Old Theology Quarterly—1900
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Old Theology Quarterly
No. 48—What Say the Scriptures About Our Lord’s Return—His Parousia, Apokalupsis and - Epiphania
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THE PAROUSIA OF OUR LORD.
ADDRESS AS ABOVE.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice \knock\, and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me."—Rev. 3:20.
THE PflROUSIR OF OUR Lord JESUS CHRIST
. AND HIS
Subsequent JIpokalupsis apd Epipbapia at bis
SECOND ADVENT.
---O---
“ Watch, therefore; for ye know not the day 1 your Lord doth come.” “ What I say unto you, I say unto all [believers}, Watch ! ”
----Matt. U •• 4?; Mark 13:37.----
rHATBVBR the character of the watching, and V?whatever the thing to be looked for, there can be no question that the exhortation to watch for an event whose precise time is not stated implies that the watching ones will know when the event does take place. ' Watch, because ye know not, in order that at the proper time ye may know, is the thought; and the intimation clearly is, that those who do not watch will not know: that the events which are to be known in due time to the Watchers will be recognized by them, and not recognized by others, at the time of accomplishment.
This, the only logical interpretation of our Tord’s exhortation, is fully corroborated by several of the
apostles. The Apostle Paul urges us, saying: “Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, and when they [the world, unbelievers] shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (i Thes. 5:3, 4); because, being children of the light, ye brethren will be watching and be enlightened and taught of the Lord. The Apostle Peter suggests the means by which the Lord will teach us and informs us respecting our location upon the path of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfedt day. He shows that it will not be by miraculous revelations, nor by dreams, but through the Word of testimony, the Bible. He says, ‘ We have a more sure word of prophecy, to which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light which shineth in a dark place, until the Day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts.”—2 Pet. 1 .-19.
The united testimony of these Scriptures teaches us that, altho it was not proper nor possible for the Lord’s people to know anything definite in advance, respecting the exaCt time of the second presence of the Lord Jesus and the establishment of his Kingdom, yet when the due time would come the faithful ones, the watchers, would be informed, — would not be left in darkness with the world. It is in vain to urge, as contradicting this, our Lord’s statement, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but my Bather only.” Those who use this Scripture to prove to themselves and to others that no man will ever know anything respecting the time of the second advent find it to prove too much, and thus spoil their own argument; for if it means that no man will ever know, it must similarly mean that no angel will ever know, and that the Son himself will never know. This evidently would be an absurd construction to place upon the passage. The Son did not know at the time he uttered this statement, the angels did not know then, and no man knew then: but the Son certainly must know of the time of his own second advent, and at least a little while before it takes place; the angels also must know a little while before it takes place, and the true children of God, the 1 ‘watchers, ’ ’ as we have seen above, are to watch in order that they also may know at the proper season, and not be in darkness, in ignorance, with the world; and that their watching shall be rewarded is guaranteed:—“None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise [in heavenly wisdom] shall understand.”—Dan. 12 : 10.
FOR WHAT ARE WE WATCHING?
This is an important question. Many of God’s people have been offended, “stumbled,” as respeCts the dodtrine of the second coming of our dear Redeemer, by reason of peculiar, extravagant, unreasonable, illogical and unscriptural views on the subjeCt, presented by some, who professedly love the Tord’s appearing, known as Second Adventists. But this is all wrong; we are not to rejeCt one of the grandest and most prominent doCtrines of the Scriptures, simply because some fellow-Christians have erred egregiously respecting the matter, and brought a certain amount of worldlywise contempt upon everything connected with this subjeCt. On the contrary, this doCtrine, as a glorious gem, should be given the first place among the precious jewels of divine truth, where it can cast its halo and splendor and brilliancy over all connected and related promises and blessings. It should not be left in the imperfect setting which hides its glory and beauty, but should be recovered, remounted, set in its true place, to the glory of God and to the blessing of all who are sincerely and truly his people.
We need offer no apology for the interest which we feel in this grand subject, which is the center upon which all the testimony of divine grace, through all the holy prophets, is focused. Rather do they need to apologize who, knowing that the second coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead hold the most important places in the Scriptures, next to the dodtrine of the atonement for sin, have nevertheless negleCted this while they have quarreled, skirmished, fought and bled over trifling things of no real importance, doCtrinally or otherwise.
Our watching is to be for the second coming of him who redeemed us, who said, “If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself. ’ ’ The watching is to be specially with the thought that our Lord Jesus comes at his second advent in the majesty and glory of the Father, King of kings and Lord of lords. The watching not only includes the thought of the second presence of our Lord, as King, but it has attached to it the wonderful results which are promised to flow from the coming of the King; for the coming of the King means the coming of the Kingdom for which he taught us to pray, ‘ ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” And the coming of our Master, the King, and the establishment of this glorious Kingdom nieans the fulfilment of the long-waited-for promise made to the seed of Abraham: the promise which Israel after the flesh was not found worthy to inherit; the promise for which God has been selecting the members of the Bride of Christ during this Gospel age, to be with the Lord Jesus and his joint-heir in carrying out its beneficent provisions; the promise which is sure, but which has never yet had, in any sense of the word, a fulfilment; the promise which reads, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ’ ’
Watching implies hoping, and it also implies waiting. We are waiting for what the Apostle terms ‘ ‘that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” who shall transform his Church to his own spiritual image and likeness, in order that we (“changed”) may be like him, see him as he is, and share his glory, and be associated with him in his great work of bringing in the Millennial blessings to the world of mankind. Nevertheless, this waiting time and hoping time is a time of more or less tribulation, not only on the world, which lies still under the yoke of sin and under the blinding influences of Satan, but also to the waiting, hoping and watching Church, of whom the Apostle says, ‘ ‘We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the deliverance [from death] of our body” — the body of Christ, of which we are members in particular.—Rom. 8: 23.
