to be brought against them, and from the complete fulfillment of that prediction, in the destruction of Jerusalem by that nation. "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue men shall not understand, a nation fierce of countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young." This could be no other than the Roman nation. "And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustest throughout all thy land." "And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee; so that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children, which he shall leave, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee, in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground, for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter," "and toward her children which she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things, secretly, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee in thy gates."
Josephus shows a literal fulfillment of all this, in the affecting description which he gives of the misery and distress to which the Jews were reduced in the destruction of their city.
From this dispersion there is no promise of a return, as though all their restorations having been of no avail, they were now to be entirely forsaken. Moses also expressly says that the "Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thy hand to do, until thou be destroyed; and until thou perish quickly." "And they shall pursue thee until thou perish." "It shall come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed." "And thou shalt be oppressed and spoiled evermore; and no man shall save thee." "And thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway."
"Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb and a by-word among all nations, whither the Lord shall lead thee." "And shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth." "The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low." "Moreover-all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed." "And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and a wonder, and upon thy seed forever." "And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he shall have destroyed thee." "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth, even unto the other." "And among all these nations thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind, and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night; and shalt have none assurance of thy life." "And ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men, and bond-women, and no man shall buy you." The duration of these evils is given in plain and positive language, and in the whole of this, [Moses' fifth discourse,] there is no intimation of any further mercies till they are finally destroyed. It therefore follows that in Moses' other discourses, and in the various predictions where a restoration to their own land was promised, that there could be no allusion to their dispersion by the Romans; but only predictions of other dispersions and restorations, all of which must have been fulfilled previous to the dispersion here spoken of.
That Jerusalem is never to be rebuilt, is plain from Dan. ix, 26, 27, where the angel informs Daniel that after our Saviour's crucifixion, "the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and sanctuary;" "and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation; and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate,"—on "the desolation," as it reads in the margin; which must be to the end of time. Our Saviour, also, declares, [Luke xxi, 24,] that the Jews "shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." The times of the Gentiles will not be fulfilled till the end of time; so that the express declaration of our Saviour, with all the other evidence which has been presented upon this question, it would seem, must forever settle the question, that the Jews, as Jews, have nothing farther to hope for in this world: and that those only of them can be saved, who renounce their Judaism, and by faith as individuals, like the Gentiles, are grafted into the original olive tree, from whence through unbelief they have been broken off.—Signs Times—1842.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND.
By Editor
"And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." Rev. xiv, 1.
"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Rev. vii, 1–4.
To what state of the church do these scriptures apply? Evidently to the present. But as some doubt this position, we wish briefly to give some reasons for believing that the 144,000 are those who are alive, and are changed to immortality at the second advent.
I. The 144,000 are introduced in prophecy among the preparatory scenes of the second advent. Reader, please take your Bible, and mark carefully the connection between the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Revelation. The thirteenth chapter, and the first five verses of the fourteenth, are a connected chain showing the sad history of the church during the 1260 years of Papal rule, which reached to within fifty years of this present time; also, her last struggle with the image beast, and the saints' final and glorious deliverance. They stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb. The division of chapters should be between the fifth and sixth verses of the fourteenth chapter. This any one may see: for the sixth verse introduces another chain of events, which is not at all connected with the preceding chain. How very natural to suppose that John, after viewing the saints persecuted by the beast, and his image, would follow them but a step farther to Mount Zion with the Lamb.
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. xv, 2.
Rev. vii, 1–3, has been, and is still, held by Adventists, with very few exceptions, to apply to the preparatory scenes of the second advent. In fact it seems impossible to apply it any where else.
Mark this: John was shown, not things that were in the past, no, but "things which must shortly come to pass." It is true that some allusions were made to the past, but it was only to explain the "things which must shortly come to pass," as in the case of the "woman," the "dragon," and the "man child" of chap. xii. This fact seems quite destructive of the view, that the 144,000 were raised at the time of the first advent. If the prophecy relative to the 144,000 was fulfilled at the time of the first advent, then the faithful Witness, instead of doing what he said he would do, viz., "shew unto his servants, things which must shortly come to pass," showed John things that were all past, at least sixty years before he had his revelation on the isle of Patmos. The twelve tribes, of which the 144,000 are sealed, are the same that the apostle James addressed, A. D. 60.