HOW ARE WE TO WATCH?
Our watching consists not in looking up into the sky—“stargazing;” for those who study the Lord’s Word to any purpose soon learn that ‘ ‘the day of the Lord so cometh as [like] a thief in the night, ’ ’ and that its dawning cannot be discerned with the natural eye. If the Lord’s people would discern anything by watching the sky with their natural eyes, could not the world discern the same thing ? If the second advent of our Lord were to be an open, outward manifestation, would not the world know of it just as soon as the saints, the watchers ? In such event it could not be true that the day of the Lord should come as a thief, as a snare, unawares, upon the world, while the Church would have foreknowledge thereof—not be left in darkness.
We are to watch the signs of the times, in the light of the Lord's Word, our lamp: as the Apostle declares, ‘ ‘We have a more sure Word of prophecy, ... as a light shining in a dark place,—until the Day dawn.” The Gospel age has been a night-time, and the Lord’s people have been waiting for the dawn of the Millennial morning, with the promise ringing in their ears, “God will help her [the Church] early in the morning.” (Psa. 46:5.) The word of the Lord, through the prophets, has been the lamplight all through this Gospel age, upon the Church’s pathway, as the Lord expressed it through the Prophet David, ‘ ‘Thy word is a lamp to my feet, a lantern to my footsteps. ’ ’ The lamp of the truth of revelation has guided all the faithful, watchful pilgrims in their journey toward the Celestial City—the Heavenly Kingdom. O, what a comfort it has been, and how dreary would have been our pilgrimage without it !
“ Looking back, we praise the way God has led us, day by day! ”
Those who have taken heed to the landmarks, pointed out by the Lord through Daniel and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and all the holy prophets, realize that we have come already a much longer journey than was expected by the Church when first she started out; but we realize also from these landmarks that we have approached very closely to the end of the journey, very near to the time when the great blessing, for which God’s people have so long waited and prayed, is at hand. For instance, the Watchers have noted the Lord’s testimony through the Prophet Daniel that “the time of the end’ ’ would be a period of time (more than a century), and that in this 11 time of the end’’ there would be a great increase of travel, running to and fro throughout the earth, and a great increase of general intelligence, increased knowledge, as it is written, “In the time of the end many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”—Dan. 12 : 4.
Watching carefully respecting our whereabouts, hopeful and solicitous respecting the gracious things which God has promised, none of the Watchers are indifferent to these fulfilments of prophecy, which are to be seen on every hand to-day. All men discern these things, but not all alike: the faithful, the Watchers, discern them not only as faCts, but also as fulfilments of prophecy; as proofs that we are already in the period termed “the time of the end.” Further investigations and applications of the prophetic measurements prove to the watchers that we have been in ‘ ‘the time of the end” since 1799, and that it is also termed “the day of his [Jehovah’s] preparation. ’ ’ Looking about them, they see the preparation that Jehovah God is making for the Kingdom of his dear Son. They see the lifting of the curtain of ignorance, and the letting in of the light, and that thus God is using mankind at the present time to make ready in a natural way the mechanical and other arrangements and conveniences which ultimately shall be so great blessings to the world, when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his beams, and the Millennial Day shall be ushered in, with all its multiplied blessings and mercies and opportunities;—“the times of restitution of all things, spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.”—Adis 3:21.
Watching intently, earnestly, interestedly, because they know of the good things God hath in reservation (1 Cor. 2:10-13), the Watchers note that Daniel’s prophecy further points out that, as the increase of travel brings the increase of knowledge, so the increase of knowledge will bring an increase of discontent to the world of mankind in general; and the result will be as prophetically stated, that ‘ ‘there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. ’ ’ The Watchers, seeking to note whether these things have yet a fulfilment or not, look about them and behold on every hand discontent, unhappiness; far more than when the world enjoyed far fewer of the mercies and blessings of heaven. These latter day gifts of Providence (preparations for the Millennial age), instead of provoking thankfulness, gratitude and love to God and generosity to man, produce in unregenerate hearts ambition, greater avarice, selfishness, envy, hatred, strife, and other works of the flesh and of the devil. Yes; the Watchers can clearly discern the great approaching climax of human trouble in which the Scriptures distinctly declare that all the present human institutions shall go down in anarchy, in confusion, in chaos.
But the Watchers do not lose sight of God and his providence. They see that, while the approaching social and ecclesiastical catastrophe will be the natural result of the operation of selfishness under highly favored conditions, nevertheless they remember that God is at the helm, and that he is able to cause the wrath of man to praise him, andtheremainderof man’s wrath (which would not praise him) he will restrain. ’
The Watchers look not merely at the outward signs, as seen in the world. They scrutinize carefully and repeatedly their “chart,” the Bible’s prophetic outline of the world’s history, furnished by the King himself. It is because they see the time of trouble outlined in the prophetic chart that they know that it is sure to come, and are able in advance of others to ‘ ‘discern the signs of the times, ’ ’ and not to be in darkness respecting the “ things to come A It was in respedt to this that the Tord promised the Watchers that the holy spirit should guide them into all truth, as each feature becomes due, and would show them things to come—future things — in advance of the world’s knowledge, and in advance of the facts themselves. (John 16 : 13.) But the same chart which shows the downfall of all earthly institutions, political, social and ecclesiastical, shows also that their fall is so timed in the great plan of Jehovah that it shall be the very hour in which he will establish in the hands of the elect Church (who then shall be a royal priesthood glorified—priests upon their thrones—the religious as well as the civil rulers of the world), whose exaltation shall be to the glory of God and to the blessing of every creature.