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting." James i, 1. This epistle is evidently addressed to the present state of the church; to that state when the people of God are waiting for the Lord, and in their disappointed, waiting, trying state, need much patience. "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." Chap. v, 7. "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Verse 8. From these scattered "tribes" who are exhorted to wait patiently for the Lord, the 144,000 are to be sealed.
II. The history and description of the 144,000 apply to those who are to be changed at the coming of the Lord, and to no other class. 1. "Having his Father's name written in their foreheads." Said the true Witness to the Philadelphia church, "Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God." Where? "In their foreheads," just where John saw the "Father's name." Now just as sure as the Philadelphia church is the true church of the last days, just so sure the 144,000 are sealed, just before the coming of the Lord.
2. They sing "as it were a new song," that none in all wide heaven, but the 144,000 "could learn." "And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb." Chap. xv, 3. The song of Moses was the history and deliverance of Israel. The new song of the 144,000 will also be of their experience and their deliverance. The reason why none but the 144,000 can learn or sing this song, will be because the history and deliverance of no other class will be like those who pass through the time of trouble, and are changed to immortality "in the twinkling of an eye," at the coming of the Lord.
3. "These are they which were not defiled with women." A woman is used as a symbol of the church. See Rev. vii, 1–6; xvii, 1–6. The woman arrayed in purple and scarlet-color, on whose "forehead was a name written mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots," is the124Catholic church. Her harlot daughters must therefore be the Protestant sects. They are the women with whom the 144,000 are "not defiled." Why not defiled with them? Because they obey the voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, [be defiled,] and that ye receive not of her plagues." Chap. xviii, 4.
4. "These were redeemed from among men." Not out of their graves; no, no,—"from among men." They must, therefore, be the living saints who are changed to immortality at the coming of the Lord. The sleeping saints are not "among men." Those who came out of their graves at the time of the first Advent were not among men. No, they were in the silent grave. Some say that the 144,000 were the infants slain by Herod. Those infants had been slain more than thirty years, and of course had returned to dust again. What folly to say that they were redeemed "from among men?" There is no consistency in such a view. The simple truth on this point is this: The 144,000 are on the earth, "among men," [the wicked,] at the coming of Christ, and at the "voice of the Archangel" they are changed in a moment, and are "caught up" from among men to "meet the Lord."
5. "Being the first fruits unto God and the Lamb." The first fruits in this text, do not refer to the type—the "sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest," which the priest waved before the Lord "on the morrow after the Sabbath." Lev. xviii, 10–12. That was fulfilled in Christ. "Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Cor. xv, 23. Paul does not say, Christ and 144,000 the first fruits, no, no; the 144,000 are a part of the great harvest, in the end of the world, of which the risen Saviour was a sample, or first fruits. If Paul had said, Christ and 144,000 the first fruits, and there was no other testimony in the way, then we might with safety believe that they were raised at the first advent; but as it reads "Christ the first fruits," we think it safest and best to believe it as it reads.
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." James i, 18. It will yet be more clearly seen that the living saints will be delivered by the voice of God, and have power over the nations before the second advent. Their captivity will be turned, and the yoke broken from off their neck, and "destroyed, because of the anointing." See Isa. x, 27. The latter rain—the outpouring of the Spirit—prior to the advent, will ripen the 144,000 for the harvest, while the other saints will be still sleeping in the grave. In this sense they will be "the first fruits unto God and the Lamb." Then they will be "without fault before the throne." They will confess all their faults while Jesus is in the Sanctuary, ready to blot them out, and they will be borne away by the scape-goat, just before our High Priest comes out to bless his waiting people.
[The above article we wrote four years since.—ED. REVIEW.]