The Watchers remember well that the King gave them an outline of the history of the Gospel age at the very time that he told them to watch, intimating to them that they were to watch for the things which he therein noted. The Watchers are those who are in harmony with the King and who have respeCt to his promises, and they, therefore, do not negleCt the words which he spoke. And as they note this very prophecy in connection with which he tells them to watch, they see in it clearly that the day of the Tord will be ushered in at the close of this Gospel age, secretly, quietly, unobtrusively, “as a thief in the night,”—unaware to the world,'and known only to the Watchers.
PAROUSIA VS. EPIPHANIA, APOKALUPSIS.
Because not heedless, careless, indifferent servants of the King, but faithful and earnest, the Watchers have scrutinized every little particular which fell from the lips of him who spake as never man spake; and all the messages which he has sent them through his faithful apostles and prophets. And discriminating carefully, they discern that there are three words of distinctly different signification used in the respeCt to the Tord’s second advent; namely, parousia and epiphania and apokalupsis. Parousia is used in respeCt to the earliest stage of the second advent, while apokalupsis relates to the same advent later;—not that apokalupsis and epiphania relate to another or a third advent, but merely to a later feature of the second advent. These Greek words, it is true, are somewhat obscured or hidden in the Common Version of the Bible, and probably for a purpose. The Tord’s purpose evidently was to keep the world and the wicked in ignorance of his gracious plan until his due time; nor did he wish the particulars to be understood by the Watchers until nearly the time of the fulfilment. But now we are “in the time of the end,’’ in “the day of his preparation,” in the time in which it was foretold that then ‘ 'the wise [not the worldly wise but the humble Watchers who are wise enough to take heed to the Word of the Lord] shall understand. (Dan. 12:10.) And hence, since many of the Watchers are not Greek scholars, God has made gracious provision through valuable helps (such as Young's Analytical Concordance and the Emphatic Dia-glott), so that the very humblest of his people may have a clear and discriminating understanding of the meaning of certain features of his Word which hitherto have been kept hidden under imperfeCt translations: and these matters God himself has been bringing to the attention of his people, through Millennia!, Dawn, Zion’s Watch Tower and the Old Theology Tracts. The Watchers all over the world are being reached by these “Helping Hands for Bible students, ” which the Lord himself is extending to them.
By these helps, the Watchers are rapidly coming to see that the word “parousia," translated in our Common Version “coming,” does not mean what our English word signifies; namely, to be on the way, approaching; but that on the contrary it signifies presence, as of one who has already arrived. The Watchers note also that the Scriptures predicate certain things respecting the Lord and respecting his parousia (his presence), which clearly intimate that he will be present and doing his work, his great work (of setting up his Kingdom and smiting the nations with the sword of his mouth) wholly unknown to the world, —“as a thief in the night. ’ ’ The Watchers also notice that the Scriptures clearly indicate that after the Lord has done certain things
during his presence (parousia') and unknown to the world, he will later make a manifestation of his presence; — a manifestation which will be discerned by all mankind: and the outward manifestation is designated his ‘ ‘epiphania1 ’ which signifies ‘ ‘shining forth’ ’ or ‘ ‘bright - shining. ’ ’
The Watchers get the two thoughts respecting the Lord’s second coming: that first, altho really present a spirit being, like the angels who, we are told, encamp round about them that fear God and deliver them, and who are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, ’ ’ and whose ministry is an invisible one (Psa. 34:7; Heb. 1:14),— so also our Lord, now a glorious spirit being, of the divine nature, will not be manifest to the natural eye during his presence— his parousia. Hence the necessity that the Lord’s faithful ones shall ‘ ‘watchbecause they, no more than the world, can discern a spirit being with their natural eyes. The Watchers in due time are to discern the presence (parousia) of their Lord by the eye of faith. The sleepless eye of faith will in due time take note of the “sign of the Son of Man,”— the indications of the presence of the King.
During the period of the parousia (presence) preceding the epiphania (shining forth) a certain work will be accomplished, unknown to the world, unknown to the nominal Church, known only to the Watchers. Ah, how important to us the words of our Master, exhorting us to be Watchers ! And, by the way, this watching includes a watching of our own hearts as well as of the Lord’s Word and the outward signs — to insure our worthiness to be continued in the light, and under the instructions of the great Teacher. “If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his;” and if any man lose the spirit of Christ he ceases to be his; and hence we all need to “watch” that we may, as the Scriptures direct, “Keep our garments unspotted from the world;” and “Keep ourselves in the love of God, while looking for the grace [aid] of our Cord Jesus Christ, which is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless in the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” For whoever has the spirit of Christ may be a Watcher, and as a Watcher may know of the gracious things connected with the great “salvation which shall be brought unto us at the revelation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” but whoever ceases to have the spirit of Christ must of necessity cease also to be a Watcher and shall be in ignorance of the things of the day of the Lord like the world, of which he then probably would be a part.
As the light by which the eye of faith may discern the parousia, we have the “more sure word of prophecy to which we do well to take heed.” It has shone upon the pathway of the Watchers all along through this night, but now its various prophetic rays have focussed and clearly indicate that we are already living “in the days of the Son of Man," while, as he expressly foretold, the world in general goes on as usual, in utter ignorance of his presence, and of his harvest work, and of the beginning of the Day of the Lord; it continues as usual - eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building. It is a mistake to suppose that our Lord, in giving this infomation respecting the events of the time of his presence, meant us to understand that it would be wicked for the world to eat, drink, plant, build and marry; these are not improper things and any such interpretation is strained and faulty and results from an utter misconception of the subject Our Lord wished merely to show that the world would be in ignorance of his presence “in the days of the Son of Man,” and in utter ignorance of the great time of trouble or “Day of Vengeance’ ’ which his inauguration of his Kingdom will signify to the kingdoms of this world, which are to be dashed to pieces as potters’ vessels. The ignorance of the impending trouble here will be similar to that of the people who lived in the days of Noah. “As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the Son of ManP—Luke 17 : 26.
As “the days of Noah” were not days before Noah’s time, neither are “the days of the Son of Man” days before the Son of Man’s presence. The days of the Son of Man are the days of his parousia, or presence, —invisible and unknown to the world, known only to the Watchers and seen by them only with the eye of faith. “As in the days that were before the flood they were eating, drinking, marrying, . . . and knew not, ... so shall also the [parousia] presence of the Son of Man be:”—the world will simply go on about its usual affairs, and know not of the Lord’s presence. —Matt. 24 : 38.
But why should our Lord be thus present ? What will be his work during the period of presence preceding his epiphania or manifestation to the world ?
His work is clearly outlined in various of his parables which were given that the Watchers might know —might not be in darkness. The parable of the wheat and the tares shows this period of the parousia (presence) preceding the epiphania (manifestation), and represents it as the “harvest” time of this age. The Son of Man sowed the good seed, and his servants followed, doing work in the field down through the age; finally the end of the age conies when the full crop of wheat is ripe, and then the harvest is reaped. The parable shows the separation of the two classes of the nominal church during the “harvest.” For be it noted that the wheat-field is not the entire world, but merely the professedly Christian part of the world — Christendom: much of the field is not yet sown. And the parable relates only to the wheat-field, and particularly to the wheat. The tares (spurious Christians) are dealt with only incidentally. The tares choke the wheat, yet nevertheless the Master will obtain a sufficiently large crop, for- “All his purposes shall be accomplished. ’ ’
The separation of the tares from the wheat, and the gathering of the wheat into the garner of heavenly conditions precedes the work of cleansing the wheatfield of its symbolic tares by symbolic “fire;” and this entire harvest work is to take place during the parou-sia (presence) of our Ford, before his epiphania (manifestation) . He is the Chief-Reaper, and all the underreapers will work under his direction and eye; and every kernel of true symbolic “wheat” will be gathered into the glorious symbolic “garner” by resurrection and “change.'
The truth will be the separating medium, and not until the separation is complete and the ‘ ‘wheat’ ’ all garnered into the glory of the heavenly nature, will the ‘ ‘fire, ’ ’ the great time of trouble mentioned by the Prophet and by our Ford, burn and consume, symbolically, all the “tares:” so that thereafter none will make false professions of being Christians while really of the world and possessed of its spirit.
The parables of the Pounds and of the Talents cover this same period of time. In both of these the Lord represents himself as a great householder and heir to a throne, who has gone into a far country to be invested with kingly powers and to return to use those powers. Departing, he left with his servants various riches of grace and privilege, “to every man according to his several ability,” saying to them, “Occupy till I come. ’ ’ The return of the nobleman of the parables unquestionably represents the second coming of our Lord and Master. Now note the work first due to take place upon his return as King, as shown by these parables. He does not first deal with the rebellious world, — those who would not have him to rule over them; but, first calls “his own servants f and reckons with them—rejecting some from further service because of unfaithfulness, and accepting others to a participation in the joys of the Kingdom which he at once establishes.
This reckoning with the servants signifies a reckoning with the Church first, after his return; and corresponds to the separating of the wheat and tares, in the other parable. It is comparatively easy for anyone to realize that this part of the Lord’s work at his second advent is the work which precedes the epiphania or manifestation to the world. It is during this period that the Watchers are to be aware of the presence {parousia) of the Lord, and of his scrutiny or judgment of them, which will then be in progress. Only the faithful will know, however, —only they will be “accounted worthy to stand before the Son of Man” in that judgment-all found unworthy shall “stumble,” “The wicked [and slothful servants] shall not stand in the assembling of the righteous.” (See Psa. 1:5.) It is of this period of his presence, and this feature of his work, that the world is to be in total ignorance, and “not know,” until, having finished reckoning with his servants, and having glorified the faithful, the judgment of the world shall begin with ‘ ‘a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation.” That trouble is symbolically pictured as a fire, and we are told by the Apostle that our Tord shall be revealed (apoka-lupto — uncovered, disclosed, made manifest) in flaming fire (judgments), taking vengeance.
All who are Watchers, all who have taken heed to “the more sure word of prophecy,” including the Master’s description of the events of “the days of the Son of Man,'' can readily discern that the world would not go on in its usual routine eating, drinking, planting, building, marrying, etc. — if they knew of the Tord’s presence, and the progress of the “harvest” of the Gospel age. If they knew of the Tord’s presence and that the reckoning with the servants had commenced, and that the next thing in order would be judgments upon themselves, they would change their usual order of affairs considerably: they would be in great trepidation; because only those who are in sympathy with the Tord and the righteous government which he is about to establish, when he shall lay judgment to the line and justice to the plummet—only these can in any degree be ready to welcome him: all others have the spirit of fear, and are under the blinding influences and misrepresentations of Satan. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the glorious light [of the gospel of Christ] should shine unto them.” Because of ignorance, therefore, the world would be in great fear, if they knew the fact of the beginning of the day of the Lord, which is to be to them the ‘ ‘day of vengeance.
Very evidently, therefore, this reckoning with the Church and the reward of the faithful will precede our Lord’s epiphania or apokalupsis. To use one of his own figures, we might say that his day or time of presence —• ‘‘the day of the Lord”—will come as a thief in the night; and in this time he will gather his virgin Church discriminatingly, and take her as his Bride to himself, —changing her from earthly nature and conditions to spiritual or heavenly conditions, to be like him, see him as he is, and share his glory. And since the saints have always been ‘ ‘the salt of the earth, ’ ’ we may readily discern that the taking away of the salt of the earth would leave mankind in a very deplorable condition, in which corruption would spread rapidly: and this is exactly what the Scriptures indicate.
We are not, however, to understand that the Lord will take the Church away to heaven, and then come back again, and make his epiphania or apokalupsis, for that would be a third advent, which is nowhere even hinted in Scripture. The ‘ ‘change’ ’ of the Church from earthly conditions and nature to heavenly, spirit conditions and nature will first be in order, and then they twain, the Bridegroom, Christ, and the Church, his bride, thus made one in nature and in heavenly or spirit power, will commence the work of putting down all rule and authority contrary to the divine rule, — bringing all things into subjection to the heavenly Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom. Our Lord and his Church will not be absent from the earth during the period of the world’s tribulation; but on the contrary will continue present, but invisible, bringing upon the world the tribulation, foretold in the Scriptures, which will result in the humbling of the hearts of mankind, that they may say eventually, “Come, let us go up to the mountain [Kingdom] of the house of the Lord, that he may teach us of his ways, that we may walk in his paths.”
This fact is abundantly proved by the Lord’s statement of what shall be the reward to the overcomers, a part of which is, ‘ ‘He that overcometh, and keepeth my words to the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken in pieces: even as I have received of my Father. (Rev. 2:26,27.) Again, the same matter is mentioned by the Prophet David, saying, “This honor have all his saints,—to execute the judgments -written. ” It is manifest, therefore, that the Church, altho absent from the world during the period of the tribulations in the sense of being ‘ ‘ changed ’ ’ from human to divine nature, will be present in it with Christ, as associate executors of the divine justice, breaking to pieces the present order of affairs, and ready to heal the hearts of the world as soon as they shall be broken in their pride, and prepared for the “Balm of Gilead.”
THE TIME OF THE PAROUSIA.
It will doubtless surprise many to learn that there is much Scripture proof that we are already in the time of the presence {parousia') of the Son of Man,—that we are already living “in the days of the Son of Man.” At first some will be inclined to say, ‘ ‘Where is the promise of his [farousia\ presence, while all things continue as they were from the beginning?” Peter foretold that some would thus question and be surprised at this information, that we are living in the days of the Son of Man, while there is as yet no outward manifestation of his presence, but the affairs of the world continue in their ordinary channels. (2 Pet. 3:4.) The answer to the question is, as we have just pointed out, our Lord’s own declaration that in his days of presence the world would be eating, drinking, planting and building, and know not. That is the promise of his presence, while all things continue as they were. Could it be more explicit? A totally different question, however, is—
WHAT ARE THE PROOFS OF HIS PRESENCE?
This is a reasonable inquiry. We would not be justified in believing that the Lord is present upon any slight evidence, even tho we know in advance that he is a spirit being, whose presence would be invisible without a miracle;—and even tho we know in advance, from the parables, that he will be present, but invisible, in the harvest time of this age, in the time of reckoning with his servants, preparatory to their glorification. We have a right to expert clear, reasonable ground for faith, before accepting any matter which implies so much. We are not, however, to ask or to expert evidences to natural sight: if we are of the Watchers, who have ‘‘the eyes of their understanding opened’ ’ to see wonderful things in the divine Word, then these eyes of our understanding must also be the eyes of our faith. Hence, the true Watchers are to expeCt reasonable, satisfactory evidence for faith, and not ocular demonstrations of an invisible parousia. As the Apostle explains, “We walk by faith, not by sight.’’
To our understanding there are strong proofs that our Tord’sparousia began in the Autumn of 1874. We have seen nothing with our natural eyes; only with the eyes of the understanding, only in the light of ‘ ‘the more sure word of prophecy, ’ ’ do we know this, which we sincerely believe and affirm, and which is important news to all who claim to be Watchers. The faCt that any Watcher should have remained in ignorance of this important event for now twenty-four years would seem of itself to be an indication that he had not been properly awake to the use of his privileges and opportunities—that he had not been sufficiently watchful of the sure word of prophecy to which he was instructed to take heed; and that therefore he had been left at least partially ignorant of the important things transpiring throughout the world during these years. To this extent many of the Tord’s people have been with the world and similarly ignorant: and yet we may reasonably assume that the Tord did not expect all of his watching servants to discern the matter at the same instant of time. True, those who saw early have had special blessing for the longer time; but, as we saw above, the preparation for the knowledge of the time lies largely in the right attitude of heart—in its humility and possession of the various graces of the spirit of Christ.
Test we should get a misapprehension respecting this matter of the discerning the Tord’s parousia, we do well to take heed of the parable of the ten virgins, which evidently was given to throw special light upon this point. That parable shows a false announcement of the arrival of the Bridegroom in 1844, which brought to the subject considerable reproach, but which nevertheless was of great advantage, as stirring up the ‘ ‘virgin” class (the pure, the consecrated) to fresh trimming of the lamp of truth—investigating the sure word of prophecy. The parable shows, also, that the “virgins’ ’ in general fell asleep, yet, nevertheless, in due time all would be reawakened by the prophetic knocking, and the knocking of the signs of the times, which indicate the Bridegroom’s presence. And the parable shows that the result will depend upon how much oil (holy spirit) the “virgins” may have in their vessels (in their own hearts), as well as in their lamps (the Scriptures). Applying this parable, then, we may reasonably suppose that some of the Tord’s true people have temporarily fallen asleep on this subject of his second coming, and that the sleeping ones will include some who have his spirit in their hearts, and who will be fully ready to welcome the Master when they shall awake, and whose lamps will be duly trimmed and burning and ready to enable them to discern the signs of his parousia, when once their attention is brought to the subject. In harmony with this we find that many who get awake on this subject now come into the clear light of present truth much more rapidly than did some in the past: doubtless partly because present truth can now be presented to them more concretely than ever before through the printed page. It is in the interest of this true “virgin” class that we now write: we have no desire to awaken the worldly; this knocking of the prophecies announcing the Parousia is not for them—besides, the worldly are so soundly asleep that it will require the terrific crashing of present institutions and the earthquake shakings of social revolution to thoroughly awaken them to a realization of the presence of the great Judge—Immanuel. The true Watchers on the contrary, if they slumber at all, sleep lightly, being on the qui vive of expectancy and hope for the long-waited-for Bridegroom. We would merely whisper in the ears of this class the one word, ‘ ‘Parou-sia ! ” assured that all true Watchers (and the Lord alone knoweth them that are his) will be aroused by that word, and trim their lamps on the subjedt.
Is the question asked,—What portions of the sure word of prophecy indicate that the presence of our Lord began in the Autumn of 1874? We answer that there are several lines of prophecy which interlace and corroborate each other in this testimony; but, as might be expedted, since the entire matter was to be hidden from the world, and ‘ ‘none of the wicked, ’ ’ but only the “wise” are to understand (Dan. 12:10), and these wise only to understand when the due time would come,— for these reasons, it must be evident to all that these prophecies, while clear and forcible and positive, are nevertheless somewhat under cover. We cannot here attempt to give a complete and comprehensive statement of these prophecies; that has already been done in four volumes aggregating eighteen hundred pages.2 Here we can only give a very brief resume, leaving it for the true Watchers to seek that they may find; to knock if they would have the door of divine revelation opened to them; to use the keys which God has provided, if they are interested in penetrating into “the deep things” of the divine Word, now due to be understood; to eat of the meat of present truth, “things new and old,” if they hunger and thirst after righteousness and true knowledge.
“IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS.”
(i) We have a number of general prophecies, indicating that we are living in about the time of the Master’s second presence. We have already referred to Daniel’s testimony respecting ‘ ‘the time of the end, ’ ’ in which many will run to and fro, and knowledge will be increased, and the wise understand, and which the time of trouble follows. Then we have the inspired dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and its inspired interpretation by Daniel, showing the earthly governments which would bear rule over the earth;—during the interim between the overthrow of the typical Kingdom of God, whose last king sitting upon the throne of David was Zede-kiah, and the installation of the true King, Emanuel, in his Millennial Kingdom glory. These different governments of earth are here pictured as a great image; Nebuchadnezzar’s government, the first universal empire of earth, being represented by the head of gold; the Medo-Persian Empire, which, according to history, was the second universal empire, is here shown as the breast and arms of silver; the Grecian empire, which overthrew the Persian, and became the third universal empire, is represented by the belly and thighs of brass; the Roman empire, which succeeded the Grecian, and constituted itself the fourth universal empire of earth, was represented in the image by the legs of iron—strong exceedingly; and the later development of the same Roman empire with the intermixture of papal influence is represented in the image by the feet, which were partly iron (civil government), and partly of clay (ecclesiastical government — Papacy) . These were to constitute the sum total of Gentile dominion; and “in the days of these kings” (represented by the ten toes of the image), Jehovah God himself would establish his Kingdom—the very Kingdom for which we pray, “Thy Kingdom come! ”
We are all witnesses that the heavenly Kingdom has not yet come,—that we are still under the dominion of “the prince of this world”—the prince of darkness. All the efforts to prove to us that the greedy and bloody governments of Christendom, so-called, are the Kingdom for which we prayed, and were taught to pray, could not prevail: we could never recognize these as Immanuel’s Kingdom: they are only the kingdoms established by Antichrist, and recognized by Antichrist, and named by Antichrist “ Christendom. ” The true Kingdom waits for establishment at the hands of him whose right it is; and he has promised that, when he sits upon his throne, all his faithful ones, the “little flock’ ’ of the Gospel age, shall sit in that throne with him, and be associates in the work and in the honor of blessing the world.
The Church is not neglected in the picture of earthly dominion given to Nebuchadnezzar, and interpreted by the Prophet Daniel. She is shown therein as a stone taken out of the mountain without hands (by divine power). This stone represents God’s Kingdom (Christ and the Church), and the inspired dream and explanation show that the disaster which shall come to the kingdoms of this world, represented in the image and in the toes of its feet, would come through the impact or smiting of the image by the stone. Daniel says: “A stone was cut out, which, without being in hands, smote the image upon his feet. . . . Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain [kingdom], and filled the whole earth.”
The explanation is that—“The great God hath made known to the king [and indirectly more particularly to the Watchers] what shall come to pass hereafter.” “Ztz the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; [it shall have no successors, for the others will all be destroyed] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Here is a prophecy which gives a full delineation of the empires of earth, to which God granted dominion during the interim between the removal of the typical crown from his typical kingdom, and the institution of the crown of righteousness and glory upon the true King in the inauguration of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Even the surface evidences are that human empire has nearly run its course, and that heavenly empire is needed to deliver the world from its own selfishness. But the sure word of prophecy, if carefully scrutinized by the Watcher, reveals still more. It shows that the next universal empire will be the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and further the interesting fadt that the total lease of power to the Gentiles, is in the Scriptures known as “the times of the Gentiles;” and that these “times” are seven times, and that each of the seven times is a period of three hundred and sixty years, and that consequently the complete period of the seven times is 2520 years. Hence the Watchers may reckon that Gentile rule will terminate and Immanuel’s rule be fully set up in 2520 years from the time the Lord removed the diadem from Zedekiah, saying: “Oh thou profane and wicked prince, . . . take off the diadem, remove the crown; I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, until he comes whose right it is, and I will give it unto him.” The period of overturning of the Lord’s typical Kingdom and the removal of the crown must correspond to the period of the lease of empire to the Gentiles and be 2520 years. And measuring this period, we find that 2520 years will expire with the close of the year 1914, A. D. and consequently that by that time Gentile rule will be no more while God’s Kingdom will then hold sway.
But the scrutinizing Watcher will readily perceive that it is one thing to know the time when earthly dominion shall cease, and give place to the completed Kingdom of God, while it would be a totally different matter to know when the ‘ ‘stone’ ’ Kingdom would begin to smite the image upon its feet, preparatory to its destruction. This period of smiting of the image, which precedes its destruction, must also precede the full establishment of God’s Kingdom to fill the whole earth. This smiting period is the period of the parou-sia; the period in which Christ is present, gathering his “jewels,” his “eledt,” and in which he will smite the nations with the rod of iron and with the two-edged sword of his mouth, dashing them in pieces as a potter’s vessel, and preparing mankind for the royal majesty of the heavens. Let the Watchers note critically the Prophet Daniel’s explanation that it will be “z>z the days of these kings” (the kingdoms represented in the feet and toes of the image—the divisions of Papal Rome) that the God of heaven will set up his kingdom. God began the selection of his Kingdom class in the days of Civil Rome—represented by the legs of iron: he has continued the selection ever since, and the setting up or bringing of his Church (Kingdom) into power comes toward the close of Gentile power, but before it ends; for it is to be “in the days of these kings” and not after their days. Now note the similarity of the expressions ‘ ‘in the days of the Son of Man” and ‘‘in the days of these kings,” and give both the same significance and remember that, as we have proven, they will be the same days—days before the lease of Gentile power expires, in which the Son of Man will be present to ‘ ‘set up"1 ’ his Kingdom, which shall a little later destroy all these Gentile kingdoms.
TYPICAL ISRAEL’S EXPERIENCES WERE PROPHETIC.
(2) Take another line of prophecy, concealed, and yet very simple and easy of appreciation when once the mind grasps it. The Scriptures show us that the fleshly house of Israel and all of its institutions and affairs were typical foreshadowings of the spiritual house of Israel, and its higher institutions, better sacrifices, etc. It need not, therefore, surprise us to find that the length of the Jewish age—the length of the divine favor to fleshly Israel,—was typical also, and that it gives us the exact measurement of the Gospel
age,—God’s dealings with and favor toward spiritual Israel.
Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, which signifies “A Prince with God,” and his descendants were therefore termed Israelites—the people of the Prince with God. But the antitype of Jacob is Christ, the true Prince with God, not after the flesh, but after the spirit; and his house is spiritual Israel. Jacob’s twelve sons first inherited his name and blessing, and through them it descended to all the fleshly house of Israel: Christ’s twelve Apostles inherited his name and blessing, and through them it has descended to all the spiritual house of Israel. As the typical house had a high priest, Aaron, so the antitypical house has a greater high priest, Christ Jesus our Lord, the high priest of our profession. As the fleshly house had a priesthood under Aaron, so the spiritual house has ‘ ‘a royal priesthood’ ’ under Christ, to whom the promise is made that they shall be kings and priests unto God, who shall reign on the earth, after their present time of sacrificing is ended. So we might proceed with everything that fleshly Israel had and find its duplicate on a higher plane, in spiritual Israel, but we will not go into details here: suffice it to notice further that the Jewish age or period of fleshly Israel’s favor ended with a ‘ ‘harvest’ ’ period of forty years. This began with our Lord’s baptism, lasted three and a half years, as a national test, and when that nation was rejected at the time of our Lord’s Crucifixion, the harvest work proper began—a separation of the wheat from the chaff—a time of gathering out of that rejected nation such as were “Israelites indeed,” previous to the great time of trouble which came upon the nation and which utterly destroyed their national polity a. d. 70. All of this is likened to a “harvest” season, and its first garnering of the wheat and subsequent burning of the chaff. And our Lord gives instructions to us (Matt. 13) that this Gospel age of spiritual Israel’s favor will likewise end with a harvesting time, gathering the wheat together and ultimately destroying the tares. In the harvesting of the fleshly house our Lord, in the flesh, was the Chief-Reaper, and his Apostles were co-laborers: in the harvesting of the spiritual house our Lord, a spirit being, is to be present as the ChiefReaper, and members of the spiritual house are to be also reapers.
Now note the time correspondencies. The Jewish age, from the death of Jacob to the death of Christ, was 1845 years long—to the beginning of our Lord’s ministry 1841% years long, and to the time of the utter destruction of their nation, in a. d. 70, 1881 fz years long. Notice how the Gospel age corresponds to this. The Gospel age did not begin with our Lord’s birth: it began after our Lord’s death and resurrection, when he commissioned his disciples to ‘ preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Our Lord’s previous work during the three and a half years of his ministry was the offering of the Kingdom to the fleshly house, to test them, and to prove that they were unready to receive the true Kingdom.) Applying the foregoing measurements of the Jewish age to the Gospel age, beginning it at the time of our Lord’s death and resurrection and the Pentecostal blessing, in the Spring of a. d. 33, we find that the period of 1841 years from the death of Jacob to the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, Would measure from the Spring of a. d. 33 to the Autumn of 1874; and the 1845 years of the Jewish age, from the death of Jacob to the rejection of fleshly Israel, applied here, measuring from the Spring of A. d. 33, would reach to the Spring of 1878; and the 1881% years from the death of Jacob to the full destruction of Israel’s polity in A. d. 70, finds its correspondence in this Gospel age, by measuring 1881% years from the Spring of A. d. 33, which would bring us exactly to (Autumn) 1914 a. d.—the very year and time shown us by Daniel’s prophecy to be the full end and limit of the “Gentile times.” Can this be accidental? Nay; it is design. What stronger testimony could be asked by the eye and ear of faith. Surely, anything plainer or clearer would be sight and leave no room for faith.
THE JUBILEE PROPHECY.
(3) Note another prophecy, similarly hidden in type in the Mosaic law, — Israel’s Jubilee Year. No one is prepared to understand this line of prophecy who has not first learned that the second coming of our Lord is not for the purpose of destroying the world, but for the purpose of blessing it according to the promise made to Abraham, ‘ ‘in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,”—with the favors lost in Adam. These will be offered to all and will be made perpetual to those who will accept them on the terms of the New Covenant. None can see any beauty or typical significance in Israel’s Jubilee who have not learned that God has provided ‘ ‘times of restitution of all things’ ’ which are to begin in connection with the second advent of the Redeemer.—See Adts 3 : 19-23.
We find that Israel’s Jubilee years, in which every person and family had restored to them every lost possession and all personal liberties, was intended to be a type of the coming time of restitution, when a full opportunity for attaining freedom from sin and from Satan, and from the hereditary weaknesses of the flesh, shall be presented to all, and when the earth shall again revert to the human family in general, for whom it was created, and for whom it was redeemed by Christ, after being lost through Adam’s transgression. We find that the Scriptures indicate, in connection with these jubilees, a system of counting by multiples; and that a Jubilee of Jubilees, or fifty times fifty years (2500 years) constitutes a Great Jubilee cycle and that such a cycle began to count after fleshly Israel had observed her last typical Jubilee. We find from the Scriptures that Israel’s nineteenth Jubilee year was her last, in the year B. C. 626. Knowing that the Jubilee was a part of the Law, and that no feature of that Law, not one jot or tittle, can pass away without reaching a fulfilment or antitype, we measure the cycle of the Great Jubilee 2500 years from the date when the last typical Jubilee was kept, 626 b. c., and find accordingly that the antitypical Jubilee or Great Jubilee of Jubilees should have begun in October, 1874. Thus,— 625 years b. c. plus 1875 years A. d. are 2500 years, which would include the Jubilee year: consequently, with the end of the year 1874, Jewish time, October, the antitypical Jubilee of 1,000 years instead of one year was due to begin.
Watchers will note carefully the correspondency of this date, and the character of the event to be expected, with the finding of our previous examinations (1 and 2), which showed us this very same date, October, 1874, was the time when the “harvest” of this age was due to begin, and when the Lord himself, as the Chief Reaper, was due to be present. The only thing necessary to connect this Jubilee prophecy with the others is the statement of the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:21, which shows that our Lord must be present (at his second advent) at the beginning of the times of restitution of all things, and as already seen, these restitution times are the Antitypical Jubilee times typified by Israel’s Jubilees. Thus we have two very simple but clear and very important lines of Scripture testimony which indicate clearly that the parousia of our Lord was due to begin in October, 1874, and both show us the character of the work which we should expect would be in progress during the time of his presence, preceding his open manifestation to the world, his epiphania, his apokalupsis.
THE DAYS OF WAITING ARE FULFILLED.
(4.) Take another line of prophecy: we find that the 1260 days, and the 1290 days, and the 1335 days, so particularly set forth in Daniel’s prophecy, and corroborated in Revelation, have had fulfilments, —the 1260 days ending in 1799, the 1290 days ending in 1829, and the 1335 days ending in 1874. Our friends known as ‘ ‘Second Adventists’ ’ were wont to use these “days of Daniel,” and once applied them as we do here: but they abandoned them after 1874 passed and they failed to see Jesus with their natural eyesight, in a body of flesh and with Calvary’s scars. They have dropped these “days of Daniel” entirely because they find no way of applying them which would prolong them beyond 1874. The fault is not with the days nor with their application as above; but with the wrong things expected. They, in common with others who look for the Second Advent, err in expecting that the Gospel age which has been a spirit and faith epoch will end with a flesh and sight deterioration—in expecting that the spiritual kingdom of Satan will be followed by a fleshly kingdom of Christ. But the Watchers amongst the Adventists as well as in other denominations, are getting the eyes of their understanding opened by the anointing of the promised eyesalve.—Rev. 3:18.
It was concerning this last period that the angel declared to the Prophet, “Oh, the blessedness of him that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 days. . . . Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” What blessedness? We answer, a joy of heart and rejoicing to the Watchers is what is here intimated. It is since this date, October, 1874, where Daniel’s 1335 days intimated that a great blessing would begin, where the Jubilee types indicated that the restitution of all things would begin, (which implies the second presence of the great Restorer), and where the parallelism of the two houses of Israel shows that the second presence of our Lord as the Great Reaper is due,—from this date a great blessing has come to the Watchers. Since then the Word of God has opened before us in a most marvelous manner. Since then the sure word of prophecy as a lamp to our feet has shown us many evidences that we are in the end of the age. Since then the day-star has been rising in the hearts of the Watchers, and has illuminated our minds, releasing us from the terrible nightmare of error respecting eternal torment, revealing to us the true character of our Heavenly Rather, making plain to us the necessity of the great atonement for sin, and showing us distinctly the objeCt of the permission of evil and revealing, one by one, various features of the divine plan, — the high calling of the Church to the divine nature, and to joint-heirship with Christ in his Millennial Kingdom; and the resulting blessing of restitution to human perfection for the world of mankind in general. Ah yes! all who have been brought “out of darkness into this marvelous light” can appreciate the words of the angel, and heartily say, Blessed are our ears, for they hear, and our eyes, for they see, for many prophets and many righteous persons have desired to know these things, and have not known them.
(5) We might refer to other prophecies and types in the Scriptures, which show that we are living in the “harvest” time of this age, in the parousia of the Son of Man, but our space forbids. The faCt that this world, as he predicted, continues in its usual course, eating, drinking, planting and building, etc., and knows not of his presence, so far from being an evidence against these prophetic testimonies, quite to the contrary, shows us that the fulfilment is coming, just as the Master predicted: that the day of the Lord, the day of his presence, has come upon the world as a thief in the night, secretly, quietly, stealthily, unknown;—the only ones favored with a knowledge of events transpiring on the other side of the vail being the Watchers who, if they have slumbered at all, have nevertheless maintained a waiting attitude of readiness for the announcement,—
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